Tennessee has had an unprecedented spike in new initial unemployment claims according to data the United States Department of Labor released Thursday.
Read the full storyTennessee Unemployment Claims Go Up Dramatically
Day: March 27, 2020
Left-Wing PBS to Instruct Tennessee Children During Coronavirus Outbreak
The Tennessee Department of Education has secured a partnership with the state’s PBS stations to deliver daily educational content to public school students as the COVID-19 outbreak continues to keep them out of school.
Several organizations, including the Family Research Council, have, in the past, faulted PBS’s educational materials for what they call a left-leaning bias.
TDOE spokeswoman Victoria Robinson on Thursday said she could not describe the PBS content in detail or whether state officials are making sure it has no political biases.
Read the full storyCommentary: Senate Paves Road to Reopening the Economy with Coronavirus Relief Bill, But When Will States Reopen Schools?
By a vote of 96-0, the U.S. Senate has passed a $2.2 trillion legislative package, by far the largest in U.S. history, to keep tens of millions of Americans on payroll and expand unemployment benefits to those who are laid off while the country waits out the deadly Chinese coronavirus that poses additional risk to seniors and those with underlying conditions.
That way, when the virus passes, those businesses, particularly the 30 million small businesses that are struggling most of all right now, but also critical industries, will be able to rapidly reopen and we can get back to our lives.
Read the full storyMark Green: COVID-19 Bill Has Pork and Will Create Debt, But it Will Jumpstart the Economy
U.S. Rep. Mark Green, (R-TN-07) said Thursday there are some unfortunate realities about the pending $2 trillion federal stimulus bill, but he also said the country needs Congress to pass it.
Read the full storyAfter Kicking Out Students to Combat Coronavirus, Harvard Mulls Using Empty Dorms as Homeless Shelters
When Harvard told students to leave its dorms for the rest of the spring term earlier in March, most would have expected that they would be empty until the fall. But if some students have their way, the dorms will soon be filled with a new kind of resident.
Read the full storyChinese Propaganda Has Infected the U.K.’s Daily Mail Coronavirus Coverage
The Daily Mail, the popular British tabloid widely read in the United States, has published dozens of articles in recent months about coronavirus that were based on stories originating from People’s Daily, the communist party’s official newspaper, and other Chinese propaganda mills.
Read the full storyCommentary: America’s Amazing Neighborhood Response to the Coronavirus
The coronavirus has triggered a disruption of ordinary life most of us would’ve considered unimaginable a few weeks ago. Some jobs have vanished as if by a cruel magician’s trick; others have mutated beyond recognition. Parents have become school teachers, while school teachers struggle to find how best to continue practicing their profession from behind computer screens.
Read the full storyTrump Admin Plans to Identify COVID-19 Hotspots So Low-Risk Areas Can Reopen
President Donald Trump said Thursday that his administration is working on a county-level approach to the coronavirus that will enable the government to identify hotspots across the nation.
Doing so will allow social distancing measures to be relaxed or tightened based on the number of confirmed cases in each county, Trump said in a letter sent Thursday to the nation’s governors.
Read the full storyMexican Protesters Block Border Traffic, Tell Americans to ‘Stay At Home’
In a seemingly-paradoxical turn of events, Mexican protesters on Wednesday blocked incoming traffic at the U.S. southern border, demanding their government do more to restrict American travel into their country.
A group of about a dozen protesters, holding signs and wearing face masks, used two vehicles to block southbound traffic coming out of a U.S.-Mexico port of entry near Nogales, Arizona, according to a report from the Arizona Republic. The protesters said their stunt was meant to highlight the dangers posed by incoming U.S. residents who may carry the coronavirus.
Read the full storyTennessee Right To Life Calls on Governor Bill Lee to Halt Elective Abortions in Tennessee
In an email and website campaign Thursday, Tennessee Right To Life called on Governor Bill Lee to halt elective abortions in Tennessee.
Read the full storyCarol Swain Describes the Inspiration Behind Her Recent Op-Ed on Governor Cuomo’s Sudden Appreciation for the Sanctity of Human Life
Live from Music Row Thursday morning on 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. – Leahy was on the newsmakers line by all-star panelist Dr. Carol Swain.
Read the full storyWhite House Coronavirus Coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx Forcefully Rejects Doomsday Scenario
Dr. Deborah Birx, the coordinator of the White House task force on coronavirus, took a crack Wednesday at scientific models that have projected doomsday scenarios for the coronavirus pandemic, saying the estimates do not take into account adjustments made to stop the spread of the virus.
“And I think the numbers that have been put out there are actually very frightening to people,” Birx said of some of the models that have projected that between 50% to 60% of the population could become infected.
Read the full storyOhio Health Director Amy Acton Dismisses Trump Admin County-Level Risk Assessment
In the coronavirus press briefing Thursday, Ohio Health Director Amy Acton dismissed the Trump Administration’s plan for a county-level approach to identify hotspots throughout the country, and instead asserted that as many as 8,000 new cases per day would be diagnosed as early as May 1.
Read the full storyCommentary: Coronavirus Exposes Just How Antiquated and Unworkable the Michigan Education System Really Is
The coronavirus has thrown our entire society in disarray, and no less poignant an example exists than our K-12 public schools. The closure of schools across the country has stopped the normal learning process dead in its tracks. In a valiant attempt to continue, many districts have sought to leverage long distance learning. Unfortunately, weaknesses in the law, technological infrastructure, and teacher preparation, as well as inequities among students, are barriers to success. For example, the Michigan Department of Education has announced that under the law, virtual learning will not count for funding purposes as “seat time.”
Read the full storyOhio Gov. DeWine: Investigation Ongoing While Abortion Clinics Clearly Violate Order
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said during Thursday’s COVID-19 press briefing that an investigation is ongoing relative to abortion clinics in violation of the Department of Health order that cancelled all elective surgeries.
Read the full storyOhio Hit Harder with Unemployment Than Other States
Ohio was hit harder with unemployment filings than other states during the immediate aftermath of the coronavirus.
The U.S. Department of Labor reported Thursday that 3.28 million claims were filed in the week that ended March 21. That marked an increase of more than 3 million claims over the week prior, when 282,000 claims were filed, The Ohio Star reported.
Ohio’s claims totaled 187,784, the Cincinnati Enquirer said, up from 7,046 the previous week.
Read the full storyMichigan’s Gov. Whitmer Asks Trump for Major Disaster Declaration
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has submitted a request to President Trump to ask him for a major disaster declaration, which would allow the state to aid its residents in a variety of ways.
If granted in full, the declaration would allow the state to provide meals for families in need, rental assistance and temporary housing, as well as funding for field hospitals and mental health support.
Read the full storyStar Tribune Was Refusing to Run Ad Warning of Economic Consequences of Walz’s Coronavirus Response
The Star Tribune initially refused to run an advertisement in its print edition that was critical of Gov. Tim Walz’s “severe reactions” to the coronavirus pandemic.
Read the full storyMinnesota Had 116,000 New Unemployment Claims Last Week
Minnesota has seen 182,000 workers apply for unemployment insurance since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) Commissioner Steve Grove said Thursday.
Read the full storyTennessee Volunteers Step Up to Make Masks to Support Medical Personnel
Tennesseans have stepped up volunteer efforts to make masks to support medical personnel during the period of high demand and needs relating to the COVID-19 outbreak.
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