Ohio Governor DeWine Authorizes Ohio State Highway Patrol to Assist with Texas Border Surveillance

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine authorized a contingent from the Ohio State Highway Patrol to assist local law enforcement in Texas with border surveillance.

The authorization by Governor DeWine came in response to a request for assistance from Texas Governor Greg Abbott in resolving the escalating border crisis, which has been marked by surging immigration rates and overburdened local law enforcement.

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Arizonan Sentenced After Being Caught Attempting to Deal Fentanyl

Steve Lugo Leon, 24, of Phoenix, Arizona, has been sentenced to 70 months in prison after pleading guilty to intending to distribute an illicit substance containing fentanyl, according to a Thursday release from the Arizona District of the U.S. Attorney’s Office (District).

The incident occurred back in 2021 at the Arizona Mills Mall in Tempe. Leon had arranged to sell fentanyl pills and methamphetamine with a client, but when police showed up, the dealer attempted to flee in his vehicle. He also had an accomplice in the car, Rafael Ivan Valenzuela Chairez, 20, of Phoenix; however, in the ensuing chase, Leon hit another vehicle, causing his truck to flip on its side. Chairez attempted to flee on foot, but both dealers were apprehended by police. Officers then found 946 grams of fentanyl, around 9,000 pills, and 12.83 kilograms of methamphetamine.

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Music Spotlight: Pryor Baird

One of my favorite groups to interview is the music competition show’s finalists. To make it to the finales of any of the shows, artists normally have talent in spades. The actual winners are often untouchable, but those who rank in the top 10 are usually fabulous performers.

Pryor Baird is no exception. From Season 14 of NBC’s The Voice in 2018, Baird had all four judges vying for him to be their team. While he would ultimately go with Blake, it didn’t really matter because not only could he sing with a bluesy, Muddy Waters grit, he was different. And more importantly, he was memorable.

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Commentary: An OB/GYN’s Perspective on the COVID-19 Vaccine

Dr. Kimberly Biss is an exception to the rule of self-interested medical professionals’ ignoring COVID-19 vaccine adverse reactions. The Florida-based OB/GYN is one of very few doctors of her type across the nation who are speaking out against the COVID-19 vaccines. And in her professional experience, she’s seen how harmful these vaccines can be, especially on fertility rates.

Since the rollout of the vaccine, Dr. Biss has seen a dramatic increase in miscarriages in the pregnant women she interacts with in her practice.

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Court Rejects Massachusetts Middle-Schooler’s Free Speech Request to Wear ‘Two Genders’ Shirt at School

The U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts in Boston denied 12-year-old Liam Morrison’s request this week for a temporary injunction or restraining order to block his school from prohibiting expression of his view that “there are only two genders” before the court issues its final decision. “MFI [Massachusetts Family Institute] recently filed suit to vindicate the rights of this brave Middleborough 7th-grader to wear a shirt to school that simply stated ‘There Are Only Two Genders,’” the pro-family organization said in a press statement sent to The Star News Network. “After being censored by his school, Liam’s case went viral. MFI has partnered with Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) to file a federal lawsuit against the school.”

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Republican Presidential Candidate Vivek Ramaswamy Lays Out Peace Deal to End War In Ukraine, Sever Russia’s Partnership with China

Speaking at a campaign event Friday in New Hampshire, Ohio businessman and GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy laid out his plan for peace in Ukraine by opening up Russia. The 37-year-old political outsider, who has often said political leaders need to “think on the timescales of history, not on two-year election cycles,” believes a Nixon approach to Russia would curtail the looming threat of communist China.

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Comer Wins: FBI Relents, Agrees to Deliver Subpoenaed Memo Alleging Biden Bribery to Capitol

Facing a potential contempt of Congress vote, FBI Director Christopher Wray relented and has agreed to bring a subpoenaed document from the Biden family investigation to Capitol Hill for lawmakers to inspect on Monday, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer announced Friday. The document in question, an FD-1023, contains uncorroborated allegations that an informant provided the FBI in June 2020 alleging that Joe Biden, when he was vice president, was engaged in a bribery scheme to change US policy in return for $5 million to his family’s businesses, lawmakers have said.

