State Representative Scott Cepicky: Tennessee’s Public Education Has Opportunity to Be Improved Through Both Universal School Choice Program and Reform Measures

MPL and Cepicky Interview

Tennessee State Representative Scott Cepicky (R-Culleoka) said the Tennessee House version of the universal school choice bill that failed to pass the General Assembly earlier this year is “eerily similar” to the Wisconsin school choice bill that passed the state’s legislature nearly 14 years ago.

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Exclusive: Tennessee AG Jonathan Skrmetti Says SCOTUS Decision to Take Up Case Challenging State Law Banning Transgender Treatment for Minors Will Be a ‘Major Step Toward Clarity’

Jonathan Skrmetti

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti joined Tuesday’s episode of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show for an exclusive interview where he discussed the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to hear arguments and rule on whether Tennessee’s law that bans “gender-affirming care” on minors violates the Constitution.

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Michael Patrick Leahy on SCOTUS Decision to Take Up Case Challenging Tennessee Law Banning Transgender Surgery for Minors: ‘Transgender Youth is a Creation of the Left’

Michael Patrick Leahy

Michael Patrick Leahy, Editor-in-Chief and CEO of The Tennessee Star, reacted to Monday’s announcement by the U.S. Supreme Court that it would hear arguments and rule on whether a Tennessee law that bans “gender-affirming care” on minors violates the Constitution.

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Incumbent U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles Trounces TN-5 Challenger Courtney Johnston in Straw Poll at Davidson County Republican Party’s Annual Picnic Event

Rep. Andy Ogles

Tennessee U.S. Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN-05) was the resounding victor among attendees at the Davidson County Republican Party’s annual picnic event on Saturday who participated in a straw poll weighing candidates running in the August 1 Republican primary for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District.

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Reporter Peter D’Abrosca: TN-05 GOP Candidate Courtney Johnston’s Reluctance Talking to the Press Fuels Assumptions She Is a Left-of-Center Candidate

Pete and MPL

Peter D’Abrosca, reporter at The Tennessee Star, said Metro Nashville Council Member Courtney Johnston’s reluctance to speak with the press on various issues only leaves voters to assume that she is a left-of-center candidate running in the August 1 GOP primary race for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District.

Johnston is running in the August 1 primary against incumbent U.S. Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN-05), who boasts a 100 percent rating on the Heritage Action Scorecard, the nation’s leading conservative scorecard.

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Reporter Tom Pappert: Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s Connection to Covenant Killer Is the Most Significant Revelation of Entire Case

Tom Pappert MPL

Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, said he believes Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s (VUMC) connection to Audrey Elizabeth Hale, the Covenant School killer, is the “biggest part” of the unraveling story.

On June 7, The Star was the first to report that Hale was a 22-year patient of VUMC from 2001 until the time of the horrific school shooting on March 27, 2023.

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New Law Results in Tennessee National Guard Troops Receiving Compensation Faster

Tennessee National Guard

A bill signed into law by Governor Bill Lee last year has reportedly resulted in dozens of Tennessee National Guard troops on state active duty receiving weekly compensation as opposed to waiting a month or longer to receive wages.

The bill, HB 0562, strengthened Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 58-1-109 by adding the following language to ensure active duty troops receive compensation on a weekly basis:

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Shelby County District Attorney Drops Diversion Plan for Felons in Possession of Firearms When Threatened to Be Removed from Office

Steve Mulroy and Brent Taylor

Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy announced his office would not pursue a previous diversion plan for felons in possession of firearms after Tennessee State Senator Brent Taylor (R-Memphis) said that he intends to file a Senate Joint Resolution immediately following the November election requiring the removal of Mulroy.

Last week, Mulroy announced that his office was considering an “alternative approach” for felons charged with unlawful possession of a weapon by offering diversion to such defendants.

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Ohio U.S. Senate GOP Nominee Bernie Moreno Slams President Biden’s Mass Amnesty Plan for Illegal Aliens Married to U.S. Citizens

Bernie Moreno

Bernie Moreno, the Republican nominee in the Ohio U.S. Senate race, condemned the Biden administration’s executive order to allow illegal alien spouses and children to apply for lawful permanent residence without leaving the country.

To be eligible under Biden’s Tuesday executive order, “noncitizens” must have resided in the United States for 10 or more years and be legally married to a U.S. citizen while satisfying all applicable legal requirements as of June 17, 2024.

