Appeals Court Panel Allows DOJ to Continue Reviewing Documents from Trump Raid

A panel of three judges for the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has allowed the Department of Justice to continue reviewing documents the FBI seized from Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, upending part of an earlier ruling from the district court judge.

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon earlier this month enjoined further federal review of the documents and appointed New York Judge Raymond Dearie as special master to independently review them.

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Amazon Spends Big to Keep Drivers from Leaving

After years of high turnover that left some employees feeling expendable, Amazon is spending just shy of half a billion dollars for delivery partners to raise pay and provide benefits for drivers amid growing concerns of a labor shortage.

The $450 million investment into Amazon’s Delivery Service Partners (DSP) network gives money to partnered companies to offer drivers pay increases, alongside funding for new benefits such as a 401(k) plan and education and training programs, according to Amazon’s announcement. The announcement, which Amazon said is part of efforts to build and retain “great teams,” comes less than four months after internal documents were leaked revealing Amazon’s concern that if its current hiring practices and treatment of employees continued, it would run out of people willing to work for the company by 2024, according to Vox.

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McConnell to Fundraise for Blake Masters Despite Past Discord

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is fundraising for Republican Arizona Senate candidate Blake Masters, according to Punchbowl News.

McConnell will be the special guest at a Wednesday fundraising event for Masters, according to Punchbowl. The news comes amid an apparent conflict between Masters and McConnell: the Senate Leadership Fund, which is affiliated with McConnell, pulled millions of dollars in ad buys for Masters in August after Masters publicly criticized him multiple times.

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‘Dismantling Capitalism’: California School District Sponsors Activist Training Facility

A California school district features a “social justice academy” to teach kids to be activists and challenge capitalism, homophobia and white supremacy, according to the academy’s website.

San Leandro High School in San Leandro, California, uses their Social Justice Academy to educate students on how to “disrupt systems of power and oppression,” according to the academy’s website. The academy is a three-year program aimed at students in 10th through 12th grade and requires the students to run an activist “campaign” as their final project.

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Report Reveals ‘Shocking Long-Term Gaps in Federal Oversight’ over Prison Deaths

The Department of Justice’s tally of how many people died while in custody missed hundreds of deaths over the past couple of years, a 10-month U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations probe revealed.

The problems spanned many years over multiple administrations, and committee staffers said there is widespread blame for the oversight. The investigation found that changes to the methods for collecting the data and a transition of the agency within the Justice Department responsible for carrying out the act’s requirements led to the problems.

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California Files Antitrust Lawsuit Against Amazon

California Democratic Attorney General Rob Bonta announced on Wednesday an antitrust lawsuit against Amazon, claiming that the retail giant “stifled competition and caused increased prices” in the state. 

“Amazon coerces merchants into agreements that keep prices artificially high, knowing full well that they can’t afford to say no. With other e-commerce platforms unable to compete on price, consumers turn to Amazon as a one-stop shop for all their purchases,” Bonta said. “This perpetuates Amazon’s market dominance.” 

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Commentary: Advances in Medical Testing Making Health Challenges Easier to Diagnose

You may suffer from autoimmune pulmonary alveolar proteinosis, or aPAP, but you might not know it yet. Importantly, your doctor may not know it either. 

Thousands of Americans suffer from aPAP, a rare autoimmune lung disease caused by the progressive build-up of an oily substance normally present in the lungs called surfactant. In healthy people, surfactant forms a thin layer that lines the tiny air sacs (alveoli) of the lungs and helps them function while we breath. In people with aPAP, the surfactant over-accumulates, making the layer thicker in some air sacs and filling others, blocking oxygen from moving out of the air sacs and into the bloodstream. 

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Tennessee Starts New Fiscal Year $130 Million Above Expectations in Tax and Fee Collections

The total taxes collected by Tennessee in the first month of the new fiscal year continued last year’s increasing trend.

Tennessee collected $1.5 billion in August, which was $130.5 million more than what was budgeted and $100.6 million more than what the state collected in August 2021, despite a moratorium on personal care and autocycle registrations.

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Memphis Record Pressing Predicted to Become North America’s Largest Producer of Vinyl Records

Memphis Record Pressing, located in Bartlett, Tennessee, is predicted to be North America’s largest producer of vinyl records by next year. Producing around 130,000 records a day, Memphis Record Pressing will produce over 10 million records this year.

