Day: June 4, 2021

Knox County School Board Considering Hire of Outside Consultant to Decide on Putting Law Enforcement Back in Schools; Mayor Says It’s a ‘Waste of Taxpayer Dollars’

Corinne Murdock

The Knox County Schools (KCS) Board of Education is considering whether to hire an outside consultant for reinstating law enforcement in their schools. In a letter submitted to the Knox County Board of Education (KCBOE) last week, Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs said that the proposed facilitator would be a waste of taxpayer dollars.

“Please let this letter serve as official notification that I strongly oppose using taxpayer dollars to pay an outside consulting firm to tell the district what every parent in Knox County already knows: armed law enforcement officers are a necessity in schools,” wrote Jacobs. “[I] simply cannot ignore that physical security is absolutely critical in keeping our students safe at school. I am deeply disturbed that any governmental body would even consider removing law enforcement from any of our schools.”

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Commentary: Never Let a Plague Go to Waste

Admin

During America’s first-ever national lockdown, thousands of unelected bureaucrats, as well as federal and state governments, assumed enormous powers not usually accorded them. 

They picked and chose which businesses could stay open without much rationale. They sent the infected into rest homes occupied by the weak and vulnerable. 
They picked and chose which businesses could stay open without much rationale. They sent the infected into rest homes occupied by the weak and vulnerable. 

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Tennessee Proposes Giving Millions More in COVID Relief to Businesses

Cooper Moran

Tennessee is considering giving over $40 million in additional COVID relief funds to businesses, as the state’s economy continues to recover.

The Financial Accountability Stimulus Group proposed utilizing the funds from the federal government, enabled by this year’s COVID-19 relief package. The goal of the funds is to increase the size of payouts businesses can receive for their losses throughout the pandemic.

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Jobless Claims Drop Below 400,000, Hit Another Pandemic Low

Admin

The number of Americans filing new unemployment claims dropped to 385,000 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 May 22, when 405,000 new jobless claims were reported. That number was revised down from the 406,000 jobless claims initially reported last week.

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Commentary: America’s Civics and History Class Failures

Admin

Six former U.S. education secretaries, who served under both Democratic and Republican presidents, are sounding the alarm about the grave danger our constitutional democracy faces. Years of political polarization have culminated in riots in our cities spanning months, along with the storming of the U.S. Capitol. These events point to a root cause of our plight: our failure to provide sound civics and history teaching in America’s K-12 schools.

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Metro Nashville City Council Declares June ‘Nashville Pride Month’ and One Week in May ‘Black Restaurant Week’

Corinne Murdock

For the Metro Nashville area, the month of June will be “Nashville Pride Month” and one week in May will be “Black Restaurant Week.” Metro Nashville City Council passed two resolutions confirming these celebratory declarations at their last council meeting on Tuesday.

The Tennessee Star reached out to the sponsors for both resolutions. We asked “Nashville Pride Month” sponsor Zach Young what he meant by the statement that the LGBTQ+ communities had given “enormous contributions to the quality of life in Nashville and Davidson County[.]” 

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Music Spotlight: Rhonda Vincent

Bethany Bowman

NASHVILLE, Tennessee-  Playing music is as natural to Rhonda Vincent as breathing air. She was born into a musical family from Kirksville, Missouri. The Sally Mountain Show, then later the Bluegrass Festival was hosted by her mom and dad and grandparents and aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends. She picked up the mandolin at eight and the fiddle at twelve and was performing with the family band at festivals on weekends. They also had a TV and radio show that she sang in as a child.

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Tennessee Receives $53 Million in Federal Funding for COVID-Related Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services

Corinne Murdock

Tennessee announced that it received an additional $53 million in federal funds for COVID-19-related mental health and substance abuse treatments. The Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (TDMHSAS) will rely on that funding for the next four years. $27 million of those funds will go to mental health services, and almost $26 million will go to substance abuse services.

The funds come from President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan. Biden allocated $3 billion for mental health and substance abuse services nationwide.

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New Report Says Biden Energy Policy Is Misleading and Unattainable

The Center Square

Recent experiences in three states provide an insight into how problematic President Joe Biden’s push for renewable energy could be for electric customers nationwide, according to a new report from Power the Future.

The report, titled “Lights Out: How Green Mandates are Undermining the Affordability and Reliability of Electricity,” was written by Larry Behrens, western states director for Power the Future, a nonprofit trade group that speaks for oil and gas workers.

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Arizona AG Tells Hotel Not to Let ICE House 1,200 Migrants

Cooper Moran

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich sent a letter to a local hotel in Scottsdale, Arizona to urge them not to allow the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to convert the location to a detention center for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The hotel is considering a proposed contract from DHS that would allow for the establishment of a facility to hold up to 1,200 migrant adults and children.

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Homeschooling in Michigan Jumped During Pandemic

The Center Square

The percentage of Michigan parents seeking educational options by home schooling their school-age children during the pandemic more than doubled.

