Day: April 19, 2024

UAW Wins at Volkswagen Chattanooga in Breakthrough in South

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Chattanooga Times Free Press As votes were being counted Friday night to determine if production workers at Volkswagen of America want to be unionized, union supporters cheered early provisional vote tallies being released by the union showing overwhelming support for the United Auto Workers among VW workers. Unofficial vote results released by the UAW shortly after 10 p.m. showed the union had received more than 2,628 votes for the UAW, compared with only 985 against the union. Victor Vaughn, one of the union organizers at the VW plant, told cheering union supporters Friday night that the union had won the required majority support. “We now have a voice and we’re eager to sit down and negotiate a contract,” Vaughn said during a rally at the IBEW Local 175 union hall. READ THE FULL STORY           

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Reporter Tom Pappert on Maryland Transgender Teen Arrested for Planning Mass Shooting: Police Were ‘Proactive,’ Took Threat Seriously

Kaitlin Housler
Andrea Ye

Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, discussed the latest developments surrounding a story out of Maryland where police arrested a transgender high school student for a 129-page manifesto that included plans for at least two school shootings.

On Friday, Pappert reported that the student, Andrea Ye, was arrested this week as police say she wrote the 129-page manifesto and shared it with a friend, who then notified police of the document.

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Man Sets Himself on Fire Outside Trump Trial in Horrific Scene as Onlookers Watch Wild Blaze

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Daily Mail Horrifying scenes unfolded outside Donald Trump‘s hush money trial on Friday after a man set himself on fire in an act of extreme political protest. Maxwell Azzarello, 37, doused himself in an alcohol substance before taking a lighter to his clothes near Manhattan criminal court. He was seen kneeling with his hands behind his head engulfed in flames as the world’s media and horrified onlookers watched. NYPD officers rushed to extinguish the flames.  He was taken away in a gurney and remains in the hospital in critical condition. READ THE FULL STORY      

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Tennessee State Reps. Justin Jones, Justin Pearson Joined Protesters Confronting Troopers at Capitol

Tom Pappert
Pearson and Jones Police

Tennessee State Representatives Justin Jones (D-Nashville) and Justin Pearson (D-Memphis) joined protesters engaged in a sit-in at the Tennessee Capitol after being removed from the House gallery and urged troopers not to make arrests.

Jones and Pearson reportedly “intervened” by stepping between protesters and troopers, according to NewsChannel 5’s Phil Williams, who was apparently feet away from the Democrats during what he described as a “sit-in.”

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Transgender Teen Arrested for Planning Mass Shooting at Maryland High School, Police Seize Manifesto

Tom Pappert
Alex Ye

Police in Maryland confirmed on Friday that a transgender high school student was arrested after they claim she wrote a 129-page manifesto that included plans for at least two school shootings.

The Rockville Police Department (RPD) confirmed the Thursday arrest of Andrea Ye, who identifies as a transgender man, after a friend went to police with concerns over Ye’s manifesto.

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Biden Vows to Block Foreign Acquisition of Iconic American Company

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President Joe Biden

President Joe Biden promised on Wednesday to block the acquisition of U.S. Steel by a Japanese competitor in remarks to a crowd in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, made up of unionized steelworkers.

The Japanese Nippon Steel Corporation, the fourth-largest steel producer, first announced that it would be acquiring U.S. Steel in December for around $14.9 billion after turning down other offers, including from American steel company Cleveland Cliffs. The president, in his remarks, emphasized the importance of the American steel industry and called out China for subsidizing their own steel producers.

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Former D.C. National Guard Officials Criticize Pentagon Leadership in Assessment of J6 Response

Just the News
Command Sergeant Major Michael Brooks

Four former D.C. National Guard officials turned whistleblowers excoriated military leadership for their response to the January 6 riot at a hearing held by the House Administration Subcommittee on Oversight Wednesday.

Based their firsthand accounts, they said that senior leadership failed to act decisively to authorize the deployment of the D.C. National Guard to the Capitol and subsequently crafted a misleading narrative about their actions that day to paper over the delays.

