New recruits with the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) are required to participate in a “Mobile Diversity Tour” before beginning patrol duties, a program designed to introduce future officers to a range of communities across the city.
One stop on the tour includes Play Dance Bar, a Nashville nightclub known for its drag performances.
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U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Sean Duffy toured the Music City Loop construction site last week, hailing the privately-funded project as “critical infrastructure” seeking to “meaningfully improve” the lives of those traveling around Nashville.
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Beau Hawk, the Democratic nominee for Knox County mayor, has admitted to attending a 2020 rally in Caracas, Venezuela, in support of then-President Nicolas Maduro, according to Knox News.
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Reporting live from the White House, veteran reporter Neil W. McCabe offered behind-the-scenes insight into President Donald Trump’s meeting last week with Senate Republicans, arguing that the clash centered on more than just the SAVE America Act.
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EJ Haust, official guest host of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, is raising concerns over reported artificial intelligence clauses in contracts for child voice actors on the kids’ cartoon program Peppa Pig, arguing the matter extends far beyond one children’s television series and represents a warning about the future of AI-generated voices.
Speaking on Friday’s show, Haust discussed reports that Peppa Pig owner Hasbro is requiring child voice actors to sign contracts granting the company rights to “use, clone, train, and reuse” their voices indefinitely for AI-generated content.
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Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, said Metro Nashville has yet to determine whether it possesses records required under Tennessee law to justify nearly $1.5 million in grants approved for two immigration nonprofits, prompting The Star’s CEO and Editor-in-Chief Michael Patrick Leahy to predict the city could face another lawsuit if it fails to produce the requested public records.
On Friday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, Pappert discussed The Star’s ongoing Tennessee Public Records Act request seeking documents related to the Metro Council’s approval of $735,000 for the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) and $718,000 for Tennessee Justice for Our Neighbors (TNJFON), appropriations included in Metro Nashville’s $3.8 billion Fiscal Year 2027 budget.
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Public affairs specialist and veteran journalist Clint Brewer argued that opposition to data centers is being driven more by fear and uncertainty than facts, warning that widespread moratoriums could undermine America’s competitiveness in artificial intelligence (AI).
Speaking on Thursday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, Brewer described data centers as “the planning and zoning boogeyman of America right now.”
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Veteran journalist and public affairs specialist Clint Brewer said “elections matter” after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the Trump administration may move forward with terminating Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designations for Haiti and Syria.
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Michael Patrick Leahy, CEO and Editor-in-Chief of The Tennessee Star, argued that the victories of so-called democratic socialist candidates endorsed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani reflected what he described as the growing influence of “Islamist leftist socialists” within the Democratic Party.
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Tennessee State Senator Mark Pody (R-Lebanon) received the endorsement from Americans for Prosperity (AFP) State PAC in his reelection bid for State Senate District 17.
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The Tennessee Department of Education released statewide results from the 2025-26 Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) on Wednesday, showing increases in student proficiency across multiple grade levels and subject areas.
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The conservative Family Action Council of Tennessee (FACT) has hired Dr. Kent DelHousaye as its new president, marking the organization’s first leadership change since its founding in 2006.
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Metro Nashville estimated it will take nearly a month to produce records related to $1.5 million in grants awarded to two immigration-focused nonprofits, which raises serious transparency concerns, according to The Tennessee Star’s lead reporter, Tom Pappert, who said that the city appears to be funding political allies of Mayor Freddie O’Connell while slow-walking efforts to obtain documents justifying the spending.
During an appearance on Wednesday on The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, Pappert discussed Metro’s response to a Tennessee Public Records Act request by The Star seeking records related to grants awarded to the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) and Tennessee Justice for Our Neighbors (TNJFON) in the fiscal year 2027 budget approved earlier this month.
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Civil rights attorney Ben Crump’s criticism of Tennessee’s new driver’s license law may signal the beginning of a future legal challenge, according to The Tennessee Star’s lead reporter, Tom Pappert.
During an appearance on Tuesday on The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, Pappert discussed Crump’s recent comments opposing House Bill 1708, which Governor Bill Lee signed into law earlier this year and is scheduled to take effect in January 2027.
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New figures presented by Memphis Police Chief CJ Davis during Tuesday’s Memphis City Council meeting show crime continues to trend downward across the city in 2026.
