Rhode Island Teachers Unions Sue Mom to Stop Release of Critical Race Theory Lessons

The Rhode Island mother who turned to public records law to learn what the school district was teaching her daughter is now a defendant in a lawsuit by the state and local teachers union.

The Rhode Island and South Kingstown chapters of the National Education Association sued Nicole Solas and the school district this week to stop the latter from releasing records sought by Solas, including curriculum and policies related to critical race theory, antiracism, gender theory and children’s sexuality.

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The Congressional Budget Office Says the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill Will Increase Deficits by $256 Billion over 10 Years

The Congressional Budget Office estimated Thursday that the bipartisan Senate infrastructure bill will add $256 billion to the deficit over the next decade, undercutting its backers’ claims the spending had been offset.

In FY2020, the deficit hit a record $3.1 trillion. So far in FY2021, the deficit is $2.2 trillion. The national debt is climbing to $29 trillion for the first time in U.S. history.

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Republicans Sound Alarm on Biden Border Policy as COVID Spreads

As the number of illegal immigrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border reaches a 20-year high and COVID-19 cases consequently spike, Republican lawmakers are blasting the Biden administration for the converging security and public health crises.

July saw the highest number of illegal immigrants crossing the border in over 20 years, with a total of 210,000. Simultaneously, fewer MS-13 gang members have been caught crossing the border this year than in each of the previous three years, and COVID-positive migrants are flooding the Texas border town of McAllen.

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Commentary: Trump and Trump-Backed Candidates Are Major Threats to Democrats

One of the residual effects of last year’s chaotic election is the palpable fear of former President Trump that still haunts the Democrats. Their congressional antics, from the absurd post-election impeachment to the parodic House investigation into the Jan. 6 “insurrection,” confirm that they are still very much afraid of the man they ostensibly defeated last November. This has nothing to do with any threat that Trump or his supporters pose to the republic, as media alarmists insist. The actual source of Democratic trepidation can be found in their lackluster performance in the 2020 presidential and congressional elections combined with Trump’s clear intention to become very much involved in boosting Republicans in next year’s midterms.

First, a reality check concerning the 2020 election: Biden didn’t win a popular vote landslide as the Democrats still claim. According to Federal Election Commission (FEC) totals, he won 81,268,924 of 158,383,403 ballots cast. In other words, 77,114,479 people voted for Trump or one of the third-party candidates. That nearly 49 percent of the voters cast ballots against Biden, despite the unprecedented support he received from the media and Big Tech cannot fail to worry rational Democrats. Nor can they help being unnerved by a poll conducted by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) that strongly suggests their anemic 2020 congressional showing portends worse results in 2022.

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Johns Hopkins Professor Says COVID Infection Provides More Immunity Than Vaccines

A doctor and professor with Johns Hopkins University said in a recent television appearance that, contrary to the official government narrative, those who actually catch the coronavirus and recover are approximately seven times more immune from future infections than those who receive a vaccine, as reported by the Daily Caller.

Dr. Marty Makary, during his interview on the Vince Coglianese Show, said studies have proven that “natural immunity is better against the Delta variant” than vaccines. “When you get infected with COVID, your body’s immune system develops antibodies to the entire surface of the virus. Not just the slight protein that the vaccines give you, but the entire surface. And so, you get a more diverse antibody portfolio in your system.”

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More Votes Counted Than Cast in Nevada 2020 General Election, Analysis of Voting Files Shows

An analysis of Nevada state voter data shows a 9,000-vote difference between those marked as having participated in the 2020 General Election and the number of ballots actually cast.

The non-partisan Voter Reference Foundation (VRF), which officially announced its launch this week, compared the states’ official certified vote totals to the state official voter files, which indicate how many individual Nevada voters were recorded as actually having cast ballots last November.

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Jobless Claims Fall Below 400,000, Hit Economists’ Expectations

Unemployment sign

The number of Americans filing new unemployment claims decreased to 385,000 last week as the economy continues its recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, according to the Department of Labor.

The Bureau of Labor and Statistics figure released Thursday represented a slight decrease in the number of new jobless claims compared to the week ending July 24, when 399,000 new jobless claims were reported. That number was revised down from the 400,000 jobless claims initially reported last week.

