The state House revived plans for an impact study on cryptocurrency mining and potential reporting mandates for companies at work in the industry.
The House Environmental Resources and Energy committee voted Monday to remove a two-year moratorium on new operations from House Bill 1476, though it still faced Republican opposition.
Read the full story
The Ohio House of Representatives passed a bill this week focused on providing property tax relief to Ohioans.
If enacted, the Ohio Homeowners Relief Act would modify the procedures used by the tax commissioner to conduct property tax sales assessment ratio studies. Specifically, the bill would require the commissioner to work alongside local elected officials and weigh the past three years of a county’s property values in order to determine property taxes instead of just one.
Read the full story
Georgia State Senator Russ Goodman (R-Cogdell) was in Israel with his mother on October 7, when Hamas fighters launched a horrific surprise attack on the country, and told The Georgia Star News he was thankful for Israelis for “protecting Americans” caught in the conflict.
In a statement released Thursday, Goodman relayed his first hand experiences “being in Israel while Hamas terrorists launched a sickening attack that killed hundreds of innocent Israelis,” and described “hearing the rockets fired from the Iron Dome to automatic weapon fire heard near our hotel,” as his “ex-military Israeli guide” refused to leave his family “even as rockets landed within 200 yards of his home with his wife and children there.” The senator said he witnessed “the very best of the Israeli people,” and the experience left him convinced of “the bond that our freedom-loving countries share.”
Read the full story
Wisconsin Right to Life state Director Dan Miller has filed a second round of complaints with the Wisconsin Medical Examining Board demanding that the agency investigate Wisconsin doctors illegally performing abortions in defiance of state law.
Miller filed his first complaints late last month after Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin announced it would resume abortions at its Madison and Milwaukee clinics.
Read the full story
A parent of a child in second grade attending McDowell Mountain Elementary School in the Fountain Hills Unified School District was appalled to discover over 10 books in the classroom library inappropriate for children that age. The parent, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation, informed Fountain Hills City Councilman Allen Skillicorn, who referred to the books “woke” and “sexual.”
“As I finished my parent teacher conferences last week, my attention went to the classroom library section of the room,” the parent said. “I often wonder how teachers pick the books to line their classroom shelves. One particular SECOND GRADE classroom in the Fountain Hills Unified School District had the following books in their classroom library:
Read the full story
Metro Nashville Councilman Sean Parker is a founding member of the Democratic Socialists of America-Middle Tennessee Chapter, which has scheduled a rally for Palestine on Saturday afternoon in downtown Nashville.
The “Emergency Rally for Gaza,” scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m. in front of the Estes Kefauver Federal Building on Broadway, will be held exactly one week after the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas attacked Israel from the Gaza Strip and raped, tortured and systematically murdered 1,300 Israelis, most of them innocent civilians.
Read the full story
Eight Georgia Senators have filed a formal ethics complaint against Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, alleging she prioritized cases based on her political ideology. The senators, all Republicans, filed the complaint on October 1 with the new Prosecuting Attorneys Qualification Commission.
The complaint, which was first reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, has the support of Republican leadership in the Senate. The senators allege Willis “prioritized cases that align with her political party’s interests,” and ““improperly cherry-picked cases to further her personal political agenda,” according to The Messenger. While the complaint does not name former President Donald Trump, who was indicted by Willis in August, it does reference the 10 detainees who have died this year at Fulton County Jail while awaiting trial.
Read the full story
The Florida Supreme Court is pondering the definition of a riot related to a law passed in 2021 designed to prevent violent protests like those seen in 2020 after the death of George Floyd.
Gov. Ron DeSantis, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, Leon County Sheriff Walt McNeil, Jacksonville/Duval County Sheriff Mike Williams, and Broward County Sheriff Gregory Tony were named as defendants in the 2021 lawsuit filed by Dream Defenders and other social justice groups including Black Lives Matter.
Read the full story
Four of Arizona’s congressional Republicans submitted a letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Friday, warning that a new rule about so-called “forever chemicals” will result in higher water rates and legal liability for Arizona businesses.
