The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently announced that low-income Tennessee residents in the ten counties impacted by tornadoes and severe storms that began at the end of March could be eligible for USDA’s Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (D-SNAP).
Read the full storyDay: May 8, 2023
Special Session on Public Safety to Begin in August, Governor Lee Announces
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee announced that he intends to call for the Tennessee General Assembly to convene a special legislative session in August to “strengthen public safety and preserve constitutional rights.”
Read the full storyU.S. Air Force Abandoned a Social Experiment Designed to Graduate More Minority Pilots: Report
The U.S. Air Force abandoned an experiment aimed at boosting pilot training graduation rates for women and minority pilots after the 2021 initiative failed to achieve the intended results and officers privately warned it could violate anti-discrimination policies, according to documents obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
As part of the larger military-wide effort to promote diversity in the service’s pilot ranks, the 19th Air Force command near San Antonio, Texas, “clustered” racial minorities and female trainees into one class, dubbed “America’s Class,” to find out if doing so would improve the pilots’ graduation rates. However, not only did the effort fail to boost minority and women candidates’ success rates, but officers involved say they were ordered to engage in potentially unlawful discrimination by excluding white males from the class, documents show.
Read the full storyTexas DPS: Illegal Alien Apprehensions Reach Rate of 9,000 Per Day
The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) recently claimed that the ongoing mass migration crisis has led to a daily rate of at least 9,000 apprehensions along the southern border.
Breitbart reports that DPS spokesman Lt. Chris Olivarez confirmed the claims, saying that the previous two days have seen over 9,000 such apprehensions of illegal aliens. These numbers surpass the previous highest daily rate in the month of December, which saw approximately 7,200 arrests per day.
Read the full storyTrump Praises GOP Presidential Competitor Vivek Ramaswamy for His Rise in Polls
Former President Donald Trump has taken notice of presidential competitor Vivek Ramaswamy’s rise in the Republican presidential primary polls.
In a statement released Friday, Trump said he’s pleased to see the Ohio businessman and political outsider doing so well.
Read the full storyCommentary: The Biden Admin Doesn’t Care About Creating Jobs – They Even Say So
Department of Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said the quiet part out loud last week. As the executive of our public lands agency, she does not believe that Americans need jobs because there are already so many jobs available. It’s better to lock up land, and lock down mining because who wants those jobs, when there are so many others?
Before the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Haaland told Sen. Josh Hawley, “Senator, I know that there’s like 1.9 jobs for every American in the country right now. So, I know there’s a lot of jobs,” which was her explanation for canceling cobalt mining permits for Twin Metals Minnesota, an underground mine proposed for the northeastern part of the state. America won’t need those jobs, she was saying.
Read the full storyCrom’s Crommentary: ‘Let’s Get Rid of Government Employee Unions’
Monday 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.
Read the full storyCarol Swain and Crom Carmichael Dissect TSU Gloom-and-Doom Commencement Speech by Oprah Winfrey
Monday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed all-star panelists Carol Swain and Crom Carmichael in studio to discuss Oprah Winfrey’s TSU commencement speech on Saturday.
Read the full storyCongressman Andy Ogles on Why He Endorsed Donald Trump for President in 2024
Monday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed Congressman Andy Ogles on the newsmaker line to talk about his endorsement of former President Trump, legislation, and keeping up with D.C.
Read the full storyDemocrat Trifecta Death Stars Are Destroying California, Minnesota, and New York
Monday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed all-star panelist Crom Carmichael in studio to describe laboratory states that have become the Trifecta Death Star for its residents.
Read the full storyCarol Swain: California’s Reparations Proposal ‘Divisive and Not Warranted’ by State’s History
Monday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed all-star panelists Carol Swain and Crom Carmichael in studio to discuss reparations legislation proposed by California’s Governor, Gavin Newsom.
Read the full storyGovernor Lee Signs Amendment to Tennessee’s Third-Grade Retention Law
A bill to update Tennessee’s third-grade reading retention law has been signed by Gov. Bill Lee.
Starting this year, the bill will update a law originally passed in 2021 where students must show proficiency in order to advance to the fourth grade.
Read the full story‘Do No Harm’ Questions East Tennessee State University DEI Office’s ‘Moon Shot for Equity’ Program After Signing of Higher Education Freedom of Expression and Transparency Act
An organization of doctors, healthcare professionals, and policymakers attempting to protect health care from “radical, divisive, and discriminatory ideology” is questioning how East Tennessee State University (ETSU) will respond to the state’s new higher education transparency law that rolls back Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) requirements at publicly funded colleges, universities, and medical schools.
