New Court Filing Claims Covenant School Shooter Audrey Hale Possibly Motivated by Alleged Child Abuse Coverup

A motion to intervene filed on Monday in the court case seeking to compel the release of the manifesto written by Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale claims the shooter’s motivation for committing the attack may stem from an alleged child abuse coverup at the school.

The motion was filed by Austin Davis, who claimed in a signed affidavit to be “a former Covenant Presbyterian deacon and church member, and a former Covenant School father” who also purports to be a “child sex abuse whistleblower.” The Tennessee man claimed to face retaliation for the claims he made against the school.

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U.S. Senate Passes $95 Billion Foreign Aid Bill to Ukraine, Israel

Chuck Schumer

The U.S. Senate passed a $95 billion foreign aid bill for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan after days of delay from Republicans who did not want to pass the funding without provisions to secure the southern border.

The legislation passed early Tuesday morning after a filibuster largely led by U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., ended. Now the legislation goes to the House, where it remains unclear if they can get the votes.

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CBS Fires Reporter Catherine Herridge

The New York Post Several CBS News reporters were caught up in layoffs at Paramount Global that claimed 800 jobs, including one who is embroiled in a high-stakes First Amendment fight — and another who has reportedly weathered HR probes over his workplace behavior, The Post has learned. Catherine Herridge — an award-winning senior correspondent whose First Amendment case is being closely watched by journalists nationwide — was among the hundreds of employees at CBS parent Paramount who got pink slips on Tuesday, sources told The Post. The carnage provoked outrage from the rank-and-file at CBS, with some focusing their ire on Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish, who pulled down $32 million in total compensation last year despite the company’s ever-shrinking financial profile. READ THE FULL STORY           

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Carol Swain Reflects on ‘Be the People’ Conference, Reveals Jill Biden’s ‘Discreet’ Meeting Next Door

Jill Biden

Dr. Carol M. Swain said First Lady Jill Biden held a “discreet” meeting at the Richland Country Club at the same time Swain’s nonprofit organization Be the People’s American Dream Conference was taking place on Friday evening in Nashville.

Biden initially traveled to Franklin for a “political event” reportedly occurring at the home of country music star Brad Paisley, however, also held an unannounced event at the Richland Country Club on Friday, according to Swain.

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Rep. Andy Ogles Urges Move of Unjustly Convicted J6 Defendant Stewart Parks to Minimum Security Camp of FCI Memphis, Cites Tennessee Star Report

Rep. Andy Ogles / Stewart Parks

U.S. Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN-05) sent a letter to the Warden F.J. Bowers of the Federal Correctional Institution in Memphis on Tuesday which urged him to immediately transfer unjustly convicted J6 defendant Stewart Parks to the facility’s minimum security camp.

Ogles sent his letter following the Sunday report from The Tennessee Star that revealed Parks is not in the minimum security camp where he was originally expected to serve his sentence, and is instead in a part of the federal prison that houses gang members, murderers and child molesters.

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State Senator Brent Taylor: ‘If We Don’t Get It Turned Around,’ Memphis will Become the ‘Example of a Failed City’

Brent Taylor

Tennessee State Senator Brent Taylor (R-Memphis) said Memphis will become the “butt of every joke” and the “example of a failed city” if its bail system and crime crisis are not addressed.

Noting how Detroit was once an example of a “failed city” and a “shell of its former self,” Taylor explained what steps the city has taken to reduce crime and how Memphis should follow its lead.

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Elise Stefanik Demands Letitia James Disbarment for ‘Lawfare Campaign’ Against Donald Trump

Breitbart News Republican House Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (NY) on Tuesday issued a 64-page letter to the New York Committee on Professional Standards demanding the disbarment of New York Attorney General Letitia James for allegedly violating “principles of fairness and impartiality” by engaging in “relentless lawfare” on social media against former President Donald Trump. If James is disbarred, it would substantially increase Trump’s chances of defeating James’ prosecution. James seeks to essentially bankrupt Trump by calling for a $370 million fine and a lifetime of earnings from the real estate industry in New York State. James claims Trump committed financial fraud. READ THE FULL STORY

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Houston Church Shooter Identified as Transgender with a Long Criminal History

The Epoch Times A shooter who was killed by off-duty police officers after opening fire at a Houston megachurch while seemingly using a 7-year-old child as a human shield has been identified as a woman named Genesse Moreno, who police said also identified as a man named Jeffrey Escalante. Police said a woman in her early 30s entered Lakewood Church on Feb. 11 wearing a trench coat and backpack, armed with a long rifle, and began firing. Before managing to kill anyone, the shooter was taken down by two off-duty officers, one a Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission agent and the other a Houston police officer, according to Houston Police Chief Troy Finner. READ THE FULL STORY

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Investors Scoop Up Commercial Real Estate

Empty Storefronts in Baltimore

Investors flush with cash are looking to buy up commercial real estate properties that developers are putting on the market at deep discounts as companies struggle to pay debts, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Many investment firms are looking to buy up discounted real estate after stacking up cash during the COVID-19 pandemic, including Ares Management, which is buying up 3 million square feet of office space with offers to buy up assets related to $500 million in high-priority property debt, according to the WSJ. Commercial real estate is facing around $2.81 trillion in loans that are set to expire through 2028 at a time when the industry is struggling with low demand and huge debt costs from high interest rates.

