Senator Louise Lucas has filed to have felony charges against her dismissed; the charges are linked to a June 10 protest at the Portsmouth Confederate monument. Lucas’ motion calls the charges an “illegal and unsanctioned police action.”
Read the full storyMonth: September 2020
Absentee Ballot Order Approved, Then Halted
An Ohio judge ordered Friday that voters be allowed to apply for absentee ballots for the November presidential election by using fax or email. The move was quickly halted by an appellate court.
Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Stephen McIntosh sided with Ohio Democrats in the legal dispute by allowing electronic absentee ballot applications to be filed. Ohio Democratic Chairman David Pepper called this ruling “a big win for Ohio Voters.”
Read the full storyMichigan Woman Squares off Against Union, AT&T
A Michigan AT&T employee is challenging the legality of the automatic paycheck deduction of union dues, an action the company continued even after the expiration of its contract with the Communications Workers of America (CWA).
Read the full storyGov Walz’s Sixth Extension of COVID Peacetime Emergency Follows Legislation’s Heated, Divided Vote
Governor Tim Walz extended Minnesota’s COVID-19 Peacetime Emergency for the sixth time after a heated, divided vote in the special legislative session.
Walz stated in a press release that the coronavirus is still a danger to Minnesotans.
During Nashville Luncheon, American Bible Project Organizers Say Our Founders Were Men of Faith
NASHVILLE, Tennessee — Tennessee residents overseeing an effort to donate Aitken Bibles to the state’s elementary, middle, and high schools held their inaugural luncheon at a Nashville restaurant on Saturday.
American Bible Project founder Stephen Skelton said the date of the event, September 12, held significance.
Read the full storyWest Tennessee Port That Has Accepted Millions of Taxpayer Dollars Since 2010 Still Has Not Created One Job
Politicians promised 10 years ago that if they invested millions of taxpayer dollars in a northwest Tennessee port they would create thousands of new jobs and deliver prosperity to an economically-distressed region.
But, thus far, that project, the Port of Cates Landing, has not created so much as one position.
Read the full storyCommentary: Why Are Wall Street Banks Funneling $40 Billion into the Chinese Communist Party via the Ant Group IPO?
Citigroup Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Morgan Stanley are underwriting part of what could be a $40 billion initial public offering (IPO) for Ant Group Co. in Hong Kong and Shanghai, which China-controlled megacorporation Alibaba owns a 33 percent share of, raising concerns that the money will be ultimately funneled to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and military.
Read the full storyCrom Carmichael Questions the Mental Fitness of Joe Biden
Friday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed the original all-star panelist Crom Carmichael to the studio to discuss Joe Biden’s behavior and mental issues.
Read the full storyRiots Associated with Black Lives Matter Occurred in 96 Percent of America’s Top 50 Cities
The violence in Portland and Seattle, in Minneapolis, Kenosha, Wisconsin and all across America over the last few months in connection with Black Lives Matter protests has dominated the headlines.
In places like Portland, the streets have become battlegrounds between local and federal police and leftist demonstrators, with arrests being made and deterrents like tear gas being used.
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler, a Democrat, has come out against his own police force and banned the use of tear gas effective September 10, even as the number of consecutive days in which protesting and rioting continues to climb into the triple digits.
Read the full storyBiden Says He Opposes NAFTA Despite Voting for it, Won’t Give Trump Credit for USMCA
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden said the trade deal President Donald Trump signed in 2018 is better than the trade deal he voted for in 1993 as a senator.
Biden admitted that the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA) was better than the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in an interview with CNN anchor Jake Tapper that aired Thursday. However, he refused to give Trump credit for the USMCA instead saying the House of Representatives was primarily responsible.
Republican Candidate for the State House Diane Canada of District 56 Discusses Her History and Campaign
Friday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Republican candidate for the Tennessee State House of Representatives 56th District, Diane Canada to the newsmakers line to discuss her campaign.
