Tennessee Board Approves $35M Grant to Retrain GM’s Spring Hill Employees as Part of $2B Deal to Produce Electric Cadillac Vehicles

A state board on Tuesday approved a $35 million jobs training grant to encourage General Motors to retain workers at its Spring Hill plant as the company looks to invest approximately $2 billion to produce electric vehicles, including the Cadillac LYRIQ.

The State Funding Board approved the FastTrack Job Training Assistance Grant. More information is available here.

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Biden Selects Former Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen for Treasury Secretary, Would Be First Woman to Hold Position: Report

President-elect Joe Biden is expected to name former Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen for secretary of the Department of the Treasury, The Wall Street Journal first reported Monday.

Yellen, 74, who was the first woman to serve as Federal Reserve chair after she was confirmed by the Senate in 2014, would be the first woman to head the Treasury Department, according to CNBC. Yellen is widely considered to be a “safe” pick with a high likelihood of confirmation by a closely divided Senate.

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Biden’s Pick for Homeland Security Chief ‘Exerted Improper Influence’ in Visa Program for Rich Foreign Investors

President-elect Joe Biden’s pick to lead the Department of Homeland Security was accused in a government watchdog report during the Obama administration of exerting improper influence to help high-profile Democrats navigate a government visa program to help their wealthy foreign investors.

Biden’s transition team announced on Monday that he will pick Alejandro Mayorkas, the former deputy secretary of homeland security, to lead the agency.

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Ty Herndon and Kristen Chenoweth Release ‘Orphans of God’

When country crooner, Ty Herndon announced he was releasing a duet with the talented Tony Award Winner, Kristen Chenoweth, I wanted to find out how this came to be.

With Herndon, he grew up singing from a young age and never really had a choice. He comes from a musical family and they traveled the south singing at camp meetings and tent revivals. He even considered being an evangelist at one point. His family listened to the Grand Ole’ Opry and singers like Tammy Wynette.

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Kentucky AG Files Restraining Order to Block Religious School Closures

“Kentucky’s attorney general is suing his own governor in an attempt to keep private religious schools open, despite the state ordering virtual classes during the coronavirus pandemic, “according to Fox News.

Attorney General Daniel Cameron and the First Liberty Institute on Friday asked a federal court to issue a temporary restraining order that would block Beshear’s order from being implemented. An emergency hearing took place on Monday. In the petition, Cameron argued that Beshear’s latest executive order infringed on Danville Christian Academy’s and other religious schools’ constitutional freedoms.

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Debbie Dooley Commentary: Georgia Secretary of State Raffensperger Ignores Georgia Law and Cowers to Stacey Abrams and Democrats

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger ignited a firestorm when he announced in March of this year that he was appeasing Stacey Abrams and Georgia Democrats by sending out absentee ballot requests to 6.9 million active registered Georgia voters during the Primary elections.   Georgia conservatives were outraged he was doing this because of the potential for rampant voter fraud involved with absentee ballots.  Voters over 65 could request general election ballots when they requested their primary ballot.

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Two Moves Trump HHS Is Taking to Make Government More Accountable

In another Trump administration move to boost transparency and roll back regulations, the Department of Health and Human Services issued two statements of policy on Tuesday that will affect any future imposition of regulations going forward. 

The first policy requires the department and its agencies to demonstrate to the public how they reached a conclusion on the economic cost of a regulation. 

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Nashville Has Arrested 11 Hosts of Large Home Parties During Pandemic, Tennessean Says

Under emergency health orders, Nashville police have arrested 47 people as of mid-November, including 11 accused of hosting large gatherings, The Tennessean newspaper said.

The newspaper said it based its report on its research of court documents and other data. Reportedly, 79 percent were in violation of Metro Health orders by failing to wear a mask in public. Some of the hosts allegedly held house parties of up to 600 people at a time, according to police, which could result in up to a year in jail and a $2,500 fine.

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83 Percent Increase in Middle and High School Students Earning ‘F’ Grades in at Least Two Classes in Fairfax

A Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) study found an 83 percent increase in middle and high school students earning ‘F’ grades in two or more classes. The study compared Quarter One 2020-2021 results to Quarter One 2019-2020, and coincided with COVID-19 virtual learning. Last school year, six percent of the students earned ‘F’ grades in two or more classes; that increased to 11 percent in the latest results.

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College Basketball Games to Watch Over Thanksgiving Holiday

It has been exactly 258 days since conference tournaments around the country were cancelled thanks to the coronavirus, but now fans can rejoice because college basketball is officially back. 

After what feels like an eternal break from the sport, Wednesday marks the start of the season and features a slate of games from morning to night for what will essentially be non-stop action all day long.

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Georgia Begins Second Recount – No Audit of Absentee Ballot Signatures

Georgia initiated its second recount Tuesday of the votes cast in the general election. During this recount, the votes will be processed electronically rather than hand-counted – but there will be no audit of absentee ballot signatures.

In a virtual press conference, Georgia Secretary of State Voting Systems Manager Gabriel Sterling asserted that their office would continue to “follow the law” for this recount. He explained that no state law exists requiring or outlining signature matching after initial confirmation upon receipt of the ballot. That, and workers separate ballots from their signed envelopes to protect ballot secrecy.

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State Election Board Votes to Extend Drop Box Use and Mandate Early Processing for Absentee Ballots for Runoff Senate Election

The Georgia State Election Board voted to extend the absentee ballot voting rules on the use of drop boxes and early processing. Leading up to the January 5 general election runoff, voters may continue to deliver their absentee ballots at drop boxes and officials must begin processing ballots at minimum a week before Election Day.

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger chaired Monday’s meeting. The board gathered to discuss three emergency rules set to expire prior to the runoff election, though they opted to only address the first two on their agenda.

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