The Tennessee Star learned the controversial and allegedly politicized FBI on Friday executed a search warrant at the Maury County, Tennessee, home of Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN-05).
Ogles confirmed in a statement provided to The Star that the FBI executed a search warrant for his personal cell phone in an apparent investigation of his campaign filings.
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Linda Yaccarino, the Chief Executive Officer of Elon Musk-owned X, announced Tuesday that the company is filing a lawsuit against a group called Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM).
“After a career in media and advertising, I thought I had seen everything. Then I read the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee’s report entitled ‘GARM’s (Global Alliance for Responsible Media) Harm’ last month. The report disclosed that their investigation had found evidence of an illegal boycott against many companies, including X,” Yaccarino said.
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The Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) on Monday reportedly replaced the head of its internal affairs office in a decision that came months after retired Lieutenant Garet Davidson submitted a 61-page complaint naming the former official, prompting an investigation.
It was reported on Monday by Nashville Banner that Kathy Morante, the head of the MNPD Office of Professional Accountability since 2013, was replaced.
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Amid a report that voters’ personal information was temporarily accessible online, critics are renewing their concerns about Georgia’s Voter Registration Cancellation Portal.
The information, including a voter’s date of birth, the last four digits of their Social Security number and their driver’s license number, was briefly available on the portal, a new tool that allows voters to proactively cancel their voter registrations, the Associated Press reported. That information is what’s needed to request a registration cancellation.
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The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) Sunday announced that it is investigating an officer-involved shooting of a wanted Alabama fugitive in Hardin County.
“Preliminary information indicates that deputies encountered an Alabama robbery suspect, later identified as Jonathan Schutte, in a parking lot … in Savannah,” TBI said in a release. “When [Hardin County] deputies approached the vehicle, Schutte reportedly exited his vehicle and fired his weapon at deputies, resulting in the deputies returning fire, hitting and killing 33-year-old Schutte. No law enforcement officers were hurt in the incident.”
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Officials in Georgia and South Carolina are taking action as Tropical Storm Debby is expected to dump rain on the states after making landfall on Monday morning along the Florida coast.
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A high school student in Memphis who was arrested Monday morning for possessing a firearm at school has been charged with carrying a weapon on school property and has been expelled.
The unnamed 17-year-old attended Power Center Academy Hickory Hill High School, which is a charter school under the umbrella of Gestalt Community Schools, in Memphis.
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The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced that Nashville will soon be the new home of the agency’s main field office in Tennessee.
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A frustrated group of Virginia Military Institute alumni, some of whom have previously spoken out against the institution’s growing embrace of DEI, have taken on a new battle.
The disgruntled alumni have filed a civil rights lawsuit against VMI Alumni Agencies, arguing the relationship between the official alma mater organization and the institute itself is inappropriate, that school leaders have too much control over it.
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Just a day after a convicted sex offender was released from a Tennessee prison, he allegedly attacked two women in separate incidents in Nashville, landing him back behind bars.
Dontez Drew, 27, was released from the Hardeman County Correctional Facility on Wednesday, only to wind up back in custody on Thursday.
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Tennessee’s Department of Commerce and Insurance says it has recovered $9.5 million for Tennessee residents in 2024.
The group mediates complaints between consumers and insurance companies, resulting in previously denied claims being overturned and additional benefits identified and paid to consumers.
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The Atlanta Regional Commission’s board and Transportation & Air Quality Committee are expected to approve changes to an amended Transportation Improvement Program on Aug. 28.
The amendment includes roughly $265.3 million in federal money, including $38.2 million in earmarks and $221.6 million in “discretionary grant funding.”
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A Memphis Police officer died after a crash with an alleged suspect in a shooting early Friday morning.
“At 3:06 a.m., officers responded to a two-vehicle crash at Mississippi Boulevard and Danny Thomas Boulevard involving a gray Nissan and an MPD squad car,” MPD said in a statement. “Responding officers located three injured males, two of which are MPD officers, and the third male was the occupant of the Nissan. All were transported to Regional One Hospital in critical condition. An MPD officer and the driver of the gray Nissan were pronounced deceased at the hospital. The second MPD officer remains in critical condition.”
