Tag: Memphis

New Charges Filed Against Tennessee State Sen. Katrina Robinson in Fraud and Memphis Money Laundering Case

Chris Butler

State Sen. Katrina Robinson (D-Memphis), already in legal trouble for embezzlement and wire fraud charges, learned Monday that her legal problems have only intensified. Federal officials have charged Robinson, 40, in a new case, along with two other co-defendants, with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering. This, according to a press release that officials with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Tennessee published on their website Tuesday.

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Tennessee Senate Considers Bill to Allow First Responders to Live Outside the Jurisdictions They Serve

Jason M. Reynolds

State Senator Brian Kelsey (R-Germantown) on Wednesday filed SB 29 which would allow first responders to live where they choose, the Tennessee Senate Republican Caucus said in a statement.

Kelsey posted on the caucus’ Facebook page, “This is a public safety bill. It will enable us to hire more police officers, which will help us fight our rising crime rates.”

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Federal Operation to Remove Violent Criminals in Memphis Deemed Success

Chris Butler

The U.S. Justice Department has announced the results of Operation LeGend, which first launched in Missouri and then expanded to several cities, including Memphis. “Operation Legend removed violent criminals, domestic abusers, carjackers and drug traffickers from nine cities that were experiencing stubbornly high crime and took illegal firearms, illegal narcotics and illicit monies off the streets,” said former Attorney General William Barr, in a press release that the U.S. Justice Department released Wednesday.

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Commentary: The Political Ambush of State Rep. John DeBerry

Admin

The year 2020 will go down as being known for COVID-19, social-distancing and the political ambush of State Rep. John DeBerry by the Tennessee Democratic Party.  DeBerry, a Memphis Democrat and respected statesman in the House of Representatives, was ousted by his own party back in May by a 41-18 vote by members of the Tennessee Democrat Executive Committee.

Rather than letting voters take him off the ballot, a committee of Democrats who probably never visited his district cast him out for being conservative on social issues.

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Convicted Felon in Memphis Used a Firearm to Traffic Drugs, Feds Say

Chris Butler

Federal officials in Memphis have sentenced a man, already a felon, to prison for possessing a firearm, possessing a controlled substance with intent to distribute, and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

This, according to a press release that officials with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Tennessee published on their website this week.

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Federal Officials in West Tennessee Sentence Illegal Alien for Unlawful Reentry and Unlawful Possession of a Firearm

Chris Butler

Federal officials in Memphis this week sentenced an illegal alien to 60 months in federal prison for one count of possessing a firearm as an illegal alien and one count of illegally re-entering the United States.

This, according to a press release that staff at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Tennessee published on their website.

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More Federal Money Coming to Fight Crime in Memphis

Chris Butler

U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant this week announced $398,864 in Department of Justice grant funding awarded to the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office to hire special prosecutors to try federal firearms cases originating in Memphis.

This according to a press release that officials with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Tennessee published on their website this week.

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Memphis Announces Results from First Month of Federal Crime Fighting Initiative Operation Legend

Chris Butler

Local and federal law enforcement officers in Memphis have arrested 302 people as a part of Operation Legend, according to U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant.

“Between August 6 and September 8, 2020, federal and local law enforcement agencies in the Operation Legend Task Force have worked cooperatively to arrest 106 people on new state and federal charges,” Dunavant said in a press release.

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Memphis Barber Wins Lawsuit Against Tennessee Officials who Kept Him from Working

Chris Butler
Elias Zarate

A Memphis man has won a lawsuit against the Tennessee Board of Cosmetology and Barber Examiners for denying him the right to work.

As The Tennessee Star reported in 2018, state officials denied that man, Elias Zarate, a barber’s license because he did not have a high school diploma.

A press release that the Nashville-based Beacon Center of Tennessee emailed Monday updated Zarate’s case. Beacon, a right-of-center think tank, represented him.

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Memphis Police Must Continue to Live in City, Per City Council

Chris Butler

Memphis Police officers will be required to live in the city, whether they like it or not.

Memphis City Council members approved an ordinance this month that removed the question of residency from the November 2020 ballot.

Specifically, the approved ordinance rescinds Referendum Ordinance No. 5744, which might have allowed specified personnel employed within the Divisions of Police and Fire Services to reside 50 miles outside of the City of Memphis.

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Feds Expand Crime Fighting Operation to Memphis

Chris Butler

Federal officials late last week announced an initiative, Operation Legend, to fight violent crime in Memphis and St. Louis.

“The most basic responsibility of government is to protect the safety of our citizens. Today, we have extended Operation Legend to Memphis and St. Louis, two cities experiencing increases in violent crime that no resident of those cities should have to accept as part of everyday life,” Attorney General William P. Barr said in a statement.

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Justice Department Sends Federal Officers to Memphis and St. Louis to Help Quell Nationwide Violence

Admin
Memphis

Federal officers from five different agencies are set to arrive in Memphis and St. Louis to aid in crime reduction and investigations, the Department of Justice announced Thursday.

Memphis will receive an influx of 40 federal agents from the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and Homeland Security — 24 of which are permanent assignments, according to a DOJ press release. St. Louis is set to receive an unspecified number of agents from the ATF, DEA, FBI and U.S. Marshals Service with an additional 50 Homeland Security agents, the release said.

