Category: The South

Virginia Democratic Delegates Unanimously Vote to Support Vice President Kamala Harris at August Convention

Tom Pappert
Kamala Harris

The Democratic Party of Virginia (DPVA) confirmed on Tuesday that its delegates to the Democratic National Convention voted unanimously on Monday to nominate Vice President Kamala Harris as the party’s nominee for the president during its convention next month.

In a statement posted to the social media platform X, the Virginia Democrats confirmed the delegates “met virtually” and “unanimously voted to join President Joe Biden in endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris for the 2024 Democratic nomination for President of the United States.”

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Ben Cunningham: Nashville Mayor’s Transit Referendum ‘Purely Illegal’ Under 2017 IMPROVE Act Despite Unanimous Metro Council Support

Kaitlin Housler
Freddie O'Connell

Ben Cunningham, founder of the Nashville Tea Party, is warning Nashvillians about Mayor Freddie O’Connell’s multi-billion dollar transit plan, which will be presented to voters this November via ballot referendum.

O’Connell’s transit plan, “Choose How You Move: An All-Access Pass to Sidewalks, Signals, Service, and Safety,” would be funded by a half-cent increase in the city’s sales tax to construct miles of new sidewalks, bus stops, transit centers, parking facilities, and upgraded traffic signals throughout Nashville.

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Treasurer for Super PAC Behind Mailers Featuring Johnston, Trump Warns Former President Could ‘Dominate’ GOP with Help of Rep. Ogles

Tom Pappert
Randy Stamps and Courtney Johnston

Randy Stamps, who is the treasurer for the Conservatives with Character super PAC which sent mailers juxtaposing images of Metro Councilwoman Courtney Johnston and former President Donald Trump, told The Tennessee Star on Tuesday he is among the Republicans who do not want the former president to “dominate” the Republican Party.

Stamps also confirmed Conservatives with Character sent the mailers as part of the $140,000 advertising campaign reported last month, and said it is part of the same advertising campaign that followed a $140,000 cash injection from The Best of Tennessee, whose co-founder is Kim Kaegi, a seasoned political fundraiser who also serves as Johnston’s campaign treasurer.

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Reporter Tom Pappert Wonders If President Joe Biden Had Willingly Agreed to End 2024 Reelection Campaign Ahead of Sunday’s Announcement

Kaitlin Housler
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris

Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, speculated about the possible scene in which President Joe Biden eventually agreed to end his reelection bid while also wondering if the incumbent president had a say in the decision at all.

On Sunday afternoon, a letter without a letterhead was posted to Biden’s social media accounts announcing the end to his 2024 reelection bid.

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Vance Rallies in Virginia, Focuses on Manufacturing and Energy

The Center Square
JD Vance Virginia

Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance drew on his Appalachian upbringing to connect with supporters at a rally in Virginia on Monday night, focusing on the region’s depleted manufacturing industry, fentanyl and surging immigration crisis.

Vance, senator from Ohio, stopped earlier in the day in his Ohio hometown. He was announced on the ticket with former President Donald Trump one week to the day earlier.

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Rep. Burchett Blasts Secret Service Director as ‘DEI Horror Story’

Peter D'Abrosca
Tim Burchett

In a testy hearing before of the House Oversight Committee on Monday, Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN-02) slammed U.S. Secret Service (USSS) Director Kimberly Cheatle after the near assassination of former President Donald Trump on her watch. 

On July 14, Trump was hosting a campaign rally in Butler, PA, when shots rang out from a nearby rooftop, with only bullet grazing Trump’s ear and narrowly missing his head. 

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Group Tied to Courtney Johnston Campaign Sent $140,000 to Super PAC Behind Ads Targeting Rep. Andy Ogles

Tom Pappert
TN5 Candidate Courtney Johnson

The Tennessee super PAC supporting the challenge by Metro Councilwoman Courtney Johnson to unseat Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN-07) in the Republican primary contest for the state’s  7th Congressional district recently received $140,000 from a group connected to Johnston’s campaign.

Federal Election Commission (FEC) records confirm the group Conservatives with Character received $140,000 on June 7, 2024 from The Best of Tennessee Action Fund, one of the strategically interlinked organizations co-founded by pro-abortion attorney Chloe Akers and political fundraiser Kim Kaegi in April.

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Kamala Harris Receives Endorsements from Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell, Disgraced Ex-Mayor Megan Barry

Tom Pappert
Freddy O'Connell, Megan Berry, Kamala Harris (composite image)

Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday received the endorsement of both Nashville’s current mayor, Freddie O’Connell, as well as former Mayor Megan Barry, who resigned in 2018 after it was revealed she used public funds and resources to facilitate an affair with her bodyguard.