Read the full storyBahrain Becomes Latest Arab Nation to Recognize Israel
Bahrain has become the latest Arab nation to agree to normalize ties with Israel as part of a broader diplomatic push by President Donald Trump and his administration to fully integrate the Jewish state into the Middle East.
Trump announced the agreement on Friday, following a three-way phone call he had with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. The three leaders also issued a brief six-paragraph joint statement, attesting to the deal.
Read the full storySome Non-Citizens and Illegal Immigrants Are Registered to Vote in N.Y., Election Officials Say
Todd Valentine, New York Board of Elections co-executive director, and Nick LaLota, Suffolk County elections commissioner, said some non-citizens and illegal immigrants incorrectly get registered to vote in the state of New York.
New York Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin said he’s aware of some non-citizens in Suffolk County who voted in previous elections. During a mail-in voting discussion organized by House Administration Committee ranking member Rodney Davis, Zeldin asked how to prevent this situation from happening.
Read the full storyBiden Says He Won’t Completely Withdraw Troops from Afghanistan and the Middle East
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden said Thursday that if he wins the election in November, he will not fully withdraw American troops from Afghanistan and the Middle East.
Biden told Stars and Stripes Thursday he supported a continued presence of up to 2,000 ground troops throughout the region for executing operations against ISIS and other terror threats.
Read the full storyCommentary: New Report Finds ‘War on Terror’ has Forced 37 Million People to Flee Their Homes
When President George W. Bush launched the “War on Terror” in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, few could have predicted the campaign would entail US involvement in combat in 24 countries over the next two decades. But it did, and the resulting conflicts have come at enormous costs we are only now beginning to fully realize.
Read the full storyLeft-Wing Agitator Arrested for Starting Fire in Washington, Suspected of Starting Two Other Wildfires
A Washington man with a history of left-wing agitation was arrested Wednesday evening after he allegedly started a fire in the brush along a highway near Tacoma.
Jeffrey Acord, 36, was charged for reckless burning in the second degree. He is now reportedly also a suspect in two other Washington wildfires.
Read the full storyArmy Soldier to Receive Medal of Honor for Saving Around 75 Hostages Facing Execution from ISIS
An Army sergeant major who rescued around 75 hostages from being executed by ISIS fighters in Iraq will be awarded the Medal of Honor on Friday, the U.S. Army announced on Tuesday.
Sgt. Maj. Thomas “Patrick” Payne ran through a burning building and enemy gunfire with a pair of bolt cutters to free the hostages during a rescue mission, according to the Army.
Steve Bannon Presents: CCP’s Plan for Global Domination
An all new LIVE STREAM of War Room: Pandemic starts at 9 a.m. Central Time on Saturday.
Former White House Chief Strategist Stephen K. Bannon began the daily War Room: Pandemic radio show and podcast on January 25, when news of the virus was just beginning to leak out of China around the Lunar New Year. Bannon and co-hosts bring listeners exclusive analysis and breaking updates from top medical, public health, economic, national security, supply chain and geopolitical experts weekdays from 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon ET.
Read the full storyMueller Team Members ‘Wiped’ Cell Phones, DOJ Records Show
Data from more than 25 government-issued phones used by members of the special counsel’s team was wiped or deleted during the course of the Trump-Russia probe, according to Justice Department records released on Thursday.
Several prosecutors on the special counsel’s team claimed they accidentally wiped their devices by entering incorrect passwords too many times. Others said they intentionally deleted data from their phones.
Read the full storyFederal $300 Weekly Unemployment Benefit Will End in Tennessee
A federal $300 weekly unemployment benefit will cease after the week ending Sept. 5, the Federal Emergency Management Agency informed Tennessee’s Department of Labor & Workforce Development on Friday.
Beginning this week, unemployment benefits will include only the benefit amount available through regular state or federal unemployment programs.
Read the full storyWindows at Virginia GOP Headquarters Smashed Overnight
Multiple street facing windows were shattered overnight at the Republican Party of Virginia headquarters in downtown Richmond.
