U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) highlighted the role of its Knoxville office in a multinational investigation that resulted in July federal indictments against two alleged high-ranking members of the United Cartels, a major methamphetamine trafficking organization based in Michoacán, Mexico.
Read the full storyCategory: News
Trump Justice Department Urges Supreme Court to Strike Down State and Local AR-15 Bans
The U.S. Justice Department is urging the Supreme Court to strike down categorical bans on AR-15 rifles in Connecticut and Cook County, Illinois, arguing that the restrictions violate the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
The position was presented in a brief filed Friday by Solicitor General D. John Sauer in two cases before the Supreme Court: Viramontes v. Cook County and Grant v. Higgins.
Read the full storyCommentary: Rent Control Still Doesn’t Work
In 2022, politicians in Minneapolis and St. Paul voted for rent control.
I said that would lead to bigger problems.
Read the full storyTennessee Appellate Court Data Compromised in Cyberattack Affecting Court Systems Nationwide
The Tennessee Appellate Court Clerk’s Office confirmed last week that it was impacted by a “cybersecurity incident” disclosed by Thomson Reuters, the parent company of West Publishing, which owns the C-Track case management system used by appellate courts in the Volunteer State.
In an article published to the Reuters website, Thomson Reuters acknowledged “an unauthorized third party obtained” access to certain files in its C-Track case management platform in 11 states, including Tennessee, Alabama, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Wyoming, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Read the full story‘So Vulnerable:’ Trump Administration’s MAHA Chiefs Declare War on Kids’ Screen Addiction
Overweight, nearsighted, depressed and anxious. Many of America’s children are in the midst of a health crisis, and the Trump administration’s MAHA chiefs are declaring war on a primary cause: kids’ addiction to their tablet, phone and video screens.
“They are so vulnerable. So we had to sound the alarm, and here we are. We’re doing something about it,“ said Dr. Stephanie Hirodopoulos, the director of national health communications for the U.S. Surgeon General.
Read the full storyICE Facility Headed to Nashville Described as ‘National Coordination Center’ for 287(g) Law Enforcement Partners in New Federal Document
A new draft document released last week by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) offers more information about the federal government’s plans for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) National Coordination Center being built in Nashville, revealing the facility could support nationwide audits of local law enforcement agencies participating in the federal 287(g) immigration enforcement program.
In a Request for Information (RFI) released publicly on September 1, ICE – Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) asked public contractors to submit details about how they could perform compliance assessments of local law enforcement agencies who participate in the 287(g) program, which allows local authorities to perform certain federal immigration enforcement tasks.
Read the full storyCatholic Nuns Sue Illinois over Law Forcing Them to Help Terminally Ill Patients Kill Themselves
The Catholic Church in Illinois is challenging the Democrat-led state’s recently passed assisted suicide law in court.
Chicago’s archbishop, Cardinal Blase Cupich, joined two orders of Catholic nuns and an Illinois pharmacist in a lawsuit filed Thursday in an effort to block the End-of-Life Options for Terminally Ill Patients Act (EOLOA), the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty stated in a press release. The law, which they say would force the Church to help terminally ill patients kill themselves in violation of its teachings on the dignity of life, was signed by Democratic Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker in December 2025 and is scheduled to go into effect Sept. 12.
Read the full storyClimate ‘Lawfare’ Supporters Lay Out Battle Plan as Supreme Court Showdown Looms
Climate litigation advocates laid out a legal strategy Thursday for states to pursue oil and gas companies over alleged climate deception even if the Supreme Court limits such lawsuits.
The Center for Progressive Reform, a left-leaning environmental advocacy group, hosted a webinar Thursday where panelists laid out a strategy beyond the Supreme Court itself, arguing states can use consumer protection and tort law to hold fossil fuel companies accountable.
Read the full storyWhite House Promotes Cheaper Drug Prices and Jobs in Celebration of Labor Day
The White House and Trump administration used the Labor Day weekend to promote the August jobs report and highlight its efforts to lower prescription drug prices.
The Labor Department released August’s job reports on Friday, which noted that the U.S. economy added 162,000 jobs in August, far exceeding Wall Street expectations, though the unemployment rate for last month held at 4.1%.
Read the full storyWays and Means Chair Jason Smith Says Nonprofit Probe Is Producing Results with Help of Treasury
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith says a more than two-year congressional investigation into how nonprofits have abused their tax-exempt status – as a source of foreign influence, fraud or political action – is finally producing results as the Trump administration cracks down.
