Category: Tennessee

Mayor Freddie O’Connell Courts Nashville Business Leaders to Fund Mass Transit Campaign

Tom Pappert
Nashville Mayor

Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell attended a Monday evening meeting with the city’s leading business leaders and lobbyists in a bid to secure their support for his mass transit referendum scheduled for November.

The meeting between O’Connell and Nashville community leaders took place at the offices of Ingraham Industries Inc., according to the Nashville Business Journal, which reported the mayor met with many of the groups and individuals who backed the failed transit plan pitched by disgraced Mayor Megan Barry in 2018.

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Activists Sheila Matthews and Amy Miller Detail Legislative Win on Tennessee Bill to Help Determine Link Between Mental Health Drugs and Mass Shooters

Kaitlin Housler
pills

Sheila Matthews, co-founder of the national non-profit parent organization AbleChild, and activist Amy Miller with the Reform Pharma initiative of Children’s Health Defense, detailed the progress a bill that would help determine the link between Big Pharma drugs and mass shooters has made in the Tennessee General Assembly since its introduction.

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Tennessee House Bill Would Increase Penalties for Illegal Alien Crime

Peter D'Abrosca
Monty Fritts

A bill in the Tennessee House of Representatives would trigger harsher penalties for violent crimes if the person convicted of those crimes is an illegal alien.

HB 1872 “authorizes the enhancement of criminal penalties up to life in prison without parole upon conviction of violent crimes by illegal aliens; conviction of possession of a firearm or deadly weapon by an illegal alien; or conviction of a violent crime on the property of a school by any person.”

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Tennessee Lawmakers Seek Tougher Penalties for Transporting Illegal Immigrants

Tom Pappert
Illegal Immigrants

Tennessee lawmakers are poised to pass legislation instituting harsher penalties for those caught providing transportation to illegal immigrants in the state, but first plan to introduce amendments protecting “good Samaritans” and professional drivers from unknowingly violating the law.

The Senate Judiciary Committee considered SB 2802, which would impose a $5,000 fine for individuals caught transporting illegal immigrants in the state on Wednesday, when Senator Joey Hensley (R-Hohenwald) introduced an amendment to his bill he said closed existing loopholes within the law.

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State Rep. Johnny Garrett Halts $800 Million Tax Increase Sponsored by Democrat

Matthew Giffin
Johnny Garrett

State Representative Johnny Garrett’s (R-Goodlettsville) amendment to a Tennessee bill that would have enacted a massive tax increase passed Wednesday in the Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee.

According to a fiscal note on the bill before it was amended, it would have increased state revenue by nearly $800 million in taxes on business enterprises.

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Tennessee Agrees to $8.8 Million More in FastTrack Incentive Grants

The Center Square
Schneider Electric building

Tennessee’s Department of Economic and Community Development has handed out more than $8.8 million in incentives since it last posted FastTrack incentives for February.

Those include $3.4 million to Schneider Electric in Mount Juliet and Smyrna, $2.5 million to Shoals Technologies Group in Portland, $1.6 million to Nokian Tyres in Dayton and $1.3 million to an unnamed project.

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Reporter Tom Pappert Says Tennessee Congressional Delegation ‘Fear’ Defending J6 Prisoner Ronald Colton McAbee

Kaitlin Housler
Ronald McAbee

Tom Pappert, lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, said members of the Tennessee congressional delegation have not shown an interest in taking up J6 prisoner Ronald Colton McAbee’s case due to the level of “fear” surrounding the overall defense of J6 defendants.

Last month, McAbee was sentenced to almost six years in prison, three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $32,165 in restitution after being convicted and pleading guilty to six felony charges and one misdemeanor charge for being present at the U.S. Capitol on January 6.

