Governor Glenn Youngkin approved restoration of civil rights to 3,469 Virginians, according to a Friday announcement.
“I am encouraged that over 3,400 Virginians will take this critical first step towards vibrant futures as citizens with full civil rights,” he said. “Individuals with their rights restored come from every walk of life and are eager to provide for themselves, their families and put the past behind them for a better tomorrow.”
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Monday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed Congressman Tim Burchett (R-TN-02) to the newsmaker line to talk about his opposition to the $40 billion Ukraine aid package and the dwindling support of the Democratic Party.
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The Chairwoman of the Republican Party took to “Fox News Sunday” where she called for unification of the Republican Party.
“I think we’re gonna get past this primary season and I’m gonna be so grateful when we do and we really focus on the Democrats,” GOP Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in segment that focused on former President Donald Trump’s endorsements for various offices nationwide.
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A U.S. Congressman from Arizona responded Monday to reports that the federal government will dole out 35,000 more temporary worker visas for foreigners to work in Arizona.
“The Biden administration has laid down the welcome mat to over two million criminals who have walked across our southern border while tens of thousands of unvetted refugees have been flown in from Afghanistan,” Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ-04) told The Arizona Sun Times. “With millions of Americans including our veterans who are now unemployed, homeless, or living in poverty we need to take care of one another before we allow thousands more to migrate here. That is why I have introduced legislation calling on a pause of migration to America so we can figure out how to put the American people first.”
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Last week, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed HB 95 which cracks down on the penalties for the sale and distribution of opioids in Florida, which includes fentanyl. The signing comes as DeSantis has worked with the Florida Legislature to pass numerous pieces of legislation to fight the influx of illegal immigrants, and often times, illegal drug traffickers into Florida.
In the announcement, DeSantis swiped at the President Joe Biden (D) administration for their lack of action regarding the influx of illegal immigrants on the southern border.
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The GOP has been busy enacting effective legislative reform aimed at real-world problems in our great nation — something Democrats can hardly boast.
Take Georgia’s accomplishments in the realm of criminal justice reform, for instance. Georgia has been the focus of national media and political obsession for the past few years. President Joe Biden himself called the Georgia voting reform bill “Jim Crow in the 21st Century,” miring state-level politics in the national racial debates. Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp’s various policy efforts have faced unrelenting attacks from politicos and progressive journalists alike.
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Monday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed feminist, author, and champion of liberty Dr. Naomi Wolf to the newsmakers line to discuss the motivation behind her upcoming book, The Bodies of Others: The New Authoritarians, COVID-19 and the War Against the Human and explain the changing landscape of publishing.
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Stacey Abrams’ comment that “[Georgia] is the worst state in the country to live’ drew a response from incumbent Georgia Governor, Brian Kemp, on Monday when he tweeted a different sentiment.
“Stacey Abrams may think differently, but I believe Georgia is the best state to live, work, and raise a family. And Marty, the girls, and I will work hard every day from now until November to keep it that way for four more years!” said Kemp.
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by Dan Byers Famed energy historian and author Dan Yergin recently remarked that the “energy divorce” between Europe and Russia is speeding up. With each passing day of the war, Yergin observes, the pertinent question becomes less about if it happens and more about when it happens—and which side initiates it—the EU through expanded sanctions, or Vladimir Putin as a means to weaponize Russia’s energy leverage over the continent. To state the obvious, cutting the cord will take years and be very painful, but at this point the national security and moral imperatives necessitating the divorce are undeniable. Europe is largely united in this effort and appears open to considering all options, from accelerated deployment of energy efficiency and renewable energy deployment to diversification of oil and natural gas supplies, and even emergency support for disfavored resources such as coal and nuclear power (concerning side note: the EU is currently expected to close a whopping 82 gigawatts of coal, lignite, and nuclear power between now and 2030—the supplies of which are largely free from Russian influence). As the closest thing to a global energy superpower, the United States is poised to help its European allies in lots of ways. In March,…
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The utility company Salt River Project filed a request with the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) on Monday this week, asking the ACC to reconsider its decision to deny SRP a Certificate of Environmental Compatibility (CEC) to expand its peak-demand natural gas facility in Coolidge.
