Month: January 2023

New York Lawmakers Weigh Investigation into Jewish University over $230 Million in State Funding

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New York state senators threatened an investigation Wednesday into allegations that Yeshiva University misrepresented itself to receive $230 million in state funding, according to a letter sent to the Jewish school.

Yeshiva is currently embroiled in a lawsuit regarding the school’s refusal to officially recognize the YU Pride Alliance, an LGBTQ student club, on campus due to its religious convictions. Democratic state Sens. Brad Hoylman, Liz Krueger and Toby Ann Stavisky accused Yeshiva Wednesday of misrepresenting itself as an “independent, coeducational, nonsectarian” institution in 2009 and 2011 to receive $230 million in public funding via the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (DASNY) despite the university arguing that it is a “religious” organization in its lawsuit with YU Pride Alliance.

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Maine Community Votes Out School Board Members for Backing Policy to Hide Kids’ Gender Transitions

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Residents of Paris, Maine, recalled two school board members on Tuesday who pushed a gender identity policy that would hide student gender transitions from parents, according to WGME News.

In a 333-243 vote, community members voted out Oxford Hills School Board Director Sarah Otterson and School Board Member Julia Lester after they supported the implementation of a gender policy that would keep a students’ transgender status a secret from their parents and allow students to use bathrooms and locker rooms on the basis of gender identity, according to WGME News. The vote comes after roughly 700 residents signed a petition against the board members in November, forcing a recall vote of the two board members.

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Tennessee’s December Revenues $217 Million More than Budgeted

Laura Baigert

Tennessee revenues for December were $217.2 million more than budgeted and represented growth of nearly five percent over December 2021, according to Friday’s announcement by the state’s Commissioner of Finance and Administration Jim Bryson.

December is the fifth month, on an accrual basis, of the 2022-2023 fiscal year, and the year-to-date revenues are $959.9 billion in excess of what was budgeted and $655 million over the same time last fiscal year.

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Chicago Mayor Lightfoot’s Campaign Asks Teachers to Urge Children to Work for Her Re-Election in Exchange for Class Credit

Susan Berry, PhD

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s re-election campaign’s move to send an email to Chicago Public Schools (CPS) teachers asking them to urge their students to volunteer for the mayor’s campaign – in exchange for class credit – is drawing fire.

The report of the email letters sent to teachers has evoked strong reactions from various corners, including Parents Defending Education (PDE), the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), and Chicago Public Schools.

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Biden Admin Expands Ways for Migrants to Avoid Trump-Era Border Policy

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The Biden administration’s new border policy makes it easier for migrants to circumvent Title 42, a major Trump-era public health order used for expulsions to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, by exempting many from expulsion.

President Joe Biden announced Jan. 5  an expanded legal pathway for migrants that would otherwise be expelled under Title 42 so long as they can prove they have a legitimate need for protection. He recently began expelling Venezuelans, Cubans, Nicaraguans and Haitians, while providing a legal pathway if they have a U.S. sponsor and apply via a phone application known as “CBP [Customs and Border Protection] One.”

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Chinese Communist Party-Linked Solar Panel Company Could Reap ‘Inflation Reduction Act’ Handouts with U.S. Factory

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JA Solar, a Chinese green energy giant whose chairman is tied to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), has leased a plot of land in Phoenix, Arizona, to construct a $60 million solar panel factory that is poised to benefit from huge green energy tax incentives included in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

Jin Baofang, chairman and CEO of the Bejing-based company, said that he had been a CCP member for 40 years during a 2020 interview with the Chinese state-run newspaper “The Paper.” The JA Solar factory, which could take advantage of the green energy tax credits included in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), will create 600 jobs and use automated assembly lines to manufacture 2 gigawatts’ worth of solar panels annually once it becomes fully operational, according to a Tuesday Arizona Commerce Authority press release.

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Americans Needing Help with Food Feel Negative Impact of $1.7 Trillion Omnibus Bill

The Center Square

Emergency allotments for food benefits were more than $2 billion nationwide from March 2020 to this past December.

Congressional passage and Democratic President Joe Biden’s signing of the $1.7 trillion omnibus spending bill the last week of December signaled the end to those extra benefits. Many states, in the two weeks since, have been steadily announcing changes to their respective Food and Nutrition Services programs. February will be the last of the additional help.

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Rutherford County Seeks Parity from Legislature in Options for Cities and Counties to Deal with Growth

Laura Baigert

Rutherford County is seeking parity from the state legislature in terms of options available for cities and counties in dealing with the expansion of services demanded by the unprecedented growth in the state.

