Democrat Nashville Mayor John Cooper announced he would not seek re-election for a second term. Cooper was first elected mayor in 2019.
Read the full storyNashville Mayor John Cooper Announces He Will Not Seek Re-Election
Month: January 2023
Memphis PD on Claims Tyre Nichols Was Targeted and Former Officers Charged with Murder Were Gang Members: ‘There Is No Evidence That Indicates That Either of These Claims Are True’
Memphis Police Department Public Information Officer Major Karen Rudolph told The Tennessee Star in an emailed statement on Tuesday, “There is no evidence that either of these claims are true,” in response to two questions posed to her by The Star.
Read the full storyFormer TN-5 Candidate Baxter Lee Comments on Nashville Mayoral Candidates
Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed former TN5 GOP candidate Baxter Lee to comment on the Nashville mayoral candidates and recent endorsement by the Fraternal Order of Police of incumbent John Cooper.
Read the full storyAll-Star Panelist Aaron Gulbransen Details ‘Drag Queen’ Bill Up in Tennessee General Assembly
Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed the director of Tennessee’s Faith and Freedom Coalition Aaron Gulbransen in studio to discuss the details of HB 009 which will protect kids from drag queen shows.
Read the full storyTennessee Faith and Freedom Coalition Director Aaron Gulbransen Continues Fight Against Human Trafficking
Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed the director of Tennessee’s Faith and Freedom Coalition Aaron Gulbransen in studio to discuss his mission continue the fight against human trafficking and urge TBI for yearly reports.
Read the full storyTea Party Patriots Action Fund Chairman Jenny Beth Martin Discusses Ongoing Biden Classified Document Scandal
Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed Tea Party Patriots Action Honorary Chairman Jenny Beth Martin to the newsmaker line to comment upon the Biden classified documents scandal, a Republican House, and the Tea Party Patriots Action Fund 2023 agenda.
Read the full storyBaxter Lee Comments On Candidates for Nashville 2024 Mayoral Race
Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed former TN5 GOP candidate Baxter Lee in studio to handicap the mayoral candidates for Nashville’s Davidson County.
Read the full storyMedical Student Calls for Profession to ‘Admit We Were Wrong About COVID’
A 7th year medical student from Texas is calling upon those who consider themselves to be part of the “scientific community” to “admit we were wrong about COVID,” and acknowledge the policies encouraged regarding the vaccines, masks, school closures, etc., all “cost lives.”
In an op-ed published Monday at Newsweek, Kevin Bass, M.S., an M.D./Ph.D. student, admitted he “staunchly supported the efforts of the public health authorities when it came to COVID-19.”
Read the full storyPresident Joe Biden Appoints Vanderbilt Professor to National Science Board
President Joe Biden recently appointed Keivan Stassun, Vanderbilt University’s Stevenson Professor of Physics and Astronomy and director of the Frist Center for Autism and Innovation, to serve on the National Science Board (NSB).
Read the full storyFed Likely to Raise Interest Rates, But at a Less Aggressive Rate
The Federal Reserve is likely to further slow its historically aggressive pace of interest rate hikes at its Wednesday meeting as inflation cools, but consumers will still feel the pinch of higher interest rates, according to economists who spoke with the Daily Caller News Foundation.
The Fed is likely to hike interest rate hikes by just 0.25 percentage points after its Wednesday meeting, setting the range for its target federal-funds rate to between 4.5% and 4.75%, due to slowing inflation, The Wall Street Journal reported. Although consumers may see some relief from inflation as a result of the Fed’s rate hikes, they might give back some of those gains as heightened interest rates drive up borrowing costs, Heritage Foundation economist E.J. Antoni told the DCNF.
Read the full storyTexas Gov. Greg Abbott Appoints State’s First ‘Border Czar’
Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott appointed his state’s first “border czar,” during a news conference in San Benito, Texas, Monday.
Abbott chose Mike Banks for the role, which solely entails combatting the destruction he says the federal government has caused. President Joe Biden has overseen record surges in illegal migration at the southern border, with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) recording more than 2.3 million migrant encounters in fiscal year 2022.
Read the full storyMemphis Police Department Has Reputation for Police Misconduct and Brutality
The video showing five Memphis Police officers brutally beating Tyre Nichols following a traffic stop appears to be the latest example of a law enforcement agency known for police misconduct and corruption.
While the Mississippi River city has been working to clean up its dirty reputation, Memphis has long struggled with issues of police brutality and criminal cops.
Read the full storyLaw Enforcement Concerned About New Wave of Riots in Wake of Tyre Nichols’ Death
Protesters gathered in Milwaukee over the weekend to condemn police brutality following the release of video showing the brutal beating of Tyre Nichols by Memphis Police officers.
