Former President Donald Trump in a statement on Friday endorsed Governor Bill Lee (R-TN) in his campaign to seek a second term as Tennessee’s governor.
In the brief statement, Trump pointed out Lee’s record on a host of key issues, including support for law enforcement and border security.
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Williamson County School Board Member Brad Fiscus announced that he will move from the state of Tennessee and step down from his position on the board.
The decision by Fiscus follows a contentious school board meeting, where hundreds of parents voiced opposition to a proposed mask mandate for the school system.
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A group of Michigan parents was asked to fork over approximately $400,000 by the Forest Hills Public Schools before the district would comply with a Freedom of Information Act request they had submitted. The district later lowered the cost to about $2,200.
The FOIA was sent to FHPS on May 11. The request sought “any and all writings” that used such words as equity, diversity and inclusion.
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On Thursday, a Dickson County, Tennessee jury sentenced Steven Wiggins to death for murdering Sergeant Daniel Baker.
Earlier that day, District Attorney General Ray Crouch and defense lawyer Luke Evans presented their closing arguments to jurors, who were tasked with deciding between the death penalty and life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
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Former Nashville mayoral candidate Carol Swain said Thursday she suspects her new book that tackles Critical Race Theory (CRT) has attracted the notice of the credit card company American Express, which reportedly leans left. Swain said it’s possible that company officials penalized her because of Black Eye for America: How Critical Race Theory is Burning Down the House, which she co-authored. Amazon made the book available this month.
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Every elected official knows the key to building a strong economy starts with education. Every single child in Tennessee deserves access to a high-quality public education. Local control is the best method to address those issues, and the power to make decisions should reside with those closest to the people. That is a principle held by most conservatives and most Tennesseans. Local school systems know what works or what doesn’t work in their schools. Yes, there has to be accountability for those decisions.
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University of Wisconsin-Madison journalism Professor Mike Wagner appeared to encourage Republican Senator Rand Paul’s neighbor to assault him in response to the libertarian politician’s comments on COVID mandates.
Rene Boucher, the senator’s Kentucky neighbor, attacked Paul in 2017, allegedly over a dispute about a pile of sticks. Boucher had to pay damages to Paul and served home confinement and time in jail, according to NBC News.
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Physicist Eric Hedin was canceled before the term cancel culture was even coined.
He taught a very popular class at Ball State University for six years called “Boundaries of Science” before pressure from atheists in 2013 prompted campus leaders to cancel the course.
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President Joe Biden repeatedly mischaracterized the job growth that has occurred since he took office, saying it is a product of his administration’s economic agenda, multiple media fact checkers have reported.
While the Biden administration has overseen the economic recovery during a period of large gains in the labor market, the White House hasn’t acknowledged that states reopening and ending pandemic-related business restrictions is likely the main catalyst for such growth. The president has also credited without evidence the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, which he signed into law in March, for driving job growth.
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Thursday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed California refugee Craig Huey in studio to examine the actions of Director of Schools Jason Golden and Dr. Adrienne Battle’s stupid mask mandates for elementary school students.
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Republican lawmakers on Thursday introduced the Vaccine Passport and Voter ID Harmonization Act, legislation that would require states mandating vaccine passports to also mandate voter ID requirements.
The Daily Caller News Foundation first obtained the text of the bill, introduced by Kevin Cramer of North Dakota in the Senate and Nancy Mace of South Carolina in the House, “requiring states and local jurisdictions that institute vaccine passports to require voter identification in federal elections.”
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Fox News host Tucker Carlson welcomed Williamson County, Tennessee parent and co-host Clay Travis of The Clay Travis and Bux Sexton Show Thursday morning regarding the outpouring of parental concern as local school boards push anti-American curriculum on elementary students. Travis stated that this was a “mom-led revolution” and hinted that it will grow with speed around the country.
Carlson: The speech that you gave and God bless you for doing it. And it was entirely fact-based. The reaction from the other people in the room really struck me. What is your sense of where parents are right now with what’s happening in schools?
Travis: First, Tucker, thanks for having me.
Carlson: Of course.
