Thursday is primary and local general election day in Tennessee. People from all over the state are voting today. Many others voted during the July 15-July 30 early voting period.
The polls close at 7 p.m., and The Tennessee Star will be posting updates and results throughout the night on key contests.
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Maury County Mayor Andy Ogles easily won the Republican primary in Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District on Thursday.
The Associated Press called the race for Ogles at 10:30 pm central time. His two leading opponents, Beth Harwell, former Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives, and retired Tennessee National Guard Brigadier General Kurt Winstead, conceded the race to Ogles shortly after 10 pm.
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Star News Network Chief Meteorologist Daphne DeLoren shares her Middle Tennessee Fresh Forecast for Thursday night and Friday.
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Thursday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, guest host Gulbransen welcomed all-star panelist Roger Simon in studio to discuss election integrity and the political posturing of China.
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Thursday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed all-star panelist Clint Brewer in studio to discuss the TN5 congressional race and money spent in the Williamson County senate race by Gary Humble and incumbent Jack Johnson.
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Thursday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Gulbransen was joined on the newsmaker line by Tennessee State Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson to give some last comments before the election is over and how he intends to keep Tennessee the best state in the nation if elected.
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Thursday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, guest host Aaron Gulbransen welcomed Senator Marsha Blackburn to the newsmaker line to discuss her recent op-ed that addresses how to get them to abide by rules, regulations, privacy and reforms for Section 230.
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The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) recently announced that it is searching for interested and qualified candidates to fill 39 open positions in the department. TBI is currently looking to fill 3 TBI Police Officer positions in Davidson County as well as 36 TBI Special Agent/Criminal Investigator positions in multiple counties.
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Yesterday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) announced a new pilot program to assist Floridians with substance abuse which establishes a recovery network “to disrupt the opioid epidemic.” DeSantis was joined by multiple Florida health officials as the programs will be under the purview of a joint-agency effort with the Florida Department of Health, Department of Children and Families, and the Agency for Health Care Administration.
The program is not an exclusively emergency response program, but also contains numerous aspects of recovery and goes by the acronym CORE (Coordinated Opioid Recovery).
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Vice President Kamala Harris (D) campaigned with Congresswoman Val Demings (D-FL-13) in South Florida earlier this week in an attempt to bolster Demings’ chances of unseating Sen. Marco Rubio (R) in this November’s election.
Both Demings and Harris were one-time finalists for the vice president pick after then-candidate Joe Biden achieved the Democrat presidential nomination in 2020. The job eventually went to Harris, but Demings made a name for herself among Florida Democrats.
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The America Rising PAC (ARPAC), a group dedicated to exposing the truth about Democrats, recently shared critical information regarding current Senator Mark Kelly (D) for Arizonans to know before the General Election in November.
“Contrary to his rhetoric on the campaign trail, Mark Kelly has been nothing but a rubber stamp for Joe Biden and Chuck Schumer’s devastating agenda,” shared ARPAC Press Secretary Whitney Robertson with the Sun Times via email. “If Arizonans are looking for a Senator who will actually put the people over politics, it’s time to send Kelly packing.”
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This week’s decision by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court upholding Act 77 which legalized no-excuse absentee voting in the Keystone State is spurring Republican lawmakers to renew their push for election reform.
A Republican-led legislature passed and Democratic Governor Tom Wolf signed Act 77 three years ago. Moderate Democratic Senator Lisa Boscola (D-Bethlehem) initially drafted the bill to get rid of straight-party voting, a policy on which Republican legislators largely agreed with her. More Democrats came around to support the measure once a section was added allowing voters to cast mail-in ballots without providing a reason they could not come to the polls (i.e., illness, injury or travel).
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More than 1,000 Ohio schools in 81 of 88 counties will share $47 million in the state’s push to promote school safety, part of a response to a shooting at a Texas elementary school in May.
Gov. Mike DeWine said Tuesday grants of up to $50,000 will be used to cover expenses for security cameras, public address systems, automatic door locks, visitor badging systems, and exterior lighting.
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A leaked internal FBI guide about violent extremism lists the Second Amendment, the “Betsy Ross flag” and Jan. 6 protester Ashli Babbitt as “Domestic Violent Terrorism Symbols” used by militant extremist groups in the United States.
