Williamson County Will Comply with Mass Deportation Order Under Potential Trump Presidency, Interim Sheriff Mark Elrod Says

Illegal Immigrants

Mark Elrod, who is currently serving as interim sheriff of Williamson County amid former Sheriff Dusty Rhoades’ retirement, said his department would assist Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in carrying out deportations of illegal immigrants under a potential Trump presidency beginning in 2025.

If elected, former President Donald Trump has said he would immediately mobilize ICE to deport illegal immigrants as part of his goal to carry out the “largest deportation operation” in the nation’s history.

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Williamson County Interim Sheriff Mark Elrod Says Narcotics, Fentanyl ‘Biggest Issue’ in County

Mark Elrod, who is currently serving as interim sheriff of Williamson County amid former Sheriff Dusty Rhoades’ retirement, said the biggest issues affecting the county in regards to crime are drugs and fentanyl.

“I would say that probably one of our biggest issues is drugs, narcotics, fentanyl. We’ve had an uptick in that as well as heroin over the last several years. With Williamson County, we’re a transient community where a lot of the drugs and other crimes come in from other areas into Williamson County. It’s not so much your next door neighbor or the people down the street, although there is some of that, but most of it is coming from other places…Davidson County, out of Nashville, out of the city of Columbia. We have four interstates that come through the county, so it could be, you know, really coming from anywhere, everywhere,” Elrod said on Tuesday’s edition of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy.

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Commentary: An Open Letter to Governor Bill Lee from Williamson County Elected Officials and Republican Party Leadership

As a coalition of elected officials and community leaders in Williamson County, we are calling on you to  reconsider the Special Session currently scheduled for August 21, 2023, and resume discussions about future legislation to create safer schools and communities during the regularly scheduled General Session in January 2024.  

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Franklin Gun Shop Owners Plead Guilty to Federal Charges

Three Franklin-area family members pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and making false entries regarding the disposition of firearms, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).

“Alan Hassler, 49, Brian Hassler, 52, and Michael Hassler, 45, all of Franklin, Tennessee, and co-  owners of Franklin Gun Shop, a Federal Firearms Licensee (FFL) in Williamson County, Tennessee, were charged in September following a federal regulatory inspection by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF),” said a DOJ release. 

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Addiction Recovery Center Expanding Headquarters in Tennessee

A significant number of new jobs are coming to Williamson County after a large addiction recovery center, headquartered in Franklin, announced that it will be expanding its operations in the Volunteer State. 

Just a year after moving from Arizona, Landmark Recovery will invest $7.5 million to expand in Franklin, a move that will bring approximately 1300 new jobs to the area. 

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Williamson County Moms for Liberty Chapter Hosting ‘Gender 101’ Course

Moms for Liberty of Williamson County, a grassroots group of conservative mothers who battle against Critical Race Theory (CRT) and other left-wing ideology in schools will be hosting a seminar on gender ideology. 

“GENDER101 is part of the chapter’s ‘2022-2023 School Year for Parents’ initiative, focusing on one critical issue in Williamson County Schools per month,” the group said in a release. “The November focus is Gender Ideology, and GENDER101 offers parents a ‘crash course’ on this topic.”

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New Balance Announces New Distribution Center Coming to Lebanon

New Balance Athletics and the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development announced on Tuesday that it will be investing $68.5 million to establish a new distribution center in Lebanon.

New Balance Chief Operating Officer Dave Wheeler said, “We are excited to open our new distribution center in Lebanon, Tennessee, that will drive increased agility, capacity, and collaboration across our North American distribution network. This new state-of-the-art facility will ensure we can continue to provide world-class customer service and achieve our strategic growth goals. We greatly appreciate the tremendous support we’ve received at the local and state level and look forward to joining the Wilson County business community.”

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Tennessee Public Charter School Commission Rejects Founders Classical Applications in Williamson and Sumner Counties

Despite massive turnout in support of two Founders Classical Academy charter schools, the Tennessee Public Charter School Commission (TPCSC) has rejected the schools’ bids to open campuses in Williamson and Sumner counties.

“I think it is clear that this school has a lot of community support,” Tess Stovall, TPCSC’s executive director reportedly said. “However, that is not the only thing that one needs for a school to be successful.”

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Williamson County Judicial Candidate Who Was Recently Convicted of Two Felonies Sanctioned by Judge

Connie Reguli, who recently was convicted of two felonies and one misdemeanor charge, has been sanctioned by a judge and ordered to pay $5,000 for her involvement in another matter.

In connection with her convictions, Reguli’s law license was suspended pending further court orders. Additionally, Reguli has been disciplined by boards of professional responsibility and the Tennessee courts system several times. Since 2009, Reguli has faced discipline that includes being suspended from the practice of law for nearly a year, a public censure from the Tennessee Supreme Court, and professional probation as ordered by the state courts system for a period of 11 months and 29 days.

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Conservative Celebrities, Including John Rich, to Highlight Williamson County Election Kickoff Event Next Week

Members of the Williamson Families PAC are scheduled to host a County Election Kickoff event next week that features country music star John Rich, actress Leigh-Allyn Baker, and former professional baseball player Jeremy Slayden. The kickoff will reveal 19 candidates endorsed by Williamson Families PAC for the 2022 Williamson County election. The primary is scheduled for May 3, while the general election is scheduled for August 4.

