Ducey Appeals Ruling Against Arizona’s Limiting COVID Relief to Open Schools

Gov. Doug Ducey is appealing a federal judge’s decision blocking his decision to withhold federal COVID-19 relief to unopened schools. 

While Arizona had lifted all mask mandates in April 2021, some schools still maintained a mask requirement.

To incentivize the removal of classroom mask policies, Ducey restricted a $163 million aid package to maskless, opened schools. The aid amounts to $1,080 per student. The state funding came from the $2 billion in federal stimulus money from the American Recovery Plan Act.

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Fairfax County School Employees Charged with Stealing More than 35,000 Laptops

According to the Fairfax County Police Department (FCPD), three men have been arrested and charged in connection with a scheme to steal and sell laptops from Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS).

A release from FCPD says Franque Minor II, 35, of Maryland and Mario Jones Jr., 21, of Woodbridge, Virginia, were arrested as part of an investigation that began in March, when FCPS notified authorities that several thousand laptops appeared to be missing.

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Report: Georgia Ranks Highly for Workers Quitting Their Jobs Despite Low Unemployment Rate

Georgia ranked among the states with the highest number of workers quitting their jobs, even as state officials tout the lowest unemployment rate on record.

A new analysis from WalletHub found that The Peach State ranked fifth as the state with the highest resignation rate, with nearly 3.9% leaving their jobs over the past 12 months. Nationally, Alaska topped the list, ahead of Montana, Wyoming and Florida.

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Rep. Austin Scott Meets with Taiwanese Ambassador as Rep. Drew Ferguson Lambasts Biden for Oil Relations with Communist China

U.S. Representatives Austin Scott (R-GA-08) and Drew Ferguson (GA-03) were among the delegation of American officials that met the Taiwanese Ambassador to the United States Hsiao Bi-khim at a China Task Force roundtable on Thursday.

Rep. Scott took the opportunity to express his frustration at the Biden administration for its stance on energy and the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

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Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency Shrugs Off Additional $55.6 Million in Unemployment Overpayments

Unemployment line

The Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency announced on Thursday it will forgive an additional $55.6 million in overpayments.

This round of waivers pertains to nearly 7,300 jobless claims the agency erroneously issued during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as $2.4 million of refunds for claimants paying back benefits or applied toward overpayments.

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Commentary: The Master of Politicizing Schools Says Education Is Too Politicized

Last week, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten tweeted the results of a poll of teachers showing “nearly 9 out of 10 respondents say schools have become too politicized.” As she put it, “AFT members were on the frontlines of the first wave of the pandemic, but in many ways the last year was even harder” due to “mask wars, culture wars, the war on truth, or the devastation in Uvalde.” 

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Big Oil Makes Big Bucks as Pump Prices Stay High

ExxonMobil’s quarterly fuel profits could reach as high as $4.4 billion in the second quarter as major refiners were set to collectively make $14 billion in profits, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Overall, ExxonMobil is projecting $18 billion in profit this quarter, its highest profit margin in 25 years. The projections come as average fuel prices remain elevated throughout the country, averaging well over $4 per gallon and up as much as $1.50 from this time last year, according to AAA data.

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Popular Minneapolis Restaurant Removes ‘Matt Birk Burger’ After Pro-Life Comments

Two popular St. Paul restaurants have removed a burger from their menu that was named for former Minnesota Vikings star and lieutenant governor candidate Matt Birk.

The Nook and Shamrocks, operated under the same ownership, changed the name of the “Birk Burger” to the generic “Double Stack Pepperjack Burger,” according to Patch. The restaurants have similar menus and the Birk Burger was available at both locations.

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Commentary: New Cancer Diagnostics Are Being Misdiagnosed in Their Value

Various methods of cancer screening, such as mammograms and colonoscopies, have been highly beneficial to patients across the world by allowing more effective treatments to be applied earlier. The most recent innovations for diagnosing cancers include genomic blood tests that can detect more cancers at earlier stages than existing screens. If reimbursed and adopted widely, they offer a great potential advance in the war on cancer but unfounded critiques of them misdiagnose their value.

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House Republicans Demand Answers on NPR’s ‘Disinformation Team’ after ‘Misleading Reporting’

Georgia Republican Rep. Andrew Clyde led 13 of his House colleagues in a letter demanding answers from the president and CEO of National Public Radio (NPR) about the launch of its disinformation team given the taxpayer-funded outlet’s denial of the verified Hunter Biden laptop story, among other stories.

The Republicans said the details on the disinformation team were “vague, and the program itself is concerning given NPR’s proven track record of ironically spreading misinformation related to the 2020 election.”

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Julie Kelly Commentary: Release the ‘Colbert Nine’ Records

Stephen Colbert arguably is one of the loudest celebrity boosters of the January 6 select committee. For months, Colbert, a longtime lover of Democrats and hater of Donald Trump, has covered the events of January 6 on a nightly basis, often using the latest news out of the committee as grist for his opening monologue.

