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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Libertarian Party of Tennessee Breaks Silence, Condemns ‘Clearly Politically Motivated’ Conviction of President Trump

The Libertarian Party of Tennessee released a statement Thursday, one week after former President Donald Trump was found guilty by a Manhattan jury on all 34 counts in the falsification of business records linked to the Stormy Daniels hush money scandal, condemning the “clearly politically motivated” conviction of the former president.

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Tennessee U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty Latest Republican to Join Pledge Against White House Priorities

Bill Hagerty

U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) joined a group of 13 other Republican members of the U.S. Senate in signing a pledge vowing to not “aid and abet” the Biden administration in its “project to tear this country apart.”

The pledge was created last week on May 31 – just one day after former President Donald Trump was found guilty by a Manhattan jury on all 34 counts in the falsification of business records linked to the Stormy Daniels hush money scandal, marking the first time in history that a U.S. president has been convicted of a felony.

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Tennessee State Rep. Jason Zachary Details Importance of Bill that Tightened Duty to Report Law

Jason Zachary

Tennessee State Representative Jason Zachary (R-Knoxville) suggested his bill that strengthened the state’s duty to report law may have prevented the Covenant School shooting on March 27, 2023 in Nashville if implemented before the shooting took place.

Over the weekend, The Tennessee Star reported it was provided the name of the psychologist who was reportedly part of the care team for Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale.

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Retired MNPD Lieutenant Says Vanderbilt Psychiatric Hospital Did Not Report Covenant Killer’s Violent Fantasies to Law Enforcement

Garet Davidson

Retired Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) Lt. Garet Davidson told Michael Patrick Leahy, CEO and editor-in-chief of The Tennessee Star, that Audrey Elizabeth Hale, the Covenant School killer, received treatment from the Vanderbilt Psychiatric Hospital, where professionals failed to report her violent fantasies to law enforcement. Vanderbilt Psychiatric Hospital is a part of the Vanderbilt University Medical Center system.

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GOP Candidate for TN House District 65 Lee Reeves: ‘Yes, I’m Voting for Governor Lee’s Universal School Choice’

Lee Reeves and MPL

Real estate investor and attorney Lee Reeves, who is running in the August 1 Republican primary election for Tennessee State House District 65, sat down with The Tennessee Star’s CEO and Editor-in-Chief Michael Patrick Leahy on Wednesday to discuss his stance on different issues affecting the state.

House District 65 is currently represented by State Representative Sam Whitson (R-Franklin), who announced he would not be seeking reelection to the seat.

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Reporter Matt Giffin Recounts Being the Sole Reporter at Federal Hearing in Case of Transgender Alleged Cyberstalker McKenzie McClure

Matthew Giffin

Matt Giffin, reporter at The Tennessee Star, said he was the sole reporter that attended the federal hearing on Monday in the case of transgender alleged cyberstalker McKenzie McClure, who was ordered by the federal district court judge to be temporarily released to a residential mental health facility rather than stay in federal custody.

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Tennessee AG Skrmetti Leads Coalition in Demanding the American Bar Association Stop Requiring Law Schools to Engage in Illegal Racial Discrimination

Tennessee A.G. Jonathan Skrmetti

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti led a coalition of 20 other state attorneys general in sending a letter to the Council of the American Bar Association (ABA) on Monday demanding that it make changes to its accreditation process to comply with the Supreme Court’s ruling on affirmative in the case Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard.

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Legal Reporter Rachel Alexander Says Trump Conviction is the ‘Most Twisted Legal Decision’ She’s Seen in Her Life

Rachel Alexander

Rachel Alexander, lead reporter at The Arizona Sun Times and recovering lawyer, said Thursday’s decision by a Manhattan jury to convict former President Donald Trump on 34 counts in the falsification of business records linked to the Stormy Daniels hush money scandal is the “most twisted legal decision” she has witnessed in her life.

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Tennessee Attorney General Leads Lawsuit Challenging HHS Final Rule on Gender Identity Under the Affordable Care Act

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti and Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch led a coalition of 13 other states in filing a lawsuit challenging the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) final rule, which redefines the Affordable Care Act’s prohibition against discrimination based on “sex” to include “gender identity.”

As of May 6, HHS’ final rule requires medical providers to perform surgeries and administer hormone drugs to both children and adults for the purpose of gender transition, without regard for a doctor’s medical judgment as to whether that treatment was appropriate.