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Tennessee Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn’s Term in Office Officially Concludes

June 1st officially marked the end of Penny Schwinn’s tenure as the top education official in Tennessee. Schwinn submitted her resignation on May 1st but gave the state 30 days’ notice before making it official.

Long-time Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) employee Sam Pearcy will assume the reins for the next 30 days. At that time, Governor Bill Lee’s appointed successor, Lizzette Gonzalez Reynolds, officially begins her term.

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Nashville SC Owner Against Neighboring Fairgrounds Speedway Rebuild Proposal

The owner of fellow Nashville Fairgrounds tenant Nashville SC spoke out in a letter to Nashville’s Metro Council against a deal to rebuild the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway with a 30,000-seat grandstand.

The speedway deal, expected to cost taxpayers $120 million and first be discussed by the council in July, would include $86 million in Nashville Sports Authority bonds and $34 million combined from Tennessee and Nashville’s Convention and Visitors Corporation. The Nashville CVC funds come from a Davidson County hotel tax surplus.

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National Archives Refuses to Hand Over Emails Between Hunter Biden and Joe Biden’s Staff

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) refuses to hand over requested communications between Hunter Biden and then-Vice President Joe Biden’s staff.

Just The News reports that the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by America First Legal (AFL) has been rejected by NARA, which is claiming an exemption that allegedly includes communications between the president and his advisors, as well as communications between advisors.

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University of Colorado Boulder Website Declares Misgendering an ‘Act of Violence’

In his report Wednesday that the University of Colorado (CU Boulder) is facing backlash for a statement on its “Pride Office” website that claims misgendering people can be considered an “act of violence,” legal scholar Jonathan Turley observed that when schools declare opposing views to be “violence,” they allow professors and students to “rationalize their own acts of violence or censorship.”

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Biden Admin Will Admit Thousands More Migrants Each Month Through Phone App

The Biden administration will expand its program to legalize migrants to accept roughly 40,000 per month starting in June, according to CBS News.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will continue to evaluate expanding the program, according to CBS News. Between January, when the program launched, and April, more than 79,000 migrants have scheduled appointments using CBP One, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

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Biden’s ‘Equity’ Panel Pushes Woke Farm Policy

The Agriculture Department’s new Equity Commission is seeking the public’s comments after its interim report called for more diversity on related county boards as part of “closing the racial wealth gap and addressing longstanding inequities in agriculture.”

Members of USDA’s 15-member Equity Commission, which was established in February 2022, include NAACP President Derrick Johnson, who recently flagged the state’s policies in issuing a travel warning for Florida, where agriculture is a major industry. 

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Commentary: The FDA Must Partner with State AGs to Crack Down on Illegal Vapes and Keep Kids Safe

Millions of kids and teens in America are falling victim to an insidious campaign to get them hooked on illegal, disposable vapes that are made in China and intentionally marketed in youth-enticing flavors.

After years of inaction, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has finally said it will make compliance and enforcement against these products a priority. FDA’s decision to start taking action to stop the rising tide of illegal disposable vapes in youth-enticing flavors that are flooding our country from China is an important step forward but letters won’t be enough to get these products off our shelves.

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Commentary: Boycotts Aren’t Enough

Department store superchain Target has lost over $10 billion in value since conservatives across the U.S. started boycotting the woke corporation for pushing “pride” merchandise on children, including pro-trans “tucking” and binding” clothes designed for toddlers. This follows Anheuser-Busch’s reaching a six-month low after consumers started boycotting Bud Light, which the beer manufacturing giant decided to brand with the face of biological male Dylan Mulvaney, who now dresses and acts as a grotesque caricature of a woman. Although these are, from an authentic conservative perspective, positive results, boycotts aren’t enough.

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Pennsylvania Senate Bill Would Reprioritize In-Person Votes

Two Pennsylvania state senators told colleagues this week they are drafting a measure to count in-person ballots rather than absentee ballots in instances when someone uses both methods to vote. 

Before Act 77, a 2019 law letting Pennsylvanians vote by mail without an excuse like illness or travel, those who submitted absentee ballots but became able to vote in person could do so while having their absentee ballots voided. The new law however directs election boards to let an absentee voter cast their vote in person using a provisional ballot; in cases when the mail-in ballot was received by 8 p.m. on Election Day, the earlier mail-in ballot, not the in-person one, is recorded.

