Metro Council members voted to move forward late Tuesday with a proposed ordinance that would impose an indoor mask mandate for individuals living and working in the city of Nashville and Davidson County.
Read the full storyDay: September 22, 2021
Georgia Election Board Tosses Complaint Against Herschel Walker’s Wife, Refers 12 Others to State Attorney General
The Georgia State Election Board on Tuesday unanimously voted to dismiss an illegal voting complaint against Julie Blanchard, the wife of GOP U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker, for voting absentee from her husband’s home in Texas.
The Georgia Secretary of State’s Office recommended the dismissal following its investigation into the complaint, for which they found insufficient evidence to prove that Blanchard was ineligible to cast an absentee ballot from Walker’s Texas home in October 2020.
Read the full story‘Actual Malice’: Courts Greenlight Devin Nunes Defamation Lawsuits Against Mainstream Media
Journalists who get into public spats with politicians may want to rethink their eagerness to pour salt into old wounds, at least in the middle of litigation.
The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals resurrected a defamation lawsuit by Rep. Devin Nunes against Ryan Lizza and Hearst Media, because the journalist called attention to his article on Nunes and illegal immigrant laborers after the California Republican sued.
Read the full storyHaitians Being Released into the U.S., Report
Many of the thousands of Haitians who have migrated to the Texas border city of Del Rio are reportedly being released elsewhere in the U.S.
Their release is being reported by the Associated Press based on information from two U.S. officials and appears to undercut the Biden administration’s public statements that the thousands in the camp faced immediate expulsion.
Read the full storyCommentary: Angelo Codevilla, ‘The World’s Most Privileged Man,’ Has Died
Angelo Codevilla was many admirable things in his long, productive, and amazing life: an immigrant, a student-athlete, a naval officer, a scholar, a husband, a father, a foreign service officer, a Capitol Hill staffer, an adviser to senators and presidents, a distinguished author of great insight and foresight, and—above all things—a patriot. Although he had already accomplished a great deal in his 78 years and faced some recent health challenges, he was determined to overcome these and never abandoned the fight.
Angelo, who died Monday night, was a man of great energy and spirit, raring for the battle, and determined in every way he could to contribute to it.
Read the full storyWilliamson County Board of Education Votes to Continue Mask Mandates in Schools
The Board of Education in Williamson County, Tennessee voted overwhelmingly Monday evening to extend its mask mandate for COVID-19 prevention until January.
At the urging of Superintendent Jason Golden, school directors initially voted on Aug. 10 to impose the requirement on elementary-school students. On Aug. 26, the board enjoined that mandate on middle-schoolers and high-schoolers as well. The rule would have expired this Tuesday but for the prior evening’s vote.
Read the full storyRoger Simon Commentary: The Democrats’ War on Blacks Keeps Growing in the Pandemic
One of the key reasons I left the Democratic Party years ago was the atrocious way they treated black people.
I’m not just talking about “Jim Crow” or LBJ’s well-known patriarchal and racist use of the “n-word” to celebrate blacks voting Democratic forever in gratitude for his ultimately useless early “virtue signaling” called the “War on Poverty.”
(Notice any difference between South Central then and now?)
Read the full storyMayor Andy Ogles Discusses the Incremental Marginalization of State Governors by the Federal Government
Tuesday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Maury County Mayor Andy Ogles studio to weigh in on the incremental stripping of state powers, bias against Southern states, and the withholding of COVID therapeutics.
Read the full storyAfghan Refugees Bringing Numerous Diseases to U.S., Including Measles, Malaria, and Tuberculosis
The tens of thousands of Afghan refugees being imported into the United States by the Biden Administration are carrying numerous dangerous diseases in addition to the Chinese coronavirus, including malaria, measles, and tuberculosis, as reported by Breitbart.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) admitted to the influx of diseases through the Afghan arrivals in a statement on Monday, declaring that all of the refugees will be required to take the measles vaccine; however, there are still no measures in place to require them to receive a coronavirus vaccine.
According to the CDC press release, they had been “notified by public health departments of 16 measles cases among the evacuees.” Subsequently, they ordered that “evacuees who are in the United States are required to be vaccinated with MMR and complete a 21-day quarantine from the time of vaccination at U.S. ‘Safe Haven’ designated locations.”
Read the full storyArizona Attorney General Candidate Lacy Cooper Calls for Ballot Initiative Reform
Arizona Attorney General contender Lacy Cooper on Tuesday called for reforms to the state’s ballot reform initiative, in order to provide “greater transparency.”