Unlike the scenes of looting, violence and whole city blocks in flame that accompanied the anti-police protests during the long, hot summer of 2020, the demonstrations in Milwaukee and elsewhere were mostly peaceful.
Read the full storyBiden Admin Blocks Mining on 225,000 Acres of Mineral-Rich Land
President Joe Biden’s administration says electric vehicle adoption is key to curbing climate change but blocked mining of rare earth minerals on more than 225,000 acres of federal land for more than 20 years.
The Biden administration banned mining near the Boundary Waters on the Duluth Complex in Minnesota, which Twin Metals says contains 95 percent of the nation’s nickel reserves; 88 percent of the cobalt; 51 percent of the platinum; 48 percent of the palladium, and 34 percent of the nation’s copper.
Read the full storyTwo Phoenix Police Officers Will Not be Charged for Excessive Use of Force, Maricopa County Attorney Says
The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office (MCAO) announced Monday that two Phoenix Police officers, Nicholas Beck and Eddie Becerra, would not be charged for excessive use of force. In response, Phoenix Police Department Interim Chief Michael Sullivan said he did his part by giving the MCAO all the evidence for the case.
“The case stems from a use of force incident on October 27, 2022, that occurred after a subject shot at Officer Becerra and Officer Nicholas Beck,” Sullivan said in a statement emailed to The Arizona Sun Times. “It is my responsibility to ensure an appropriate investigation is conducted when there is reason to believe a crime has been committed. That was done in this case and the investigation was turned over to MCAO for the criminal justice process to continue.”
Read the full storyLiberal Wisconsin Supreme Court Judge Faces Judicial Conduct Complaint
A Wisconsin resident has filed an ethics complaint with the Wisconsin Judicial Commission alleging Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice candidate Janet Protasiewicz violated the state Code of Judicial Conduct
Randall R. Cook, a citizen and GOP supporter from Barron County, filed the complaint Monday asserting that the Milwaukee County judge has “announced how she will rule on issues that will likely come before the Supreme Court, such as abortion and the constitutionality of Wisconsin’s legislative maps.”
Read the full storyPennsylvania Governor Drops Four-Year Degree Requirements for Government Jobs
Pennsylvania’s new Governor Josh Shapiro issued an executive order last week that removes four-year degrees from 92 percent of government jobs.
Shapiro stated that this initiative will open approximately 65,000 jobs in the state to those without college education, he announced on Twitter.
The Shapiro Administration is “not wasting a second.”
Read the full storyDayton Ohio School Administrators Admit to Misleading Parents and Teaching Critical Race Theory in Classrooms
Despite Republican State Senator Sandra O’Brien (R-Ashtabula) re-introducing the Parental Education Freedom Act to empower parents to be the primary decision-makers regarding where and what type of education their children receive, an undercover investigation has revealed that school administrators in Dayton, Ohio are misleading parents and sneaking Critical Race Theory (CRT) into the classroom.
As part of Accuracy in Media‘s investigation, numerous school administrators admitted that teachers are sneakily and covertly introducing CRT to their students unbeknownst to their parents and that they don’t plan to stop even if lawmakers pass legislation prohibiting this.
Read the full storyVictor Davis Hanson Commentary: The Establishment Is the Revolution
The 1960s revolution was both anarchic and nihilist. But it was waged against – not from – the establishment. Hippies and the Left either attacked institutions or, in Timothy Leary fashion, chose to “turn on, tune in, drop out” from them.
The current revolution is much different – and far more dangerous – for at least three reasons.
Read the full storyFormer ASU Student Appeals Trespassing Conviction for Handing Out Copies of US Constitution
Former Arizona State University student Tim Tizon, being represented by the Chicago-based Liberty Justice Center, filed an appeal in the State of Arizona v. Tizon case Thursday after being convicted for trespassing while handing out copies of the Constitution on the ASU campus. Reilly Stephens, a staff attorney at the LJC, told The Arizona Sun Times this appeal is all about protecting First Amendment Rights.
“For us [the LJC], the core idea here is pretty straightforward. If the First Amendment’s going to mean anything, it means that at the public spaces of a public university, a student should not be arrested for handing out copies of the constitution,” said Stephens via the phone. “What could be a more basic free speech principle than that?”
Read the full storyCommentary: School Choice is the Best Way for Ohio’s Kids to Escape Critical Race Theory
Black History Month, which begins Wednesday, offers an opportunity to address a major threat to black economic advancement, racial harmony, and national prosperity: critical race theory.
