Jose Angel Rios Ramirez, who a county official described as an illegal immigrant, was convicted on Tuesday for the 2022 murder of Olivia Jarquin Pena in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
In a Facebook post, Hamilton County District Attorney Coty Wamp shared that Rios Ramirez was convicted by a Hamilton County jury on Tuesday, describing the victory for prosecutors as one of many “cases that no one ever hears about.”
Read the full story
The Tennessee Star was the first to report that Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the recently deported citizen of El Salvador, was stopped by Tennessee Highway Patrol and suspected of human trafficking in December 2022, with the agency ultimately confirming the “Biden-era FBI” instructed officers to release Abrego Garcia and his eight passengers, despite their suspicions of human trafficking and him presenting an invalid driver’s license.
The decision by highway patrol not to contact the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI), which is empowered by state statute to train law enforcement officers how to detect human trafficking, and to investigate human trafficking cases across the state, appears to contradict established procedures.
Read the full story
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday announced that the United States and Ukraine have signed the long-anticipated minerals deal through the creation of a reconstruction investment fund.
Read the full story
U.S. real gross domestic product (GDP) decreased at a rate of 0.3% in the first quarter of 2025, according to statistics released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) on Wednesday.
The first quarter decrease follows the U.S. economy growing by 2.4% in the fourth quarter of 2024, after increasing 3.1% in the third quarter, according to the BEA. The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s GDPNow, a running estimate of real GDP growth based on available economic data, projected a -2.7% GDP growth rate in the first quarter of 2025.
Read the full story
Pro-life pregnancy centers are fighting Democratic attorneys general in court for the right to tell women they may be able to reverse chemical abortions by taking supplemental progesterone, a natural pregnancy hormone, to prevent mifepristone from binding to pregnancy receptors. New York’s Letitia James is now trying to overturn an injunction against her.
Texas Republican AG Ken Paxton secured a $100,000 judgment against a New York doctor for telehealth prescriptions of mifepristone to Texas residents, who can’t get it legally in the Lone Star State, but the Empire State refused to enforce the judgment under its shield law.
Read the full story
Federal prosecutors have charged two Ukrainian nationals with unlawfully voting in an American presidential election, the latest case of non-citizens allegedly participating in federal elections.
The Ukrainian women — 53-year-old Svitlana Demydenko and her 22-year-old daughter, Yelyzaveta Demydenko — are accused of voting in the 2024 presidential election in Palm Beach, Florida, on Oct. 31, according to the Justice Department. The pair made their initial appearance in West Palm Beach federal court on Tuesday.
Read the full story
The Democrat-majority Wisconsin Supreme Court suspended Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan on Tuesday, following her arrest by federal officials for allegedly helping an illegal migrant evade arrest.
Dugan was arrested Friday by the FBI after the agency looked into the former judge’s background and found she allegedly helped an illegal migrant charged with violence avoid U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. In a court order filed Tuesday, the state’s Supreme Court stated that Dugan is “temporarily prohibited” from carrying out her responsibilities as a county judge “until further order of the court.”
Read the full story
A Central Asian national has pleaded guilty to submitting more than 100 fraudulent voter registration applications in Florida in 2023.
Read the full story
The wife of recently deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia told a court in 2020 that while the couple lived in Maryland she faced physical and verbal abuse from her husband on multiple occasions, the earliest known petition for protection from domestic violence filed against the illegal immigrant shows.
Read the full story
ABC News Since Donald Trump took office 100 days ago, the president and his administration have faced an average of more than two lawsuits per day, challenging nearly every element of his agenda. The breakneck pace of the president’s policies has been matched in nearly equal force by a flood of litigation — at least 220 lawsuits in courts across the country — challenging more than two dozen executive orders, the firing of twenty high-ranking government officials, and dozens of other executive actions. While the Trump administration has had some victories in the courts, federal judges have blocked key parts of Trump’s agenda ranging from parts of his immigration policy and military guidelines to his effort to roll back diversity and equity initiatives. READ THE FULL STORY
Read the full story
Breitbart United States District Court Judge Jennifer Thurston, appointed to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California by former President Joe Biden, is blocking Border Patrol Agents across most of California from arresting suspected illegal aliens unless they have a warrant for their arrest. This week, Thurston issued a preliminary injunction that will prevent Border Patrol agents in California’s eastern district, the largest judicial district in the state, from carrying out arrests of suspected illegal aliens without a warrant and halting such arrests unless agents have a “reasonable suspicion” the suspect is an illegal alien. READ THE FULL STORY
Read the full story
CBS News The Senate is expected to vote Wednesday on a measure aimed at blocking President Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs amid anxiety over how the wide-ranging tariffs could disrupt the U.S. economy. The resolution, led by Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon and Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, would terminate the April 2 national emergency that the president is using to impose the tariffs, effectively blocking the sweeping levies on foreign imports. But the measure almost certainly won’t be taken up in the GOP-controlled House, making the vote largely a symbolic one. READ THE FULL STORY
Read the full story
Tennessee senators celebrated President Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office.
