Wednesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed the national political correspondent for One America News, Neil W. McCabe to the newsmaker line to comment on the widening field of presidential candidates for the 2024 election.
Read the full storyDay: March 29, 2023
Crom’s Crommentary: ‘We Are Not in a Good Place as a Nation’
Wednesday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed the original all-star panelist Crom Carmichael to the studio for another edition of Crom’s Crommentary.
Read the full storyState Representative Chris Todd Breaks Down the Property Rights Issue Surrounding the Scenic Duck River Bill in Maury County
Wednesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed State Representative Chris Todd (R-Jackson) to discuss issues surrounding the proposal of the Scenic River Bill in Maury County.
Read the full storyMichael Patrick Leahy and Crom Carmichael Blast Controversial Tweet from Arizona Governor’s Press Secretary
Wednesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed the original all-star panelist, Crom Carmichael in studio to comment on Arizona Governor Katie Hobb’s Press Secretary Josselyn Berry’s tweet after The Conventant School shooting, which displays an image of a woman holding two guns.
Read the full storyCatholic League: Nashville Shooting Should Be Investigated as a ‘Hate Crime Against Christians’
The president of the Catholic League said Tuesday that the Nashville school shooting “needs to be investigated as a hate crime against Christians” based on the report by the police chief that the transgender shooter held “some resentment for having to go to that school.”
“The shooter, Audrey Hale, is a female who misidentified herself as a male,” wrote Bill Donohue, who heads the Catholic civil rights organization. “Her resentment against The Covenant School, a Christian school, is important given that Christianity teaches we are either male or female.”
Read the full storyFirst Lady Jill Biden to Attend Nashville Candlelight Vigil Tonight to Mourn Those Lost in The Covenant School Shooting
First Lady Jill Biden is traveling to Nashville today to attend the citywide candlelight vigil at One Public Square Park to “mourn and honor the lives of the victims, and lift up the survivors and families of The Covenant School,” Nashville Mayor John Cooper announced on Twitter.
Read the full storyCommentators Heap Praise on Nashville Police Officers Who Neutralized Suspect in Mass Shooting
After body camera footage was released Tuesday showing Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) officers charging into The Covenant School and killing Audrey Elizabeth Hale, the shooter responsible for killing three children and three adults at the school, social media is abuzz with praise for the officers.
Read the full storySumner County School Whistleblower Makes Explosive Allegations About Policy Violations Against Only Candidate Recommended by Tennessee School Board Association for District Director Position
A Sumner County Schools employee whistleblower has made explosive allegations of multiple policy violations and the creation of a hostile work environment against the only candidate recommended by the Tennessee School Board Association (TSBA) for the district director position.
Dr. Scott Langford, the Sumner County Schools (SCS) Chief Academic Officer (CAO), was the sole candidate recommended as a finalist by the TSBA for the director position that will be open at the end of June.
Read the full storyTwo Years Later, January 6 Video Footage Raises New Questions About Police and Prosecutors
Two years after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, the issue of security footage is bedeviling law enforcement as federal prosecutors belatedly admit there is footage of some cops consorting with the riotous crowd and a retired Capitol Police executive divulges there are sizzle reels of all defendants inside the Capitol that were prepared for the FBI.
Retired Capitol Police Deputy Chief J.J. Pickett told Just the News on Monday that he is not certain whether federal prosecutors have turned over to Jan. 6 defendants the compilation videos made by his department of every person who entered the U.S. Capitol during the riot.
Read the full storyPoll: Only 38 Percent of Americans Believe in American Patriotism
A new poll by the Wall Street Journal has found that an alarmingly low percentage of Americans value patriotism and traditional American values.
As reported by Fox News, the WSJ/NORC poll showed that just 38 percent of respondents believe in the “importance of patriotism.” In the same poll in 1998, that number stood at 70 percent.
Read the full storySchool Libraries Across the Country Adding Books on Gender and White Supremacy
The Ann Arbor public school district has a book available in its pre-kindergarten library called “Introducing Teddy: a gentle story about gender and friendship.” The book is about a boy’s best friend and teddy, Thomas, who is sad because “he wishes he were a girl, not a boy teddy, but what only matters to both of them is that they are friends.”
School districts across the country purchased books in 2022 that cover controversial topics such as critical race theory, white supremacy and gender dysphoria.
Read the full storyDrag Queen Performs Lap Dance on Student at North Carolina Technical College Pride Event with High Schoolers
Forsyth Technical Community College’s Pride Festival organizers invited the high school students who attend schools on its campus to its event that featured drag queen performances, including one in which a drag queen is seen performing a lap dance on a person reported to be a student.
