Day: November 24, 2022

Franklin Gun Shop Owners Plead Guilty to Federal Charges

Peter D'Abrosca

Three Franklin-area family members pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and making false entries regarding the disposition of firearms, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).

“Alan Hassler, 49, Brian Hassler, 52, and Michael Hassler, 45, all of Franklin, Tennessee, and co-  owners of Franklin Gun Shop, a Federal Firearms Licensee (FFL) in Williamson County, Tennessee, were charged in September following a federal regulatory inspection by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF),” said a DOJ release. 

Read the full story

Sumner County Commission Votes to Return Comer Barn to Rogers Group and $250,000 Grant to the State

Laura Baigert

At the regularly scheduled meeting on November 14, the Sumner County Board of Commissioners in an unprecedented move voted to return the Comer Barn to the Rogers Group and give back a $250,000 grant to the State of Tennessee.

The resolution rescinds all previous actions and resolutions accepting ownership of the Comer Barn, relinquishing previous deeds so that ownership and control is given back to the Rogers Group.

Read the full story

Pennsylvania’s Thanksgiving Turkey Prices 21 Percent Higher than Last Year

The Center Square

The cost for Thanksgiving dinner has crept up, as has the gas Pennsylvanians buy to get to their relatives.

“The centerpiece on most Thanksgiving tables – the turkey – costs more than last year, at $28.96 for a 16-pound bird,” the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau said in a price report. “That’s $1.81 per pound, up 21% from last year, due to several factors beyond general inflation.”

Read the full story

McCarthy Says GOP Will Remove Omar from Committee Assignment

Admin

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said he will follow through on his promise to remove Rep. Ilhan Omar from the House Foreign Affairs Committee when Republicans retake control of Congress.

“Last year, I promised that when I became Speaker, I would remove Rep. Ilhan Omar from the House Foreign Affairs Committee based on her repeated anti-semitic and anti-American remarks. I’m keeping that promise,” McCarthy said on Twitter.

Read the full story

Former Rep. Tom Garrett Announces Campaign for GOP Nomination in House District 56

Eric Burk

Former U.S. Representative Tom Garrett has announced his campaign for the GOP nomination in Virginia’s House of Delegates district 56, where he’ll face Jennie Wood, a marketing director and fundraising consultant with experience in the Goochland GOP unit and Senator Mark Peake’s (R-Lynchburg) legislative office.

In 2018, Garrett announced he wouldn’t seek reelection to Congress, citing problems with alcoholism, according to Politico, which reported the congressman and his wife had used official staff for personal errands and chores. At the time, Garrett partially denied the allegations, but said, “there’s one area where I haven’t been honest. The tragedy is that any person Republican, Democrat or independent who’s known me for period of time and has any integrity knows two things: I am a good man and I am an alcoholic.”

Read the full story

Connecticut Gets Boost from Credit Rating Agency

The Center Square

A Wall Street credit rating firm has bumped up Connecticut’s score for its general obligation bonds, citing the state’s ever improving financial outlook. 

Standard & Poor’s announced Monday, it is upgrading Connecticut’s general obligation bond credit rating from A+ (positive) to AA- (stable), as the state prepares to issue more than $900 million in bonds next week for school construction and other public projects. 

Read the full story

VoterGA Reports ‘Serious’ 2022 Election Abnormalities, Over 20,000 Votes ‘Subtracted’ from Totals for Republican Senate Candidate Herschel Walker

Susan Berry, PhD

Voters Organized for Trusted Election Results in Georgia (VoterGA) reports it has identified significant abnormalities in the 2022 Georgia general election, including results that show over 20,000 votes were “inexplicably subtracted” from the vote totals for U.S. Senate Republican candidate Herschel Walker.

The organization, a coalition of citizens seeking to restore voter integrity in Georgia, presented at a press conference Wednesday a sworn affidavit, corroborated by the Edison media line feed, showing the “subtracted” votes.

Read the full story

Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer’s Founding of Partisan PAC Raises Ethical and Legal Questions of Possible Misconduct 

Michael Patrick Leahy

Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer is coming under increasing scrutiny after the botched election in Maricopa County, leading some to question his founding and operation of the Pro-Democracy Republicans PAC, whose stated mission is “to support pro-democracy Arizona Republicans” who reject “conspiracy theorists and demagoguery” from candidates who maintain the 2020 presidential election in Arizona was stolen. In the context of the 2022 election, this is an indication of Richer’s direct opposition to GOP gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake, GOP Secretary of State nominee Mark Finchem, several state legislators and candidates for Maricopa County Supervisor.

Read the full story

Whitmer Appoints Kyra Bolden to Michigan Supreme Court

The Center Square

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said she will appoint Kyra Harris Bolden to fill a seat on the Michigan Supreme Court, making her the first Black woman to serve on the state’s high court.

Justice Bridget McCormack resigned this year, leaving an open seat. Bolden, a current state Representative, was a Democratic pick for a seat on the Michigan Supreme Court during the Nov. 8 election but lost.

Read the full story

State, National Republicans Taking Appeals Court Ruling to Georgia Supreme Court

The Center Square

A Georgia appeals judge has declined to overturn an early voting ruling, and Republican leadership groups have taken their appeal to the Georgia Supreme Court.

