Month: April 2020

Denmark Reopens Schools After a Month of Closures

Zachery Schmidt

Denmark reopened its kindergarten and elementary schools on Wednesday after it closed all schools on March 12, according to the BBC.

The only students that went back to class are kids that are eleven years old or younger, the BBC reported. In Denmark, kids are only required to go to school between the ages of 5 and 16.

Denmark has established certain conditions for students when they returned. For instance, children are not allowed to bring toys from home, and they must have washed their hands before coming to school, the local.dk reported.

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Operation Gridlock Clogs Up Lansing in Protest of Whitmer’s Lockdown Policies

Jordyn Pair

Thousands of protesters converged on the Michigan Capitol on Wednesday to protest the most recent stay-at-home order passed down by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer earlier this month.

The protesters were part of a rally hosted by the Michigan Conservative Coalition (MCC) called “Operation Gridlock,” which sought to fill the streets of Lansing with protesters in their cars. The rally began at noon and ran until roughly 2 p.m., according to the MCC.

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DeWine Delays Three Executions Until 2022 Citing Drug Shortage

Samantha Witwer

The execution of three death row inmates was delayed Monday by Governor Mike DeWine, who said the reprieve was due to “ongoing problems involving the willingness of pharmaceutical suppliers to provide drugs to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (DRC), pursuant to DRC protocol, without endangering other Ohioans.”

The move follows a decision in January, 2019 to delay the execution of Warren Henness, after a federal judge suggested that Ohio’s current three-drug execution cocktail was unconstitutional, which lead DeWine to postpone execution dates for other men and order a review of the state’s death-penalty method.

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Bill Hagerty Named to Advisory Board to Help Trump Reopen Economy

Anthony Gockowski

U.S. Senate candidate Bill Hagerty of Tennessee announced Tuesday that he has been named to an advisory board that will help the president reopen the nation’s economy.

President Donald Trump is expected to make a formal announcement imminently on his plans to reopen the economy, but Hagerty revealed in a Tuesday statement that the president has asked him to help.

“I have always sought to answer the call to service, and in doing so, I’ve served my state as Commissioner of Economic and Community Development and served my country as the United States Ambassador to Japan. Now, President Trump has asked me to help on the economic advisory board. Team Hagerty will continue to volunteer in Tennessee as we fight the spread of the coronavirus and deal with its effects,” Hagerty said.

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Commentary: The Left Can Never Forgive Nor Forget Phyllis Schlafly

Admin

The release of the Hulu-produced movie “Mrs. America” reminds us once again of CHQ Chairman Richard A. Viguerie’s observation that Phyllis Schlafly may have been the most important conservative who was never elected to public office.

And, as Mr. Viguerie wrote on the occasion of Mrs. Schlafly’s death in 2016, it probably seems like ancient history or some obscure chapter of a long-forgotten college textbook to today’s young conservatives, but Phyllis Schlafly, perhaps even on a footing equal with Ronald Reagan, was the savior of the modern conservative movement.

The year was 1972, the month March, just three short months before the Watergate break-in that eventually brought down Richard Nixon, Congress passed the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) with substantial Republican support.

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Manny Sethi Commentary: The National Media is Wrong, It’s About Prevention Not Discrimination

Admin

The national media and the left never allow a crisis to go to waste in their attempts to divide our nation. A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study of COVID-19 recently found that over 40 percent of those who have been hospitalized are African-American and Hispanic — even though these groups make up a combined percentage of less than 27 percent of the general population. The media makes the claim that these patients are dying at higher rates and contracting the virus due to discrimination.

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Once Tennessee Economy Reopens, Will State Quarantine Patients, Trace Contacts?

Admin

With Tennessee possibly moving toward an economic reopening in May, one looming question is what, if anything, will the state do with people who continue to test positive for COVID-19, especially ensuring that they are staying quarantined.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee announced Monday he will extend the state’s stay-at-home order through April 30, but he also said government and private-sector officials are working to reopen the state’s economy in May, The Tennessee Star reported.

Lee said this at a televised press conference, adding “we are not out of the woods yet, and it could be some time [before we are].”

“Until a vaccine or a therapy is widely available to Tennesseans, this virus will be a present reality to us to manage and consider whenever we are making decisions,” Lee said.

Lee said that last month he started working with leaders of industry to understand how this pandemic would impact the state’s businesses.

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Senator Marsha Blackburn: ‘Our Message in Senate Bill 553 is to Hold China Responsible’ for Hiding Coronavirus Pandemic Information

Julie Carr

In a special interview, Tuesday 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. – host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed U.S. Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee to the newsmakers line.

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Two Million Americans Missing Mortgage Payments as Coronavirus Shutdown Takes Its Toll

Admin

Roughly 2 million homeowners in the United States have skipped their monthly mortgage payments as the coronavirus pandemic takes a heavy economic toll on the country, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association.

