Author: Tom Pappert

Youngkin Administration Cites ‘Serious Concerns’ over Skill Games Bills amid Calls to Veto

Tom Pappert
Slot machines

A spokesman for Governor Glenn Youngkin expressed “serious concerns” about both bills passed by the Virginia General Assembly to allow skill games in convenience stores and bars throughout the commonwealth, citing a series of potential issues with the legislation in a statement provided to The Virginia Star.

The administration’s concern about skill games comes amid calls to veto the legislation, and as The Star publisher John Fredericks warns that inaction by the governor could be a “presidential killer” should Youngkin run for the White House in 2028.

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Athens Mayor Faces Calls for Resignation After He Invokes Trump in Response to Murder of Laken Riley Despite Arrest of Illegal Immigrant

Tom Pappert
Kelly Girtz

Athens-Clarke County Mayor Kelly Girtz on Wednesday held a press conference to discuss the murder of nursing student Laken Riley on the University of Georgia (UGA) campus, which police said was committed by Venezuelan illegal immigrant Jose Ibarra.

Girtz denied that Athens is a sanctuary city, which does not comply with detainers filed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that request local law enforcement detain illegal immigrants to be transferred to federal authorities for prosecution or deportation.

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Arizona GOP Raises Nearly $250,000 in 30 Days Following Election of Chair Gina Swoboda

Tom Pappert
Gina Swoboda

The Arizona Republican Party (AZGOP) on Tuesday reported that it raised nearly $250,000 in the 30 days after Gina Swoboda’s election as the party’s new chair.

A post by the AZGOP to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, attributed the fundraising haul to Swoboda, writing that the party chair raised nearly a quarter of a million “in her first 30 days on the job.”

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Tennessee Comptroller to Audit Shelby County, Expresses ‘Lack of Confidence’ over ‘Willful Neglect’ by County Clerk

Tom Pappert
Halbert Mumpower

Tennessee Comptroller Jason Mumpower announced an audit of Shelby County due to the alleged “incompetence and willful neglect” of the county by Shelby County Clerk Wanda Halbert.

Mumpower announced his intention in a letter to Mayor Lee Harris and the Shelby County Commission, expressing “deep concern and lack of confidence” in Halbert’s office.

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Tennessee Bill Would Prohibit Financial De-Banking for Political, Religious Beliefs

Tom Pappert
Jason Zachary Jack Johnson

Tennessee State Representative Jason Zachary (R-Knoxville) and Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson (R-Franklin) have proposed legislation that would prohibit America’s largest financial institutions from discriminating against customers based on their religious or political beliefs.

Their bills, HB 2100 and SB 2148, would specifically prohibit banks, insurers and other financial institutions from “denying or canceling services to a person, or otherwise discriminating against a person, based upon the use of a social credit score or other factors.”

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Georgia GOP Cites Sanctuary Cities, Biden Border Policy After Death of Laken Riley: ‘We Don’t Have to Continue to Live Like This’

Tom Pappert
Laken Riley

Georgia Republican Party Chair Josh McKoon expressed the party’s sympathies to the family and friends of Laken Riley, the 22-year-old nursing student who was slain on the University of Georgia (UGA) campus.

He described the death of Riley as a “preventable tragedy” and pointed to sanctuary city policies and the Biden administration’s border crisis after police identified her alleged murderer as Venezuelan illegal immigrant Jose Ibarra.

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Virginia Considers Bill Spending Millions on Build Electric Car Infrastructure in ‘Distressed’ Rural Areas

Tom Pappert
EV Factory

The Virginia General Assembly is considering a bill that would see taxpayers spend millions to help companies build infrastructure for electric vehicles (EVs) in “distressed” parts of the commonwealth.

HB 107 by Delegate Rip Sullivan Jr. (D-Arlington) passed in the House of Delegates with 71 votes in favor on February 8, and most recently advanced through the Senate Committee on Commerce and Labor on February 19.

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Arizona Could Have Six Presidential Candidates in November After RFK Jr. Gains Ballot Access

Tom Pappert
Arizona RFK JR

Arizona could have six presidential candidates on the ballot in November after a super PAC supporting Robert F. Kennedy Jr. claims to have obtained enough signatures for the independent presidential candidate to qualify.

The American Values 24 super PAC confirmed on Tuesday it “met the signature requirements” for Kennedy to get “on the ballot in Arizona and Georgia.”

