U.S. Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee said the United States should rely less on China for pharmaceutical drugs, especially because of the coronavirus, and she will file legislation Wednesday to help make that happen.
Read the full storyMonth: March 2020
Commentary: We Better Hope Warmer Weather Stops the Chinese Coronavirus Soon
“It is not yet known whether weather and temperature impact the spread of COVID-19. Some other viruses, like the common cold and flu, spread more during cold weather months but that does not mean it is impossible to become sick with these viruses during other months. At this time, it is not known whether the spread of COVID-19 will decrease when weather becomes warmer. There is much more to learn about the transmissibility, severity, and other features associated with COVID-19 and investigations are ongoing.”
Read the full storyManny Sethi Says It’s Time to Stop Relying on China for Medicine
U.S. Republican senatorial candidate Manny Sethi, citing national security, said Tuesday that America should not depend on China for pharmaceutical products, and America should also secure its own supply chain of medicine.
Read the full storyTrump Administration Aims to Calm Coronavirus Fears on Economic, Health Fronts
President Donald Trump announced Monday evening that he will push Congress for a payroll tax cut to stem concerns about the coronavirus that sent the stock market into a spiral earlier in the day.
Read the full storyICE Arrests Alleged Illegal Alien Rapist After Boston Authorities Released Him
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers have arrested an illegal alien living who was charged with rape and larceny in Boston, and is believed to have been living in the U.S. unlawfully for nearly 20 years.
Read the full storyNational Guard Sent Into New York Suburb to Control Coronavirus
Gov. Andrew Cuomo has called out the National Guard to help set up a containment zone in the New York City suburb of New Rochelle, which the governor says contains the country’s largest cluster of coronavirus cases.
Read the full storySix WSMV Employees Self-Isolate Over Possible Coronavirus Exposure at Country Music Television Telethon, Report Says
Scoop: Nashville reported Tuesday that WSMV has ordered six employees to self-isolate for 14 days at home after they were potentially exposed to the coronavirus.
Read the full storyCoronavirus Fears Lead to $40M Loss in Bookings for Ryman Hospitality Properties
Nashville-based Ryman Hospitality Properties Inc. estimates it has lost about $40 million in revenue over fears of the coronavirus.
Read the full storyUS Begins Troop Drawdown Amid Deepening Afghan Political Crisis
ISLAMABAD – Officials in Afghanistan say a presidential decree is expected to be issued Tuesday that would set in motion the process of releasing thousands of Taliban prisoners as the U.S. military begins a troop drawdown in the country—steps outlined in a deal with the Islamist insurgent group aimed at ending the nearly 19-year-old war.
Read the full storySanders Campaign Says Pro-Bernie Imam’s Remarks Are ‘Offensive And Toxic’
The Bernie Sanders campaign distanced itself Tuesday from “offensive and toxic” remarks from a Muslim cleric who spoke at a rally for the presidential candidate Saturday.
Read the full storyFormer Munford City Manager Allegedly Used City Vehicle for Peculiar and Illegal Purposes, Tennessee Comptrollers Say
The Tipton County Grand Jury this month indicted the city of Munford’s former city manager after Tennessee Comptrollers said they uncovered a bizarre scheme that allegedly enabled him to profit off of a city-owned vehicle.
Read the full storyState Senator Kerry Roberts: President Trump Impressed as Tornado Response Proves Tennesseans Live Up to the Volunteer State
On Tuesday’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. – Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed his weekly regular guest Tennessee State Senator Kerry Roberts (R-Springfield.)
Read the full storySong Suffragettes Celebrate 6th Anniversary at The Listening Room
NASHVILLE, Tennessee – Nashville’s all-female, singer-songwriter collective, Song Suffragettes, celebrated their milestone sixth anniversary on Monday with two rounds featuring nine women singer-songwriters including Grand Ole Opry star Jeannie Seely.
Read the full storyCommentary: Now Is the Perfect Time to Cut Education Spending
Leftists love to label those who favor cutting education spending as “anti-children,” “anti-public school,” and basically, “anti-education.” That’s because leftists are the ones benefiting most from the increases in education spending that have, until recently, been mandated like clockwork.
Read the full storyBiden Defeats Sanders in Michigan Primary, President Trump Sees Massive Turnout
Former Vice President Joe Biden won Michigan’s Democratic presidential primary Tuesday night, delivering a fatal blow to the campaign of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT).
Read the full storyMinneapolis Mayor Declared Tuesday ‘Abortion Provider Appreciation Day’ to ‘Celebrate’ Local Abortionists
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey followed St. Paul’s lead in declaring Tuesday “abortion provider appreciation day” in the city.