As more Americans are losing their jobs, being furloughed, or experiencing reduced income, a growing number of home loans are being left unpaid. The latest data from the Mortgage Bankers Association shows that many borrowers are choosing to go into forbearance, an agreement with a lender that allows them to momentarily forgo payments.

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Thales Academy Offers Free Online Coursework for K-5 Students

Jordyn Pair

Thales Academy in Tennessee is offering free online learning coursework to families in the Franklin area to help offset the government-mandated shutdown of schools considering the coronavirus, the academy announced on Wednesday.

“Our mission at Thales Academy has always been to provide the highest quality education at the lowest possible cost for as many children as possible,” said Bob Luddy, founder of Thales Academy, in a statement. “We hope by offering remote learning free of charge that Franklin area families can help their children continue to grow academically during this time and experience our strong Thales Academy curriculum firsthand.”

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Tennessee Department of Health Not Providing Number of Current COVID-19 Hospitalizations

Anthony Gockowski

The Tennessee Department of Health said 633 residents have been hospitalized with COVID-19, but that figure is a cumulative – not current – number.

“This number indicates the number of patients that were ever hospitalized during their illness, it does not indicate the number of patients currently hospitalized,” the Department of Health notes in its daily COVID-19 briefing.

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Commentary: It’s Time for the President to Address Our Economic Relaunch

Admin

It is clear that the time is approaching that will be absolutely decisive for this presidency and for the country’s near-term future. The president will have to decide on an economic relaunch plan, and this will make or break him and his opponents.

The vast amount of posturing and accusatory liberties that already surpass what is normal in even the most contentious of election years will be of no account, depending on the outcome of the president’s decision of when and how to conduct the United States back to normal life. The Democrats have advocated a lengthy shutdown, leaving plenty of room to impute to them political as well as public health motives.

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Scott DesJarlais Is ‘Impressed’ with the Way President Trump Has Dealt With the Coronavirus

Zachery Schmidt

Rep. Scott DesJarlais (R-TN-04) said on The Jeff Poor Show Monday that he supports the way President Donald Trump has been dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.

“I don’t know what they could have done differently. I think they are handling it well,” DesJarlais said.

“I am impressed with the president and his team in what they’ve done and how they are trying to salvage the economy,” the representative added. “I do think things will open up and brighter times are not far away.”

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Mark Green: Hopeful Signs for COVID-19 Vaccine, but Continue Your Social Distancing

Chris Butler

U.S. Rep. Mark Green (R-TN-07), who is also a physician, said Tuesday that researchers continue to advance toward a vaccine for COVID-19, but he also encouraged his constituents to keep up with their social distancing.

Green said this Tuesday during a Tele-Town Hall with constituents. He said recent medical literature suggests COVID-19 has a genetic component.

“There are some folks who have a different formation of the receptor on their lung lining that either allows for protection or a lack of protection for the virus inserting itself into the cells. More research is being done,” Green said.

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Ohio Health Director Amy Acton Is Preparing Volunteers to Help with Contact Tracing

Zachery Schmidt

Ohio Department of Health (ODH) Director Amy Acton announced during Monday’s press conference that the state is training volunteers to help with “contact tracing,” which is a process that helps identify people who may have contacted an infected person.

The ODH has been working with medical and professional schools to help train these volunteers in an attempt to better allocate state resources for the coronavirus.

“Let’s just say we have the testing. You want to know someone is infectious the second they are. So, the quicker you can identify them is the very first step,” Acton said.

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Whitmer Joins Coalition of 12 Governors To Ask Trump to Open Insurance Enrollment

Jordyn Pair

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has joined a coalition of 12 governors to ask President Trump to allow for a special enrollment period to allow for increased access to affordable health care.

Whitmer is joining the governors from Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin in sending a letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The letter asks for a special enrollment period of at least 30 days on the federal health care exchange.

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State Rep Nino Vitale Calls On Gov DeWine, Dr. Amy Acton to Ease Restrictions on Elective Surgery in Ohio

Samantha Witwer

State Rep. Nino Vitale (R-Urbana) issued a call to action in the form of an open letter Friday to ease restrictions and reopen hospitals and medical centers to elective surgeries in Ohio.

“My request is we allow the doctors and nurses in these fields to immediately open back up and treat Ohioans that need medical care, which is getting more and more critical by the day because of these restrictions,” Vitale wrote.

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Mark Green Describes Plan to Bring American Companies Back from China

Chris Butler

U.S. Rep. Mark Green (R-TN-07) said Monday he has sent a letter to Congressional leadership urging them to include incentives for American companies to move back from China.

Specifically, Green said in the letter that members of Congress should do this through any upcoming legislation they might consider while fighting COVID-19.