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Report: Michigan Cut Its Rape Kit Backlog 95 Percent in Past Five Years

From 2018 to 2022, Michigan reduced by 95% the number of untested sexual assault evidence collection kits held by law enforcement,

USAFacts released last week a state-by-state analysis of rape kits backlogs. Researchers filed public records requests with each state, asking them to provide rape kit backlog data between 2018 and 2022. Thirty states and Washington D.C. provided data.

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Finnish Company Picks Ware County for First U.S. Manufacturing Facility

A company specializing in industrialized manufacturing of buildings and homes plans to build its first U.S. manufacturing facility in Ware County.

ADMARES, which is from Turku, Finland, is relocating its headquarters to the U.S. and plans to create more than 1,400 jobs. According to a news release, the company intends to invest $750 million in its Waycross facility — a 2.5-million-square-foot build-to-suit facility — and has selected a greenfield site on Highway 23 in Waycross.

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Norfolk Southern Donates Historic East Palestine Train Depot to Village

Norfolk Southern Railway announced that it intends to renovate and donate its historic East Palestine train depot as part of the railroad’s response following the catastrophic train derailment earlier this year.

Norfolk Southern said it will restore and upgrade the exterior of the building. The railway giant will turn the interior into a blank space so the community may shape the future development of this property according to its own vision. To help the village continue to improve the facility, Norfolk Southern will donate $100,000.

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Judge Orders Preliminary Injunction Against Biden’s ATF in Key Second Amendment Case

A Milwaukee-based public interest law firm has won a key victory in a Second Amendment battle. 

The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty on Wednesday secured a preliminary injunction in federal court on behalf of three veterans challenging the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ rule regulating up to 40 million pistols equipped with stabilizing braces. 

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Trump’s Message to Iowa Voters on Latest Campaign Trip: ‘We Have to Win. It’s Not a Game’

Former President Donald Trump stormed back into Iowa Thursday with an urgent message for voters in the kickoff caucus state: I’m here to win. 

The frontrunner Republican — by far — in the Republican presidential nomination chase made several campaign stops in the Des Moines metropolitan area. But this latest swing through Iowa found Trump eschewing his usual massive campaign rallies for more intimate venues with smaller crowds, perhaps recognition that winning in the first-in-the-nation caucus state will require the kind of face-to-face retail politics Iowans have grown accustomed to. 

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Florida Poll Has Trump and DeSantis Tied, but Questions Remain About Polling Data

A new poll shows Florida Governor Ron DeSantis statistically tied with former President Donald Trump in the Sunshine State’s presidential primary race, a reversal of fortune for DeSantis from a few months ago. 

But Fort Meyers, Florida-based pollster Victory Insights has provided no topline or key demographic background data on the poll, raising more questions about surveys used to power a narrative that DeSantis is more electable than Trump.

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DFL Party Bans Minneapolis City Council Candidate After Endorsing Convention Melee

The DFL has officially banned a Minneapolis City Council candidate from seeking future endorsement from the political party, two weeks after his supporters were allegedly involved in starting a melee that broke out at a local endorsing convention.

On Tuesday evening, longtime DFL Party Chair Ken Martin released a statement announcing the organization had utilized a pair of newly-approved bylaws that allowed its state central committee to ban Nasri Warsame, a Minneapolis resident, from “seeking the DFL Party endorsement for any office.”

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No Word Yet from Pennsylvania State University on FIRE’s Freedom Concerns

The Pennsylvania State University has reportedly yet to answer a Philadelphia-based free-speech nonprofit’s request that the school confirms adherence to freedom of association.

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) asked Penn State to do so after a brief disagreement this spring between administrators and the College Independents. This student group hosts political discussions featuring “a wide variety of viewpoints.” 

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State Senate Committee Turns Down Another Director Nomination from Katie Hobbs After Troubling Meeting

The Senate Committee on Director Nominations (DINO) met again on Wednesday to vet Governor Katie Hobbs’s (D) choice to be the director of Arizona Registrar of Contractors (ROC), Martín Quezada.

According to his testimony before the committee, Quezada graduated from law school, served under the Arizona Court of Appeals, started a solo law practice, and then, most notably, served as a Democrat legislator in both the House and the Senate until this year. After leaving the Legislature, he applied for the director position, and Hobbs offered him the job, which he said has thus far been an enjoyable experience.

