Month: January 2023

Pennsylvania Auditor Digs up $20,000 Pension Underpayment After Miscalculations

The Center Square

The latest batch of audits for municipal pension plans show a few localities received too much in state aid — and one error led to a $20,000 underpayment.

In West Caln Township in Chester County, officials reported inaccurate data for their 14-person non-uniformed pension plan and 4-person police pension plan. As a result, the non-uniformed plan understated payroll by $11,000, leading to a $700 underpayment from the state.

The police pension plan understated payroll by $73,000, leading to a $19,000 underpayment.

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‘Absurd’: Harvard Medical Course Teaches Students About LGBTQ+ Infants

Admin

A course being offered at Harvard Medical School claims that there are infants within the LGBTQ+ community. 

“Caring for Patients with Diverse Sexual Orientations, Gender Identities, and Sex Development,” the course in question, is a four-week class that aims to teach students how to “provide high-quality, culturally responsive care for patients with diverse sexual orientations, gender identities, and sex development.”

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Commentary: The Greatest Refutation of the 1619 Project May Come from a French Liberal

Admin

Perhaps, we as 21st-century Americans should adopt some humility surrounding our own abilities to interpret and understand the motivations and events encompassing the founding and early years of our nation, lest we run the risk of rewriting and corrupting our history. It has now been nearly two and half centuries since George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, and the numerous other brave and distinguished signers of the Declaration sent this young, impetuous nation into bloody battle in the hopes of securing liberty and independence.

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Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen: Paper Ballot Statute, Ban on Voting Machine Internet Connectivity Among 2023 Legislative Priorities

Admin

Although he has been in office for only a few days, Secretary of State Wes Allen has some legislative priorities in mind for the 2023 session.

During an appearance on Mobile radio FM Talk 106.5 on Thursday, Allen said he hoped to pick on two efforts from a year earlier dealing with paper ballots and the connectivity of voting machines.

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Federal Agencies Withholding Data Behind Pilot Heart Condition Change, COVID Vax Stroke Reversal

Just the News

Federal agencies are withholding the data behind recent decisions that relate or may relate to COVID-19 vaccines and severe adverse events, fueling speculation that they are putting both vaccinated and unvaccinated lives at risk.

The Federal Aviation Administration told Just the News it widened the acceptable range of heart rhythms for commercial pilots, who were initially subject to industry-wide vaccine mandates, in light of “[n]ew scientific evidence” that it has yet to specify.

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More than 200,000 Migrants Came to U.S. in December amid Mounting Border Crisis: CBP

Just the News

Authorities encountered 216,162 migrants at the southwest land border in December of last year, according to data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

That figures marks an 11 percent increase in unique encounters from November of the same year. The federal agency attributed the surge to influx of Cuban and Nicaraguan individuals fleeing authoritarian regimes in those countries.

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GOP Lawmakers Take Aim at College Campuses Distributing Abortion Drugs

Admin

Republican lawmakers are introducing pro-life legislation aimed at protecting babies with Down syndrome and stopping college campuses from distributing abortion pills to students.

Introduced by Republican Texas Rep. Chip Roy in the House and Republican Montana Sen. Steve Daines in the Senate, the Protecting Life on College Campus Act of 2023 would prohibit “the award of federal funds to an institution of higher education that hosts or is affiliated with a student-based service site that provides abortion drugs or abortions” to students or university employees.

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Michigan Voting Firm Stored Election Data in China, Whistleblower Alleges

Admin

A Michigan-based election infrastructure firm stored poll workers’ private data in China, a new whistleblower complaint obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation says, matching earlier allegations against the company and CEO Eugene Yu.

Grant Bradley, a former employee at Konnech, a software firm that provides logistics for poll stations at 32 locations across the U.S., also said that the company’s “developers, designers and coders are all Chinese nationals based out of Wuhan, China,” in the complaint, which was first disclosed by the Federalist on Friday and filed in Michigan court on Dec. 22, shows. Bradley claimed to witness information of poll watchers “being made accessible” to individuals in China but did not comprehend the extent of the data routed through China until True the Vote, an election integrity advocacy organization, lodged allegations in 2021.

