Metro Nashville Council filled two vacancies for the Community Oversight Board for terms that expired on January 31, 2022. Individuals considered for those vacancies were nominated by community organizations.
Metro Nashville Council appointed Michael Milliner and Maxine Spencer to serve terms that will expire on January 31, 2025, and rejected Jamel R. Campbell-Gooch’s nomination.
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This is a bad year to have paid the International Olympic Committee $100 million for the right to put its iconic rings on your soda cans or shampoo bottles. But this is what the rarefied air of being a top Olympic sponsor buys you in 2022: The Winter Games are being played in an authoritarian state with an atrocious human rights record, and none of its underwriters are eager to play up their association in the important American market.
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A new poll reveals strong support for former Tennessee State Representative Joe Carr’s campaign for Rutherford County mayor. The Oregon-based Triton Polling and Research released the poll this week. The company polled 455 likely Rutherford County voters between January 19 through January 21 of this year, according to a press release.
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The average home price in Williamson County has surpassed $1 million, according to data compiled by the Williamson County Association of Realtors.
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Republican Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn and Democratic Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal unveiled a bipartisan bill Wednesday aimed at curbing online harms to children.
The Kids Online Safety Act is the result of several hearings and a months-long investigation led by Blackburn and Blumenthal into how use of social media platforms affects teens and young children. If enacted, the bill would require social media platforms to provide minors with options to protect their information, disable “addictive” product features and allow them to opt out of recommendation algorithms.
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Wednesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed State Representative Diana Harshbarger of Tennessee’s First Congressional District in studio to talk about her background and owning a small successful pharmacy business.
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A gun control activist and Black Lives Matter radical was arrested on Monday in the targeted shooting of Louisville, Kentucky mayoral candidate Craig Greenberg.
Quintez Brown was charged with attempted murder and four counts of wanton endangerment, after firing his gun inside Greenberg’s campaign office.
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Consumer spending surged in January amid soaring inflation, the Commerce Department announced Wednesday.
Retail sales grew 3.8% in January, far exceeding the 2.1% Dow Jones estimate, the Commerce Department announced Wednesday. January’s figure represents the largest monthly increase since March 2021 and a significant snapback from December 2021 when sales decreased by 2.5%.
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The Biden administration plans to make yearly COVID shots mandatory for all Americans, including young children, a Food and Drug Administration executive told a Project Veritas undercover journalist on hidden camera.
In the sting video released on Tuesday, Christopher Cole, Executive Officer of Countermeasures Initiative for the FDA, said: “Biden wants to inoculate as many people as possible.” According to Project Veritas president James O’Keefe, Cole has “over 20 years experience” at the FDA, and “claims to be directly involved in the approval process.”
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Parents and residents of San Francisco overwhelmingly voted to recall three school board members in the city’s first recall election since 1983.
Alison Collins, Faauuga Moliga and Gabriella Lopez all lost their positions on the governing body, as the “Yes” option to the recall question gained more than 70 percent in all three cases.
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Russia’s months of military movements and Biden’s “strategic communications campaign” are psychological operations intended to intimidate Ukraine, Europe, and the rest of the world.
There won’t be a big war any time soon. The Kremlin’s low-cost, high-impact campaign might succeed if some Western leaders, especially in the United States, can help Putin.
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Wednesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed US SEnator Bill Hagerty to the newsmakers line to comment on the latest Durham report and his analysis of the Russia Ukraine conflict.
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A Florida U.S. senator Wednesday called for accountability after bombshell reports from Special Counsel John Durham that the intelligence community and Democrats, including Hillary Clinton, spied on former President Donald Trump’s campaign, and continued spying on him once he entered the White House.
“For years the media parroted the Democrat narrative about Russian collusion,” Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) said. “And now as we’re learning, week after week, that was a complete lie. “The latest with the Durham report is that the Clinton campaign, the same group that fearmongered this Russian collusion, actually spied on the President of the United States.”
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The Ohio Republican Party’s vice chairman announced Tuesday in an email to all members of the state party’s executive council and the central committee that he intends to block an endorsement of Secretary of State Frank LaRose at Friday’s central committee meeting at Lewis Center’s Nationwide Conference Center.
“Dear Fellow Ohio State Republican Central & Executive Committee members: At our state committee meeting Friday, I plan to move to block the endorsement of Frank LaRose,” wrote Bryan C. Williams, who is also the chairman of the Summit County Republican.
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A controversy over the financial records of the Ohio Republican Party (ORP) erupted in the days leading up to Friday’s meeting of the ORP State Central Committee (ORPSCC), the party’s 66 member governing body, at Lewis Center’s Nationwide Conference Center.The committee is widely expected to endorse Gov. Mike DeWine (R-OH) at that meeting in his bid for re-election in the contested May GOP primary.