“We’ve been seeing progress over the two-plus years that we’ve been investigating nonprofits and the foreign interference of money and how they’ve been using nonprofits to help terrorist organizations,” Smith recently told the Just the News, No Noise TV show. “We have named names, and I’m glad to see that the Treasury Department has been responding to that as well.”
Read the full storyTennessee Politicians Celebrate Labor Day
Tennessee politicians showed their respect for American workers on Labor Day.
America has celebrated Labor Day in some form since 1882, which is an “annual celebration of the economic and social achievements of American workers,” according to GovInfo.
Read the full storyLeahy Unveils Expanded Vision for The Star News Network: ‘Politics, Law, and Sports’
Michael Patrick Leahy, CEO and Editor-in-Chief of The Tennessee Star, has announced an expansion of The Star News Network, outlining plans to expand the network’s coverage to include sports alongside its existing focus on politics and law.
Read the full storyJudge Once Again Blocks Trump’s Effort to Limit Mail-in Voting as Early Voting Begins
A federal judge temporarily blocked on Friday President Donald Trump’s effort to limit the use of mail-in ballots ahead of the November mid-term elections, as ballots are going out in one state.
It is the same judge, Boston-based U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani, who blocked an earlier, related effort, ruling that the executive order Trump issued in March was likely unlawful and unconstitutional, according to NBC News.
Read the full storyCommentary: Trump’s Blockade Could Break the Iranian Regime
Pundits on cable news keep insisting that President Trump’s economic strangulation campaign against Iran cannot work. Sanctions, they say, have never brought down a regime. They note that Iran has survived decades of economic sanctions due to weak compliance and selling discounted oil through a shadow fleet, mostly to China.
That argument misses what is happening now. After the Iranian regime rejected President Trump’s diplomatic offers—including a generous Memorandum of Understanding and the substantial financial incentives that accompanied it—he turned to a different strategy. This is not another round of paper sanctions. It is a naval blockade, backed by asset seizures and targeted strikes. It does not merely ask governments and banks to comply. It stops tankers. That is why the campaign has a realistic chance of forcing a political rupture in Tehran that sanctions alone cannot produce.
Read the full storyCommentary: The Forgotten Meaning of Labor Day
Labor Day is a U.S. national holiday held the first Monday every September. Unlike most U.S. holidays, it is a strange celebration without rituals, except for shopping and barbecuing. For most people it simply marks the last weekend of summer and the start of the school year.
The holiday’s founders in the late 1800s envisioned something very different from what the day has become. The founders were looking for two things: a means of unifying union workers and a reduction in work time.
Read the full storyNick Shirley Sues California over ‘Stop Nick Shirley Act’
Nick Shirley announced today on X that he is suing the state of California over the controversial bill signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom that critics have dubbed the “Stop Nick Shirley Act.”
AB 2624 restricts the publication of certain identifying information about workers at organizations that provide immigration-related services when a worker submits a written request that the information not be published.
Read the full storyHomeland Asks DOJ to Probe Transfer of Private State Voter Data to Zuckerberg-Tied Nonprofit
The Justice Department is being asked to investigate whether sensitive state voter data — including Social Security and driver’s license numbers — was transferred to a nonprofit tied to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg in violation of federal privacy laws, according to a letter from Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin released Friday by the White House.
The Department of Homeland Security first brought its concerns to the Justice Department in September 2025, Secretary Mullin wrote to Attorney General Todd Blanche in a letter dated Wednesday. It is unclear what the Justice Department did with the original information.
Read the full storyMemphis Safe Task Force Made About 28 Arrests Each Day in August, U.S. Marshals Reveal
The Memphis Safe Task Force (MSTF) averaged about 28 arrests per day throughout August, according to the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), which said more than 850 alleged criminals were taken off the streets by task force members.
A USMS press release sent Monday said task force members made 853 arrests last month, averaging about 27.5 per day. As a result of the arrests, the MSTF also seized 118 illegal firearms, or about 3.8 per day.
Read the full storyGeoff Shepard: Leahy’s Watergate Book ‘Extracted the Essence’ of What Was Wrong with Trials
Former Nixon White House attorney and longtime Watergate researcher Geoff Shepard said the Watergate defendants were denied the fair trials guaranteed to them under the U.S. Constitution, arguing documents he uncovered show prosecutors and federal judges engaged in improper conduct during the proceedings.
