Tennessee Appellate Court Says Government Housing Entity Must Respect Tenants’ Second Amendment Rights

A Tennessee appellate court said a public housing complex in Columbia must uphold the Second Amendment rights of its tenants.

“As a threshold matter, we recognize that Columbia Housing is a government entity acting as a landlord of the Creekside Acres residences,” Appellate Judge Frank Clement Jr. wrote in a Thursday opinion. “For this reason, the actions of Columbia Housing and the policies of Creekside Acres must conform to the [U.S.] Constitution.”

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Commentary: Connecting ‘Energy Inflation’ with ‘Climate Extremism’

In the approaching 2022 midterm elections, American voters will have the opportunity to decide whether oil industry executives are really to blame for high energy prices—or if it’s instead the political class that needs a shakeup. 

In a new report for Real Clear Energy, Joseph Toomey, a career-management consultant, makes a persuasive case that the energy inflation now victimizing American consumers and taxpayers is the result of deliberate public-policy choices made here at home. Even as President Biden vilifies energy companies, the evidence is overwhelming that the current regime in Washington is beholden to climate extremism at the expense of affordable energy, Toomey argues. 

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Biden Uses Antiquities Act to Establish New National Monument in Colorado

President Joe Biden signed a proclamation on Wednesday that establishes Colorado’s Camp Hale as a national monument.

The Camp Hale – Continental Divide National Monument marks Biden’s first use of the U.S. Antiquities Act to establish a new national monument. Camp Hale was a training facility for the U.S. Army’s 10th Mountain Division during World War II, and the division’s veterans played an influential role in establishing the state’s ski industry. 

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Michigan Bill Would Classify Gender Transitions as First-Degree Child Abuse

Michigan legislators are considering a bill that would classify gender transitions for minors as first-degree child abuse.

The bill, introduced Tuesday, would classify knowingly consenting to or assisting in a gender transition procedure for a minor as first-degree child abuse punishable by life in prison. Several Republican-led states have pushed to restrict transgender-related procedures for children, which can include therapy reinforcing a minor’s transgender identity, puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and surgeries.

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Bishop of Steubenville Diocese Seeks Merger with Columbus Diocese

The bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Steubenville is looking to potentially merge with the Catholic Diocese of Columbus. The merger is being considered for several reasons such as a declining Catholic population in the Steubenville diocese, an aging population of priests and Catholics, and economic struggles in the Ohio Valley.

“It is with sadness of heart that I share with you the continued decline in the Ohio Valley population and how it adversely affects our future sustainability. Furthermore, we are all too aware how the population is aging as well, to our ministerial detriment,” Bishop Jeffrey Monforton of Steubenville said.

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Youngkin, Griffith Announce More Recommended Projects for Abandoned Mine Grant Program

Governor Glenn Youngkin and Representative Morgan Griffith (R-VA-09) announced eight new projects in southwest Virginia that will be recommended for grant funding from the Virginia Abandoned Mine Land Economic Revitalization (AMLER) program. The projects include an outdoor recreation area, a shooting range, industrial sites, and a housing development.

“These projects selected support our goals of immediate job creation and the development of new business-ready sites that will be the fuel that drives new business investment in these southwest Virginia communities,” Youngkin said in a Friday announcement.

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AG Moody: Florida Law Enforcement Shuts Down Major Drug Trafficking Organization Affiliated with Mexican Cartels

Attorney General Ashley Moody’s Office of Statewide Prosecution and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement shut down a major drug trafficking operation run by gang members affiliated with Mexican cartels, Moody’s office announced Wednesday.

So far, 25 people have been charged, including SUR-13 (Sureños) gang members who already have multiple felony counts related to drug trafficking, violent criminal acts and conspiracy. They were arrested on a combined 64 first-degree felony counts. Many involved were already incarcerated in prisons in several counties in Florida.

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Georgia Officials Are Probing Raphael Warnock’s Church

Georgia is investigating a charity run by the church where Democratic Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock is a pastor due to concerns about its legal status, according to The Washington Free Beacon.

The Ebenezer Building Foundation is soliciting charitable contributions and operating as a charitable organization but isn’t registered as one in the state of Georgia, according to a letter from the Securities and Charities Division Georgia Secretary of State office. The letter urged the organization to register by Nov. 2 and noted that it could be subject to administrative penalties.

