Month: September 2020

Battleground Michigan: Lawsuits Challenge State’s Coronavirus Restrictions, Ballot Rules

Admin

A pair of lawsuits filed against top-ranking state executives in Michigan seek to challenge the recent policies the two Democrats have put in place as part of their efforts to mitigate the coronavirus outbreak there.

The suits, filed by the Thomas More Society on behalf of several Michigan plaintiffs, argue that Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson have, respectively, suppressed political speech and unlawfully altered the state’s absentee voting system, according to a press release from the Thomas More Society.

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DOJ and DHS Confirm Active Federal Probe into Criminal Activity and Funding Related to Violent Riots

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The Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security confirmed this week that the DOJ is investigating the organizers and funders behind the violent riots that have engulfed the country since May.

“We are investigating coordinated, criminal activity—not First Amendment activity—and violence related to riots, destruction of federal property and violence against law enforcement officers,” said DOJ spokesperson Kerri Kupec on Tuesday.

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Biden to Visit Kenosha on Thursday After Blasting Trump for Visiting Riot-Torn City

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After the Biden campaign criticized President Trump’s trip to Kenosha Wisconsin as “self-centered” and unproductive, former Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill Biden, have announced that they will visit the riot-torn city on Thursday.

“Vice President Biden will hold a community meeting in Kenosha to bring together Americans to heal and address the challenges we face,” his campaign said in a press release. “After, Vice President Biden and Dr. Biden will make a local stop.”

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Tennessee GOP Votes to Affirm Eddie Mannis as House District 18 Primary Winner Potentially in Violation of State Law

Laura Baigert

The Tennessee Republican Party State Executive Committee (SEC) in a meeting held via conference call Wednesday evening voted to affirm the August 6 results of the House District 18 primary that was won by Eddie Mannis, potentially in violation of state law.

The vote was 43 to 18 by the SEC, which functions as the State Primary Board (SPB) in a primary contest.

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Commentary: When Joe Does Iraq

Admin

Fourteen years ago today marks the low point of the Iraq War. Mounting U.S. casualties and raging sectarian violence in an undeclared civil war was the order of the day. That changed late in the afternoon when Sheik Sattar Bezia abu Risha handed me a hand written three page document that would become the charter of the Anbar Awakening. The very thought of Iraqi tribal leaders siding with American forces, especially in Ramadi — the most dangerous city in the world, and the site of the first al Qaeda Caliphate — was unprecedented alliance. Anbar Was Lost was both the front page headline and the consensus intelligence assessment, and any mention of progress was deemed unbelievable. We had found an ally that was willing to fight the terrorist of Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) with us. Sadly, most of those freedom fighters are dead today because of the poor policy decisions and neglect of the Obama-Biden White House.

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Governor DeWine’s Tuesday Press Briefing Addresses Labor Day Weekend Amid the Coronavirus Pandemic, High-Speed Internet Grants for Students

Ben Kolodny

Governor Mike DeWine’s recent press conference touched on a number of issues facing Ohio and possible fixes. 

In the Tuesday briefing, DeWine reminded citizens to take the proper safety precautions for Labor Day weekend. DeWine reported that Ohio had the “highest number of new cases since the end of July,” which he called a “stark reminder that this virus has not gone away and it continues to spread in our communities.”

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Michigan to Publish Which Schools Have Coronavirus Outbreaks

Jordyn Pair

Michigan will begin identifying K-12 schools that have coronavirus outbreaks beginning on September 14, a state spokesperson told BridgeMI on Tuesday.

Up to this point, the state has been confirming the regions in which the outbreaks are occurring, but have not provided more specific information, such as the specific school districts in which the outbreaks are located.

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Freitas and Good Will Appear on Ballots After Lawsuit Challenging Paperwork Filing Extensions Dismissed

Eric Burk

Delegate Nick Freitas (R-Culpepper) and Bob Good (R) will appear on ballots this November after a circuit court judge dismissed a lawsuit that tried to block the candidates from the election. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) filed the lawsuit challenging the State Board of Elections’ (BOE) authority to grant filing extensions to the candidates. Freitas is running for Virginia’s 7th Congressional District. Good is running for Virginia’s 5th Congressional District.