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Connecticut Committee Advances Bill Proposing Increased Threshold for Felony Unemployment Insurance Fraud

The Center Square

Connecticut House Bill 2570, which proposes increasing the threshold for felony unemployment insurance fraud from $500 to $2000, advanced from the Joint Judiciary Committee on Apr. 5 by a vote of 24-13. The Joint Labor and Public Employees Committee approved the bill with a vote of 8-4 on Mar. 7. The bill is now pending consideration before the full Connecticut House.

Under current law, a fraudulent payment, benefit, or contribution is a class A misdemeanor if it amounts to $500 or less or a class D felony if it amounts to more than $500. The bill increases these thresholds to $2,000 or less for a class A misdemeanor and more than $2,000 for a class D felony.

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Trump’s Former Attorney John Eastman Relays His Disbarment Story at Davos in the Desert’s Lawfare Event in Phoenix

Rachel Alexander

Donald Trump’s former attorney and constitutional scholar, John Eastman, spoke to the civic organization Davos in the Desert Wednesday about the lawfare he experienced, which resulted in disbarment and prosecution. The event was part of a larger conference the organization will broadcast all day on May 21, featuring legal experts discussing the lawfare against Trump.

Eastman, who was disbarred for advising Trump and representing him in challenging election illegalities in the 2020 election, began his talk by discussing how judges dismissed many of the 2020 election lawsuits for lack of standing. A judge in Pennsylvania dismissed one of their lawsuits, claiming that only the state legislature can challenge the election illegalities. However, other judges handling the 2020 election lawsuits ruled that political parties and candidates have standing.

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Arizona Democrat U.S. Senate Candidate Ruben Gallego Branded ‘Deadbeat Dad’ in New NRSC Commercial

Tom Pappert
Ruben Gallego Ad

The influential National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) labeled Arizona U.S. Representative Ruben Gallego (D-AZ-03) a “deadbeat dad” in a commercial released less than one month after a court ordered some of his divorce records unsealed.

Ruben Gallego was branded a “deadbead dad” by the NRSC over his 2017 divorce from Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego. The couple reportedly split just days before Christmas in 2016, with reports indicating it was Ruben Gallego who initiated the separation. Kate Gallego was nine months pregnant at the time.

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Ohio Affordable Housing Market Target of New Legislation

The Center Square
Construction on Home

A bipartisan group of Ohio lawmakers wants to give taxpayer money to local communities that adopt pro-housing policies they say will create a healthier housing market.

Sponsors say the new bill introduced Tuesday would stabilize both home prices and rents and “revolutionize” how local governments approach housing supply by using state policy and resources to encourage innovation and access.

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Ellison Faces Scrutiny for Use of San Francisco Firm on Lawsuit Against Energy Companies

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Keith Ellison

A trio of Republican lawmakers are asking Attorney General Keith Ellison to provide the public with more details on his office’s contract with a San Francisco-based law firm hired to aid in an ongoing climate change-related lawsuit against three major oil companies.

Sens. Mark Koran and Andrew Mathews, and Rep. Jim Nash sent Ellison a detailed letter last week that claims the law firm, Sher Edling, LLP, has received more than $13 million from special interest organizations outside of Minnesota to help fund its climate litigation efforts, including the one ongoing in Minnesota. And they want Ellison to provide the public with “a complete accounting of who is providing financial support for Sher Edling’s work on the Minnesota case.

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Youngkin, Virginia Democrats Agree to Finish Budget in May Special Session

Tom Pappert
Glenn Youngkin Budget

Governor Glenn Youngkin and Democratic leaders in the Virginia General Assembly confirmed on Wednesday they will release a budget in May and pass it during a special legislative session.

The governor’s office released a joint statement including Youngkin, Speaker of the House Don Scott (D-Portsmouth), Senate Finance Chair L. Louise Lucas (D-Portsmouth) and House Appropriations Chair Luke Thorian (D-Dumfries) confirming they will continue work on a bipartisan budget that will ultimately be unveiled on May 13.

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Fani Willis’ Alleged Failure to File Timely Paperwork Prompts Judge to Threaten Court on Weekends in Young Thug Trial

Tom Pappert
Ural Glanville

The office of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is once again under fire from a judge as prosecutors face the possibility of court on the weekend due to an alleged failure to make timely court filings in the Young Slime Life trial.

