Day: March 24, 2020

‘Copeland Cap’ Hits Decade-Long High in Fiscal Year 2019-2020

Laura Baigert

A bill passed by the Tennessee General Assembly last week reveals that in fiscal year 2019-2020 the Copeland Cap, at $629 million or 3.6 percent, hit its highest level in more than a decade.

The legislation, which passed as HB2819 in both chambers on March 19 with only one “no” vote by Democrat Representative G. A. Hardaway (D-Memphis), was one of the four bills addressed in an expedited fashion to enact a bare bones budget before lawmakers recessed until June 1 amid the COVID-19 health crisis, The Tennessee Star reported.

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Commentary: The Virus Is Not Invincible, But It’s Exposing Who’s Irreplaceable

Admin

In all the gloom and doom, and media-driven nihilism, there is actually an array of good news. As many predicted, as testing spreads, and we get a better idea of the actual number and nature of cases, the death rate from coronavirus slowly but also seems to steadily decline.

Early estimates from the World Health Organization and the modeling of pessimists of a constant 4 percent death rate for those infected with the virus are for now proving exaggerated for the United States. More likely, as testing spreads, our fatality rates could descend to near 1 percent.

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Dollar General Plans to Increase Hiring Efforts to Support Community and Customer Needs

Chris Butler

Officials at the Goodlettsville-based Dollar General stores announced Monday that they will nearly double their normal hiring rate and add up to 50,000 employees by end of April.

This, during heightened demand for household essentials that the store offers during the outbreak of the coronavirus.

“We are proud to serve as one of America’s essential retailers, and we believe our customers are relying on us now more than ever to provide an affordable, convenient retail option,” said Kathy Reardon, Dollar General’s senior vice president and chief people officer, in the press release.

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Financial Strategist: ‘During This Time We’re Just Going to Tough It Out and Survive’

Julie Carr

On Monday’s Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Roy Matlock, Jr. to the newsmakers line.

During the third hour, Matlock gave advice to the recently unemployed who have less than $1,000.00 in savings by stating that your job right now is to go get a job. He also touched upon how he’s been advising his million-dollar clients to do there Christmas shopping now and spend their money with local businesses.

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Illegal Border Crossings Drop by Half Under Coronavirus Shutdown

Admin

Since the Trump administration ordered a shutdown of the U.S.-Mexico border, government officials are reporting a roughly 50% drop in illegal alien apprehensions.

Under orders from the Centers for Disease Control, the Trump administration on Friday declared a lockdown of the southern and northern borders, permitting only the flow of “essential” travel. In that short time, border officials have revealed that they are seeing a huge drop in the flow of illegal aliens.

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Think Tank Calls for Ohio Government to Take Common-Sense Measures to Fight Coronavirus and Aid in Economic Recovery

Jason M. Reynolds

A new policy brief lays out actions that Ohio policymakers can immediately implement so Ohio can fight and yet recover from the coronavirus pandemic, and it doesn’t involve unilaterally moving primaries or shutting down businesses.

The Buckeye Institute released the brief on Monday.

The brief, Policy Solutions for the Pandemic: How Ohio Can Fight the Impact of Coronavirus, is available here.

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Sen. Tom Cotton Calls Democrats’ Fight To Hold Coronavirus Bill Hostage Over Climate Change, Other Liberal Dreams a ‘Disgrace’

Admin

Republican Sen. Tom Cotton said Monday that his Democratic colleagues are holding up the Senate’s coronavirus bill so they can push green energy policies, among a slew of other “radical” measures.

The Arkansas senator railed against his colleagues, telling his Twitter followers that they were putting Americans’ lives at risk over global warming. His criticism came after Senate Democrats failed to pass a procedural cloture vote on a phase-three coronavirus stimulus bill.

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Center for Immigration Studies Fellow Don Barnett Details His Trip From Russia Back to the USA with No Coronavirus Screening at Customs

Julie Carr

Fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies Don Barnett joined The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – Monday morning on the newsmakers line.

During the third hour, Barnett detailed his recent trip to and from Russia and how he was discouraged to see no special treatment for coronavirus temperature screening upon arrival at US customs.

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CVS Will Hire 50,000 Workers, Company Announces

Jordyn Pair

CVS Health plans on hiring 50,000 employees to fill full-time, part-time and temporary positions as the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread across the United States, the company announced on Monday.

Available roles include store associates, home delivery drivers, distribution center employees and customer service employees. CVS said many roles will be filled by employees from current CVS Health clients that have had to furlough workers, such as Hilton and Marriott.

