Wednesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed Tennessee Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson (R-Franklin) to the newsmaker line to describe state House and Senate roles and highlight forthcoming agenda for 2023.
Read the full storyDay: December 14, 2022
Neil W. McCabe Comments on Ron DeSantis’ COVID Vaccine Side Effect Investigation
Wednesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed One America News national political correspondent, Neil W. McCabe to the newsmaker line to weigh in on Governor DeSantis’s investigation into COVID vaccine side effects and Floridian opinion on a 2024 presidential run.
Read the full storyCrom’s Crommentary: The Need for America to Strengthen Its Culture, Values Will Lead to Prosperity
Wednesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed the original all-star panelist Crom Carmichael to the studio for another edition of Crom’s Crommentary.
Read the full storyBeacon Center of Tennessee Publishes State’s 2022 Pork Report
The Beacon Center of Tennessee published its annual Pork Report this week, highlighting the wasteful spending of taxpayer dollars this past year across Tennessee.
Read the full storyA Provision in Congress’ Defense Bill Could Censor the Internet, Free Speech Advocates Say
A provision tucked away in Congress’ annual defense bill would allow federal judges and their household members to request content containing personal information be removed from websites, but some free speech advocates worry the rule could enable government censorship of online speech.
Read the full storyCambridge Dictionary Redefines ‘Woman’ to Include Men
Cambridge Dictionary updated its definition of the term “woman” to include anyone who identifies as female, including biological males.
The online dictionary defines “woman” as “an adult who lives and identifies as female though they may have been said to have a different sex at birth,” according to its website. The new definition is in addition to the conventional definition, which defines a woman as “an adult human female being.”
Read the full storyAmericans Say the Government Is Their Biggest Problem for Seven Years in a Row: Poll
Americans listed the federal government as the top problem facing the country for the seventh year in a row, according to a new poll.
Of over 1,000 respondents, 19% mentioned the government as the top problem with the country, saying they are dissatisfied with “some aspect” of the government, according to a Gallup poll released Tuesday. The government was ranked as more of a problem than inflation and the economy in general, with 16% dissatisfied with inflation and 12% dissatisfied with the economy in general.
Read the full storyCongressman Rose Criticizes SEC Chair for Failing to Conduct Proper Oversight in Midst of FTX Collapse
The U.S. House Committee on Financial Services held its first hearing investigating the collapse of FTX on Tuesday.
Read the full storyBaltimore Public School Teacher Boasts ‘Indoctrinating’ Middle School Students with Taxpayer Money
A Baltimore public middle school teacher danced and celebrated in a TikTok video in which she boasted she was “indoctrinating” her students with taxpayer funds.
Fox News Digital reported the teacher is Alexa Sciuto, who teaches Spanish at Pine Grove Middle School in the Baltimore County School District.
Read the full storyComplaints Emerge About Thousands of Newly Found Deactivated Voters Appearing on Voter Rolls Right Before Arizona Republicans Lost
Complaints are circulating that the number of voters on inactive status in Maricopa County greatly and abnormally increased between April and the general election this year. One of the Republican candidates who believed this may have influenced his race is Christian Lamar, who lost by 1,990 votes in the State House race in Phoenix-area LD 2.
Lamar told The Arizona Sun Times, “So far, a majority of 7,400 ‘newly found’ voters in my district still have a status of deactivated or removed. Also, they are mostly party not determined (unaffiliated) and more Democrats than Republicans in ‘newly found’ voters. From mostly blue precincts too.” He asked the Maricopa County Recorder for more information about the high numbers of inactive voters and was told there are currently 29,765 in his district of 161,134 registered voters, a number he finds “strangely high” considering about 82,000 voted.
Read the full storyOhio Attorney General Yost Unanimously Elected President of National Association of Attorneys General
The National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) elected Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost as president for the year 2023.
The association voted unanimously to elect Yost during the NAAG Capital Forum in Washington.