During this time period, Trump signed a record number of executive orders, 142. Former President Franklin Roosevelt previously held the record at 99, according to CBS News.
Read the full story
The Tennessee Sports Wagering Council (SWC) continued its crackdown on illegal sports betting this month.
On Wednesday, SWC issued a $50,000 fine to the sportsbook Xbet for operating illegally in the state.
Read the full story
President Donald Trump brought out CNN’s Scott Jennings during his 100-day rally speech in Michigan on Tuesday so he could rip on Democrats.
In celebration of his 100 days in office for his second term, Trump gathered with supporters just outside of Detroit to tout what he said were his administration’s accomplishments. While thanking members of his team and outspoken advocates, Trump called out Jennings.
Read the full story
President Donald Trump used the first rally of his second term to assure voters in battleground Michigan the dizzying pace of his first 100 days in office will persist in the next phase of his presidency as he presses to get Americans on Mars, cut taxes and spending in Washington and turn tariffs into trade deals lucrative for everyday workers.
Read the full story
It’s 100 days into President Donald Trump’s second term, and his administration has continued to move at “Trump speed.”
The president has signed a record-breaking 142 executive orders, taking actions such as ending the “catch and release” policy on illegal immigration, declaring a national energy emergency, cutting DEI-related funding and policies, and downsizing the federal bureaucracy, among others.
Read the full story
Americans’ confidence in the economy has been plummeting for the past five months, reaching its lowest level since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, with many people reportedly being anxious about the impact of tariffs on their lives.
On Tuesday, the Conference Board reported that its consumer confidence index declined 7.9 points in April, to 86, its lowest reading since May 2020, according to the Associated Press.
Read the full story
This week, the House Committee on Homeland Security will take a major step toward enacting legislation to implement President Trump’s border security agenda.
As part of the House’s broader reconciliation effort, the committee will be marking up legislation to fully fund one of the president’s top priorities – securing our southwest border following four years of the unprecedented and self-inflicted border crisis at the hands of the Biden-Harris administration.
Read the full story
An Arizona state employee working for the Department of Agriculture (AZDA) was arrested earlier this month for alleged human smuggling, resulting in his termination. Joshua Castro, who worked as a food inspector, was charged with both a felony and misdemeanor after he was caught appearing to transport illegal immigrants in his state uniform after they crossed the border from Mexico into Arizona.
The Arizona Sun Times asked Border Czar Tom Homan for comment. White House Spokesman Kush Desai responded on his behalf, “The days of actively aiding and abetting illegal aliens invading our country are over. The Trump administration will never waver on putting Americans and America First with a no-nonsense approach to immigration enforcement. In this administration, anyone who commits crimes exposes themselves to criminal liability.”
Read the full story
As a former City Councilman and Vice-Mayor of Knoxville, I’ve spent years working to improve the well-being of our community. From economic development to public health initiatives, I’ve seen firsthand how policies—good and bad—can shape the lives of our residents. One of the most pressing issues facing our city and state today is obesity. It’s not just a personal struggle; it’s a public health crisis with enormous financial consequences.
Tennessee ranks among the most obese states in the country. Nearly 70% of adults and over a third of children in our state are overweight or obese. This epidemic doesn’t just threaten our health—it’s a burden on taxpayers, employers, and our strained healthcare system. And yet, despite the clear science and the availability of effective treatments, outdated Medicare policies prevent coverage of FDA-approved anti-obesity medications (AOMs). That’s a policy failure that must be corrected.
Read the full story
The Metro Nashville government on Tuesday released its Unified Housing Strategy (UHS), which the city described as “a comprehensive roadmap” plan for local governments, nonprofits, and developers to build and expand “safe, stable, and affordable housing for all Nashvillians.”
The culmination of a process that began in 2021, city documents explain its UHS contains seven strategies, including realigning “Nashville’s housing ecosystem” to meet the city’s needs, increased support for affordable housing, the creation of new affordable housing, offering permanent housing options to homeless people, keeping housing affordable, and keeping “homeowners in their home” while creating “more opportunities for sustainable home ownership and growth.”