CRT is a neo-Marxist doctrine that permeates many aspects of American education today. Recent hidden camera footage of Ohio educators demonstrates how intractable CRT really is. Proposed state school choice legislation will empower families to pull their children from these schools and choose alternatives that teach the real skills needed to succeed in today’s economy.
Read the full storyGov. Lamont’s Plan to Tighten Gun Laws Faces Pushback
Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont wants to tighten the state’s gun control laws to prevent mass shootings, but the move is facing pushback from Second Amendment groups which say it would be unconstitutional.
Lamont’s proposal, which will be unveiled as part of this preliminary budget proposal, calls for increasing the age to buy firearms to 21, closing “loopholes in the state’s assault weapons ban and prohibiting the sale of large-capacity firearm magazines.”
Lamont said the “commonsense” changes come in response to a spate of mass shootings nationwide. He said the state’s gun control laws have “not kept up with the innovative ways firearm companies are manufacturing guns that have the sole purpose of killing the largest number of humans within the shortest amount of time.”
Read the full storyGun Control Measures Pass Senate, Future Uncertain in House of Delegates
Virginia Senate lawmakers passed a range of gun control measures in a floor vote Monday, including bills to crack down on ghost guns, place prohibitions on where assault firearms can be carried and clarify Virginia’s “Red Flag Law.”
Lawmakers in the Democrat-majority state Senate largely voted along party lines to pass three gun control measures Monday, forwarding them on to be heard in the House of Delegates. The bills will likely face an uphill battle in the Republican-controlled chamber, where lawmakers have already struck down a bill seeking restrictions of firearms on college campuses and a proposed assault-style weapons ban.
Read the full storyMichigan Doctor Sentenced to More Than 16 Years for His Role in Healthcare Fraud, ‘Shots-for-Pills’ Scheme
A Michigan doctor was sentenced to 16.5 years in prison for his part in a health care fraud scheme that billed more than $250 million in fraudulent claims to Medicare, Medicaid, and health insurance programs and illegally distributed over 6.6 million doses of opioids.
In September 2021, Francisco Patino, M.D., 68, of Wayne County, was convicted at trial in the Eastern District of Michigan of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud, health care fraud, conspiracy to defraud the United States, and pay and receive health care kickbacks, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and money laundering.
Read the full storyFormer Georgia U.S. Senator Loeffler: Grassroots Can Be the GOP Ticket to Success in Elections
Former Georgia U.S. Senator Kelly Loeffler, a Republican, says that if the GOP can’t out raise the Democrats during campaign season, their best bet is to win on the ground.
“If we can’t win the funding game, we can win on the ground,” Loeffler says on the John Solomon Reports podcast airing Monday. “That’s why it’s so vital that we organize. We have to become activists and organizers.”
Read the full storyThree Paramedics Terminated, Seventh Memphis Police Officer Relieved of Duty Amid Ongoing Investigation into Death of Tyre Nichols
On Monday, the Memphis Police Department (MPD) announced that a seventh officer has been relieved of duty amid the ongoing investigation into the beating death of 29-year-old Tyre Nichols. In addition, the Memphis Fire Dispatch (MFD) announced that three paramedics have been terminated from the Memphis Fire Department as a result of its own internal investigation into Nichols’ death.
Read the full storyMinnesota U.S. Rep. Michelle Fischbach Introduces Bill to Defund Planned Parenthood
U.S. Rep. Michelle Fischbach of Minnesota introduced two pro-life bills in the U.S. House of Representatives this month.
The Republican congresswoman’s proposed pieces of legislation include the Defund Planned Parenthood Act (H.R. 371) and the Protecting Life and Taxpayers Act (H.R. 372), according to a press release.
Read the full storyFramework for Retail Marijuana Market in Virginia One Step Closer
A committee of Virginia lawmakers advanced a bill Friday that seeks to establish a retail market for sales of recreational marijuana beginning next year – a measure lawmakers are mulling almost two years after the state legalized the substance.
Read the full storyGeorgia Officials Won’t Say What, If Any, Taxpayer Incentives Apply to Green Georgia
A sustainable building materials manufacturing company plans to spend $59 million on its new headquarters in Thomaston.
Green Georgia LLC, a startup, designs and manufactures low-carbon materials for prefabricated buildings, including sustainable factories. State and company officials expect the project to create more than 170 jobs.
Read the full storyPacked Crowd Attends Kari Lake Rally Exposing Voter Disenfranchisement in Maricopa County
At a standing-room-only event Sunday, Kari Lake signaled she is not giving up her legal battle to install her as the rightful Arizona governor instead of Democrat Katie Hobbs. Lake held a Save Arizona rally at Orange Tree Golf Club in Scottsdale with over a thousand in attendance, assuring her supporters she intended to fight until the “victorious end.” The mainstream media recently ran stories claiming Lake was switching her focus to running against Senator Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ).