Read the full storyBlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee Foundation Announces $10,000 Scholarships Exclusively for Minority Students
Newly-announced scholarships for college students funded by the BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee (BCBST) Foundation and in partnership with the National Association of Health Services Executives (NAHSE) – Memphis Chapter will only be distributed to minority students
Read the full storyMark Finchem Files Lawsuit Contesting Election Results, Contends at Least 60,624 Ballots Were Not Counted in Maricopa County
Three of the Trump-endorsed candidates in Arizona who lost their races filed lawsuits contesting the election results. Gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, attorney general candidate Abe Hamadeh, and secretary of state candidate Mark Finchem all filed lawsuits on Friday.
Finchem’s complaint, which was filed jointly in Maricopa County Superior Court with Jeff Zink, a Republican candidate who lost his race challenging Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ-07), named Gallego, Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, who was declared the gubernatorial winner over Lake, and incoming-Secretary of State Adrian Fontes, who defeated Finchem, as defendants.
Zink was later dropped from the complaint in an amended complaint filed on Monday.
Read the full storyArizona Rep. Shawnna Bolick Calls for Senators Kyrsten Sinema and Mark Kelly to Defend Charter Schools
Arizona State Representative Shawnna Bolick (R-San Miguel) called on Senators Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) and Mark Kelly (D-AZ) to use their votes to protect charter schools around the nation from the Biden administration’s overreach.
“Will [Sinema] & [Kelly] stand with nearly 220K AZ public charter school kids and countless more families who support [school choice]? The teacher unions are using every tactic to drive a stake through [school choice],” tweeted Bolick
Read the full storyToledo City Council Proposes Use of Federal Relief Money to Transport Women Out of State to Have Abortions
The Toledo City Council plans to consider a resolution to co-opt COVID relief funds to transport women out of the state to have abortions.
The resolution, sponsored by Councilmembers Nick Komives, Theresa Gadus, and Michele Grim, calls for the appropriation of $100,000 from the COVID relief money provided to the city through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) taxpayer dollars intended to address the public health and negative economic impacts of COVID-19.
Read the full storyFlorida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo: mRNA COVID-19 Shots ‘Far Less Safe Than Any Vaccines Widely Used’
Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo continues to draw attention to studies that indicate the COVID mRNA shots have significant health safety concerns even as the federal government still presses Americans to take them.
Ladapo commented on social media regarding a study published in November at Clinical Research in Cardiology examined autopsies of 35 individuals who died unexpectedly within 20 days post-COVID-19 vaccination.
Read the full storyDeKalb County Mandates Security Cameras in Convenience Stores
The Dekalb County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously on Tuesday to require surveillance cameras in unincorporated parts of the county, effective June 30, 2023.
“We know that the gas stations and convenience stores in general have seen an increase in violent crimes and gun murders and gun violence. This new ordinance ensures that anyone who perpetrates a violent crime on site will be documented with a high-definition quality audio visual equipment, and then also, hopefully, the ability to tie in to the overall system that the police department uses in real time,” Commissioner Ted Terry said.
Read the full storyMinnesota Student Made ‘Murder List’ of Classmates, Suspended for One Day, Police Report Says
A fifth-grade girl who allegedly wrote the names of several of her classmates on a whiteboard and called it her “murder list” was suspended for just one day and has been back in the classroom since Nov. 11, according to a police report obtained by Alpha News.
According to the report, Isanti Intermediate School Principal Mark Ziebarth confirmed a 10-year-old student had written the names of several children she said she was going to kill on a Chromebook whiteboard.
Read the full storyTop Wisconsin Lawmakers Disagree on How to Spend State Taxpayers’ Money
Two of the top lawmakers at the Wisconsin Capitol say the state’s record $6 billion surplus is “the people’s money,” but they don’t agree on much else.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Assembly Assistant Minority Leader Kalan Haywood sat down for a question-and-answer session Friday with the Wisconsin Policy Forum.
