Author: Chris Butler

Two Tennessee Republicans Vote Yes on Controversial Democrat-Led Health and Human Services Bill

Chris Butler

Two Republicans who represent Tennessee in the U.S. House of Representatives voted for a bill that some people say would give the federal government access to information about any one person’s COVID-19 vaccination status. Representative David Kustoff (R-TN-08) and Representative Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN-03) voted yes last week on H.R. 550. That bill is otherwise known as the Immunization Infrastructure Modernization Act of 2021.

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Georgia Department of Health Announces First Case of Omicron Variant in the State

Chris Butler

Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) officials said Sunday that they have confirmed the first case of COVID-19 caused by the Omicron variant in the state. “The individual recently traveled from South Africa and developed mild symptoms and subsequently tested positive for COVID-19. Genomic sequencing confirmed the presence of the Omicron variant,” DPH officials said in an emailed press release.

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Nashville Mayor John Cooper to Discuss Future of Second Avenue in the Wake of Last Year’s Christmas Day Bombing

Chris Butler

Nashville Mayor John Cooper is scheduled to discuss the future of Second Avenue, nearly one year after it and several businesses got bombed on Christmas Day. Cooper is scheduled to join members of his Second Avenue Task Force at 10 a.m. Wednesday, December 8, at The Wildhorse Saloon at 120 Second Avenue in Nashville.

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Tennessee Rep. Steve Cohen Says Mississippi Shouldn’t Write its Own Abortion Laws Because it Was Once a Confederate State

Chris Butler

U.S. Representative Steve Cohen (D-TN-09) this week said states that want to enact pro-life policies, including Mississippi, are on the same level morally as states that legalized slavery more than 160 years ago. Cohen made his remarks on the floor of the U.S. House. He referred to Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a case that recently went before the U.S. Supreme Court. The pending case pertains to the constitutionality of a Mississippi law that banned abortions after the first 15 weeks of pregnancy.

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Former Georgia State Rep. Beth Beskin Launches New Talk Radio Program to Discuss Atlanta and Georgia Politics

Chris Butler

Former Georgia State Representative Beth Beskin is scheduled to launch a new weekly talk radio show on Saturday, December 4, where she promises to give listeners a front row seat to Peach State politics. The Beth Beskin Show will broadcast live each Saturday from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. on WMLB AM 1690 in Atlanta. Listeners who live outside of the Metro Atlanta area may listen by downloading the Freedom WMLB AM 1690 App.

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Tennessee Officials Can Penalize Nashville Schools for Not Complying with New Law on Transgender Athletes, Legislator Says

Chris Butler

Metro Nashville School Board members won’t update their policy on transgender athletes to comply with a new Tennessee law, but a state legislator says state government officials could penalize the school district for disobeying. State Senator Joey Hensley (R-Howenwald) helped get the original bill through the Tennessee General Assembly.

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Pumping Even More Money into Tennessee’s Public Schools Won’t Resolve Lingering Issues, State Senator Says

Chris Butler

People who attended regional town halls this fall to discuss Tennessee’s public education funding strategy want legislators to pump even more money into public schools, but one state legislator said that’s not a remedy for improvement. Senator Joey Hensley (R-Hohenwald) said Wednesday that the state’s funding formula should change but it needs to recognize how many teachers and principals are needed.

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Metro Nashville Health Department Apologizes for Calling Kyle Rittenhouse Verdict an Injustice

Chris Butler

Metro Nashville Health Department (MPHD) staff on Wednesday apologized for Director of Health Equity Stephanie Kang calling the not guilty verdict in the Kyle Rittenhouse trial an injustice. Last week, Kang in an email to MPHD employees, described Rittenhouse as “a young white man who shot and killed two people and wounded one other.”

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Republican Rich McCormick Announces He Will Switch Districts and Run in Georgia’s Sixth District

Chris Butler

Republican Rich McCormick, who in 2020 lost Georgia’s Seventh Congressional District race to Representative Carolyn Bourdeaux (D-GA-07), announced Tuesday he’s running again — but this time for the state’s Sixth Congressional District.

