A proposal to more than double Athens-Clarke County commissioners’ salaries from $15,000 per year to $31,000 could discourage good candidates — especially those who are not wealthy — from seeking that office. This, according to County Commissioner Allison Wright.
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Staff for Tennessee Governor Bill Lee won’t comment on the matter, but State Senator Joey Hensley (R-Hohenwald) said Thursday that members of the Tennessee National Guard should decide on their own whether to vaccinate against COVID-19. Tennessee National Guard officials said in November that their troops must take the COVID-19 shot or face discharge. This, per a mandate from the U.S. Department of Defense and President Joe Biden.
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Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, up for reelection next year, released a campaign ad on Wednesday and told voters he has done everything he said he would do during his first term. Two Republicans running against Kemp said Wednesday that the incumbent governor has fallen short.
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The Intercept, a left-of-center publication has published a new article that tries to connect U.S. Representative Jim Cooper (D-TN-05) to slavery and segregation. The article, which The Intercept published late last week, links Cooper to what it calls “a segregationist political dynasty on his father’s side” and slaveholders on his mother’s side.
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Six of the 10 Athens-Clarke County (ACC), Georgia commissioners have proposed an ordinance that, if enacted into law, would more than double their salaries from $15,000 per year to $31,000. County Mayor Kelly Girtz, under this proposal, would enjoy a pay increase as well, but only a small one, from $57,399 to $62,000.
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Georgia Speaker of the House David Ralston (R-Blue Ridge) has notified members of the state house that they must test for COVID-19 and wear protective masks for next year’s legislative session. Ralston said in a memo last week to state house members that they must test for COVID-19 prior to January 5. Legislators must report their results to Human Resources Director Donald Cronin.
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U.S. Representative Steve Cohen (D-TN-09) said on the floor of the House this month that former U.S. President Donald Trump had “the most disgusting presidency in the history of this country.” Cohen said this as he declared he had voted for the Protecting Our Democracy Act. He said the bill, if enacted into law, would prevent presidential abuses of power, and it would also protect elections from foreign interference. The bill would also require Congressional oversight when the president grants self-pardons or pardons family members, administration officials, or paid campaign staffers.
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Thieves in Nashville this year have stolen exactly 1,259 guns out of vehicles, according to statistics, as compiled by the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD). “More than 70 percent of ALL guns reported stolen in 2021 (1,789) were taken from vehicles. Last week, 49 guns were stolen from cars and trucks. Many of the guns taken last week came from vehicles parked outside nightclubs, apartment buildings and hotels,” MNPD officials said in a press release last week.
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Federal officials have announced eight new assistant U.S. attorneys for the Northern District of Georgia. One of them, Mary Jane Stewart, as referred to in a press release is “a career public servant.”
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Members of the Tennessee State Building Commission last week approved a budget that more than doubles the amount for infrastructure improvements at the Megasite of West Tennessee.
State Building Commission members and the State Building Commission’s staff did not return The Tennessee Star’s requests for comment Monday.
Tennessee Speaker of the House Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) serves on the Building Commission, according to the Office of the State Architect’s website.
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The Memphis Police Department (MPD) reported that the city had a violent Christmas Eve and a violent Christmas day, including four homicides. MPD officials tweeted about one shooting homicide that occurred at 2:26 a.m. Saturday at the 1000 block of Haynes Street. Authorities transported the shooting victim to Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis, where staff pronounced him deceased. MPD officials said they had no information about a suspect.
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Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) officials this week described Georgia’s Medicaid work requirements as “harmful” and announced that Peach State officials may no longer impose them as a condition of Medicaid eligibility. CMS officials also announced that Georgia officials no longer have the authority to charge premiums beyond those allowed under the Medicaid statute in its Georgia “Pathways to Coverage” demonstration.
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The Washington, D.C.-based Heritage Foundation this month ranked Georgia first on its election integrity scorecard, and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger took credit. DeKalb County Republican Party Chair Marci McCarthy said this week, however, that Raffensperger was out of line to make such a statement. McCarthy wrote on the DeKalb County GOP’s website that Raffensperger “unilaterally weakened Voter ID protections and controls” and “did not strengthen them.”
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Former Tennessee Congressman Zach Wamp, a Republican, is one of several former lawmakers who signed a letter this week applauding Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger for their work investigating the events of January 6. Representative Cheney, a Republican who serves Wyoming’s at-large Congressional district, serves as vice-chair of the January 6 Select Committee. Kinzinger (R-IL-16) also serves on the committee.
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Federal officials say that a Columbus, Georgia public school teacher who was addicted to gambling stole $240,000 from various nonprofits as well as from one of her former employers. Trenna Denise Trice, 59, pleaded guilty to wire fraud Monday. This according to a press release that the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Georgia published this week.
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Georgia Governor Brian Kemp and members of his staff on Wednesday would not declare his stance on whether Buckhead should formally remove itself from crime-plagued Atlanta. The Georgia Star News specifically asked whether Kemp and members of his team have met or communicated with members of the Buckhead City Committee, including its leader, Bill White. We also asked whether Kemp and members of his team told White and other Buckhead City Committee members that they support the city of Buckhead.