Read the full storyLifeline Scholarships Reintroduced in Pennsylvania House
Pennsylvania state Representative Clint Owlett (R-Wellsboro) on Tuesday announced he will reintroduce legislation to guarantee school choice to students in the state’s most poorly performing school districts.
Under Owlett’s proposed law, families of such students could also use the new “lifeline scholarships” to pay for textbooks, special-needs services and other qualifying expenses.
Read the full storyFraudsters Show Vulnerability of Georgia’s Unemployment Benefit System
Federal charges against eight people prosecutors say conspired to defraud Georgia out of millions of dollars in unemployment benefits shows the potential vulnerability of the state’s systems.
Georgia officials may find solace in the fact that the state is not alone when it comes to such challenges, an expert told The Center Square.
Read the full storyJudge Holds Emergency Court Hearing over Election Lawsuit, Calls for Kari Lake and Katie Hobbs to Appear
Arizona Judge Peter Thompson issued an order Tuesday for Arizona gubernatorial nominees Kari Lake and Katie Hobbs to appear in court regarding the election lawsuit filed by Lake.
“The Court has reviewed Plaintiffs’ Verified Statement of Election Contest filed December 9, 2022. Because this matter is an election challenge, the return hearing will be set on an accelerated basis,” according to Thompson.
Read the full storyCommentary: If Voter Fraud Isn’t Addressed, Democracy in America Won’t Exist
Stop trying to take Ron DeSantis away from Florida. Just stop it. I understand the rationale, but it’s wrong. It may be quite reasonable to be jealous of Florida for its governor—the only governor in the nation to win my coveted “competent” rating on every major issue. But before we encourage DeSantis and Donald Trump to have a falling out that splits the party (or, rather, before we let the RINO simps do it at the behest of Democrats and lots of Chinese money), let’s review a few salient points.
Read the full storyConnecticut to Receive $127 Million from Opioid Settlement
Connecticut is slated to receive another payout from a multi-state opioid settlement involving two of the nation’s largest retail pharmacies.
Under the tentative deal, CVS and Walgreens have agreed to pay state and local governments a combined total of more than $10 billion to settle lawsuits over the toll of highly-addictive prescription opioids.
Read the full storyState Senators McClellan, Morrissey, and Delegate Bagby Announce Campaigns for VA-04
RICHMOND, Virginia – State Senators Jennifer McClellan (D-Richmond) and Joe Morrissey (D-Richmond) announced their campaigns for the seven-day primary for the Democratic nomination in Virginia’s 4th Congressional District.
McClellan pitched herself as a natural successor to late Representative Don McEachin on Tuesday, and shortly afterward, Morrissey emphasized his legislative record and opposition to Democratic elites.
Delegate Lamont Bagby (D-Henrico) had already announced his campaign on Monday.
Read the full storyOhio Legislative Committee Approves Universal License Recognition Bill
Advocates for occupational licensing reform successfully urged an Ohio House panel on Tuesday to unanimously pass a Senate bill to recognize professional certifications awarded by other states.
Eighteen states, varied in their politics and geography, already recognize out-of-state licenses for most professions, including neighboring Pennsylvania. These universal-recognition laws all require the licensee to have current permission to work in his or her state and have no pending professional disciplinary matters or disqualifying criminal records. Licensees remain subject to any fees or testing required by their adopted states.
Read the full storyFlorida Agricultural Commissioner Wants to Ban Land Sales to Foreign Entitities
Florida’s new Commissioner of Agriculture Wilton Simpson wants to restrict the sale of The Sunshine State’s farmland to foreign countries after increasing concerns about what foreign buyers – namely Chinese companies closely affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) – are doing with the agricultural land once they purchase it.
Food costs and supply are becoming a point of contention for Floridians and Americans as a whole, and there is worry that the continuation of farmland sales to foreign entities could cause food prices to be intentionally inflated or production could be shut down altogether.