SRP argues that ACC’s vote will jeopardize its system’s reliability unless it is evaluated and reversed, posing a major risk of insufficient resources to satisfy customer demand in 2024. SRP’s ability to incorporate additional renewable resources would also be harmed, as the utility will lack essential quick-start, flexible generation during peak demand periods, according to a press release from SRP.
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Critical Race Theory (CRT) is not the only three-word phrase that has parents concerned; Social Emotional Learning (SEL) is the latest curriculum headache that education experts warn is permeating the American public school system.
SEL purports to teach students social skills that aid their mental health and emotional wellbeing, yet has been criticized as both a tenet of and a euphemism for CRT, which has become a hot button issue among parents, teachers and politicians concerned about the state of the country’s public schools. Educators are teaching gender ideology and race essentialism under the guise of SEL, education experts told The Daily Caller News Foundation.
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Dora Ortega knew her teenage son was hiding something when he arrived home at 2 a.m. He was wearing expensive new clothes that she knew he couldn’t afford with his warehouse job.
But it wasn’t until Ortega’s son finally admitted what he’d really been up to that she realized the gravity of the situation.
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As the cost for health benefits rises in Connecticut, businesses and nonprofits are evaluating budgets to determine how much they can contribute to benefits for employees.
“Consider how much the cost of health care in America degrades our competitive position – businesses and taxpayers in no other country must bear this huge cost; it puts America at a 7-10% cost disadvantage relative to other countries,” Fred Carstensen, director of Connecticut Center for Economic Analysis at the University of Connecticut, told The Center Square. “And at the same time, the average health of Americans (and life expectancy) is poorer than in most other developed countries – making us less productive. The costs we impose on ourselves with this health care system are seemingly endless.”
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A Washington state school board director is set to host a “Queer Youth Open Mic Night” at a sex store for children aged “0-18” on June 1.
Jenn Mason, who sits on the board of directors of Bellingham Public Schools, owns the sex shop WinkWink Boutique, according to the store’s website, which is set to host the event. The “Queer Youth Open Mic Night” Facebook page invites “queer youth” of all ages to share poetry, music, or a story, according to the event’s Facebook page.
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Republicans in the United States Senate appear united in opposition to a recently-passed bill that allegedly aims to combat “domestic terrorism” in the United States, which was passed in the aftermath of the Buffalo massacre.
According to The Hill, Republicans have called out the bill’s blatant partisanship, with Democrats immediately blaming Republicans for the shooting before introducing the bill as a mostly symbolic gesture.
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A group of conservative investors plan to take on four of the “wokest” corporations at upcoming shareholder meetings over allegedly discriminatory policies in an effort to defend shareholders, according to a press release.
The Free Enterprise Project of the National Center for Public Policy Research, a Boardroom Initiative (BI) coalition member, will make proposals at Walmart, Twitter, Facebook and Comcast shareholder meetings held over the next two weeks to hire outside firms to investigate whether or not the companies are placing merit behind “equity” considerations, according to the release.
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The digital real estate platform Opendoor is opening a 100,807 square-foot space in Tempe, Arizona, to serve as the company’s regional hub.
The space will support over 500 jobs.
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According to recently-released city data from the Overdose Response Program, Nashville saw a massive increase in drug overdose rate in 2021.
“In 2021, there were 712 suspected drug overdose deaths, representing a 15% increase compared to 2020, where 621 overdose deaths were reported,” according to the report.
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Murfreesboro Mayor Shane McFarland and JW Roth, Chairman of Notes Live, INC, recently unveiled plans to open a 4,500-seat state of the art open-air amphitheater in the Murfreesboro Gateway called The Sunset Music Colosseum on the River.
