Day: March 11, 2021

Biden Signs $1.9 Trillion Stimulus Bill into Law

The Center Square

President Joe Biden on Thursday signed into law a $1.9 trillion stimulus bill that includes extended unemployment benefits, direct funding to states and municipalities, and $1,400 checks for most Americans.

“This historic legislation is about rebuilding the backbone of this country and giving the people of this nation – working people, middle-class folks, people who built the country – a fighting chance, that’s what the essence of it is,” Biden said in the Oval Office before signing the bill.

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General Assembly Considers Bill Requiring Schools to Accommodate Students Who Don’t Want to Share Bathrooms, Sleeping Quarters with Peers of Same Sex

Corinne Murdock

Public schools may be required to provide accommodations for students who want to use bathrooms opposite the ones designated for their sex at birth. According to the “Tennessee Accommodations for All Children Act,” such alternative accommodations would extend to restrooms, changing rooms such as locker or shower rooms, and sleeping quarters while attending a school-sponsored activity. The act would also enable the student who requested alternative accommodations to take up a private right of action against the school if denied.

State Representative Jason Zachary (R-Knoxville) and State Senator Mike Bell (R-Riceville) introduced the bill about a month ago. Since then, it has been recommended for passage by the House K-12 Subcommittee and referred to the Education Committee several weeks ago.

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Commentary: If Trump Runs Again in 2024, the GOP Would Need to Retake Three States to Get 274 Electoral Votes

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President Donald Trump

“I may even decide to beat them for a third time. Okay? For a third time.”

That was former President Donald Trump at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Feb. 28, hinting at another potential run for President in 2024. If he pulled it off, Trump would be the first incumbent president to lose to then be reelected again since Grover Cleveland did it in 1892.

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MTSU Students Charged After Allegedly Stealing $114k from Student Groups

Peter D'Abrosca

Two students at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) have been indicted by a grand jury for allegedly stealing more than $100,000 from the school over a period of several years. 

“Mohamed Osman and Mohamed Gure were presidents of MTSU’s Somali Students Association, according to investigators,” WKRN said. “During their time in office, the Comptroller’s Office said they submitted at least 85 false invoices to MTSU, many of which were for non-existent vendors, to obtain reimbursements totaling $82,200 in student activity fee funds.”

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Commentary: About the Miseducation of America’s Elites

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Bari Weiss writes a compelling, must-read piece in City Journal about the indoctrination mills masquerading as educational institutions. Take a few minutes, read it, and come back.

One thing that isn’t being considered is that children not in these elite institutions in leftist places, who know they have no meritocratic chance of getting into elite colleges because they are not ideologically pure or from an ideologically “safe” geographical location or they’re white, are self-selecting out and going to state universities and smaller colleges. What once used to be an insult — getting turned down by an elite institution — is becoming a choice.

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U.S. House Passes Controversial $1.9 Trillion Relief Bill, Sending Measure to Biden

The Center Square

The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday ratified changes the Senate made to a massive $1.9 trillion relief package that critics say contains hundreds of billions of dollars in wasteful spending unrelated to the COVID-19 pandemic.

With the 220-211 vote, almost exclusively along party lines, the measure now goes to President Joe Biden, who said he will sign it. One Democrat – U.S. Rep. Jared Golden of Maine, who also voted against the initial bill – voted against the measure Wednesday. No Republicans voted for it.

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Investigation Confirms That George Soros Funded DAs Who Would Release Illegal Aliens

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At least three high-profile district attorneys in the United States who have been funded by far-left billionaire George Soros have since gone on to implement pro-amnesty policies that have released numerous criminal illegal aliens, as reported by Breitbart.

The district attorneys include Philadelphia’s Larry Krasner, Chicago’s Kimberly Foxx, and Diana Becton in Contra Costa County, California, as confirmed by the investigation from the Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI). These officials, like others around the country, have gone out of their way to see illegal aliens released from local custody before they can be arrested and deported by ICE.

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Senate Passes Constitutional Amendment to Change Attorney General Selection Process

Corinne Murdock

The Tennessee Senate passed a resolution to allow the General Assembly a say in the selection process for the Attorney General and Reporter for the state. If adopted, the amendment would transfer final decision-making on these two positions from the Supreme Court to the General Assembly. Under the amendment, the Supreme Court would nominate an Attorney General and Reporter. The legislature would have 60 days to vote on the nominees. If the vote doesn’t occur within 60 days, then the nominees are confirmed by default. The amendment would require a majority vote to confirm the nominees.

Additionally, the amendment would reduce the term length for both positions from eight years to six years. It also outlines that both individuals must be at least 30 years old, a citizen of the United States, an attorney licensed in the State, and a resident for at least five years preceding nomination.

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LA Teachers Union Agrees to Reopen Second Largest School District

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United Teachers Los Angeles and Los Angeles city officials have come to a tentative agreement, creating a path for the nation’s second-largest school district to reopen.

Students in the Los Angeles Unified School District would return to in-person classes in mid-April under the tentative agreement struck Tuesday evening, according to city and union officials, The New York Times reported. The Los Angeles school board and United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) members still need to ratify the agreement.

