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Dramatic Decline in Memphis Airport Traffic Not Helped by ‘Nashville-Based Government That Mainly Focuses Dollars on Middle and East of State,’ Shafer Says

Chris Butler

The Memphis International Airport has had a dramatic decrease in the amount of traffic that goes through there, and the chairman of the Shelby County Commission says some of the blame lies with the Tennessee state government. Shelby County Commission Chairman Heidi Shafer talked to The Tennessee Star in response to a recent New York Times article that detailed how Memphis International Airport has lost almost two-thirds of its passengers in recent years. “All of West Tennessee is in the process of adjustment…trying to adjust to the reality of heavy competition with neighboring states’ tax incentives, the move away from brick and mortar, a Nashville-based government that mainly focuses its dollars and action on the middle and east divisions of the state (think Mega-Site), and an airport that must balance crucial cargo traffic with de-hubbed passenger status,” Shafer told The Star. In a report that came out this month, the Times described the Memphis airport as “a glaring casualty of an airline merger that transformed the American aviation industry but cost the Mid-South’s most important city its status as a hub.” As the Times went on to say, there once was a time when Northwest Airlines was the dominant carrier.…

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Jason Reynolds Commentary: U2 Turns Nashville Concert Into Political Rally

Jason M. Reynolds
U2 Twitter

There is no question U2 is one of the most talented bands in our time. They also have done some great work in terms of social justice. Their work has included relief efforts for HIV-positive people in Africa. (RED) was created by Bono and Bobby Shriver in 2006 to fight to end AIDS in Africa. U2 is currently campaigning for global women’s rights such as an estimated 130 million girls who are not getting to attend school. I applaud them for that work. Then there is the right to life — but U2 is not campaigning for people’s rights to live, but rather, for women to have the right to murder their babies. https://twitter.com/ClosertoOne/status/1000558943100284928 On Friday, the people of Ireland voted to legalize abortion. The nation’s Eighth Amendment had protected preborn babies since 1983. Five previous votes on the repeal had failed. Earlier in May, U2 stepped into the debate by tweeting their support of ending the protection of preborn babies. Breitbart reports, “After U2 tweeted a photo endorsing the ‘Repeal the 8th; campaign… fans erupted with a barrage of more than 800 overwhelmingly negative replies, with many voicing their decision to stop supporting the band or attending its concerts.”…

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The Forgotten History of Memorial Day

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Memorial Day History Headliner

by Richard Gardiner   In the years following the bitter Civil War, a former Union general took a holiday originated by former Confederates and helped spread it across the entire country. The holiday was Memorial Day, and this year’s commemoration on May 28 marks the 150th anniversary of its official nationwide observance. The annual commemoration was born in the former Confederate States in 1866 and adopted by the United States in 1868. It is a holiday in which the nation honors its military dead. Gen. John A. Logan, who headed the largest Union veterans’ fraternity at that time, the Grand Army of the Republic, is usually credited as being the originator of the holiday. Yet when General Logan established the holiday, he acknowledged its genesis among the Union’s former enemies, saying, “It was not too late for the Union men of the nation to follow the example of the people of the South.” I’m a scholar who has written – with co-author Daniel Bellware – a history of Memorial Day. Cities and towns across America have for more than a century claimed to be the holiday’s birthplace, but we have sifted through the myths and half-truths and uncovered the authentic story of how this holiday…

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In-State Tuition for Illegal Aliens: Randy Boyd Says He’s Against It, But He’s Likely to Let it Become Law if Legislature Passes

Chris Alto
Randy Boyd

The in-state tuition for illegal aliens issue is expected to be put on the legislative calendar in 2019. Its importance cannot be understated in light of the opening it creates to award additional state and local public benefits to illegal aliens in Tennessee. The four candidates for the GOP gubernatorial nomination–Knoxville businessman Randy Boyd, Rep. Diane Black (R-TN-06), Williamson County businessman Bill Lee, and Tennessee House Speaker Beth Harwell (R-Nashville)–are notably different in their approach to this issue. During an April meet and greet in Memphis, Randy Boyd repeated his opposition to in-state tuition for illegal aliens – “I’m against in-state tuition for illegals.” Boyd’s claim doesn’t necessarily mean that as governor Boyd would stop an in-state tuition bill passed by the General Assembly from becoming law. Both Diane Black and Bill Lee have affirmatively stated they would veto an in-state tuition bill. Neither the Harwell campaign nor the Boyd campaign responded to The Tennessee Star’s question during the legislative session about the in-state tuition bill that was making its way through the committee process. Harwell did not cast a vote on the 2015 in-state tuition bill since she left the House floor almost immediately before the bill was brought up…

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Challenger Shane Disputes State Rep. Susan Lynn’s Defense of Her Vote for the Gas Tax Raising IMPROVE ACT

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Conservative businessman Aaron Shane, a Republican candidate for State Representative in the 57th District has called for current State Rep. Susan Lynn (R-Mt. Juliet) to explain her support of the gas/diesel/registration tax increase (Improve Act) that raised fuel taxes and car registration fees by $350 million per year. “Prior to her casting her vote raise taxes on Tennessee families, Lynn promised she would not support the tax increase, and even boasted that the funding for the expansion of Highway 109 was already approved and didn’t need the IMPROVE Act for funding,” Shane pointed out. “Yet, just a few weeks ago at an event in Mt. Juliet she said that her vote for the tax increase provided the funding for Highway 109 — despite the fact that state Department of Transportation records show it was on the project list in January, 2017 and it was reported in our local papers.” With surplus and recurring funds of over $2 BILLION dollars in our state’s coffers, Lynn raised taxes by $350 million on our families after promising not to do it, Shane said. “Now she is trying to fool people into believing that her tax increase was really a tax cut! The next…

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David Briley Wins Nashville Special Mayoral Election With 55% of the Vote

Tennessee Star Staff
David Briley

NASHVILLE, Tennessee–Acting Mayor David Briley won the Nashville/Davidson County special mayoral election on Thursday, winning 55 percent of the vote in a field of 13 candidates, easily clearing the 50 percent threshold needed to avoid a runoff election. Former Vanderbilt professor Carol Swain finished in second place with 23 percent of the vote. At-Large Metro Council Member Erica Gilmore finished in third place with 5.6 percent, State Rep. Harold Love (D-Nashville) finished in fourth place with 5.4 percent, former talk radio host Ralph Bristol finished in fifth place with 5.2 percent, and jeff obafemi carr finished in sixth place with 4.7 percent. The other seven candidates on the ballot received 2 percent of all votes cast. The final election turnout of slightly more than 80,000 was higher than had been expected, a sign perhaps that the uptick in the last three days of early voting continued into election day. Much of that uptick appears to have been driven by get-out-the-vote activities of the Briley campaign. Though Briley’s support of the $9 billion transit plan, which voters rejected overwhelmingly on May 1 by a 64 percent to 36 percent margin, among other political issues, left him vulnerable to potential rivals, his…

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Andy Ogles, Bucky Rowland Lead in Races for Maury County Mayor and Sheriff

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Most political observers are focused on the major races in Tennessee heading up to the August 2 Republican and Democratic Party primaries. Yet, there are several key local county races that are hotly contested in some of the fastest growing counties in the state, including Wilson and Maury, that merit attention as well. In Maury County new poll shows Republican Andy Ogles leading in the race for Maury County Mayor and Independent Bucky Rowland with a substantial lead in the race for Maury County Sheriff. Ogles is former State Director for Americans for Prosperity who considered a race for U.S. Senate earlier this year before opting out when Congress-woman Marsha Blackburn entered the race to fill the seat being vacated by Senator Bob Corker. The August 2 election is the General Election for that position. In the race for County Mayor Andy Ogles currently leads his nearest competitor, Inde-pendent Charlie Norman, by 7 points 32.4% to 25.4%. Independent candidates Sonny Shackelford 18.2%, and Amanda Kelton 5.2% trail while 18.8% remain undecided. Andy Ogles – 32.4% Charlie Norman – 25.4% Sonny Shackelford – 18.2% Amanda Kelton – 5.2% Undecided – 18.8% Incumbent Sheriff Bucky Rowland has a commanding lead in his…

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OFF THE RECORD: Boyd Trying to Change His ‘Never-Trump’ History During the Campaign Cycle?

