Month: January 2021

Special Election to Replace Former Del. Joseph Lindsey Pits Sylvia Bryant Against Angelia Graves in Virginia’s District 90

Eric Burk

Underdog Republican Sylvia Bryant is facing off against Democrat Angelia Graves today in a special election for Virginia’s 90th House of Delegates District in Norfolk. The 90th district traditionally favors Democrats, but after redistricting in 2019, and with low turnout expected, the district appears slightly easier to win for Republicans, according to former chair of the Republican Party of Norfolk Pam Brown.

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Virginia Representative Spanberger Calls for New Leadership, Does Not Vote for Pelosi as Speaker

Eric Burk

Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger (D-VA-07) was one of just five House of Representative Democrats who did not vote for Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi (D-CA-12) to continue as Speaker of the House in the 117th Congress.

“In a time marked by historically low trust in our government, new voices are necessary to moving forward and achieving real progress,” Spanberger said in a press release. “Last Congress, I kept my promise to vote for new leadership upon my swearing-in – and in this Congress, I remain consistent in my commitment to ushering in new leadership. Accordingly, I did not vote for Speaker Pelosi.”

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DeWine Backs Down on Stand-Your-Ground Opposition, Signs Ohio Gun Bill into Law

Jack Windsor

Today, Governor Mike DeWine signed Senate Bill 175 despite hubbub he may veto the act.

“I have always believed that it is vital that law-abiding citizens have the right to legally protect themselves when confronted with a life-threatening situation. While campaigning for Governor, I expressed my support for removing the ambiguity in Ohio’s self-defense law, and Senate Bill 175 accomplishes this goal. That is why I have signed this bill today.”

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‘I Believe in Heroes’: Downtown Features Mural Honoring Police Who Responded to Nashville Bombing

Corinne Murdock

Downtown Nashville now features a mural honoring the six police officers who evacuated residents ahead of the Christmas Day bombing. Sergeant Timothy Miller and officers Brenna Hosey, Amanda Topping, Tyler Luellen, Michael Sipos, James Wells are depicted on a rendition of the famed “I Believe in Nashville” mural series. Their version of the mural reads, “I Believe in Heroes.”

The mural is located at the corner of 2nd Avenue and Broadway, just ahead of the site of the bombing. The street is still blocked off due to the wreckage being cleared away. The groups behind the popular Instagram pages dedicated to the Nashville community and the “I Believe in Nashville” mural series painted the mural with the permission of the building owner, Hard Rock Cafe Nashville. The mural is expected to remain until the window underneath is replaced. After that, it will be framed and hung inside the building.

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CNN Fumbles Georgia Absentee Ballot Chain of Custody ‘Fact Check,’ Fails to Correct Multiple Errors

Peter D'Abrosca

CNN fumbled a “fact check” published Friday about the lack of chain of custody documents from absentee ballots placed in drop boxes in Georgia during the November 3 presidential election.

The left wing mainstream media outlet has also failed to respond to a request from The Georgia Star News to correct the factual inaccuracies in that story.

The article, written by Tara Subramaniam and published at CNN on December 31 titled, “Fact-checking Trump campaign ad implying fraud in Georgia,” made a number of factually inaccurate claims about reporting by The Star News.

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More Than 1.5B COVID Face Masks Will Pollute the Oceans: Study

Admin

An estimated 1.5 billion disposable face masks will end up in the oceans this year according to a Hong Kong-based conservation organization.

OceansAsia based its estimate on 52 billion masks being manufactured in 2020 to meet the demand caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Their report also says that a “conservative” calculation means at least 3 percent of them will be washed out to sea.

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Commentary: The Constitutional Politics of President Trump’s Impoundment Move

Admin

To understand President Trump’s signing of the latest so-called COVID-19 “stimulus” bill after days of veto threats, we need to understand the critical constitutional history of the Watergate era. 

Citing the Impoundment Control Act of 1974, Trump declared, “I will sign the Omnibus and COVID package with a strong message that makes clear to Congress that wasteful items need to be removed. I will send back to Congress a redlined version, item by item, accompanied by the formal rescission request to Congress insisting that those funds be removed from the bill.” 

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New House Rules to Eliminate Gendered Terms Like ‘Father, Mother, Son, Daughter’

The Center Square

Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rules Committee Chairman James P. McGovern announced new rules for the 117th Congress, which will be introduced and voted on after the new Congress convenes.

