Former President Trump Sends Letter to Georgia Secretary of State Raffensperger Asking to Investigate Report of DeKalb County Chain of Custody Violations; ‘If True Start the Process of Decertifying’

Former President Donald Trump sent a letter on Friday to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, asking the top election official to investigate potential threats to the state’s election integrity.

In the letter to Raffensperger, Trump cited a report from The Georgia Star News, which detailed that 43,000 absentee ballot votes counted in DeKalb County, Georgia 2020 election potentially violated chain of custody rule.

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U.S. Military Admits Killing 10 Civilians, Targeting Wrong Vehicle in Kabul Drone Strike, Reports

AU.S. military investigation into a deadly drone strike last month in Kabul found the attack killed 10 civilians and that the targeted driver and vehicle were likely not a threat associated with the ISIS-K terror group, according to several news reports Friday.

The Pentagon had previously said at least one ISIS-K facilitator and three civilians were killed in what Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark Milley had previously called a “righteous strike” on the compound on Aug 29, according to CNN.

The investigation released Friday found everybody killed in the residential compound were civilians, following weeks of speculation about a possible failed drone strike.

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Angry Tennessee Residents, Burdened by COVID-19 Policies, Rally for Special Legislative Session, Without Delay

NASHVILLE — Hundreds of Tennesseans said their displeasure with COVID-19 mandates has intensified and it’s time for Lieutenant Governor Randy McNally (R-Oak Ridge) to relent and allow a special legislative session so the state can fight back. Those angry residents, along with several state legislators, rallied at Beth Harwell Plaza, near the state capitol, on Thursday.

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Tennessee Senator Bill Hagerty Joins Bill to Keep Children and Families Safe from Lead Hazards

On Wednesday, Tennessee Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) joined Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Raphael Warnock (D-GA) in introducing the Keep Children and Families Safe From Lead Hazards Act. The bill which would direct the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to identify and remediate risk exposure to lead hazards, including lead wall paint and lead drinking water service lines, in Section 8 housing programs.

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Jobless Claims Tick Up to 332,000, Remain Near Pandemic Low

Photo “Unemployment Insurance Claims Office” by Bytemarks. CC BY 2.0.

The number of Americans filing new unemployment claims increased to 332,000 last week as the economy continues to slowly recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics figure released Thursday represents an increase in the number of new jobless claims compared to the week ending Sept. 4, when 312,000 new jobless claims were reported. That figure was revised slightly up from the 310,000 jobless claims initially reported last week.

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Sen. Josh Hawley Accuses Google of ‘Targeting Pregnancy Resources,’ Pro-Life Orgs ‘for Disfavor’

Republican Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley called on Google Wednesday to explain its recent censorship of pro-life ads.

In a letter addressed to Google Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai, Hawley called on Google to explain why ads placed by the pro-life organizations Live Action and Choose Life Marketing had been “seemingly censored.”

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Commentary: Nobody Is Coming to Save California

In the end, it wasn’t really even close.

California Governor Gavin Newsom easily survived his recall election on Tuesday, with voters rejecting his ouster by nearly two-to-one. The results won’t be official until next month, but as of now, the “no recall” vote leads by a resounding 27 percentage points. By any account, it was a big win for the third-rate politician who is utterly incapable of making a public statement without resorting to platitudes and clichés.

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Columbia University Promotes ‘Students Exploring Whiteness’ Program to ‘Critically Engage with Whiteness’

Columbia University’s official Instagram account promoted a post on its story calling on students to get involved in a school program where they can “critically engage with whiteness.”

The university’s Office of Multicultural Affairs first posted the photo and caption on Instagram to promote its Students Exploring Whiteness program.