Read the full story
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) declined to comment on its active investigation into Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the citizen of El Salvador deported last month, after two attorneys with the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security (TDOSHS) informed The Tennessee Star of the federal investigation on Tuesday.
The revelation that Abrego Garcia is subject to an active investigation made to The Star after it inquired about the status of the Open Records Request filed on April 17 by Michael Patrick Leahy with TDOSHS, which the agency effectively denied due to its failure to respond within seven business days, as required by the Tennessee Public Records Act (TPRA).
Read the full story
House Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar on Tuesday dismissed attempts to impeach President Trump.
Read the full story
Trump administration border czar Tom Homan, who officially serves as the White House Executive Associate Director of Enforcement and Removal Operations, on Monday disputed the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filing which asserted Kilmar Abrego Garcia was deported to El Salvador last month “in error.”
Despite being deemed likely to be a member of the Central American gang, Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13), Abrego Garcia has denied this, and in 2019 received a final deportation order that included a “withholding of removal” precluding his deportation to one of two nations, either Guatemala or El Salvador. Abrego Garcia argues this order was violated by his removal last month, and a former DOJ attorney stated in a legal filing that he was deported as the result of an “administrative error.”
Read the full story
On January 20, 2025, President Donald J. Trump was once again sworn into office, marking the beginning of America’s Golden Age. This new era of our country’s history will surely be remembered as when our borders were secured, the American worker was prioritized, and the possibilities for folks were seemingly endless.
One of the leading promises President Trump made included securing the border and ending the invasion of illegal aliens, and he did. According to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) update provided by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, just a few weeks ago, criminal crossings dropped by over 99% in most regions, and well over 90% across the board. Just 101 days ago, as hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens poured into our nation, Joe Biden infamously lied and claimed his hands were tied, insisting that any reduction in border crossings would require an act of Congress.
Read the full story
Law firm Keller Postman is defending itself in front of the DC District Court today for a recent litigation scheme it ran against TV streamer Tubi. If your company has a standard arbitration clause, Keller could’ve run the same scheme against you. And even if Judge Ana Reyes finds that Keller’s play was unlawful, they’ll be back in time with another—as will any number of other clever firms. The best defense is an automated arbitration clause, and we’ll tell you why.
Here was Keller’s play: They wrangled nearly 24,000 allegedly disgruntled Tubi users and had each of them file an arbitration demand against the streaming giant for advertising discrimination. That meant Tubi suddenly had to pay for 24,000 individual arbitrations—which means paying 24,000 individual arbitrators to facilitate 24,000 private trials that last an average of six months and cost an average of $100,000 total. Each arbitration also comes with a filing fee of $1,000—meaning Keller’s scheme would cost Tubi $24 million just to initiate all the proceedings.
Read the full story
President Donald Trump set a dizzying pace for his first 100 days in office, fulfilling many of his campaign promises and setting the stage for much more dramatic transformation over the next few months.
“If [Trump’s tariffs] work out, he’s going to look like a rock star,” conservative pollster Rich Baris told Just the News.. “Everyone’s going to appreciate it quite a bit because it’s going to be something that he had the nerve to do that others did not. And he’ll get credit for it.”
Read the full story
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission took a hard line against Christian employers under President Biden, forcing them to pay for employees’ hormone and surgical treatments to resemble the opposite sex, in violation of their religious beliefs, until a court blocked the action as unconstitutional a year ago.
Over the next eight months, the Christian Employers Alliance (CEA) won a six-figure settlement with EEOC and a likely four-year reprieve from federal scrutiny with the second election of Donald Trump, whose new EEOC is challenging gender-identity mandates in the workplace as sex discrimination under President Trump’s executive order against “gender ideology.”
Read the full story
As President Trump’s trade negotiations with China escalate into a full-blown trade war, the United States possesses a narrow but powerful tool to exact pressure on the Communist regime by targeting the capital-raising efforts of some of its largest corporations.
Since 2013, Chinese firms have been able to access the most prestigious stock markets in the world in New York while being able to flout auditing and transparency requirements that are imposed on every other listed company. By rescinding broad agreements that permit this, President Trump could deal a major blow to big Chinese players in tech and online commerce — industries at the forefront of U.S.-China competition — such as Alibaba, JD.com, Tencent, and XPeng.
