Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Court is expected to soon issue a decision on whether the state Senate Republicans’ 2020 election probe may continue.
Specifically, the judges must determine whether delivery of information subpoenaed by the Senate Intergovernmental Operations Committee would breach voters’ privacy rights as state Attorney General Josh Shapiro (D) and other plaintiffs maintain.
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Senator Travis Hackworth (R-Tazewell) is seeking to repeal a requirement that Virginia school districts pass policies consistent with the Virginia Department of Education’s (VDOE) Model Policies for the Treatment of Transgender Students. Alongside policy debates about COVID-19, equity, and accelerated learning, the transgender policies were a major source of contention in 2021 as local school boards were forced to comply with state law — even when local officials didn’t agree with the policy.
“Senator Hackworth believes that education decisions are always best made when handled locally among those closest to the children and families served in those schools,” Hackworth Legislative Aide Tom Lester said in a statement to The Virginia Star.
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Virginia’s state-run COVID-19 vaccination centers will be closed on Monday in response to expected inclement weather caused by a snowstorm affecting parts of the state.
None of the state’s Community Vaccination Centers, run by the Virginia Department of Health, will offer any vaccinations for the day. Portions of central, south central and west central Virginia are in a winter storm emergency, according to the National Weather Service. Privately run vaccination centers are not affected by the announcement and will be subject to their own company’s decision on whether to close or remain open.
In a news release, the VDH urged residents who had scheduled appointments for Monday to reschedule as soon as possible. A person can schedule an appointment with one of the centers through vaccinate.virginia.gov or by calling 877-829-4682. Assistance is available in English, Spanish and more than 100 other languages.
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Dr. Scott Jensen, a veteran Minnesota family physician locked in a protracted dispute with state regulators over COVID-19, is raising alarm that the state medical board is now seeking the records of his patients who were prescribed Ivermectin.
Jensen, who has faced five licensing investigations in 17 months, told Just the News the latest request is “crossing a line” and invades the medical privacy of patients.
“If the Board of Medical Practice gets documentation for me … I think there’s a lot of folks out there that are concerned that their health privacy would not have been protected, and that indeed they can be identified,” he said in an interview.
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Minnesota’s minimum wages increase 2.5% Jan. 1.
The increases are an adjustment for inflation.
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Ohio State University along with CAS, a division of the American Chemical Society, teamed up to open a new drive-thru COVID-19 testing facility capable of administering 1000 tests per day to students at the school.
“We know that testing is an important tool in our battle against COVID-19,” said Dr. Andrew Thomas, interim co-leader and chief clinical officer at Ohio State Wexner Medical Center said in a press release. “We remain committed to supporting the central Ohio community and to meeting the increased demand for COVID-19 testing. At this point, our focus is testing individuals with COVID-19 symptoms and those with significant exposures to people known to have COVID-19. Knowing your COVID status can help prevent you from spreading this virus to family members, friends and others you come in close contact with.”
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Phoenix has the second highest percentage change in high-paying jobs out of a list of large U.S. metros, according to a Stessa report.
Phoenix saw a 217.1% increase in six-figure jobs from 2015 to 2020, marking the second-largest percentage increase among the nation’s largest metropolitan areas.
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Small businesses across Ohio find themselves in the middle of what one of the leading advocates in the nation calls a perfect storm of issues, causing continued concern and struggles.
A new survey from the Ohio branch of the National Federation of Independent Business shows labor issues, supply chain problems and inflation create significant hurdles as mom-and-pop businesses around the state continue to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Last week, the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) announced Florida’s juvenile arrest rate reached a 46-year low. Specifically, the arrest rate is down 51 percent in the last five years. The DJJ praised the findings and the work of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and First Lady Casey DeSantis for their efforts and expanding access to opportunities to Florida’s youth.
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Twenty-two months into the COVID-19 pandemic, some schools and colleges say they will shift to virtual learning amid an increase in COVID-19 cases, which will affect more than 100,000 students.
Detroit Free Press reporter Sally Tato tweeted a list of schools with delayed schedules or shifting to virtual learning briefly (estimated student population added):
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Some school districts around Connecticut announced closures to allow students and teachers additional time to recover from COVID-19 as the state is experiencing a rise in cases and quarantines.