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An Obama-appointed federal judge has blocked the implementation of Tennessee’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) reform prohibiting recipients from using benefits to purchase certain processed food and carbonated sweetened beverages.
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EJ Haust, a self-described political refugee from Minnesota and official guest host of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, criticized a federal judge’s recent decision to quash immigration-related subpoenas targeting Minnesota officials.
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Lisa Daftari, Editor-in-Chief of The Foreign Desk, said the U.S. must approach ongoing negotiations with Tehran cautiously, arguing that the Iranian regime has spent decades mastering the art of using diplomacy to advance its own interests while avoiding meaningful concessions.
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Legal commentator and retired attorney Mark Pulliam said a recent Pennsylvania Supreme Court opinion sharply criticizing Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner illustrates the dangers of progressive prosecutors who, he argues, fail to fully enforce the law and undermine the integrity of the criminal justice system.
Speaking during Monday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, Pulliam discussed the court’s decision and argued that prosecutors who decline to aggressively enforce criminal laws can undermine the justice system.
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Legal commentator and retired attorney Mark Pulliam said the U.S. Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling in United States v. Hemani represents an important victory for Second Amendment rights while leaving unanswered questions about how Congress should regulate gun ownership by drug users.
Discussing the case during Monday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, Pulliam explained that the Court’s ruling struck down a federal law used to prohibit certain drug users from possessing firearms. The decision was authored by Justice Neil Gorsuch.
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Following the sentencing of former South African Air Force Brigadier General Portia Anyamba for acting as an unregistered agent of South Africa while working at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), The Tennessee Star’s lead reporter Tom Pappert said the case leaves critical questions unanswered.
Speaking during an appearance Monday on The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, Pappert pointed to lingering uncertainty surrounding Anyamba’s immigration history, citizenship status, security-clearance eligibility, and how a foreign intelligence asset was able to work inside one of the nation’s most sensitive U.S. Department of Energy facilities before federal investigators intervened.
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A rainbow crosswalk located at the intersection of 14th St and Woodland St in East Nashville originally painted in 2024 was updated with a fresh coat of paint on Saturday ahead of next weekend’s Nashville Pride Fest and Parade set to take place downtown.
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Veteran Washington correspondent Neil W. McCabe said Friday that continued fighting between Israel and Hezbollah remains the greatest threat to the newly signed U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding.
Appearing on The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, McCabe discussed reports that planned U.S.-Iran negotiations in Switzerland had been postponed and argued that the conflict in Lebanon could undermine progress made by Washington and Tehran.
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Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, argued that the alleged White House UFC Freedom 250 terror plot raises significant concerns about both illegal immigration and the growth of violent extremist networks operating online.
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Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, said Metro Nashville’s newly approved $1.5 million for two immigration-focused nonprofits raises serious questions about transparency and compliance with state law.
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A man accused of nearly killing his girlfriend by slashing her throat during a brutal 2024 attack in Campbell County has been captured following an extensive multi-state manhunt, according to the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS).
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Davis Hunt, founder of the Nashville-based publication The Pamphleteer, said during an interview Thursday with The Tennessee Star’s CEO and Editor-in-Chief Michael Patrick Leahy that low voter turnout in Metro Nashville elections has allowed progressive political organizations to exert outsized influence over city government, while arguing that increased participation could reshape the city’s political landscape.
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As Nashville prepares to host its biggest Independence Day celebration yet, the city’s annual Let Freedom Sing! Music City July 4th event is set to be broadcast to a nationwide audience through Disney’s live television special, “Disney Celebrates America: Nashville’s Star-Spangled Bash,” as part of the America 250 commemoration.
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Judson Phillips, Tea Party Nation founder and former prosecutor, said the defense strategy reportedly being pursued by accused killer Luigi Mangione is a mental-health-based legal defense that rarely succeeds and is typically used when other legal options are limited.
As reported by Just The News, Mangione’s attorneys indicated in a New York court hearing Wednesday that they plan to argue he was suffering from an “extreme emotional disturbance” at the time of the 2024 fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
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A week-long targeted enforcement operation conducted in East Tennessee last month resulted in the arrests of 117 illegal aliens, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced Tuesday.
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An Ashland City man is facing an aggravated assault charge after police say he chased a group of teenagers who allegedly removed an anti-ICE sign from his yard and then strangled a 17-year-old driver during a confrontation at a local auto parts store.