Libs of TikTok, which obtained the video of what appeared to be a drag queen performing a lap dance on a student, reported Tuesday “some parents were outraged that, although faculty members and campus police were present, no one attempted to ensure that underage students were prevented from participating in the drag event.”
Read the full storySecurity Expert Shares Thoughts on Fortifying Schools After Nashville School Shooting
A security expert joined The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network’s Editor-In-Chief and CEO Michael Patrick Leahy on Tuesday’s episode of “The Tennessee Star Report” and discussed ways in which schools can fortify themselves against mass shooters.
The discussion occurred less than 24 hours after transgender female (biological male) Aiden “Audrey” Hale shot and killed six people at The Covenant School in Nashville.
Read the full storyWhile Pennsylvania Labor Secretary Pushes Minimum Wage Hike, Few Workers Make Only $7.25 an Hour
Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry (L&I) officials testified before state senators Tuesday, requesting an increase in the department’s budget as well as a hike in the commonwealth’s minimum wage.
Governor Josh Shapiro’s Fiscal Year 2023-24 spending proposal envisions an 11.4-percent rise in L&I’s allocation to $89.8 million. The agency’s acting secretary Nancy Walker also asked lawmakers to consider backing the governor’s goal to raise the Keystone State’s legal wage floor to $15 per hour.
Read the full storyFederal and State Environmental Protection Agency Officials Testify on East Palestine Derailment at U.S. House Hearing
Federal and state Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials were questioned about the East Palestine train derailment at a Tuesday hearing of the U.S. House Environment, Manufacturing, and Critical Materials Subcommittee over a month after a train carrying toxic chemicals derailed in East Palestine, Ohio.
Debra Shore, the regional administrator of the U.S. EPA Region 5, and Anne Vogel, the director of the Ohio EPA, both gave testimony and detailed the actions they have taken in reaction to the incident.
Read the full storyControversial Green Bay Mayor Faces Ethics Complaint over Alleged Campaign Materials Sent on City Email
Green Bay Mayor Eric Genrich is facing an ethics complaint from a former mayoral candidate alleging the Democrat used his office to send out campaign materials to hundreds of residents.
Genrich, engaged in a tough re-election battle against Brown County administration director Chad Weininger, has also been embroiled in a city hall bugging scandal.
Read the full storyGeorgia Taxpayers Have the Eighth-Best Return on ‘Investment’
Georgia taxpayers have the eighth-best return on their “investment.”
WalletHub used 29 metrics to analyze the efficiency of state-government services across five categories: education, the economy, health, safety and infrastructure and pollution, to develop the rankings.
Read the full storyDeadline Approaching to Join Michigan Unemployment Class-Action Suit
Michiganders who believe they were falsely accused of fraud between 2013-15 for receiving unemployment insurance benefits should know two upcoming deadlines to join a $20 million class action settlement with the state of Michigan.
The Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency blames an old computer system for wrongly accusing roughly 40,000 people of fraud.
Read the full storyConnecticut Seeks to Reduce Solid Waste Costs
Connecticut trucks hundreds of thousands of tons of solid waste to landfills in other states, which costs the state and taxpayers millions of dollars a year.
Gov. Ned Lamont has pitched a plan to reduce the amount of waste going to other states by increasing recycling and requiring manufacturers to reduce packaging materials, but the effort has faced pushback from the solid waste industry and some lawmakers.
Read the full storyCommentary: Trump Again Defines National Priorities
Political observers and partisan activists debate whether Donald Trump or some other Republican candidate has the best chance of beating a Democratic rival in the 2024 presidential election. But earlier this month, Trump demonstrated that just as he did in 2016, he is raising campaign issues central to America’s future, issues that no other candidate is talking about. The latest flare-ups of what have been nearly eight years of relentless, orchestrated prosecution of Trump are a massive distraction but don’t change this reality.
Read the full storyMinnesota Elementary School to Hold ‘Gender Resource Fair’ for Kids
Minneapolis Public Schools will be hosting a “Gender Resource Fair” for elementary school students next month.
The local teachers union promoted the event on Twitter, calling it a “very cool event for families and their gender-creative kids.”
Read the full storyVirginia Gov. Youngkin Signs into Law More than 700 New Measures
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed more than 700 bills sent to his desk by the General Assembly by Monday’s action deadline, approving a slew of new laws that will take effect by July 1.
