Professor Who Lectured Brentwood High Students: ‘I Never Said That The Students Were Closed Minded And I Spoke About Privilege in a General Sense’

  The Belmont University professor who lectured Brentwood High students on Monday about privilege said in an email exchange on Tuesday that she believed The Tennessee Star story about that event portrayed her unfairly. As reported, Professor Mona Ivey-Soto introduced herself to students at Brentwood High on Monday as someone who is “very passionate about public education and what it means to transform the world.” “I pray there is a level of discomfort you might feel [because of what I say]. Why am I feeling uncomfortable and why is this pushing my buttons a certain way and what do I need to do to lean into that?” Soto told students. She also said she sees public schools as an instrument of social change. On Tuesday The Star offered Soto the opportunity to provide a complete response to our story published on Monday. In addition, we posed several follow up questions to her. Soto responded to some of our questions, and declined to respond to several others. Specifically, we asked her to clarify whether we misquoted her words. We also asked her to provide more specifics about an incident at Williamson County where she alleged that Vacation Bible School students chanted…

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Commentary: Pelosi Holds Millions of Small Businesses Hostage While Working Families Struggle

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when a lot less was known about the virus and how to counter it, and while the nation was still ramping up production of testing and hospital resources including ventilators needed, 25 million jobs were lost across the country, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

Since labor markets bottomed in April, 13.8 million jobs have been recovered, as states have begun steadily reopening in the months since.

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Music Spotlight: Reyna Roberts

I’m not sure how Reyna Roberts showed up on my Instagram feed. It was probably because Mickey Guyton reviewed a clip of her singing a cover of Carrie Underwood’s “Drinking Alone, Together.” After I picked my jaw off the ground, I immediately put Roberts on my radar because I knew her career was getting ready to take off.

Roberts was born prematurely in 1997 to U.S. military parents in Anchorage, Alaska. She was told that she could have cognitive, physical, visual, and vocal developmental delays. Because of the bleak prognosis, her family kept music as a main influence to help her improve and become successful.

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U.S. Intel Flagged Alleged Clinton Campaign Plan to Link Trump to Russian Hacking, Intel Chief Says

U.S. intelligence officials submitted an investigative referral to the FBI in September 2016 regarding an alleged plan by Hillary Clinton to link Donald Trump to Russia’s election interference efforts, according to John Ratcliffe, the director of national intelligence.

Ratcliffe noted in the letter, which he sent to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, that U.S. intelligence is not certain whether the allegation underlying the referral was based on fabrications from Russian intelligence agencies.

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Kim Gray Wants to Bring Transparency and Community Back to Richmond’s Government

Mayoral candidate Kim Gray is running to increase transparency in Richmond’s government, return to a community-based planning model, and improve Richmond’s schools. Her resume includes jobs for two former governors, eight years as a school board member, and four years as council member of Richmond’s Second District. Her political roots run to her childhood.

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Commentary: Implicit Bias Training Is a Total Waste of Taxpayer Dollars

Police officers in a majority of states are now mandated to receive “implicit bias training,” where they are informed they are subconsciously racist and must admit to and deliberately overcome their racism.

The trainings, which exploded in popularity following the Ferguson riots in 2014, directly respond to accusations that racist police officers are shooting unarmed African Americans. Following the death of George Floyd, multiple states, including Michigan, New Jersey, and Texas, joined the list of states mandating the training for all their officers.

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FBI Source’s Claim About Michael Flynn Was Inaccurate, Special Agent Said

The FBI’s lead agent on its investigation of Michael Flynn told prosecutors that a confidential source’s allegation about an incident involving the former national security adviser in 2014 was likely false, according to a government document.

Special Agent William Barnett said in an interview with a federal prosecutor on Sept. 17 that the Crossfire Hurricane team obtained the information about Flynn from a confidential human source (CHS) who provided information regarding Carter Page.

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Poll: Support for School Choice Increases by 10 Percentage Points in Four Months

A RealClear Opinion Research poll of 2,020 registered voters in August saw a 10-point increase in support of school choice policies since its last poll in April, from 67 percent to 77 percent.

The American Federation for Children describes school choice as the right for parents to use the tax dollars designated for their child’s education in a school of their choice. The tax dollars would follow the child, not be tied to a nearby school system. Funding could be used for public, private, charter, or homeschool education, whichever method the parents believes provides the best learning environment for their child.