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The Defense Department reportedly erased data from the phones of top departing agency and Army officials at the end of the Trump administration, deleting texts from potential witnesses to events related to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
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U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney allowed Visa to remain a defendant in a lawsuit charging the company with conspiracy in circulating child sexual abuse materials July 29, according to court materials.
Rape and child abuse survivors and victims of porn revenge are suing MindGeek, the company that runs PornHub, for allegedly circulating child sex abuse materials, according to the lawsuit. Carney suggested that Visa holds some responsibility for knowingly profiting off of child pornography.
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While federal agencies under the Biden administration are seeking to increase voter registration and turnout, a group linked to left-wing megadonor George Soros is pushing for a constitutional amendment in the battleground state of Michigan that would allow Zuckerbucks to be used in election administration.
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Anyone who has a car is breathing a sigh of relief this last week. After two years of increasing gas prices, we’ve finally had a significant fall in gas prices.
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The Tennessee Titans’ franchise value could increase by $300 million if the team gets a new stadium, according to a new report from Forbes.
That report comes as the Titans saw one of the largest valuation increases in the NFL, according to new numbers from Sportico, which say the Nashville franchise is now worth $3.2 billion.
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The following was posted on social media recently by a widely respected California-based journalist:
I don’t like being an alarmist but the epidemic of misinformation is becoming critical and increasingly dangerous. It was bad enough when we had a lying POTUS but it is now clear that it’s become a political tactic of a large part of one of our main political parties. And, if one major party can get away with mass lying, so can the other one, so I fear this will spread across ideological boundaries.
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Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake announced Tuesday that police coverage at Metro Schools for the upcoming school year will be the highest ever, and will include elementary, middle and high school campuses.
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Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr (R) called out billionaire and Open Society founder George Soros for his financial support of progressive district attorneys, a move that has resulted in crime spikes across the nation.
“George Soros has spent tens of millions to elect prosecutors who care more about coddling criminals than about protecting families. Now the Soros family is funding my Democrat opponent because they know I’ll stand up for YOU, not criminals,” Carr wrote on Twitter Tuesday.
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A Metro Nashville School Board candidate says that thanks to the Nashville Police Department, an alleged political sign thief was caught red-handed.
“A radical Democrat and follower of Antifa online was caught by Nashville police detectives yesterday evening with over a dozen stolen political signs for Todd Pembroke – Republican School Board candidate for District 2 covering Brentwood and Antioch,” the Todd Pembroke for Metro Nashville School Board campaign said in a press statement obtained by The Tennessee Star.
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Hundreds of health care workers throughout Minnesota have recently voted to cut ties with unions.
Since mid-July at least four groups of health care workers across the state have either filed union decertification petitions or successfully voted in favor of decertification.
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Tudor Dixon has been declared victorious in the Republican primary for this fall’s gubernatorial race against Democrat incumbent Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
The Michigan GOP, NBC News and other media outlets reported Dixon’s win. The results are unofficial.
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As global and national gasoline prices continue to trend downward, the average cost for a gallon of gas in Virginia has fallen below $4.
As of Aug. 2, the average gallon of gas costs about $3.97, according to numbers provided by AAA. For a gallon of diesel, the average cost is dipping closer to $5 per gallon, but still sits at about $5.16. This is much lower than gas prices one month ago, which were about $4.63 for a gallon of regular gas and more than $5.70 for diesel.
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Wisconsin’s professional licensing department is blaming a lack of employees as well as a lack of money for the months-long delay in getting people their paperwork to go back to work.
The legislature’s Study Committee on Occupational Licensing held a daylong meeting Tuesday where lawmakers pressed Department of Safety and Professional Services leaders, the latter who essentially blamed lawmakers.
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As vote counting continues in Arizona’s Republican gubernatorial election, Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, the Democrat nominee, is being slammed for the slow vote count.
“Arizona’s glacial vote-counting isn’t exactly a ringing endorsement for how Katie Hobbs would perform as governor,” said John Gabriel, editor-in-chief of Ricochet.
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Recent website updates by the Florida Department of Education (FDOE), under the recently appointed Commissioner of Education – Senator Manny Diaz, puts a focus on parental rights and COVID guidance.