Brandon Seavers, co-founder and CEO of Memphis Record Pressing, said, “It’s a humbling experience for me, and for Mark as well, to see where we are today. Literally every day when I drive up, I say, ‘This is not real. There is no way that we are manufacturing a legacy, analog format/medium in the 21st century, and we’re actually breaking ground and constructing a new facility to do this.”

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Proposed Constitutional Amendment Could Change Tennessee Governor’s Succession Line

A ballot initiative that will be voted upon this November could change the way Tennessee’s gubernatorial line of succession is structured. 

” On the November 8 ballot, Tennessee voters will have the opportunity to weigh in on a proposed amendment to the state constitution that establishes a framework for a temporary transition of power for the highest elected official in the state,” said a press release from the Tennessee General Assembly. “If approved, the amendment would be invoked if the governor is temporarily incapacitated and unable to perform his or her duties, most likely due to a medical emergency. Tennessee is the only state that does not have a provision in its state constitution to address this issue.”

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New York State Board of Regents’ Regulation Requires Private Schools to Provide Education ‘Substantially Equivalent’ to Government Schools

A new regulation announced by the New York State Board of Regents requires all of the state’s 1,800 private and religious schools to provide an education that is “substantially equivalent” to that offered by public, government-run schools.

The Board of Regents passed the new regulation last week unanimously and without debate, reported WABC.

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Representative Cohen Says Trump ‘Threatening Another Insurrection’

A U.S. Congressman from Tennessee said over the weekend that former President Donald Trump is still a threat, even though he no longer holds office.

“If indicted, Trump said there will be problems in this country ‘the likes of which we’ve never seen,'” said Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN-09) on MSNBC. “He’s threatening another insurrection and encouraging his people to be prepared to do it. He is a present and imminent danger to our democracy.”

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Commentary: Justice Department Desperate to Conceal ‘Classified’ Records

With one sentence, U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon spoke for the majority of Americans who no longer have faith in the nation’s top law enforcement agency. “It is also true, of course, that even-handed procedure does not demand unquestioning trust in the determinations of the Department of Justice,” she wrote in her September 15 order denying the government’s request to prevent a third-party review of allegedly “classified” documents seized by the FBI during the raid of Mar-a-Lago last month.

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Ohio State Board of Education Considers Resolution Against Gender Ideology

Ohio’s State Board of Education on Tuesday heard public comment on a proposed resolution treating biological sex as an “objective, scientific fact” and opposing school policies that seek to blur the lines on this subject.

Board member Brendan Shea (District 5) introduced the measure, which balks at regulations recently proposed by President Joe Biden. If finalized, the federal Department of Education rules would effectively force schools to call gender-dysphoric K-12 students by their preferred names and pronouns rather than their given names and biological pronouns. They would also require school athletic programs to assign children to teams based on avowed gender identity rather than physiological sex. 

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Arizona Officials React to August Southern Border Encounter Statistics

New southern border encounter statistics from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) revealed that officials encountered over 200,000 migrants at the border for the sixth month in a row, which Gov. Doug Ducey said is especially harsh on Arizona border towns.

“Border towns bear the weight of this record illegal immigration. Government services, hospitals and food banks are strapped. The Yuma sector had more than 24,000 migrant encounters in August – almost a quarter of the town’s population,” tweeted Ducey.

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Michigan’s Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy Department Issues Order Against Flint Chemical Company

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy with backup authority from the attorney general’s office and the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office, issued an order Monday against Flint-based Lockhart Chemical Company.

The company must immediately cease use of its wastewater and storm water conveyance systems. Instead, Lockhart must pump the contaminated liquids and ship offsite for disposal.

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Schools Across Virginia Targeted by Fake Reports of Active Shooters on Monday and Tuesday

Over a dozen school districts across Virginia were targeted by hoax reports of active shootings or other violence on Monday and Tuesday. That’s part of a broader wave of similar hoax calls targeting schools across the U.S.

“On Monday, Virginia State Police personnel responded to assist numerous local police and sheriff’s offices with reports of active shooters on school campuses,” Virginia State Police Public Relations Director Corinne Geller told The Virginia Star. “None of the threats were deemed valid, and the state police, through collaboration with the Virginia Fusion Center, is now working with those same local law enforcement agencies to investigate the source of the threats and to determine if there is any evidence to connect them.”