At the regular meeting of the Rutherford County Board of Commissioners held Thursday evening, a resolution was passed by a vote of 18 to 3 requesting the county’s legislative delegation to support any bills presented in the 2023 legislative session to amend the 2006 County Powers Relief Act.

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Commentary: Democrats’ Dark-Money Devotion

RealClearWire

Secretive liberal dark-money groups spent hundreds of millions of dollars to boost Democrats’ 2022 midterm ground game, pushing the limits of election law while helping to reduce an expected red Republican wave to little more than a ripple.

Still smarting from the underwhelming midterm results, some Republicans are calling on party leaders to replicate those turnout efforts on the right or risk continued disappointments at the ballot box. But doing so is no easy task, veteran GOP operatives argue, especially considering Democrats’ reliance on union foot soldiers for tactical operations, and the sheer magnitude of the money and complex infrastructure their side is devoting to the effort.

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Michigan School Criticized for Taking Sixth-Graders to Lounge with Stripper Poles

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In Michigan, a school district is facing backlash from parents after a school ended a sixth-grade field trip by taking the students to a lounge with stripper poles in plain sight.

The New York Post reports that on November 16th, students with the band and orchestra of Hart Middle School, located in Rochester Hills, visited Niki’s Pizza in Detroit after attending a performance by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. The pizzeria operates jointly with the risque nightclub Niki’s Lounge.

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Connecticut Gov. Lamont Unveils $20 Million Energy Relief Plan

The Center Square

Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont has unveiled a new energy plan that pumps more money into fuel assistance to provide short-term relief for consumers, while taking steps to wean the state off fossil fuels.

Under a plan unveiled this week, Lamont has directed the Connecticut Energy Assistance Program to increase fuel assistance payments to qualifying residents by another $430 this season to help with home heating costs, and unpaid utility bills through the state’s Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program.

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Pro-Choice Group Announces Intent to File Ohio Ballot Initiative to Legalize Abortion

Hannah Poling

A coalition of abortionists and pro-choice activists have announced their intent to file a ballot initiative to insert legalized abortion in the Ohio Constitution.

The group called Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom is a group formed by the left-leaning organizations the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Ohio, Abortion Fund of Ohio, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio, and others.

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Nonprofit Says Georgians Are Still Hurting from Inflation

The Center Square

While the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers dropped 0.1% in December and the year-over-year inflation rate stands at 6.5%, a Georgia nonprofit says Peach State residents may not be feeling the good news.

“We keep seeing positive headlines about the inflation rate, but that good news is lost on average Georgians who are continually pinched on the cost for everyday necessities like groceries and gas,” Erik Randolph, Georgia Center for Opportunity’s director of research, said in a statement. “Although there was some positive news in the December numbers, it’s important to keep in mind that core inflation remained elevated, including for food. If policymakers in Washington truly want to help the most economically vulnerable in our country, they must return to fiscal sanity and rein in the spending.

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Florida House Speaker Demands Information on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion ‘Prevalence’ on College Campuses

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Republican House Speaker Paul Renner of Florida requested Thursday that state public colleges and universities submit documentation about the “prevalence” of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) offices and programs on campus, Florida’s Voice reported.

The requests were delivered to every president’s office in the Florida College System and the State University System, according to Florida’s Voice. The request furthers a demand from Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis on Dec. 28 which required colleges and universities to submit a report detailing the amount of state funding used on DEI and critical race theory programs.

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Minnesota Licensure Board to Require All Teachers to Personally Affirm Critical Race Theory and Gender Ideology

Susan Berry, PhD

Minnesota’s Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board (PELSB) has set new rules for aspiring teachers that require them to personally avow the tenets of Critical Race Theory (CRT) and gender ideology in order to be permitted to teach in government schools.

Governor Tim Walz’s (D) PELSB’s Adopted Permanent Rules Relating to Licensing and Academic Standards have been updated to require, as of 2024, that Minnesota teachers are committed to personally affirm what the licensure board considers the proper “diverse perspectives on race, culture, language, sexual identity, ability,” etc. with their students in order to maintain a license.

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Youngkin Nixes Ford Battery Plant Over Partnership with Chinese Company

Eric Burk

Governor Glenn Youngkin blocked Virginia from consideration for a battery plant to supply Ford Motor Company amid concerns about the technology supplied by a Chinese company, he told reporters on Wednesday.

In a press gaggle, Youngkin criticized a clean energy push that relied on technology “owned and dominated by the Chinese.”