Read the full story
Axios The Trump administration said on Tuesday that it will ease tariff pressure on automakers with reimbursements for taxes on foreign auto parts. Why it matters: Senior administration officials say the relief came after conversations with domestic auto manufacturers, many of which have warned about the economic damage from the previously imposed 25% tariff rate. Driving the news: President Trump is expected to sign an executive order later on Tuesday that would reimburse automakers for as much as 15% of the tariffs paid on imported foreign parts for cars finished in the U.S., effective on Saturday. That would move down to 10% next year. READ THE FULL STORY
Read the full story
Breitbart The government of Argentine President Javier Milei on Monday declassified over 1,850 official documents detailing the arrival of Nazi German officials to Argentina and their actions in the South American nation following World War II. The files, which can be freely accessed on an Argentine government website, most notably contain documentation detailing the actions of Josef Mengele, the German Schutzstaffel (SS) officer dubbed the “Angel of Death” due to the cruel and inhumane medical experiments he conducted on Jews imprisoned at the Auschwitz concentration camp, especially on twins. The Argentine government explained that the declassified records are the result of investigations carried out by the Foreign Affairs Directorate of the Federal Police, the State Intelligence Secretariat (SIDE), and the National Gendarmerie between the 1950s and 1980s. The over 1,850 documents are organized into seven different groups. READ THE FULL STORY
Read the full story
CBS News Merck is investing $1 billion to build a U.S. plant in Delaware, in a show of its commitment to domestic manufacturing. The move comes amid plans by President Trump to impose tariffs on pharmaceuticals, which would include taxes on imported ingredients used in the making of such medicines. The drug maker on Tuesday announced a new 470,000-square-foot facility in Wilmington, Delaware, where it will make Keytruda, the company’s immunotherapy treatment for different cancers. The plant will be Merck’s first U.S. facility dedicated to making Keytruda for U.S. patients, the company said. READ THE FULL STORY
Read the full story
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti was among a group of 26 state attorneys general who expressed their support for the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) new Second Amendment Enforcement Task Force created under U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Read the full story
I work in the grocery industry, supporting stores like Dollar Tree, Family Dollar, Dollar General, and 99 Cents Only Stores—places that are more than just convenience options. For many Tennesseans, especially in rural and underserved areas, these are the only nearby sources of groceries. That’s why I’m deeply concerned that even though SB1154, the so-called “Tennessee Healthy SNAP Act,” didn’t pass the General Assembly, its policies may still move forward through a federal waiver.
This bill would have directed the state to ask Washington for permission to ban SNAP recipients from purchasing candy and soft drinks. Supporters framed it as a public health initiative. But for those of us in the food business, this proposal was always more about control than nutrition—and more about bureaucracy than results.
Read the full story
The Metro Nashville government retains the authority to appoint the members of the Nashville Airport Authority, the Tennessee Court of Appeals ruled on Monday.
In 2023, the Tennessee General Assembly amended the Metropolitan Airport Authority Act, which allows a city with a population exceeding 100,000 to establish an airport authority.
Read the full story
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) announced on Monday the arrest of five individuals suspected of human trafficking offenses.
Scott Elliot, Misty Harden, Hector Mendoza, Darwin Patterson, and Daris Eubanks were arrested last week.
Read the full story
U.S. Immigration Judge David M. Jones granted Kilmar Abrego Garcia in 2019 a “withholding of removal” order after, claiming the risk the citizen of El Salvador would face persecution at the hands of Central American gang Barrio 18 was too high for him to be deported to Guatemala, according to the text of the order. However, Abrego Garcia has maintained the order applied to El Salvador.
Though concerns related to the presence of Barrio 18 were enough for Jones to issue the “withholding of removal,” the Prince George’s County Department of Corrections last year released a Salvadoran national, Brayan Eleazar Angulo-Barrios, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, who reported it filed a request to detain him in April 2024.
Read the full story
The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors (MCBOS) held a special public meeting on Wednesday to discuss a Shared Services Agreement (SSA) drafted by the MCBOS to give Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap some of his job responsibilities back. The previous MCBOS, even though it was in lame duck status at the end of their term, executed an agreement with the previous recorder Stephen Richer in October that took away Heap’s IT department and other significant powers.
Until 2019, the recorder’s office handled all election responsibilities, not just early and mail-in voting. After then-recorder Adrian Fontes mishandled the 2018 election, he agreed with the MCBOS to turn over Election Day administration to the MCBOS. The October SSA took away even more authority from the recorder, and the new board appears reluctant to return much of the authority.
Read the full story
The free trade brigade obsesses over economic minutiae—they cry that tariffs will raise the cost of plastic spatulas by 50 cents! What a disaster!