Read the full storyHistoric Christopher Columbus Statue in Philadelphia to Be Uncovered for First Time in Two Years
On Friday, a judge ruled that the historic statue of famed European explorer Christopher Columbus will not only remain in its place in Philadelphia’s Marconi Plaza, but that a plywood box used to cover up the statue over the previous two years must be taken down so the statue can be seen once again.
As reported by Fox News, the statue was one of many that had been targeted by far-left domestic terrorists starting in the summer of 2020, in the midst of the Black Lives Matter riots. Statues that were vandalized and even destroyed during this period include monuments to the Founding Fathers, statues of abolitionists, and memorials to Confederate soldiers, among other symbols of American history.
Read the full storyColumbus City Council Unanimously Approves Ban on Sale of Flavored Tobacco Products
The Columbus City Council unanimously passed a ban on the sale of flavored tobacco products such as menthol cigarettes, e-cigarettes, and flavored vaping products on Monday.
City health officials say tobacco company marketing has historically targeted minorities and young people and most people who begin smoking do so before they’re adults or in early adulthood.
Read the full storySEC Charges FTX Founder with Fraud
Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of defunct cryptocurrency firm FTX, was charged Tuesday by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission with defrauding investors.
In a formal complaint, the SEC alleges that Bankman-Fried raised more than $1.8 billion from investors since 2019 but diverted the funds to his personal crypto account.
Read the full storyFederal Inflation Data: Grocery Prices Continue to Rise Nationally
While overall inflation has slowed from its rapid pace earlier this year, grocery prices continue to rise, putting Americans in a pinch, according to newly released federal inflation data.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released the monthly Consumer Price Index report, which showed prices rose 0.1% in November, less than experts predicted, contributing to a 7.1% increase in the past 12 months.
Read the full storyChristian Teacher Fired After Refusing to Use Preferred Pronouns Sues School
Ohio middle school teacher Vivian Geraghty filed a lawsuit after allegedly being fired for refusing to violate her religious beliefs by using preferred pronouns.
Geraghty, a former teacher at Jackson Memorial Middle School, was told she was required to use two students’ new pronouns and their preferred names in class, according to the lawsuit. Geraghty was fired after refusing to do so, at which point she sued the school’s Board of Directors, principal Kacy Carter and Monica Myers, the director of curriculum, instruction, and assessment.
Read the full storyCommentary: The ESG Reality Is Not Doing Good But Feeling Good
ESG investment strategies can see investors giving up financial returns for no societal gain. In the second of his four part review of Terrence Keeley’s Sustainable, Rupert Darwall explores the implications of investment theory for ESG artificially constraining investment opportunities; the risks of regulators worsening an already inflated ESG bubble; and the distortions that arise from the widespread adoption of sustainability as an investment concept lacking an objective definition.
Read the full storyCommentary: Nashville’s Double-Dippers Collect Pension, Pay
It pays — twice — to be a recently retired employee of Metro Nashville.
The local government is paying about 200 people both for part-time work and monthly pensions, with double-dippers collecting up to $13 million from taxpayers.
Read the full storyAverage American Family Has Effectively Lost $7,100 Under Biden, Economist Says
An economist says the average American family has effectively lost more than $7,000 due to inflation and higher interest rates since President Joe Biden took office.
The consumer price index, a key inflation measure, increased 0.1% in November, up 7.1% from November 2021, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Tuesday. The figure marks a slowdown in rampant inflation, but not a reversal of the trend that has caused prices for everyday goods like food and gas to ratchet up in recent months.
Read the full storyCommentary: Review of Terrence Keeley’s ‘Sustainable’
ESG has its origins in a speech by UN secretary-general Kofi Annan at the Davos World Economic Forum in 1999. In the first of his four part review of Terrence Keeley’s Sustainable, Rupert Darwall shows how this created ESG’s dual mandate that accounts for its success – and its unsustainability as an investment strategy.
Read the full story