Tuesday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed all-star panelist and public relations expert Clint Brewer in studio to discuss CDC’s confusing guidelines and the continuation of mask-wearing after vaccination.
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Monday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Congressman Tim Burchett to the newsmaker line to weigh on what it’s like working in Nancy Pelosi’s House of Represenatives, changing maks mandates and John Kerry’s role.
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The University System of Georgia announced that it plans to drop mask mandates for fully vaccinated students and employees in the Fall 2021 semester, marking a return to relative normalcy.
“Fully vaccinated individuals can resume campus classes and other activities without wearing a mask. Unvaccinated individuals are strongly encouraged to continue wearing a face covering while inside campus facilities,” a press release said.
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Williamson County Schools (WCS) announced Friday they’re ending their mask mandate, several weeks after a judge opined they lacked legal authority to continue imposing it. After the spring semester lets out, WCS won’t require masks any longer. In a voicemail obtained by The Tennessee Star, WCS Communications Director Carol Birdsong announced to parents that WCS was ending their mask mandate.
“Hello Williamson County Schools families, this is Carol Birdsong calling. Superintendent Jason Golden announced at last night’s school board work session that the district’s indoor mask requirement will come to an end once school has been dismissed and campuses have been cleared on Friday, May 21. The district will continue to recommend and encourage masks this summer for those who are not fully vaccinated – but they will not be required. More information is included in the email that is accompanying this phone call.”
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After an announcement from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that Americans vaccinated against COVID-19 are free to gather without masks, several Florida staples have announced they will not require customers to wear masks this summer.
“Visitors won’t have to wear face masks outdoors at any of Central Florida’s major theme parks, as Universal Orlando, Disney World and SeaWorld relaxed the COVID-19 rule effective Saturday, sparking a mixed reaction among some fans,” The Orlando Sentinel reported Saturday.
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Nashville Mayor John Cooper (D) announced Friday that the city will no longer require residents or visitors to wear masks, and announced an end to capacity restrictions on businesses.
“As of this morning, Nashville has lifted the mask mandate and all capacity restrictions. 301,700 Nashvillians have received a vaccine, which is life-saving and economy-saving. Together we weathered the storm of the last 14 months, and Nashville is ready for the rebound,” he said on Twitter, attaching a public service video announcement.
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In a Wednesday appearance on Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle,” Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) announced that he will pardon and grant clemency to those facing legal battles for breaking mask mandates and social distancing orders during the COVID-19 pandemic.
DeSantis joined Laura Ingraham along with Michael and Jillian Carnevale, who own a gym in Broward County. Last summer, the pair became a target of the Broward County authorities, according to a GoFundMe for their legal bills. They were both arrested and their business was shut down when they refused to comply with the county’s mask mandate.
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Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) is being called out on the internet for apparently breaking his own mask mandate orders.
DeWine and his wife Fran unmasked for a photo opportunity inside a Findlay ice cream shop at the end of last week.
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As COVID-19 cases surge in Michigan, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) is expanding her mask mandate order to include toddlers.
“The mask requirement previously exempted children younger than the age of 5. Expanding the mask rule to children ages 2 to 4 also requires ‘a good faith effort to ensure that these children wear masks while in gatherings at childcare facilities or camps,'” according to The Detroit News.
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A mom from Georgia is going viral after demanding that her child’s school board lift mask mandates.
“Every month, I come here and I hear the same thing – social and emotional health,” Courtney Ann Taylor told the Gwinnett County School Board during an April 15 meeting. “”If you truly mean that you would end the mask requirement tonight.”
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Thursday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Dr. Naomi Wolf who is a liberal feminist, author, and creator of the new site Daily Clout to the newsmakers line to talk about the subjugation of America through COVID mandates.
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Despite continued COVID-19 restrictions, including social distancing, limited capacity inside businesses, and mask mandates, Michigan has more COVID-19 hospitalizations than Texas, which dropped all of its COVID-19 restrictions about one month ago.
Associated Press reporter David Eggert attended a ceremony at Ford Field on Tuesday where Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was vaccinated. He reported that the state has 3100 hospitalizations for COVID-19, an increase from 2600 last Friday.
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The 10,000 individuals who signed up for the mass vaccination event at the Nissan Stadium will be greeted with fanfare: live music, cheerleaders, and mascots to boot. Nashville Mayor John Cooper issued this announcement in a press release on Thursday, several days ahead of the mass vaccination event on Sunday. The release noted that the Nashville Convention and Visitors Corporation (CVC) and the Tennessee Titans would assist in putting on the “live musical performance.”
The Tennessee Star inquired with the mayor’s office about the cost of this celebratory aspect to the mass vaccination event. Cooper’s spokesperson didn’t respond by press time.
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Thursday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed all-star panelist Clint Brewer to the studio to weigh in on Elizabeth Warren’s irresponsible rhetoric attempting to get rid of the filibuster in the Senate.
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On Tuesday, governors Greg Abbott (R-Texas) and Tate Reeves (R-Miss.) announced they would be lifting their statewide mask-wearing mandates, business capacity limitations, and various other COVID-19-related restrictions. “COVID still exists,” Abbott said, “but it is clear from the recoveries, from the vaccinations, from the reduced hospitalizations, and from the safe practices that Texans are using that state mandates are no longer needed.”
Texans and Mississippians might be forgiven for wondering why their governors did not earlier follow the courageous path of Governor Kristi Noem (R-S.D.), who has garnered national headlines for her stubborn refusal to enact various mask-wearing mandates and other lockdown orders. But still: Better late than never.
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Tuesday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Mayor Andy Ogles to the studio to discuss the unconstitutionality of mask mandates by county mayors and the governor.
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Governor Bill Lee called out Tennessee for its recent Thanksgiving gatherings as selfish, indifferent, and foolish decisions. The governor issued these remarks during a press conference as some of the first COVID-19 vaccines were administered at Vanderbilt University.
“We do stand here and celebrate a tremendous breakthrough in this pandemic,” stated Lee. “But there is a darkness before the dawn that’s happening right here in Tennessee – we have to recognize that. Tennessee’s cases are surging. The holidays have caught up with us. Decisions that some made during Thanksgiving have a severe reality in this hospital and all across Tennessee today.”
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On Tuesday during a press conference to address Ohioans on COVID updates in the state, Governor Mike DeWine was asked about conflicting expert opinions on masking children – which he requires for K-12.
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Representative Jena Powell (R-Arcanum) is a freshman legislator from Ohio’s 80th District with the tenacity of a rookie and the strategic thinking of a veteran. During a Friday afternoon phone call with The Ohio Star, Powell said “everyone can speak on things, but it takes a plan to get there. I am not the kind of person that says ‘open Ohio’ and doesn’t have a plan – you have to have a plan to get to the endpoint.”
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Friday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed the original all-star panelist Crom Carmichael to the studio to discuss Joe Biden’s wrong choices with public health policy and foreign relations.
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Metro Councilwoman Sharon Hurt attended a special joint meeting of the Public Safety and Health committee recently where she seemed to make to case that a violation of the city’s mask mandate should carry with a heavy penalty up to and including murder or attempted murder.
Here is the transcript of her remarks…
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Tennessee’s attorney general says mask mandates are constitutionally defensible in an opinion that comes as some county mayors have moved to enact the requirements.
Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery III wrote in an opinion Friday that for more than a century, the U.S. Supreme Court has recognized that “a community has the right to protect itself against an epidemic of disease which threatens the safety of its members.”
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