Friday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed retired Tennessee National Guard Master Sergeant, Jennifer Berry to the newsmaker line to discuss her upcoming retirement due to non-compliance of the COVID-19 vaccine and efforts to reverse the mandate by Governor Bill Lee.
Read the full story
PHOENIX, Arizona – Arizona Republican Senate candidate Jim Lamon said he is the veteran to take down Mark Kelly in the Senate race by demonstrating real American work and action.
“In Arizona, there’s a very large veterans’ population, retired, active-duty, people associated with the military here. Kelly’s a veteran. You got to start with that. You darn well better be a veteran to go against him. Number two, you got a situation where this guy has gone so far left, he ran as a moderate, but you need someone to hold him accountable. Someone who has not just talked about what they’re going to do. Somebody who’s got accomplishments. Somebody who’s built businesses. So, you can show that contrast to what he is and what America is. This guy’s gone hard left, hard Marxist, voting 100% with [Chuck] Schumer and those guys. This is, in my case, being able to contrast that. Not with talk. But with actual stuff to show what real work looks like,” Lamon said in an interview with the Arizona Sun Times.
Read the full story
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s earring fell out Friday morning while she was condemning the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision minutes earlier.
The earring fell out as she repeated shook her head in her remarks on Capitol Hill. The California Democrat continued with her remarks and took out the other earring.
Read the full story
In a pre-dawn raid Wednesday, armed federal law enforcement agents searched the home of Jeffrey Clark, a former Trump Justice Department official who has emerged as a central figure in the partisan House Select Committee’s investigation into the January 6 riot.
Clark’s name was expected to come up in the Jan. 6 Committee hearing on Thursday.
Read the full story
Former President Trump said Friday the Supreme Court ruling earlier in the morning that struck down that struck down the decades-old Roe v. Wade ruling on abortion will “work out for everybody.”
“This is following the Constitution, and gives rights back when they should have been given long ago,” Trump, who appointed three of the six justices who voted to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe decision, told Fox News.
Read the full story
The Biden administration is mulling the prospect of banning new American offshore oil and natural gas drilling projects as fuel prices continue to spike, The New York Times reported Thursday.
The Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, working closely with the White House to shape policy, will release its drafted five-year plan for new oil and gas drilling leases in federal waters to Congress by June 30, according to The New York Times, citing people familiar with the matter. The administration is likely to stop new offshore drilling projects in the Atlantic and the Pacific, and is considering whether to end leasing in the Arctic and Gulf of Mexico.
Read the full story
“I don’t think the country will stand for it,” said President Joe Biden, commenting in early June on the expected collapse of Roe v. Wade. “If in fact the decision comes down the way it does, and these states impose the limitations they’re talking about, it’s going to cause a mini-revolution and they’re going to vote these folks out of office.”
Contrary to Biden’s prediction, the collapse of Roe v. Wade marks not the beginning of a revolution but the end of one. Until that monstrous decision, which led to the deaths of over 62 million unborn children, the American people had the power to pass laws against abortion and did so in most of the states. The Dobbs decision simply returns that power to the people — a blow not against “democracy,” as the hysterics on the left claim, but for it.
Read the full story
The Supreme Court’s recent ruling on New York’s anti-concealed carry law has broader ramifications for similar gun control laws across the country, many of which can now be challenged by Second Amendment advocates.
Politico reports that some of the states with gun control laws that may now be in jeopardy after the ruling include California, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Washington D.C. Such states and jurisdictions also have laws in place that similarly try to restrict the ability of residents to carry handguns in public, in what is known as a “may-issue” approach.
Read the full story
Several members of the Tennessee General Assembly provided comments to The Tennessee Star in support of the National Guard members who are about to be fired due to their refusal to comply with the Biden administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
State Senator Ferrell Haile (R-SD18) was the first to provide The Star with a comment. Haile exclaimed, “I do not support the firing because of refusal to be vaccinated by TN National Guard!”
Read the full story
TN-5 candidate and former Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives Beth Harwell, in an exclusive statement sent to The Tennessee Star, lauded the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade.
“The Supreme Court made the right decision by overturning Roe v. Wade. I believe we must protect the right of the unborn and make sure those who can’t defend themselves have a voice,” Harwell said.
Read the full story
The U.S. Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade, the 1973 landmark ruling that created a right to abortion nationwide, and now returns issues about abortion to the individual states.
In the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, Justice Samuel Alito wrote the majority opinion, released Friday, that was joined by Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett.
Read the full story
Tennessee Senate Republican Leader Jack Johnson issued a strong statement in support of Tennessee National Guard members who are due to be fired on June 30 because of their refusal to receive a COVID-19 vaccine and encouraging Governor Lee to help these guardsmen.