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Christian Group Raises $500K+ for Kenosha Shooter Kyle Rittenhouse

A Christian crowdfunding site has raised over half a million dollars to help 17 year-old Kenosha, Wisconsin, shooter Kyle Rittenhouse with legal fees, New York Post reports.

The GiveSendGo site, created shortly after Rittenhouse shot three Black Lives Matter protesters, and left two dead during a violent night of unrest in Kenosha on Aug. 25. Sponsored by a group called “Friends of the Rittenhouse family,” based in Atlanta, Georgia, set an initial goal of $500,00 but had surpassed that by Monday, with nearly $523,000 in contributions.

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Court Pick Barrett Visits Senate Ahead of Confirmation Fight

President Donald Trump’s nominee for the Supreme Court, Amy Coney Barrett, was on Capitol Hill on Tuesday for a day of meetings with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and other pivotal Republican senators in preparation for her fast-track confirmation before the Nov. 3 election.

Joined by Vice President Mike Pence, McConnell said he was glad to welcome Barrett and “get the process started” on her confirmation. But the Republican leader declined to answer questions about whether the judge should recuse herself if legal challenges to the election between Trump and Democrat Joe Biden land at the high court.

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Debate Takeaways: Pugilist Trump Runs Rings Around Debate Opponents Biden and Wallace

After more than a year of circling each other, Republican President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden met on the debate stage Tuesday night in Ohio.

The 74-year-old president and the 77-year-old former vice president are similar in age, and they share a mutual dislike. But they differ starkly in style and substance. All of that was evident from the outset on the Cleveland stage.

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Joe Biden Staffer Suggests Orthodox Catholics, Jews and Muslims Shouldn’t Be on Supreme Court

One of Joe Biden’s staffers suggested Monday that Orthodox Catholics, Jews, and Muslims should be disqualified from serving on the Supreme Court due to their “intolerant” views.

Biden campaign Deputy Data Director Nikitha Rai criticized Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett’s religious views in a Twitter conversation Monday night with Brookings Institute Senior Fellow Shadi Hamid.

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Lawmakers, Superintendents Blindsided by Tennessee Department of Education Learning Loss Projections

Tennessee Department of Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn’s announcement of COVID-19-related learning loss projections for Tennessee students took state lawmakers and school superintendents by surprise.

In a joint news conference with Gov. Bill Lee last week, Schwinn announced Tennessee students are expected to face learning loss of 50% in English and 65% in math, stressing the importance of in-person learning. Projections were based on national research and early results of beginning-of-year student checkpoint assessments in Tennessee.

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Kuwait Ruler, Longtime Diplomat Sheikh Sabah, Dies at Age 91

Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah, the ruler of Kuwait who drew on his decades as the oil-rich nation’s top diplomat to push for closer ties to Iraq after the 1990 Gulf War and solutions to other regional crises, died Tuesday. He was 91.

In a Middle East replete with elderly rulers, Sheikh Sabah stood out for his efforts at pushing for diplomacy to resolve a bitter dispute between Qatar and other Arab nations that continues to this day.

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Biden’s Texas Political Director Implicated in Massive Mail-In Ballot Harvesting Scheme in Harris County

A Biden Campaign operative in Texas is attempting to rig the 2020 election with the help of others in a massive ballot harvesting scheme, according to two private investigators who testified under oath that they have “video evidence, documentation and witnesses” to prove it. With the help of mass mail-in ballots, the illegal ballot harvesting operation could harvest 700,000 ballots, one Harris County Democrat operative allegedly bragged.

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TRUMPDATE: Latest From the Trump Team Virginia Campaign for September 30

Welcome to the Wednesday edition of our daily Virginia Trump campaign update! We will provide our readers with daily updates on the Trump Virginia campaign from today to November 3 (and after…if need be!).

It’s officially 34 days until the election on November 3 – and 31 days until early voting in Virginia closes. The deadline to register to vote in time for the 2020 election is October 13.

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Ohio, General Motors Reach Deal on Failed Tax Incentives in Lordstown

General Motors must repay $28 million in tax credits and invest $12 million in the Mahoning Valley following its closure of its Lordstown assembly place, the Ohio Development Services Agency said Monday.

