thetennesseestar--2020-09-06--Former Michigan Republican Gov. Rick Snyder Endorses Biden for President

Rick Snyder , a former Republican Governor from Michigan , endorsed Joe Biden for president Thursday in an opinion column published in USA Today .
Snyder , who said that he “ will continue to stand up for Republican policies and values , ” also said that he believes President Donald Trump has failed to unify the nation .
“ When elected to office , you do not represent only your supporters , you represent all of your constituents , ” Snyder wrote .
“ I had hoped that his first speech as a president would be a message to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I heard a speech directed at how he would help the people who supported him .
And sadly , that is how President Trump continues to govern.
” The former governor , who was in office from 2011-2018 , is the latest high-profile Republican to endorse Biden , following former Ohio Gov .
John Kasich , former Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake and over 100 former GOP staffers .
Snyder refused to formally endorse Trump in 2016 , The Detroit News reported .
Snyder also criticized the president ’ s method of responding to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” and saying that he “ lacks a moral compass.
” He also said that much of Trump ’ s first term has been unsuccessful .
“ His tax reform was a failure , ” he said , arguing that it enriched large corporations while violating “ the basic principles of good tax reform.
” Snyder said that while he may disagree with Biden and will continue to support Republicans “ at the local , state and federal level , ” he will “ bring back civility ” and believes in “ bringing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Michigan by less than 11,000 votes in 2016 , clinching his victory over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton , Biden has led in almost every poll against him , and leads by an average of 6.4 points , according to FiveThirtyEight .
Andrew Trunsky is a reporter for the Daily Caller News Foundation .
Photo “ Rick Snyder ” by Rick Snyder .
Background Photo “ Joe Biden ” by Gage Skidmore .
CC BY-SA 2.0 .

by Andrew Trunsky
Rick Snyder, a former Republican Governor from Michigan, endorsed Joe Biden for president Thursday in an opinion column published in USA Today.
Snyder, who said that he “will continue to stand up for Republican policies and values,” also said that he believes President Donald Trump has failed to unify the nation.
“When elected to office, you do not represent only your supporters, you represent all of your constituents,” Snyder wrote. “I had hoped that his first speech as a president would be a message to unify a divided nation. Instead, I heard a speech directed at how he would help the people who supported him. And sadly, that is how President Trump continues to govern.”
The former governor, who was in office from 2011-2018, is the latest high-profile Republican to endorse Biden, following former Ohio Gov. John Kasich, former Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake and over 100 former GOP staffers. Snyder refused to formally endorse Trump in 2016, The Detroit News reported.
Snyder also criticized the president’s method of responding to criticism, calling him a “bully” and saying that he “lacks a moral compass.” He also said that much of Trump’s first term has been unsuccessful.
“His tax reform was a failure,” he said, arguing that it enriched large corporations while violating “the basic principles of good tax reform.”
Snyder said that while he may disagree with Biden and will continue to support Republicans “at the local, state and federal level,” he will “bring back civility” and believes in “bringing Americans closer together.”
While Trump won Michigan by less than 11,000 votes in 2016, clinching his victory over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, Biden has led in almost every poll against him, and leads by an average of 6.4 points, according to FiveThirtyEight.
– – –
Andrew Trunsky is a reporter for the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Photo “Rick Snyder” by Rick Snyder. Background Photo “Joe Biden” by Gage Skidmore. CC BY-SA 2.0.


thetennesseestar--2020-09-06--Federal Court Blocks Trump Admin Restrictions on Maryland Abortion Clinics

A federal court blocked restrictions placed by President Donald Trump ’ s administration on Maryland abortion clinics Thursday .
The ruling , which only applies to Maryland , blocks the administration ’ s restrictions on federal family planning funds for Maryland organizations that make abortion referrals or provide abortions , such as Planned Parenthood , Politico reported .
The publication noted that the 9th Circuit had previously allowed the restrictions to move forward , a contradiction that makes it likely that the Supreme Court will take up the case .
“ The Final Rule was promulgated in an arbitrary and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and address the ethical concerns of literally every major medical organization in the country , and it arbitrarily estimated the cost of the physical separation of abortion services , ” Judge Stephanie Thacker of the 4th U.S .
Circuit Court of Appeals wrote .
The judge also noted that “ the Final Rule contravenes statutory provisions requiring non directive counseling in Title X programs and prohibiting interference with physician/patient communications.
” The ruling comes after the Trump administration declared in July 2019 that taxpayer-funded clinics must stop referring women for abortions effective immediately @ @ @ @ @ @ @ refer women for abortions would be stripped of their Title X funding .
Organizations that perform abortions and make abortion referrals will have to do so in separate buildings from those that receive Title X federal funds , Politico reported at the time .
Following this move from the Trump administration , Planned Parenthood withdrew from the Title X federal family planning program in August 2019 , according to Politico , thereby forgoing about $ 60 million a year .
“ We will not be bullied into withholding abortion information from our patients @ @ @ @ @ @ @ McGill Johnson said on an August 2019 call to reporters , according to Politico .
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation .
Mary Margaret Olohan is a reporter for the Daily Caller News Foundation .
Photo “ Abortion on Demand Supporters ” by Debra Sweet .
CC BY 2.0 .

