Month: October 2022

Tim Ryan Unsure If Illegal Immigrants Should Be Permitted to Vote in Ohio

Hannah Poling

Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH-13) says that he is still undecided on two major issues on the Ohio midterm ballot, including one deciding if illegal immigrants should be allowed to vote in Ohio elections.

Under two weeks from the midterm election, Ryan says he doesn’t know his standpoint on Ohio’s two ballot initiatives. State Issue 1 if passed would require judges to consider public safety when setting bail amounts for criminal defendants. State Issue 2 would prohibit non-citizens from voting in state and local elections.

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Kari Lake Blasts Katie Hobbs and Fake News Media for Defamatory Statements Following Burglary

Neil Jones

PHOENIX, Arizona – Arizona’s Republican gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake spoke to a crowd of journalists following what she called “defamatory” statements attacking her for a burglary that occurred at her Democrat rival Katie Hobbs’s Phoenix campaign office.

“Katie Hobbs, sure enough, is a coward. She refuses to debate. She disrespects the people of this state by refusing to debate. She’s willing to make up complete, bogus stories. She knew I had nothing to do with that break-in, and yet she perpetuated that lie. You guys [the media] all fell for it, and she knew you’d fall for it,” Lake said.

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Democrat Blows Whistle on Alleged Ballot-Harvesting Scheme, Florida Opens Criminal Probe

Just the News

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ new election crimes unit has recommended state police open a full criminal investigation into a Democrat whistleblower’s detailed complaint of a long-running, widespread ballot harvesting operation in the African-American communities in politically important central Florida.

Former Orange County Commissioner candidate Cynthia Harris filed a sworn affidavit in late August with the Secretary of State’s office alleging that illegal operations to collect third-party ballots have been going on for years in the Orlando area where voting activists are paid $10 for each ballot they collect.

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Georgia Unemployment Rates Drop in September

The Center Square

Georgia’s Regional Commissions saw a drop in their unemployment rates in September, officials said.

Georgia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in September stood at 2.8% for the third consecutive month. The rate is down slightly from 3.2% in January and from 3.5% in September 2021. 

Meanwhile, the Atlanta Regional Commission’s preliminary non-seasonally adjusted unemployment was 2.6%. That is down from 3% a month ago and 3.5% a year ago.

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Public Comment on New Transgender Guidelines Ends, But Enactment Delayed for at Least 30 Days

Eric Burk

Public comment has ended on the Youngkin administration’s draft transgender model policies, but they won’t go into effect until November 26 at the soonest, and may take longer, according to Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) Director of Communications Charles Pyle. “The department’s timeline for finalizing the guidance and model policies document will be determined by the law (Section 2.2-4002.1.) and the amount of time required to review comments submitted by the public and make any edits to the document warranted by the comments. The guidance and model policies won’t become final until the review is complete and a final version is approved by the state superintendent,” Pyle told The Virginia Star. The 2022 Model Policies on the Privacy, Dignity, and Respect for All Students and Parents in Virginia’s Public Schools will replace the 2021 Model Policies for the Treatment of Transgender Students in Virginia’s Public Schools. Law passed in 2020 requires school boards to enact policies consistent with the model policy guidance documents created by the VDOE, and the law includes requirements over what the policies contain. During the 30-day comment period, the model policies received 71,298 public comments on Virginia’s regulatory review site, and although the board of education…

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Goldwater Institute Achieves Victory for Pima County Taxpayers in ‘Balloondoggle’ Case

Neil Jones

The Arizona-based Goldwater Institute (GI) announced Thursday that it had achieved victory in the state appellate court against Pima County on behalf of taxpayers for a scandal involving World View Enterprises (WVE).

“Arizona’s Constitution is crystal clear: Taxpayers shouldn’t have to shoulder the burden for corporate welfare. Yesterday’s ruling reinforces this edict, letting hardworking Arizonans off the hook for a ‘balloondoggle’ of epic proportions that sought to gamble with their own money,” said GI Vice President for Legal Affairs Timothy Sandefur in a statement emailed to the Arizona Sun Times.

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Ohio Secretary of State Warns Voters: Absentee Ballots Cannot Be Returned to Precincts

Hannah Poling

Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose cautions voters that Ohio law does not allow them to return their absentee ballots to their precincts on Election day.

Those who elect to hold onto their paper ballots until November 8th must deliver them to their county board of elections office. According to LaRose, poll workers at precinct-level voting locations cannot accept them.