GM received $60.3 million in tax credits in exchange for a commitment to retain 3,700 employees in Lordstown. The company closed the plant and did not maintain its commitment to retain the jobs through 2028.

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Virginia Department of Health Launches New Pandemic Metrics Dashboard

The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) on Monday launched a new pandemic metrics dashboard with more specific, aggregated data to show where COVID-19 is spreading in Virginia’s different regions and any changes occurring over time. 

The new dashboard will be updated weekly and features three different tabs: About the Data, Daily Region Metrics, Weekly Transmission Extent. Additionally, School Metrics from the CDC are included within the dashboard.  

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Detroit City Council Greenlights $200,000 Facial Recognition Contract

The Detroit City Council on Tuesday approved a contract supporting facial recognition in Detroit, even after a vast majority of public comments were in opposition to the measure.

The measure, approved by a 6-3 vote, approves spending $219,984 to cover costs associated with upgrades and maintenance. The council’s vote was preceded by a morning protest and an hour of public comment from residents opposing facial recognition, arguing the technology is “racist.”

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House Leader Calls for ‘Full and Robust Investigation’ of Minneapolis Voter Fraud Allegations

In a letter sent Monday, House Minority Leader Kurt Daudt called on Secretary of State Steve Simon to conduct a “full and robust investigation” following allegations of systemic voter fraud in Minneapolis.

The letter was issued in response to a Project Veritas video released Sunday night that accused Rep. Ilhan Omar’s campaign of running a ballot-harvesting scheme out of two Minneapolis high-rises. A source quoted in the video claimed that one of Omar’s staffers is central to the operation and even pays voters for their ballots.

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Former Michigan Secretaries of State Sue Benson Over Absentee Ballot Counting

Two former GOP secretaries of state are suing current Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson over a recent ruling that allows the department to count absentee ballots that arrive after Election Day.

Michigan Court of Claims Judge Cynthia Stephens ruled earlier this month that absentee ballots postmarked for November 2 can still be counted as valid even if they arrive up to two weeks after polls close on Election Day, a temporary rule for this election that goes against normal procedure, which generally allows absentee ballots to only be counted if they arrive before 8 p.m. on Election Day.

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Portsmouth NAACP Tries Again to File Charges Against Council Members Moody, Psimas

The Portsmouth Magistrate has again rebuffed Portsmouth NAACP leaders in attempts to file charges against Portsmouth council members Bill Moody and Elizabeth Psimas. NAACP branch President James Boyd and Vice President Louie Gibbs went to the magistrate on Friday to present emails that they said showed Moody and Psimas committing a misdemeanor violation of the city charter.

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Maury County Mayor Andy Ogles Tells Bill Lee and John Cooper That it’s Time to Open up Tennessee

 

Maury County Mayor Andy Ogles said Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee and Nashville Mayor John Cooper can heal an economy wounded after COVID-19, and Ogles said now is the time to do so.

Simply put, Ogles said Middle Tennessee is Tennessee’s economic engine and what happens there reverberates throughout the rest of the state. He also said it’s time for the state to go back to what life was like February, before COVID-19 impacted the United States. Ogles also said it’s safe to do so.

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Outbreak in the NFL: Three Tennessee Titans Players, Five Personnel Test Positive for COVID-19

The Tennessee Titans suspended in-person activities through Friday after the NFL says three Titans players and five personnel tested positive for the coronavirus, becoming the first COVID-19 outbreak of the NFL season in Week 4.

The outbreak threatened to jeopardize the Titans’ game this weekend against the Pittsburgh Steelers and posed the first significant in-season test to the league’s coronavirus protocols.

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JUDGE: Tennesseans Who Live with a Virus-Susceptible Person May Mail Their Ballot

A judge has ruled that Tennessee officials have to change the absentee ballot application again to reflect their promise to let voters cast mail ballots if someone in their household has an underlying health condition that makes them more susceptible to COVID-19.

In her decision Friday, Davidson County Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle sided with arguments from the plaintiffs in a months-long absentee voting lawsuit. They pointed out that a deputy attorney general made the eligibility commitment for co-habitants in response to multiple questions in front of the state Supreme Court last month.