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Kari Lake Enjoys Support from Hispanic Voters as She Leads in New Arizona Governor’s Race Poll

As early ballots ship out to Arizonan voters, the OH Predictive Insights (OHPI) unveiled its latest poll for Arizona’s gubernatorial race, showing Republican Kari Lake with a lead over her Democrat opponent, Katie Hobbs, and growing support from Hispanic voters.

“Why would anyone be surprised that Hispanic voters are abandoning Katie Hobbs when she couldn’t even name a single thing she likes about them during a Latino outreach event? Like all Arizonans, Arizona Hispanics are sick and tired of policies promoted by Katie Hobbs and the Democrats that make our communities less safe and our groceries more expensive,” Lake said in an email to the Arizona Sun Times.

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15 More Minnesota County Sheriffs Endorse Jim Schultz for Attorney General

Jim Schultz, the Republican candidate for Minnesota attorney general, has received 15 more county sheriffs’ endorsements.

The news of 15 sheriff endorsements adds to the 22 endorsements he had previously received in September. “I am very proud to have public endorsements from 37 county sheriffs from every part of the state”, said Schultz in a press release. “This has never happened in Minnesota’s history. They endorsed me because Keith Ellison has emboldened criminals and ignored victims, and these sheriffs know I will support them in their work of protecting Minnesotans and in ensuring that victims receive justice.”

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Warnock, Walker Square Off in Georgia Senate Debate

Incumbent Georgia Republican Sen. Raphael Warnock squared off against his Republican challenger, former football star Herschel Walker in a Friday debate.

Inflation opened the debate. Walker attributed the rise in consumer prices to the Biden administration’s spending plans. He further proposed pursuing energy independence as a solution to both the nation’s economic and national security woes. He declined to back cuts to military spending when asked. “We have to be ready for war. This is not a playground,” he said.

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Colorado River Basin to Receive $4 Billion from Feds for Drought Mitigation

The federal government plans to pay farmers that draw water from the Colorado River to take less, one piece of a multi-pronged plan to reduce usage.

The U.S. Department of the Interior announced a new program that will draw on $4 billion in Inflation Reduction Act funding approved for water management and drought mitigation in the Colorado River Basin. Called the Lower Colorado River Basin System Conservation and Efficiency Program, it will be run by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. Through the program’s three components, it will select conservation proposals from Colorado River water delivery contracts and entitlement holders, typically farmers using the water to grow crops.

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Music Spotlight: Erin Kinsey

NASHVILLE, Tennessee- Although she only vaguely remembers it, I met Erin Kinsey at a Writer’s Round in a side room at the Bavarian Bierhaus at Opry Mills in March of 2021 and we still weren’t sure if we should even be gathering.

Long before Kinsey officially launched her country music career, the Texas girl was already a full decade into it. Her parents had her in every sport, club, and extra-curricular activity they could think of. She played tennis, basketball, and soccer and even took piano lessons. They wanted to help her figure out what she loved. Their goal was to help her find a career born out of passion.

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Celebrity Drag Queen Serves as Crossing Guard for Denver Students to Promote Safety

A Denver school featured a drag queen as a crossing guard in celebration of National Walk and Bike to School Day, according to school social media posts.

Drag entertainer Dixie Krystals helped students cross the street at Denver Public School on Oct. 12 as a part of the school’s Walk & Roll to School Day, according to social media posts. Krystals was included as one of the school’s “celebrity crossing guards” in honor of Pedestrian Safety Month.

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Commentary: USA Today’s Future

Hotel guests used to enjoy the morning courtesy of a complimentary newspaper before staying in or heading out on their way. Many of them opted not for the local paper of record but for the most generic one, USA Today, published by the conglomerate Gannett. Unlike the verbose and cerebral New York Times or Washington Post, it was written with the casual reader in mind. But the era of the newsroom has largely disappeared, and with it, perhaps also the daily newspaper.

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Commentary: The Pro-Life Movement Charts a New Path

For a half-century, anti-abortion protestors have traveled from across the country to Washington for the March for Life, an annual demonstration that starts on the National Mall and traditionally ends at the steps of the United States Supreme Court.

Now, for the first time in 50 years, the route will change. Organizers say they will start in the same place, but they won’t march to the high court. “It is more important that we finish at the U.S. Capitol,” Jeanne Mancini, president of the March for Life Defense and Education Fund, which has organized the march since 1974, told RealClearPolitics. Noting that in the wake of the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade, the question has been returned “to our elected officials and to the people through their elected officials.”

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