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Moms for Liberty – Williamson County Responds to Progressive Mothers Who Want to Defeat Them

Liberal mothers plan to attend more public-school board meetings to attempt to defeat conservative groups like Moms for Liberty, and now members of that group’s Williamson County chapter in Tennessee have responded. The Washington Post profiled these left-of-center mothers in an article this week. The report also said those mothers are about to go on offense against anyone who attends public school board meetings to speak out against Critical Race Theory (CRT) and COVID-19 masks.

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Two Separate Georgia Murder Suspects Arrested in Tennessee This Week

Two suspects in separate murders in Georgia were arrested in Tennessee Monday, according to reports. 

“The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said 29-year-old Alyssa Danielle Wild of East Dublin, Georgia was pulled over in Franklin,” according to WTVC. “Wild is charged with murder in the death of 38-year-old Charles Stephen Holmberg of Cuthbert, Georgia. Holmberg was found shot dead Saturday in a vehicle parked at a motel in Dublin.”

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Yet Another Company Abandons California for Tennessee, Announces New Jobs for Volunteer State

Officials at the California-based Gutterglove, Inc. announced Monday that they will relocate their company’s headquarters from Roseville, California to Franklin, Tennessee.

Gutterglove manufactures professional grade stainless steel gutter guards. Company officials will invest $720,800 and create 20 new jobs in Williamson County, according to an emailed Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development press release.

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Clay Travis, John Rich, Robby Starbuck, and Others Urge Williamson County Residents to Resist Woke Public School Ideologies

FRANKLIN, Tennessee – Clay Travis, John Rich, and other well-known speakers highlighted an event Tuesday where organizers urged Williamson County residents to take on woke ideologies in the public school system. Members of Williamson Families, a Political Action Committee (PAC), also pressed the several hundred audience members to stand up to — and even run against — school board members who neglect their constituents’ most basic concerns.

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Williamson County Parent Calls School System’s COVID-19 Policies ‘Evil and Wrong’

Williamson County School System Superintendent Jason Golden acknowledged this week that WCS students who will not wear COVID-19 masks or haven’t received medical or religious exemptions attend classes in separate rooms. This, according to the Nashville-based FOX 17. The station reported that a federal order prevents students from opting out of the mask mandate.

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Tennessee Stands Releases Priorities for Special Legislative Session

Members of the Williamson County-based Tennessee Stands on Sunday published their priorities for a presumed special session of the state’s general assembly, and certain priorities address government overreach in the age of COVID-19. “There are a lot of issues that need to be addressed ranging from mandates to education to elections, immigration and the list goes on. But we have to be realistic,” said Tennessee Stands spokesman Gary Humble, in an email to supporters.

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Williamson County Schools Calls on Residents to Help Name the District’s ‘Online Schools’

Young girl using an iPad to work on school assignments at kitchen table

Williamson county is calling on its residents to help name two of its new online schools. With many parents choosing online schooling due to Covid, Tennessee now has a total of fifty seven virtual schools.

Despite a number of problems being reported with online school last year– including the platform Zoom crashing before the school day could even begin; and with reports of students receiving more failing grades than passing– counties are still offering the option for students to attend class online. 

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Williamson County Commissioners Nominate Top-Level Pfizer Official to Replace Brad Fiscus on School Board

Two Williamson County commissioners have announced their choice to replace Brad Fiscus on the Williamson County School Board, and that person is Franklin resident Josh Brown, who also does top-level work for Pfizer. Williamson County District Four Commissioners Chad Story and Gregg Lawrence selected Brown against nine other candidates, according to The Tennessean. The remaining commissioners are scheduled to vote on whether to formally appoint Brown to the position at their October 11 meeting.

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Williamson County Board of Education Votes to Continue Mask Mandates in Schools

The Board of Education in Williamson County, Tennessee voted overwhelmingly Monday evening to extend its mask mandate for COVID-19 prevention until January.

At the urging of Superintendent Jason Golden, school directors initially voted on Aug. 10 to impose the requirement on elementary-school students. On Aug. 26, the board enjoined that mandate on middle-schoolers and high-schoolers as well. The rule would have expired this Tuesday but for the prior evening’s vote. 

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Williamson County Citizen Group Presents Solutions to Restore Trust in Tennessee’s Elections

FRANKLIN, Tennessee – The Williamson County Voters for Election Integrity citizen group presented solutions to restore trust in county and statewide elections in Tennessee that was damaged in the November 2020 election, in large part due to the actions of others in other states.

The group, comprised of business professionals including two former chief information, a library science data analyst, a 40-year IT professional, a process engineer and several communication executives, over the last 10 months has been “studying voting machines, voting processes and the need to institute best practices to help government officials fix election vulnerabilities found in both Williamson County and across Tennessee following last November’s voting,” said team member Frank Limpus in a press release. (INSERT LINK TO PRESS RELEASE HERE)

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