Governor Bill Lee (R) confirmed to reporters on Monday that he does not intend to ask the Tennessee General Assembly to pass red flag legislation during the upcoming legislative session, effectively abandoning the push he began in April.
Lee told reporters he would not ask legislators to pass a bill he previously proposed that would allow for judges to sign orders for authorities to confiscate the firearms of a person deemed to be at risk, otherwise known as a red flag law.
Read the full story
This week, the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security (TDSOHS), Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP), and Tennessee Highway Safety Office joined multiple law enforcement partners in announcing the Tennessee Interstate Challenge traffic safety initiative for this year’s Thanksgiving holiday travel period.
Read the full story
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee (R) announced on Monday that he ordered an increased Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) presence on highways and interstates in Shelby County to help contend with the criminal element in Memphis.
Lee issued a press release unveiling “a surge of approximately 40 additional troopers” beginning this week. On November 27, wrote Lee’s office, “an additional 15-20 troopers from other districts across the state will join the surge” and remain in Shelby County “for the foreseeable future.”
Read the full story
Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Roger A. Page announced this week he will retire on August 31, 2024.
Read the full story
After sailing through the Tennessee House of Representatives in March, a resolution proposing congressional term limits via constitutional amendment stands a solid chance of passing in the Senate, according to resolution proponents.
“I think it will go okay,” State Senator Richard Briggs (R-Knoxville), who recently announced that he will serve as Senate sponsor of House Joint Resolution 5, told The Tennessee Star.
Read the full story
Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) claimed in a Wednesday appearance on SuperTalk 99.7 WTN’s “The Matt Murphy Show” that Davidson County District Attorney Glenn Funk (D) is “doing everything he can to put people behind bars,” but said he could not comment on why Funk decided against launching appeals against court rulings in a bid to keep career criminal Shaquille Taylor in jail prior to the death of Belmont freshman Jillian Ludwig.
Sexton repeated his claim that the Tennessee General Assembly’s failure to pass HB 7036 in the special session means Funk is “doing all he can” but “law enforcement’s hands are tied.”
Read the full story
Wildfires have been burning across Virginia, North Carolina and Tennessee, resulting in parts of the Appalachian Trail being shut down, according to officials.
Read the full story
Soldiers of the Tennessee National Guard are now able to train on the .50-caliber Browning machine gun at Tullahoma’s Volunteer Training Site weapons range.
Read the full story
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp (R) posted on social media to celebrate the return of the Major League Baseball (MLB) All-Star Game to Atlanta in 2025, noting the professional athletic organization changed its mind regarding Georgia’s 2021 voting law.
The MLB announced the Atlanta Braves will hold the 2025 All-Star Game at Truist Park in a statement posted to social media on Thursday. Baseball Commissioner Robert Manfred stated that the Braves are “a model of success on the field,” and predicted that “Truist Park and The Battery Atlanta” will offer “a world class experience” to baseball fans in 2025.
Read the full story
The Tennessee Department of Labor & Workforce Development (TNDOL) is celebrating National Apprenticeship Week, which began Monday and runs through Friday.
“It’s National Apprenticeship Week. [Gov. Bill Lee) talks about the importance of apprenticeships in creating a critical pipeline of skilled workers in Tennessee. The Governor also signed a proclamation marking this as Apprenticeship Week in Tennessee,” the department said in a Monday video posted to X, formerly Twitter.
Read the full story
As Tennessee lawmakers investigate the possibility of just saying no to federal education funds and the ties that come with them, the state’s Federal Funding Working Group co-chair told The Tennessee Star that completely letting go probably isn’t going to happen.
“No, I don’t think that’s feasible,” said State Senator Jon Lundberg (R-Bristol) in an interview this week with The Star.
Read the full story
Tennessee U.S. Representative Mark Green (R-TN-07) reintroduced a bill Wednesday that would require annual reporting on federal funds spent in China.
Read the full story
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti joined 25 other state attorneys general this week in sending a letter to Congress requesting lawmakers pass the Immigration Enforcement Partnership Act of 2023.
Read the full story
U.S. Rep. David Kustoff (R-TN-08) joined Congressman Brad Schneider (D-IL) in introducing legislation to revoke the tax-exempt status for any organization that provides financial support or resources to designated terrorist groups such as Hamas.