Read the full storyOhio State University Temporarily Suspends In-Person Classes
Ohio State University announced Tuesday that the school is suspending in-person classes on campus until March 30.
Read the full storyState Officials Activate Michigan Joint Information Center in Preparation for Coronavirus
State officials activated the Michigan Joint Information Center on Tuesday in order to assist state communications about the spread of the coronavirus disease.
There are currently no known cases of the coronavirus in Michigan.
The JIC allows responding public information officers across the state to post and access the latest verified information.
Read the full storyMinnesota Republicans Introduce Bill to Strip Funding from Libraries That Host ‘Drag Queen Story Hour’
A bill introduced Monday in the Minnesota House would pull public funding from libraries that host “drag queen story hour” performances for children.
Read the full storyMichigan School Removes ‘Redskins’ Mascot
A Michigan school has voted to get rid of its “Redskins” mascot and nickname, citing division in the community.
Read the full storyTennessee Government Relents to Pressure, Reveals County-By-County Location of State’s Seven Coronavirus Cases
The Tennessee Department of Health has backed down from its secret government stance — by a little — and released the county-by-county location of the state’s seven confirmed coronavirus cases.
The TDH and Gov. Bill Lee for two days had refused to say which counties had coronavirus COVID-19 cases. Late Tuesday evening, TDH acknowledged intense public criticism when it issued this statement:
The Tennessee Department of Health has announced updated case management protocol regarding confirmed cases of COVID-19 in a continued effort to keep communities informed while also maintaining patient privacy.
Read the full storySome Senate Republicans Might Not Go Along with Lamar Alexander on Surprise Medical Billing
Some Republicans in the U.S. Senate are reportedly drifting toward another surprise medical billing proposal, one that differs from what U.S. Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee has to offer.
This, according to ModernHealthcare.com, which reported some of these Republican senators have competitive re-election races this year.
“As a May 22 deadline to fund expiring healthcare programs gets closer, several vulnerable GOP senators have announced their support for a surprise billing proposal pushed by Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) that has been shelved by committee leadership. Sens. Martha McSally (R-Ariz.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas) announced their support for Cassidy’s bill on Feb. 11, and Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) followed suit on March 3,” according to the website.
Read the full storyJoe Biden Snaps at Detroit Worker: ‘You’re Full of Sh–‘
Former Vice President Joe Biden lost his temper Tuesday after a Detroit auto worker accused him of “actively trying to end our Second Amendment rights.”
Read the full storyTennessee Officials Give $1 Million to the Cleveland/Bradley Industrial Development Board Hoping to Attract New Business
Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development officials last week reportedly gave a $1 million grant to the Cleveland/Bradley Industrial Development Board.
This, for a 30-acre pad-ready site to attract new companies to come to the area’s Spring Branch Industrial Park.
Read the full storyCommentary: Antifa’s Most Important Enabler Is Its Legal Arm, the National Lawyers Guild
Antifa violence will feature prominently in the lead-up to this year’s election. The left-wing movement’s numbers skyrocketed following President Trump’s 2016 victory and campaign staffers for Bernie Sanders have already predicted serious street violence should Trump win again.
Same goes for a Sanders primary loss. As another staffer recently predicted, this year’s Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee will be rife with attacks on police; enough, apparently, to make the infamous 1968 convention in Chicago “look like a f—ing Girl Scout f—ing cookout.”
Read the full storyCarmichael Predicts a Biden Versus Trump Race Will Be About Voting on Feelings or Policies
Monday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast live from Music Row on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – Leahy was joined in studio by the all-star panelist Crom Carmichael.
Near the end of the second hour, Carmichael differentiated between a Biden versus Trump campaign citing that Biden’s would be one of feelings and Trump’s as policies. He made an important point noting that Trump has brought back manufacturing jobs leading to more jobs and higher pay within the Black and Latino communities without the use of Obama’s “magic wand.”
Read the full storyRussia Wages an Oil War Against Saudi Arabia and US Amid Coronavirus Concerns
Oil prices dropped Monday as Saudi Arabia and Russia haggle over whether to reduce crude production amid fears that coronavirus will hamper air travel and potentially wreck the global economy.
Prices fell into the $30s as the Saudis push for a cut in output to prop up prices, while Russia went the other way, and decided to infuse the market with hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil, according to The Washington Post. Moscow is worried that the U.S. will use shale oil to take advantage if Saudi Arabia ease off production.
Read the full storyLeahy Discusses Direct Instruction and Its Proven Effectiveness
A government-funded, seven-year study released in 1977 looked at 15 different methods of teaching reading, writing, and arithmetic. The study found that fourteen of them didn’t do so well. But one of them did spectacularly well in terms of its effectiveness. That method is called, Direct Instruction.