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National Constitution Bee Executive Director Claudia Henneberry Talks Bee Experience and Surprises

  Live from Music Row Thursday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed Executive Director of The National Constitution Bee Claudia Henneberry in studio to highlight the experience participants can look forward to at this year’s Bee on October 23rd.  Leahy: This is one of my favorite segments of the radio ever, because finally, we have a full-time executive director of the National Constitution Bee. This will be our fifth year and it’s just such a great event. And Claudia, you’ve been doing this as a labor of love for the four previous years. And the amount of time you spend on this is just incredible. Tell people what this will be like. By the way, the winner gets $10,000 the educational scholarship they can use for college or for private school if they’re still in high school. Henneberry: It’s such a significant amount of money. Leahy: $10,000 will be awarded to the winner via a check that day. We give these checks away from the Star News Education Foundation that day. Second place, $5,000, 3rd place $2,500. Last year,…

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One Day After Resounding Recall Win, Newsom Says Leaders ’Shouldn’t Be Timid’ on COVID Prevention Measures

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday that Democrats should take an even more aggressive approach in fighting the coronavirus pandemic, pointing to his recent recall election win as evidence that such a strategy was popular.

“We need to stiffen our spines and lean in to keeping people safe and healthy,” Newsom told CBS News in an interview. “We shouldn’t be timid in trying to protect people’s lives and mitigate the spread and transmission of this disease.”

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Some Companies and Business Groups Are Pushing Back Against Biden’s Vaccine Mandate

Employers and business organizations are voicing their opposition to the vaccine mandate announced last week by President Joe Biden.

Biden ordered the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to requite companies with more than 100 employees to make sure their workers are either vaccinated against COVID-19 or tested weekly for the virus. The mandates received a mixed reaction from companies and business groups, with some welcoming the new rules and others expressing their opposition.

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House Panel Rejects Drug Price Control Bill in Stunning Blow to Pelosi

The House Committee on Energy and Commerce rejected a key drug pricing control bill in a stunning rebuke of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democratic leadership.

Democratic Reps. Kurt Schrader, Scott Peters and Kathleen Rice voted alongside their Republican colleagues on the panel, creating a 29-29 tie on the vote to pass the legislation during a committee hearing Wednesday. The hearing was held to mark up parts of Democrats’ sweeping $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation package, the Build Back Better Act.

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Arizona Supreme Court to Hear Brnovich’s Lawsuit Against Arizona State University over Its Sweet Deal to Hotel Developers

The Arizona Supreme Court has agreed to accept an appeal from Arizona Attorney Mark Brnovich in his lawsuit against Arizona State University and the Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR) challenging a deal they made with hotel developers letting them use school property, which allows them to avoid property taxes.

Brnovich said shortly after filing the lawsuit, “ABOR shouldn’t be subsidizing out-of-state billionaires. Worst of all, ABOR is depriving K-12 schools and community colleges millions of dollars in property tax revenue that must be made up by other taxpayers by placing the hotel on property tax exempt land.”

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Youngkin Campaign Reacts to McAuliffe’s Massive Northam Flip-Flop

Republican Glenn Youngkin’s gubernatorial campaign has responded to his Democrat opponent’s apparent change of heart about current Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D). 

Terry McAuliffe, the former head of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) who is running for his second non-consecutive term as governor of Virginia, once called on Northam to resign when a yearbook image of the Commonwealth’s governor wearing blackface or a Ku Klux Klan hood reemerged. 

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Oil Supply Losses from Hurricane Ida Reach 30 Million Barrels, Impacting Gas Prices

Hurricane Ida has already caused oil supply losses of 30 million barrels, the International Energy Agency (IEA) reports, resulting in the first decline in global oil supply in five months.

Hurricane Ida shut in 1.7 million barrels per day of oil production in the Gulf at the end of August, “with potential supply losses from the storm approaching 30 mb. An uptrend in supply should resume in October as OPEC+ continues to unwind cuts, outages are resolved and as other producers increase,” the agency stated in its September Oil Market report.

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Ohio Gov. DeWine Says He Would Mandate Masks in Schools, Lawmakers Won’t Let Him

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said he wants to impose a new mask mandate but feared a fight with the General Assembly after legislation that limited his authority to enact public health orders became law.

