Former President Donald Trump on Thursday held a rally in the traditionally Democratic-leaning Bronx in which he vowed to revitalize the American economy.
Read the full storyTrump Vows Economic Recovery in Second Term at Bronx Rally
Day: May 23, 2024
Beacon Center Policy Expert Ron Shultis Warns ‘There’s Really No Way to Know’ Specifics of Nashville Mayor’s Transit Plan
Ron Shultis, the Director of Policy and Research for both the Beacon Center and Beacon Impact, said Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell’s transit plan is subject to major changes if approved by voters on the November ballot.
Read the full storyLouisiana Abortion Pill Reclassification Bill Heads to Governor’s Desk
The Louisiana state Senate approved a bill on Thursday that would place two abortion pills on the state’s list of controlled dangerous substances, sending the legislation to the governor’s desk for his signature.
The state’s House of Representatives passed the bill on Tuesday, which could make possession of the drugs a crime punishable by jail time or a fine. Surgical and medical abortions are already illegal in the southern state except in extreme cases, meaning it is already difficult to obtain the drugs legally. But now the possession itself without a prescription could get an individual up to five years in prison.
Read the full storyNorthwestern University President Admits to Getting an ‘F’ from ADL with Combatting Antisemitism
Northwestern University President Michael Schill admitted Thursday that he got an “F” rating from the Anti-Defamation League during a back and forth between him and Rep. Elise Stafanik, R-N.Y. during a hearing to address antisemitism.
“Isn’t it also true that Northwestern earned an ‘F’ for your failure to respond and combat antisemitism and they called for your resignation?” Stefanik asked Schill.
Read the full storyLos Angeles’ Troubling Crime Stats Stemming from Public Transit Offers Glimpse into Nashville’s Future with Mayor O’Connell’s Transit Plan
A report out of Los Angeles regarding the city’s crime rates on its public transportation services is being flagged by a local watchdog in Nashville as a glimpse of what Music City’s future may look like if Mayor Freddie O’Connell’s multi-billion-dollar transit plan is implemented.
O’Connell’s transit plan, “Choose How You Move: An All-Access Pass to Sidewalks, Signals, Service, and Safety,” would be funded by a half-cent increase in the city’s sales tax to construct miles of new sidewalks, bus stops, transit centers, parking facilities, and upgraded traffic signals around Nashville.
Read the full storySchumer-Backed Border Bill Fails a Second Time with Even Less Democrat Support
Fox News The Senate failed to advance a border bill backed by some Democrats and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on Thursday, seeing the measure garner less support than it did in February when it was first considered. By a vote of 43-50, senators chose not to advance the bill, which was negotiated in a bipartisan nature by Sens. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., and James Lankford, R-Okla. Both Lankford and Sinema sided against their own legislation, a departure from their previous votes. READ THE FULL STORY
Read the full storyNCAA Votes to Accept $2.8 Billion Settlement That Could Usher in Dramatic Change for College Sports
The Associated Press The NCAA and Big Ten Conference leadership approved a $2.8 billion settlement of antitrust claims Wednesday, moving college athletics closer to some of the most sweeping changes in its history. The proposal could resolve three major antitrust lawsuits against the NCAA that carry the threat of billions in damages, a blow that would cripple the organization founded in 1906 that oversees some 500,000 athletes in dozens of sports. If approved by a judge, it would further upend the NCAA’s longstanding amateur sports model by allowing revenue-sharing by schools with their athletes, who were allowed to begin earning endorsement money less than three years ago. READ THE FULL STORY
Read the full storyU.S. Bars Peter Daszak from Funding for ‘Improper Conduct’ at Wuhan Lab
Breitbart The administration of President Joe Biden suspended Peter Daszak, a key figure in the still-murky evolution of the Wuhan coronavirus, and his EcoHealth Alliance (EHA) from federal funding for failing to adequately monitor the activities it supported at the now-infamous Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV). The announcement was encouraging news for critics who have long suspected Daszak played some role in unleashing the novel coronavirus on the world and has been laboring to cover up his involvement ever since the pandemic. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) initiated the process of banning EHA from receiving federal funds last Wednesday, after “a thorough investigation determined that there is adequate evidence that EHA has not been compliant with federal regulations and grant terms and conditions.” READ THE FULL STORY
Read the full storyBen Cunningham Points Out Major Concerns with Nashville Mayor’s Multi-Billion-Dollar Transit Plan
Ben Cunningham, founder of the Nashville Tea Party, is speaking out about multiple concerns with Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell’s multi billion-dollar transit plan unveiled last month.
