Twin Lawsuits, Fraud Probe Mark Bad Day for News Media in Already Bad Year

Monday marked a particularly bad day for the news media as a pair of lawsuits and a fraud investigation took aim at separate instances of allegedly false reports and threatened to impose expensive consequences upon an industry already facing financial adversity.

Myriad lawsuits, such as the high-profile litigation between Fox News and Dominion Voting Systems, as well as a general downturn in outlook for media outlets have led to large-scale layoffs.

Read the full story

Missouri Supreme Court Deals Blow to Republicans in Abortion Ballot Case

The Missouri Supreme Court ruled against Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft’s request to change the language of a proposed abortion amendment’s language Monday, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

An appeals court had ruled earlier this month that Ashcroft’s summaries of the amendment were “argumentative” and “politically partisan” because of his use of terms like “unborn child,” which the court considered “problematic.” Ashcroft appealed the decision to the state Supreme Court but the justices declined to hear his appeal, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Read the full story

Tennessee Gov. Lee Sends Highway Patrol to Confront ‘Rising Crime’ in Memphis, Urges Local Officials to ‘Hold Criminals Accountable’

Governor Bill Lee

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee (R) announced on Monday that he ordered an increased Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) presence on highways and interstates in Shelby County to help contend with the criminal element in Memphis.

Lee issued a press release unveiling “a surge of approximately 40 additional troopers” beginning this week. On November 27, wrote Lee’s office, “an additional 15-20 troopers from other districts across the state will join the surge” and remain in Shelby County “for the foreseeable future.”

Read the full story

Biden Admin Granted 34,000 Special Visas to Refugees After Botched Afghanistan Withdrawal

Afghanistan Refugees

The State Department has granted tens of thousands of visas to Afghans who aided the U.S. government following the Biden administration’s withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, according to a Thursday report from the lead inspector general to the United States Congress.

The Biden administration withdrew all American forces from Afghanistan in 2021, leading to a widespread takeover of the region by the Taliban and the displacement of millions of Afghans, according to the Wilson Center. As part of the U.S. effort to bring in refugees escaping Afghanistan, the State Department has issued approximately 34,000 special immigrant visas (SIV) to Afghans and their immediate family members, according to the Inspector General report released Thursday. 

Read the full story

Food Trucks Challenge Mt. Juliet $100/Day Permit Fee While Locals Charged $100/Year

Food truck operators from outside of Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, filed a lawsuit Monday that challenges the city’s $100 per permit fee, while local trucks pay $100 a year.

The Beacon Center of Tennessee filed a federal civil rights lawsuit for two food truck operators, saying the ordinance violates the operators’ right to earn a living and their right to equality before the law.

Read the full story

Cost of Thanksgiving Meal Up 14 Percent, Study Finds

Turkey Dinner with all the Trimmings

According to a University of Tennessee (UT) study, American families will be spending more on this year’s Thanksgiving dinner. 

A team from the university, led by Professor and Consumer Economics Specialist Ann Berry, surveyed grocery store pricing for Thanksgiving staples between November 1 to November 8, “including turkey and stuffing, cranberry sauce, ham, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, English pea salad, deviled eggs, pumpkin pie with whipped cream and rolls.”

Read the full story

Commercial Real Estate Mortgages Nearly Double Delinquency Rate in a Single Year as Vacancies Climb

The commercial real estate sector is facing the possibility of a substantial number of bankruptcies that could ultimately hamper economic recovery and threaten the wounded banking industry, according to experts who spoke to the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Overall 30 day+ delinquencies on commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS), meaning the number of borrowers for commercial properties that failed to make a required payment in at least the last 30 days, increased from 2.96 percent from one year ago to 4.63 percent as of October, according to a report from market research group Trepp. The delinquencies are indicative of danger in the commercial real estate sector, as they indicate that many of those could become bankruptcies, threatening an already hurting banking industry and exacerbating any economic downturn, according to experts who spoke to the DCNF.

