Staff for U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper (D-TN-05) told his constituents he voted for the $1.2 trillion infrastructure deal, and they bragged about all the good things they said it will accomplish for Tennessee.
Cooper’s staff said this in an emailed newsletter Friday.
Read the full story
Campaign staff for Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA) have sent their followers several emails calling Georgia “the number one battleground” and saying “Democrats’ chances of defending our razor-thin majority hinge on keeping Georgia blue.”
Warnock’s campaign staff frequently cited the name of Herschel Walker. Walker, a Republican, filed paperwork in August to run for Warnock’s seat. The election is next year. Former President Donald Trump endorsed Walker in September.
Read the full story
Representative Jody Hice (R-GA-10) last week said President Joe Biden is not governing like someone who has intentions of running for reelection in 2024. Hice said this as he appeared on Newsmax.
Read the full story
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee on Friday signed the COVID omnibus bill into law. This, according to a press release that Lee’s office published Friday evening.
Read the full story
Federal officials have sentenced a former employee of the Veteran’s Affairs (VA) Medical Center in Memphis to 10 months in federal prison for assaulting two VA Police officers. Officials with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Tennessee identified the woman as Tiffany Lewis, 39. They said in a press release on Friday that Lewis caused a disturbance on VA property in November of last year and struck another individual.
Read the full story
Members of the Georgia Department of Education (GDOE) have announced their priorities for the 2022 session of the Georgia General Assembly. The GDOE, among other things, wants Georgia students to focus more on civics and to give parents more power to decide what’s best for their children’s health.
Read the full story
The nation’s supply chain crisis has strained Georgia’s farmers, so much so they’re unsure they can produce their crops on time. This, according to Southern Valley Fruit and Vegetable, Inc. Executive Officer Jon Schwalls. The organization is based out of Norman Park.
Read the full story
Representative Andrew Clyde (R-GA-09) said he voted against the recently passed federal infrastructure bill because it contributes to more government waste, stretches out the deficit, and doesn’t concentrate enough on security at the U.S.-Mexico border. Clyde said this in an emailed newsletter to his constituents this week.
Read the full story
A former Georgia State University (GSU) professor has pleaded guilty to a federal charge of possessing child pornography, and certain images and videos he had showed children as young as five engaging in sexually explicit conduct. That man, Daniel Deocampo, taught at GSU and was also a dean.
Read the full story
Staff at the University of Tennessee College of Law in Knoxville are advertising for a new dean, and one of the five finalists uses his position in academia to promote Critical Race Theory (CRT). University of Tennessee (UT) staff announced the five College of Law dean finalists this month.
Read the full story
A man who was living in Memphis and last year attacked and killed an 18-year-old woman with a machete pleaded guilty last month to second-degree murder — and federal officials said Wednesday he’s an illegal alien. That man, Ledis Sanchez, 36, is from Central America, said Sarah Loicano, spokeswoman for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Read the full story
Members of the Newnan-based Frontline Policy Action have announced their legislative priorities for the 2022 session of the Georgia General Assembly, and those policies including fighting what they call “radical indoctrination in the classroom.” Frontline Policy President Cole Muzio said he and members of his group want state legislators to ban Critical Race Theory (CRT) from local curriculums.
Read the full story
Federal officials have arraigned Stonecrest Mayor Jason Lary, on federal charges of wire fraud, conspiracy, and federal program theft related to the COVID-19 pandemic. This, according to a press release that the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia published Wednesday.
Read the full story
Two Atlanta, Georgia men who are members of the Nine Trey Gangster national criminal organization pleaded guilty this week to Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organization (RICO) conspiracy.
This, according to a press release that the U.S. Justice Department published Tuesday.
Read the full story
Exactly 74 Georgia counties are unable to produce all the original ballot images from the November 2020 election.
VoterGA co-founder Garland Favorito said this at a press conference Tuesday in Roswell. The group, according to its website, is a nonprofit whose members said it wants to restore election integrity to the Peach State.
Read the full story
In line with Department of Defense policy, staff at the Tennessee National Guard (TNG) will punish members who do not vaccinate themselves against COVID-19.
TNSG personnel will discharge any members who decline to vaccinate themselves, said TNG spokesman Darrin Haas.
Read the full story
A Lawrenceville, Georgia, man has pleaded guilty in Las Vegas to fraudulently obtaining more than $170,000 in unemployment benefits.
That man, Robert Devon Barber, 25, did this by submitting multiple unemployment claims in other people’s names and using benefits debit cards not belonging to him.
Read the full story
Remington Firearms (RemArms) announced Monday that they will locate their global headquarters in LaGrange, Georgia.
RemArms officials, in a press release, also said they will open an advanced manufacturing operation and a research and development center in LaGrange. The press release did not elaborate.