In a statement issued exclusively to The Tennessee Star, Leader Johnson excoriated the Biden administration’s COVID-19 mandates and said, “It is a travesty that the Biden Administration is prepared to fire brave men and women who faithfully serve our state and nation in the TN National Guard because of their COVID-19 vaccine status.”
Read the full story
The Supreme Court released a decision Friday that strikes down the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade case, which, for nearly half-a-century has offered a constitutional protection to a woman’s right to an abortion.
The majority opinion, which was issued in the Mississippi case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, was written by Justice Samuel Alito and joined by justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, Clarence Thomas, and Amy Coney Barrett.
Read the full story
Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) and Congressman John Rose (R-TN-06) condemned the Biden Administration’s decision to reverse a Trump-era policy that coordinated issues with Palestinians within the U.S. Embassy to Israel.
Instead, the new decision would aim to reopen the consulate in Jerusalem as a new “Office of Palestinian Affairs.”
Read the full story
Abortion activists, including many supporters of Planned Parenthood, took over the Wisconsin Capitol building Wednesday as Republicans rejected Gov. Tony Evers’ (D) call to repeal the state’s 173-year-old criminal abortion ban during a special session, a move that ensures the procedure will be illegal in the state if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade.
“Wisconsin law has not changed and our pro-life position has not changed,” said state Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu (R-Oostburg), in a statement. “Killing innocent babies is not health care.”
Read the full story
NASHVILLE, Tennessee – A group of supporters of Tennessee National Guard members informed The Tennessee Star of their intention to host a Wednesday, June 29 event outside the Capitol at Legislative Plaza in downtown Nashville.
The event is called “Guard Freedom” and will feature letter readings by surrogates from active duty National Guard members who cannot speak publicly for fear that they will immediately lose their jobs, a reading of requests for Governor Lee to take immediate action on their behalf, and likely several speeches.
Read the full story
Republican pundits and conservative activists are debating whether they can win in 2024 with the successful Trump agenda, but without the controversial Donald Trump as their nominee.
The Democrats have a similar, but far more serious dilemma with Joe Biden as the Democratic Party’s nominee in 2024.
Read the full story
Taking aim once again at the Trump administration, the Biden education department released its proposed rule to revise how Title IX sex discrimination regulations will be enforced in education.
U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in a statement Thursday his department was releasing the proposed rules in celebration of the 50th anniversary of Title IX.
Read the full story
A Pennsylvania Senate panel this week passed a measure sponsored by Sen. Doug Mastriano (R-Gettysburg) to strengthen the commonwealth’s tracking of overdoses.
All Republican and Democratic members of the Senate Veterans Affairs and Emergency Preparedness Committee supported the bill. It awaits consideration of the state House of Representatives.
Read the full story
An underdog candidate who was massively outspent in his primary race in Georgia’s 2nd Congressional District walked away with a victory in Tuesday’s runoff election.
Chris West, a pro-Trump candidate, notched a victory against Nikki Haley and Karl Rove endorsee Jeremy Hunt. The margin of victory was slim – less than 1000 votes – but was enough for West to advance to the general election against Rep. Sanford Bishop (D-GA-02).
Read the full story
A $1.25 million multistate settlement has been reached in a data breach case, Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said.
Connecticut is one of 45 states named in the settlement against Florida-based Carnival Cruise lines. The case was filed after a 2019 data breach revealed personal information for 180,000 Carnival employees and customers across the country.
Read the full story
While President Joe Biden this week began urging Congress to suspend the national gas tax for three months and asking states to do the same with their gas levies, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) came out against the idea.
The federal government charges gasoline buyers $0.18 per gallon and diesel motorists $0.24 per gallon. The Buckeye State meanwhile imposes a $0.385-per-gallon tax on gasoline as well as a $0.47-per-gallon tax on diesel and other fuel types. Both levels of government use the revenues from these sources to fund transportation projects. Biden maintains that dollars flowing to the U.S. Treasury are sufficient to prevent compromising federal highway repairs in the event of a three-month tax holiday.
Read the full story
Michigan will receive $14.45 million from a federal pharmaceutical fraud settlement.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel joined 49 other states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and the federal government to settle a lawsuit for $233.7 million, plus interest, to be paid over seven years by Mallinckrodt ARD, LLC.
Read the full story
Police officers in the Minneapolis suburb of Hopkins have arrested a murder suspect after pulling over his vehicle for expired tabs.
Leontawan Lentez Holt, 24, was pulled over in a red sedan displaying expired registration tabs on June 3. According to the Hopkins Police Department, Holt had given the officer a fake name, though the officer discovered his real identity not long after.