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Scammers Who Attempted to Foreclose on Elvis Presley’s Iconic Graceland Home Admit to Failure: Report

Grace Land

An individual allegedly involved in a scheme to acquire Elvis Presley’s iconic Graceland home in Memphis reportedly reached out to CNN via email claiming responsibility for the scam, the outlet reported this week.

Graceland became the target of Nausanny Investments and Private Lending, LLC after the company claimed that the singer’s daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, who died in 2023, didn’t repay a loan using the home as collateral.

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Journalist Julie Kelly Not Surprised by Trump Conviction, Says Lawfare Has Been Used to Target Everyday Americans Since January 6 Capitol Riot

Donald Trump

Independent journalist Julie Kelly said she was not “shocked” that former President Donald Trump was found guilty by a Manhattan jury on all 34 counts in the falsification of business records linked to the Stormy Daniels hush money scandal on Thursday considering the left has been using its lawfare to target everyday Americans involved in the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot.

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Reporter Tom Pappert: ‘Bone-Chilling’ to See 15-Year-Old Alleged Bellevue Killer Smiling After Crime

Tom Pappert

Tom Pappert, the lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, said the photograph released by the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) that shows the 15-year-old arrested for the fatal Wednesday night shooting in Bellevue smiling after the incident is “bone-chilling.”

On Thursday, Pappert reported that MNPD confirmed the arrest of 15-year-old De’Anthony Osasosifo and named him as a suspect in the Wednesday night shooting in the parking lot of the Red Caboose Park in Bellevue that left a 13-year-old dead and his 16-year-old sister hospitalized.

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Secretary of State Urges Tennesseans to Become Poll Workers for Upcoming 2024 Elections

Poll Workers

Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett is urging those eligible across the Volunteer State to become poll workers for the upcoming August 1 primary elections and the November 5 general election.

The job of poll workers is to help polling sites run smoothly during early voting and on Election Day by conducting various tasks, including greeting voters, answering questions, explaining how to cast a ballot, and counting votes at their community locations.

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The GlockStore to Host Fourth Annual Open House Celebrating the Company’s Move to Nashville

Lenny Magill

Lenny Magill, founder and CEO of the GlockStore, said the store’s fourth annual open house event will be held this Saturday to celebrate the company’s move from San Diego, California, to the Volunteer State.

“Our open house is this Saturday at 10 a.m. This is our fourth year of celebrating the move from California to Nashville. We love Nashville. At the event this weekend, we’ll have two shooting competitions. We’ve got a lot of fun. Excellent prices on guns. Gun prices that you never see again. They’re super low. Of course, all of our parts and pieces that we manufacture here in Nashville are going to be on sale as well. We’ve got free ice cream. We’ve got food trucks. We’ve got the shooting competitions, which I said, which is a low light competition and a speed competition and we are going to be raffling off a full fledged Glock 17 custom gun,” Magill said on Wednesday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show.

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Jury Convicts Memphis Man of Child Abuse and Murder in Death of Two-Year Old Son

Antonio First

After just one hour of deliberations, a jury delivered guilty verdicts last week against Memphis father Antonio First for Aggravated Child Abuse, Murder in the Perpetration of Aggravated Child Abuse, Aggravated Child Neglect, and Murder in the Perpetration of Aggravated Child Neglect, the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office announced Monday.

The charges stem from the death of First’s two-year-old son, Brayton Brooks, who was found unresponsive and cold to the touch by paramedics on June 24, 2020.

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U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn Leads Tennessee Colleagues in Demanding Answers from DHS After Illegal Alien Assaults Woman at the Nashville Sundae Club

DHS Sec Alejandro Mayorkas, Senator Marsha Blackburn

Tennessee U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) led a letter signed by eight other members of the Tennessee Congressional delegation to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas demanding answers regarding the immigration status of a 23-year old illegal alien who allegedly followed a woman into a bathroom at the Nashville Sundae Club and groped her

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Inside Nashville Metro Council’s Decision to Deny Morgan Wallen Sign over ‘Aerial Encroachment’ and Past Remarks

Morgan Wallen

Metro Nashville Council Member Jeff Eslick provided an inside look of the council’s decision to deny a sign from being displayed on the exterior of country music artist Morgan Wallen’s downtown bar, explaining how the ordinance to deny such display dealt with “aerial encroachment” and was a “standard operating procedure” before members personally smeared the artist for his past actions.