The CBS “Late Night” host recently told his audience that the January 6 hearings are a “must watch” event; in a preview interview on June 8, Colbert asked U.S. Representative Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) what Americans could expect to learn from his latest anti-Trump operation, to which Schiff solemnly promised the public would find out “how close we came from losing our democracy.”

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FEC Records Show Financial Reporting Irregularities and Fine Stemming from Andy Ogles’ 2002 Run for U.S. House

Federal Election Commission (FEC) records show several instances of financial reporting irregularities, including a fine, stemming from Andy Ogles’ 2002 campaign for the U.S. House in what was then the 4th District.

On June 30, 2003, Ogles was assessed an administrative fine in the amount of $2,700.00 for failure to file the 2002 year end report. He paid the fine in full.

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DOJ Charges Tennessee Man in Alleged $40 Million Medicare Scam

The Department of Justice (DOJ) Thursday announced that it charged an Ashland doctor for allegedly scamming a more than $40 million from the Medicare system.

“John R. Manning, 61, faces charges of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and eight counts of health care fraud,” according to the DOJ. “The indictment also contains a forfeiture allegation in which the United States seeks to recover all property, including a money judgement, that represents the proceeds of the violations.  Manning was arrested Tuesday at his home by federal agents.”

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GOP Lawmakers Question Constitutionality of State Department Grants to Spread Atheism Abroad

Republican lawmakers are questioning the constitutionality of a Biden State Department program to fund the spread of atheism and humanism internationally.

At the end of June, a group of 15 Republican members of Congress wrote to President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken about a State Department funding program from April 2021 that “would award grants of up to $500,000 to organizations committed to the practice and spread of atheism and humanism, namely in South/Central Asia and in the Middle East/North Africa.”

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Northern Virginia County Becomes Latest Jurisdiction to Limit Police Cooperation with ICE

Arlington County is the latest local jurisdiction to prohibit law enforcement from communicating with Immigration and Customs Enforcement about illegal immigrants residing in the county.

The Northern Virginia county’s adoption of its new “Trust Policy” comes after the recent arrest of an illegal immigrant charged with raping and impregnating a 10-year-old girl in Ohio.

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Over 100 Methodist Churches in Florida Leave Denomination over LGBTQ Stances

In Florida, over 100 churches formerly affiliated with the United Methodist Church (UMC) have filed a lawsuit against a regional UMC group to negotiate fair terms for formally departing the denomination.

According to The Daily Wire, the lawsuit was filed on July 14th in the Circuit Court for the Eighth Judicial Circuit for Bradford County, Civil Division; the suit was filed against the UMC’s Florida Annual Conference. The lead plaintiff is the Grace United Methodist Church in Lawtey, which argued that, in the process of splitting from the church, it should not be forced to purchase its property from the regional body since the church itself already bought the location before the denomination was founded in 1968.

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Commentary: Solar Panel Programs Increase Your Electricity Bill

Why are electricity prices rising so fast?

Over the past quarter century, electricity prices across America have increased by an average of 1.8 percent per year, from $8.38 per kWh in 1994 to $13.01 in 2019. Then in January this year both Entergy and Mississippi Power increased their rates by $7.81 per month and $5.27 per month respectively, affecting over half a million Mississippi residents.

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‘Free, Fair and Honest’: Former Trump Spokesperson Praises States’ New Election Laws

Former Trump spokesperson Hogan Gidley praised seven states for protecting election integrity in an interview with the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Seven states are being praised by the America First Policy Institute’s (AFPI) Center For Election Integrity (CEI) in a new report for recent legislative efforts to prevent voter fraud. Hogan Gidley, director of the CEI, explained the importance of the report during an interview with the Daily Caller News Foundation.

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D.C. Lobbyists Rake In Massive Profits as Americans Continue to Suffer

Federal lobbyists have made huge profits in the second quarter of 2022, according to financial disclosures reviewed by Politico, while many Americans continue to feel the effects of inflation and the ongoing energy crisis.

Of the top twenty lobbying firms by revenue, just two saw revenue decreases when compared with the first three months of the year, Politico reported. The lobbying boom was largely attributable to reconciliation negotiations between Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York, as well hotly contested deliberations on whether to dole out subsidies to domestic semiconductor companies.

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Democrat-Led Cities Are Responding to Heat Waves by Hiring Climate Bureaucrats

Major cities across the U.S. are employing climate officials to help manage the response to “extreme heat” conditions, according to The Washington Post.

Los Angeles, Miami and Phoenix have appointed “chief heat officers” to mitigate the effects of climate change and to protect the city’s low-income minority residents, whom they deem especially vulnerable to high temperatures, reported the Post. Currently, heat waves are sweeping across the U.S. with temperatures reaching up to 115 degrees Fahrenheit in states like Texas and Oklahoma, according to Yahoo News.

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Mask Advisory, but No Mandate for Columbus as COVID-19 Cases Climb

Ohio’s largest city is not considering another mask mandate despite recommendations from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and a growing number of COVID-19 cases.

