Just The News and award-winning investigative journalist John Solomon will host a primetime television special on Thursday night at 7:00pm CT to examine how certain policies and phenomena affect Black Americans throughout the country.
In addition to Solomon, the event will feature Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, immigration attorney and Miami mayoral candidate Mayra Joli, Job Creators Network President Alfredo Ortiz, and civil rights icon Bob Woodson.
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Lingering accounting issues dating back at least four years have pitted three members of the Ohio Republican Party’s Central Committee against Ohio Republican Party (ORP) Chairman Robert Paduchik over the scope of the ongoing audit of the ORP’s financial records – the first complete audit of the party’s finances in at least 16 years.
The Ohio Star has obtained internal emails exchanged between three of the Ohio Republican Party Central Committee 66 members – Audit Committee member Laura Rosenberger and Fiscal Review Committee members Mark Bainbridge and Denise Verdi – and Chairman Paduchik that discuss the need to improve the financial reporting practices of the ORP to accounting industry and government regulatory reporting standards, starting with an expansion of the years covered by a standard audit just now getting underway.
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A person was allegedly beheaded in Shakopee, a Minneapolis suburb, on Wednesday afternoon, video and pictures from the scene seem to confirm.
Alpha News reviewed the videos and pictures but has decided not to publish them due to their extremely graphic nature.
The victim and suspect were in “some type of relationship,” sources told Fox 9. The murder took place in broad daylight, shortly before 3 p.m., near the intersection of 4th Avenue and Spencer Street.
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Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ-04) is calling for Reps. Liz Cheney (R-WY-At-large) and Adam Kinzinger (R-IL-16) to be removed from the Republican caucus for their failure to follow “party protocols.”
In an exclusive interview with Americans for Limited Government, Rep. Gosar said Cheney and Kinzinger should not be participating in Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s Jan. 6 capitol breach investigation.
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Republican members of the Tennessee State Senate have released a letter touting what they called the importance of COVID-19 vaccines, and they urged all Tennesseans to get one. This, according to a press release that Tennessee Senate Republican Caucus members emailed this week.
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U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and U.S. Representative Michael McCaul (R-TX-10) introduced a bill Wednesday to counteract authoritarian regimes’ clout within the United Nations.
The legislation is designed to contravene “malign influence, require transparency, and promote accountability within the United Nations system.…”
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A group of six Republican lawmakers held a press conference outside the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Tuesday to demand answers about the treatment of those arrested over the Jan. 6 Capitol breach. Congress members Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), Louis Gohmert (R-Texas), Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), Bob Good (R-Va.) and Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) gave remarks from a podium outside the office of the DOJ.
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The Texas National Guard will be deployed to assist law enforcement officials in arresting illegal migrants on state criminal charges at the southern border, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott announced Tuesday.
Illegal migrants apprehended who are found to have committed state offenses such as criminal trespassing, human trafficking and narcotics smuggling are subject to arrest and detention, according to Abbott.
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New Hampshire will be limited in requiring people to be vaccinated against COVID-19 under a new law signed by Gov. Chris Sununu.
The “medical freedom” law which passed the Republican-controlled Legislature on a largely party-line vote, states that people have the “natural, essential and inherent right to bodily integrity, free from any threat or compulsion by government to accept an immunization.”
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The Beacon Center of Tennessee, a Nashville-based policy institute and fiscal watchdog, has added its voice to those calling for an investigation into Metro Nashville Public Schools’ (MNPS) contract with Meharry Medical College Ventures.
The contract provided COVID-19 testing and other services, including a COVID website for the school district—one that cost about $1.8 million.
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Nine suspected members of the Mara Salvatrucha (or MS-13) Salavadoran criminal gang received a 60-count indictment from a federal grand jury in Nashville, TN, the U.S. Department of Justice announced on Wednesday.
The alleged gangsters face charges of seven murders and other racketeering-related offenses, including kidnappings, thefts, assaults and drug purveyance.