O’Connell unveiled his billion transit plan, “Choose How You Move: An All-Access Pass to Sidewalks, Signals, Service, and Safety,” last month.
Read the full storyNashville Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee Received ‘Transit Referendum Briefing’ After Relaunch by Mayor Freddie O’Connell
Mayor Freddie O’Connell relaunched the Nashville Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) on Tuesday. An agenda posted to the city’s website reveals that committee members received a “Transit Referendum Briefing” during their recent meeting.
A Wednesday press release by O’Connell’s office explained the mayor “released a new map related to his Choose How You Move transportation improvement program” and revealed a map of “35 miles of new and improved bicycle facilities that would be covered” under his referendum.
Read the full storyRep. Andy Ogles Says $320k Personal Pledge ‘Mistakenly Included’ in FEC Filings Which Overstated June 2022 Cash-On-Hand by $292k
U.S. Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN-05) submitted a total of 11 amended campaign filings with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) on Wednesday. The new details provided by Ogles reveal his campaign originally misstated its cash-on-hand in June 2022 by more than $290,000.
Ogles’ 11 amended reports are for reporting periods between April 1, 2022 and March 31, 2024. The first amended filing, which includes the $290,000 discrepancy, covers the period when Ogles previously reported a $320,000 personal loan to his campaign.
Read the full storyWoman Found Dead in Clarksville Residence Identified as Ft. Campbell Soldier
A woman found deceased inside a Clarksville residence over the weekend has been identified as 23-year-old Katia Duenas-Aguilar of Mesquite, Texas who was a soldier stationed at Ft. Campbell located on the Kentucky–Tennessee border.
Private First Class Duenas-Aguilar was a member of the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade of the United States Army’s 101st Airborne Division.
Read the full storyNew Bill Would Have Exposed Alleged Conflicts in Biden, Trump Presidencies
Both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump have faced ongoing ethics questions in recent years, but a new bill seeks to bring any such problems to the surface much sooner.
A new bipartisan piece of legislation would require presidents and vice presidents to disclose gifts received, conflicts of interest, foreign financial dealings and more ethical gray areas within two years of taking office.
Read the full storyTennessee Judge Blocks Attempt to Sell Elvis Presley’s Former Home Graceland
A Tennessee judge on Wednesday ruled to block the auction of Elvis Presley’s (pictured above) home, Graceland, by a company that alleged the singer’s daughter didn’t repay a loan that used the home as collateral.
The auction had been slated for this week, though Shelby County Chancellor JoeDae Jenkins issued the temporary injunction, according to The Associated Press.
Read the full storyBusinesses Blast New Biden Rule Allowing Union Reps to Inspect Job Sites
Business groups are pushing back against a new Biden administration rule that would allow third-parties, including union representatives, to accompany federal inspectors of job sites.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued the final rule earlier this year, but critics say the rule goes beyond safety needs and panders to unions and their recruitment efforts. The rule would apply even to job sites where workers have not unionized.
Read the full storyMNPD: Nashville Suffered 30 Overdose Incidents in Two Days as Overall Overdoses Decrease
Nashville suffered 30 combined overdose incidents across Sunday and Monday, Metro Nashville Police Department told The Tennessee Star about a recent spike in overdose activity in Nashville.
MNPD announced the recent overdose spike in a Tuesday press release, detailing the department’s efforts to fight overdoses in Nashville in response to the rise in overdose activity. For example, MNPD highlighted its detectives distributing kits of Narcan, a medicine that can treat drug overdoses in emergency situations, to about 40 homeless individuals.
Read the full storyThe Castro Family’s International Businesses Expand Throughout the World
An investigation published by Yucabyte and the investigative journalism outlet Armando.info revealed on Friday a network of companies ranging from Mexico to Cuba, passing through Miami, with close ties to descendants of the Castro family, including Héctor Santana Castro, Sandro Castro and his cousin, the model Antonio “Tony” Castro.
According to the investigation, Hector Santana Castro, great-nephew of Raúl and Fidel Castro, would manage the family business in Europe through his law firm.
Read the full storyTrump Fundraising Surges, Outraising Biden by $25 Million, Even as Trial Limits His Campaigning
Amid an ongoing criminal trial that has largely limited his ability to campaign in-person, former President Donald Trump and the Republican National Committee managed to out-fundraise President Joe Biden and the Democratic National Committee by a hefty margin in April.
