Day: September 22, 2020

Metro Nashville Coronavirus Task Force Chair Dr. Alex Jahangir on July 2: ‘Saturday I Got A Call . . . 30 People Confirmed That Have Tested Positive . . . So This Was Atypical, Right?’

Chris Butler

As The Tennessee Star reported on Monday, Nashville Mayor John Cooper announced at a July 2 press conference he was turning the city back to Phase Two from Phase Three, shutting all bars down for 14 days, temporarily shutting down all entertainment and event venues, and reducing restaurant capacity from to 75 percent to 50 percent due to “record numbers” of COVID-19 cases traceable back to bars and restaurants.

Mayor Cooper did not provide any specific details to substantiate his assertion of “record numbers.”

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DOJ Identifies New York City, Portland, Seattle as Violent Anarchist Jurisdictions in Move to Revoke Federal Funding

Admin

The Department of Justice on Monday identified three cities—New York City, Portland, and Seattle—as jurisdictions that have permitted “violence and destruction of property,” thereby meeting President Trump’s criteria for withholding federal funding to those areas.

Earlier this month, the president issued a memorandum asking the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, Secretary of Homeland Security, and Attorney General Barr to list the areas that “have permitted violence and the destruction of property to persist and have refused to undertake reasonable measures to counteract these criminal activities.”

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FCC Chairman Ajit Pai Rejects Mark Green’s Request to Assist Churches Through FM Transmitter Regulations

Chris Butler

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai has rejected U.S. Rep. Mark Green’s (R-TN-07) request to grant churches and other houses of worship a temporary waiver to use long-range FM transmitters without fear of harsh government fines.

Pai denied Green’s request this month.

Green, in a letter he sent to the FCC in June, specifically cited the COVID-19 pandemic as prompting him to request this.

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Michigan-Ohio State Finale Highlights Third Big Ten Schedule

The Associated Press

The Big Ten’s third football schedule of the 2020 season is highlighted by Michigan-Ohio State on Dec. 12, the final day of the conference’s regular-season and the latest date the rivals have ever played.

The Big Ten released an eight-games-in-eight-weeks schedule on Saturday that will start the weekend of Oct. 24. Just three days ago, the conference reversed course and decided to play a fall football season after postponing on Aug. 11 because of concerns about COVID-19.

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Arizona State University Journalism School Removes People, News Items Decried as too Pro-Police

Admin

In the last four months the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University has repeatedly removed pro-police related items after students and activists cried foul.

In June, the school rescinded a job offer to the new dean of its journalism school, Sonya Forte Duhé, after students accused her of past microaggressions and other insensitive comments. Mostly notably, Duhé had recently tweeted support for “good police officers who keep us safe.”

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Kumar: Why Trump Still Has Time to Win Back the Hindu-American Vote

Neil W. McCabe

The Indian-born Chicago industrialist who takes credit for flipping the Hindu-American vote for candidate Donald J. Trump in the 2016 campaign is warning that unless something is done quickly, those voters will desert Trump his 2020 reelection fight.

“This time around, as far as the Indian-American or Hindu-American vote is concerned for Trump – it is completely, totally screwed up,” said Shalabh “Shalli” Kumar, who is the founder of the AVG group of companies that supply technology parts solutions to the automotive and telecommunications industry.

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Up to 52 Million New Immigrants Could Settle in the US Under the Biden-Harris Plan, Analysis Finds

Admin

The Biden-Harris immigration plan could allow up to 52 million new immigrants to settle in the U.S., according to a Federation for American Immigration Reform analysis provided to the Daily Caller News Foundation.

“This dramatic increase would eclipse the entire current foreign-born population of the country,” the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), a nonprofit that advocates for reduced immigration, stated.

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Trump Approves TikTok Deal with Oracle and Walmart, Wants the App to Support Pro-US Education Program

Admin

President Donald Trump said Saturday that he approved a transaction between Oracle and TikTok that allows the Chinese application to stay in the United States.

Part of the arrangement requires the newly U.S.-based TikTok company to direct $5 billion toward teaching American children “the real history of our country,” Trump told reporters at the White House, Bloomberg reported Saturday. The president later told rally attendees in North Carolina Saturday that he is establishing a “large fund for the education of American youth.”

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Robert W. Gore, the Inventor of Gore-Tex Fabric, Dead at 83

The Associated Press

Robert W. Gore, whose invention of what created the breathable-yet-waterproof fabric known as Gore-Tex revolutionized outdoor wear and helped spawn uses in numerous other fields, has died. He was 83.

Gore, who was president of W. L. Gore & Associates for almost 25 years and company chairman for 30 years, died on Thursday at a family home in Maryland following a prolonged illness, company spokesperson Amy Calhoun confirmed Saturday.

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History Professor Rips New York Times’ 1619 Project for Not Telling ‘The Whole Story’

Admin

University of New Hampshire Professor Eliga Gould participated in a webinar series at the beginning of the fall semester in which he and other faculty members discussed the New York Times Magazine’s 1619 Project. The 1619 project was created by New York Times reporter Nikole Hannah-Jones in 2019, a project that later received a Pulitzer Prize. 