“There was only one system that had dramatic improvements and was by far the most effective,” said Leahy on Monday morning’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.
Read the full storySenator Cory Booker Endorses Joe Biden over Bernie Sanders on the Eve of Critical Primaries
New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker voiced support Monday for former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden’s bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, his latest former challenger to endorse him just ahead of six state primary elections he faces Tuesday against Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Read the full storyBernie Sanders’s Newest Campaign Adviser Wants to Abolish Prisons, Appeared to Float 9/11 Conspiracy Theory
Democratic 2020 candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders has hired Phillip Agnew as a campaign adviser, promoting an individual who supports the abolishment of prisons and has a history of making inflammatory comments.
The Sanders campaign announced on Saturday that Agnew — who was already serving as a top campaign surrogate — has been hired on as a senior adviser. Agnew notably works as a co-director for Dream Defenders, a far-left group that advocates for the abolishment of prisons and police, the end of capitalism, and supports open borders.
Read the full storyReport: Taxpayers Billed up to $133,000 per Refugee Resettled in U.S.
Breitbart reports, “American taxpayers are billed up to $133,000 per refugee resettled in the United States over the course of a lifetime, a new study reveals.”
In a recent report on the costs to U.S. citizens for its welcoming immigration and refugee policies, the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) finds that each refugee resettled in the U.S. especially those in the United States illegally, and use social welfare programs cost American taxpayers anywhere on average between $60,000 and $133,000 over the course of a lifetime.
Read the full storyCommentary: California Is a Cruel Medieval State
One way of understanding California is simply to invert traditional morality. What for centuries would be considered selfish, callous, and greedy is now recalibrated as caring, empathetic, and generous. The current ethos of evaluating someone by his or her superficial appearance – gender or race – has returned to the premodern values of 19th-century California when race and gender calibrated careers. We don’t pay medieval priests for indulgences of our past and ongoing sin, but we do tweet out displays of our goodness as the penance price of acting amoral.
Read the full storyIllegal Immigrant Sentenced in Columbus Helped Imprisoned Members of MS-13
An illegal immigrant who was helping imprisoned members of MS-13 in Columbus, Ohio was sentenced to 10 months in prison last week.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio said Wednesday that Fabian Posadas-Mejia will receive a year of supervised release after his prison term and will be subject to deportation upon completing his sentence.
Authorities said they first encountered Posadas-Mejia nearly 25 years ago when he was ordered to be removed from the United States. He was then deported twice in 2014 and once in 2017, meaning he illegally reentered the country at least three times.
Read the full storyMichigan Democratic Party Files FEC Complaint Against John James Campaign
The Michigan Democratic Party has filed an FEC complaint against Republican Senate candidate John James and a “dark money” group for alleged “illegal coordination.”
Read the full storyMeshawn Maddock Commentary: Michigan Women Will Thrive Under Four More Years of Trump
The Democrats are wasting their time campaigning in Michigan. With everything that President Trump has done for the Great Lake State, there’s just not much they can offer us.
As a proud Michigander, I couldn’t imagine casting my ballot for anyone other than the President who engineered the Great American Comeback that has done so much to revive our state’s fortunes.
Read the full storyOhio State University Agrees to Settle 11 of 18 Lawsuits Stemming from Strauss Allegations
Ohio State University said it has reached settlements with parties in 11 of 18 lawsuits filed against the school related to accused sex abuser Richard Strauss, but the agreements do not require taxpayer funds.
The lawsuits represent “nearly half of the individuals who have brought claims against the university,” the school said in a news release.
The settlements did not use taxpayer, tuition or donor funds, according to the release. Funds come from existing institutional discretionary funding.
Read the full storyTina Smith Endorses Joe Biden, Calls Trump ‘Chaotic and Self-Serving’
Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden on Sunday in the race for the Democratic nomination.
Read the full storyCleveland Has 3 Cases of Coronavirus, Gov. DeWine Says, While Declaring State of Emergency in Ohio
Ohio’s first three confirmed cases of coronavirus are all in Cuyahoga County, said Gov. Mike DeWine, who announced a state of emergency on Monday.
The three patients in Cuyahoga County had contact with other people who had confirmed cases of COVID-19, DeWine said. The three patients are all in their 50s.
Read the full storyFederal Court Deals Blow to Ohio Laws Barring Driver’s Licenses to Children of Suspected Illegal Aliens
Up to 4,000 illegal aliens and refugees in Ohio without green cards may qualify for driver’s licenses thanks to a federal court striking down two state laws.
