More than a dozen Virginia lawmakers have announced the 2023 legislative session will be their last, revealing they do not plan to seek re-election this fall.
As of Wednesday, 16 lawmakers in the House of Delegates and state Senate had announced they would not be seeking re-election when all 140 General Assembly seats are on the ballot. Lawmaker retirements and the upcoming election mean the General Assembly will likely see some new faces next session.
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The Arizona-based Goldwater Institute (GI) announced Wednesday that it had filed a lawsuit against the city of Phoenix for refusing a public records request relating to union records.
“The public’s business should be done in public, not behind closed doors,” says GI Staff Attorney Parker Jackson, lead attorney on the case. “The city of Phoenix has a duty to comply with state law—and the city’s own code—so that residents can find out what their government is up to.”
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U.S. Senator Joni Ernst says the Biden administration’s decision on year-round Ethanol-15 is long overdue — and six and a half months too late.
German-owned Politico reported on Wednesday that the Environmental Protection Agency will finally propose authorizing the year-round sale of gasoline blends containing 15 percent ethanol in Iowa and other Midwest states. But the rule would not take effect until 2024.
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On Wednesday, independent journalist Nick Sortor confronted Ohio Governor Mike DeWine regarding the controlled burn in East Palestine, Ohio.
DeWine returned for his fourth visit to East Palestine Wednesday to meet with various officials cleaning up the toxic Norfolk Southern train derailment from Feburary 3rd.
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The idea of the “pursuit of happiness” is in our societal DNA. Yet, this “unalienable right,” immortalized in the Declaration of Independence, has often puzzled people. What exactly did Jefferson mean?
Most people think of happiness as feeling good, but that is not what Jefferson meant. Pleasure and happiness are not the same. Our happiness does not depend upon everything going right in our life or getting what we want.
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Thursday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed public affairs specialist Clint Brewer in studio to comment upon Joe Biden’s latest gaffe and testimony surrounding the origins of COVID.
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Thursday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed all-star panelist Roger Simon in studio to discuss Washington D.C. and past CPAC events.
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Thursday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed The Epoch Times senior contributor, Roger Simon in studio to discuss his intentions to create a version of The Making of the President during his initial meetings with 2024 presidential candidates.
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Thursday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed public affairs specialist Clint Brewer in studio to discuss the 2024 presidential candidates and the victimhood mentality that is plaguing the conservative movement.
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Biden Attorney General Merrick Garland told Republican senators Wednesday his Department of Justice (DOJ) has prosecuted more pro-life Americans for peaceful protests at abortion clinics than enraged anti-life terrorists firebombing pregnancy care centers and vandalizing churches because pro-life people conduct their activities during the day while the domestic terrorists are doing their bombing at night.
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A “first-class” condition requirement was at the forefront of Tennessee Titans Chief Executive Officer Burke Nihill claiming Metro Nashville would owe $1.839 billion in renovation costs at Nissan Stadium.
But a new lease agreement with the team for a new estimated $2.1 billion stadium, set to open in 2026, would also include a similar “first-class” requirement. The final documents were released publicly Wednesday before they are scheduled to receive a first reading at Tuesday’s Metro Nashville Council meeting.
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The FBI has confirmed initial reports that the Biden administration is now saying the most likely source of COVID-19 is the virology lab in Wuhan, China.
The news comes after the Wall Street Journal reported that the Department of Energy gave classified briefings to key lawmakers and the White House saying the most likely origin of the virus was the lab in China.
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Tennessee’s testing vendor, Pearson, testified on Tuesday to House Education Instruction Committee members. Pearson supplies Tennessee schools with both the state’s annual TNReady test and the recently adopted universal reading screener, AimsWeb Plus. The company took over the multi-million dollar state contract to create and administer the annual standardized test in 2020 after several years of missteps by then-vendor Queststar.
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Former President Donald Trump is gaining support from Republican voters and widening his lead over potential 2024 candidate Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, according to four new polls.
Trump received 55% of the hypothetical 2024 GOP primary vote, more than twice that of DeSantis, who received 25%, according to an Emerson College poll released Tuesday. A poll from Emerson last month showed that Trump led DeSantis 55%-29%.
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On Monday, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was sued for allegedly withholding records detailing the off-label use of hormone treatments, such as puberty blockers, by underaged children.
Fox News reports that the lawsuit was filed by Stephen Miller’s America First Legal (AFL) group, which had previously made a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request back in September regarding the use of such hormone drugs on children under the Biden Administration. After the FDA refused to respond to the request, AFL filed their lawsuit.