Chris Alto

It wasn’t very long after Randy Boyd announced that he’d spend however much of his mega-millions to buy get himself elected as governor, that The Tennessee Star revealed that he was a named member of the globalist-open-borders big-business-cheap-labor lobby called the Partnership for a New American Economy (PNAE). Boyd is listed as the CEO of his company Radio Systems, Corp. right there, second page, last name on the first column. Given the PNAE’s commitment to amnesty for illegals, continued and increased refugee resettlement and pushing in-state college tuition for illegal alien students, membership in the PNAE hasn’t helped Boyd’s favorability ratings (no matter how much money he spends on TV ads), among conservative voters. Statute-violating Democrat cross-over voters maybe, but not conservatives. After Boyd threw his name and support to PNAE, the organization teamed up with former TIRRC director David Lubell who now runs Welcoming America (started with a little Soros seed money), in a grant giveaway program called Gateways for Growth, designed to get more immigrants and refugees into embedded into U.S. towns. It just so happens that half of the G4G grant recipients operate as sanctuary cities listed in Openthebooks.com’s report Federal Funding of America’s Sanctuary Cities – including Nashville. So after a while, PNAE shortened its…

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‘Boondoggle Briley’ Vows Continuity of Disgraced Former Nashville Mayor Megan Barry’s Progressive Policies and Insider Dealings

Tennessee Star Staff
Briley-Barry

Acting Mayor David “Boondoggle Briley” has vowed “continuity” if voters in Nashville/Davidson County elect him to serve the remaining one year and three months of disgraced former Mayor Megan Barry’s term in tomorrow’s special mayoral election. Nothing illustrates Briley’s embrace of his predecessor’s progressive policies better than this pink hat he donned back on January 21, 2017–and proudly featured on his Facebook page– shortly after President Trump was inaugurated to express his support for the women’s march in Washington where far left critics gathered to decry the new president’s “Make America Great Again” agenda. The Tennessee Star has identified the policies that constitute this promised “continuity” in a potential Briley administration, following on the heels of eight years of former Mayor Karl Dean, now a candidate for the Democratic nomination for governor, and two years and six months of former Mayor Megan Barry. Briley earned his nickname “Boondoggle Briley” for supporting the original Barry boondoggle–the $9 billion transit plan conceived of by Barry and the developers, lobbyists, attorneys, engineers, and architects who stood to benefit from its adoption. Fortunately, the voters of Nashville/Davidson County overwhelmingly rejected that particular set of boondoggles on May 1 by a 64 percent to 36…

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Boyd Says He’s Against Sanctuary Cities But Is Still Working With Conexion Americas to Help Illegal Aliens

Chris Alto
Randy Boyd

Mega millionaire Randy Boyd says that how he spends his millions, including the $250,000 donation to Conexion Americas or his interlocking education initiative that demands “education equity” for illegal alien students, “has nothing to do with immigration or in-state tuition,” issues that have fueled frustration with the growing illegal alien population in Tennessee. After Governor Haslam announced that he would allow the new anti-sanctuary bill to become law without his signature, Renata Soto, co-founder and director of Conexion Americas, posted a strongly worded rebuke of the Governor and his decision: Governor, by letting this un-American racial profiling law go into effect, you have put a target on the back of thousands of Tennesseans, rejected the values upon which our nation was founded, and set our state backwards. Soto’s statement also confirmed that there are “thousands” of illegal aliens in Tennessee and the Partnership for a New American Economy (PNAE), a globalist big business lobby confirms that they are working in the state. With Soto’s help and Boyd’s money, those numbers are likely to increase. When Governor Haslam campaigned in 2009, he claimed he’d be tough on illegal immigration and yet, over the course of his two terms, estimates from the Federation for American Immigration…

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Haslam Passes Sanctuary City Bill Without Signing; Boyd, Who Claims He’s Against Sanctuary Cities, Wouldn’t Ask Him to Sign

Chris Alto
Randy Boyd and Bill Haslam

Governor Haslam announced today that instead of signing or vetoing the anti-sanctuary city bill he will allow it to become law without his signature: I could sign it but that would mean that I agree that we have an issue around sanctuary cities. In that regard, intentionally or not, the Governor has acknowledged last year’s attempt by the Metro Nashville Council to institutionalize its sanctuary city status. An ordinance proposed last year by Metro Councilmen Bob Mendes and Colby Sledge (who is married to TIRRC’s co-director), was headed to a final vote before being withdrawn due to pressure from state legislators and the public. The bill, drafted with TIRRC’s assistance, would have made Nashville the most liberal non-deportation zone in the U.S., magnetizing Davidson County for criminal illegal aliens. Specifically, the Mendes/Sledge proposal would have prohibited Metro Nashville employees from inquiring into anyone’s immigration status. Had it passed, the bill would have effectively enabled illegal aliens to access public benefits they would otherwise be barred from using. Additionally, the ordinance would not have violated the state’s 2009 anti-santuary city law, but would violate the new anti-sanctuary city law which expands the definition of what constitutes a sanctuary city policy: “Sanctuary policy” means…

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Pigs at the Trough: Many of Briley’s Donors Are Developers, Lobbyists, Lawyers, and PACs Who Benefit From Metro Nashville Business

Tennessee Star Staff
David Briley

Acting Mayor of Nashville David Briley has raised more than $720,000 for his campaign to win the May 24 special mayoral election, according to two financial disclosures filed by his campaign with the Davidson County Election Commission for the period beginning March 8 and ending March 31 (when he raised $402,885) and the period beginning April 1 and ending May 14 (when he raised $317,315). Much of his financial support comes from real estate developers, lobbyists, engineers, architects, lawyers, and PACs who stand to benefit from contractual relationships or the actions of Metro Nashville/Davidson County Government. Briley’s former law partner, Charles Robert Bone and employees of the Bone McAllester Norton law firm donated $13,000 to Briley’s election campaign. Charles Robert Bone was one of the leading proponents of the $9 billion transit tax plan, which Nashville/Davidson County voters rejected emphatically on May 1 by a 64 percent to 36 percent margin. The Bone McAllester Norton law firm frequently represents clients who have business interests influenced by Metro Nashville. The firm has a practice area that “includes the representation of clients with issues related to the powers granted to these agencies, the validity and effect of rules and regulations adopted by these agencies…

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Steve Gill Analysis: Why Does Anybody Give Any Credibility to the Vanderbilt Poll?

