Tennessee State Representative Scott Cepicky (R-Culleoka) sat down for an exclusive interview Tuesday with The Tennessee Star’s CEO and Editor-in-Chief Michael Patrick Leahy, where he discussed a sweeping education reform agenda throughout the Volunteer State’s education system.
During an interview on The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, Cepicky said the state’s education policies must prioritize student outcomes and better prepare young Tennesseans for future success.
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Steve Robinson, the editor-in-chief of The Maine Wire, said Democratic insiders are increasingly concerned about U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner’s growing list of controversies and would like him to withdraw from the race, but warned that under Maine law, party leaders have no mechanism to remove him from the ballot if he wins the nomination.
Speaking during Tuesday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show as Maine Democrats headed into their primary election, Robinson argued that Platner’s nomination is effectively secured despite a series of controversies involving his personal history, online activity, and allegations from former partners.
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Dr. Omar Hamada warned that failed Tennessee legislation to ban mRNA products and research would have harmed medical innovation and threatened the state’s position as a national healthcare leader.
During an interview with The Tennessee Star’s CEO and Editor-in-Chief Michael Patrick Leahy, Hamada criticized legislative efforts such as the proposed Tennessee mRNA Pharmaceutical Sovereignty and Safety Act, sponsored during the latest legislative session by State Senator Janice Bowling (R-Tullahoma), who also filed the mRNA Bioweapons Prohibition Act.
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Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, raised questions about Metro Nashville’s past and proposed funding for two immigration-related nonprofits, arguing that state officials should closely examine the grants and consider whether they comply with Tennessee law.
Pappert, during an appearance on The Michael Patrick Leahy Show on Monday, discussed a contract that provided millions of dollars in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds to the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) and Tennessee Justice for Our Neighbors (TNJFON) beginning in 2022.
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Key portions of a bill introduced by U.S. Rep. Matt Van Epps (R-TN-07) to increase financial support for the families of fallen service members has advanced as part of the House Fiscal Year 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
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Full-time Tennessee K-12 teachers are now eligible for reduced interest rates on home loans through an expansion of the Tennessee Housing Development Agency’s (THDA) Homeownership for Heroes program.
The program, which previously served veterans, active-duty military personnel, firefighters, EMTs, paramedics, and law enforcement officers, now includes full-time classroom teachers employed in Tennessee public and private schools.
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Dr. Omar Hamada discussed the promise of Bioscope.AI during an exclusive interview Friday with The Tennessee Star’s CEO and Editor-in-Chief Michael Patrick Leahy, explaining how the platform aims to shift medicine from a reactive model to a predictive one by identifying an individual’s health risks before serious disease develops.
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Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, reports that Nashville officials have either not created or have not produced documentation required under Tennessee law for a proposed $735,000 grant to the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC), raising questions about whether the city is complying with statutory transparency requirements governing metropolitan government funding to nonprofit organizations.
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A coalition of immigrant rights advocates has filed a federal lawsuit challenging a new Tennessee law set to go into effect July 1 that would make it a crime for certain noncitizens with final deportation orders to remain in the state.
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Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, said remarks made by U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin during a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing this week could significantly alter the legal landscape surrounding Kilmar Abrego Garcia
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U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers have arrested a Sudanese national with a lengthy, “violent” criminal history in Nashville, the agency announced Thursday.
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Eva Romero, a Republican running for the Tennessee House of Representatives, outlined her background, policy priorities, and reasons for seeking office during an exclusive interview Thursday with The Tennessee Star’s CEO and Editor-in-Chief Michael Patrick Leahy.
Romero, who is running for Tennessee House District 60, said during Thursday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show that the district she is running for includes Old Hickory, Hermitage, and Donelson, describing it as “lake to lake.” The district is currently represented by Democratic State Representative Shaundelle Brooks (D-Hermitage).