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Biden Administration Has Released over 7,000 COVID-Positive Migrants into Texas Since February

The Biden government has released over 7,000 COVID positive illegal immigrants into the city of McAllen, Texas since mid February of 2021—including
over 1,500 infected migrants in just the past week, Fox News’ Bill Melugin reported on Wednesday.

“Despite the City of McAllen and its community partners’ best efforts, the sheer number of immigrants being released into the city has become a crisis: a crisis the City of McAllen did not create and has proactively tried to avoid for seven years,” the city said in a statement.

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Mark Krikorian of the Center for Immigration Studies Explains Why He’s Called for the Withdrawal from the 1951 Refugee Convention Treaty

1951 Refugee Convention

Thursday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Mark Krikorian of the Center for Immigration Studies to the newsmakers line to further outline his recent article at the National Review online which called for the withdrawal from the 1951 Refugee treaty with the UN.

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The Border Crisis Is Killing Americans, Data Shows

The drugs flowing over the border are leading to an uptick in fentanyl deaths, and experts are split about how to solve it.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency has called fentanyl the “primary driver” of the record 92,183 drug overdose deaths in 2020. Many drug dealers use fentanyl to make money and smuggle it through the southern border mixed with other drugs like heroin, methamphetamine, and cocaine to make them more potent — and more deadly — according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency.

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Lifest Music City Was a Party with a Purpose

NASHVILLE, Tennessee – The inaugural Lifest Music City was held at the Hideaway Farm outside of Nashville and was a tremendous accomplishment. Seeing as many of the popular contemporary Christian artists call Nashville home, it just made sense to branch out to Tennessee.

States Lifest founder Bob Lenz said, “When we heard that the Johnny Cash property was available Chuck Tilley, who started Atlantafest said, ‘So what do you think about doing Lifest down here?’ All I kept seeing in my mind was all of these families coming together to have a party while learning about the message of Jesus through music. I thought wow what better place than right outside of Nashville Tennessee?”

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Music Spotlight: The Hobbs Sisters

NASHVILLE, Tennessee –  When I first heard The Hobb Sisters, I stopped dead in my tracks. I am all about family harmonies but these two were next level. I guess that’s what happens when you have identical twins who are naturally gifted singers.

Lauren and Hannah Hobbs were encouraged to sing as young children by their grandfather, Pappaw John. He played the guitar and banjo by ear and would sing along with them.

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Biden Nominee Helped Edit Radical Paper That Gloated the Feds Were Bungling Investigation into Tree Spiking Plot

President Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the Bureau of Land Management was an editor for an issue of the radical Earth First journal that contained a non-bylined story gloating that federal investigators were bungling their investigation into an eco-terrorism incident the nominee was directly involved in.

The nominee, Tracy Stone-Manning, was one of the six members of the editorial collective for the June 21, 1991, edition of the radical environmental journal. One of the only stories in the 40-page issue that did not contain an author byline was a story celebrating the Forest Service’s move to deactivate their investigation into the 1989 Clearwater National Forest tree spiking incident in the absence of any solid leads.

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Teachers Union, Health Care Group Back Mandatory Masks for Florida Schools

The Florida Education Association (FEA) and the Committee to Protect Health Care are both supporting the idea of making masks required in Florida’s public schools, and blasted Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for his efforts in opposition to such a mandate.

On Wednesday, the largest teachers’ union in Florida said individual school districts should be able to make their own decisions.

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Ohio Public Schools Plan Lawsuit to Challenge EdChoice Program

A coalition of about 70 public school districts in Ohio plans to file a lawsuit challenging the state’s use of public money to fund private schools, saying Ohio’s EdChoice voucher program pulls money from public schools and limits the state’s ability to provide fair funding for those schools.

The lawsuit, which the Ohio Coalition for Equity and Adequacy of School Funding Executive Director Bill Phillis said will be filed soon, calls for the end of the EdChoice program.

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A Cuban Illegal Alien in Minnesota Is Accused of Beheading His Girlfriend

The man who allegedly beheaded his girlfriend on Shakopee Street is confirmed to be an illegal alien. Alexis Saborit-Viltres was arrested and charged last week with murder following the death of America Thayer, Saborit-Viltres’ longtime girlfriend. Saborit-Viltres allegedly used a machete to behead Thayer in her vehicle. After that, Saborit-Viltres allegedly dumped her body in the street and left.

