Author: Kaitlin Housler

Convicted Homicide Rate Among ‘Non-Detained’ Illegal Migrants 13 Times Higher Than U.S. Average, Costing Americans $166 Billion: Report

Kaitlin Housler
CBP arrests

A new report written by Crime Prevention Research Center President Dr. John R. Lott based on data provided by the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Institute of Justice (NIJ) suggests that not only have the crimes committed by illegal migrants cost U.S. taxpayers at least $166.5 billion, but the severity of those crimes is much higher than American norms.

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Forthcoming Supreme Court Decision in U.S. v. Skrmetti Likely to ‘Drive a Lot of Change’ Inside Gender Clinics and Hospitals, Tennessee AG Says

Kaitlin Housler
Tennessee A.G. Jonathan Skrmetti

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti said he believes that if the U.S. Supreme Court rules to uphold Tennessee’s state that bans irreversible gender transitioning treatments for minors in the case United States v. Skrmetti, the demand for such treatments across the nation will also see a halt.

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Dave Brat: Ukraine’s War with Russia ‘True Tragedy’ Fueled by U.S. Interests

Kaitlin Housler
Dave Brat

Liberty University’s School of Business Dean Dave Brat recently returned from a trip to Kiev, Ukraine, with religious leaders and academics to survey the country amid its ongoing war with Russia.

Brat said Ukrainian officials were attempting to woo his group of conservative Christians on board with funding the country’s fight against Russia during the week-long trip; however, he noted that his stance on funding the war “hasn’t changed.”

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Senator Marsha Blackburn Demands Answers from VA Secretary Regarding Probe into Sexual Misconduct at Johnson City Veterans Clinic

Kaitlin Housler
VA Sec Denis McDonough

Tennessee U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) sent a letter to U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough requesting information regarding the department’s investigation into sexual misconduct allegations at the Mountain Home Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC) in Johnson City, Tennessee.

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Police Must Confirm Existence of Manifesto Reportedly Left by Abundant Life Christian School Shooter, Reporter Tom Pappert Says

Kaitlin Housler
Tom Pappert and MPL

Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, stressed the importance that the Madison Police Department (MPD) in Wisconsin confirms or denies the existence of a six-page manifesto reportedly written by the 15-year-old Abundant Life Christian School shooter that is being shared by online personalities.

On Monday, MPD identified the shooter who killed two and injured seven at the Abundant Life Christian School as 15-year-old Natalie Rupnow.

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Trump Campaign Advisor Thanks Tennessee U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles for Support After Fainting on Stage During Event

Kaitlin Housler
Alex Bruesewitz

Alex Bruesewitz, an advisor to President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign, thanked Tennessee U.S. Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN-05) for staying by his side after fainting on stage during a New York Young Republican Club gala on Sunday night.

Video shared on social media of the event shows Bruesewitz fainting and toppling over the lectern while he was on stage introducing incoming White House senior aide Dan Scavino.

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Tennessee House Majority Leader William Lamberth Details How New School Choice Bill is a ‘Win-Win for Everybody’

Kaitlin Housler
William Lamberth

Tennessee House Majority Leader William Lamberth (R-Portland) said the new universal school choice bill filed last month in the Tennessee General Assembly is a “win-win” for “everybody” on the issue, specifically for those in favor of a school choice program and those in favor of allocating more funding for public schools.

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Reporter Tom Pappert Discusses Silence Around Video Taken by Veteran Inside Texas VA Hospital of Employees Allegedly Having Sexual Relations

Kaitlin Housler
Thomas Creek Medical Center

Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, said the director of the Thomas E. Creek VA Medical Center in Amarillo, Texas has yet to respond after The Star inquired about allegations made by a veteran who received health care from the facility in 2022 and claims to have documented two employees at the VA facility having sexual relations just feet away from where he was being treated.

Last week, The Star obtained a video from retired U.S. Army Sergeant Donald Belzer, who claimed that the footage shows two staff members at the Amarillo VA Health Care System engaged in sexual activity inside a closet marked “Clean Supplies,” just feet away where he was being treated for a hand injury.

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Public Charter School in Nashville Files Lawsuit Against Metro Schools for Rezoning Plan

Kaitlin Housler
Students

LEAD Public Schools filed a lawsuit against Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) on Monday, challenging a rezoning plan previously approved by the MNPS board concerning LEAD Cameron Middle School.

