Author: Chris Butler

New Details Emerge About Tennessee State Sen. Brian Kelsey’s Federal Indictment

Chris Butler

More details emerged Tuesday about the circumstances that led to the federal indictment of Tennessee State Senator Brian Kelsey (R-Germantown) as well as details about a federal prosecutor — a former Obama appointee — involved with the case. ABC News reported that the allegations against Kelsey “resemble a complaint against Kelsey’s campaign filed with the Federal Election Commission and the Department of Justice in 2017 by the Campaign Legal Center.”

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Metro Nashville School System Employees Complain COVID-19 Precautions Have Created Unreasonable Working Conditions

Chris Butler

Certain Metro Nashville Public School employees have come forward with a petition to say that COVID-19 safety precautions and staffing shortages have burdened them and created more difficult working conditions. On their Facebook page, MNEA officials complained of inconsistent contact tracing, bus drivers making double and triple routes without additional pay, and support staff covering classes for $2 an hour.

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Georgia Rep. Barry Loudermilk Tells Maxine Waters That Government Meddling Caused Rotten Economy

Chris Butler

Representative Barry Loudermilk (R-GA-11) said during a House Financial Services hearing this week that the government’s meddling in the economy and its out-of-control-spending cause the current economic disaster, but Chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-CA-43) evidently disagreed. “Let’s stop pushing the policies that are causing the problems. Out-of-control spending is causing consumer prices to skyrocket. The massive expansion of entitlements has caused millions of people to stay at home and not go to work. Hence, the supply chain catastrophe that we are currently in. There is an all-time-record of unfilled jobs, and, by the way, an economist just came out and said the reconciliation bill will cost 8 million jobs,” Loudermilk said.

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Georgia Sets Record-Low Unemployment Rate

Chris Butler

Georgia Department of Labor (GDOL) officials announced this week that Georgia’s unemployment rate dropped three-tenths of a percentage point to 3.2 percent in September. GDOL officials said in an emailed press release that this is an all-time low for Georgia, dipping below the rate of 3.3 percent in January 2020. The number of employed people rose above 5 million for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, while the number of unemployed was reported at 161,786, the lowest level since June 2001.

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Tennessee Education Officials Schedule Eight Town Halls to Offer Input on Public Education Funding

Chris Butler

Staff at the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) have invited all state residents to eight regional public town halls later this month and throughout next month to discuss the state’s public education funding strategy.“These public town halls will spark localized conversations about student-based funding for public education in Tennessee and how to create a new strategy to best serve our students and ensure they are prepared for future success,” according to a TDOE press release.

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Tennessee’s GOP Congressional Delegation React, Discuss Next Steps After Learning Anthony Fauci Lied to Congress

Chris Butler

News that the Bethesda, Maryland-based National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded Gain-of-Function research in Wuhan, China has prompted certain members of Tennessee’s congressional delegation to condemn Anthony Fauci as a liar and to demand drastic changes. Representative Diana Harshbarger (R-TN-01) tweeted about the matter on Thursday.

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Williamson County Parent Calls School System’s COVID-19 Policies ‘Evil and Wrong’

Chris Butler

Williamson County School System Superintendent Jason Golden acknowledged this week that WCS students who will not wear COVID-19 masks or haven’t received medical or religious exemptions attend classes in separate rooms. This, according to the Nashville-based FOX 17. The station reported that a federal order prevents students from opting out of the mask mandate.

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Former Tennessee County Mayor Allegedly Falsified Unemployment Documents

Chris Butler

Grand jurors this month indicted former Houston County Mayor George Clark and charged him with one count of official misconduct and one count of tampering with government records. Tennessee Comptrollers released a report Wednesday that accused Clark of falsifying documents to help two former county employees. Those employees allegedly received unauthorized unemployment benefits that totaled more than $9,000.

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Tennessee Department of Education Ready for Online Student Assessment Tests, Despite Warnings in New Comptrollers’ Report

Chris Butler

Tennessee Comptrollers Jason Mumpower this week released a report warning Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) officials to take additional steps to make sure they can recover assessment tests that students take online. But TDOE officials told The Tennessee Star on Tuesday that they have already addressed the Comptrollers’ concerns.

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U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen of Memphis Asks Joe Biden to Review Gas Pipeline Permits Nationwide

Chris Butler

U.S. Representative Steve Cohen (D-TN-09) this week said he wants more federal oversight of the oil industry and asked that U.S. President Joe Biden review the use of gas pipeline permits nationwide. Cohen announced the news via email to his constituents this week. He said Memphis residents who recently stopped the construction of the Byhalia Pipeline through southwest Memphis have forced people to think more about environmental justice issues.

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Tennessee Stands Releases Priorities for Special Legislative Session

Chris Butler

Members of the Williamson County-based Tennessee Stands on Sunday published their priorities for a presumed special session of the state’s general assembly, and certain priorities address government overreach in the age of COVID-19. “There are a lot of issues that need to be addressed ranging from mandates to education to elections, immigration and the list goes on. But we have to be realistic,” said Tennessee Stands spokesman Gary Humble, in an email to supporters.

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Former Tennessee Attorney General Urges Keeping U.S. Supreme Court Limited to Nine Justices

Chris Butler

A bipartisan coalition of 17 former state attorneys general, including one from Tennessee, this week urged the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court to preserve the current number of nine U.S. Supreme Court justices. In a letter, these attorneys general proposed accomplishing that through a “Keep Nine” amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The amendment simply states that “the Supreme Court of the United States shall be composed of nine Justices.” The former attorneys general said this will protect the independence of the U.S. Supreme Court.