Stratford Public Schools posted a notice on its website stating that, “Schools will not be in session on Monday 1/3 and Tuesday, 1/4. We will effectively treat the next two days as Inclement Weather Days. This will position us to allow impacted staff members and students to receive current test results and potentially complete their quarantine for a safer return.”
Stonington Public schools announced the closure for Monday only and that Tuesday would be “closed due to Professional Development in lieu” a scheduled Professional Development Day on March 9, which will now be a regular class day.
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Facebook suspended the account of Republican Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene for 24 hours on Monday, one day after Twitter permanently suspended her account over repeated violations of COVID-19 misinformation policies.
Greene posted on Telegram that Facebook blocked her from posting or commenting for 24 hours for not abiding by the company’s “Community Standards” on Monday.
“This is because you previously posted something that didn’t follow our Community Standards,” Facebook’s temporary restriction announcement said, according to Greene.
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At a press conference yesterday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) called for more monoclonal treatments to be sent to Florida from the federal government. DeSantis said the vaccine is not preventing COVID transmission like they were marketed to do.
The most recent variant spike, omicron, is the least severe variant of COVID and shows characteristics no more deadly than the common cold.
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University of Memphis officials have offered a $3,000 stipend to professors to redesign existing courses to promote the tenets of social justice. This, as part of the university’s Eradicating Systemic Racism and Promoting Social Justice Initiative.
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As Tennessee officials get closer to presenting a new state funding proposal for K-12 public education, at least one state senator is concerned about the costs of record-keeping in the new plan.
“The way the bill is going to read, the state is going to give a capitated rate per student to the district and then, for rural schools or economically disadvantaged schools or schools with high amounts of English as a second language, they give bonuses basically,” said Sen. John Stevens, R-Huntingdon, a member of the Rural and Small District Subcommittee – one of 18 subcommittees under a steering committee involved in reviewing the state’s school funding formula. “Extra money for these extra things that you do.
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Tennessee Representative Bruce Griffey (R-75) submitted a new bill to protect election safety. The bill would have elections in Tennessee revert to paper ballots and instate other safety measures. The bill was filed for introduction earlier this week.
According to the Tennessee General Assembly, the bill is explained as;
As introduced, prohibits the use of voting machines; requires that elections be conducted using hand-marked paper ballots; authorizes pool watchers to record video at the polling place; requires the coordinator of elections to prescribe certain security measures for paper ballots.
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Remember when President George W. Bush said this?
I’ve had a lot of experience with dealing with borders, as the Governor of Texas. I know there’s a compassionate, humane way to deal with this issue. I want to remind people that family values do not stop at the Rio Grande River.
It was January 2005. Bush had just won reelection with a campaign strong on national security. Then after narrowly defeating John Kerry, Bush did what Bushes tend to do when they think they’re secure: He lurched to the Left and betrayed the base of his own party. He cast Americans who want a strong, secure border as racists—just four years after we had been attacked by international terrorists who exploited our weak immigration system to kill thousands of us. Bush behaved as if Americans didn’t know that Mexicans living south of the Rio Grande believe in family. Millions of Americans have Mexican heritage themselves. But they or their ancestors chose to be Americans.
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Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Roger Marshall (R-KS) on Thursday introduced a resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act (CRA) against President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate for healthcare workers.
If fully enacted, the resolution would stop the Centers For Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) from implementing the mandate that impacts almost all healthcare employees and would prevent any similar rule in the future.
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Democrats four years ago rode a blue wave to governors’ mansions across the country, flipping Republican-held seats in the Midwest, Northeast and West alike.
Now, however, many of those governors face Republican challengers amid a political environment that looks potentially promising for the GOP, meaning that contentious races may lie ahead in some of the nation’s most pivotal battleground states. Republicans have already had two strong showings in states that lean Democratic, flipping the governor’s seat in Virginia and coming surprisingly close in New Jersey, a state that voted for President Joe Biden by 16 points in 2020.
Governors in less competitive states are also facing primary challengers from the left and right, making for multiple bitter, closely-followed primaries between candidates from different wings of the same party.
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Democratic state lawmakers are proposing laws to curb “misinformation” on social media sites and other online platforms, mirroring efforts by Democrats in Congress.
New York state Sen. Brad Hoylman announced a bill on Monday aimed at reducing the spread of misinformation and harmful content online.