by Mary Margaret Olohan
A federal court blocked restrictions placed by President Donald Trump’s administration on Maryland abortion clinics Thursday.
The ruling, which only applies to Maryland, blocks the administration’s restrictions on federal family planning funds for Maryland organizations that make abortion referrals or provide abortions, such as Planned Parenthood, Politico reported.
The publication noted that the 9th Circuit had previously allowed the restrictions to move forward, a contradiction that makes it likely that the Supreme Court will take up the case.
“The Final Rule was promulgated in an arbitrary and capricious manner because it failed to recognize and address the ethical concerns of literally every major medical organization in the country, and it arbitrarily estimated the cost of the physical separation of abortion services,” Judge Stephanie Thacker of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals wrote.
YES! Today the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit affirmed Baltimore’s permanent injunction of the Title X Gag Rule, a rule that “failed to recognize and address the ethical concerns of literally every major medical organization in the country….” https://t.co/X5Hc4EfgL1 — Center for Reproductive Rights (@ReproRights) September 4, 2020
The judge also noted that “the Final Rule contravenes statutory provisions requiring non directive counseling in Title X programs and prohibiting interference with physician/patient communications.”
The ruling comes after the Trump administration declared in July 2019 that taxpayer-funded clinics must stop referring women for abortions effective immediately, warning that family planning clinics that refer women for abortions would be stripped of their Title X funding.
Organizations that perform abortions and make abortion referrals will have to do so in separate buildings from those that receive Title X federal funds, Politico reported at the time.
Following this move from the Trump administration, Planned Parenthood withdrew from the Title X federal family planning program in August 2019, according to Politico, thereby forgoing about $60 million a year.
“We will not be bullied into withholding abortion information from our patients,” acting Planned Parenthood President Alexis McGill Johnson said on an August 2019 call to reporters, according to Politico.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
– – –
Mary Margaret Olohan is a reporter for the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Photo “Abortion on Demand Supporters” by Debra Sweet. CC BY 2.0.


thetennesseestar--2020-09-06--Here Are 31 Times the Media Justified or Explained Away Rioting and Looting After George Floyd’s Dea

Here Are 31 Times the Media Justified or Explained Away Rioting and Looting After George Floyd’s Death

Dozens of news outlets published content that either justified or explained away rioting and looting in the initial weeks of unrest following the police custody death of George Floyd in late May , a Daily Caller News Foundation review found .
While President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden have both condemned rioting and looting , major news outlets such as CNN and MSNBC have appeared to downplay the unrest that has gripped American cities in the months following Floyd ’ s death , in one instance describing a scene as “ mostly peaceful ” as fires raged @ @ @ @ @ @ @ violence broke out in American cities in late May and June , dozens of news outlets provided a platform for commentators , professors and activists who not only acknowledged that rioting and looting were taking place , but sought to either justify the violence as a valid protesting technique or as a form of righteous rebellion against an unjust system .
Here are 31 articles , opinion pieces , interviews and news segments published in the media in the first three weeks following Floyd ’ s death that pushed narratives that either justified @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as it started to break out in American cities .
Narrative 1 : Rioting is patriotic , and it works A common narrative pushed in the media as violence broke out across the United States in late May was that rioting is a quintessentially American activity with a storied history of bringing about positive change .
Rolling Stone was among the first outlets to push the message on May 29 when it republished a story originally published in 2014 during the Ferguson riots titled “ 9 Historical Triumphs to Make You Rethink Property @ @ @ @ @ @ @ property destruction as a tactic of resistance is long and frequently effective.
” argued the article , which was co-authored by Jose Martin , a known alias of a Washington , D.C. Antifa leader who currently faces multiple felony charges in connection to a mob attack against two Marines in 2018 .
Like many of the articles that pushed this narrative , the Rolling Stone story cited the 1773 Boston Tea Party as proof of the positive change rioting can bring about .
“ Workers had produced that tea , capitalists had risked @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not the colonists ’ to destroy , but they said ‘ fuck property rights ’ and did it anyway , ” the Rolling Stone article states .
“ Today ’ s conservatives don ’ t seem bothered by this inconvenient history , though , because think of the dress-up opportunities !
” Rolling Stone editors added a note to the story when it was republished that stated : “ Protests erupted in Minneapolis , and have since spread across the country .
Once again , some are criticizing the destruction of property as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the destruction of lives.
” On May 31 , as footage rolled of looters pillaging a store in Los Angeles , CNN host Don Lemon reminded viewers that the United States was started because of the Boston Tea Party rioters .
“ So do not get it twisted and think this is something that has never happened before and this is so terrible and these savages and all of that , ” Lemon said .
“ This is how this country was started.
” Other news articles , opinion pieces and interviews published @ @ @ @ @ @ @ death that suggested rioting was either effective , patriotic or both include : • “ The Double Standard of the American Riot , ” published June 1 in The Atlantic .
• “ Rioting is a nuanced and deeply misunderstood form of protest , ” published June 7 in The DP .
• “ Does rioting work ?
Here are five times it did , ” published June 6 in Big Think .
