Author: Tom Pappert

Tennessee Army National Guard Soldiers Finish Training on ‘Cutting Edge’ Drone Technology Developed for Ukraine War

Tom Pappert
TN guard drones

The Tennessee Department of Military (TDM) announced on Thursday that 12 soldiers in the Tennessee Army National Guard were the first to graduate from the Volunteer State’s new Small Unmanned Aircraft System (SAUS) Master Trainer course in Tullahoma.

According to the TDM press release, the training prepared the 12 attendees to become “SAUS instructors, pilots, and subject matter experts.” They each received specialized knowledge about reconnaissance drones, namely the Skydio RQ-28A and RQ-28-C, as well as the new Neros Archer, which was developed last year for battlefield use in Ukraine.

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Meth Bust Near Knoxville Leads to Indictments of ‘High Ranking’ Members of Top Cartel, DOJ Says

Tom Pappert
Cárteles Unidos

A methamphetamine bust near Knoxville, Tennessee helped prosecutors build a case that led a federal grand jury to return an indictment accusing two Mexican nationals of trafficking “immense” quantities of the drug throughout the United States, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Thursday. 

In a press release, the DOJ Office of Public Affairs confirmed the indictments of Jose “Juanjo” Farias Mendoza and Israel “Papo” Vega Farias, who it described as residents of Michoacan, Mexico, and as “high-ranking members of the United Cartels.”

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Misleading Attack by Todd Warner Against Brent Taylor in TN-9 is Factually Wrong

Tom Pappert
Todd Warner, Brent Taylor

State Representative Todd Warner (R-Chapel Hill) on Wednesday falsely claimed that State Senator Brent Taylor (R-Memphis) has turned to “negative attacks” in the Republican primary campaign for Tennessee’s 9th Congressional District, as he appeared to conflate a recent political advertisement from a pro-school choice political action committee (PAC) with Taylor’s campaign.

While Warner claimed that “Taylor and his campaign” are behind “a series of negative attacks,” including “distortions, personal attacks, and outright lies,” The Tennessee Star understands his post on social media followed a political mailer sent by the American Federation for Children (AFC) Victory Fund, a political action committee (PAC) that supports candidates who vote in favor of school choice.

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Nine Republican State Senators Seek Answers After Tennessee Fails to Execute Convicted Murderer Under Revised Protocol

Tom Pappert
Tony carruthers

Tennessee State Senator Tom Hatcher (R-Blount County) led eight of his colleagues, including Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson (R-Franklin), in a letter sent to Governor Bill Lee, asking him to authorize an independent investigation to determine why Tennessee failed to execute Tony Carruthers under the lethal injection protocol the state adopted in 2024.

Notably written by proponents of the death penalty in Tennessee, Hatcher told Lee that he and his colleagues wrote to express “serious concern” over the failed execution of Carruthers (pictured above), who a jury sentenced to death for the kidnapping and murder of three people in Memphis in 1994.

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Nashville Budget for 2027 Includes $60,000 Grant for Nonprofit Now Suing Tennessee over Illegal Alien Benefits Reporting for Children

Tom Pappert
Mayor Freddie O'Connell

The Metro Nashville Council passed its Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 budget, which includes a $60,000 grant for the Tennessee Justice Center (TJC), the legal nonprofit that sued the Tennessee Department of Health (TDH) over guidance it published to comply with legislation recently signed into law by Governor Bill Lee.

Both the budget proposed by Mayor Freddie O’Connell and the version passed by the Metro Council after minor changes include a $60,000 grant for TJC under the Health and Hospitals portion of the annual appropriations for FY 2027.

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Candace Owens Seeks Court’s Permission to File 35-Page Motion to Dismiss in Defamation Lawsuit by Charlie Kirk’s Head of Security

Tom Pappert
Candace Owens

Attorneys representing Candace Owens in the federal defamation case filed against her in Tennessee by Brian Harpole, the former head of security for Charlie Kirk, asked U.S. District Judge William L. Campbell for permission to dismiss the lawsuit.

In the submission filed last week, Owens’ attorneys revealed that they will file a 35-page motion containing requests for Campbell to dismiss the lawsuit for a purported failure to state a claim, allegedly running afoul of the Tennessee Public Participation Act (TTPA), and grant a partial motion to strike.