Lake focused her entire speech on election fraud. “They thought they could steal it and we would just go away,” she said to thunderous applause. “We had the greatest candidates in the country here in Arizona. We were running against some of the worst candidates in the history of Arizona. It didn’t matter if they rolled out brain-dead candidates,” she said, alluding to election fraud ensuring the Democrats’ victories. “The fix was in. They knew they didn’t have to campaign.”
Read the full storyOhio to Invest $5 Million in Maternal Infant Health
Through a program including physicians and community partners, Ohio Medicaid plans to invest $5 million over the course of the coming year in an effort to improve the general well-being of mothers, newborns, and families.
Governor Mike DeWine stated in a news release that the goal of the community-based statewide program is to establish a framework for providers and community partners to collaborate on the development of a person-centered, customized intervention to support women and families who traditionally lack access to high-quality care before and after pregnancy.
Read the full storyState House Speaker Vos Pushes Flat Tax Proposal as Gov. Evers Vows to Veto
Wisconsin’s governor says he will 100 percent veto a flat tax, and the top Republican in the State Assembly says he knows that.
Both Gov. Tony Evers and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos talked about the proposal to take Wisconsin to a 3.25 percent flat income tax during appearances on TV over the weekend.
Read the full storyFlorida Auditor General Wants Sworn Law Enforcement Officers Added to Her Office
Florida Auditor General Sherrill Norman would support the addition of sworn law enforcement officers to her office by lawmakers.
These officers can help state auditors by making arrests and maintaining transparency over the state and local governments and their stewardship of taxpayer funds. At present, Norman doesn’t have any in her office like Ohio State Auditor Keith Faber as one example.
Read the full storySenator Joni Ernst Commentary: EcoHealth Can’t Be Trusted with Taxpayer Money – or Bats
Nearly two years ago, I requested an investigation by the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) into EcoHealth Alliance —the shady organization that funneled taxpayer money into China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) to conduct risky research on coronaviruses.
The investigation came after we learned that EcoHealth was spending our tax dollars on dangerous experiments in Wuhan, China, and was not disclosing information about those projects to the public, as required by law.
Read the full storyWisconsin Senator Johnson Presses FAA on Vaccine Effects
U.S. Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) is asking the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to provide information about the effects that COVID-19 vaccines may have had on numerous aviation professionals and the agency’s response to those effects.
Johnson wrote a letter to FAA Acting Administrator Billy Nolen and Office of Aerospace Medicine Federal Air Surgeon Susan Northrup last week requesting an investigation into the conditions of commercial pilots Greg Pierson, Bob Snow and Wil Wolfe. The three were all in their 50s or 60s and the latter two received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine while Pierson got the Pfizer shot. The senator also wants investigations to determine vaccine effects on agricultural pilot Cody Flint and air-traffic controller Hayley Lopez, respectively 33 and 29, who both obtained the Pfizer jab.
Read the full storyTwo Tennessee Energy Providers to Receive $126 Million Combined in USDA Energy Loans
Two rural Tennessee electricity providers received loans in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development Electric Loan and Loan Guarantee Program as part of $2.7 billion in loans announced on Monday.
Gibson Electric Membership Corp. received $81 million in loan while French Broad Electric Membership Corp. received $45 million.
Read the full storyCommentary: 2024 Is Going to Be Close
If the November midterms proved one thing, it’s that Republicans have a less-than-breezy path to a majority in Washington, D.C.
Most of the attention on the 2024 election will center around the race for president. But don’t forget to watch the down ballot congressional races because the control of Congress really matters.
Both chambers are narrowly divided and control for both is up for grabs.
Read the full storyPompeo: China Is ‘Inside Every Major American University’
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Fox News that “the Chinese Communist Party’s inside every major American university today with research dollars and with their students.”
“They’re at the University of Pennsylvania, too,” he continued. “And we now know that this Chinese money, these Chinese officials met classified documents in that space.”
Read the full storyCalifornia Issued Driver Licenses to Over a Million Illegal Aliens Since 2015
A new report shows that California, a Democrat-controlled sanctuary state, has issued over one million driver’s licenses to illegal aliens living in the state since 2015, after a law was passed that eliminated the state’s legal resident requirement for obtaining such licenses.
As reported by Breitbart, the figures were revealed in a study published by CalMatters, which showed that roughly 4 out of every 10 illegals in California have been given a state-issued license. There are estimated to be at least 3.3 million illegals living in the state.