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Kari Lake Campaign Highlights Katie Hobbs’ Racist Actions in New TV Ad

Neil Jones

With under two weeks until the November general election, Republican Kari Lake’s campaign for governor released a new TV Ad reminding Arizonans of the past racist actions of Lake’s Democrat opponent, Katie Hobbs.

“Katie Hobbs may try to run from her racist behavior, but she can’t hide her appalling record from the voters of Arizona,” said Lake’s campaign in a statement emailed to reporters. “Arizona’s state employees – and all Arizonans who are proud to call this state home – simply can’t afford to elect a racist to the governor’s office.”

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Obama Jumps into Pennsylvania Midterms After Fetterman’s Error-Filled Debate Performance

Admin

Former President Barack Obama urged Pennsylvanians to vote for Democratic candidates in the November midterm elections during a campaign ad, just days after Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman struggled during his debate with Republican Mehmet Oz.

Obama told Pennsylvanians that their midterm vote would shape the future of American democracy and women’s abortion rights, according to the 15-second ad which was obtained by Axios. Obama’s efforts to ramp up support for the Democrats in Pennsylvania comes after most of the debate audience believed that Fetterman failed to win, according to a recent poll conducted by WXPI.

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Commentary: Zero Basis Exists for the Claim That Electric Vehicles Have ‘Zero Emissions’

RealClearWire

As California, New York, and other states move to phase out the sale of gasoline-powered cars, public officials routinely echo the Biden administration’s claim that electric vehicles are a “zero emissions” solution that can significantly mitigate the effects of climate change. 

Car and energy experts, however, say there is no such thing as a zero-emissions vehicle: For now and the foreseeable future, the energy required to manufacture and power electric cars will leave a sizable carbon footprint. In some cases hybrids can be cleaner alternatives in states that depend on coal to generate electricity, and some suggest that it may be too rash to write off all internal combustion vehicles just yet. 

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State Department’s Afghanistan Rescue Program Had 325,00 Unread Emails, Federal Watchdog Reports

Just the News

A new federal watchdog report shows the State Department recently had as many as 325,000 unread emails from Afghans who assisted the U.S. war effort and want to be evacuated.

The report by the State Department’s inspector general shows the number of unread emails was as of May – nearly nine months after the U.S. military completely pulled out of Afghanistan, in a chaotic last-few-days exit in which residents were seen clinging in vain to the takeoff gear of cargo evacuation planes and ultimately being left behind.

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Commentary: Fetterman’s Record in Braddock Is No Roadmap for Pennsylvania

RealClearWire

Aliquippa, Duquesne, Greenville, New Castle, and Rankin: western Pennsylvania has no shortage of economically distressed municipalities that seem to have been left by the wayside and forgotten. But the town of Braddock got something different: a political figure standing 6-foot-8, draped in gym shorts and a Carhartt hoodie. He promised to turn around a persistent economic depression, and he brought national media attention to the small town, which had seen a population decline from a peak of 20,000 in the 1920s to under 1,800.

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GDP Bounces Back with 2.6 Percent Growth After Decline Earlier This Year

The Center Square

The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis released its quarterly Gross Domestic Product data Thursday which the economy grew in the third quarter of 2022 by 2.6% at an annualized rate.

“The increase in real GDP reflected increases in exports, consumer spending, nonresidential fixed investment, federal government spending, and state and local government spending, that were partly offset by decreases in residential fixed investment and private inventory investment,” BEA said.

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Pennsylvania GOP Prepares to Impeach Philadelphia DA Larry Krasner

Admin

Republicans in the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives are taking steps towards impeaching Larry Krasner, the far-left District Attorney of Philadelphia, due to his record of soft-on-crime policies that have made the city more dangerous.

According to the Washington Free Beacon, a group of Republicans in the lower house, led by State Representative Martina White (R-Penn.), filed articles of impeachment against Krasner on Wednesday. This comes after a bipartisan majority of the State House gave the House Select Committee on Restoring Law and Order the authority to investigate the causes of the rising crime wave in Philadelphia, and to propose solutions for solving the crisis.

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White House Spokesman Won’t Say If Hunter Biden Still Shares Ownership of Firm with Beijing

Admin

On Wednesday, White House spokesman John Kirby claimed that he had no information as to whether or not Hunter Biden is still co-owner of an investment firm that he shared with the Chinese government, even though Hunter’s lawyer has claimed that he has divested the entirety of his ownership stake.

The New York Post asked Kirby, the top spokesman for the National Security Council, if Joe Biden’s son still owns 10 percent of BHR Partners, a private equity company backed by the state.