“ETSU is just continuing to double down on their DEI efforts,” Do No Harm’s Laura Morgan, MSN, RN, told The Tennessee Star in an interview, explaining that the school’s announced DEI program called “Moon Shot for Equity” is the “kind of program that House Bill 1376 and Senate Bill 817 is going to say you’ve got to get rid of because it’s pretty clear about not having courses or learning” related to DEI.
Read the full storyLee Signs Tennessee ESA Voucher Expansion to Chattanooga Area
Gov. Bill Lee signed a bill into law on Friday that expands the state’s pilot educational savings account program to Hamilton County, which includes the Chattanooga area.
The Legislature approved the deal April 21 after removing Knox County and then passed the bill along to Lee on April 24.
Read the full storyOver 90 Percent of Solar Panels Are Not Recycled, Head to Landfills: Report
Over 90% of solar panels are “thrown in the trash,” according to a recent news report.
The report by CBS News also found wind energy producers such as turbine are not to eco-friendly.
Read the full storyTexas Launches Probe into Children’s Medical Center for Potentially ‘Illegal’ Trans Procedures
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) is launching a probe into the Dell Children’s Medical Center, a non-profit hospital located in Austin, after a video surfaced showing staff at the facility allegedly saying that they are treating children who are transitioning genders as young as 8 years old.
Paxton issued a Request to Examine to the medical center on Friday to ensure the nonprofit complies with Texas law, which deems most gender transition treatments for minors as child abuse.
Read the full storyMTSU Names Covenant School Police Officers ‘Honorary Professors of Public Safety’
Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) honored five Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) officers on Friday evening during one of the university’s spring commencement ceremonies.
Read the full storyTennessee Wildlife Resources Agency Biologists Investigating Hundreds of Dead Catfish on Chickamauga Lake
In response to several recent calls concerning deceased fish on Chickamauga Lake, biologists with the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) announced they found approximately 300 dead channel catfish.
Read the full storyAmericans Overwhelmingly Reject Transgender Ideology: Poll
A majority of Americans reject the idea that a person’s gender can be different from their sex at birth, according to a poll conducted Nov. 10 – Dec. 1 by The Washington Post and the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Among adults, 57% believed gender was determined by sex at birth and 43% believed gender could be different from one’s sex at birth, the poll found. Respondents rejected other talking points promoted by transgender activists, widely opposing hormones for minors, participation in sports based on gender identity and teaching gender identity to young children.
Read the full storyNew Study Identifies Eight Reforms that Took Florida’s Election Day from ‘Worst to First’
Florida elections have come a long way since the “hanging chad” debacle of 2000. During the 2022 midterms, the state reported the results of all elections within two hours of polls closing, and a new report examines the election law changes that have been credited for the turnaround.
The 2000 presidential election between then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush and then-Vice President Al Gore was decided by the 25 electoral votes from Florida, which didn’t announce its results until five weeks after Election Day.
Read the full storyOprah Winfrey Laments ‘Death of Civility,’ Lauds ‘Two Justins’ in Woke TSU Commencement Speech
Billionaire media mogul Oprah Winfrey returned to her alma mater Saturday to deliver fiery, racially-charged commencement remarks to the graduating class of 2023.
Winfrey, who skyrocketed to fame and fortune with the success of her 90s-area television hit, The Oprah Winfrey Show, lamented to the audience that “you are the generation that is forced to depend on body cams to obtain justice;” “books are being banned, and history is being rewritten;” and that “children are being gunned down by military-grade assault rifles.”
Read the full storyDeSantis Signs Bill Nullifying Disney’s Last-Minute Agreements
Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation Friday to nullify Disney’s last-minute agreements intended to curb the governor’s state control board implemented to oversee the corporation’s special tax district.
Disney’s Reedy Creek Improvement District anticipated the governor’s signing of legislation to revoke the company’s self-governing privileges, and made eleventh-hour agreements granting Disney control of the district’s developmental rights and privileges. DeSantis signed the bill to nullify those agreements, as they were made within the three-month window that the state control board was enacted.
Read the full storyVos Teases Tax Cut Plan for Wisconsinites ‘Who Actually Pay Taxes’
The focus at the Wisconsin Capitol has, so far, been on sending more money to local governments across the state. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos says that’s going to change.
Vos on Friday told News Talk 1130 WISN’s Jay Weber that Republicans are working on a plan to use about $3 billion of Wisconsin’s record $7 billion surplus on tax cuts.
Read the full storyBipartisan Ohio State Lawmakers Introduce Adoption Reform Legislation
A bipartisan group of Ohio lawmakers introduced a bill to modernize and streamline the adoption process across the state.
House Bill (HB) 5, known as The Adoption Modernization Act, sponsored by State Representatives Sharon Ray (R-Wadsworth) and Rachel Baker (D-Cincinnati), aims to provide financial support for expecting mothers, expedite kinship care, and clarify Ohio law to help streamline the adoption process.