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After Five More Charged in Connection with June 10 Protests, Leading Virginia Democrats Appear at Rally Supporting Senator Lucas

Eric Burk

Senator Louise Lucas (D-Portsmouth) appeared alongside former Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe (D), Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax, and U.S. Congressman Bobby Scott (D-Newport News) at a rally of over 100 people outside a Portsmouth church on Tuesday, according to reporting by The Associated Press. The rally came after police charged five more people in relation to a June 10 protest.

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State Senator Bryce Reeves Commentary: Waste, Fraud, Abuse, and Virginia Democrats

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While Virginia’s government is experiencing massive budget shortfalls because of the coronavirus pandemic, Democrats in the House of Delegates chose to line their own pockets rather than help their constituents.

On Tuesday, August 18, General Assembly members convened for a special session to address the budget, criminal justice reform, and COVID-19 impacts. Before we gaveled in, Governor Ralph Northam and Secretary of Finance Aubrey Layne gave a presentation to both money committees in the General Assembly regarding the fiscal impact the coronavirus has had on our Commonwealth. The conclusion was that Virginia is experiencing a $2.7 billion budget shortfall. And in times like these, every penny counts and should be spent responsibly.

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‘BLM’ and ‘Defund the Police’ Spray Painted at Graceland

Chris Butler

Messages of Black Lives Matter and “Defund the Police” were spray painted on several tourist attractions in Tennessee on Monday night, including Graceland, the Elvis Presley estate, authorities said.

The graffiti phrases were found Tuesday morning outside Graceland, the Levitt Shell Amphitheater in Overton Park and the “I Heart Memphis” mural in midtown Memphis, news outlets reported.

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Commentary: President Trump Declares He Will Clean Up Portland’s Violence If the Mayor Does Not

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“Portland is a mess, and it has been for many years. If this joke of a mayor doesn’t clean it up, we will go in and do it for them!”

That was President Donald Trump on Twitter renewing his warning to Oregon Democratic Governor Kate Brown and Portland Democratic Mayor Ted Wheeler that if they will not get political violence in Portland, Oreg. under control soon, he will have no other choice but to federalize the National Guard to restore civil order in the city.

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Russian Troll Farm Behind 2016 Ruse Hires Left-Wing American Writers, Creates Fake News Site to Target Voters: Report

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The Russian group responsible for trolling voters in 2016 is using a phony news website and recruiting American left-wing writers to create content designed to inflame the electorate before the presidential election, according to a report published Tuesday.

Facebook removed a network of accounts and pages Tuesday tied to the Russian Internet Research Agency or people affiliated with the group, the social media platform noted. The group also recruited a slew of left-wing journalists and activists to produce content about U.S. foreign policy, President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden, media reports show.

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Third Virus Vaccine Reaches Major Hurdle: Final U.S. Testing

The Associated Press

A handful of the dozens of experimental COVID-19 vaccines in human testing have reached the last and biggest hurdle — looking for the needed proof that they really work as a U.S. advisory panel suggested Tuesday a way to ration the first limited doses once a vaccine wins approval.

AstraZeneca announced Monday its vaccine candidate has entered the final testing stage in the U.S. The Cambridge, England-based company said the study will involve up to 30,000 adults from various racial, ethnic and geographic groups.

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Commentary: Teachers Unions Are More Powerful Than You Realize, But That May Be Changing

Admin

Teachers unions throughout the US claim to be looking out for the best interests of teachers and students, but they are deeply political organizations with significant influence over what, how, where, and with whom most children learn.

While the nation’s largest teachers unions have long been deeply connected to the Democratic Party and left-wing ideology, this political affiliation has become increasingly apparent in recent months. From hinging their support for reopening schools on outrageous policy demands to launching court battles, threatening strikes, and openly supporting disturbing actions during recent protests, today’s teachers unions are more powerful and dangerous than many parents may realize.

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Four Little-Noticed Trends That Suggest Trump Could Have an Edge in November

Admin

Almost all recent national polling has shown President Trump consistently behind Joe Biden. According to RealClearPolitics, which uses averages of released polls, Biden remains up in the national polls, the battleground states, and even the betting odds. The current electoral count at RealClearPolitics stands at 115 for Trump, 212 for Biden and 211 tossups, with 270 votes needed to win.