Collectively, Trump and the RNC raised $76 million last month, including $50.5 million raised at a single event in Florida. By contrast, President Joe Biden and the DNC managed to raise a combined $51 million over the same period.
Read the full storyMetro Council Raises First Amendment Questions After Rejecting Morgan Wallen’s Bar Sign
Nashville’s Metro Council voted to reject a sign for Morgan Wallen’s new downtown bar, raising questions about the council’s compliance with the First Amendment.
Wallen, a country music star, is set to open This Bar and Tennessee Kitchen in Nashville over Memorial Day weekend. However, the bar’s main sign, which was planned to hang over the public walkway outside the building, will not be installed because of a 30-3 Metro Council vote.
Read the full storyJasmine Crockett Silent amid Lack of Evidence for Alleged 2002 Hate Crimes
Representative Jasmine Crockett (D-TX-30) did not respond to a Wednesday inquiry from The Tennessee Star seeking more information to corroborate her previous claim that she and 17 students suffered a “series of hate crimes” on the Rhodes College campus in 2002.
Rhodes College Campus Safety similarly has yet to respond to requests for comment about the alleged hate crimes, nor have they supplied any documentary evidence including police reports, after Crockett claimed she and the other students were sent racist letters to their campus mailboxes.
Read the full storyDrexel Students Learn Virtually as Anti-Israel Protestors Demand University ‘Terminate’ Jewish Organizations
Drexel University continues to instruct students virtually on Wednesday after campus buildings were closed or locked down following the establishment of an anti-Israel encampment. In addition to calls to divest from Israel, the activists have demanded the university “[i]mmediately terminate” its chapters of the Chabad and Hillel Jewish community organizations.
Classes at Drexel were virtual for the fourth consecutive day, according to Fox 29. The outlet reported that members of the encampment told the outlet they “will continue to disrupt until Drexel University meets our demands.”
Read the full storyOhio Supreme Court Dismisses Motion Challenging House Bill 68
The Ohio Supreme Court released a decision on Wednesday dismissing an emergency motion filed by Attorney General Dave Yost asking the state’s highest court to narrow a temporary restraining order issued by Franklin County Court of Common Pleas Judge Michael J. Holbrook to block the state from enforcing House Bill 68.
On April 16, Judge Holbrook issued a temporary restraining order to prevent House Bill 68 – which includes the SAFE Act and the Save Women’s Sports Act – from taking immediate effect.
Read the full storyArizona Support for Biden Shrinks to 36 Percent in Poll Including Robert F. Kennedy, Jill Stein
A poll of Arizona voters released Wednesday showed support for President Joe Biden shrunk to just 36 percent in an election including former President Donald Trump, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Dr. Jill Stein and intellectual Cornel West.
The survey of Arizona registered voters found, in a five-way contest, 43 percent of the Arizona electorate would vote for Trump while just 36 percent who would vote to give Biden a second term.
Read the full storyCommentary: States Lead a Happy Title IX Revolt
American federalism is alive and well after all. On April 19, the Biden Education Department announced its disastrous new Title IX rule that guts due process and imposes gender ideology in educational institutions. Within days, however, officials from eight states publicly instructed their schools to ignore it. Then, within a week, 16 states sued the administration alongside nonprofit groups such as Parents Defending Education and several Louisiana school districts. Since then, the number of states suing has climbed to 26—more than half the states in the nation. Their court filings say the rule violates not only the United States Constitution and the federal Administrative Procedures Act but also Title IX itself. Game on!
While feminists weaponized Title IX to their hearts’ content in the Obama years, alleging a phony campus rape crisis to rationalize their kangaroo courts and to silence those questioning their power, the world is a different place under Biden. Feminists have met their match in American parents and and in red states—especially their education officials.
Read the full storyLaw Enforcement Advocate Says Protesters Push ‘False Narrative’ About Atlanta Public Safety Training Center
Promoting the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center as a way of militarizing the police is a “false narrative,” Gabriel Nadales, national director of Our America, told The Georgia Star News on Tuesday.
The “safety center is about improving all first respondents. This means having better trained firefighters, EMTs, and yes that includes police officers,” Nadales said.
Read the full storyMaricopa County and Arizona Secretary of State Censored 2020 Election Audit Hearing, Elected Officials
The Arizona secretary of state’s office and Maricopa County worked together to censor information about the state’s 2020 election audit of the county and reported elected officials’ posts to social media companies.
Maricopa County and the Arizona secretary of state’s office worked together with third parties to censor social media content that they believed was misinformation regarding the 2020 election audit of Maricopa County and election information posted by elected officials, according to public records obtained from both Maricopa County and the Arizona secretary of state by The Gavel Project.