The rules include “sweeping ethics reforms, increases accountability for the American people, and makes this House of Representatives the most inclusive in history” – including eliminating the words, “father, mother, son, and daughter,” from federal code.

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Bill to Ban Biological Men from Women’s Sports Gains Bipartisan Support in Congress

Admin

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) introduced legislation to ban biological males from participating in women’s sports.

Gabbard, a Democrat who ran for the 2020 presidential nomination for her party, is the sponsor of H.R. 8932, the “Protect Women’s Sports Act,” alongside Reps. Markwayne Mullin, (R-Okla.), Bill Flores (R-Texas), Bill Johnson (R-Ohio), Rep. Alexander Mooney (R-W.V.), and Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.).

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Almost 100 Million Americans Plan to Make Finances a New Year’s Resolution in 2021

The Center Square
business meeting

About 97 million Americans say they plan to make a New Year’s resolution for 2021 that involves their financial situation, compared to 66 million who said they’ve done so in the past, according to a new survey by WalletHub.

Of those who responded to the survey, more than a third say their top financial resolution will be to save more money. With that in mind, WalletHub came up with suggestions that can help you save more and spend less.

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Top Chinese Official Sees ‘New Window of Hope’ with a Biden Administration

Admin

The Chinese government sees “a new window of hope” for improved relations with the Biden administration, China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, said in an interview with a state-controlled media outlet.

“China-U.S. relations have come to a new crossroads, and a new window of hope is opening,” Wang said in an interview with CGTN.

“We hope that the next US administration will return to a sensible approach, resume dialogue with China, restore normalcy to the bilateral relations and restart cooperation,” added Wang, who accused the Trump administration of trying to start “a new Cold War” with Beijing.

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Commentary: Dooming Lincoln

Admin

It’s one of the ironic facts of history that Lincoln was fond of the tune “Dixie.” Following the capture of Richmond in 1865, he instructed the Union band to play it in celebration of the South’s surrender. “I have always thought ‘Dixie’ one of the best tunes I have ever heard. Our adversaries over the way attempted to appropriate it, but I insisted yesterday that we fairly captured it,” he said. “I now request the band to favor me with its performance.”’

Lincoln’s feelings aren’t hard to understand. “Dixie” is as good as any song that belongs to America. But what was to Lincoln a beautiful melody that had been “fairly captured” has today been marked down by polite society as an anthem of white supremacy and a relic of “Lost Cause” mythology. Indeed, amidst what they’re calling the “reckoning,” a passionate urgency to expunge the Confederacy from history has perhaps never been stronger. 

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Bill Allowing Religious Exemptions for COVID-19 Vaccines to be Considered Again by General Assembly

Jacob Taylor

With multiple COVID-19 vaccines now being distributed and administered across the Commonwealth of Virginia, a Republican state Senator is looking to revisit the topic of religious exemptions to immunizations when the General Assembly convenes for its regular session in ten days.

Senator Mark Peake (R-Lynchburg) has introduced and pre-filed Senate Bill 1116, which would allow for a parent or guardian to object to the vaccination of a child on the grounds that immunization conflicts with their religious practices or tenets, even during an emergency declared by the state board of health.

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Gwinnett County Sheriff Ends 287(G) Program Participation Checking Immigration Status of Detained Persons in Georgia

Corinne Murdock

Gwinnett County will no longer participate in the 287(g) Program, meaning their officers will no longer perform immigration law enforcement functions. The county’s newly-elected sheriff, Keybo Taylor, announced his decision the same day he was sworn into office.

Gwinnett County first entered into the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) program in 2009. Under the agreement, officers were trained by ICE to become federal immigration officers. They could interrogate, arrest, process, detain, transport, and issue immigrant detainers to individuals in regard to their immigration status and any related violations. 

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Congresswoman-Elect Spearheads Effort to Keep Ability to Carry Guns in Capitol, Says DC Is Unsafe

Admin

Colorado Congresswoman-elect Lauren Boebert, alongside 83 other Representatives, have countered an effort by Democratic legislators to disallow politicians from carrying firearms in the Capitol.

Boebert, a vocal supporter of gun rights, rallied the group of lawmakers to oppose a measure by Democratic California Rep. Jared Huffman to prohibit gun carry throughout Capitol grounds. Huffman garnered support from 19 other House members and said the “current regulations,” which allow concealed firearms for politicians, “create needless risk” in a mid-December letter.

