Month: October 2023

ACLU Suing Tennessee over Law That Punishes People Who Knowingly Spreading HIV

Peter D'Abrosca

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said on X, formerly Twitter, that it is suing the State of Tennessee over a law meant to prevent people from knowingly spreading HIV.

“BREAKING: We’re suing Tennessee for their ‘aggravated prostitution’ statute that targets people with HIV with harsh punishment and lifetime sex offender registration. This law is unconstitutional and disproportionately affects Black and transgender women,” the group said Tuesday afternoon. “The law elevates engaging in sex work from a misdemeanor to a felony based on someone’s HIV status – a protected disability.”

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Atlanta Firefighters Union Warns City Has Worst Department Fleet in America with 17 Vehicles Down

Tom Pappert

The Atlanta Professional Firefighters addressed city leaders in a strongly worded letter on Tuesday, warning the city’s fleet of emergency response vehicles is in dire condition. Its letter came after Atlanta Fire and Rescue informed the city of its decision to formally close three fire stations due to vehicle and staffing issues.

In a letter obtained by Atlanta First News, firefighters claimed that many of Atlanta’s fire stations lack an actual fire engine with water capable of extinguishing a fire. They stated that this implies the actual number of non-operational fire stations is higher than the three identified by the city on Monday.

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Iowa Voters Using Israel Litmus Test for 2024 Republican Presidential Candidates

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Evangelical voters in Iowa have bumped support for Israel to one of their top priorities when considering a 2024 Republican presidential candidate, according to The Associated Press.

In the wake of Hamas’ terrorist attacks against Israel, many presidential candidates expressed their support of Israel’s right to defend itself but others cautioned against the U.S. getting too involved and launching another long war in a foreign country. The issue has come front and center in the key primary state, and many evangelical leaders are pushing their congregations to get “behind” Israel’s goal to wipe out Hamas from the Gaza Strip, according to the AP.

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Commentary: Climate Wokesters Find a New Way to Destroy Middle America

Admin

With the filing of California’s latest lawsuit against American energy producers, the ill-advised and foreign funded national climate litigation campaign is ramping back up again. But a curious trend is evident: the “big green” agenda isn’t just spreading its tentacles in coastal, heavily Democratic states like California or New Jersey as we’ve come to expect, but it’s creeping into states more traditionally considered to be oil and gas country.

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VoterGA’s Garland Favorito Warns ‘Blatant Lies’ in Federal Trump Case Will ‘Influence, Manipulate’ 2024 Election Results

Tom Pappert

Garland Favorito of the Georgia election integrity group VoterGA warned in a press conference on Tuesday that special prosecutor Jack Smith’s case against former President Donald Trump is an attempt to smear Republicans with “blatant lies” before voters head to the polls in 2024.

Favorito highlighted Smith’s claims that Trump “spread lies that there had been outcome determinative fraud in the election,” ordered a false set of Electoral College certifications that purported to be from legitimate electors, and urged former Vice President Mike Pence to fraudulently alter the Electoral College votes on January 6 as easily disprovable lies designed to taint Republicans in to potential voters, then offered counterarguments to Smith’s accusations.

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Lansing Receives $400K Grant Toward EV Charging Research

The Center Square

A materials and advancement research hub in Lansing will receive $400,000 in federal taxpayer money to develop faster charging electric vehicles.

The Federal Economic Development Administration announced the grant for project, which is a partnership between the Michigan State University Foundation and the EDA’s tech hub program. The hub will be used to research advanced materials, such as synthetic diamonds and rare isotopes, to advance semiconductor and defense technology. One of the hub’s key goals is to charge electric vehicles up to five times faster.

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DeSantis Admin Orders Universities Remove Pro-Palestine Student Orgs for Openly Supporting ‘Terrorism’

Admin

Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration ordered two major universities in Florida to remove Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapters from campus Wednesday, citing the organizations’ support for “terrorism.”

Multiple student organizations at elite colleges and universities signed open letters or held rallies in support of Palestinians following the Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel, including the University of Florida and the University of South Florida. The chancellor of Florida’s university system, Ray Rodrigues, called on the colleges to disband SJP chapters Tuesday following their declaration of support for Palestinians, alleging they violated Florida’s antisemitism laws.

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Minnesota Democrat Calls on Phillips to Resign for Challenging Biden

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A Minnesota state senator is calling on fellow Democrat Dean Phillips to resign his congressional seat over reports that he will challenge President Joe Biden in the Democratic primary.