Superior Court Judge Ural Glanville raised his voice at a member of Willis’ office during court on Wednesday, with the judge threatening defense attorney Max Shardt and Fulton County Assistant District Attorney Adriane Love with court on the weekends over the case’s slow progress.

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Commentary: Uncomfortable Facts About Why Fatal Police Shootings Aren’t Declining

RealClearWire
Police arresting suspects

When Dexter Reed died in a shootout with Chicago police on March 21, the incident was quickly grafted onto a narrative that began in 2014 after a policeman killed Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. – namely, that the U.S. faces an epidemic of violence by unbridled cops who do not believe black lives matter. “Killing of Dexter Reed raises questions about Chicago police reform. ‘The message is, go in guns blazing,'” blared a headline in the Chicago Sun-Times.

Reed’s death joins a long list of police shootings that have received wide media coverage and political scrutiny – especially those involving African Americans. Over the years, many police departments embraced reforms, including the use of bodycams, to document incidents – an effort bolstered by a public eager to use smartphones to record the behavior of cops. In 2015, the Washington Post created a database logging every person shot dead by police in the U.S.

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Electric Vehicle Maker Launches Another Round of Layoffs as Demand Slows

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Rivian factory

Electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer Rivian announced its second round of layoffs just this year on Wednesday as consumer demand for EVs stalls.

The layoffs at Rivian will affect around 1 percent of the company’s staff as they continue to look for ways to cut costs to bolster struggling profits due to less-than-expected EV sales, the company confirmed to the Daily Caller News Foundation. Rivian announced in February that it was laying off 10 percent of its workforce after it released its 2024 production forecast, which was well below analyst expectations, according to Reuters.

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Music Spotlight: Presley Tennant

Bethany Bowman
Presley Tennant

One thing I have learned about TV singing shows is that the finalists are nearly always as good (if not better) as the actual winner. So, I try to interview as many country singers from these shows as possible.

Presley Tennant is a powerhouse singer from Norco, California, a horse town that is 35 miles east of Los Angeles. She was a finalist on Season 16 of NBC’s The Voice in 2019 when she was just 16. She has often been compared to Whitney Houston and Carrie Underwood.

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Kennedy Family to Endorse Biden for 2024 in Blow to RFK Jr.

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Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Members of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s family are set to support President Joe Biden’s 2024 campaign on Thursday rather than endorsing the independent candidate, according to multiple outlets.

The endorsements follow Biden’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) ramping up efforts to combat what they view as the threat Kennedy and other third-party candidates could have on the president’s reelection bid. Kennedy’s siblings — Kerry, Rory, Joseph, Kathleen, Christopher and Maxwell — will throw their support behind Biden at a campaign event in Philadelphia alongside nine of their other family members, multiple outlets reported.

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Scottish Gender Clinic Stops Prescribing Puberty Blockers for Minors

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NHS Scotland

A Scottish gender clinic for minors announced Thursday that they would no longer be prescribing puberty blockers for patients under the age of 18.

The Sandyford Sexual Health Services to Paediatric Endocrinology, which is the only clinic in Scotland that prescribes puberty blockers for minors, said that it would not be accepting new 16 and 17-year-old patients for hormone therapy until they turn 18, according to the announcement. The clinic cited the National Health Service (NHS) of England’s decision in March to ban puberty blockers for minors and the publication of the Cass Review on April 10, which found “weak evidence” for giving puberty blockers to children.

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China Lobbying Congress amid TikTok Ban Efforts

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iPhone with TikTok app logo

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been secretly attempting to lobby members of Congress over recent proposals to ban the Chinese-owned social media app TikTok.

As reported by Breitbart, employees of the Chinese Embassy have been meeting with congressional staffers to try to persuade members to vote against the bill that would force the Chinese company ByteDance to sell TikTok, or else face an indefinite ban on the app’s use in the United States. The bill passed in the U.S. House of Representatives in March with bipartisan support, and is now being reviewed by the Senate.

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