Bainbridge: Timken Lacks Moral Courage, Integrity to Represent Ohio in the Senate

Jane Timken

The certified public accountant, who is one of the five members of the Ohio Republican Party’s Central Committee suing the state party and its chairman, told The Ohio Star and The Star News Network former state party chairwoman Jane E. Timken does not have the moral courage nor integrity required to represent Ohio as a senator.

“If she could not effectively run an organization like the Ohio Republican Party, I do not believe she could be an effective senator or have any understanding of the federal budget or the complicated issues faced by a U.S. senator,” said Mark A. Bainbridge, who retired from Ernst & Young after a three-decade career there as a partner.

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Candidate for Williamson County Commissioner Derides Parent Protestors as ‘Helicopter Moms’

Courtenay Rogers

In an advertisement for a political event, a candidate for Williamson County Commissioner expressed her displeasure with parents who want a say in what is being taught to their children.

“Hey Williamson County! Are you sick of being embarrassed by our elected officials? Are you over the helicopter moms banning books? Are you sick of the slate of hate? Are you ready to TAKE BACK TENNESSEE? Meet YOUR Candidates on Monday from 5:30-7,” Vice Chair of the Williamson County Democrat Party Courtenay Rogers said.

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Trump Headlines ‘Rigged’ Documentary’s Mar-a-Lago Premiere

Donald Trump under oath

President Donald J. Trump took center stage at Tuesday’s premiere of the Citizens United-produced film “Rigged: The Zuckerberg-Funded Plot to Defeat Donald Trump’ at the president’s Mar-a-Lago resort here.

“Thank you very much, everyone. I appreciate it, and I really look forward. I saw the trailer, and it was really good. I said that: ‘David, this is very important because we have to have free and fair elections, and we have to have borders, or we don’t have a country.’”

Trump told the crowd, like them, he was eager to see the Citizens United documentary himself.

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Commentary: Ukraine Has Few Options Against Putin

Even a truncated Russian Federation has four times the pre-war population of Ukraine. It enjoys well over 10 times the Ukrainian gross domestic product. Russia covers almost 30 times Ukraine’s area.

And how does Ukraine expel Russian troops from its borders when its Western allies must put particular restrictions on their life-giving military and financial aid?

The interests of Europe and the United States are not quite the same as those of a beleaguered Ukraine. NATO also wants Vladimir Putin humiliated, but only if the war can be confined within the borders of Ukraine.

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Members of Congress Demand Full Investigation, Autopsies into Deaths of Late-Term Infants Aborted in Washington, DC

More than 20 members of Congress have signed a letter to both the mayor of Washington, DC, and the Metropolitan Police Chief, demanding “a thorough investigation,” including “autopsies,” into the deaths of five late-term infants allegedly aborted in Cesare Santangelo’s Washington Surgi-Clinic.

Led by Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), the lawmakers wrote to Mayor Muriel Bowser and Police Chief Robert J. Contee III Tuesday that, when the police “recovered the remains of five preborn children apparently from the Washington Surgi-Clinic in Washington, D.C.,” the Metropolitan Police “made the assumption that each child died as the result of a legal abortion.”

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Big Capital’s Social Justice ESG Bills Soar Through State Legislatures

exterior of BlackRock

Just months after The Star News Network reported on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) scores taking over corporate America, bills are pouring into state legislatures around the country, some with the intent on implementing the practice and others with the intent of banning the practice. 

Justin Haskins at The Heartland Institute, which has closely tracked ESG scores, defines them as the following:

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Tennessee Republican Party Set to Hold Hearing on Challenges to TN-5 Candidates’ Bona Fide Statuses

A select committee made up of members of the Tennessee Republican Party State Executive Committee are making preparations to hold a hearing on several challenges that were made to GOP bona fide statuses of candidates in Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District (TN-5).

The Tennessee Star previously reported that challenges had been received and verified by the TNGOP to the Republican bona fide statutes of carpetbaggers Morgan Ortagus and Robby Starbuck, as well as Baxter Lee. David Vitalli had been challenged as well, but he decided to exit the race and did not turn in his qualifying petitions.