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Tennessee Senate Education Chair Files Bill That Gives Local Districts Flexibility on Class Size

TC Weber

State Senator Jon Lundberg (R-Bristol), who serves as chair of the Senate Education Committee, filed legislation that would lift classroom size limits for k-12 schools.

SB0197, if made law, would repeal the existing maximum class sizes, maximum class size averages, student-teacher ratios, and the prohibition against split-grade classes established by law. It would authorize each local education agency (LEA) and public charter school with authority to establish the maximum class sizes for schools under its control and jurisdiction. Transferring power from the Tennessee Department of Education(TDOE) back to local school boards while still requiring the department to set recommendations.

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Ohio Lawmakers Consider Bill to Localize State Agency Licensure Appeals

Hannah Poling

State lawmakers are considering a bill that would transfer the conflict over state licenses that have been suspended or repealed to local county courts as opposed to the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas.

Senate Bill (SB) 21 sponsored by state Senators Rob McColley (R-Napoleon) and Michele Reynolds (R-Canal Winchester) would provide legal challenges to licenses issued by the Ohio Casino Control Commission, the State Medical Board, the State Chiropractic Board, the Board of Nursing, and the Liquor Control Commission to take place in the county where that person or company is based.

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Commentary: The World Economic Forum Is Making the World Safe for Autocracy

Admin

Churning out carbon emissions to fly in on their corporate jets to Davos, Switzerland, for their annual fête to make the world safe for autocracy, the World Economic Forum’s hypocrisy is once again patent:

Greenpeace accused attendees of ‘ecological hypocrisy’ before asking just why the WEF claims it is committed to the global goal of keeping warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) when the emissions generated from all the private jets flying in and out of airports serving Davos last year were equivalent to those produced by about 350,000 average cars for a week.

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Benefactor’s Family Demands Refund After University of Richmond Removes Name from Law School

Admin

The University of Richmond recently removed the name of T.C. Williams, an early benefactor, from its law school because of his alleged ownership of slaves in the 19th century.

But his descendants say Williams contributed to the demise of slavery and now argue the university should refund Williams’ previously donated money to the institution.

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Minnesota State Agency Wants to Create Database to Track ‘Hateful’ Speech

Admin

One Minnesota lawmaker is voicing his concerns about a proposed bill he says would allow the state government to keep track of “bias” incidents and “hate speech” in which no crime may have been committed.

On Tuesday the Minnesota House of Representatives’ Public Safety Finance and Policy Committee held a hearing on HF 181, a bill introduced Jan. 9 that proposes an expansion of reporting “crimes motivated by bias,” an update in peace officer training standards, and the appropriate funding thereto.

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DOJ: Atlanta Man Recruited 10 Others for $3 Million Paycheck Protection Program Loan Scheme

Eric Burk

Eleven men have been sentenced after a scheme to obtain $3 million in Paycheck Protection Program loans; Atlanta man Rodericque Thompson recruited nine business owners to obtain $300,000 loans with fraudulent applications according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia.

“The CARES Act and the PPP designated funds to aid struggling businesses during a pandemic,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan Buchanan said in a press release. “American businesses needed these funds to keep their companies and employees afloat during a national emergency and world-wide pandemic. These defendants took advantage of that program to obtain money to which they were not lawfully entitled. We will continue investigating and prosecuting those who attempt to steal these critical funds.”

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‘Fuel Poverty’ Stresses Pennsylvania’s Hospitals

The Center Square

Pennsylvania’s hospital administrators say rising energy costs driving worldwide “fuel poverty” threaten the stability of the entire U.S. health care system.

“Folks can’t pay to heat their homes,” Chuck DiBello, vice president of facilities and real estate for the Allegheny Health Network, told the Senate Majority Policy Committee. “They get sick and they come to the hospital – sometimes just to get warm.”

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Connecticut GOP: State Democrats Have ‘Lost Their Minds’ on Plan to Give Voting Rights to Illegal Immigrants

Just the News

The Connecticut Republican Party is criticizing the Democrat-led state House for a proposal this legislative session to consider voting rights for illegal immigrants, saying Democrats in the state in considering such as idea have “lost their minds.”

