Day: October 20, 2020

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee Gets High Marks in New Report on Economic Freedom During COVID-19

Chris Butler
Bill Lee

  Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee ranks seventh in The American Legislative Exchange Council’s new scorecard that assesses America’s 50 governors on policy performance and leadership before and after the start of the COVID-19 health crisis. Members of the Arlington, Virginia-based ALEC released their 2020 Laffer-ALEC Report on Economic Freedom Tuesday. “Tennessee Governor Lee has restrained state spending, including his billion-dollar proposed spending reduction for FY 2021. In lieu of lobbying for more federal subsidies, Governor Lee has proposed a further spending reduction to account for a decline in revenue expectations,” according to the ALEC report. “Along with these notable actions, his continuance of fiscally responsible debt, union, education, and welfare policies grant the Governor a five-star rating.” ALEC awarded each governor an overall rank, a results rank and a policy rank, which is expanded to list the exact criteria used so readers can identify how their state leader stacks up and why. Governors and taxpayers can also use the criteria to determine state policy areas that need improvement, such as tax and spending policy, handling of federal funds from the CARES Act and economic competitiveness data, according to an ALEC press release. Study co-author Stephen Moore said in the press…

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CVS to Hire 15,000 Employees in Preparation for Flu Season, COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout

Admin

CVS Health announced that it would bring on approximately 15,000 additional workers in preparation for the upcoming flu season and an expected rise in coronavirus cases before the distribution of an eventual vaccine.

The hirings will take place before the year’s end, the company said Monday in a statement. Though most of the positions are temporary, many could transition into full-time positions, CVS said.

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Commentary: Grifter Joe Biden Needs to Win the Election Before He and His Son are in the Clintons’ League

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Last week’s New York Post stories revealed a web of corruption that began with Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, and ended by implicating the presidential candidate in regard to Burisma, the Ukrainian natural gas company, and CEFC, a Chinese energy company.

The Post’s revelations about Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, were derived from emails found on a laptop abandoned in 2019 at a computer repair shop owned by one John Paul “Mac” Isaac. The computer was seized by the FBI but only after Isaac had copied the hard drive. Trump lawyer and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani apparently obtained a copy from Isaac and shared its information with the Post.

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Activists Claim Nashville’s ‘Black Lives Matter’ Mural ‘Intentionally Vandalized’ Less Than 24 Hours After Completion

Corinne Murdock

Activists are claiming that tire tracks across Nashville’s newest “Black Lives Matter” mural are signs of intentional vandalism. One set of tires left burnout marks across the bottom half of the letters.
According to reports, the organizers for painting the mural have reached out to Mayor John Cooper about the incident. The mayor’s office hasn’t issued any statements on the matter. None of the activists reported going to the police.

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Ivy League Grapples With Decisions Surrounding Anti-Racism Training, Course Requirements

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Ivy League schools are grappling with whether or not to implement mandatory antiracism and bias training programs. So far, the results have been mixed.

In a statement from the Board of Trustees released on July 1, Dartmouth College announced that it would “make implicit bias training mandatory for all students, faculty, and staff” as part of a “strong support for the growing movement across the nation to put an end to systemic and systematic racism.”

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Woman Missing for Two Weeks Found Safe in Zion National Park

The Associated Press

A California woman who was missing for about two weeks in Zion National Park in Utah has been found and left the park with her family who had feared the worst, authorities said.

Holly Suzanne Courtier, 38, of Los Angeles, was found Sunday by search and rescue crews after park rangers received a tip that she had been seen in the park, Zion National Park officials said in a news release. They didn’t say where she was found or anything about her condition or what had happened.

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Violent Attacks on Trump Supporters Spike as Election Day Draws Near

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As Election Day draws near, Democrats are lashing out violently at Trump supporters for the crime of expressing support for the president’s reelection in public. Just as they did throughout the 2016 election season and for many months after, left-wing agitators are engaging in political violence to terrorize and intimidate conservatives in the public square.

After President Trump’s rocky first year, the attacks against Trump supporters slowed down, but never completely went away. (A long list of attacks on Trump supporters since Sept. 2015 can be found here.)

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University Told Student Groups Not to Gather, but Allowed Black Lives Matter Protest

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A free-speech group has repeatedly warned the University of South Florida about the unfairness and unconstitutionality of its coronavirus guidelines.

The Southeastern Legal Foundation has now sent three letters to the public university in Florida, warning it about problems with both its approaches to student gatherings and coronavirus tracking and reporting.

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Virginia Vote Counters: No Winners on Election Night

Jacob Taylor

As November 3rd draws closer, general registrars and their staff in central Virginia are working extremely hard to get as many ballots counted as possible on election night, even though the results will not be official until Friday of that week.