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A newly amended caption bill, HB1214, that would allow for the establishment of charter schools serving homeschoolers and boarding charter schools has made it out of the House K-12 Subcommittee.
In presenting the bill for the author, House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville), on Tuesday, State Representative Mark White (R-Memphis) appeared to be unfamiliar with many of the details associated with the amendment. He acknowledged as much, chalking it up to the “lightning speed” legislators had been operating under.
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A new report reveals students in the nation’s largest school districts are encouraged to change their names and pronouns without parental knowledge, even though those same schools require parental approval for over-the-counter medicine.
The report, released by The Defense of Freedom Institute for Policy Studies (DFI), found that “eight of the nation’s 20 largest school districts allow students to use names and pronouns at school aligned with their gender identity without parental knowledge and consent,” said DFI.
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The Michigan Senate approved a tax bill to boost the earned income tax credit and reduce retirement taxes, but doesn’t include the $180 inflation relief checks touted by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
Republicans withheld the needed votes to issue $800 million worth of $180 inflation relief checks. In a Feb. 16 vote, Republicans again refused to give immediate effect to House Bill 4001 because they preferred permanent tax relief over a one-time check.
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Connecticut lawmakers are revisiting proposals that would authorize physicians to administer lethal doses of medicine to terminally ill patients.
A pair of bills being considered by the General Assembly would put Connecticut in line with Vermont, Maine and seven other states that have “death with dignity” statutes, also known as physician-assisted suicide or medical-aid-in-dying laws.
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The Board of Marymount University unanimously voted on Friday to eliminate ten degree programs in the humanities and social sciences, including English, History, and Theology and Religious Studies.
Founded as the first Catholic college in Virginia in 1950, Marymount is affiliated with the Sacred Heart of Mary and serves approximately 3,500 students in its undergraduate and graduate programs.
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Jimmy Patronis, the state of Florida’s chief financial officer, is warning the top executives of a so-called “disinformation” tracking group it’s playing with fire in targeting conservative organizations in what has been described as a defunding campaign. In a letter to NewsGuard CEOs and Editors-in-Chiefs Steven Brill and Gordon Crovitz, Patronis warns that he will not hesitate to “use the full force” of his office to shed light on an organization that has financially hurt conservative outlets with its rating system. “In short, your enterprise may affect the finances of your clients through triggering Florida’s divestment laws, and it may be subject to legislative scrutiny in the upcoming legislative session,” Florida’s CFO wrote. As the Washington Examiner reported last month in its series, “Disinformation Inc.,” NewsGuard is part of a growing army of self-styled “disinformation tracking organizations that are cracking down on conservative media and part of a lucrative operation that aims to defund disfavored speech.” As the Examiner reported: Major ad companies are increasingly seeking guidance from purportedly “nonpartisan” groups claiming to be detecting and fighting online “disinformation.” These same “disinformation” monitors are compiling secret website blacklists and feeding them to ad companies, with the aim of defunding and…
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A Democratic Minnesota legislator said it is a form of “genocide” for “white Christians” to adopt Native American children.
“I’m sick of white Christians adopting our babies and rejoicing. It’s a really sad day when that happens. It means the genocide continues,” Rep. Heather Keeler, DFL-Moorhead, said on Facebook.
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The Senate Education Committee voted to advance legislation creating state-funded education savings accounts.
The committee voted 6-5 Tuesday afternoon in favor of Senate Bill 233, the Georgia Promise Scholarship Act.
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State Representative Janel Brandtjen (R-Menomonee Falls) on Wednesday said a leftist nonprofit could face legal action for its alleged election bribery in favor of state Supreme Court candidate Janet Protasiewicz.
Brandtjen, who recently chaired the state Assembly Committee on Campaigns and Elections, told The Wisconsin Daily Star she believes discussions toward that end are underway though no complaints against Wisconsin Takes Action have yet been filed at this writing.
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The head of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) stated on Tuesday that he wants to push the railroad to quickly clean up the mess because he doesn’t want any stigmas associated with the Ohio community where a train crashed and released poisonous chemicals three weeks ago.
The organization on Tuesday opened a office where people may register for cleaning services for their homes and places of business as well as air monitoring within their residences. Also, locals can visit the office to ask officials other queries about the cleanup work.
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Former President Donald Trump is coming to Iowa.