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Nashville Mayor’s Plan to Stop Data Center with Eminent Domain Follows SELC Letter Highlighting Concern for Endangered Nashville Crayfish

Tom Pappert
Nashville Mayor

The plan by Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell to use eminent domain to acquire property in order to prevent the construction of a data center near the Nashville Zoo at Grassmere came just days after the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) sent a letter warning about the fate of the Nashville crayfish to the company, reportedly already under contract to buy the property.

After the letter was sent, the Nashville Business Journal additionally reported the Nashville Zoo had “engaged’ with the SELC about the data center before the environmental legal nonprofit expressed its concern about the crayfish.

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Federal Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Challenging Tennessee Law Targeting Illegal Aliens with Final Deportation Orders

Tom Pappert
illegal immigrant

A federal lawsuit challenging House Bill (HB) 1704, Tennessee’s new law making it a state misdemeanor offense for illegal aliens with final deportation removals to intentionally remain in the Volunteer State despite knowing their legal status, was dismissed on Friday.

U.S. District Judge Eli Richardson, who was appointed by President Donald Trump in 2018, determined that the plaintiffs lacked standing to file their lawsuit because they failed to demonstrate that they faced potential legal consequences under the law.

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Nashville Mayor Confirms Plan to Block Private Data Center Deal Near Zoo Using Eminent Domain

Tom Pappert
Nashville Mayor

Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell on Monday confirmed his plan to use eminent domain to condemn and acquire property near the Nashville Zoo at Grassmere for public uses, including offices for Metro, the Nashville Fire Department, and the Nashville Department of Transportation and Multimodal Infrastructure (NDOT). 

News first emerged early on Monday that the mayor was planning to use eminent domain in response the controversial data center planned near the zoo, and by the end of the day, O’Connell released a statement listing his concerns about the data center, and announcing his administration’s plans for the property. 

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DOJ Announces Indictment of Tennessee Woman as Part of Trump Administration Push Against Healthcare Fraud

Tom Pappert
Nurse

The U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee announced federal charges against a Tennessee woman who allegedly used the identities of two women with similar names to falsely present herself as a nurse and scam over 30 healthcare providers, in an investigation tied to the Trump administration’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud.

Court records reveal the indictment against Heather May Wilbanks Greene was issued last week, and U.S. Attorney Michael Dunavant confirmed the charges in a Tuesday press release, alleging she orchestrated “a multi-year scheme to impersonate a licensed registered nurse” involving identity theft and wire fraud.

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AOC, Ilhan Omar Endorse State Rep. Justin Pearson for Redrawn TN-9, Further Consolidating Progressive Support

Tom Pappert

U.S. Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY-14) and Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05) have joined the growing list of nationally recognized progressive Democrats throwing their endorsements behind State Representative Justin Pearson (D-Memphis), who seeks his party’s nomination to represent Tennessee in the newly redrawn 9th Congressional District.

Ocasio-Cortez’s endorsement of Pearson was announced via the New York Democrat’s congressional campaign account on the social media platform X.

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Republican TN-9 Candidate Jeremy Thompson Calls for Streamlined ‘Multi-Year Visas’ for Lawful Foreign Workers

Tom Pappert
Jeremy Thompson

Jeremy Thompson, the veteran and Fayetteville business owner who is seeking the Republican Party nomination to represent Tennessee’s newly redrawn 9th Congressional District, last Thursday called for Congress to implement an online system for some temporary foreign workers to obtain “multi-year visas” that would streamline the application process using the internet.

Thompson called for the system to be implemented after he was asked a question during a candidate forum held on Thursday, which was organized by the Tennessee Farm Bureau Federation, Tennessee Chamber of Commerce, and the Tennessee Electric Cooperative Association, and included an featured statement and responses to two questions from each of the six candidates who attended.

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Metro Nashville Council Yet to Determine Whether Records Exist Justifying $1.5 Million in Grants for Pro-Illegal Alien Nonprofits, Sets July 1 to Respond

Tom Pappert
Nashville Metro Council in session

The Metro Council Office on Wednesday said it was still working to determine whether it has records showing its justification for the nearly $1.5 million in grants Nashville awarded two pro-illegal immigrant nonprofits in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 budget passed earlier this month. The office said it will need until July 1 to make this determination and provide a response. 

In a response to the Tennessee Public Records Act (TPRA)-pursuant request sent by The Tennessee Star on June 12, the Metro Council Office on Thursday announced, “It has not yet been determined whether the records responsive to your request exist.”