Shepard detailed his research during an appearance Wednesday on The Michael Patrick Leahy Show about Leahy’s new eBook and documentary, How the Deep State Took Down Richard Nixon.
Read the full storyDOJ Sues Kansas City, Kansas School District over ‘Secret Gender Transitions’
The Department of Justice has filed a first-of-its-kind lawsuit against Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools (KCKPS), alleging the district’s transgender and gender-nonconforming student guidelines violate federal law by facilitating “secret gender transitions” without parental consent.
The lawsuit follows a monthslong standoff and the Trump administration’s threat to withhold nearly $70 million in federal funding if the district failed to comply with parental rights laws.
Read the full storyRFK Jr. Now Probing Whether U.S. Service Members Died From COVID Vaccines
An Army doctor said she is teaming up with the Trump administration to investigate whether U.S. service members died from COVID-19 vaccines after a Biden-era mandate, Politico first reported Thursday.
Dr. Theresa Long told a Virginia federal court that Secretary of War Pete Hegseth selected her to be Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s senior medical military adviser, Politico reported, citing an Aug. 14 deposition. Long stated that she is probing whether 2,544 unverified deaths among troops reported to HHS’ Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) resulted from COVID-19 vaccines, according to the outlet.
Read the full storyTrump Celebrates Job Growth That Tripled Expectations
The economy added 162,000 jobs in August, the Labor Department announced Friday morning, tripling the expectations of economists.
Economists had predicted a gain of just 53,000 jobs. The unemployment rate remained at 4.1%.
Read the full storyJudge Declares Mistrial in Lindsay Clancy Case After MA Supremes Deny Stay
Judge William Sullivan on Friday declared a mistrial in the Lindsay Clancy murder case after the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court denied the defense’s motion for an emergency stay.
Sullivan initially declared his intent to declare a mistrial on Friday morning, but walked back those plans to allow defense attorney Kevin Reddington to petition the higher court for intervention, which was denied on Friday.
Read the full storyDiesel Prices Hit Record Highs, Pushing Up Costs for a Variety of Goods as Shipping Costs Rise
Diesel prices hit record highs in the U.S. on Friday, rising to an average of $5.85 per gallon for the first time since the war in Iran started at the end of February.
In California, which typically has some of the highest gas prices in the country, diesel prices were nearly $7.71 per gallon, according to AAA.
Read the full storyMemphis City Council Passes Data Center Moratorium on Second Reading
Memphis City Council unanimously passed an ordinance on second reading that would temporarily ban new data center development for 12 months.
If the ordinance becomes law, the City of Memphis will develop regulations for data centers and stop approving new data center applications during that time. The ordinance would not apply to data centers already lawfully operating in Memphis, except if they seek to expand their operations.
Read the full storyChavez-DeRemer When Labor Secretary Had Inappropriate Relationship with Bodyguard, IG Report Finds
The Labor Department’s Office of Inspector General has concluded that Lori Chavez-DeRemer when she was the agency’s secretary had an “inappropriately close and unprofessional” relationship with her bodyguard, which created a hostile work environment for her subordinates.
The office released the 44-page report Thursday after having initiated the investigation from an anonymous complaint received in January. The complaint alleged that Chavez-DeRemer had the inappropriate relationship with the assistant special agent-in-charge of her agency’s Division of Protective Operations, according to Fox News.
Read the full storyPappert: Memphis ICE Raid Could ‘Expose a Whole Lot More’
Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, said a recent U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) enforcement operation at a Memphis nightclub could ultimately “expose a whole lot more,” raising questions about the establishment’s ownership, permits, and roughly $70,000 in federal Payment Protection Program (PPP) loans.
Read the full storyNVIDIA Vows Newly Acquired Tech Startup Will Stay ‘Open, Neutral’ After $13,000,000,000 Takeover
A major chipmaker claims the biggest platform for open-source artificial intelligence models will remain unbiased under its ownership.
Read the full storyMovie Premiere: Water Wars
The documentary Water Wars, about water rights in Texas, is available on Amazon Prime on September 4th.
Read the full storyCommentary: The Elephant in the Canadian Room
At first glance, the current American-Canadian trade “war” is absurd. We are neighbors with a long history of close friendship, speak the same language (for the most part), and spring from the same British civilization.