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Human Resources staff at Nashville’s Metro Public Health Department (MPHD) on Tuesday recommended that the department reprimand a high-ranking employee for offending Stephanie Kang, the director of MPHD’s Bureau of Racial and Health Equity. That employee, Brian Todd, serves as the director of communications for MPHD, according to an MPHD fact-finding report.
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The U.S. Census Bureau on Tuesday published new population estimates and ranked Georgia as the eighth most populated state in 2021. The Census Bureau also reported that the Peach State grew in population, however slightly, between April 2020 and July 2021.
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Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms on Monday questioned whether former President Donald Trump is somehow tied to an effort to remove Buckhead from the much larger and crime-plagued city that she oversees. Bottoms specifically criticized Bill White, who leads the Buckhead City Committee.
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The U.S. Census Bureau on Tuesday published new population estimates and ranked Tennessee as being one of the Top 10 states for numeric growth between 2020 and 2021. The Census Bureau also reported that the Volunteer State grew in population, however slightly, between April 2020 and July 2021.
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Officials with the Georgia-based Delta Airlines would not comment Monday about Anthony Fauci’s remarks this past weekend suggesting air passengers must continue to wear COVID-19 masks — indefinitely. Delta Airlines representatives did not return The Georgia Star News’ request for comment before Monday’s stated deadline.
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Memphis International Airport (MEM) will receive nearly $17.3 million in federal funding through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that President Joe Biden signed into law last month. Representative Steve Cohen (D-TN-09) announced the news late last week.
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An Indiana physician who addressed hundreds of people about COVID-19 as he visited Gallatin this weekend said people concerned about the federal government’s overly-broad powers must call for a Convention of the States.
That man, Daniel Stock, and several other speakers discussed and analyzed their findings regarding proper COVID-19 treatment and care. They said these are findings that federal agencies either don’t report or don’t acknowledge.
The Tennessee Star asked Stock what frustrated Tennesseans can do to ensure that federal officials provide greater medical transparency.
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Representative Barry Loudermilk (R-GA-11) announced late last week that he has asked the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) to increase the number of new C-130J aircraft, which are manufactured at Lockheed Martin’s facility in Marietta, Georgia. That Lockheed Martin factory, Loudermilk went on to say, employs 3,000 Georgia residents.
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Georgia Governor Brian Kemp this week announced his administration’s floor leaders for the 2022 legislative session. Floor leaders generally promote the governor’s interests in the legislative chamber.
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GALLATIN — Physicians, scientists, and frontline professionals gathered Saturday to discuss and analyze their findings regarding proper COVID-19 treatment and care, and they said these are findings that federal agencies either don’t report or don’t acknowledge. These speakers assembled at the United Church in Gallatin.
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A Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) official said Friday that her agency currently does not offer the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) fully approved COVID-19 vaccine, which the manufacturer, Pfizer, calls Comirnaty “Comirnaty has only recently become available, and DPH and its enrolled vaccine providers currently are using on-hand inventory of Pfizer COVID vaccine,” said DPH spokeswoman Nancy Nydam via email.
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A Tennessee Department of Health (TDOH) official did not say Friday whether his agency currently offers the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) fully approved COVID-19 vaccine, which the manufacturer, Pfizer, calls Comirnaty. TDOH officials did, however, comment on the matter in October.
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TennCare reportedly overpaid nearly $300,000 of taxpayer money to a Shelbyville physician, according to a report that Tennessee Comptrollers released Thursday. The reported cited Joseph Howard Rupard for failing to accurately report TennCare visits and payments submitted to the state of Tennessee.
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Georgia Department of Labor (GDOL) Commissioner Mark Butler announced Thursday that the state now employs the highest number of Georgians ever, surpassing the number of employed prior to the COVID-19 pandemic by more than 3,000. Butler announced the news in a Thursday press release.
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Representative Andrew Clyde (R-GA-09) this month shared how Internal Revenue Service (IRS) agents violated him and his rights several years ago and listed new ways for the agency to reform itself. Clyde made his remarks at a House Oversight and Reform Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties hearing.
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Staff at the Beacon Center of Tennessee on Wednesday bestowed the Metro Nashville Public School System (MNPS) with their yearly Pork of the Year Award, for more reasons than one. Beacon, a Nashville-based center right think tank, published their 2021 Pork Report on Wednesday.
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Georgia Speaker of the House David Ralston (R-Blue Ridge) said this week that members of the state’s GOP will suffer a “bloodbath” in 2022 if they continue to allege voter fraud occurred during the 2020 elections. Ralston made those remarks to the Atlanta-based WABE, which is affiliated with National Public Radio.
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Earlier this year, Floyd County School System officials invited a group of speakers to enter a school and ask students person questions about their sexual preferences and whether they or their families were racist. Amy Bergstrom, whose daughter attends Coosa High School in Rome, said the incident occurred in May.