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Tennessee AG Skrmetti Joins 24-State Amicus Brief Supporting Texas, Warns Federal Immigration Showdown Threatens State Sovereignty

Tom Pappert

Tennessee Attorney General Jonthan Skrmetti was among the 22 attorneys general who joined the amicus brief filed by Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach on Friday in support of Texas and Governor Greg Abbott in their in its legal fight with the federal government over the governor’s decision to protect the southern border.

The amicus brief argues that individual states “have a constitutional right to defend themselves that federal law cannot override absent” a declaration from U.S. Congress, and Skrmetti told The Tennessee Star the question ultimately relates to the sovereignty of states.

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LockBit Hackers Who Attacked Fulton County Resurface After FBI Action, Claim to Hold Data from Georgia Trump Trial

Tom Pappert
LockBit Hackers

The LockBit hacker group that seized control and temporarily stopped many Fulton County government services resurfaced just four days after an international intelligence operation seized many of the group’s servers in a bid to disrupt its activities.

A rambling message by the group’s pseudonymous leader upon the launch of LockBit’s new website claims that Operation Cronos, the international police action against the hackers, was launched due to documents the organized crime outfit obtained about the Fulton County trial of former President Donald Trump.

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Democrats in Virginia Senate Pass Assisted Suicide Bill Along Partisan Lines

Tom Pappert
Virginia State Senator Ghazala Hashmi

The Virginia Senate narrowly passed a bill on Friday that would legalize assisted suicide in the commonwealth, with one Republican joining the chamber’s Democrats to pass the legislation in a narrow victory.

SB 280, introduced by Senator Ghazala Hashmi (D-Richmond), would allow any Virginia citizen who is diagnosed with a terminal disease to “request” a doctor to “prescribe a self-administered controlled substance for the purpose of ending the patient’s life,” according to a summary of the bill.

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Phoenix Approves Over $1 Million for Homeless Shelter amid Concern ‘The Zone’ Could Reemerge

Tom Pappert

The City of Phoenix last Wednesday approved just over $1 million to Central Arizona Shelter Services (CASS), which operates the city’s largest homeless shelter.

Phoenix made the payment using leftover federal funds originally earmarked for COVID-19 recovery, but CASS warned the organization still has a shortfall of around $500,000 that could threaten its ability to provide shelter services, explaining that it filed three state grant requests that were denied by Arizona.

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Bannon Rallies CPAC for ‘Crusade of Righteousness’ to Elect ‘Dissident’ Trump in ‘Greatest Political Comeback in American History’

Tom Pappert
Stephen K. Bannon at CPAC 2024

War Room host Steve Bannon rallied Republicans at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Saturday to vote for former President Donald Trump in November to accomplish what the former member of the Trump administration predicted will be the “greatest political comeback in American history.”

In just under 10 minutes, Bannon argued Trump’s “fate and destiny” are “intertwined” with the United States, lambasted President Joe Biden as an “illegitimate regime head” in the process of being cast out, and urged Americans to join a “crusade of righteousness” by voting for Trump on November 5.

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State Rep. Jason Zachary Challenges Newsom to Debate After California Governor Targets Tennessee with Super PAC

Tom Pappert
California Gov. Gavin Newsom

State Representative Jason Zachary (R-Knoxville) challenged California Governor Gavin Newsom to a debate after the Democrat targeted Tennessee for its pro-life legislation to protect unborn children using funds from a Super PAC that some speculate could lay the foundations of a campaign to oust President Joe Biden.

In a Sunday post to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, the California governor falsely claimed Tennessee’s pro-life legislation offers no exceptions, including for rape or incest, and asserted that “Republicans in Tennessee are trying to punish young women” who travel to abort their children. 

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Wife of Illegal Immigrant Who Allegedly Killed Student on UGA Campus Admits They Married to ‘Join Our Asylum Cases’

Tom Pappert
Jose Ibarra, Laken Riley

The wife of Jose Antonio Ibarra, the 26-year-old illegal immigrant from Venezuela who police arrested Friday for the murder of nursing student Laken Riley, 22, at the University of Georgia (UGA) campus, revealed in a Saturday interview that the couple originally married with the goal of furthering their cases for asylum in the United States.

Layling Franco told the New York Post on Saturday that she and Jose Ibarra entered the United States illegally through El Paso with her five-year-old son on September 8, 2022. Franco said the alleged killer made money by delivering food for Uber Eats, DoorDash and a local restaurant.