In a series of tweets, Cooper, who is vying for the GOP nomination to replace Attorney General Brnovich, outlined a need to implement a higher bar for potential laws.
Read the full storyCommentary: The Afghanistization of America
The United States should be at its pinnacle of strength. It still produces more goods and services than any other nation—China included, which has a population over four times as large. Its fuel and food industries are globally preeminent, as are its graduate science, computer, engineering, medical, and technology university programs. Its constitution is the oldest of current free nations. And the U.S. military is by far the best funded in the world. And yet something has gone terribly wrong within America, from the southern border to Afghanistan.
The inexplicable in Afghanistan—surrendering Bagram Air Base in the middle of the night, abandoning tens of billions of dollars of military equipment to the Taliban, and forsaking both trapped Americans and loyalist Afghans—has now become the new Biden model of inattention and incompetence.
Read the full storyHealth and Human Services Whistleblower Calls Federal Government’s COVID Policies ‘Evil at the Highest Level’
A medical professional who works for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is blowing the whistle on the federal government for pushing dangerous experimental vaccines on an unsuspecting public, calling the malfeasance “evil at the highest level.”
“You have the FDA, you have the CDC, that are both supposed to be protecting us, Registered Nurse Jodi O’Malley told Project Veritas founder and CEO James O’Keefe, “and everything that we’ve done so far is unscientific.”
The whistleblower works at Phoenix Indian Medical Center, an Arizona hospital run by the Indian Health branch of HHS, but perhaps not for long. After contacting O’Keefe, she recorded some of her HHS colleagues raising concerns about the COVID vaccines. Putting her faith in God, O’Malley said that after everything she had witnessed, she was willing to lose her job to expose the federal government’s counterproductive and destructive COVID policies.
Read the full storyU.S. Supreme Court to Reconsider Roe v. Wade
The U.S. Supreme Court announced Monday it would hear a case in December that directly challenges the landmark 1973 abortion case Roe v. Wade.
The high court set Dec. 1 as the date it would hear Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which means a decision could be reached by June 2022.
This case features a challenge to a Mississippi law banning abortions after 15 weeks. The case especially addresses the constitutionality of abortion bans that take effect before a fetus would be viable outside the womb.
Read the full storyGroup of State Attorneys General Urge Passage of House Bills Targeting Big Tech
A bipartisan group of 32 state attorneys general sent a letter to leading lawmakers in the House and Senate on Monday urging the passage of a series of antitrust bills targeting major technology companies.
The letter, led by attorneys general Phil Weiser of Colorado, Douglas Peterson of Nebraska, Letitia James of New York, and Herbert H. Slatery III of Tennessee, was addressed to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. The attorneys general urged Congress to modernize federal antitrust laws and enhance consumer protections by passing a series of bills introduced in the House Judiciary Committee in June that target big tech companies.
“A comprehensive update of federal antitrust laws has not occurred in decades,” the attorneys general wrote. “The sponsors of these bills should be commended for working to ensure that federal antitrust laws remain robust and keep pace with that of modern markets.”
Read the full storyCommentary: The Bidenization of America
Day by day, as the Biden Administration crashes into utter shambles and a cloud of dust reminiscent of 9/11, the Bidenization of America becomes more stark and horrifying.
I can remember no more pitiful words from a senior American government official in 65 years than Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s complaint that the Taliban government in Kabul was disappointing in its lack of “inclusiveness.” (To be sure, that is not all it lacks, and that could hardly have been a surprise.)
Nor can I think of any diplomatic initiative by a senior American government official more certainly doomed to ludicrous failure than environment ambassador John Kerry’s recent trip to China requesting the collaboration of the People’s Republic in this administration’s hell-bent-for-leather assault on what it is trying to identify as climate change.
Read the full storyApple Reportedly Developing iPhone Technology That Knows When You’re Depressed
Apple is reportedly working on iPhone technology capable of detecting and diagnosing depression, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The tech giant is developing the iPhone features to reliably detect and diagnose depression as well as cognitive decline, people familiar with the matter told the WSJ. The technology is being developed in partnership with researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and pharmaceutical company Biogen.
The technology is in its early stages of development, according to the WSJ, but will collect data on iPhone users’ mobility and sleep patterns, physical activity, and other behaviors. However, researchers are still unsure whether they can create algorithms that reliably detect the mental health state of users.