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A new law allowing teachers to discipline students in school is set to take effect as students return to class in the new year. The bill was originally introduced in December of 2020 and was passed in April of 2021; sponsors for the bill were Representative Scott Cepicky (R- 64) and Senator Joey Hensley (R-28).
The bill was explained by the Tennessee General Assembly as it “establishes requirements and procedures for teachers to discipline students in the teachers’ classrooms, including relocation of a student.”
The new law states that teachers will be authorized to manage their classrooms and discipline their students. Teachers are allowed to send students to principals’ offices if needed, “and to hold students in the teacher’s charge strictly accountable for any disorderly conduct in school.”
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The coronavirus has reached remote Antarctica, striking most of the 25 Belgian staffers at a research station, despite all of them being fully vaccinated, passing multiple PCR tests, and quarantining before arrival.
Two thirds of the researchers working in Belgium’s Princess Elisabeth Polar Station have caught Covid, the Daily Telegraph reported, “proving there is no escape from the global pandemic.”
None of the cases are severe, according to the Telegraph. There are two emergency doctors at the station monitoring the situation.
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Left-wing Democrats are pressuring Joe Biden to bypass Congress and pass his $1.75 trillion Build Back Better package by executive fiat, Newsmax reported.
Without Senator Joe Manchin’s (D-W.V.) vote, Biden’s bloated social spending plan is dead on arrival in the Senate.
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U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers apprehended more people in November than October and confiscated a record amount of drugs last month, according to its latest operational report.
In November at the southern border, encounters with unaccompanied minors increased by 9% from October, with family units by 5%, and with single adults also by 5%.
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Former President Trump is issuing a public warning to Republican incumbents and those running for office: Don’t expect my endorsement without your “non-endorsement” of perceived GOP enemies.
He endorsed Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy for reelection Thursday night after the incumbent made clear he’d uphold the quid pro quo from Trump two days earlier: not endorsing for reelection Sen. Lisa Murkowski, one of seven Republicans to vote to convict Trump in his impeachment trial related to the Jan. 6 riot.
In a statement intended for Trump that the ex-president published, Dunleavy wrote: “With regard to the other issue, please tell the President he has nothing to worry about.”
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The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) announced this week that an arrest was made in a vulnerable adult abuse case. The TBI had been investigating Memphis resident Terence Gray since November 12 after receiving leads from the Tennessee Department of Human Services Adult Protective Services.
The TBI determined that Gray, while working as a caregiver on November 9, had assaulted a 69-year-old vulnerable adult at a residence in the 3800 block of Ridgemont Avenue in Memphis.
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In January, billionaire Peter Thiel will be hosting two separate fundraisers for the frontrunner candidate to replace Congresswoman Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), alongside Donald Trump, Jr., the eldest son of President Donald Trump, Politico reports.
The fundraisers will both be held on January 26th in support of Harriet Hageman, a lawyer and former member of the Republican National Committee. Hageman is one of four Republican challengers seeking to unseat the unpopular incumbent congresswoman for Wyoming’s at-large congressional district in the primary election next year, and has earned the endorsement of President Trump. Hageman had previously run for Governor of Wyoming in 2018, coming in third place in the primary that year.
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The Nevada Legislative Commission’s 6-6 split decision last week overturned the state’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate for all college students within the state.
Initially approved in August by the Nevada State Board of Health, the emergency provision was set to last only 120-days, according to The Nevada Independent. When the mandate expired last week and was sent to the Legislative Commission for review, the Commission chose not to make it permanent, with all six Republican lawmakers voting against the mandate and all six Democrats for it.
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Tesla issued recalls for nearly half a million Model S and Model 3 vehicles over potential safety concerns resulting from malfunctioning trunk technology, Barron’s reported.
The recalls, submitted on Dec. 21 to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), are for issues related to opening and closing the trunk in around 355,000 Model 3 cars and for a misaligned front trunk latch assembly in roughly 120,000 Model S vehicles, Barron’s reported.
Read the full storyIn a lead-up to international security meetings set for January, the American and Russian presidents have set the stage for negotiations aimed at de-escalating tensions over Ukraine.
Their bottom lines are clear: the U.S is gravely concerned about Moscow’s amassing of troops on the Ukraine border while Russia doesn’t want to see NATO expand further into its sphere of influence.
The forthcoming engagements will be held in Geneva. They were scheduled amid heightened tension and rhetoric surrounding Russia, Ukraine, and NATO, with the international community particularly focused on the large numbers of Russian troops that are massed on the border with Ukraine.
