Tennessee Comptroller Justin Wilson announced Wednesday that he is stepping down from his position, but he also said he has a successor in mind. Wilson, in a letter to members of the Tennessee General Assembly, suggested that Deputy Comptroller Jason Mumpower replace him.
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Tuesday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed all-star panelist Clint Brewer to the studio to discuss the proposed rollout of the new COVID-19 vaccine.
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Tennessee tax revenue exceeded the state’s budget estimate by $129.5 million in November, continuing a four-month streak of positive revenue after declines in April, May and June.
The Tennessee Department of Finance and Administration said overall state revenue in November was $1.1 billion – nearly 2% more than a year ago. In the first four months of the fiscal year, tax revenue collections exceeded budgeted estimates by $576 million.
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Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery announced this week that he has joined 48 other attorneys general in filing a lawsuit against Facebook and alleged that the company illegally stifles competition to protect its monopoly. This, according to a press release that Slatery’s staff posted on the Tennessee Attorney General’s website.
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Thursday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed former Vanderbilt Professor Carol M. Swain to the show who weighed in on Tennessee joining the Texas lawsuit and why the Supreme Court would take up the suit.
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Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery announced Wednesday that he will support an Amicus Brief supporting the Texas election lawsuit before the U.S. Supreme Court. As The Tennessee Star reported Tuesday, Texas officials filed a lawsuit directly to the U.S. Supreme Court challenging the election results in Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Georgia. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton argues that officials in those four states changed election rules without legislative consent, thus violating the U.S. Constitution.
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Nashville’s 34 percent property tax increase is the “Pork of the Year,” according to the Beacon Center of Tennessee’s annual Pork Report, which the organization released Tuesday. Staff at the Beacon Center of Tennessee say that their annual Tennessee Pork Report reveals millions of dollars in government waste, fraud, and abuse.
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Monday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed all-star panelist Crom Carmichael to the show who discussed whether or not America would be a nation of laws and received a definition to his Demo-Nazi term from Caller Karen.
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Tennessee State Sen. Brian Kelsey (R-Germantown) on Monday filed Senate Bill 14, which would, if enacted into law, classify drag racing as a Class A misdemeanor. State Rep. John Gillespie (R-Memphis), according to the Tennessee General Assembly’s website, is co-sponsoring the bill in the Tennessee State House, House Bill 0022.
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Tennessee Stands spokesman Gary Humble on Sunday blasted Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee for not taking an aggressive enough stance to help struggling businesses during COVID-19. This, according to a press release that Tennessee Stands emailed Sunday.
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A federal grand jury in Nashville late last month returned a 16-count superseding indictment charging seven MS-13 gang members with conspiracy to distribute cocaine and marijuana, along with serious firearm-related offenses. This, according to a press release that Davidson County officials published on their website.
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A trio of organizations filed an amicus brief in the Tennessee Supreme Court asking justices to accept an appeal of a lawsuit over the educational savings account (ESA).
The American Federation for Children joined Latinos for Tennessee and the Memphis Chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in the filing. The AFC is an affiliate of the the Alliance for School Choice.
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Tennessee is one of more than 30 states to reach a $113 million settlement with Apple Inc. over the so-called “Batterygate,” or secret throttling of iPhone speeds, meaning some residents may qualify for a share of the lawsuit’s proceeds.
Herbert H. Slatery III, Tennessee’s attorney general, announced the agreement last week.
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Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance Hodgen Mainda has stepped down from his position after someone reportedly lodged sexual harassment allegations against him, and it appears Mainda might have also left his role on Leadership Tennessee’s Advisory Council. Leadership Tennessee’s website listed Mainda as a member of its Advisory Council on Wednesday. By Thursday, however, the Leadership Tennessee website no longer listed Mainda as a member of the Advisory Council.
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A state board on Tuesday approved a $35 million jobs training grant to encourage General Motors to retain workers at its Spring Hill plant as the company looks to invest approximately $2 billion to produce electric vehicles, including the Cadillac LYRIQ.
The State Funding Board approved the FastTrack Job Training Assistance Grant. More information is available here.
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Monday afternoon in downtown Nashville, a rally of just over 100 people protested the latest gathering limit from Mayor John Cooper. None of the police were present at the Legislative Plaza steps where everyone gathered.
Cooper coined the term “Rule of 8” for the city’s latest pandemic-related order ahead of Thanksgiving. The event description on Facebook described the rule as “ridiculous and unconstitutional.”
Pastor Greg Locke hosted the protest. Locke announced the event during the third “Stop the Steal” rally last Saturday – Trump supporters have pledged to gather every weekend until the general election lawsuits are resolved.
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Tennesseans should have the right to protect their property, State Representative Jay D. Reedy (R-Erin) told The Tennessee Star in an exclusive interview.
Reedy introduced House Bill 11. Tracking information is here. Reedy said it mirrors the law in Texas.