• “ Riots Are As American As Apple Pie , ” published June 10 in Other Words , a project @ @ @ @ @ @ @ • “ A justification for the unrest ?
Look no further than the Bible and the Founding Fathers , ” published June 4 in The Conversation .
Narrative 2 : Rioting and looting are valid protesting tactics against police brutality .
Many articles that addressed rioting in the aftermath of Floyd ’ s referenced Martin Luther King Jr ’ s famous 1967 speech in which the civil rights icon said , “ a riot is the language of the unheard.
” King in that same speech also called rioting “ socially destructive and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to condemn riots , and continue to say to my brothers and sisters that this is not the way.
” Arwa Mahdawi , a columnist with The Guardian , used King ’ s quote to argue in a piece titled , “ If violence isn ’ t the way to end racism in America , then what is ?
” that suggested violence was the only remaining option on the table to end police brutality in America .
“ [ King ’ s ] speech was 53 years ago and America still isn @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ The uncomfortable truth is that sometimes , violence is the only answer left .
We like to pretend otherwise , which is why civil rights movements are often conveniently sanitized.
” Chicago Tribune columnist and editorial board member Steve Chapman also questioned whether black people can affect change without resorting to violence in a piece titled , “ If riots are not the answer , what is ?
” “ Impossible to justify , yes , ” Chapman said of the riots in late May .
“ Impossible to understand ?
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ in a quiet riot against black people for generations.
” “ I find the destruction tragic , unnecessary and counterproductive , ” Chapman wrote .
“ But if I were a black person living in Minneapolis , I might feel enough anger and despair to take part.
” “ Rioting may not bring about the changes that would establish genuine equality for black Americans .
But neither has anything else , ” he concluded .
Other articles that suggested that rioting and looting were valid protesting techniques include : • “ Burn It @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Essence .
• “ As Officials Condemn Violence During Protests , This Professor Says Some Is Warranted , ” published May 31 by NPR .
• “ In Defense of Destroying Property , ” published June 10 in The Nation .
• “ American history shows civil unrest is the only way black people are heard , ” published June 1 in TRTWorld .
• “ We riot because you choose not to hear : A digital equity lesson for Nashville , ” published June 4 in the Tennessean .
A third @ @ @ @ @ @ @ weeks following Floyd ’ s death came in the form of articles that suggested it ’ s incorrect to describe violent scenes of rioting and looting as such .
Other articles and commentary suggested that destroying property isn ’ t actually an act of violence .
Teen Vogue columnist Jenn M. Jackson said the terms “ rioters ” and “ looters ” were negative terms used to ‘ delegitimize ” movements in a June 11 piece titled , “ Don ’ t Let Them Bad-Mouth Rebellion or Riots : How We Name Movements @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Jackson wrote .
“ The negative associations of these terms have an impact on how we think about these demonstrations , just as the terms like ‘ uprising ’ and ‘ rebellion ’ offer ways to think about these protests as good trouble.
” “ When marginalized people respond to injustice , it is the duty of those in power to sit down , be quiet , and listen to what they have to say without dictating the terms of whose language is acceptable , ” Jackson concluded .
“ Whether that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , anger , rage , or violence , it ’ s all justified .
It ’ s time to focus on the message instead of the medium.
” TIME published an article on June 8 titled , “ ‘ A War of Words.
’ Why Describing the George Floyd Protests as ‘ Riots ’ Is So Loaded , ” that said the word riot “ connotes meaningless violence… But it also has a racial dimension in the U.S. , as a term that ’ s long been used ( by white people ) @ @ @ @ @ @ @ people wreaking senseless chaos in cities.
” The article quoted multiple college professors who proposed other terms such as “ uprising ” and “ rebellion ” to describe the early George Floyd protests .
Harvard associate professor Elizabeth Hinton told TIME that she prefer the term “ uprising ” because it “ really captures the fact that the violence that emerges during these incidents isn ’ t meaningless , that it is a political expression , and it is communicating a certain set of demands.
” University of California , Berkeley School of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ according to TIME does not capitalize his name because it ’ s a slave name , said he prefers the term “ demonstration ” to the term “ riot.
” “ Riot suggests pandemonium , ” powell said .
“ What ’ s happening across the country and across the world is a call for justice , a call for police accountability , for the recognition that black lives matter too … Rioting detracts from all of that.
” Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones said on June 2 on CBS @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” to see property destruction , “ destroying property , which can be replaced , is not violence.
” “ To use the same language to describe those two things is not moral , ” Hannah-Jones said .
Other articles that suggested that it was wrong to describe scenes of rioting as such , or that property damage isn ’ t violence , include : • “ ‘ Riots , ’ ‘ violence , ’ ‘ looting ’ : Words matter when talking about race and unrest , experts say , ” published @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ The Reliably Racist Cherry-Picking of the Word “ Riot ” , ” published June 1 in Mother Jones .
• “ Why Damaging Property Isn ’ t The Same As “ Violence ” , ” published June 1 in Current Affairs .
• “ Understand Protests As ‘ Acts Of Rebellion ’ Instead Of Riots , Marc Lamont Hill Says , ” published June 2 by NPR .
• “ The George Floyd protests are a rebellion against an unjust system , ” published June 4 in The Guardian .
• “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Against Police Murders Like George Floyd ’ s , ” published May 28 in Jacobin .
Andrew Kerr is a reporter for the Daily Caller News Foundation .
Photo “ Justice for George Floyd Poster ” by Fibonacci Blue .
CC BY 2.0 .