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Six Candidates for Tennessee’s 9th Congressional District Offer Distinct Visions for Rural Areas Included in 2026 Redistricting in Bipartisan Forum

Tom Pappert
Justin Pearson

Six of the 10 candidates who have qualified for the primary election ballot to represent Tennessee’s 9th Congressional District on Thursday appeared for a bipartisan candidate forum held by the Tennessee Farm Bureau Federation, Tennessee Chamber of Commerce, and the Tennessee Electric Cooperative Association, revealing dramatically different visions for how the candidates would represent rural constituents if elected.

The first candidate to offer their vision to rural voters in the newly redrawn district was State Senator London Lamar (D-Nashville), who suggested she could use her legislative experience in the Tennessee General Assembly to bridge the gap between the district’s rural, suburban, and urban areas.

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Tennessee Republican Candidate for State House Says He Prefers Teaching Illegal Alien Students to American Citizens

Tom Pappert
Jeff Fancher

Jeffrey Fancher, one of the two Republicans vying to represent District 11 in Tennessee’s State House following the decision by State Representative Jeremy Faison (R-Cosby) to retire at the end of his current term, recently said that he prefers teaching students who are in the country illegally.

The Republican candidate for State House made the comments during his Monday appearance on the Charlie Cook Podcast, stating, “I live by the philosophy, you know, don’t bother me, don’t bother you, and I’ve never had any issues with illegal immigrants.”

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Metro Nashville Estimates 18 Business Days to Produce Records on Nearly $1.5 Million in Grants to Pro-Illegal Alien Nonprofits After Tennessee Star Request

Tom Pappert
Mayor Freddie O'Connell

Metro Nashville on Tuesday told The Tennessee Star that Metro estimates it will need until July 10 to provide documents justifying the nearly $1.5 million in grants awarded to the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) and Tennessee Justice for Our Neighbors (TNJFON) in the fiscal year (FY) 2027 budget passed earlier this month.

The response from Metro came six business days after Metro confirmed receipt of the public records request on June 12, at which point the request had been sent to the Metro Department of Finance, the law department, the mayor’s office, and the Metro Council.

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Economist Finds Chattanooga Employment No Better than Comparable Tennessee Counties Despite Government-Funded Internet

Tom Pappert
Chattanooga

Dr. George S. Ford, the chief economist at the Phoenix Center for Advanced Legal and Economic Public Policy Studies, last month released a bulletin contradicting claims made by a professor at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC) and employee of the Electric Power Board (EPB) of Chattanooga about the economic impact of the EPB municipal broadband network.

Ford wrote the bulletin in response to claims published by EPB last November by Dr. Bento Lobo of UTC and EPB employee William Plank in their own report, which asserted the public utility’s fiber infrastructure produced “$5.3 billion and 10,420 jobs” between 2011 and 2025, and created the ecosystem for new businesses and entrepreneurs to thrive.

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Civil Rights Lawyer Ben Crump Claims Tennessee Law Requiring English Proficiency Test for Driver’s License Could Undo ’30 Years of Progress’

Tom Pappert
Ben Crump

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump on Saturday claimed Tennessee’s new law requiring those applying for a driver’s license to demonstrate their lawful residence status in the country and take an English proficiency exam has the potential to undo “30 years of progress” in the Volunteer State. 

Crump made the comments on social media while sharing an article about House Bill (HB) 1708, the legislation signed into law by Governor Bill Lee earlier this year. Once effective in January 2027, it will require those applying for a Tennessee driver’s license to submit documentation providing citizenship, and to complete an English proficiency exam.

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Tennessee Pharmacist, Co-Conspirators Sentenced to Years in Prison, Pay Millions in Restitution over High-Reimbursement Prescription Scheme

Tom Pappert
Pharmacist Patient

Three East Tennessee individuals have pleaded guilty and been sentenced for their roles in a prescription fraud operation involving the Riddle Drugs pharmacy chain, that caused Medicare, drug plans, and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) to pay more than $7.3 million, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee announced earlier this month.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) press release explained that Grant Riddle, Brian Woods, and Barbara Smith all pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud over each of their roles in the procurement, creation, and submission of reimbursement requests related to a formulary, a list of prescription drugs meant to balance “appropriate therapy while promoting effective resource utilization,” created solely based on their high reimbursement values for Riddle Drugs.

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TBI Human Trafficking Investigation Nets Five Arrests in Sumner County, Including Hendersonville Police Officer

Tom Pappert
(l to r) Lazaro Rodriguez-Santos, Christopher Torres, Kasim Barnes, Duany Rodriguez-Pena, and Alinson Ramirez

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) on Saturday announced that five men were arrested in Sumner County as a result of a human trafficking investigation that included the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Sumner County Sheriff’s Office, and the Hendersonville Police Department (HPD).

