Former Tennessee State Sen. Jim Tracy is joining the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance in a senior leadership position. This, according to a press release that TDCI officials published on their website Friday.
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Among many executive actions signed on Inauguration Day to sweep Trump policies out the door along with the man himself, President Biden rescinded approval for the Keystone XL oil pipeline. Keystone XL, according to Biden’s top climate policy adviser Gina McCarthy, “was not consistent with addressing the climate crisis to the depth and scope that we are planning to address it.”
Keystone XL has now played the role of political football for a full decade, and Americans can be forgiven for having forgotten the project’s details.
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After another stalemate between pro-primary and pro-convention factions of the Republican Party of Virginia (RPV) State Central Committee (SCC), Chairman Rich Anderson said he will move forward with plans for a convention.
“The majority of the SCC voted today for a third time to conduct an assembled in-person Republican State Convention. Our hope is to get SCC buy-in in a later meeting on proposals to transform it to an unassembled state convention, like we did last summer,” Anderson told The Virginia Star.
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Republican officials at the Georgia State Capital want to require photo ID for absentee ballots in the state. This, according to a new report on the Atlanta-based WABE. The station is affiliated with National Public Radio.
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Delegate Mike Mullin (D-Newport News) has introduced HB 2263, which would abolish the death penalty in Virginia. The bill has attracted support from leading Democratic policy makers; co-patrons of the bill are House Majority Leader Charniele Herring (D-Alexandria), attorney general candidate Delegate Jay Jones (D-Norfolk), gubernatorial candidate Delegate Lee Carter (D-Manassas), and 40-year House member Delegate Ken Plum (D-Fairfax). In his 2021 State of the Commonwealth address, Governor Ralph Northam also advocated ending the death penalty.
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The top health official in Michigan has abruptly resigned as the state plans to reopen restaurants in the coming weeks, after months of strict lockdown orders.
“Today, I am resigning from the Whitmer Administration. It’s been an honor to serve alongside wonderful colleagues. I look forward to the next chapter,” Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Director Robert Gordon said Friday on Twitter.
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The Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD) is asking for an additional $1 million to stimulate the state’s hard-hit tourism industry.
GDEcD Commissioner Pat Wilson told lawmakers Friday the state has lost billions of tourism dollars and has seen massive industry job loss because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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A review requested by House Speaker Melissa Hortman found “no actions or speech rose to the level of criminal activity” during a Jan. 6 protest at the Minnesota Capitol.
The rally, billed as a “Storm the Capitol” protest, took place the same afternoon as the attack on the U.S. Capitol.
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A Virginia newspaper apologized for the racial makeup of its reporters who are publishing a series on post-Jim Crow housing discrimination in Norfolk.
“For full disclosure, the people behind this reporting are white and benefit from numerous privileges that the disadvantaged populations highlighted in this project do not, ‘So we have blind spots,'” The Virginian-Pilot said in a Thursday tweet. “Meet the ‘Dividing Lines’ team here:”
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The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) banned all “hate speech” by its members – not just in members’ professional capacity, but in every aspect of their lives. The policy changes were approved by the NAR Board of Directors during a meeting on November 13.
The policy on hate speech encompasses an array of broad issues: “harassing speech, epithets, or slurs based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, national origin, sexual orientation, or gender identity.” Collectively, these speech-related issues fall under what the NAR terms “public trust,” which also includes misappropriation of client or customer funds, or property and fraud that causes significant economic harm.
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Ohio’s latest jobless numbers show signs of concern despite a falling unemployment rate, according to an independent think tank.
Rea S. Hederman Jr., executive director of the Economic Research Center and vice president of policy at The Buckeye Institute, said the December jobs report showed weakness and signs of unease.
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Dr. Anthony Fauci will participate as a keynote speaker in a free virtual summit on health equity for minorities Wednesday at Meharry Medical College.
The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) will participate in the Nashville college’s Health Summit series, Meharry Medical announced. The session will be form 10 a.m.-noon Wednesday.
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Tennessee Stands petitioned Tennessee’s Attorney General Herbert Slattery to take legal action against social media censorship. The nonprofit social advocacy organization submitted the letter, authored by their legal representation, on Wednesday. The letter cited previous President Donald Trump’s executive order pertaining to online censorship, issued last May, as an example.