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Mike Benz Warns: The Supreme Court Needs to Exercise ‘Bravery’ in Murthy v. Missouri Case to ‘Dismantle the Government Censorship Complex’

Kaitlin Housler

Mike Benz, former Trump State Department official and current executive director of the Foundation for Freedom Online, said the Supreme Court is going to have to exercise “bravery” as opposed to “wisdom” in its ruling of Murthy v. Missouri for the government censorship complex to be dismantled.

Murthy v. Missouri seeks to determine whether the government’s “challenged conduct transformed private social media companies’ content-moderation decisions into state action and violated respondents’ First Amendment rights” related to COVID-19 and the 2020 presidential election.

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Immigration Expert Todd Bensman Says Current Chaos in Haiti Is a Direct Result of the White House’s Decision to Repatriate Del Rio Camp Migrants in Return for Scuttled Elections

Kaitlin Housler
Haitians

Todd Bensman, senior national security fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies, said the Biden administration’s compliance in scuttling Haiti’s elections back in 2021 has resulted in the chaos currently unfolding in the Caribbean country as armed gangs have taken over.

In 2021, thousands of Haitians were deported back to Haiti from a Del Rio, Texas migrant camp allegedly in exchange for the country’s elections to be postponed at the request of unelected leader Ariel Henry, who has served as the acting Haiti Prime Minister and the acting president of Haiti since July 2021 after the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse.

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Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell’s ‘Greendoggle’ Transit Plan Will Lead to Increased Property Taxes, Watchdog Predicts

Kaitlin Housler
Freddie O'Connell

Ben Cunningham, founder of the Nashville Tea Party, said Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell’s transit plan, which will be on the November ballot, will inevitably lead to property tax increases.

Last month, O’Connell officially announced that his long-awaited transit plan will be on the November 5 ballot, however, he did not release any information regarding what the plan entails.

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The Future of AI Will Be ‘Utterly Miserable,’ Says AI Expert

Kaitlin Housler
AI

Joe Allen, author of Dark Aeon: Transhumanism and the War Against Humanity, said he believes the future of artificial intelligence (AI) will be “utterly miserable.”

Allen, on Tuesday’s episode of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, explained how AI will most likely not evolve into a full-out “total doom human extinction” model nor into an “elaborate and spectacular” model that provides cures for diseases and invincible security, but instead evolve into something in between.

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Tennessee Bills to Fine Parents for Crimes Committed by Children, Treat Teenage Thieves as Adults Head to Gov. Lee’s Desk

Tom Pappert

The Tennessee General Assembly on Monday passed legislation that would see families of juvenile offenders fined for repeated criminal acts and teenage thieves charged as adults, with the bills now headed to Governor Bill Lee for final approval.

The Juvenile Organized Retail Theft Act, SB 2573, mandates that punishments for organized retail theft and car break-ins resulting in the theft of more than $1,000 worth of goods must be considered a Class E felony, which carries a sentence of at least one year in prison. The bill would additionally apply to juvenile defendants who are at least 15.

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U.S. Reps. Andy Ogles, Matt Gaetz, and Andy Biggs Send Letter to the Federal Bureau of Prisons Requesting J6 Prisoner Stewart Parks Be Transferred to Minimum Security Satellite Camp

Kaitlin Housler
Andy Ogles, Matt Gaetz, Andy Biggs, Stewart Parks

U.S. Representatives Andy Ogles (R-TN-05), Matt Gaetz (R-FL-01), and Andy Biggs (R-AZ-05) have sent a letter to the director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons requesting that unjustly imprisoned January 6 defendant Stewart Parks be moved to the minimum security satellite camp located at the Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) in Memphis.

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Sen. Brent Taylor Continues Fight Against Memphis Crime with Two New Bills

Peter D'Abrosca
State Senator Brent Taylor

The Tennessee State Senate on Monday passed two bills sponsored by State Senator Brent Taylor (R-Memphis) that focused on his continued efforts to fight crime in Memphis.