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A far-left member of the Tennessee House of Representatives Thursday night won her primary election, and now faces an uphill battle against incumbent U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN).
“Thank you, Tennessee. I am running for office to represent you, to fight for you, and make life easier for all who call Tennessee home. I have never felt more ready to fight for a Tennessee that works for all of us. Let’s do this!” said State Representative Gloria Johnson (D-Knovxille) when the primary results rolled in.
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The Davidson County Election Commission gave final approval to Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell’s multi-billion dollar transit plan on Thursday, marking the final step before the plan is presented to voters on the November 5 general election ballot.
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The Florida Auditor General recently published a follow-up audit of the Sunshine State’s economic incentives programs and found some uncorrected issues remain.
The Florida Department of Commerce assists the governor in working with the Legislature, state agencies, business leaders, and economic development professionals. For fiscal 2023-24, state lawmakers appropriated approximately $1.8 billion.
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Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares on Friday sent a letter to ActBlue, the top fundraising platform for Democrats and liberal issues, demanding answers over the money laundering and fraud allegations levied by journalist James O’Keefe and his O’Keefe Media Group.
Miyares posted his letter to the social media platform X, confirming his office questioned ActBlue over allegations of “fraudulent, deceptive, and/or otherwise illegal acts,” including “hundreds of thousands of dollars of contributions through individual donors” in Virginia who purportedly donated “in volumes that are facially implausible and appear suspicious.”
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Georgia Republican Party (GAGOP) Chair Josh McKoon on Friday announced that former Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan will be permanently banned from attending any of the state party’s events, including conventions and caucuses, after Duncan endorsed President Joe Biden then Vice President Kamala Harris.
McKoon additionally confirmed the GAGOP will issue a resolution condemning Duncan for his “self serving and hypocritical behavior,” and “expelling” him from the Republican Party, and that the GAGOP State Executive Committee “will consider action to permanently ban” Duncan from qualifying as a Republican candidate in the Peach State.
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The South Carolina Supreme Court granted approval for the state Wednesday to conduct executions by firing squad and electrocution.
The state passed a law in 2021 allowing the use firing squads and electrocution as execution methods, according to The Hill. However, the approval was temporarily halted due to death row inmates suing the state, despite death by electrocution becoming a default method when the state could not provide lethal injection drugs.
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Tennessee U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) detailed her work in the U.S. Senate this week during an exclusive interview on Friday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show.
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Chairman of the House Freedom Caucus Virginia Rep. Bob Good has been unseated after losing a recount stemming from a close June primary race.
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The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is suing Tennessee over a recently-enacted law bars judges from considering whether an alleged criminal can afford bail when making the decision on whether grant bail.
“Today, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Criminal Law Reform Project, ACLU of Tennessee, and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP filed a lawsuit on behalf of Just City Memphis to challenge the constitutionality of Tennessee’s unprecedented new bail law, arguing that the law violates the Fourteenth Amendment by mandating unfair bail hearing procedures and discriminatory wealth-based detention,” according to the ACLU.
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The Never Trump donors who assembled to oppose Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN-05) in the Thursday Republican primary for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional district were trounced by the incumbent, who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump more than one year prior to the election.
Ogles’ victory came despite the incumbent being out raised by his opponent, Metro Councilwoman Courtney Johnston, who also benefited from more than $600,000 in advertising from the Conservatives with Character super PAC, whose treasurer told The Tennessee Star its primary purpose was to see the Trump-endorsed incumbent defeated.
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The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) says a tip from a “concerned citizen” led them to demand that an image on the Chester County Sheriff’s office be removed from the law enforcement entity’s website.
The image was a “Thin Blue Line” flag with a bible verse on it that reads, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.”
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The Murfreesboro City Council approved pay adjustments for public safety in the Fiscal Year 2025 Budget last week, raising the annual pay of police officers, sergeants, firefighters, and AEMTs.
At its meeting on July 25, the council voted to approve the pay adjustments after reviewing a survey of neighboring Middle Tennessee cities to compare the city’s police pay plan to peer cities.
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The chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC) confirmed the party considers Virginia “competitive” for former President Donald Trump in his campaign to retake the White House in November, pointing toward the 2021 victory by Governor Glenn Youngkin as evidence conservatives can still win statewide elections in the commonwealth.
