Last month, a powerful tornado swept through parts of Tennessee.
Seven people lost their lives. Property was destroyed. The daily routine for many of us was put on hold as we nervously sought shelter out of harm’s way.
Read the full story
Investigative journalist Julie Kelly joined the newsmaker line on Wednesday’s episode of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy to discuss the very latest on the thousand-plus cases of January 6 defendants being prosecuted by the Biden Department of Justice. TRANSCRIPT Michael Patrick Leahy: Good afternoon, Nashville. It’s 12:05 PM. We are, indeed, broadcasting live from our studios in downtown Nashville. In-studio, the original all-star panelist, Crom Carmichael. Welcome back, Crom. Crom Carmichael: Thank you. Michael Patrick Leahy: On our newsmaker line right now, it is my privilege to welcome perhaps the very best journalist in the country covering the January 6th defendant cases. In fact, the best journalist – let me take any qualifier away from that. I am so delighted to call her my friend, Julie Kelly. Welcome to The Tennessee Star Report. Julie Kelly: Oh, thank you, Michael. Quite an introduction. Thank you so much for having me on, and thanks for covering all my work. I really appreciate it. Michael Patrick Leahy: Well, certainly well-deserved. I mean, you have just been tenacious in reporting the facts about the travesties of justice going on. A two-tiered justice system where these January 6th defendants are not being given fair…
Read the full story
State Senator Mark Pody (R-Lebanon) told listeners on Tuesday’s edition of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy that legislative timelines could be impacted after lawmakers were sent home for the week due to severe winter weather. Pody added that the new bill filing deadline could be extended, but it currently stands on February 1.
The Wilson County-area state senator also offered an update on his newly introduced school safety measure and noted that its funding would be included in the current budget.
Pody also confirmed that the possible constitutional issue concerning out-of-state companies threatening legal action over the franchise excise tax is being studied and added that the fiscal fallout may cause some programs to be delayed by a year.
Read the full story
Tennessee’s senators threw their support behind former President Donald J. Trump in the Republican Presidential Primary race and celebrated his massive victory in Monday night’s Iowa caucuses.
“[Donald Trump] will be the Republican nominee. He will be the next #POTUS. And he’ll Make America Great Again!” said Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) on X Tuesday morning.
Read the full story
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) on Tuesday began asking utility companies to request their customers voluntarily curtail their power usage in an effort to “reduce electric consumption” as frigid weather slows much of the country, but the federally owned power company recently told Tennessee media outlets it does not expect rolling blackouts to occur because of winter weather in 2024.
Energy companies in Alabama and Kentucky have confirmed the TVA is requesting their customers decrease their energy use, with Huntsville Utilities in Alabama explained in a news release that “dangerously low temperatures” and “the expected high electric demand” prompted TVA to request “voluntary curtailment across their entire system.”
Read the full story
I believed that Republican voters were ready for a new post-Trump chapter of the America First movement. I now believe I was wrong. Those of us who backed Ron DeSantis – or the other Republican candidates – should read the room. Former President Trump winnowed the field effortlessly and then crushed the remaining three candidates in Iowa. He leads in the polls everywhere else. It is time to coalesce and unite behind the clear preference of the GOP grassroots, Donald John Trump.
Read the full story
The escalating cost of health care in America has reached an unsustainable level, leaving millions of Americans saddled with medical debt. In Tennessee alone, 61 percent of residents have grappled with the burden of health care affordability, with 78 percent expressing concerns about affording health care in the future. As many of my fellow college students would agree, working within the confines of a tight budget means that the impact of high medical bills is that much more acute. And as a concerned and engaged citizen, I feel compelled to shine a spotlight on these critical affordability issues that impact everyone in my community.
High health care costs have rightfully become the focus of intense scrutiny. Many Americans are wrestling with all-too-high medical bills, and government health care programs consistently rank among the largest annual federal expenditures. With an aging population and an ever-changing public health environment, it is incumbent upon our elected officials to examine more solutions to bring down health care costs.