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Second Wisconsin Deputy Backs Away from Barnes Endorsement

For the second time in two days an active duty deputy in Wisconsin has cleared their name of endorsement for Mandela Barnes in his race for U.S. Senate.

The first was La Crosse Sheriff’s Capt. John Siegel on Monday. He said he never endorsed Barnes and doesn’t know how he ended up on Barnes endorsement list. On Tuesday, Racine County Deputy Malik Frazier, the only other active duty deputy on the list, backed out.

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Vanderbilt’s Gender Clinic Doctor: Trans Surgeries ‘Make Money for the Hospital’

The transgender clinic at Tennessee’s Vanderbilt University in Nashville, which administers body-altering drugs and performs mutilating surgeries such as double mastectomies, is a big money maker for the hospital.

“Vanderbilt opened its trans clinic in 2018,” reported author Matt Walsh in a social media thread. “During a lecture the same year, Dr. Shayne Taylor explained how she convinced Nashville to get into the gender transition game. She emphasized that it’s a ‘big money maker,’ especially because the surgeries require a lot of ‘follow ups.’”

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Pro-Lifers Pleased with Enthusiasm at Second Annual Pennsylvania March for Life

Pennsylvanians who support legal protections for innocent life including the unborn resoundingly celebrated the enthused showing at Monday’s Pennsylvania March for Life in Harrisburg, the Keystone State’s second such annual event.

Thousands of residents marched to the Capitol Building in support of legislation to prevent abortion, an issue that has seen a resurgence of interest since the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion nationwide was nullified earlier this year. Pro-abortion activists held their own rally for Democratic state Attorney General Josh Shapiro’s gubernatorial candidacy the day afterward, drawing few attendees.

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DeSantis Responds to Critics of Martha’s Vineyard Migrant Flights

Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida took on critics attacking him over flying illegal immigrants to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, during a Monday night Fox News appearance.

“Sean, it’s really frustrating. You have been covering this,” DeSantis told Fox News host Sean Hannity. “Millions of people since Biden has been president illegally coming across the southern border. Did they freak out about that? No. You had migrants die in the Rio Grande, you had 50 die in Texas in a trailer because they were neglected. Was there a freak out? No, there wasn’t.”

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Youngkin Announces 2022 GO Virginia Grants

Four projects focused on business development and jobs growth won the 2022 Growth and Opportunity for Virginia (GO Virginia) grant awards totaling $1.2 million.

“GO Virginia allows us to invest in key projects that will enhance our economic growth by fostering workforce development and stimulating new business opportunities,” Governor Glenn Youngkin said in a Tuesday announcement. “These projects exemplify the innovative partnerships that GO Virginia grants were designed to promote, driving regional advancement and strengthening our Commonwealth.”

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Nancy Barto Unveils New ‘Drain the Marsh’ Campaign Against State Senate Opponent

Arizona State Sen. Nancy Barto (R-Phoenix), who is running for reelection in Legislative District (LD) 4, unveiled a new campaign against her opponent Sen. Christine Marsh (D-Phoenix), Tuesday, called ‘Drain the Marsh.’

“Whenever we’ve tried to solve an important problem, Christine Marsh is there to block it with progressive ideology,” said Barto in a press release. “We’re facing rising crime, but Christine Marsh voted against giving our police effective tools to crack down on drug dealers.”

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Kari Lake Still Waiting for Katie Hobbs to Denounce Organizations Which Oppose the Police

Republican gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake and the Arizona Police Association (APA) have received radio silence from Democrat Katie Hobbs since sending her a letter six days ago demanding she denounce her allies who support defunding the police.

“Arizona voters are finally seeing who Katie Hobbs really is – a radical BLM activist who signs pledges denouncing law enforcement and fraternizes with dangerous ‘defund the police’ activists on the Left. Maybe that’s why she’s so afraid to share a debate stage with me, because she’ll be forced to defend her extreme anti-public safety positions,” Lake said in a press release.

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Kari Lake Launches ‘Ask Me Anything’ Tour After Hobbs’ Refusal to Debate

Arizona’s Republican gubernatorial nominee says she will conduct a wide-ranging tour to answer voters’ questions while her Democrat opponent remains noticeably absent from the campaign trail. 

Kari Lake said in a video posted to her Twitter account that she is announcing an “Ask Me Anything” tour in response to Secretary of State Katie Hobbs’s refusal to share a stage with her, escalating what has been a one-sided war in that arena. 