Representative Eli Crane (R-AZ-02) was joined by Representatives Andy Biggs (R-AZ-05), Paul Gosar (R-AZ-04), and Debbie Lesko (R-AZ-08) in a letter requesting the EPA modify its new rule to keep Arizonan citizens and businesses from bearing “the economic burden of any necessary remediation when they have had no association with water pollution.”
Read the full story
Voter registration ends Tuesday, and voting begins Wednesday for Ohioans who will decide reproductive rights and recreational marijuana use in the November general election.
While no statewide races are on the ballot in November, local tax issues and local government elections join the two constitutional amendments that have gained attention since mid-summer.
Read the full story
As Pennsylvania invests more taxpayer money into drug addiction treatment, about $600,000 has gone to recovery homes for building upgrades to put them in compliance with state and federal rules.
The commonwealth’s licensed recovery homes – overseen by the Department of Community and Economic Development and the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs – give people recovering from addiction a place to live, as well as access to resources like medication-assisted treatment.
Read the full story
The Democratic Socialists of America, a political organization with a growing influence in Minnesota politics, was widely condemned over the weekend when it blamed “Israel’s apartheid regime” for Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas’ attack on the Jewish state.
The Democratic Socialists of America’s (DSA) New York City chapter promoted an “All Out for Palestine” protest that took place in Times Square Sunday, just a day after Hamas invaded Israel, targeting civilians, taking women and children hostage, and killing hundreds at a music festival.
Read the full story
Georgia Power Co. agreed to pay more than $400 million to settle a lawsuit on Friday, after Oglethorpe Power Corp. accused the utility company of failing to follow its financial commitments regarding maintenance of nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle near Augusta. The company said it would take longer for the facility to become fully operational as a result, even as Georgia energy rates continue to increase.
The lawsuit was filed last year, reported The Associated Press, with Oglethorpe Power accusing Georgia Power of sticking them with nearly $700 million in additional costs by unilaterally changing a contract to make itself immune to cost overruns at the Plant Vogtle nuclear facility that is seven years behind schedule and $17 billion over budget.
Read the full story
Wisconsin voters may be able to ban “Zuckerbucks” — the injection of private money into public election administration — from their elections next year, before the 2024 general election.
The Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL) poured nearly $350 million into local elections offices managing the 2020 election, with most of the funds donated to the nonprofit by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. The nonprofit has claimed its 2020 election grants — colloquially known as “Zuckerbucks” — were allocated without partisan preference to make voting safer amid the pandemic.
Read the full story
The Arizona Super Bowl Host Committee is touting economic impact numbers after the National Football League championship in Glendale in February.
The committee’s report, which was developed by Arizona State University’s Seidman Research Institute, attributed $1.3 billion in gross output to the game, including tourism and the other events surrounding it.
Read the full story
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told CNN on Sunday that he is working to verify reports that multiple Americans have died and are missing in Israel following the Hamas attack.
Read the full story
We the People Convention (WTPC), an Ohio-based nonprofit that advocates for limited constitutional governance, endorsed Ohio U.S. Representative Jim Jordan (R-OH-04) for Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Read the full story
Eleven Michigan Republican lawmakers filed a federal lawsuit challenging election changes voters approved in 2018 and 2022.
Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan, the plaintiffs say election officials violated state legislators’ rights because the U.S. Constitution and the Michigan Constitution require state legislatures to regulate the times, places, and manner of federal elections.
Read the full story
Old Dominion residents go into the commonwealth’s Nov. 7 legislative elections equally split between Democrats and Republicans, with 42 percent of voters telling the University of Mary Washington’s Center for Leadership and Media Studies poll of 1,000 Virginia adults conducted Sept. 5 through Sept. 11.
“Virginia has rapidly returned to its purple state status,” said Stephen J. Farnsworth, professor of political science at the University of Mary Washington, and the center’s director. The poll included 833 registered voters, 771 likely voters, and carries a 3-percentage point margin of error.