by Andrew Kerr
Dozens of news outlets published content that either justified or explained away rioting and looting in the initial weeks of unrest following the police custody death of George Floyd in late May, a Daily Caller News Foundation review found.
While President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden have both condemned rioting and looting, major news outlets such as CNN and MSNBC have appeared to downplay the unrest that has gripped American cities in the months following Floyd’s death, in one instance describing a scene as “mostly peaceful” as fires raged in the background.
But as the violence broke out in American cities in late May and June, dozens of news outlets provided a platform for commentators, professors and activists who not only acknowledged that rioting and looting were taking place, but sought to either justify the violence as a valid protesting technique or as a form of righteous rebellion against an unjust system.
Here are 31 articles, opinion pieces, interviews and news segments published in the media in the first three weeks following Floyd’s death that pushed narratives that either justified or explained away the rioting and looting as it started to break out in American cities.
Narrative 1: Rioting is patriotic, and it works
A common narrative pushed in the media as violence broke out across the United States in late May was that rioting is a quintessentially American activity with a storied history of bringing about positive change.
Rolling Stone was among the first outlets to push the message on May 29 when it republished a story originally published in 2014 during the Ferguson riots titled “9 Historical Triumphs to Make You Rethink Property Destruction.”
The “historical pedigree of property destruction as a tactic of resistance is long and frequently effective.” argued the article, which was co-authored by Jose Martin, a known alias of a Washington, D.C. Antifa leader who currently faces multiple felony charges in connection to a mob attack against two Marines in 2018.
Like many of the articles that pushed this narrative, the Rolling Stone story cited the 1773 Boston Tea Party as proof of the positive change rioting can bring about.
“Workers had produced that tea, capitalists had risked investment on it, and it was not the colonists’ to destroy, but they said ‘fuck property rights’ and did it anyway,” the Rolling Stone article states. “Today’s conservatives don’t seem bothered by this inconvenient history, though, because think of the dress-up opportunities!”
Rolling Stone editors added a note to the story when it was republished that stated: “Protests erupted in Minneapolis, and have since spread across the country. Once again, some are criticizing the destruction of property as somehow equal — or worse — than the destruction of lives.”
On May 31, as footage rolled of looters pillaging a store in Los Angeles, CNN host Don Lemon reminded viewers that the United States was started because of the Boston Tea Party rioters.
“So do not get it twisted and think this is something that has never happened before and this is so terrible and these savages and all of that,” Lemon said. “This is how this country was started.”
“Our country was started because, the Boston tea party. Rioting. So do not get it twisted and think this is something that has never happened before and this is so terrible and these savages and all of that. This is how this country was started” –@DonLemon on @CNN 11:53 PM ET. pic.twitter.com/dGu5TmArsp — Brent Baker (@BrentHBaker) May 31, 2020
Other news articles, opinion pieces and interviews published in the weeks following Floyd’s death that suggested rioting was either effective, patriotic or both include:
Narrative 2: Rioting and looting are valid protesting tactics against police brutality.
Many articles that addressed rioting in the aftermath of Floyd’s referenced Martin Luther King Jr’s famous 1967 speech in which the civil rights icon said, “a riot is the language of the unheard.” King in that same speech also called rioting “socially destructive and self-defeating” and pledged to “continue to condemn riots, and continue to say to my brothers and sisters that this is not the way.”
Arwa Mahdawi, a columnist with The Guardian, used King’s quote to argue in a piece titled, “If violence isn’t the way to end racism in America, then what is?” that suggested violence was the only remaining option on the table to end police brutality in America.
“[King’s] speech was 53 years ago and America still isn’t listening,” Mahdawi wrote. “The uncomfortable truth is that sometimes, violence is the only answer left. We like to pretend otherwise, which is why civil rights movements are often conveniently sanitized.”
Chicago Tribune columnist and editorial board member Steve Chapman also questioned whether black people can affect change without resorting to violence in a piece titled, “If riots are not the answer, what is?”
“Impossible to justify, yes,” Chapman said of the riots in late May. “Impossible to understand? Not at all. Police have participated in a quiet riot against black people for generations.”
“I find the destruction tragic, unnecessary and counterproductive,” Chapman wrote. “But if I were a black person living in Minneapolis, I might feel enough anger and despair to take part.”
“Rioting may not bring about the changes that would establish genuine equality for black Americans. But neither has anything else,” he concluded.
Other articles that suggested that rioting and looting were valid protesting techniques include:
Narrative 3: These aren’t violent riots. It’s an uprising.
A third narrative that arose in the days and weeks following Floyd’s death came in the form of articles that suggested it’s incorrect to describe violent scenes of rioting and looting as such. Other articles and commentary suggested that destroying property isn’t actually an act of violence.
Teen Vogue columnist Jenn M. Jackson said the terms “rioters” and “looters” were negative terms used to ‘delegitimize” movements in a June 11 piece titled, “Don’t Let Them Bad-Mouth Rebellion or Riots: How We Name Movements Matters.”
“These words matter,” Jackson wrote. “The negative associations of these terms have an impact on how we think about these demonstrations, just as the terms like ‘uprising’ and ‘rebellion’ offer ways to think about these protests as good trouble.”
“When marginalized people respond to injustice, it is the duty of those in power to sit down, be quiet, and listen to what they have to say without dictating the terms of whose language is acceptable,” Jackson concluded. “Whether that expression comes in the form of peacefulness, anger, rage, or violence, it’s all justified. It’s time to focus on the message instead of the medium.”
TIME published an article on June 8 titled, “‘A War of Words.’ Why Describing the George Floyd Protests as ‘Riots’ Is So Loaded,” that said the word riot “connotes meaningless violence… But it also has a racial dimension in the U.S., as a term that’s long been used (by white people) to drum up the image of black people wreaking senseless chaos in cities.”
The article quoted multiple college professors who proposed other terms such as “uprising” and “rebellion” to describe the early George Floyd protests.
Harvard associate professor Elizabeth Hinton told TIME that she prefer the term “uprising” because it “really captures the fact that the violence that emerges during these incidents isn’t meaningless, that it is a political expression, and it is communicating a certain set of demands.”
University of California, Berkeley School of Law professor john a. powell, who according to TIME does not capitalize his name because it’s a slave name, said he prefers the term “demonstration” to the term “riot.”
“Riot suggests pandemonium,” powell said. “What’s happening across the country and across the world is a call for justice, a call for police accountability, for the recognition that black lives matter too … Rioting detracts from all of that.”
Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones said on June 2 on CBS News that while it was “disturbing” to see property destruction, “destroying property, which can be replaced, is not violence.”
“To use the same language to describe those two things is not moral,” Hannah-Jones said.
"Violence is when an agent of the state kneels on a man's neck until all of the life is leached out of his body. Destroying property, which can be replaced, is not violence. To use the same language to describe those two things is not moral" –@nhannahjones on CBSN pic.twitter.com/GGteXRFwAr — CBS News (@CBSNews) June 2, 2020
Other articles that suggested that it was wrong to describe scenes of rioting as such, or that property damage isn’t violence, include:
– – –
Andrew Kerr is a reporter for the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Photo “Justice for George Floyd Poster” by Fibonacci Blue. CC BY 2.0.


