Month: September 2023

University of Wyoming Sorority Members Appeal Court Decision Allowing Biological Men into Chapter

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Several female members of the Kappa Kappa Gamma chapter at the University of Wyoming filed an appeal Monday after a court dismissed their lawsuit regarding a biological male who was allowed into their sorority house, according to court documents.

A judge ruled in August that the national organization of Kappa Kappa Gamma has the right to determine its own definition of women for its sororities and did not violate the rules by allowing biological male Artemis Langford, who identifies as a woman, into the chapter. In their first filing, the plaintiffs also listed Langford as one of the defendants, but the appeal only lists the housing organization, the chapter and Kappa Kappa Gamma President Mary Pat Rooney, according to court documents.

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Worker Freedom Group: There Are Protections for Auto Workers Who Don’t Want to Strike

M.D. Kittle
Striking UAW workers

As Big Labor-bought President Joe Biden made his trip to Detroit on Tuesday for a photo-op stop on the United Auto Workers (UAW) picket lines, a worker freedom organization reminded those swept up in the UAW action that there are protections for workers who don’t want to strike. Nearly two weeks in, the UAW strike against Detroit’s “Big Three” automakers has grown to include 38 parts distribution plants in 21 states and more than 18,000 workers walking off the job. The union is targeting facilities and, at this point, is not calling its 145,000-plus auto workers to strike. A Reuters/Ipsos poll last week found 58 percent of respondents support the striking workers in general. “There may not be anyone who agrees with us right now, but I think if this [strike] goes as long as we think it might, there may be people who say, ‘I just can’t afford’ [the strike],’” said Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation. Every work stoppage has employees who don’t follow the union line, in this case, demands for a 40 percent wage hike, a 32-hour workweek at full 40-hour pay, and retirement and health plan enhancers. The powerful…

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Freddie O’Connell Announces First Appointments to His Staff

Kaitlin Housler

Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell announced on Tuesday updates to his staff one day after being sworn into office during a private ceremony.

Marjorie Pomeroy-Wallace, who ran O’Connell’s campaign as campaign manager, will serve as his chief of staff. Alex Apple, who served as O’Connell’s communications director during the campaign, was also hired to serve as deputy communications director and press secretary in the mayor’s office.

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Senator Bill Hagerty Joins Effort Demanding Answers on SEC Predictive Data Proposal

Hannah Poling

U.S. Senator and member of the Senate Banking Committee Bill Hagerty (R-TN) joined on Tuesday the effort against a new Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposal claiming that it “would harm broker-dealers, investment advisors, and Main Street investors.”

This follows the SEC proposing a new rule on July 26th that requires broker-dealers and investment advisors, irrespective of their size, to confront challenges posed by predictive data analytics (“PDA”) and related technologies like artificial intelligence (“AI”).

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Immigrant Group Sues Tennessee Child Services for Failing to Provide Immigration Services for Illegal Alien Children

Peter D'Abrosca

An advocacy group for illegal aliens is suing the Tennessee Department of Child Services (DCS), alleging that DCS is not doing enough to help illegal alien children in foster care gain citizenship in the United States. 

“For children in DCS custody without legal immigration status, DCS’s care must include addressing and safeguarding their immigration-related needs, which impact their health, welfare, and safety,” says a lawsuit filed by Advocates for Immigrant Rights in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee. “This care entails determining whether a child is in need of immigration related services, ensuring that DCS considers immigration-related needs when helping the child plan for their future, and helping a child access needed services.”

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Arizona Senate Republicans Blast ‘Petulant Temper Tantrum’ from Gov. Hobbs over Confirmation Hearings

Tom Pappert

Arizona Senate Republicans fired back after Governor Katie Hobbs (D) withdrew her nominations for Arizona’s state agencies and declared she would deny oversight from the Arizona Legislature by appointing permanent “executive deputy directors” instead.

In a statement released Monday afternoon, Hobbs called Arizona State Senator Jake Hoffman (R-Queen Creek), who heads the Arizona State Senate panel to vet and interview Hobbs’ nominees, a “fake elector” guilty of creating a “political circus” in the Senate.

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Connecticut Lawmakers Press for Absentee Ballot Probe into September Incident

The Center Square

Connecticut lawmakers are calling for an investigation and changes in state election laws following allegations of absentee ballot fraud in a mayoral election.