According to U.S. Census data, 5.3% of Michigan students were home-schooled during the first weeks of the pandemic. By October 2020, that number climbed 6 percentage points to 11.3%. The standard of error for the first number is 1.64, and 2.30 for the second number.

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Joe Morrissey Commentary: This Democrat Will Not Be Voting for Mark Herring on June 8

Admin

I am a proud Democrat who has had the honor of serving the Commonwealth in three different offices including Commonwealth’s Attorney, House of Delegates and, currently, the Virginia State Senate. However, on Tuesday June 8th, I will not be voting for Democrat Mark Herring. There are three (3) primary reasons why Mark Herring has lost the trust of the Electorate and does not deserve re-election. Please consider the following and decide for yourself whether or not Attorney General Herring deserves a third (3rd) term in office.

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Homeschooling in Minnesota More Than Doubles During Pandemic

The Center Square

The percentage of Minnesota parents seeking educational options by home schooling their school-age children picked up significantly during the pandemic.

According to U.S. Census data, 4.6% of Minnesota students were home-schooled during the first weeks of the pandemic. By October 2020, that number rose 5.1 percentage points to 9.7%. The standard of error for the first number is 1.29, and 1.88 for the second number.

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DeSantis Slams Nikki Fried After She Enters Race for Governor

Peter D'Abrosca

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) slammed Florida Agriculture Commissioner and Democrat gubernatorial candidate Nikki Fried at press conference Wednesday in New Smyrna Beach, after Fried announced that she is running against DeSantis.

“Nikki Fried has done nothing in office. She does nothing,” DeSantis said. “All she does is emote on social media, virtue signal to small dollar donors in California and New York. She put her face, spent millions of dollars to put her face on every gas pump across this state, purely to boost her own image at your expense as a taxpayer.”

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Mueller to Help Teach UVA Law Class on Russia Investigation

Eric Burk

Russia investigation Special Counsel Robert Mueller will help teach a class on that investigation and the role of a special investigator at the University of Virginia (UVA) School of Law, UVA announced Wednesday. Deputy Special Counsel Aaron Zebley and two other senior members of the team will teach the six-session in-person class next fall, with Mueller leading at least one class.

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Florida COVID Numbers Are Lowest in Months

Grant Holcomb

Florida is reporting the lowest number of COVID positive cases and hospitalizations in months. On Wednesday, Florida reported 1,234 new positive cases, which was the lowest 24-hour total since September. Florida also is currently only seeing 1,832 hospitalized patients for COVID.

The number of Floridians hospitalized was the lowest recorded single day number since the metric was initially tracked in July. The average of hospitalizations has declined 19 percent in the last two weeks and approximately 38 percent lower than one month ago.

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Ayala Takes $100,000 from Dominion Energy After Taking Funds from Clean Virginia

Eric Burk

Dominion Energy gave lieutenant governor candidate Delegate Hala Ayala (D-Prince William) $100,000 at the end of May, according to new campaign finance reports published by The Virginia Public Access Project. That angered anti-utility activist group Clean Virginia which had contributed $25,000 to Ayala’s campaign; Ayala had committed to not accept money from the utility.

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Fauci Email Shows NIH Dr. Claimed DeWine Would Create Demand for Global COVID Response Corps

Jack Windsor

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Over 3,200 pages of Dr. Anthony Fauci emails contain at least one reference to Ohio Governor Mike DeWine. A National Institutes of Health (NIH) doctor – Paul Kilmarx – sent an email in April 2020 stating that DeWine would be part of a group of Republican governors who would be “most interested and helpful” to “encourage implementation and create demand” for a COVID-19 Response Corps.

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Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody Joins Keystone XL Pipeline Lawsuit

Casey Owens

A multi-state lawsuit against President Joe Biden that was filed in March 2021 had an amended complaint filed on Tuesday that was joined in support by Florida Attorney General, Ashley Moody.

The multi-state lawsuit is in regard to President Biden’s decision to revoke the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline that was initially permitted by former President Donald Trump in 2019.

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Lipscomb University’s Christian Scholars Conference to Host Ibram Kendi, ‘How to Be Antiracist’ Author, as Featured Speaker, Scrubs Website After Tennessee Star Inquiries

Corinne Murdock

Lipscomb University, a self-proclaimed Christian institution, chose “How to Be Antiracist” author Ibram Kendi as a featured speaker for its 2021 Christian Scholars Conference (CSC). The Tennessee Star reached out for more details to CSC Chair David Fleer, Lipscomb University spokespersons, Lipscomb University President Randy Lowry, and Lipscomb University Board of Trustees Chair David Solomon. None of them responded by press time.

After The Star reached out to each of those individuals, Lipscomb University completely scrubbed the original contents of its CSC page. An archived version of the website from Tuesday shows that the original CSC page was largely dedicated to Kendi’s appearance as a featured guest speaker. It also included positive remarks from Fleer about Kendi.

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