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Judson Phillips, founder of Tea Party Nation, criticized U.S. Representative John Rose’s (R-TN-06) gubernatorial campaign strategy following a public social media dispute between Rose and State Representative Monty Fritts (R-Kingston).
The exchange between Rose and Fritts began after Rose posted on social media that he was the “only major candidate” in the Republican gubernatorial primary who was born and raised in Tennessee.
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Tom Pappert, lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, warned that Hawkins County’s decision to accept pro bono legal representation from the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) in a lawsuit challenging its ban on cryptocurrency mining and AI data centers could inadvertently advance a broader anti-Trump narrative embraced by Democrats and draw heightened national media attention.
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Federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies have arrested 24 individuals during a coordinated enforcement effort targeting criminal activity in and around federally subsidized housing in Memphis, the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) announced Monday.
The operation, known as Operation Clean House: Memphis, was conducted through a partnership between USMS, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Inspector General (HUD OIG), and the Memphis Safe Task Force.
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An online spat between U.S. Rep. John Rose (R-TN-06) and State Rep. Monty Fritts (R-Kingston) unfolded this week after Rose characterized himself as the “only major candidate” in the Republican primary for Tennessee governor who was born and raised in the state.
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U.S. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN-06) has endorsed State Rep. Johnny Garrett (R-Goodlettsville) in Tennessee’s 6th Congressional District race and State Senator Brent Taylor (R-Memphis), who is running for in the race for Tennessee’s newly-redrawn 9th Congressional District.
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Steve Cortes, former senior spokesman and strategist for the 2016 and 2020 Trump campaigns and current head of the League of American Workers, said new polling shows Michigan voters are increasingly opposed to additional Muslim immigration in the state.
TechnoMetrica (TIPP) conducted an online survey of 1,456 registered voters in Michigan for Cortes’ League of American Workers from May 20 to May 23, 2026.
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Washington Bureau Chief for Breitbart News Network Matt Boyle discussed his recent exclusive interview with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic during an appearance Tuesday on The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, describing President Donald Trump’s extraordinary popularity in Serbia and highlighting what he called a growing international appetite for American leadership.
Speaking with The Tennessee Star’s CEO and Editor-in-Chief Michael Patrick Leahy, Boyle said that Trump’s support in Serbia is rooted in both historical grievances and admiration for the president’s policies and leadership style.
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The Boring Company said construction of its Music City Loop transit system continues to accelerate, with the project’s first tunnel boring machine actively excavating beneath Nashville and a second machine scheduled to begin tunneling later this month.
In the latest project update, released Monday on its website, The Boring Company reported that Prufrock-MB1 has been tunneling since April while undergoing continuous upgrades to improve speed and reliability.
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U.S. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA-01) announced his endorsements of two Republican candidates seeking election in Tennessee’s 6th and 9th Congressional Districts on Monday.
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JC Bowman, founder and president of Professional Educators of Tennessee, joined The Tennessee Star’s CEO and Editor-in-Chief Michael Patrick Leahy for a sit-down discussion regarding the future of K-12 education in the Volunteer State, examining everything from direct instruction and charter schools to education freedom scholarships, civic education, and workforce development.
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The Tennessee Chamber of Commerce & Industry endorsed U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) in the 2026 Tennessee gubernatorial race.
Josh Brown, president and CEO of the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce & Industry, said in a statement that Blackburn “understands what it takes to keep Tennessee competitive.”
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Authorities operating under the Memphis Safe Task Force have recorded over 1,000 arrests of known gang members since the operation began last September, the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) announced.
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Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, detailed a new court filing in the Kilmar Abrego Garcia case that seeks to make Costa Rica the sole lawful destination for his deportation, even as the Trump administration continues to challenge the proposal and pursue its appeal in federal court.
Appearing on Friday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, Pappert discussed a filing submitted by Abrego Garcia’s attorneys on Wednesday asking U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis to declare Costa Rica the only lawful destination for his deportation.