Fork truck billionaire James F. Dicke II (pictured above), one of Ohio’s two National Committeemen on the Republican National Committee, ignited the controversy last month when he sent a message to all 66 members of the ORPSCC. Critics on the ORPCC, led by retired Ernst & Young partner Mark A. Bainbridge , say Dicke’s message materially misrepresents the nature of the financial report, known as an Agreed Upon Procedures report, produced for the ORP by Compass Pointe, a small Indiana accounting firm.
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In a new report released Wednesday at the Boston-based Pioneer Institute, one of America’s top education scholars provides reviews and grades for the nation’s leading civics programs.
At a time when the purpose of civics education grows increasingly polarized, and many organizations present rival resources, Dr. David Randall, author of “Learning for Self-Government: A K-12 Civics Report Card,” evaluated 15 leading civics programs and graded them on their effectiveness.
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Ohio lawmakers held the first hearing Tuesday on a bill that would open the state’s school voucher system to all students, offering universal school choice throughout the state.
Currently, school vouchers are available only if a student meets certain criteria regarding disability, family income or school performance. Around 90% of state students attend public schools.
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The Arizona Republican-led State Senate passed a bill Tuesday that would ban abortions after the 15th week of pregnancy, with an exception for medical emergencies.
SB 1164 passed the State Senate by a vote of 16-13, with all Republican members voting in favor, and now heads to the State House.
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BUCKHEAD — Georgia General Assembly members have, for this year, written off legislation that would allow Buckhead residents to vote on separating from Atlanta, but members of Buckhead’s City Committee aren’t done and announced new priorities Wednesday. Buckhead City Committee members held a press conference at Buckhead City Headquarters. There, they announced that Bill White will continue to serve as the Buckhead City Committee CEO. Committee members then called on Governor Brian Kemp, Speaker of the House David Ralston (R-Blue Ridge), and other high-ranking GOP legislators to use their clout to push for a vote.
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Wayzata Public Schools, located outside of Minneapolis, voted to end its mask mandates for students in kindergarten through 12th grade.
The district pointed to low coronavirus numbers, and 76 percent of their students have received the COVID-19 vaccine.
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Automobile industry giant Toyota said Wednesday that its manufacturing plants that were affected by the Ambassador Bridge blockade are now back to normal operations.
“Yes, as of today, we have resumed normal production operations at the three U.S. plants and two Canadian plants that were impacted by this challenge,” Toyota spokeswoman Kelly Stefanich told The Michigan Star. “We plan to make up the lost production in the coming weeks as the supply chain stabilizes.”
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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) announced that Florida’s domestic tourism levels have returned to pre-pandemic levels and have even reached an all-time high. In 2021, Florida had a total of 118 million domestic visitors.
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Twitter Tuesday evening banned a well-known Twitter account called @DefiantLs, which posted screenshots pointing out left-wing hypocrisy.
The owner of the account, who has always been anonymous and remains so, said the account was banned for an alleged “ban evasion,” despite the fact that the account owner says he or she has “never had an account suspended so I’ve never had a ban to evade.”
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Wednesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed all-star panelist Crom Carmichael for another edition of Crom’s Crommentary.
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The Republican field in the race to challenge incumbent U.S. Representative Abigail Spanberger for Virginia’s 7th Congressional seat is a crowded one.
Former Green Beret Derrick Anderson, State Senator Bryce Reeves (R-Spotsylvania-SD17), Spotsylvania County Supervisor David Ross, Stafford County Board of Supervisors Chair Crystal Vanuch, Prince William County Supervisor Yesli Vega, teacher Gina Ciarcia, and Gary Adkins are among the candidates running in the Republican primary.
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Former Ohio GOP Chair Jane Timken’s campaign for U.S. Senate has gained momentum, as Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) and former Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway have endorsed the candidate.
Portman, whose seat Timken is running for, detailed that she was the best candidate to win the general election in November, a crucial seat for Republicans to gain control of the chamber.
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RICHMOND, Virginia – Governor Glenn Youngkin signed a school mask-optional bill into law from the steps of the capitol on Wednesday afternoon, hours after the House of Delegates approved his amendments adding an emergency clause and a March 1 effective date.
“Today, we are reestablishing, restoring power back from parents. We are also reestablishing our expectations that we will get back to normal, and this is the path, this is the path. So thank you all for coming. And now, we’re going to do a little work,” Youngkin told the crowd before signing the bill.
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The Michigan Senate approved a bill that aims to lower the personal and corporate tax rate to 3.9%.
Michigan currently taxes corporations at 6% and Michiganders at a flat 4.25% income tax.
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The chairman of the Ohio Republican Party denied press credentials to The Ohio Star and its national political editor Neil W. McCabe for Friday’s Ohio Republican Party State Central Committee meeting at Lewis Center’s Nationwide Conference Center.