Read the full story
A bipartisan group of Ohio lawmakers introduced a bill last week into the Ohio House of Representatives to address critical staffing issues in Ohio’s nursing workforce.
The Safe Patient Care Act, introduced by State Representatives Haraz Ghanbari (R-Perrysburg) and Elgin Rogers (D-Toledo), would ensure that patients in the state of Ohio receive the highest quality care and that nurses receive reasonable workplace protections.
Read the full story
Connecticut is one of the last states in the nation to hold a presidential primary, but that would change under a proposal awaiting action by Gov. Ned Lamont.
A proposal approved by the state Legislature last week during a special session would change the presidential primary date to the first Tuesday in April, which in the next nominating cycle would be April 2. Under the current law, the primary is held on the last Tuesday, which would be April 30. Lamont, who backs the move, is expected to sign the bill into law.
Read the full story
The state’s largest police association sent a letter to its members last week saying a “legislative fix” is the only way to address concerns with a new law impacting school resource officers (SROs).
This comes after Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty sent a letter Wednesday to the police chiefs in her county that reignited confusion with the new law.
Read the full story
The beginning of Wisconsin’s new task force on human trafficking is coming with a warning.
Lawmakers on Wednesday held the first meeting of House Speaker Robin Vos’ Task Force On Human Trafficking, and while the group said the focus will be on victims, it will also delve into the details of the trafficking of children and other young people.
Read the full story
The Ohio House of Representatives’ Health Provider Services Committee recently held a hearing for the Never Alone Act, which, if enacted, would “ensure every patient has access to an advocate to be with them in a hospital, nursing home, or other congregate care setting.”
Read the full story
The Republican House Delegate running to represent the State Senate’s 17th District told radio host John Fredericks she counters the Democrats’ pro-abortion messaging with her own adoption story during her Thursday “The John Fredericks Show” appearance.
“I was adopted. It’s something that ever since I’ve been in the House of Delegates in the past six years, I’ve worked on adoption and foster care reform because that’s not just the issue,” said Delegate Emily Brewer, who currently represents the chamber’s 64th District.
Read the full story
SK Battery announced layoffs for its Jackson County, Georgia plant this week despite previously expanding rapidly in Georgia. The layoffs came just months after a local business owner blamed the company for a fire that destroyed his recycling company and launched a lawsuit.
The battery company announced layoffs last Tuesday, with a spokesman describing them as “job reductions” when speaking to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The spokesman stressed the company is “not disclosing the number” of cut jobs, and the plant still employs 3,000 Georgians.
Read the full story
As concerns mount about alleged Biden family pay-to-play schemes, U.S. Representative Mike Gallagher is introducing the Deterring Attempts at Dirty Deals by Youngsters — or DADDY — Act.
The bill bans immediate family members of the president, vice president, and cabinet officials from working for certain foreign companies while their family members are in office.
Read the full story
A report from the Arizona Auditor General is making five recommendations for the Public Safety Personnel Retirement System after finding a business deal between an administrator and former board members could have jeopardized fiduciary obligations.
The report found that the former system administrator and two board members had business-related conflicts of interest that they failed to properly disclose.
Read the full story
The 2023 Marxist School, organized by a group called International Marxist Tendency (IMT), is coming to Minneapolis at the end of September.
“Join the communists!” a website for the event says.
Read the full story
Starting January 1, Michigan minors will be screened for lead poisoning unless a parent or guardian objects.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed Senate Bill 31, which requires children be tested for lead poisoning at certain ages, the testing be recorded on their certificate of immunization and the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) develop rules to implement the bill’s requirements.
Read the full story
Governor Brian Kemp (R) said he believes former President Donald Trump “can win Georgia” during an interview last Friday. Kemp added that he would support Trump, should he become the Republican nominee for president, despite the public feud between the men.
Kemp said he is willing to support the former president during the 2024 general election during an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Kemp described Trump as “a lot better than Biden,” adding that those “serving in the administration would be a lot better” than those tapped by the Biden White House.
