Day: August 11, 2024

Security Resource Officers Reported Called to Step Back from Memphis Shelby County Schools over Public Safety, Pay

Tom Pappert

The company which provides Security Resources Officers (SROs) to Memphis Shelby County Schools (MSCS) has reportedly warned it will step back from its duties unless Shelby County changes its overtime policies, with the company’s owner claiming in a letter that SROs in the school district have already been told not to provide security for upcoming football events.

Bennie Cobb, who owns the Eagle Eye Security and Training company which provides SROs for the district, reportedly sent a letter to the MSCS Safety and Security division which warned its 128 SROs were told “[n]ot to report for duty on Friday, August 16, 2014 – and not to participate in the [football] jamboree that following night and following day.”

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Millions of Taxpayer Dollars Wrongly Went to Union Pension Plans for Deceased Americans

The Center Square
Virginia Foxx and Bob Good

Lawmakers say tens of millions of taxpayer dollars were wrongly set aside for union pension plans, and now lawmakers want those funds back.

Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., and Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee Chair Bob Good, R-Va., sent a letter to the Biden administration Wednesday following up to see what action the administration has taken to recover funds wrongly allotted to multiemployer pension plans.

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Former Trump DOJ Official Jeffrey Clark Appeals D.C. Disciplinary Panel’s Recommendation to Suspend His Law License for Two Years

Rachel Alexander
Jeffery Clark

Donald Trump’s former DOJ official Jeffrey Clark is appealing the recommendation of a disciplinary panel to suspend his law license for two years over his role assisting Trump in dealing with 2020 election irregularities. A three-member committee of the District of Columbia Board on Professional Responsibility found on August 1 that he breached broad and vague attorneys ethics rules by drafting a letter that was never sent to Georgia officials advising them of their options for handling the 2020 election problems. 

In response, Clark filed a Petition for Review with the District of Columbia Court of Appeals on August 7, requesting consideration of his interlocutory appeals. Interlocutory appeals are appeals conducted while other proceedings are still ongoing. 

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Majority Says First Amendment ‘Goes Too Far,’ According to Poll

The Center Square
Peaceful Protest

Free speech suppression on college campuses and social media censorship often spur debates over how far the First Amendment should go to protect Americans’ rights to express their opinions – and who should be entrusted with those decisions. 

About 53% of Americans believe the First Amendment goes too far in the rights it protects, according to a new poll by the nonprofit Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, or FIRE.

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Christian and Conservative Professors Divided over Louisiana’s New Ten Commandments Law

Admin
Jeff Landry

Political science professors at conservative and Christian colleges are split over the constitutionality of a new Louisiana law that requires all public schools to display the Ten Commandments in every classroom.

The law already faces a legal challenge from several families as well as left-leaning and atheist activist groups while Christian and conservative Louisiana lawmakers applaud the law.

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Newsom Strengthens Chinese Relations as Scrutiny Grows over Walz’ China Ties

The Center Square
Gavin Newsom and Xi Jinping

California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared “California Panda Day” to highlight Sino-Californian cooperation as scrutiny grows over Minnesota governor and now Democratic vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz’s close relationship with China.

“Building on our strong foundation of partnership and deep cultural and economic ties, I traveled to China last year to advance priority issues including climate action and economic development,” said Newsom in his proclamation making August 8 “California Panda Day.”

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Illegal Migrant Released into U.S. by Biden Admin Allegedly Committed 22 Crimes in Just Six Months

Admin
David Hernandez-Martinez

An illegal migrant from Venezuela allegedly committed at least 22 criminal offenses in the span of just six months and still may not be deported, a report from the House Judiciary Committee revealed Wednesday.

Daniel Hernandez-Martinez was released into the U.S. by the Biden-Harris administration in early 2023 before allegedly committing a slew of crimes, the report found. Despite the array of charges, the Venezuelan migrant — who is a suspected member of the “Tren de Aragua” gang — wasn’t detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) until his seventh run-in with the New York Police Department.