One of the accused, Kasim Barnes, was formerly an officer with HPD. He was arrested in June 13, and Fox 17 reported last week that the department said in a statement that Barnes’ employment was terminated on June 15. He is charged with six counts of sexual exploitation of a minor and one count of solicitation of a minor to commit aggravated statutory rape, according to the outlet.

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Monroe County Sheriff Announces Eight-Year Sentence for Fentanyl Dealer Under Tennessee ‘Death by Distribution’ Law

Tom Pappert
man in handcuffs

Monroe County Sheriff Tommy Jones on Thursday announced that Criminal Court Judge Andrew Freilberg issued an eight-year prison sentence to Calvin Suttles, who pleaded guilty earlier this week to providing the fentanyl that caused Larmar Rose to die of a fatal overdose in 2023.

According to the press release posted to social media by Jones, law enforcement obtained surveillance camera footage allegedly showing Suttles and the victim meet and exchange money for the illicit substance at a gas station in Madisonville. Just two hours after their transaction, the victim experienced a fatal overdose, according to the sheriff.

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Ex-South African Air Force Member Pleads Guilty to Acting as Foreign Agent While Working at Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Tom Pappert
Oak Ridge Facility

A former Brigadier General in the South African Air Force has been sentenced to six months in federal prison and two years of supervised release after pleading guilty to acting as an agent of the Republic of South Africa and making false statements in an application to obtain a security clearance, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee announced Thursday.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the sentence was imposed after 59-year-old Portia Anyamba admitted to regularly communicating with an intelligence officer of the South African State Security Agency (SSA) in 2023 and 2024, when she was working as a program management operational specialist in the National Security Program Office at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL).

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Shelby County General Sessions Court Clerk Suspended for 60 Days Following Federal Indictment Alleging Theft, Fraud, Money Laundering

Tom Pappert
Tamara Sawyer

Shelby County General Sessions Clerk Tami Sawyer was suspended from her position on Wednesday, just days after the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee unsealed a federal grand jury indictment in a “significant” public corruption case that could land the Memphis Democrat behind bars for up to 20 years if she is convicted.

A court order first reported by NewsChannel 3 revealed that Sawyer was suspended from her office for 60 days by the General Sessions Court for Shelby County, effective on Wednesday, in accordance with Tennessee Code Annotated (TCA) 18-1-302.

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DOJ Says White House UFC Drone-and-Sniper Plotters Named Marsha Blackburn Among Potential Targets for Attack

Tom Pappert
Sen. Marsha Blackburn

U.S. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) was considered as a target by those accused of planning a drone-and-sniper attack at the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC): Freedom 250 event held on the White House lawn on Sunday, according to criminal complaints filed by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) against two of the alleged plotters. 

All four of the criminal complaints against the five named defendants appear to contain similar allegations, including the DOJ complaint filed in the Northern District of Nebraska against the plot’s alleged ringleader, Abraham Hermosillo Alvarez, who illegally remained inside the United States after his visa expired in 2001, and was later granted Deferred Action Against Childhood Arrivals (DACA) by the Obama administration in 2014.

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Justin Pearson Tells Marc Elias Tennessee’s 9th Congressional District ‘Competitive’ for Democrats After Redistricting by ‘Ku Klux Cameron Sexton’

Tom Pappert
Justin Pearson

State Representative Justin Pearson (D-Memphis) on Tuesday told Marc Elias, the prominent Democratic election attorney and founder of Democracy Docket, that Tennessee’s 9th Congressional District remains highly competitive for Democrats, even after state lawmakers with “evil intention” allegedly divided the district along racial lines.

Pearson made the comments during his Tuesday appearance on “Defending Democracy with Marc Elias,” a podcast produced by the lawyer’s Democracy Docket platform, after first insisting that Tennessee’s recent redistricting, completed in response to the Louisiana v. Callais decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, proved Tennessee is no longer a “constitutional democratic republic.”

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Metro Nashville Council Passes Budget with Nearly $1.5 Million for Pro-Illegal Alien Nonprofits

Tom Pappert
Freddie O'Connell

The Metro Nashville Council approved a modified version of the budget submitted in May by Mayor Freddie O’Connell, including the nearly $1.5 million he requested to appropriate as grants for the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) and Tennessee Justice for Our Neighbors (TNJFON).