This is the second time in three months the office windows in the Richard D. Obenshain Center have been smashed by someone.
Read the full storyOhio AG Announces New Cold Case Unit
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced in a press release Friday the formation of a new cold case unit.
Yost said in the release “we can make a difference, even when years have passed since a murder or sexual assault,” and told citizens to “consider how DNA testing advances have unmasked, time and time again, violent criminals who got away with living among us for too long.”
Read the full storyGov. DeWine’s Pick for New State Health Director Withdraws Her Name from Consideration
The doctor named by Ohio Governor Mike DeWine to be the state’s new health director has withdrawn her name from consideration.
The move came just hours after DeWine announced that he’d chosen Dr. Joan Duwve to take the position. The governor announced the decision on Twitter stating that Duwve cited “personal reasons” for the decision and that his office would continue searching for a full-time replacement.
Read the full storyReps Tom Emmer and Tim Walberg Secure Survivors Benefits for Homeschoolers After Social Security Originally Denied Them Because of Their School Choice
Congressman Tom Emmer (R-MN-06), alongside Congressman Tim Walberg (R-MI-07), secured survivors benefits for homeschooled children. Prior to this, Minnesota and Michigan blocked homeschoolers over 17 and 18 respectively from attaining benefits.
According to the Homeschool Legal Defense Association (HSLDA), both states were cutting off Social Security Administration (SSA) survivors benefits to homeschoolers due to “lack of proof” of their status as full-time students. In both states’ eyes, the students didn’t meet state compulsory education laws.
Virginia Tenants File Class Action Suit Against Renowned Eviction Law firm
Three Virginia residents are filing a class action lawsuit on behalf of tenants across the Commonwealth against the firm Senex Law, alleging abusive and unfair debt collection practices in violation of federal law.
Representing the tenants are attorneys from the Legal Aid Justice Center (LAJC), Legal Aid Society of Roanoke Valley and Charlottesville law firm MichieHamlett.
Read the full storyUniversity of Minnesota Will Cut Only Men’s Sports Due to COVID Financial Strains, Cites Title IX
The University of Minnesota (UMN) announced Thursday that it will cut four men’s sports due to pandemic-induced financial strains. Men’s indoor/outdoor track and field, gymnastics, and tennis will be cut after the 2020-21 competition season.
Comparatively, the women’s indoor/outdoor track and field, gymnastics, and tennis lost more money than the men’s teams: $4.8 million versus $3.4 million. Other women’s sports cost the school more. Women’s basketball, gymnastics, hockey, swim and dive, and volleyball alone totaled about $14 million in the red.
Is Stafford County the New Flint?
Traces of COVID-19 are present in 18 percent of samples at a sewage plant in northern Stafford County, up from 9 percent in May, according to The Free-Lance Star.
Read the full storyUnder Intense Business Pressure, Gov. Northam Finally Caves on Virginia Beach
Citing “significantly improved health metrics,” Governor Ralph Northam relaxed COVID-19 restrictions in Eastern Virginia on Thursday, allowing the Hampton Roads region to go to join the rest of Virginia in Phase Three of its pandemic restrictions.
Read the full storyTrump Goes After Whitmer at Rally, Saying She ‘Doesn’t Have a Clue’
President Trump slammed Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer during a rally on Thursday, saying that she “doesn’t have a clue.”
“Michigan has already gained and regained more than half of the jobs that it lost — and if your state was ever allowed to safely reopen by your governor, who doesn’t have a clue, just like Joe [Biden], you would have gained far more than that,” Trump said in a rally in Saginaw County, according to FOX 2.
Read the full storyFormer TDOE Employees Warn That Penny Schwinn Jeopardizes Tennessee’s Public Schools As Well As Bill Lee’s Reelection Chances
Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) Commissioner Penny Schwinn’s leadership problems could trickle down to the state’s public schools, and parents are right to worry.
Additionally, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, who appointed Schwinn, should worry that she could cost him reelection in 2022.