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TC Weber, author of the Substack “Dad Gone Wild Newsletter,” and The Tennessee Star’s CEO and editor-in-chief, Michael Patrick Leahy, debated the merits of Direct Instruction and the role of state government in public education during Friday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show.
The discussion focused on Leahy’s proposal that Tennessee mandate Direct Instruction as the primary method for teaching reading, writing, and mathematics in K-5 classrooms statewide.
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Tennessee Lt. Governor Randy McNally (R-Oak Ridge) took disciplinary action against State Senator Charlane Oliver (D-Nashville) this week for her conduct during the Tennessee General Assembly’s special legislative session earlier this month, when lawmakers approved a new congressional redistricting map.
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The GlockStore is set to host its annual Open House event on Saturday, May 30, at its headquarters near Nashville International Airport.
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The Tennessee Star’s CEO and Editor-in-Chief Michael Patrick Leahy and Lead Reporter Tom Pappert criticized attorneys representing Kilmar Abrego Garcia, accusing the legal team of making false statements in a federal court filing concerning The Star’s investigative reporting.
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The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF), National Rifle Association (NRA), and Firearms Policy Coalition have filed a federal lawsuit challenging Maryland’s newly-signed handgun restriction law after Governor Wes Moore approved Senate Bill 334 this week.
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U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers have arrested a Honduran national convicted in a 2022 deadly wrong-way crash that killed a Nashville musician following his recent release from state prison in West Tennessee, the agency announced Wednesday.
ICE said 37-year-old Kelvin Mejia-Romero was taken into custody April 20 after completing his prison sentence at the Northwest Correctional Complex near Memphis. He is expected to remain in ICE custody pending removal proceedings.
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A three-judge panel of the Davidson County Chancery Court has dismissed a lawsuit brought by the Tennessee State Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and other plaintiffs challenging Tennessee’s newly-redrawn congressional map.
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The Shelby County Deputy Sheriffs’ Association (SCDSA) has endorsed U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) in the 2026 Tennessee gubernatorial race
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The Tennessee Star’s CEO and Editor-in-Chief Michael Patrick Leahy and lead reporter Tom Pappert criticized U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw for dismissing the federal human smuggling case against Kilmar Abrego Garcia, arguing the judge ignored critical reporting about the role of the Biden-era FBI in the 2022 Tennessee traffic stop that sparked the investigation.
On Tuesday’s broadcast of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, Leahy highlighted The Star’s Monday publication of a lengthy report authored by Pappert and himself examining Crenshaw’s ruling.
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U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN-09) has introduced articles of impeachment against U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, accusing the nation’s top judicial official of turning the Court into what Cohen described as a “political instrument” and violating his constitutional oath through a series of rulings and administrative decisions.
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Tennessee Governor Bill Lee officially signed a bill into law on Friday that creates a new state-appointed oversight board for Memphis-Shelby County Schools and announces five of the nine members who will serve on the panel.
The legislation, sponsored in the Tennessee General Assembly by State Representative Mark White (R-Memphis) and State Senator Brent Taylor (R-Memphis), establishes an oversight structure for school districts that meet specific academic and operational benchmarks, including persistently low performance, chronic absenteeism, and repeated placement on the state’s priority school list.
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Michael Patrick Leahy, CEO and Editor-in-Chief of The Tennessee Star, is calling for a major overhaul of Tennessee’s education system, arguing that decades of rising spending and bureaucratic growth have failed students and that the state should adopt Direct Instruction as the standard method for teaching reading, writing, and math in elementary schools.
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U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) is being backed in her bid for governor by the Tennessee Professional Fire Fighters Association (TPFFA).
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A three-judge Tennessee panel is expected to issue a rapid decision in the lawsuit challenging the state’s newly approved congressional districts, The Tennessee Star’s lead reporter Tom Pappert detailed during Friday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show.
The lawsuit, filed by the Tennessee Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and its president Gloria Sweet-Love, argues lawmakers exceeded the authority granted by Governor Bill Lee during the recent special legislative session by modifying state law governing redistricting timelines.
