Tennessee Attorney General Skrmetti Leads Coalition of GOP AGs in Letter Demanding DOJ Respect Rights of Critics of Children’s Trans Surgeries

After the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association and the Children’s Hospital Association asked the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate critics of transgender surgery for minors, Tennessee’s Attorney General is leading a coalition of his peers in responding. 

“We, the undersigned State Attorneys General, write to express our deep concern with the recent letter you received from the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Medical Association, and the Children’s Hospital Association asking you to investigate and prosecute people who question the medical establishment’s current treatment of children struggling with gender dysphoria,” says the letter penned by Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, and co-signed by 12 other attorneys general. “You cannot and should not undertake such investigations or prosecutions.”

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Gov. Lee Announces $100 Million Violent Crime Intervention Fund

Tennessee’s governor Tuesday announced that the state would give local law enforcement $100 million to fight violent crime.

“As Americans face rising crime nationwide, TN is launching the $100 million Violent Crime Intervention Fund to equip local law enforcement with tools to keep every community safe,” said Gov. Bill Lee (R) on Twitter. “I invite all TN police departments & sheriff’s offices to apply today.”

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Report: Mexico Sues U.S. Gun Companies for Alleged Arms Trafficking After Judge Dismisses Similar Case

The Mexican government is suing five U.S. gun manufacturers for alleged arms trafficking following a judge’s dismissal of a similar case, according to Reuters, which obtained a copy of the lawsuit.

The lawsuit centers around “straw” sales of guns by customers purchasing on someone else’s behalf, Mexican government legal advisor Alejandro Celorio told Reuters. The Mexican government recently said that 500,000 guns are moved across the border from the U.S. to Mexico per year.

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Federal Court Orders Parts Manufacturer for Two Car Companies to End ‘Oppressive’ Child Labor Practices

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) obtained a federal court order to restrict an Alabama-based automotive parts manufacturer for Kia and Hyundai from employing children, many as young as 13, according to a recent DOL press release.

The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama ruled in a September consent judgment that the company, SL Alabama LLC, a subsidiary of South Korean SL Corporation, violated the Fair Labor Standards Act and engaged in “oppressive” labor practices, the release stated. The ruling follows an investigation by the Wage and Hour Division, and will effectively block SL Alabama LLC from shipping any products within 30 days of violations.

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Feds Pay $100K to Train Grad Students in ‘Diversity, Equity, Inclusion’

A top federal health research agency awarded more than $100K in taxpayer dollars for diversity and equity training for grad students to make them “agents of change.”

The National Institutes of Health allocated $103,380 via a federal grant to train students at the the NIGMS T32 predoctoral training program in Molecular and Cellular Biology at UC Davis in equity and inclusiveness.

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State Department Pushes Gender Transition Treatment for Diplomats and Their Children Abroad

The State Department released a Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA) Strategic Plan that says it is seeking to “assess resources for gender dysphoria and gender transition care at posts for employees and their dependents,” a move that suggests the department may be looking to taxpayer-funding to expand such treatments.

The Biden administration has mandated all federal agencies to have a plan to implement policies that reflect equity and inclusivity, with an emphasis on LGBTQ individuals, and some Republicans in Congress say such a policy for the gender dysphoric children of diplomats overseas would damage the credibility of the United States abroad.

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Greater Chattanooga Right to Life Participating in National ‘Bridges for Life’ Week

Greater Chattanooga Right to Life said it will be participating next week in a national pro-life trend. 

“We, along with other pro-life people from coast to coast will take to highway overpasses during rush hour with banners bearing the simple message that ‘Abortion takes a human life,'” according to the group’s website. “This message is especially needed right now given the high stakes of the midterm election. With one election, we could lose all the ground we’ve gained this year!”

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Commentary: Race-Baiting, Critical Race Theory Still High on Teachers Unions’ To-Do List

If you think teachers’ unions were discouraged to learn that nearly two-thirds of American adults hold an unfavorable view of Critical Race Theory (CRT) or that their own outspoken advocacy of the curriculum has proved to be political Kryptonite, you’re either overestimating their concern for what anyone else believes or underestimating their determination to turn schools into liberal indoctrination centers.

