U.S. Will Pay $1.95 Billion for 100 Million Doses of Coronavirus Vaccine Doses

The federal government pledged $1.95 billion for an order of up to 600 million doses of a coronavirus vaccine, which is set to enter key large-scale trials in the coming weeks. The average cost of a dose based on this deal is $3.25.

American pharmaceutical company Pfizer and German partner BioNTech announced the deal in a press release Wednesday. The companies are on track to produce 100 million doses by the end of the year and potentially 1.3 billion doses by 2022.

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Keith Ellison’s Son Appears to Berate Officers Suffering From PTSD

Minneapolis City Council Member Jeremiah Ellison, the son of Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, berated cops who are presently away from the job as many of those officers suffer from PTSD related to the George Floyd riots.

Ellison placed the blame for the recent uptick in violence squarely on cops recently, as he suggested that law enforcement has abandoned the city amidst his own council’s attempts to abolish the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD). He then suggested that officers are lying about having PTSD because they hate the citizens of Minneapolis. Although he hedged this claim almost immediately, his words drew a sharp response from the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association (MPPOA).

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Ohio Dems Want Nuclear Bailout Law Repealed as Scandal Grows

A nuclear plant bailout law should be repealed immediately, Democratic members of the Ohio House announced Wednesday as a bribery scandal involving one of the state’s most powerful lawmakers unfolded over the law’s passage.

The announcement came a day after Larry Householder, the Republican speaker of the Ohio House, and four associates were arrested in a $60 million federal bribery case connected to the taxpayer-funded bailout.

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Leading Ohio Republicans Ask Larry Householder to Resign After His Recent FBI Arrest

Leading Ohio Republicans have called on Speaker of the House Larry Householder (R-Glenford) to resign after his recent arrest for allegedly participating in a $60 million bribery scheme.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) arrested Householder along with Matt Borges, the former Ohio Republican Party chairman; Jeffrey Longstreth, a longtime political strategist for Householder; Neil Clark, the former budget director for the Ohio Republican Caucus; and Juan Cespedes, a Columbus lobbyist.

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Commentary: President Trump Is Ending the Obama-Biden Regulation to Rezone Neighborhoods Along Income and Racial Guidelines

President Donald Trump is ending the 2015 Obama-Biden era regulation Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) regulation, and has removed requirements that more than 1,200 cities and counties make changes to local zoning in order to qualify for $3 billion of annual community development block grants.

Appearing at the White House Rose Garden on July 14, President Trump called enforcement of this regulation was a “key element” of former Vice President Joe Biden’s platform for president, saying it would “abolish the suburbs…”

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States Try Again to Block Coal Sales That Trump Revived

A coalition of states, environmentalists and American Indians on Monday renewed its push to stop the Trump administration from selling coal from public lands after a previous effort to halt the lease sales was dismissed by a federal judge.

Joined by the Northern Cheyenne Tribe and several environmental groups, Democratic attorneys general from California, New York, New Mexico and Washington state filed a lawsuit challenging the administration’s coal program in U.S. District Court in Montana.

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Teachers Unions Sue DeSantis for Trying to Open Schools

The nation’s largest teachers unions filed a lawsuit Monday against the State of Florida over a department of education emergency order, which demanded schools reopen in August.

The Florida Education Association was joined by the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association in suing Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and Richard Corcoran, commissioner of the Florida Department of Education, according to a press release. DeSantis’ emergency order, issued on July 6 by the department of education, ordered all brick and mortar schools to open at least five days a week in August.

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Over Half of Americans Oppose Removing Confederate Statues, WaPo Poll Finds

More than 50% of Americans oppose removing public statues dedicated to Confederate generals, according to a Washington Post/ABC poll published Monday.

The poll showed 80% of Republicans and 56% of independents oppose removing such monuments, while 74% of Democrats support ridding the country of statues commemorating the Confederacy. Nearly 60% of white people oppose their removal, as do about half of Hispanic people, the poll found.