“Tennessee Stands respectfully asks that your office demonstrate similar courage in taking a national leadership role in the investigation and civil prosecution of companies like Facebook when their false advertising and viewpoint-based censorship and interruption of service of its members runs afoul of the protections afforded the citizens of our state,” stated the letter.
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President Joe Biden’s first day in office began with a flurry of executive orders and other actions, taking out former President Donald Trump’s travel restrictions from countries with known Islamist terrorist activity, stopping further construction of the border wall on an emergency basis, rejoining the World Health Organization, reentering the Paris Climate Accords, and halting the Remain in Mexico policy that had asylum seekers wait out their cases in Mexico before being allowed to enter in the U.S.
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About five parents in Williamson County have asked members of that county’s school board to create a committee to stamp out what they said was chronic racism within the school district. These parents requested this at the school board’s regular meeting this week.
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Thousands of National Guard troops protecting the Capitol Hill complex during inauguration week were temporarily forced Thursday night to leave the buildings, sparking outrage among the troops and Congress.
“Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Schumer – why are American troops who are tasked with keeping security at the Capitol being forced to sleep in a parking lot? They deserve to be treated with respect, and we deserve answers,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, in a tweet, asked the two leaders of the Democrat-controlled Congress.
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The Biden administration has begun ramping up another “Buy American” campaign. Promoters of international commerce will respond that privileging the purchase of domestic products is inefficient and thus immoral: If manufacturing is cheaper in China, Chinese laborers and American consumers both benefit. Others find American economic self-sufficiency, producing the things that we need at home, to be politically appealing — especially for strategic goods and essential defense articles. But will Biden’s “Buy American” campaign be effective more broadly, especially when it comes to concerns like fighting the use of slave labor in autocratic countries?
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Texas plans to sue the Biden administration over several executive orders recently issued, and immigration policy is front and center.
“A new crop of Texas-led lawsuits awaits Joe Biden’s White House,” Gov. Greg Abbott tweeted. “Texas will take action whenever the federal government encroaches on state’s rights, or interferes with constitutional rights, or private property rights or the right to earn a living.”
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A pause in deporting certain noncitizens from the U.S. will be in effect for 100 days starting Friday, the Department of Homeland Security announced Thursday.
The pause will be in effect while the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reviews immigration enforcement policies and practices, according to Acting DHS Secretary David Pekoske. The pause will allow officials to “review and reset” policies to focus on public safety, border and national security.
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The Tennessee General Assembly passed a series of legislation to reopen schools and improve learning losses and literacy. The measures passed will establish phonics as the primary method for reading instruction, mandate third-grade students read on grade level before graduating to fourth grade, establish tutors and summer learning camps for students who fell behind in certain subjects, and remove accountability for standardized testing results. An additional bill concerning the state budget will fund 4 percent teacher raises.
As reported previously by The Tennessee Star, the General Assembly convened the special session to prioritize the state’s flagging education system due to pandemic-related closures. The session was called per the request of Governor Bill Lee last month.
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Friday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed PJTN’s Laurie Cardoza Moore to the newsmakers line to talk about PJTN’s recent release from the SPLC’s watchlist as a hate group and her role on the Tennessee textbook commission.
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Friday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Joy Pullmann to the show to discuss the reforms needed in education.
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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.
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The Senate voted to confirm retired Gen. Lloyd Austin as Secretary of Defense, making him President Joe Biden’s second Cabinet nominee to be confirmed.
Austin was confirmed by a bipartisan 93-2 vote and will be the first black person to serve in the role. Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley and Utah Sen. Mike Lee were the only senators to vote against his confirmation.
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A freshman U.S. House member from Georgia Thursday filed articles of impeachment against President Joe Biden, on Biden’s first full day in office.
“I’m filing articles of impeachment against Joe Biden for abuse of power, and he used the office of the Vice Presidency – he abused the power by threatening to withhold money – withhold foreign aid to Ukraine in order help his son, Hunter Biden in his business scams in a Ukrainian energy company,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA-14) told Real America’s News.
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For years, Michiganders have gambled online illegally. But when sports betting and online gambling are legalized for the first time on Friday, the state will reap its tax revenue.