The governor approved 738 bills by Monday’s action deadline and vetoed three as of Tuesday at 3 p.m., according to the state’s bill tracking system. The governor has also issued recommendations and amendments to 78 other measures, which the General Assembly will consider when it reconvenes in Richmond April 12.
Read the full storyDeSantis-Aligned Super PAC Taps Another Former Trump Aide
Never Back Down, the political action committee (PAC) that intends on recruiting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to run for president in 2024, hired a strategic communications director – another former aide to President Donald Trump, according to The New York Times.
Matt Wolking, former deputy communications director for the 2020 Trump campaign, will join the super PAC founded by former Trump official Ken Cuccinelli, according to the NYT. Wolking also served as a spokesman for Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin in his 2021 campaign.
Read the full storyLawmakers Furious at Governor Katie Hobbs for Cutting Border Strike Force with Crime Surging on the Border
Democratic Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs announced shortly after entering office in January that she would eliminate the Border Strike Force (BSF) that former Governor Doug Ducey created in 2015, sparking outrage from Republican lawmakers concerned about rising crime and violence related to Arizona’s porous border with Mexico. Hobbs said as part of her budget, she would reroute the funding for the BSF elsewhere.
“In the same manner that Joe Biden has destroyed our country with his welcomed support for the prolonged lawlessness and drug crisis along our southern border, Katie Hobbs is destroying Arizona in three short months since taking office by her reckless dismantling of the Border Strike Task Force,” Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ-09) told Fox News. “Countless more people will die from Hobbs’ open border policies.”
Read the full storyPence Returns to Iowa as He Mulls a Run for the White House and Faces Judge’s Order to Testify About Trump
Former Vice President Mike Pence is returning to Iowa Wednesday for a three-city trip as he moves closer to making an announcement on his presidential run.
Pence is among at least four would-be GOP presidential contenders with plans to hit the Hawkeye State in the next few weeks.
Read the full storySenator JD Vance Says ‘Extreme Left’ Needs to do a Lot of ‘Soul Searching’ After Nashville School Shooting
In the wake of the murder of six people at a Christian School in Nashville, Tennessee by an individual who reportedly “identified as transgender” on Monday, U.S. Senator JD Vance (R-OH) said that the extreme left needs to do a lot of “soul searching.”
According to Vance, this terrible incident should prompt the extreme left to deeply consider the correctness of their ideals.
Read the full storyArizona Court Declares Phoenix Needs to Clean Up Large Homeless Encampment
The Maricopa County Superior Court made a preliminary order Monday regarding the lawsuit against Phoenix by city residents alleging that it was creating a public nuisance by not cleaning up “the Zone,” a massive homeless encampment near downtown. Judge Scott Blaney ruled in the resident’s favor, ordering the city to clean up.
“Today’s ruling offers hope not just for the homeless themselves—who, after all, don’t deserve to be left in a ghettoized section of the city’s roads—but to the ignored small-business owners in the area, who are forced to try to earn a living in the midst of such chaos,” wrote Timothy Sandefur, Vice President of Legal Affairs at the Goldwater Institute (GI), who previously filed an amicus brief in this case.
Read the full storyCommentary: Iowa U.S. Senator Joni Ernst Says Time Is Up for TikTok
Make no mistake about it, TikTok is an arm of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) propaganda machine living rent-free on the devices of 150 million Americans, and it’s putting our national security in jeopardy. This insidious app collects your data, surveils behavior, monitors user habits, and negatively influences our youth with an endless stream of addictive content.
Read the full storyGOP State Legislators Disappointed by Arizona Gov. Hobbs’s Decision to Veto Grocery Tax Cut Legislation
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) announced several legislative actions on Tuesday, including the veto of Senate Bill (SB) 1063, sponsored by State Sen. Sonny Borrelli (R-Lake Havasu), which would have prevented Arizona municipalities from enforcing a tax on groceries.
“This veto is a disgraceful windfall for cities and an absolute gouge for families,” said Majority Leader Borrelli. “We’re not only paying inflated prices to feed our families, but we’re also paying more in taxes as the cost of food rises. Food is not a luxury; it is a necessity. A tax on our groceries is regressive and hurts everyone.”
Read the full storyAttorney General Yost Files Lawsuit Against Swiss-Based Drug Pricing Racket Affecting Ohio
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost filed a lawsuit against several pharmacy benefit management firms on the grounds that they have erroneously raised the cost of medications like insulin.