Read the full story

Man Arrested for ‘Street Takeover’ Near Nashville Airport Posted Bond After Previous Arrests in March, June

One of the men arrested in connection to the weekend “street racing takeover” near the Nashville airport, which police say involved more than 60 vehicles, was previously arrested and released on low bonds in March and June.

Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) said in a press release that officers found more than 60 vehicles engaged in “dangerous driving stunts” at about 1 a.m. at the intersection of McGavock Pike at Century Boulevard. Media reports indicate that while other vehicles blocked traffic, a white Dodge Charger was “doing donuts and burnouts” when officers witnessed a man fire a gunshot into the air from the vehicle.

Read the full story

Mohave County Supervisors Vote 3-2 Against Conducting Hand Count in 2024 Election After Arizona AG Threatens Them with Prosecution

Mohave County Board of Supervisors meeting Nov 20 2023

In a close 3-2 vote, the Mohave County Supervisors vetoed a move to conduct a hand count during the 2024 election on Monday. State Senator Sonny Borrelli (R-Lake Havasu) told The Arizona Sun Times prior to the vote that there were enough votes to approve it, but after the supervisors received a threat to prosecute them from Democratic Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes at the last minute, one of the supervisors, Chair Travis Lingenfelter, switched his vote.

Borrelli said Lingenfelter is part of the powerful establishment in the county, with deep family roots in the area. “They all caved to a radical leftist attorney general’s abuse of authority,” he told The Sun Times. “I’m disappointed they didn’t have enough courage to stand up against the tyrannical left. If you don’t go along, we’ll put you in the Gulag.”

Read the full story

Fani Willis Seeks to Begin Georgia Trump Trial in August 2024

Fulton County D.A. Fani Willis

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis asked in a Friday filing to begin the racketeering trial of former President Donald Trump on August 5, 2024. If granted by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee, this would correspond with Willis’ plans for Trump’s trial to be active on Election Day, as she told a crowd of reporters gathered at The Washington Post’s headquarters last week.

Willis requested Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee to schedule the trial after a final plea hearing on June 21, 2024. According to Willis, the August trial date “balances potential delays” from Trump’s “other criminal trials” while respecting the rights of his co-defendants to have a speedy trial.

Read the full story

YoungkinWatch: Democrats Release Plan to Put Abortion in Virginia Constitution, Ban Guns after Governor Promises Bipartisan Agenda

Gov. Glenn Youngkin

Democrats in the Virginia General Assembly announced joint legislative plans on Monday to enshrine abortion access into the state’s constitution, raise the minimum wage, automatically restore voting rights for felons, and ban AR-15 rifles. The plans were released after Governor Glenn Youngkin (R) said he would pursue bipartisan legislation in the Democrat-controlled General Assembly.

Virginia Democrats in both chambers of the legislature say they submitted four bills on Monday, the first day of prefiling for the 2024 General Assembly Session, which seek to make good on the party’s campaign partisan campaign promises.

Read the full story

Commentary: Trump Is Winning Ballot Access Cases

The ongoing campaign by progressive activists to deny former President Trump a place on state ballots received yet another serious setback late Friday. After a weeklong bench trial, Denver District Court Judge Sarah Wallace issued a 102-page opinion in Anderson v. Griswold concluding that “Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment does not apply to Trump.” She ordered Colorado’s Secretary of State Jena Griswold to place his name on Colorado’s presidential primary ballot. This is the fourth state in three weeks to reject efforts to keep Trump off their ballots.

Read the full story

Tennessee Could be Next State to Call for Convention of States on Congressional Term Limits

After sailing through the Tennessee House of Representatives in March, a resolution proposing congressional term limits via constitutional amendment stands a solid chance of passing in the Senate, according to resolution proponents.

“I think it will go okay,” State Senator Richard Briggs (R-Knoxville), who recently announced that he will serve as Senate sponsor of House Joint Resolution 5, told The Tennessee Star.

Read the full story

Impeachment Inquiry Sharpens Focus on Millions in Loans to Biden Family

There are red flags aplenty: Loan repayments between Joe Biden and his brother; millions in promissory notes between Hunter Biden and a Democrat-donating Hollywood lawyer; and debt deals from Ukraine to China. 