Read the full storyFederal Judge Blocks Tennessee Law That Limits Some Mail-in Balloting Without ID
A federal judge has blocked a Tennessee law that bars first-time voters from casting November mail-in ballots unless they first show ID at an election office.
U.S. District Judge Eli Richardson in Nashville ordered the preliminary injunction on Wednesday, as states across the country address the issue of voting-by-mail instead of at polling stations amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Commentary: What We Remember on 9/11
As 9/11 moves further into the past, I find I’m having a harder, not easier, time with these anniversaries. I suppose that’s because it’s become more of an event than a remembrance.
Read the full storyCommentary: Environmentalists Destroyed California’s Forests
Millions of acres of California forest have been blackened by wildfires this summer, leading to the usual angry denunciations from the usual quarters about climate change. But in 1999, the Associated Press reported that forestry experts had long agreed that “clearing undergrowth would save trees,” and that “years of aggressive firefighting have allowed brush to flourish that would have been cleared away by wildfires.” But very little was done. And now fires of unprecedented size are raging across the Western United States.
Read the full storyAG Barr Says There ‘Could Be’ More Charges in Durham Probe
Attorney General William Barr said Wednesday that more charges are possible in the investigation led by John Durham, the U.S. attorney investigating the origins of the Trump-Russia probe.
Barr was asked about the status of the probe during an interview with NBC News. He declined to say whether Durham, the U.S. attorney for Connecticut, is nearing the end of the probe, which began in April 2018.
Read the full storyCarol Swain Promotes ‘Be The People’ National Law Enforcement Tribute October 17
Thursday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed the all-star panelist Carol Swain to the studio to discuss the attack on law enforcement and her national tribute to police officers.
Read the full storyPositive COVID-19 Cases Drop in No-Lockdown Sweden, Marking the Lowest Rate Since the Pandemic Began
Sweden’s positive coronavirus cases dropped after the country carried out a record number of COVID-19 tests recently, Reuters reported Tuesday, citing Swedish health officials.
The country saw only 1,300 positive cases out of 120,000 tests last week, representing a 1.2% positive rate, Sweden’s health agency said Tuesday, according to the Reuters report. The low number of cases is the lowest Sweden has seen since the pandemic, which originated in China, first emerged in Europe, the report noted.
GOP’s Slimmed-Down Virus Bill Scuttled by Senate Democrats
Senate Democrats scuttled a scaled-back GOP coronavirus rescue package on Thursday, saying the measure shortchanged too many pressing needs as the pandemic continues its assault on the country.
The mostly party-line vote capped weeks of wrangling over a fifth relief bill that all sides say they want but are unable to deliver. The bipartisan spirit that powered earlier aid measures has given way to election-season political combat and name-calling. The 52-47 vote fell well short of what was needed to overcome a filibuster and seems likely to end hopes for coronavirus relief before the November election.
Read the full storyJohn Fredericks Commentary: Fauci Debunks Woodward Hit on Trump
Here we go again. Another tell-all book trashing President Trump. What else is new?
The newest snooze-rag comes from longtime lefty WAPO-Bezos lackey Bob Woodward, of Watergate deep-throat fame. In what the mainstream legacy fake news media gushed over, Woodward says the President characterized the coronavirus as “deadly” and “dangerous” — while telling Americans it was nothing to be concerned about. Woodward writes that President Trump told him the Covid-19 virus was “more deadly than even your strenuous flus,” and that he repeatedly played it down publicly.
Read the full storyCommentary: The Revolution Undone by Revelationaries
In Rules for Radicals (the subject of Hillary Clinton’s thesis, a major influence on Barack Obama, and a subject of interest for proponents of the Tea Party), notorious leftist Saul Alinsky pointed out the inefficacy of the left-wing terrorism of the 1960s and 70s.
Read the full storyJoe Biden Claims 6,000 Military Members Dead From COVID, but the Real Number Is Seven
Democratic 2020 presidential candidate Joe Biden said Wednesday that more than 6,000 military members have died from coronavirus, Department of Defense (DOD) statistics show the real number is just seven deaths.
