Exclusive: Sen. Marsha Blackburn Slams Cashless Bail with Tennessee Sheriff in Push for Restoring Law and Order Act

The Tennessee Star on Wednesday exclusively obtained a video released by Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), who urged Congress to pass her Restoring Law and Order Act to provide relief to cities like Memphis, which the senator argued suffers from ill-conceived restorative justice schemes and soft-on-crime judges.

Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) joined the senator’s Restoring Law and Order Act, which was reintroduced in May. The bill would authorize new grant funding for local law enforcement to hire and retain officers, combat child trafficking, and emphasize “public safety tools like bail and pretrial detention” to disallow accused criminals the opportunity to commit additional offenses.

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Commentary: ‘Get Out Now – Inside the White House on 9/11, According to the Staffers Who Were There

George Bush

On Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001, I anticipated a busy but relatively calm day at the White House.

I was the special assistant to the president for management and administration, and President George W. Bush was in Sarasota, Florida, promoting the No Child Left Behind legislation. The senior official in the White House was Vice President Dick Cheney. First lady Laura Bush was scheduled to travel to Capitol Hill to brief senators on early childhood education. On the South Lawn, tables were being set up for that evening’s congressional barbecue.

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Commentary: Bad Climate Policies Cause More Deaths than Climate Change

Climate Protest

During Vivek Ramaswamy’s recent event at the Cato Institute, protestors derailed his presentation by getting on stage and chanting “climate con-man,” among other similar allegations. But it’s not just rabbles of unknown activists accusing Ramaswamy of climate falsehoods.

Last year, Ramaswamy said, “The reality is, more people are dying of bad climate change policies than they are of actual climate change.”

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Kamala Harris Reaffirms Support for Mass Amnesty

Illegal Immigrants

After finally adding a list of policy positions to her beleaguered campaign website, Vice President Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) has doubled down on her support for giving amnesty to illegal aliens if she is elected in November.

As Fox News reports, a platform has been added to the Harris-Walz campaign website after nearly two months. In an attempt to distance herself from her radical past stances, including supporting giving taxpayer-funded healthcare to all illegals, Harris has tried to portray herself as much more hawkish on the immigration crisis.

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Tennessee Congressional Delegation Honor the ‘Scarboro 85’ on 69th Anniversary of Desegregation at Oak Ridge Public Schools

Classroom Students

The entire Tennessee congressional delegation sponsored a resolution this week celebrating the Scarboro 85 students from the Scarboro neighborhood in Oak Ridge. Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education, these students made history by entering all-white classrooms.

On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that separating children in public schools based on race was unconstitutional.

In a second opinion issued on May 31, 1955, the Supreme Court decreed that schools should be desegregated “with all deliberate speed.”

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Minnesota Department of Corrections Employee Quits After Men Inmates Are Allowed in Women’s Prison

Alicia Beckmann

After working for more than a decade as a GED instructor, Alicia Beckmann recently left her job because of a new transgender policy. According to Beckmann, the policy puts both corrections staff and inmates at risk.

The Minnesota Department of Corrections first transferred biological males Christina Lusk and Bradley Sirvio to Shakopee after Lusk successfully sued the state in 2023. A New York Post report last week revealed Gov. Tim Walz’s administration paid nearly $449,000 to a left-wing legal nonprofit as part of the resolution of Lusk’s case.

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Nashville Considers $6.9 Billion Transit Referendum Despite City Bus Network Just Now Reaching Pre-Pandemic Ridership

WeGo Bus stop

WeGo Public Transit in Nashville said on Friday it has now reached the high watermark of riders previously set in 2018, more than a year prior to the COVID-19 pandemic that saw the number of Nashvillians using public transit cut in half.

News that Nashville’s bus system has reached its pre-pandemic ridership numbers comes as the city’s voters consider a $3.1 billion transit package, which will be on their November ballot at the request of Mayor Freddie O’Connell.

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A.G. Yoast Suggests Courtroom Battle to Stop Feds Dumping Migrants in Ohio

Ohio A.G. Dave Yost

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced Monday that his office is investigating how to stop the Biden-Harris administration from continuing to resettle massive numbers of foreign nationals into his state.

An enormous increase in the migrant population in Ohio has taken place during the past four years of the Biden-Harris administration, leading to a strain in the state’s economic, medical and educational systems, Yost declared in a press release. Ohio’s top prosecutor says he is now directing his office to research courtroom strategies on how to stop the White House from sending an “unlimited” number of migrants into Ohio communities.

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State Lawmakers Expect Big Wins on Referendums on Citizen-Only Voting

People Voting

State lawmakers expressed confidence that ballot initiatives to ensure that only citizens vote will win “overwhelming” support—including in two battleground states.

