President Joe Biden asked U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee Don Cochran — a Trump appointee — to resign in February, but nine months later Biden still hasn’t nominated Cochran’s replacement.
David Boling, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Tennessee, told The Tennessee Star on Monday that he is not aware if Biden has nominated someone to take the position.
Read the full story
Staff at the Metro Nashville Health Department on Wednesday confirmed that their Director of Health Equity Stephanie Kang told department employees via email that the not guilty verdict in the Kyle Rittenhouse trial was an injustice. Metro Nashville Health Department spokesman Brian Todd told The Tennessee Star that the email, which WTN host Brian Wilson read on his radio show Tuesday, was authentic.
Read the full story
The Biden administration is drowning on issue after issue, and many of the bubbles are coming from the Rio Grande River. The problem, which dare not speak its name, is illegal immigration. The administration, its political party, and the mainstream media refuse to say the very word “illegal.” For a while, they called it “undocumented,” pretending the migrants somehow forgot their papers in the top dresser drawer in Guatemala or Haiti. Now, even that bland phrase is deemed too clear and honest. The new woke term is “irregular immigration.” Anything to minimize the problem, sway public opinion, and avoid plain talk.
The obfuscation goes much further than a few phrases. Consider Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas’ testimony to Congress last week, where he faced awkward questions about the administration’s decision to stop building the border wall, including portions that had already been contracted and paid for. Mayorkas’ reply, “We are not going to construct a border wall along the ragged and jagged cliffs along certain parts of the border.”
Read the full story
The governor of Alaska told The Star News Network that Alaskans, and other Americans, will punish at the polls President Joseph R. Biden Jr., and Democrats, whose policies are not aligned with their interests and values.
“I think if the national Democrats in Congress and the Biden administration keep doing what they are doing, I think you are going to see a Red Wave,” said Republican Gov. Michael J. Dunleavy, who, like the president grew up in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Read the full story
A Tennessee restaurant that was saved from going out of business during the COVID-19 pandemic by wealthy media and sports gambling mogul Dave Portnoy says it will give back this Thanksgiving.
Portnoy, the founder of Barstool Sports, bailed out Nick’s Family Restaurant in Kingsport in January. “The Barstool Fund” raised more than $40 million for small businesses that applied for relief and were selected by Portnoy, who promised to keep them afloat throughout the pandemic.
Read the full story
On his radio program Tuesday morning, Brian Wilson, the host of 99.7 FM WTN’s Nashville’s Morning News, discussed a recent letter distributed by the Metro Health Department addressing the ‘BIPOC’ community encouraging those that have been affected by the Kyle Rittenhouse ruling to seek remedy due to the injustice suffered by the jury and court ruling of the case.
Read the full story
The University of Tennessee System on Tuesday recommended Peter F. Buckley to be the next chancellor of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC).
Buckley, who serves as the dean of the School of Medicine at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) and executive vice president of medical affairs for the VCU Health System, will now be considered by the UT Board of Trustees.
Read the full story
The Democrat-led congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riots acknowledged Tuesday it made an error in a subpoena that falsely accused former New York Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik of attending a secret meeting in Washington to allegedly discuss overturning the November 2020 election results on behalf of then-President Donald Trump.
The committee chaired by Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) acknowledged the mistake in a communication to Kerik’s lawyer just hours after Just the News reported that Kerik could not have attended the meeting in Washington on Jan. 5 as alleged in the subpoena because he was in New York City for a family emergency, according to his own phone and tollbooth records.
Read the full story
An internal poll shows former President Donald Trump up in the five states that President Joe Biden flipped as he flirts with a third White House bid in 2024.
Biden flipped Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Arizona and Georgia in 2020, handing him a decisive 306-232 Electoral College victory over Trump. But Trump’s internal poll shows him up in all five and leading in some by double-digits.
Trump leads Biden by 10 points in Wisconsin, 12 points in Michigan, six points in Pennsylvania, eight points in Arizona and three points in Georgia, according to the poll. Biden won all five states by less than three points in 2020.
Read the full story
NASHVILLE, Tennessee – Fred Mollin is an award-winning American and Canadian record producer, musician, film and TV composer, music director, music supervisor, and songwriter whose discography spans 35 years. He has produced records for Jimmy Webb, Johnny Mathis, Billy Ray Cyrus, Lamont Dozier, and America, and has composed music for Beverly Hills, 90210, Friday the 13th (movies and television), Forever Knight, Hard Copy, and many more. Mollin rose to prominence early in his career by co-producing (with Matthew McCauley) Dan Hill’s international hit record, “Sometimes When We Touch”, in 1977.