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Top Two Arizona Gov. Ducey Aides Leave Administration

Gov. Ducey Aides Leave Administration

Governor Doug Ducey’s top two aides, Chief of Staff Daniel Scarpinato and Deputy Chief of Staff Gretchen Conger, announced on Thursday that they will leave the administration to pursue other career interests.

Scarpinato has been named as a partner at Ascent Media, a national advertising and political consulting firm based in Washington, D.C, and Conger serve as Senior Advisor to the Sarah Huckabee Sanders campaign.

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Michigan Health Services Releases School COVID-19 Recommendations

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) issued updated recommendations for schools to help prevent transmission of COVID-19 within school buildings, reduce disruptions to in-person learning and help protect vulnerable individuals.

The guidance reflects guidelines by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on masking and prevention strategies to help operate schools more safely.

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Florida Might Allow School Vouchers for Children to Avoid Mask Mandates

The Florida Board of Education (BOE) is holding an emergency meeting today to consider a proposal to allow families to use their own tax dollars as school vouchers so they can transfer their children out of school districts requiring COVID-related procedures.

After the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) changed their tune, once again, and is recommending face masks for all children in K-12 schools, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis issued an executive order banning mask mandates in Florida’s schools.

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Despite Michigan’s New Status as ‘Substantial’ Center of COVID Spread, Deaths Per Day Remain in Single Digits

Although the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) elevated Michigan’s level of COVID-19 spread to “substantial” on Wednesday, daily death totals statewide due to COVID remain in single digits.

According to the widely cited tracking website worldometers.info, the seven-day moving average of COVID deaths per day in Michigan has stayed under double digits since July 1st.

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Ex-PUCO Chairman Randazzo Added to Ohio AG’s Racketeering Lawsuit in FirstEnergy Case

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost has expanded a civil racketeering lawsuit tied to the federal FirstEnergy Corp. public corruption case to include the former chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio and two fired executives of the Akron, Ohio-based electric utility.

The addition of energy consultant and attorney Sam Randazzo, former FirstEnergy CEO Charles Jones, and Vice President Michael Dowling comes just a few weeks after the utility cut a deal with federal prosecutors where it admitted its role in the scandal and paid a $230 million fine in a deferred prosecution agreement with the Department of Justice.

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Teacher Sues Phoenix School District over Mask Mandates

Less than a week after Phoenix Union High School District (PXU) issued a mask mandate in defiance of state law, a high school biology teacher has sued the school district. 

“Douglas Hester, who teaches Biology 1 and 2 at Metro Tech High School, filed a motion for a restraining order on Monday against its superintendent and its governing board, according to the Maricopa County Superior Court,” Fox News reported.

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Minnesota Supreme Court Rules That Permit-to-Carry Law Is Constitutional

The Minnesota Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that Minnesota’s permit-to-carry law for handguns is constitutional. A man, Nathan Hatch, convicted of a gross misdemeanor for carrying a loaded pistol without a permit in 2018 attempted to strike down the law, saying it was “unconstitutional.” According to The Star Tribune, Hatch claimed that the law requiring handgun owners to obtain a permit to carry the firearm in public violated his right to bear arms.

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Court to Hear Clash over Phoenix School District’s Mask Mandate That Defies New State Law

Representative Joseph Chaplik - LD 23

A judge is expected to hear arguments on August 13 in a lawsuit filed by a teacher in the Phoenix Union High School district over its revived mandatory mask policy. Governor Doug Ducey signed SB 1826 in June, the education budget bill, which includes an amendment prohibiting schools from requiring masks. 

Biology teacher Douglas Hester filed the lawsuit against the school district, its governing board and superintendent Chad Gestson, citing the conflict with state law. The school contends that the law isn’t scheduled to go into effect until 90 days after the legislature adjourns, September 28. However, A.R.S. 15-342.05 includes a clause making it retroactive to June 30.

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Federal Judge Rules Implementing Critical Race Theory Violates Civil Rights Law

Critical race theory flies in the face of the federal Civil Rights Act by presuming that racial disparities are the result of racial discrimination, a federal appeals court judge wrote in a concurrence.