The bipartisan bill would amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to terminate the tax-exempt status of terrorist supporting organizations.
Read the full story
Tennessee U.S. Representatives Tim Burchett (R-TN-02) and Steve Cohen (D-TN-09) took to social media in reaction to footage of Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel.
Read the full story
Ten of Tennessee’s public universities are coming together for an awareness campaign about the importance of a college education.
While public universities typically compete with each other to enroll students, the University of Tennessee’s “Four The Future” campaign is designed to inform the public about the benefits of obtaining a degree.
Read the full story
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee spent more than $117,000 of taxpayer funds over a six-day economic development trip earlier this year, The Tennessean reported.
The group went to Paris and Bologna, Italy while promoting the Paris Air Show with a group that included six state employees, two of their wives and two members of the governor’s security detail, the newspaper reported.
Read the full story
U.S. Representative Scott DesJarlais (R-TN-04) told The Tennessee Star that today’s media needs more reporters like Matthew Giffin.
Giffin resigned his position as editor-in-chief of Sidelines, Middle Tennessee State University’s student digital newspaper, after he said the publication’s editorial board caved into pressure by anti-Israel students who opposed his story profiling a MTSU student concerned about his friends in Tel Aviv.
Read the full story
Florida U.S. Representative Matt Gaetz (R-FL-01) filed a formal ethics complaint against former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA-20) on Tuesday after the California congressman allegedly elbowed Tennessee U.S. Representative Tim Burchett (R-TN-02) in the back while passing him in a hallway.
While being interviewed by NPR reporter Claudia Grisales, Burchett alleged McCarthy elbowed him in the back, saying it caught him “off guard” as the hit was a “clean shot to the kidneys.”
Read the full story
Michael Patrick Leahy, the Editor-in-Chief of The Tennessee Star and CEO of The Star News Network, revealed during a Monday afternoon appearance on “The Matt Murphy Show” that Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton responded to The Star’s fact check of his claims regarding Shaquille Taylor, the alleged killer of Jillian Ludwig, after Leahy’s prior appearance on SuperTalk 99.2 WTN earlier on Monday.
Leahy noted that during Sexton’s Friday appearance on Murphy’s show, he explicitly stated that Ludwig would still be alive if the laws passed by the Tennessee House during the recent special session were passed by the Tennessee Senate, before revealing that Sexton changed his story during an early morning phone conversation on Monday.
Read the full story
In a show of solidarity for arguably the most antisemitic member of congress, the Middle Tennessee Chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America is rallying around U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI-12) after she was disciplined by her colleagues in a rare congressional censure.
The local chapter’s X account reposted the national organization’s screed over the U.S. House of Representatives vote last week to punish Tlaib.
Read the full story
Google Trends data analyzed by USA Today shows Tennessee among the worst states for potholes.
Read the full story
In an in-depth interview on Friday, WTN SuperTalk 99.7 afternoon host Matt Murphy spoke with Tennessee Speaker of the House Cameron Sexton about the shooting and death of Belmont University student Jillian Ludwig. The Tennessee Star conducted a FACT CHECK of Speaker Sexton’s claim in that interview that Shaquille Taylor, the alleged killer of 18-year-old Belmont University Jillian Ludwig, who was shot in the head on Tuesday and died on Thursday, would have been in custody if the Tennessee State Senate had passed legislation in the August Special Session that the House had passed. The Star determined that Sexton’s claim is FALSE. The transcript of that interview and the corresponding FACT CHECKS conducted by The Star can be seen below. ——————- Matt Murphy: So, obviously, we’ve been covering this very difficult story involving the passing of a Belmont University student by the name of Lillian, or Jillian, pardon me, Jillian Ludwig, who died Thursday, yesterday morning after being shot in the head while walking near campus Tuesday. EDITOR’S NOTE: Prior to allegedly shooting Belmont University freshman Jillian Taylor in the head on Tuesday, November 7, 2023, Shaquille Taylor was deemed incompetent to stand trial for aggravated assault with a deadly…
Read the full story
Representative David Kustoff (R-TN-08) was the only member of Tennessee’s Republican House delegation to vote against an amendment that would have blocked the use of $375 million for a new Federal Bureau of Investigation headquarters office in Maryland.
Kustoff was among 70 Republicans voting to kill Representative Mat Gaetz’s (R-FL-01) amendment to the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act of 2024. Gaetz had tried to stop the construction of the gilded FBI headquarters earlier this year.