While speaking in Michigan on Wednesday, Biden significantly overstated both the number of COVID infections in the military, as well as the number of COVID deaths.
Read the full storyMemphis Announces Results from First Month of Federal Crime Fighting Initiative Operation Legend
Local and federal law enforcement officers in Memphis have arrested 302 people as a part of Operation Legend, according to U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant.
“Between August 6 and September 8, 2020, federal and local law enforcement agencies in the Operation Legend Task Force have worked cooperatively to arrest 106 people on new state and federal charges,” Dunavant said in a press release.
Read the full storyUnited States Has Revoked Over 1,000 Visas for ‘Security Risks’ from China
Since June, over 1,000 Chinese nationals located in the United States have had their visas revoked after being labeled national security risks, as reported by CNN.
The State Department released a statement on Wednesday addressing the matter, revealing that the initiative had specifically targeted “graduate students and research scholars” at various American universities who had been determined to be “high-risk,” and were thus removed from the country.
California Fire That Killed Three Threatens Thousands of Homes
A Northern California wildfire threatened thousands of homes Thursday after winds whipped it into a monster that incinerated houses in a small mountain community and killed at least three people.
Several other people have been critically burned and hundreds, if not thousands, of homes and other buildings are believed to have been damaged or destroyed by the fire in the foothills of the northern Sierra Nevada, authorities said.
Read the full storyCarol Swain Explains Critical Race Theory and Debunks Hard Work and Individualism as Being Racist
Thursday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed the all-star panelist Carol Swain to the studio to discuss critical race theory.
Read the full storyMainstream Media Declares Ohio Star Reports Rumors, Gov. Office Says Not So Fast
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine’s Press Secretary Dan Tierney clarified the governor’s remarks made on September 8 regarding internet rumors about Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) camps and kids being pulled from home to stay overnight at school being “garbage.”
Tierney said in an interview with The Ohio Star that messages the governor received over the weekend preceding the Tuesday press briefing came from concerned Ohioans who were commenting on a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) infographic that showed up on social media over the weekend.
Read the full storyVirginia Del. Glenn Davis Announces His Run for Lieutenant Governor
Thursday morning on The John Fredericks Show, host John Fredericks welcomed Glenn Davis to the program to announce his run for Lieutenant Governor of Virginia and discuss a Democrat bill that would crush small businesses in his state.
Read the full storyMeshawn Maddock Commentary: Don’t Let Joe Biden Give the Whole Country a Taste of Whitmer’s Bitter Authoritarian Medicine
Workers and business owners across the state are still waiting to learn what fate Governor Gretchen Whitmer has in store for them.
Of course, businesses that wield political clout and make significant contributions to Whitmer’s budget — say, a crowded Detroit casino — have no such uncertainty to worry about. They’re allowed to open.
Read the full storyVice President Pence to VMI: We’ll Always Have Your Back
LEXINGTON, Virginia In a talk that was part campaign speech, part motivational lecture, Vice President Mike Pence spoke to over 1,800 people on Thursday at the Virginia Military Institute (VMI). Pence emphasized the Trump administration’s support of the military and its families. He concluded with a charge to the cadets to lead through integrity.
Read the full storyVirginia Senate Dems to House on Stripping Qualified Immunity: Not So Fast
The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday voted to pass by indefinitely and create a joint House-Senate sub-Committee to further discuss a bill to end the qualified immunity defense for law enforcement.
The motion to pass by indefinitely was agreed to by a vote of 12-Y 3-N with six Democratic Senators voting alongside their Republican peers on the prevailing side.
Read the full storyDave Yost Says Ohio State University Should Sue Big 10 If Conference Refuses to Play Football
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said in an interview with Fox Radio that if the Big 10 refuses to change its stance on college football, Ohio State University (OSU) should sue.
Yost said that “it seems crazy,” that with so many other sports, including high school and amateur football being played that OSU will not be able to have a season.
Read the full story