McCormick told The Georgia Star News that the newly redrawn Seventh District is now a 65 percent Democrat stronghold. He said any Republican would have a difficult time competing there.

“There is nobody that has a claim to the Sixth [District] any more than I do,” McCormick said.

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Georgia GOP ‘Opened the Door’ to 2020 Voter Fraud, Says Republican Running for 10th Congressional District

Chris Butler

Patrick Witt, a Republican running for Georgia’s 10th Congressional District, this week said certain members of the GOP should blame themselves for what occurred in the state on November 3, 2020. Witt, according to his Twitter profile, was a member of former President Donald Trump’s post-election legal team. He also served as a senior official in the Trump administration.

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Brian Kemp Gets Endorsement from Georgia Chamber of Commerce, Said by Some to Work Against Conservatives’ Best Interests

Chris Butler

The Georgia Chamber of Commerce on Monday formally endorsed Republican Governor Brian Kemp’s 2022 reelection campaign.

This, despite certain other members of the GOP previously saying that the Chamber frequently works against conservatives’ best interests.

Members of the Chamber, in a press release, said they believe Kemp “will continue to make effective policy decisions that positively impact free enterprise and job creation across the state.”

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Tort Reform Prompts Tennessee Workers’ Compensation Rates to Decline for Ninth Consecutive Year

Chris Butler

Staff at the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance (TDCI) announced Tuesday that, in 2022, workers’ compensation insurance premiums are likely to decline for most Tennessee businesses for the ninth consecutive year.

TDCI officials, in a press release, attribute the savings to workers comp reforms that the state enacted in the previous decade.

“Since Tennessee’s workers’ compensation system reforms began in 2014, loss cost reductions of over 59 percent have been approved, representing substantial savings for Tennessee employers,” according to the TDCI press release.

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Tennessee U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen Wants Joe Biden to Clamp Down on Private Prisons

Chris Butler
Rep Steve Cohen

Representative Steve Cohen (D-TN-09) this month said that the Bureau of Prisons and the U.S. Marshals Service continue to use privately-operated detention facilities, and he wants President Joe Biden to put a stop to it. In a letter, Cohen said private prison companies have discovered ways to circumvent an executive order that Biden signed in January. That order directed the attorney general not to renew contracts with privately-operated criminal facilities.

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Yet Another Company Abandons California for Tennessee, Announces New Jobs for Volunteer State

Chris Butler

Officials at the California-based Gutterglove, Inc. announced Monday that they will relocate their company’s headquarters from Roseville, California to Franklin, Tennessee.

Gutterglove manufactures professional grade stainless steel gutter guards. Company officials will invest $720,800 and create 20 new jobs in Williamson County, according to an emailed Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development press release.

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Georgia Senator Jason Anavitarte Wants to Modify State Law on Cyber Bullying

Chris Butler

Georgia state legislators will soon consider a bill that, if enacted into law, would designate certain people not as cyberbullies but, instead, as stalkers.

Local boards of education would have to notify students and parents of the change, according to an emailed press release.

Senator Jason Anavitarte (R-Dallas) authored the bill. Legislators are scheduled to consider the bill during the upcoming 2022 session.

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Georgia-Based Media Outlet Files Antitrust Lawsuit Against Facebook and Google

Chris Butler

The owners of a company that publishes newspapers in Georgia are suing Google and Facebook on the grounds that the two tech giants violated federal antitrust and monopoly laws. The Times-Journal Inc. announced the lawsuit in their newspapers this week, including The Northwest Georgia News. Company officials said in their lawsuit that Google and Facebook agreed to monopolize the market and subsequently damaged the newspaper industry.

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Georgia Secretary of State Candidate Jody Hice Releases New TV Ad Featuring Donald Trump

Chris Butler

U.S. Representative Jody Hice (R-GA-10) has released a new television ad — featuring former President Donald Trump — in his campaign to replace Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. In the ad, Trump endorsed Hice. Trump said Hice will “fight for free, fair, and secure elections in Georgia.” The former president also called Raffensperger one of the worst secretaries of state in America.

