Tennessee State Representative Gino Bulso (R-Brentwood) said he expects his bill prohibiting the displaying of certain flags on or in a public school, including LGBTQ pride flags, to soon pass the Senate and be signed into law by Governor Bill Lee.
Read the full storyDay: March 4, 2024
Tennessee Congressional Delegation Applauds Supreme Court’s Ruling in Trump Ballot Case
Members of the Tennessee Congressional Delegation applauded the U.S. Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling in Trump v. Anderson, which restores former President Donald Trump’s name on the Colorado ballot.
Read the full storyMichael Patrick Leahy: Phil Williams’ ‘Nothing Burger’ School Choice Story is Built on Secretly Recorded 2016 Strategy Session of Choice Advocates
JC Bowman, founder and president of Professional Educators of Tennessee, and Michael Patrick Leahy, editor-in-chief and CEO of The Tennessee Star, debated an audio recording slated to be released by News Channel 5’s Phil Williams supposedly addressing the “origin of school vouchers” in Tennessee.
Read the full storyFormer Assistant Attorney General Jeff Clark Explains How SCOTUS Colorado Ruling Will Protect Potential Trump Administration
Jeff Clark, former acting assistant attorney general during the Trump administration, said the Supreme Court’s ruling in Trump v. Anderson, which restores former President Donald Trump’s name on the Colorado ballot, will also protect a future Trump administration from a “whole bunch of Section 3 litigation in 2025.”
Clark said in addition to the unanimous 9-0 decision in the case, five of the Supreme Court justices went on to “decide another set of issues” in regards to states’ enforcement of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to regulate federal candidates.
Read the full storyWilliamson County Sheriff Candidate Jeff Hughes Addresses Opposition to Permitless Carry Bill in 2022
Former chief of Brentwood Police Jeff Hughes, who is running for Williamson County Sheriff, addressed controversy surrounding his stance in 2022 against a bill in the Tennessee General Assembly allowing for the permitless carry of firearms.
Hughes said his stance against the bill was coming from a matter of “public safety and officer safety,” specifically regarding the bill’s lack of training requirement for gun owners.
Read the full storySupreme Court Unanimously Rules Trump Cannot Be Removed from Colorado Ballot
The Supreme Court ruled 9-0 Monday that former President Donald Trump cannot be removed from Colorado’s 2024 ballot. The Colorado Supreme Court found Trump ineligible for the state’s ballot in December, ruling he was disqualified under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.
Read the full storyLeft Wing Group Doxxes Conservative TN GOP State Senator Who Wants to Clean up Crime Ridden Memphis
A left wing group posted the personal business information of Tennessee State Senator Brent Taylor (R-Memphis) to social media on Sunday, prompting the lawmaker to reply that he does not “intimidate easily.”
In a Sunday post to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, the account Decarcerate Memphis posted a real estate listing for Taylor’s Memphis home, and gave information about the lawmaker’s private sector job as the owner of a funeral home.
Read the full storySupreme Court Rules: Trump Can Remain on Ballot
The Supreme Court on Monday ruled that former President Donald Trump can remain on the 2024 presidential ballot in a decision that comes one day before the Colorado Republican primary after the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that the top Republican contender is ineligible.
Read the full storyTennessee Joins Amicus Brief in Supreme Court Case Against FDA
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti joined in filing an amicus brief with 21 other state attorneys general in a case being considered by the U.S. Supreme Court that could decide the fate of a popular abortion pill.
“This case is about protecting the authority of the people of Tennessee to govern themselves,” Skrmetti stated, according to the attorney general’s website. “In our system, major policy decisions are made by the people through their elected representatives and decisions about abortion law are made by state governments. The U.S. Constitution prevents federal bureaucrats from undermining Tennessee’s Human Life Protection Act no matter how much they disagree with it.”
Read the full storyDHS Secretary Mayorkas Denies Illegal Immigration Led to Murder of Laken Riley: ‘One Individual Is Responsible’
In a Sunday interview, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Alejandro Mayorkas denied a link between the murder of nursing student Laken Riley on the University of Georgia (UGA) campus and illegal immigration despite police charging a man who immigrated illegally from Venezuela with the killing.
Asked if there was a breakdown in the federal immigration system that allowed Venezuelan illegal immigrant Jose Ibarra to allegedly murder Riley, Mayorkas on Face the Nation cited his experience as a prosecutor and declared, “one individual is responsible for the murder and that is the murderer.”
Read the full storyYale University Employs Nearly one Administrator per Undergrad
Yale University employs more than three administrators and support staff for every four undergraduate students – roughly one administrator per undergrad, according to a College Fix analysis.
Over the last decade, Yale added 631 administrators and support staff to its payroll, according to data provided by administrators to the federal Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System.