In a 35-2 decision on Tuesday, the Metro Council approved a $3.8 billion budget after adopting a substitute budget filed by Council Member Kyonzte Toombs that replaced the version submitted last month by O’Connell.

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2022 Proposal Shows Left-Wing Nonprofits Sought Nashville Grants for Work Permits, Asylum, Deportation Protections as Tennessee Star Seeks FY 27 Records

Tom Pappert
lawyers

The 2022 proposal by the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) and Tennessee Justice for Our Neighbors (TNJFON) confirms the pro-illegal alien nonprofits sought more than $3.5 million to provide immigration legal services in Davidson County.

Attached as an exhibit to the June 2022 resolution appropriating Biden-era American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding to “expand critical immigrant legal services” in Nashville, the document confirms the nonprofits proposed using the funding to help immigrants obtain “protections from deportations.”

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Bernie Sanders Endorses Justin Pearson as Progressives Rally Behind Democrat in Redrawn GOP-Leaning Tennessee District

Tom Pappert
Justin Pearson

U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) on Tuesday endorsed State Representative Justin Pearson (D-Memphis) in his campaign to become the Democratic Party nominee in Tennessee’s 9th Congressional District, which is currently represented by U.S. Representative Steve Cohen (D-TN-09), who announced his retirement from Congress shortly after the Tennessee General Assembly redrew the district earlier this year. 

Sanders’ endorsement was first reported by The Intercept, which reported the former Democratic presidential candidate shared his support for Pearson in a statement emailed to the publication.

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Four Metro Nashville Departments Confirm Tennessee Star Records Request on Proposed $1.5 Million Grants for Pro-Illegal Alien Nonprofits

Tom Pappert
Freddie O'Connell

Four different departments within Metro Nashville confirmed they received the public records request filed Thursday by The Tennessee Star, seeking any records explaining the purpose and justification for the grants proposed for the pro-illegal immigrant nonprofits, Tennessee Justice for Our Neighbors (TNJFON) and Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC). The nonprofits would receive nearly $1.5 million combined in the budget submitted last month by Mayor Freddie O’Connell.

The Metro Nashville Department of Finance was first to confirm receipt of the Tennessee Public Records Act (TPRA) request submitted on Thursday by The Star, confirming it was entered into Metro’s system in a Friday morning email.

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Shelby County General Sessions Clerk Tami Sawyer Indicted by Grand Jury in ‘Significant’ Corruption Case, Faces Up to 20 Years in Prison

Tom Pappert
Tami Sawyer

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Tennessee told The Tennessee Star on Monday afternoon that Shelby County General Sessions Clerk Tami Sawyer was named in a six-count indictment it described as a “significant public corruption case,” following the release of video showing Sawyer at the federal courthouse in Memphis with her attorney on Monday morning.

According to the indictment, Sawyer is accused of using county procurement and travel systems to steal or misdirect nearly $45,000 between August 2024 and June 2025.

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Decade After Diesel-Gate, UK Court Considers Similar Accusations Against Auto Manufacturers with Operations in Tennessee

Tom Pappert
Emissions Test

More than a decade after Diesel-Gate first rocked Volkswagen’s U.S. business and reputation in 2015, ultimately leading to criminal penalties and billions in settlements for the company, a court in the United Kingdom (UK) is weighing claims that five other automotive manufacturers, including two with Tennessee footprints, have allegedly installed systems in diesel vehicles designed to circumvent emissions regulations.

News first emerged that Volkswagen was accused of selling vehicles with software designed to skirt American emissions standards, and in 2017, Volkswagen pleaded guilty in federal court, admitting to a conspiracy to defraud the United States, engage in wire fraud, and violate the Clean Air Act. It also pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and importing merchandise by means of false statements.

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Senator Marsha Blackburn Demands Answers from Kik, Messaging App Used by Graham Platner, over Report Calling App ‘Predator’s Paradise’

Tom Pappert
Marsha Blackburn

U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn on Friday sent a letter to the head of the company which owns Kik, the controversial messaging platform used by Graham Platner, the Democratic nominee for Senate in Maine, which was recently called a “predator’s paradise” in an article by the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE). 

The senator began her letter to MediaLab CEO Michael Heyward by directly referencing the NCOSE research released on June 4, which detailed an experiment that saw a Kik account belonging to a fictional 12-year-old girl overwhelmed with graphic sexual messages and requests from strangers. The report also detailed four arrests, convictions, or sentences of the platform’s users since April.