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Tennessee U.S. Rep. Mark Green Joins Colleague Diana Harshbarger on Natural Immunity Is Real Act

Chris Butler

U.S. Representative Mark Green (R-TN-07) said he will co-sponsor legislation that U.S. Representative Diana Harshbarger (R-TN-01) filed titled the Natural Immunity is Real Act. The bill, if enacted into law, would require federal agencies to consider naturally acquired immunity from a previous COVID infection when issuing any rules or regulations aimed at protecting from COVID-19.

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Human Smuggling, Forced Labor Among Allegations in South Georgia Federal Indictment

Chris Butler

Federal officials in Georgia have indicted two dozen defendants on federal conspiracy charges after they said they uncovered a transnational, multi-year investigation into a human smuggling and labor trafficking operation. This operation illegally imported Mexican and Central American workers into brutal conditions on South Georgia farms, according to a press release this week from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Georgia.

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In Tennessee, Joe Biden Has Yet to Replace Donald Trump-Appointed U.S. Attorneys He Forced Out Several Months Ago

Chris Butler

President Joe Biden asked U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee Don Cochran — a Trump appointee — to resign in February, but nine months later Biden still hasn’t nominated Cochran’s replacement.

David Boling, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Tennessee, told The Tennessee Star on Monday that he is not aware if Biden has nominated someone to take the position.

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Metro Nashville At-Large Council Member Steve Glover ‘Sickened’ by Metro Health Department Email About Kyle Rittenhouse

Chris Butler

Staff at the Metro Nashville Health Department on Wednesday confirmed that their Director of Health Equity Stephanie Kang told department employees via email that the not guilty verdict in the Kyle Rittenhouse trial was an injustice. Metro Nashville Health Department spokesman Brian Todd told The Tennessee Star that the email, which WTN host Brian Wilson read on his radio show Tuesday, was authentic.

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Georgia Congressional Candidate Says He Knows How to Repair America’s Trucking Industry Troubles

Chris Butler

A Republican who wants to replace U.S. Representative Jody Hice (R-GA-10) and owns a Jackson-based trucking company said it wouldn’t take much for the government to increase productivity within that industry, especially with current driver shortages. But government officials would have to have enough willpower to make those changes.

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Bill Lee Office Not Saying How Media Rapidly Obtained Email from Within His Office Warning Against New Tennessee COVID-19 Law

Chris Butler

A new Tennessee law prohibits COVID-19 mask mandates in schools, but Governor Bill Lee’s legislative counsel warned in a recent and now heavily publicized email that the law violates the Americans with Disabilities Act. Legislative Counsel Liz Alvey sent the email October 30. The AP obtained Alvey’s email through a public records request.

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Tennessee Congressman Mark Green Travels Overseas to Repair U.S.-British Alliance After Joe Biden’s Afghanistan Exit

Chris Butler

U.S. Representative Mark Green (R-TN-07) said Saturday that he is in Oxford, England to meet with members of the United Kingdom Parliament to address lingering “raw emotions” over President Joe Biden’s exit from Afghanistan. Green livestreamed himself from Britain on Facebook. He said Biden’s withdrawal from Afghanistan was shameful and hurt America’s longstanding political alliance with Britain. Green also scolded Biden for his “refusal to take [British Prime Minister] Boris Johnson’s phone call for 48 hours.”

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Keisha Lance Bottoms Urged to Identify Atlanta’s Public Properties Within Buckhead City Borders

Chris Butler

Buckhead City leaders this week said a proposed Buckhead City could affect all City of Atlanta-owned property within Buckhead itself. Buckhead officials said in a press release this week that they have asked Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and City Attorney Nina Hickson to help them identify all of Buckhead’s City of Atlanta-owned properties.