Read the full story
Tennessee U.S. Representative Mark Green (R-TN-07) introduced a bill Thursday that would protect states, including Tennessee, that define sex as male and female from losing federal funding.
Read the full story
The Sycamore Institute revealed in a presentation to lawmakers on Monday that the state has enough tax revenue to fund education without federal assistance. Their report comes as Tennessee considers rejecting federal assistance to increase local control over education.
Sycamore Institute Deputy Director Mandy Spears told the legislators that while Tennessee’s “days of historically large surpluses may be over,” the state “still has room in its budget to replace federal funding” for education “at the expense of other investments,” according to WJHL-TV.
Read the full story
All eight Tennessee Republican U.S. Representatives have signed onto a letter sent to the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), an agency of the Department of Commerce, demanding its recent 90-day pause on civilian firearm exports be lifted immediately.
Read the full story
Star News Digital Media Inc., the parent company of The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network, filed a new motion on Tuesday to advance its ongoing lawsuit against the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which seeks to compel the full release of the manifesto written by Covenant school killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale, after three manifesto pages were leaked on Monday.
In a motion prepared after a portion of Hale’s manifesto was obtained by conservative comedian and pundit Steven Crowder, Star News asserted the leak proves, “assuming the three pages’ authenticity,” that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) “could have selectively released” redacted portions of the manifesto without jeopardizing ongoing investigations.
Read the full story
Three of the most prominent Tennessee Democrat lawmakers who used Audrey Elizabeth Hale’s mass shooting at The Covenant School to push a left-wing gun control agenda offered no response to Monday’s revelation that Hale’s crime was motivated at least in part by anti-white racial animus.
State Reps. Justin Jones (D-Nashville), Justin Pearson (D-Memphis) and Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville) did not return The Tennessee Star’s Monday comment requests seeking a reaction to the manifesto’s partial release.
Read the full story
A far-left gun control activist announced earlier this week that she will run against Tennessee House Majority Whip Johnny Garrett (R-Goodlettsville) in the state’s 45h House District.
“I’m a mom, former teacher, and gun violence prevention advocate who is ready to fight for our kids. Join the movement today,” said Alison Beale Wednesday on X, formerly Twitter, imploring followers to visit her website to donate to her campaign.
Read the full story
Tennessee U.S. Representative John Rose (R-TN-06) released a statement exclusively to The Tennessee Star this week after Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake has failed to respond to the congressman’s April 26 letter in regards to the Covenant School shooting.
Read the full story
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti led a group of 19 other state attorneys general in filing a public comment letter in opposition to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) “Proposed Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace.”
Read the full story
U.S. Representative David Kustoff (R-TN-08) introduced a bipartisan resolution denouncing antisemitism on college campuses in the U.S. House of Representatives this week.
Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL-25) joined Kustoff in introducing the resolution, which is co-sponsored by over 50 of their colleagues.
Read the full story
A legal settlement reached by the State of Tennessee and a former health official that requires both parties to cease discussing the terms of her firing became public on Thursday, likely signaling the end to a legal drama that began when former Tennessee Department of Health (TDOH) official Michelle Fiscus was fired in 2021.
After Fiscus was terminated from her position directing the agency’s Vaccine-Preventable Diseases and Immunization program, she quickly gained national attention after claiming she was fired due to her advocacy for the mature minor doctrine, which accepts that minor children can make some health decisions without parental involvement.
Read the full story
The University of Tennessee (UT) admitted in a statement on Wednesday night that one of its professors made antisemitic comments during a classroom lecture, but said it could not go into details out of respect for the students’ privacy.
In a statement, UT Director of News and Information Tyra Hagg distributed to the media late Wednesday, the university claimed it “has addressed concerns about a class lecture that included several comments” which fall under the “working definition of antisemitism developed by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance” in 2016.
Read the full story
A haunted house in Middle Tennessee is under scrutiny from the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office, which is looking into its business practices.
Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti sent a letter to Russ McKamey, owner of McKamey Manor located in Summertown, which calls itself an “extremely haunted” attraction.
Read the full story
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is appealing to the Supreme Court after a lower court ruling upheld Tennessee’s ban on child sex change surgeries.
