A Georgia State election board on Wednesday night voted to request that state Attorney General Chris Carr reopen an investigation into Fulton County’s counting of the results of the 2020 election.
The request comes after the board closed the matter in May, but voted to install an independent election monitor for the 2024 election, after an independent investigation found that the county likely scanned thousands of ballots twice in a recount of the 2020 election.
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Chief District Judge William Campbell, who oversees the Middle District of Tennessee for the U.S. District Court, did not respond to a Thursday inquiry from The Tennessee Star that sought information about the apparent leak of information related to the FBI search warrant executed on Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN-05).
Ogles confirmed on Tuesday the FBI executed a search warrant at his Maury County, Tennessee home to obtain his personal cell phone last Friday, less than 24 hours after he won the Tennessee Republican primary in a victory over his Never Trump-backed opponent.
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U.S. District Judge Eli Richardson ruled on July 29 that alleged cyberstalker McKenzie McClure, the transgender person who wrote publicly about Governor Bill Lee and left an unsettling voicemail before visiting the campus of the Christ Presbyterian Academy (CPA) elementary school in Nashville, will be allowed greater freedom at the East Tennessee psychiatric treatment center where she remains.
A student of CPA from 1999 until 2003, McClure was arrested in May on charges of cyberstalking after she wrote posts claiming Lee would not take action to undermine pro-Palestine protests because the governor “knows if he makes one wrong move it’s Joever for him and my 4th grade teacher… i.e., his WIFE.”
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Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti announced Thursday that his office will appeal the July 29 ruling by the Davidson County Chancery Court in the case challenging a state law which caps the number of elected officials in the Metro Nashville-Davidson County City Council to 20.
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After the resounding success of Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn’s bipartisan Kids Online Safety Act, she has exclusively released to The Tennessee Star a guide for parents to keep their children safe online as they head back to school.
“When children are online, they are the product, and Big Tech is trying every method possible to keep them scrolling, clicking ads, and sharing every detail of their lives,” the guide says. “Social media platforms put children at risk of being exposed to eating disorders, suicidal ideation, sexual exploitation, and advertisements for illegal substances. Now is the perfect time to study up on how you can keep your kids safe online.”
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Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, R, signed an executive order Wednesday, codifying election security measures and listing procedures to prevent non-citizens from voting in elections.
The executive order directs the Commissioner of the Department of Elections to annually certify that election security measures are in place regarding ballot security, testing and certification of ballot counting machines, triple-checking the accuracy of election results, and daily updating of voter rolls.
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The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia confirmed on Wednesday that Former Fulton County Jail guard Monique Clark was sentenced to four years in prison and three years of supervised release after she strangled an inmate who was in handcuffs until the inmate lost consciousness.
The Fulton County Sheriff’s Office confirmed to The Georgia Star News in September 2023 that Clark is a biological female, and was housed in a female unit of the Fulton County Jail, but government officials with the FBI and Department of Justice exclusively used masculine pronouns while describing her crimes in a press release.
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The Metro Nashville Council voted to pass a resolution condemning the July 13 assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump and all political violence during its Tuesday meeting.
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Ben Cunningham, founder of the Nashville Tea Party, said Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell is promoting lawlessness through his transit plan which will be presented to voters on the November 5 general election ballot.
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The leaders of Tennessee Advocates for Planned Parenthood (TAPP), Planned Parenthood’s electioneering arm, held a press conference at the Tennessee Capitol saying that it has a plan to break the Republican supermajority in the state’s general assembly, thus making it easier to accomplish its pro-abortion work.
“Stopping the supermajority in Tennessee is not going to be easy,” TAPP CEO Ashley Coffield said during the press conference. “We have a plan this year to flip four seats and three after that so we break the supermajority before redistricting in 2030.”
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Henry Leventis, the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee who oversaw the FBI search warrant served on Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN-05) last Friday, previously served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney under special prosecutor Jack Smith.
Leventis supervised the FBI search warrant executed at Ogles’ Maury County home. In a statement, Ogles said the warrant was issued to obtain his personal cell phone due to well-reported issues with his initial campaign filings. Ogles filed amendments earlier this year that he claims corrected what were honest mistakes.
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The Tennessee Democrat who received the nomination to challenge Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN-05) in November blamed the state’s “white patriarchy” last year after the General Assembly did not pass gun control legislation during a special session in the wake of the March 27, 2023, attack on the Covenant School.
Maryam Abolfazli, the Democratic nominee for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District, wrote in an August 2023 article published by Tennessee Lookout that the “white patriarchy” was responsible for the failure of gun control legislation to materialize during the special session called by Governor Bill Lee in the wake the Covenant School attack.
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Tennessee Governor Bill Lee announced that TennCare and CoverKids members under age two will be eligible to receive up to 100 diapers per month as part of the TennCare Diaper Benefit beginning Wednesday.
TennCare is Tennessee’s Medicaid program, while CoverKids offers free health coverage for pregnant women and children who do not have insurance and do not qualify for TennCare.
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South Carolina ranked seventh in a report assessing 2024’s States with the Best and Worst Early Education Systems.
In developing its ranking, personal finance site WalletHub looked at 12 key metrics across all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
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Republican attorneys general from 21 states, led by the attorneys general of Montana and Virginia, submitted an amicus brief to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia defending the federal law banning TikTok in the U.S.
President Joe Biden signed the legislation into law in April due to concerns that through Chinese-owned parent company Bytedance, the Chinese Communist Party might be able to gain access to users’ private data or influence American youth toward communism. The law threatens to prohibit the app in the U.S. if Bytedance does not sell its shares in the social media company by Jan. 19, 2025.
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The Georgia Public Service Commission could soon decide whether a railroad can seize private land for a proposed 4.5-mile-long spur after hearing oral arguments in the case on Tuesday.
The Sandersville Railroad, a Class III short-line railroad, initially petitioned the PSC in March 2023 to condemn land for the spur and subsequently moved to condemn additional land. The railroad’s existing tracks are about 25 miles from Sparta, and the spur would connect a rock quarry southeast of the city with a CSX Transportation rail line but not existing Sandersville Railroad tracks.
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by Andrew Powell The Sunshine State ranks second in the nation for the protection of religious liberty, according to a new report from the Center for Religion, Culture and Democracy. The report, “Religious Liberty in the States,” is a project that measures legal safeguards for religious liberty across the U.S. During a panel discussion on the report, Jordan Ballor, director of research at CRCD, was joined by project director Mark David Hall and associate director Paul Mueller. A list of safeguards was used to measure and compare each state – including a state’s policies on absentee voting, general conscience, abortion refusal, sterilization refusal, contraception refusal, health insurance mandates, non-participation by clergy, religious entity refusal, public office recusal, for-profit business nonparticipation, clergy as mandatory reporters, houses of worship protected from closing, ceremonial use of alcohol by minors, religious freedom restoration act, childhood immunization requirements and excused absences for religious reasons. “Florida improved from number eight in the nation in 2023 to number two in 2024 because it passed general conscience and hospital protections,” Hall told The Center Square. “These laws ensure that medical professionals and institutions are not compelled to participate in medical procedures to which they have religious objections.”…
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Unjustly incarcerated January 6 defendant Stewart Parks was released from a halfway house in Nashville on Monday. Parks served over five months in Memphis Federal Correction Institute (FCI) until last month, when he was moved to the Dismas Dierson Halfway House in Nashville.
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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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