Read the full storyCommentary: IRS Guidance Would Punish Small Business Owners with Families
Most IRS guidance documents make for poor pleasure reading. Then again, most IRS guidance doesn’t effectively impose a retroactive tax on small business owners merely for having a family. IRS Notice 2021-49, issued on August 4, includes a bizarre interpretation of the law that will effectively raise taxes for business owners with close relatives, even if their family members have no involvement in the company.
A core goal of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act passed early on in the pandemic was to assist businesses in keeping employees on their payroll even as they dealt with the economic effects of lockdowns. Part of the plan was the Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC), which provides a tax credit against employer payroll tax liabilities.
Read the full storyCommentary: One Simple Change to Begin Reversing the Left’s Takeover
Take heart. The resurgence of a freedom-based conservatism has already begun. On the other side of the pandemic tyranny, the debacle in Afghanistan, and the catastrophic reckoning with inflation, Americans will be ready to be rid of the screechy pseudo-intellectuals who ruin everything. When that day comes, it’s critical we take steps to eliminate the Left’s toxic syndicate that indoctrinated so many Americans. It’s not enough to beat them back. We must look to the source of this poison that almost overtook our country.
There are so many problems that need to be unwound. Leftist authoritarianism has infected everything as indoctrinated graduates began assuming leadership roles in heretofore apolitical organizations from churches to school boards to the military. Instead of trying to fight the battle on every front, we should look first to stopping it at its source: Academics unmoored from market incentives.
Read the full storyOfficial Guest Host Grant Henry Weighs in on What the Democrats Are Trying to Push Through in Congress
Tuesday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed the official guest host of The Tennessee Star Report, Grant Henry in studio to weigh in on trillion-dollar boondoggle Democrats have proposed.
Read the full storyArizonans for Voter ID Act Making Progress Getting on Ballot
A coalition of Arizona legislators and about 10 conservative groups launched an effort last month to get an initiative on the ballot that would combat voter fraud, the Arizonans for Voter ID Act. They began collecting signatures last week. Spearheaded by the Arizona Free Enterprise Club, the four-pronged plan would end the practice of voting without an ID — even for mail-in or dropped-off ballots. By requiring ID, ballot harvesting would become impossible.
Scot Musser, president and executive director of The Arizona Free Enterprise Club, told The Arizona Sun Times that the response from people interested in helping has been tremendous. “At the Constitution Celebration event in Queen Creek this past weekend, there were long lines of people waiting to sign the petition or seeking to become petition circulators.” He said many politicians and others have reached out eager to join the effort.
Read the full storyPre-Program Speakers Announced for Trump Georgia Rally
Former President Donald Trump’s political action committee announced on Tuesday multiple speakers that will be featured in Trump’s rally on Saturday.
The speakers, all of which are endorsed by Trump, will include officials running for a host of offices: candidate for United States Senate from Georgia Herschel Walker, Georgia Secretary of State contender Congressman Jody Hice, and Georgia State Senator Burt Jones who is a candidate for Georgia Lt. Governor.
Read the full storyTea Party Patriots to Hold Nationwide Protests Against Medical Mandates
Tea Party Patriots Action (TPPA) announced on Tuesday that they will hold nationwide protests against Democrat-led mandates for COVID-19 vaccines and masks.
The movement, entitled “Just Say No,” describes mandates as a power move, rather than for public health, and encourages individuals to not comply.
Read the full storySchools in Middle Tennessee Forced to Close Due to Another Round of Flooding
On Tuesday, Bedford County Schools, Hickman County Schools, and Maury County Schools were forced to close for the day due to a second wave of dangerous flooding.
Read the full storyStafford County Board of Supervisors Denounces Critical Race Theory
The Stafford County Board of Supervisors (BOS) voted six to zero with one absent to pass a resolution denouncing the use of Critical Race Theory, the 1619 Project, and requiring students to identify preferred pronouns. The resolution also warns that the BOS will review all school board appropriation requests and block any that fund those items.
“BE IT RESOLVED by the Stafford County Board of Supervisors on this the 21st day of September, 2021, that it be and hereby does denounce the teaching of the 1619 Project and critical race theory (CRT) and related principles in Stafford County Public Schools; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board does not support students of Stafford County Public Schools being required to identify their chosen pronouns,” the resolution as passed states.
Read the full storyWisconsin Rep. Steil Introduces Amendments to National Defense Authorization Act
Wisconsin Representative Bryan Steil (R-WI-01) introduced several amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act. According to a press release from Rep. Steil’s office, “Bryan Steil introduced several amendments to the nation’s annual defense funding bill, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to strengthen the legislation and hold our adversaries accountable.”