LEAD Cameron is a zone-enrolled public charter middle school operating south of Nashville in the Glencliff cluster. The middle school was founded in 2011 and serves grades 5-8.

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Exclusive: Tennessee AG Jonathan Skrmetti Reflects on Oral Arguments in United States v. Skrmetti

Kaitlin Housler
Jonathan Skrmetti

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti sat down for an exclusive interview with The Tennessee Star’s CEO and Editor-in-Chief Michael Patrick Leahy on Friday to detail last week’s oral arguments in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in the case United States v. Skrmetti and how the nation is perceiving the case in the days after.

Last Wednesday, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in United States v. Skrmetti, a case challenging Tennessee’s law that bans irreversible gender transitioning treatments for minors.

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Legal Expert Mark Pulliam: California Lawsuit Against Trans Doctor Has the Ability to ‘Collapse’ Entire Gender Transitioning Industry for Minors

Kaitlin Housler
Johanna Olson-Kennedy, MD

Mark Pulliam, a retired attorney and Misrule of Law blogger, said a lawsuit filed in California against a doctor who specializes in “youth gender medicine” for medical negligence has the ability to “collapse” the entire “enterprise” of gender transitioning treatments for minors.

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Legal Expert Braden Boucek: Federal Government Rule Proposal Would ‘Make Boating Impossible’ in the Atlantic

Kaitlin Housler
Lobster Boat

Braden Boucek, vice president of Litigation for Southeastern Legal Foundation, is bringing awareness to a proposed rule by the Biden administration that can “make boating impossible” in the Atlantic seaboard.

In an attempt to protect the endangered Right Whale, the Biden administration’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has proposed a new rule that would bar boaters from traveling over 10 knots, which is approximately the speed of a golf cart, through North Atlantic Right Whale seasonal management areas.

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President-Elect Trump Vows to Work with Congress to Pass Reciprocal Trade Act

Kaitlin Housler
Donald Trump

President-elect Donald Trump vowed to work with Congress to pass a bill implementing reciprocal trade protections with other nations as part of his economic plan.

The bill called the Trump Reciprocal Trade Act would empower the president to impose reciprocal tariffs on goods from foreign countries if those countries’ tariffs on American-made goods are higher than the tariff imposed by the U.S.

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AG Jonathan Skrmetti ‘Absolutely Confident’ in How Tennessee Defended Law Banning ‘Gender Transition’ Puberty Blockers for Minors Before Supreme Court

Kaitlin Housler
Jonathan Skrmetti

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti said he believes that Tennessee Solicitor General Matt Rice strongly defended Senate Bill 1 (SB1) in front of the Supreme Court. SB1 is Tennessee’s state law that bans irreversible gender transition-inducing puberty blockers and hormones for minors.

Governor Bill Lee signed SB1 into law last year, which forbids healthcare providers from performing or administering to underage children “gender-affirming” medical procedures or treatments – including puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and sex-change surgeries – for the purpose of enabling the child to identify with the opposite gender.

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Reporter Tom Pappert: Release of Full Covenant Killer Manifesto Will Allow a Glimpse into ‘What Went Wrong’ with Mental Healthcare Over the Last Decade

Kaitlin Housler
Reporter Top Pappert

Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, said the full release of the Covenant school shooter manifesto would allow a glimpse into how treatments for mental health diagnoses, specifically when it comes to transgender individuals, have dramatically changed over the last decade.

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Tennessee Firearms Association Joins Amicus Brief in Support of Smith and Wesson in U.S. Supreme Court Case

Kaitlin Housler
SCOTUS

The Tennessee Firearms Association and Tennessee Firearms Foundation joined an amicus brief on Tuesday filed in the U.S. Supreme Court in the appeal by Smith and Wesson in the case Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. v. Estados Unidos Mexicanos.

The case stems from a lawsuit brought by the Mexican government in 2021, in which the government alleged U.S. gun manufacturers should be liable for “aiding and abetting” gun violence carried out by Mexican drug cartels.

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Informing America Foundation Awarded 2024 Gregor G. Peterson Prize in Venture Philanthropy

Kaitlin Housler
Deborah Myers

The 2024 Gregor G. Peterson Prize in Venture Philanthropy was awarded to the nonprofit organization Informing America Foundation on Wednesday at the American Legislative Exchange Council’s States & Nation Policy Summit in Washington, D.C.

The Gregor G. Peterson Prize in Venture Philanthropy, which offers a one-time grant of $250,000 payable over three years, is named after Greg Peterson, one of America’s first venture capitalists.