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Steve Gill Analysis: Vanderbilt Poll

by Steve Gill   Vanderbilt University is out with another of their “polls”, conducted by the Center for the Study of Democratic Organizations, that is being greeted with breathless reporting of the results by some media outlets across Tennessee. Keep in mind that this is the same group that conducted a poll of 800 registered Davidson County voters over a twelve day period from February 8-19 (TWELVE DAYS?) that included a question focused on support for the Megan Barry Transit Plan. The “poll” revealed that Davidson County voters supported the plan by a solid 42-28% split, with 34% undecided. Astute observers may remember that the Tennessean gleefully reported on the “edge” transit referendum supporters enjoyed, based on the poll.  However, the referendum was loudly rejected by voters 64-36%–a 28 point margin. So, the Vanderbilt poll only missed the actual results by a whopping 42 points! (The Tennessee Star poll showed a much more accurate 62-28% split in advance of the vote, with ten percent undecided.) Now, Vanderbilt is out with another poll. This time they polled 1400 registered voters (not likely voters) over a thirteen day period (April 26 – May 8), with a slight skew towards Republican voters intended…

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Did Karl Dean Use Flood Relief Funds to Build Ascend Amphitheater?

Jason M. Reynolds

News4 I-Team has followed up with its stunning report that it says shows former Nashville Mayor Karl Dean used relief funds from the 2010 flood to build Ascend Ampitheater. Dean denied the accusation during a gubernatorial debate Tuesday night after opponent Craig Fitzhugh brought it up, WSMV said. Last week News4 I-Team reported that $7.4 million in HUD disaster relief money didn’t go to flood victims; it went to design and engineering work for riverfront development, including Ascend Amphitheater. Dean’s former communications director Janel Lacy tweeted, “strong rebuttal by Karl Dean in response to a false statement about the use of flood recovery funds.” Paige Hill, communications director for the Karl Dean for Governor campaign, gave a statement saying Dean went through a three-year period of working with Metro Council and other stakeholders to “repurpose” $7 million of Community Development Block Grant funds to build a seepage cut-off wall along the Riverfront Park where the ampitheater is located. “This infrastructure fix slows down the movement of underground water and helps decrease the impact of future floods. The city’s actual investment in flood mitigation totaled well over the $7 million that was repurposed.” The I-Team report cited invoices and other paperwork…

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Leftist Groups Flood Legislative Plaza in Nashville With Young Crowd Who Want Gov. Haslam to Veto ‘Racist’ Anti-Sanctuary City Bill

Tennessee Star Staff
HB2315 Protest

    The usual Nashville left wing organizations–including the ACLU and  the Tennessee Immigrants and Refugee Rights Coalition [TIRRC]–flooded Legislative Plaza on Wednesday with a crowd comprised of mainly teenagers and young adults in their twenties, decrying the “racist” anti-sanctuary cities legislation sitting on the desk of Gov. Haslam, awaiting his decision to sign, veto, or allow the bill to become law without his signature. One protester held up a large pink and blue sign that read “HB-2315 is Racist.” Another man in his twenties, with a cell phone to his ear, held up a sign that read “Gov Haslam Stop Deportations Veto: Bill HB 2315.” A young woman in her twenties held up a green handmade sign that read “We’re Helping Nashville to be Great. Please Stop HB 2315.” A number of elementary school and junior high school children were in the crowd. A young boy, about 12 years old, stood on the Legislative Plaza steps, holding one edge of a Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition Banner. The other edge of the banner was held by a woman in her twenties. A young girl, about 11 years old, stood on the front row and held the edge of…

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Nashville Predators Lose Again: Endorse David Briley for Mayor

Tennessee Star Staff
Nashville Predators and Acting Mayor David Briley

In a real head-scratcher, the Nashville Predators, long time beneficiaries of millions of dollars in subsidies provided by taxpayers in the state of Tennessee and the Metro Government of Nashville/Davidson County, endorsed Acting Mayor David Briley in the May 24 special election for mayor on Wednesday. The Predators’ organizational decision to engage in the political arena by publicly endorsing a far left, big government progressive marks their second consecutive loss this month, after the Winnipeg Jets eliminated them from the Western Conference Semi-Finals of the NHL’s Stanley Cup Playoffs, four games to three. The NHL’s Predators have now chosen partisan political sides, a move that is sure to alienate a significant portion of their fan base that is politically conservative, many of whom live outside the boundaries of Nashville/Davidson County. “Their endorsement of the transit tax plan went down in ‘Calgary’ Flames. While that distraction may have cost them a win over the Winnipeg Jets. Now, after their endorsement of the plan produced a blowout defeat on May 1, they’re jumping back into a political arena where their experience and track record is comparable to a high school JV hockey team. If they had focused more on hockey, and less…

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Nashville Superintendent Could Face the Music For Playing Misogynistic Rap Song

Jason M. Reynolds

Metro Nashville Schools Director Dr. Shawn Joseph’s love of explicit rap music is hitting a sour in the district. An attorney, Jamie Hollin, told NewsChannel 5 he represents “more than five” principals who attended a recent principals meeting in which Joseph played a portion of the song “Blow the Whistle” by rapper Too $hort. The song title refers to a sexual act in street lingo. According to Hollin and other principals who spoke to NewsChannel 5, Joseph told the group that, when dealing with a difficult board, he sometimes hears the song in his head. He played the following lyrics: I go on and on. Can’t understand how I last so long. I must have super powers. Rap two hundred twenty-five thousand hours. A school district spokesperson said Joseph cut off the song to avoid any explicit lyrics. However, the lyrics go on to use a word for women starting with the letter “B” several times. One female school board member has filed a complaint with the district’s civil rights coordinator. “I could not understand how this misogynistic song could be appropriate in ANY educational environment,” board Vice Chair Jill Speering said in the complaint. “What kind of example does this set for…

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Metro Nashville Board of Ethical Conduct to Consider Ethics Complaint Filed Against MDHA’s Jimmy Granbery Over Transit Plan Support Today

Tennessee Star Staff

UPDATE: 1:00 pm Jimmy Granbery responded to The Tennessee Star’s inquiry about the ethics complaint on Wednesday afternoon. “The complaint had no merit and was dismissed today 5-0 this morning,” Granbery said in an email.   10:20 am This morning at 10:30 am, the Board of Ethical Conduct of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County will review an ethics complaint filed against Jimmy Granbery over allegations of conflict of interest in his role as Vice Chair for Development of the Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency, and his role as owner of property within the 19 proposed Transit Oriented Development Districts of the Transit Plan that voters rejected on May 1, and his financial support for that plan. The complaint, Anne Barnett v. Jimmy Granbery, was received by the Board of Ethical Conduct on April 25, and alleges the following: Mr. Granberry is the Vice Chair for Development of MDHA, which is the exclusive master developer of the 19 proposed Transit Oriented Development Districts of the Transit Plan. Mr. Granbery has abused his position entrusted to him for his and his company’s own profit by failing to disclose his financial interest and ownership of properties in and around the…

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Commentary: Senator John McCain Rips Up the Tracks as He Exits the Washington Swamp Station