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Tennessee Star Files Public Records Request Seeking Justification for Proposed $1.5 Million in Grants for Pro-Illegal Alien Nonprofits

Tom Pappert
Freddie O'Connell

Metro Nashville on Friday confirmed receipt of the request filed by The Tennessee Star pursuant to the Tennessee Public Records Act (TPRA), seeking records explaining the purpose of the nearly $1.5 million in proposed grants in the 2027 budget released by Mayor Freddie O’Connell for the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) and Tennessee Justice for Our Neighbors (TNJFON), which both support illegal aliens living in the Volunteer State.

The budget proposed last month includes a $735,000 grant for TIRRC and $718,000 for TNJFON. While a spokesman for O’Connell told The Star the grant for TIRRC would not support lawyers for illegal aliens, the Metro Clerk Austin Kyle told The Star on Monday that the new grant only represented a change in funding source but otherwise extensions of its previous grant, which was signed in 2022 and is set to expire on June 30.

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Federal Class Action Lawsuit Claims xAI Turbines Powering Memphis-Area Data Centers Caused Nuisance for Mississippi Residents

Tom Pappert
Natural Gas Turbines

Three Mississippi residents living near the Tennessee border have filed a class action lawsuit against Elon Musk’s xAI, the artificial intelligence (AI) company behind the conversational chatbot Grok, alleging the company has committed negligence and negligence per se while establishing dozens of natural gas turbines that have created a public and private nuisance. 

Filed on Monday by three residents in the Northern District of Mississippi, and assigned Obama-appointed U.S. District Judge Debra Brown following the recusal of Bush-appointed Chief District Judge Michael Mills, the lawsuit seeks class certification, appointment of the plaintiffs as class representatives, judgment on their claims, and a jury trial. 

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Financial Technology Association Sues Tennessee over Law Taxing Money Transfers Sent Out of Country

Tom Pappert
Wiring Money

A lawsuit filed on Wednesday by the Financial Technology Association (FTA) claims Tennessee’s new law to tax money sent from the state to foreign destinations will violate the dormant Commerce Clause and Import-Export Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

The lawsuit claims that FTA-member companies, with the filing specifically naming PayPal and Remitly, are already being harmed as they prepare to comply with the law by January 2027, with investments in engineering, software, and other infrastructure needing updates over the next six months.

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NAACP Seeks Injunction to Stop Tennessee Redistricting One Day After Tennessee Democrats Drop Lawsuit

Tom Pappert
NAACP Protest

On the same day U.S. Representative Steve Cohen (D-TN-09), State Representative Justin Pearson (D-Memphis), and the Tennessee Democratic Party dropped their lawsuit seeking to block the use of Tennessee’s new congressional maps during the August 6 primary elections, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) filed a motion seeking a preliminary injunction in their own federal litigation.

The NAACP motion argued that the Tennessee General Assembly pursued the redistricting process with “one goal”: the “dismantling” of the Volunteer State’s “only majority Black congressional district that had been in place for decades,” thereby causing the state to violate the 14th and 15th amendments of the U.S. Constitution.

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Memphis Safe Task Force Arrest over 10,000 Since Deployment Began, U.S. Marshals Reveal

Tom Pappert
Tennessee National Guard

The U.S. Marshals Service announced that more than 10,000 arrests have been made by local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies participating in the Memphis Safe Task Force (MSTF) since its deployment in September 2025.

According to the Wednesday press release, authorities have made 10,017 arrests since the MSTF was deployed last year. These include 92 homicide arrests, 105 for sex offenses, 962 involving firearms violations, and 1,012 for controlled substances.
According to the Monday press release, authorities have completed total of 10,017 arrests since the MSTF deployed last year. These include 92 homicide arrests, 105 for sex offenses, 962 involving firearms violations, and 1,012 for controlled substances. 

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Nonprofit Urging Tennessee to Rescind Illegal Alien Benefits Reporting Directive to Receive $60,000 from Nashville Under Proposed Budget 

Tom Pappert
Nashville Mayor

Under Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell’s budget proposal, the Tennessee Justice Center (TJC) would receive a $60,000 grant through the Metro Nashville Health Department.

On Tuesday, TJC was revealed by The Tennessee Lookout to have urged the Tennessee Department of Health (TDH) to drop a new directive regarding the implementation of House Bill 1710, which passed earlier this year, and will require local government agencies to confirm the lawful presence or citizenship status of those applying for public benefits and report potential violations of benefits-verification requirements. The law takes effect on July 1.