North Carolina and Wisconsin—where polls are tight in the presidential race and have been close in recent statewide contests—will be voting on the matter. Other states with citizen-only voting referendums are red states Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, Oklahoma, and South Carolina.

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ICE Incapable of Monitoring Unaccompanied Minors Released into U.S., Inspector General Says

Illegal migrants at border

The Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued a management alert to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to make it aware of an urgent issue: ICE is incapable of monitoring hundreds of thousands of unaccompanied children (UACs) released into the country by the Biden-Harris administration.

“We found ICE cannot always monitor the location and status of unaccompanied migrant children who are released from DHS and HHS custody,” HHS Inspector General Joseph Cuffari said in a memo to the deputy director of ICE.

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Local ‘Sanctuary’ Policies in Virginia Pose Dangers to National Security

Town of Quantico

Localities with “sanctuary” policies in Virginia have grown, many butting up against vital military or national security instillations, posing potential threats, according to a former Homeland Security and immigration senior official.

Last month, immigration policy think tank the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) released an updated map of localities that have adopted sanctuary policies, which showed a surge in the commonwealth totaling 84.

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Ohio State University’s New Intellectual Diversity Center Director Will Teach Students to ‘Engage with Fellow Citizens in a Civil Way’

Professor Lee Strang

A new civics center at Ohio State University will help students learn how to “engage with fellow citizens in a civil way,” according to the director.

Former University of Toledo Professor Lee Strang is now at Ohio State University to lead the Salmon P. Chase Center for Civics, Culture and Society. It is one of five new “intellectual diversity” centers at public Ohio universities that are in the works.

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Commentary: Understanding Mitochondrial Dysfunction and Its Impact on Our Health

Robert Kennedy Jr.

Last Thursday, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. withdrew (kind of) from the 2024 presidential race.  He didn’t have to, and in the case of 40 out of 50 states, he actually didn’t.  But, he also didn’t have to endorse Donald J. Trump, and yet he did.  As I waited for his press conference, I wondered: What could drive a lion of Democratic party royalty to side with Trump?  The answer turned out to be a trio of existential crises.  As RFK Jr. explained, he and Trump are aligned on three critical issues, and they are of such existential importance that he was willing to set aside their differences to work together.

Beyond being a refreshing break from the mind-numbing drumbeat of Trump’s opposition, RFK Jr.’s remarks were a stark reminder of why two-thirds of Americans believe the country is moving down the wrong track. He first took aim at the military-industrial complex’s perpetual provoking of foreign wars and followed up with the alarming assault on free speech.  These were, however, just the warmup acts for his primary grievance: the moral and legal corruption of the food and pharmaceutical industries, assisted by their captured agencies, e.g., the FDA and USDA.

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‘Persons with Childbearing Potential’: American, European Medical Groups Erase Women in New Guidance

Pregnant Woman

Doctors already struggling to consistently use their patients’ preferred gender pronouns and account for sex-based differences in treatment for those who present as the opposite sex are facing potentially greater confusion courtesy of American and European medical groups.

The American Medical Association’s Manual of Style Committee is accepting feedback through month’s end on draft guidance on “reporting gender, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation and age” in medical and scientific publication, following its similar guidance for “inclusive language” on race and ethnicity three years ago.

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Troubled Boeing Spacecraft Returns to Earth Without Pilots on Board

Starliner

A Boeing spacecraft successfully returned to Earth on Saturday, without the pilots on board.

The Boeing Starliner has been plagued with technical problems since it was launched into space with astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore more than three months ago, essentially stranding the pilots in space. NASA and Boeing have been deliberating options as to how to get Williams and Wilmore home and decided to keep them in space for the time being rather than fly them home on the troubled return vessel, which successfully touched down in New Mexico on Saturday.

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HHS Pushes Child Gender Transitions with Threats of Suicide

Transgender youth

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is using “Suicide Prevention Awareness Month” this September to push the lie that transgender medical interventions stop children from committing suicide.

The Daily Signal obtained a newsletter the HHS sent on Friday sharing resources on suicide prevention for “LGBTQIA2S+ Youth.” The resources promote the idea that LGBTQ+ children are likely to commit suicide if they don’t receive irreversible gender transition procedures, like surgeries and hormone replacement regimens.

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Deadline to Replace Stolen Food Stamp or SNAP Benefits Looms

The deadline to replace Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) for recipients whose benefits were electronically stolen or skimmed is fast approaching.