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Two Gwinnett County Parents Arrested, One Allegedly Bruised, Slammed Against Wall at School Board Meeting

Chris Butler

Law enforcement officers at Thursday’s Gwinnett County Public School (GCPS) Board meeting arrested two mothers, one on a charge of criminal trespass and another on a charge of obstruction as part of the school’s enhanced security measures. Both mothers told The Georgia News on Friday they did nothing wrong and that School Resource Officers (SROs) overreacted — to put it mildly.

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Former Nashville Mayoral Candidate Carol Swain, Other Black Panelists, Describe Their Unexpected Path to Conservative Politics at Event in Franklin

Chris Butler

FRANKLIN — Quisha King, a former regional engagement coordinator for Black Voices for Trump, said she was once liberal, but the writings of conservative black economists Thomas Sowell and Walter Williams helped steer her on a different path. King said she her community had no prior access to Sowell or Williams.

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Memphis Attorney Who Helped Halt School Mask Mandate Law Once Criticized Republicans on Immigration

Chris Butler

One of the Memphis-based attorneys who last week convinced a federal judge to halt a new Tennessee law that prohibits mask mandates in schools once defended former President Barack Obama’s immigration policies. That attorney, Bryce Ashby, with the Donati Law Firm of Memphis, said in a 2013 Memphis Commercial Appeal op-ed that Republicans could trust that the Obama administration would enforce immigration law and security at the U.S.-Mexican border.

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Maury County Mayor Andy Ogles Declares State of Emergency in County to Protect Health Care Workers’ Rights

Chris Butler

Maury County Mayor Andy Ogles — flanked by several state legislators — declared a state of emergency in the county at a press conference  on Thursday.

Ogles said the U.S. Constitution entitles health care workers to religious exemptions and other rights of conscience to refuse the COVID-19 vaccine. He also said the U.S. Constitution protects those workers from harassment or even job loss.

The Biden administration now mandates that healthcare workers vaccinate themselves against COVID-19, and Ogles warned his constituents Thursday that more than 1,000 local health care employees in Maury County could lose their jobs.

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Federal Injunction Against Tennessee’s COVID-19 Mask Law Makes No Specific Claims About Americans with Disabilities Act

Chris Butler

A federal judge halted a new Tennessee law that prohibits COVID-19 mask mandates in schools on the basis that it violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), but the language of the law shows otherwise.

That judge, Waverly Crenshaw, presides over the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee.

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Tennessee Christian School Teaches God Made Only Males and Females, Infuriating Shelby County Commissioner and LGBTQ Activists

Chris Butler

A private Christian school in West Tennessee has triggered LGBTQ activists as well as Shelby County Commissioner Tami Sawyer into an angry frenzy.

Officials at Briarcrest Christian School, in Eads, held a training session for parents and students about how to respond Biblically to gender theory. A flyer for the event, which school officials held November 9, asked participants to “look into the craziness our culture is throwing at our kids.”

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Georgia Rep. Austin Scott Leads Bipartisan Push to Lower India’s Tariffs on Pecans, a Major Georgia Export

Chris Butler

U.S. Representative Austin Scott (R-GA-08) and 22 other members of the House want U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai to help reduce India’s tariffs on American pecans.

India currently has a 36 percent tariff on American pecans, far higher than the 10 percent tariff on other American tree nuts, like pistachios and almonds.

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Tennessee Department of Transportation Might Convert Certain HOV Lanes in Nashville into Toll Lanes

Chris Butler

Vanderbilt University staff on Friday published a press release that announced they’d partnered with the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) to study whether to convert certain High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes into High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes.

But by Monday the Vanderbilt press release had vanished. A source told The Tennessee Star on that Vanderbilt’s communications staff posted the press release in error. The press release appeared online before Vanderbilt officials had signed off on it.

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Tennessee National Guard Says It Will Not Follow Oklahoma and Resist DOD Vaccine Mandate; Gov. Lee Silent

Chris Butler

The head of the Oklahoma National Guard won’t require his troops to comply with the Pentagon’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, but Tennessee National Guard (TNG) troops should not expect their superiors to follow the Oklahoma’s commander’s lead.

TNG spokesman Darrin Haas said Monday that his commanders will enforce Biden’s vaccine mandate.

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