Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced the state will increase state-owned facility renewable energy by 85% by 2025, up from the current 15%, but didn’t explain how.
The governor announced the goal on April 22 to coincide with Earth Day.
Whitmer cited a partnership between the state and energy providers DTE, Consumers Energy, and Lansing Board of Water and Light. Energy purchased from the utilities will expand those companies’ renewable energy portfolio in Michigan.
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Citing increasing numbers of vaccinated Virginians, Governor Ralph Northam announced Thursday relaxed COVID-19 restrictions to take effect May 15. The new guidelines allow 100 people at indoor social events and 250 at outdoor gatherings, up from 50 people indoors and 100 people outdoors. Other restrictions at restaurants, entertainment, and sports venues are also relaxed.
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A Dublin, Ohio hospital researcher was sentenced to 33 months in prison after being convicted of “conspiring to steal exosome-related trade secrets concerning the research, identification and treatment of a range of pediatric medical conditions.” Yu Zhou pleaded guilty last year to stealing scientific trade secrets at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital’s Research Institute, according to the DOJ press release. Zhou stole these secrets for personal financial gain, the DOJ said. “Yu Zhou sought to exploit U.S. taxpayer dollars intended to fund critical, life-saving research at Nationwide Children’s Hospital through the whole-sale theft of their trade secrets,” said Assistant Attorney General John C. Demers for the Justice Department’s National Security Division. “Zhou’s greed was encouraged and enabled by a series of Chinese Government programs which incentivize thievery in an attempt to supplement China’s own research and development goals on the back of American ingenuity and investment. This successful prosecution should serve as a warning to anyone who seeks to profit from pilfering hard-earned U.S. trade secrets.” Acting U.S. Attorney Vipal J. Patel for the Southern District of Ohio said Zhou “willingly” took part in the “Chinese Government’s long-term efforts to steal American intellectual property.” “Zhou and his wife executed a…
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On Thursday April 22, 2021, The Florida Senate unanimously passed a bill (SB 1906) that will increase the benefits for unemployed Floridians. From a maximum weekly payment of $275 to $375, the bill also increases the maximum amount of weeks a recipient can receive these benefits from 12 weeks to 14 weeks and is calculated monthly rather than annually. The maximum amount of benefits a recipient receives in a benefit year jumps from $6,325 to $9,375.
As far as aspects of the bill regarding recipient application, it allows for applicants to use a “base period” that is different than the one that the individual is in, at the time of applying. Instead of the required base period that includes the wages made in the last year up until the time of the application, an applicant can now choose the most recent base period that is prior to the one that the he or she is in.
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Nashville spent nearly $10,000 for 7 hours of live music, cheerleaders, and mascots to celebrate mass vaccinations with the now-suspended Johnson & Johnson vaccine. As The Tennessee Star reported, Mayor John Cooper announced these celebratory aspects of the mass vaccination two days before last month’s event.
According to an invoice obtained by The Star, these were costs incurred by “live music production event support.” The invoice didn’t offer any further details about those costs. The exact total came out to $9,836.47.
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – A report released Thursday night contains information on a 911 call and reveals two police reports linked to Ma’Khia Bryant’s foster care home – one stating that Ma’Khia’s younger sister, Janiah Bryant, threatened to kill someone if she wasn’t removed from the home.
A Columbus Division of Police report completed on March 28 states that Janiah called 911 and told the dispatcher she wanted to leave the home and return to Franklin County Children Services.
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The Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC) is one step closer to contracting with local governments or outside entities and organizations to create community-based incarceration alternatives. These alternatives would include drug treatment and mental health programs.
The House passed a bill encompassing those provisions on Thursday, 89-1. Only State Representative Bruce Griffey (R-Paris) voted against the bill. State Representative Michael Curcio (R-Dickson) and State Senator Jack Johnson (R-Franklin) sponsored the bill.
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Any nation’s well-being—as Americans know from their own illustrious history—hinges on only a few factors. Its prosperity, freedom, and stability depend on its constitutional and political stability.
A secure currency and financial order are also essential, as is a strong military.
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U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the Justice Department launched a sweeping investigation into practices of the Minneapolis Police Department.
Garland’s announcement came one day after a jury convicted ex-Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin of the murder of George Floyd.