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Connecticut Water Systems to Receive Improvements Thanks to Infrastructure Law

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently awarded Connecticut more than $53 million from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act for water infrastructure improvements.

The state plans to use the funding for lead line replacement projects in New London and Waterbury, as well as PFAS treatment projects in New Fairfield and Danbury. Additional projects are slated for later funding.

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University of Florida Students, Faculty Protest Sasse Appointment over Gay Marriage Stance

University of Florida students and faculty are protesting the appointment of Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) as president of the school because of his positions on same-sex marriage. 

During a question-and-answer session that Sasse attended on Monday at the university, protestors claimed the senator’s stance on same-sex marriage makes him an unsuitable choice for being the university’s president, The Hill reported. 

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American Greatness Ohio Schedules Forum for November 1 Near Cincinnati

A new event in the forum series American Greatness PAC is hosting throughout the Buckeye State will take place in the Cincinnati area on Tuesday, November 1, one week before Election Day. 

The forum is the third the conservative political action committee is hosting, having already held an event in the Cleveland-Akron-Canton region and planning a forum that will occur east of Columbus on October 25 but for which tickets are no longer being sold online. 

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U.S. Supreme Court Rules Against Counting Undated Pennsylvania Mail-In Ballots

The U.S. Supreme Court invalidated a lower federal court’s decision Tuesday allowing Pennsylvania counties to count undated mail-in ballots. 

The case originated in 2021 after Republican David Ritter and Democrat Zachary Cohen vied for a judgeship on the Lehigh County Court of Common Pleas and their race came to a near tie. Cohen eventually netted a five-vote lead when the Philadelphia-based Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals resolved a dispute between the candidates about whether to count 257 absentee ballots. Those sheets were returned in envelopes on which the voter failed to write a date. 

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Arizona Democrat Gubernatorial Candidate Katie Hobbs Supports No Time Limits on Abortion

Arizona Democrat gubernatorial candidate Katie Hobbs refused to support any time limit at all on abortion, suggesting Sunday that women should be free to have an abortion at any time during pregnancy.

“I don’t support the 15-week ban,” Hobbs said during her appearance on CBS News’ Face the Nation, adding that Lake has “gone on the record saying she supports Arizona’s complete abortion ban,” a reference to the lifting of an injunction by Pima County Superior Court in September that had blocked enforcement of a ban on abortion except to save the life of the mother.

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Detroit to Spend COVID Relief Luring Back Long-Term Unemployed

The city of Detroit plans to spend federal COVID relief to pay groups to identify qualified individuals to enroll in training and return them to the workforce.

Applications are now open through early November for the new “In Detroit Organizations” program to identify long-term unemployed residents and enroll them in a JumpStart education or training program. The Center Square has asked for the total program cost but has not yet received an answer.

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Firebombed Wisconsin Pro-Life Center Has Not Heard from FBI Since May

A Wisconsin pro-life organization set ablaze and vandalized with the message “If abortions aren’t safe, then you aren’t either” says it has not communicated with the Federal Bureau of Investigation about the horrifying attack since May, when the attack originally occurred.

Wisconsin Family Action, the 501(c)(4) arm of Wisconsin Family Council, said earlier this year that the clinic was attacked by an “elitist anarchist group,” Anarchy 1312, that reportedly threw two Molotov cocktails into the office, broke windows, and firebombed the building early in the morning on Mother’s Day. It also graffitied the building with the message: “If abortions aren’t safe, then you aren’t either.”

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Raphael Warnock’s Church Evicted Poor Tenants as He Railed Against Evictions

Ebenezer Baptist Church, where Democratic Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock is senior pastor, moved to evict poor, low-income tenants from a building it owns while Warnock publicly railed against evictions, according to The Washington Free Beacon.

Columbia Tower at MLK Village in downtown Atlanta, of which the church is 99% owner, is a 501(c)3) non-profit intended to house the mentally disabled and chronically homeless, according to a grant application. However, the church’s business partner Columbia Residential filed a dozen eviction lawsuits against low-income residents throughout the pandemic over past-due rent amounts as low as $28.55 and successfully evicted two tenants, according to The Washington Free Beacon.