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Arizona likely has gotten the most attention because it has moved the furthest along in pursuing an audit. Most of the other states discussing audits have not taken concrete action to get started yet, while Arizona’s audit is almost complete.
Arizona’s audit has focused on Maricopa County. In the run-up to the 2020 election, many experts saw Maricopa as a bellwether county for the winner of the state and the election itself. Maricopa is Arizona’s largest county and accounts for over half of the state’s population. Joe Biden carried the county, and with it the state.
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Vanderbilt University announced on Wednesday that it awarded a total of $25,000 to staff and postdoctoral scholars in a giveaway for receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. Each winner received $1,000. The university held a giveaway handing out thousands of dollars as an incentive to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, despite requiring all students and staff in May to be vaccinated against COVID for the upcoming school year. The deadline to submit vaccination records is this Saturday.
Even if staff are working remotely, the university requires vaccination. Additionally, those who already contracted the virus are still required to be vaccinated.
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The enforcement of the Arizona Senate’s second subpoena of election materials from the state’s Maricopa County depends upon achieving a majority vote in the chamber that one Republican senator says is “unlikely” due to a reported GOP holdout.
State Senate Republicans this week issued a fresh subpoena to the county, demanding a fresh wave of documents related to the 2020 election there as an ongoing forensic audit of results approaches a conclusion.
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FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr believes the agency should require Big Tech to fund internet infrastructure, following the introduction last week of a bill mandating the FCC consider collecting contributions from the tech companies.
The Funding Affordable Internet with Reliable (FAIR) Contributions Act, introduced July 21 by Republican Sens. Roger Wicker, Todd Young, and Shelley Moore Capito, instructs the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to look into charging major tech companies like Google, Facebook, and Netflix to fund broadband networks. Currently, new internet infrastructure is paid for by the Universal Service Fund (USF), a $9 billion pot of money funded by charges on consumers’ phone service.
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China’s effort to unseat America as the world’s economic superpower has a new tactic: It has bought up more than 200,000 acres of U.S. farmland. And while there is bipartisan support for legislation to slow down Beijing’s acquisitions, Democrats have added a new wrinkle.
Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.), who is leading the legislative charge, says congressional Democrats have removed all references to the communist government of China in an amendment to an agricultural spending bill that originally prevented the Chinese Communist Party’s purchase of American farmland.
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The crazy, convoluted, mixed up messaging from the CDC – it’s been this way from the beginning of the pandemic until now – has taken yet another turn. Now the CDC is recommending masks not just for the unvaccinated but for the vaccinated too. This is supposedly because of the discovery that the variant known as Delta is making an end-run around the vaccines, causing not only infections but infectious spread.
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Senators reached a bipartisan deal Tuesday on a $2.1 billion spending bill to fund the Capitol Police, National Guard, congressional security upgrades and resettlement of Afghans who risked their lives to help American troops.
The deal was brokered by Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont and Republican Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, the top members of the Senate Appropriations Committee. The two had been at odds for weeks over how big the bill should be, even as the Capitol Police and National Guard warned that they could run out of money in the coming weeks.
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Federal prosecutors indicated on Tuesday that they will drop the charges against former president of Pilot Flying J Mark Hazelwood and two other employees.
The motion filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee will formally end the attempt to prosecute Hazelwood and former Vice President Scott “Scooter” Wombold and former account representative Heather Jones.
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Thursday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed MAGA rapper and Nashvillian Bryson Gray to the newsmakers line to discuss his youth and becoming a Trump supporter.
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Wednesday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed all-star panelist Crom Carmichael in studio to discuss the politicization of the U.S. Supreme Court and its concerns with court legitimacy.
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Wednesday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed The Star News Network Washington Correspondent Neil McCabe to the newsmakers line to weigh in on the political futures of Liz Cheney, Anthony Bouchard, and Adam Kinzinger.
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Wednesday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty to the newsmakers line to discuss China and SEC regulations, Joe Biden’s ties, and the fulfillment of the socialist wishlist.
