Wednesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed Tennessee State Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson in studio to discuss the problems with Nashville’s transportation infrastructure and practical and proven solutions to fix it.
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Wednesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed Tennessee State Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson in studio to explain the process by which the Governor’s legislation is carried.
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Wednesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed State senate majority leader Jack Johnson in studio to explain Senate Bill one and House Bill one that would prohibit children under the age of 18 from having gender transition procedures whether surgically or medically.
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Wednesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed Top Gov Tracker Neil W. McCabe of One America News to the newsmaker line to comment on President Biden’s State of the Union Address, Ron DeSantis’s personal history, and South Carolina as Democratic primary election state.
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Live from Music Row, Wednesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed Tennessee State Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson (R-Franklin) in studio to discuss the relation between state and local governments. Johnson called to decrease the number of Metro Nashville city council members.
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Wednesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed State Representative Chris Todd from Jackson, Tennessee to the newsmaker line to detail his House bill that would prohibit young children from attending drag queen shows resulting in either misdemeanor or felony charges for the performers.
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It’s a time-honored tradition in Washington for a president to deliver his State of the Union address and frame his successes and policy vision before allowing the opposition party to offer its rebuttal. But Joe Biden upended the tradition, somehow delivering the counter-programming to his own message Tuesday with a series of negative headlines generated by his own administration.
In the hours before Biden spoke from the U.S. Capitol, his administration announced the nation had suffered its worst trade deficit in history last year at nearly $1 trillion. Shortly thereafter, his Fed chairman warned inflation was not abating as expected and would be sticking around longer because of a tight labor market that produced an unexpected 500,000-plus jobs in January.
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Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene wasn’t alone Tuesday night in openly arguing President Biden in his State of the Union address misstated House Republicans’ position on the future of Medicare and Social Security.
“I think, because he lied, it was a frustration,” Kentucky GOP Rep. Thomas Massie told Just the News after Biden’s roughly 72-minute address.
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Radical Marxist teachers are celebrating Black Lives Matter at School’s (BLM at School) “Week of Action” February 6-10 in thousands of K-12 government schools.
The national BLM at School movement spends the first week of February – named as Black History Month – “organizing for racial justice in education.”
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While he made time to attack Republicans during Tuesday’s State of the Union address, President Joe Biden failed to note his handling of the Chinese spy balloon affair. A new poll might just explain why the Democrat avoided the topic.
More than 63 percent of voters say they disapprove of the Biden administration’s handling of the spy balloon episode, according to the poll conducted by The Trafalgar Group for Convention of States Action.
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Following President Joe Biden’s second State of the Union address Tuesday night, a number of Tennessee lawmakers issued statements and thoughts in response to the president’s speech.
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U.S. Senator JD Vance (R-OH) issued a statement on Tuesday following President Joe Biden’s State of the Union Address.
Vance stated in a news release that Biden is responsible for wrecking havoc on the nation and “nothing the President said tonight will change this reality.”
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A Tennessee Republican lawmaker is pushing another bill that would give illegal immigrants a taxpayer-funded break on college tuition — a move, according to one immigration reform advocate, that sends the message that the Volunteer State is turning a blind eye to the law.
State Senator Todd Gardenhire’s (R-Chattanooga) bill is being sold as an inducement to deal with Tennessee’s teacher shortage.
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Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) joined a group of Republican colleagues this week in re-introducing the Full Faith and Credit Act. The bill is led by Florida Senator Rick Scott (R-FL).
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The U.S. trade deficit increased to its highest recorded level in 2022, thanks in part to a surging trade deficit with China.
The U.S. registered a roughly $948.1 billion goods and services deficit for the year, including a $382.9 billion goods deficit to China, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) revealed Tuesday. This 12.2% surge over 2021 marks an all-time U.S. trade deficit record, The Wall Street Journal reported.
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Tennessee ranked fourth in the nation regarding inbound moves to the state, according to recent data compiled by the Allied Magnet States Report. The report tracks migration patterns in the U.S. and is published annually by Allied Van Lines, an American moving company.