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Reporter Tom Pappert: Weaponized Justice Department Targets Conservatives Down the Chain as President Trump Predicted

MPL Tom Pappert

Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, said the “weaponized” Department of Justice is going after everyday Americans just as former President Donald Trump predicted, pointing to the case of The Star’s CEO and Editor-in-Chief Michael Patrick Leahy who is ordered to appear in court on Monday, June 17 after his publication reported on the journal entries of Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale.

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Tennessee Congressional Delegation Urges President Biden to Approve Governor Lee’s Disaster Declaration

Tennessee Tornado Damage

All 11 members of the Tennessee congressional delegation sent a letter to President Joe Biden requesting the “swift approval” of Governor Bill Lee’s request for a Major Disaster Declaration due to severe storms that devastated communities across the Volunteer State last month.

On May 8 and May 9, several rounds of significant severe weather impacted 13 Tennessee counties, causing three fatalities and damage to 459 homes in Tennessee.

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Tennessee U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles Introduces the ‘No Juicing Joe Act’ Ahead of Trump v. Biden Debate

Andy Ogles

U.S. Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN-05) introduced a bill on Thursday that would require the White House to notify Congress of each instance the president takes certain drugs relating to cognitive function.

Ogles’ “No Juicing Joe Act” would specifically require the White House to alert Congress when the president takes a drug that could alter his alertness, judgment, or mood.

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Tennessee U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles Signs Letter Pushing Back on New Energy Mandates on Home Construction

Andy Ogles

U.S. Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN-05) signed a letter to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), opposing the agencies’ recently adopted mandates for new home construction.

On May 28, the HUD and USDA’s “Adoption of Energy Efficiency Standards for New Construction of HUD- and USDA-Financed Housing” mandate went into effect, requiring all HUD and USDA-financed single-family homes to be constructed under the 2021 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC).

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Crom Carmichael: The Left is Attempting to Turn the Supreme Court into a ‘Rubber Stamp’ for Its Agenda

Supreme Court Protest

Crom Carmichael and Michael Patrick Leahy, editor-in-chief and CEO of The Tennessee Star, said lawmakers and entities on the Left are attempting to discredit the U.S. Supreme Court as the nation’s highest court hands down decisions in cases that the Left strongly disagrees with.

“There’s a lot of effort now by the left to try to discredit certain Supreme Court justices individually and then to also discredit the Supreme Court as an institution. The left will elevate the Supreme Court institutionally back when the Supreme Court rubber stamps what the left wants. Right now, they’re not getting what they want so now they are attacking individual Supreme Court justices for tiny things,” Carmichael explained on Wednesday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show.

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Biden’s DOJ Orders Hawkins County Schools to Hire ‘Anti-Harassment Coordinator’ to Oversee ‘Race Discrimination and Harassment Complaints’

Classroom Students

The Biden administration’s Department of Justice (DOJ) ordered Hawkins County Schools on Monday to implement a number of measures to “end racial discrimination in its schools.”

A DOJ-led investigation into Hawkins County Schools that began in March 2023 found that the school system was “deliberately indifferent to known race-based harassment in its schools” and was ordered to spend at least three years under a federal settlement with the DOJ.

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Reporter Tom Pappert Offers Thoughts on Why Vanderbilt University Medical Center Refuses to Answer Press Inquiries Surrounding Covenant Killer Case

Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star who has reported extensively on The Star’s obtaining of more than 80 documents related to the case of Audrey Elizabeth Hale, the Covenant School killer, said Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) has refused to respond to any of his press inquiries surrounding its involvement in the case of Hale, who reportedly had been receiving treatment from the hospital since 2001.

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Roger Simon Examines Trump’s VP Shortlist, Identifies Three ‘A-Plus’ Candidates

Roger Simon, the co-founder of PJMedia and current columnist for The Epoch Times, said he would like to see former President Donald Trump choose neurosurgeon and former Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Dr. Ben Carson as his running mate in the 2024 presidential election.

Trump’s campaign has reportedly begun requesting information from the former president’s potential vice president candidates.

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Shatter-Resistant Glass Films to Be Installed on Every Wilson County School Campus This Summer

WCS Meeting

The Wilson County School District voted unanimously to approve shatter-resistant glass films to be installed at each of its 24 brick-and-mortar campuses.

On Monday, board members Kimberly McGee, Larry Tomlinson, Carrie Pfeiffer, Jamie Farough, Melissa Lynn, Joseph Padilla, and Beth Meyers all voted to approve Director of Schools Jeff Luttrell’s recommendation that the board hire Osteen Construction to install the security film for a total of $900,105.36.

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