Read the full story
In a unanimous vote, the Maricopa County Republican Committee Executive Board voted on Tuesday to approve a resolution rejecting the certification of the 2020 presidential election for Joe Biden. Modeled after a similar resolution passed by the Texas Republican Party last weekend as part of its platform, the board urges the Arizona Republican Party to pass it and the Arizona Legislature to take steps to decertify.
Brain Ference, who serves on the board as member at large, drafted the resolution after the documentary 2,000 Mules came out, concerned that it exposed massive election fraud through ballot harvesting. He told The Arizona Sun Times, “It’s clearer than ever that Joe Biden and his regime should not have won.”
Read the full story
Senator Bryce Reeves (R-Spotsylvania) came in third in the recent GOP VA-07 congressional primary. That’s a bad result for a candidate who entered the race with the most name recognition and ended the race with the most money, yet still came in second in Spotsylvania County and third in Culpeper County. Now, Reeves is expected to run for re-election the 28th state senate district, but he already faces an early challenger for the GOP primary.
“I actually thought he was going to perform much better, and so whether it provides an opening for me automatically, I don’t know,” candidate Michael Allers, Sr. told The Virginia Star, adding that it does show a chink in Reeves’ armor.
Read the full story
Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich on Thursday praised a decision from the Supreme Court in a key gun rights case.
According to the majority decision from the Justices, the Court struck down a law in New York that mandates individuals demonstrate “proper cause” in order to obtain a concealed carry permit.
Read the full story
Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell directed prosecutors Tuesday to file a notice of intent to seek the death penalty against two Scottsdale-area adults who allegedly murdered an 11-year-old boy.
The adults are Stephanie Davis and Thomas Desharnais, who were indicted in February on 11 felony charges including first-degree murder, child abuse, and tampering with evidence. The charges stem from events the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office dates back to 2019 when Davis and Desharnais allegedly inflicted bodily harm to a minor under their care.
Read the full story
Thursday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed all-star panelist Clint Brewer in-studio to break down the front runners and their strategies in Tennessee’s Fifth Congressional District race.
Read the full story
Thursday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed all-star panelist and The Epoch Times’ Editor-at-Large Roger Simon to discuss the structure of the upcoming debate crafted by The Epoch Times on July 12th in downtown Nashville.
Read the full story
A drag queen who said he used to be friends with leading gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake turned on her this month after she posted some concerns about introducing sexualized drag queens to children. However, Lake made it clear that she has no problem with adults engaging in drag shows, or impersonators who aren’t sexualized interacting with children. Rick Stevens, who goes by the stage name Barbara Seville, appeared to blur the distinction. The Arizona Legislature is working on legislation to prohibit children under age 18 from attending drag shows, which Lake supports.
Lake tweeted criticism of a video of a scantily dressed drag queen dancing provocatively for young children in Dallas on June 4, stating “This is grooming. This is child abuse.”
Read the full story
Nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment pollutants entering the Chesapeake Bay decreased from previous years in 2021, according to a new press release from the Chesapeake Bay Program. However, most of the program’s partnering states didn’t meet all their 2021 targets, ahead of a 2025 goal.
“Virginia, reported pollution controls achieved 75 percent of the 2025 reduction goal for nitrogen, 68 percent of the reduction goal for phosphorus and 100 percent of the reduction goal for sediment. The Commonwealth did not meet its 2021 pollution reducing targets for nitrogen and phosphorus but met its target for sediment,” the release states.
Read the full story
Thursday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed successful attorney Gino Bulso in studio to talk about why he’s running for the Tennessee House of Representatives in the 61st District.
Read the full story
Thursday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed Sergeant First Class, Michelle Edwards of the Tennessee National Guard in studio to discuss her career in the Guard and her reasons for retiring after the COVID-19 vaccine mandate came down from Washington.
Read the full story
Businessman Tim Michels, who is running in the Wisconsin GOP gubernatorial primary, has narrowly taken the lead in the crowded field, according to a new poll from Marquette Law School.
Michels, who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump, leads former Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch, businessman Kevin Nicholson, and State Rep. Tim Ramthun.
Read the full story
Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ-05) reintroduced the Fourth Amendment Restoration Act Wednesday, which seeks to prohibit warrantless surveillance of American citizens.
“We cannot continue to provide our government with clandestine spying powers that violate the Fourth Amendment rights of Americans,” Biggs said in a press release. “It’s imperative to have a surveillance apparatus to address national security concerns, but it also must protect Americans’ constitutional rights.”
Read the full story
Republican lawmakers sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on Tuesday, demanding that various attacks by a pro-choice organization be classified as acts of domestic terrorism.
The letter, spearheaded by Oklahoma Republican Rep. Markwayne Mullin and endorsed by Republican Reps. Greg Steube, Jeff Duncan, Jody Hice and Lauren Boebert, cited acts of violence allegedly by pro-abortion group Jane’s Revenge and expressed their apprehension toward the government’s respons to the group’s actions and destruction.