On Monday, The Virginia Star spoke with registrars from Henrico, Hanover, New Kent and Goochland counties, and discussed the timing of ballot counts.

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Virginia Lawmakers Pass Bill Allowing Jury Trials With Judge Sentencing

The Center Square

Virginia lawmakers passed legislation Friday that allows those accused of a crime to receive a jury trial and a judge’s sentence, which proponents believe will reduce sentence lengths.

Under current law, a defendant must opt for a jury sentence if he or she requests a jury trial, which can often result in longer sentences than guidance normally would suggest. The law allows a judge to reduce the sentence, but this happens in only about 8.1% of cases.

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Trump Campaign Accuses Michigan Governor of ‘Encouraging Assassination’ Attempts

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President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign accused Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of “encouraging assassination attempts” against the president.

Whitmer appeared on MSNBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday morning and viewers quickly noticed an “86 45” sign displayed on the table behind her. Forty-five is a reference to Trump, who is the 45th president of the United States.

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Sen. Tina Smith Tests Negative for COVID After Skipping Warren Event

The Associated Press

Democratic U.S. Sen. Tina Smith skipped a campaign event with Sen. Elizabeth Warren over the weekend after learning that a person who attended one of her events eight days earlier had tested positive for the coronavirus.

“I’m getting tested & I am quarantining until I test negative,” Smith tweeted Sunday. After learning Monday morning that she had tested negative, Smith tweeted that she was “Headed back to Washington to keep working for Minnesotans.”

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New Research Shows Excess of Non-COVID Deaths Increased Over Course of Pandemic

Corinne Murdock

New research from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) shows that excess, non-COVID-19 deaths increased over the course of the pandemic. The authors theorized that the pandemic caused “disruptions” that led to these deaths.

Non-COVID deaths accounted for over thirty percent of the overall excess deaths. The most significant non-COVID causes of death were heart disease, Alzheimer disease, and dementia. 

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TRUMPDATE: Latest From the Team Trump Virginia Campaign for October 20

Jordan Bondurant

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 14 days until the election on November 3 – and 11 days until early voting in Virginia closes. President Trump meets Joe Biden in the final presidential debate THIS THURSDAY. The deadline to request a mail-in ballot in Virginia is Friday, October 23.

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Lawsuit Accuses Delegate Michael Mullin of Violating Separation of Powers

Corinne Murdock

Delegate Michael Mullin (D-Newport News) is accused of violating the separation of powers by serving as an attorney in cases with justices he appoints. The lawsuit asks the court to “disqualify any judge(s) subject to review or reappointment” by Mullin, and to remove Mullin from prosecution of the case.

The suit contends that Mullin’s positions as both a Delegate in the House and an assistant attorney violates Articles III and IV of the Constitution of Virginia.

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Coalition of Churches Opposes Bristol Casino

Eric Burk

Eight churches in Bristol, Virginia are fighting against a proposed $400 million Hard Rock casino; residents will vote on the referendum this November. The coalition cites studies claiming that casinos prey on gambling addicts and questions whether a casino would draw high numbers of tourists as claimed by supporters of the referendum. Proponents say the casino would bring Bristol $15-$20 million a year in taxes and over 2,000 jobs averaging salaries of $46,500.

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Trump Campaign Knocks One-Millionth Door in Minnesota

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President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign knocked its one-millionth door in Minnesota over the weekend. 

While Democrats have been hosting their events online, Republicans have been on the ground knocking doors and holding rallies in their push to turn Minnesota red. Democrats were previously critical of Republicans for campaigning in person during a pandemic, but supporters of Joe Biden recently took to knocking doors themselves.

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Bowling Green Parents Protest, Petition Against School Board Decision to Remain Online

Jordyn Pair

  A group of parents in Bowling Green, Ohio, protested on Monday night against a recent school board decision to keep local students in online learning, despite the school system being designated as safe to reopen. The protest was sponsored by the group BG VOICE, a Facebook group boasting more than 600 members who are concerned about the board’s decision to keep students in online learning. The board for Bowling Green City Schools originally planned to re-evaluate its July decision to have online learning every six weeks. Last week by a 3 to 2 vote, the board decided to keep students online, with board leadership saying there would not be a re-vote, according to 13 ABC. BGCS’s board said it was concerned about possible spread in the community from Bowling Green State University, as well as that a hybrid program would only allow instruction two days out of the week, according to BG Independent Media. BGSU has had nearly 500 positive cases of COVID-19 since reopening in August, according to a university dashboard. BG VOICE has created a petition in opposition of that decision, saying that online learning is detrimental to students. The petition has garnered nearly 900 signatures. The…

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