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On Wednesday, the Arizona Senate’s audit liaison Ken Bennett announced he will step down from the audit. Bennett issued the announcement on Wednesday morning in a radio interview.
Bennett said it was “impossible” to function as liaison, and revealed that volunteer consultant Randy Pullen would be assuming his duties. He said he would be a liaison in name only. Bennett refused to approve any final report on the audit, since he wasn’t allowed inside any longer.
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Georgia officials rewarded an Alpharetta-based medical company with a generous no-bid contract and cited a provision in state law that allowed them to do so during emergencies — in this case, COVID-19. Jackson Healthcare provides medical staff to several of Georgia’s hospitals and nursing homes through its subsidiary Healthcare Workforce Logistics (HWL). Company CEO Rick Jackson donated generously to Georgia’s top politicians, including Gov. Brian Kemp, Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. Jackson’s company subsequently received a $434 million no-bid contract. Company officials said politics “had absolutely nothing to do with it.”
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Lynchburg Circuit Court Judge J. Frederick Watson dismissed lawsuits challenging the Virginia Department of Education’s (VDOE) model transgender policies. In the decision published Tuesday, Watson found that the plaintiffs the Christian Action Network (CAN) and the Founding Freedoms Law Center (FFLC) do not have standing. The plaintiffs had argued that the VDOE improperly responded to public comments.
“VDOE contends that the appellants are not aggrieved by the model policies, which are directed not at the appellants but at the local school boards, which have flexibility to fashion policies consistent with the model policies,” Watson’s decision states. “In these cases, the appellants do not have standing to challenge the model policies. Their dissatisfaction with VDOE’s response to their comments does not create an immediate, pecuniary, or substantial interest in this litigation, but only a remote or indirect interest.”
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The City of Bloomington’s Human Rights Commissioner Anita Smithson called a Bloomington Back the Blue Rally “fascist radicalization.” While Smithson’s Twitter account is private, a member of the Bloomington Patriots Facebook group was able to provide screenshots of the tweets she sent regarding the event. Smithson tweeted out that “these people stuck in a cycle of fear and division don’t define us and don’t speak for us.”
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Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) joined U.S. Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) to co-sponsor legislation that indirectly funds local media. The Local Journalism Sustainability Act establishes tax credits that give consumers a huge deduction on media subscriptions, subsidizes journalists’ salaries, and funds news outlets by paying for businesses to advertise.
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Twitter permanently suspended several accounts dedicated to documenting the Arizona audit. The social media giant also permanently suspended other similar or affiliated accounts covering the audit or calls for an audit in Michigan, Wisconsin, Nevada, Georgia, and Pennsylvania.
The suspended accounts were: @arizonaaudit, @AuditWarRoom, @AuditMichigan, @AuditWisconsin, @AuditNevada, @AuditGeorgia, @Audit_Arizona and @Audit_PA. The latter 7 accounts are associated with an Instagram account, @auditwarroom, that hasn’t been suspended from the Facebook-owned platform. That account notified the public that it joined GETTR, a social media platform created by former President Donald Trump’s aide Jason Miller.
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The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) teamed up Wednesday with the Washington Football Team to offer incentives for fans to get vaccinated against COVID-19 in Richmond.
“We are pleased to work with the Washington Football Team to help ensure that Training Camp is a fun, safe, and educational environment for everyone in attendance,” State Health Commissioner M. Norman Oliver, M.D. said, according to a press release. “Plus, with our mobile vaccination site set up all week at Training Camp, this is another wonderful opportunity for anyone who is able to get vaccinated to do so. Your best protection from COVID-19 is to get vaccinated.”
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As part of his “Investment Week” announcing American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) allocation proposals, Governor Ralph Northam announced $862 million for Virginia’s unemployment insurance trust fund, depleted during COVID-19.
