A few weeks before Christmas in 2022, Amber Lavigne was cleaning her 13-year-old’s bedroom when she stumbled upon her daughter’s secret: a chest binder. She learned that Autumn had been wearing the garment, which girls use to flatten their breasts to achieve a masculine appearance, for about two months at school in Maine, where she had adopted a boy’s name, Leo, and was using he/him pronouns.
Read the full storyDay: March 5, 2026
Tennessee State House Advances Bill to Require Schools Track Number of Illegal Alien Students
An amended version of HB 793 was submitted on Wednesday by its sponsor, Majority Leader William Lamberth (R-Portland), which would require schools to track the citizenship status of enrolled students, then provide anonymized data to the Tennessee Department of Education and General Assembly.Â
Lamberth explained in Wednesday remarks in the State House that the legislation, which originally would have also given school districts the authority to charge tuition or deny enrollment to illegal alien families, was amended over concerns that it could have jeopardized $1.1 billion in federal education funding.
Read the full storyNES Says Company Stored over 3,100 Power Poles Before Winter Storm Fern, but Ordered 809 After ‘Around 800’ Damaged
The Nashville Electric Service (NES) told The Tennessee Star on Wednesday that the municipally owned utility had more than 3,100 power poles stored ahead of Winter Storm Fern, despite a report containing internal database images that appeared to show NES out of certain types, and the company ordering more than 800 to restore power for the 230,000 customers who lost service.
After WSMV 4 reported on Tuesday that NES at one point had zero poles in stock as it worked to restore service for customers, including the thousands who spent nearly two weeks without power, a spokesman told The Star in a late Wednesday email, “Prior to the storm we had more than 3,100 power poles in stock.”
Read the full storyHouse Follow Senate, Rejects War Powers Resolution Aimed at Curbing Trump’s Iran Strikes
The U.S. House of Representatives has handed President Donald Trump a key victory in the escalating conflict with Iran, narrowly defeating a bipartisan war powers resolution that sought to halt ongoing military operations without explicit congressional approval.
Read the full storyPhill Kline: Senate War Powers Resolution ‘Symbolic’ and Wouldn’t Change U.S. Policy
Phill Kline, former Kansas Attorney General and Liberty University law professor, said a resolution aimed at limiting the president’s ability to continue military operations in Iran without congressional approval that was rejected by the U.S. Senate on Wednesday was unlikely to change U.S. policy even if it had passed.
Read the full storyOutgoing DHS Secretary Kristi Noem Reveals 3 Million Illegals Deported Since January 2025 in Nashville Speech
U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem said Thursday that 3 million illegal aliens left the United States since President Donald Trump reentered the White House in January 2025, including 750,000 who were forcibly removed through deportation proceedings, during a speech delivered in Nashville shortly after the president announced she will leave the agency at the end of March.Â
“We’ve seen 3 million people leave our country that were here illegally, but over 750,000 of them were arrested, and detained, and removed,” said Noem in her speech at the Major Cities Conference speech in Nashville. “We’d much prefer that they volunteer to go home, and that it can be a volunteer situation, but if not, if people are here illegally and committing crimes, we want to make sure we’re able to detain them and get them out of your communities before we create more victims in the United States.”
Read the full storyThree Tennessee Locations in the Running to Win Free Tunnels Constructed by Musk’s Boring Company
Three cities in Tennessee have been selected as finalists in The Boring Company’s Tunnel Vision Challenge, a competition that will award one proposal the construction of a free tunnel project up to one mile long, aimed at improving transportation or infrastructure between two locations.
Read the full storyTrump to Replace Embattled DHS Sec. Kristi Noem with OK U.S. Sen. Markwayne Mullin
President Donald Trump on Thursday announced that Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem would leave her post at the end of the month and that he had tapped Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) as her replacement.
Read the full storyCommentary: With a Majority Trump-Appointee Board, the TVA is Now in Good Hands
With four new Donald Trump appointees confirmed to the board, and now sworn in, The Tennessee Valley Authority has finally been freed from the rust-like wokeness that once stalled its progress. The swearing-in of the four new members in January put enough bodies in seats for a quorum to be held after months without a meeting. Now the Valley can finally say good riddance to the Sleepy-Joe Biden era board members.
Read the full storyStarbucks Expanding to Tennessee as Seattle Mayor Tells Residents Not to Buy the Coffee
Starbucks announced plans this week to open a new corporate operations office in Davidson County later this year and is reportedly offering dozens of its Seattle-based employees an opportunity to relocate to Tennessee as part of its expansion to the state.
Read the full storyJeffrey Clark Steps Down After Overseeing Trump Administration’s 129-to-1 Deregulation Blitz
Jeffrey Clark, a prominent attorney and ally of President Donald Trump, resigned from his position as Acting Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) within the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
Read the full storySenate Vote on Iran Military Action Could Backfire on Democrats, Judson Phillips Says
Judson Phillips, founder of Tea Party Nation, said Democrats may regret forcing a Senate vote to limit the president’s military action against Iran, predicting Republicans will use the vote as a central campaign issue in upcoming midterm elections.
Read the full storyHouse Oversight Votes to Subpoena Pam Bondi in Epstein Probe
The House Oversight Committee voted Wednesday afternoon to subpoena Attorney General Pam Bondi as part of its investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, which will force her to testify about her handling of the Justice Department’s probe.
Five Republicans voted with all Democrats on the panel to subpoena the attorney general, and the effort to subpoena Bondi was led by South Carolina GOP Rep. Nancy Mace, per Politico.
Read the full storyCommentary: Degraded Schools
Many students are chronically absent or have dropped out of school.
Nat Malkus, a senior fellow in education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, oversees the Return to Learn Tracker, which monitors chronic absenteeism in U.S. schools. His latest report, released in early February, includes data from 39 states and Washington, D.C.
Read the full story