thetennesseestar--2020-09-06--Judge Orders U.S. to Stop Detaining Migrant Children in Hotels

HOUSTON , Texas ( AP ) — A federal judge ordered the Trump administration on Friday to stop detaining immigrant children in hotels before expelling them from the United States , saying the much-criticized practice skirted “ fundamental humanitarian protections.
” U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee ruled that the use of hotels as long-term detention spaces violates a two-decade-old settlement governing the treatment of immigrant children in custody .
She ordered border agencies to stop placing children in hotels by Sept. 15 and to remove children from hotels as soon as possible .
Immigration agencies since March have expelled 148,000 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ emergency declaration citing the pandemic .
The Trump administration says people crossing the border without authorization threaten public health and must quickly be forced out of the country .
Advocates for immigrants argue the administration is using the pandemic as a pretext to sidestep federal anti-trafficking laws and asylum protections .
To prevent them from being allowed to stay in the U.S. , the Trump administration has taken at least 577 unaccompanied children to hotels since March , where they are detained and then typically placed on deportation flights .
Most of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ & Suites hotels — two in Texas , one in Arizona .
That ’ s instead of sending them to shelters operated by the Department of Health and Human Services , where minors receive legal services , education , and the chance to be placed with relatives living in the U.S. Those facilities are licensed by the states where they are located .
More than 13,000 beds in HHS facilities are currently empty .
Gee ’ s order directs the Trump administration to resume sending unaccompanied children to HHS , and it also @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the border without authorization .
It also gives lawyers who work with immigrant youths access to the children that the government is trying to expel under the emergency declaration .
Separately , legal groups have sued the U.S. to prevent the expulsions of immigrant children altogether .
The government “ can not seriously argue in good faith that flouting their contractual obligation to place minors in licensed programs is necessary to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 , ” Gee wrote .
Hotels can still be used for one- or two-night stays as part @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said .
The Justice Department did not immediately comment Friday , but government lawyers indicated that they would consider an appeal .
Private contractors at the hotels monitor detained children and families around the clock and generally don ’ t allow people to leave their rooms .
Families that have been detained in the hotels have told The Associated Press that they are served regular meals , but that the telephones have been removed from their rooms .
One father from Haiti alleged that before his family was taken from their room , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ice to swallow and to feed to their infant daughter , in case their temperatures were checked before boarding a flight .
They were expelled to Haiti without the chance to request asylum .
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement denied using ice as an artificial cooling measure .
It has described the contractors from MVM Inc. , as “ transportation specialists ” who “ ensure each minor remains safe and secure while in this temporary housing.
” The Trump administration has argued that Gee doesn ’ t have the authority to stop the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is expelling fall outside a longstanding court settlement known as the Flores agreement .
It has previously appealed several of Gee ’ s rulings targeting detention practices .
Leecia Welch , an attorney at the National Center for Youth Law , called the ruling “ a resounding victory for immigrant children.
” “ The government ’ s attempt to use the pandemic as a subterfuge to carry out its ruthless immigration agenda clearly violates the rule of law and human decency , ” Welch said .
Nomaan Merchant is a reporter for The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : In this July 23 , 2020 , file photo , protesters wave signs in front of the Hampton Inn hotel in McAllen , Texas .
The Trump administration has sharply increased its use of hotels to detain immigrant children as young as 1 before expelling them from the United States during the coronavirus pandemic despite facing outcry from lawmakers and human-rights advocates .
( Joel Martinez/The Monitor via AP , File )

by Nomaan Merchant
HOUSTON, Texas (AP) — A federal judge ordered the Trump administration on Friday to stop detaining immigrant children in hotels before expelling them from the United States, saying the much-criticized practice skirted “fundamental humanitarian protections.”
U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee ruled that the use of hotels as long-term detention spaces violates a two-decade-old settlement governing the treatment of immigrant children in custody. She ordered border agencies to stop placing children in hotels by Sept. 15 and to remove children from hotels as soon as possible.
Immigration agencies since March have expelled 148,000 people crossing the U.S.-Mexico border under an emergency declaration citing the pandemic. The Trump administration says people crossing the border without authorization threaten public health and must quickly be forced out of the country. Advocates for immigrants argue the administration is using the pandemic as a pretext to sidestep federal anti-trafficking laws and asylum protections.
To prevent them from being allowed to stay in the U.S., the Trump administration has taken at least 577 unaccompanied children to hotels since March, where they are detained and then typically placed on deportation flights. Most of the children have been placed in Hampton Inn & Suites hotels — two in Texas, one in Arizona.
That’s instead of sending them to shelters operated by the Department of Health and Human Services, where minors receive legal services, education, and the chance to be placed with relatives living in the U.S. Those facilities are licensed by the states where they are located. More than 13,000 beds in HHS facilities are currently empty.
Gee’s order directs the Trump administration to resume sending unaccompanied children to HHS, and it also applies to children with parents who crossed the border without authorization. It also gives lawyers who work with immigrant youths access to the children that the government is trying to expel under the emergency declaration. Separately, legal groups have sued the U.S. to prevent the expulsions of immigrant children altogether.
The government “cannot seriously argue in good faith that flouting their contractual obligation to place minors in licensed programs is necessary to mitigate the spread of COVID-19,” Gee wrote.
Hotels can still be used for one- or two-night stays as part of travel between different places, she said.
The Justice Department did not immediately comment Friday, but government lawyers indicated that they would consider an appeal.
Private contractors at the hotels monitor detained children and families around the clock and generally don’t allow people to leave their rooms. Families that have been detained in the hotels have told The Associated Press that they are served regular meals, but that the telephones have been removed from their rooms.
One father from Haiti alleged that before his family was taken from their room, a contractor gave him and his wife ice to swallow and to feed to their infant daughter, in case their temperatures were checked before boarding a flight. They were expelled to Haiti without the chance to request asylum.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement denied using ice as an artificial cooling measure. It has described the contractors from MVM Inc., as “transportation specialists” who “ensure each minor remains safe and secure while in this temporary housing.”
The Trump administration has argued that Gee doesn’t have the authority to stop the use of hotels because the children it is expelling fall outside a longstanding court settlement known as the Flores agreement. It has previously appealed several of Gee’s rulings targeting detention practices.
Leecia Welch, an attorney at the National Center for Youth Law, called the ruling “a resounding victory for immigrant children.”
“The government’s attempt to use the pandemic as a subterfuge to carry out its ruthless immigration agenda clearly violates the rule of law and human decency,” Welch said.
– – –
Nomaan Merchant is a reporter for The Associated Press.
About the Headline Photo: In this July 23, 2020, file photo, protesters wave signs in front of the Hampton Inn hotel in McAllen, Texas. The Trump administration has sharply increased its use of hotels to detain immigrant children as young as 1 before expelling them from the United States during the coronavirus pandemic despite facing outcry from lawmakers and human-rights advocates. (Joel Martinez/The Monitor via AP, File)


thetennesseestar--2020-09-06--Exclusive: Pollster Explains His Finding That 10 Percent of Trump Supporters Lie on Surveys