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Tennessee Bill Would Create New Misdemeanor Crime for Defendants Caught Violating Bail

Tom Pappert

Bills advancing through the Tennessee General Assembly would make it a misdemeanor crime for a defendant to violate the conditions of their bail.

The legislation seeks to create a new Class A misdemeanor offense to charge defendants who violate the terms of release secured by paying a bond. Lawmakers specifically want to amend the existing Tennessee Code that mandates arrest warrants be filed for those who violate their release terms to also include the criminal offense.

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Three Gun Control Bills Head to Youngkin’s Desk, Governor’s Office Maintains ‘Virginia’s Gun Laws Already Among the Toughest’

Tom Pappert
Gov Glenn Youngkin

Governor Glenn Youngkin must decide the fate of gun rights in Virginia after Democrats narrowly passed three bills they claim will reduce gun violence in the commonwealth.

The bills, passed by the Virginia General Assembly between Wednesday and Friday, seek to regulate how gun owners in the commonwealth must store their firearms and where they can be carried.

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Bill to Ban Sale of Lab-Grown Meat Passes Arizona State House

Tom Pappert
medical science laboratory

A bill to ban the sale of lab-grown meat to consumers, even for consumption by animals, narrowly passed the Arizona State House on Thursday.

HB 2121 by Representative David Marshall (R-Snowflake) passed the Arizona House with 31 votes in favor and 28 votes against, with one lawmaker absent. If passed by the Arizona Senate and signed into law by Governor Katie Hobbs, the legislation would ban any “cell-cultured animal product” from being sold to Arizona consumers for “human or animal consumption.”

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Phone Data Reportedly Contradicts Testimony in Fani Willis Hearing, Suggests She Dated Nathan Wade Months Earlier than Claimed

Tom Pappert
Fani Willis and Nathan Wade

An affidavit by former President Donald Trump, entered into the Georgia election case against him, claims that cell phone data proves Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and special prosecutor Nathan Wade spent nights together as early as September 2021, suggesting their relationship began months earlier than Willis and Wade claimed in court.

The data would also directly contradict testimony by Wade during the hearing to determine if Willis should be disqualified from the Georgia election case against Trump due to their relationship. Wade has earned more than $650,000 since Willis appointed him, and the couple shared luxurious vacations he purchased using his company credit card.

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Tennessee House Advances Bill Banning Local Governments from Returning Expelled Lawmakers

Tom Pappert

A bill advancing in the Tennessee House of Representatives would prohibit local governments from returning lawmakers to the General Assembly after they have been successfully expelled from office.

HB 2716 by State Representative Johnny Garrett (R-Goodlettsville) seeks to amend Tennessee law to mandate that any local government body must “elect a successor to fill a vacant seat” in the General Assembly due to a vacancy caused “due to the expulsion of a member for disorderly behavior, then the local legislative body shall not elect the expelled legislator to be the successor to fill the vacant seat.”

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Tennessee Senate Passes Bill Banning Politicians from Running in Multiple Elections at the Same Time

Tom Pappert
Richard Briggs

The Tennessee State Senate on Thursday passed a bill that would ban politicians in the state from seeking more than one elected office simultaneously.

SB 1968 passed the Tennessee Senate on Thursday with 17 votes in favor and 15 votes against. The bill, introduced by Senator Richard Briggs (R-Knoxville), would prohibit an individual from holding multiple elected offices in Tennessee, and would also ban any politician in the state from actively campaigning for more than one elected position.

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Virginia U.S. Senator Tim Kaine Asks Biden Not to Send ‘Offensive Weapons’ to Israel

Tom Pappert
Tim Kaine Joe Biden

U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) revealed details of a letter he sent to President Joe Biden on Wednesday to urge his administration to refrain from sending “offensive weapons” to Israel. Kaine said sending such weapons would hurt the chances of successful negotiations to secure the release of hostages taken during the October 7 terrorist attacks by Hamas and ease tensions with the U.S.-designated terrorist group.

Kaine’s office said the senator “underscored the importance of pursuing a deal to immediately release all hostages taken by Hamas” during the radical group’s October 7 terrorist attacks in Israel, “end the violence in Gaza,” and all for the distribution of humanitarian aid.

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Poll Finds Nearly Half of Americans Want Fani Willis Removed from Trump Election Case in Georgia

Tom Pappert
Fani Willis

A poll of U.S. voters released on Thursday found just under half of American voters want Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to be disqualified from prosecuting her election case against former President Donald Trump in Georgia.