Read the full storyFlorida Attorney General Ashley Moody Announces Campaign Kickoff Event
Although her political committee, Friends of Ashley Moody, has already began fundraising, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody recently announced an event that will officially kickoff her reelection campaign for 2022.
The 90 minute event – which can be found on Eventbrite.com – will be Tuesday, September 28th, and held in the Grand Ballroom of TPepin Hospitality Centre in Tampa.
Read the full storyWisconsin Rep. Tom Tiffany Shares Concerns over Unvetted Afghan Immigrants Leaving Fort McCoy Unsupervised
Wisconsin Representative Tiffany shared concerns in a Fox News interview about Afghan refugees coming and going from Fort McCoy unsupervised. Tiffany visited Fort McCoy, a base hosting Afghan refugees, in late August.
Read the full storyGeorgia U.S. Rep. Drew Ferguson Submits Amendments to Counteract Democrats’ Latest Budget Proposals
U.S. Representative Drew Ferguson (R-GA-03) this week said Democrats on the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee blocked every amendment he added to what he called that party’s $3.5 trillion tax-and-spend budget proposal. Ferguson serves on the committee.
Read the full storyTampa General Hospital CEO Highly Critical of Biden’s Monoclonal Rations
The CEO of Tampa General Hospital has gone on the offensive, criticizing the President Joe Biden administration’s decision to ration monoclonal antibody treatments to states like Florida. The Department of Health and Humans Services (HHS) announced they will be handling the nationwide distribution of the treatments, earning much criticism from Florida officials who have been implementing the treatment for months.
Read the full storyVirginia Employment Commission Still Overwhelmed by Claims Backlog
The Virginia Employment Commission is still lagging in processing claims, according to an interim report from the Joint Legislative Audit Review Commission (JLARC) presented to legislators Monday.
“A theme that you will hear in the presentation is that while the agency could not have been expected to be fully prepared to respond to the pandemic, it could have been better prepared,” JLARC Director Hal Greer said. “As you’ll hear, 18 months into the pandemic, the agency is still overwhelmed by backlogs of claims. Its call center continues to under-perform, and the agency is struggling with how to recoup a significant amount of benefit payments that were incorrectly issued.”
Read the full storyWater Rescues Underway After Middle Tennessee Is Hit with Another Round of Flooding
On Monday, Middle Tennessee was rocked with another round of heavy rainfall that led to dangerous flooding. Multiple water rescues were underway in Rutherford, Maury, and Williamson County to help those trapped by the water.
Read the full storyFlorida Lawmakers Launch Congressional Redistricting
As a result of the 2020 census, Florida will gain one additional congressional seat, and Florida lawmakers will begin the process to redraw district lines in the upcoming fall committee weeks with the 2022 legislative session beginning in January.
“Prior to the start of the 2022 Regular Session the Legislature will hold interim committee meetings, at which time the committees that conduct the redistricting and reapportionment processes may meet,” according to the Florida Senate’s redistricting site.
Read the full storyGeorgia State Sen. Jason Anavitarte Wants Clarence Thomas Statue on Capitol Grounds
Georgia State Sen. Jason Anavitarte (R – Dallas) has called upon his colleagues in the Georgia General Assembly to place a statue of U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas on the state capitol grounds. This, according to a press release that Anavitarte emailed Tuesday.
Read the full storyVirginia Redistricting Commission Sees First Maps of Whole Commonwealth
Partisan map drawers presented the first set of maps of the whole commonwealth to the Virginia Redistricting Commission Monday. The commission is nearing the end of its allotted time to create maps for the Virginia General Assembly; the maps are expected to be submitted between October 10th and October 24th. But the maps presented to the commission are drafts, and the commission still needs to analyze public comment and political data and how that should affect the maps. Additionally, the commission has to find a way to turn the two sets of proposals from the Republican and Democratic map drawers into one final draft.
“We’re three weeks away from when we’re supposed to vote on final maps to be presented to the General Assembly. So the clock is really moving quickly now. So think about your ideas on how to reconcile the two versions of each map that we have,” Co-Chair Greta Harris (D) told the commission.
Read the full storyMichigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer Refuses to Challenge Joe Biden on Southern Border Crisis, RGA Argues
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) is refusing to challenge President Joe Biden (D) about the surge of illegal aliens at the southern border, the Republican Governors Association (RGA) claimed Monday.