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WHO Chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus Won Election with China’s Help, Now He’s Defending China on Coronavirus

Admin

by Peter Hasson   World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus won his post after China backed him in the May 2017 election. Now, Tedros is leading the WHO, an arm of the United Nations, in providing cover for China’s oppressive regime as it attempts to shirk responsibility for the global coronavirus pandemic. Despite all evidence to the contrary, Chinese authorities are weaving a false counternarrative in which China was actually the victim of a foreign virus that it quickly moved to contain. And the WHO is helping them do it. Tedros has praised China’s “transparency” and held up the country as a model response  — even though the communist regime covered and then concealed the severity of the outbreak. Chinese authorities forced scientists who discovered the virus in December to destroy proof of the virus, U.K. newspaper The Sunday Times reported. The Chinese regime also punished doctors who tried to warn the public in the outbreak’s early stages and suppressed information about the virus online. A Chinese real estate mogul who criticized his government’s response has since gone missing. Approximately seven million people left Wuhan in January, spreading the virus all over China and all over the world, before China restricted travel to Wuhan on Jan. 22, The…

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Whitmer Orders ‘Stay Home, Stay Safe’ Lockdown for Three Weeks

Jordyn Pair

Michigan residents have been ordered to stay inside their homes as part of a “Stay Home, Stay Safe” executive order, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced on Monday.

The order, effective at 12:01 a.m. on March 24, prohibits people leaving their home unless they are engaged in an outdoor activity, performing necessary tasks like going to a hospital or grocery store, or are part of an industry deemed essential. The lockdown will be in place for three weeks.

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Alabama Now Provides Negative Coronavirus Testing Data

Jordyn Pair

Alabama is now providing aggregated data for the coronavirus pandemic, state officials told The Michigan Star earlier this week.

Per Section 1702 of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention requires states to provide “aggregated data on testing and results from State and local public health departments.” Aggregated data includes both positive and negative test results.

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Ohio Governor DeWine Orders State Hiring Freeze, Dodges Abortion Questions

Samantha Witwer

In his daily press briefing Monday, Governor Mike DeWine declared a hiring freeze for State of Ohio employees to, in part, deal with the revenues shortfall caused by the statewide “Stay at Home” shutdown due to the Chinese Virus outbreak.

“State revenue will continue to go down dramatically and it’s important as governor that we take action now and not wait,” DeWine said.

In addition to new hires, the governor halted pay increases and promotions for state of Ohio unclassified and exempt staff and a freeze on new contract services for the state of Ohio – with the exception for those services that are necessary for the emergency response.

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Dr. Manny Sethi Weighs in On Current State Shutdowns and Legislation, Assures ‘We Will Get Through This’

Julie Carr

At the top of the second hour of on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy, Dr. Manny Sethi said he believed that the main issue right now is testing and reporting on negative testing in order to help track the coronavirus. He did, however, advise listeners that we can’t let fear rule our decisions and that he believes in his heart that we will as a nation make it through this.

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Gov. Walz Self-Quarantines After Contact with COVID-19 Patient

Anthony Gockowski

  Gov. Tim Walz announced Monday morning that he is in self-quarantine at the Governor’s Residence after contacting someone with the coronavirus. “After learning I had contact with someone who has COVID-19, I plan to lead by example and work from home. I currently have no symptoms and will continue working tirelessly to combat the spread of COVID-19,” Walz said on Twitter. After learning I had contact with someone who has COVID-19, I plan to lead by example and work from home. I currently have no symptoms and will continue working tirelessly to combat the spread of COVID-19. #StayHomeMN — Governor Tim Walz (@GovTimWalz) March 23, 2020 He later revealed that a member of his “dedicated” security detail tested positive for COVID-19 late Sunday night. “He did everything exactly right. I had been with him a few days prior, so according to the CDC and Minnesota Department of Health regulations, I am self-quarantined with my family here. We are operating everything as normal,” the governor said in a video message later in the day. This isn’t a typical Monday morning but we’re still hard at work to combat the #COVIDー19 crisis. Minnesotans have been through long winters before, we’ll get…

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Klobuchar’s Husband Hospitalized After Testing Positive for COVID-19

Anthony Gockowski

Sen. Amy Klobuchar said Monday that her husband (pictured right) has been hospitalized after testing positive for the coronavirus.

Klobuchar said her family received the test results early Monday morning and said her husband, John, is currently “cut off from all visitors.”

He started to feel sick when the senator was in Minnesota and he was in Washington, D.C. for his teaching job. According to Klobuchar, her husband was “checked into a hospital in Virginia” after he “started coughing up blood.”

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