“On China, this is a very simple question, but it’s an enduring point of uncertainty: Does the president’s son still co-own a company with China’s government?” The Post reporter asked at Kirby’s latest White House briefing. “And if not, can you provide some basic transparency about who bought that stake and for how much money?”

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Democrat Mayor Wants to Give Herself a Pay Raise Despite City’s Rampant Crime

Admin

Democratic Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is lobbying for a raise to her $216,000 salary, according to the Chicago Sun Times, despite the city’s crime problem worsening considerably under her leadership.

The Mayor’s salary hasn’t changed since 2005, but Lightfoot’s new budget proposal includes an annual salary adjustment equivalent to the rate of inflation, capping it at 5%, according to the Chicago Sun Times. Chicago has seen major crime spikes in several categories, including homicide, under Lightfoot’s leadership.

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Mortgage Rates Spike to Highest Level in over 20 Years

Admin

Mortgage rates have continually increased for 10 straight weeks, with current 30-year fixed rates hitting their highest point since 2001.

Mortgage rates hit 7.16% for the week ending in Oct. 21 as markets simultaneously saw a 2% decrease in demand for loans, according to a Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) survey. Mortgage rates are predicted to continue climbing as ongoing inflation concerns have left many analysts predicting another hike in interest rates, CNBC reported.

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AP Reporter Takes Sides Against Tennessee Right-to-Work Campaign

Bradley Vasoli

The campaign for the constitutional “right-to-work” amendment appearing on this year’s Tennessee election ballot has garnered vocal opposition from labor unions and other left-wing thought leaders. Supporters could have expected that. Less predictably, a Nashville-based Associated Press reporter railed against the effort this week.

In a Twitter post, AP writer Kimberlee Kruesi opined strongly against Governor Bill Lee’s pronouncements on the issue, characterizing them as “false” and “outrageous spin.” 

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Representative Tim Burchett Sponsors New Act Which Would Use Recycled Plastic in Asphalt

Kaitlyn Osteen

Tennessee U.S. Representative Tim Burchett (R-TN-02) introduced the Recycled Plastic Asphalt Act last week that would create a research program for using recycled plastic in asphalt.

Burchett said, “If we want to take care of our environment, we need to rely on more innovative green solutions than just wind and solar. Studying the real-world use of RPM asphalt will take us a step closer to building a cleaner infrastructure and a cleaner future.”

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Shelby County Mayor Calls for $15 Minimum Wage

Peter D'Abrosca

Amid historic inflation that has eaten away at Americans’ paychecks, the mayor of Shelby County is calling for Tennessee’s General Assembly to pass a law increasing the minimum wage. 

“Today, Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris released his administration’s recommendations for the upcoming session of the Tennessee General Assembly,” said a release from Harris’s office. “Mayor Harris’ priorities center around legislative actions that support youth and families, increase public safety, improve access to healthcare, and strengthen our democracy. One of Mayor Harris’ top legislative priorities is the adoption of a state-wide minimum wage of at least $15.”

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Sen. Hagerty: Biden Will Allow Two Times Tennessee’s Population in Illegal Aliens to Enter Country

Peter D'Abrosca

A U.S. Senator from Tennessee slammed President Joe Biden for his open borders policies, and contextualized the amount of illegal aliens who will cross into the United States under the Biden administration. 

“With an estimated 5,500,000 illegal border crossings so far, Biden is on track over a 4-year term to allow illegal immigration in an amount nearly double the entire population of Tennessee,” Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN) said Tuesday on Twitter. 

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Commentary: The Rise of the Biomedical Security State

RealClearWire

“History doesn’t repeat itself,” said Mark Twain, “but it often rhymes.” This is among the reasons we look to the past, straining as best we can through the deepening fog of time to discern lessons for our own day. Analogies to the events that came before are always imperfect, but nevertheless often useful for understanding our present moment. Thus, only a historical myopia can explain why it’s become so common to describe the events involving the covid pandemic as “unprecedented,” even though pandemics have tended to occur every hundred years or so. This nearsightedness is also perilous given, for instance, the World Economic Forum’s “Great Reset Initiative” and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s recent pledge to spend $200 million on developing international biometric-based digital identifications. 

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Teachers’ Union Bosses Sidestep Unprecedented Student Achievement Losses Linked to COVID School Closures They Demanded

Susan Berry, PhD

The heads of the nation’s largest teachers’ unions had little to say following the release Monday of national test scores that showed massive declines in student math and reading achievement following pandemic school closures the unions insisted were necessary for teacher safety.

