Day: May 11, 2026

ACLU Files Federal Lawsuit over Tennessee Redistricting

Kaitlin Housler
protest

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and its Tennessee chapter filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of a coalition of voters and Memphis-based organizations on Monday challenging Tennessee’s newly enacted congressional redistricting plan, alleging that Republican lawmakers intentionally dismantled the state’s only “black-majority” congressional district in violation of the U.S. Constitution.

Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, the lawsuit accuses the “all-white supermajority” in the Tennessee General Assembly of unlawfully “cracking” Memphis into three separate congressional districts in order to “dilute” the black “voting power” and eliminate black voters’ ability to elect a candidate of their choice to Congress.

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California Mayor, Accused of Being a Chinese Foreign Agent, Strikes Deal with Feds and Resigns

Admin
BREAKING NEWS

LA Times   Eileen Wang, an Arcadia city leader facing charges of acting as an illegal foreign agent of China, resigned Monday after reaching an agreement to resolve the federal case. Wang, who served as mayor of the San Gabriel Valley suburb, entered into a plea agreement with prosecutors over charges that she acted under the control of the People’s Republic of China to promote propaganda in the U.S. between 2020 and 2022, according to court filings. Wang, who was previously elected to the City Council in November 2022, stepped down as mayor on Monday hours after the plea agreement was unsealed. Arcadia officials and Wang’s attorneys said the conduct described by federal authorities occurred before Wang was elected. READ THE FULL STORY   

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Supreme Court Halts Order for Alabama to Use House Map with Two Primarily Black Districts

Just the News

The Supreme Court halted an order Monday that required Alabama to use a House map that contains two predominantly black districts, clearing the way for the state to eliminate one of the districts before the November midterms.

The order comes after the high court struck down maps last week that added a second majority black district in Louisiana, ruling the map was unconstitutional because it contained race-based districts and thereby narrowed the scope of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.

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Five Years After COVID Vaccine Mandates, ‘Spyware,’ Victims Achieve Meager Results in Court

Just the News
vaccine shot

Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary got his political appointment, which may be ending soon, in large part by publicly criticizing COVID-19 policies by the Biden administration, blue states and employers, especially vaccine mandates and refusal to recognize natural immunity.

Plaintiffs still in litigation against COVID mandates and policies are finally seeing limited results five years after Makary made his name beyond diagnosing the systemic ills of American healthcare, albeit without compensation for the harm they suffered.

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Washington Nonprofit Files Lawsuit over Trump Resurfacing of National Mall Reflecting Pool

Just the News
national mall

A Washington-area education and advocacy nonprofit on Tuesday sued the Interior Department and National Park Service over President Trump’s resurfacing the bottom of the Reflecting Pool on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

The Cultural Landscape Foundation and Charles A. Birnbaum, the organization’s CEO, filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, arguing that the president failed to follow congressional mandated procedures for such a project. 

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GOP State Rep. Todd Warner Launches Bid for Newly-Drawn 9th Congressional District

Kaitlin Housler
Todd Warner

State Representative Todd Warner (R-Chapel Hill) announced his candidacy for Tennessee’s newly-drawn 9th Congressional District on Monday shortly after filing paperwork with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) declaring himself a candidate in the race.

Warner’s filing with the FEC and official campaign announcement comes one day after he appeared on an episode of the podcast Patriot Punkcast, where he informally announced his intent to run for the congressional seat.

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Supreme Court Continues to Temporarily Maintain Mail Access to Abortion Pill Mifepristone

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BREAKING NEWS

CBS News   The Supreme Court on Monday extended a temporary order maintaining mail access to the widely used abortion pill mifepristone for now. Justice Samuel Alito said in a brief order that an administrative stay that he entered last week will remain in place until at least Thursday at 5 p.m. His move gives the Supreme Court additional time to consider whether to freeze an appellate court decision restoring a Food and Drug Administration rule that required mifepristone to be dispensed in person. Two pharmaceutical companies that manufacture the drug, Danco Laboratories and GenBioPro, had asked the Supreme Court earlier this month to set aside that ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit and continue allowing abortion providers to prescribe the drug online and send it to patients while legal proceedings continue. Alito handles emergency appeals arising from the 5th Circuit. READ THE FULL STORY   

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Virginia Democrats Ask Supreme Court to Allow Use of New Congressional Map

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BREAKING NEWS

NBC News   Virginia Democrats on Monday filed a last-ditch request to the Supreme Court seeking to revive a recent voter-approved congressional district map for the state. The move came after the Virginia Supreme Court ruled last week that the process that led to a referendum in which voters approved the plan was legally flawed. The new map, intended to maximize Democratic-leaning congressional districts, was proposed as part of nationwide redistricting wars that were sparked when President Donald Trump called upon Texas to draw a map more favorable to Republicans. READ THE FULL STORY   

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RFK Jr.: ‘We’re Not Worried’ About Hantavirus Spreading After Cruise Ship Outbreak

Admin
BREAKING NEWS

The Hill   Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said on Monday the U.S. has the hantavirus “under control.” During a press conference in the Oval Office about mental health, a reporter asked President Trump whether he regretted withdrawing from the World Health Organization (WHO) in light of the hantavirus-stricken cruise ship that had more than a dozen Americans on board. Trump maintained he was “glad” to have left the WHO and reiterated his belief that the U.S. was paying too much into the organization. READ THE FULL STORY   

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Trump: Iran Ceasefire ‘On Life Support’

Just the News
Trump podium

President Donald Trump on Monday stated that the ceasefire with Iran was “on life support” amid a growing diplomatic deadline between Tehran and Washington and the exchange of live rounds across the Persian Gulf.

It’s unbelievably weak. After reading that garbage they sent over? I didn’t even waste my time reading all of it. It’s on life support,” he told reporters. “I would say the ceasefire is on massive life support, where the doctor walks in and says, ‘sir, your loved one has approximately 1% chance of living.'”

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Tennessee AG Skrmetti Says Redistricting Lawsuit Must Be Heard by Three-Judge Panel, Eliminating Chance for Quick Injunction

Tom Pappert
Skrmetti NAACP

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti moved to halt progress in the lawsuit by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to block Tennessee’s new congressional map from taking effect, arguing the litigation cannot move forward until the Tennessee Supreme Court decides whether to appoint a three-judge panel to oversee the case.

Citing 2021 legislation requiring any civil litigation challenging the constitutionality of a state statute to be assigned to such a panel, as well as newly passed legislation imposing the same requirement for challenges to redistricting, Skrmetti’s Friday filing will automatically halt progress on the lawsuit until the state Supreme Court makes its decision.

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Nashville Mayor Dismisses Property Tax Hikes as ‘Cost of Doing Business’ in City with Rising Property Values

Tom Pappert
Mayor Freddie O'Connell

Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell on Thursday described the triple digit percentage property tax increases experienced by business owners as “a cost of doing business” associated with the rise in the value of properties in the city.

With popular businesses hit with tax hikes as high as 356 percent, and some already announcing closures, O’Connell on Thursday cited the recent increases to Nashville property prices, and suggested most Nashvillians would trade the higher taxes for higher property values.

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Commentary: The Secret Service Needs a Course Correction to Ensure President Trump’s Protection

Star News Contributor
President Donald Trump

Every American should be grateful that President Trump, Vice President Vance, Cabinet officials, and the thousands of other attendees at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner were unharmed during last month’s disturbing shooting. It is clear that the shooter attempted to kill the President in yet another assassination attempt on his life since he returned to office. In a manifesto, the alleged shooter, Cole Tomas Allen, wrote that he intended to target administration officials, “prioritized from highest-ranking to lowest.”

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