The Rasmussen poll, conducted after Willis testified on in the hearing to determine whether she should be removed from the case against Trump, determined that 48 percent of likely U.S. voters say there is significant evidence indicating Willis should be disqualified. The pollsters found that just 39 percent said Willis should remain on the case, while 13 percent were unsure.

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Lake Holds 33-Point Lead in Arizona GOP Senate Primary, Statistically Tied with Gallego Among All Voters If Race Includes Sinema

Tom Pappert
Kari Lake Senate Candidate

Kari Lake holds a commanding, 33-point lead in the race to secure the Arizona Republican Party (AZGOP) nomination to run for U.S. Senate, according to a poll released Wednesday.

Pollsters additionally found Lake statistically tied with Representative Ruben Gallego (D-AZ-03), who is poised to secure the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate, when Senator Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) was included in the survey.

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Tennessee Bill to Allow Cities, Counties to Cut Taxes on Food Comes amid Nationwide Push Fueled by Inflation

Tom Pappert
Family Grocery Shopping

Legislation that would allow Tennessee counties and cities to reduce or eliminate the state sales tax on groceries is advancing through the Tennessee General Assembly as more states look for opportunities to defray the effects of inflation on citizens.

The bill would allow all “counties and municipalities, by resolution or ordinance” set the “tax on the retail sale of food and food ingredients” at any “rate less than” the state’s sales tax rate.

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Memphis Judge Paula Skahan Reprimanded After She Illegally Freed Prisoner Serving 162-Year Sentence

Tom Pappert
Paula Skahan

Shelby County Criminal Court Judge Paula Skahan was publicly reprimanded in a disciplinary action by the Tennessee Board of Judicial Conduct (TBJC) on Wednesday as a result of her actions that led to Tennessee briefly freeing a man in 2022 after he was previously sentenced to a 162-year prison sentence.

Skahan in 2022 arranged for the release of Courtney Anderson, who spent months outside of prison before Tennessee Court of Appeals Judge J. Ross Dyer ruled Skahan “illegally” released him and ordered Anderson remanded back into the state’s custody.

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Gov. Youngkin Stands by Northern Virginia Arena Plans Despite Opposition from Unions

Tom Pappert
Glenn Youngkin New Stadium

In a statement released Tuesday, Governor Glenn Youngkin committed to see through his plans to bring the Washington Wizards and Capitals to Alexandria, Virginia with a new sports and entertainment district complete with new facilities for the teams to play.

Youngkin made the declaration after a breakdown of negotiations with two major unions resulted in their opposition to the arena, and after Virginia Senator L. Louise Lucas (D-Portsmouth) successfully stalled a Senate bill necessary for the arena project to begin and now controls the fate of the House version of the bill after it landed in the Senate Finance Committee she chairs.

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Trump Maintains Lead over Biden in Georgia Poll Conducted as DA Fani Willis Testified

Tom Pappert
Donald Trump Joe Biden Georgia Poll

Former President Donald Trump maintains an 8-point lead over President Joe Biden in a new poll of Georgia voters that was conducted as Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis testified in a hearing to determine whether she should be disqualified from her prosecution of the former president.

The Emerson College pollsters found 48 percent of Georgia voters support Trump, and 42 percent support Biden, giving the former president an 8-point lead of the incumbent. Biden was declared the winner in Georgia during the 2020 elections with a margin of less than 12,000 votes.

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Catholic Charity Aiding Illegal Immigrants in Arizona Fires Staff After Republicans Rebuke Border Bill

Tom Pappert
Illegal Immigrants

An Arizona affiliate of Catholic Charities USA has reportedly notified 30 of its employees that they will be terminated on March 30 after Republicans in the U.S. Senate successfully blocked a controversial border bill.

News that Catholic Community Services (CCS) of Southern Arizona now plans to reduce its apparent “temporary sheltering and transportation assistance” of illegal immigrants who were released into the United States by government officials surfaced through a memorandum written by Pima County Administrator Jan Lesher to the Board of Supervisors on February 16.

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Tennessee Comptroller Claims Nashville Nonprofit Misspent over 10 Percent of State Grant, Including $29,000 to Executive Director

Tom Pappert
Curtis Bryant

The Tennessee Comptroller’s Office published a report on Tuesday asserting a Nashville nonprofit misspent over $40,000 from a state grant, with the majority of the diverted money allegedly going to the group’s executive director or the church where he is a pastor. The office referred the matter to Davidson County District Attorney Glenn Funk.