“The Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) and the state’s commercial and tribal casinos will begin a new era Jan. 22 with the launch of regulated online gaming and sports betting,” Richard Kalm, MGCB executive director, said in a statement.
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Some youth hockey associations could be fined if players and coaches don’t wear masks during practices or games.
Minnesota Hockey is the governing body of youth hockey in the state of Minnesota and teams are divided between twelve districts, including District 10. Each district includes several local hockey associations.
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U.S. Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA-09) said this week that election season is over in Georgia and government officials must now secure the integrity of how people vote. Clyde submitted a column to The Washington Examiner and said state-level officials, during this year’s session of the Georgia General Assembly, are prioritizing the issue of voter integrity. He also seemed to criticize Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger for how he managed last year’s elections.
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The House Committee on Public Safety (CPS) approved several firearms bills on Friday morning. The bills include HB 1909, which allows school boards to declare non-school zone property owned by the board as a gun free zone; HB 1992, which prohibits people convicted of assault from owning or possessing a firearm; HB 2128, which increases the firearm sale background check delay from three days to five days, HB2276 which bans plastic firearms and 80 percent receivers; and HB 2295, which bans carrying firearms or stun weapons on Capitol grounds in Richmond. HB2081, which bans carrying firearms at a polling place, passed out of the Privileges and Elections Committee on Wednesday.
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The Georgia House of Representatives recognized 8 new committee chairmen, with House Democrats earning one chair. State Representative Mary Margaret Oliver (D-Decatur) was appointed to chair the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Overview Committee (MARTOC), a statutory body overseeing the Metro Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) budget.
Oliver was the only Democrat appointed to chair a committee; no Democrats chair any of the subcommittees or special committees either. MARTOC’s designation as a joint committee means that it doesn’t handle legislation, and members don’t vote with the MARTA Board of Directors.
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Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman (R-Lima) announced last week through a released statement the upper chamber’s committee structure and leadership for the 134th General Assembly.
“Every new General Assembly crafts new committees to more closely reflect the pressing issues of the time,” Huffman said in the press release. “I believe it is important to allow Senators to more closely focus on those challenges through fewer committees, giving them more time to research and develop a more expert level of understanding on the issues.”
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Delegate Kirk Cox’s House bill limiting the length of executive orders will likely die in committee after a Public Safety subcommittee recommended tabling the bill. HB 2087, if passed, would limit the length of Governor Ralph Northam’s executive orders to just 45 days unless the General Assembly passes an extension. Delegate Les Adams (R-Chatham) filed a similar bill, HB 2149, that would have limited the length of executive orders to 60 days, but the subcommittee also recommended that it be tabled. “House Bill 2087 will curb the governor’s authority to declare long-lasting states of emergency without proper legislative oversight,” a Cox press release states. In the subcommittee on Thursday, Cox said, “The governor’s probably issued around 21 or 22 executive orders even with COVID-19. Several of his were of an indefinite nature and several have obviously been amended. And I think regardless of party, you’ve got to be concerned about that. We’re an equal branch of government and I think there are rare circumstances where a governor should have unchecked power for months.” Adams first filed his bill during the 2020 special session, where it was also killed in committee. In the Thursday subcommittee meeting, he argued that executive…
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Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) said he was “very disappointed” with the way the state’s National Guardsmen were treated when they were deployed to Washington, D.C. for President Joe Biden’s inauguration.
“It’s time to welcome our TN National Guard soldiers & airmen home today after their mission in DC. Very disappointed in the way this mission came to a close & the overall treatment of the National Guard in DC. Tennesseans are proud of our men and women in uniform,” he said Friday on Twitter.
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Both Tennessee Senators oppose President Joe Biden’s first wave of executive orders. Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Bill Hagerty (R-TN) quickly criticized Biden’s decisions to end the Keystone XL pipeline, overhaul the immigration system, and rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement.
In a series of tweets, Blackburn issued her criticisms of Biden’s orders.
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Over the next few years, Democrats will try and impose some of their worst policies through regulation. Let’s revisit a few episodes of Bureaucrats Gone Wild, a Barack Obama production, to get a sense of what Biden’s reboot of Obama-era policies will look like.