Read the full story
The quick actions of a Nashville pastor and several of his parishioners saved a church from violence Sunday afternoon, according to the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD).
MNPD officials said in a press release that Dezire Baganda, 26, was sitting at the front of the Nashville Light Mission Pentecostal Church when he pulled out a gun and walked up to the altar where the pastor was praying with several members.
Read the full story
Representative Barry Loudermilk (R-GA-11) and nearly 90 other members of the U.S. House of Representatives this week urged Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to allow certain 18-20-year-olds to operate Commercial Motor Vehicles (CMVs) in interstate commerce. This, Loudermilk and other members of Congress said in a letter to Buttigieg, to help alleviate the nation’s growing supply-chain emergency. The representatives said there are too few truckers on the road to meet demands. They asked the Department of Transportation (DOT) to proceed with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA’s) Under-21 Commercial Driver Pilot Program.
Read the full story
Representative David Kustoff (R-TN-08) this week filed legislation that, if enacted into law, would create due process protections for individuals and universities under investigation by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for rule infractions. Representative Burgess Owens (R-UT-04) and Representative Josh Harder (D-CA-10) are co-sponsoring the legislation, according to a press release.
Read the full story
A former Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) project manager has pleaded guilty to falsifying information as part of what federal officials call a fraudulent scheme. This, according to a press release that the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee published Friday.
Read the full story
The State of Georgia’s net tax collections in October approached $2.48 billion, for an increase of $460.7 million, or 22.9 percent, compared to October 2020, when net tax collections totaled roughly $2.02 billion. This, according to an emailed press release that Governor Brian Kemp’s office emailed Friday.
Read the full story
Tennessee Attorney General Herb Slatery and six other state attorneys general have filed a petition before a federal court challenging the Biden Administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for private sector employees. This, according to a press release that members of Slatery’s staff emailed Friday.
Read the full story
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp and state Attorney General Chris Carr on Friday announced that they filed a lawsuit challenging the Biden administration’s employer vaccine mandate. The Federal Register published The Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) setting forth the mandate on Friday, the press release said.
Read the full story
BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee (BSBCT) had 41 fewer employees as of Friday because those now-former employees said no to the COVID-19 vaccine. BSBCT spokeswoman Dalya Qualls told The Tennessee Star in an email Friday that 19 staff members left the company last month. She also said another 22 staff members left Thursday. Qualls did not specify how many BSBCT employees left voluntarily versus how many got fired.
Read the full story
Representative Jody Hice (R-GA-10) this week blasted President Joe Biden and other Democrats for asking the nation’s largest energy producers to reduce their energy production, all while energy prices continue to rise. Hice made his remarks during a House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing.
Read the full story
Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery has announced that he and the attorneys general in Ohio and Kentucky have filed suit against the Biden administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for federal contractors. This, according to a press release that members of Slatery’s staff emailed Thursday.
Read the full story
Georgia Speaker of the House David Ralston (R-Blue Ridge) and other members of the state’s general assembly on Wednesday published a draft map of new state house districts for state legislators. Legislators will examine and consider the map during the 2021 Special Session.
Read the full story
President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for federal contractors could kill several Georgia jobs and even compromise the state’s food safety, Governor Brian Kemp and other state officials warned Wednesday.
Kemp — flanked by state attorney General Chris Carr and state Agricultural Commissioner Gary Black — alerted the public at a press conference at the Georgia State Capitol. Carr said Biden’s mandate is unconstitutional and he will sue to stop what he called the president’s overreach.
A member of Tennessee’s Textbook and Instructional Materials Quality Commission, Laurie Cardoza-Moore, has sounded an alarm on a new Tennessee Department of Education official and her reported advocacy of math equity. Math Equity is the concept that working to answer a question correctly constitutes racism and white supremacy.
Read the full story
U.S. Representative Steve Cohen (D-TN-09) said at a House Judiciary hearing last week that good people with firearms do not stop bad people with firearms. “Show me a case in Memphis where a good man or woman with a gun protected and stopped the use of a weapon. That canard doesn’t occur. That dog won’t hunt. It doesn’t happen. You talk about people losing their Second Amendment rights through these procedures,” Cohen said, referring to various states’ red flag laws.
Read the full story
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp is scheduled to appear alongside the state’s attorney general and agriculture commissioner Wednesday to discuss how President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for federal contractors violates the law and harms the state. This, according to a press release that member of Kemp’s staff emailed Tuesday. The press release called Biden’s mandate “unlawful” and suggested that state officials would file a lawsuit to fight it.