“[Rep. Dean Phillips] it’s time for you to resign your seat. I could not be more disappointed in you. You will never have my support again for any elected office, including your Congressional seat. Make America Affordable Again? Pretty rich coming from a multi-millionaire,” said Minnesota Sen. Bonnie Westlin, DFL-Plymouth, who represents portions of Phillips’ Third Congressional District in the state Senate and has campaigned with the congressman in the past.

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Petition Drive Urges Mesa Sheraton to Cancel Council on American-Islamic Relations Event Featuring Rep. Rashida Tlaib

M.D. Kittle

A Phoenix resident launched a petition urging the Sheraton Mesa at Wrigleyville to cancel next month’s annual Council on American-Islamic Relations banquet, featuring anti-Israel radical U.S. Representative Rashida Tlaib (D-MI-12).

As The Arizona Sun Times first reported, Tlaib is the featured speaker for the Arizona chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations Conference (CAIR)’s signature event, slated for November 18.

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Battle for Virginia: Early GOP Ballots Outpace 2021, 2022 Rates

Neil W. McCabe

Republicans, who have generally preferred so-called “Game Day” voting on Election Day, have begun to embrace early voting either in-person or by mail—and they are outpacing where they were in 2022 and 2021, according to analysis by the Virginia Public Access Project.

Sixteen days before the November 7 Election Day, Republicans were responsible for 39 percent of early voting ballots and 26 percent of mail-in ballots.

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Opposition Rises over Plan to Relocate Potentially Hundreds of Somalis to Wisconsin City Without Approval from Elected Officials

M.D. Kittle

Eau Claire residents are speaking out against a plan to relocate potentially hundreds of Somali refugees to the northwest Wisconsin community without the consent of elected city officials.

One Eau Claire County resident who spoke to The Wisconsin Daily Star said the relocation effort amounts to “taxation without representation.”

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Ukrainian Pilots Begin Training on F-16s in Arizona

Tom Pappert

A small number of Ukrainian pilots have reportedly started training on American-made F-16 fighter jets with the 162nd Wing of the Arizona Air National Guard in Tucson.

Around 10 Ukrainian pilots are learning “F-16 fundamentals” this week at Morris Air National Guard Base, according to the Air & Space Forces Magazine, which reported the pilots are likely to undergo an expedited training program and return to combat duties in early 2024.

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In Disbarment Trial of Trump’s Former Attorney John Eastman, He Reveals How He Believes Votes Were Switched in Georgia’s 2020 Election

Rachel Alexander

The disbarment trial of Donald Trump’s former attorney and constitutional legal scholar, John Eastman, finished a partial ninth week on Tuesday, as the renowned former law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas explained how he thought fraud occurred in the 2020 election. The State Bar of California is attempting to disbar him over advice he gave Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence regarding accepting electoral slates from states suspected of election fraud.

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DOJ Inspector General Finds ‘No Evidence’ of Wrongdoing by Trump in FBI HQ Decision

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The Department of Justice’s (DOJ) inspector general concluded in a Tuesday report that Former President Donald Trump did not inappropriately exert pressure on where to construct the FBI headquarters to protect his hotel from competition.

The investigation started in June 2019 following certain lawmakers and the media voicing worries regarding Trump’s possible influence on the FBI’s sudden choice to abandon its plan to construct a $3 billion suburban campus in Maryland or Virginia for its 10,000 workers in 2017, according to the report. The closeness to his former hotel in Washington, D.C. led some lawmakers to question whether he aimed to obstruct the land’s use for a potential rival hotel project, but the report found no evidence of that.

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Commentary: Kamala Harris Continues to Fail at the Border

Admin

By now it is notorious that President Joe Biden’s choice as vice president and possible successor, Kamala Harris, has dismally failed in her first assignment: to do something about the flow across the American border of Central Americans. She is the latest in a series of Throttlebottoms of both parties who have been nominated for the vice-presidency: Who can forget William Miller, Thomas Eagleton, John Sparkman, Estes Kefauver, Spiro Agnew, Geraldine Ferraro, and Sarah Palin? Yet even to a person of her limited education and intelligence, there are a number of measures that should have suggested themselves.

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Nicaragua Is Weaponizing Illegal Migrants to Gain Leverage Against the Biden Admin, Experts Say

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The government of Nicaragua is using large U.S.-bound migrant waves coming through his country to force sanctions relief out of President Joe Biden, according to the Associated Press, citing experts familiar with the situation.

More than 260 charter planes believed to have carried migrants from Haiti have landed in Nicaragua in recent months, which Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega is using to get sanctions relief from Biden, experts told the AP. In recent years, the U.S. government has increased sanctions on Ortega’s government and family as thousands flee his repressive regime.