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Proposed Nashville Budget Includes $100,000 Grant for Nonprofit Providing ‘Conference Services’ for MNPS, Including Reported Kentucky Retreat

Tom Pappert
Freddie O'Connell

The Nashville budget proposal by Mayor Freddie O’Connell, which is set for a vote on June 17, includes $100,000 for the nonprofit Alignment Nashville. This is the same 501 (c) (3) nonprofit that contracts with Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) to provide “conference services,” including the district’s annual “SPLASH retreat” for principals that reportedly took place in Louisville, Kentucky earlier this month. 

O’Connell’s budget proposes a $100,000 grant for Alignment Nashville for Fiscal Year (FY) 2027, which the city’s FY 27 Expenditure Overview shows is the same dollar contribution the city granted the nonprofit in 2024 and 2026. In 2025, the contribution by Metro was reduced to $50,000.

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Lawsuit Claims Nashville Downtown Partnership, Contractor Stored ‘Combustible Materials’ Before Library Parking Garage Fire

Tom Pappert
Nashville Public Library

Travelers Excess & Surplus Lines Co., the insurance provider for Metro Nashville’s public library parking garage, filed a lawsuit accusing the nonprofit Nashville Downtown Partnership (NDP) and the public security and sanitation company Block by Block of creating a storage yard containing “combustible materials” inside the garage before the June 2025 fire that reportedly caused more than $10 million in damages.

The lawsuit accuses NDP of creating the storage yard and allowing Block by Block to use the facility sometime prior to June 10, 2025, when the lawsuit alleges a fire caused more than $10 million in damages to the property, causing Travelers to make payments on behalf of Metro Nashville under the policy.

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Nearly $1.5 Million in Proposed Nashville Grants Would Continue Existing Program Funding Lawyers for Illegal Aliens, Metro Clerk Says

Tom Pappert
Illegal immigrant lawyer

The Nashville Metropolitan Clerk on Monday confirmed to The Tennessee Star that the over $1.4 million in grants proposed for two nonprofits that support illegal aliens in Tennessee are continuations of previous grants awarded by the city. However, the proposed grants for Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 will shift the funding source from Biden-era stimulus money to Nashville taxpayers.

It was reported last month that the budget proposed by Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell requests $735,000 for the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) and $718,000 for Tennessee Justice for Our Neighbors (TNJFON), who previously received a combined $3.7 million as the result of a contract with the city. 

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Trump Admin, TVA Confirm Cumberland Coal Plant Scheduled to Close Under Biden Admin to Instead Receive $45 Million for Expansion

Tom Pappert
TVA Cumberland Power Plant

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced on Thursday that it will contribute more than $46 million toward a “comprehensive coal revitalization” plan at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Cumberland Fossil Fuel Plant, with the total project valued at about $116 million. 

According to the Thursday release by the DOE, “This project aims to restore reliability, enhance efficiency, and extend the operational life of the coal-fired assets to meet regional demand for dispatchable power.”

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Nashville Metro Clerk Confirms Office Has No State-Required Records ‘At This Time’ for $718k Grant to a Second Pro-Immigrant Nonprofit

Tom Pappert
Metro Council Meeting

The Metropolitan Clerk of Nashville told The Tennessee Star on Friday that his office currently has no records related to the proposed $718,000 grant for Tennessee Justice for Our Neighbors (TNJFON), the second nonprofit that provides services to illegal aliens that would receive funding in the budget submitted to the Metro Council by Mayor Freddie O’Connell, despite Tennessee law requiring a report containing their statement of proposed use, program serving residents, and annual audit  be made available for public inspection.

Asked whether his office has records related to the proposed $718,000 grant for TNJFON, Metro Clerk Austin Kyle told The Star, “No, we don’t have any records for that proposal at this time.”

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Metro Nashville Budget Documents Contradict Mayor’s Claim that Proposed $735,000 ‘Grant’ for Pro-Illegal Alien Nonprofit is ‘Not New’

Tom Pappert
Mayor Freddie O'Connell, Davidson County Courthouse/Nashville City Hall

The claim by Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell’s office that the proposed $735,000 grant for the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC), a nonprofit that supports illegal aliens, is “not new” spending appears to contradict Metro Nashville’s own Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 Expenditures Overview, which lists no spending in the TIRRC funding account for FY 2024, FY 2025, or FY 2026, before the proposed $735,000 appears in FY 2027.