The leading Republican candidate for president will make a campaign stop in the first-in-the-nation caucus state mid-month, sources say. Exactly when and where remains unsettled.
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As readers may be aware, in the spring of 2022 my colleagues and I at the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty represented three eighth-grade boys who were accused by the Kiel Area School District of “sexual harassment” under Title IX for “mispronouning.”
As we pointed out, “mispronouning” does not violate Title IX and is not “sexual harassment” under any reasonable definition of that term, and punishing students for their speech violates the First Amendment. The district had also violated Title IX’s clear procedural requirements. We urged the district to drop its misguided investigation, and it ultimately did.
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Two of Arizona’s state Senate Democratic leaders are taking a step back.
Democratic Senate Leader Raquel Terán and Democratic Senate Caucus Whip Rosanna Gabaldón announced Tuesday they are resigning from their party positions this week.
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Arizona State Representative Justin Wilmeth (R-Phoenix) announced that his bill, House Bill (HB) 2254, aimed at restricting the state from enacting overreaching regulations, passed through the House Floor on Tuesday.
“Burdensome regulations can lead to higher prices, fewer small businesses, and fewer jobs,” said Wilmeth. “HB 2254 says legislative approval would be required before high-cost rules could be implemented by the state.”
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Republican Ohio Rep. Bill Johnson introduced a bill on Wednesday to provide tax relief to residents affected by a train derailment that cast a toxic chemical plume over an eastern Ohio town.
The East Palestine Tax Relief Act would exempt residents and businesses from paying taxes on any relief payments received after a Norfolk Southern train derailed on Feb. 3, the bill reads. The train carried toxic chemicals including vinyl chloride which were released into the environment days after the derailment through a controlled burn ordered to prevent an explosion.
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With a potential government shutdown looming on the horizon, State House Speaker Ben Toma (R-Peoria) and Senate President Warren Petersen (R-Mesa) sent a letter to Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) Tuesday requesting a meeting to discuss ways to compromise on the state budget.
“In our first and only meeting to discuss the budget, your office stated it was unwilling to receive feedback or take questions. Obviously, we need some level of agreement to pass a budget. We believe we can achieve most of our priorities and including yours that are reasonable,” the Legislators wrote in their joint letter.
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In January, a multi-part undercover investigation throughout the state of Ohio revealed that educators were preparing to skirt a potential law against Critical Race Theory (CRT) and are covertly introducing these divisive concepts to their students unbeknownst to their parents.
Following the release of Accuracy in Media’s (AIM) investigation that outraged parents and residents throughout the state some of the exposed school districts attempted to dismiss the investigation as “lacking context.”
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President Joe Biden’s approval on the economy is at 34%, a new poll shows.
The rating comes as inflation remains elevated, driving up the costs of all kinds of goods and services for Americans, particularly food and energy costs. Biden has touted unemployment rates, which have remained relatively low.
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Reducing school violence is a national imperative. Frequently school officials and police officials have different perceptions of the role of law enforcement in public education. Policing in an educational setting truly is a unique challenge.
Tennessee has historically done a good job ensuring the safety and security of school employees and students. However, we continue to have incidents. The key is to keep vigilant. Tennessee should invite two great resources Mo Canady of the National Association of School Resource Officers and Phil Keith, the former head of community policing for the Department of Justice to testify on school safety prior to the passage of any legislation.
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Republican Texas Rep. Lance Gooden sent a letter to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra Tuesday asking him to address alleged mishandling of illegal alien children released into the U.S. amid concerns over improper vetting of sponsors caring for them.
Gooden asked Becerra to answer to alleged improper vetting of sponsors caring for unaccompanied alien children, according to the letter. The letter comes after the Biden administration began probing factories allegedly employing illegal alien children in inhumane conditions, some of which were released to sponsors they didn’t know well or at all.
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Wednesday morning host Leahy welcomed top gov tracker Neil W. McCabe to the newsmaker line to discuss Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee creating a woke National Guard and Ron DeSantis’s legislative agenda and presidential aspirations.
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Wednesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed Tennessee attorney John Harris in studio to explain how the Bruen decision applies to the state of Tennessee’s gun laws.
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Wednesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed the original all-star panelist Crom Carmichael to the studio for another edition of Crom’s Crommentary.
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Wednesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed the founder and president of the Tennessee Firearms Association, John Harris in studio to discuss what first prompted his interest in the Second Amendment.