“It’s official. @CTDems have lost their minds,” the Connecticut GOP tweeted Thursday. “Now they are proposing voting rights for ILLEGAL ALIENS. Elections are for U.S. citizens only. We will fight this tooth and nail to preserve the integrity of our democratic system.”

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Maricopa County GOP Censures Republican Maricopa County Supervisors, Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer over Election Integrity at Annual Meeting

Rachel Alexander
Stephen Richer

The Maricopa County Republican Committee voted on January 14 at their annual meeting to censure Maricopa County Stephen Richer and the four Republican members of the Maricopa County Supervisors; Bill Gates, Thomas Galvin, Clint Hickman and Jack Sellers. The vote for the censure resolution was 1,460 for, 138 against, and 36 abstaining.

Maricopa County Member-at-Large Brian Ference told The Arizona Sun Times, “The PCs in Maricopa have spoken, overwhelmingly censuring Richer and the MCBOS, the key line being ‘Ceases immediately any and all recognition and support of the above individuals being censured and encourages all registered Republicans to expel them permanently from office.’”

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Hobbs, Mayes Temporarily Halt Death Penalty in Arizona

The Center Square

Gov. Katie Hobbs issued an executive order on Friday to review the death penalty process in Arizona, while a stay from Attorney General Kris Mayes halts it for the time.

Hobbs will be selecting an “independent review commissioner” to investigate “all components” of the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation, & Reentry’s “execution process for lethal injections and the gas chamber,” the order states.

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Ohio School Districts Struggle to Rebut Undercover Video of Staffers Saying They Mislead Parents

Just the News

School districts around Ohio’s capital Columbus are reeling from undercover video of their employees discussing how they mislead parents who oppose critical race theory and related concepts into thinking schools aren’t exposing their children to versions of those concepts.

Accuracy in Media, led by an alum of undercover journalism nonprofit Project Veritas, released its latest sting of school districts Tuesday, following previous investigations of Idaho, Iowa and Tennessee.

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The American Historical Association’s Fight over the Present

Admin

The American Historical Association (AHA) is fixated on the present. 

At its recent annual meeting in Philadelphia, former AHA President James Sweet referenced his criticism of “presentism,” according to a report in The New York Times. Presentism, Sweet suggested in the August 2022 edition of AHA’s news magazine, leverages history to serve present-day social justice initiatives.

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Commentary: The Unbearable Lightness of Pining Backward

Admin

DISCLAIMER: Nearly everything I say in this essay I have already said at least once and, in most cases, more than once. At the same time, some points that might have borne repeating—such as why I think theoretical topics like this matter—I intend to skip. They’re all covered in the last one and, anyway, Paul Gottfried, to whom I am mostly responding, didn’t question the relevance of the subject matter. Those of you annoyed by repetition, uninterested in theoretical matters, or who just want MAGA red meat, do all of us a favor and don’t read this. 

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Commentary: ‘Yellowstone’ as a Commentary on Manliness and Femininity

Admin

Recently I offered a defense of the television series “Yellowstone” against the charge that it is just another soapy melodrama about a dysfunctional family, nothing more than an updated version of “Dallas” or “Falcon Crest.” Instead, I suggested a deeper meaning: that it appeals to its audience because it portrays a microcosm of America’s ongoing struggle, the defense of “place” against those who would threaten it. But closely associated with this meaning of the series, I believe there is another source of appeal: its treatment of what Harvey Mansfield calls “manliness.” 

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Trump Leads DeSantis by 20 Points for GOP Nomination in 2024: Poll

Just the News

Former President Donald Trump enjoys a commanding 20-point lead over his nearest prospective competitor for the Republican Party primary nomination in 2024.

Trump took 48 percent support among registered voters in the latest Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll survey, which was released exclusively to The Hill. That metric puts him clearly ahead of his nearest would-be rival, Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who commanded 28 percent support.

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Blue State Sued for Allegedly Keeping Kids Locked Up for Months After They Were Supposed to Be Released

Admin

The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) was sued Thursday for allegedly incarcerating large numbers of children in its guardianship despite court orders to release them, a problem dating back decades.