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Piedmont Lithium Abandons Nearly $600 Million Investment Planned for Southeast Tennessee

Kaitlin Housler
Piedmont Lithium

Piedmont Lithium announced Thursday that the company abandoned its plan to invest $582 million to establish a lithium hydroxide processing, refining, and manufacturing facility in Etowah and instead build the proposed plant in North Carolina.

The company currently operates a plant in Gaston County, North Carolina, called Carolina Lithium, which will be expanded with the addition of the facility originally expected to be built in Etowah.

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Failed Former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot Paid $60,000 to Teach University of Michigan Public Policy Class

Admin
Lori lightfoot

The University of Michigan is spending $60,000 to have ousted Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot co-teach a course on public policy this fall, according to her contract obtained by The College Fix.

Lightfoot is a Democrat whose onerous actions on COVID-19, her refusal to give exclusive interviews to white journalists, and rampant crime during her tenure, among other issues, prompted massive criticism and led to her losing her re-election bid last year to Mayor Brandon Johnson. She has since become a darling of higher education institutions, teaching at Harvard, University of Chicago, and now Michigan.

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Yale to Hold Event Series Showing How ‘Anti-Racism’ Efforts Can Be Racist

Admin
Yale Students

Yale University will hold a three-session event series discussing how anti-racism efforts are allegedly plagued by racism.

The series, “Unmasking Racism in Anti-Racism Education,” will run from Sept. 18-Oct. 2. The event description alleges that “[d]espite ongoing anti-racism efforts in our nation racism continues to flourish” and asks: “If most Americans align with a faith or tradition that upholds values of justice and equity why are we still ‘here’ in this static space?”

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Arizona Minimum Wage Ballot Initiative Effort Scrapped

The Center Square
Minimum Wage Protest

A ballot initiative to have tipped service workers get paid the same minimum wage and bump the minimum wage to $18 an hour has been scrapped.

The group, known as “Raise the Wage AZ,” is pulling the signatures they submitted to the Arizona Secretary of State’s office, as the petition was challenged by the Arizona Restaurant Association over the number of signatures obtained.

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Georgia Tries Navigating 2024 Election While Investigating Unresolved Disputes of 2020 Election

Just the News
Chris Carr

As Georgia prepares for the 2024 presidential election with implementing new rules and procedures, some unresolved 2020 election disputes remain, with the State Election Board opening an investigation into an issue it previously closed.

Heading into this year’s presidential election cycle, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger is implementing election security measures as the Georgia State Election Board is enacting new rules that could impact the November election and investigating 2020 presidential election issues.

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Ohio Spending Another $63 Million to Knock Down Buildings

The Center Square
Home Destruction

Nearly 1,300 more buildings across the state will be torn down as Ohio continues to spend taxpayer money on grants it says will spur economic development.

The new projects in nine counties will cost $67.3 million and cover 1,277 vacant, dilapidated buildings – all part of the Building Demolition and Site Revitalization Program that has spent more than $200 million on nearly 5,000 projects in all 88 counties since it began in 2021.

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Arizona Board of Regents Appoints New Executive Director

The Center Square
Chad Sampson

Chad Sampson will be the new Executive Director for the Arizona Board of Regents.

Sampson has been serving in the position in an interim capacity since March, when John Arnold stepped aside in order to focus on the University of Arizona’s $177 million budget shortfall as their chief financial officer. However, Sampson, an attorney, has served on the board in different roles since 2010. The deficit has since been projected to be down to $52 million after major spending slashes, according to Higher Ed Dive. 

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Commentary: Social-Emotional Learning Is Hurting Students

Admin
Sad Student

Social-emotional learning (SEL) has been in vogue in education circles for decades. Following its precepts, teachers, counselors, and administrators encourage students to look inward and focus on their feelings. The result?

A generation of young people who can’t stop thinking about their emotions, leaving them incredibly fragile. But that’s not what many of the experts will tell you.

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