SB 2659, called the Juvenile Organized Retail Theft Act (JORTA), according to the General Assembly’s website, is a bill that “allows a juvenile court to transfer a child 15 years of age or older to be tried as an adult in criminal court for the offense of organized retail crime, theft of a firearm, or an attempt to commit such offense.”

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East Tennessee Schools Sue Major Social Media Companies

Peter D'Abrosca
Kids on tablets

More than 30 school districts in East Tennessee have joined a lawsuit first filed by Clarksville-Montgomery County School System (CMCSS) against social media companies, claiming that those companies are harming children.

According to WBIR, Knox, Anderson, Blount, Claiborne, Fentress, Grainger, Greene, Hamblen, Lenoir City, Loudon, Maryville, Oak Ridge, Oneida, and Sevier counties have joined the suit, which names eta, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, Google, YouTube and WhatsApp as defendants.

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Vinnie Vernuccio Says New Attempt to Unionize the Chattanooga Volkswagen Plant Seems to be ‘Failing’

Kaitlin Housler

Vinnie Vernuccio, president of the Institute for the American Worker, said workers’ latest attempts to unionize the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga appear to be “failing.”

On Monday, the United Auto Workers (UAW) announced that a group of Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board for a vote to join the labor union.

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Peter Navarro to Serve Sentence at Wing of Minimum Security Prison Camp for Inmates over 60

Tom Pappert
Peter Navarro

Federal prison consultant Sam Mangel confirmed to The Tennessee Star on Tuesday that former Trump administration trade adviser Peter Navarro will serve just 90 days of his four-month sentence, and will complete the prison term at part of the minimum security satellite camp of the Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) in Miami reserved for older inmates.

In a Tuesday phone conversation, Mangel contradicted previous reporting by The New York Times that claimed Mangel “said he was working to get Mr. Navarro into a unit devised for inmates over age 60 in a minimum-security satellite camp in the prison.”

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Nashville Metro Councilman Jeff Eslick Says There’s ‘Room for Improvement’ for Keeping Nashville ‘Safe’ and ‘Clean’ amid Missing College Student Case

Kaitlin Housler
Jeff Eslick Nashville

Metro Nashville Council Member Jeff Eslick said the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) has “room for improvement” in regards to keeping the streets of Music City “safe” and “clean.”

Eslick made the comments during a recent episode of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show as he and host Michael Patrick Leahy were discussing the disappearance of college student Riley Strain, who has been missing since March 8 after being asked to leave Luke Bryan’s bar in downtown Nashville.

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Wife of Unjustly Imprisoned J6 Defendant and Former Williamson County Deputy Sheriff Ronald McAbee Incarcerated Since 2021 Says Tennessee Congressional Delegation Is Ignoring His Case

Kaitlin Housler
Ronald McAbee

Sarah McAbee, the wife of J6 defendant Ronald Colton McAbee, said her husband has undergone unfair treatment both while incarcerated awaiting trial and during his jury trial for being present at the U.S. Capitol on January 6.

D.C. U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras sentenced Ronald McAbee last month to almost six years in prison, three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $32,165 in restitution after being convicted and pleading guilty to six felony charges and one misdemeanor charge.

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Biden Border Policy Critics Lament ‘Migrant Crime Wave’

The Center Square
Congressman Mark Green at U.S. border

House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark E. Green blasted President Joe Biden for the wave of illegal immigrants entering the U.S., saying a “migrant crime wave” is sweeping the country.

Green’s office said “President Biden and now-impeached Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ refusal to secure the border has helped unleash a new wave of crime across the nation.”

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Lawmakers React to Arrests of Illegal Aliens in ‘Multinational’ Human Trafficking Ring

Peter D'Abrosca
Senator Marsha Blackburn, State Rep. Gino Bulso

Tennessee lawmakers are reacting to Monday’s Tennessee Star report that two illegal aliens living in Tennessee have been arrested in what the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) calls an ongoing criminal investigation into a multinational human sex trafficking ring. 