The lead researcher of the study : “ Are Election 2020 Poll Respondents Honest About Their Vote ?
” told Star News Network there are twice as many “ shy voters ” among the supporters of President Donald J. Trump than among supporters of former vice president Joseph J. Biden Jr. “ The term ‘ shy voter ’ has been floating around , so we use it because that is the term , which is closest to how people talk about this , ” said Leib Litman , CloudResearch ’ s Co-CEO and chief research officer .
In the United @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is so common they regularly referred to at “ shy Tories.
” Among the results , Litman and his team found that 11.7 percent of Republicans would not report their true opinions about their preferred presidential candidate to telephone pollsters .
This is more than twice the 5.4 percent of Democrats , who responded that they would not give their real preference to telephone pollsters , the study found .
Among Independents , 10.5 percent said they were shy about giving their actual preferences to telephone pollsters .
After inquiring by party affiliation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Trump and Biden supporters .
In this round , 10.1 percent of Trump supporters said they would be untruthful to phone pollsters roughly twice the 5.1 percent of Biden supporters who said they would be untruthful in a phone survey .
The six leading reasons respondents gave for misleading phone pollsters were : • Lack of trust in phone polls as truly being anonymous ; • Apprehension to associate their phone numbers with recorded responses ; • Fear that their responses will become public in some manner ; • Fear of reprisal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , social and family lives should their political opinions become publicly known .
• Malicious intent to mislead polls due to general distrust of media and political pundits—although this was a sentiment expressed by only a few of the respondents .
Litman said as part of his analysis , he and his team members looked to see if there were specific demographics where the shy Trump voters where hiding .
“ We looked in the obvious places , like white voters without a college degree , we did see a slightly elevated tendencies @ @ @ @ @ @ @ really jump out at us , ” he said .
“ We also found , interestingly enough , with African-Americans there was a slightly elevated effect , but again , nothing that we say conclusively , ” he said .
Litman , who in addition to his work for CloudResearch , is a professor at New York City ’ s Lander College for Men , said the main limitation to breaking down the results by race , gender , age and region , is that each subset becomes a significantly smaller sample , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ We would really have to over-sample these groups in order to look at them more closely .
Once we get that granular , we just can ’ t say with any level of certainty.
” There is reason to conduct more research into shy black Trump supporters with a larger sample , he said .
“ There is a lot more to be done and people should be interested looking into the demographics of this effect.
” Litman said going into the survey , he suspected that respondents would be more honest @ @ @ @ @ @ @ interviewer calls , because they did wanted to impress or not disappoint the human questioner .
It surprised him that this was not confirmed by the study , he said .
“ We actually did not find that that ’ s the case , because people in some ways were more concerned about the automated system , because the call was being recorded and then put in a database , so people were concerned about that , ” he said .
Litman said he was not surprised that other pollsters have not studied @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the very nature of the question at stake .
“ It is a little paradoxical to ask people who lie on a poll whether they lie on a different poll , ” he said .
“ It is almost circular.
” The pollster , who earned his doctorate in experimental psychology from the City University of New York , said , “ The reason why we approached this issue , though , is because we don ’ t look at people as liars necessarily , we think people have genuine concerns about anonymity @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are reluctant to tell people outright , who they are going to vote for.
” One of the main takeaways for political professionals is that there is not enough information about what kind of magnitude this problem is , he said .
“ People should definitely look closely at this issue , because this issue is not something that people are currently correcting for to the extent that it does exist–people need to understand it , measure and correct for it , ” he said .
“ They have no problem telling people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” 2020 pollsters haunted by 2016 failures , Bradley-Effect at play with Trump Litman ’ s report comes on the heels of the Aug. 16 article “ ‘ Hidden ’ Trump Voters Exist .
But How Much Impact Will They Have ?
” by New York Times reporter Jeremy W. Peters .
In the article , Peters spoke to pollsters and political operatives about the phenomenon that still haunts those who predicted former first lady Hillary Clinton would beat the New York City developer in 2016 .
David Winston , a GOP pollster @ @ @ @ @ @ @ voters exist .
The so-called Bradley Effect is another one of the ghosts that continue to haunt U.S. political polling .
Democrat Bradley was running against Republican C. George Deukmejian Jr. Pundits said the polls were wrong , because white voters were either afraid to admit they were not voting for the black candidate or they were trying impress the poll taker .
In 2016 , pollsters knew there was an aversion to admitting one ’ s support for Trump , but in the mainstream polls , this was dismissed .
In his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the 2016 Breitbart-Gravis polls , legendary pollster Patrick H. Caddell included attitudinal questions about the economy ’ s direction or bringing more Syrian refugees into the U.S .
When Caddell then cross-tabbed responses of Clinton supporters with Clinton ’ s policies , he determined that at least a fifth of Clinton ’ s supporters agreed with Trump and would vote for him .
“ We conduct a lot of different polls at CloudResearch and we ’ ve actually explored a number of issues over that last few months that were of issue to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Just as an example , the last issue we studied—there was a report from the CDC that people were drinking bleach in very high numbers—something like 10 percent of people were drinking bleach and household cleaner and stuff like that—and we suspected that that result was due almost entirely due to biased methodology , ” he said .
“ We re-ran that study and we found almost nobody was doing that , ” he said .
How the shy Trump voter study was conducted This CloudResearch Study : Are Election 2020 Poll Respondents @ @ @ @ @ @ @ conducted Aug. 19 through Aug. 27 with online responses from two different sets of 1,000 registered voters , with the sample population evenly divided by Republicans , Democrats and Independents .
The results presented are from the first set of respondents .
The second set of respondents was matched to Bureau of Census data for current party affiliation percentages , but the results of the second set closely aligned with the first set .