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Thursday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed California refugee Craig Huey in studio to weigh in on Tuesday nights Williams County meeting where parent Leanne Baker made clear her rights as an American against mandated vaccinations and masks for her children.
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As a direct result of the coronavirus pandemic, the total number of students being homeschooled in the United States has more than doubled from pre-pandemic levels, and continues to rise even as schools begin to slowly reopen, according to Fox News.
By March of 2021, the total number of homeschooled students in America stands at over 5 million, in comparison to just 2.6 million in 2020. Christopher Chin, president of Homeschool Louisiana, said that “interest has exploded,” and that although some students may ultimately return to regular schools after the pandemic, “many parents [are] finding this is a better way of life for them and their children.”
Additionally, Chin says the homeschooling model has proven successful even for households where both parents work, due to the rise in remote work at many companies and places of business.
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Americans are growing angrier by the day in a way different from prior sagebrush revolts such as the 1960s Silent Majority or Tea Party furor of over a decade ago.
The rage at the current status quo this time is not just fueled by conservatives. For the first time in their lives, all Americans of all classes and races are starting to fear a self-created apocalypse that threatens their families’ safety and the American way of life.
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One promise from the U.S. economy emerging from the pandemic was that American workers would benefit from a tight labor pool driving up salary and pay. And while that happened, the benefits have all been erased by the sudden surge of inflation on President Biden’s watch.
That means workers aren’t running in place, they are actually falling behind as rising prices force middle- and working-class families to make hard choices, like whether to fill the gas tank or the refrigerator.
Inflation topped out at 5.4% in July, the government reported Wednesday, the third straight month above 5%. When President Trump left office in January, inflation was in check at just 1.4%.
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Thursday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed California refugee Craig Huey in studio to discuss today’s top headlines regarding Texas house Democrats’ arrests and alleged liberal California professor ignited wildfires.
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The Texas Senate on Thursday morning passed the elections bill that state Democrats have attempted several times to prevent from becoming law.
Senate Democratic Caucus Chair Carol Alvarado filibustered the bill for 15-hours in the latest long shot attempt to prevent its passage, but the chamber endured and passed the legislation by a vote of 18-11 this morning. Filibuster rules required Alvarado to remain standing, addressing the chamber on exclusively the subject of the bill, without bathroom breaks or food.
The attempt came one day after Dade Phelan, the Republican Speaker of the Texas House authorized arrest warrants for the 52 Democrats who have failed to show up for the second special session this summer of the Texas legislature, thereby denying the chamber a quorum.
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Senators from both parties introduced a bill Wednesday targeting alleged anticompetitive conduct among Apple and Google app stores.
The Open App Markets Act, introduced Wednesday by Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn along with Democratic Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Amy Klobuchar, would prevent app stores such as Google Play and Apple’s App Store from requiring developers to use the tech giants’ in-app payment systems as a condition of distribution. The bill would also stop Apple and Google from taking “punitive action” against developers who offer different pricing terms in other app stores.
“This legislation will tear down coercive anticompetitive walls in the app economy, giving consumers more choices and smaller startup tech companies a fighting chance,” Blumenthal said in a joint statement.
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Thursday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Speaker Cameron Sexton to the newsmakers line to weigh in on his current letter to Governor Bill Lee requesting a special session to debate COVID mandates in the state.
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The 52 Texas House Democrats who fled the state last month to block election integrity legislation were declaring victory just a few days ago when an activist judge in Austin signed an order to block enforcement of the arrest warrants put out for them.
Judge Brad Urrutia signed the order Sunday night, thwarting Governor Greg Abbott plan to have the renegade lawmakers arrested as soon as they returned to Austin.
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Thursday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed California refugee Craig Huey in studio to discuss the unraveling of Governor Gavin Newsom and the recall effort to unseat him.
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The national racial reckoning over reparations and Critical Race Theory is taking over the world of medicine and health care. Prestigious medical journals, top medical schools and elite medical centers are adopting the language of social justice activism and vowing to confront “systemic racism,” dismantle “structural violence” and disrupt “white supremacy” in their institutional cultures.
Some activist physicians describe the present-day health care system with such ominous terms as a “medical caste system” or “medical apartheid,” the latter locution taken from the title of a 2007 book about America’s history of medical experimentation on enslaved blacks and freedmen.