Read the full story
Wages will rise for hundreds of thousands of low-skilled workers in Connecticut next year under a 2019 law that pegs the state’s minimum wage to the federal employment index.
Beginning Jan. 1, Connecticut’s wage floor will rise from $15.00 per hour to $15.69 per hour as a result of the state’s first-ever economic indicator adjustment.
Read the full story
Political advertisements in Arizona must now disclose their top three funding sources, according to a new rule announced last Friday by the Clean Elections Commission (CEC).
New political advertisements placed in Arizona will be required to disclose the top three funding sources used to place the ads, per the new rule. All forms of political advertising, including TV, radio, and printed mailers sent to homes, are included.
Read the full story
In her battle against so-called “gender-affirming care” (aka sex changes) for children, Chloe Cole says she “will never be silenced until the butchers put the scalpel down.”
Cole, a 19-year-old former transgender boy who detransitioned at 17, has a powerful story to tell.
Read the full story
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin has issued an Executive Directive requiring the state’s Office of Regulatory Management to develop protocol and guidance for the use of artificial intelligence in the commonwealth, both by the state government and educational institutions.
While lawmakers nationwide are eager to understand AI and respond with appropriate legislation governing its use, Youngkin wants Virginia to move faster.
Read the full story
Conservative leaders Charlie Kirk and Dennis Prager are scheduled to return to Arizona State University (ASU) for the “Health, Wealth & Happiness 2.0” event on Wednesday. The first event, held in 2022, sparked fierce opposition from faculty and staff, which in turn provoked hearings in the Arizona Legislature.
Prager and Kirk will host the event alongside Tom Lewis, a former ASU donor who was the primary benefactor of the T.W. Lewis Center where the first event was held last year. Ann Atkinson, who was the director of the center at ASU, and State Representative Austin Smith (R-Surprise), will also speak at the event.
Read the full story
Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office announced that four schools will no longer receive school choice scholarships after an investigation from the state education department found the schools allegedly had “direct ties to the Chinese Communist Party.”
DeSantis’ announcement Friday targets the Lower and Upper Sagemont Preparatory Schools in Weston, located west of Fort Lauderdale, and the Parke House Academy and Park Maitland School, both of which are located in Winter Park, a northern suburb of Orlando.
Read the full story
The March for Life, in partnership with the Center for Christian Virtue (CCV), announced on Thursday the speakers for the second official Ohio March for Life next month.
As previously reported by The Ohio Star these organizations decided to team up once again to organize another march in Columbus following the tremendous success of the first Ohio March for Life last year.
Read the full story
Chairman of the Georgia Republican Party (GAGOP) Josh McKoon recently announced his appointment of Julianne Thompson to serve as special advisor to the chairman.
Thompson previously served the GAGOP as communications director and press secretary. In addition, she served as a legislative aide to the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee and Subcommittee on the Constitution, received two Gubernatorial appointments, and has been listed in Who’s Who Among Outstanding Young Women in America.
Read the full story
On Monday, U.S. Senator JD Vance (R-OH) said that rail giant Norfolk Southern’s property value reimbursement program for the residents of East Palestine has so far been a “complete and total disaster.”
This follows Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw announcing in May that Norfolk Southern Railroad would set up a fund to compensate East Palestine homeowners for losses in property value due to the catastrophic February 3rd train derailment that spilled hazardous chemicals into the community.
Read the full story
State lawmakers must act soon before a trio of authorizations expire for traffic cameras that capture drivers violating traffic laws.
Provisions will soon kick in that would put an end to speed cameras in active work zones; camera-equipped school buses that ticket drivers who fail to yield to a stop sign; and speed cameras along Philadelphia’s Roosevelt Boulevard — one of the commonwealth’s most dangerous roads.
Read the full story
A Detroit man was arraigned on organized retail fraud charges for allegedly stealing $80,000 of merchandise from Sam’s Clubs in Michigan.