In light of criticism from Tennessee State House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville), as well as U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN-05), WKRN on Thursday reported, “the mayor’s office said the funding proposal is ‘not new,’ adding that Metro has supported immigration legal services for years.”

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DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin Tells Congress He Will Deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Costa Rica

Tom Pappert
KAG Costa Rica

U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin said on Tuesday that his agency would end its opposition to deporting Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Costa Rica, where the State Department previously obtained diplomatic assurances regarding his treatment as part of 2025 negotiations for a plea deal that he ultimately rejected.

Since last August, in multiple arguments submitted to the court and public media appearances, the immigration attorneys representing Abrego Garcia have argued that their client would consent to immediate deportation to Costa Rica, and claimed that his decision to designate the country his preferred destination for removal made it the only valid option for the Trump administration. 

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Nashville Metro Clerk Says No State-Required TIRRC Funding Filing Exists in His Office for Proposed $735,000 Grant

Tom Pappert
Freddie O'Connell

After a spokesman for Mayor Freddie O’Connell on Wednesday told The Tennessee Star the $735,000 item in his proposed budget for the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) is actually a “grant” and subject to oversight from the city, the Metropolitan Clerk of Nashville told The Star his office does not have state-mandated appropriations records from the nonprofit.

Asked whether the proposed spending would be used to advocate or provide legal assistance to illegal aliens on Wednesday, a spokesman for the mayor’s office told The Star, “The Office of Financial Accountability conducts fiscal and programmatic monitoring of grants administered by the various Metropolitan Nashville and Davidson County government agencies to ensure compliance with federal, state and local laws, regulations, stated outcomes and results, and specific requirements of the grant program.”

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MNPS Returns to Louisville for Summer Retreat amid $1.5 Million Alignment Nashville Contract for Event, Conference Planning

Tom Pappert
Adrienne Battle

Details were published about the annual “Principal Splash” event held for Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) leadership and principals, revealing hundreds planned to return to Louisville, Kentucky, where, in 2023, The Tennessee Star first reported the administrators met for a taxpayer-funded retreat.

According to May reporting by education blogger TC Weber, who has been published by The Star, the principal retreat began this week. It will include three days and two nights in Louisville for about 250 attendees in total. Weber wrote the retreat would include “[t]hree days of meals and snacks” for all attendees, with “extra days” set aside for senior staff members under MNPS Superintendent Dr. Adrienne Battle.

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Nashville Mayor Claims $735,000 ‘Grant’ for Pro-Illegal Alien Nonprofit to Provide ‘High-Quality Legal Services’ and Community Support

Tom Pappert
Freddie O'Connell

A spokesperson for Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell on Wednesday told The Tennessee Star that his request for Metro Nashville Council to pass a budget including $735,000 for the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) reflects a potential city grant, which the spokesperson said would allow oversight of how the nonprofit organization that advocates for illegal aliens is able to use the money.

The mayor’s request was first reported by The Pamphleteer last week, and after U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN-05) amplified the reporting, O’Connell’s office defended his request in a statement to Fox 17, stating the money would support those “working to adjust or maintain their lawful immigration status or U.S. citizenship.”

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Alexis Wilkins, Country Star Girlfriend of FBI Director Kash Patel, Sues MS NOW for Defamation

Tom Pappert
Alex Wilkins

Alexis Wilkins, the conservative pundit and country music singer who has separately filed defamation lawsuits over claims she was an Israeli “honeypot” sent to influence FBI Director Kash Patel, has filed a defamation lawsuit against MS NOW over the cable news outlet’s December 2025 article asserting one of her allegedly inebriated friends was driven home by an FBI security detail.

In her lawsuit, Wilkins denies the outlet’s claim and alleges that the reporters were aware the claim was false at the time of publication.

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Pro-Trump Hawkins County Retains SELC to Defend Crypto Mining Ban amid Environmental Group’s Role in Lawsuits Against Musk’s xAI, EPA

Tom Pappert
bitcoin

Despite more than 84 percent of Hawkins County, Tennessee, voters casting their ballots for President Donald Trump in November 2024, the county’s government officially agreed to be represented by a progressive legal group, the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC), which will defend its prohibition on data centers and cryptocurrency mining operations.

The Hawkins County Commission voted to accept the offer by the SELC to defend the county in the lawsuit on May 18, only weeks after local attorney Crystal Jessee described the environmentalist group as a legal “sledgehammer” to defend the county in the lawsuit filed by ExoticRidge, the Kentucky-based cryptocurrency mining company, during a commission meeting in April.

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