The top relocation destination states in 2022 were Arizona, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Florida. The top states that saw people move away throughout the year were Illinois, Michigan, Pennsylvania, California, and New Jersey.
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One of the former Memphis Police officers charged in last month’s brutal beating death of Tyre Nichols used his personal smartphone to take photos of the handcuffed and bloodied black man, according to records released on Tuesday.
The latest revelations shine the spotlight back on rumors being investigated by The Tennessee Star that Officer Demetrius Haley and his fellow Scorpion Unit law enforcement colleagues were targeting Nichols because of a relationship he allegedly had with Haley’s ex-wife.
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Roughly six weeks before testifying Tuesday before the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, Chief Border Patrol Agent Gloria Chavez held a meeting with local law enforcement in Weslaco, Texas, describing the administration’s plan to release en masse illegal foreign nationals into the U.S. when Title 42 ended.
The Biden administration sought to end Title 42, the public health authority first implemented under the Trump administration during the height of the pandemic, but Texas sued and in December a federal court prevented the administration from ending it.
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President Joe Biden, during his State of the Union address on Tuesday, called for unity, pointing to the bipartisan successes of the past Congress.
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Records obtained by The Star News Network show Green Bay city officials installed at least three audio recording devices in City Hall — without notifying the City Council or the public.
Alderman Chris Wery, who represents Green Bay’s 8th District, described the secret recordings as the kind of “Big Brother stuff” found in a George Orwell novel.
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A Tennessee veterinary school engaged in programs to bolster commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), according to medical watchdog group Do No Harm.
Faculty at Lincoln Memorial University- Richard A. Gillespie College of Veterinary Medicine (LMU CVM) attended a January workshop titled “Inclusivity” to learn about incorporating diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) in the workplace, according to a tip sent to Do No Harm. Its masters program partnered BLEND, a certification program, to train veterinarians in DEIB.
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During his second State of the Union address Tuesday night, President Joe Biden called out Tennessee U.S. Representative Andy Ogles’ (R-TN-05) recently-introduced bill that would repeal the inflation Reduction Act of 2022.
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State Representative Brad Roae (R-PA-Meadville) this week proposed legislation to permit small businesses to continue operating during potential future states of emergency in Pennsylvania.
His bill, a version of a measure he sponsored in 2020, would permit small businesses to serve one customer at a time during such periods. The earlier legislation passed the House with nearly all Republicans and some Democrats in support but the Senate did not vote on it.
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The 2024 Republican presidential primary has hardly begun, but a consensus has already formed in conservative media that Donald Trump is toxic and unelectable. This narrative, commonplace but seldom challenged, is being pushed aggressively by pundits who are obviously partial to Florida governor Ron DeSantis. Many of these personalities insist that Trump has an obligation to step aside, and they pretend that Trump is attacking DeSantis unprovoked, despite the governor’s obvious intentions to run.
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In Florida, a campaign supporting a ballot initiative to legalize marijuana, Smart and Safe Florida, has raised $20 million. Funding is from Trulieve Cannabis Corp., a marijuana business that operates in several states, including Florida. The campaign is collecting signatures to place the initiative on the ballot for Nov. 5, 2024.
The initiative would legalize marijuana for adults 21 years old and older. Individuals would be allowed to possess up to three ounces of marijuana (about 85 grams), with up to five grams in the form of concentrate. Existing Medical Marijuana Treatment Centers would be authorized under the initiative to sell marijuana to adults for personal use. The Florida State Legislature could provide by state law for the licensure of entities other than existing Medical Marijuana Treatment Centers to cultivate and sell marijuana products.
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Republican Abe Hamadeh is continuing his attempt at a new trial in his election challenge, alleging he was denied due process during his first court appearance.
“Judges, not executive branch nor election officials, are the arbiters of justice. After all, if this — the closest statewide office election in Arizona history — is not worth an exacting review, whatever could be,” Hamadeh tweeted. “Without honest and transparent elections, nothing else matters.”