Children as young as 11 were all placed in juvenile jails after coming into contact with the juvenile justice system but ultimately received court orders necessitating their release, according to the lawsuit filed by Cook County, Illinois Public Guardian Charles Golbert. The DCFS allegedly nevertheless kept the children incarcerated following the court orders, some for months afterward.

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Tennessee U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett to Serve on Three House Committees in the 118th Congress

Kaitlin Housler

Tennessee Representative Tim Burchett (R-TN-02) announced that he was selected to serve on three House committees in the 118th Congress.

Burchett will be returning to serve on both the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee and House Foreign Affairs Committee. Burchett was also chosen to serve as a new member on the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability.

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Emails: Fauci Was Part of Group Aiming to ‘Disprove’ Lab Leak Theory

Admin
Anthony Fauci

Newly unearthed emails reveal that former head of the National Institute of Allergy Infectious Disease (NIAID), Dr. Anthony Fauci, was part of a group of scientists assembled for the sole purpose of “disproving” the COVID-19 origin theory claiming that the virus originated from a lab in Wuhan, China.

According to the Daily Caller, others in the group besides Fauci included Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH); Jeremy Farrar, director of Wellcome Trust; Kristian Andersen of Scripps Research; and Dutch virologist Ron Fouchier, among others. The emails revealing the collaborative effort were uncovered by journalist Jimmy Tobias after a prolonged legal battle with the NIH.

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Susan B. Anthony List Applauds 22 Pro-Life Attorneys General, Including Tennessee’s Skrmetti, in Urging the FDA to Reverse New Policy on Abortion Drug

Kaitlin Housler

Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America recently thanked a coalition of 22 attorneys general, including Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, for sending a letter to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on the agency’s “illegal and dangerous” policy on mifepristone, a chemical abortion drug.

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‘THE CHOSEN’ Star Jonathan Roumie Warns March for Life Activists: ‘God Is Real, Satan Is Also Real’

Susan Berry, PhD

Catholic actor Jonathan Roumie, who plays the role of Jesus in the fan-supported television series THE CHOSEN, warned thousands of young pro-life activists Friday that while “God is real,” so “Satan is also real.”

“And I’m not talking about the simplistic cartoon of some dude with horns and a tail,” Roumie said during his address at the March for Life rally. “I’m talking about the father of lies, the Great Deceiver, the diabolical slanderer, who pushes you to doubt when you know in your heart the right thing to do.”

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Union Membership Plummets to Record Low Despite Biden’s Promises to Increase It

Admin

Rates of union membership fell to an all time low of 10.1% in 2022, according to a Thursday report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), despite President Joe Biden’s promise to bolster American unions.

Biden pledged to “be the most pro-union president you’ve ever seen” to a group of supporters the night before the 2020 election, according to the Associated Press, and signed an executive order in April 2021 creating a task force to investigate how the federal government could increase union membership. Despite these efforts, union membership continued its long decline in 2021 and 2022 as new non-union jobs outpaced union jobs, according to the BLS.

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House Judiciary Committee to Investigate Dobbs Leak: Report

Admin

The House Judiciary Committee intends to continue investigating the Supreme Court draft opinion leak that surrounded Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, an anonymous source close to the committee told Fox News.

The Supreme Court announced Thursday that its investigation into the Dobbs leak had failed to find the person responsible. The House Judiciary Committee is looking to pick up where the investigation left off, an anonymous source told Fox.

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Biden’s Approval Rating Remains Near All-Time Low

Admin

Amidst multiple claims that President Joe Biden mishandled classified documents, his approval rating dropped to one of its lowest points since he first took office, according to a recent poll.

Of 1,035 respondents, only 40% approved of Biden’s performance as president, according to the Reuters/Ipsos poll released Thursday. Over the last month, multiple classified documents have been found in various places occupied by Biden, and on Jan. 12 five additional pages of classified documents were discovered in Biden’s Wilmington, Delaware, home.

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Judge Denies the City of Phoenix’s Motion to Dismiss Residents’ Lawsuit Over Homeless Encampment ‘The Zone’

Rachel Alexander

A lawsuit filed last August challenging “the largest homeless encampment in Arizona” is going ahead after a judge denied the City of Phoenix’s motion to dismiss. Residents who live near “the Zone,” which has grown to over 1,500 people, allege that the city has failed or refused to enforce criminal, health, or quality of life statutes to improve the Zone.