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by Jeffery Rendall   One would suppose it’s only natural for the critically ailing Arizona Senator John McCain to want to settle all his scores while he’s still able to do so, but a lot of people are taking issue with the manner in which he’s doing it. Of course McCain is afflicted with what looks to be terminal brain cancer and he’s wasting no time in making sure the world understands just how he views his time on earth (looking back) before the historians and pundits pick through decades of events in his public career and personal life searching for clues as to why he did what he did. One of McCain’s most notable confessions in his new book is his admission that he regrets having chosen Sarah Palin as his 2008 running mate. Ten years is a long time to drop such an explosive personal bomb, especially on someone who inseparably shares a lasting part of McCain’s political legacy. For her part, Palin is taking the news with class but wonders…why now, John? Amy Lieu of Fox News reported, “Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor and John McCain’s 2008 running mate, reportedly said she feels a ‘perpetual gut-punch’ every time…

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Tennessee Forced to Deal With Ethnic Gangs So Federal Refugee Resettlement Contractors Can Profit

Chris Alto

Refugee resettlement in Tennessee has brought sizable fiscal rewards for the federal contractors operating in Tennessee but along with helping to establish what former mayor Karl Dean celebrated as “growing enclaves of immigrants” has come Kurdish and Somali gangs from refugee groups brought to the state. In 2007, the New York Times reported that police described the Kurdish gang members as “increasingly vicious and brazen.”  That same year former Shelbyville Times-Gazette reporter Brian Mosely, a Tennessee Press Association awardee, wrote about drug dealing and gang problems associated with Somalis that had settled in Bedford County. Gang experts warn that gangs made up of people that come from war-torn countries pose a “unique problem” because they are desensitized to violence and dismissive of authority. Just weeks ago, Nashville’s first Kurdish refugee turned Metro police officer, investigated by the TBI and discovered to have lied about his connections with the Kurdish Pride Gang, was charged with 57 counts of official misconduct. In April, four Somali men including Salim Hussein from Nashville, drove to Concord, New Hampshire to violently confront other Somalis at a wedding party there. Hussein was charged reckless conduct with a firearm and reportedly remains in jail. Police have suggested that the four…

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Harwell, Like Boyd, Supported Elevating Political Influence of Current Chairman of National Council of La Raza

Chris Alto
Beth Harwell, Renata Soto, Randy Boyd

After Renata Soto, founder and director of Nashville-based Conexion Americas became a leader in the National Council of La Raza, both GOP gubernatorial candidates Beth Harwell and Randy Boyd, helped elevate her influence in political circles. The Tennessee Judicial Council first appointed Soto to the Judicial Performance Evaluation Commission (JPEC) in 2009 so she could help decide which appellate judges should be “retained” or “replaced.” Soto was among the five JPEC members appointed by the Judicial Council and was appointed to a six-year term. The new law also authorized the Speakers of the House and the Senate to make the remaining appointments. Harwell became Speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives in January 2011. An article written in 2015 by Supreme Court Justice Gary Wade, now retired, noted that in 2013, “bills were introduced to discharge all members of the Commission—primarily designed to remove Kent Williams’ appointee and that of the Judicial Council. While passing in the Senate, the bills failed to pass in the House. Ultimately, the JPEC ‘sunsetted’ in 2014.” Speaker Harwell and Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey were sued by John Jay Hooker alleging that their 2014 JPEC appointments violated the race and gender apportionments required by Tennessee law, and…

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Chicago Bears Hall of Famer Mike Singletary Named Head Coach of Alliance of American Football’s Memphis Franchise

Tennessee Star Staff

Mike Singletary, the legendary linebacker for the Chicago Bears team that won the 1985 Super Bowl, was named as head coach of the Memphis franchise of the new Alliance of American Football on Thursday. The new league will consist of eight teams and will begin play in February of 2019. The first season will be ten games long. Bill Polian, a former executive in the NFL, and Charlie Ebersol, son of NBC TV executive Dick Ebersol, are co-founders of the league. CBS will broadcast the league’s games. The Memphis franchise, which does not yet have a nickname, will play home games at the Liberty Bowl. Former Florida and South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier was named earlier as the head coach of the new league’s Orlando franchise. Former Minnesota Vikings head coach Brad Childress, will be the head coach of the Atlanta franchise, where former NFL quarterback Michael Vick will be an assistant coach. Five more franchises will be announced in the coming months. “The league sent its head of football operations, J.K. McKay, and Hines Ward, a former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver and now an AAF executive, to Memphis for the formal announcement of Singletary as coach and former…

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How a 1934 New York Graduation Exam Shows How Far Academic Standards Have Fallen

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by Annie Holmquist   Today’s education system has a myriad of advantages that earlier generations never would have dreamed about. Smartboards. Tablets. Advanced science labs. Massive libraries. These perks are wonderful and suggest that our schools are giving children a much better education than they would have had at an earlier time. But what if all these advancements are just smoke and mirrors? Is it possible that the parents, grandparents, and even great-grandparents of today’s students had a better education? Understandably, such a question might be met with skepticism, particularly since these points are framed around I-remember-when anecdotes rather than hard evidence. But once in a while some of that evidence surfaces, causing thinking individuals to ponder the possibility that today’s education system is perhaps not all it’s cracked up to be. Such was the case when I came across a collection of Regents Exams – the exams required to graduate from high school in New York – in the New York State Library. The archives provide a variety of exam subjects and range in date from the 1930s to the present. Curious, I pulled up one of the oldest, a 1934 American history exam, and did some quick, first page comparisons with the one…

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Nashville Mayoral Candidates, Except Briley, Square Off in Forum

Tennessee Star Staff

All of the candidates for Mayor of Nashville/Davidson County on the ballot in the special election May 24, with the notable exception of Acting Mayor David Briley and Ludye Wallace, squared off in a Mayoral Forum sponsored by the Pumps and Politics television program and held at Meharry Medical College on Thursday. Briley chose to attend a taxpayer funded Mayor’s Town Hall at the Coleman Community Center instead, which the Mayor’s Office said was an “official event,” and not a political event, even though it was held only two weeks before the special election, and the types of questions asked by members of the audience at both events were similar. Briley did provide a statement, which the host of the event read to the audience of about 200 people. The mayoral candidates were divided into two groups, each of which fielded questions for about half an hour. The first group included State Rep. Harold Love (D-Nashville), Albert Hacker, David Hiland, Julia Clark-Johnson, Jeff Napier, and Jon Sewell. The second group included jeff obafemi carr, former Vanderbilt professor Carol Swain, At-Large Council Member Erica Gilmore, and former radio talk show host Ralph Bristol. “Gentrification is a problem that effects both homeowners…

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Randy Boyd Is Silent As Far Left and Big Business Interests Push Gov. Haslam to Veto Anti-Sanctuary City Bill