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CDC Removes COVID-19 Transmission Guidance it ‘Posted in Error’

Admin

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday removed updated COVID-19 airborne transmission guidance that it says was “posted in error.”

The transmission guidance was updated on the CDC’s website on Friday, and said that “droplets and airborne particles can remain suspended in the air and be breathed in by others, and travel distances beyond 6 feet,” according to CNN. The guidance posted Friday has been removed from the agency’s website.

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Steve Bannon on The John Fredericks Show: How Democrats Plan to Steal the Election

Corinne Murdock

Former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon appeared on The John Fredericks Show (JFRS) to share how Democrats are undermining the election. The exchange is part of Bannon’s newest national tour, “Plot to Steal 2020.”
Bannon unveiled the tour in his first interview since his arrest. The War Room – Pandemic host claimed that the fraud charges against him are part of a bigger plan targeting Trump’s associates ahead of the election. 

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Thirty-Six Orders Issued Banning People From Possessing Guns Under New Red Flag Law

Eric Burk

Officials have issued thirty-six orders under Virginia’s new red flag law since it went into effect in July. The law allows judges to classify individuals as being a  ‘substantial risk’ to themselves or others, and bans them from possessing firearms. The law was passed in January following a party-line vote with no Republicans voting in favor.

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TRUMPDATE: Latest from the Team Trump Virginia Campaign for September 22

Jordan Bondurant

Welcome to a new 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 42 days until the election on November 3 – and one week until President Trump and Joe Biden square off in the first presidential debate.

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Gov. Northam Announces Rebuild VA Grant Fund Eligibility Expanded

Jacob Taylor

The eligibility for the REBUILD! VA Grant Fund for businesses, nonprofits impacted by COVID-19 has been expanded to a wider scope of small businesses, according to a news release. 

The expansion of grant program, administered by the Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity (SBSD), now includes small hotels, bed and breakfast facilities and Virginia film companies as well as companies that provide goods or services to eligible businesses. 

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Outside Prosecutor Investigating Stoney’s Contract Removing Monuments

Eric Burk

Augusta County Prosecutor Timothy Martin will investigate a contract used by Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney earlier this summer to remove parts of eight of Richmond’s Confederate monuments.

In August, Richmond City Councilmember and candidate for Stoney’s seat Kim Gray called for investigation into the contract. The contract paid $1.8 million to NAH LLC, which has ties to Devon Henry who, in 2016, donated $4,000 to Stoney’s campaign for mayor.

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Trump Pushes in Swing States, Biden Attempts a Return to In Person Campaigning

Ben Kolodny

With just 43 days before the election, President Trump has been hitting the campaign trail while his opponent appears absent from the important battlegrounds.

President Trump has two campaign stops in Ohio today, a state that Biden has largely been absent from since his nomination. The events, the “Great American Comeback” in Swanton, and “Remarks on Fighting for the American Worker,” showcase just how valuable the state is to the Trump Campaign. 

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Governor DeWine’s Comments on Nursing Home Visitation Spark Questions

Jack Windsor

Ohio Department of Health Interim Director Lance Himes signed an order on July 2 that went into effect on July 20. The mandate permits outdoor visitations at senior homes around the state and prohibits indoor visits.

“If you have a loved one and you cannot get into a nursing home, that is the nursing home that is stopping you from going in – it is not the health department” said Ohio Governor Mike DeWine on September 17 during a semiweekly COVID press conference.

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Voters to Decide if the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Fund Can Increase Spending for State Parks

Admin

Michigan voters will see a proposal on the Nov. 3 ballot asking if the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund (NRTF) should increase the spending allowance on recreational improvement projects each year.

The NRTF, created in 1984, is a constitutionally restricted fund to develop and purchase public land using funds generated from interest and earnings on state-owned mineral rights programs.

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Ohio, GOP Defend Limit on Ballot Drop Boxes to One per County

The Associated Press

Ohio and Republican groups including the Trump campaign are fighting to uphold a GOP election chief’s directive limiting ballot drop boxes in the presidential battleground to one per county.

They told a state appellate court in filings Monday that a county judge overstepped his authority when he blocked it. The Ohio Republican Party said Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Richard Frye “relied on anecdotal evidence and ‘sound public policy,’” when the case “presents a pure question of law.”

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Restaurant Owner Refuses to Back Down in Calling Out Nashville Mayor John Cooper’s ‘Manipulation and Suppression’ of Low Coronavirus Numbers

Jason M. Reynolds

One barbecue restaurant says Nashville Mayor John Cooper does not have a leg to stand on when it comes to his cover-up of low COVID-19 case numbers in bars and restaurants and his 34-37 percent tax increase.

Carey Bringle of Peg Leg Porker, located in the Gulch, posted on Facebook Saturday that he would not retract a public letter to Nashvillians he had written which referenced a story by Dennis Ferrier. Peg Leg Porker’s Facebook page, with both letters, is here.

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