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Lamar Alexander Introduces Bill to Prepare for the Next Pandemic

U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, who also chairs the Senate Health Committee, this week introduced the Preparing for the Next Pandemic Act.

According to a press release that Alexander’s staff published on his website, the legislation “will maintain sufficient onshore manufacturing for tests, treatments and vaccines, and rebuild state and federal stockpiles of supplies like masks and ventilators.”

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Trump Excluding Those in U.S. Illegally from Reapportionment

President Donald Trump signed a memorandum Tuesday that seeks to bar people in the U.S. illegally from being counted in congressional reapportionment, a move that drew immediate criticism and promises of court challenges.

Trump said that “respect for the law and protection of the integrity of the democratic process warrant the exclusion of illegal aliens from the apportionment base, to the extent feasible and to the maximum extent of the President’s discretion under the law.”

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Eldorado Finishes $17.3B Buyout of Caesars Entertainment

A Nevada company that started in 1973 with a single hotel-casino in Reno announced Monday it has completed a $17.3 billion buyout of Caesars Entertainment Corp. and will take the iconic company’s name going forward as the largest casino owner in the world.

Eldorado Resorts Inc. said the combined company will now own and operate more than 55 casino properties in 16 U.S. states, including eight resorts on the Las Vegas Strip.

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Bill Hagerty Releases New TV Ad Attacking Manny Sethi

U.S. Senate candidate Bill Hagerty on Tuesday released a television ad that called out rival candidate Manny Sethi for not favoring the conservative agenda.

This, according to a press release that Hagerty’s staff posted on his campaign website that quoted campaign spokeswoman Abigail Sigler. Hagerty’s campaign specifically called Sethi out for saying one thing and doing another, “depending on where he lives and what is politically expedient at the time.”

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Michigan High School Fires Teacher After Pro-Trump Tweet

A Michigan high school is receiving backlash after it fired a teacher shortly after he tweeted “Trump is our president.”

Varsity baseball coach and social studies teacher Justin Kucera said that Walled Lake school district gave him the option of being fired or resigning after he had tweeted his support of President Trump and for reopening schools, according to the Washington Free Beacon.

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Republican Candidate Lacy Johnson Outraised Ilhan Omar in 2020’s Second Quarter

Lacy Johnson raised four times more in campaign contributions than Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05), the Democrat incumbent, during this year’s second quarter. In a recent tweet, Johnson, the leading Republican candidate, detailed that his campaign took in $2 million, while Omar’s campaign posted only $471,000 in donations.

According to the Federal Election Commission, Omar has raised 22 percent more for her campaign in total. She has taken in $3.8 million to date, while Johnson raised $3.17 million. Currently, she has $1.1 million in cash on hand, while Johnson has half that amount.

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George Floyd Riots Caused Over $6 Million in Damages to Downtown Cleveland Businesses and Property Owners

  The wave of unrest in Cleveland that followed the controversial death of George Floyd caused an estimated $6.38 million in damages to downtown businesses and property owners, according to Downtown Cleveland Alliance (DCA) President and CEO Joe Marinucci. DCA is a non-profit organization that works with downtown Cleveland entities to “make it the most compelling place to live, work and play.” Marinucci made these comments at a Cuyahoga County Board meeting on Monday, cleveland.com reports. The DCA president estimated the damages came from $3.38 million in physical property destruction and another $3 million in lost business from the May 30 riots. DCA’s numbers reflect the 103 applications, 88 from businesses and 15 from property owners, that it received as a result of the vandalism done to downtown Cleveland, according to News5Cleveland. The three top businesses that applied for the DCA’s fund for help were restaurants, retailers and fitness installations. Paul Herdeg, the deputy chief economic development officer for Cuyahoga County, told the board that these downtown Cleveland businesses accrued around $2.07 million in losses not covered by insurance, News5Cleveland reports. To help businesses damaged during the George Floyd riots, the board approved $300,000 to the DCA fund, according to…

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Minnesota Lawmakers Pass Police Accountability Package

The Minnesota Legislature passed a broad slate of police accountability measures early Tuesday that includes a ban on neck restraints like the one that was used on George Floyd before his death in Minneapolis.