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Georgia State Senator Brandon Beach: ‘I Don’t Understand Why the Governor Didn’t Want Us to Address That Outside Money’

Brandon Beach

Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan (R), allegedly on the behalf of Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, blocked state Senate legislation that addressed ballot chain of custody and would have placed a ban on private donations directly to counties. 

Senator Brandon Beach (R-21) told The Georgia Star News, “I don’t understand why the governor didn’t want us to address that outside money, whether it was Zuckerberg or Soros or whoever.”

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Connecticut No Longer First in Personal Income Per Capita

New data from the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) reveals that Connecticut is no longer first place among states in terms of per-capita personal income.

The Constitution State’s per-capita individual income exceeded every other states’ since 1987. Last year, however, Massachusetts outranked Connecticut regarding individuals’ mean income. The latter state’s residents averaged a yearly income of $82,475 each, whereas the former’s average earner got $82,082 annually. (The national average was $63,444.)

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Arizona Attorney General’s Report Recommends Election Reforms Similar to Those Sought in Pennsylvania

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich (R) released a report this week on elections in his state—focusing especially on Maricopa County—advocating similar election reforms to those Pennsylvania Republican lawmakers currently seek.

While the report did not make criminal allegations regarding recent elections, it did declare that Arizona’s election system suffers from major procedural vulnerabilities including insufficient time to confirm signatures on ballots submitted during early voting and problems with the chain of custody for ballots placed in drop boxes. Altogether, the attorney general estimates that between 100,000 and 200,000 early ballots were transported without proper protocol being followed.

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Governor Kemp and Lt. Governor Duncan Block Key Election Integrity Measure to Unseal Ballots: VoterGA

A key integrity measure of unsealing election ballots in Georgia was blocked by Gov. Brian Kemp and Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan right before the Georgia Senate adjourned sine die on Monday, according to a press release from VoterGA.

The non-partisan, non-profit election integrity organization’s co-founder Garland Favorito detailed that Duncan’s subversive actions regarding SB89 were at the request of Kemp.

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Commentary: The Green U.S. Supply-Chain Rules Set to Unspool and Rattle the Global Economy

in a warehouse at General Mills

Making a box of Cocoa Puffs is a complicated global affair. It could start with cocoa farms in Africa, corn fields in the U.S. or sugar plantations in Latin America. Then thousands of processors, transporters, packagers, distributors, office workers and retailers join the supply chain before a kid in Minnesota, where General Mills is based, pours the cereal into a bowl. 

Now imagine the challenge that General Mills faces in counting the greenhouse gas emissions from all of these people, machines, vehicles, buildings and other products involved in this Cocoa Puff supply chain – then multiply that by the 100-plus brands belonging to the food giant.

Thousands of public companies may soon have such a daunting task to comply with a new set of climate rules proposed by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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Youngkin Replaces State Agency Ban Phasing Out Single-Use Plastics with Order Promoting Recycling

Glenn Youngkin wearing a safety vest; at a landfill

Governor Glenn Youngkin has rescinded an executive order from former Governor Ralph Northam that ordered Virginia agencies to phase out single-use plastics and Styrofoam. Youngkin issued a new executive order to promote recycling in state agencies and eliminate food waste.

“Too often in the past, Virginia has been presented with a false choice between saving our environment and growing our economy. The growing market for post-consumer recyclables demonstrates that we can do both,” Youngkin said in a press release. “We need to bridge that disconnect to better conserve our natural resources, reduce waste that goes out to landfills and promote new clean energy jobs here in Virginia. We should be focusing our resources and energy on providing a cleaner supply of recyclable materials.”

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DeWine Follows Biden White House, Touts ‘Second Chance Awareness Month’ for Felons

Governor Mike DeWine

After President Joe Biden declared April “Second Chance Awareness Month” for felons, Ohio’s Gov. Mike DeWine (R) bragged Thursday about his initiative to expedite the pardon process for convicted felons.

“April is Second Chance Awareness Month in Ohio. I believe that those who’ve lived upstanding post-conviction lives deserve a second chance for better opportunities, which is why I created the Ohio Governor’s Expedited Pardon Project,” DeWine said on Twitter. 