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Commentary: Georgia Can Be a Firewall Against Illegal Immigration

Admin

Joe Biden wants to offer amnesty to 11 million illegal aliens. And Georgia’s senators are the only ones who can stop him – or provide him the votes to get it.

Incumbent Republicans Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue will face off against Democratic challengers Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff Tuesday. If the Democrats win both Georgia runoffs, the Senate will be split 50-50, and Kamala Harris will hold the tie-breaking vote on a range of critical legislation, including an amnesty bill.

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Large Crowd in Franklin Gears Up for Wednesday’s Electoral College Challenge to Help Donald Trump

Chris Butler

A crowd of perhaps 1,000 people or more descended upon downtown Franklin Sunday to organize and discuss ways to assist U.S. President Donald Trump during Wednesday’s Electoral College certification in Washington, D.C. Organizers of this event, which they called the March for Trump, also made plans to travel to Washington, D.C. on Wednesday to support Trump in person.

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Still No Chain of Custody Documents Produced in Georgia for 76 Percent of Absentee Ballots Cast in Drop Boxes Two Months Ago in Presidential Election

Tiffany Morgan

Two months after the November 3 presidential election, the Georgia Secretary of State’s office and county officials in the state have failed to produce chain of custody documents known as ballot transfer forms that tracked the movement of 76 percent of the estimated 600,000 absentee ballots deposited in 300 drop boxes around the state and subsequently delivered to county registrars responsible for accurately and honestly counting those votes in that election.

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Commentary: End Court Packing Threat

Admin

Congressional Democrats have promised to pack the Supreme Court if they take control and Joe Biden’s fraud-ridden election stands. Senate stalwarts like Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga), and David Perdue (R-Ga.) are leading the charge to end this threat by amending the United States Constitution to specify that the number of Supreme Court Justices will be nine, ending the court packing threat once and for all. 

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Boston Removes Lincoln Emancipation Memorial

Admin

The Emancipation Memorial statue, put up in Boston’s Park Square in 1879, has been taken down after an online petition with more than 12,000 signatures called for its removal.

The statue of Abraham Lincoln with a freed slave appearing to kneel at his feet drew objections amid a national reckoning with ‘racial injustice’. The decision to remove “acknowledged the statue’s role in perpetuating harmful prejudices and obscuring the role of Black Americans in shaping the nation’s freedoms,” AP reports.

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Millions of COVID-19 Vaccines Have Yet to Be Used Since First U.S. Distribution

Admin

Over 9 million COVID-19 vaccines have yet to be administered in the U.S. since they were initially distributed on Dec. 13, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Of the 12,409,050 doses of the vaccines that have been distributed, only 2,794,588 have been administered as of Wednesday morning, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

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Vice President Mike Pence Welcomes the Efforts of Representatives and Senators to Object to Electoral College Votes

Admin

  In a statement Saturday, Vice President Mike Pence issued a statement through his Chief of Staff Marc Short that he welcomes the actions of some members of the House and Senate, who say they will object to the final certification of the Electoral College vote on Wednesday. “Vice President Pence shares the concerns of millions of Americans about voter fraud and irregularities in the last election,” Short said, according to a tweet by The Epoch Times’ Alex Salvi. He added, “The Vice President welcomes the efforts of members of the House and Senate to use the authority they have under the law to raise objections and bring forward evidence before the Congress and the American people on January 6th.” https://twitter.com/alexsalvinews/status/1345516490846576641 The move comes as news of as many as 140 Representatives and 12 Senators broke Friday and Saturday. Breitbart News reported that among those in the House who have announced they will object to the Electoral College votes are: Rep. Brian Babin (R-Texas), Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), Rep.-elect Lauren Boebert (R-Co.), Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Al.), Rep. Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Rep.-elect Jerry Carl (R-Al.), Rep.-elect Madison Cawthorn (R-N.C.), Rep.-elect Andrew Clyde (R-Georgia), Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas),…

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Petersburg School Board Votes to Play High School Winter Sports

Jacob Taylor

The Petersburg City School Board voted 6-1 in a virtual meeting last week to move forward with high school winter sports during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The school board’s decision allows for the return of high school boys and girls basketball, indoor track and field, wrestling as well as cheerleading, and came just a couple weeks after the body had originally voted on December 16 to cancel winter sports because of the virus.