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Hunter Biden’s efforts to score big money in China while his father was vice president were far-reaching, including proposals to build a SeaWorld theme park in the communist country and to get Beijing to invest in an NBA arena in America, emails and memos obtained by Just the News show.
The deals also involved a Chinese state-owned bank, former Obama ambassador to China Gary Locke and one of then-Vice President Joe Biden’s closest aides, his former body man Francis “Fran” Person, the memos show.
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The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) said Wednesday the agency is canceling oil and gas lease sales for the second quarter, drawing criticism from Wyoming’s governor.
The announcement marks the second quarter in a row that the agency, which manages energy development, recreation, grazing and conservation on 245 million federal acres, halted lease sales after President Joe Biden signed an executive order in January that included a moratorium on new oil and gas leases on federal lands.
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Thursday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Dr. Naomi Wolf who is a liberal feminist, author, and creator of the new site Daily Clout to the newsmakers line to talk about the subjugation of America through COVID mandates.
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Democrats in the House of Representatives passed legislation Thursday that would make Washington, D.C. the 51st state in the union, a move that would almost certainly strengthen the Democrats’ Senate majority and bolster their ranks in the House.
The bill passed, 216-208, without any Republican support.
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The U.S. Postal Service’s law enforcement division is running a covert operation tracking and collecting Americans’ social media posts, Yahoo News reported.
The postal service’s Internet Covert Operations Program (iCOP) monitored social media accounts for “inflammatory” posts and protest plans, according to an internal document obtained by Yahoo News. The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) investigated Parler and Telegram accounts that referenced protests that were supposed to occur on March 20 for the so-called International Day of Protests, the document showed.
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NASHVILLE, Tennessee- As an avid supporter of female singers/songwriters, I always pay attention to emerging new artists. When I listened to Morgan Wade’s music, I liked her immediately because she was different, and that I found her music refreshing.
There is an edge to Wade’s country/rock/pop vocals that sets her apart. And the lyrics to her songs are not that of some bubble gum pop-country princess, but someone who has been there, done that, struggled, and come out stronger in the long run.
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The Tennessee General Assembly unanimously passed a bill allowing counties to create centers focused on transitioning inmates from incarceration to society. The bill also authorizes these facilities, referred to as “transition centers,” to partner with nonprofit organizations with programs to reduce recidivism. The Senate passed the bill without discussion on Thursday.
This bill is one of several proposed by Governor Bill Lee as part of his crime reform initiatives. The overall goal of this legislation was focused on reducing recidivism rates and increasing successful reintegration rates.
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Basketball player LeBron James posted, then deleted, a tweet attempting to single out an officer from the recent police shooting in Columbus, Ohio, in which he tried to rally his supporters to dox and retaliate against the officer in question, as reported by Fox News.
James, who plays on the Los Angeles Lakers, posted a tweet featuring a screenshot from the bodycam footage of the incident, which took place on Tuesday. The footage showed the entirety of the chaotic scene as police arrived to break up a fight between two black teenage girls. One of the girls, 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant, was armed with a large knife and was preparing to stab another girl after shoving her up against a car. After multiple verbal warnings from police to drop the knife, the officer wearing the bodycam fired several shots, killing Bryant and saving the other girl’s life.
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Thursday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Independent Women Forum Senior Fellow Carrie Sheffield to the newsmakers line to weigh in on the woke critical race theory permeating America’s K12 public school system and the small percentage of dollars dedicated to real infrastructure in Biden’s plan.
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Nearly 500 attacks targeted asylum seekers waiting or stranded in Mexico since President Joe Biden’s inauguration, Human Rights First reported Tuesday.
Migrants waiting at the U.S.-Mexico border reported at least 492 instances of violent attacks including kidnapping, rape and assault, according to Human Rights First. Over 16,000 asylum-seeking migrants at the Mexican border were on a “metering” waitlist to request protection in the U.S. as of February.
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Former Tennessee State Sen. Steve Dickerson and past associates of his will have to pay more than $4.1 million to settle claims that their medical service engaged in wrongdoing. This, according to a press release that staff members at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Tennessee published this week.
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The number of Americans filing new unemployment claims dropped to 547,000 last week as the economy continues to recover from the coronavirus pandemic, according to the Department of Labor.