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House Passes Virginia Rep. Connolly’s Resolution Calling for a NATO Center for Democratic Resilience; Reps. Good, Cline Opposed

Gerry Connolly

The House of Representatives passed Congressman Gerry Connolly’s (D-VA-11) resolution supporting NATO and calling on President Joe Biden to support establishing a Center for Democratic Resilience (CDR) within NATO. The resolution received Democratic support and significant support from Republicans, but 30 percent of House Republicans voted against the bill, including half of Virginia’s Republican congressmen.

“Our commitment to shared democratic values is what distinguishes NATO from other military alliances,” Connolly said in a Tuesday press release. “Without it, NATO is just another military block that does not like Russia. This commitment cannot remain purely aspirational or rhetorical. It must be operationalized. This is why we believe that we need formal architecture in NATO itself. There are divisions and units within NATO dedicated to collective defense, terrorism, hybrid warfare, cyber, climate change, and all other security challenges. But after 72 years, there’s not even a broom closet in NATO headquarters dedicated to democratic institution building.”

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Commentary: Racially Sensitive ‘Restorative’ School Discipline Isn’t Behaving Very Well

Students in shop class at school with safety goggles on

The fight outside North High School in Denver was about to turn more violent as one girl wrapped a bike chain around her fist to strike the other. Just before the attacker used the weapon, school staff arrived and restrained her, ending the fight but not the story.

Most high schools would have referred the chain-wielding girl to the police. But North High brought the two girls together to resolve the conflict through conversation. They discovered that a boy was playing them off each other. Feeling less hostile after figuring out the backstory, the girls did not fight again.

This alternative method of discipline, called “restorative practices,” is spreading across the country – and being put to the test. Many schools are enduring sharp increases in violence following the return of students from COVID lockdowns, making this softer approach a higher-stakes experiment in student safety.

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Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers Awards $15 Million to Schools for Mental Health Initiative

Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers on Wednesday awarded $15 million to schools throughout the state for a new mental health initiative.

The “Get Kids Ahead Initiative” will utilize the money to “provide direct mental healthcare, hire and support mental health navigators, provide mental health first aid and trauma-based care training, or provide family assistance programs.”

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Minnesota Attorney General Warns NFL It Could Face Investigation of Treatment of Women and Minority Groups

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison warned National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell that he shares “grave concerns” with five other state attorneys general about the league’s treatment of women.

The attorneys general also said in their Wednesday letter to Goodell they may open an investigation. Along with Ellison, the attorneys general of Illinois, Massachusetts, Oregon, Washington and New York signed the letter in response to the New York Times’ February report that more than 30 former employees of the NFL said the league’s culture was demoralizing.

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Democrats’ Worst Nightmare Is Coming True in Texas

A significant number of Hispanic women are poised to represent the Republican Party in Texas as congressional candidates in the upcoming midterms, creating a potential nightmare scenario for Democrats as they attempt to reverse GOP gains.

Four Hispanic women have already won their respective GOP primaries, while two others made it to a runoff that will be held in May. Three of them, Mayra Flores, Monica de la Cruz and Cassy Garcia, have the potential to become the first Hispanic women and the first Republicans to represent South Texas in Congress.

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Communities Grant Program to Send $45 Million to 12 Connecticut Cities for Improvement Projects

Ned Lamont

A total of 12 cities will be receiving funding through Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont’s new grant program.

The governor announced $45 million will be awarded through the Connecticut Communities Challenge Grant Program, which works to leverage $74 million in nonstate, private funding to prop up projects aimed at improving livability and vibrance of cities.

“Investing in our communities is a key part of our plan to accelerate long-lasting and equitable economic development in Connecticut,” Lamont said in a release. “This new grant program we launched will have wide-ranging impacts as we emerge stronger than ever from the pandemic, creating new jobs, improving the vibrancy and quality of life in our neighborhoods, and making all corners of the state even more attractive for investment and opportunity.”

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Michigan Gov. Whitmer Asks State Supreme Court to Strike Abortion Ban

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer filed a lawsuit asking the Michigan Supreme Court to recognize a right to abortion under the Due Process Clause of the Michigan Constitution.