Read the full storyFreedom Caucus Conservative Majority Ousted After ‘Wyoming Donor Alliance’ of Moderate Republicans and Democrats Primaries More than a Dozen Incumbents
Liberal donors, advocacy groups and corporate interests collectively played a key role in defeating conservatives and Freedom Caucus members, replacing them with left-leaning Republicans in August’s Wyoming primaries.
Read the full storyPoll: Burchett, Jacobs Among Favorites for Potential Blackburn Senate Appointment
U.S. Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN-02) leads a field of potential appointees to replace U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) if she wins the 2026 gubernatorial election, according to a new statewide poll of likely Republican voters.
Read the full storyHoltzman Vogel Adds Another Tennessee AG Veteran as Kevin Kreutz Joins Brandon Smith
Kevin Kreutz, who recently left his position as Deputy Attorney General of Tennessee, will be the latest attorney to pass from that office to Holtzman Vogel, the company announced on Tuesday.
Prior to leaving his position for the Tennessee Attorney General’s office, Kreutz was the lead counsel in a major challenge to Tennessee’s pharmacy benefit manger (PBM) laws, the counsel of record for Tennessee in a legal action that resulted in $25.6 million in restitution and $25.6 million in penalties against a precious metals company, and participated in Tennessee’s lawsuit over the Biden administration’s attempt to shield certain patient records from Medicaid fraud investigations.
Read the full storyDHS Confirms Arrest of Previously Deported Illegal Alien Who Sought Beer Permit for Memphis Nightclub Raided by ICE
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Thursday told The Tennessee Star that Marco Sabillon-Urbina, who was among the more than 120 arrests made on Sunday at the Memphis nightclub El Corralón, is a previously deported illegal alien who previously pleaded guilty to using a controlled substance while in possession of a firearm.
The confirmation from DHS came one day after the Memphis Permits Office told The Star that El Corralón, which also uses the name Marisqueria El Corral, had obtained neither a beer permit nor a dance permit from the City of Memphis.
Read the full storyCentral Magnet School in Murfreesboro Named Best High School in the U.S.
Central Magnet School in Murfreesboro has been named the best high school in the nation in the 2026-2027 rankings released by U.S. News & World Report.
Read the full storyNew ‘Foundry School’ Targets America’s Manufacturing Skills Gap, U.S. Reindustrialization
The Trump administration on Thursday launched Foundry School, a new State Department–backed national training program aimed to prepare entrepreneurs, engineers, technicians and industrial leaders for what officials describe as America’s manufacturing comeback. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio headlined the event.
Read the full storyNew IRS Rule Set to Strip Non-Profit Status from Universities with ‘Race Conscious’ Admission Policies
The Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service on Thursday proposed rules that would bar private schools from federal tax-exempt status if they discriminate on the basis of race, including race-conscious admissions, scholarships, and other campus programs.
Read the full storyFourth University in Three Years Settles Federal Claims over Hidden Chinese Research Ties
The Ohio State University has agreed to pay the federal government a $2.1 million settlement over allegations the school didn’t disclose employee affiliations with China when seeking federal research funding, becoming the latest university to settle over such allegations.
Read the full storyCommentary: Tennessee’s Veterans Have Found Community and Connection in an Unexpected Place
I spent 21 years in the Army before I spent years representing Montgomery County, a district shaped by Fort Campbell. In that overlap, I sat with more veterans than I can count who told me some version of the same thing. The hardest part of coming home wasn’t the transition itself. It was learning to live without the people who understood them.
Read the full storySuspect Dead After Shooting Spree Kills Two and Wounds Six in Minneapolis High-Rise
Three people were killed, including the suspected gunman, and six others were wounded after gunfire erupted Wednesday afternoon inside a downtown high-rise apartment building, officials said. Casualties included three Minneapolis police officers.
Read the full storyMarsha Blackburn Holds 21-Point Lead over Democrat Jerri Green in Race to Become Tennessee’s Next Governor
Polling released Thursday morning shows U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) holds a 21-point lead over the Democrats’ nominee, Jerri Brown, in the race to become Tennessee’s next governor.
Beacon Center of Tennessee’s analysis of its poll, conducted by Targoz Market Research from August 15 through August 26, found that 55 percent of likely voters prefer Blackburn, while just 34 percent would vote for Green.