DeWine spoke Tuesday about the growing number of COVID-19 cases throughout the state at the Ohio Children’s Hospital Association. That group, made up of the six children’s hospitals, has spent the past two weeks pleading for vaccines and masks in schools.

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Wisconsin Representative Gallagher Introduces Bill Limiting Gain-of-Function Research

Wisconsin Representative Mike Gallagher (R-WI-08) introduced a bill that would limit gain-of-function research for five years by pausing taxpayer funding. Rep. Mike Gallagher, Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA-01) and Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX-28) introduced bipartisan legislation that would “put a five-year freeze on taxpayer funding for gain-of-function research.”

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Federal Judge Denies Motion to Block Governor DeSantis’ Ban on Mask Mandates in Schools

Judge K. Michael Moore of the First U.S. District Court of Florida, decided Wednesday to deny a motion requested by a group of south Florida parents with disabled children, to block Governor DeSantis’ ban on mandating masks in schools.

Filed in Miami, the lawsuit alleges that Executive Order 21-175 (EO 21-175) violates the Americans with Disabilities Act as well as other laws that are meant to assure the rights for students with disabilities.

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Commentary: Arizonans Experiencing ‘No New Taxes’ Pledge Déjà Vu

Over thirty years ago, then-presidential candidate George H.W. Bush stood onstage at the Republican National Convention and infamously promised, “Read my lips, no new taxes.” That promise may have won him the election, but it was also his undoing as he would later sign a budget reconciliation bill that included tax increases. Fast forward to today and President Joe Biden finds himself in a similar position having made a promise on the campaign trail that he is unable to keep now that he is in the Oval Office—and it is Arizonans who will pay the price.

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Georgia Elections Chief Expects to Be Subpoenaed by January 6 Commission, Vows Not to Comply

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger expects to be subpoenaed as early as Friday by the congressional commission investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, and is vowing not to comply.

“I’m focused on secure and accessible elections — not re-litigating the past, whether January 6th, the 2018 election, or the 2020 election,” Raffensperger said in a statement provided to Just the News on Thursday evening.

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High-Profile Minnesota Democrats Silent After State Rep Expelled from Party

Two high-profile endorsers of now-expelled State Rep. John Thompson (D-District 67A) remained silent Thursday when asked whether they still support the embattled congressman. 

Thompson was expelled earlier this week from the Minnesota House Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) caucus after a string of incidents stemming back to August of 2020, and the resurfacing of allegations of domestic abuse in his past.

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Fried Criticizes DeSantis over Not Seeking Low-Income Program

Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, among other Florida Democrats, criticized Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis over the DeSantis administration opting to decline application into the federally run Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT) program.

The program was developed by the President Donald J. Trump administration to provide states with grocery benefits for low-income children during the COVID pandemic. President Joe Biden’s administration continued the program. So far, Florida is the only state to decline the extension.

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New Poll Shows Virginia Gubernatorial Race in a ‘Dead Heat’

A new poll announced Thursday has Virginia’s gubernatorial race in a statistical tie, with early voting beginning Friday. According to an Emerson College poll commissioned by WRIC, Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe has the support of 49 percent of likely voters while GOP candidate Glenn Youngkin has 45 percent. That’s within the margin of error: plus or minus 3.4 percent.

“Statistically speaking, the poll isn’t telling you that McAuliffe is going to win or Youngkin is going to lose. It is really saying it is a dead heat,” Emerson College Polling Director Spencer Kimball told WRIC.

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DeSantis Administration Slams Biden over Reduced Monoclonal Treatments

The administration for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has blasted President Joe Biden for capping the amount of monoclonal antibody treatments states like Florida can receive. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has taken over the national distribution of the treatments.

The HHS says their leadership will provide “equitable distribution” and “with consistent, fairly distributed supply over the coming weeks.” However, DeSantis’ press secretary, Christina Pushaw, said the move by the Biden administration was “regrettable.”

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Gen. Milley Defiant Amid Increasing Pressure to Resign over China Calls

As the embattled Gen. Mark Milley took a defiant tone regarding reports that he surreptitiously tried to circumvent the authority of his then-commander-in-chief, President Donald Trump, critics increasingly demanded his resignation while the White House offered him full support.