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Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell Reportedly Planning Mass Transit Referendum After ‘Car-Free Streets’ Executive Order

Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell

Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell is reportedly planning to introduce a major mass transit project this year that will need to be approved by voters in November, and would likely require an increase to the city’s sales tax.

A report published Monday by Axios claims O’Connell is days away from announcing a “mass transit funding proposal” that will be “less downtown and tourist-focused than” the proposal previously defeated by voters in Metro Nashville in 2018.

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Virginia Democrat Stalls Arena Project After Gov. Youngkin Suggests Party Doesn’t Want ‘A Strong America’

Gov. Glenn Youngkin

Key Virginia Democrats pulled their support from the proposal by Governor Glenn Youngkin to build a new sports complex in Alexandria, Virginia for the Washington Wizards and Capitals, and did not place a bill to advance the initiative on the Senate schedule on Monday.

State Senator Louise Lucas (D-Portsmouth) first indicated she would use her power as the Senate Finance Chair to block the bill in a Saturday post to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, in which she slammed Youngkin for suggesting Democrats do not want “a strong America” in his speech at the 28th Mock Convention at Washington and Lee University.

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Arizona House Requests Investigation to Determine if Yuma County Broke Law by Giving Federal COVID-19 Funds to Unlicensed Contractor

Republicans in the Arizona House of Representatives have invoked their legal right on Monday to request an investigation by Attorney General Kris Mayes (D) over their concerns regarding how federal COVID-19 money was spent by Yuma County officials.

In a letter, lawmakers asked Mayes to launch an investigation to determine if the appointment of Nebraska-based Allo Communications by Yuma County to build rural Internet infrastructure violated both “state law and the Gift Clause of the Arizona Constitution,” in addition to “favoritism and abuse through a fundamentally flawed and potentially illegal procurement process.”

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AG Kris Mayes Backs Federal Rule Prohibiting Controversial ‘Junk Fees’ Brought to Light by Artist Taylor Swift

Kris Mayes

Attorney General Kris Mayes is in support of a crackdown on “junk fees.”

Junk fees are added charges that are typically not shown until a purchase is right about to be made, and it may not serve a clear purpose. The Federal Trade Commission is pushing for a Trade Regulation Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees in order to prevent companies employing the controversial practice.

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Victor Davis Hanson Commentary: Do Leftists Now Believe Leftism Doesn’t Work?

It is hard to destroy a naturally beautiful city like San Francisco, with ideal weather and stunning infrastructure inherited from far better earlier generations.

Yet San Francisco continues its much-publicized and self-inflicted doom loop. The productive classes still flee the increasingly crime-ridden city and its self-induced pathologies. The city is eroding not because of the doomsayers and not because of what people say about San Francisco, but because of what San Franciscans have done to San Francisco.

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Commentary: Free Market Approach Will Protect Our Healthcare System

doc nurse senior patient

As a campus ambassador at the University of Tennessee for two prominent non-profit conservative political organizations, the Leadership Institute and Turning Point USA, I’ve come to understand the complexities of health care, both as a public policy issue and as an industry. One critical aspect of health care policy that demands our attention nationwide is the protection of pharmacy benefits, a lifeline for many Americans when it comes to accessing essential prescription medications. As a student, I want to ensure we are preserving free market principles in our health care system for years to come.

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Lawmakers Consider Bill to Classify Some Fatal Fentanyl Poisonings as First Degree Murder

Fentanyl pills

An Arizona bill would increase the criminal penalties for those convicted in a fentanyl-related death.

Senate Bill 1344, introduced by state Sen. Anthony Kern, would make certain fentanyl drug deaths classified as first-degree murder. This means someone could face life behind bars or the death penalty if they are found guilty, according to a state law. 

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New Law Has Credit Card Companies Tracking of California Gun Purchases with Merchant Codes

Several large credit card companies are taking steps to track gun purchases in California with a new code, CBS News reported on Monday.

American Express, Visa and Mastercard are working on putting a merchant code in place for firearm and ammunition stores, CBS News reported. They are doing this to adhere to a California law that could enable banks to monitor certain gun purchases that are deemed suspect to forward to law enforcement agencies, which Second Amendment advocates have pushed back against.

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Commentary: Alternatives to Wind and Solar Energy

Power plant

If the delusional but dead serious demands coming out of the international climate crisis community are to be believed, and as documented in the earlier two segments of this report, achieving universal energy security in the world will require wind energy capacity to increase by a factor of 60, while solar capacity increases by a factor of 100. The mix between wind and solar can vary, of course, but the required overall increase is indisputable. As noted in Part One of this report, that would be a very best-case scenario, where extraordinary improvements in energy efficiency meant that total energy production worldwide would only have to increase to 1,000 exajoules per year, from an estimated 600 exajoules in 2022.

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