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A bipartisan group of Ohio lawmakers want to keep the state’s primary elections at the same time every year, whether it’s a presidential election year or not. Under the introduced legislation, all primaries would take place on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in May.
The bill has the backing of nine cosponsors from both sides of the aisle in the Ohio House.
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As DFL legislators appear poised to pass a bill that would have Minnesota on its way to flying a newly-redesigned state flag by the end of this year, one Republican senator is floating an idea for what that flag should look like.
Sen. Steve Drazkowski, R-Mazeppa, believes a rendition of the logo of the former Minnesota North Stars professional hockey franchise could serve as the unifying symbol that proponents of a new state flag claim they are looking for.
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Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene on Monday called for an investigation into former President Donald Trump’s ignorance of prior aerial incursions by Chinese spy balloons that the Biden administration alleges occurred during his time in office.
Greene indicated that the president would have likely been aware of such events had they transpired and suggested his professed ignorance of such balloon activities may indicate that the Pentagon withheld security information from the commander-in-chief.
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Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont is pitching a plan to cut state income taxes for middle-class workers as part of his budget plan for the next fiscal year.
Lamont’s proposal, unveiled Monday, calls for permanently lowering the personal income tax rate on single filers’ first $10,000, and $20,000 for joint filers of adjusted gross income from 5% to 4.5%, and the rate on income up to $50,000, and $100,000 for joint filers from 3% to 2%, beginning in 2024. The move, if approved, is projected to save taxpayers $440 million annually.
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The Arizona State Senate Committee on Elections, chaired by Sen. Wendy Rogers (R-Flagstaff), convened Monday to discuss several proposed Senate Bills (SB) to strengthen Arizona’s Elections. One of those, SB 1265, sponsored by Sen. Anthony Kern (R-Glendale), presumptively restricts the implementation of a ranked choice voting (RCV) system in Arizona.
“To me, there enough questions out there, as you guys [the committee] have probably heard for the last three or four hours, on our current elections system without muddying the waters even more with a ranked choice voting,” said Kern while speaking at the meeting.
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by Robert Girard FBI Agent Blane Wetzel testified in court again Monday providing further evidence in the ongoing racketeering trial against Larry Householder, former Ohio House Speaker, and Matt Borges, a lobbyist and former Ohio GOP chair. Both Householder and Borges have pleaded not guilty to charges in what prosecutors describe as a $61 million bribery scheme that – per U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio David DeVillers – is “likely the largest bribery–money laundering scheme ever perpetrated against the people of Ohio.” The accused, per a criminal complaint built off more than 250 subpoenas of bank, phone and text records, funneled millions from FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE) and others to help influence the passing of, and afterward hinder the repeal of, Ohio House Bill 6 (HB6) – a contentious Ohio House Bill which included a $1.3 billion nuclear bailout passed by Ohio lawmakers in July, 2019. Under House Bill 6, a new monthly surcharge was added to bills of all Ohio electricity customers (from less than $1 for residential customers to $2000+ for large plants) from 2021 until 2027. Of the $170 million collected each year from the new surcharge, most all ($150 million) was to go to Akron-based FirstEnergy Solutions – a subsidiary of FirstEnergy…
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According to authorities, a Cleveland FBI task force has seized an estimated 88 pounds of suspected fentanyl and other drugs—enough to kill 20 million people.
“The sheer volume of drugs recovered during this seizure is astounding,” FBI Cleveland special agent-in-charge Gregory Nelsen said in a statement.
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Abe Hamadeh’s election challenge for attorney general continues to wind its way through the court system, with his attorneys filing a reply in Mohave County Superior Court supporting their motion for a new trial on Monday. The Consolidated Reply in Support of Plaintiffs’ Motion for a New Trial addressed the claims brought up in the response from defendant Kris Mayes, who was declared the winner in the race. The lawsuit, which included the Republican National Committee and Republican Jeanne Kentch of Mohave County as plaintiffs, was also filed against Secretary of State Adrian Fontes.