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The Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) announced its Accelerating TN 2022 Tour, which is a statewide bus tour that will cover 50 school districts over the course of three weeks to highlight summer learning opportunities for students.
TDOE said department members, elected officials, and other education partners will have the opportunity to join the various events to learn more about how schools are “accelerating student achievement.”
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Tuition at Tennessee’s public colleges and universities will not increase for the next school year after a vote from the Tennessee Higher Education Commission froze those tuition rates for the first time.
The board sets annual tuition and fee ranges that must be followed by the state’s public universities, colleges and Tennessee College of Applied Technology campuses.
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The University of Tennessee System (UT) announced recently that it has ended its test-optional admissions policy.
The new policy requires first-year applicants to submit an ACT or SAT score in order to be considered for the Fall 2023 semester.
Melissa Tindell, executive director of communications at the UT system, told Campus Reform that standardized test scores are part of a “holistic” admissions process.
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A few weeks ago, Exxon announced that it was banning the display of Pride and BLM flags at its headquarters in Houston. There was a ripple of unhappiness, but nothing was burned down, the media attention was muted, and the world went about its business as before.
Across the country, school board elections are tossing out woke ideologues and partisans of critical race theory and replacing what amounts to gay pornography in the curriculum with more wholesome fare. The Biden Administration keeps running into roadblocks, most recently a judicial order halting its efforts to rescind Title 42, a Trump-era emergency order that turned away would-be immigrants at the U.S.-Mexico border. A few days ago, Biden’s absurd Disinformation Governance Board was shuttered and its pathetic director, Nina Jankowicz, sucked back into the memory hole whence she came.
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Tennessee State University (TSU) and the Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) have announced a new partnership in which the university will offer 100 MNPS students full scholarships beginning the fall 2023 academic year.
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Minnesota farmers have been unable to plant nearly any wheat and have only planted a small amount of corn so far this year.
Last year, nearly all of Minnesota’s wheat (99%) was in the ground by mid-May, but per the most recent figures from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), only 5% has been planted so far this year. Corn producers are having a similarly rough year thus far. Only 35% of Minnesota’s corn has been put in the ground so far. Normally by this time, almost double as much would have been planted according to the USDA.
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Three Florida residents were sentenced to federal prison for their role in a fraud scheme involving baby formula and other items, according to a release from the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Johnny Grobman, Raoul Doekhie, and Sherida Nabi were given an 18-month prison sentence for cheating manufacturers out of at least $100 million.
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In a debate hosted by Arizona Horizons on Wednesday, former State Senator Kristen Engel (D), running for Congress in Congressional District (CD) 6, said Arizona does not have an immigration crisis.
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The determination of Pennsylvania’s unsettled Republican Senate nomination battle between Mehmet Oz and Dave McCormick could depend on a federal court decision regarding undated mail-in ballots.
As of Sunday afternoon, Oz held 418,535 votes to McCormick’s 417,465, putting the former ahead by far less than the 0.5 percent maximum gap that triggers an automatic recount. While over 99 percent of all ballots cast in the election have been counted, an ongoing dispute about whether undated absentee ballots should be deemed valid has the potential to erase Oz’s lead.
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Fifteen Michigan communities will receive $7.3 million in clean water grants.
“Every Michigander in every community deserves access to safe drinking water,” Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in a statement. “Today’s grants will help 15 communities upgrade their water infrastructure, replace lead service lines, and tackle PFAS and other toxic contaminants. Since I took office, Michigan has invested more in our water infrastructure than the previous eight years. Thanks to bipartisan investments in water infrastructure through the MI Clean Water Plan, we have created jobs, protected public health, and lowered costs for Michigan families.”
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Nearly two dozen shot outside an NBA playoff game. A notorious murderer almost released on parole. A Christmas massacre carried out by a repeat felon released on low bail. Record car thefts and drug overdoses.