The package also bans chokeholds and so-called warrior-style training, which critics say promotes excessive force. It imposes a duty to intercede on officers who see a colleague using excessive force. It changes rules on the use of force to stress the sanctity of life. It makes changes in arbitration rules affecting police unions. Officers will get more training on dealing with people with mental health issues and autism. The measure also creates a new advisory council for the state board that licenses officers.

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Jeff Hartline Commentary: I Choose Swamp Disruptor, Dr. Manny Sethi

Tennessee voters are faced with a significant choice this election cycle for U.S. Senate.  Will they choose a Lamar Alexander 2.0 candidate or will they opt for the Trumpesque outsider, Dr. Manny Sethi?

Yes, we all know that his opponent ceaselessly touts his Trump endorsement, which was understandably given as a result of his assistance in Tennessee during the 2016 election cycle.  I’m pleased to see the broken clock get one right.  After all, he ceaselessly promoted Trump’s major nemesis in the Republican senate Caucus, Mitt Romney in two previous Presidential runs.  His previous endorsements of Jeb Bush and campaign contributions to Al Gore remind us all where he has been the majority of his “political” career.  Welcome aboard, finally, Mr. Hagerty.

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Marsha Blackburn Says Recent Protests Spread COVID-19

U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn said this week that protestors caused an uptick in COVID-19 cases, and she even seemed to suggest that the media conceals that information.

Blackburn said this on her Facebook page. She said this while sharing a Washington Post article about how the United States has responded to COVID-19. The article criticized how U.S. President Donald Trump has handled the outbreak and suggested that not enough Americans are wearing masks to guard themselves against the virus.

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Crom Carmichael Discusses the Democrats Messy Control Over the Media, Schools, and Cities

Live from Music Row Monday 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 Leahy welcomed the original all-star panelist Crom Carmichael to the studio.

During the third hour, Carmichael weighed in on the media, re-opening schools in the fall and the chaos in Portland, Oregon.

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Christopher Nolan’s ‘Tenet’ Delayed Indefinitely by Virus

Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet,” which had hoped to herald Hollywood’s return to big theatrical releases, has yet again postponed its release due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Warner Bros. said Monday that “Tenet” will not make its August 12 release date. Unlike previous delays, the studio this time didn’t announce a new target for the release of Nolan’s much-anticipated $200 million thriller.

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US Attorney Fired by Trump Administration Awarded a Professorship at Stanford Law

Stanford Law School welcomed a former Manhattan federal prosecutor to a visiting professorship for the fall semester after he was fired by President Donald Trump in June.

Geoffrey S. Berman received his law degree from Stanford Law in 1984 and will return as a visiting professor to teach an elective course titled “Prosecutorial Discretion and Ethical Duties in the Enforcement of Federal Criminal Law,” the school announced in a Wednesday press release.

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Now Dead, ‘Men’s Rights’ Lawyer Roy Den Hollander Is the Prime Suspect in the Shooting of New Jersey Judge’s Family

A self-described “anti-feminist” lawyer found dead in the Catskills of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound is considered the prime suspect in the shooting of a federal judge’s family in New Jersey, the FBI said Monday.

Roy Den Hollander, who received media attention including appearances on Fox News and Comedy Central for lawsuits challenging perceived infringements of “men’s rights,” was found dead Monday in Sullivan County, New York, two officials with knowledge of the investigation told The Associated Press.

The FBI said Den Hollander was the “primary subject in the attack” and confirmed he had been pronounced dead but provided no other details.

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Commentary: Time to Adopt a ‘Second Tower’ Mentality

Few who were alive at the time can forget the moment the first plane hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. Over the intervening 18 minutes, people remarked that there were 10,000 people in those buildings on any given workday. And some talked about a B-25 that crashed into the Empire State Building in dense fog in 1945. Nearly all were wondering how those kinds of accidents can still happen in the 21st century. In those tense minutes, everyone knew something was terribly wrong, but they were in a First Tower Mentality.