“Shoring up the Commonwealth’s unemployment insurance trust fund is a smart investment that will prevent Virginia businesses from paying higher taxes and allow our economy to continue surging,” Northam said in a Tuesday announcement.
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The State University System of Florida (SUSF) released a letter to students across the state entering the 2021 fall semester, encouraging them to get the Covid-19 vaccine prior to arriving to campus in August.
Although the letter does not require students to get vaccinated, the low vaccination rate in Florida and the rise in delta variant cases have given university Presidents the reason for concern.
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A local peace activist and the grandfather of Aniya Allen, a young girl who was shot and killed in Minneapolis, says he is leaving the city. K.G. Wilson, who has been helping to combat crime on the streets of Minneapolis for almost two decades, says he is done. Wilson told FOX 9, “I’m done. I’m through, and today right here I’m announcing my retirement. I am done as an active peace activist in Minneapolis; this is my end right here so today I say goodbye to Minneapolis.”
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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) has continued his fight with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) after CDC Director Rochelle Walensky put forward new recommendations for K-12 school systems to require masks for the upcoming school year regardless of vaccination status.
The CDC has changed its tune, once again, after COVID cases have risen over the last few weeks and the school year is fast approaching for many across the country.
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A Florida congressman joined CNN Tuesday evening to debate host Chris Cuomo on his decision not to take the COVID-19 vaccine.
“Do you feel responsible for spreading a message where [you say] ‘I’m not gonna take [the vaccine] because I don’t care what Biden wants. Byron Donald’s not gonna take it ’cause he doesn’t care what Biden wants?'” Cuomo asked Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL-19). “Do you think that’s a good message for people to hear?”
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14 Minneapolis barber shops are participating in a national program called “Shots at the Shop” which is seeking to increase COVID vaccination rates in the Black community. The campaign is “a White House-led effort that is working with 1,000 barbershops and beauty salons across the country.” Some of the barber shops are even offering the COVID vaccine on site, including one Minneapolis shop.
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The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension released their annual report on Tuesday, showing that Minnesota had a record number of murders in 2020. According to Bring Me The News, the report “shows there were 186 murders in Minnesota in 2020, a 58.1% increase compared to 2019, and 2020 marked the most murders in the report’s history, exceeding the previous record of 183 murders in 1995.” Of the 186 murders, 82 were from Minneapolis and 32 were from St. Paul. The number of murders look on track to be even higher in 2021, as Minneapolis alone has already seen 50 murders so far.
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Rochester Public Schools Tuesday said that it will require students aged two to 12 to wear masks inside all school facilities during the upcoming school year, citing the fact that the COVID-19 has not been approved for children between those ages.
“When we have the opportunity as is anticipated to vaccinate younger children, and those rates of vaccination are sufficiently high, we could remove the requirement for our youngest learners,” Interim Superintendent Kent Pekel said. “So I wish I could tell the board that this is the last time that you’d be dealing with this, but I think it’s very likely that we need to continue to be responsive to this situation over time.”
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Arizona Governor Doug Ducey on Tuesday slammed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for recently “updating” its guidelines on masks.
Earlier this week, the agency changed their policy to recommend that some vaccinated individuals resume wearing masks in certain situations. Additionally, the group suggested that all K-12 students continue to wear masks when returning to the classroom this fall.
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Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has signed Senate Bill 27 to appropriate $384.7 million in supplemental pandemic relief funding.
Signed by the governor on Monday afternoon, the bill also provides $10 million of financial support for Southeast Michigan families and businesses that endured massive flooding in June.
SB 27 was introduced by Sen. Jim Stamas, R-Midland, in January. The bill combines $367.7 million of federal COVID relief funding authorized through the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act and $17 million from the state’s general fund.
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A professor at Vanderbilt’s School of Medicine’s Division of Infectious Diseases reportedly said this week that new government guidelines saying that even vaccinated people should wear masks in some areas is an idea with which he agrees. William Schaffner, who serves as a professor of medicine, reportedly told The Epoch Times that he believes the new guidance makes sense.
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