Following the Sept. 12 primary, John Gomes, a Democrat who challenged incumbent Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim, released video footage showing a woman depositing absentee ballots into a dropbox a week before the election. Gomes lost to Ganim by 251 mail-in or absentee votes despite beating him at the polls, according to the election results.

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Commentary: The Implications of Joe Biden’s Pending Political Demise

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I’ve been saying, at The Spectacle podcast and elsewhere, that I refuse to make any assumptions about the 2024 presidential cycle. And let me offer the further caveat that Republican voters and conservative activists, not to mention current and prospective officeholders who wear that “R” next to their political names, had better pay a whole lot more attention to the structure of next year’s political cycle than to the personalities and candidates involved.

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Franconia-Springfield Rail Project Receives $100 Million in Federal Funding

The Center Square

The Virginia Passenger Rail Authority is set to receive $100 million in federal funding for another transportation project designed to improve travel in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.

Drivers traveling from Fredericksburg into the district should be enjoying reduced commute times due to the installation of the long-awaited express lanes along the I-95 corridor. Soon, construction will begin on the Franconia-Springfield Bypass. This rail bridge will allow Amtrak and Virginia Railway Express trains to “seamlessly cross over two freight rail tracks, preventing delays and expanding capacity for additional service,” according to a press release from U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine’s office.

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Ford Pauses Michigan EV Battery Plant, Union Says Decision Is ‘Barely-Veiled Threat’ to Cut Jobs

Just the News

Ford is pausing work on its $3.5 billion electric vehicle battery plant over concerns that the automobile manufacturer will be unable to operate the planned Michigan factory competitively in a decision that the United Auto Workers union says is a “barely-veiled threat” to cut jobs amid a strike against the company.

Officials have not made a final decision on whether the plant, which is set to be located in southern Michigan near the town of Marshall, will become operational, Ford spokesperson T.R. Reid said, CNN reported Monday.

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District Attorney Fani Willis Tells Atlanta Hip Hop Festival She’s Been ‘Threatened’ over Trump, Young Thug

Tom Pappert

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) told the audience at the Atlanta-based hip hop festival, Revolt World, that she and members of her family have received threats as a result of her office’s prosecutions of former President Donald Trump and rapper Young Thug.

Willis attended the festival, held in Atlanta beginning on September 22, and delivered remarks about her high profile prosecutions of Trump and Young Thug, whose real name is Jeffrey Lamar Williams. At one point Willis told the audience that her father, daughters, and ex-husband have all received threats due to the high profile cases, in addition to threats she personally received.

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Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson Reveals 2017 National Institute of Health Records Raising Concerns About Wuhan Lab

M.D. Kittle

In 2017, a report from an official at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) raised red flags about the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), according to internal records revealed this week by U.S. Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI).

“It is clear to me by talking to the technician that certainly there is a need for training support,” Dr. Ping Chen, an NIAID official, wrote in a report about the controversial laboratory suspected of unleashing COVID-19 on the world.

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Georgia Prosecutors Claim Mark Meadows Was ‘Meddling’ in ‘Matters of State Authority’ After 2020 Election

Tom Pappert

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) accused former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows of abusing his federal position to interfere with Georgia’s 2020 elections, according to a filing her office submitted to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday.

Meadows has repeatedly sought to have his case removed from Fulton County to a federal court. That attempt was stymied by a federal judge, but an expedited appeal was granted to the 11th Circuit. Meadows’ lawyers submitted their filing last week, arguing that Willis was committing unforced constitutional “errors” in her “unnecessary” effort to prevent his case’s removal.

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Trial Wraps Up in Kari Lake’s Lawsuit to View Ballot Signature Affidavits from Maricopa County, Judge Allows None of Her Witnesses or Exhibits

Rachel Alexander

A lawsuit Kari Lake filed over Maricopa County’s refusal to let her use public records law to inspect ballot affidavits, which are signatures from voters on the mail-in envelopes for their ballots, ended after a two-day trial on Monday. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge John Hannah, who was appointed to the bench by Democratic Governor Janet Napolitano, refused to allow any of Lake’s several proposed witnesses to testify or allow any of her exhibits into evidence.