A black property owner alleged that a Texas navigation district committed racial discrimination by threatening to condemn properties and conspiring with city officials to keep property values low in his neighborhood, so it could acquire them for a channel improvement project. The East End of Freeport was created as a “Negro reservation” and remains majority-minority, though Hispanics heavily outnumber blacks.

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No Word Yet from Michigan’s GOP Legislative Leaders on Any Potential Investigation of Michigan Center for Election Law and Administration

Republican leaders in either chamber of Michigan’s state legislature, both of which have GOP majorities, have yet to indicate whether they intend to investigate expenditures made by an election-related nonprofit that was founded by Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson (D).

The Michigan Center for Election Law and Administration (MCELA), as The Michigan Star has reported, received a $12 million grant in September 2020 from a national nonprofit, the Center for Election Innovation and Research (CEIR).

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Virginia Senate Passes Amended American Rescue Plan Act Allocation Bill

RICHMOND, Virginia — The Virginia Senate passed its amended version of the $4.3 billion American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) allocation bill late Wednesday evening, after hours of debate on amendments. Although some Republican amendments, including a key law enforcement bonus proposal, were incorporated into the spending bill, many were not. Rejected amendments included a sweeping election integrity amendment and an anti-Critical Race Theory amendment. The final vote on passing the bill was 22-18. Many Republicans said that while they supported some elements of the bill, they disapproved of the process Democrats used, including a vote Wednesday evening to limit debate on each amendment to just three minutes.

Right before the vote to pass the budget, the Senate GOP caucus went into conference. When the senators returned, Minority Leader Thomas Norment, Jr. (R-James City) hinted that many of his caucus would vote against the bill. He said, “It is not so much about the substantive provisions of the budget that we have amended. Rather I believe that the vote you are about to see is going to be a reflection of the frustration and the indignation of the entire process.”

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Ohio Attorney General, Others File Brief in Support of Georgia’s New Election Laws

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost is leading 15 other state attorneys general in backing Georgia’s effort to dismiss a federal lawsuit challenging the state’s new voter laws.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) sued Georgia, Georgia’s secretary of state and other election officials in June, saying several provisions of the state’s recent voting reform law blocks the right to vote for Georgians based on race.

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Poll Shows Crist, DeSantis in Statistical Dead Heat for Florida Governor

A recent poll shows U.S. Representative Charlie Crist slightly ahead of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for the first time since announcing his campaign in May.

The poll, conducted by St. Pete Polls, gages the current approval rating of each gubernatorial candidate across a sample size of 3,952 registered voters across all regions of Florida, as well as asking voters their approval of masks mandates in schools.

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Moderate Clyburn Takes Shots at Progressive Nina Turner After Ohio Election Loss

Nina Turner

The primary election might be finished in Ohio’s 11th District, but Rep. James Clyburn (D-MD-06), the third-highest ranking Democrat in Congress, is still making his presence felt.

“These are creations, and to say all we got out of endorsing Joe Biden was a federal holiday? That’s the kind of BS that sent me to Cleveland, I was going to stay right here in South Carolina minding my business until I got called stupid,” Clyburn told Axios. 

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Virginia Redistricting Commission Making Key Decisions on Tight Timeline

The Virginia Redistricting Commission is facing key decisions about how it will create legislative maps. The U.S. Census Bureau is expected to publish 2020 Census data later this month. When the commission receives the data on August 16, that will launch a 45-day deadline for the commission to create the maps for House of Delegates and Senate. But the commission is still debating key questions about how to draw the maps: should subcommittees be used, who should be on them, and should the maps be based on the current maps.

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Tennessee Officials to Allocate COVID-Relief Funds to Increase Internet Access in Underserved Regions

Crystal Ivey, broadband director at Tennessee’s Department of Economic and Community Development (ECD), said Wednesday that $500 million in taxpayer money bestowed upon Tennessee in the latest round of federal COVID-19 relief will go toward broadband expansion.

ECD officials and Governor Bill Lee (R) have stressed the heightened importance of telecommuting, e-commerce, telemedicine and distance learning after the pandemic hit.

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