Read the full story
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the U.S. could enter into a recession when questioned Wednesday during a Senate Banking Committee hearing.
Confronted about 40-year-high inflation and the Fed raising interest rates in response, Powell said he couldn’t know for sure but said a recession, defined as a significant decline in economic activity over time, is possible.
Read the full story
The Supreme Court on Thursday struck down a New York gun law that puts restrictions on carrying a concealed gun outside the home.
Justice Clarence Thomas wrote the majority opinion in the 6-3 ruling, with liberal-leaning Justices Kagan, Sotomayor and Breyer dissented.
Read the full story
I was shocked to discover that some Republicans had cosponsored a truly radical, so-called civics bill designed to force every public school to teach racist leftwing propaganda.
As I said on “The Ingraham Angle,” the bill is totally crazy. No Republican should support it. In fact, every Republican should oppose it severely. This bill would open the door to allowing the federal bureaucracy to decide civics curriculum in states and school districts across the country. This means unelected federal employees would be able to overrule and dictate to parents, teachers, and school board members what children in their communities are learning.
Read the full story
NASHVILLE, Tennessee – June 21 marked the summer solstice, hence the first official day of summer. For the many who braved the extreme heat and high humidity at Ascend Amphitheater in Nashville, Summer began precisely at 7:00 p.m. central time. That is the moment John Popper and Blues Traveler took the stage and ignited an amazing night of music, with John Popper and company bringing the groove to the party.
Read the full story
Attorney General Slatery refused to comment when reached by The Tennessee Star as the jobs of hundreds of Tennessee National Guard members hang in the balance.
The Star asked Slatery’s office, “Is the Attorney General planning on intervening in the TN National Guard firings due to COVID-19 vaccine refusal by filing a suit?”
Read the full story
Watch The Tennessee Star Evening News Update with Michael Patrick Leahy weekdays at 5pm and on demand.
Read the full story
NASHVILLE, Tennessee – Nashville Mayor John Cooper, in a news conference, declared July 31 ‘Ric Flair Day’ in honor of the 73 year-old 16 time world heavy champion professional wrestling legend and two time WWE Hall-of-Famers’ last match.
On July 31, the “Nature Boy” Ric Flair will enter the ring for the very last time. In honor of the occasion, Cooper also announced that the property at 500 Wedgewood Avenue for the weekend of July 29-31 will be known as the “Nashville FLAIRgrounds,” in conjunction with the three-day professional wrestling fanfest known as STARRCAST V.
Read the full story
As part of the ongoing effort to battle potholes plaguing Tennessee’s roadways the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) Wednesday announced a new hotline for drivers to report those potholes.
“We all know it’s been a terrible year for potholes and here at TDOT we are always looking for ways to improve our customer service,” said TDOT Commissioner Butch Eley. “For the citizens, this hotline will give them another convenient way to report maintenance problems on our interstates and state routes. For TDOT, this centralized way of receiving, processing, and tracking information will enhance our operations.”
Read the full story
Tennessee’s Republican House leaders this week penned a letter to Governor Bill Lee (R) asking him to halt the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines for children under the age of five.
“Governor, the COVID-19 emergency has long passed in Tennessee,” the letter, penned by State Rep. Jason Zachary (R-District 14), said. “Based on the data in the FDA’s own 66-page report, there is no concrete basis for amended emergency authorization to vaccinate small children.”
Read the full story
NASHVILLE, Tennessee – Governor Bill Lee refuses to comment as Tennessee National Guard members plead for their jobs.
Sources inside the Tennessee National Guard estimate there will be much as a 10 percent force reduction from soldiers who are about to be discharged on June 30 due to refusal to accept a COVID-19 vaccination and have called on the governor to take action to protect their jobs.
Read the full story
FRANKLIN, Tennessee – Gabrielle Hanson, who is a Franklin alderman-at-large, told The Tennessee Star that her office and the offices of her peers are being flooded with outraged complaints about the June 4 “Franklin Pride” event and Mayor Ken Moore’s woke proclamation that was read at the event that included drag queens and children.
“Our phones and emails have been blowing up,” Hanson said.
Read the full story
NASHVILLE, Tennessee – Tennessee 5th Congressional candidate and former Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives Beth Harwell shared with The Tennessee Star what she learned during her trip to the U.S. southern border.
Harwell visited to Naco, Arizona on May 26th to visit the wall and attain firsthand experience on the problems that arise on the southern border.
Read the full story
The Gallatin City Council made a proposal at its regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday evening to de-annex the property of a resident who pulled a petition as a candidate in the November election for the Gallatin City Council earlier that same day.
De-annexing the property would effectively eliminate the owner from running in a city election.
Read the full story