According to the investigators in a press release, the Successful Survivors nonprofit that claims to assist individuals with mental illness and substance abuse issues received $299,670 in grant funds from the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (MHSAS) to purchase and renovate a Nashville home for use as a “rehabilitation house.”

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Arizona House Speaker Wants Voters to Approve Plan to Cut Welfare Benefits for Illegal Immigrants, Strengthen E-Verify

Tom Pappert
Ben Toma

Arizona House Speaker Ben Toma (R-Peoria) announced on Monday an effort to hold a public referendum for Arizona voters to decide whether to eliminate the possibility for illegal immigrants to receive welfare benefits from the state and to strength the E-Verify system used to prevent companies from employing those in the country unlawfully.

In a speech outside the Arizona State Capitol on Monday, Toma called his Protecting Arizona Against Illegal Immigration Act “one of the toughest anti-immigration laws ever written” and declared, “Our message to illegal immigrants is simple: If you want to take advantage of Americans, go somewhere else.”

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Virginia Bill Protecting Same-Sex Marriage Heads to Youngkin for Final Decision Before Becoming Law

Tom Pappert
Lesbian Couple

Democrats in the Virginia General Assembly narrowly passed a bill that would protect same-sex marriage in the commonwealth in the event the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Obergefell v. Hodges, which effectively legalized same-sex unions throughout the country in 2015.

HB 174 seeks to amend Virginia law to declare that “no person authorized” to “issue a marriage license shall deny the issuance of such license to two parties contemplating a lawful marriage on the basis of sex, gender, or race of such parties” with an exception for religious organizations and clergy members, who “shall have the right to refuse to perform any marriage.”

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DOJ Announces ‘Disruption’ of Hacking Group That Targeted Fulton County, Georgia

Tom Pappert
Merrick Garland

The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Tuesday announced the “disruption” of a Russia-based hacking and ransomware group that targeted Fulton County last month as the result of a joint operation that involved both the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and “international law enforcement partners in London” to seize the group’s infrastructure.

In its press release, the DOJ announced “the disruption of the LockBit ransomware group, one of the most active ransomware groups in the world,” which came as the result of “seizing numerous public-facing websites used by LockBit to connect to the organization’s infrastructure and seizing control of servers used by LockBit administrators.”

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Memphis Prison Warden Ignores Request from Rep. Ogles to Move Unjustly Imprisoned J6 Defendant to Minimum Security Camp

Tom Pappert

Warden F.J. Bowers of the Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) in Memphis ignored the request made by Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN-05) last week to move unjustly imprisoned J6 defendant Stewart Parks to the prison’s minimum security satellite camp, where Parks was originally told he would spend his eight month sentence.

Citing reporting by The Tennessee Star exposing the conditions inside FCI Memphis as relayed by Parks, Ogles demanded in a February 12 letter to Bowers for Parks to be moved from the primary prison facility to its minimum security satellite campus. Ogles gave Bowers until February 17 to respond, and Bowers did not return a press inquiry from The Star sent prior to Ogles’ deadline.

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Attorney General Skrmetti Declares Tennessee House Ticketing System Follows State Constitution

Tom Pappert

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti confirmed on Thursday that the new ticketing system for members of the public to attend meetings of the Tennessee House of Representatives follows the Tennessee Constitution.

The legal opinion was requested after House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) announced a new ticketing system that limits half of the public gallery to media members, with members of the public and congressional staff only allowed with a ticket. Lawmakers are each given one ticket to distribute as they see fit.

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Arizona Senate Advances Bill to Void Low Turnout Elections, Reschedule Votes to Coincide with Statewide or Federal Races

Tom Pappert

An Arizona bill that would void the results of low turnout elections and reschedule them to coincide with statewide or federal races advanced past the Senate Committee on Elections and will now go to a full vote in the Arizona Senate, so long as the legislation is deemed constitutional by the Rules Committee.

The bill, SB 1131, would nullify the results of a local election that does not coincide with a statewide or federal election if less than 25 percent of possible voters turn out to vote.

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Virginia AG Jason Miyares Joins Coalition Demanding Federal Funding to Support Commonwealth Crime Victims

Tom Pappert
Virginia A.G. Jason Miyares

Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares confirmed on Friday that he joined a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general calling on the Department of Justice’s Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) Fund to provide additional resources to commonwealth citizens who are victims of crimes.