“Two illegal aliens caught & arrested in Tennessee have been linked to a multinational human trafficking ring,” said Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) on X. “Under Joe Biden, every town is a border town. We must close the border.”

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Retailer Joann Fabrics Files for Bankruptcy as Americans Cut Back on Creature Comforts

Admin
Joann Fabrics store

Major fabric and craft retailer Joann announced Monday that it was filing for bankruptcy as consumers pull back on spending due to harsh economic conditions.

The retailer recently reached an agreement with a majority of its financial stakeholders as well as other financing parties, giving the company around $132 million in new financing while also reducing the debt on the company’s balance sheet by around $505 million, according to an announcement from Joann. Retail sales across the U.S. economy have continued to slump in recent months, growing just 0.6 percent month-to-month in February, not including inflation, and declining 1.1 percent in January as consumers pull back on non-essentials as prices rise.

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Former U.S. Special Envoy for Haiti Dan Foote: Victoria Nuland and the U.S. Ambassador to Haiti Cut the 2021 Deal with Now Deposed Haiti Strongman Ariel Henry to Repatriate Del Rio Camp Migrants in Return for Scuttled Elections

Kaitlin Housler
Former Ambassador to Haiti Dan Foote

Former U.S. Special Envoy for Haiti Dan Foote said Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland and former U.S. Ambassador to Haiti Michele Sison “teed up” the deal with unelected leader of Haiti Ariel Henry to delay elections in the country.

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Trump Unable to Secure $454 Million Appeal Bond in New York Civil Fraud Case, his Attorneys Say

Just the News
Donald Trump, courtroom

Former President Donald Trump has been unable to secure the $454 million bond, the full amount of the civil fraud judgment against him, which he must post in order to appeal, his attorneys said in a filing Monday.

Trump offered last month to post a $100 million appeal bond rather than the full amount as the process plays out in court, but the judge denied the proposal.

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Exclusive: Two Individuals Arrested in Connection with ‘Multinational’ Human Trafficking Ring Are Illegal Aliens

Peter D'Abrosca
Yilibeth Rivero De Caldera

Two men arrested in connection with a “multinational criminal organization linked to human trafficking” are illegal aliens, The Tennessee Star has learned. 

In the fall of 2023, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) Human Trafficking Unit arrested Yilibeth Rivero De Caldera on nine counts of Trafficking for a Commercial Sex Act. His victims, the agency said, were Central and South American female migrants who were forced into sex slavery to pay off debts owed to Rivero De Caldera in exchange for Rivero De Caldera smuggling them into the United States. 

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Nashville Police Created Lactation Rooms, Changed Physical Requirements in Effort to Recruit Female Officers for 2030 Deadline

Tom Pappert
Commander Tiffany Gibson

Metro Nashville Police Department on Tuesday announced the department made new changes in a bid to recruit more female officers, including lactation rooms for nursing police officers, flexible schedules to better accommodate families and new physical requirements for officers that are more accommodating to women.

The department is driving up its recruitment of women in a bid to comply with the 30×30 initiative joined by Police Chief John Drake in 2021. The effort, which is tied to Hungarian-American financier George Soros, seeks to compel police departments to ensure 30 percent of officers are female by 2030.

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Nashville Chief Development Officer Addresses Proposed ‘East Bank Authority,’ Prioritizes Residential Buildings for East Bank Development

Matthew Giffin
Bob Mendes East Bank

Metro Nashville Chief Development Officer Bob Mendes addressed the proposed “East Bank Development Authority” that would oversee the East Bank development project at a Friday press conference. Mendes also detailed some restrictions he said are intended to create a “neighborhood” in a 30-acre area of the East Bank.

Mendes said he was hopeful that the Tennessee General Assembly would pass the necessary legislation to create an East Bank Development Authority, which he added would also need to be approved by the Nashville Metro Council.

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Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee Sue SEC to Stop New Climate Rule

The Center Square
Dave Yost

Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee sued the U.S. Security and Exchange Commission to stop a rule that requires publicly traded companies to report climate-related information.