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Shipping Container Wall Lawsuit Dropped, Locals Justify Blocking Flood of Illegal Immigrants

The Center Square

As the shipping containers along the southern border in Yuma, Arizona, came down months ago, the two federal cases against the state have been dismissed.

The Ducey administration placed the containers at the gaps last year and agreed with the federal government to take them down under the condition that a replacement barrier was created, The Center Square reported in December. However, the federal government took months to make progress on its own barrier, KYMA reported. 

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Ohio Republican Party Poll Shows Democrats Overwhelmingly Want Zero Restrictions on Abortion

Hannah Poling

Ohio Democratic lawmakers want zero legal restrictions on abortion in the state, according to a new poll conducted by the Ohio Republican Party.

The Ohio Republican Party straw X poll last week detailed that 71.4 percent of individuals surveyed said that Ohio Democratic officials and abortion lobbyists want to remove all legal restrictions to abortion in Ohio.

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Voters Overwhelmingly Side with the GOP on the Economy: Poll

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Republicans hold a commanding lead among voters’ views toward which party handles the economy better as President Joe Biden continues to pitch his economic policy to the American people, according to a new NBC News poll.

Republicans lead Democrats 49% to 28% among registered voters surveyed on the economy, which is the largest lead in NBC polling since 1991, according to NBC News. Biden has sought to sell his economic policy, dubbed “Bidenomics,” to Americans, which consists of high-spending stimulus programs and green energy subsidies.

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Gavin Newsom Signs Law Barring Removal of LGBTQ Books from Schools

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Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill Monday that will ban school boards from removing books that teach racial or LGBTQ topics in the classroom.

School boards around the U.S. are removing books and materials from classrooms that parents have deemed inappropriate, causing books with overtly racial or sexual material to become a flashpoint in the culture wars. A.B. 1078, which Newsom signed, will prevent school boards from banning instructional materials or library books that include information teaching about racial or LGBTQ topics, and will allow the county superintendent to take unilateral action to include these materials, according to the bill.

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‘Playin’ Possum’: Nancy Jones Remembers George Jones

Bethany Bowman

FRANKLIN, Tennessee-Many have been fascinated by George Jones’ storied life. He is possibly the greatest male vocalist in county music history with 79 top ten hits and 10 number ones including “He Stopped Loving Her Today,” a song often considered as the greatest country song of all time. But his addiction to drugs and alcohol nearly destroyed his career.

This addiction affected his relationships with women, including his volatile marriage to Tammy Wynette. However, when he met Nancy Sepulvado in 1981, his entire world changed.

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Photos Show Ambassador Yovanovitch Met Twice with Burisma Official After Being Told Firm Was Corrupt

Just the News

Photos deleted from the now-defunct Burisma Holdings website show former U.S. Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch met with Vadim Pozharskyi—the Burisma official who worked closely with Hunter Biden—at two separate events after she had been told the Ukrainian energy company was considered corrupt by the State Department.

The photos are likely to raise fresh questions  about parts of Yovanovitch’s testimony to Congress during former President Donald Trump’s first impeachment. It also raises the question of why the U.S. embassy in Ukraine engaged with company representatives in a public relations campaign with the U.S. government at the same time that internal embassy communications focused on the company’s corruption.

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Aaron Gulbransen: ‘I Know What Donald Trump Is Doing on the Issue of Abortion’

Tennessee Star Staff

Aaron Gulbransen, executive director for the Faith and Freedom Coalition Tennessee and long time pro life activist shared his insights with listeners on Tuesday’s episode of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on the strategy behind the messaging Donald Trump is using to effectively define and box-in the radical Left on the issue of abortion.

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GOP Presidential Candidates Prepare for Critical Second Debate Without Trump

M.D. Kittle

If Wednesday’s second GOP presidential primary debate proves to be anything like the first, we’re in for a night of political punches and maybe a rhetorical gang fight or two as the candidates look to score points in another Trump-less bout.

With former President Donald Trump skipping the debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, CA, top tier candidates like Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Ohio entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley will try to tell those watching why they’re a better option than the race’s far and away frontrunner — and the rest of the crowded field of Republican candidates.

