New Unemployment Claims Decrease to 860,000, Beating Predictions

The number of Americans filing new unemployment claims decreased to 860,000 last week as the economy continues to suffer the effects of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, according to the Department of Labor.

The Department of Labor figure released Thursday represented an decrease of new jobless claims compared to the week ending on Sept. 5, in which there were 884,000 new jobless claims reported.

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Shooting Death of 17-Year-Old in Minneapolis Unrelated to Work for Lacy Johnson, Campaign Says

The victims in a Monday afternoon shooting in north Minneapolis had also worked for Republican Lacy Johnson’s congressional campaign, but the two facts are unrelated, the campaign told Alpha News.

According to a press release from the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD), officers responded to a shooting in the area of the 3800 block of Fremont Avenue North around 4:30 p.m. Monday afternoon.

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Tennessee Good Government Group Files Suit Against Williamson County Schools’ Mask Mandate

Members of a Tennessee-based group who say they fight government overreach have sued the Williamson County School (WCS) System because it mandates that its students wear masks to guard against COVID-19.

This, according to a lawsuit that Recall Williamson founder Gary Humble filed in the Williamson County Chancery Court this month. Recall Williamson members, in their lawsuit, said they want court officials to declare that WCS members breached their authority, per state law, when they mandated that students wear masks. They also said that only members of the Tennessee General Assembly — and not the state’s governor — can grant that authority to school systems.

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Commentary: Biden’s Green New Deal Will End Fracking, Make America Beholden to China

Former Vice President Joe Biden is promising to implement the Green New Deal, setting a national target for 2035 to cut carbon emissions in half in a move that would end the fossil fuel industry for transportation and electricity as we know it. That means no more oil. No more coal. And no more natural gas.

But in the same breath, Biden is attempting to persuade voters in states like Pennsylvania that he is not going to end hydraulic fracturing that makes it possible to extract petroleum and natural gas from geologic shale formations.

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More Than Half of Business Closures Caused by Economic Lockdowns Are Permanent, Yelp Data Show

More than half of American businesses that closed down due to economic lockdowns are permanently shuttered, according to data Yelp published Wednesday.

There’s been a 23% increase in the number of business closures since mid-July, with the number of permanent closures reaching 96,966, representing 60% of closed businesses that will not be reopening, the data show.

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Rasmussen Poll: Black Lives Matter Riots Turning People in Riot Zones into Trump Voters

The violent Black Lives Matter riots that rocked multiple American cities this summer have turned voters who live in those riot zones into Trump supporters, a new Rasmussen poll finds.

The latest Rasmussen Reports Survey found that 63 percent of voters who have seen violent protests in their community “strongly approve” of the president while only 35 percent don’t.

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Leaked Facebook Memo Describes Company’s Underwhelming Response to Global Political Manipulation

A former Facebook data scientist released a 6,600-word memo on her final day at the company detailing what she considers the tech giant’s lackluster response to fake accounts and activities that impacts elections around the globe. 

The employee, Sophie Zhang, was fired this month from Facebook for what she says was ongoing friction between her and management about the platform’s approach to combating extensive, global manipulation, according to a recent Buzzfeed News report.

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Confusion Over Controversial 1619 Curriculum Appearing in Ohio Schools

State Senator Andrew Brenner (R-Powell) took to Facebook Wednesday to ease fears that the controversial 1619 Project may be included in the standards or curriculum for Ohio’s K-12 schools.

A rumor had been going around that the Ohio Board of Education would be voting on whether or not to approve the project’s works as part of the states’ history curriculum.

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UMN Football Back in Play After Big Ten Rescinds Month-Old Decision to Cancel Fall Season

University of Minnesota (UMN) fall football is back in play after The Big Ten rescinded its decision to postpone the season until spring.

The Big Ten Conference canceled fall sports last month “due to ongoing health and safety concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic.” The announcement caused widespread backlash within the football community.

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Minnesota Department of Health: Even Kids Who Test Negative Must Quarantine If Exposed

Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) stated Monday in a press release that even children who test negative for the coronavirus must quarantine if exposed. The MDH’s “COVID-19 Attendance Guide for Parents and Families” explains these standards.

“Getting tested does not shorten the time that they must stay home. Your child must stay home for 14 days (quarantine) from the last contact they had with the person who tested positive for COVID-19, even if the child tests negative,” states the guide.

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Minnesota Man Faces Terror Charge for Allegedly Joining ISIS

A Minnesota man accused of joining the Islamic State group has been returned to the United States and faces a terrorism charge after spending more than a year in Syrian custody with alleged IS fighters, according to documents unsealed Wednesday.

Abdelhamid Al-Madioum, 23, made his first appearance in U.S. District Court in Minnesota, appearing via video from a cell. Authorities say he was vacationing with his family in Morocco in 2015 when he secretly booked a flight to Istanbul, Turkey, and then traveled to Iraq and Syria, where he joined IS.

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State Delegate Nick Freitas Is Ready to Win Virginia’s Seventh Congressional District

At a small rally on the lawn of a local courthouse, Del. Nicholas Freitas (R-Culpeper County) exuded confidence in his ability to win Virginia’s seventh congressional district and reclaim the seat for Republicans.

Freitas is squaring up against incumbent Abigail Spanberger (D-VA-07), who recently became a member of the U.S. House of Representatives in 2019.

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Several Ohio Groups Oppose Bill to Freeze School Assessments During Pandemic

As Ohio schools, parents, students and teachers continue to navigate through COVID-19 restrictions, adjustments and challenges, the public needs more information about how schools are performing, not less, according to a state business group.

Ohio Excels, a business coalition focused on educational outcomes for state students, sent its president, Lisa Gray, to testify before the Senate Education Committee on Wednesday, asking that Ohio not waive assessments for the next two years, which is called for by Senate Bill 358.

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Report: Line 5 Pipeline Disruption Would Cost Upper Peninsula Taxpayers Tens of Thousands of Dollars

A new report challenges efforts conducted by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s administration and Attorney General Dana Nessel to not only shut down the Enbridge Line 5 pipeline under the Straits of Mackinac but prevent its replacement with a $500 million tunnel 100 feet below the lake bed.

The report also challenges 14 recommendations published last April by the Upper Peninsula Energy Task Force, a group established by the governor and chaired by Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) Director Liesl Clark.

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Birx Visits Virginia Tech to Discuss COVID-19 Issues

On Wednesday, Dr. Deborah Birx – a key part of the Trump Administration’s vaulted Coronavirus task force – arrived in Blacksburg to meet  with state and local officials, faculty, students and health care professionals on the Virginia Tech campus to discuss Covid-19 and the response to reopening schools safely.

During a brief press conference, the White House coronavirus response coordinator had high praise for the school as she stated that a great amount of research had been done at the facility including animal and waste water testing to better understand the asymptomatic spread rate of the virus.

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TRUMPDATE: Latest From the Team Trump Virginia Campaign for September 17

Welcome to the Thursday 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 47 days until the election on November 3, and 12 days until President Trump and Joe Biden square off in the first presidential debate.

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Nashville Court Rules Portion of Shawn Joseph’s Severance Agreement is Unconstitutional

Shawn Joseph

A part of former Nashville Metro Schools Director Shawn Joseph’s severance agreement is unconstitutional.

This, according to the Nashville-based FOX 17 News, which reported that a Davidson County Chancery Court made the finding. The station reported that Metro Nashville School Board members Amy Frogge, Jill Speering, and Fran Bush “found issue with the nondisparagement clause in Dr. Joseph’s severance agreement” that said board members could not “make any disparaging or defamatory comments regarding Dr. Joseph and his performance as Director of Schools.”

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