Tim Scott Announces Nearly 150 Endorsements from His Home State

South Carolina senator and 2024 candidate Tim Scott racked up nearly 150 endorsements from current and former elected officials in his home state Monday.

Scott entered the Republican primary in late May, and already gained the backing of South Dakota’s GOP Senate Majority Whip John Thune and Sen. Mike Rounds. The South Carolina senator received 148 endorsements, including several members of the state legislature’s leadership, the mayor of South Carolina’s capital, Columbia, and a former U.S. congressman, the Daily Caller News Foundation confirmed.

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GOP Spokeswoman: Biden’s Removing Columbia’s Castro-Linked FARC from Terrorist List ‘Legitimized and Emboldened Terrorists’

  The communications director of the Republican National Committee blasted President Joseph R. Biden’s Jr.’s removing today the Marxist guerillas fighting under the name Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, and undermining the democratic government of Columbia. “Biden’s decision has legitimized and emboldened terrorists who have murdered, kidnapped, and attacked Americans and our allies across Latin America, in addition to killing hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians in Colombia,” Danielle Alvarez said in a statement about the decision. Alvarez, a Cuban-American, was a spokeswoman for Trump Victory and also worked for Florida Republican Sen. Richard L. “Rick” Scott’s 2014 gubernatorial reelection campaign. “The FARC has actively worked to undermine democracy in Colombia through violence and drug trafficking, and this decision is an insult and disrespect to Colombian Americans and all victims of the FARC’s attacks,” said Alvarez. “Instead of removing the FARC from the list of terrorist organizations, Biden should be holding this communist group accountable for its violence, extremism, and oppression,” she said. “This is another unacceptable foreign policy decision from Biden that is making America and our allies less safe.” Biden’s move to recognize FARC, which was funded and mentored by Fidel Castro, as a political entity,…

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Sons of Confederate Veterans ‘Put to Rest for Eternity’ Gen. Nathan Bedford in Columbia, Tennessee

COLUMBIA, Tennessee – Confederate Lt. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest was “put to rest for eternity” Saturday by the Sons of Confederate Veterans at the National Confederate Headquarters and Museum at Historic Elm Springs in Columbia, Tennessee.

The General was reinterred with his wife Mary Ann Montgomery Forrest at a private ceremony that was free to attendees but required a ticket, the number of which was limited to about 2,000.

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Columbia Officials Want Public Art, Including a Mural in Multiple Languages

  Columbia officials reportedly want a permanent public art display, and one suggestion includes a mural saying “Welcome” in multiple world languages. This, according to OakRidger.com, which did not specify whether taxpayers would have to pay for this public art. The proposed mural “would showcase the county’s diverse citizenship, as well as tourists who visit from around the globe” and cater to people who people who do not speak English, according to the website. Arts Council Chair Ross Jaynes did not return The Tennessee Star’s request for comment Thursday. According to OakRidger.com, no one yet knows what the display will look like or where city officials will place it. “An arts council Columbia Public Arts Project (CPAP) committee consisting of arts council members was formed earlier this year to figure out how, and if a public art display can be done, and what that process would entail,” according to the website. City officials have tasked committee members with finding ideas to generate public interest in the arts, whether it’s murals, installations or other types of art, OakRidger.com reported. The Maury County Visitors Bureau is one potential location for the permanent art display, according to the website. Arts council member Meredith…

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917 Society Honors Supporters in Nashville this Week

NASHVILLE — Members of the 917 Society held a luncheon at the Cordell Hull Building in Nashville this week to honor and recognize supporters. As reported, the 917 Society exists to help improve constitutional literacy among Tennessee eighth graders. And because of the 917 Society, every eighth-grader in Tennessee gets a copy of the U.S. Constitution. At their luncheon last week, in the Cordell Hull Building, members recognized, among many others, State Sen. Joey Hensley, R-Hohenwald, State Sen. Ed Jackson, R-Jackson, State Rep. Terri Lynn Weaver, R-Lancaster, and State Sen. Dawn White, R-Murfreesboro. Meanwhile, State Sen. Kerry Roberts, R-Springfield, presented a 917 Society Founders Club Award to State Sen. Janice Bowling, R-Tullahoma. Members of the group also recognized Angie McClanahan, an eighth-grade teacher at Whitmore Middle School in Columbia. “Your generous gifts have made it possible for my eighth-graders to have their own copies of the Constitution,” McClanahan told the crowd. “Our kids don’t have a workbook or a textbook to take home with them. I actually have children who say ‘You mean we get to keep this. One child even said ‘It’s like having knowledge in your pocket.’” Joni Bryan launched the 917 Society just a few years ago.…

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Medicaid Improperly Billed in Columbia, Audit Says

A Columbia nursing facility improperly billed Medicaid nearly $5,000, according to an audit Tennessee Comptrollers released Monday. In their audit, Comptrollers called out the Life Care Center of Columbia. This audit comes as several mainstream media outlets in Tennessee seem to urge state leaders to expand Medicaid. The most recent one was The Daily Memphian, in a glowing piece about newly-elected State Rep. Jesse Chism, D-Memphis. But, as Monday’s audit and many others reveal, people tasked with handling Medicaid expenses often make mistakes and bill the taxpayers more than necessary. According to the audit, Life Care Center of Columbia improperly billed the Medicaid Program for 31 noncovered days from 2014 through 2016. “Of the improperly billed days, 27 were for hospital or therapeutic leave days when the facility was operating below 85 percent occupancy, one was for a hospital leave day that exceeded the 10-day leave rule, and three were billed after a resident was discharged from the facility,” auditors wrote. The facility, Comptrollers went on to say, should refund $4,811 to the Medicaid Program. In another finding, Comptrollers said staff members inappropriately charged Medicaid residents’ trust fund accounts for shampoos and haircuts, which are Medicaid- covered services. “As a…

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Early Voting Turnout Heavy in Maury County

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Voters hit the polls heavily in the first two days of early voting in Maury County. The polls opened Friday at the Maury County Election Commission for early voting in the 2018 Tennessee general and primary election, The Daily Herald reported. On Friday and Saturday, at least 1,100 votes were cast even as Maury County candidates lined both shoulders of the road leading to the polling location. Maury County has 43,000 registered voters. Normally, about 30 percent of voters cast ballots early. During early voting in the 2016 presidential election, which included local races, more than 3,200 residents participated in early voting. The Tennessee Secretary of State’s office, which oversees elections, lists the advantages of early voting on its website: “being able to choose a day during the early voting period that best fits the voter’s schedule and the voter being able to change his or her address of registration and vote in the same voting location.” Each county’s election commission office may be found online here. Early voting will be from July 13-28. In Maury County, early voting will be held at the county’s election commission office at 1207A Tradewinds Drive in Columbia. The Secretary of State’s office also…

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