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The Tennessee Star’s Investigative Reporter Corinne Murdock Talks Follow up Questions to Metro Officials About COB Vetting Process

Julie Carr

Wednesday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed the Tennessee Star’s investigative reporter Corinne Murdock on her follow-up questions to Metro officials and what responses she has received regarding the vetting of the Community Oversight Board’s potential committee members.

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U.S. Commander Warns of China’s ‘Increasingly Assertive Military Posture’

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A top U.S. military commander warned lawmakers on Tuesday that China has adopted an “increasingly assertive military posture” as it seeks to supplant the United States as the world’s dominant military force.

“Its rapidly advancing capabilities and increasingly competitive posture underscore its drive to become a regionally dominant, globally influential power,” Adm. Philip Davidson, commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, testified before members of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

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Biden Admin Won’t Consider Limiting Immigration for Migrants Who Will Depend on Government Benefits

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The Biden administration told the Supreme Court Tuesday it will not seek to expand the Trump-era decision to limit immigration for migrants who will depend on government benefits, NBC News reported.

The Department of Homeland Security under the Trump administration was working to expand the definition of “public charge” to include denying admission to migrants who might rely primarily on government benefits as a source of income, NBC News reported. Any migrant needing government assistance for over one year in any three-year period would have been included in the expanded definition.

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Vice President Harris Handles Another Solo Call with a World Leader, Without Joe Biden

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In yet another unprecedented display of the incumbent vice president taking on duties normally reserved for the president, Kamala Harris took a solo call from the Prime Minister of Norway on Tuesday, as reported by Fox News.

Harris took the call from Prime Minister Erna Solberg, with Harris “affirming her commitment to deepening the strong alliance between Norway and the United States,” while also “thanking the Prime Minister for Norway’s close security partnership with the United States, and generous contributions to development and health security efforts around the world.”

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Analysis: Maximum Facts About the Minimum Wage

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At 2:00 AM on Saturday, February 27, Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass a “COVID relief and economic support“ bill at a cost to taxpayers of $1.9 trillion. The next Saturday, Senate Democrats passed a very similar bill, and President Biden stated he will sign it. This will be the sixth “COVID relief” law and swell the tab for such legislation to a total of $5.3 trillion. The combined cost of these laws to every household in the United States will be an average of $41,036.

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Judge Allows ‘Spark of Life’ Evidence in Chauvin Trial

Peter D'Abrosca

Hennepin County District Court Judge Peter Cahill Wednesday morning decided to allow “spark of life” evidence on behalf of the prosecution in the highly-anticipated trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, but warned prosecutors not to go too far. 

“We’re all familiar with the ‘spark of life’ doctrine – that essentially, like you say, this is not just a person who we label ‘victim’ and we depersonalize him – that Mr. Floyd in this case isn’t entitled to have the jury realize that he was a human being, he was loved, he had a family,” Cahill said. “I think if it’s basically evidence that will not call for cross examination, I think that’s generally well within the bounds.”

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Appalachian Power Seeks 11 Percent Rate Increase for Virginia Customers

The Center Square

Appalachian Power, the second largest electric utility in Virginia, is seeking an 11% increase in rates paid by consumers residing in the commonwealth to pay for electric transmission costs.

If approved, Appalachian Power would increase the Transmission Rate Adjustment Clause from $225.1 million to $337.7 million, which is a $112.6 million increase. It would increase the monthly bill for a customer by $11.52 for every 1,000 kilowatt hours. It would go into effect in July 2021.

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Company Hired to Oversee Vaccine Operations Staffed with Former Minnesota DFL Operatives, Congressman Alleges

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An out-of-state company tasked with overseeing Minnesota’s vaccine and testing operations received millions of dollars in CARES Act funds from the state while hiring former DFL operatives and candidates, a congressman has alleged.

U.S. Rep. Jim Hagedorn has drawn attention to his former opponent’s alleged involvement in “possible corruption” and “special favors” in a series of statements.

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One-Fourth of Bills Passed in 2021 Virginia General Assembly Sessions Passed Along Party Lines

Eric Burk

In 2020 and 2021, the Democrat-led General Assembly passed nearly 20 percent more bills through strict party-line votes than in the three previous years when Republicans controlled both chambers. According to a data visualization from the Virginia Public Access Project, in 2020, 24 percent of bills passed were passed along party lines with Democrats voting for and Republicans voting against. In 2021, that number grew to 25 percent. In the Republican controlled sessions of 2017, 2018, and 2019, the percentage of bills passed along party lines was respectively 7.7 percent, 4.7 percent, and 5.7 percent.

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Vice Mayor Shulman Says Metro Council Will Revisit Verification Process for Community Oversight Board Members

Corinne Murdock

Metro Nashville’s Community Oversight Board (COB) members aren’t vetted prior to appointment – officials say they’re taken at their word. However, the shakiness of this method was exposed/ proved unreliable after The Tennessee Star discovered that recently-resigned member Ovid Timothy Hughes isn’t a registered voter, as he’d claimed and as was required of him by law. Hughes is a convicted felon, tried and charged in 2008 for mail fraud. He racked up over $78,000 of fraudulent charges against a previous employer using stolen credit card and account information. 

Nashville Vice Mayor Jim Shulman spoke with The Star about this revelation. He assured us that they would be taking extra steps in the future to verify all COB applicants’ voting eligibility.

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