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Guidance for Masks in Schools Varies Widely Across US States

School districts that plan to reopen classrooms in the fall are wrestling with whether to require teachers and students to wear face masks — an issue that has divided urban and rural schools and yielded widely varying guidance.

The divide has also taken on political dimensions in Iowa, among other places, where Democratic-leaning cities like Des Moines and Iowa City have required masks to curb the spread of the coronavirus, while smaller, more conservative communities have left the decision to parents.

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Minnesota Senate GOP Leader Says Deal Near on Policing Bill: ‘We Are Still Working Through the Language’

Key legislative leaders had a tentative agreement Monday on the outlines of a police accountability bill, the top Republican in the Minnesota Senate said Monday, but chances appeared dimmer for a $1.9 billion public construction projects package that has yet to win the necessary GOP support in the Democratic-controlled House.

Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka, of East Gull Lake, said the Senate planned to adjourn the special session late Monday if there was no agreement on the projects bill, also known as a bonding bill.

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Michigan’s Hillsdale College Defies Governor’s Shutdown, Holds Outdoor Commencement Ceremony

Hillsdale College hosted a three-day commencement event despite coronavirus restrictions. The private Michigan college hosted a dinner for graduates Thursday night, a party for seniors Friday night, and an outdoor graduation ceremony on Saturday.

In a statement released in April, Hillsdale College Provost Christopher VanOrman said, “We could not say goodbye to our graduating seniors without celebrating their accomplishments. We look forward to having them return to us for a three-day-long celebration.”

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Democrats Omar, Ellison, and Carson Endorse Biden Signaling Muslim Support

Several prominent Muslim American elected officials endorsed Joe Biden for president in a letter organized by Emgage Action ahead of an online summit that starts Monday and features the presumptive Democratic nominee.

Among those signing the letter, obtained by The Associated Press, are Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and Indiana Rep. Andre Carson, all Democrats.

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Ohio in the ‘Yellow Zone’ Accounting to White House Task Force Report

Ohio is in the “yellow zone” for coronavirus cases, according to a White House Coronavirus Task Force report that presents a list of suggested actions.

The July 14 report is available here. The Ohio data begins on Page 246.

The classification means Ohio had between 10 to 100 new cases per 100,000 residents the week before the report was released, and the yellow zone for test positivity, indicating a rate between 5 percent to 10 percent.

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Columbus City Council to Consider Police Hate-Group Screening Legislation

The Columbus City Council is working on legislation to screen the police for affiliations with hate groups or for harboring beliefs consistent with these groups. Last Monday, Shayla Favor, a councilmember and chair of the Criminal Justice Committee, held a meeting at which she presented the outlines of her legislative initiative. There will be another hearing at Wednesday, July 20, at 3 p.m. Favor will then finish drafting police-screening legislation and include it in a larger piece of public safety legislation that will be presented to the city council on July 27, the last meeting before the August recess.

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Gov. Whitmer Rebuffs Trump: ‘There Is No Reason for the President to Send Federal Troops’ to Detroit

President Trump on Monday threatened to send federal law enforcement into several cities, including Detroit, in order to quell continuing unrest there.

Trump recently sent federal law enforcement to Portland to break up protesters, who had approached a federal courthouse and set a fire outside of it, according to The Detroit News. He said that the federal officers had done “a fantastic job in a very short time.”

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Tech Drives Indexes Higher on Wall Street after Choppy Start

Big technology companies powered stocks higher on Wall Street Monday, adding to the market’s gains after a three-week winning streak.

The S&P 500 rose 0.84% after being down 0.3% in the early going. Gains by technology and communication stocks and companies that rely on consumer spending outweighed losses elsewhere in the market. The rally, which gained strength in the final hour of trading, nudged the benchmark S&P 500 index to a slight gain for the year and drove the Nasdaq composite to an all-time high.

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