The city of Columbus has issued a mask advisory, urging masks indoors and in crowded places, despite vaccine statues, until further notice, Columbus Public Health spokeswoman Kelli Newman said.

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FEC Pre-Primary Report Shows Three-Way Money Race in TN-5

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) pre-primary reports were due on July 23 and three candidates, which include retired National Guard General Kurt Winstead, former speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives Beth Harwell, and Maury County Mayor Andy Ogles, continue to show a massive financial lead over the rest of the nine candidate field in the August 4 Republican primary for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District seat.

Eight of the nine candidates filed the required report by July 23, which covered the reporting period dates of July 1 through July 15.

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Fetterman’s Anti-Fracking History a Vulnerability in Pennsylvania Senate Race

John Fetterman handily won campaigns for mayor of heavily Democratic Braddock, PA in the 2000s and 2010s and won two statewide Pennsylvania primaries, one for lieutenant governor in 2018 and another for U.S. senator this year. His history of opposing hydraulic fracturing (or “fracking” to extract natural gas didn’t burden him in those races. 

But now the Democratic lieutenant governor faces a general election for U.S. Senate against Republican celebrity surgeon Mehmet Oz. And although Fetterman now says he does not support prohibiting fracking, his past support for a fracking ban promises to complicate his appeal to working Keystone Staters on whose livelihoods fossil-fuel development depends. 

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Wisconsin Elections Commission Won’t End Absentee Ballot Guidance, Lawmakers Furious

The disagreement over Wisconsin’s law on absentee ballots could be headed for court.

Sen. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, on Thursday directed his staff to look at any and all options after the Wisconsin Elections Commission said it will not abide by the legislature’s decision to stop telling local election clerks they can fill in missing information on absentee ballots, a practice also called “curing.”

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Georgia Court Appointees Andrew Pinson and Ben Land Promoted, Sworn onto State Bench

Georgia Judiciary Appointees Andrew Pinson and Benjamin Land were sworn onto the state bench in promotional appointments made by Governor Brian Kemp (R) on Wednesday.

“Today, I had the honor of swearing in Andrew Pinson to the #SupremeCourtGA and Ben Land to the @AppealsCourtGA, its first judge from Columbus. They both have upheld wisdom and integrity on the bench, and they will continue to do so in the important cases that come before them,” Governor Kemp said. 

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Ohio Awards Grants to Toledo, Cortland to Combat Trafficking, Other Crimes

Governor Mike DeWine

Gov. Mike DeWine (R-OH) announced Friday that numerous local law-enforcement departments will receive a total of $3.5 million for anti-trafficking efforts and other anti-crime initiatives, with the cities of Toledo and Cortland receiving significant grants. 

The money comes in the fifth round of allocations from the Crime Reduction Grant Program, a project created last year that has disbursed $23 million to 83 agencies across the Buckeye State so far. 

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Virginia Unemployment Rate Had Largest Drop in a Year in June

Virginia’s unemployment had its largest drop in a year in June, down to a 2.8 percent unemployment rate, while labor participation stayed stable 63.8 percent.

Governor Glenn Youngkin highlighted the result in a Friday press release.

“The June unemployment rate dropping to 2.8 percent is promising news for Virginia’s economic health and is a welcome return to pre-pandemic unemployment levels,” Youngkin said. “In such a competitive labor market, we remain committed to expanding workforce development opportunities for Virginians. While the 94,000 job additions is promising, we must remain vigilant regarding the workforce participation rate, which does continue to lag. I am focused on increasing Virginia’s participation rate across the commonwealth.”

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Gwen Graham Resumes Twitter Attacks Aimed at Governor Ron DeSantis

After a hiatus from criticizing Florida Governor Ron DeSantis via her Twitter account, former gubernatorial candidate Gwen Graham has resumed her personal attacks.

Graham, who currently serves as an Assistant Secretary of Education in the Biden Administration, called DeSantis a “cowardly bully” in a recent tweet aimed at the popular Florida governor.

On July 16, Graham tweeted, “For those of you who think Trump is worse than DeSantis, you are wrong. And for those who think DeSantis could take on Trump, also wrong. I know Ron. He is a cowardly, bully. He will turn and run when he can’t use his office as a stage to make himself look fake big. He is tiny.”

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Youngkin Pushes Back on Call for Executive Action on Abortion

Delegate Dave LaRock (R-Loudoun) is suggesting that Governor Glenn Youngkin could condition funding for Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of Virginia on if their medical centers stop providing abortions, but Youngkin has said that he can’t do that.

At a recent rally at the Virginia Capitol, LaRock said, “Here’s what I’m asking him to do: direct UVA and VCU medical centers to immediately cease these abortion proceedings. He needs to direct that state grants and other funds will not be distributed to entities who in any way promote, facilitate, or engage in taking the life of pre-born babies. A number of measures have passed through the legislature to this effect, very often to be vetoed by a hostile governor.”

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