The endorsements came after President Joe Biden on Sunday confirmed he will no longer see the Democratic Party’s nomination, then later endorsed Harris to lead the Democrats against former President Donald Trump in November.

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Republican Mayor of Knox County Blasts Media for Calling Concerns Over Biden’s Decline ‘Conspiracy Theories’

Peter D'Abrosca
Knox Mayor Glenn Jacobs

Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs (R) joined Sky News Monday where he blasted the media for referring to Republicans as “conspiracy theorists” for questioning President Joe Biden’s mental acuity. 

“What did Kamala Harris know [and] when did she know it, and who is actually president of the United States and who is making those decisions,” Jacobs said on “News Hour with Mark Austin.” “The thing about the vice president’s job, one of their primary duties is if something happens to the president, the vice president has to step in, yet Mrs. Harris said she didn’t know there was anything wrong with the president. However, a month ago, right after the debate with President Trump, she said on TV that everything was fine, that he was thinking clearly, [and] that he was giving good advice to leaders around the world. So, she either knew and is basically covering that up, or she is willingly ignorant of the situation. Either way, that’s a bad place to be.” 

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Rep. Andy Ogles Calls Pro-Courtney Johnston Mailers Featuring President Trump ‘Disgraceful and Despicable’

Tom Pappert
Andy Ogles and Courtney Johnston in front on misleading Johnston mailer (composite image)

Despite Representative Andy Ogles (R-TN-05) already securing the endorsement of former President Donald Trump in his bid for reelection in Tennessee’s 5th Congressional district, political advertisements mailed to voters depict his only Republican challenger, Metro Councilwoman Courtney Johnston, alongside Republican presidential nominee.

The mailers do not appear to be sent by Johnston’s campaign, but are attributed to Conservatives with Character, the super PAC that recently began an advertising campaign against Ogles, and were obtained by The Tennessee Star from a recipient within the district.

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Authorities Rescue Three Children in Tennessee, Arrest Foreign National Wanted for ‘Child Stealing’ in Bahamas

Tom Pappert
ICE arrest

The International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) of Washington announced on Friday the rescue of three children and the arrest of a foreign national in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.

INTERPOL Washington confirmed in a press release that the agency participated in a joint operation with the U.S. Marshals Service and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on July 5 to arrest Angelo McQueen, a citizen of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas who the intergovernmental agency explained was wanted “for sexual offenses against a minor.”

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Democrats Sue Kemp over Leadership Committee Law

The Center Square
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp

Georgia Democrats have filed a federal lawsuit against Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, saying a measure he signed three years ago that allows him to effectively “sidestep” campaign finance restrictions.

Kemp signed Senate Bill 221 into law in May 2021. Under the so-called “LC Law,” some politicians can chair leadership committees and receive contributions from their members or supporters.

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Federal Grand Jury Indicts Nashville Man Accused of Shooting 18-Year-Old at WeGo Bus Station

Kaitlin Housler
Kenneth Johnson

A federal grand jury indicted a Nashville man accused of shooting an 18-year-old six times on the steps of a WeGo bus station in May, according to the Middle District of Tennessee U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Kenneth Johnson, 31, was arrested by Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) officers on May 16 after he allegedly shot the 18-year-old six times at the WeGo bus station located at the intersection of Rep John Lewis Way & MLK Jr Blvd.

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JD Vance to Headline Rally in Virginia After VP Nod

Just the News
JD Vance

Ohio GOP Sen. JD Vance will headline a rally in Radford, Va., on Monday as the campaign hopes to flip the Old Dominion into the Republican camp for the first time in 20 years.

Former President Donald Trump announced Vance as his running mate this week amid the Republican National Convention. Though formerly a Trump critic, Vance has emerged as one of his most stalwart supporters in the upper chamber.

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Murfreesboro Man Accused of Easter Sunday Shooting at Nashville Restaurant Indicted by Federal Grand Jury

Kaitlin Housler
Anton Rucker

A federal grand jury indicted a Murfreesboro man accused of opening fire inside a restaurant in the Salemtown neighborhood of Nashville on Easter Sunday, according to the Middle District of Tennessee U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Anton Rucker, 47, was arrested in Princeton, Kentucky by TITANS (The Investigative Team Addressing Neighborhood Shootings) detectives with the Metro Nashville Police Department two days following the Easter Sunday shooting which killed one – a 33-year old man named Allen Beachem – and injured multiple others.

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TN-08 Democratic Primary Candidate Stands by Violent Rhetoric Against Trump, Republicans

Peter D'Abrosca
Sarah Freeman

In the days after the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, Commercial Appeal published candidate profiles on the three Democratic primary challengers to Representative David Kustoff (R-TN-8), two of whom took the deeply divisive tone that Republicans were to “end democracy.”