Chris Alto
Randy Boyd and Bill Haslam

The anti-sanctuary city legislation sponsored by State Sen. Mark Green (R-Clarksville) and State Rep. Jay Reedy (R-Erin) and passed overwhelmingly by the Tennessee General Assembly has been signed by Speaker of the House Beth Harwell (R-Nashville) and Lt. Gov. Randy McNally (R-Oak Ridge) and on Thursday was formally transmitted to the office of Gov. Haslam. The governor arrived back in Nashville this morning from an overseas trip, so the ten day clock in which he must either veto the bill–testing Speaker Harwell’s resolve to call a special session of the General Assembly to override the veto–sign it, or allow it to become law by returning it to the General Assembly unsigned, has begun ticking. He also has the option of returning it unsigned before the ten days expire and allow it to become law. Gubernatorial candidate Randy Boyd, a member of Haslam’s administration until he resigned to run for governor, is the only one of four candidates for the GOP nomination who has not yet taken a position on whether Gov. Haslam should sign the bill. This silence is in stark contrast to his recent television advertisements, in which he has portrayed himself as a strong opponent of illegal immigration…

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Soros Funded Southern Poverty Law Center Challenging Governor Haslam on Anti-Sanctuary City Legislation

Chris Alto

The Soros funded Southern Poverty Law Center has issued a legal throw-down to Governor Haslam challenging his campaign promises to “do everything within my authority to be sure that Tennessee does not attract illegal activity.” Working with the TN Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC), another Soros funded amnesty-for-lawbreaker advocacy organization, the SPLC has promised to provide legal representation to  illegal aliens arrested in the Bean Station workplace raid who are in detention and facing possible deportation. TIRRC and its allies want to stop federal immigration authorities from detaining and/or deporting criminal illegal aliens and instead, have them released from ICE detention and returned to Tennessee communities. Shortly after the election of President Trump, TIRRC issued a public call to all Tennessee communities to refuse cooperation with ICE. In other words, TIRRC wants Tennessee to operate as a sanctuary state. Approximately half of the 100 workers taken into custody in the Bean Station raid are in detention and 10 of them face federal charges for evading prior orders of removal. The FY2016 DOJ Executive Office for Immigration Review data for illegal aliens who were never detained, immigration court hearings held in absentia, meaning when the illegal alien fails to show up to court, increased…

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State Senator Mark Green Posts Petition to Urge Governor Haslam Not to Veto Anti-Sanctuary Cities Bill

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Governor Bill Haslam and State Senator Mark Green

State Senator Mark Green (R-Clarksville) launched a petition Friday to urge outgoing Governor Bill Haslam not to veto his anti-sanctuary cities bill. The bill is widely supported by both Tennesseans and legislators, passing the Senate 27-5 and the House 64-23 – and under Tennessee statue, a bill may pass into law without the Governor’s signature after a period of 10 days (excluding Sundays). “Enforcing our laws and protecting our citizens should not be controversial. I’m asking all Tennesseans to stand with me and call on our Governor to sign this bill that protects our citizens,” noted Senator Green in a statement. SB 2332 adds teeth to existing sanctuary cities laws by prohibiting local governments that enact sanctuary cities from receiving future economic development grants from the state. It also expands the definition of an illegal sanctuary city policy to verbal directives and other means, not just written policies. The bill appears to be serving as a kind of litmus test for many candidates as they seek to earn the support of Republican primary voters, the overwhelming majority of whom soundly reject so-called sanctuary city policies. As The Tennessee Star reported, Rep. Diane Black was the first candidate to urge Governor Haslam – who she hopes to…

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Carol Swain Calls on Acting Mayor Briley to Fire Metro Nashville COO Rich Riebeling ‘For Misappropriation of Funds’

Tennessee Star Staff

Mayoral candidate Carol Swain called on Acting Mayor David Briley to “terminate Metro Chief Operating Officer Rich Riebeling for misappropration of funds” in a statement released by her campaign on Tuesday. “Today, I am calling for acting Mayor David Briley to terminate Metro COO Rich Riebeling for misappropriation of funds. If he does not fire Riebeling it will show he is truly committed to ‘continuity’ of a system that has rewarded big business and developers at the expense of the citizens of Nashville,” Swain said in the statement. “I would also like to state my unequivocal support for the Fairgrounds. I think it is important and necessary to honor the Rains family’s wishes that the Tennessee State Fair would be held on the land they gave to the city,” she added. “Over the last decade, there has been a concerted effort by members of the Metropolitan government to fundamentally change the character of the Fairgrounds. Men like Rich Riebeling and Larry Atema have misappropriated funds that were earmarked for much needed improvements,” the former Vanderbilt professor continued. “It is time to move on from crony contracts and backroom deals of the Dean, Barry, and now Briley administrations. As Mayor, I…

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Acting Mayor of Nashville David Briley Looks Like A Man Who Hates His Job in News Channel 5 Interview

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Acting Mayor David Briley appeared sullen and disengaged on NewsChannel5’s ‘Inside Politics’ with Political Analyst Pat Nolan Sunday in his interview to recap the State of the Metro address and attendant budget issues. To his credit, Inside Politics host Nolan started off the half-hour interview on what should have been a heartwarming moment. “On a personal note,” he began, “the address you gave Friday morning – the Star of the Metro address – was one that your grandfather, Mayor Beverly Briley, gave for twelve years, including the very first State of the Metro fifty-five years ago on April 1st 1963 – which is Metro’s original birthday. As you put this speech together and as you gave it, did that come back to you because the first thing your started out in your speech was a quote from your grandfather.” Briley replied flatly, “It did. We wanted to look back at what people were saying fifty years ago, and that was a good place to look.” Nolan – seeming to sense Briley’s lost opportunity jumped in, “It was about bringing people together and addressing things that were problems today, but address them in a way helps for tomorrow.” “Yep,” Briley said, nodding. He…

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Culture of Corruption: ‘No-Bid’ Bond Sales Contracts Given to Firm That Employed Son of Metro Nashville COO Rich Riebeling

Tennessee Star Staff
Riebeling and Briley

The culture of corruption that has permeated Metro Nashville Government for years revolves around Chief Operating Officer Rich Riebeling, the man who appears to be in control of all the reins of power, while Acting Mayor David Briley joylessly slogs through the ceremonial duties of his temporary job. On Monday, The Tennessee Star documented three specific opportunities Briley has had since March 6, when he was sworn in as Acting Mayor of Nashville, to ask for Riebeling’s resignation. On all three occasions, Briley failed to act. Over the next two weeks, The Star will document additional instances of Riebeling’s conduct during his decade plus tenure as a key official in Metro Nashville Government that constitutes a conflict of interest that in any other public or private setting would be sufficient for a leader of the organization for which he works to call for his resignation. Some of these instances will represent original reporting by The Star. Other instances will simply entail our reminding residents of Nashville/Davidson County of facts that are in the public record and have been previously reported by other news organizations. Riebeling has an impressive bio, and is not a man to be taken lightly, nor should his…

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Acting Mayor Briley ‘Doesn’t Have Any Comment’ on Carol Swain’s Call for Resignation of Rich Riebeling, Metro Nashville Official at Center of Financial Scandals

Tennessee Star Staff
Rich Riebeling w Acting Mayor Briley

Acting Mayor of Nashville David Briley has no comment on election day rival Carol Swain’s call for Metro Nashville Government’s Chief Operating Officer Rich Riebeling to resign. “Mayor Briley doesn’t have any comment,” a spokesperson for the mayor’s office told The Tennessee Star late Sunday in response to a request for comment on Swain’s call Friday for Riebeling’s resignation, in light of the $7 million federal funding scandal that originated in 2010 and 2011 when Riebeling served as director of finance in former Mayor Karl Dean’s administration. Two polls conducted prior to the May 1 transit referendum put Briley in first place in the May 24 special mayoral election in which Nashville/Davidson County voters will select a mayor to complete the remaining one year and three months in the term of disgraced former Mayor Megan Barry, who resigned on March 6, the same day she plead guilty to a felony. Both polls showed Swain in a distant second. Briley has stumbled badly in recent weeks, however. His first misstep came when he backed the $9 billion transit plan introduced by Barry before her March resignation. Voters in Nashville/Davidson County soundly rejected that Barry-Briley plan on Tuesday by a 64 percent 36…

