by Eric Lendrum On April 7th, an amicus brief was filed in favor of Florida’s current ban on using state funds to support “transgender” treatments, with 17 state attorneys general voicing their support for the law. According to the Daily Caller, the brief’s filing was part of an ongoing legal…
Read More
Several states are advocating for harsher fentanyl penalties as overdose deaths surge in the U.S.
Nevada, Oregon, Alabama, Texas, West Virginia and South Carolina have all pushed to increase the length of sentences for fentanyl dealers, according to the Associated Press. Fentanyl is largely responsible for the more than 100,000 drug overdose deaths that occurred in 2021 up from 93,331 drug overdose deaths in 2020, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Read More
Three more red states — Florida, Missouri, and West Virginia — this week followed Louisiana and Alabama in withdrawing from a multistate data-sharing partnership that facilitates voter registration and maintenance of voter rolls, citing unmet concerns over protecting voter information and partisan influence at the nonprofit.
The latest withdrawals from the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) came after the nonprofit’s board of directors rejected changes proposed by a bipartisan working group of several member states.
Read More
Although he has been in office for only a few days, Secretary of State Wes Allen has some legislative priorities in mind for the 2023 session.
Read More
Even though U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA-55) would win the House Speaker’s race, it may have been overshadowed by an incident moments earlier on the U.S. House of Representatives floor involving U.S. Reps. Mike Rogers (R-AL-03) and Matt Gaetz (R-FL-01). Throughout the week, Gaetz had been the figurehead for the opposition to McCarthy’s bid, which kept McCarthy from reaching the required majority to earn the role.
Rogers had emerged as one of McCarthy’s most staunch allies in the ordeal by taking an aggressive tack against the 20-something holdouts led by Gaetz. At one point, Rogers called for stripping the holdouts of their committee assignments, which drew the ire of U.S. Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX-21).
Read More
Half of the states in the U.S. no longer require residents to hold a concealed carry permit to carry firearms in public after Alabama, Indiana, Georgia and Ohio passed laws in 2022 removing permit requirements.
On Monday, Alabama began enforcing its permitless carry law, becoming the 25th state to do so, while Indiana, Georgia and Ohio also passed laws this year allowing residents to concealed carry firearms without a permit. Over the last two years 10 states have moved to permitless carry, including Utah, Montana, Iowa, Tennessee, Arkansas and Texas.
Read More
Following South Dakota GOP Gov. Kristi Noem’s lead, nearly half of U.S. states have put restrictions on or banned the use of Chinese-based social media app TikTok.
At least 19 states have banned TikTok on government-issued devices – Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Idaho, Iowa, Maryland, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utha, Virginia and West Virginia.
Read More
Days after Gov. Kay Ivey issued a memo banning TikTok from government devices, Auburn University announced its plans to prohibit the app as well.
On Wednesday, Auburn’s IT department sent out a notice saying the popular video-sharing app would be banned on campus WiFi and devices, according to AL.com. The IT department on Thursday tweeted a link to the new policy. However, that tweet has since been removed, and the school’s IT page posted an update Saturday saying, “Auburn is monitoring the developments related to accessing TikTok and will provide information as we receive it. Check back later for more information.”
Read More
Google agreed to a $391.5 million settlement with 40 states after an investigation found that the tech giant participated in questionable location-tracking practices, state attorneys general announced Monday.
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong called it a “historic win for consumers.”
Read More
The alleged kidnapper of a 12-year-old girl in Alabama was a previously deported illegal alien, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) spokesperson confirmed to the Daily Caller News Foundation Thursday.
José Paulino Pascual-Reyes, 37, who was arrested for alleged kidnapping in the first degree about 25 miles from Auburn, Alabama, was deported in 2014 and is currently in the U.S. illegally, the ICE spokesperson told the DCNF. He has since been charged with three counts of capital murder, Tallapoosa County Sheriff Jimmy Abbett told the DCNF.
Read More
Five years in the making, the Red Clay Strays’ debut album, ‘Moment of Truth,’ is a crowdfunded masterpiece that is not to be missed. This innovative, southern rock band will have you jumping all over the pews in the Rockabilly Church of the Delta Blues.
Read More
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall is suing the Biden administration over claims it is ignoring immigration law that requires the federal government to arrest, detain and deport foreign nationals in the U.S. illegally.
The lawsuit alleges that the Biden administration’s immigration policy exceeds the authority of the Department of Homeland Security, is arbitrary and capricious, illegally bypassed notice and public commenting, and is unconstitutional.