As reported by The Tennessee Star, one of those candidates, Leonard Franklin, doubled down on his dark rhetoric in an exchange with The Star. 

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Virginia Lawsuits Challenging Year-Old Model Policies in Full Swing

The Center Square
Transgender Protest

One year after the Virginia Department of Education rolled out new model policies for the treatment of transgender students, the ACLU has undertaken several lawsuits on behalf of students identifying as transgender, saying the policies violate state and federal law. 

One lawsuit was dismissed Monday, and the other two will be heard on Aug. 6 and 20, one in federal court and the other in state circuit court. 

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Kemp Outlines Breakdown of $1.5 Billion Georgia Transportation Infrastructure Spend

The Center Square
Brian Kemp

Georgia plans to spend about 40% of the $1.5 billion in additional transportation funding lawmakers approved on increasing the Georgia Department of Transportation’s capital construction program.

In January, Republican Gov. Brian Kemp announced a plan to include an additional $1.5 billion in the state’s amended fiscal 2024 budget for the Georgia Department of Transportation for projects that “directly help move commuters and freight.”

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South Carolina Transportation Officials Divide Additional Transportation Funding

The Center Square
Justin Powell

South Carolina transportation officials have approved updates to the state’s bridge program, deciding how to allocate $200 million in additional money state lawmakers approved.

The South Carolina Department of Transportation Commission directed half the $200 million in one-time funding to bridges on secondary roads. The remaining $100 million will go toward bridges on primary and interstate routes.

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Tennessee Returns $68 Million in Unclaimed Property to Residents

Peter D'Abrosca
Tennessee State Capitol building

The Tennessee Department of Treasury (TDOT) said Wednesday that it returned more than $68 million in unclaimed property to Tennesseans in Fiscal Year 2023, a record for the state department. 

“Unclaimed property is money that has been turned over to the State by businesses and organizations unable to locate the rightful owners, such as utility refunds, uncashed paychecks, credit balances for overpayments, rental deposit refunds, gift certificates, securities, and abandoned bank accounts,” the department explained. “The Unclaimed Property program is a consumer protection program of the Department of Treasury that works to reunite this missing money with its rightful owner.”

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Tennessee Lottery Raises More than $519 Million for Education in Fiscal Year 2024

Kaitlin Housler

The Tennessee Education Lottery Corporation announced Tuesday that it raised $519,322,000 for education in the Volunteer State during Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24), setting a new Fiscal Year record for the amount generated for education.

FY23, which spanned from July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024, surpassed Fiscal Year 2023’s proceeds – the previous fiscal year record – by more than $4 million.

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Metro Council Member Who Blocked Resolution Condemning Assassination Attempt of Trump said Former President ‘Called’ for the Shooting

Kaitlin Housler
Ginny Welsch

Metro Nashville Council Member Ginny Welsch (District 16) said former President Donald Trump “called for” the July 13 assassination attempt he survived during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Trump was grazed by a single bullet in his upper right ear in what is formally being investigated as a failed assassination attempt during the rally last week.

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Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell Declares Transit Referendum ‘Great Opportunity’ After Council Approves November Vote

Tom Pappert
Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell

Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell on Wednesday declared his controversial transit referendum a “great opportunity” for the city after it was unanimously approved by the Metro Council, with every lawmaker present voting to allow Nashvillians to vote in November on whether to fund the $6.93 billion transportation package called illegal by critics. 

After the transit referendum was approved by the Metro Nashville City Council with unanimous support from the lawmakers present, O’Connell declared his approval in a statement, noting the final decision will go to Nashville residents in November.

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Attorney General Skrmetti Files Motion to Dismiss Lawsuit on Abortion Trafficking

Peter D'Abrosca

Tennessee’s Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti Wednesday filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit by State Representative Aftyn Behn (D-Nashville), Nashville abortion activist and attorney Rachel Welty, and others to stop a bill banning the practice of abortion trafficking to take effect. 

HB 1895, introduced by State Representative Jason Zachary (R-Knoxville) and signed into law by Gov. Bill Lee (R) in May bans  minor seeking a abortions to be transported across state lines by people unrelated to them in order to obtain an abortion.

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Tennessee Election Official Confirms Voters Who Ignored Citizen Verification Letter Will Not Be Removed from Rolls

Tom Pappert
Mark Goins

Tennessee Coordinator of Elections Mark Goins confirmed on Wednesday that none of the 14,375 voters who received letters from his office seeking to confirm their citizenship status will be removed from the state’s voter rolls.

Goins confirmed in a Tuesday statement to The Associated Press that his office’s June 13 letter to voters, which requested information about their citizenship, “did not threaten to remove a person from the voter list if a person does not respond” and then confirmed to the outlet, “[n]o one will be removed from a voting list for not responding to the June 13 letter.”