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Andy Martin Analysis: Why They Lost the May 1st Nashville Transit Plan Referendum

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by Andy Martin   The May 1st County Primary vote on the $8.9 billion transit tax referendum is one for the record books. 123,963 votes: 44,636 FOR and 79,327 AGAINST. For reference, the last County Primary May 6, 2014 had 38,804 total votes. What happened? In a rush to scoop the story every major Nashville news organization has opined on the results with little reflection. Here are the real reasons why the referendum failed in a landslide. We already have transit This will come as a shock to out of state meddlers like StreetsBlog USA, CityLab, and the National League of Cities, but Nashville has transit. Likewise, based on the convulsions from the mayor (Nashville “will fail” if the referendum does not pass), metro council, and local media, you would think even locals don’t know this. The Nashville Metro Transit Authority budget is $80 million. We have buses, shuttles (AccessRide and airport shuttles), private/public partnerships, ride sharing, car and van pooling, BRT lite (non-dedicated lanes), the Music City Star, and bike paths. According to MTA there are roughly 10 million riders (or rides) per year. One wonders what MTA CEO Steve Bland thinks when Nashville leaders say we “do nothing.”…

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Low Turnout in Early Voting for Nashville’s Special Mayoral Election

Tennessee Star Staff

Turnout on the first day of early voting for Nashville’s special mayoral election on Friday was low, a stark contrast to the heavy early voting seen in the just completed May 1 transit plan referendum and the August 2015 mayoral election. Only 277 residents of Nashville/Davidson County early voted on Friday, less than one-third of the 900 who early voted during the first day of the early voting period leading up to the August 2015 mayoral election, which saw the top two vote getters, Megan Barry and David Fox, qualify for the runoff election the following month that Barry won. Metro Council member Dave Rosenberg, who also runs Harpeth Strategies, the polling and political communications firm, tweeted the details of the low first day turnout: 277 people voted today. On one hand, it’s a Howard School-only day that doesn’t draw like countywide early voting. On the other hand, about 900 people voted on the first Howard-only day in the August 2015 race. — Dave Rosenberg (@DaveRosenbergTN) May 4, 2018 Early voting in advance of the May 1 transit plan referendum, which extended over a 16 day period beginning April 11 and ending April 26, was far more robust. A total of…

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Erica Gilmore Blasts Acting Mayor David Briley’s Metro Nashville Budget Proposal for 2019

Tennessee Star Staff
Erica Gilmore runs for Nashville Mayor

At-large Metro Council Member Erica Gilmore took the gloves off Friday and blasted Acting Mayor David Briley’s Metro Nashville budget proposal for 2019. Gilmore, who is among the top tier of candidates challenging Briley in the May 24 special election in which voters will select a permanent mayor to serve out the one year and three months in the term of disgraced former Mayor Megan Barry, said Briley has proposed a “Promises Made, Promises Broken Budget” to the residents of Nashville/Davidson County. “The budget proposed by Acting Mayor Briley is a Promises Made, Promises Broken Budget. Nashvillians have been told we need ‘continuity’ in this month’s election. But this budget reflects continuity for some, and broken promises for everyone else,” Gilmore said in a statement released by her campaign on Friday. “This morning, Acting Mayor Briley insisted ‘most citizens will not notice any difference at all.’ I could not disagree more,” Gilmore continued. “Our employees nearing retirement will notice,” the At-large Council Member said. “Young workers trying to save to buy their first home will notice,” she added. “Parents trying to put their kids through college will notice,” Gimore noted. “And our Metro Public School students and teachers–who will not…

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Challenger Aaron Shane Says Incumbent State Rep. Susan Lynn’s Support of TNReady Testing Process Shows She Is Out of Touch

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As State education officials continue to struggle with the failure of the online standardized testing system as part of the TNReady assessment of student progress, Aaron Shane is calling out State Representative Susan Lynn (R-Mt. Juliet) for failing to have taken action to address the problems. Shane is opposing Lynn the GOP Primary in the 57th District, which encompasses the western half of Wilson County. “The state has poured tens of millions of taxpayer dollars into the failed online testing programs,” Shane pointed out. “Graduating Seniors this year have never had the standardized testing work properly in their entire high school career. That is inexcusable. What is more inexcusable is that the Tennessee Department of Education bureaucrats have failed to fix the problem over the past half decade. “I have have had many parents and teachers share their concerns about Susan Lynn’s support for TNReady. One parent, who called her office, was told that TNReady was “not one of her concerns.” When an elected representative’s office tells a parent that the education of their children is “not her concern” it is time for us to elect a representative who will put our children first” Shane said. Shane went on to point…

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Democrat Phil Bredesen Fundraises to Within Two Hundred Thousand Dollars of Republican Marsha Blackburn – But There’s a Catch

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Marsha Blackburn, Phil Bredesen

On Monday’s installment of The Gill Report – broadcast live on WETR 92.3 FM in Knoxville – conservative political talker and Tennessee Star contributor Steve Gill discussed the latest fundraising numbers and sources of contributions in what many political watchers predict will be a hotly contested race to replace retiring junior Senator Bob Corker (TN-R): The Senate fundraising numbers are in for the first quarter of this year – January, February, March. We now know that Marsha Blackburn raised $2 million in donations just in the first quarter of this year. Phil Bredesen, her likely – almost certain – candidate opposing her in the Fall elections in November as the Democrat nominee for the US Senate has raised $1.8 million. So, about 1.8 to 2 million for Marsha – within two hundred thousand dollars. What’s interesting, though, is $1.4 million of Phil Bredesen’s $1.8 million is his money. He loaned it to his campaign. So Phil Bredesen has only raised $400,000 compared to Marsha Blackburn raising $2,000,000. Now again we’ve seen all these hyperventilating articles that “Marsha’s in trouble,” the “the Republicans are in trouble,” and that “there’s this ‘Blue Wave’ building.” Well, apparently the Blue Wave, at least for Phil Bredesen in terms of…

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Diane Black to TNReady System Administrators: ‘I Am Disappointed the State Continues to Waste Their Time’

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On the heels of a disastrous first day of failures across the state of students’ series of troubles accessing the TNReady system Monday; on Tuesday, the system failed again. Gubernatorial candidate Diane Black released a statement excoriating the the state’s inability to administer the program: For years the state has chosen to force sweeping education reform and more standardized tests into our classrooms and time and time again, the state has failed to keep up their end of the bargain. This week’s delays are not the fault of the educators or the students, but they are the ones who suffer from the missed class time as they sit and wait for the state to get its act together. Tennessee teachers are some of the hardest working in the nation, and I am disappointed the state continues to waste their time. As The Tennessee Star previously reported: After months of preparing for the annual year-end assessments, many Tennessee students struggled to log on to the TNReady testing platform Monday morning. The Department of Education says the problem was quickly fixed by the vendor, and over 20,000 students took the test after the problems were resolved. “We share the frustration that some…

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Williamson County Election Records Show Democratic Candidates Voted in GOP Primary – An Effort Intended to Stop Republican Julie Hannah?

