Day: June 30, 2024

Covenant School Killer Audrey Hale Began ‘Going Through Testing’ for Mental Health in Summer of 2001, Parents Told Police

Tom Pappert
Audrey Elizabeth Hale

Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale began receiving treatment from a speech pathologist in September 2001, which is when a mental health professional first indicated to the killer’s parents that Audrey Hale suffered from autism, according to a transcript of the July 12, 2023 police interview with Ronald and Norma Hale obtained by The Tennessee Star from a source close to the investigation.

The Star previously published police documents which established Hale was a 22-year mental health patient at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) prior to her March 27, 2023 attack on the Covenant School, when she claimed the lives of three 9-year-old students and three adult staff members before she was heroically shot by two responding police officers.

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Biden’s Family Tells Him to Keep Fighting as They Huddle at Camp David

Admin

The New York Times President Biden’s family is urging him to stay in the race and keep fighting despite last week’s disastrous debate performance, even as some members of his clan privately expressed exasperation at how he was prepared for the event by his staff, people close to the situation said on Sunday. Mr. Biden huddled with his wife, children and grandchildren at Camp David while he tried to figure out how to tamp down Democratic anxiety. While his relatives are acutely aware of how poorly he did against former President Donald J. Trump, they argued that he could still show the country that he is capable of serving for another four years. Mr. Biden has also been soliciting ideas from advisers about how to proceed, and his staff has been discussing whether he should hold a news conference or sit for interviews to defend himself to change the narrative, but nothing has been decided yet. READ THE FULL STORY    

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Jen Psaki Calls Steve Bannon ‘A Brain Bending Communicator’ Who Sounds ‘Almost Rational’ After Interview with ABC’s Jonathan Karl

Michael Patrick Leahy
Steve Bannon

Former Biden press secretary Jen Psaki said on ABC’s This Week on Sunday that Steve Bannon is “a brain bending communicator” who sounds “almost rational” after the program played ABC’s Jonathan Karl’s exclusive interview with the former Trump White House advisor and current WarRoom host.

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FBI Gives Vague Response to The Tennessee Star’s FOIA Request over ‘Legacy Tokens’

Peter D'Abrosca

In response to The Tennessee Star’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on the agency’s policy regarding “legacy tokens” left behind by mass killers, the FBI offered a vague response to an original comment request by The Star.

“While our standard practice is not to comment on specific products, which includes addressing their veracity, the FBI regularly shares information with our law enforcement partners to assist in protecting the communities they serve,” the FBI said by email. “The FBI always encourages members of the public to be vigilant and report anything they consider suspicious to law enforcement.”

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Tennessee Students Show TCAP Math Score Improvement

The Center Square
Students Testing

Tennessee students showed math test scored improvements since hitting a pandemic low point in 2021, just as occurred in English language arts, according to new data released by the Tennessee Department of Education.

The Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program places results into four categories – exceed, met, approaching and below – compared to student comprehension expectations.

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TDOT will Halt Construction to Ease Traffic on July 4th

Peter D'Abrosca
Road construction

The Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) will halt all construction on July 4th to ease traffic for travelers during Independence Day.

“With so many people traveling on and around the Fourth of July, we want to do all we can to ensure they reach their destinations safely and without necessary delays,” said Deputy Governor and TDOT Commissioner Butch Eley in a news release. “We are doing so by suspending lane closures during this busy holiday travel time. Be mindful that our HELP Trucks will be on patrol and drivers must obey the law by moving over and slowing down for all emergency vehicles on the side of the road.”

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Majority of Voters Want to Throw Biden Overboard Following Disastrous Debate, Poll Shows

Admin
Joe Biden

The majority of voters want to see President Joe Biden replaced as the Democratic nominee following his debate performance on Thursday night, according to a Morning Consult poll released Friday.

After the first presidential debate of the 2024 election cycle, Biden’s performance left many major Democrats scrambling to soften the blow. But even with the damage control, 60% of voters and even 47% of Democrats said Biden should be replaced as the Democratic candidate, according to the poll.

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Report Shows 61 Percent of Renters Can’t Afford Median Apartment Rate in U.S.

The Center Square
Los Angeles Apartment Building

Due to inflation eating away at earnings and less supply of affordable housing, the majority of Americans today cannot afford median rent prices, according to a new report by the real estate company Redfin.

The analysis comes as other reports indicate that both homeowners and renters are struggling with high housing costs due to inflationary pressures, an inflated housing market, low supply and demand for affordable housing.

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Interior Department Tells Employees to Stop Using Gendered Terms Such as ‘Husband’ and ‘Son’

Just the News
Business Meeting

The Interior Department has updated its “inclusive language guide” to include instructions for employees to stop using such gender-specific terms as “son” and “daughter,” and replace them with more generalized terms such as “kid” or “child.”