Read the full story
Majority Whip Johnny Garrett joined the newsmaker line on Monday’s episode of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy to share his insights on the new legislative session as it begins its second week at home as snow continues to blanket the region.
Garrett expressed optimism about Governor Bill Lee’s proposed education freedom scholarships, though he said he does anticipate some opposition to the proposal.
The conversation then turned to the potential constitutional issue regarding the franchise excise tax law that could leave taxpayers on the hook for as much as $1.2 billion. Garrett noted Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti is evaluating the claims to see if tax relief for the companies in question would address constitutional concerns.
Read the full story
Majority Whip Johnny Garrett joined the newsmaker line on Monday’s episode of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy to share his insights on the new legislative session as it begins its second week at home as snow continues to blanket the region.
Garrett expressed optimism about Governor Bill Lee’s proposed education freedom scholarships, though he said he does anticipate some opposition to the proposal.
The conversation then turned to the potential constitutional issue regarding the franchise excise tax law that could leave taxpayers on the hook for as much as $1.2 billion. Garrett noted Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti is evaluating the claims to see if tax relief for the companies in question would address constitutional concerns.
Read the full story
Chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security Mark Green (R-TN-07) announced that another full committee hearing continuing the impeachment proceedings against Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas will take place on Thursday, January 18.
Read the full story
The Tennessee General Assembly will resume business next week as a winter storm warning and wind chill advisory remains in effect for Davidson County.
Read the full story
State Rep. Todd Warner (R-Chapel Hill) and State Sen. Joey Hensley (R-Hohenwald) introduced legislation on Wednesday that would prohibit banks, credit card companies and other financial institutions from tracking purchases of firearms.
Warner filed HB 1784 and Hensley filed SB 1702 to make it “an unfair or deceptive trade practice” for any “financial institution to require a firearms retailer to use firearms-specific transaction codes” after the industry began creating a new credit card merchant category code for purchases of firearms and ammunition, which they claimed would help identify dangerous gun owners or suspicious transactions.
Read the full story
Businessman Vivek Ramaswamy dropped out of the GOP presidential race after the Iowa caucus results on Monday evening and endorsed former President Trump.
Read the full story
Several national news outlets were calling the Iowa Republican caucuses for former President Donald Trump just 30 minutes after they began.
Read the full story
A Democrat member of the General Assembly has introduced a bill that would make euthanasia legal in Tennessee.
HB 1710 “creates a process whereby an adult suffering from a terminal disease may request medication for the purpose of ending the adult’s life in a humane and dignified manner if certain requirements are met,” according to the bill’s summary.
Read the full story
Tennessee U.S. Representative Tim Burchett (R-TN-02) reintroduced a bill this week that would require the House Clerk to read the estimated cost of a bill after reading its title.
Read the full story
Vanderbilt University employs more than one full-time administrator for every two students, a College Fix analysis found.
During the 2021-22 academic year, the most recent for which data are available, the private Nashville university employed 3,516 full-time administrators and support staff, according to information the school filed with the federal Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System.
Read the full story
Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs traveled over the weekend to join former President Donald Trump for a rally in Indianola, Iowa one day before the state caucus.
Read the full story
The Metro Nashville and Davidson County government placed a job listing for a “DEI Education Trainer” on Friday, who will work a “flexible/hybrid” schedule for about $56,000 per year.
Posted on Friday, the job listing indicates the full-time position is for the government’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion division, and the applicant will be “responsible for expanding the current training efforts” of the city’s DEI office “and promoting alignment of Metro’s equity goals.”
Read the full story
Former President Donald Trump appeared for a rally in Indianola, Iowa, one day before the caucus, as the state faces negative temperatures following a blizzard, with a life-threatening wind chill warning issued by the National Weather Service in effect until Tuesday.