Do these statistics imply a Biden wave on Nov. 3? Or are we seeing a repeat of 2016 when almost nobody predicted Trump would — or even could — win?

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Poll: Nearly Half of All Voters Concerned Violent Riots Will Come to Their Communities

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Nearly half of all registered voters in the country are concerned that violent riots could arise in their own communities, according to a new Just the News Daily Poll with Scott Rasmussen.

A total of 48% of voters expressed fears that the destructive protests across the U.S. in recent months might happen their own neighborhoods. Just 20% of voters, meanwhile, are not at all worried, while 30% said they were “not very worried” about the possibility. And 3% said they were unsure. 

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Injured Illegal Immigrant Moved to Long-term Care Facility Instead of Being Deported After Activists ‘Made a Stink’

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A hospitalized illegal immigrant was transferred to a long-term healthcare facility instead of being deported after activists “raised a stink,” the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

The 48-year-old illegal immigrant from Guatemala, identified by his family as A.V., was originally taken to the Jefferson Torresdale Hospital in Northeast Philadelphia where he was treated for a neurological trauma, two broken legs, and fractured ribs after a motorcycle hit him, the Inquirer reported. Activists reportedly organized at the hospital to physically block any potential efforts to medically repatriate A.V.

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Liberty University Hires Outside Firm to Investigate Jerry Falwell Jr.’s Tenure

Jason M. Reynolds

Liberty University says it is conducting a forensic investigation of Jerry Falwell Jr. a week after he resigned as president.

Falwell resigned last Tuesday after amid conflicting claims about a sexual relationship his wife Becki Falwell had with a business partner, The Associated Press reported. Falwell reportedly participated in some of the liaisons as a voyeur.

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Kenosha Sees Nearly $2M in Damage to City Property

Admin

Fox News reports, destruction to city-owned property caused by rioters over the last week following the police shooting of Jacob Blake has climbed to nearly $2 million, city officials said Monday night.

“Right now, we’re estimating between lost equipment, lost street lights, lost traffic signals, and miscellaneous sign damage – we’re estimating a cost of approximately $1.9 million,” said Kenosha Public Works Director Shelly Billingsley, in an update reported to the Public Works Committee.

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Commentary: D.C. Mayor’s Committee Recommends Removing Jefferson Memorial and Washington Monument

Admin

Holy Cow, the cancel culture has sunk even further. Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, Andrew Jackson, William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, Zachary Taylor, Alexander Graham Bell, Ben Franklin, Woodrow Wilson, and many more names from American history are now personas non grata in Washington DC. A committee formed by the mayor has recommended taking their name off city-owned buildings.  They also recommended removing federal assets such as the Jefferson Memorial and Washington Monument.

D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser formed the District of Columbia Facilities, and Commemorative Expressions Working Group, also known as the DC FACES Working Group.

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Music Spotlight: Cory Marks

Bethany Bowman

As a kid from Canada who played hockey and wanted to become a pilot, Cory Marks might be the last person who you would expect to explode on the Southern Rock/Country Music scene. But after listening to his unapologetic, raw, yet real song, Outlaws and Outsiders, I wanted to find out what he was about.

Marks grew up in North Bay Ontario, Canada, about three hours north of Toronto. North Bay was a big hockey town and also a prominent military city hosting an important Air Force base in North America. Every summer Marks and his family attended the air shows in August which provided the young boy driven desire to become a pilot. Not only that, but he was also on hockey skates at age three. (His brother plays professional hockey.)

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Suspect in Fatal Portland Shooting Has Pending Gun Charges, Expressed Support for Antifa

Admin

Portland police are investigating whether a self-identified member of Antifa with two pending firearms charges was involved in the fatal shooting of a Trump supporter at a Black Lives Matter event on Saturday, one of his family members told reporters.

The Oregonian reported that Michael Forest Reinoehl, 48, is a suspect in the shooting death of Jay Bishop, a member of Patriot Prayer, a conservative organization that has appeared at protests in the Portland area.

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Justice Department Announces FISA Reforms to Prevent Another Carter Page Debacle

Admin

The Justice Department announced a series of reforms to its procedures for obtaining Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) orders on Tuesday aimed at preventing abuses that the FBI committed during its investigation of former Trump campaign aide Carter Page.