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New Super PAC-Funded Ads Arrive to Revive Blake Masters’ Campaign Against Senator Mark Kelly

As Blake Masters pulls to within striking distance of incumbent U.S. Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ), according to new polling by Trafalgar Group, the Frontiers of Freedom Action (FFA) Super PAC has jumped in to the Arizona media market to buy ads focused on opponent Kelly’s voting record.

The Arizona Sun Times asked Frontiers of Freedom President George Landrith, who also heads the FFA, why he thought the race was still winnable after Masters lost significant financial support. Landrith pointed to the gubernatorial race in New Jersey last year, where the Republican candidate, Jack Ciattarelli, was also a little-known newcomer like Masters, and written off by some in the Republican Party. Ciattarelli surprised everyone, losing by only 3.1 points in a very blue state.

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Commentary: Ohio Issue 1 ‘Strikes a Balance Between the Competing Interests Behind the Granting of Bail’

On November 8, 2022, Ohio voters will have the opportunity to amend the Ohio Constitution in a way that supports and promotes public safety. Issue 1, the “Ohio Determining Bail Amount Based on Public Safety Amendment” will add the following language to the Constitution: “When determining the amount of bail, the court shall consider public safety, including the seriousness of the offense, and a person’s criminal record, the likelihood a person will return to court, and any other factor the general assembly may prescribe.” The proposed amendment strikes a balance between the competing interests behind the granting of bail: preserving the accused’s presumption of innocence against the community’s need for public safety.

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Seven Midwest States Enter Hydrogen Coalition

Seven Midwest states entered a coalition to pursue clean hydrogen development as an alternative to gas and diesel fuel.

The governors of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin signed onto the Midwest Hydrogen Coalition. The coalition will accelerate clean hydrogen development, from production and supply chain to distribution in agriculture, manufacturing, transportation, and other industries.

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Migrants Whom DeSantis Flew to Martha’s Vineyard File Class Action Suit Against Him

Some of the migrants whom Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis flew to Martha’s Vineyard have filed a lawsuit against him and state officials.

These migrants allege that the group boarded the planes under false pretenses. The governor sent two planes of illegal migrants to upper crust liberal enclave Martha’s Vineyard late last week, prompting horror from the area’s residents and outrage from Democratic politicians. Authorities promptly relocated the migrants from the wealthy area to a military base near Cape Cod.

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Music Spotlight: AmericanaFest

NASHVILLE, Tennessee – To be honest, I am overwhelmed by the number of talented artists who perform daily in Nashville. I find I must carefully schedule who I see and what I write about.

A genre of music that often gets overlooked by mainstream media is Americana. Each September the best of the best gather in Nashville with free or mostly free shows all over the city, with the highlight being the Americana Music Awards.

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Federal Appeals Court Reverses Ruling on January 6 Subpoena to RNC, Dismisses Case

A federal appeals court has reversed a lower court ruling ordering the Republican National Committee to comply with a subpoena from the House Jan. 6 committee, poking the Democrat-led investigation for vacillating on key issues and acknowledging there were “important and unsettled constitutional questions” about whether the panel is lawfully constituted.

The U.S. Circuit Court for Appeals or the District of Columbia said it was dismissing the case because the Jan. 6 committee withdrew the subpoena to the RNC seeking records of its dealings with a digital fund-raising vendor Salesforce.

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TikTok Lawyer Says Left-Wing Nonprofit Offered Him $400 to Post Propaganda About Trump and January 6

An attorney with a popular TikTok account has exposed a corrupt left-wing influence operation that pays social media personalities to post disinformation about former president Donald Trump and January 6.

Atlanta-based attorney Preston Moore claimed on Saturday that he was offered $400 by the nonprofit “Good Information Foundation” to post manipulative “propaganda” ahead of the 2022 mid term elections.

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Fetterman Campaign Says Nominee’s Calls to ‘Free’ Second-Degree Murderers ‘Taken Out of Context’

The campaign for Pennsylvania Democrat Senate nominee John Fetterman on Tuesday walked back the candidate’s apparent call to release all second-degree murderers with life sentences. 

A spokesperson for Fetterman’s campaign told Fox News that the lieutenant governor’s comments “are being taken out of context,” and the nominee does not support freeing all convicts serving life without parole for second-degree murder.

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