Yost claims that the companies, one of which is based in Switzerland, have maintained dominance over most of the pharmaceutical market due to industry consolidation. Yost named Ascent Health Services LLC, Express Scripts Inc., Cigna Group, Evernorth Health Inc., Prime Therapeutics LLC, Humana Pharmacy Solutions Inc., and Humana Inc. as defendants in the lawsuit. Yost filed the lawsuit on Monday in the Delaware County Common Pleas Court.
Read the full storyPennsylvania Lawmaker Presses Officials to Withdraw from Multi-State Voting Data-Sharing System
During discussions with Pennsylvania’s top election officials this week, state Senator Cris Dush (R-Bellefonte) urged the commonwealth to leave the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), an election data-sharing system.
Over the last 14 months, five states have nixed their participation in ERIC. This month, both Iowa and Ohio indicated they will also do so. Some Republican-led states in the partnership wanted greater autonomy regarding use of the data collected by the organization; these participants also desired an end to a stipulation in ERIC’s bylaws instructing states to contact unregistered voters to remind them to vote. In a recent meeting, the nonprofit’s board rejected the suggested changes.
Read the full storyEarly Voting Begins in Battleground Wisconsin’s State Supreme Court Election
Early voting has begun in Wisconsin for the state’s High Court, and this election becomes the most important decision of 2023, with ramifications far beyond the Badger state, and into 2024.
Tested constitutionalist Daniel Kelly seeks to rejoin the state Supreme Court in Madison. Kelly is an unabashed conservative, but also a careful, balanced, and restrained jurist who does not legislate from the bench or engage in partisan power grabs.
Read the full storyPennsylvania County Election Officials to Sit Out House Hearing on Midterm Ballot Paper Shortage
The House Administration Committee is holding a hearing on Tuesday to investigate a ballot paper shortage that marred the midterm election in Luzerne County, Pa., but three key county election officials have declined invitations to testify.
On the morning of Election Day 2022, multiple precincts in Luzerne County experienced ballot paper shortages, which resulted in long lines, the distribution of provisional ballots to some voters, a judge’s order to extend voting hours until 10 p.m. and the delayed certification of the election by the county elections board.
Read the full storyLong-Serving Wisconsin Secretary of State La Follette About to Cash in on Lucrative Taxpayer-Subsidized Pension
Secretary of State Doug La Follette’s sudden retirement from the post he’s held for nearly half a century raised questions, particularly when Governor Tony Evers swiftly appointed former state treasurer and Democratic Party political climber Sarah Godlewski to take La Follette’s place.
But it’s the millions of dollars La Follette — and his survivors — could take home in retirement benefits that may really raise eyebrows.
Read the full storyCommentary: It’s Time to End Mexican Cartels’ Reign of Terror
Walking down long, ornate hallways, across a grand central courtyard adorned with a Pegasus-topped fountain, and through yet more corridors, our bipartisan delegation was guided to the offices of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador for what we hoped would be a timely and useful meeting for our nations. Since the enactment of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), ongoing trade issues continue to flare up, and since the beginning of the Biden Administration our southern border with Mexico has deteriorated into a chaotic, dangerous, and lawless morass.
Read the full storyPennsylvania State Police Emphasize Diversity in Recruiting Efforts
Leaders of the Pennsylvania State Police emphasized their recruitment efforts as they testified in front of the House Appropriations Committee on Monday.
They also supported Gov. Josh Shapiro’s call to create a dedicated fund, rather than relying on money from the Motor License Fund to support operations.
Read the full storyTrump Says GOP Has ‘No Choice’ But to Embrace Ballot Harvesting
Former President Donald Trump on Monday asserted that Republicans must embrace ballot harvesting in the states that permit the practice in order to win the next election.
“So for 2024, should Republicans embrace early voting, voting by mail, and embrace the tactics of the Democrats and follow the ballot harvesting laws of their respective states?” Fox News’ Sean Hannity asked in an interview that premiered Monday.
Read the full storyNew Kentucky Law Expands Definitions Related to the Use of School Resource Officers
Kentucky lawmakers hope they have already have taken steps that can help avoid a tragedy such as took place in Nashville, Tennessee, on Monday.
On Friday of last week, legislation was signed into law allowing parochial and other private schools to develop pacts with local law enforcement agencies or the Kentucky State Police to have school resource officers on their campuses. House Bill 540, sponsored by state Rep. Killian Timoney, R-Nicholasville, was signed by Gov. Andy Beshear.
In Tennessee on Monday, a shooting at Christian elementary school left three children, three adults and the shooter dead.
Read the full story