Read the full story
FRANKLIN, Tennessee – Clay Travis, John Rich, and other well-known speakers highlighted an event Tuesday where organizers urged Williamson County residents to take on woke ideologies in the public school system. Members of Williamson Families, a Political Action Committee (PAC), also pressed the several hundred audience members to stand up to — and even run against — school board members who neglect their constituents’ most basic concerns.
Read the full story
A west Tennessee primary care clinic overcharged TennCare — and, by extension, taxpayers — more than $4.7 million, according to an audit that Tennessee Comptrollers published late last week.
Officials who oversaw that company, the Grove Primary Care Clinic, closed all three of their facilities in 2019. They did this one day after state auditors announced they would examine the company’s finances.
Read the full story
Members of the Tennessee Eagle Forum used Eventbrite to promote a forthcoming event to discuss the COVID-19 pandemic, but Eventbrite officials later removed the ad because they disapproved of the subject matter.
The event, titled “Whistleblowers: On the Deceptive Agenda Behind the COVID-19 Pandemic,” will present information about “propaganda involving PPE, respiratory protection, masks, lockdowns, vaccinations, and the weaponizing of our government agencies to implement the Great Reset.”
Read the full story
New robotics at Robins Air Force Base (AFB) in Houston County will improve productivity and better equip the military on future missions, said Representative Austin Scott (R-GA-08).
Robins AFB personnel, Scott said in June, provide critical capabilities to counter America’s adversaries in China, Russia, and Iran.
Read the full story
A Laurens County, Georgia man lied to obtain a COVID-19 disaster relief loan and used that money to buy a collectible Pokémon trading card.
Officials with the U.S. Department of Justice for the Southern District of Georgia announced the news in a press release this week.
Read the full story
Memphis had a violent Halloween weekend, including three homicides, according to the Memphis Police Department (MPD).
Around 10 a.m. Sunday, MPD officers responded to a shooting at the 400 block of Laclede Avenue, where they found two male shooting victims dead inside of a vehicle. MPD officers tweeted that they have not identified any suspects in the killings.
Read the full story
Representative Barry Loudermilk (R-GA-11) said members of the Biden administration misplace vital priorities, especially in how they treat parents at school board meetings versus how they treat a flood of incoming illegal immigrants. Loudermilk made these remarks this week as he appeared on Newsmax.
Read the full story
Officials with the Ford Motor Company reportedly dislike plans that the Republican-led Tennessee General Assembly have made to block President Joe Biden’s COVD-19 vaccine mandates for private employers. This, according to the Nashville-based FOX 17, which reported the news and quoted a spokeswoman for Governor Bill Lee on Friday.
Read the full story
Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery announced this week that he and 20 other state attorneys general have formally called on President Joe Biden to withdraw his administration’s COVID 19 vaccine mandate on federal contractors. The state attorneys general mailed the letter Wednesday.
Read the full story
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp may have another Republican opponent as he vies for reelection next year. The Intelligencer reported this week that former U.S. Senator David Perdue is mulling whether to compete against Kemp.
Read the full story
A high-ranking official with the Tennessee Department of Education — who is new to the job and previously worked in California — has a resume that includes pushing for math equity. This, according to Breitbart.com.
Read the full story
Members of the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) said that a man at the 3700 block of Gallatin Pike used a firearm Tuesday to prevent someone else from stealing his vehicle. MNPD officials said in a press release this week that the alleged thief, Jaden Webb, 20, of Clarksville tried to steal a vehicle outside of a convenience store.
Read the full story
Forefront Books is scheduled, on Tuesday, to release Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s new book, which villainizes former U.S. President Donald Trump and defends the state’s November 2020 election results as authentic. Raffensperger has titled his book “Integrity Counts.”
Read the full story
Tennessee State Representative Scott Cepicky (R-Culleoka) has filed legislation that would, if enacted into law, permit school board candidates in the state to campaign as the nominee or representative of a political party. Cepicky filed the bill for the Tennessee General Assembly’s current special session. The Tennessee Star’s attempts to reach Cepicky on Thursday were unsuccessful.
Read the full story
Members of the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce said they are displeased with the Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS), so much so the schools might require a dramatic restructuring — at least at the school board level. Axios reported this week that chamber members might prefer to do away with electing school board members. Instead, local government officials could appoint them.
Read the full story
Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr and other state attorneys general this week repudiated the Biden administration as well as the National School Boards Association (NSBA) for colluding with one another to threaten parents nationwide. Carr announced the news Wednesday in an emailed press release.
Read the full story
The U.S. House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday passed a bill that Representative Lucy McBath (D-GA-06) filed that, if enacted into law, would deny firearms to individuals under certain circumstances. McBath said in an emailed press release Wednesday that her bill, H.R. 2377, would allow family members and law enforcement to obtain an extreme risk protection order. That order would temporarily remove access to firearms for people deemed a danger to themselves or to others by a federal court.
Read the full story