Attorney General William Barr issued two memos laying out the reforms Tuesday. One memo announced the creation of an FBI Office of Internal Auditing, which will review all factual allegations submitted in FISA applications. The other memo deals with surveillance of elected federal officials and candidates seeking federal office.

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Michigan and Ohio Secretaries of State Endorse Zuckerberg’s Millions Directed to Elections

Corinne Murdock

Michigan and Ohio state secretaries Jocelyn Benson and Frank LaRose endorsed $300 million directed to elections by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan. The Center for Tech and Civil Life (CTCL) and Center for Election Innovation and Research (CEIR) announced Tuesday that Zuckerberg and his wife donated in order “to promote safe and reliable voting in states and localities.”

Both Benson and LaRose agreed that the investment was necessary considering the pandemic’s effects on the presidential election. LaRose reposted the press release the day it came out, citing the need for accurate information during voting.

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State Commission Issues Recommendations to Improve African American History Teaching

Eric Burk

A state commission examining African American history education has published its report, issuing four broad recommendations for state educational standards, and six broad recommendations for professional development of teachers. The “Final Report of the Virginia Commission on African American History Education in the Commonwealth” is the result of a year-long effort started by Governor Ralph Northam.

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Representative Candice Keller Targeted by Activists at Save Our Children Rally

Corinne Murdock

Counter-protesters wearing black activism gear targeted Representative Candice Keller (R-OH-53) after her speech this past weekend at a Save Our Children Rally in Columbus. Keller is an avid pro-life legislator and creator of the Ohio Heartbeat Bill.

Keller and her husband Kent – a write-in candidate for the Ohio Senate – attended the rally. In interviews with The Ohio Star, Keller states that she and her husband were walking back to their cars when they noticed people recording and following them. Every time the couple looked back, the group stopped and stared – but continued taping.

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White House COVID Coordinator Tells Minnesotans to Wear Masks in Their Homes

Admin

Dr. Deborah Birx, a top official on the White House Coronavirus Task Force, advised Minnesotans to wear masks inside their homes during a recent press conference in St. Paul.

“It really does come down to every Minnesotan following these common sense path[s] forward to ensure we protect each other, and really a lot of that pathway goes through wearing this mask not just in public but also in private if we need to protect others in the household,” she told reporters Sunday after a meeting with officials from the Minnesota Department of Health.

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Virginia Tech, Town of Blacksburg Prohibit Tailgating, Ask Fans to ‘Homegate’ Instead

Jacob Taylor

Virginia Tech and the town of Blacksburg announced Tuesday that tailgating for football games is prohibited out of concerns the activity could increase the spread of COVID-19.

The announcement specifically prohibited tailgating on university or town parking lots as well as other public places, and instead asked Hokie fans to watch games while “homegating” with friends or family as a more safe alternative.

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Democratic Delegate Calls Republican Opposition Comments Racist as Bill to End Qualified Immunity Advances

Jacob Taylor

Before a bill to end qualified immunity was advanced out of the House Appropriations Committee Tuesday, Delegate Jeffrey Bourne (D-Richmond City) called the language used by Republican opposition to the legislation examples of systemic and institutionalized racism.

“I hope everyone on this committee has listened to the type of language that has been used, the types of language that has been used to talk about why we should oppose this bill is exactly the types of systemic and institutionalized racism we are trying to dismantle,” Bourne said during the committee meeting.

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Ohio to Lift Restrictions on Senior Care Facilities

Ben Kolodny

The Ohio Health Department lifted its restrictions Monday on adult daycare and senior centers.

The facilities were shut down in March as a result of the pandemic. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said at the time, “Our senior citizen’s centers provide very important support, these centers will close.” DeWine lamented the decision calling senior citizen centers the “heart of the community.”

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86 Percent of Michigan Schools to Offer In-Person Learning

Jordyn Pair

Eighty-six percent of school districts in Michigan will offer some or all in-person instruction at the beginning of the school year, according to a study conducted by Michigan State University (MSU).

The study, released Friday, showed that 59 percent of Michigan school districts will be offering in-person schooling five days a week and 27 percent will be offering it at least two to three days a week.

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