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Maury County Sheriff’s deputies this week arrested a Fairview Elementary School teacher and charged him with aggravated sexual exploitation, incest, aggravated sexual battery, and rape of a child. This, according to intake details that the Maury County Sheriff’s Department provided to The Tennessee Star on Tuesday.
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A Washington, D.C.-based group said in a new report that Georgia is one of only six states that do a good job disclosing how they spend COVID-19 relief money. Members of this organization, Good Jobs First, in a report they released Monday, ranked how states spend federal CARES Act money.
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Members of the Shelby County GOP and the Shelby County Democratic Party have opted not to put up candidates to run for their local school board. Shelby County Administrator of Elections Linda Phillips relayed the news to The Tennessee Star on Tuesday.
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Members of Davidson County’s Republican and Democratic parties have requested primaries in May 2022 for the Metro Nashville School Board elections. The primary is scheduled for May of next year.
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Former Republican senator and declared Georgia gubernatorial candidate David Perdue said last weekend that incumbent Governor Brian Kemp cannot defeat Stacey Abrams in 2022 and that an Abrams win will have ramifications nationwide. If Abrams wins, Perdue told Breitbart News Saturday, then the GOP will not recapture the White House in 2024.
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Late last week the House of Representatives passed legislation that Representative Diana Harshbarger (R-TN-01) co-sponsored that would, if enacted into law, instruct the U.S. Department of Agriculture to maintain a contract library for beef cattle. “This bill would provide additional market clarity for beef producers by instructing the U.S. Department of Agriculture [USDA] to maintain a contract library for beef cattle. This commonsense legislation will make agricultural businesses operate more efficiently and ensure beef producers that they are getting fair deals when negotiating with meatpackers,” Harshbarger told her constituents in an emailed newsletter.
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Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms this week identified the person who will lead the city’s new Office of Violence Reduction, and that person has a background not in law enforcement but in public health. Bottoms, in a press release, announced the Office of Violence Reduction will fall under the purview of Jacquel Clemons Moore.
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U.S. Representative Jody Hice (R-GA-10) pushed back this week against a proposal from President Joe Biden to allow federal employees to work remotely. The congressman said the plan will shortchange the American people.
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The local officials who lead public schools throughout Tennessee said in a new poll that they want state officials to overhaul the state’s current school funding framework. This, according to a poll that the Nashville-based TennesseeCAN released this week. Members of TennesseeCAN, according to the group’s website, prioritize “K-12 education policies that put children first.”
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Officials in two Tennessee counties, Shelby and Hamilton, use a bail calculation tool for criminal defendants that is also used in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Waukesha is where suspect Darrell Brooks Jr. faces homicide charges for using his car to kill six people at a recent holiday gathering. Prosecutors handling a previous case of physical abuse and vehicular assault involving Brooks asked a court to set bail bond for the defendant at a mere $1,000. Court officials agreed.
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Former Republican senator and declared gubernatorial candidate David Perdue and another Georgia resident this week cited fraud in last year’s elections in Fulton County and filed a suit seeking greater election transparency. In their lawsuit, Perdue and Elizabeth Grace Lennon requested access to Fulton County’s absentee ballots and absentee envelopes from last year. They filed the suit in the Superior Court of Fulton County. Lennon said county officials denied her the right to vote.
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Officials with the left-leaning Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) this week announced they will start spending nearly three times as much money than usual — nearly $100 million — on voter outreach throughout the Deep South, including Georgia. SPLC officials said in a press release that they will partner with the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta (CFGA) and spend that money in other southern states as well. Those states include Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi, SPLC officials said.
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No one affiliated with the Metro Nashville Health Department (MPHD) on Thursday wanted to discuss whether and why one employee is reportedly on administrative leave for verbally sparring with Director of Health Equity Stephanie Kang.
Metro Nashville Human Resources Director Shannon Hall said Wednesday that someone filed a complaint with the MPHD Human Resources Department. She did not say whether Kang was the person who filed the complaint.
Sources, however, said Kang lodged her complaint against Brian Todd, the MPHD’s communications director. The two allegedly argued over an email that Kang sent to MPHD employees calling the Kyle Rittenhouse verdict “an injustice.”
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Proponents of Tennessee having its own gold depository say that investing in gold could protect the state and its residents during severe economic downturns. But in a new report, published Tuesday, members of the Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations (TACIR), said now is not the time.
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Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger appeared on Tuesday’s edition of The John Fredericks Show and told voters why he believed the state’s 2020 presidential election was legitimate and why he thinks he’s worthy of reelection. During his appearance, the secretary of state even pitched his candidacy to voters who supported former President Donald Trump. This, even though Trump and his supporters have long questioned Raffensperger’s competency.
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U.S. Representative Buddy Carter (R-GA-01) on Monday denied that he voted for a federal database that documents who got vaccinated against COVID-19. According to the U.S. House of Representatives’ website, Carter was the sole Republican House member from Georgia to vote yes on H.R. 550. That bill is otherwise known as the Immunization Infrastructure Modernization Act of 2021.
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