RNC Chair Michael Whatley told the Richmond Times-Dispatch on Wednesday that Virginia will be competitive for the Trump campaign after Youngkin showed “how a Republican can win Virginia” with his 2021 victory.
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Augusta Mayor Garnett Johnson on Tuesday asked the Augusta City Council to reimburse more than $40,000 in expenses to his personal credit card he claims were necessary for the city to conduct its business, including $10,000 to facilitate a visit from First Lady Jill Biden and more than $2,000 for a trip to the White House.
Johnson claimed to the city council on Tuesday that the expenses were within the city’s budget, and suggested he used his personal credit card as a matter of efficiency.
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OPMobility will receive a $558,000 incentive grant from Tennessee toward a $3 million expansion of its Spring Hill plant, which is expected to lead to 186 new jobs in Maury County.
The France-based company was renamed OPMobility from Plastic Omnium in March. It will then have 568 employees in Tennessee and more than 200 in Spring Hill after expanding from its 18 current employees in Maury County.
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Thursday’s unofficial election results in the Republican primary races for the Tennessee General Assembly produced a mix of expected victories and unexpected losses in multiple districts across the Volunteer State.
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Incumbent Tennessee U.S. Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN-05) defeated Metro Nashville Council Member Courtney Johnston in the Republican primary for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District on Thursday.
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Star News Digital Media, Inc. (SNDM), which owns and operates The Tennessee Star, and Editor-in-Chief Michael Patrick Leahy launched an appeal on Wednesday to reverse Chancery Court Judge I’Ashea L. Myles’s ruling blocking the release of even one page of the writings left by Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale.
Lawyers for SNDM, including America First Legal Foundation attorney Nicholas Barry and attorney Paul Krog, officially filed notice with the Court of Appeals of Tennessee at Nashville that it intends to appeal, making SNDM and Leahy the first plaintiffs to appeal Myles’ July 4 ruling.
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Former President Donald Trump raised $25 million during his recent fundraiser at the Bitcoin 2024 conference held in Nashville, according to the conference organizer, who also said it was the second-largest sum raised by the former president in any fundraiser over his three presidential campaigns.
David Bailey, the CEO of the Bitcoin Conference and Bitcoin Magazine, confirmed the $25 million fundraising haul for the Trump campaign in a post to the social media platform X.
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Tennessee State Senator Brent Taylor (R-Memphis) on Wednesday published his public response to the MLK50 article, which accused him of using misinformation about Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy and Memphis crime in his effort to oust the district attorney from office.
In addition to rebutting or providing context to the five alleged points of misinformation MLK50 reporter Katherine Burgess included in the publication’s report, Taylor also provided the full transcript of the email interview he completed at Burgess’ request.
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Tennessee ranked 42nd in voter registration and last, 51st, in voter turnout in the 2022 midterm election, according to a new report from ThinkTenessee.
Tennessee is scheduled to have its primary for both federal and state posts Thursday.
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U.S. Secret Service Acting Director Ronald Rowe confirmed the authenticity of an email sent by a Secret Service counter sniper criticizing leadership in the agency while under questioning by Tennessee U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) during a Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday.
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Poll aggregation website FiveThirtyEight said that U.S. Reps Tim Burchett (R-TN-02) and Andy Ogles (R-TN-05) are “Far-Right Obstructionists.”
“In a Congress largely defined by Republicans’ struggle to govern in harmony with their far-right flank, it’s no surprise that a cluster of hardline, obstructionist conservatives emerged as a cohesive voting cluster,” FiveThirtyEight said.
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A man and a woman in Meigs County have been charged for alleged human trafficking, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI).
“Agents began investigating Tristin Epperson and Clarissa McKinney in early 2024, after receiving information concerning their interactions with a juvenile,” TBI said.
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Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell condemned former President Donald Trump on Saturday as a “threat to democracy,” then humorously asserted the Bitcoin 2024 conference, where the former president spoke, was “secured” and the “threat” gone.
O’Connell made the remarks at the annual Three Star Fundraiser held by the Tennessee Democratic Party (TNDP), which the party titled, “For Our Democracy, For Our Freedom.”