The VOCA Fund, originally established by a federal law signed in 1984, is financed by fines and penalties paid by individuals convicted in federal cases and funds to provide various services, including financial assistance, to victims of crimes.

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Fani Willis Took Over $8,500 from First Campaign as ‘Repayment’ for Loans Missing Paperwork, Submitted Without Date and Signature

Tom Pappert
Fulton County D.A. Fani Willis

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis claimed during her Thursday testimony at the hearing to disqualify her from the Georgia election case against former President Donald Trump that she took a significant amount of cash from her first election and used it to replenish her physical cash reserves. Willis claimed to use the physical cash to repay her former lover, special prosecutor Nathan Wade, for luxurious vacations.

Willis made the claim about keeping “some of the cash” from her first campaign when asked about the origin of her cash savings. The district attorney claimed she has been saving physical cash “all my life,” and gave as an example, “When I took out a large amount of money on my first campaign, I kept some of the cash of that.”

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Charting the ‘Cash Stash’ District Attorney Fani Willis Claims She Used to Repay Nathan Wade for Luxurious Vacations

Tom Pappert
Fulton County D.A. Fani Willis

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis testified on Thursday that she keeps cash reserves in her residence, and that she used those reserves to repay her former lover, special prosecutor Nathan Wade, for the luxurious vacations he paid for using his business credit card.

An estimate of Willis’ cash savings since 2018, when she admitted to being “broke” as the result of a fierce primary campaign, suggests that Willis could have paid Wade in cash while increasing her reserves through cash back during shopping trips, as she implied.

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Gov. Youngkin Defends Democratic House Speaker Don Scott After VAGOP Called Attention to Prison Record

Tom Pappert
House of Del Speaker Don Scott and Gov Glenn Youngkin

Governor Glenn Youngkin wrote in defense of the Democratic Speaker of the House of Delegates on Thursday after the Republican Party of Virginia (VAGOP) cited the felony drug conviction of Speaker Don Scott (D-Portsmouth) and claimed he wants to lower the penalties for drug crimes to help drug dealers in a post to social media.

In a now-deleted post to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, the VAGOP reportedly wrote, “Is it any surprise that [Scott] spent 8 years in federal prison for peddling drugs to college kids, and now he’s obsessed with legislation to cut breaks for drug dealers? Anything for your buddies, right?”

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Retiring Rep. Debbie Lesko Now Seeks Election to Maricopa County Board of Supervisors

Tom Pappert
Debbi Lesko

Representative Debbie Lesko (R-AZ-08), who recently announced she will retire from the U.S. Congress at the end of her term, is now reportedly seeking election to the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.

Multiple reports reveal Lesko announced her candidacy for the District 4 seat on the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors within hours of the Thursday announcement when Supervisor Clint Hickman confirmed he will not seek another term in office.

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Anonymous Demonstrators Who Waved Nazi Flags in Nashville Are Connected to ‘Boneface’ Provocateur Who Claimed to Fight with Neo-Nazi Battalion in Ukraine

Tom Pappert

A group of masked, anonymous demonstrators who waved Nazi flags at the Tennessee State Capitol in Nashville on Saturday are apparently part of the same Blood Tribe neo-Nazi group as Kent “Boneface” McLellan, the American neo-Nazi who gained notoriety in 2023 after he claimed to fight alongside a Ukrainian military unit that regularly uses fascist imagery and is accused of harboring neo-Nazi views.

Media reports suggest the group of individuals who were holding Nazi flags in the viral video recorded by Representative Justin Jones (D-Nashville) on Saturday are affiliated with the Blood Tribe, which the Anti-Defamation League explains is a “growing neo-Nazi group” that purportedly has chapters in the United States and Canada.

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Tennessee Bill to Ban Sale of Cold Beer Lands Flat

Tom Pappert
Ron Gant

A bill seeking to ban retail sales of cold beer in Tennessee has reportedly received a lukewarm reception by lawmakers, with even Republicans unsure about the legislation.

State Representative Ron Gant (R-Piperton) filed HB 2845 late last month which would prohibit retail companies who are currently permitted to sell beer under Tennessee law from selling “refrigerated or cold beer to consumers.”
Representative Ron Gant (R-Piperton) filed HB 2845 late last month which would prohibit retail companies who are currently permitted to sell beer under Tennessee law from selling “refrigerated or cold beer to consumers.”