The Bureau of Labor and Statistics figure released Thursday represented a decrease in the number of new jobless claims compared to the week ending April 10, when 586,000 new jobless claims were reported. That number was revised up from the 576,000 jobless claims initially reported last week.
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According to a the most recent quarterly censorship report card from the Media Research Center (MRC), most of the major Silicon Valley tech titans are failing to protect freedom of expression.
“By almost any measure, the first three months of 2021 were the worst ever for online freedom. Amazon, Twitter, Apple, Google, Facebook, YouTube and others proved to the world that the Big Tech censorship of conservatives is a reality,” the group said. “And they did so in disturbing, authoritarian ways that highlight their unchecked power over information and our political process.”
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During World War II, General Dwight Eisenhower liked to remind his troops of the adage, “plans seldom survive initial contact with the enemy.” Today, the corollary is that the truth seldom survives initial contact with woke fascism.
Woke fascism—the unholy alliance between the Democratic-controlled national government, corporate leftist media, Big Tech, and globalist corporations loyal to profits over our republic—is now attacking the state of Georgia for wanting to ensure that elections in the Peach State are free, fair, and accurate.
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Delegate Elizabeth Guzman (D-Prince William) withdrew from the race for the Democratic nomination for Lieutenant Governor after campaign finance reports revealed she was trailing financially, sixth out of seven among the Democratic candidates. But a new Christopher Newport University/Wason Center Poll released Thursday shows that Guzman was polling in second place for the nomination even as she dropped out of the race. The poll places Delegate Sam Rasoul (D-Roanoke) at the head of the race for Lieutenant Governor with 12 percent, Guzman came in second with 4 percent, and 64 percent of voters were undecided. None of the other candidates scored more than two percent.
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Governor Ron DeSantis signed HB 1, known as the “anti-riot bill” on Monday, and is now facing a constitutional challenge. The challenge was filed Wednesday and the civil rights attorneys behind the challenge are saying the new laws unconstitutionally “seek to arrest the peaceful expression of free speech.”
The bill is designed to enhance penalties for criminals committing acts of violence during riots.
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The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors (BOS) voted six to three to draft a collective bargaining ordinance enabling labor unions to represent county staff in negotiations with the county. County staff proposed drafting the ordinance, noting that a new law going into effect in May enables employee organizations to petition the county for formal union status. However, the law allows localities to decide for themselves whether they will recognize those organizations. As May approaches, other localities in Virginia are considering similar action; Alexandria has already adopted an ordinance allowing collective bargaining.
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The Florida House is taking up a bipartisan, compromise police reform bill today. The bill would increase the amount of training for law enforcement officers and correctional officers.
The bill, HB 7051, has been a product of House Republican leadership, the Florida Legislative Black Caucus, and key voices within law enforcement to try and limit the use of chokeholds only under instances when on-site officers perceive immediate threats of serious bodily injury or death to themselves or other people. It would also require other officers to intervene when they witness other officers using excessive force.
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The saga over the departure and confidential settlement agreement between Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) and the former head of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) continued Thursday.
Chairman of the House Oversight Committee Steve Johnson (R-MI-72) announced in a press release that his committee has subpoenaed former MDHHS Director Robert Gordon, who received a $155,000 severance package from the state and signed a non-disclosure agreement after he left his post under murky circumstances late February.
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Ohio House Republicans spent late Wednesday afternoon trumpeting passage of their $163 billion, two-year state budget proposal, which includes a new school funding plan and a 2% across-the-board income tax reduction.
Others, however, are calling it a missed opportunity.
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Another Georgia Republican wants to replace current Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. That candidate, T.J. Hudson, told The Georgia Star News this week that he resigned his position as a Treutlen County probate court judge so he could compete for Raffensperger’s job.
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Reminiscent of the $1 a year Generals of the Roosevelt Administration, Air Force veteran and Faquier County resident Lance Allen has decided to forgo his salary if he is elected Lieutenant Governor. Allen is running for the Republican nomination for Lieutenant Governor in 2021 Republican Party of Virginia unassembled convention.
