Murfreesboro Approves Salary Increases for Police, Firefighters

Murfreesboro Approves Salary Increases for Police, Firefighters

The Murfreesboro City Council approved pay adjustments for public safety in the Fiscal Year 2025 Budget last week, raising the annual pay of police officers, sergeants, firefighters, and AEMTs.

At its meeting on July 25, the council voted to approve the pay adjustments after reviewing a survey of neighboring Middle Tennessee cities to compare the city’s police pay plan to peer cities.

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Cincinnati Man Sentenced to over Seven Years in Jail for Robbing Postal Carrier at Gunpoint

Lamarion Gray

A 19-year-old Cincinnati man was sentenced to 7.5 years in prison on Wednesday for robbing a mail carrier with the U.S. Postal Service at gunpoint last year, according to the Southern District of Ohio U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Lamarion Gray, according to court documents, approached the female carrier delivering mail on foot on the afternoon of July 12, 2023, where he brandished a firearm, pointed it at the victims, and demanded that she turn over her keys.

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Faith and Freedom Coalition Executive Director Tim Head Details Pros and Cons of Democratic Presumptive Nominee Kamala Harris’ Reported Top VP Picks

Josh Shapiro and Mark Kelly

Tim Head, the national executive director of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, detailed the potential advantages and disadvantages that the two frontrunner candidates reportedly being eyed by Vice President Kamala Harris to be her running mate in the 2024 presidential election would bring to the table in regards to voter turnout.

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Ohio Republican Leaders Blast Proposed Constitutional Amendment to Change Redistricting Process

Mike DeWine

The Ohio Republican Party and Governor Mike DeWine both announced opposition on Wednesday to a proposed constitutional amendment that would amend Ohio’s constitution by rewriting redistricting rules.

Every 10 years after the U.S. Census, the Ohio Redistricting Commission – comprised of seven members – is tasked with redrawing Ohio’s 99 House districts and 33 Senate districts to reflect the most recent census results.

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Thousands Line Up Outside Venue in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Ahead of Trump Rally

PA Trump Crowd

Thousands of people began lining up outside the New Holland Arena in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on Wednesday to witness former President Donald Trump speak at his first campaign rally in the state since surviving an assassination attempt less than three weeks ago in Butler County.

Supporters began lining up outside of the venue at approximately 1:00 a.m. on Wednesday – more than 12 hours until doors to the venue were scheduled to open at 2:00 p.m. – according to the local news outlet ABC 27.

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Mike Benz Exposes Cynical Censorship Practices at the DHS’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency

Mike Benz

Mike Benz, a former Trump State Department official and current executive director of the Foundation for Freedom Online, said the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), a component of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), is actively censoring conservative Americans under the guise of carrying out unaudited “cybersecurity operations.”

Benz said the practice began in 2018 when CISA was created under the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Act of 2018. It was in full swing during the 2020 election under the guise of being a “cyber security and infrastructure security agency,” which, Benz said, is why the program was funded under former President Donald Trump’s watch.

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Davidson County Chancery Court Rules Law Shrinking Size of Metro Nashville Council Is Unconstitutional

Metropolitan Council Office

he Davidson County Chancery Court ruled 2-1 on Monday that Tennessee’s law capping the number of elected officials in the Metro Nashville-Davidson County City Council to 20 is unconstitutional.

Governor Bill Lee signed SB87/HB48 into law on March 9, 2023, which requires that the governing body of a municipality or Metropolitan government must “dissolve, combine, or reapportion districts or wards, as necessary, so that the number of members elected to the governing body does not exceed 20 voting members.”

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Tennessee U.S. Reps. Vote to Condemn Vice President Kamala Harris’ Failed Duty as Border Czar

Kamala Harris

All eight Republican members of Tennessee’s congressional delegation serving in the U.S. House of Representatives voted on Thursday to condemn the failure of the Biden administration and “border czar” Vice President Kamala Harris to secure the United States border.

The resolution, H.Res.1371, passed the House by a 220-196 vote. Six Democrats joined the majority vote.

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Chairman Michael Whatley: Republican National Committee Working ‘Aggressively’ to Ensure 2024 Election is Secure

Michael Whatley

Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Michael Whatley said the Republican Party is working “aggressively” to ensure states conduct secure elections for the upcoming November 5 general election.

Whatley said the RNC has filed 96 election-related lawsuits across the country to ensure the upcoming election is conducted in the most secure way possible. This includes cleaning up states’ voter rolls, preventing illegal immigrants from voting, and enforcing voter identification requirements.

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Election Integrity Law Expert Phill Kline: ‘The Democratic Party Lost Faith in Democracy a Long Time Ago’

Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris

Phill Kline, former Kansas Attorney General and current law professor at Liberty University School of Law, said the Democratic Party “lost faith in democracy a long time ago,” specifically citing multiple occasions when Democrat-occupied executive branches “stretched the law” to act without legislative consultation or approval on partisan issues.

Kline said Democrats have abused the executive branch to stretch emergency powers to advance partisan policies, including the environment, gun control, and, most recently, the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Proposed Constitutional Amendment to Change Ohio’s Redistricting Process Will Be Presented to Voters in November

Dave Yost

A proposed constitutional amendment that would amend Ohio’s constitution by rewriting redistricting rules will be presented to voters on the November 5 general election ballot, the Ohio Secretary of State’s Office announced on Tuesday.

The proposed constitutional amendment would create the Ohio Citizens Redistricting Commission to ensure an “open and transparent process and fair outcomes that preserve the political power inherent in the people.”

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Tennessee Congressional Delegation Members React to U.S. Secret Service Director’s Resignation

Kimberly Cheatle

Eight members of the Tennessee congressional delegation reacted to U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle’s resignation on Tuesday, agreeing that her decision to step down was in the agency’s best interest.

Cheatle’s resignation came 10 days after former President Donald Trump was grazed by a single bullet in his upper right ear in what is formally being investigated as a failed assassination attempt during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

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Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti Leads Push Against Federal Housing Finance Agency Pilot Program

Jonathan Skrmetti

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti led a coalition of 13 other state attorneys general in pushing back against a new pilot program launched by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) that would remove title insurance requirements from certain loans sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

In March, the FHFA launched the pilot program, which “waives the requirement for lender’s title insurance or a legal opinion on certain low-risk refinance transactions where there is confidence that the property is free and clear of any prior lien or encumbrance.”

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Ben Cunningham: Nashville Mayor’s Transit Referendum ‘Purely Illegal’ Under 2017 IMPROVE Act Despite Unanimous Metro Council Support

Freddie O'Connell

Ben Cunningham, founder of the Nashville Tea Party, is warning Nashvillians about Mayor Freddie O’Connell’s multi-billion dollar transit plan, which will be presented to voters this November via ballot referendum.

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 throughout Nashville.

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Reporter Tom Pappert Wonders If President Joe Biden Had Willingly Agreed to End 2024 Reelection Campaign Ahead of Sunday’s Announcement

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris

Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, speculated about the possible scene in which President Joe Biden eventually agreed to end his reelection bid while also wondering if the incumbent president had a say in the decision at all.

On Sunday afternoon, a letter without a letterhead was posted to Biden’s social media accounts announcing the end to his 2024 reelection bid.

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