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Michigan Residents Pay $4,040 Per Capita in Key State Tax Levies, Study Finds

The Center Square

Michigan residents pay 8.47% of their income per capita toward property, income and sales taxes – or $4,040 per person – according to a new study examining tax burdens in the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

The share of income paid by Michigan residents for these three taxes represented the 25th highest state tax burden among the 50 states and Washington, D.C., the HireAHelper website reported. The state’s residents paid 3.07% of their income on property taxes, according to the website, which provides moving services.

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Only Nine Georgia State Senators Signed Petition for Special Session

Corinne Murdock

Only 9 out of 35 Republican state senators signed a petition to call a special session determining Georgia’s 16 electors and addressing election fraud. In order for the petition to go through, at least 29 senators needed to sign onto it. 

The state senators who signed the petition were: Brandon Beach (R-GA-Alpharetta), Burt Jones (R-Jackson), Greg Dolezal (R-Cumming), William Ligon (R-Brunswick), Matt Brass (R-Newnan), Tyler Harper (R-Ocilla), Marty Harbin (R-Tyrone), Bruce Thompson (R-White), and Steve Gooch (R-Dahlonega).

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Federal Court Preliminarily Sides with Nine Ohio Christian Schools Claiming Toledo-Lucas Co. Health Dept Resolution Unconstitutional

Jack Windsor

The United States Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals granted a request made by nine Ohio parochial schools to stop a resolution issued by the Toledo-Lucas County Department of Health that shut down in-person learning in the plaintiff schools.

The court issued a temporary order halting the health department from enforcing the resolution in the schools based on the likelihood the order violates the First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause.

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Minnesota State Senators Say Walz ‘Must’ Announce Plan to End Business Closures

Admin

Minnesota Sens. Michelle Benson, R-Ham Lake, and Eric Pratt, R-Prior Lake, sent a letter to Gov. Tim Walz asking him to reopen bars and restaurants.

In their letter, the two senators urge Gov. Walz to reopen bars, restaurants, and other “vital economic engines” by January 11. The letter also asks Walz to let businesses know of his plan by Jan. 4 so they have time to prepare.

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Major Flaws in Georgia Secretary of State’s ‘Audit’ of Absentee Ballot Signature Matching in Cobb County

Peter D'Abrosca

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger is not responding to questions about major flaws in his office’s “audit” of Cobb County absentee ballot envelope signatures counted in the November 3 presidential election, the results of which were announced in a press release last week.

Raffensperger and Gov. Brian Kemp, both Republicans, have certified that former Vice President Joe Biden secured a razor thin margin of victory of 11,779 votes in Georgia in the November 3 election, despite numerous lawsuits alleging significant irregularities in that election.

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Eleven Republican U.S. Senators and Senators-Elect Join Growing Chorus in Congress Who Say They Will Challenge Electoral College Results Wednesday

Jason M. Reynolds

Eleven more Republican U.S. senators and senators-elect from 10 states said they will contest the Electoral College results Wednesday over fraud concerns.

U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), one of the 11, made the announcement Saturday. Senator-Elect Bill Hagerty (R-TN), who was endorsed by President Donald Trump in the election, is working with her in the dissent.

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Commentary: Ossoff Must Be Defeated Yet Again

Admin

This week, I shared my thoughts on the evil soul of the White-hater, Jew-hater, Israel-hater, and overall despicable person Raphael Warnock. To summarize those 1500 words in 20 words: Warnock, who has the theological soul of a Warlock, regards the Wrong Rev. Jeremiah Wright as a modern-day Biblical “prophet.” In truth, Wright is so viciously despicable that even Obama, who once worshipped at Wright’s feet, fled from that church and left Wright as soon as the public learned what that White-hater, America-hater, and Jew-hater was saying each week from his true Bully Pulpit, the pulpit of a bully.

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Portland Rioters Attack Federal Courthouse with Molotovs on New Year’s Eve

Admin

A group of violent demonstrators in Portland hurled “Molotovs cocktail-style firebombs”, lit fires and tried to break into a federal courthouse house on New Year’s Eve, authorities said.

Between 80 and 100 rioters tossed at least two firebombs and launched “aerial-grade fireworks” at both the federal building and a county justice facility, according to a press release from the Portland Police Bureau (PPB). Others in the group attempted to break into the federal facility using tools, the department wrote.

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