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Following the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) newly unsealed indictment against former Cuban leader Raul Castro and several co-defendants over the 1996 Brothers to the Rescue shoot-down, EJ Haust, official guest host of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, said the case highlights growing pressure on Cuba’s communist regime and renewed American attention on the island nation.
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A newly unsealed U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) indictment charging former Cuban leader Raúl Castro and five co-defendants in the 1996 shoot-down of two Brothers to the Rescue aircraft represents an escalation in U.S. efforts to hold Cuba accountable for the deaths of four men, according to former Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline.
The DOJ announced Wednesday that Castro and five alleged Cuban regime co-conspirators were charged with conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals, destruction of aircraft, and murder for the February 24, 1996, destruction of two unarmed civilian planes operated by Brothers to the Rescue over international waters.
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Tea Party Nation Founder Judson Phillips and The Tennessee Star’s CEO and Editor-in-Chief Michael Patrick Leahy argued that Nashville could become fertile ground for an “insurgent” political campaign modeled after the AI-driven strategy used by Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt.
Speaking during Wednesday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, Phillips praised Pratt’s unconventional campaign style, saying, “Pratt’s campaign, anybody who’s thinking about running as a Republican, particularly if you’re running for a significant office, you need to emulate Spencer Pratt’s campaign.”
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President Donald Trump has endorsed Republican candidate Kenny Cody in the race for Tennessee House District 11, giving the former Cocke County GOP chairman a major boost in the open-seat contest following State Representative Jeremy Faison’s (R-Cosby) retirement.
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The Tennessee State Funding Board approved a measure this week to grant Starbucks a $30 million economic development grant to support the company’s move to Nashville.
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EJ Haust, official guest host of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, pointed to recent investigative reporting by journalist Sharyl Attkisson as evidence supporting long-standing concerns surrounding January 6, 2021.
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U.S. Rep. Scott DesJarlais (R-TN-04) announced that the McMinnville Veterans Affairs Clinic will remain open following months of uncertainty surrounding the facility’s future.
The clinic, which serves approximately 1,840 veterans in Warren County and surrounding communities, had been scheduled to close May 31 after the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) cited long-term staffing shortages and concerns about continuity of care.
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As law enforcement continues to investigate Monday’s deadly attack at an Islamic center in San Diego that left three people dead and ended with the apparent suicides of the two suspected shooters, investigators say the suspects left behind a lengthy manifesto outlining extremist ideological views and apparent motivations for the attack.
The Tennessee Star’s lead reporter Tom Pappert discussed the alleged 75-page manifesto of the suspected shooters, who have since been identified as 17-year-old Cain Clark and 18-year-old Caleb Vazquez, during an appearance Wednesday on The Michael Patrick Leahy Show.
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Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti appointed Madeline Clark to serve as Tennessee’s next solicitor general upon the exit of current Solicitor General Matt Rice.
Clark will officially assume the role on June 8, succeeding Rice, who announced earlier this year that he would leave public service to join Kirkland & Ellis as a partner in the firm’s litigation practice.
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Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, said podcaster Candace Owens is set to release a headline-grabbing interview with Hunter Biden this week that could revisit the controversy surrounding Biden’s laptop while showcasing what Pappert described as Owens’ effort to “find allies on the Left.”
On Monday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, Pappert discussed preview clips Owens released teasing her interview with Biden, which is scheduled to air Thursday.
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Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, is raising concerns about Nashville’s decision to allow the newly formed “people first” security company Civicity to patrol downtown streets, questioning whether the organization’s emphasis on de-escalation and social worker-style intervention signals a move away from traditional policing in the city’s growing entertainment district.
Pappert, during an appearance Monday on The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, discussed the recent launch of Civicity, a security division founded in March by Block by Block and SMS Holdings, which has reportedly taken over downtown patrol responsibilities following the expiration of a previous contract with Soleran.
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