Becky Pringle, president of the National Education Association (NEA) “remained silent,” Fox News reported Monday as results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) revealed the damage tied to school closures during the COVID crisis.

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Former Memphis Police Officer Sentenced to 12 Years in Federal Prison for Civil Rights Violations

Peter D'Abrosca

A former Memphis Police officer was sentenced to more than a decade in prison after pleading guilty to several crimes. 

On January 24, 2020, former Memphis Police Officer Sam Blue 63, pled guilty to conspiracy to violate civil rights by using force, violence, and intimidation, and conspiracy to commit robbery affecting interstate commerce,” said a press release from the Department of Justice (DOJ). “On October 25, 2022, United States District Court Judge John T. Fowlkes Jr. sentenced Blue to 144 months in federal prison to be followed by three years’ supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.”

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Ohio Senatorial Candidate Flips Stance, Calls for Fentanyl to Be Classified as ‘Weapon of Mass Destruction’

Hannah Poling

Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Rep. Tim Ryan (D-13) claims that he wants to label fentanyl as a “weapon of mass destruction” although he previously made a pledge to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in 2019 to decriminalize all drug possession.

The long time Democrat has consistently opposed efforts to limit the flood of the deadly opioid into the United States and Ohio.

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Arizona Voters Reporting Numerous Election Discrepancies Such as Unrequested Ballots on New Election Integrity App VotifyNow

Rachel Alexander

Concerned voters are ramping up efforts to combat voter fraud, and one innovative election integrity company has created an app to report and share suspicious incidents. VotifyNow is a downloadable app that compiles nationwide reports from observers, such as voters in Arizona complaining about receiving unrequested ballots in the mail. On election day, the app will provide users with information about what incidents are being reported in their localities. 

VotifyNow founder Johnny Vieira told The Arizona Sun Times, “Our mission is to restore confidence in elections. We spent the last 16 months developing VotifyNow using very smart code and algorithms to help voters accurately report suspicious incidents with the touch of just a couple buttons. We put this much time into our platform to help users avoid false flags and give them confidence knowing anything they report will be vetted thoroughly before ever being shared with others, unlike other groups and media out there.“

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Nashville East Bank Stadium Committee Takes Critical Look at Titans Stadium Proposal

Laura Baigert

Nashville’s East Bank Stadium Committee met Wednesday evening in the Council Chambers at City Hall to take its first critical look at the Tennessee Titans stadium proposal announced last week by Nashville Mayor John Cooper and the team.

The meeting was held a day after the team shared renderings of its new potential stadium, created by the same architectural firm that worked on Las Vegas’s Allegiant Stadium.

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DeSantis Leads Crist by Double Digits in Latest Florida Governor Poll

Admin

Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida is ahead of his Democratic opponent, former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, by double digits in the state’s gubernatorial race, according to a new survey released on Wednesday.

DeSantis led Crist by 14%, earning the support of 55% of respondents over Crist’s 41%, according to the University of North Florida’s Public Opinion Research Lab, which conducted the survey. The poll, if correct, would mean a landslide win for DeSantis and a marked increase from his 2018 margin of victory over Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, which was 0.4%.

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Michigan Jury Finds Three Guilty of Supporting Terrorist Act in Whitmer Kidnapping Plot

Just the News

Three men accused of supporting the plan to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer were found guilty Wednesday of providing “material support” for a terrorist act as part of a paramilitary group.

A Jackson, Michigan, jury also convicted Pete Musico, his son-in-law Joe Morrison and Paul Bellar of a firearms crime and being members of a gang, the Wolverine Watchmen, The Associated Press reported.

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Connecticut Small Businesses Get $46.6 Million in Five-Year Plan

The Center Square

A five-year plan to invest in small businesses in Connecticut is now a reality.

Connecticut will invest $46.6 million in the coming years that will help small business expansion through assistance programs across the state. Nonprofit economic development groups will receive the state grants, authorized at a recent Bond Commission meeting, that will assist small businesses with formation, growth and innovation.

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Undercover Video Reveals Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly Campaign Strategy to ‘Play Both Sides’ of Abortion Issue to Deceive Voters

Susan Berry, PhD

A paid “Mark Kelly for Senate” staff member is heard revealing to an undercover Project Veritas Action (PVA) journalist Kelly’s campaign deception strategy to “play both sides” of the abortion issue by saying “Mark Kelly is pro-life” when, in reality, he is not, in order to win over ‘Independents’ and ‘Moderate Republicans’ in Arizona.