As the university embraced new DEI efforts, the number of administrators and support staff increased by 13 percent, from 4,942 to 5,573, between 2013-14 and 2021-22, the analysis found.
Read the full storyBorder Patrol Union Defends Biden Jabs: ‘Yep, We Said All That, and We Mean Every Bit of it’
The National Border Patrol Council defended its derision of President Joe Biden’s visit to the border after the official U.S. Border Patrol union praised former President Donald Trump and mocked Biden as tired and wanting ice cream.
“Yep, we said all that, and we mean every bit of it,” the union said Saturday evening on X, formerly Twitter, in response to a Fox News article about its repeated jabs against Biden.
Read the full storyTennessee House Votes to Allow Super Bowl Deals to Remain Hidden for 10 Years
The Tennessee House voted Thursday to allow the Tennessee Department of Tourism to keep contracts hidden for up to 10 years for events such as a Super Bowl.
House Bill 1692 expands the number of records that can be kept concealed and the length of time.
Read the full storyCalifornia Seized Enough Fentanyl Last Year to Kill Entire World ‘Nearly Twice Over’
The California National Guard seized a record 62,224 pounds of fentanyl in California and the state’s ports of entry – enough of the potent synthetic opioid to kill the entire world population “nearly twice over.”
Since 2021, fentanyl seizures supported by CalGuard have increased by 1066%, according to the governor’s office.
Read the full storyReport: Tennessee Student and Teacher Spending Rose, So Did Education Debt
Tennessee schools saw an 18.4% increase in inflation-adjusted per student funding between 2002 and 2020, according to a new report.
Spending on employee benefits increased by 56.5% over the same period, according to Reason Foundation’s Education Spending Across 50 States report.
Read the full storyGovernment Admission: Biden Parole Flights Create Security ‘Vulnerabilities’ at U.S. Airports
Thanks to an ongoing Center for Immigration Studies Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit, the public now knows that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has approved secretive flights that last year alone ferried hundreds of thousands of inadmissible aliens from foreign airports into some 43 American ones over the past year, all pre-approved on a cell phone app.
But while large immigrant-receiving cities and media lay blame for the influx on Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s busing program, CBP has withheld from the Center – and apparently will not disclose – the names of the 43 U.S. airports that have received 320,000 inadmissible aliens from January through December 2023, nor the foreign airports from which they departed. The agency’s lawyers have cited a general “law enforcement exception” without elaborating – until recently – on how releasing airport locations would harm public safety beyond citing “the sensitivity of the information.”
Read the full storyElectric Vehicle Parts Maker Gets Tax Break to Open New Plant in Ohio
Ohio plans to give a 15-year tax credit to a company planning a new manufacturing facility to build parts for electric vehicles.
Schaeffler, owner of two plants in the state, plans a third in Dover that is expected to employ 650 people after a $230 million investment. The tax credits are tied to job creation.
The new jobs are expected to be split between the company’s plant in Wooster and the new Dover plant. The company employs more than 1,600 people.
Read the full storyKari Lake Endorses Justin Heap for Maricopa County Recorder
Arizona U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake has endorsed State Representative Justin Heap’s (R-Mesa) campaign for Maricopa County Recorder.
Read the full storyMayor Paul Young Met with Gang Leaders in Bid to Broker Seven-Day Ceasefire, Lower Memphis Crime
Memphis Mayor Paul Young revealed on Wednesday that met with a number of gang leaders with the goal of brokering a ceasefire between them to lower crime in the city in early February.
The meeting occurred months after Young promised to unveil a sophisticated crime plan within 100 days after taking office that would address the surge in criminality the Tennessee city experienced last year.
Read the full storyGreater Phoenix Area Receives $46.5 Million in Federal Funds for Homeless as Arizona Spending Reportedly Nears $1 Billion
The Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG) announced last week the federal government awarded over $40 million to supplement programs supporting the homeless. The federal money was announced as state spending on homelessness reportedly nears $1 billion per year.
MAG announced in a press release that “more than $46.5 million in federal funding” will be provided by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to “help fund dozens of local homelessness programs.” The figure is also $10 million higher than the previous year’s federal commitment, MAG explained.
Read the full storyYoungkin to Receive Bill Legalizing Controversial ‘Skill Games’ in Virginia amid Call for Veto
The Virginia General Assembly approved a unified bill that would legalize controversial skill games throughout the commonwealth on Friday. Critics, who argue the devices would institutionalize gambling throughout Virginia, have called for Governor Glenn Youngkin to veto the bill.
After the Virginia House of Delegates and State Senate passed wildly differing versions of legislation to legalize skill games, the General Assembly agreed on combined legislation that limits bars and other places that sell liquor to four machines and truck stops to 10 machines. Lawmakers also seek to impose a 25 percent tax rate on proceeds generated by the machines.