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Anne McGraw and Bill Peach

Early voting is underway in local elections across the state and runs through April 26, with the Election Day itself occurring May 1. In deep red Republican Williamson County there has been some concern among conservative Republican leaders that local Democrats may cross over to vote in the Republican Primary. Because Tennessee does not have party registration, voters can pick which primary in which they choose to vote each election, although Tennessee state law does require that the “choice” is a legitimate expression of party allegiance. Those concerns have been confirmed as at least two high profile Democrats have already voted “as Republicans” in the Republican Primary during early voting.  One of the two has qualified as a candidate for the State House as a Democrat in the Democratic Party primary slated for August 2; the other is currently running as a Democrat for a county office in the May 1 primary and therefore did not vote for herself in the Democratic Party primary in which she is a candidate. Bill Peach (pictured, right) has run previously for the State House as a Democrat against Jeremy Durham and failed to get 30% of the vote in 2014. He is a candidate again,…

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New Poll on Nashville Mayoral Election Shows David Briley Below 50 Percent, Carol Swain in Second Place

Tennessee Star Staff

A new Tennessee Star Poll first reported by host Brian Wilson on 99.7 FM WTN’s Nashville’s Morning News on Monday morning shows that Acting Mayor David Briley has a large lead over former Vanderbilt professor Carol Swain, who is currently a distant second, but that he is substantially below the 50 percent mark he needs to reach in the May 24 election to avoid a runoff election. When asked “If the election was held today, who would be your choice for Mayor of Nashville?” poll respondents answered as follows: 43 percent said Acting Mayor David Briley 9 percent said former Vanderbilt professor Carol Swain 7 percent said former radio talk show host Ralph Bristol 5 percent said Metro Council Member At-Large Erica Gilmore 3 percent said State Rep. Harold Love 1 percent said Jeff Obafemi Carr 32 percent said they were undecided The Tennessee Star Poll of 607 likely voters in Nashville/Davidson County was conducted by Triton Research over a two day period between Thursday, April 12 and Friday, April 13 in an automated telephone (IVR) survey and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percent. If no candidate has more than 50 percent of the vote on May…

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Tennessee Star Poll: Nashville/Davidson County Voters Oppose Transit Plan by 2 to 1 Margin

Tennessee Star Staff

A new poll first reported on Monday morning by Brian Wilson, host of 99.7 FM WTN’s Nashville’s Morning News, shows that likely voters in Nashville/Davidson County oppose the proposed $9 billion transit plan on the May 1 ballot by more than a 2 to 1 margin, 62 percent against to 28 percent in favor, with only 10 percent undecided. The Tennessee Star Poll of 607 likely voters in Nashville/Davidson County was conducted by Triton Research over a two day period between Thursday, April 12 and Friday, April 13 in an automated telephone (IVR) survey and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percent. When asked “If the election was held today, would you vote for or against the $9 billion Transit Plan and Tax?” poll respondents answered as follows: 62.4 percent said “Against the Transit Plan” 27.9 percent said “For the Transit Plan” 9.7 percent said “Don’t Know/Not sure” Voter interest in the May 1 Davidson County primary election and the referendum on the transit tax was high among the 607 poll respondents, all of whom were registered voters residing in Davidson County. Sixty-three percent of respondents said they “always vote,” 20 percent said they were “very…

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WTN’s Brian Wilson to Break Story with Results of Poll on Nashville Transit Plan at 7:05 AM This Morning

Tennessee Star Staff

Brian Wilson, host of 99.7 FM WTN’s Nashville’s Morning News, will break a story on the results of a new Tennessee Star Poll on the Nashville Transit Plan that is on the May 1 ballot for approval or rejection by Nashville/Davidson County voters at 7:05 a.m. this morning, Monday April 16. You can listen to today’s broadcast of Nashville’s Morning News here. The Tennessee Star has provided these results to Wilson on an exclusive basis prior to the publication of the full details of the poll in The Star at 7:30 am. The Tennessee Star Poll, conducted over a two day period between April 12 and April 13, will be the first poll to give details of attitudes among likely voters in Nashville/Davidson County about the merits of the $9 billion transit plan whose fate they will determine at the ballot box on May 1. The long, twisting road to the May 1 Nashville/Davidson County voter referendum began in January of 2017, when Gov. Bill Haslam introduced the IMPROVE Act to purportedly fund road construction in the state by increasing the gas tax by 6 cents per gallon and the diesel fuel tax by 10 cents per gallon. Tucked away…

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‘Bratz’ Billionaire Makes Surprise Bid for Toys R Us, Wants to Turn Stores Into Mini-Disneys

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There’s still a chance there may be future generations of Toys R Us kids. Billionaire CEO Isaac Larian announced on Friday that he has put in a formal bid of $675 million to buy a number of the company’s U.S stores, as well as $215 million to buy the locations in Canada. He will use his own money, funds from additional investors and bank financing to make the purchase, according to a news release. Larian, who owns MGA Entertainment which is best known for producing toys such as Bratz dolls, said in the release that the Toys R Us closure “will have a long-term effect on the toy business,” and that it will cause the toy industry to “suffer.” Read more here.

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Eric Metaxas Announces His Support for Carol Swain in Nashville’s Special Mayoral Election

Tennessee Star Staff

Best-selling author and syndicated radio host Eric Metaxas announced his support for former Vanderbilt professor Carol Swain in Nashville’s special mayoral election in a Facebook post on Saturday afternoon. “I am deeply honored and moved by Eric Metaxas’s endorsement of my mayoral campaign,” Swain said in a statement released by her campaign on Saturday. “This is a vote of confidence in my ability to assemble a strong integrity-based team that will apply common sense solutions to meet the needs of neglected citizens of Nashville. We look forward to creating a government that works with citizens and not against them,” Swain added. The special election to replace disgraced former Nashville/Davidson County Mayor Megan Barry will be held on May 24, just 39 days from today. In October, Metaxas visited Middle Tennessee for a speaking engagement. “Well-known Christian writer and speaker Eric Metaxas recounted Luther’s life story Saturday at World Outreach Church in Murfreesboro. Around 2,000 people turned out to listen to Metaxas, author of the new book, Martin Luther: The Man Who Rediscovered God and Changed the World,” The Star reported at the time. Metaxas, is also the author of the New York Times best-seller Bonhoeffer:Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy, among other…

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Rutherford County Mayoral Candidates Ketron and Jones Differ on Gas Tax As Early Voting Begins

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Tina Jones v Bill Ketron

State Senator Bill Ketron (R-Murfreesboro), who is running to replace the retiring Rutherford County Mayor Ernest Burgess, exchanged volleys with rival and former County Commissioner Tina Jones over the gas tax and the Nashville transit plan this week, just as early voting in the May 1 primary election began. Ketron has endorsed the idea of a monorail running from Nashville to Murfreesboro.  He has not “publicly endorsed” the Barry transit plan for Nashville, but he has  expressed support for her light rail plans by text as soon as she announced them. Ketron has not denied “privately” endorsing the Barry transit plan, as WKRN reported. Jones has pointed out that Nashville wouldn’t even be having a tax increase referendum had it not been authorized by the Ketron-supported IMPROVE Act, Governor Haslam’s gas tax increase that passed the Tennessee General Assembly and was signed into law last year, which would also enable a similar tax increase referendum in Rutherford County. In her statement voicing strong opposition to the $9 billion transit plan proposal “Let’s Move Nashville,” Jones asserted: When Senator Bill Ketron voted for the gasoline tax increase as part of the IMPROVE Act, he voted to allow local tax increases like…

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Marsha Blackburn Takes Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to Task for Censoring ‘Diamond and Silk’

Tennessee Star Staff

Conservatives have complained for years about being censored by Facebook, but the Silicon Valley giant may have gone too far by blocking Diamond and Silk. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Wednesday that his company had moved to correct what he described as an “enforcement error” after the popular social media duo said he shut down traffic to their page, which has 1.4 million followers.