In the video released Tuesday, Evynn Bronson of the Mark Kelly for Senate campaign – a Mission for Arizona field organizer – is recorded explaining to the undercover PVA journalist how to win votes from Independents and “moderate Republicans” for the Democrat senator by deceiving Arizonans on the issue of abortion.

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Buckeye Institute Disputes Expanded Municipal Taxing Authority in Ohio on Behalf of Blue Ash Resident

Bradley Vasoli

A Columbus-based think tank this week filed its legal response in the Ohio Supreme Court in defense of a Blue Ash man who believes the state cannot make him pay Cincinnati income taxes for a period of time he actually worked from home. 

The Buckeye Institute argued that a state law passed in March 2020 to allow jurisdictions encompassing an “employee’s principal place of work” to levy taxes on that worker even when he or she works from home is unconstitutional. Specifically, the institute notes that the federal Constitution’s dormant commerce clause in Article I, Section 8 disallows states to enact statutes that “unduly burden interstate commerce.” Buckeye attorneys also believe the Ohio Constitution constrains lawmakers’ ability to broaden cities and towns’ tax-collection power. 

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Virginia Changes Regulations to Ease Licensure Process for Social Workers from Other States

Eric Burk

The Virginia Board of Social Work has changed licensing regulations making it easier for social workers licensed in other states to get licensed in Virginia.

“There is a critical shortage in Virginia of mental health professionals, and this is a significant step by the Board of Social Work to help address this shortage,” Governor Glenn Youngkin said in a Wednesday press release. “A priority of my administration is to reduce state regulations and regulatory barriers, and this action shows how regulations can be streamlined to remove barriers to practice with the goal of bringing more mental health professionals to the Commonwealth.”

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Virginia Hires Canton Group to Build New Voter Registration System Expected to Go Live in 2025

Eric Burk

The Virginia Department of Elections has awarded a $13.5 million contract to The Canton Group, which will build a voter registration system scheduled to go live in February 2025.

“As election technology and security requirements have increased, the need to replace our current voter registration system has become imperative. Due to the critical importance of this project, this procurement was subject to the state’s high risk requirements, including review by the Virginia Information Technology Agency and the Office of the Attorney General. There is broad support for replacing VERIS, and we were determined to obtain the best solution capable of serving the Commonwealth for years to come,” Commissioner Susan Beals said in a press release.

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Ohio Scores Fall in Math, Reading for Both Fourth Graders, Eighth Graders

The Center Square

Ohio recorded three-year decreases in scoring across the board for fourth graders and eighth graders in math and reading, respectively, according to a national study released this week.

The Nation’s Report Card, a product of the National Assessment of Educational Progress which began producing the report in 1969, cited an overall trend of decline in the United States. It comes in the COVID-19 era, when schools were closed by governments and students scrambled to learn remotely or get back into classrooms.

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Youngkin Campaigns for Virginia GOP Congressional Candidates

Eric Burk

Governor Glenn Youngkin is campaigning heavily for Virginia’s congressional candidates, with a focus on VA-02, VA-07, and VA-10, but he’s also stopping in other areas. On Wednesday morning, he attended a get-out-the-vote rally for Representatives Morgan Griffith (R-VA-09) and Ben Cline (R-VA-06), and by Wednesday evening, he was in Wisconsin supporting GOP gubernatorial candidate Tim Michels.

Youngkin’s Spirit of Virginia PAC, which has reported $4.75 million in contributions in 2022, announced his “Rally for Virginia Early Voting GOTV Tour” last week. The tour has 21 stops through November 7, including six stops supporting state Senator Jen Kiggans (R-Virginia Beach) for VA-02, seven stops for Yesli Vega in VA-07, and four stops for Hung Cao in VA-10. Youngkin’s also spending money to support the candidates; his Empowering Virginia Parents PAC has spent $414,147 in the three districts, according to The Virginia Public Access Project.

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Arizona Learning Camp to Help Students Recover from Pandemic Gets Funding for a Second Year

Neil Jones

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) announced Tuesday that the AZ OnTrack Summer Camp (AOTSC) would receive funding for a second year, giving kids another opportunity to catch up on learning lost during the pandemic.

“In light of this barometer of our kids’ success, there’s no time to waste to catch our kids up. We must continue to pour on the gas in our efforts,” said Ducey. “We know our kids lost ground during the pandemic – it was not good for them. In Arizona, we kept schools open, made critical investments in literacy programs and launched a summer camp to prevent further learning loss.”

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