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Father of Fani Willis Testifies He ‘Trained’ Daughter to ‘Always Have Some Money’ After She Claimed to Repay Nathan Wade in Cash

Tom Pappert
Fani Willis Father

Friday marked the second day of the disqualification hearing, seeking the dismissal of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis over her relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, whom she had appointed to oversee the case against former President Donald Trump.

John Clifford Floyd III, who is Willis’ father, specifically testified in support of the claim raised by Willis and Wade on Thursday, when both insisted the district attorney repaid the special prosecutor for luxurious vacations Wade’s credit card statements show he financed in unreported cash payments drawn from savings she keeps in her residence.

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FCI Memphis Silent on Move of Unjustly Imprisoned J6 Defendant Stewart Parks to Minimum Security Camp Following Letter from Rep. Andy Ogles

Tom Pappert
Stewart Parks FBI

Warden F.J. Bowers of the Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) in Memphis did not reply to an inquiry from The Tennessee Star regarding the letter sent to him on Monday by Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN-05), which requested unjustly imprisoned J6 defendant Stewart Parks be moved to the prison’s minimum security satellite camp.

As of Friday afternoon, The Star has not received a response to a Tuesday inquiry sent via email to a publicly available address listed for Bowers’ executive assistant, which sought confirmation that Bowers received Ogles’ letter and additionally to ascertain whether Parks will be moved to the prison’s minimum security camp, if there are issues at FCI Memphis preventing the move, and if Bowers intends to reply to the congressman.

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Biden DOJ Sues Tennessee over Enforcement of Law with Higher Penalties for Prostitutes with HIV

Tom Pappert
Kristen Clarke

The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Thursday launched a lawsuit against Tennessee over the enforcement of a 1991 law that increases prostitution penalties for individuals who knowingly engage in the illegal practice while testing positive for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

According to a press release by the DOJ, Tennessee’s law prohibiting aggravated prostitution violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by enforcing legislation “against people living with” HIV, citing their December letter that warned of forthcoming litigation unless Tennessee stopped enforcing its law.

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Virginia Democrats Narrowly Pass $15 Minimum Wage Bill Despite Objection by Gov. Youngkin

Tom Pappert
15 Hour Minimum Wage

Democrats in the Virginia General Assembly narrowly passed legislation that will raise the commonwealth’s minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2026. Their votes came despite Governor Glenn Youngkin previously suggesting such legislation was unnecessary.

HB 1 previously passed the Virginia House of Delegates on February 2 in a partisan vote with 51 in favor and 49 against. In the Virginia Senate, the bill’s counterpart, SB 1, also passed along partisan lines, with 21 votes in favor and 19 votes against.

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Arizona Attorney General Launches Investigation into Yuma County Broadband Project After Letter from Republican House Members

Tom Pappert
Kris Mayes

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes began an official investigation into the Yuma County Board of Supervisors on Thursday in response to a request to investigate by Republicans in the Arizona House of Representatives.

A letter sent on Tuesday, led by State Representative Laurin Hendrix (R-Gilbert), warned about the decision by Yuma County to give a $30 billion contract to Allo Communications (AC), a Nebraska-based company, which did not have a contractor’s license in Arizona.

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Fani Willis Claims She Repaid Nathan Wade for Luxurious Vacations in Undocumented Cash Transactions

Tom Pappert
Fani Willis

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and special prosecutor Nathan Wade both testified in Thursday in the first day of proceedings to determine if she should be removed from the prosecution due to their previously undisclosed romantic relationship.

Both Willis and Wade claimed the district attorney did not financially benefit from her appointment of Wade as special prosecutor because the luxurious vacations and trips he paid for with his business credit card were later reimbursed by Willis in unrecorded cash transactions. Wade has been paid more than $650,000 by Fulton County taxpayers.

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Four Possible Candidates Tell Tennessee Star They May Seek GOP Nomination for TN-7 U.S. House Seat Following Retirement of Rep. Mark Green

Tom Pappert
TN-7 Possible GOP Candidates

Four possible Republican candidates expressed an interest in representing Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District to The Tennessee Star when asked on Thursday after Representative Mark Green (R-TN-07) announced his intention to retire from Congress at the end of his term.

The Star asked Dr. Omar Hamada, Robby Starbuck, Jeff Beierlein, Dr. Manny Sethi, and State Senators Bill Powers (R-Clarksville) and Kerry Roberts (R-Springfield) about their interest in running for office.

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