“I sent your request to Chairman Paduchik, and he asked me to send you this response on the record: ‘Your request for credentials to attend the meeting as a journalist have been denied because The Ohio Star is fake news and you’re not a journalist,’” said Daniel J. Lusheck, the 30-year-old party spokesman and Marine Reserve veteran.
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A new report released Wednesday that provides reviews and grades of the nation’s leading civics programs has rated the proposed Florida K-12 Civics and Government Standards with a grade of “A.”
Dr. David Randall, author of “Learning for Self-Government: A K-12 Civics Report Card,” published at the Boston-based Pioneer Institute, told The Florida Capital Star during a phone interview the “social studies standards in the states really matter.”
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Halfway through the 2022 Virginia General Assembly session, the House of Delegates has passed a wave of Republican reforms focusing on taxes, law enforcement, and education, while much of the Senate’s work has involved Democrats killing Republican bills in committee. The legislature has just passed crossover, when each chamber sends its finalized bills to the other chamber. Now, the chambers will clash over conflicting policy as they evaluate each other’s bills and work on the budget.
“[W]e ran on a platform that was informed by what voters told us they wanted the General Assembly to accomplish on their behalf in 2022. They wanted lower taxes and safer communities. They wanted parents involved in their child’s education, not boxed out,” a Tuesday House GOP release said.
“As the House completes its work on our legislative priorities, I’m pleased to report that we’ve accomplished what voters sent us here to do,” Speaker of the House Todd Gilbert (R-Shenandoah) said in the release.
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Emails from a Florida Capital Star information request show that Florida school officials in districts across the state have been recruited by Equality Florida to promote LGBTQ issues.
Equality Florida is a left-wing political group that advocates for civil rights and protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBQT+) residents in Florida. The group has come out against the current Parental Rights in Education bill now being considered in the Florida Legislature.
The emails, covering 2016 to 2020, show how De Palazzo, the Safe & Healthy Schools director for Equality Florida, engaged one school district official form Leon County to help with Equality Florida’s mission.
In 2016, Palazzo reached out to Dr. Kathleen Rodgers and wrote “I am working and meeting in about 20 school districts and would be happy to assist your district as well in the form of direct service, meeting with teams, etc. A friendly reminder that there is no fee for service because I know that budgets are tight and for this important subject, fees could be a deterrent.”
Later emails indicate Rodgers became part of what Palazzo often referred to as a “team”
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Wednesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed National Political Editor for The Star News Network, Neil W. McCabe to the newsmakers line to comment upon the release of John Durham’s report implicating the Clinton campaign of spying on former President Donald Trump.
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Gov. Tony Evers covered a lot of ground during his fourth State of the State, ranging from such topics as farm aid to the internet to tourism.
But Republican lawmakers say the governor ignored two of Wisconsin’s most pressing issues: crime and election reform.
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The University of Wisconsin system will lift its mask mandate for students and faculty in the coming weeks, according to a release from University of Wisconsin System President Tommy Thompson.
According to the statement, Thompson is working with each schools’ chancellor to remove the requirement “as soon as March 1 and no later than spring break.”
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A judicial panel has finalized the boundaries that will shape Minnesota politics for the next 10 years.
The five judges appointed to a special panel by the Minnesota Supreme Court released the state’s new legislative and congressional maps Tuesday. The process, known as redistricting, happens every 10 years after the census and puts every legislative seat in the state up for grabs.
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Governor Tom Wolf (D-PA) is recommending that lawmakers fund state prisons at a lower level in future years than the state’s Department of Corrections has requested.
At a budget hearing Wednesday, members of the state House Appropriations Committee questioned Acting Secretary of Corrections George Little about the contrast between the governor’s projections and the department’s own outlook.
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Republican Maricopa County Attorney Allister Adel has admitted she has a history of alcohol abuse, and it has led to five of the top prosecutors in her office asking her to resign. Adel issued a statement immediately after their letter became public, refusing to resign.
Former Maricopa County Treasurer Royce Flora, who worked with Adel until January of 2021, told The Arizona Sun Times, “It was clear from the beginning she couldn’t do her actual job. She behaved like just another sycophant for the Board of Supervisors. The substance abuse alone should have disqualified her as a prosecutor and her deputies exposing her incompetence verifies what we already knew.”
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Former Trump administration State Department spokesman Morgan Ortagus’ campaign said her voting record shows that she voted in every election she was eligible to vote in. Ortagus announced her candidacy for the GOP nomination in Tennessee’s Fifth Congressional District earlier this month.
The Tennessee Star obtained a document that is believed to be Morgan Ortagus’ New York voting records. This document shows that Ms. Ortagus voted in the 2016 GOP presidential primary and the general elections in 2014, 2016, and 2018 in New York State. According to these records, she did not vote in the NY 2018 statewide GOP primary or the NY GOP 2014 primaries.
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