Read the full story
House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green joined John Solomon and Amanda Head on Thursday’s edition of Just the News, No Noise to discuss the impeachment of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas – whose policies are adding to the chaos at the southern border. Green detailed the list of Mayorkas’ violations, including claims that the Biden administration official has repeatedly violated laws, defied court rulings, and provided misleading information to Congress. Of particular concern, Green noted, is the influx of military-aged males and potential threats from countries like China. The dysfunction of the southern border and Mayorkas’ unwillingness to follow the laws put in place by congress is a “dereliction of duty” the committee chairman said. TRANSCRIPT John Solomon: Tennessee Congressman and House Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green joins us now. He made that hearing possible yesterday. Mr. Chairman, great to have you on the show, sir. Rep. Mark Green: Thanks, John. Thanks for having me on. John Solomon: I watched every minute of the hearing that I could yesterday. It was really compelling and we all know the crisis; we all know the visuals – but yesterday, being able to lay out how often Alejandro Mayorkas told…
Read the full story
A Nashville man has been sentenced to nearly 14 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to a four-count Indictment charging him with distributing and possessing with the intent to distribute, fentanyl, methamphetamine, and heroin, according to the Middle District of Tennessee U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Read the full story
Gov. Bill Lee (R) announced this week that he is working with the General Assembly on a bill to protect the rights of Tennessee’s artists as artificial intelligence (AI) becomes a more prevalent threat.
“From Beale Street to Broadway, to Bristol and beyond, Tennessee is known for our rich artistic heritage that tells the story of our great state,” Lee said in a press release. “As the technology landscape evolves with artificial intelligence, we’re proud to lead the nation in proposing legal protection for our best-in-class artists and songwriters.”
Read the full story
Carol Swain, all-star panelist and award-winning scholar at the center of one of the nation’s largest cases of academic misconduct, joined the newsmaker line on Friday’s episode of The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy to discuss the latest developments in the ongoing plagiarism scandal at Harvard University.
Read the full story
Country music star Jelly Roll testified in front of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs this week at a hearing entitled “Stopping the Flow of Fentanyl: Public Awareness and Legislative Solutions.”
Thursday’s hearing focused on the FEND Off Fentanyl Act, a bill that would create new economic sanctions authority and money laundering penalties for components of the fentanyl supply chain, including Chinese entities and Mexican cartels.
Read the full story
The Greater Memphis Chamber sent a letter to Governor Bill Lee (R) on Tuesday, requesting money, resources and new legislation to address the record high crime in Memphis. Among the requests include the passage of bills by State Senator Brent Taylor (R-Memphis) to reform Tennessee bail and sentencing practices.
The letter, written by Greater Memphis Chamber President Ted Townsend, appears to have the support of the chamber’s Chairman’s Circle, which includes prominent private sector leaders from more than 80 Memphis businesses.
Read the full story
A new bill introduced in the Tennessee General Assembly would require drivers wishing to obtain Tennessee driver’s licenses to pass a test administered only in English.
HB 1730 “requires all written driver license examinations to be administered in English only; prohibits use of a translation dictionary, electronic device, or interpreter to assist with the examination,” according to the summary of the bill.
Read the full story
As I learned last year in my original interview, Season 5 American Idol winner, Taylor Hicks is a diverse entertainer. Besides being a soulful singer and songwriter, the artist is an actor and restaurateur. A few weeks after our last interview, Taylor Hicks was asked to make his Grand Ole Opry debut, a milestone desired by many Southern singers.
He made his debut on June 18, 2023. Hicks said, “As long as I’ve been doing this, being able to grace the Opry Stage was something that I will never forget. It’s a big deal. I’ve had a lot of great invitations, and this was definitely up there for sure.”
Read the full story
Pro-Palestine Vanderbilt students and alumni activists accused the university and its chancellor of “supporting genocide” in an Instagram post on Monday.