A September 30, 2024, deadline looms for those who had their benefits stolen between October 1, 2022, and September 30, 2024, to replace their lost benefits. This comes after Congress passed a law in December 2022, hoping to reduce SNAP benefit theft; the law set this deadline to replace benefits. People must file their claims within 30 days of the theft occurring to ensure they receive payment.

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Law Passed After Surfside Collapse Affecting Florida’s Real Estate Market

Miami Condo Collapse

A new Florida condominium law is affecting the Sunshine State’s real estate market. The new measure requires costly inspections, significantly increasing homeowners’ costs.

The law — Senate Bill 4D — was passed during a special session in 2022 and requires condominium associations to retain adequate funds for building repairs. Buildings three stories or higher are subject to inspection requirements.

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Commentary: Banning Guns Is Not the Answer to School Shootings

Second Amendment

As a mother, I’m horrified by the notion that a child could be placed on a school bus and never come back home. Losing a child is a parent’s worst nightmare, and I’ve had too many friends who’ve walked through that darkness. As a member of a school board, I’m burdened that the decisions I make with my one vote of eleven could impact the safety of 64,000 children. I take those decisions very seriously, but I fear the root causes of this violence that are beyond my control.

The physical structures of schools are more secure than they have ever been. There are now school resource officers (SROs), stricter requirements on who can enter schools, and locked doors to keep the bad guys out. Students are encouraged to speak up: “If you see something, say something.” Yet I don’t believe anything school board members or administrators do can guarantee the safety of children without addressing the underlying cause of these senseless acts of violence—our country’s moral decay.

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Alaska Vetoes Birth Control Expansion Same Day Judge Takes Sledgehammer to Abortion Restrictions

Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy

Republican Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed a bill that would expand birth control access on Wednesday, while a judge on the Alaska Superior Court ruled against a state law that states only licensed doctors can perform abortions.

Dunleavy vetoed the bill, and Judge Josie Garton ruled against the state’s law prohibiting abortions from being performed unless it is by a doctor licensed by the State Medical Board, the ruling states. The bill that was vetoed would have required insurance companies to provide coverage for birth control and contraceptives.

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Walz Subpoenaed for Oversight of $250 Million Fraud Scheme

Tim Walz

Reputation associated with his military record already shattered, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz now faces a reckoning tied to a signature education accomplishment – feeding schoolchildren – from a congressional committee chaired by a North Carolina congresswoman.

Called the “largest COVID-19 fraud scheme in the nation,” U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., on Wednesday sent a letter and subpoena to Walz and his state administration associated with the federal child nutrition programs and Feeding Our Future, and to the Biden administration’s U.S. Department of Agriculture and its Office of Inspector General.

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Arizona Corporation Commission Candidates Discuss Rate Increases During Debate

Six candidates vying for three seats on the Arizona Corporation Commission went head-to-head in a televised debate Tuesday night moderated by the Citizens Clean Elections Commission.

Among the topics debated was one on the top of every Arizonans’ mind – energy price rate hikes. Arizona experienced one of the hottest summers in history this year, and one of the most expensive with energy bills increasing up to $100 a month for some residents.

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As Prices Soar, Americans Forced to Choose Between Food and Energy

People in grocery checkout line

With inflation remaining stubbornly high, many Americans have been forced to choose whether to pay for more groceries to feed their families, or to pay their energy bills to keep their families cool in the summer and warm in the winter.

According to CBS News, this new trend has been referred to as “energy poverty,” when Americans are unable to pay their energy bills or otherwise afford utilities. On average, households that spend 6 percent of their income or more on energy bills alone are considered to be in “energy poverty.” Currently, 1 in 7 American households spend approximately 14 percent of their income on energy.

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Arizona Voters to Decide on Thirteen Ballot Propositions in 2024

Voting Stations

Arizona voters will face thirteen propositions on the 2024 ballot. The Republican-led state legislature referred 11 propositions, covering a range of issues from election reforms to judicial term limits. Notably, two citizen-led initiatives also made the ballot: the Arizona for Abortion Access Act and the Make Elections Fair Act.

Propositions 133-140 are constitutional amendments, while propositions 311-315 are state statutes. 

The full, official language for each proposition on the 2024 Arizona ballot is available on the Arizona Secretary of State’s website.

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Mark Cuban Claims Kamala Harris Is ‘Going Center’ with Tax Proposals

Mark Cuban

“Shark Tank” star Mark Cuban claimed Thursday that Vice President Kamala Harris was a moderate, citing her recent campaign proposals on tax policy during a CNBC phone interview.

Harris unveiled tax policy proposals, including a scaled back increase to the capital gains tax, during a Wednesday speech in New Hampshire, CNN reported. Cuban, a part-owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, said that Harris was attempting to show respect for President Joe Biden and not “contradict” Biden’s proposals “directly.”