Diaz’s appointment was announced by the State Board of Education on April 29, 2022.
The website update provides a link at the top of the FDOE home page called “Featured Topics.” The top featured topics listed under the link are “Parental Rights” and COVID-19.
Under the “Parental Rights” tab is a message that states, “Florida is taking bold steps to protect parental rights and ensure the lawfulness of instructional materials. If you believe you have found unlawful materials in your school or you are just unsure how to voice your concerns, please see the helpful information below.”
The “Parental Rights” page lists contact information to share concerns directly with FDOE or with a school’s principal. A link on the page lists contacts for all public school principals in the 67 school districts.
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The Pennsylvania Department of Education is encouraging teachers to host a “Gender-Neutral Day” for children with resources from the disgraced Southern Poverty Law Center’s (SPLC) Learning for Justice social justice education program.
The education department’s webpage titled “Gender/Gender Identity: Creating Gender-Inclusive Schools and Classrooms” contains a list of “Words You Should Know,” from “The Gender Spectrum,” which was published in 2013 by SPLC’s former Teaching Tolerance program.
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Blake Masters, a venture capitalist backed by former President Donald Trump, has won the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in Arizona.
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Georgia Republican Senate nominee Herschel Walker publicly challenged incumbent Senator Raphael Warnock to a debate in Savannah on Tuesday.
“Senator Warnock, I’m ready to debate. In fact, I just accepted a debate in your backyard, Savannah, where you’ve got home-field advantage, and it’s going to be broadcast statewide. I’m not a politician, I don’t look like a politician, I don’t sound like a politician, and frankly, I’m tired of politicians,” Walker said.
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Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich (R) recently announced that Arizona is joining a nationwide Anti-Robocall Task Force (ARTF) with 50 attorneys general to investigate telecommunication companies responsible for bringing in foreign robocalls to the United States.
“Foreign robocalls have become a threat to our privacy and security, and they need to be stopped,” Brnovich said in a press release. “Our bipartisan coalition seeks to end these illegal and unwanted calls and ensure that offenders are held accountable.”
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Governor Brian Kemp (R) signed two executive orders on Wednesday that extended the gas tax suspension and renewed the state of emergency for supply chain disruptions. These executive orders will be effective through September 12th.
“I have extended the temporary suspension of the state’s motor fuel tax to alleviate the financial burden placed on Georgians due to the federal government’s gross mishandling of inflation,” Gov. Kemp said.
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Joe Biden’s approval rating is holding steady at 38 percent in the latest poll conducted by Insider Advantage for the Center for American Greatness. The national survey of 800 likely voters showed that 60 percent of respondents disapproved of Biden’s job performance, and 5 percent had no opinion or were undecided.
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Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) begins the first congressional hearing on gain-of-function research Wednesday, attempting to determine whether the National Institutes of Health (NIH) used taxpayer funds for gain-of-function experiments at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
“Before we even get to whether the virus came from a lab we have to explore were they doing gain of function research?” Paul told Fox News’ Brett Baier Tuesday.
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Congressman Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) introduced a bill this week that would ban the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) from purchasing any more ammunition, after having already reached an alarmingly high amount.
As reported by Just The News, Gaetz’s bill, the “Disarm the IRS Act,” would forbid the tax-collecting agency from buying ammunition after the agency has already acquired up to 5 million rounds. In 2022 alone, the agency has purchased at least $725,000 worth of ammo.
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In the latest episode of “White Board Wednesday,” U.S. Representative Mark Green (R-TN-6) used humor to demonstrate why the Biden administration’s messaging on the United States’ economic recession is missing the mark.
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As a mom of two teenagers who will be forging their pathways to adulthood in the coming years, I am particularly interested in new models of higher education. While college admission certainly isn’t a requirement for my children, I hope that if they choose to pursue a Bachelor’s degree or beyond, the experience is engaging and enlightening, exposing them to a variety of ideas and perspectives.
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Tennessee’s Department of Safety and Homeland Security says it has launched an application for school safety, called SafeTN.
“SafeTN is a secure, open door communications platform where you can send in tips and access useful resources to help keep your school and community safe,” according to the government agency.
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