Hamadeh’s reply brief, led by former Attorney General Election Integrity Unit civil attorney Jen Wright, emphasized the race’s closeness as a reason for a do-over.
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Mayor Justin Bibb proposes banning the sale in Cleveland of flavored tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes and flavored vape products.
The Columbus City Council approved a similar law in December of last year, and it will go into effect on January 1, 2024. Also in December, a bill to ban local governments from outlawing the sale of flavored tobacco products was approved by both chambers of the Ohio General Assembly; however, Governor Mike DeWine vetoed the measure.
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Two nonprofit law firms challenging Wisconsin’s Kettle Moraine School District’s (KMSD) gender-transition policy announced this week they’ve enlisted the expertise of two mental-health professionals including a prominent transgender psychologist.
The center-right Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL), headquartered in Milwaukee, and the faith-focused Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), based in Arizona, filed the lawsuit last summer on behalf of parents of a daughter who attended Kettle Moraine Middle School. The anonymous plaintiffs assert that district officials defied their wishes and acceded to the daughter’s request that faculty and staff recognize her as a transgender boy and call her by her preferred male pronouns and chosen name.
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What’s portrayed on national television about large family groups with small children claiming asylum at the southern border isn’t what’s happening in the Tucson Sector of Arizona, Border Patrol Chief John Modlin testified on Tuesday before the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability.
“The most notable factor that sets Tucson apart from the rest of the southwest border is the migrant demographic. It is not what you see on the news,” he said.
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The meat substitute market is collapsing after its meteoric rise, with key players in the industry facing massive layoffs and plummeting sales.
Fake meat products like Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods, which advertise themselves as healthy and environmentally friendly alternatives to meat, soared to national popularity in 2019 when they began selling their products with massive fast food chains. Impossible Foods was moving toward laying off 20% of its staff in late January just months after its competitor, Beyond Meat, announced plans to cut a fifth of its own workforce, according to Bloomberg.
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The public is gradually learning how, despite repeated denials and non-answers, top government officials were well aware of the potential for violence on January 6, 2021.
A chief investigator on the January 6 select committee told NBC News last week that law enforcement was privy to a trove of intelligence indicating problems could arise during the election certification process but, for some unexplained reason, chose to ignore the warning signs. “The Intel in advance was pretty specific, and it was enough in our view for law enforcement to have done a better job operationalizing a secure perimeter.” Tim Heaphy told NBC News reporter Ken Dilanian. “Law enforcement had a very direct role in contributing to surely the failures—the security failures that led to the violence.”
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A recently leaked memo from Gen. Mike Minihan, the head of the U.S. Air Mobility Command (AMC), suggested that, within the next two years, the U.S. would be at war with China over Taiwan.
“I hope I am wrong,” wrote the four-star general, before adding that his gut feeling is that “we will fight in 2025.” The leaked memo comes at a time when, according to a recent article in The Economist, tensions between the U.S. and China are at an all-time high — a conclusion amply reinforced by recent headlines about the test of wills between the two nations over a Chinese spy balloon the Pentagon believes was overflying sensitive U.S. military sites.
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The University of Wisconsin System recently commissioned a study to examine students’ views on free speech issues. Roughly 10,500 students across 13 campuses responded. The survey offers numerous findings—some good, some bad—that merit deep consideration. One finding, however, is abundantly clear. There are two very different college experiences based on students’ views. Right-leaning students report that they are silenced, are pressured to agree with instructors, and face unwelcoming environments. Left-leaning students, on the other hand, enjoy a friendlier environment with fewer obstacles. These results call for significant institutional reforms.
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As Just the News recently reported, the U.S. is now home to 11 of the top 50 most dangerous cities in the world. All 11, as the piece noted, are governed by Democratic mayors. All 11 also have Democratic district attorneys.
Permissive criminal justice policies are widely thought to be large factors driving such grim statistics. Dig a little deeper, however, and an even more important cause of the crime epidemic plaguing blue cities comes into sharp focus: Many of these cities are also home to a staggering percentage of single-parent households, the great majority of which are headed by single mothers.
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