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Ohio Senate Unanimously Passes Legislation Removing Hundreds of Pages from the Ohio Revised Code

The Ohio Senate unanimously passed legislation that removes hundreds of pages from the Ohio Revised Code, increasing efficiency at the state level.

Senate Bill (SB) 74, sponsored by State Senator Theresa Gavarone (R-Bowling Green), contains over 100 individual changes to the Ohio Revised Code, most impacting government-to-government interactions. The bill eliminates 64 code sections, cutting hundreds of pages from the Ohio Revised Code.

Senate Bill (SB) 74 sponsored by State Senator Theresa Gavarone (R-Bowling Green) contains over 100 individual changes to the Ohio Revised Code with the vast majority of these changes impacting government-to-government interactions. The bill eliminates 64 code sections altogether, cutting hundreds of pages from the Ohio Revised Code. 

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Ohio Republican Party Pushes Back Against Newspaper Editorial for Disrespecting Lawmakers and Ignoring the Value of State Issue 1

The Ohio Republican Party is pushing back against a “repugnant perversion” of Ohio State Issue 1 recently published in The Columbus Dispatch.

Issue 1, if approved by voters, would mandate a 60 percent approval percentage for any future constitutional amendments, call for signatures from all 88 counties, and do away with the opportunity to “cure” petitions by collecting additional signatures if necessary.

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Bill Sent to Katie Hobbs’ Desk to Prevent Lewd Videos from Being Created on Government Property

Senate Bill (SB) 1696, sponsored by state Representative Jake Hoffman (R-Queen Creek), has arrived at Governor Katie Hobbs’s (D) desk and is awaiting a final decision.

Should this bill become law, it would prohibit any state entity, including any agencies, political subdivisions, cities and towns, or any state contractors, from exposing minors to sexually explicit materials. Furthermore, it prohibits the use of state facilities or property from being used to film explicit acts, such as filming pornography. Any violation of this bill would result in a class 5 felony.

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Mother Sues After Trans Student Allegedly Assaults Daughter in School Bathroom

A mother is suing the Edmond School District in Oklahoma after a male student who identifies as transgender used the girls’ bathroom at school and allegedly attacked her daughter, according to the lawsuit.

A 17-year-old male allegedly entered the girls’ bathroom and “severely” attacked and beat the 15-year-old girl at approximately 7:15 a.m. on Oct. 26, according to the lawsuit filed on May 25. The school knew that the male student was biologically male, had made repeated threats of violence against the girl and routinely used the girls’ bathrooms in violation of a state law that requires students to use bathrooms aligned with their sex, the lawsuit alleges.

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Liz Warren, JD Vance Join Forces to Punish Execs of Failed Banks

Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Republican Ohio Sen. JD Vance are uniting to introduce legislation announced Thursday to reduce the risks of large bank failures.

The Failed Bank Executives Clawback Act would propose harsher penalties for failed bank executives, which serves as a bipartisan response to the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) in early March, according to Warren’s office. The proposed legislation would require the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to recover some or all of executive payments from the three years prior to their bank’s failure, covering larger banks with more than $10 billion in assets.

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Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz Declares ‘Huge Victory’ as Pentagon Cancels ‘Child-Friendly’ Drag Show at Nevada Air Base

The Department of Defense has put a stop to a “child-friendly” drag show event slated for Thursday at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada.

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) declared the decision to cancel the drag show a “huge victory” in the wake of his demands for answers on why such shows on military installations are continuing despite statements to Gaetz during a House Armed Services Committee hearing by Biden Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Mark Milley that they were not aware such events were occurring and that they agree they should not be held.

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Hundreds Show Up for Kari Lake Rally with Former ICE Director Tom Homan Addressing Border Security

SCOTTSDALE, Arizona – Hundreds showed up for a rally in Scottsdale with Kari Lake and former acting ICE Director Tom Homan Wednesday evening. The event focused on the problems related to Arizona’s border with Mexico, the surge in illegal immigrants under the Biden administration, the increase in crime, including rapes and sexual assaults, and the fentanyl crisis.

Lake began her speech, “What happens on the border, doesn’t stay on the border. It goes to all 50 states. This isn’t Vegas.”