Kevin Tansil, 64 of Detroit, was arraigned before Judge Vikki Bayeh Haley in the 67th District Court in Grand Blanc on five counts of organized retail fraud for his role in an alleged theft and resale ring targeting Sam’s Club stores across mid- and southeast Michigan, Attorney General Dana Nessel said.
Read the full story
Virginia Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin executed an orderly retreat in his battle to preserve Arlington National Cemetery’s Confederate Memorial, dedicated by President T. Woodrow Wilson in 1914, and the final resting place of nearly 500 Confederate veterans and their loved ones.
The Washington Post reported that the governor found a home for the bronze statue:
The Board of Visitors at VMI unanimously approved a motion Wednesday to accept the statue for placement at the Virginia Museum of the Civil War at New Market Battlefield State Historical Park — owned and operated by the college — north of VMI’s campus in Lexington. The battlefield is a focal point of the school’s history — it was there in 1864 that its cadets joined Confederate forces to successfully push back Union troops. An enormous mural mounted inside the college’s chapel depicts the VMI corps of cadets’ charge across the New Market battlefield.
Read the full story
It remains to be seen just how quickly the return of abortion in Wisconsin will end up before a judge after Planned Parenthood on Monday started offering abortion services at its clinics in Milwaukee and Madison.
“Thank you so much for your enthusiasm that PPWI has restarted abortion services! We are as thrilled as you are! We haven’t been able to respond to all our DMs, comment on every thread about abortion, or talk to you individually about how you can help (but we’re trying),” Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin said on social media Monday.
Read the full story
Senator Raphael Warnock (D-GA) wrote a letter to the City of Atlanta on Friday asking officials to be lenient when examining the petitions gathered to force a public referendum on the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center.
In his letter, Warnock reportedly advised Atlanta he is “closely monitoring” the petition, and claimed to be “concerned” the city’s signature matching and verification process “led to discrimination” and potential “disenfranchisement of eligible voters” during previous ballot initiatives. Warnock urged Atlanta “to err on the side of giving the people the ability to express their views” and to establish “clear and transparent timelines and requirements” going forward.
Read the full story
Arizona is projected to be the recipient of nearly $1 billion in political advertising during the 2024 cycle, meaning the Grand Canyon State will receive the highest share of spending of any battleground state, and the second highest of any state in the union, should the projections be correct.
The state is expected to see about $821 million in advertising over the 2024 political cycle, according to a new report published by AdImpact. Arizona will receive almost $100 million more than the second highest battleground state, Pennsylvania, which is estimated to receive $725 million.
Read the full story
The Tampa Bay Rays will reportedly announce plans Tuesday for a new $1.2 billion domed stadium that could cost up to $600 million in public funds.
Read the full story
Center of the American Experiment hosted a panel discussion with police chiefs and state representatives last week to discuss the ongoing controversy surrounding a new law impacting school resource officers (SROs).
The law prohibits SROs in cases where there is no threat of bodily harm or death from using the prone restraint or any force that “places pressure or weight on a pupil’s head, throat, neck, chest, lungs, sternum, diaphragm, back, or abdomen.”
Read the full story
Twenty-three attorneys general, most recently including Virginia’s Jason Miyares, have banded together to challenge the Net Zero Financial Service Providers Alliance’s (NZFSPA) commitment to a net-zero future by 2050, saying that the alliance may violate state and federal antitrust and consumer protection laws.
The alliance is a global group of 21 heavy-hitting financial services corporations, including BDO, Bloomberg, the Big Four and S&P Global, that have jointly committed to operating by the terms of the Paris Agreement and achieving its goals.
Read the full story
Georgia’s infant mortality rate may be improving, but it remains among the worst.
“The infant mortality rate in Georgia is not good,” Seema Csukas, vice president & chief medical officer at CareSource Georgia, told The Center Square. “We’re typically in the bottom quartile of states in terms of the infant mortality rate. We’ve made a little progress over the past decade, but not really. We’ve gotten a little better, then gotten a little worse — so not that much change.
Read the full story