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Tennessee Republicans are joining in a 50-state effort today to raise funds to support Georgia’s U.S. Senate runoff elections. The Georgia Battleground Fund event will be held in all 50 states, Fox News reported. The Jan. 5 runoff election for incumbent Republican Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler against their Democratic rivals Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock will determine control of the Senate. Politico reported that combined spending by both sides has reached $100 million and will climb. Sources told The Tennessee Star that the Volunteer State’s fundraiser will be held today from 10-11 a.m. on a Zoom call. Speakers will be U.S. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), U.S. Sen.-elect Bill Hagerty and Loeffler. Donations for the Georgia Battleground Fund are being accepted here. The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) told Fox News the Georgia Battleground Fund team is led by Outgoing NRSC Chairman Sen. Todd Young (R-IN) and Karl Rove as national finance chairman, with help in every state. Democrats are making a push to fully exploit weaknesses in Georgia’s voter registration laws that include no minimum residency requirement and allowing out-of-state drivers’ licenses for voting, Georgia Star News reported. They have encouraged people to move to Georgia to vote in…
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Members of Tennessee Stands will support a statewide bill to secure religious exemptions for vaccines.
Tennessee Stands spokesman Gary Humble announced this in a YouTube video.
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The Tennessee Comptroller’s Division of Investigations has uncovered $25.8 million in fraud, waste, and abuse in Tennessee since 2016.
This, according to a press release that Comptrollers published on their website this week.
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State Rep. Jason Zachary (R-Knoxville) has filed legislation for 2021 that, if enacted into law, would scale back the power of Tennessee’s six independent metropolitan health departments during their response to a county-wide health emergency.
This, according to an emailed press release that Zachary sent out this week.
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Most members of Tennessee’s Congressional delegation support U.S. President Donald Trump and his call for a fair and transparent election.
Trump, a Republican, said he believes voter fraud put his opponent Joe Biden, a Democrat, over the top in certain battleground states after a close election.
But U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper (D-TN-05) said in a newsletter to his constituents Sunday that Trump’s statements are false and baseless.
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Supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump packed Tennessee’s state capitol Saturday even more motivated, energized, and determined to re-elect the president.
This, even as mainstream media outlets named Joe Biden president-elect in a close contest. Trump and his supporters have presented credible evidence that voter fraud put Biden over the top.
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U.S. Rep. Scott DesJarlais (R-TN-04) said this week that Congress might need to step in to reform America’s election system.
DesJarlais said this on his Facebook page Thursday as officials in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada, and Arizona continue to count votes for Tuesday’s presidential election. U.S. President Donald Trump alleges voter fraud took place in those swing states.
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One or more people broke in and vandalized six post offices in Middle Tennessee either Sunday night or early Monday morning, one day before an election where some people voted using absentee ballots.
Nathaniel Sims, a spokesman for the U.S. Postal Inspector in Brentwood, told The Tennessee Star in an email Thursday that people don’t generally break into postal facilities.
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Democrat Marquita Bradshaw officially lost the U.S. Senate race to U.S. Sen.-Elect Bill Hagerty Tuesday by a landslide margin, but she said Tuesday that she refuses to accept the results.
Bradshaw also said she won’t address Hagerty as her new U.S. senator.
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Tennessee voters elected Republican Bill Hagerty to the U.S. Senate Tuesday in a landslide vote.
According to Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett’s website, Hagerty had 62 percent of the vote, or 1.6 million votes, versus his Democratic challenger Marquita Bradshaw, who had 35 percent of the vote, or slightly more than 928,000 votes.
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A new Tennessee law holds local government officials legally liable if they prohibit law enforcement or fire and rescue services from doing their jobs, enforcing Tennessee’s laws, or protecting citizens during public demonstrations.
Republicans in the Tennessee General Assembly passed the bill into law in August with Gov. Bill Lee’s signature. They said in an emailed press release that Tennessee needs the law, especially after violence erupted during protests in downtown Nashville in May.
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Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), U.S. Rep. Mark Green (R-TN-07), and U.S Senate Republican candidate Bill Hagerty urged their supporters to vote Tuesday and to also re-elect U.S. President Donald Trump.
They did so Sunday at Franklin’s Liberty Hall inside The Factory, where State Sen. Jack Johnson (R-Franklin) hosted his annual Boots & Jeans, BBQ & Beans event.
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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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Members of the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development have released a new report that they say highlights jobs in high demand across Tennessee.
Those jobs include occupations in finance and technology, automotive, distribution and logistics, and other target industry clusters.
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Tennessee Department of Health officials this week announced the state’s infrastructure plan to distribute COVID-19 vaccines once they are available.
TDH, coordinating with other state and local agencies, submitted an initial draft of the COVID-19 Vaccination Plan for Tennessee to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this month.