Read the full storyCommentary: Reality Is Dawning on the Democrats
You might recognize “The Look” when you see it. It made its debut on the faces of American television and media pundits during the early evening hours of Nov. 8, 2016, as the undeniable specter of a Trump presidency began to take hold.
Today, “The Look 2.0” is back. The most recent iteration is a mixture of resignation tinged with intense discomfort – a sanguine sense of impending doom born of the many dysfunctions of the Biden administration and the increasing realization that the lawfare campaign waged against Donald J. Trump is backfiring.
Read the full storyJulie Kelly Commentary: In the Room at Friday’s Florida Hearing in Trump’s Classified Documents Case
I am digging into a few other matters related to this case, the contempt order issued Thursday against veteran investigative reporter Catherine Herridge, and a new appellate court ruling overturning the use of a sentencing enhancement for J6ers convicted of the controversial 1512(c)(2) charge so unfortunately I can’t write a full article on yesterday’s hearing that I attended in person in Fort Pierce. So I want to share my X posts about what happened.
A few additional observations: Judge Cannon’s approach and style is inimical from that of judges in D.C. For part of the proceedings, I kept thinking how DOJ’s J6 prosecution in Washington would be so different if only half the judges were as careful and prepared and nontheatrical as Cannon. I shared this with a J6 defense attorney last night and he agreed.
Read the full storyTrump Holds Rally in Richmond, Looks Ahead to November
Former President Donald Trump made a campaign stop in Richmond ahead of Virginia’s presidential primary, taking his aim at the November election and President Joe Biden.
The rally marked Trump’s second stop after speaking in North Carolina earlier in the day. The former president vowed to “make a big play for Virginia” come November.
Despite the Super Tuesday matchup only days away, Trump appeared to have moved past the primaries, failing to mention former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley by name.
Read the full storyCommentary: Technology Changes and Bipartisanship are Causing Journalism’s Woes
by Carl M. Cannon For the American media, 2024 has been a fiasco. And it’s still only February. Nine days into the new year, highly respected Los Angeles Times editor Kevin Merida resigned rather than tolerate another round of layoffs and the meddlesome ways of a billionaire publisher and his progressive political activist daughter. Two weeks later, California’s largest newspaper announced it was shedding 20% of its staff, including half of its Washington bureau. Sports Illustrated was still reeling from an ethical lapse that cost its CEO his job (the magazine used AI to generate news stories under fake bylines) when management told the staff in a seven-minute Jan. 19 Zoom call of mass layoffs. Many SI journalists were terminated that day via email. Earlier that week, new Baltimore Sun owner David D. Smith met with the apprehensive staff of his new acquisition. The meeting didn’t go well. Smith, a television executive, told the reporters and editors at the venerable 187-year-old daily that he hadn’t read the paper in years. That didn’t stop him from insulting the quality of their journalism. Nor did Smith disavow his previous critique of U.S. print journalism as being “so left-wing as to be meaningless dribble.” Perceived bias…
Read the full storyMore Inflationary Woes: In One Year, Car Insurance Rates Surge 26 Percent
Car insurance rates surged 26% nationwide in the past year and are expected to remain elevated until 2025.
That’s according to the “True Cost of Auto Insurance” report from Bankrate, an independent comparison service company.
Read the full storyFood Stamp Costs for a Family’s Meal Jump 31 Percent over Last Three Years
The monthly costs for the thrifty plan for a family of four participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is increasing by 31% over the last three years.
The United States Department of Agriculture stated the food stamp benefit amounts are based every year upon the cost of the Thrifty Food Plan.
Read the full storyAntidepressant Prescriptions for Youth Surged During COVID Pandemic
A new study shows that the prescription of antidepressants for youth skyrocketed during the Chinese Coronavirus pandemic, rising by a staggering 65.3%.
As reported by Axios, the research from Pediatrics shows that the spike in such prescriptions may have been caused by a number of factors, including a shortage in mental health workers in schools and the shift towards remote forms of medical treatment such as “telehealth” and remote prescribing, which only contributed to a sense of isolation and depression brought on by the nationwide lockdowns.
Read the full storySan Francisco to Vote on Measure to Drug-Test Welfare Recipients
The far-left city of San Francisco will soon be voting on measures that could reverse liberal policies when it comes to crime, drug use, and homelessness, in what would mark a stunning rebuke of progressive policies in the Democratic stronghold.
As reported by Fox News, when Californians go to vote on Tuesday in the “Super Tuesday” primaries, San Francisco residents will be able to vote on several ballot measures including Proposition F and Proposition E.
Read the full story