The Tennessee State Funding Board approved a measure this week to grant Starbucks a $30 million economic development grant to support the company’s move to Nashville.
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Politico The Department of Justice said Thursday it has arrested and indicted 15 people in Minnesota for fraud schemes involving $90 million in Medicaid funds. Mehmet Oz, who oversees Medicaid and Medicare, said at a press conference that Minnesota’s government, led by Democratic 2024 vice presidential nominee Tim Walz, had not done enough to prevent it. It’s the latest salvo in a battle between the Trump administration and Walz this year over Medicaid fraud. Medicaid is the state-federal health insurance program for low-income and disabled people. READ THE FULL STORY
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Politico The Democratic National Committee’s autopsy of the 2024 election doesn’t mention the war in Gaza. That’s sparking condemnation from across the party — and reigniting questions about leaders’ reticence to engage on the polarizing issue. Multiple progressive activists said they had spoken with the report’s author about how the Biden administration’s approach to the Israel-Hamas conflict hurt former Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign, especially with younger and more progressive voters. David Hogg, a former DNC vice chair who was ousted last year, said in an interview Thursday that he had told Democratic operative Paul Rivera, the report’s author, “we need to acknowledge the role that Gaza played in us losing younger voters.” Hogg also said that during his time as vice chair he raised the same concern during a three- hour meeting with party officials. READ THE FULL STORY
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ESPN NASCAR icon Kyle Busch, a two-time Cup Series champion who won more races across the sport’s three national series than any other driver in history, has died at the age of 41, the racing series announced Thursday. The Busch Family, Richard Childress Racing and NASCAR issued a joint statement Thursday saying that Busch died after being hospitalized earlier in the day as the result of a severe illness, three days before he was to compete at the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. No cause of death was given. READ THE FULL STORY
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The litigants in the lawsuit seeking to block the newly-approved congressional districts, arguing the General Assembly exceeded the mandate authorized by Governor Bill Lee in their special legislative session, were reportedly told to expect a quick decision on Wednesday by a panel of three Tennessee state judges appointed to oversee the case.
Arguments were made on Wednesday before the three-judge panel (pictured above, left-to-right), which reportedly consists of Judge James Gass of Sevierville, Chancellor Anne Martin of Nashville, and Chancellor Tony Childress of Dyersburg.
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A federal magistrate judge in Tennessee on Wednesday granted the request by Brian Harpole, the former head of security to Charlie Kirk, for the U.S. Marshals Service to serve Mitch Snow with the defamation lawsuit targeting him and Candace Owens over his claim that Harpole, Erika Kirk, and members of the military attended a secret meeting in Arizona one day before Charlie Kirk was assassinated.
In his three-page order, U.S. Magistrate Judge Luke Evans offered two reasons justifying the intervention of the Marshals, beginning with the alleged failure by process servers to reach Snow despite multiple attempts.
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The Supreme Court determined that a U.S.-based company — Havana Docks — can recover damages from four major cruise lines that used its docks previously confiscated by the Cuban government.
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Automotive News With a toothy grin, “Make America Great Again” hat and Trump-Vance T-shirt, Akio Toyoda hosted a star-spangled, barbecued, all-American, NASCAR spectacle at Fuji Speedway in a new charm offensive aimed not only at motorsports fans and diplomats, but possibly also U.S. tariffs. Against the backdrop of global trade tensions, the Toyota Motor Corp. chairman billed the extravaganza, held in conjunction with an endurance race at the Toyota-owned circuit, as an international celebration of car culture and proof of Japan’s love for Motown metal. U.S. Ambassador George Glass accompanied the charismatic Toyota front man at the Nov. 16 event, which showcased a demonstration run of six NASCAR machines specially shipped over for the occasion, with a clutch of star drivers to wow the American flag-waving crowd. READ THE FULL STORY
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EJ Haust, official guest host of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, pointed to recent investigative reporting by journalist Sharyl Attkisson as evidence supporting long-standing concerns surrounding January 6, 2021.
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An incomplete election autopsy report from the Democratic National Convention (DNC) released this week has painted a grim picture of the party’s strength and advocates for a substantial overhaul of its efforts to preserve its electoral viability.
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On Tuesday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing banks to more aggressively scrutinize illegal immigrants, closing a fiscal fence around American taxpayer interests and resources, and likely further incentivizing self-deportations.
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“I think that we need an expanded playbook in a way that we invite all ideas that we have basically look that we say look this is a moment where there are no bad ideas. A no bad idea brainstorm is what I’d like to call it. And in that no bad ideas brainstorm, we talk about what we need to do and think about doing around the Electoral College. …”
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In his role as the titular head of the Republican Party, the wins are stacking up for President Trump. Going into this week’s primaries, nearly every Indiana state senator who defied Trump’s push to redraw congressional districts in the Hoosier State found themselves without their own seat.
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Pennsylvania Democratic U.S. Sen. John Fetterman’s chief of staff resigned Wednesday and will have her final official day in the coming weeks, Axios reported.
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House Judiciary Republicans confirmed Wednesday night that Southern Poverty Law Center CEO Bryan Fair will testify in front of the committee next month regarding allegations it funded elements of extremist and racist groups.
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A federal prosecutor in the office that helped handle Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith’s classified documents case regarding his investigation into Donald Trump was charged Wednesday for allegedly illegally emailing herself a copy of the materials disguised as cake recipes.
The department announced the indicted prosecutor as Carmen Mercedes Lineberger, a managing assistant U.S. attorney of the Fort Pierce branch of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida.
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Perhaps the most important way to improve students’ educational experience is to elevate the teaching profession. However, where teachers’ unions hold sway, that task is extremely difficult.
The heart of the problem is that collective bargaining agreements, in effect throughout most of the country, ensure that teachers’ unions treat teachers not as professionals but as interchangeable widgets, all of equal value and competence. Differentiating between effective and ineffective educators based on what their students actually learn would require eliminating the union’s industrial-style work rules. These include one-size-fits-all salary scales, tenure (contractually known as “permanence”), and seniority, or “last in, first out (LIFO),” under which, if a teacher must be laid off due to budgetary belt-tightening, the newest hire is on the chopping block rather than the least talented teacher.
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President Donald Trump will campaign with Republican New York Rep. Mike Lawler on Friday after he sided with Democrats to push a mass amnesty bill.
White House spokesperson Liz Huston said Trump and Lawler would campaign on affordability and tax cuts, The Hill reported. Lawler attempted to resurrect The Dignity Act, a mass amnesty plan for illegal aliens and has introduced several pieces of legislation aimed at backing Israel.
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Following up with my Music Spotlight artists is one of my favorite things to do. It is fascinating to see what has transpired since the last interview.
Because Ashley Anne got started in the music industry at such a young age, she was (and still is) in the process of discovering who she really is and what is most important to her. Written at age 17, her song “dear dolly” has had more than 3 million streams. Now, at just 22 years of age, Anne has released her 3rd EP, Generational Heartbreak, and the progression in her music, and especially her songwriting, is evident.
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