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Active Shooter Situation in Maine, Hospital Says ‘Mass Casualty, Mass Shooter’ Event

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Fox News At least 22 people are dead following a deadly shooting in a Maine city that spanned three locations on Wednesday night, Fox News has confirmed. Fox News has confirmed that the active shooter incident occurred at three locations— Schemengees Bar and Grille Restaurant, a Walmart store and Sparetime Recreation. Maine State Police said, in a Facebook post, that there is an active shooting situation in Lewiston, a city of 36,000, 35 miles north of Portland. DEVELOPING… READ THE FULL STORY    

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Report: Ford, United Auto Workers Reach Tentative Deal to End Strike

Just the News

The United Auto Workers union and Ford Motor Company have reached a tentative deal to end the ongoing strike, pending approval from union leaders.

The ongoing strike has thus far lasted nearly six weeks. Exact terms of the agreement remain unclear, though the final deal could be announced as early as Wednesday evening, CNBC reported, citing sources familiar with the talks.

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Israel Agrees to Delay Invasion So Pentagon Can Rush Air Defense to the Middle East

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Israel agreed to delay an invasion of Gaza until the Department of Defense completes plans to boost air defenses around U.S. troops in the Middle East, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

The Pentagon is sending nearly a dozen air defense systems to the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) region, Iraq, Syria, Kuwait, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, to protect American service members from credible threats of attacks by Iran-backed militias. U.S. officials had asked Israel to create time to emplace the air defenses before launching operations that promise to trigger more bombardments on U.S. military positions, the WSJ reported, citing U.S. and Israeli officials.

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Louisiana U.S. Rep. Johnson Nominated for Speaker, Full House Vote Expected as Early as Wednesday

Just the News
House Speaker Mike Johnson

Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., won the House speaker nomination on Tuesday night, becoming the fourth candidate to do so after the ousting of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy three weeks ago.

Johnson, vice chair of the House GOP conference, lost to House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., earlier on Tuesday but Emmer eventually dropped out due to opposition from enough Republicans to sink his ascension to the speakership on the House floor.

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Tennessee Department of Children’s Services Highlights New Anti-Human Trafficking Unit

Peter D'Abrosca

Tennessee’s Department of Children’s Services (DCS) is highlighting a new anti-human trafficking team, which was formed as part of the state’s ongoing effort to combat the practice. 

“We’ve had over 500 reports since the beginning of the year,” Kate Greer, the Director of the Human Trafficking Response Team, which is part of DCS, reportedly said. 

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Biden Admin Readies Plans to Evacuate Thousands of Americans from Israel and Lebanon

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The Biden administration is readying plans for mass evacuations of American citizens from Middle East hotspots amid fears of significant escalation of violence in the region, The Washington Post reported.

Hundreds of thousands of U.S. citizens could require rescue from Israel and Lebanon if the war between Israel and Gaza spills over into neighboring states, raising the prospect of the largest noncombat evacuation in recent memory, the Post reported, citing four U.S. officials familiar with the government’s contingency planning. Hezbollah in Lebanon and other Iran-backed militant groups throughout the Middle East have stepped up violence since the war’s onset and threatened to escalate further once Israel commences its planned ground operation in Gaza.

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DHS Admitted Hundreds of Thousands of ‘Inadmissible’ Aliens Through CBP One App: House Panel

Just the News

The Department of Homeland Security has been using a migrant processing app to release hundreds of thousands of otherwise inadmissible foreign nationals into the U.S. interior, according to documents obtained by the House Homeland Security Committee.

CBP One is an app through which would-be entrants to the United States may schedule appointments to appear at U.S. ports of entry. Ostensibly, its users must be in northern Mexico to schedule an appointment, though reporting from the Washington Examiner has suggested that users have turned to virtual private networks (VPN) to evade the geographic requirements. Moreover, the app has come under fire due to its alleged use by cartels in human trafficking operations.

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Federal Prosecutors Spied on Congress in Search for Leaks, Now DOJ Is Being Investigated for It

Just the News

Several current and former congressional oversight staff have been recently informed that the U.S. Justice Department seized their phone and email records back in 2017 as part of leak investigations, belated revelations that have touched off an inquiry by DOJ’s internal watchdog and raised serious concerns about the separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches.

Over the last week, several current and former Senate and House staff from both political parties have alerted Congress that they received belated notifications from Apple, Google or other Big Tech firms that their email or phone records were obtained from their personal devices via a grand jury subpoena.