The 24-page guide said agency employees should also replace terms such as “husband” and “wife” with “spouse,” The Daily Wire reported Thursday.

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Biden Administration Strong-Armed FDA into Fast-Tracking COVID Vaccine

Admin
COVID Vaccine

A new report from the House of Representatives claims that the Biden Administration repeatedly pressured the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) into speeding up the approval of the Chinese Coronavirus vaccine developed by Pfizer.

According to the Daily Caller, the staff report from the Subcommittee on the Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust alleges that the FDA did not follow the usual regulatory guidelines when it came to approving the Pfizer vaccine. As such, when the FDA gave its approval to the vaccine, it allowed the Biden Administration to more quickly issue a mandate forcing federal workers and active duty troops to take the Pfizer vaccine or else risk losing their jobs.

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Tennessee AG Sends Letter to Major Credit Card Companies Warning of Legal Action Upon Noncompliance with New State Law

Kaitlin Housler
AG Skrmetti Credit Cards

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti sent a letter to the CEOs of American Express, Visa, and Mastercard inquiring about the companies’ plans to comply with a state law set to take effect in the Volunteer State on Monday, July 1 concerning financial transaction data associated with firearm and ammunition purchases.

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Trump Takes Post-Debate Victory Lap in Virginia in Bid to Flip the Commonwealth to ‘Red’

Just the News
Donald Trump at Rally

Former President Donald Trump on Friday seized on his post-debate momentum to bolster his efforts in Virginia, appearing alongside the Old Dominion’s GOP heavyweight Gov. Glenn Youngkin at a rally in Chesapeake.

Formerly regarded as a prospective presidential candidate himself, Youngkin opted against such a campaign and has instead been floated as a potential vice presidential candidate.

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Commentary: Media’s Lies About Biden’s ‘Mental Fitness’ Finally Caught Up to Them

Admin
Joe Biden and Jake Tapper

For three and a half years, Joe Biden’s handlers have hidden him from public view and kept him locked deep inside the confines of the White House or at Rehoboth Beach—far away from “we the people.”

For three and a half years, Biden has barely averaged more than a 30-hour work week and has almost never said anything without the assistance of a teleprompter or a notecard. When he does speak, he gives terse remarks that rarely last more than 15 minutes and are almost never in prime time, meaning his audience is negligible.

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Opinion Issued Aims to Clear Up ‘Medical Emergency’ in Arizona Abortion Laws

The Center Square
Kris Mayes

Attorney General Kris Mayes issued an opinion as abortion policy in the state is likely to be on the ballot in November.

The 15-week law is still on the books in Arizona, and it was signed into law by former Republican Gov. Doug Ducey in 2022. The opinion, which was sent to four Democratic state lawmakers on Thursday, is meant to explain what can be considered a “medical emergency” under the law.

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Commentary: Single-Sex Education Is a Tradition to Reconsider

Admin
All Boys School

The last time I was a member of an officially male group, I was 12 and in the Little League. After that, I shied away from them. There was a nearly all-male Catholic high school I earned a scholarship to, but I chose another school and another scholarship. There were still several prestigious all-male colleges to choose from, but I had no desire to go to those places. Princeton got me instead.

But as I look back and as I’ve grown more aware of what colleges used to be like, I wonder why we take for granted the superiority of having boys and girls, or young men and women, together everywhere and all the time. Shouldn’t there be at least some places that are otherwise? Here, one of the tenets of the progressive creed, that people’s sexual proclivities ought to be championed no matter what they are, is in flat contradiction with another one of the tenets, that all-male institutions are to be eliminated.

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Commentary: Four Reasons People Chose Not to Have Children

Admin
Family Photo

North Carolina State University Professor (Emeritus) Mike Walden is known for explaining complex issues in ways understandable to the general reader. That is unusual among scholars. Three “economic thrillers” written by Professor Walden and his wife M.E. Whitman Walden, Micro Mayhem (2006), Macro Mayhem (2006) and Fiscal Fiasco (2014), show how they do it.

Professor Walden just posted a short, down-to-earth piece, “You Decide: Should We Worry About The Declining Birth Rate?” He is writing not as an advocate, but simply raises relevant points. In a few succinct sentences he distills the falling fertility conundrum to its essence, citing four reasons why Americans are having fewer children these days:

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Commentary: Honest Pros and Cons of Homeschooling

Admin
Homeschool

It’s true. Sometimes homeschoolers do school in their pajamas.

But that wasn’t the norm in my home when I was growing up. Generally, my mother kept us to a set schedule. Piano practice was at 8:15 sharp. Math class started at 9:00. The other subjects fell into place around that. Often, we finished our work by lunchtime, after which my sister and I would go outside and play in the woods behind our house, read, draw, or work on some other personal hobby.

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