Read the full storyFormer Assistant US Attorney for West Tennessee: Lack of Experience and Supervision, SCORPION Unit Ripe for Disaster
Monday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed the CEO of the Tennessee Firearms Association, John Harris and former West Tennessee Assistant U.S. Attorney, Braden Boucek in studio to discuss the details of the Memphis Scorpion Unit that murdered Tyre Nichols last Thursday evening.
Read the full storyFox Nation Host Tomi Lahren Weighs in on Law Enforcement, Education, and Mayor Cooper
Monday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed Fox Nation host and Middle Tennessee resident, Tomi Lahren to the newsmaker line to weigh in on police officers, American education, and Nashville Mayor John Cooper.
Read the full storyHarris: A Hypothetical Case for Tyre Nichols of Justifiable Self-Defense
Monday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed the CEO of the Tennessee Firearms Association, John Harris in studio to discuss his recent article which poses a hypothetical case of justifiable self-defense in relation to the murder of Tyre Nichols in Memphis.
Read the full storyAssistant US Attorney Braden Boucek and Lawyer John Harris Speculate on Charges to be Brought Against Memphis Police Officer Murder in Tyre Nichols Death
Monday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed TFA CEO John Harris and former Assistant US Attorney Braden Boucek in studio to speculate on final murder charges for the five Memphis police officers involved in the death of Tyre Nichols.
Read the full storyFirearms Expert and Lawyer John Harris Discusses Memphis Police Officer Body Cam Video of Tyre Nichols
Monday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed the CEO of the Tennessee Firearms Association, John Harris in studio to comment upon the body cam video of Tyre Nichols who was murdered Thursday evening by five Memphis police officers.
Read the full storyBishop E.W. Jackson: ‘Al Sharpton Preaching Tyre Nichols Funeral Makes Mockery of the Tragedy’
Bishop E.W. Jackson said in a statement released Monday that Al Sharpton, whom Jackson referred to as “one of the most divisive figures in America,” should not be allowed to preach the eulogy for Tyre Nichols who, police charge, was beaten to death by five, now former, Memphis police officers.
“If the facts as we now know them are proved in a court of law, the former police officers deserve life in prison for their callousness and depraved indifference to human life,” Jackson said in a press statement, adding the current situation does not concern a racial issue, but one of “humanity,” which should be a source of unity rather than division.
Read the full storyPhiladelphia Jury Acquits Pro-Life Activist Mark Houck of Assault after Altercation at a Planned Parenthood
A Philadelphia jury on Monday found pro-life activist Mark Houck not guilty on both federal charges in relation to an Oct. 13, 2021, altercation with an abortion clinic volunteer.
The Department of Justice pursued charges against Houck, alleging that he “forcefully shoved” Bruce Love, a Planned Parenthood volunteer, in violation of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act.
Read the full storyInvestigation Launched Into 3-Alarm Blaze That Killed 100,000 Chickens at Hillandale Connecticut Egg Farm
An investigation has been launched into a three-alarm fire Saturday that reportedly killed about 100,000 chickens at the Hillandale egg farm in Bozrah, Connecticut.
At least 16 firehouses and more than 100 firefighters responded to the massive blaze, reported Fox61 News.
Read the full storyBill to Cut Nashville City Center Funding Calls into Question Tax Plan for New $2.2B Titans Stadium
A new proposed bill in the Tennessee not only proposes cutting some of the state tax funding to pay debt on the Music City Center, but it also calls into question plans to build a new $2.2 billion Tennessee Titans stadium.
Senate Bill 648, filed Thursday by Sen. Jack Johnson, R-Franklin, on behalf of Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, R-Oak Ridge, would change the way taxes flow to Metro Nashville to pay debt from the Music City Center, which opened in 2013. The bill does not yet have a House sponsor.
Read the full storyNashville Chamber of Commerce Delivers Annual Education Report
The Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce released its 30th Annual Education Report on Tuesday. This year, the Chamber recommendations focused on growing Metro Nashville Public Schools’ Work-Based Learning program.
In all, 131 students participated in MNPS’s work-based learning program during the 2021 – 2022 school year, as did 15 business partners. Students worked over 5,000 hours and received upwards of $70,000 in wages in year 1. The graduation rate of those students who participated in year 1 was 97 percent.
Read the full storyCommentary: ‘Restorative Justice’ Endangers Students and Teachers
As millions of children settle into an uninterrupted academic term, widespread classroom disorder is undermining efforts to reintroduce students to in-person learning.
This increased disorder corresponds with an increase in district-approved “restorative justice” programs, which address classroom dysfunction through nonpunitive measures. Though these programs have existed for decades, they are gaining momentum nationwide.
Read the full story