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Off the Record: Who Wore it Best?

Chris Alto
Off The Record: Who Wore it Best?

That’s a question usually asked by a popular fashion magazine but now we HAVE TO ask the same question when the same dress is being worn by two politicians – a radical progressive Democrat and an establishment-sometimes-conservative. Before we even get to the judging (and we expect you to weigh in as to whom you think wore it best), the dress worn yesterday by Speaker Beth Harwell on the House floor has called out to The Star to ask the obvious question: Why would Speaker Beth Harwell who is also a GOP gubernatorial candidate do twinsies with the disgraced radical progressive-pro-illegal-immigration-kicked-out-of-office former mayor Megan Barry? You know that old adage – “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery” and you could say that fashion is oh so very universal, meaning that Democrats and Republicans can be equally wobbly with “aesthetic intelligence.” But wearing the same dress that adultress Megan Barry wore in her official mayoral website photo??? Just what image is Harwell trying to plant in voters’ minds? Did Harwell think The Star wouldn’t notice??? The Star’s unsolicited fashion advice to the Speaker is simple – first, burn the dress; Megan Barry has simply ruined that look for self-respecting women. Next, remember that softer colors…

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Metro Council Member Robert Swope Unveils Alternative to $9 Billion Barry-Briley Light Rail Plan with ‘Intelligent Transit Plan For The It City Nashville’

Laura Baigert
Robert Swope unveils transit alt

NASHVILLE, Tennessee – Metro Council member Robert Swope unveiled a new plan with a play on words, “Intelligent Transit for the It City Nashville,” Tuesday at an event at the Wildhorse Saloon on 2nd Avenue North in downtown Nashville. Joining Swope on-stage were Tennessee State Senators Bill Ketron (R-Murfreesboro) and Mark Green (R-Clarksville). Senator Ketron spoke of his personal experiences with increasing traffic issues as he travels to the state legislature, and Senator Green talked about the benefits of autonomous vehicles, including increased roadway capacity due to the ability to have vehicles in closer proximity to each other. Swope put on a high-tech presentation in conjunction with Paul Doherty, President and CEO of The Digit Group, Inc., (TDG) who connected to the meeting via telecomm from Japan, where he had been meeting earlier with the Prime Minister. TDG specializes in holistic smart city solutions, “using technology solutions as the basis” for planning, designing, building and manufacturing smart city solutions that provide safe and comfortable transportation, among other elements with solutions implemented in China, Southeast Asia, India, the Middle East, Europe and through the U.S., according to the TDG website. Swope told The Tennessee Star that he has served on the…

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Nashville Mayoral Candidate Carol Swain Is ‘Pleased That Erica Gilmore Changed Her Mind’ to Oppose the ‘Transit Boondoggle’

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Erica Gilmore (left) and Carol Swain

On the heels of At-Large Metro Nashville Council member, mayoral candidate, and progressive Erica Gilmore’s bombshell announcement Monday morning that she no longer supports “Let’s Move Nashville,” the $9 billion dollar transit plan proposal on the ballot before Nashville voters on May 1, fellow mayoral candidate, conservative Carol M. Swain lauded the decision, saying she was “very pleased that Erica Gilmore has changed her mind” and will now vote against the costly – and controversial – measure. “I am very pleased that Erica Gilmore has changed her mind from supporting the Barry-Briley Transit Boondoggle to joining me and others in seeing the wisdom in opposing it,” Swain said in a statement, adding: I am voting NO. I am confident that as Nashvillians look more closely at this costly scheme that won’t repair our roads or relieve our traffic congestion, they will come to the right answer, just like my friend Erica has done. Swain and Gilmore – along with nine other candidates – are running to be the next Mayor of Nashville in the upcoming special election to replace disgraced former mayor Megan Barry. Barry resigned in early March after it was learned she used taxpayer monies and the resources of…

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Nashville’s High Traffic Neighborhoods Have Low Chance of Relief From Light Rail

Jason M. Reynolds

Dear Nashville resident: Does your neighborhood have bad traffic? If you answered yes, the city’s $9 billion light rail transit plan probably will not help you, one organization says. NoTax4Tracks says only 3 percent of Nashville’s population will be served by the proposed light rail transit plan. The group has posted a map that shows the haves and have-nots when it comes to service. The have-nots that have high traffic counts include Bordeaux, Whites Creek, W. Trinity, Haynes Area, Parkwood, Dickerson Pike, Metrocenter, Donelson, McGavock, Hermitage, Old Hickory, Mt. Juliet, Green Hills, Bellevue, Belmont, 12 South, West End, Antioch, Haywood Lane, Antioch Pike, Mt. View Road, Blue Hole Road, Cane Ridge and Priest Lake. NoTax4Tracks urges residents to share copies of the map with others. “We need everyone to see what they’d be getting and paying for if this passes May 1: Only 3% of the population will be served and families in Davidson County would have to pay $43,608 more in taxes. That is a huge amount for a light rail system that leaves out so many neighborhoods.” Better Transit For Nashville posted a top 100 list of why residents should vote against the plan on May 1. Reason…

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State Senator Mark Green Bringing Strong Anti-Sanctuary City Bill To a Floor Vote on Wednesday

Chris Alto

On Wednesday, April 11th, the Tennessee State Senate will consider updating and closing loopholes in the state’s law prohibiting sanctuary cities. Sponsored by Sen. Mark Green, SB2332 will make it harder to shield criminal illegal aliens in Tennessee. In June 2017, the Metro Nashville Council was working to pass an ordinance that would have made Nashville the most liberal sanctuary city in the country. The ordinance, drafted with help from the TN Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC), proposed instituting a practice of “don’t ask so you don’t have to know or tell” which would prohibit Davidson County and Nashville employees, including law enforcement, from providing pertinent information to ICE regarding criminal aliens. Metro Councilman Colby Sledge, one of the two chief co-sponsors of the ordinance is married to the co-Director of TIRRC. The proposed ordinance was withdrawn, however, due to overwhelming grassroots opposition and pressure from state legislators, but a 2017 report released by Openthebooks.com still lists Nashville as a sanctuary city. Tennessee’s current anti-sanctuary city law passed in 2009, only prohibits written policies that obstruct cooperation with federal immigration authorities. It’s not clear whether this narrower definition of “sanctuary city” would have applied to the proposed Metro ordinance. Other states like Georgia…

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