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Sen. Blackburn Confronts Stonewalling Secret Service Director at the RNC over Trump Assassination Attempt Coverup

Tom Pappert

Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and John Barrasso (R-WY) on Wednesday confronted U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle on the floor of the Republican National Convention (RNC) over the Secret Service actions that preceded the Saturday assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.

The Tennessee Star confirmed the confrontation happened at the Fiserv Forum in Mulwaukee, Wisconsin where the RNC is being held. Blackburn and Barrasso confronted Cheatle upstairs in a luxury suite just prior to 9 p.m., just minutes before Blackburn uploaded video to the social media platform X with the caption, “[t]he American people deserve answers from the Secret Service.”

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U.S. Senators Prohibited from Asking Questions in Secret Service Conference Call After Attempted Trump Assassination

Tom Pappert
Senators and Secret Service

A source familiar with the conversation confirmed to The Tennessee Star that multiple members of the U.S. Senate were prohibited from asking questions during a Wednesday conference call with the U.S. Secret Service in the wake of the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.

The allegation surfaced after U.S. Senator Mike Lee revealed the Secret Service was “briefing senators” about the attempted assassination “on a conference call,” during which he claimed the federal agency provided “details that aren’t all helpful” and little information about “the failures that led to this tragedy.”

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Democrat Primary Candidates in TN-08 Continue with Violent Rhetoric After Trump Assassination Attempt

Peter D'Abrosca
Perkins and Freeman

Just after the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, Commercial Appeal published candidate profiles on the three Democratic primary challengers to Rep. David Kustoff (R-TN-8), two of whom took the deeply divisive tone that Republicans was to “end democracy.” 

Sarah Freeman is running to be her party’s nominee in the race. 

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Middle Tennessee State University Earns ‘Green Light’ FIRE Rating for Respecting Free Speech

Tom Pappert

Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) last week earned a “green light” rating from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Freedom (FIRE), a nonprofit organization that gained fame by defending freedom of speech on college campuses.

A FIRE press release confirms MTSU became the latest university to receive the rating, with the organization noting just 68 other institutions throughout the country have qualified for the “green light” rating it explains” is reserved for institutions with no written policies that seriously imperil student free speech rights.”

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Florida Report Finds Decrease in Number of Victims of Commercial Sexual Exploitation

The Center Square
Girl Sitting Alone

A new report from the Florida Legislature’s research arm found a significant decrease in the number of child victims of commercial sexual exploitation in the Sunshine State, but some services still sorely need improvement.

The Florida Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability published its annual report on the sexual exploitation of minors in Florida and the data shows there has been an 11% decrease overall since 2020 in child victims of exploitation.A new report from the Florida Legislature’s research arm found a significant decrease in the number of child victims of commercial sexual exploitation in the Sunshine State, but some services still sorely need improvement.

The Florida Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability published its annual report on the sexual exploitation of minors in Florida and the data shows there has been an 11% decrease overall since 2020 in child victims of exploitation.

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New Pre-Shooting Poll Shows Narrow Lead for Biden in Virginia

The Center Square
Joe Biden and Donald Trump

The New York Times/Siena College poll just released results from a voter survey taken before the Trump rally shooting, showing President Joe Biden leading former President Donald Trump by just a few percentage points.

The results are causing more chatter about the role Virginia could play in the upcoming election since Biden won Virginia by 10% in 2020. Prior to a May poll by Roanoke College that showed the presidential candidates tied 42%-42%, Virginia was considered reliably blue for Biden – due to his previous performance and to the fact that George W. Bush was the last Republican presidential candidate to win the commonwealth in 2004.

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DNC Sends $15 Million to Battleground States Pennsylvania, Arizona and Georgia After Trump Selects Vance for VP

Tom Pappert
Jaimie Harrison

The Democratic National Committee confirmed the transfer of $15 million to battleground states after former President Donald Trump selected Senator JD Vance (R-OH) to serve as his vice president on the Republican ticket for president in 2024.

In a statement released on Tuesday, the party claimed the transfers to local parties would increase state coordination and give President Joe Biden a better shot at retaining the White House in November.

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Incumbent U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn Trounces Democrat Challenger Gloria Johnson in Fundraising Battle with over $7.1 Million More Cash on Hand: FEC Data

Kaitlin Housler
Marsha Blackburn and Gloria Johnson

Data recently published by the Federal Election Commission (FEC) shows Tennessee incumbent U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) sitting on more than $7.1 million cash on hand than her leading Democratic challenger, Tennessee State Representative Gloria Johnson (D-Knoxville).

Blackburn’s cash on hand as of June 30 is reported to be $9,227,961.41 while Johnson’s reported amount is $2,050,627.43 – a total difference of $7,177,333.98.

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