The suit, filed by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost on behalf of the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, asks the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit in Cincinnati to stop the SEC from “overstepping its authority by meddling in environmental policy,” according to a news release.

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Tennessee House Passes Bill Requiring Law Enforcement to Notify Federal Agencies of Illegal Alien Arrests

Peter D'Abrosca
ICE Arrest

After a short debate, a bill requiring law enforcement to follow standard procedure and notify relevant federal law enforcement entities of illegal alien arrests has passed the Tennessee House.

HB 2124 “requires, rather than authorizes, law enforcement agencies to communicate with the appropriate federal official regarding the immigration status of any individual, including reporting knowledge that a particular alien is not lawfully present in the United States or otherwise cooperate with the appropriate federal official in the identification, apprehension, detention, or removal of aliens not lawfully present in the United States.”

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Claiborne Thornton Says Governor Lee Did Not Consult with Homeschoolers While Crafting School Choice Bill

Kaitlin Housler

Claiborne Thornton, president of the Tennessee Home Education Association, said Governor Bill Lee did not consult with homeschool families before crafting his universal school choice bill, which is currently undergoing debate in the Tennessee General Assembly.

“The bill, the way it was written, the way it was crafted, was without any consultation from any homeschoolers,” Thornton explained on Tuesday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show.

Thornton said particular objections to the bill surround the Tennessee Department of Education’s role in facilitating the program.

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Republican Liberty Caucus Endorses Tennessee U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles for Reelection

Kaitlin Housler
Andy Ogles

The Republican Liberty Caucus endorsed U.S. Representative Andy Ogles’ (R-TN-05) reelection bid for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District.

“The Republican Liberty Caucus proudly endorses Andrew Ogles in TN-5,” the political organization wrote in an X post on Thursday. “[Ogles] has become one of the top defenders of liberty in the House. An unwavering voice for freedom and smaller government, he scored a 95 on our Liberty Index during his first year in Congress.”

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How the Bureau of Prisons Incorrectly Classified Unjustly Imprisoned J6 Defendant Stewart Parks

Tom Pappert
Stewart Parks

An investigation into the federal prison designation process for convicted inmates offered few answers as to how the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) determined unjustly imprisoned January 6 defendant Stewart Parks should spend his eight-month sentence in FCI Memphis, a medium security facility with a minimum security satellite camp.

The BOP on Wednesday refused to comply with a request by Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN-05) for FCI Memphis Warden F.J. Bowers to move Parks to the minimum security camp, with BOP Legislative Affairs Chief David Mapp asserting Parks is “housed at an appropriate facility for his security, programming, and care needs” which also complies with the 2018 First Step Act.

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Federal Judge Orders FBI to Turn over Covenant Killer Documents for In-Camera Review

Tom Pappert
Audrey Hale

A federal judge on Friday ordered the Federal Bureau of Investigation to turn over all documents related to Covenant School shooter Audrey Elizabeth Hale, including the killer’s manifesto, for a private review of materials.

The FBI was ordered to turn over the materials as part of the nationally watched lawsuit brought by plaintiffs Star News Digital Media Inc., the parent company of The Tennessee Star, and Michael Patrick Leahy, a resident of Tennessee and CEO and Editor-in-Chief of Star News Digital Media and journalist Matt Kittle. The plaintiffs are seeking the release of Hale’s manifesto.

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Report: 89 Incarcerated Prisoners in Tennessee Dept of Corrections’ Care Receiving Gender Hormone Therapy

Michael Patrick Leahy

Sources tell The Tennessee Star that 89 prisoners currently incarcerated in the Tennessee Dept of Corrections are receiving gender hormone therapy.

The program apparently began as an unpublicized policy under the Haslam administration. The policy was not available on any public website nor did it follow the normal course of action to become a regulation, which would have required public hearings.

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