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The Tennessee Conservation Fund announced last week that they would be giving the Bear Hollow Mountain Wildlife Management Area (WMA) over a thousand acres of land. The area, known as the Corum tract, will connect “two sections of the existing WMA that were previously divided by the Corum property, improving continuity of state-owned land and expanding protected habitat for wildlife and recreation.”
According to the statement, the Conservation Fund purchased the land in March of 2021 with the intention to wait until the Bear Hollow Mountain WMA had the funds to purchase the land from them. Officially, on the 20th, the land was given to the Bear Hollow Mountain WMA for permanent ownership.
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Indiana University paid a law firm to file a public records request against itself to search the emails of a law professor who was investigating its presidential search process, the professor claims, citing an invoice for the firm’s services.
Steve Sanders said he learned about the Access to Public Records Act (APRA) request made by Hoover Hull Turner, “presumably to attempt to find out how I’ve learned what I know,” on the eve of publishing his investigation on Medium in October.
The request covered any presidential search-related emails he may have sent or received with trustees, search committee members, former officials and recently departed President Michael McRobbie.
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United Airlines is offering its pilots a whopping threefold increase in pay to help cover employee shortfalls as the omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 continues to wreak havoc on multiple industries around the country.
The Air Line Pilots Association announced this week that it had reached a payment agreement with the company for covering flights throughout the month of January.
“Due to the rapid spread of the COVID Omicron variant, we are currently seeing record levels of pilot sick calls,” the union wrote to members. “The impact on the operation is clear and United has experienced a correspondingly large number of cancellations over the past week.”
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As Democrats regroup and forge ahead with plans to implement components of the Build Back Better legislation killed by Senator Joe Manchin, calls for the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to be given billions to electrify its vehicle fleet are likely to soon reach a fever pitch.
USPS is a high-profile, well-regarded institution through which progressives want to unveil new programs. Progressives pulled out all the stops to provide USPS with electric vehicle funding in 2021 and will likely double down in 2022.
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A federal judge has blocked COVID-19 mask and vaccine mandates in Texas’ schools Head Start program, a decision that GOP Gov. Greg Abbott is calling a win over “Biden again.”
“Texas just beat Biden again,” Abbott, a staunch opponent of such mandates, tweeted after the ruling Friday by Judge James “Wesley” Hendrix, of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.
Hendrix, a Trump administration appointee, wrote in the ruling: “The Court concludes that the circumstances do not justify or require a nationwide injunction,” according to KLBK Lubbock. “The great majority of evidence before the Court is limited to harm caused to Head Start programs in Texas.”
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Anew law going into effect on Saturday forbids medical providers from issuing “surprise” charges to patients using out-of-network services.
The “No Surprises Act,” passed in late 2020, offers consumers “new billing protections when getting emergency care, non-emergency care from out-of-network providers at in-network facilities, and air ambulance services from out-of-network providers,” according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
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Student-run debate organizations at Northeastern University and Boston College co-hosted the American Parliamentary Debate Association’s (APDA) “inaugural BIPOC tournament” and explicitly prohibited white students from competing.
The BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color,) only tournament included teams from multiple universities including the University of Chicago.
As The Chicago Thinker reported this past semester, The University of Chicago informed students the BIPOC debate was only open to anyone who “does not identify as white.”
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Through a Freedom of Information Act request, Campus Reform obtained copies of the syllabi from Spring 2021 undergraduate sociology classes at six universities.
Universities include: the University of Virginia, the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill, the Georgia Institute of Technology, Ohio State University–Columbus, University of Wisconsin–Madison, and University of Illinois–Urbana-Champaign.
In total, Campus Reform surveyed 201 undergraduate course syllabi across these institutions. This number included 25 100-level introduction to sociology courses, which are sometimes taken by non-majors to fulfill general education requirements. The results of the survey, divided into the categories of assignments, biased language, and common textbooks and readings, are below.
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The Virginia-based Campus Reform late last week called out the Atlanta-based Georgia State University (GSU) for using bias reporting tools that enable students, faculty, and staff to report on one another for alleged acts of discrimination. Campus Reform, according to its website, is conservative and monitors the nation’s higher education system.
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There is a lot to be frustrated about as 2021 concludes. Some places are back in lockdown over rising coronavirus cases, while others are re-imposing previous restrictions and introducing new ones—including my city.