“Well, we in fact felt that the recent efforts to put forward a Ford plant that would house Chinese technology to build the batteries was in fact representative of that. And that we felt the right thing to do was to not recruit Ford as a front for China to America. Let’s develop our own technology,” Youngkin said after his State of the Commonwealth speech.

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Arizona Republican Legislature Announce Plan to Establish a Continuation Budget for 2023-24

Neil Jones

With both the Arizona State Senate and House under Republican control, leadership from both branches announced Thursday that one of their priorities to kick off the new session is to create a continuation budget for 2023 and 2024.

“In order to continue state programs without fear of an irresponsible fiscal cliff, the Legislature seeks to provide certainty that at a minimum, we have a fiscal year 2023-2024 budget in place,” according to a joint statement from the State House Republican Leadership team. “We intend to build on last session’s successes and craft a budget that continues to champion fiscal responsibility, funding for key services, and relief for Arizonans.”

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Ohio House Republicans Re-Introduce Proposal to Increase Threshold for Citizen-Led Ballot Initiatives

Hannah Poling

Following a closed-door meeting at the Ohio Statehouse held by State Representative Derek Merrin (R-Monclova), a group of over thirty lawmakers filed a new version of their proposal to increase the threshold for citizen-led ballot initiatives.

47 Republicans who adhered to the Republican caucus’s decision to abstain from voting for state Representative Jason Stephens (R-Kitts Hill) for speaker of the house, were invited by Merrin to a meeting on Wednesday. The meeting included discussing house rules, redistricting, and progressing the proposed constitutional amendment to require support from at least 60 percent of voters rather than a simple majority to pass future proposed amendments that was introduced last legislative session.

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Music Spotlight: Colton James

Bethany Bowman

NASHVILLE, Tennessee- Colton James hails from a small town near Franklin, Virginia. Both of his grandmothers played piano and organ at church, while his mother had a strong singing voice. James started singing at church at age four and continued making music at church and in plays at his Christian school.

“My mother sang in church but my Granny on my dad’s side was a West Virginia honky tonk granny, and she might have a little drink here and there,” he said.

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Audit: Arizona Public School District Endangered Students, Couldn’t Pay Teachers

The Center Square

A western Arizona public school district was found by state auditors to have put children on dangerous buses, run illegitimate nonprofits for decades, and misappropriated funds to the point where teachers’ pay couldn’t be fulfilled.

According to the results of an investigation by the auditor general, Hyder Elementary School District #16 in Southwest Arizona failed basic protocols in four areas, “putting public monies, sensitive computerized data, and student safety at risk.” 

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Arizona Governor’s Rocky Start: Oath Laugh, Inaugural Donation Questions, and Speech Walkout

Just the News

Newly inaugurated Arizona Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs is off to a rocky start, following a giggling bout at her swearing-in, questions surrounding inauguration donations, and a walkout during her first speech to the state Legislature by lawmakers who are planning to sue her.

Hobbs was sworn in on Jan. 2 in a brief ceremony off-limits to reporters, according to the Arizona Republic. A media pool photographer was present, and the ceremony was livestreamed. A public ceremony was later held on Thursday last week.

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Commentary: Biden, Trump and the Pesky Presidential Records Act

RealClearWire

He loves talking about what is in his garage, specifically the stock 1967 Corvette with the mighty 327-V8 that churns out 350 horsepower at the wheel and flies from 0-60mph in a respectable 5.9 seconds. Even now, after more than a half-century, the Stingray remains mint. Its paint, pristine.

The color from the manufacturer, President Biden makes a point of noting in interviews, is “Goodwood Green,” and it still looks just like the day it rolled off the assembly line because the motorhead obsesses over every inch of the car, a wedding present from his father. Joe Biden loves that car so much that he overshares, making his people cringe. As vice president, he once admitted to Car and Driver Magazine that he still strips down to “my bathing suit in my driveway” to wash and wax it. He was 69 years old at the time.

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Sex, Alcohol and Drugs: Migrants ‘Destroy’ New York Hotels

ADN America

A New York luxury hotel is being “vandalized” by immigrants, who have been accused of drinking all day, smoking marijuana, having sex on the stairs and starting fights, an employee told Fox News on Thursday.

“The chaos we see on The Row today is [caused] by immigrants who are drunk, drinking all day, smoking marijuana [and] doing drugs, ” Row NYC employee Felipe Rodriguez said of what he called “shameful.”

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Biden’s Federal Contractor Vaccine Mandate Loses in Court Again

The Center Square

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost applauded a federal appeals court decision to block the Biden administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for federal contractors.