The Instagram accounts for the Vanderbilt Alumni for Palestine and the Vanderbilt chapter of the Students for Justice in Palestine jointly posted a series of graphics in response to an email that the groups claim Vanderbilt Chancellor Daniel Diermeier sent to students.
Read the full story
U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) joined a group of her Republican colleagues in introducing a bill that would authorize U.S. states bordering Canada or Mexico to place temporary structures on federal land to secure its border.
While the U.S. Constitution currently provides for the protection of states “against invasion” and reserves the right of states to defend themselves, states are unable to place structures on federal land without first obtaining authorization from the federal government under current law.
Read the full story
Billionaire investor Bill Ackman’s spat with Business Insider escalated Thursday morning when he accused Business Insider’s German parent company Axel Springer of spreading what he says are false allegations printed by its subsidiary.
“Yesterday, Axel Springer doubled down on Business Insider’s false reporting. The result is that Axel Springer has now become a directly responsible party for this exposure in addition to BI,” Ackman said on X.
Read the full story
According to an annual report released by the Transportation Safety Administration (TSA), there were 188 firearms confiscated from Nashville’s major airport in 2023, ranking among the top in the nation for such incidents.
Nashville International Airport (BNA) ranked fifth in the country for firearms confiscations, according to the report.
Read the full story
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti (R) released on Wednesday the unredacted lawsuit he is leading against Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, which alleges Meta created Instagram using “deceptive and unfair business practices that are fomenting a mental health crisis in this state.”
Skrmetti stated in a press release that his office’s “complaint makes clear that Meta knew its platforms were hurting kids and made a very clear decision to choose money over the mental health of its young users.” The attorney general said that “Tennessee law protects kids from companies, big or small, that mislead and hurt them” and that the state “will continue to aggressively enforce that law.”
Read the full story
State Senator Joey Hensley (R-Hohenwald) joined The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy in-studio on Thursday to discuss new allegations by a group of out-of-state companies that say they are owed for taxes they paid to the tune of more than a billion dollars. The companies’ claims stem from a 1932 law that applies a different formula to in-state companies versus firms located outside of Tennessee.
Read the full story
Bill Belichick is out as head coach of the New England Patriots, according to multiple news sources Thursday.
Read the full story
During a bond hearing, new details emerged in the case of the man who is behind bars for attempting to gain entry to a Jewish school in Memphis and then firing shots outside that school.
Joel Bowman discharged a firearm outside the Margolin Hebrew Academy/Feinstone Yeshiva of the South (MHA-FYOS) on July 31. At the time, security video showed him attempting to enter the locked school, before retreating.
Read the full story
Belmont University in Nashville has rejected a student’s efforts to form a Turning Point USA (TPUSA) student chapter on campus.
Read the full story
State Representative Justin Jones (D-Nashville) was ruled out of order by the Tennessee House of Representatives on Wednesday after he reportedly claimed House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) was “drunk with power” on the second day of the 2024 legislative session.
Jones asked to speak about his purported concerns over an incident he and Representative Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville) claimed to witness on Tuesday, when they allege that Sexton’s security detail prevent Republican Majority Leader William Lamberth (R-Portland) from riding in the same elevator as Sexton.
Read the full story
Hunter Biden made a surprise appearance Wednesday on Capitol Hill as he appeared in the House Oversight Committee hearing about a resolution recommending Congress to hold the first son in contempt.
Read the full story
Despite repeated claims that Republicans seek to silence them in the Tennessee General Assembly, the members of the “Tennessee Three” collectively spoke more than seven hours in 2023, making them three of the four most loquacious Tennessee lawmakers over the year.
The Tennessee General Assembly began its 2024 regular session on Tuesday, but Representative Justin Pearson (D-Memphis) claimed in repeated statements outside the House chambers that Republicans are trying to silence him.