As the House impeachment inquiry heats up, investigators are increasingly focused on a trail of red ink that has become a recurring theme in evidence chronicling the first family’s finances.

Read the full story

NRSC Launches Arizona Ad Campaign, Labels Rep. Gallego, Sen. Sinema ‘Deadbeat Dad’ and ‘Liberal Democrat’

The influential National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) released a new advertisement targeting Arizona voters on Monday that labels Representative Ruben Gallego (D-AZ-03) a “deadbeat dad” and Senator Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) a “liberal Democrat.” The ad is the latest indication the political action committee will support Lake, should she secure the Republican nomination.

In a 30-second ad, the narrator bemoaned “Rotten Ruben Gallego” for being “a spokesman for a crooked bank that targeting immigrants,” referencing a March report exposing a bank he founded that was meant to cater to illegal immigrants. Federal regulators eventually determined the bank’s founder illegally sold shares.

Read the full story

American Express, Visa Plow Millions in Grants to Far-Left Groups Through Corporate Foundations

Charitable foundations funded by credit card companies and managed by their executives are pouring millions of dollars into liberal advocacy organizations, tax filings show.

The American Express Foundation and the Visa Foundation, philanthropic arms of two of the largest credit card companies in the world, gave grants to several major left-wing groups between 2019 and 2021. Executives from Visa and American Express sit on the boards of their respective foundations, both of which have taken millions from the corporations that established them.

Read the full story

Forty Pro-Palestinian Protesters Arrested at University of Michigan

Pro-Palestine, anti-Israel protest at the University of Michican

University of Michigan police arrested 40 people on campus Friday after breaking up a pro-Palestinian protest of hundreds, some of whom had forced their way into an administrative building.

“At least 200 people gathered Friday, calling for the university to divest from Israel,” Michigan Live reported Saturday. “Around 4 p.m., the demonstrators moved from the central campus Diag area to the Ruthven Administration Building.”

Read the full story

$33 Million in Federal Funding to Support Tucson Area Water Resources

Funds from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will be used to for water cleaning resources by developing a new treatment center in Tucson. 

Specifically, the facility would focus on PFAS chemicals, which the United States Environmental Protection Agency describes as “widely used” and “long-lasting,” but could also have negative health consequences when they make their way into water and other consumables. Out of $10 billion targeted toward getting chemicals out of water in the act, $33,520,000 is Tucson bound, according to a news release. 

Read the full story

Report: China Is Closing the Submarine Gap with the U.S.

USS Nevada, Ohio-class submarine

China is rapidly closing the gap in critical submarine capabilities that challenge decades of unmitigated U.S. dominance in the deep sea and could have critical implications in a Taiwan scenario, The Wall Street Journal reported.

In 2023, China put to sea a nuclear-powered attack submarine equipped for the first time with a noise-reducing pump-jet propulsion system, marking a major advance in submarine technology to match the way the U.S. equips its own submarines. The quieting systems will allow them to evade detection by American submarines and patrol aircraft, while construction on an “underwater great wall” of complex sensors will allow China to identify incoming enemy assets, Chinese military and academic texts say.

Read the full story

Illinois Library Marks Christmas with Book About a Santa Who Is ‘Black and Gay, Married to an Equally Cheery Man’

Santa's Husband

A library in Chicago’s suburbs has marked the Christmas season with “books that also introduce homosexual sex to children,” reports DuPage Policy Journal.

One of those books is Santa’s Husband, which offers a “fresh twist on Kris Kringle, a clever yet heartfelt book that tells the story of a black Santa, his white husband, and their life in the North Pole.”

Read the full story

After Fifth Circuit Ruling, Gulf Lease Sales Scheduled for December 20

Offshore Oil Platforms

After the  Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ order last week, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced that it scheduled Lease Sale 261 in the Outer Continental Shelf in the Gulf of Mexico for December 20.

In September, a federal judge ruled the Biden administration must go through with offshore lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico by September 27 as originally planned and under original conditions. The Fifth Circuit concurred but amended the ruling, pushing back the lease sale date to November 8.

Read the full story