Read More
Twenty-one states have filed a lawsuit challenging the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s continued mask mandate on public transportation, including on airplanes.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Attorney General Ashley Moody are leading the effort. Moody filed the suit in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida along with 20 other attorneys general. DeSantis said the mask mandate was misguided and heavy-handed.
Read More
Alabama officials reversed a decision to revoke a license plate belonging to Nathan Kirk, referring to the slogan criticizing President Joe Biden — “Let’s go, Brandon” — according to The Washington Post.
The state previously demanded that Kirk surrender his license plate within 10 days in a Feb. 17 letter that called the plate an affront to the “peace and dignity of the State of Alabama,” according to the Post.
Read More
Sixteen states again are challenging a federal COVID-19 vaccination mandate for health care workers who work at facilities that receive Medicare and Medicaid funding.
Friday’s filing in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana comes after the issuance of final guidance on the mandate from the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS), arguing the guidance is an action that is reviewable.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled by 5-4 vote Jan. 13 against the original Louisiana challenge to the mandate and a similar Missouri filing.
Read More
Amazon employees in Bessemer, Alabama, are set to hold a second union vote after the first election was deemed illegal, a federal labor agency said Tuesday.
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) announced that workers at the Bessemer warehouse would vote again on whether to join the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) on Feb. 4. The second vote comes almost a year after the first election in which Amazon employees overwhelmingly rejected the proposal to join the RWDSU.
Following the unsuccessful unionization bid, labor organizers demanded a new vote, alleging that Amazon improperly placed the election ballot box on company property, which the union argued was a form of intimidation. The union also alleged that Amazon threatened warehouse workers with messages saying the facility might close or they might lose benefits if the union vote succeeded.
Read More
Jefferson County, Alabama, Judge Nakita Blocton was removed from her job after numerous accusations of abuse against employees, colleagues and litigants while reportedly under the influence of Phentermine or other prescription drugs.
Blocton was accused of calling another judge a “fat bitch” and “Uncle Tom,” according to the judgment of the Alabama Court of the Judiciary.
One employee accused Blocton of forcing her and others to take Phentermine, a diet pill, to “pep” them up after working late in a complaint to the Alabama Judiciary.
Read More
A junior nominated for a position on Auburn University’s student government was successfully shot down because he expressed Christian and conservative beliefs on social media.
Stephen Morris was nominated for the position of chief justice of Auburn University’s Student Government Association. To his surprise, at the session where his nomination was to be taken up, held remotely over video, several members of the student senate strongly opposed his nomination.
Read More
Alabama will soon cease participating in the federal government’s unemployment insurance program that grants out-of-work Americans an extra $300 per week, the state’s governor said.
Republican Gov. Kay Ivey announced that the state would withdraw from the coronavirus relief program by June 19, 2021, arguing that the $300 in additional weekly payments was incentivizing people not to look for jobs. She suggested that the labor shortages reported in states across the country have been caused by the unemployment boost.
“As Alabama’s economy continues its recovery, we are hearing from more and more business owners and employers that it is increasingly difficult to find workers to fill available jobs, even though job openings are abundant,” Ivey said in a statement.
Read More
Alabama A&M University in Huntsville is the latest school to close its Confucius Institute.
According to a press release from Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL), the university’s board “voted to close their Confucius Institute and end their relationship with the Communist Chinese Party.”
“Confucius Institutes are nothing more than Communist Chinese Party propaganda and spying units,” said Rep. Brooks. “For nearly a year, I, and other patriotic Alabamians have called on Alabama A&M University and Troy University to close their Communist Chinese Party-controlled Confucius Institutes.”
Read More
Thirteen states sued President Joe Biden’s administration over an American Rescue Plan provision prohibiting states from cutting taxes after accepting coronavirus relief funds.
The 13-state coalition argued that the provision included in the Democrats’ $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package preventing states from cutting taxes if they accept relief from the federal government is unconstitutional. The coalition, led by Republican West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, filed the federal lawsuit Wednesday evening in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.
“Never before has the federal government attempted such a complete takeover of state finances,” Morrisey said in a Wednesday statement. “We cannot stand for such overreach.”
Read More
U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL-05) is scheduled to make what he calls a major announcement regarding his future Monday. This, according to a press release that Brooks and his staff emailed late last week. Brooks also promoted the event on Twitter.
Read More
A group of red states sued President Biden and members of his administration on Wednesday over his decision to revoke a key permit for the Keystone XL oil pipeline, The Hill reported.