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Out-of-Control Teenagers Cause Disturbance at Memphis Golf Park

Chris Butler

A group of patrons, apparently teenagers, went on a rampage Saturday at Memphis’ Golf and Games Family Park and damaged nearly $500 worth of property, according to an employee.

This, General Manager Aaron Bos said, after several parents dropped their kids off at the park and left them unsupervised. Authorities did not arrest any of the unruly patrons, and no one was injured. But someone recorded the incident on video, and law enforcement officers are currently trying to identify the aggressors based off of that, Boss added.

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Memphis-Based Varsity Spirit Founder Endorses Manny Sethi for U.S. Senate

Chris Butler

Memphis-based Varsity Spirit founder Jeff Webb this week endorsed Manny Sethi’s candidacy for the U.S. Senate.

According to a press release Sethi emailed Thursday, Webb built Varsity Spirit from startup to annual revenues approaching $2 billion with 8,000 employees in all 50 states. He also founded and chairs American Populists, a political organization dedicated to restoring America’s middle class.

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Steve Cohen Calls for Bill Barr’s Impeachment

Anthony Gockowski

Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN-09) called for the impeachment of U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr during a House Judiciary Committee hearing last week.

In a statement released before the hearing, Cohen claimed the Department of Justice “has clearly been corrupted” under Barr’s leadership. He pointed to the recent removal of Geoffrey Berman, former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, and the Justice Department’s request to dismiss its criminal case against Michael Flynn as evidence of corruption.

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Shelby County Reports Biggest Virus Spike Since Pandemic Began

The Associated Press

Tennessee’s largest county reported Saturday its highest single-day increase in COVID-19 cases, though officials were trying to figure out if the jump represented a surge in people getting sick or delayed results from testing laboratories.

The Shelby County Health Department in Memphis reported an increase of 385 cases of the new coronavirus, eclipsing the previous single-day spike by more than 100 cases.

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Gov. Lee Announces ‘Strong Mask Movement’ to Make Wearing Face Masks ‘Fun’

Anthony Gockowski

Gov. Bill Lee announced a new “TN Strong Mask Movement” Thursday with the goal of making face masks more “fun.”

According to a press release from the governor’s office, the Economic Recovery Group developed the new program along with more than 30 “flagship brands” across the state, including Amazon, Bridgestone, Bristol Motor Speedway, Graceland, Jack Daniel’s, several professional sports teams and universities, and many others.

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Illegal Alien Sentenced to Five Years for Cocaine Trafficking in Memphis

Anthony Gockowski

An illegal alien who evaded capture for nearly three years was sentenced to 60 months in federal prison last week for possession of cocaine with intent to distribute and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

According to a Monday statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Tennessee, a federal jury in February found Carlos Landeros-Salcedo guilty after a three-day trial and just 40 minutes of deliberation among the jurors. U.S. District Court Judge Sheryl H. Lipman sentenced him to 60 months in federal prison on June 10.

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New Numbers Show Tennessee’s ‘Staggering Increase in Unemployment’

Chris Butler

Officials with the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development released statistics Thursday showing what they call “a staggering increase in unemployment for each of Tennessee’s 95 counties” in April. This, as many businesses closed to help slow the spread of COVID-19, according to a TDLWD press release.

“The unprecedented and historic spike in unemployment impacted some counties more drastically than others, but no area of Tennessee escaped the pandemic’s effect on the state’s workforce,” the press release said.

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Carol Swain Commentary: Ditching Rep. DeBerry Shows the True Colors of the Tennessee Democratic Party

Admin

Tennessee State Rep. John DeBerry, a black Shelby County Democrat, is an independent thinker, which at the moment makes him Public Enemy No. 1 in the eyes of the state’s Democratic Party.

Earlier this month, with most Americans distracted by the media’s nonstop coronavirus coverage, Janeita Lentz, another Shelby County Democrat and co-chair of the Memphis-Mid South Democratic Socialists of America, advanced a racist, cultist agenda. Her mission: to oust a black Democratic incumbent deemed too uppity for the Tennessee Democratic Party (TNDP) and its white overseers.

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Clint Brewer: The Tennessee Democratic Party Needs to Take a Look at Who Represents Them in Response to DeBerry Coup

Julie Carr

At the top of the second hour on Monday’s Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy, all star panelist Clint Brewer weighed in on the recent coup against Memphis State Representative John DeBerry and commented that he finds the whole situation to be very troubling. He further went on to express his concern stating that we may have reached a point in this country where you could be removed from your party because you are working across the aisle with other legislators.

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John DeBerry to Democratic Party: ‘No One Party Has Exclusive Control of Over the Mindset, Ideology, Philosophy, and Theology of Any One Group’

Julie Carr

Live from Nashville, Tennessee Friday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. Tennessee state Representative John DeBerry (D-Memphis) joined host Michael Patrick Leahy on the newsmakers line.

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Tennessee Medical Association Asks All Mayors to Issue Shelter in Place Orders

Anthony Gockowski

The Tennessee Medical Association (TMA) sent a letter to every mayor in the state Friday asking them to request authority from Gov. Bill Lee to issue shelter-in-place orders for their communities.

Lee has thus far declined to issue a statewide shelter-in-place order, which prompted more than 2,000 health care workers to sign a petition asking him to change course, The Tennessee Star reported. As of Sunday, 26 states had issued stay-at-home orders, including the neighboring states of North Carolina and Kentucky.

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