Read the full story
Kyle Rittenhouse was found not guilty on all charges on Friday, ending the highly publicized trial in Madison, Wis. On Aug. 25, 2020, Rittenhouse, 18, fatally shot two men and wounded a third during protests in Kenosha, Wis. Jury selection began on Nov. 1, 2021, and the final verdict has come after four days of jury deliberation. Rittenhouse was acquitted on all seven counts, which included the serious first-degree reckless homicide, primarily claiming self-defense. This high-profile case has become the center of the political and cultural discourse surrounding self-defense, guns, racism, media, and the judicial system. Here are ten responses to the Kyle Rittenhouse verdict.
Read the full story
Tuesday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed official guest Grant Henry in studio for another edition of Grant’s Rants.
Read the full story
In a call with reporters this week, the president of the firm selected to conduct a probe of recent elections in Pennsylvania promised a nonpartisan effort to determine what facets of election security in the Keystone State need improvement.
“We have no preconceived notions of what we will or will not find,” said Steven Lahr, president of Dubuque, IA-based Envoy Sage. “The facts, as they are gathered, both digital and physical, will drive our investigative services. We will handle all concerns, data or information presented by the citizens of the Commonwealth through the [investigation] website, or to us by the committee, with fidelity, due diligence and the utmost discretion.”
Read the full story
Kyle Rittenhouse was acquitted in the deaths of Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber (both white men) because of white supremacy, according to left-wing politicians and journalists.
Rittenhouse shot three people (all white), killing two, in a claimed self-defense incident after he was charged by left-wing rioters during unrest in Kenosha last year. A jury cleared him of all charges on Friday.
According to people like Rep. Cori Bush, Rittenhouse’s acquittal was “white supremacy in action.”
“This system isn’t built to hold white supremacists accountable. It’s why Black and brown folks are brutalized and put in cages while white supremacist murderers walk free,” she said on Twitter.
Read the full story
Just one week after declaring that he would extend a statewide “state of emergency” order, California Governor Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) left for a vacation to Mexico with his family, as reported by the Daily Caller.
Newsom, his wife Jennifer, and their children left the state on Monday, and will not return until November 28th. On November 15th, Newsom signed another executive order extending numerous restrictions and other “emergency” measures that he first implemented in March of 2020, as the Chinese coronavirus first began to spread in the United States. Under his latest order, the rules and restrictions now will not expire until March of next year, with the added possibility that they may be arbitrarily extended again.
Despite some of the heaviest restrictions in the nation, including mask and vaccine requirements, California continues to see some of the highest rates of COVID-19 cases out of all the other states. In early November, California saw twice as many new cases as Florida, a state with virtually no restrictions remaining.
Read the full story
On Monday, an explosive report by the New York State Assembly revealed that former Governor Andrew Cuomo (D-N.Y.) himself made direct edits to the initial report on how many senior citizens died of the Chinese coronavirus in New York nursing homes, as the Daily Caller reports.
The report from the Assembly’s Judiciary Committee is the culmination of an eight-month impeachment investigation against the disgraced former governor. The report says that Cuomo directed the New York Department of Health (DOH) to reduce the total number of fatalities by thousands so as to push back on criticism of Cuomo’s decision in March of 2020 to force COVID-positive patients into nursing homes, which infected and killed thousands of other senior citizens.
The original draft of the report prepared by DOH officials showed over 10,000 total nursing home deaths, but upon Cuomo’s insistence, it was reduced to about 6,500.
Read the full story
The family of Rosanne Boyland, one of two female Trump supporters who died at the Capitol on January 6, just announced they have hired a lawyer to investigate the suspicious circumstances of her untimely death. Boyland, 34, traveled with her friend Justin Winchell from Georgia to Washington to hear President Trump’s speech.
The pair then walked from the Ellipse to Capitol Hill; a photo published in a local Georgia newspaper shows Boyland smiling, wearing Old Glory sunglasses and carrying a “Don’t Tread on Me” flag that day.
Read the full story
Two University of Oregon alumni spearheaded an hour-long discussion Thursday titled “Thanks, But No Thanks-giving: Decolonizing an American Holiday.”