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Senator Amanda Chase (R-Chesterfield), Delegate Kirk Cox (R-Colonial Heights), and Glenn Youngkin released a letter Wednesday criticizing a vote-counting plan to tally votes in the Republican Party of Virginia’s (RPV) nominating convention. The convention will use ranked-choice voting, which makes vote counting complicated and time-consuming. An RPV committee has recommended that the RPV use an Excel-based system called the ‘Burkhardt Method.’ But the three candidates say the method is unproven, and may have security concerns.
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A bill that was both supported and opposed on the grounds of accountability passed the Florida House Wednesday.
HB 7045, which will combine two school choice voucher programs and expand eligibility for parents too choose where their children go to school, passed by a vote of 79-36. It will expand Florida’s voucher program to enroll 60,000 more students.
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Earlier today, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis met with Chairmen of the Governing Board of the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) Chauncey Goss, Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Secretary Noah Valenstein, and CEO of The Everglades Foundation, Eric Eikenburg to announce a unanimously approved agreement between the SFWMD Governing Board and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that will advance the construction of phase two of the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) Reservoir Project.
The EAA Reservoir Project includes two major phases or ‘features’ according to Governor DeSantis: one being a treatment wetland that cleans water, and 10,500 acre above-ground reservoir that will store excess water from lake Okeechobee. Governor DeSantis noted that they “initiated the final phase of construction for the C43 reservoir” and were “near completion of the C44 reservoir and storm-water treatment area” that began initial construction in April of 2020 which was 12 months earlier than scheduled.
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Reduced sentencing for first-degree murder passed the Tennessee Senate on Thursday. The bill as adopted by the Senate would allow life imprisonment sentences for first-degree murder to obtain release eligibility after serving 60 percent of 60 years less sentence credits earned, or 36 years which can be reduced to 25 years with sentencing credits. Although parole would be an option at that point, it wouldn’t be guaranteed.
A few types of criminals wouldn’t benefit from the proposed bill. Those serving life imprisonment without parole for aggravated rape of a child. Originally the bill excluded those who committed first-degree murder of a child, but an amendment to the bill dropped that provision. State Senator Bo Watson (R-Hixon) said that these changes weren’t “substantive” during the floor vote.
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FRANKLIN — Williamson County School Superintendent Jason Golden, as reported, cancelled his planned question and answer session with the Williamson County Republican Party, but frustrated members nevertheless met and made him and his policies the topic of conversation. About 100 to 150 Williamson County residents met Wednesday at a hotel conference room where, among other things, they asked whether the Williamson County School System has embraced Critical Race Theory (CRT). Williamson County School Board member Dan Cash attended Wednesday’s meeting. He said no, the school system is not teaching CRT. But some parents said it had already seeped its way in.
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Big labor suffered a significant loss in its attempt to unionize employees at Amazon’s warehouse facility in Bessemer, Alabama. Of the workers eligible to vote, an embarrassingly small 16% voted to join the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union. It was the most recent in a series of high-profile losses for labor including failed attempts to unionize factories for Volkswagen, Nissan Motors, and Boeing. In each case, union leaders bet that they could convince workers it was in their best interests to be enrolled in a union that would stand up to management over wages and working conditions. In each case, they lost.
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Columbus Division of Police released body camera footage Tuesday night showing the fatal shooting of 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant that occurred earlier in the day. Wednesday afternoon, police released additional body cam recordings and two 911 calls.
Interim Chief of Police Michael Woods said it’s uncommon for information to be provided this soon, but officials understand the public’s need, desire and expectation to have transparency about what happened.
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Thursday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Washington Correspondent for the Star News Network Neil W. McCabe to the newsmakers line to weigh in on the balances of power between Nancy Pelosi, Kevin McCarthy, and the future of the House.
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A public school district in New York state is facing criticism after it promoted a children’s book that falsely claims that police target black people instead of White people, and that black people are more likely to be shot, as reported by Fox News.
In the city of Binghamton, the Police Benevolent Association (PBA) denounced the city’s school district for their promotion of the book “Something Happened In Our Town.” The book, which was selected by the school as the “Book of the Month” for April for MacArthur Elementary School, was read aloud to students.
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The Tennessee Senate passed a bill to standardize open enrollment processes for schools. Present law allows local educational authorities (LEA) to develop their own policies for open enrollment periods. Through the bill, each LEA would be required to have the open enrollment period last at least 30 days, as well as identify schools with available space for enrollment based on grade, class, and program level at least two weeks before the open enrollment period begins. It wouldn’t allow students to enroll in counties outside of their own.