The group, which views the Michigan governor’s race as one of its top priorities in 2022, noted 26 Republican governors have requested a meeting with Biden “to demand the end to the crisis at the border” and added Whitmer “refuses to acknowledge the crisis.”
Read the full storyRepublican Lawmakers Seek Public Input on Proposed Michigan Election Rules Changes
Republican state legislators are encouraging Michigan voters to register their opinions on three election procedural rules changes promulgated by Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson.
The Department of State will conduct a public hearing on the proposed rules on Friday, Oct. 1.
The three rule changes include:
Significantly altering the process to allow the disqualification of candidates by city and township clerks for election finance violations;
Creating a state database of voter signatures whereby voters could upload signatures rather than submitting an original ink signature with local election officials;
Relaxing standards of signature verification for absentee ballots, relying on an automatic presumption a voter’s signature is valid.
Ohio Conservatives Gather to Support Anti-Critical Race Theory Legislation
Conservatives supporting enanctment of anti-Critical Race Theory education legislation rallied on the south plaza of the Ohio Capitol even as Ohio’s State Board of Education remains quiet about a shot across the bow Attorney General Dave Yost fired on the panel last week.
About 100 supporters of House Bill 327 gathered to hear speakers against allowing teachers to promote CRT, a political agenda that presents American history, social justice, business and other aspects of society through the lens of radical racial and gender politics.
Read the full storyPolls Find Support for Gretchen Whitmer Collapses in Michigan, Narrowly Ahead of Republican Challengers
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) is running neck-and-neck with relatively unknown Republican opponents, according to a poll released Monday.
Strategic National — a firm working for Republican James Craig — found its client trailing the incumbent by less than one point among likely voters, 46.6 percent to 46 percent, Breitbart News reported.
Read the full storyWilliamson County Schools Will Make Students Wear Masks in School Buildings Until Mid-January
On Monday, during a routine school board meeting, the Williamson County Board of Education voted to extend the temporary mask requirement for students, staff and visitors at all grade levels, inside all buildings and on buses, through January 19, 2022.
Read the full storyPennsylvania Senate Committee Passes Measure Aimed at Improving Transparency in the State’s Campaign Finance Laws
A measure to guarantee that all political campaigns report their fundraising and expenditures online passed the Pennsylvania Senate State Government Committee on Tuesday, along with several other election reforms.
All Pennsylvania candidates who raise or spend more than nominal amounts of money for their campaigns must establish fundraising committees, and those that have done so must file campaign-finance reports periodically. At least 32 states presently demand that all candidates who fundraise must report their finances online. In Pennsylvania, candidates for state office must submit online filings but most local campaigners can legally avoid it.
Read the full storyArizona Fully Recovers Pandemic Job Losses
More than 100% of private sector jobs in Arizona have been recovered since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the August employment report.
The Arizona Office of Economic Opportunity report showed that Arizona has recovered 325,500 private-sector jobs since April 2020, representing 101% of private-sector jobs lost.
Between July and August, Arizona’s unemployment fell by about 13,000 people. The unemployment rate dropped from 6.6% to 6.2%, marking the largest rate decline of the year.
Read the full storyGubernatorial Candidate Scott Jensen Writes a Bill That Would Make Minnesota a ‘Health Freedom Sanctuary’ State
A Minnesota gubernatorial candidate, Dr. Scott Jensen, wrote a Health Freedom Sanctuary State Bill. Jensen said, “We need this bill to get a hearing. We need to have a conversation about the political response to the COVID-19 pandemic and our fundamental rights.”
Read the full storyAuthor of Journeys with a Tin Can Pilgrim, Lynda Rozell on Inspiration to Give Everything up and Travel via Airstream
Tuesday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed former attorney and author of Journey with a Tin Can Pilgrim, Lynda Rozell to the newsmakers line to discuss what prompted her to leave everything behind to travel in an Airstream RV.
Read the full storyTennessee Department of Health Says Vaccinated Not Recommended for Monoclonal Antibody Treatment
Tennessee Department of Health officials said this week that only the unvaccinated should take monoclonal antibody treatments. Monoclonal antibodies, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s website, are laboratory-made proteins that mimic the immune system’s ability to fight off harmful pathogens such as viruses. Houston Methodist said monoclonal antibody infusion treats COVID-19 and can help prevent hospitalizations, “reduce viral loads and lessen symptom severity.”
Read the full story