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Stephen Tully said in his January 16 ruling that dismissal wasn’t warranted because the city didn’t meet the standard where “as a matter of law plaintiffs would not be entitled to relief under any interpretation of the facts susceptible of proof.” He found that the plaintiffs properly pleaded their case and supported a private cause of action for public nuisance.

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University of Michigan Medical School’s Anesthesiology Department Hosts Critical Race Theory Seminar to Mark MLK Day

Admin

The University of Michigan Department of Anesthesiology hosted Monday a screening of the video “Critical Race Theory: American Law and Racism” as part of the university’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day symposium.

Kimberly Ward, the department’s DEI administrative specialist, joined Kristen Howard, senior director of the Office for Health Equity and Inclusion, to screen the pre-recorded video, in which Columbia law professor and coiner of the term “intersectionality” Kimberlé Crenshaw gave a rundown of critical race theory history and significance.

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Florida Legislative Committee Wants Accountability from Audited Entities

The Center Square
Florida State Capitol

The Joint Legislative Auditing Committee met in Tallahassee Thursday to discuss issues that have been found in some school districts, municipalities and private entities that have repeatedly not been addressed and also discussed ways to ensure more compliance.

According to Auditor General Sherrill Norman, who was in attendance during the most recent committee meeting, she and her staff were asked to produce “a list of things that would help address the barriers we had in completing our work.”

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Connecticut Pro-Life Democrat Lawmaker Calls Out ‘Systemically Racist Abortion Industry’ at March for Life Rally

Susan Berry, PhD

Connecticut State Representative Treneé McGee (D-West Haven) told the thousands of pro-life activists at the March for Life rally Friday that black women of the pro-life movement are actively exposing the “systemically racist abortion industry.”

McGee, who was one of 14 state House Democrats – among them 10 people of color – who voted against a bill to expand abortion rights further in Connecticut, fired up the crowd in an address that bluntly accused the abortion industry and Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood, of racism.

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Youngkin Supports Expanding Virginia Literacy Act to Fifth Grade

Eric Burk

RICHMOND, Virginia — Governor Glenn Youngkin is asking legislators to expand the 2022 Virginia Literacy Act to fifth grade; the program currently provides literacy curriculum, materials, testing, and intervention for kindergarten through third grades.

“We know that K through third graders, if they’re behind in reading, it’s really hard to catch back up,” Youngkin said at a Thursday press conference at George W. Carver Elementary School. “And that’s why we’re working to extend the Virginia Literacy Act support into fourth and fifth grade. It’s such an important effort for us. And the great thing is this is all being done on a bipartisan basis.”

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Commentary: President Biden’s Tech Vision Will Hamstring Innovation

RealClearWire

President Biden rang in the new year with an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal entitled, “Republicans and Democrats, Unite Against Big Tech Abuses.” In it, the President spells out the supposed abuses of the tech industry and the consequences they have for society. He then outlines a political agenda to regulate the American tech industry and rightly recognizing the limits of executive power in this area.  He concludes calling for bipartisan movement in Congress to achieve that vision. However, the President’s vision is immensely short-sighted and would do far more harm than good.

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FBI Offers $25,000 Reward for Information on Pro-Abortion Terrorists Behind Pro-Life Center Attacks

M.D. Kittle

More than eight months after Wisconsin Family Council/Action’s Madison headquarters was firebombed by pro-abortion extremists, the FBI is now offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to the “identification, arrest, and conviction” of the individuals involved in the attack. “It’s about time,” said Julaine Appling, president of Wisconsin Family Council/Action, a pro-life organization that advocates for religious liberty and traditional family values.

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Mentor Leaders Call for Lake County Commissioners to Rescind Sales Tax Increase

Hannah Poling

In Lake County, a discussion about raising the sales tax is ongoing. The county’s 7.75 percent sales tax rate, which is now the third-highest in the state, was approved earlier this month by the county Board of Commissioners after a 0.5 percent hike.

On January 12th, the commissioners passed the sales tax increase by a vote of 2 to 1, with John R. Hamercheck and Richard J. Regovich voting in favor and John Plecnik opposed.

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