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Responding to Registration Backlog, Virginia Commissioner of Elections Says System Strained by Elections Law Changes

Commissioner of the Department of Elections (ELECT) Susan Beals said that legislative changes have stressed Virginia’s elections registration system, although she said the department is still investigating what caused a delay in the processing of thousands of voter registrations from the Department of Motor Vehicles.

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Proposed Ohio House Bill Looks to Eliminate ‘Third Grade Reading Guarantee’

House Bill 497 sponsored by Representatives Gayle Manning (R- North Ridgeville) and Phil Robinson (D- Solon) would eliminate student retention under Ohio’s Third-Grade Reading Guarantee.

Ohio’s Third-Grade Reading Guarantee is a program utilized to identify students who are behind in reading from kindergarten through third grade. Since the 2013-14 school year, third graders must obtain a 685 score or higher on a standardized reading test or they will be held back a grade.

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Maricopa County Approves New Program to Give Small Businesses a Larger Share of Its Business

Maricopa County announced Monday that the Board of Supervisors approved a new Small Business Advocacy Program (SBAP), which aims to provide these local enterprises with a larger share of county business.

“The program is about making sure that small and local businesses are being given a chance to sell goods and services to the county. The county buys everything from baby diapers to xenon light bulbs, we buy dentists and landscapers, plumbers and engineers – you name it – we probably buy it. It is a Board priority to support small and local businesses, when it makes sense, for purchases that are under $100,000 and not covered under an existing contract,” said the Maricopa County Office of Procurement (MCOP) in an email to the Arizona Sun Times.

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Goldwater Institute Fights ‘Release Time’ Practice in Phoenix to Prevent Forced Worker Financing of Union Activities

The Arizona-based Goldwater Institute (GI) is preparing another fight in court against a practice called “release time” to protect non-union government workers from having their compensation used to fund union activities.

“The City of Phoenix should not force its employees to forfeit their constitutional rights by funding the political speech of government labor unions as a condition of employment. We’re urging the court to end this unlawful cronyism and respect Arizona law,” said GI Vice-President for Litigation, Jon Riches, in a statement emailed to the Arizona Sun Times.

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Riggleman Endorses Spanberger; Republicans Say That Shows She’s Desperate

Former Republican Representative Denver Riggleman endorsed Representative Abigail Spanberger (D-VA-07) and appeared in a new ad touting Spanberger’s moderate stance. The Republican Party of Virginia (RPV) fired back, saying that Spanberger is “trying to burnish the false veneer of bipartisanship.”

“In Congress, the parties sit apart and don’t work together — except for Abigail Spanberger,” Riggleman says in the ad. “She’s trying to change Congress and make it work.”

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Music Spotlight: Ian Munsick

NASHVILLE, Tennessee – Ian Munsick comes from a musical ranching family. They were and are real-life singing cowboys. Under the tutelage of their fiddle-playing father, Munsick and his two older brothers grew up playing everything from bluegrass to The Beatles.

Ranching was how their father provided for them, but in the evenings, the family would often play music around town. They did rodeos and private events while traveling around the Rocky Mountain region.

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Expect Layoffs and a Recession If Fed Doesn’t Let Up, Bank of America Exec Warns

If the U.S. Federal Reserve continues its policy of aggressive interest rate hikes, the U.S. could lose hundreds of thousands of jobs, spiking unemployment, according to a Bank of America analysis, CNN reported.

Bank of America’s Chief U.S. Economist Michael Gapen expects roughly six months of relatively high unemployment and a”mild recession,” as the Fed’s aggressive interest rate hikes blunt consumer demand, he told CNN Monday. However, Gapen also noted that the typical bounceback seen after a recession might be delayed if the Fed, which has been incredibly hawkish on interest rates, refuses to reduce rates.

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Michigan Muslim Community Revolts Against Pornographic Books in Schools, Shuts Down Board Meeting

A Michigan school board suspended its Monday night meeting after members of the Muslim community called for the removal of sexually explicit books from the school district.

Dearborn School Board in Dearborn, Michigan, will resume its meeting Thursday after members of the local Muslim community attended the meeting to protest sexually explicit books in the school libraries that are currently under review. Meeting attendees also pushed back against the board’s book review policy implemented on Oct. 5 which requires parents to state why they are concerned about a book in the library before it is reviewed by media specialists.

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