Read the full storyHouse Democrats Block Proposed Constitutional Amendment That Would Cap SCOTUS at Nine Justices
House Democrats blocked a proposed Constitutional amendment on Wednesday, which would have capped the Supreme Court at nine justices if it had secured the two-thirds majority it needed to pass.
The vote, which failed in a 212-206 split, comes as calls to pack the court have grown in recent years, largely due to the success of Republicans in confirming conservative justices to the bench, who have gone on to rule in landmark cases favoring the right.
Read the full storyCommentary: Don’t Believe the Polls Showing a Massive GOP Midterm Defeat
“THE FAKE POLLS USED BY OUR CROOKED MEDIA ARE OUT OF CONTROL, AND SOMETHING MUST BE DONE ABOUT IT. FCC TO THE RESCUE!”
That was President Donald Trump on Truth Social on Aug. 30, suggesting the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) could be looking at television and radio over-the-air licenses for stations that publish what the President is calling “fake polls”.
Read the full storyRecords Show Memphis Nightclub Where ICE Arrested over 120 Illegal Aliens Received Two PPP Loans in Apparent Contradiction of SBA Policy
The Memphis nightclub where U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) made more than 120 arrests on Sunday previously received two Payment Protection Program (PPP) loans during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to an online database containing more than 11 million PPP loan records.
Though U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and pro-illegal alien activists in Memphis have described the establishment as a nightclub named El Corralón, the building where Operation Corral Light was conducted indicates it has been named Marisqueria El Corral since at least 2019.
Read the full storyIn Final Act as Mayor, Glenn Jacobs Bans Flock Cameras
In his final act as Knox County Mayor, Glenn Jacobs signed an ordinance banning county government agencies from using Flock cameras and other automatic license plate readers.
The ordinance defines an ALPR as a “camera or imaging system capable of automatically capturing, photographing, scanning, reading, converting, or analyzing license plate information.”
Read the full storyTrump Announces 30-Day Campaign Tour Ahead of Midterms
President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced that he planned to hit the campaign trail in the 30 days ahead of the midterm elections.
“I’m gonna be campaigning for numerous people, both Congress — a few governors, I love the governors — but we’re interested in the Senate and we’re interest in the House,” he said.
Read the full storyJim Jordan Demands FBI Round River Docs After Memos Reveal Targeting of Trump Officials, Allies
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan on Wednesday demanded the FBI turn over all evidence related to a counterintelligence operation during the 2020 election codenamed “Round River” that classified President Donald Trump’s own administration officials and political allies as “conduits” of Russian disinformation.
The letter from Jordan to FBI Director Kash Patel was prompted by the first substantive revelations about the Round River operation contained in declassified documents made public last month by the White House Government Transparency Task Force.
Read the full storyJudge Dismisses Justice Department Suit Against California over Transgender Sports Policies
A federal judge has dismissed a Justice Department suit against California over its policies on transgender participation in sports.
The Department of Justice took exception to California’s policy requiring schools to allow students to participate in athletics on the basis of their gender identity.
Read the full storyThis Disability Law May Be Parents’ Secret Weapon Against Transgender Policies in School
The law firm America First Legal released a parental rights toolkit Tuesday, explaining how a law that protects the rights of disabled children also helps parents defend their rights when schools adopt policies hiding a child’s transgender identity from parents.
“Parents hold the fundamental and constitutionally-protected right to direct the upbringing of their children, and that includes authority over their children’s education,” Julie Alexa Strauss, general counsel at America First Legal, said in a statement on the new toolkit, exclusively provided first to the Daily Signal. “Yet today, radicalized school personnel are exploiting their access to children, particularly vulnerable children with disabilities—often behind closed doors—to push ideological agendas.”
Read the full storyCalifornia’s Plastics Law Is Creating a Compliance Nightmare Before Businesses Even Know What They Owe
California’s sweeping plastics law has already cost an out-of-state manufacturing company its largest customer, its CEO said in a court filing.
Plastilite Corporation President and CEO Jon Ehly detailed the alleged financial damage in an Aug. 10 filing supporting a multi-state effort to block California’s Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act. Under this law, out-of-state manufacturers selling to California may have to adapt their packaging to comply with rules governing a market containing roughly 11.5% of the U.S. population.
Read the full story