The request follows a U.S. Supreme Court May decision to hear Mississippi’s appeal of a 2019 decision, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. In that decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld a previous decision by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, overturning a state law prohibiting abortions after the 15th week of pregnancy.

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Arizona Supreme Court Resurrects Omni Resort, Arizona State University Land Court Battle

Arizona State University sign

Both sides are declaring victory after the Arizona Supreme Court released a mixed opinion that ultimately allows Attorney General Mark Brnovich to go after a deal between hotelier Omni Hotels and the Board of Regents.

The state’s high court overturned two of four charges denied in an appellate ruling in State et al. v. Arizona Board of Regents et al.

Brnovich filed the lawsuit against the governing body of the state’s three public universities in January 2019 over a 60-year lease it struck with the hotel chain to build a new location on public land near Arizona State University’s Tempe campus. The deal entails benefits for the university at the hotel and allows the company to purchase the land at the end of the lease. In the meantime, the hotel would pay no property taxes.

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Judge Acquits January 6 Protester in First Defeat for DOJ

D.C. District Court Judge Trevor McFadden today delivered a major blow to the Justice Department’s aggressive prosecution of January 6 protesters. Following a bench trial this week for Matthew Martin, a New Mexico man charged with the most common misdemeanors related to the Capitol protest, McFadden found Martin not guilty on all counts. It is the first acquittal in a January 6 case; nearly 800 Americans have been arrested and charged, mostly on petty offenses, for their involvement in the four-hour disturbance that day.

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Conservative Candidates Win Big in Wisconsin School Board Races

Eric Bott

A lot of Wisconsin parents are not happy with their local school boards. Conservative and Republicans candidates for school boards did well in their races Tuesday, many of them new challengers who unseated longtime incumbents.

“Last night was a great night for parents looking to take back control of their children’s education and for liberty-oriented candidates generally,” Eric Bott with Americans for Prosperity in Wisconsin told the Center Square.

The Wisconsin Republican Party said party-backed and conservative candidates won two-thirds of the races where they were active.

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DeSantis Vows to Send Illegals to Biden’s Home State of Delaware

On Wednesday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) promised to enact a new policy that will see all illegal aliens in the state bussed up to Joe Biden’s home state of Delaware.

As reported by Fox News, DeSantis made the announcement shortly after signing the No Patients Left Behind Act into law. After signing the bill into law, he voiced his opposition to the Biden Administration’s plans to end Title 42, the highly successful Trump-era policy that largely shut down immigration into the country due to the health risk of so many illegals flooding into the country in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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DEA Warns Law Enforcement to Prepare for a Surge in ‘Mass-Overdose Events’ from Fentanyl

Amid an epidemic of overdose deaths caused largely by fentanyl, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is warning state, local and federal law enforcement of a spike in “mass-overdose events.”

“The DEA is seeing a nationwide spike in fentanyl-related mass-overdose events involving three or more overdoses occurring close in time at the same location,” a letter the DEA sent to law enforcement offices across the country Wednesday said.

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Ohio Lawmaker Wants State Supreme Court to Pay for Second Primary

An Ohio lawmaker wants the Ohio Supreme Court to pay the potential $20 million price tag for a second primary election after it ruled three times legislative redistricting maps were unconstitutional.

Rep. Ron Ferguson, R-Jefferson, plans to introduce legislation to pull second primary election costs from the court’s budget, saying the Ohio Redistricting Commission worked in a bipartisan manner to develop new districts.

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Maury County Mayor Andy Ogles Dominates in Wilson County GOP TN-5 Straw Poll Results

Maury County Mayor Andy Ogles dominated in a straw poll held by the Wilson County GOP, the first test of grassroots strength in the contest for the Republican nomination in the race for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District.

The straw poll was conducted at the conclusion of the candidate forum hosted by the Wilson County GOP. The Tennessee Star’s CEO and Editor-in-Chief Michael Patrick Leahy served as the master of ceremonies. The people of Wilson County packed the room and showed tremendous excitement for the upcoming elections.

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