U.S. District Court Judge Edmund Sargus, for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio in Columbus, overturned two State of Ohio policies blocking up to 4,000 illegal aliens — mostly teens — from receiving driver’s licenses, Yahoo News reported.
Read the full storyMichigan House Bill Package Looks to Find $800 Million Annually to Fix Local Roads Without Tax Hike
A House bill package seeks to put about $800 million annually into local roads without a 45-cent gas tax hike or increasing future debt.
The six-bill package, if enacted, would eliminate the six percent sales tax on fuel over three years and replace it with another excise tax that would fund the 92 percent of local roads that aren’t touched by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s $3.5 billion bonding plan.
Much of that bonding money would go to repair roads in Metro Detroit.
Read the full storyMichigan Medicaid to Waive Copays, Cost-Sharing for Coronavirus Treatment
The Michigan Medicaid program will waive copays and cost-sharing for coronavirus testing and treatment, according to an announcement from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Friday.
“We must take steps to ensure every Michigander has access to the care they need to combat the spread of this disease,” Whitmer said in a statement. “That’s why the State of Michigan is stepping up by waiving fees for testing and treatment associated with coronavirus.”
Read the full storyMemphis Officials Oppose Gov. Bill Lee’s Constitutional Carry Bill
Members of the Memphis Shelby Crime Commission say they formally oppose Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Lee’s Constitutional Carry bill.
This, according to the Memphis-based WREG, which said this came about after members took a vote.
“The Crime Commission says 39 out of 49 participating members voted to oppose the governor’s gun plan,” the station reported.
Read the full storyTennessee Subcommittee Will Reconsider Ending Locksmith Licensing, if Budget Allows
A Tennessee subcommittee voted Wednesday to temporarily pass on legislation that would eliminate licensing laws for locksmiths until after the state passes its budget.
Read the full storyState Commission Report: State and Local Education Funding for K-12 Exceeded Basic Education Program Requirements by $2.1 Billion in 2017-18
According to a state commission report that studied education funding for fiscal year 2017-2018, the combined state and local government funding exceeded the Basic Education Program (BEP) funding formula by $2.1 billion.
The report, “K-12 Public Education Funding and Services,” was prepared by the Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations (TACIR) at the request of then Chairman of the House Finance, Ways and Means Committee Charles Sargent in April 2018.
Read the full storyCommentary: Like 2016, Trump Will Run Against a Democrat Who Is the Embodiment of Corruption
The candidates who most excited the punditocracy have quit the race. Over at National Review, Jim Geraghty observes that “Elizabeth Warren departs the race without finishing above third place in a single state. Beto O’Rourke, Julian Castro, Kamala Harris, Cory Booker, and Kirsten Gillibrand quit well before the voting.”
Read the full storyCommentary: A Deep Dive into the Monstrous Lie Behind CrowdStrike and the ‘Russian Hack’
Robert Mueller’s investigation into the 2016 presidential election was predicated largely on the claim Russian intelligence had hacked the Democratic National Committee’s servers ahead of the November election. Russia’s guilt is such an article of faith among our political class that a Republican-controlled Congress imposed sanctions on Russia and President Trump signed on, substantially worsening relations with an important and potentially dangerous nation.
Since those sanctions were imposed, Mueller’s team confirmed the Russian espionage they were meant to punish. Since its publication last year, the Washington establishment has treated the Mueller report almost as a sacred document.
Read the full storyOhio School Denies Threatening to Suspend Students for Flying Pro-Trump Flags
Students from the National FFA Organization (Future Farmers of America) at Coldwater High School in Ohio were informed they could not fly Trump flags on their tractors on school grounds. The school has since denied ever threatening the students with suspension should they disobey that order, The Hill reports.
Read the full storyTwitter Updates Policies, Will Now Ban Users from Mocking Boomers, Millennials and People with Coronavirus
Twitter will now include a blanket ban on using language that “dehumanizes” people on the basis of their age, the social media platform announced Thursday.
Read the full storyBiden Leads Sanders in National Polling Heading into Six-State Vote Tuesday
Former Vice President Joe Biden has a six-point lead over Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in national polling averages, according to FiveThirtyEight.com, as six more states prepare to vote Tuesday.
Read the full storyFirm Linked to Hunter Biden and Burisma Lobbied for Ukrainian Group Accused of Smearing Anti-Corruption Organization
A Democratic consulting firm linked to Hunter Biden and Burisma Holdings registered to lobby in 2017 for a Ukrainian organization that has been accused of smearing an anti-corruption group in the eastern European country, according to government records.
Read the full story