But at this joyful time of the year, I choose to be optimistic and focus on all the good things happening right now, particularly in the world of education.
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Under the Trump administration, the VA Mission Act (VAMA) was enacted in 2018 to provide veterans access to healthcare outside of the Veterans Administration healthcare system in order to provide more options and speed up accessibility to medical care. Unfortunately, veterans are reporting that the VA under the Biden administration has cut back on that expansion.
VAMA allowed veterans who could not get a medical appointment within 20 days or who had to drive more than 30 minutes to a VA facility to use alternate private healthcare providers instead. This was crucial, because veterans were dying while stuck on waiting lists for medical treatment, Josh Stanwitz of Concerned Veterans for America (CVA) told The Arizona Sun Times.
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A group of Ohio economists are not as certain about the economic impact of legalized sports betting in Ohio as a national gaming research group that predicted the state eventually would be one of the largest gambling markets in the country.
Only 10 of the 23 state economists surveyed agreed legalized sports betting would outweigh the economic costs of intervention for problems associated with gambling addiction, according to a recent survey from Scioto Analysis, a central Ohio group that provides analysis of issues around the state.
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Senator Joe Morrissey (D-Richmond) is set to be one of the most important legislators in the 2022 General Assembly session. The Virginia Senate has 21 Democrats and 19 Republicans, meaning that with just one Democratic senator swinging on a vote, Lieutenant Governor-elect Winsome Sears, a Republican, will cast a tie-breaking vote. Morrissey is a pro-life Democrat, and although he may be a standard Democrat on many issues, he occasionally finds common ground with Republicans.
“I don’t believe that being pro-life is something that is just in the orbit of Republicans,” Morrissey told The Virginia Star. “And let’s be clear: I’m not being disrespectful towards those that are pro-choice. It is my choice to be pro-life. It’s how I feel, and I’ve never wavered from that since the moment I came into the General Assembly.”
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A series of new Virginia laws go into effect in the new year, including changes to required car insurance coverage.
Beginning in January, car insurance companies will be required to provide $30,000 in coverage for injury or death to one person and $60,000 in coverage for injury or death to two or more people. This will be an increase of $5,000 worth of coverage for one person and an increase of $10,000 of coverage for two or more people. The property damage coverage will remain at $20,000.
This legislation is part of an incremental increase in required coverage. The mandatory coverage will increase again in 2025 to $50,000 for one person and $100,000 for two or more people, which doubles the current requirements. In 2025, the property damage coverage will also increase, but only to $25,000.
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U.S. Senate candidate JD Vance slammed President Joe Biden for hurting the U.S. Marines with a vaccine mandate for members of the military.
Vance, who served as a Marine during the Iraq War, has remained an outspoken critic of “wokeness” within the U.S. military.
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Black Hills Energy’s base rate for natural gas will increase Jan. 1, the Iowa Utilities Board ruled this week.
Non-gas costs on residential customers’ bills will rise from $0.13625 per Therm to $0.13905 per Therm. The typical monthly increase in base rates for residential customers will be $1.45, the IUB said in a news release Dec. 28.
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The Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) on Thursday urged students to return to masking amid a surge in positive coronavirus cases.
As most classes are scheduled to begin in January, DHS recommended wearing a mask, even if it is not required by the school district. Furthermore, the officials advocated for vaccinations and a quarantine period if exposed.
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Pennsylvania already exempts many medical supplies from its sales tax, but not COVID tests, a discrepancy legislation by Sen. Mario Scavello (R-East Stroudsburg) would eliminate.
Scavello’s bill would except rapid at-home COVID-19 antigen tests from the state’s six-percent sales levy. Healthcare devices, services and substances all generally don’t get taxed in the Keystone State.
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Nearly 200,000 households in Connecticut will benefit from an increase in the state’s Earned Income Tax Credit, Gov. Ned Lamont said.
The governor said in a news release that the Department of Revenue Services will increase the 2020 Earned Income Tax Credit from 23% to 41.5% as directed by the state budget.
Lamont said the increase will “provide needed economic support to low-to-moderate income working individuals and families” who faced negative economic impacts amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is now advising people to avoid going on cruises or cruise ships regardless of if they have received their COVID shots, or not. The federal agency made the new recommendations after a recent spike in COVID cases aboard cruise ships.
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