Who cares?
The reality is that trade with China is not in America’s interests because it funds our greatest rival. Here’s how America funded China’s rise, and why tariffs will help keep America safe and free.
Read the full story
One in ten patients experience a “serious adverse event” after taking the abortion pill, according to a study released Monday by the Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC), a conservative think tank and advocacy group.
The study found that 10.93% of women experienced sepsis, infection, hemorrhaging, or another serious adverse event within 45 days after a mifepristone abortion. The real-world rate of serious adverse events after mifepristone abortions is at least 22 times as high as the summary figure of “less than 0.5%” in clinical trials reported on the drug label, according to the study.
Read the full story
Erez Reuveni, the attorney who was fired by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) after stating in a legal filing that the Kilmar Abrego Garcia was deported to El Salvador as the result of “an administrative error,” complained to U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis that he was “frustrated” by the lack of information supplied by his client, the federal government under the Trump administration, regarding the reason for the Salvadoran’s deportation to his homeland.
Reuveni did not note that the final deportation order signed by U.S. Immigration Judge David A. Jones in 2019 included a “withholding of removal” order that forbade his deportation to one of two nations, either Guatemala or El Salvador.
Read the full story
The Open Records Request filed on April 17 by Tennessee Star Editor-in-Chief Michael Patrick Leahy, seeking video and written records from the Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) stop of Kilmar Abrego Garcia in December 2022, was denied on Monday without explanation by the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security (TDOSHS).
The Tennessee Public Records Act provides state agencies with seven business days to respond to valid Open Records Requests, and explicitly states that “[f]ailure to respond to the request” constitutes “a denial,” which gives Leahy the right to sue to compel the agency to take action.
Read the full story
As trade tensions with China continue to simmer, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins confirmed the Trump administration is standing ready to support farmers whose sales are hurt by the growing trade dispute with China.
Read the full story
The Trump administration issued a formal veto threat Monday morning regarding a bipartisan resolution that would terminate the president’s emergency powers underpinning his sweeping global tariffs.
The Senate is set to vote as early as this week on a resolution to rescind Trump’s national emergency declaration justifying the imposition of broad tariffs on imported goods. The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) said the president would veto the resolution in the event the resolution makes it to his desk, according to a statement of administration policy exclusively obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Read the full story
A new study published in the journal Nature concludes that the world would be $28 trillion richer if we hadn’t used fossil fuels. Were it not for the “extreme heat” fossil fuel companies are causing, the researchers from Dartmouth College explain, we’d have a much wealthier planet.
With such dramatic conclusions, multiple outlets in the legacy media breathlessly reported the findings. A report in CBS News quotes celebrity climate scientist Michael Mann supporting this type of research. A D.C. court recently sanctioned Mann in his libel suit against two bloggers, saying he “acted in bad faith when they presented erroneous evidence and made false representations to the jury and the Court.” CBS News’ report makes no mention of this.
Read the full story
With the official funeral for Pope Francis having concluded, Catholic Church leaders now begin the process of addressing the Pope’s unfinished business and deciding who will be the next Pope to carry out that process.
Over his 12-year papacy, Francis – who in some corners was referred to as “The Woke Pope” – was a transformative but polarizing figure. He worked tirelessly in service of sometimes divisive issues including LGBTQ+ rights, the role of women in the church, a welcoming policy toward migrants and refugees, casting the fight against climate change as a moral issue and prioritizing the normalization of relations with China.
Read the full story
Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan has been temporarily replaced on her cases as she awaits her May 15 pre-trial hearing on a pair of charges.
Dugan is charged with obstruction of a federal proceeding and concealing an individual to prevent discovery or arrest. The obstruction charge could lead to up to a $100,000 fine and a year in prison while the second concealment charge can lead to up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Read the full story
Democratic Virginia Rep. Gerry Connolly announced Monday that he will not seek reelection and will resign as the top Democrat on the powerful House Oversight Committee.
Connolly, 74, explained his decision to retire in light of his esophageal cancer diagnosis, which he said had returned. The Virginia Democrat defeated New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for the top spot on the House Oversight Committee in January, which outlets had described as a generational fight in the Democratic Party.
Read the full story
More than 100 illegal migrants were arrested during a Sunday morning raid of a Colorado nightclub infested with gang activity, according to federal officials.
In one of the latest moves to combat illegal migrant criminal activity, an underground nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colorado, was raided in a joint operation by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Trump administration announced. In addition to the arrest of over 100 illegal migrants, drugs and weapons were also seized.
Read the full story