The lead researcher of the study: “Are Election 2020 Poll Respondents Honest About Their Vote?” told Star News Network there are twice as many “shy voters” among the supporters of President Donald J. Trump than among supporters of former vice president Joseph J. Biden Jr.
“The term ‘shy voter’ has been floating around, so we use it because that is the term, which is closest to how people talk about this,” said Leib Litman, CloudResearch’s Co-CEO and chief research officer. In the United Kingdom, conservative voters lying to pollsters is so common they regularly referred to at “shy Tories.”
Among the results, Litman and his team found that 11.7 percent of Republicans would not report their true opinions about their preferred presidential candidate to telephone pollsters.
This is more than twice the 5.4 percent of Democrats, who responded that they would not give their real preference to telephone pollsters, the study found. Among Independents, 10.5 percent said they were shy about giving their actual preferences to telephone pollsters.
After inquiring by party affiliation, the team asked the same questions of Trump and Biden supporters. In this round, 10.1 percent of Trump supporters said they would be untruthful to phone pollsters roughly twice the 5.1 percent of Biden supporters who said they would be untruthful in a phone survey.
The six leading reasons respondents gave for misleading phone pollsters were:
Lack of trust in phone polls as truly being anonymous;
Apprehension to associate their phone numbers with recorded responses;
Fear that their responses will become public in some manner;
Fear of reprisal and related detrimental impact to their financial, social and family lives should their political opinions become publicly known.
General dislike of phone polls; and
Malicious intent to mislead polls due to general distrust of media and political pundits—although this was a sentiment expressed by only a few of the respondents.
Signs black voters among shy Trump supporters
Litman said as part of his analysis, he and his team members looked to see if there were specific demographics where the shy Trump voters where hiding.
“We looked in the obvious places, like white voters without a college degree, we did see a slightly elevated tendencies there, but not anything that would really jump out at us,” he said.
“We also found, interestingly enough, with African-Americans there was a slightly elevated effect, but again, nothing that we say conclusively,” he said.
Litman, who in addition to his work for CloudResearch, is a professor at New York City’s Lander College for Men, said the main limitation to breaking down the results by race, gender, age and region, is that each subset becomes a significantly smaller sample, which increases the margin of error. “We would really have to over-sample these groups in order to look at them more closely. Once we get that granular, we just can’t say with any level of certainty.”
There is reason to conduct more research into shy black Trump supporters with a larger sample, he said. “There is a lot more to be done and people should be interested looking into the demographics of this effect.”
Challenges polling shy voters
Litman said going into the survey, he suspected that respondents would be more honest to automated calls, rather than live interviewer calls, because they did wanted to impress or not disappoint the human questioner.
It surprised him that this was not confirmed by the study, he said.
“We actually did not find that that’s the case, because people in some ways were more concerned about the automated system, because the call was being recorded and then put in a database, so people were concerned about that,” he said.
Litman said he was not surprised that other pollsters have not studied the shy voters before, because of the very nature of the question at stake.
“It is a little paradoxical to ask people who lie on a poll whether they lie on a different poll,” he said. “It is almost circular.”
The pollster, who earned his doctorate in experimental psychology from the City University of New York, said, “The reason why we approached this issue, though, is because we don’t look at people as liars necessarily, we think people have genuine concerns about anonymity and they, because of those concerns are reluctant to tell people outright, who they are going to vote for.”
One of the main takeaways for political professionals is that there is not enough information about what kind of magnitude this problem is, he said.
“People should definitely look closely at this issue, because this issue is not something that people are currently correcting for to the extent that it does exist–people need to understand it, measure and correct for it,” he said. “They have no problem telling people about they’re concerned about anonymity.”
2020 pollsters haunted by 2016 failures, Bradley-Effect at play with Trump
Litman’s report comes on the heels of the Aug. 16 article “‘Hidden’ Trump Voters Exist. But How Much Impact Will They Have?” by New York Times reporter Jeremy W. Peters. In the article, Peters spoke to pollsters and political operatives about the phenomenon that still haunts those who predicted former first lady Hillary Clinton would beat the New York City developer in 2016.
David Winston, a GOP pollster, said to Peters that shy Trump voters exist.
“The idea that people lie, it’s an interesting theory, and it’s not like it’s completely off-the-wall,” said David Winston, a pollster who works with congressional Republicans. “But it’s obviously a very complicated thing to try to prove because what do you do? Ask them, ‘Are you lying?’” Mr. Winston said that many proponents of the theory about hidden Trump voters rely on what is known as the Bradley effect, named after Tom Bradley, the former mayor of Los Angeles who lost the 1982 California governor’s race despite polling consistently ahead of his white opponent.
The so-called Bradley Effect is another one of the ghosts that continue to haunt U.S. political polling. Democrat Bradley was running against Republican C. George Deukmejian Jr. Pundits said the polls were wrong, because white voters were either afraid to admit they were not voting for the black candidate or they were trying impress the poll taker.
In 2016, pollsters knew there was an aversion to admitting one’s support for Trump, but in the mainstream polls, this was dismissed.
In his role as a consultant and crafter of the 2016 Breitbart-Gravis polls, legendary pollster Patrick H. Caddell included attitudinal questions about the economy’s direction or bringing more Syrian refugees into the U.S. When Caddell then cross-tabbed responses of Clinton supporters with Clinton’s policies, he determined that at least a fifth of Clinton’s supporters agreed with Trump and would vote for him.
CloudResearch debunked Center for Disease Control report of rampant bleach drinking
“We conduct a lot of different polls at CloudResearch and we’ve actually explored a number of issues over that last few months that were of issue to us,” he said.
“Just as an example, the last issue we studied—there was a report from the CDC that people were drinking bleach in very high numbers—something like 10 percent of people were drinking bleach and household cleaner and stuff like that—and we suspected that that result was due almost entirely due to biased methodology,” he said.
“We re-ran that study and we found almost nobody was doing that,” he said.
How the shy Trump voter study was conducted
This CloudResearch Study: Are Election 2020 Poll Respondents Honest About Their Vote? study was conducted Aug. 19 through Aug. 27 with online responses from two different sets of 1,000 registered voters, with the sample population evenly divided by Republicans, Democrats and Independents. The results presented are from the first set of respondents. The second set of respondents was matched to Bureau of Census data for current party affiliation percentages, but the results of the second set closely aligned with the first set.


thetennesseestar--2020-09-06--Trump’s DOD Delivers Another Big Blow to Bezos, Gives $10 Billion Cloud Project to Microsoft Instead