The bill passed 27 to 2, with 3 senators abstaining their vote. State Senators Heidi Campbell (D-Nashville) and Jeff Yarbro (D-Nashville) voted against the bill; Raumesh Akbari (D-Memphis), Brenda Gilmore (D-Nashville), and Sara Kyle (D-Memphis) abstained.
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For better or worse, California often leads the nation’s political discourse. Central to that discourse at the moment is the expected recall of Gov. Gavin Newsom; a recall of Los Angeles County’s district attorney, meanwhile, is building steam. Each reveals something telling about the Golden State and its voters.
First Newsom. The announcement is imminent — insiders expect the recall to qualify for the ballot with an October election.
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Thursday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed all-star panelist Crom Carmichael to the studio to compare the justice of George Floyd to the potential injustice of Ashli Babbit and questioned if society’s justice system is now based on race.
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Twitter defended its decision allowing users to share articles that cite hacked information about people who donated to the 18-year-old accused of killing protesters in Wisconsin last summer.
The content did not violate the company’s distribution of hack materials policy because it does not directly link to the hacked information, a Twitter spokesperson told the Daily Caller News Foundation. The content in question would have been removed if hacked materials were shared in a tweet or in an image tweeted, according to Twitter.
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Following Governor Bill Lee’s approval, the state of Tennessee will require surgically aborted children to be put to rest humanely, through either burial or cremation. The Unborn Child Dignity Act would only extend to “ambulatory surgical treatment centers,” private offices, or other in-person facilities describe in the Tennessee Code. Meaning, the act wouldn’t cover children aborted through at-home procedures like the pill.
State Senator Janice Bowling (R-Tullahoma) introduced the bill first, and it was picked up by State Representative Tim Rudd (R-Murfreesboro) in the House. The Senate passed the bill on Wednesday, 27-6 along party lines.
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President Joe Biden’s border policy will include an increase in the number of people approved for refugee and visa status, his administration announced Tuesday.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has repeatedly asked the Biden administration to answer questions about who is transporting individuals and families to the Texas-Mexico border and what the administration is doing to prevent crimes and human and drug trafficking. He says he has still received no response. He also called on Biden to label Mexican cartels as terrorists because, Abbott said, they are committing crimes and wreaking havoc in Texas, and has also received no response.
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Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee sparred with Stacey Abrams Tuesday during a hearing on Democrats’ voting rights bill and election reforms that Republicans have introduced in states across the country.
The hearing consisted of testimony from officials on opposite sides of the issue, including Georgia Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock, Utah Republican Rep. Burgess Owens and Jan Jones, the Republican speaker pro tempore of the Georgia House, but most questions from lawmakers on both sides were directed towards Abrams. Democrats largely focused on GOP-led policies that they likened to those from the Jim Crow era, while Republicans blasted the comparison and said that the bills’ goals were to make it harder to cheat, not to vote.
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Big businesses have been vocal in supporting various progressive political causes, but have consistently stopped short of policies that would cut into profits.
U.S. corporations came out in droves to announce their opposition to recently-passed voting legislation in Georgia, have pulled their advertisements from conservative shows and podcasts, were quick to endorse Black Lives Matter during the 2020 protests and have signed multiple climate change pledges. But while big business has eagerly supported these progressive policies, they refuse to support the policies, like a higher minimum wage or a corporate tax increase to fund infrastructure, that would result in smaller profits.
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A North Carolina education advocacy group has launched a website to help whistleblowers expose what they consider radical curriculum in K-12 schools, including lessons on critical race theory.
The Schoolhouse Shock site was launched Monday by Education First Alliance and allows users to anonymously upload videos, pictures, documents and other material.
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Rep. Mark Green (R-TN-07) blasted Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA-12) for reviving earmark spending in Congress, and said he plans to refuse to even participate in the earmarking process.
“It’s rare for Congress to get anything right, but in 2011 after Americans rose up to usher in the Tea Party wave, Congressional Republicans got it right and banned earmarks,” Green said in statement. “Today, at a time when our national debt is at record highs, the last thing Congress should do is resurrect earmarks—one of the Swamp’s most corrupt practices.”
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