New Price of Tennessee Smokies Stadium in Knoxville Inflates to $114 Million

Knoxville city leaders recently announced the new multi-use stadium that will host Tennessee Smokies games and other events in the city is now estimated to cost $114 million – up from the project’s original estimate of $65 million. 

According to the city, the inflated final guaranteed maximum price (GMP) for the stadium is due in part to “inflation and record-high construction costs.”

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Latest ‘Rhetorical Game’ of Anti-Life Abortion Lobby: Sue Pro-Life States with Claim Women’s Lives Are at Risk Without Abortion

The latest scheme of the anti-life abortion industry is to encourage lawsuits against states that have largely banned the procedure with the apparent claim seriously at-risk women who reside in those states are being denied allowable emergency medical care because providers are afraid of professional and criminal consequences.

As The New York Times reported Monday, five women are suing the state of Texas with the claim they were denied emergency medical care, despite life-threatening risks to themselves and their unborn babies, because their medical providers refused to give the care necessary for their dire situations due to possible punitive consequences resulting from the state’s abortion ban.

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Biden Budget to Fund ‘Transgender’ Treatments for Veterans

The Biden Administration’s proposed budget for 2024 includes funding for genital mutilation surgeries and hormone treatments for veterans who think they are “transgender.”

As the Daily Caller reports, the budget proposal comes after the Department of Veterans Affairs was ordered to lift a 20-year ban on such transgender procedures in June of 2021, thus allowing such treatments to be covered by Veterans Affairs (VA) benefits.

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Ron DeSantis Suggests Privately He’s Decided to Run for President: Report

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has privately disclosed his intentions to run for president in 2024, two sources close to the governor told The Washington Post.

DeSantis’ private comments suggest that he is no longer in the deciding phase, and is likely to make an announcement once Florida’s legislative session concludes in May, according to The Post. The Thursday launch of Never Back Down, a political action committee designed to boost DeSantis as the GOP nominee, serves as another indicator of a possible campaign, as it intends to “carry him to the White House.”

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U.S. House Passes Protecting Speech from Government Interference Act

The GOP-controlled U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill Thursday that prohibits federal bureaucrats from using their influence to censor speech or pressure social media companies to censor speech.

The Protecting Speech from Government Interference Act passed on a 219-206 vote. It broke along party lines according to The Hill and is seen as unlikely to advance in the Democratic-controlled U.S. Senate.

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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis Wows Iowans at Packed ‘Book Tour’ Event

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis may still be mulling over a run for president, but the Republican looked and sounded every bit a contender for the GOP presidential nomination Friday evening in the first-in-the-nation caucus state.

DeSantis joined fellow Republican, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds. at a packed, standing-room only stop at the Iowa State Fairgrounds, ostensibly to promote his new book, The Courage to Be Free: Florida’s Blueprint for America’s Revival.

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Georgia House Signs Off on Fiscal 2024 Budget

The Georgia House signed off on a proposed fiscal 2024 budget, a spending plan that includes raises for state employees and allocates additional funding for law enforcement.

“This budget reflects sound, conservative fiscal policy while demonstrating compassion for Georgians in need,” state Rep. Matt Hatchett, R-Dublin, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, said in an announcement. “We have been good stewards of the taxpayer dollars with which we have been entrusted, and I am proud of all the House members and staff who worked on this important piece of legislation.”

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Minnesota Bill Would Prohibit Colleges from Requiring a Faith Statement for Postsecondary Enrollment Options Students

A proposal to bar colleges that require a statement of faith from participating in the Postsecondary Enrollment Options (PSEO) program is buried within Gov. Tim Walz’s education policy bill.

The Postsecondary Enrollment Options Act allows Minnesota high school students to earn both high school and college credits for free, since the schools are reimbursed by the state.

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Youngkin Does Not Rule out 2024 Run, Emphasizes Virginia

When asked directly Thursday night whether he is considering running for higher office, Gov. Glenn Youngkin did not officially rule out a presidential run in 2024, but said he is focused on Virginia. 

“I have a big job, I love my job,” Youngkin said during a CNN Town Hall Thursday night. “Thank you for hiring me, thank you for letting me come to work every day and go to work for 8.7 million Virginians. That’s what my focus is right now, and I believe there is an enormous about of work yet to do in Virginia.”  

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Lawsuit Filed Against Arizona School District Alleging Religious Discrimination

Arizona Christian University (ACU), represented by Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), filed a lawsuit against the Washington Elementary School District (WESD) Thursday, alleging the district discriminated against the school based on its religious beliefs.