While most of the country braces for a pocketbook election driven by runaway inflation, record gas prices and baby formula shortages, the key battleground state of Wisconsin is seething over a crime wave driven by policies that are shaping up to be an Achilles heel for Democrats running the state, like incumbent Gov. Tony Evers and Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm.
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Connecticut’s two U.S. senators, both Democrats, are urging passage of a bill that they say will help prevent incidents similar to the recent Buffalo mass shooting, though it actually narrows rather than expands federal anti-terrorism concerns.
At a press conference on Friday, senior Sen. Richard Blumenthal called the Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act of 2022 a “chance to take a stand and an opportunity to send a message to the hate mongers that enough is enough.”
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Senator Rob Portman (R-OH), the Ranking Member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, called on President Biden to work for a bipartisan solution to the border crisis.
The lawmaker pointed to new April numbers released from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), showing an increase in encounters from the previous month.
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Republicans in Virginia’s fifth, eighth, and tenth congressional districts met Saturday, nominating Representative Bob Good (R-VA-05) for re-election and nominating Karina Lipsman to challenge Representative Don Beyer (D-VA-08). In VA-10, Republicans held a firehouse primary, not a convention, and voting locations didn’t close until 4 p.m., so votes are still being counted as of press time. 10th District GOP Chairman Geary Higgins said they would probably post results from each round of ranked-choice voting on Facebook first, but didn’t expect results until Saturday night or Sunday.
“It’s ranked choice voting, and it’s going to all be hand-counted, that’s why it might take a little time,” Higgins told The Virginia Star shortly after voting closed.
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Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams made waves with her statement on Saturday at the Gwinnett County Democratic dinner when she stated, “I am tired of being told that we are the best state in the country to do business when we are the worst state in the country to live.”
Abrams is running unopposed for Georgia’s Democratic primary for governor. She will face the eventual winner of the Republican primary election which will be decided on Tuesday. Abrams’ statement received criticism from Republicans.
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An abortion rights group filed a long-shot initiative for the Arizona November ballot.
“Women in Arizona, they don’t have two years to wait,” said Shasta McManus, treasurer of Arizonans for Reproductive Freedom, the group that wants to add an amendment to the Arizona Constitution to protect reproductive rights and prohibit any state or political restriction on those seeking abortions or physicians performing abortions.
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Neil W. McCabe, the national political editor of The Star News Network, interviewed the former president of Thiel Capital and Arizona GOP Senate hopeful Blake Masters about what voters are telling him and why he is running to replace Democrat Sen. Mark Kelly.
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Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine called Ohio State University’s decision to raise tuition unwise as inflation continues to rise around the country.
OSU’s board voted earlier this week to impose a 4.6% increase for incoming in-state freshmen and to guarantee that rate for the next four years. It amounts to a $549 annual jump from the current tuition rate.
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The Georgia Ports Authority plans to spend roughly $430 million on infrastructure improvements at the Port of Savannah.
Of the $430 million, GPA is covering $395.4 million, funded through the authority’s proceeds. The federal government is chipping in a $34.6 million grant.
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Millions of Americans across the Midwest, Southwest and West are expected to face blackouts throughout the summer months, an industry analysis concluded.
A variety of factors, including drought conditions and low wind conditions, are expected to put Americans in roughly 28 states at risk of experiencing blackouts this summer, according to a report from the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), a U.S. regulatory authority, published Wednesday. The region managed by the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) across 15 Midwest states is at the highest risk of “energy emergencies” during the summer due to capacity shortfalls, the analysis showed.
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Dave Chappelle’s 2021 Netflix stand-up special “The Closer” sparked protests from the streamer’s own employees over allegedly anti-trans jokes.
Now, the platform is drawing an unmistakable line in the sand, proclaiming a corporate culture that prizes individual creative freedom above the collective ideological discipline enforced by cancel culture.
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China’s most powerful bombers circled U.S. military bases in Okinawa, Japan, on Wednesday, according to Chinese state-run media Thursday.