Read the full storyLawmakers Propose Reforms for Pennsylvania Budget Balance and Transparency
Several Republicans in Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives are spearheading a package of proposed budgetary reforms to strengthen transparency and prevent fiscal imbalance.
House Minority Appropriations Chair Seth Grove (R-York) announced the series of bills with Representatives James Struzzi (R-Indiana), Eric Nelson (R-Greensburg), Sheryl Delozier (R-Mechanicsburg) and John Lawrence (R-West Grove). The lawmakers suggested their proposals are needed to avert the budgetary problems that arose in Fiscal Year 2016-17. In that period, revenues to the state Treasury totaled $1.5 billion less than the forecast amount.
Read the full storyKemp Signs Georgia’s Fiscal 2024 Budget
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed the state’s fiscal 2024 budget on Friday, saying it will help Georgia maintain its standing as “the best state for opportunity.”
“House Bill 19 funds our priorities and places our state on strong financial footing, keeping us on the road to economic growth even while policies coming out of Washington, DC, push the country closer to a recession,” Kemp, a Republican, said in remarks before the signing.
Read the full storyCommentary: The Great Carbon Capture Scam
Carbon capture is like burning witches.
In the 15th to 17th centuries, the elite in Europe and the United States believed that “evil humans were negatively affecting the climate and weather patterns.” The people were demanding something — anything — be done about famine and crop failure. There must be consequences, facts be damned, so inconvenient women on the fringes of society were labeled “witches” and burned at the stake in droves.
Read the full storySome Arizona Taxpayers in Line for $30 Check from Intuit with TurboTax Settlement
Many Arizona taxpayers could have a roughly $30 settlement check in their mailbox as soon as next week following government legal action against TurboTax.
Nine other states, including New York, Tennessee, and Texas, all took part in a lawsuit against TurboTax’s parent company, Intuit, for what they say was deceptively getting people to pay for tax services that should have been free in the first place. However, all 50 states are part of the final agreement made between the states and the company, according to a statement.
Read the full storyCity of Houghton Fights Walmart over ‘Dark Stores’, Lost Michigan Tax Revenue
A Michigan city in the Upper Peninsula is fighting Walmart over tax assessments.
The Center Square reported about the “dark stores” strategy in June 2021, when vacant big box retail stores often seek the property assessed at tax rates sometimes 50 percent lower than previous rates, which often leaves local taxpayers to foot the tab.
Read the full storyUniversity President Apologizes for ‘Liking’ Tweets Criticizing COVID vaccine, Child Gender Surgery
The president of Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia recently issued an apology and walked back his apparent affirmation of tweets expressing conservative views.
“I regret my lack of understanding of how ‘liking’ a tweet is an implied endorsement,” President Mark Tykocinski, who is also a molecular immunologist and medical doctor, told The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Read the full storyFlorida Lawmakers Finish Session by Approving $117 Billion Budget
The Florida legislative session has come to an end after state lawmakers made their final votes on the budget on Friday.
Senate Bill 2500, the General Appropriations Act, passed both chambers on day 60 of the regular session and is set to be far higher than initially planned, reaching an estimated $117 billion, $7 billion higher than the previous year’s budget.
Read the full storyOberlin University Adds Risk Manager After Gibson’s Bakery and Other Lawsuits
Oberlin College’s record on lawsuits is so bad that it hired a new role this school year – a dedicated risk manager.
The college most famously paid out $36.6 million to local Gibson’s Bakery after its administrators were found complicit in damaging and false accusations of racism against the town staple. The damaging accusations of racism came after a bakery employee chased several black individuals who stole alcohol in November 2016 out of the store.
Read the full storyATF Overstated Job Tasks to Overpay Workers, $20 Million Wasted on Overpayments, U.S. Special Counsel
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives intentionally overstated the duties of multiple workers so they could be classified as law enforcement agents and be paid more, according to the U.S. Office of Special Counsel report this week.
Federal investigators say the agency has been making such overpayments since 2003. And over 100 jobs in the agency’s human Resources department and other departments were falsely labeled as criminal investigators, according to the Washington Times.
Read the full storyState Voting Laws Banning Student IDs Won’t Tank the Youth Vote, Experts Say
State laws that prohibit students from using their school-issued IDs to vote are unlikely to suppress youth voter turnout, experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
States including Idaho, Ohio and Georgia have laws on the books that limit what identification students can present to prove they are an eligible voter when at the polls. While critics of these laws argue that preventing student IDs from being used is a barrier to voting, several experts told the DCNF that there are other ways students can vote and that these laws likely will not have an overwhelming impact in preventing young voters from casting a ballot.
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