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FBI Chief Wray Rolls Dice with Congress over Contempt, then Jets to Las Vegas

Just hours after informing Congress he wouldn’t comply with a subpoena and turn over an informant document on the Biden family investigation, FBI Director Christopher Wray hopped on the bureau’s Gulfstream jet and ferried off to the more friendly confines of Las Vegas.

The flight manifest for the FBI’s official jet shows Wray left the Washington suburb of Manassas, Va., at about 4 p.m. ET on Wednesday and landed about four hours later in Nevada’s most famous tourist city.

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J6 Unmasked: Security Footage Shows Pelosi Evacuating Hollywood-Style from Capitol as Daughter Films

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has described having to evacuate a riotous Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 as traumatic. But Capitol Police security footage obtained by Just the News shows the long-time Democrat leader exited Hollywood-style from the home of Congress that fateful day with her daughter filming her as security officers tried to guide her through a secret safe passage corridor. The footage, made available by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and aired for the first time on the Just the News, No Noise television show on Real America’s Voice on Thursday night, provides three different angles of Pelosi’s evacuation the afternoon of Jan. 6. Each show her daughter Alexandra roving around her mother’s delegation with a camera as they moved briskly through corridors, led by members of the Capitol Police protective detail.

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Analysis: The State School Choice in the U.S.

As the school year ends and legislative sessions adjourn, Chalkboard updated its review of which legislatures nationwide are implementing school choice measures that provide education options for students and their families and which states have removed them.

Several states across the country have recently adopted legislation that would allow students to attend any school of their choice using taxpayer dollars, something that advocates call universal school choice. Critics of the legislation say such measures will divert money away from public school systems that need the funds.

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Nashville Pride Sponsors Include Tennessee Titans, Vanderbilt, Other Huge Name Brands

Nashville Pride, which has several events upcoming during the month of June, is sponsored by big name brands including the Tennessee Titans, Vanderbilt Health and others, according to its website. 

Both Bridgestone and Nissan, who have huge presences in Tennessee, are listed on the site as “presenting partners” of this year’s pride activities. Nissan also sponsors the Tennessee Titans football stadium. 

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Court Filing Explains Why Covenant School Parents Don’t Want Killer’s Manifesto Released

Asking the court to “shield” Covenant Presbyterian School students from a “lifetime of abuse and harassment by the shooter from beyond the grave,” a new court filing lays out why parents of the children don’t want the Covenant killer’s manifesto and other writings made public. 

Davidson County Chancellor I’Ashea Myles last week ruled that the Covenant Presbyterian Church, its private elementary school and the parents of the schoolchildren may intervene in a lawsuit seeking the manifesto and related writings of mass shooter Audrey Elizabeth Hale. 

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Nashville Mayoral Candidates Offer Views on City Schools

A poll conducted in May on behalf of Tennesseans for Student Success by VictoryPhones, showed that Nashvillians prefer a mayoral candidate with a strong position on education and infrastructure. That quality slightly edged “positions on social issues” as the leading factor in who earned their vote.

In discussing education policy with Nashville mayoral candidates, The Tennessee Star found few variances between potential city leaders. All candidates supported Metro Nashville Public Schools and appreciated the past administration’s efforts to increase teacher pay. They all voice a commitment to ensuring that Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) are among the best in the country. Outwardly, none are choice advocates.

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Los Angeles Dodgers Pitcher Blake Treinen Condemns Team’s Decision to Honor Anti-Catholic Hate Group

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Blake Treinen released a statement Tuesday in which he expressed his “disappointment” that the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a group that engages in obscene performances that are “blasphemous,” are being “honored as heroes at Dodger Stadium.”

The “sisters,” an organization that openly ridicules Christian beliefs and desecrates Jesus Christ, Treinen said, “display hate and mockery of Catholics and the Christian faith.”

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Over 300 COVID-Era Medical Papers Retracted Due to Scientific Errors, Ethics Concerns

Over 330 different medical research papers have been retracted in the aftermath of the Chinese Coronavirus pandemic, due to either research errors or ethical problems.

As reported by the Daily Caller, the watchdog group Retraction Watch documented the retractions in a recent report, which noted that most of the papers in question were published in smaller publications. A handful, however, were found in more well-known publications such as Lancet and Science. The retracted papers covered such topics as COVID side effects and the efficiency of alternative treatments such as ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine.

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