The lawsuit is led by Montana and Texas, and backed by 19 other states, including Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
Read More
The Alabama state Senate voted Tuesday to criminalize performing gender transition surgeries or hormone therapy on minors who identify as transgender.
Under the Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act, doctors would be prohibited from treating Alabama minors with hormone therapy, surgery, or puberty blockers “intended to alter the minor child’s gender or delay puberty.”
Read More
by Debra Heine The U.S. Army sent an email to its military and civilian members after the Fourth of July that included a graphic that claimed innocuous words and phrases like “colorblind,” “all lives matter” and the Trump Campaign slogan “Make America Great Again” are evidence of “white supremacy.”…
Read More
Alabama’s port city removed a statue of a Confederate naval officer early Friday after days of protests over the police killing of George Floyd, with the mayor saying the monument was a “potential distraction” to focusing on the city’s future.
Read More
Dozens of sheriffs across the country are refusing to enforce stay-at-home orders because of their unconstitutional nature.
Read More
A federal judge temporarily blocked the passage of Alabama’s abortion ban Tuesday.
Read More
U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL-05) introduced a bill Wednesday demanding that impeachment-related work be “done in an open setting and in public view.”
Read More
On Wednesday’s Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 am to 8:00 am – live from the nation’s capitol Leahy spoke to Congressman Mo Brooks about some Alabama football his aspirations to run for a Senate seat in 2020.
Read More
On August 14, the Northwest Ohio Classical Academy (NOCA) opened in Toledo for the 2019-20 school year. It is the culmination of five years of effort on behalf of a group of parents who were not satisfied with the current school options available to them.
Read More
During a Thursday hearing before the U.S. House Science, Space, and Technology Committee, Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL-05) got a panel of climate science experts to admit that “humans are not responsible for the Earth’s global warming that has occurred over the past 20,000 years.” All four of the experts…
Read More
by Shelby Talcott Republican Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed a bill into law Monday that will require some sex offenders to undergo chemical castration. This new law requires convicted sex offenders who have committed acts against a child under the age of 13 to begin chemical castration a month…
Read More
by Mary Margaret Olohan Certain convicted sex offenders in Alabama might be chemically castrated if Republican Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signs legislation on her desk. Republican Alabama state Rep. Steve Hurst introduced H.B. 379 to target sex offenders and protect children. If someone is convicted of a sex offense…
Read More
by Mary Margaret Olohan The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the ACLU of Alabama and the Planned Parenthood Federation of America filed a lawsuit Friday morning against restrictive Alabama abortion legislation signed in May. The ACLU groups and Planned Parenthood filed the lawsuit “on behalf of Alabama abortion providers”…
Read More
by Mary Margaret Olohan The Alabama Senate postponed a debate on a near-total abortion ban after lawmakers began screaming at each other on the Senate floor Thursday. The Republican-majority Senate adjourned without an official vote on House Bill 314, which criminalizes abortion as a Class A felony except in…
Read More
by Grace Carr Democratic Alabama state Rep. John Rogers is facing criticism after he advocated for abortion access and said that unwanted babies should be killed now or they’ll end up in the electric chair. “Some kids are unwanted, so you kill them now or you kill them later,”…
Read More
by Jason Hopkins A bill that would allow taxpayers to donate a part of their refunds to a nonprofit collecting money to build more border wall has successfully passed the Alabama Senate. Alabama state senators voted 23-6 along party lines Thursday in favor of SB 22, the Montgomery Advertiser…
Read More
U.S. Steel Corp. will restart construction on an idled manufacturing facility in Alabama, and it gave some of the credit to President Donald Trump’s trade policies in an announcement Monday. Trump’s “strong trade actions” are partly responsible for the resumption of work on an advanced plant near Birmingham, the Pittsburgh-based…
Read More
by Dr. Carol M. Swain If the left is accusing the right of something, you can be sure those charges are things the left themselves are either doing now or have done in the past. We see this in elections, where Democrats accuse Republicans of voter suppression, collusion with…
Read More
by Chris White Democratic Sen. Doug Jones’ opposition to President Donald Trump’s wall is threatening to torpedo the Alabama lawmaker’s re-election bid in 2020, and Democrats in the state say he’s a “dead man walking.” Jones, who barely defeated Republican Roy Moore during a bruising special election in 2017,…
Read More
by Chris White Billionaire Reid Hoffman apologized Wednesday for funding an effort to dupe Alabama voters into believing Russian bots were fueling Republican Roy Moore’s failed senatorial bid. But he left crucial questions unanswered. His statement left several important facts about the so-called experiment unaddressed, including a detailed accounting of…
Read More