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Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr Urges Congress to Oppose Legislation Increasing Natural Gas and Oil Costs

Chris Butler

Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr has urged Congress to reject “burdensome legislation that would increase fees on energy producers and hit American consumers with even greater price hikes as heating bills surge this winter.” Carr announced the news in an emailed press release Friday. He said he and 19 other state attorneys general sent a letter to Congress on Thursday.

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U.S. Rep. Jody Hice Asks Georgia Legislators to Appoint Special Counsel to Investigate Alleged Fulton County Election Fraud

Chris Butler

U.S. Representative Jody Hice (R-GA-10) this week called on Georgia legislators to appoint a special counsel to investigate alleged election fraud during last year’s presidential election in Fulton County. Hice wants to defeat and replace Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. Former U.S. President Donald Trump endorsed Hice for the position in March.

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Buckhead City’s Fundraising Surpasses $1 Million in Georgia

Chris Butler

Buckhead, Georgia residents and businesses have contributed $1 million to support the initiative to create Buckhead City, members of the Buckhead City Committee said in an emailed press release Thursday.“The Buckhead City Committee expects to raise another million dollars before the end of this upcoming legislative session (April) to further advance Buckhead’s path to cityhood,” according to the press release.

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Tennessee U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty Urge Joe Biden to Fire Kamala Harris as Border Czar

Chris Butler

U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) and U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) have joined nine other U.S. senators and formally asked that U.S. President Joe Biden replace Vice President Kamala Harris with a new border czar. This, considering Harris’s failure to stem the flow of illegal migrants to the United States and her failure to work with our neighbors to secure the border, Hagerty said in an emailed press release Thursday.

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Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s Claim About No Counterfeit Election Ballots is Not Credible, Garland Favorito Says

Chris Butler

Henry County Superior Court Chief Judge Brian Amero has reportedly done away with a lawsuit that alleged election fraud in Fulton County, Georgia during last year’s presidential election. Members of the nonprofit VoterGA wanted to inspect Fulton County’s mail-in ballots. This, after four senior poll managers signed sworn affidavits indicating they handled counterfeit ballots during the Fulton County hand count audit.

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Tennessee State Rep. Bruce Griffey Blasts Threats from ‘Medical Nazis’ and Financial Elite over COVID-19 Mandates

Chris Butler

Tennessee State Representative Bruce Griffey (R-Paris) said this week that “history (and Tennessee voters) will not be kind (and will have harsh ridicule) for those in favor of [COVID-19] vaccine mandates.” Griffey, in an emailed statement to the press, said, in his opinion, COVID-19 vaccines do not stop the spread of the virus. But also said state officials must give Tennesseans a choice and educate them about the vaccine’s effectiveness.

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The Daily Wire Hosts, Including Ben Shapiro and Candace Owens, Hold Sold-Out Event at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium

Chris Butler

NASHVILLE — A packed crowd turned out Tuesday night for The Daily Wire’s‘Backstage Live’ event at the Ryman Auditorium. The Daily Wire co-founder Ben Shapiro joined Candace Owens, Jeremy Boreing, Michael Knowles, Matt Walsh, and Andrew Klavan as they discussed U.S. President Joe Biden and an assortment of other current news topics.

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Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger Wants Feds to Investigate New Allegations Against Fulton County

Chris Butler

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on Monday called upon members of the U.S. Justice Department to investigate Fulton County elections. This, following recent allegations that Fulton County shredded 300 municipal election-related applications in violation of state law. The Georgia Secretary of State’s office has already launched an investigation into the allegations, according to a press release.

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Nashville Community Oversight Board to Propose New Policy on How Police Officers Handle People Resisting Arrest

Chris Butler

Members of Nashville’s Community Oversight Board (COB) have scheduled a special meeting for Wednesday where they plan to call upon Metro Nashville Police (MNPD) to document all uses of “soft empty-hand control” techniques.

This, according to Wednesday’s COB meeting agenda.

The MNPD manual defines “soft empty-hand control” as using physical strength to control people who resist arrest. The manual goes on to say that these techniques include pain compliance pressure points, controlled takedowns, joint manipulation, or simply grabbing a subject.

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For the Third Time, Nashville Man Convicted of Being a Convicted Felon in Possession of a Firearm

Chris Butler

A federal jury this week convicted a Nashville man on charges of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, and this is not this man’s first experience with this. That man, Davian M. Greenlee, is 40-years-old, according to a press release that the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Tennessee published Thursday.

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Two Executives Plead Guilty in Georgia Court to Large-Scale Visa Fraud Employment Scheme

Chris Butler

Two Florida business executives pleaded guilty this week in the Southern District of Georgia to charges related to their roles in a scheme to recruit and hire foreign nationals who were not authorized to work in the United States. The executives did this to fill temporary housekeeping and food service positions and commit various other criminal immigration offenses for profit.

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Georgia U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath Demands Yearly Federal Report on School Shootings, Including Racial, Ethnic, and Sexual Orientation Data

Chris Butler

U.S. Representative Lucy McBath (D-GA-06) has filed legislation that would, if enacted into law, require that federal officials publish an annual report about school violence, with a heavy emphasis on racial and economic demographics. To file the bill, McBath paired with U.S. Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL-23). They labeled the bill the School Shooting Safety and Preparedness Act.

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Williamson County Commissioners Nominate Top-Level Pfizer Official to Replace Brad Fiscus on School Board

Chris Butler

Two Williamson County commissioners have announced their choice to replace Brad Fiscus on the Williamson County School Board, and that person is Franklin resident Josh Brown, who also does top-level work for Pfizer. Williamson County District Four Commissioners Chad Story and Gregg Lawrence selected Brown against nine other candidates, according to The Tennessean. The remaining commissioners are scheduled to vote on whether to formally appoint Brown to the position at their October 11 meeting.

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