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Gov. Ron DeSantis and first lady Casey DeSantis held a news conference Monday to recognize 13 top-performing Hope Florida CarePortal Churches.
Hope Florida’s mission is to create pathways to prosperity for communities and individuals, to help them become more economically self-sufficient and to instill hope. Casey DeSantis spearheaded the project, which is implemented through the Florida Department of Children and Families.
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A county supervisor in Virginia on Monday called for an end to sanctuary laws for illegal migrants after two murder suspects were confirmed to be living in the U.S. illegally, 7News reported.
Fairfax County Supervisor Pat Herrity, the one-and-only Republican supervisor in the deep blue jurisdiction, is demanding county officials put an end to laws that protect illegal migrant criminals in the county, according to 7News. Herrity’s public comments follow a brutal murder earlier this month along a popular hiking trail in Oakton, Virginia, with accusations that at least one of the illegal migrant suspects benefited from sanctuary laws before the murder.
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The federal government is sending more than $6.1 million in taxpayer money to four South Carolina airports as part of grants for rehabilitation and construction projects.
The latest in federal tax money is from the 2024 Airport Improvement Program’s third round of grants. The latest tranche of funding includes more than $374 million the Federal Aviation Administration announced for airfield and safety projects at 299 airports in 46 states and American Samoa.
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Georgia officials are awarding $1 million in grants to increase mental health access for military members, veterans and their families.
Last year, state lawmakers passed House Bill 414 to create the Veterans Mental Health Services Program under the Georgia Department of Veterans Service. Republican Gov. Brian Kemp signed the measure into law on April 25, 2023.
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Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee) celebrated on Tuesday after the U.S. Senate passed the Kids Online Safety Act with bipartisan support.
Blackburn wrote in a post to the social media platform X that the legislation passing the Senate is “a big step to protect” minor children from online harms, and noted Congress last passed legislation with that goal in 1998, when it passed the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.
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The Tunnel to Towers Foundation held a groundbreaking ceremony on Thursday for its new Memphis Veterans Village.
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he Davidson County Chancery Court ruled 2-1 on Monday that Tennessee’s law capping the number of elected officials in the Metro Nashville-Davidson County City Council to 20 is unconstitutional.
Governor Bill Lee signed SB87/HB48 into law on March 9, 2023, which requires that the governing body of a municipality or Metropolitan government must “dissolve, combine, or reapportion districts or wards, as necessary, so that the number of members elected to the governing body does not exceed 20 voting members.”
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The illegal immigrant accused of killing Nashville restaurant owner Matthew Carney on June 19 previously saw unrelated charges for burglary and theft dropped by a Davidson County judge who was apparently unaware of the alleged criminal’s immigration status.
Ulises Raigoz-Martinez was charged by the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) Homicide Unit after the fatal hit-and-run crash of the Smokin Thighs restaurant owner, with MNPD stating Martinez “admitted that he and an associate” were attempting to steal tools from Carney’s truck when he discovered them.
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Virginia school boards are issuing cellphone free mandates in their local communities, after Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin ordered schools to draft plans for cell phone-free education in K-12 public schools.
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Virginia State Police cleared the anti-Israel encampment constructed near the home of Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Saturday after it subsisted for over six months.
The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) worked with the Virginia State Police to clear the encampment previously constructed on the shoulder of Chain Bridge Road near Blinken’s home on Saturday, with VDOT stating to WTOP the encampment was “unsafe for motorists, bikers and pedestrians and blocks access to emergency vehicles and personnel.”
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Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares filed an amicus brief Thursday on behalf of the Hanover County School Board, which barred a middle school male student identifying as a transgender girl from playing on the girls’ tennis team.
“Neither the federal Constitution nor any federal statute require Virginia school boards to allow biological males to play on a girls sports team,” Miyares said in a statement. “Rather, civil rights law is meant to protect female equity in athletics. I urge the court to ensure that women’s rights and opportunities remain protected in Virginia.”
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The Tennessee Chamber of Commerce announced that the winner of its inaugural Coolest Thing Made in Tennessee contest is the Nissan Rogue, manufactured at the Nissan Smyrna Vehicle Assembly Plant.
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