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Black History Month has drawn to a close, and former NFL player and author Ben Watson acknowledged its end by highlighting that the greatest injustice in black history still continues in the hundreds of thousands of black babies aborted each year.
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Biden Attorney General Merrick Garland is expected to face tough questions from Republican senators Wednesday regarding what many in the nation say has been the purposeful weaponization of the Department of Justice against parents of schoolchildren, Catholics who live their faith in the public square, and activists who fight for the vulnerable unborn.
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Tennessee’s Senate approved a bill Monday night that would expand eligibility for the state’s educational savings account program to any student who attended a public school in any of the three previous years.
Sen. Jon Lundberg, R-Bristol, said the bill is aimed at students who would have fit the requirements when ESA’s were originally passed in 2019 but decided to attend a private or charter school after that while the original ESA law was blocked in the court system.
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Republican Florida Rep. Brian Mast introduced legislation to hold the Chinese Communist Party accountable for the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a copy of the bill obtained exclusively by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
The bill seeks to allow the U.S. government to withhold debt payments to China equal to the cost incurred by the U.S. in response to the pandemic. The bill’s introduction comes days after the Department of Energy (DOE) found that the virus likely originated from a lab leak in China.
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The Webstaurant Store, LLC announced Tuesday that the company will invest $103.9 million to locate new distribution operations in Lebanon’s Speedway Industrial Park.
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The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments Tuesday in a legal challenge to President Joe Biden’s plan to cancel hundreds of billions of dollars in student loan debt.
Biden announced in August of last year that his administration would “forgive” $10,000 in federal student loan debt for those making less than $125,000 per year or $250,000 for married couples. Debtors who borrowed money before July 1 can qualify.
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U.S. Army Secretary Christine Wormuth predicted that if China got into a “major war” with the U.S. the Communist-led country would attack the American homeland.
“The United States homeland would be at risk as well with both kinetic attacks and non-kinetic attacks – whether it’s cyberattacks on the power grid or on pipelines,” Wormuth said Monday at the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank.
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Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega reportedly banned public church processions for Easter after comparing the Catholic church to the “mafia,” according to the Catholic News Agency (CNA).
Tensions between the government and the church have been rising due to Ortega orchestrating multiple investigations into church leaders and exiling others, according to CNA. Ortega has reportedly placed a ban on public religious demonstrations during Lent, Good Friday and Easter after he attacked the church during a speech memorializing the 89th anniversary of Nicaraguan national hero Augusto Sandino’s death, calling the Catholic church a “mafia organization” committing “grave crimes and horrors.”
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To learn more about the problems residents have encountered regarding the negative effects of social media on kids, the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office announced that it will host three town hall meetings across the state this month.
The town hall meetings come as Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti is leading a 50-state coalition in putting together a case investigating certain Big Tech companies. Skremtti told The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy that these town hall meetings will focus on “the effects of social media on kids and the mental health impact of social media on teenagers.”
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A bill making its way through the Minnesota Legislature with broad Democratic support would require all public school graduates to complete an ethnic studies course.
Authored by Rep. Samantha Sencer-Mura, DFL-Minneapolis, the bill defines ethnic studies as “the critical and interdisciplinary study of race, ethnicity, and indigeneity with a focus on the experiences and perspectives of people of color within and beyond the United States.”
“Ethnic studies analyzes the ways in which race and racism have been and continue to be powerful social, cultural, and political forces, and the connection of race to other groups of stratification, including gender, class, sexuality, religion, and legal status,” it says.
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WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — It’s been a busy start to what Gov. Kim Reynolds is calling a “big and bold” legislative session. The first bill the Republican signed into law was the Students First Act, a historic universal school choice bill allowing parents and guardians to tap into publicly funded education savings accounts to help cover the cost of private school tuition. Reynolds then signed a major medical malpractice tort reform bill capping noneconomic damages, a bill hated by personal injury lawyers but heralded by health care providers, hospitals, insurers and others who say costly litigation has helped push up health care costs. Now, Reynolds has her eye on big government. “We’re fighting hard every day to make government smaller,” the governor said at a recent Iowa campaign stop for Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley. Reynolds’ mission: Trim Iowa’s 37 executive branch cabinet-level departments from 37 to 16. The plan calls for reducing state government office space footprint to “align with industry standards and generate cost savings” and consolidating technology systems and services. Reynolds also wants to align regionally operated community-based corrections programs within the Iowa Department of Corrections. The aim, the governor says, is to strengthen the corrections…
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