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Former President Trump on Thursday knocked Michigan state lawmakers for their hesitancy to conduct a forensic audit of the November 2020 election.
In the statement, Trump highlighted the support for the audit from voters throughout the state.
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Groups in Loudoun County and Fairfax County are attempting to recall school board members. They’re part of a national increase of school board recalls in 2021, according to Ballotpedia, which reports 58 recall efforts in 2021, targeting 144 officials. That’s up from a 2006 to 2020 average of 23 recalls.
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Being a journalist from Nashville, there plenty of talented guitar players that I meet and interview. But I don’t find many traditional, western folk stylists who appreciate the old sound of blues mixed with some Americana. Max Gomez is the exception to the rule.
Gomez was raised in the rarefied musical micro-climate of northern New Mexico. He got a job playing guitar alone and singing when he was 15 in his hometown of Taos, New Mexico. His job was to play at this fancy steak house bar where people would come out to dance. He was supposed to play the guitar in such a way so they could dance.
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The federal Department of Health and Human Services sent 200 ventilators and 100 high-flow nasal oxygen kits to Florida after a request from the Florida Department of Health (FDOH) allegedly due to a shortage.
However, when asked earlier this week, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said he did not know about any request to Washington.
Federal prosecutors now claim that the five men who allegedly plotted to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) also discussed doing the same to Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R).
“The DeWine connection to a high-profile federal criminal case involving alleged violent extremism has not been previously disclosed and reveals accused plotters discussed a broader, bipartisan attack on politicians from several states,” The Detroit News reported. “Prosecutors leveled the new allegation in a court filing Monday while fighting what has emerged as a central defense strategy that involves accusing the FBI of entrapment.”
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Three membership organizations in Florida joined together Wednesday to oppose a settlement agreement by Florida Power and Light (FPL) that increased base electricity rates for its residential consumers, as well as a plan to develop solar energy that is also paid for by residential consumers.
FPL is the largest retail energy company in the U.S. and serves more than 5.6 million customer accounts that represent over 11 million Florida residents, primarily along the east coast, but also in some parts of southwest and north central Florida.
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The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) filed a lawsuit against the owner of an old phosphate mining facility in Manatee County formerly known as Piney Point.
The suit is in response to 215 million gallons of contaminated wastewater that was leaked into the Tampa Bay from March 26th to April 9th, 2021.
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Georgia officials have announced that economic development projects throughout the state during fiscal year 2021 have delivered record-setting jobs and investments. This, according to a press release that Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and officials with the Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD) published this week.
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Minnesota Governor Tim Walz announced that the COVID vaccine will be required for government employees in Minnesota. If employees choose not to be vaccinated and get an exemption, they will need to undergo weekly COVID testing. The State of Minnesota is the second largest business to require employees to be vaccinated, with over 40,000 employees, second to Mayo Clinic.
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The Arizona Supreme Court has ruled that schools cannot be held accountable for off-campus incidents of violence between students.
Diannah Dinsmoor, the mother of high school student Ana G., who was shot and killed by her classmate in 2014, brought claims for wrongful death, negligence, and gross negligence against the Deer Valley Unified School District and the City of Phoenix in Dinsmoor v. City of Phoenix. Dinsmoor argued that school officials knew that Ana and her classmate, identified by court records as Matthew B., were dating and that Matthew had a history of violence with an ex-girlfriend, known on court records as Raven. Ana met Matthew at a friend’s house after school where he shot and killed her and then himself.
The superior court ruled on Friday that the defendant did not owe Ana or Dinsmoor a duty as necessary to support Dinsmoor’s claims.
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Tanya Wheeless, the former deputy chief of staff to Senator Martha McSally, announced on Tuesday that she will run for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.
In an approximately two minute campaign launch video, Wheeless highlighted her family background, including that her grandparents immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico.
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Michigan voters upset with mask mandates and other school-board actions can organize recall efforts, as Mount Pleasant Public Schools parents are now doing.
Three directors of that central-Michigan school district could be electorally removed owing to public backlash over a requirement that all students up to the age of 12 wear masks in school.