“By discriminating against Arizona Christian University and denying it an opportunity to participate in the student teacher program because of its religious status and beliefs, the school district is in blatant violation of the U.S. Constitution, not to mention state law that protects ACU’s religious freedom,” said ADF Senior Counsel David Cortman, vice president of U.S. litigation. “Washington Elementary School District officials are causing irreparable harm to ACU every day they force it to choose between its religious beliefs and partnering with the area’s public schools.”

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Gov. Glenn Youngkin: ‘I Don’t Think Biological Boys Should Be Playing Sports with Biological Girls’

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) delivered a straightforward response to a 17-year-old girl identifying as a boy who asked the governor about school restrooms and sports policies that place biological sex above gender identity.

During a CNN Townhall, Nico, a 17-year-old girl who identifies as a boy, asked Youngkin about his school policies requiring students to use the bathrooms and play on the athletic teams consistent with their biological sex.

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Ohio Department of Agriculture Conducts Discussion with Concerned Farmers

Farmers from the East Palestine region met with officials from the Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) on Thursday to discuss the potential effects of last month’s Norfolk Southern hazardous train crash on their crops and livestock.

The conference was held in order to address any worries local farmers might have regarding the forthcoming planting season, even though the ODA has stated it has no reason to believe crops cultivated in the area would be harmful.

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At Iowa Foreign Policy Event, GOP Presidential Candidate Nikki Haley Says War in Ukraine is a War ‘We Have to Win’

Republican Presidential candidate Nikki Haley asserts the war in Ukraine is about freedom and “one we have to win.” 

The former South Carolina governor discussed national security and foreign policy with U.S. Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) Friday morning in suburban Des Moines at an event sponsored by the Bastion Institute.

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Proposed Electric Vehicle Fee Falls Short of Solving Pennsylvania’s Infrastructure Woes

As electric vehicles overtake Pennsylvania’s roads, lawmakers still have to sort out two things – how to tax them to fund roads and bridges, and how to build out reliable charging stations.

While neither issue has a quick and easy solution, a pilot tax project will grow revenue, and federal cash will expand an electric charging corridor across the state.

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Republican Appeals Court Judge Assigned to Preside over Ohio Abortion Law Injunction

Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Sharon Kennedy assigned Matthew Byrne, a Twelfth District Court of Appeals judge, this week to preside over a state appeal of a preliminary injunction on Ohio’s abortion law.

Byrne takes over for newly appointed Ohio Justice Joe Deters, who recused himself after the abortion clinic plaintiffs argued that he couldn’t rule on the state’s heartbeat bill ban because he was an original defendant on the case when serving as Hamilton County Prosecutor.

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Study Finds Extensive Flaws in Plan to Extend Sales Tax for Expanding Light Rail in Maricopa County

Arizona Free Enterprise Club released a new report criticizing the Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG) proposed plan for the Prop. 400 half-cent tax.

The Prop. 400 half-cent tax, which started in 1985 to pay for public transit and then light rail in Maricopa County, faces strong opposition every time it comes up for renewal. 

The report said the MAG’s proposal fails to consider the permanent transformation of society due to COVID-19, which significantly reduced the number of workers using public transit as people shifted to working from home and remained there.

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Commentary: Seperating Fact from Fiction

The State of New Jersey recently enacted a law that requires K–12 students to learn “information literacy.” Stated plainly, this is the skills to determine what’s true and what’s not. The law is allegedly the first of its kind in the nation.

The sentiment behind the legislation is admirable, but the law itself is vague and gives the NJ Department of Education broad authority to create these standards. Given the track record of the U.S. education establishment, this could be an epic mistake.

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Commentary: The Importance of Philosophical Fiction

I must admit that I have not always been a serious reader. Like the vast majority of consumers of art, I was more interested in the escapist element of fiction and cinema. I would read a book or watch a film as a way to escape into another world for a couple hours. I was enthralled by the likes of C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia, Neil Gaiman’s The Ocean at the End of the Lane, and Stephen King’s The Shining.

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Commentary: Daylight Saving Time’s Mixed Results

This weekend, public service announcements will remind us daylight saving time is over. This means you have to set your clocks forward an hour at 2 a.m. on March 12.

This semiannual ritual shifts our rhythms and temporarily makes us groggy at times when we normally feel alert. Moreover, many Americans are confused about why we spring forward in March and fall back in November, and whether it is worth the trouble.

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Colin Kaepernick Accuses His Own White Adoptive Parents of ‘Perpetuating Racism’

Former NFL player Colin Kaepernick has released a new memoir, in which he insults the White couple that adopted him and raised him, accusing them of “problematic” behavior and “perpetuating racism.”

As reported by the Daily Caller, Kaepernick’s memoir, “Change the Game,” is written as a graphic novel. He further expanded upon what he said in the book in an interview with CBS News on Thursday.

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