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University of Tennessee alumnus Randy Bresnik has been selected by NASA to command the Artemis III mission, a major milestone in the agency’s effort to return astronauts to the Moon and prepare for future missions to Mars.
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U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) spoke exclusively to The Tennessee Star’s CEO and Editor-in-Chief Michael Patrick Leahy on Tuesday, promoting a new bill that would provide additional federal election security funding to states that submit voter registration data to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for citizenship verification.
During an interview on The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, Blackburn discussed the Election Security Partnership Act, legislation she introduced with U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) that would provide bonus election security funding to states that participate in DHS’s Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program.
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The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) unveiled the design concept for a new federal courthouse in downtown Chattanooga, marking the first renderings of a project to reflect the Trump administration’s emphasis on traditional civic architecture.
The approximately 191,000-square-foot courthouse, planned for Vine Street, will consolidate several federal judicial functions into a single secure facility, including the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, and the Circuit Library.
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Legal commentator and retired attorney Mark Pulliam said the misconduct allegations surrounding U.S. District Judge Eleanor Ross represent “one of the worst” scandals he’s seen involving a federal judge and predicted that the Georgia jurist will ultimately resign rather than face a congressional impeachment battle.
Ross, a federal judge in the Northern District of Georgia appointed by former President Barack Obama in 2014, was the subject of a lengthy investigation by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals after complaints from former law clerks.
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Don Palmer, a senior legal fellow for election integrity with the Heritage Foundation Institute for Constitutional Government, sat down for an exclusive interview Friday with The Tennessee Star’s CEO and Editor-in-Chief Michael Patrick Leahy, where he detailed how a pending U.S. Supreme Court decision could compel several states to overhaul their election laws by requiring mail-in ballots to be received by Election Day.
During an appearance on The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, Palmer discussed election administration, voter confidence, citizenship verification, civic education, and concerns about the federal judiciary.
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Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) announced Friday it has selected Hume-Fogg Academic Magnet High School student Hannah Said to serve as the next student member of the Metro Nashville Board of Education, placing a student who has pledged a “deep commitment to social justice” in a prominent advisory role on the district’s governing body.
She succeeds Hannah Nguyen, who graduated from John Overton High School in May.
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Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, praised the Memphis Safe Task Force after federal officials announced the coalition of local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies had surpassed 10,000 arrests since its deployment in September 2025.
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Constitutional law expert Hans von Spakovsky discussed pending Supreme Court cases, Second Amendment litigation, Department of Justice culture, and the role of amicus briefs during an exclusive interview Thursday with The Tennessee Star’s CEO and Editor-in-Chief Michael Patrick Leahy.
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Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, argued that a proposed $60,000 grant to the Tennessee Justice Center undermines claims by Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell that city funding for nonprofit organizations would not support immigration-related advocacy.
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Judson Phillips, Tea Party Nation founder and former Tennessee assistant district attorney, offered a detailed legal analysis Wednesday of the murder conviction and sentencing of Karmelo Anthony, the Texas teenager found guilty of fatally stabbing 17-year-old Austin Metcalf during a high school track meet in 2025.
Speaking on The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, Phillips explained why he believed the jury reached its verdict quickly and why the defense strategy was focused less on acquittal than on reducing potential punishment.
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Following the record-breaking success of the GlockStore’s 6th Annual Open House, the company’s founder and CEO, Lenny Magill, said plans are already underway to make next year’s event even larger after an estimated 2,000 Second Amendment supporters traveled from across the country to attend the Nashville gathering.
Appearing on The Michael Patrick Leahy Show on Monday, Magill revealed that attendance far exceeded initial estimates.
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Veteran journalist and public affairs specialist Clint Brewer and The Tennessee Star’s CEO and Editor-in-Chief Michael Patrick Leahy are raising concerns about the future of NCAA oversight and the growing influence of legalized sports betting following a Texas judge’s decision to restore Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby’s eligibility despite the NCAA’s permanent ban over sports wagering violations.
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U.S. Representative Steve Cohen (D-TN-09), State Rep. Justin Pearson (D-Memphis), the Tennessee Democratic Party, and several other voters and candidates moved to voluntarily dismiss their federal lawsuit seeking to halt the implementation of the state’s newly enacted congressional map and election law changes ahead of the 2026 election cycle.
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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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