According to the ACLU’s Petition for a Writ of Certiorari, which asks the nation’s highest court to review the case, there are two questions of law.
Read the full story
According to a study conducted by Smart Asset, two Middle Tennessee suburbs are among 25 cities that have seen the most population growth in the past five years.
The populations of Murfreesboro and Clarksville have skyrocketed over the past half-decade, according to the study.
Read the full story
The Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) is encouraging residents statewide to participate in its annual No Trash November, with the goal of picking up as much litter as possible from Tennessee’s roadways.
“Litter on our public roads is detrimental to safety, the environment, and the economy, while also detracting from Tennessee’s natural beauty,” said TDOT Commissioner Butch Eley in a press release. “We want to ensure our roadways are safe from the harmful effects of litter, especially with the upcoming holidays and increased travel.”
Read the full story
The research firm Fabrizio, Lee & Associates recently published results of its poll revealing how likely voters in Tennessee would vote in the 2024 presidential and senate race.
Read the full story
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti (R) has 30 days to appeal the Tuesday decision from a three-judge panel that ruled the legislature violated the state constitution with its new law governing the Metro Nashville Airport Authority.
Metro Nashville filed the lawsuit after the Tennessee Legislature passed a law changing how the board’s members are selected, with the new law allowing the mayor, governor, and House and Senate speakers to each select two appointees. Tuesday’s ruling invalidated this law, and restored the board’s previous members who were all appointed by Nashville’s mayor and approved by the Metro Nashville council, effective immediately.
Read the full story
U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) joined a group of colleagues Tuesday in urging Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to oppose President Joe Biden’s funding request for humanitarian efforts in Gaza.
Biden, in his $105 billion funding proposal for Ukraine and Israel, requested approximately $9 billion of the funds be dedicated towards “life-saving humanitarian assistance in Gaza and support for Palestinian refugees in the West Bank and surrounding areas.”
Read the full story
University of Tennessee student group hosted an “Abortion Pill Training ‘’ event on Oct. 19, educating students on how to discreetly maintain access to abortions in defiance of statewide laws that prohibit this practice.
The University of Tennessee’s Women’s Coordinating Council, which runs as a registered student organization at the university, invited Maxine Carwile to lead a training course through “Self-Managed Abortion; Safe and Supported” (SASS), a pro-abortion non-profit organization.
Read the full story
The Middle Tennessee Chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) announced it will hold another pro-Palestine rally this upcoming weekend at Centennial Park in Nashville.
Read the full story
Tennessee U.S. Representative Tim Burchett (R-TN-02) joined Nashville’s Morning News with Dan Mandis on Supertalk 99.7 WTN Monday morning to bring listeners in the room with the new Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, and discuss what’s next for Congress as President Joe Biden pushes for more funding for Ukraine amid growing conflict in the Middle East.
Read the full story
One day after Hamas terrorists invaded Israel and killed 1,400 innocent Israelis, State Senator Heidi Campbell (D-Nashville) issued a statement on X, formerly Twitter, that Israel is an “oppressive regime,” and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is a “ruthless dictator.”
Read the full story
The Biden Administration recently announced the designation of 31 communities across the country as Regional Innovation and Technology Hubs (Tech Hubs) through the Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration, however, all five Tennessee regions that applied for the designation were not included.
Read the full story
Newly-elected Democrat Tennessee State Representative for District 51 Aftyn Behn released a statement Sunday calling for a ceasefire between Israeli forces and Hamas terrorists.
Read the full story
A described “radical centrist” party that is seeking ballot access in Tennessee will not run candidates lower than the presidential level if granted that access.
“We are pleased to potentially have No Labels on the ballot in Tennessee for the 2024 presidential election,” Ryan Clancy, chief strategist at No Labels, told The Tennessee Star. “We will not offer our ballot line to candidates for any office other than the presidency. We’re just creating an opening for an independent Unity presidential ticket if that’s what the people of America — and Tennessee — want and need.”
Read the full story
According to multiple reports, the centrist No Labels Party is attempting to gain access to ballots across Tennessee for the upcoming 2024 election cycle.
Veteran political operator Ryan Clancy is the chief strategist of the group, and it boasts support from high-profile figures like former Republican Governor of Maryland Larry Hogan, former Democrat Governor of North Carolina Pat McCrory, and former Democrat Senator Joe Liebermann of Connecticut.
Read the full story