A pair of China’s H-6J bombers crossed between two of the largest islands of Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, where the U.S has multiple military installations, before circling in the region, Global Times reported. The bombers likely coordinated with the Liaoning aircraft carrier group, which has been conducting drills in the region since May 2, according to the report.
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At a recent hearing before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security, the CEO of Colonial Pipeline made an admission which illustrates quite well our negligence and improvidence. The company paid out nearly $5 million in blackmail money to an unknown hacker when the pipeline was shut down for several days. That, of course, was bad enough, and most of the man’s testimony had to do with the technicalities of which government agency was notified and when, and what the company’s computer experts did to remedy the situation.
But there was another piece of his testimony, one that you had to look hard to find in the news reports. He testified that most of the men who could operate the controls on the pipeline have died or retired, so that the 5,500-mile line must rely almost wholly upon computerized systems for its operation. That means, of course, that we are vulnerable to attacks by people who do not have to take a guard at gunpoint, or dig a big hole somewhere that no one will notice.
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Ohio’s record run of business startups ended in April, and Secretary of State Frank LaRose blamed rising inflation for discouraging entrepreneurs from creating new business.
LaRose on Thursday also called on leaders in Washington to put politics aside and work to bring rising costs under control.
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Job quit rates have been up since the pandemic, but Pennsylvania lags behind the national average. While that may look like stability and satisfaction with one’s job, it’s a sign of a lack of opportunity for workers in the commonwealth.
An analysis by WalletHub found that Pennsylvania had one of the lowest quit rates in the nation – it ranked 47th. In the last month, Pennsylvania’s resignation rate was 2.1%, with an average rate of 2.24% in the last year.
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The American Petroleum Institute (API), a leading industry group, said the next offshore oil and gas lease sale likely wouldn’t come until early 2024 following the latest Biden administration update.
The Department of the Interior (DOI) announced Thursday that it would issue an updated proposed program plan for offshore lease sales by June 30. The API, though, said the announcement confirms the administration is “significantly behind” in the multi-year process required for approving a new five-year offshore plan, likely delaying lease sales until early 2024.
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A transgender surfer in Western Australia has become the first person in history to win both the men’s and women’s divisions of the sport.
This month, 43-year-old Sasha Jane Lowerson crushed the competition in the Open Women’s and Open Logger divisions at the West Coast Suspensions Longboard and Logger State Championships, as well as a number of state titles.
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Lawmakers continued to raise concerns about the Internal Revenue Service at a Congressional hearing this week as the agency deals with billions in misspent dollars, hefty processing backlogs, and complaints over poor customer service.
Lawmakers lobbed questions at the tax-collecting agency during the House Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee hearing.
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In less than five months, at least 135 teachers, teachers’ aides, and other school employees across the country have been arrested and charged with various child sex crimes.
As reported by Fox News, the total of 135 does not account for arrests that haven’t been publicized, meaning the final total for the year 2022 thus far may be even higher. The 135 arrests have taken place across 41 states between January 1st and May 13th, averaging to about one arrest per day. Most of the suspects are men.
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Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz instructed agency leadership on how the agency plans to release migrants amid a border surge, according to a memo sent Thursday exclusively obtained by The Daily Caller News Foundation.
In the memo, which was sent to chief patrol agents and directorate chiefs, Ortiz recognized that Border Patrol faces a “current migrant surge and is preparing for the anticipated increase in encounters of undocumented noncitizens following the anticipated lifting of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s [CDC] Title 42 public health order.”
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Unvaccinated people develop much broader antibody immunity after being infected with COVID than people who have received the mRNA shots do, according to an NIH study. And the gap was large whether subjects had mild, moderate, or severe COVID infections.
The results of the study, which were highlighted by Alex Berenson on his Unreported Truths Substack, Daniel Horowitz at the Blaze, and Igor Chudov on his Substack newsletter, completely destroy the regime narrative that the shots provide stronger immunity than a natural infection, and may help explain why so many vaccinated Americans are now suffering from multiple COVID infections.
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