Read the full story
On one of the most consequential days in the GOP-led House, the process of impeaching United States Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas begins, the markup of the Hunter Biden contempt charges takes place, and the negotiations over the next spending bill continue as the deadline to avert a government shutdown draws closer.
Read the full story
Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy said in a Tuesday press conference that he is officially pushing Memphis to build its own crime lab, citing the sheer amount of crime happening in the city. His call follows analysis that showed Memphis with the highest homicide rate in the United States in 2023.
Mulroy said a crime lab in Memphis would allow authorities to solve crimes “at a higher rate,” and noted a number of new investigative resources it would offer local law enforcement.
Read the full story
A Tennessee senator is co-sponsoring a bill that would make it a federal crime to block a highway as a form of protest.
S.3492, “The Safe and Open Streets Act,” says “[i]t shall be unlawful to, in any way or degree, purposely obstruct, delay, or affect commerce or the movement of any article or commodity in commerce by blocking a public road or highway, or to attempt or conspire so to do.”
Read the full story
The Beacon Center of Tennessee released a statement on Tuesday celebrating the Mt. Juliet Board of Commissioners for passing an ordinance setting a uniform rate for both in-city and out-of-city food trucks to operate within city limits.
“We are absolutely thrilled that our lawsuit prompted the City of Mt. Juliet to repeal its unconstitutional $100/day permitting fee for food truck operators located outside of Mt. Juliet,” Beacon Director of Legal Affairs Wen Fa said in a statement. “That exorbitant fee essentially shut out our clients— food truck owners who have served many satisfied Mt. Juliet residents in the past— from Mt. Juliet. We’re delighted for both our clients and for the residents of Mt. Juliet that the food trucks are now able to return.”
Read the full story
A bill introduced by a Tennessee Republican would exempt certain baby products from sales tax.
“There is exempt from the tax imposed by this chapter the retail sale of infant formula and diapers and wipes designed to be used by infants and children, if sold between 12:01 a.m. on July 1, 2024, and 11:59 p.m. on June 30, 2025,” says the text of HB 1637.
Read the full story
Americans for Prosperity – Tennessee (AFP-TN) published its 2024 Legislative Agenda on Tuesday, suggesting four major policy changes in the state as the General Assembly convened for this year’s legislative session.
Read the full story
The Governor’s Council for Judicial Appointments has forwarded the names of three applicants to Governor Lee for consideration in order to fill the Tennessee Supreme Court vacancy created by the upcoming retirement of the Honorable Roger A. Page.
Read the full story
A report published Tuesday by WKRN TV failed to acknowledge the Tennessee 11 (TN 11), an activist group that seeks to pass red flag legislation and other gun restrictions this year in Tennessee, is funded by a Mexican-American billionaire based in New York.
The television station, which is owned by the publicly traded Nexstar Media Group, reported on the Tennessee 11 event held Tuesday at the Tennessee State Capitol, where the outlet reported, “The TN 11 said they’re calling for legislative solutions addressing gun violence and safety while upholding gun rights.” WKRN TV explained that “TN 11 also polled about 30,000 Tennesseans from all 95 counties” to determine priorities they would ask Tennessee lawmakers to address.
Read the full story
Three individuals have been arrested for conspiring to distribute over 13 pounds of fentanyl-mixed pills in Nashville, according to the Middle District of Tennessee U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Read the full story
Tennessee State Representative Gino Bulso (R-Brentwood) filed HB 1653 on Monday to compel Tennessee law enforcement to release materials and evidence related to the Covenant School shooting, including the manifesto written by Audrey Elizabeth Hale, who fatally shot three 9-year-old students and three faculty at the school in March 2023.
Bulso’s bill would require “all state and local law enforcement” to comply with a request from any member of the Tennessee General Assembly seeking “a copy of all records collected by the agency, including, but not limited to, all writings and medical, toxicology, and other reports, of a perpetrator involved in a school shooting incident that occurred at a public or private school in this state in March of 2023.”
Read the full story