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According to the Michigan Restaurant and Lodging Association (MRLA), about nine out of 10 restaurants and hotels are operating with too few employees.
On June 22, state officials lifted COVID-related restrictions on restaurant capacity.
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Second-term Michigan State Rep. Ryan Berman (R-Commerce Township) this week became the first Republican to announce a 2022 run for state attorney general.
Whoever the GOP nominates at its state convention next year will likely face incumbent Democrat Dana Nessel.
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In direct defiance of legislation banning vaccine passports and mask mandates, three major Arizona universities will require masks for students, setting up a showdown between the schools and the state government.
“All three Arizona universities said Wednesday they are going to require face masks on campus in certain situations, regardless of new state legislation apparently designed to preclude them from doing that,” Tuscon.com reported. “And more than half the Republican state legislators are asking Gov. Doug Ducey to withhold funds from schools who they say are violating a different ban on mask mandates and take the errant districts to court.”
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A group of Arizona state lawmakers on Wednesday urged Governor Doug Ducey to take direct action against school districts that have seemingly ignored a new state law that prevents mask mandates.
In total, 26 legislators called on Ducey to withhold funding from school districts with mask mandates and authorize temporary school vouchers for students in the districts with mandates.
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The U.S. Census Bureau released 2020 Census data on August 12; a key takeaway from the data is that metro areas across the U.S. are growing, but many counties are seeing their population decrease.
“Many counties within metro areas saw growth, especially those in the south and west. However, as we’ve been seeing in our annual population estimates, our nation is growing slower than it used to,” Census Bureau Senior Demographer Marc Perry said in a press release.
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Governor Ralph Northam mandated masks at indoor settings for all people over age two at public and private K-12 schools in Virginia.
Northam said in a Thursday announcement, “This Public Health Order makes it very clear that masks are required in all indoor K-12 settings, and Virginia expects all schools to comply.”
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Those expenditures are lawful and proper and are made at the Chairman’s discretion.”
– Bob Paduchik, Ohio Republican Party chairman
Former football players becoming politicians isn’t new.
Plenty of ex-football players have been elected to Congress or state legislatures, and former NFL running back Herschel Walker is working on a U.S. Senate run in Georgia.
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Kila Posey, a parent whose child attends Mary Lin Elementary School in Atlanta, filed a federal complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights, after discovering some classes were separated based on race.
According to Posey, the school’s principal, Sharyn Briscoe, was placing black and white students in separate classes with separate teachers.
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The Brooklyn Park mayoral special election was decided by one vote, with Lisa Jacobson winning the election with 3,415 votes, beating Hollies Winston who had 3,414 votes. Winston was backed by the Minnesota DFL and Governor Tim Walz. A vote canvass will be held on Friday night, but because the margin of votes was so small, a recount request is expected. The final results of the election will be certified by August 20. Winston said in a statement posted to Facebook that, “In the interest of respecting our democratic process we are going to see this through until the end. Every vote must be counted.”
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A school nurse spoke out against masking students at a Prior Lake school board meeting and then quit her job. In a video of the school board meeting, shared by Representative Erik Mortenson, the nurse said that what happened over the last year “goes against my beliefs and morals and against my oath as a mother and a nurse.”
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With popular conservative Phoenix City Councilman Sal DiCiccio term limited, local activist and professor Moses Sanchez, a Republican, announced he is running for the District 6 slot based in Ahwatukee. He ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Phoenix in 2018, a difficult race for Republicans since Phoenix has more Democrats, but District 6 leans Republican.
“I’m proud to call Ahwatukee home,” he said in a statement on August 11. “I’ve raised my family in Phoenix, served on our local school board, run for Mayor, and worked to grow a small business. I’m running for Phoenix City Council to provide the same opportunities this city has given me and stand up for the most overlooked community in Phoenix.”
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More than 1,000 parents who protested the Williamson County School (WCS) System’s new COVID-19 mask mandates attracted the attention of CNNThursday and, later, U.S. President Joe Biden, and not in a flattering way. An unidentified CNN anchor described the parents as “an angry minority.” The network showed footage of some, but not all, of the parents as they either attended this week’s meeting or, due to lack of space inside, protested outdoors.
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