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Government-Funded News Outlet Orders Staff Not to Call Hamas ‘Terrorists’

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Government-funded news outlet Voice of America (VOA) management has ordered its employees not to refer to Hamas as “terrorists” unless they are quoting statements, National Review reported.

VOA’s guidance originally distributed on Oct. 10 suggests that reporters and editors are allowed to refer to Hamas’ Oct. 7 assault on Israel as terrorist attacks or acts of terror but informed staff they should “avoid calling Hamas and its members terrorists, except in quotes,” according to emails National Review obtained. VOA’s associate editor responsible for news standards conveyed the publication’s guidelines regarding reporting on the initial attacks and the subsequent Israeli retaliation in an email to employees on Friday.

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Attorney General Skrmetti Leading Coalition of More than 40 States in Suing Meta over Children’s Mental Health

Peter D'Abrosca

Tennessee’s Attorney General is leading a bipartisan coalition of 42 states in suing Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, alleging that Instagram causes mental health harms to its young users.

“Meta has known for years that Instagram causes psychological harm to young users,” said General Skrmetti in a Tuesday press release. “Rather than take steps to reduce or disclose the harm, Meta leaned further in to its profit-maximizing approach that hurts kids.  Targeting kids with a harmful product and lying about its safety violates the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act. Meta knows every last design decision that made Instagram addictive to kids and that means it knows exactly how to fix the problem. We’re suing to make the company fix the problem.”

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Southern Virginia County’s Revitalization Efforts Are Being Realized

The Center Square

The 1990s and early 2000s weren’t particularly kind to Southside Virginia’s Pittsylvania County, but some sustained, concerted efforts to turn things around may be paying off. 

For much of those decades, the county’s unemployment rate exceeded the nation and Virginia. But in recent years, that has changed. Now, Pittsylvania County’s unemployment rate of 3.1% is significantly better than the national average, though it still lags the state (Virginia has the eighth-lowest rate in the country).

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Supply Problems Stoking Pennsylvania’s Housing Shortage

The Center Square

As housing costs rise in many parts of the commonwealth, Pennsylvania policymakers want to boost supply to meet demand.

“If we don’t continue to increase the inventory at all levels, we’re never going to get to where we need to be,” Rep. Mike Sturla, D-Lancaster, said during a House Housing and Community Development meeting on Monday. “We can’t build our way out by just building subsidized housing.”

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Florida Unemployment Rate Is Lowest Among Nation’s Most Populated States

The Center Square

According to the latest figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Florida has a seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate of 2.8% and ranks 14th overall, sharing a spot with Kansas and Hawaii.

Of the five largest states by population — California, Texas, Florida, New York and Pennsylvania — Florida has the lowest unemployment rate. At the same time, New York, Texas and California all sit above the national average of 3.8%.

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Economist: Aging Workforce, Learning Loss Among Biggest Wisconsin Economic Worries

The Center Square

Wisconsin’s top economist says the state’s economy is in a great place to grow, as long as the state doesn’t lose what makes it great.

John Koskinen, the chief economist for the state of Wisconsin, told the Wisconsin Economic Summit on Monday that Wisconsin has a strong workforce that wants to work, a large and solid manufacturing base and the potential to grow.

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Virginia Poll: 57 Percent Percent Approve of Youngkin; Generic Ballot Has Democrats, Republicans Tied at 50 Percent

Neil W. McCabe

With less than two weeks before Virginia’s November 7 legislative elections, Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin continues to get high marks from commonwealth voters, as the voters are split evenly between Republicans and Democrats on a generic legislative ballot.

Respondents were asked: “Do you approve or disapprove of Governor Glenn Youngkin’s job performance?” Fifty-seven percent approve of the commonwealth’s helmsman, with 43 percent disapproving, according to a poll conducted by Founders Insight with 969 likely voters October 14 through October 17. The poll carries a 3.91 percentage point margin of error.

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Court: Michigan Department of State Must Revise Election Poll Challenger Rules

The Center Square

The Michigan Court of Claims ruled Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s office must either rescind or revise a May 2022 Manual for election poll challengers.

The 15-page ruling analyzed four restrictions on poll challengers, including the credential form requirement, the requirement that communication only is with the “Challenger Liaison”, the prohibition on recording “impermissible challenges,” and the prohibition on electronic devices in the Absent Voter Counting Board.

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Commentary: Bidenomics Takes Its Toll on Biden 2024

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Drops in inflation-adjusted compensation and wages preceded the losses of Harry Truman in 1952, who opted not to run, Gerald Ford in 1976, Jimmy Carter in 1980, George H.W. Bush in 1992 and Donald Trump in 2020, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics and Bureau of Economic Analysis data.