Voters will return to the polls for a U.S. Senate runoff between Democratic U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock and Republican challenger Herschel Walker. Election Day is Dec. 6, and the appellate ruling allows early voting to commence Saturday.

Read the full story

Abe Hamadeh and RNC Lawsuit Calls Out Issues Seen on Election Day

Neil Jones

Republican Attorney General nominee Abe Hamadeh, along with the Republican National Committee, filed a lawsuit Tuesday against his Democrat opponent Kris Mayes and the counties of Arizona, alleging that errors in the 2022 General Election should prevent a winner from being named in this race.

“Arizonans demand answers and deserve transparency about the gross incompetence and mismanagement of the General Election by certain election officials. I will not stop fighting until ALL voters receive justice. See you in court,” Hamadeh tweeted when announcing the suit.

Read the full story

Ohio Supreme Court Halts State’s Attempt to Collect More Taxes from NASCAR

Hannah Poling

The Ohio Supreme Court ruled Tuesday morning that revenue earned by NASCAR from selling the rights to broadcast stock car races and merchandise to Ohio fans is not subject to state business taxes.

In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court rejected the Ohio Tax Commissioner, Jeffrey McClain’s, order that NASCAR owes the state almost $550,000 for money earned from broadcasting races, online marketing, and sponsorship fees.

Read the full story

Georgia Republicans Push Their Voters to Early Voting

Eric Burk

Georgia Republicans are pushing their supporters to embrace early voting in the December 6 runoff election between Senator Raphael Warnock (D-Georgia) and Herschel Walker. Early voting began Wednesday in DeKalb County, and some other counties will have early voting on Saturday after a Georgia Supreme Court decision, but all counties must offer early voting beginning November 28.

“If you are a conservative you should VOTE EARLY IN PERSON in Georgia. Don’t trust the Election Day madness. Learn from Maricopa and vote early and securely,” Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk tweeted Tuesday.

“Absolutely right,” Georgia Republican Party Chair David Shafer responded.

Read the full story

Ohio Congressman Wenstrup Sponsors Bill to Expand Housing Availability for Homeless Veterans and Students

Bradley Vasoli

U.S. Representatives Brad Wenstrup (R-OH-2) and Danny Davis (D-IL-7) this week introduced a measure to assist homeless veterans, foster youth and others in obtaining affordable housing as they seek college degrees. 

Wenstrup and Davis hope to change the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC), which lightens the tax burden on developers constructing or rehabilitating low-cost rental units. Currently, LIHTC does not permit full-time students to avail themselves of LIHTC-funded housing sites. This restriction was written to prevent the tax credit from funding dormitory buildings. 

Read the full story

Ohio Supreme Court Dismisses Case on Governor DeWine’s Halt to Additional COVID Unemployment Benefits

Hannah Poling

The Ohio Supreme Court unanimously dismissed a case on if Governor Mike DeWine had the authority to cut off an extra $300 per week in federal unemployment benefits.

Justices dismissed the case as “moot.” Without a court order requiring the federal government to keep these additional unemployment benefits, it was unclear if the money still existed.

Read the full story

Walmart Shooter Who Killed Seven, Including Himself, Was An Employee, Police Say

Admin

A Chesapeake, Virginia, Walmart store employee shot seven people fatally, including himself, and injured several others Tuesday night, according to authorities.

Six victims died and four were hospitalized, with the suspect dying of what police believed to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Chesapeake Police Chief Mark Solesky explained at a Wednesday morning press conference streamed by ABC News. The shooter was a Walmart employee and used a pistol, Solesky said.

Read the full story

Kevin McCarthy Threatens Biden’s DHS Secretary with Impeachment If He Doesn’t Resign

Admin

House Republican Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy threatened President Joe Biden’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas with impeachment Tuesday during a visit to the border in El Paso, Texas.

McCarthy, who is vying for the House speakership, said Republicans will push for Mayorkas’ impeachment if he refuses to step down. He was joined by several Republican colleagues, including Texas Rep. Tony Gonzales, who represents a southern border district, that made the trip to show support for Border Patrol.

Read the full story

Disgraced Crypto Ex-CEO Was Plotting to Spend Nearly $1 Billion Boosting Dems, Reshaping American Politics: Report

Admin

Sam Bankman-Fried, former CEO of now-bankrupt crypto exchange FTX, had planned to become the biggest donor to the Democratic Party in 2024, a cycle in which he might have spent as much as $1 billion, according to investigative journalist Theodore Schleifer, writing for Puck News Wednesday.

The erstwhile billionaire filed in April, 2022, to incorporate an umbrella organization known as The Center for the Future in Delaware, according to Schleifer, citing corporate database Open Corporates. The organization intended to tackle a variety of hot-button issues ranging from pandemic preparedness to democracy reform, the foundation of which was the first salvo in a 50-year influence campaign designed to fundamentally transform American politics, Schleifer alleges, citing sources who spoke with Bankman-Fried’s aides.

Read the full story

Higher Prices Hit the Holiday Season as Black Friday Approaches

The Center Square

Americans will pay higher prices for a range of goods and services for the Thanksgiving holiday and Black Friday shopping this year, and it looks like things may only get worse as we draw nearer to Christmas.

Those driving for the holidays and of course those preparing the Thanksgiving meal will pay the price this year. Federal inflation data from the Commerce Department shows energy costs have risen 17.6% in the past year, and overall food costs increased 10.9% in the same time.

Read the full story