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Pennsylvania Police Officer Arrested for Improperly Committing Ex-Girlfriend to Mental Facility: DA

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The New York Post A married Pennsylvania State Police trooper is facing false imprisonment charges after he allegedly violently detained his ex-girlfriend and committed her to a mental health treatment program under bogus claims. Ronald Davis, 37, was arrested Thursday on accusations he abused his authority to carry out the twisted takedown that left his former girlfriend improperly stuck in a medical facility for multiple days, the Dauphin County District Attorney’s Office said. Davis reportedly told her: “I know you’re not crazy, I’ll paint you as crazy” leading up to the forced medical treatment, the victim claimed, according to court documents released by the district attorney’s office. READ THE FULL STORY    

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Dem-Aligned ‘States Project’ Drops Millions to Change Laws in Swing States

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The States Project, a Democrat-aligned group, spent $60 million across five swing states last year as part of an effort to proliferate liberal policies, The New York Times reported.

The group focuses on getting Democrats elected to state legislatures and aids them once elected in order to get more liberal policies passed, according to its website. The States Project’s is a joint initiative between PAC For America’s Future, which receives funding from George Soros’ Democracy PAC, and Future Now Action, a 501c4 dark money group that does not disclose its donors, according to the organization’s website.

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Biden Administration Allocates Nearly $24 Million for Railway Projects in Tennessee

Peter D'Abrosca

The federal government is allocating nearly $24 million to improve Tennessee’s railways, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT).

“In Tennessee, the Tennessee Short Line Railroads Bridge Bundle Project will put more than $23.7 million to work upgrading approximately 42 bridges along 10 different short line railroads in need of immediate, extensive repair or replacement,” a Monday USDOT press release said. “The impacted bridges are located throughout the state, and their upgrades will strengthen the short line rail network and improve operational efficiency.”

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Tennessee U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty Leads Legislative Effort to Prohibit U.S. Asylum for CCP Members

Hannah Poling

U.S. Senator and member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Bill Hagerty (R-TN) is leading the effort to prohibit U.S. asylum for members of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Hagerty along with U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) along with six other Senate Republican colleagues have introduced the No Asylum for CCP Spies Act which aims to deny members of communist or totalitarian parties, like the CCP from being granted asylum in the U.S. and ensures under federal law that members of these parties are ineligible for immigration benefits.

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Biden Approves $1 Billion in Grants to Combat ‘Environmental Injustice’ with Shade

The Center Square

To combat what is referred to as “environmental injustice,” the Biden Administration is giving out $1 billion in grants to put up trees in areas of cities that serve mostly minorities that have been robbed of the environmental benefits of shade due to alleged racism.

The funding is part of a $1.5 billion investment from President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act focusing on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service Urban and Community Forestry Program.

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Victor Davis Hanson Commentary: Is the Left Happy That They Got Their Wish?

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by Victor Davis Hanson   America has been in a veritable cultural revolution since the 1960s. Nearly all our major institutions finally became woke — the administrative state, traditional and social media, universities, K-12, the corporate boardroom, entertainment, professional sports, and the foundations. So the Obama and the Biden administrations finally seemed to have achieved their aims, in what the Obamas once boasted would be the “fundamental transformation” of America into something unrecognizable by its Founders. But what they gave us was nihilism — the destruction of norms, laws, and customs. There is no border, no criminal justice system, no real president any more. The citizen is a serf, the illegal alien the veritable citizen. The former needs a passport to reenter the country, the latter is waved on through. There is a slob in gym shorts and a hoodie establishing dress codes for the Senate, teen murderers bragging that they won’t spend a day in jail, and a would-be state legislator filming herself doing sexual gymnastics while begging for cash only to be upset over the invasion of her “privacy.” So the Left got what it wanted and gave us our new America. The curious result, however, is that…

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Gov. Glenn Youngkin Is Working to Ditch His State’s EV Mandate

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Virginia Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin appears poised to overturn his state’s electric vehicle (EV) mandate if his party fares well in upcoming statewide elections.

Virginia is one of 17 states that adhere to some or all of California’s vehicle emissions standards, after former Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam enacted legislation binding Virginia to California’s standards prior to Youngkin’s election in 2021. Virginia is one of only two states, along with Nevada, that has a Republican governor in office and is also tied to California’s standards, which dictate that all new car sales in Virginia must be EVs starting in 2035.

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State Aims for Smoother Online Hunting License Sales

The Center Square

Although the launch of online hunting license sales started off rocky this year, the agency responsible says they have taken steps to improve the process. 