They also preceded the historic wipeouts of Republicans in 2008 by Barack Obama and Senate Democrats in the 1958 midterms, and the Republican House wins of the 2010 and 2022 midterms.

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Arizona Rep. Gallego Quietly Deletes 2021 Statement Demanding Israel-Hamas Ceasefire over ‘Human Rights Implications’

Tom Pappert

Some time after Hamas launched its devastating surprise attack against Israel on October 7, Representative Ruben Gallego (D-AZ-03) quietly deleted a 2021 press release from his official House website that expressed human rights concerns about Israel’s tactics during the conflict with Hamas.

The press release from Gallego, who is now running for U.S. Senate in Arizona, came in response to violence a period of violence in Israel and Palestine in May of 2021. Protesters were initially upset by an Israeli court’s intention to evict six Palestinian families from contested territory, and some ultimately threw stones at Israeli police. This provoked an Israeli police response that included the use of tear gas, rubber bullets, and stun grenades during a raid at the Al-Aqsa mosque.

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Council on American-Islamic Relations Arizona Chapter Invites ‘Squad’ Member Rep. Rashida Tlaib to Speak at Banquet

M.D. Kittle

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) bills itself as a leading advocate for justice and mutual understanding, with a mission to “enhance understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.”

CAIR is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, say Jewish groups that have watched the council vilify Israel and stand silent on the unholy warriors of Hamas.

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Former Trump Lawyer Jenna Ellis Accepts Plea Deal in Georgia Election Case

Tom Pappert

Jenna Ellis became the fourth defendant indicted in the Georgia racketeering case against former President Donald Trump to accept a plea deal on Tuesday. Her plea was abruptly announced in a live-streamed court appearance, during which Ellis expressed contrition for her actions to contest the 2020 election results.

Ellis pleaded guilty to an updated indictment from Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, admitting to one count of aiding and abetting false statements and writings. She is specifically charged with making false statements to the Georgia Senate at a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee meeting. Willis claimed she “aided and abetted” former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

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Former Trump DOJ Attorney Urges D.C. Bar to Delay His Disbarment Trial Pending Georgia RICO Prosecution with Trump

Rachel Alexander

Jeffrey Clark, an attorney who served at high levels of the Department of Justice under President Donald Trump, including briefly as acting Attorney General, has been indicted by Fulton County District Attorney Fanni Willis along with Trump in the racketeering case over the 2020 election challenges, and charged with dishonesty and attempting to interfere with the administration of justice by the District of Columbia Bar. The charges in both relate to a memo Clark drafted about 2020 election irregularities in Georgia addressed to Georgia officials that was never sent. His bar disciplinary trial is scheduled for January, but he has been attempting to postpone it until after the criminal proceedings are finished.

On Thursday, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals Board on Professional Responsibility held a hearing to consider his deferral request. The court is expected to issue a ruling shortly. 

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Music Spotlight: Orlando Mendez

Bethany Bowman

 I’ll admit that I don’t watch music competition shows like I did when I was younger. When I watch TV, it’s usually a mind-numbing procedural or mystery.

But thankfully, a lot of the people I interview got their start on a show and if they are country, they often find their way into my email inbox. Because the competition is so fierce, most of the artists pitched to me are outstanding performers. Orlando Mendez is one such artist and I feel privileged to tell his story.

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Georgia Supreme Court Upholds Six-Week Abortion Ban

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The Georgia Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that the state’s six-week abortion ban should remain in place, refuting a lower court’s argument that the law was unconstitutional, according to court documents.

A group of pro-abortion organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia, filed a lawsuit in July 2022 and a trial court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, saying that the 2019 law was signed prior to the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Center and was, ultimately, unconstitutional, according to NPR. The state’s Supreme Court, however, dismissed the lower court’s decision and said that the previous ruling “rests on a faulty premise” that the Dobbs decision changed the meaning of the Constitution, itself, according to WABE, a local media outlet.

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Oregon Suspends Basic Skills Graduation Requirement in the Name of Equity

Admin

In the state of Oregon, high school students will no longer need to display basic comprehension of reading, math, or writing in order to graduate, with state officials claiming that such a change is necessary to guarantee higher graduation rates for minority students.

As reported by Fox News, the pause on such basic graduation requirements had first been implemented during the Chinese Coronavirus pandemic. But last week, the Oregon State Board of Education voted unanimously to extend the requirement suspension at least until the end of the 2027-2028 school year.

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