The event description promoted the virtual workshop as a discussion about how we can “continue to show gratitude while raising our critical consciousness and identifying ways to decolonize the holiday.”
Read the full story
Delegate John McGuire (R-Henrico) has been gradually ramping up his campaign for the GOP nomination for Virginia’s seventh congressional district: touting his fundraising totals, asking supporters for money, and beginning to file necessary federal paperwork for the campaign. That’s not a surprise, and McGuire joins the list of candidates entering the race despite a lack of clarity about what the district will look like after redistricting. McGuire, Senator Bryce Reeves (R-Spotsylvania), and Senator Amanda Chase (R-Chesterfield) are the heavyweights at this point in the race.
“Over the past year, I’ve had countless Virginians tell me I need to run for Congress to help save our country from the radical left leaders in Washington. Well, after our major win on November 2nd, and a lot of prayer with my wife, we’ve decided it’s our time to get into this race to take back the House in 2022,” McGuire said in a statement to The Virginia Star.
Read the full story
A group of Republican lawmakers in the Michigan State Senate signed a letter written by Senator Jim Runestad (R-White Lake), urging the Michigan Association of School Boards (MASB) to withdraw its membership and affiliation from the National School Board Association (NSBA).
In the letter, the state lawmakers expressed concern over the direction of local schooling and the role parents are allowed to play in their children’s education.
Read the full story
There are a lot of questions about how the suspect in Waukesha’s parade tragedy was out of jail.
State Sen. Melissa Agard, D-Madison, on Monday said the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office must provide more answers about how Darrell Brooks was released on bail just days before police say he drove through the parade crowd in Waukesha.
Read the full story
Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday reaffirmed his support for congressional candidate Max Miller.
Miller, who originally launched his campaign to challenge incumbent Representative Anthony Gonzalez (R-OH-16), recently announced that he would run in a different district established by the state’s redistricting process.
Read the full story
A student and an alumnus at Catholic University of America (CUA) told The Star News Network that they are unhappy with the school’s paintings that depict George Floyd as Jesus Christ.
“George Floyd obviously didn’t deserve to die, but he’s not Jesus Christ,” Blayne Clegg, a junior at the school and President of the CUA College Republicans, told The Star.
Read the full story
A Republican who wants to replace U.S. Representative Jody Hice (R-GA-10) and owns a Jackson-based trucking company said it wouldn’t take much for the government to increase productivity within that industry, especially with current driver shortages. But government officials would have to have enough willpower to make those changes.
Read the full story
A Minnesota school district banned parents and residents from school grounds for one year after they complained about an alleged sexual abuser in the building with their children. Now a local legal nonprofit says it will pursue action unless the district reverses this decision.
Maria Isabel Harju, a resident, and Cassandra Bonine, a parent, were both banned from school property after attempting to speak out at a school board meeting about how students felt uncomfortable with an accused sexual deviant, who is apparently male, attending class at their high school. Although the accused student has not been convicted, students are uncomfortable enough with his presence that they staged a walkout, demanding his removal while court proceedings are ongoing.
Read the full story
Late Monday, U.S District Judge Dabney Friedrich ruled the deal allows online sports betting through the Seminole Tribe violates the federal law that regulates gambling on tribal lands.
Governor DeSantis and the Seminole Tribe of Florida celebrated the approval of the historic Seminole Gaming Compact in August after a 45-day review of the agreement was completed by the U.S. Department of Interior. The agreement included online sports betting that took place off of tribal lands but was processed on tribal property.
“The final approval of this historic gaming compact is a big deal for the State of Florida,” said Governor DeSantis in the release. “This mutually-beneficial agreement will grow our economy, expand tourism and recreation and provide billions in new revenue to benefit Floridians. I again want to thank Seminole Tribe of Florida Chairman Marcellus Osceola Jr., Senate President Wilton Simpson and House Speaker Chris Sprowls for their part in getting this done for our great state.”
However, Friedrich ruled that the deal violates the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, or IGRA. The IGRA requires gambling activity take place on tribal lands. Friedrich wrote that, “over a dozen provisions in IGRA regulate gaming on ‘Indian lands,’ and none regulate gaming in another location.”