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Nashville Mayor Announces Review Committee to Select New Police Chief

Nashville Mayor John Cooper announced Monday that Metro Human Resources members have finalized a review committee to find the city’s next police chief.

Cooper said this in a press release that his staff published on the Metro Nashville website.

As The Tennessee Star reported last month, former Metro Nashville Police Chief Steve Anderson vacated his position much sooner than he previously stated he would — without explaining. Left-wing activists and Metro Council members pushed for either Anderson to resign or for Cooper to fire him.

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Commentary: The Renewable Fuel Standard is not ‘Pro-Farmer’

With the election around the corner, the D.C. swamp is hard at work.  Various special interests are trying to make their pet issue look like an election asset or liability.  One interest group working overtime is the biofuel lobby.  The federal Renewable Fuel Standard – or RFS – is often falsely labeled as a “pro-farmer” energy policy that helps the Heartland.

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Trump Campaign Sues to Block Mail-in Expansions in North Carolina

President Donald Trump’s campaign and the Republican National Committee on Saturday filed suit to prevent North Carolina officials from adopting measures that would allow a greater number of absentee ballots to be counted in November.

The State Board of Elections said Tuesday that it would allow November ballots with incomplete information to be fixed without requiring the voter to redo their ballot, leading Republicans to file suit arguing that the system would lead to “fraud, coercion, theft, and otherwise illegitimate voting,” the Associated Press reported.

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Amazon to Kick Off Holiday Shopping with October Prime Day

Amazon is aiming to kickstart the holiday shopping season early this year.

The company is holding its annual Prime Day over two days in October this year, after the pandemic forced it to postpone the sales event from July. It’s the first time Prime Day is being held in the fall, and Amazon is positioning it as a way to get people to start their holiday shopping.

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Trump, Biden Prepare to Debate Tuesday as National Tensions Rise

In an election year like no other, the first debate between President Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger, Joe Biden, could be a pivotal moment in a race that has remained stubbornly unchanged in the face of historic tumult.

The Tuesday night debate will offer a massive platform for Trump and Biden to outline their starkly different visions for a country facing multiple crises, including racial justice protests and a pandemic that has killed more than 200,000 Americans and cost millions of jobs.

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Federal Judge Blocks TikTok Ban, Giving Chinese App an Opening to Settle Deal with Oracle

A federal judge blocked the Trump administration’s attempt to block TikTok Sunday, giving the Chinese social media platform an opportunity to forge a deal with Oracle.

The decision gives TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, more time to approve a deal with Oracle and Walmart, media reports show. Judge Carl Nichols’s decision came hours before President Donald Trump’s ban of the video-streaming app was expected to take place.

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Free Speech Group Warns University After it Allowed Black Lives Matter Protest but Banned Other Gatherings

A free speech advocacy group has sent two letters to East Carolina University after the public college banned gatherings of more than 50 students, but allowed a Black Lives Matter protest on campus.

Southeastern Legal Foundation sent a letter to the North Carolina public university on September 16 seeking information on its enforcement of its coronavirus policies. After receiving no response, the public interest law group sent a follow-up letter on September 24.

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TRUMPDATE: Latest From the Trump Team Virginia Campaign for September 29

Welcome to the Tuesday edition of our daily Virginia Trump campaign update! We will provide our readers with daily updates on the Trump Virginia campaign from today to November 3 (and after…if need be!).

It’s officially 35 days until the election on November 3 – and 33 days until early voting in Virginia closes. The deadline to register to vote in time for the 2020 election is October 13.

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Rep. Ilhan Omar Linked to Cash-for-Ballots Voter Fraud Scheme in Minneapolis

U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) has been linked to a massive illegal vote-buying scheme in an elderly community in her heavily Somali district in Minneapolis. The illegal ballot harvesting operation is just the latest in a growing list of federal crimes the self-avowed democratic socialist is alleged to have committed in recent years, including marrying her brother to commit immigration fraud and student loan fraud.

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Loudoun County Does The Obama Apology Tour Rendition on Race

Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) issued an apology for operating segregated schools and for resisting efforts to integrate their schools for over a decade after the 1954 Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education that made segregated schools illegal. The apology is part of the district’s “Action Plans to Combat Systemic Racism.” The apology coincides with the 57th anniversary of the 1963 march where Martin Luther King, Jr. declared, “I have a dream.”

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