Read the full storyConservative Group Announces Seven-Figure Early Vote Push in Ohio and Endorses Bernie Moreno for Senate
The conservative Sentinel Action Fund (SAF) announced on Wednesday its first seven-figure investment in Ohio to encourage early voting, and endorsed Republican Senate candidate Bernie Moreno, the Daily Caller News Foundation first learned.
SAF’s announcement is the first of multiple seven-figure investments it plans to make in Ohio this cycle, with the super PAC also launching a “Skip The Line Ohio” website urging Republicans to request and return their absentee ballot, according to the group. Moreno secured the GOP Senate nomination in March, beating out two other prominent Republicans to take on longtime Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown in November.
Read the full storyJohn Eastman and Other Top Attorneys Speak at ‘Get Trump’ Virtual Conference on Lawfare
The Arizona civic organization Davos in the Desert hosted a virtual “Get Trump” lawfare conference all day Tuesday. The conference featured numerous top legal experts, including Trump’s former attorney and constitutional legal scholar John Eastman. It covered the criminal prosecutions, the high-profile civil lawsuits, the two impeachment trials, and lawfare against conservative attorneys.
Eastman, who is being prosecuted in Georgia and Arizona for his work advising and representing Trump on the 2020 election corruption and fighting disbarment in California, discussed the evidence he saw that convinced him there was wrongdoing in the election.
Read the full storyCommentary: The Most Important Trait for Yale’s Next President Is Courage
On August 31, 2023, Yale’s 23rd president, Peter Salovey, announced he would be stepping down. Since this announcement, much has transpired in the world of American higher education: the resignation of Harvard and UPenn presidents, the creation of campus encampments nationwide, and the cancelation of commencements at Columbia and USC. These developments point to an American higher education system that is malfunctioning. The breakdown we are witnessing at Yale’s peer institutions will continue until leaders are chosen for their courage to apply wisdom to divisive issues.
America’s Founders understood the importance of higher education. Of all his great accomplishments, only three made it onto Thomas Jefferson’s headstone: Author of the Declaration of American Independence, of the Statue of Virginia for Religious Freedom, and the father of the University of Virginia. Jefferson knew that America’s ability to be great and good – UVA’s motto – depended on the presence of high-functioning universities. America’s first polymath, Ben Franklin, famously said, “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” Framers like Franklin and Jefferson understood the value of academic pursuits, and their example lit a spark that motivated generations of Americans to pursue higher education.
Read the full storyProsecution Exhibit List Gives Roadmap of Hunter Biden Trial with References to Influence Scheme
Hundreds of documents and records set to be included as exhibits in Hunter Biden’s California tax trial are designed to prove he violated U.S. tax law, but also include significant evidence previously reported by Just the News and others showing how the younger Biden received millions from foreign sources and which pointing to Joe Biden’s involvement in those deals.
The list, submitted in court by Special Counsel David Weiss, includes several tax documents to bolster the focus of his case, namely, that Hunter Biden’s wrongdoing is centered on tax violations.
Read the full storyIllinois Recommends Bonuses to Colleges for Black, Hispanic Students
Illinois soon could give bonuses to universities for enrolling African American and Hispanic students under a proposal by a state government commission.
The recommendation by the Illinois Commission on Equitable Public University Funding aims to address “the historic inequities” in education “especially among students from low-income households, students of color, students from rural communities, and working adults,” according to a news release.
Read the full storyCommentary: Pharmacy Benefits Are Essential for Tennesseans’ Well-Being
In Tennessee, the battle to protect pharmacy benefits is not merely a matter of policy, but a battle to protect our country from unnecessary government overreach by the extreme Left. I am deeply troubled by recent attempts at the federal level that target pharmacy benefits and our free market – all in one swoop.
People across our state are already experiencing immense financial strain as they grapple with the soaring costs of inflation and prescriptions, and we need to advocate for policies that will effectively lower these prices through free market competition.
Read the full storyAlan Dershowitz Commentary: I Was Inside the Court When the Judge Closed Trump’s Trial — What I Saw Shocked Me
I have observed and participated in trials throughout the world. I have seen justice and injustice in China, Russia, Ukraine, England, France, Italy, Israel, as well as in nearly 40 of our 50 states.
But in my 60 years as a lawyer and law professor, I have never seen a spectacle such as the one I observed sitting in the front row of the courthouse yesterday.
Read the full story