“Prior to the coronavirus outbreak, many American companies had moved their operations to the People’s Republic of China (PRC), lured by incentives like lower costs and an abundance of cheap labor. However, over the past three years, the Trump Administration and U.S. Congress have gone to great lengths to make the United States the best place in the world to do business. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act slashed taxes, the President’s energy agenda has led to cheaper utilities, and right-to-work laws have made many states more attractive,” Green said in the letter.

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Carol Swain Commentary: Ditching Rep. DeBerry Shows the True Colors of the Tennessee Democratic Party

Admin

Tennessee State Rep. John DeBerry, a black Shelby County Democrat, is an independent thinker, which at the moment makes him Public Enemy No. 1 in the eyes of the state’s Democratic Party.

Earlier this month, with most Americans distracted by the media’s nonstop coronavirus coverage, Janeita Lentz, another Shelby County Democrat and co-chair of the Memphis-Mid South Democratic Socialists of America, advanced a racist, cultist agenda. Her mission: to oust a black Democratic incumbent deemed too uppity for the Tennessee Democratic Party (TNDP) and its white overseers.

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Senators Ask State Department to Monitor Free Speech Violations Concerning Coronavirus in China, Other Countries

Jordyn Pair

Several senators across the United States have called on Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the U.S. Representative to the United Nations Kelly Craft to address concerns about free speech violations in several countries around the world.

Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), John Cornyn (R-TX), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) and Joni Ernst (R-IA) submitted the letter on Monday, pointing to crackdown on free speech concerning the coronavirus in China, as well as in Turkey, Bangladesh, Niger and Cambodia, as a reason for concern.

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Americans Overwhelmingly Favor a Pause on Immigration During Coronavirus Pandemic

Admin

A vast majority of Americans – 8 in 10 – now favor dramatic restrictions on immigration amid the coronavirus pandemic, a new survey has found.

American attitudes about the coronavirus and its impact on our way of life has changed dramatically over the course of one month, a USA Today/ Ipsos poll discovered. The survey had asked voters questions about their feelings on the coronavirus March, when the virus first began spreading through the U.S., and then posed the same questions roughly one month later.

With more than 95% of the country under lockdown orders, millions filing for unemployment benefits, and more than 22,000 deaths from the virus, the U.S. population is, by leaps and bounds, more willing to implement strong measures to combat the pandemic.

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House Republicans Request Hearing on ‘Potentially Flawed’ Coronavirus Modeling Platforms

Admin

A group of House Republicans led by Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX-21) are calling for a review of the “modeling platforms” the government has been using to make projections on the impacts of the coronavirus during the pandemic.

In a letter to House Oversight Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney (D-NY-12), the Republicans urged her to schedule a “formal hearing” to review the “conflicting data” that led to draconian decisions like the stay-at-home orders across the country.

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Clint Brewer: The Tennessee Democratic Party Needs to Take a Look at Who Represents Them in Response to DeBerry Coup

Julie Carr

At the top of the second hour on Monday’s Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy, all star panelist Clint Brewer weighed in on the recent coup against Memphis State Representative John DeBerry and commented that he finds the whole situation to be very troubling. He further went on to express his concern stating that we may have reached a point in this country where you could be removed from your party because you are working across the aisle with other legislators.

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Commentary: Wisdom In a Time of Botched Models, Bad Advice, and Deadly Illness

Admin
President Trump with Drs. Fauci and Birx

The virus will teach us many things, but one lesson has already been relearned by the American people: there are two, quite different, types of wisdom.

One, and the most renowned, is a specialization in education that results in titled degrees and presumed authority. That ensuing prestige, in turn, dictates the decisions of most politicians, the media, and public officials – who for the most part share the values and confidence of the credentialed elite.

The other wisdom is not, as commonly caricatured, know-nothingism. Indeed, Americans have always believed in self-improvement and the advantages of higher education, a trust that explained broad public 19th-century support for mandatory elementary and secondary schooling and, during the postwar era, the G.I. Bill.

But the other wisdom also puts a much higher premium on pragmatism and experience, values instilled by fighting nature daily and mixing it up with those who must master the physical world.

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‘Never Trumper’ Historian Jon Meacham Continues His Sour Patterns of Predictable Thought

Julie Carr

During the second hour of Monday’s Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy, all star panelist Crom Carmichael discussed historian Jon Meacham’s recent comments on Meet the Press where he again referenced Trump as being a monarchical ruler. Carmichael observed Meacham as a person filled with contempt and arrogance as he continues his repetitive anti-Trump narrative. He added that he thought Meacham would never speak with those who disagree with him and that for someone so intelligent, he lacks adding anything new to the conversation.