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Thursday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed author and Washington Times correspondent Bill Gertz to the newsmakers line to weigh in on the threat of China in a Biden administration.
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The number of Americans filing new unemployment claims decreased to 900,000 last week as the economy continued to suffer the effects of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, according to the Department of Labor.
The Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS) figure released Thursday represented a decrease in the number of new jobless claims compared to the week ending Jan. 16, in which there were 965,000 new jobless claims reported. Roughly 16 million Americans continue to collect unemployment benefits, according to the BLS report Thursday.
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The University of Memphis (UofM) will raise its minimum wage from $13 to $15 an hour, starting June 5.
In a copy of the email obtained by The Tennessee Star, university faculty and staff were informed by President Dr. David Rudd on Tuesday that the raise was a culmination of adjustments done over the past year. Rudd shared that some of they’d implemented a hiring freeze, reduction in operational costs, and forms of attrition.
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Thursday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed author and professor Dr. Jake Jacobs to the newsmakers line to discuss left-wing indoctrination through education and his new book Mob Rule.
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FBI agents opened an investigation in late 2014 into a foreign power’s effort to curry influence with Hillary Clinton’s prospective presidential campaign through donations, but the bureau’s leadership slow-walked a surveillance warrant and instead arranged for the candidate to get a defensive briefing, newly declassified memos show.
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Rep. Carolyn Maloney, the Democratic chairwoman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, on Thursday called on FBI Director Christopher Wray to investigate financing for Parler, including whether the social media site has any ties to Russia.
Part of Maloney’s rationale for investigating Parler’s links to Russia is that the social media site’s CEO, John Matze, founded the company shortly after traveling to Russia with his wife, who is Russian.
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As newly installed President Joe Biden halted construction of the wall along the U.S. southern border, thousands of Central American migrants encountered another type of barrier that halted their march toward what they believe are newly reopened doors to America. The barrier came in the form of Guatemalan officials who lobbed tear gas and wielded batons, and who ensured that by Wednesday, some 3,500 migrants were aboard buses whisking them home to Honduras.
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For those making their arguments about whether Section 230 should be repealed or reformed to protect conservatives on social media, it’s time to declare that this ship sailed long ago. Most of the world has now come to accept that these monolithic platforms can remove people or their content at will. The banning of President Trump and a host of other conservatives from all major platforms has proven this point beyond dispute.
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Thursday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed TN. (R) State Representative Jerry Sexton to the studio to discuss his background and a typical day in the Tennessee House of Representatives.
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Thursday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Tennessee Speaker of the House Cameron Sexton to the newsmakers line to discuss the expediency in which special session is moving bills through.
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Host Steve Bannon interviewed My Pillow CEO and Founder Mike Lindell in a full hour-long exclusive.
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Two Wyoming Republicans have filed papers to challenge House Republican Conference Chair Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wy.) in the 2022 primaries following her vote to impeach former President Donald Trump.
Wyoming State Sen. Anthony Bouchard and Rep. and business owner Marissa Selvig both filed statements of candidacy in the 2022 primary election on Wednesday.
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Democratic Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib called Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz a “dumbass” on Thursday over his stance on President Joe Biden’s move to join the Paris Climate Agreement again.
“Dumbass,” Tlaib tweeted.
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The Big Tech giant Amazon has publicly offered to assist the new Biden Administration with efforts to distribute the coronavirus vaccine, after previously not making any such offers to the Trump Administration, as reported by the Daily Caller.
The offer was made in a letter to Joe Biden by Amazon vice president Dave Clark, who wrote that “Amazon stands ready to assist you in reaching your goal of vaccinating 100 million Americans in the first 100 days of your administration.” The letter continued, adding that “we are prepared to leverage our operations, information technology, and communications capabilities and expertise to assist your administration’s vaccination efforts.”
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Riots broke out in Seattle and Portland, Oregon on Wednesday night after demonstrators clashed with police and vandalized a Democratic Party office.
People dressed in all black shattered windows and the glass door to the Oregon Democratic Party’s office in Portland, according to The New York Times, vandalizing it with spray paint and posting a video to social media, saying that their actions were in response to the inauguration of President Joe Biden. In Seattle, police said that several buildings were vandalized.
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