Pennsylvania  Game Commission Executive Director Bryan Burhans acknowledged issues with rollout on June 26, but said he expected the process to be smoother in the future during a recent Senate Game and Fisheries Committee hearing.

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Michigan to Begin Testing Children for Lead Poisoning

The Center Square

Starting January 1, Michigan minors will be screened for lead poisoning unless a parent or guardian objects.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed Senate Bill 31, which requires children be tested for lead poisoning at certain ages, the testing be recorded on their certificate of immunization and the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) develop rules to implement the bill’s requirements.

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U.S. Senator JD Vance Requests Clarification from Biden National Security Advisor on Ukraine Spending

Hannah Poling

On Monday, U.S. Senator JD Vance (R-OH) along with U.S. Congressmen Chip Roy (R-TX-21) and Matt Gaetz (R-FL-01) sent a letter to the National Security Advisor to President Joe Biden, Jake Sullivan requesting clarification regarding “major discrepancies” between claims made by administration officials regarding American aid given to Ukraine.

This follows Sullivan stating at a White House press briefing on September 21st, 2023 that the Biden Administration had sent approximately $79.9 billion in aid to Ukraine since the Russian invasion in February 2022.

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Gov. Brian Kemp Will Back Trump if Nominated in 2024: ‘A Lot Better Than Biden’ and ‘Can Win Georgia’

Tom Pappert

Governor Brian Kemp (R) said he believes former President Donald Trump “can win Georgia” during an interview last Friday. Kemp added that he would support Trump, should he become the Republican nominee for president, despite the public feud between the men.

Kemp said he is willing to support the former president during the 2024 general election during an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Kemp described Trump as “a lot better than Biden,” adding that those “serving in the administration would be a lot better” than those tapped by the Biden White House.

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Arizona Political Ads Must Now Disclose Top 3 Sources of Funding: Citizens Clean Elections Commission

Tom Pappert

Political advertisements in Arizona must now disclose their top three funding sources, according to a new rule announced last Friday by the Clean Elections Commission (CEC).

New political advertisements placed in Arizona will be required to disclose the top three funding sources used to place the ads, per the new rule. All forms of political advertising, including TV, radio, and printed mailers sent to homes, are included.

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Gov DeWine and Lt Gov Husted Announce Cutting Bureaucratic Language in Ohio Administrative Code through Updated Building Codes

Hannah Poling

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine and Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted announced that the Ohio Board of Building Standards recently adopted the 2024 Ohio Building (OBC), Mechanical (OMC), and Plumbing Codes (OPC) rules, an approach that cut redundant and pointless bureaucratic language from these codes and reduced the Ohio Administrative Code’s word count by nearly 610,000 words ultimately making it simpler for businesses to comply.

As previously reported by The Ohio Star, in January, DeWine and Husted unveiled a plan to eliminate one-third of the Ohio Administrative Code and the Ohio Common Sense Initiative (CSI) began identifying duplicative, unnecessary, and no longer used portions of the Ohio Administrative Code. The Ohio Board of Building Standards adopting these rules is part of this initiative.

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‘Losing Our Freedom of Speech’: Parent Speaks Out Against Middle School’s Explicit Reading List

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Cooper Middle School in McClean, Virginia, gave students an age- inappropriate reading list for their 7th grade English class this year, a concerned parent told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Students in the English class were assigned a wide variety of books on topics that spanned from illegal immigration to Black Lives Matter (BLM), according to a copy of the list. Although the reading list clarifies that students will not have to read every single book, one teacher at the middle school said students would have to choose books to read from the provided options unless a parent offered an alternate, school-approved book, an orientation video welcoming students to the class showed.

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Kyrsten Sinema Lays Out Unorthodox ‘Path to Victory’ in Swing-State Arizona

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Independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona argued her “path to victory” to reclaim her Senate seat in 2024 would be to garner more support from Republicans than Democrats and win the majority of independent voters, according to a donor memo reported by NBC News on Monday.

Sinema has yet to launch a reelection bid, but could face Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego and former Republican gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake, who is inching toward a campaign, in a general election next year. The senator’s memo argues that if she runs for another term, Sinema could secure the seat with  60 percent to 70 percent support from independents, as well as 25 percent to 35 percent of Republicans and 10 percent to 20 percent of Democrats, according to NBC News.

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