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Tennesseans are big-hearted. In surveys, our state is routinely ranked as one of the nation’s friendliest. That helps explain the net inflow of Americans from other states to Tennessee. The state is also a popular destination for people from other countries. If the Democrats win the White House and the Senate, immigration to the United States and Tennessee will be vastly expanded.
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General Motors will invest nearly $2 billion in its Spring Hill manufacturing plant, in Maury County, to build fully electric vehicles, including the all-new, luxury Cadillac LYRIQ.
This, according to a press release that Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development (TNECD) officials posted on their website Tuesday.
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Monday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton to the newsmaker line to discuss his barnstorming tour and defeating socialism.
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Tennessee is ranked fourth in the nation for COVID deaths per 100,000 people, WUOT reports, citing the White House Coronavirus Task Force’s red zone report, which calls for Gov. Bill Lee to implement a statewide mask mandate.
The controversial report is from earlier this month. The task force issues frequent red zone reports.
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Tennessee state Rep. John DeBerry (D-Memphis) this week publicly told members of the state and national Democratic Party apparatus that politicians will no longer sacrifice their beliefs just to have a “D” behind their name.
DeBerry said this during an interview with the Brooklyn, New York-based The Tablet, which is that area’s newspaper of the Roman Catholic Diocese.
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A total of 273,325 in-person and absentee votes have been cast by Tennesseans – a 91% increase in voter turnout over the first day of early voting in the 2016 presidential election and a 120% increase in turnout over the first day of early voting in 2012.
More than 167,000 Tennesseans cast ballots in-person Wednesday on the first day of early voting this week, and more than 105,500 absentee ballots already have been cast, according to data released Thursday by Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett.
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The U.S. Supreme Court said this week it will not hear Tennessee’s challenge of the federal refugee resettlement program, which claimed it violated the 10th Amendment.
Tennessee’s Republican-led government had asked for the review, The Associated Press reported. The court filed its denial earlier, letting a lower court ruling stand.
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Two years have passed since an illegal alien escaped law enforcement custody after he got drunk and allegedly killed a 29-year-old Bedford County woman in a traffic accident.
And that man, Omar Edgar Torres-Rangel, remains on the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s Most Wanted List.
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Broadband providers in seven Tennessee counties will receive a total of $17 million in grant funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for broadband expansion, providing service to an estimated 4,100 households.
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The U.S. Department of Justice announced it has charged more than 500 domestic violence cases involving firearms this fiscal year, and 44 of those cases originated out of Middle and Western Tennessee.
This, according to two press releases that officials with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Tennessee and the Middle District of Tennessee emailed this week.
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The Tennessee Department of Commerce & Insurance’s Securities Division this week encouraged state investors to proceed cautiously on new investment opportunities.
Fraudsters, TDCI officials said, continue to take advantage of the buzz surrounding companies promoting products and services related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Officials with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Tennessee announced updates, in separate cases, on two convicted felons who used firearms in connection with other alleged crimes.
Per federal law, convicted felons are not allowed to possess firearms.
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Elder financial exploitation is apparently increasing in Tennessee, according to a report that Tennessee Comptrollers released this week.
The Adult Protective Services (APS) program operates within the Tennessee Department of Human Services and operates a statewide hotline and reporting system for complaints about all types of elder abuse, the report said.
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Dennis Ferrier of Fox News 17 continues his reporting on Nashville Mayor John Cooper’s overreach in closing restaurants and bars, which account for only a fraction of coronavirus cases even as that industry continues to suffer.
Ferrier has been digging into the story for some time to gain the actual number of cases.
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Tennessee Department of Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn’s announcement of COVID-19-related learning loss projections for Tennessee students took state lawmakers and school superintendents by surprise.
In a joint news conference with Gov. Bill Lee last week, Schwinn announced Tennessee students are expected to face learning loss of 50% in English and 65% in math, stressing the importance of in-person learning. Projections were based on national research and early results of beginning-of-year student checkpoint assessments in Tennessee.
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State Rep. Bruce Griffey (R-Paris) on Tuesday announced he wants members of the General Assembly to issue a vote of no confidence in Tennessee Department of Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn.
Griffey announced this through an emailed press release as well as a statement he published on his Facebook page.
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Rep. John DeBerry talked about why the Constitution matters and how important freedom is for Americans at the 917 Society’s Consitution Day ceremony.
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Members of a Tennessee-based group who say they fight government overreach have sued the Williamson County School (WCS) System because it mandates that its students wear masks to guard against COVID-19.
This, according to a lawsuit that Recall Williamson founder Gary Humble filed in the Williamson County Chancery Court this month. Recall Williamson members, in their lawsuit, said they want court officials to declare that WCS members breached their authority, per state law, when they mandated that students wear masks. They also said that only members of the Tennessee General Assembly — and not the state’s governor — can grant that authority to school systems.
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