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Cuomo: Coalition of Six Northeast States Set to Announce Regional Reopening Plan

Admin
Gov. Andrew Cuomo

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said Monday morning that he feels “the worst is over” when it comes to the ongoing coronavirus crisis that has enveloped his state and the nation, and he suggested that a coalition of six Northeast states would be making a joint announcement at 2 p.m. on plans to reopen the economy in the weeks and months to come.

Speaking at his daily briefing on the pandemic, Cuomo said he had been in contact with the governors of Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Rhode Island about a regional approach to returning to normalcy.

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Crom Carmichael: Washington Journalists Ask Questions of the President of Which They Know Nothing About

Julie Carr

On Monday’s Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy, all star panelist Crom Carmichael commented on how he saw Washington journalists asking questions of the President that they themselves know nothing about. Towards the end of the show, he speculated how we would see Joe Biden as merely a prop and, if elected, would have his presidential decisions made by others with criminal intent.

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Wisconsin’s Largest Business Group Wants a Re-Opening Plan

Admin

Wisconsin’s largest business group is asking Gov. Tony Evers for a plan to reopen the state. 

Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce sent a letter to the governor asking him what comes next after his Safer at Home order ends April 24.

“To be clear, no one expects that our economy would go back to ‘business as usual’ on April 24,” WMC’s letter said. “We understand that reopening will require a very strategic and well-planned approach that, over time, phases our economy back to an operational level that existed prior to any social distancing requirements.”

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Commentary: It Took 50 States to Get to a National Lockdown and It Will Take 50 States to Open it Back Up Again

Admin

In order to combat the Chinese coronavirus and to save as many lives as possible, 42 states have issued stay at home orders, and another three have some parts of their states closed, in order to combat the Chinese coronavirus. All 50 states have schools closed. In addition, with the national emergency declared by President Donald Trump, including the overseas travel bans to China and Europe, social distancing, private sector testing and treatments being authorized on an emergency basis, the White House coronavirus task force has credited these closures in part with helping to slowing the total number of cases, which in turn has, according to the models touted by the medical community, already saved hundreds of thousands of lives.

Countries all over the world have resorted to similar national lockdowns in order to win the war on the virus. The unfortunate side effect of the closures is the U.S. and global economies have effectively been shut down except for essential services, resulting in exceptionally high levels of unemployment. In the U.S., anywhere from 17 million to 20 million jobs have already been lost, with many more to come for every week the economy remains closed.

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Ocasio-Cortez Says She Has Never Spoken to Biden, Nor Has He Asked for Her Support

Admin

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said she’s never met former Vice President Joe Biden, nor has the Democratic presidential frontrunner’s campaign reached out to the New York lawmaker for advice.

A Biden-Ocasio-Cortez rally could happen in the future, but there is a lot of fence-mending that needs to happen before such an event transpires, Ocasio-Cortez said in a New York Times interview published Monday. The progressive lawmaker intends to pressure Biden on several issues.

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Gov. Bill Lee Describes Encouraging Signs with Tennessee’s COVID-19 Situation

Chris Butler

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee said Monday that Tennessee had exactly 5,610 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and that 109 state residents had died after contracting the virus.

But Lee also said exactly 1,671 Tennesseans had recovered from the illness.

At a press conference Monday, Lee said there were reasons for optimism — but he still preached caution.

“It is encouraging as Tennessee has now had more than 10 days of single digit percentage case growth,” Lee said.

“Our aggressive testing of more than 76,195 tests has uncovered an average positivity rate between 6 percent to 8 percent consistently. Our hospitalization rate continues to be stable with 579 hospitalizations to date.”

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‘You’re Getting a Paycheck, We’re Not,’ Protestors Say of DeWine, Acton

Jason M. Reynolds

Approximately 150 people gathered outside the State Capitol in Columbus Monday to tell Gov. Mike DeWIne and Health Department Director Amy Action that it’s past time to reopen the state.

Tom Zawistowski, president of Ohio Tea Party group We the People Convention, estimated the attendance, in an interview with The Ohio Star. This was the second such protest since last Thursday.

Many of the protestors called out, “You’re getting a paycheck, we’re not,” Zawistowski said.

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Michigan Becomes First State to Offer Emergency Food Assistance for Students Through EBT

Jordyn Pair

Michigan has become the first state to gain federal approval for a program that helps families feed students who were previously relying on schools for meals.

Through the Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer Program, food assistance benefits will be given to students ages 5 to 18 who would normally be eligible for free or reduced-price school meals.

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Amash to Whitmer: ‘Immediately Reassess’ Restrictive Order; Other Resistance Grows

Admin

U.S. Rep. Justin Amash says Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s recent executive order “goes too far and will erode confidence in her leadership.”

The libertarian is referencing Whitmer’s extended and expanded executive order that banned Michiganders from traveling to a second residence inside the state through April 30, operating a motorized boat and buying furniture, paint and plants from stores larger than 50,000 square feet.

That includes the “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness” pillows in one Lansing Walmart.

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