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Tennessee National Guard, State and Local Agencies Undergo Disaster Response Exercises in Severe Flooding Simulation

TN National Guard

Tennessee National Guard troops, local first responders, and personnel of other state entities participated in the Tennessee Maneuvers 2024 training exercises last week in 15 counties across the Volunteer State.

Tennessee Maneuvers is a series of disaster simulation training exercises that test the joint response capabilities of participating personnel. The exercises occurred in Bradley, Coffee, Davidson, Gibson, Hamilton, Hawkins, Knox, Loudon, Madison, Maury, McMinn, Rhea, Rutherford, Sullivan, and Wilson counties.

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Former U.S. Special Envoy to Haiti Dan Foote Skeptical About Kenya’s Plan to Send Peacekeepers into Haiti

Joe Biden Kenya

Former U.S. Special Envoy for Haiti Dan Foote said he believes there is a slight chance that Kenya’s plan to send 1,000 of its police officers to lead a peacekeeping mission in Haiti will be abandoned based on the African country’s president’s meeting with President Joe Biden at the White House this week.

In March, Kenya and Haiti signed a security deal that provides for 1,000 Kenyan police officers to lead a peacekeeping mission in the Caribbean country to address chaos caused by gang violence since the 2021 assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse.

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Tennessee AG Skrmetti Launches Probe into Attempted Foreclosure of Elvis Presley’s Iconic Graceland Home

Jonathan Skrmetti Graceland

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti announced Thursday that his office is “looking into” a private investment company’s attempt to foreclose on Elvis Presley’s iconic Graceland home in Memphis.

Graceland became the target of Nausanny Investments and Private Lending, LLC after the company claimed that the singer’s daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, who died in 2023, didn’t repay a loan that used the home as collateral.

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Senate Democrats Block Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn’s Bill to Require Familial DNA Testing at Southern Border

Group of immigrants at border

Democrat members of the U.S. Senate unanimously moved to block Tennessee U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn’s (R-TN) bill that would require a DNA test to determine the relationship between illegal immigrants and any accompanying children crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.

Blackburn introduced the End Child Trafficking Now Act last year after the Biden administration ended all DNA familial testing at the border.

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I-65 Interchange at Buckner Road Expects to Reopen Next Week: Report

I-65

The new I-65 Interchange at Buckner Road in Spring Hill is expected to open on May 31 after being under construction for more than two years, according to a report by Williamson Source.

On its website, Spring Hill called the new interchange a “game-changer” for the area, as there is currently only one I-65 access point to the city through the Saturn Parkway Exit.

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Los Angeles’ Troubling Crime Stats Stemming from Public Transit Offers Glimpse into Nashville’s Future with Mayor O’Connell’s Transit Plan

Los Angeles Buses

A report out of Los Angeles regarding the city’s crime rates on its public transportation services is being flagged by a local watchdog in Nashville as a glimpse of what Music City’s future may look like if Mayor Freddie O’Connell’s multi-billion-dollar transit plan is implemented.

O’Connell’s transit plan, “Choose How You Move: An All-Access Pass to Sidewalks, Signals, Service, and Safety,” would be funded by a half-cent increase in the city’s sales tax to construct miles of new sidewalks, bus stops, transit centers, parking facilities, and upgraded traffic signals around Nashville.

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Woman Found Dead in Clarksville Residence Identified as Ft. Campbell Soldier

Katia Duenas Aguilar

A woman found deceased inside a Clarksville residence over the weekend has been identified as 23-year-old Katia Duenas-Aguilar of Mesquite, Texas who was a soldier stationed at Ft. Campbell located on the Kentucky–Tennessee border.

Private First Class Duenas-Aguilar was a member of the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade of the United States Army’s 101st Airborne Division.

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Ohio Supreme Court Dismisses Motion Challenging House Bill 68

Girls Basketball

The Ohio Supreme Court released a decision on Wednesday dismissing an emergency motion filed by Attorney General Dave Yost asking the state’s highest court to narrow a temporary restraining order issued by Franklin County Court of Common Pleas Judge Michael J. Holbrook to block the state from enforcing House Bill 68.

On April 16, Judge Holbrook issued a temporary restraining order to prevent House Bill 68 – which includes the SAFE Act and the Save Women’s Sports Act – from taking immediate effect.

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