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EJ Haust Applauds Trump’s ‘Power Move’ While Meeting with Canada Prime Minister at Mar-a-Lago

Kaitlin Housler
Justin Trudeau and Donald Trump

EJ Haust, a digital marketing expert and former journalist who lived in Minnesota for 12 years before relocating to Tennessee, said President-elect Donald Trump’s meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at Mar-a-Lago was a “power move” that signals how America is back as a “superpower” nation under a second Trump administration.

Trudeau met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Friday, days after the president-elect threatened to impose a 25 percent tariff on all goods coming into the U.S. from Canada and Mexico until the two bordering countries work to stop the flow of drugs and illegal immigration into the U.S. via executive order.

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Reporter Tom Pappert: Democrats ‘Upset’ with Kash Patel’s Nomination to Serve as FBI Director Due to His Intent to Release Full Covenant Killer Manifesto, Epstein Client List

Kaitlin Housler
Kash Patel

Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, said Democratic lawmakers and members of the FBI “deep state” are in a panic mode over President-elect Donald Trump nominating Kash Patel to serve as Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) due to Patel’s past callings for the full release of major classified documents.

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Tennessee U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn Warns of AI Scams Ahead of Holiday Season

Kaitlin Housler
Marsha Blackburn

Tennessee U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) is warning seniors of artificial intelligence (AI) scams and cyber-attacks ahead of this year’s holiday season.

Blackburn, a ranking member of the Senate Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, discussed the increased threats of AI scams and cyber-attacks during a hearing last month titled “Protecting Consumers from Artificial Intelligence Enabled Fraud and Scams.”

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Michael Patrick Leahy Explains How Elon Musk’s Life Goal Makes Him a Unique American Icon

Kaitlin Housler
Elon Musk

Michael Patrick Leahy, CEO and editor-in-chief of The Tennessee Star, discussed his thoughts on author Walter Isaacson’s biography “Elon Musk” on Monday’s edition of his radio show. He explained how Musk is a unique American icon due to his lifelong work to “advance the cause of humanity” through his business ventures.

On Monday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, Leahy said he read Isaacson’s biography on Musk over the Thanksgiving holiday, which increased his admiration for the richest man in the world since the billionaire began publicly supporting Donald Trump during the 2024 presidential election.

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Bonnie Brezina: Marsy’s Law on Track to be Presented to Voters in 2026

Kaitlin Housler
Bonnie Brezina

Bonnie Brezina, who serves as the state director of Marsy’s Law for Tennessee, said the proposed constitutional amendment that would expand the rights of crime victims is still on track to be presented to voters on the 2026 general election ballot.

Marsy’s Law, which passed the Tennessee House unanimously and the State Senate by a 27-3 vote earlier this year, must again pass both chambers by a two-thirds majority this upcoming legislative session in order to be presented to voters in 2026.

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Nashville Mayor Admits Metro Police Is ‘Aware’ of Venezuelan Gang Presence, Refuses to Provide Answers on Arrests

Kaitlin Housler
Freddie O'Connell

Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell said his office and the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) are aware of the violent Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua’s “presence” within the city; however,  he refused to provide specific information regarding arrests or activity related to the gang.

On Tuesday, O’Connell was pressed by Fox 17 reporter Kylie Walker on his knowledge of the Venezuelan gang’s presence in Nashville after a member of the same gang was arrested in Hamilton County on human trafficking charges the day prior.

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Tennesseans Expected to Travel in Record Numbers This Thanksgiving: Report

Kaitlin Housler
Thanksgiving dinner

A record number of Tennesseans are expected to travel for this year’s Thanksgiving holiday, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA).

AAA forecasts that more than 1.9 million Tennesseans will travel 50 miles or more for the holiday over the period of seven days (November 26-December 2) which would set an all-time high for Thanksgiving travel in the state.

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Todd Bensman: President-Elect Trump’s Migrant Deterrence Rhetoric Already Producing Results

Kaitlin Housler
CBP arrests

Todd Bensman, senior national security fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies, said President-elect Donald Trump’s Remain in Mexico immigration program, if implemented on day one of the Trump-Vance administration, is expected to immediately reduce the number of illegal border crossings.

Implemented in 2019 during Trump’s first presidential term, Remain in Mexico allowed Border Patrol to expel certain asylum-seeking migrants back to Mexico while their cases moved through the U.S. immigration court system.

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