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Activist Group Launches Amendment Campaign in Eight States to Block Non-Citizen Voting

The eight states with these constitutional amendments on the ballot in November are Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Wisconsin.

The nonprofit Americans for Citizen Voting (ACV) launched a campaign on Wednesday to pass constitutional amendments in eight states this November to prevent non-citizens from voting in those states’ elections.

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Commentary: The Hidden Vote

Illegal Immigrants

Former President Donald Trump is slightly ahead in the polls and, as in 2016 and 2020, he is drawing massive crowds at his rallies. Some knowledgeable observers have even speculated that Trump could be on the verge of a landslide electoral college victory.

But, while our attention is being drawn to the polls, the campaigning, and the strategies of the presidential candidates, what about the taxpayer-funded electoral apparatus that has been created over the past four years by the Biden-Harris regime?

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Yost Tells Columbus Schools to Bus Choice Students

Kids getting on school bus

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost is threatening to sue the Columbus Public School District if it doesn’t restart transportation for charter- and private-school students.

About two weeks before school began last month, the state’s largest school district sent a letter to private- and charter-school parents saying busing would stop for students living within the district’s boundaries because it was impractical.

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Commentary: The ‘Structural Advantages’ of Democrats

American Federation of Teachers

A few weeks ago, Congressman Richard Hudson, Chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, said something in a television interview that has to be the biggest understatement ever made in the context of national politics today. In regards to the work he is doing with the committee to grow the Republican majority in the House of Representatives, he said that the Democrats enjoy several “structural advantages.” It was a short interview, and Chairman Hudson didn’t have time to elaborate. But his statement is true in so many ways and carries with it such profound implications for our future that elaboration is called for.

One of the most significant structural advantages of Democrats is the fact that government unions, heavily involved in politics at every level, invariably favor Democrats. While business interests have collective power much greater than these unions, they have no inherent party preference. They support the politicians who win because those are the politicians who will regulate them. Moreover, there is no monolithic “business community.” Businesses either occupy different sectors of the economy with completely different political priorities or, if not, they are often in direct competition with each other.

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Florida Sues over Violent Foreign Nationals Being Released from Prison into U.S.

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody

The state of Florida is suing the Biden-Harris administration to obtain information on how many illegal foreign nationals convicted of violent crimes who served time in prison were released into the U.S. instead of being deported.

“Historically, when illegal aliens were brought to the U.S. to be prosecuted for their crimes, it was well understood that the aliens would be deported once they have served their sentence,” Florida’s lawsuit, filed by Attorney General Ashley Moody, states. “That was until the Biden-Harris Administration implemented their shockingly irresponsible immigration policy, pushing unknown numbers of dangerous criminals straight from federal prison into our communities and causing chaos, anarchy, and crime.”

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Conservative Group to Monitor Arizona’s Ballot Drop Boxes, Democrats Doubtful

ballot dropbox

A conservative grassroots organization has sent letters to election officials in every “major jurisdiction” asking what measures are being taken to ensure the security of Arizona’s ballot boxes and calling for the right to monitor those boxes during the general presidential election.

According to reporting by the Arizona Republic, one of these letters was received by Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes on Aug. 15, just days after a Maricopa County Superior Court judge ruled that Fontes had overstepped when crafting the Elections Procedure Manual.

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Tennessee Receives $35 Million Federal College Readiness Grant

Tutor helping kids study

Tennessee’s Higher Education Commission received a $35 million grant aimed at promoting college readiness in underserved and at-risk communities.

It will mean that 9,000 students will receive support throughout the seven years of the grant, starting with 1,600 seventh-graders from the class of 2030 who will receive support through their first year of college.

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Michigan U.S. Senate Candidates Clash on Electric Vehicles in Labor Policy Visions

Electric Vehicle charging station

Michigan’s U.S. Senate candidates are running on their records regarding labor and economic policy, but they are opposed on the role of electric vehicles. 

Democrat Rep. Elissa Slotkin’s approach to labor policy focuses primarily on supporting domestic manufacturing. Her campaign page says she is focused on “creating jobs with dignity, bringing our supply chains back to America, and protecting the rights of workers.”

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Georgia Public Service Commission Could Issue Ruling This Week in Railroad Case

Sandersville Railroad

The Georgia Public Service Commission could decide a high-profile case this week that pits long-time property owners against a railroad looking to seize land for a new rail spur.

The Sandersville Railroad, a Class III short-line railroad, petitioned the PSC to condemn land for a 4.5-mile-long spur. Regardless of how the PSC rules, its decision will likely be appealed to Fulton County Superior Court and beyond, possibly even to the U.S. Supreme Court.