Milley’s alleged actions include making secret calls to the top military officer in Beijing, and holding a clandestine gathering of military officers to demand that they only obey command orders that came through Milley, according to the authors of a forthcoming book.

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Democrat Michigan State Rep. Jailed After Third Bond Violation, Allegedly Caught with Handcuff Key Taped to Foot

A Democrat Michigan state representative who has been in constant conflict with the law since April was arrested this week and found to have a handcuff key taped to his foot.

State Rep. Jewell Jones (D) was arrested on a slew of charges last spring stemming from an allegation of drunk driving. Dashcam video allegedly showed him resisting arrest and defying police orders while in jail.

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Poll Shows Support for Charter School Expansion in Georgia

More than half of Georgia voters support an expansion charter schools in the state, according to a new poll.

The poll, which was conducted on behalf of the Georgia Charter Schools Association, showed 56% of registered voters in Georgia favor increasing the number of public charter schools in Georgia. Support for public charter schools also is strong with more than 6 out of 10 surveyed in favor of the schools.

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Former Minneapolis Police Officer Mohamed Noor Murder Conviction Overturned

The ruling for a former Minneapolis police officer, Mohamed Noor, who fatally shot a woman in 2017 was overturned, removing a third-degree murder conviction. Noor was initially convicted of third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter and sentences to 12.5 years. As was reported by ABC News, Noor shot and killed “Justine Ruszczyk Damond, a dual U.S.-Australian citizen who called 911 to report a possible sexual assault behind her home.”

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Youngkin and McAuliffe Meet for First of Two Debates

One day before early voting begins, GOP gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin and Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe faced off for the first time in a debate at the Appalachian School of Law in southwestern Virginia Thursday. Moderators asked candidates about policies including abortion, Critical Race Theory (CRT), right to work, qualified immunity, vaccine mandates, and Confederate monuments. Youngkin repeatedly tried to link policy issues to McAuliffe’s past record, while McAuliffe repeatedly tried to tie Youngkin to former President Trump. Both candidates also committed to accepting the result of the election if certified by the state.

Moderators asked McAuliffe he would sign laws that legalize third trimester abortions even without currently-required approval of three doctors in Virginia.

“If they came up with a solution, and the woman’s life has to be in danger, it has to be certified, and if you had a legitimate doctor that says, ‘This woman, her life’s in danger,’ of course I would support that,” McAuliffe said.

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Republican James Craig Drowned Out by Protesters While Announcing Run for Michigan Governor

Former Detroit police chief James Craig, 65, tried to hold a press conference in a state park Tuesday to announce his candidacy for the governor of Michigan, but had to cut it short when a mob of aggressive left-wing agitators prevented him from speaking.

As soon as he reached the podium at Belle Isle Park to make his announcement, the political newcomer was swarmed by dozens of leftists who blasted air horns, raised their fists, flipped the bird, and screamed “hey hey, ho ho, James Craig has got to go!”

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Ohio Mayor Tells Entire School Board to Resign or Face Child Pornography Charges

An Ohio mayor has issued an ultimatum to his city’s school board after an assignment given to students caused a major uproar.

“It has come to my attention that your educators are distributing essentially what is child pornography in the classroom,” Hudson Mayor Craig Shubert told the school board Monday night. “I’ve spoken to a judge this evening. She’s already confirmed that. So I’m going to give you a simple choice: You either choose to resign from this board of education or you will be charged.”

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Mayor Glenn Jacobs on Joe Biden’s COVID-19 Mandate: ‘Knox County Will Not Comply’

Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs put U.S. President Joe Biden on notice Thursday regarding one of the president’s COVID-19 mandates and said his county will flatly refuse to obey. Specifically, Jacobs said Knox County will not honor Biden’s executive order mandating that all businesses with 100 or more employees require COVID-19 vaccines for workers or implement weekly testing.

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