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals based in Cincinnati agreed late Thursday with a lower court ruling that imposed a preliminary injunction on the proposed mandate that would have also required tens of millions of Americans to wear face masks at work.

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National Legal and Policy Center Attorney Paul Kamenar Comments on May 2020 Letter Alerting Lack of Transparency in Anonymous Funding to Biden Penn Center

Julie Carr

Friday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed the counsel for National Legal and Policy Center, attorney Paul Kamenar to comment on the letter he wrote in May of 2020 alerting Secretary of Education’s Betsy DeVos about millions in anonymous funds received by the Penn Biden Center.

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RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel Will Not Participate in Public Debate with Challengers Harmeet Dhillon and Mike Lindell

Kaitlin Housler

Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel reportedly declined to participate in a live, public debate with her opponents, according to POLITICO.

McDaniel, seeking a fourth term as chair, cited her “existing commitment to a forum” that the RNC will hold regarding being absent from the live debate, the outlet reported Friday.

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Biden-Penn-China Funding Concerns Flagged for Then-Pennsylvania AG Josh Shapiro 18 Months Ago

Just the News

Concerns about funding ties linking China, Joe Biden and the heavily Chinese-funded University of Pennsylvania were brought to the attention of state law enforcement almost two years ago, with no official action taken by the state’s then-Attorney General Josh Shapiro or any members of his staff. 

The letter, sent by a group called “Take Back Our Republic” and addressed to Shapiro and other high-ranking members of his team, was sent in July of 2021. That was nearly a year and a half before the Biden classified document story broke, resulting in Attorney General Merrick Garland appointing a special counsel on Thursday to investigate the matter. 

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Female Athletes Demand NCAA Protect Women’s Sports Outside Annual Convention

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Female athletes, alumni and supporters delivered a petition to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Thursday demanding that the governing body take deliberate action to prohibit men from competing in women’s sports.

The petition was delivered after the “Our Body, Our Sports” rally Thursday morning in San Antonio, Texas, during the NCAA’s annual convention. The petition demanded that the NCAA commit to single-sex athletic teams and “keep women’s sports female.”

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Arizona Court of Appeals to Expedites Kari Lake’s Election Challenge Appeal

Neil Jones

The Arizona Court of Appeals has set a date of February 1st for conferencing on Kari Lake’s lawsuit attempting to overturn the results of the 2022 General election.

“Our appeal is scheduled to be heard before the court on February 1st. Do not underestimate @KariLake’s desire to get justice for the people of Arizona. It doesn’t matter how long it takes. She will see this through,” tweeted the Lake campaign.

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House Democrats Oppose Resolution Condemning Violence Against Pro-Life Pregnancy Centers

Susan Berry, PhD

Nearly all House Democrats opposed a resolution Wednesday condemning the political violence against pro-life pregnancy centers and their supportive allies that occurred in the aftermath of the leak of the U.S. Supreme Court’s draft opinion in Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization.

The House voted, 222-209, to approve the resolution, introduced by Representative Mike Johnson (R-LA) that states since the leak of the draft opinion, “individuals professing anti-life views have targeted, destroyed, or vandalized numerous pro-life facilities, groups, and even churches to further their radical cause.”

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Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders Bans Critical Race Theory and Government Use of Woke Term ‘Latinx’ in Executive Orders

Susan Berry, PhD

Newly sworn-in Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) began her term of office by signing seven executive orders, including one that bans Critical Race Theory (CRT) and another that prohibits government use of the woke term “Latinx.”

In her inaugural address, Sanders announced education reform would be “the hallmark of my administration,” and that one of her immediate executive orders would be “preventing the political indoctrination of Arkansas’s schoolchildren.”

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Sex Change Patients Reported Serious Health Problems After Surgery, Study Finds

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A new study examining transgender patients’ stressors and coping mechanisms revealed widespread unhappiness with the outcomes of various cross-sex medical procedures, along with serious complications and negative side effects from surgeries and medications.

Researchers at the Amsterdam University Medical Center and Amsterdam Public Health Institute interviewed 19 Dutch transgender patients, all of whom had undergone some cross-sex medical procedures, in a voluntary survey published Dec. 28. Numerous participants reported ongoing physical and mental health issues after medical interventions including decreased strength and libido, genitals turning black and a genital implant not fitting properly, resulting in more than a dozen follow-up surgeries.

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America Is Shipping So Many Weapons to Ukraine, Defense Companies Can’t Keep Up, Top Navy Officers Warn

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Top officers in the U.S. Navy warned that the Ukraine war is putting a strain on an already stretched industrial base Tuesday, complaining defense contractors continue to fall behind in keeping up with the Navy’s needs, according to media reports.