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Emergency Rule Change Temporarily Limits State Bar Complaints Against Attorneys in Arizona

Arizona State Bar

The Arizona Supreme Court, which oversees the State Bar of Arizona (SBA), is considering proposed changes to the SBA, and approved one temporary emergency rule change Friday. The SBA, whose leadership is dominated by progressives, has come under intense criticism in recent years for targeting conservative attorneys, especially election attorneys. The court adopted R-24-0046 as an emergency rule in order to allow it to go into effect temporarily before the 2024 general election. It limits the ability of those who have no connection to a matter to file a complaint against an attorney.

The justices are reviewing 70 total rule change petitions, and will decide whether to adopt, adopt with amendment, reject, or continue a change. Changes resulting from this process will then be referred to a study committee for further consideration. The rule change process began in January, with proposals offered to the public for comment. The justices are expected to make their decisions on all 70 rule change petitions within the next few days. Most rules that are adopted will go into effect in January.

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Ohio Lawmakers Eye Changes to ‘Name-Image-Likeness’ Rules for College Athletes

The Ohio State Buckeyes

Two Ohio lawmakers want to clean up the state’s laws on how college athletes can be compensated.

The potential legislation is expected to bridge the gap between the NIL Collective and state colleges and universities and allow schools to directly participate in paying student-athletes.

The bill, introduced by State Reps. Adam Mathews, R-Lebanon, and Jay Edwards, R-Nelsonville, awaits a bill number and committee assignment.

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Teen Girl at Baseball Game Stabbed by Previously Deported Illegal Migrant, Police Allege

A teen girl at an Indiana baseball game was randomly stabbed over the weekend by a man local authorities say is a previously deported illegal immigrant. The 14-year-old girl was watching her brother’s baseball game in Lowell, Indiana, on Saturday when a man randomly stabbed her in the hand and fled the scene, according to NBC Chicago. Law enforcement arrested Dimas Gabriel Yanez, a 26-year-old Honduran national, following an extensive manhunt that ended on Sunday amid a foot pursuit in a Lake County cornfield.

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Doctors Warn Voters About ‘Deceptively Worded’ Language in Florida’s Amendment 4

A large group of Florida physicians recently united to oppose the state’s Amendment 4 initiative, warning voters about its potential impacts as it heads to the ballot in November. Florida’s Amendment 4, also known as the Right to Abortion Initiative, is sponsored by the Sarasota-based group “Floridians Protecting Freedom.” The amendment seeks to end the state’s six-week abortion ban by enshrining abortion rights in Florida’s constitution. While some physicians support the amendment, others have begun to caution voters against it.

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U.S. Surgeon General Warns Parents’ Stress Levels Are an ‘Urgent Public Health Issue’

Stressed Parent

United States Surgeon General Vivek Murthy on Wednesday issued a public health advisory that emphasized the importance of mental health in parents.

Murthy claimed in a post by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that parents over the past decade have consistently been more likely to report high stress levels than in the past.

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Tennessee Gov. Lee Grants $41 Million for Vocational Education Programs

Gov. Bill Lee at Rural Opportunity Summit

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee’s office announced $41 million in grants to 23 projects to invest in vocational education in rural counties.

The Governor’s Investment in Vocational Education grants, capped at $2 million apiece, are intended to expand regional partnerships between Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology, community colleges and local industries.

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Pro-Vaccine Doctors Skeptical of New COVID-19 Boosters: ‘I’d Really Like to See the Data’

Vaccine

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is pushing new COVID-19 boosters, claiming that people who don’t stay “up to date” with shots – regardless of how many they’ve already taken – “are more likely to get very sick” while those who take them annually are “much less likely to get very ill, be hospitalized, or even die” from COVID.

The Democratic nominee for president is so committed to staying up to date on jabs that Vice President Kamala Harris made COVID boosting a requirement to work on her campaign, “unless otherwise prohibited by applicable law.” They can also ask the human resources department for a “reasonable accommodation … prior to reporting to an office location.”

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Biden Admin Looks to Open Up 31 Million Acres for Solar After Locking Up Oil, Gas in Huge Swath of Alaska

The Biden administration proposed to open up tens of millions of acres of public lands to solar development on Thursday after cementing restrictions on oil and gas activity across large swaths of Alaska.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) rolled out its proposed “Western Solar Plan,” which would put approximately 31 million acres across 11 western states on the table for possible solar development. The agency’s solar plan comes on the heels of its Tuesday announcement that it had finalized protections for 28 million acres of public land in Alaska that will effectively prohibit oil and gas activity on that acreage.

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