Read the full story
In a newest poll from St. Pete Polls, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is outperforming his likely Democratic challengers in a hypothetical head-to-head general election. According to the poll, DeSantis would defeat Congressman Charlie Crist (D-FL-13) 50.6-44.8 percent. DeSantis would also defeat Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried (D) 51.2-42.3 percent.
Surprisingly, in the matchup between DeSantis and Crist, DeSantis outperformed Crist among young voters by carrying 57.5 percent of likely voters aged 18-29. The youngest age bracket saw the most swing in favor for DeSantis.
Read the full story
Phoenix City Councilman Sal DiCiccio is requesting a meeting and vote on the City of Phoenix’s new COVID-19 vaccine mandate. In a letter sent to the mayor and other members of the city council on November 22, he expressed concerns over public safety, employee retention, and whether the Biden’s administration mandate even applies.
“This decision will compromise vital citywide services to our residents, including public safety, which this Council has been aware of the alarming crime data and how the city is struggling to hire and retain personnel,” he wrote. “A more thorough determination needs to be made on whether, under federal law, the City of Phoenix and its 13,000 employees are considered ‘federal contractors’ for the purposes of this mandate,” he wrote.
Read the full story
Former congressman and GOP candidate for governor Jim Renacci urged Governor Mike DeWine to stop using taxpayer money to fund “wasteful” vaccine lotteries.
Currently, the state is conducting a lottery-style giveaway called Vax2School, which will distribute $2 million on scholarships to school-aged children who receive the coronavirus vaccine.
Read the full story
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine wants the Biden administration to ease restrictions on the trucking industry to help small businesses and consumers get access to goods during the holiday season.
DeWine has joined 14 other Republican governors in asking the federal government to suspend what they called burdensome regulations and make immediate changes to federal law that could relieve supply chain backlogs.
Read the full story
U.S. Representative Lucy McBath (D-GA-06) on Monday announced that she will run in a different district established by Georgia’s redistricting process, abandoning her current district.
Republican Jake Evans, a candidate for Congress in the Sixth Congressional District, argued the move by McBath highlights growing support for the GOP as the 2022 elections approach.
Read the full story
Four men who were falsely accused of raping a white woman in 1949 have been posthumously exonerated. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and the three-member cabinet also posthumously pardoned the men in 2019.
Prosecutors motioned to vacate the convictions of Charles Greenlee and Walter Irvin and the charges against Ernest Thomas and Samuel Shepherd.
Read the full story
A national liberal organization has challeged Ohio’s recently approved congressional redistricting maps in a lawsuit filed with the Ohio Supreme Court, contending the new “gerrymandered” maps violate redistricting reforms added to the Ohio Constitution in 2018.
The National Redistricting Action Fund affiliate of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee said the map passed last week in the Ohio General Assembly “undluly favors the Ohio Republican Party” and minimized the political power of Democrats, particularly minorities.
Read the full story
Minnesota’s New House Republican Caucus raised concerns about the Minnesota Department of Education’s (MDE) newly released draft of their K-12 Academic Standards about social studies. They took issue with the curriculum outlined under the social studies section titled “Ethnic Studies.” One statement, categorized under the heading “resistance,” says that students will “organize with others to engage in activities that could further the rights and dignity of all.” According to the proposed academic standards, “The student will describe how individuals and communities have fought for freedom and liberation against systemic and coordinated exercises of power locally and globally, identify strategies or times that have resulted in lasting change.” “Which ‘systemic and coordinated exercises of power’ will be discussed? Does identifying strategies to ‘organize with others to engage in activities’ mean social and political protests taking place during school hours?” The New House Republican Caucus asked in a Facebook post. Another category under Ethnic Studies, titled “identity,” says that students will “analyze the ways power and language construct the social identities of race, religion, geography, ethnicity, and gender.” The standard continues, “The student will apply understandings to one’s own social identities and other groups living in Minnesota, centering on stories and…
Read the full story
Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday challenged Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich for the manner that he is “looking into” the 2020 election.
According to Trump, Brnovich has not taken enough action to investigate irregularities presented by the findings of the audit of 2.1 million ballots in Maricopa County.
Read the full story
A new Tennessee law prohibits COVID-19 mask mandates in schools, but Governor Bill Lee’s legislative counsel warned in a recent and now heavily publicized email that the law violates the Americans with Disabilities Act. Legislative Counsel Liz Alvey sent the email October 30. The AP obtained Alvey’s email through a public records request.
Read the full story