Defense companies have struggled for years to keep pace with the Navy’s demands, citing pandemic-induced supply chain setbacks and a shortage of available labor, Navy Times reported. As the U.S. continues sending weapons and equipment to Ukraine, heightening the burden on weapons manufacturers, top Navy brass expressed worry that the fleet could fall dangerously low on needed assets if the war stretches out much longer.

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Attorney Files Lawsuit Against Judge Who Dismissed Kari Lake’s Election Contest

Rachel Alexander

Ryan Heath, an attorney who started The Gavel Project to engage in lawfare against woke ideology, has filed a lawsuit against the judge who dismissed Kari Lake’s election lawsuit. Submitted on Monday, the Writ of Mandamus demands that Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson vacate his ruling and award the election to Lake.

Heath told The Arizona Sun Times he doesn’t really know where Thompson came up with the really high bar he required Lake’s attorneys to prove in order to overturn the election. Thompson required showing by clear and convincing evidence that the misconduct was intentional and meant to change the election, was performed by one of the appropriate people in charge, and that it changed the election. Heath said this was the wrong standard, he should have relied on Reyes v. Cuming, a 1997 Arizona case involving similar circumstances, where signatures on the envelopes were not compared to the voter registration list, violating a non-technical statute.

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Metro Nashville Public Schools Board of Education Unanimously Passes Resolution in Opposition to State Third Grade Retention Law

TC Weber

The Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) Board of Education has joined the ranks of school districts that have passed referendums opposing Tennessee’s 3rd-grade retention law. The law, which goes into effect this year, mandates that all 3rd-graders who fail to achieve a score of “meets expectations” on the state’s annual  TCAP test repeat third grade unless they avail themselves of one of the state’s options.

Those options include achieving a required score after retaking the test, enrolling in Summer School, or enrolling in a tutoring program for the next year. Parents, if they choose to, have the opportunity to file an appeal. 

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At Inauguration, Georgia Gov. Kemp, LG Jones Call for Tax Relief, Money for Law Enforcement and Schools, and Tougher Sentencing Guidelines

Eric Burk

During their inaugural speeches, Governor Brian Kemp and newly-elected Lieutenant Governor Burt Jones painted a picture of Republican successes in Georgia but called for further tax relief, investment in schools and health care, and tough-on-crime policies. “Last year on the campaign trail, no matter where we went, hard-working Georgians told us about the pain they and their families were feeling at the pump, at the grocery store, in everyday life, thanks to 40-year-high inflation. I know these pains haven’t gone away,” Kemp said Thursday after being sworn in for a second term. The inauguration came amid the first week of the legislature’s session, and a day before Kemp’s office will share his budget proposals with legislators. Kemp said his proposal would include $2,00o pay raises for state employees, including teachers and law enforcement; $150 million in grants to address learning loss; $1 billion set aside for income tax refunds; and $1.1 billion for homeowner property tax relief. In his speech, Jones praised Kemp for his leadership and said Kemp made Georgia the first state to reopen the economy amid COVID-19. “We have a $6 billion surplus. Our unemployment rate is a record low. We’ve created hundreds of thousands of new…

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Minnesota Legislature Considers Bill to Give Driver’s Licenses to Illegal Immigrants

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Minnesota Democrats are moving forward with a bill that would allow illegal immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses.

Sen. Zaynab Mohamed, DFL-Minneapolis, lead author of the bill in the Senate, said illegal immigrants were eligible for driver’s licenses in Minnesota until 2003, when Gov. Tim Pawlenty “unilaterally” established a requirement that applicants demonstrate proof of legal residence.

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Pennsylvania Senate Passes Voter ID Amendment

Bradley Vasoli

The Pennsylvania Senate this week passed an amendment to the state Constitution that would require individuals to provide identification to vote in person in an election.

Also contained in the bill the chamber approved are an amendment that would open the statute of limitations for survivors of child sexual abuse and another amendment that would strengthen legislators’ power against a governor’s regulatory authority. 

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Group ‘Parents on Patrol’ Bring Anti-Transgender Activist Chole Cole to Wisconsin for ‘Stolen Innocence’ Event

M.D. Kittle

Chloe Cole this week told a Washington, D.C. think tank that she was coerced into taking puberty blockers and having her breasts surgically removed.

She was 15 years old.

“It’s important to know how awful it really is,”  Cole told the Heritage Foundation about her double mastectomy.”Really, it’s like Nazi-era experiments.”

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