Trump’s DOD Delivers Another Big Blow to Bezos, Gives $10 Billion Cloud Project to Microsoft Instead of Amazon

The Pentagon reaffirmed its decision Friday to give a $ 10 billion cloud computing project to Microsoft instead of Amazon , marking the second time in one year that the Trump administration bypassed the online giant ’ s attempt to secure the program .
The Trump administration ’ s decision comes amid a legal battle Amazon Web Services initiated in 2019 after the Department of Defense ( DOD ) selected Microsoft in 2019 for the $ 10 billion Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure cloud computing contract , media reports show .
Amazon previously stated that President Donald Trump ’ s dislike @ @ @ @ @ @ @ move .
“ The Department has completed its comprehensive re-evaluation of the JEDI Cloud proposals and determined that Microsoft ’ s proposal continues to represent the best value to the Government , ” Russ Goemaere , a Defense Department spokesman , told The Washington Post .
The DOD initially awarded the project to Microsoft in October 2019 until Amazon filed a lawsuit .
JEDI would give the Pentagon a single cloud computing system for data ranging from personnel statistics to intelligence information rather than the hundreds the military currently uses .
“ DoD @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to our men and women in uniform , ” Goemaere said before adding that the contract could not begin until after the legal battle is completed .
Amazon called the “ DoD ’ s re-evaluation nothing more than an attempt to validate a flawed , biased , and politically corrupted decision ” in a statement Friday on the company ’ s website .
Trump asked for an investigation into the contract over concerns that the contract requirements had been tailored for Amazon .
Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper then launched his own “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ approach .
The Pentagon soon awarded JEDI to Microsoft , prompting a lawsuit from Amazon .
Amazon was long considered a front-runner for the project , but the tech behemoth fell out of favor after Trump found out about the deal .
The decision to give Microsoft the deal came in October 2019 after Trump , a Bezos critic , instructed the DOD that August to put the contract on hold .
Amazon ’ s lawsuit put a grinding halt to JEDI .
A judge eventually concluded that officials made mistakes while they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ applications .
The DOD then asked to redo the award .
The DOD , in reaffirming its initial decision , is arguing whatever mistakes the agency made were not significant enough to impact the project .
Chris White is a reporter for the Daily Caller News Foundation .

by Chris White
The Pentagon reaffirmed its decision Friday to give a $10 billion cloud computing project to Microsoft instead of Amazon, marking the second time in one year that the Trump administration bypassed the online giant’s attempt to secure the program.
The Trump administration’s decision comes amid a legal battle Amazon Web Services initiated in 2019 after the Department of Defense (DOD) selected Microsoft in 2019 for the $10 billion Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure cloud computing contract, media reports show. Amazon previously stated that President Donald Trump’s dislike of CEO Jeff Bezos contributed to the move.
“The Department has completed its comprehensive re-evaluation of the JEDI Cloud proposals and determined that Microsoft’s proposal continues to represent the best value to the Government,” Russ Goemaere, a Defense Department spokesman, told The Washington Post.
The DOD initially awarded the project to Microsoft in October 2019 until Amazon filed a lawsuit. JEDI would give the Pentagon a single cloud computing system for data ranging from personnel statistics to intelligence information rather than the hundreds the military currently uses.
“DoD is eager to begin delivering this capability to our men and women in uniform,” Goemaere said before adding that the contract could not begin until after the legal battle is completed.
Amazon called the “DoD’s re-evaluation nothing more than an attempt to validate a flawed, biased, and politically corrupted decision” in a statement Friday on the company’s website.
Trump asked for an investigation into the contract over concerns that the contract requirements had been tailored for Amazon. Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper then launched his own “review” of the department’s approach. The Pentagon soon awarded JEDI to Microsoft, prompting a lawsuit from Amazon.
Amazon was long considered a front-runner for the project, but the tech behemoth fell out of favor after Trump found out about the deal. The decision to give Microsoft the deal came in October 2019 after Trump, a Bezos critic, instructed the DOD that August to put the contract on hold.
Amazon’s lawsuit put a grinding halt to JEDI. A judge eventually concluded that officials made mistakes while they were evaluating Microsoft and Amazon’s applications. The DOD then asked to redo the award. The DOD, in reaffirming its initial decision, is arguing whatever mistakes the agency made were not significant enough to impact the project.
– – –
Chris White is a reporter for the Daily Caller News Foundation.


thetennesseestar--2020-09-06--Poll: Over Three-Quarters of Americans Say Their Finances Are Stable or Getting Better

A majority of registered voters report that their personal finances are stable or improving , according to a new Just the News Daily Poll with Scott Rasmussen .
Asked about their current financial situation , amid a pandemic and street protests that shuttered some retail businesses , 52 % of respondents said their bank account is “ about the same ” as it normally is , while 23 % said their personal finances are “ getting better.
” Just 23 % reported a worsening financial outlook .
“ Given all that the nation has been through in recent months , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” Rasmussen said .
However , he also pointed out that the polls responses are “ views about personal finances rather than the economy at large , ” and that “ voters are more pessimistic about the economy at large.
” Rasmussen also noted that in terms of behavior perceptions of personal finances are more significant than perceptions of the overall economy.
” “ If people feel better about their personal finances , they are more likely to vote for the incumbent president , ” he said .
The survey of 1,200 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a mixed mode approach from August 27-29 , 2020 .
To see this poll question ’ s cross-demographic tabulations , click here .
To see this poll question ’ s methodology and sample demographics , click here .

by Daniel Payne
A majority of registered voters report that their personal finances are stable or improving, according to a new Just the News Daily Poll with Scott Rasmussen.
Asked about their current financial situation, amid a pandemic and street protests that shuttered some retail businesses, 52% of respondents said their bank account is “about the same” as it normally is, while 23% said their personal finances are “getting better.” Just 23% reported a worsening financial outlook.
“Given all that the nation has been through in recent months, that’s a pretty optimistic assessment,” Rasmussen said.
However, he also pointed out that the polls responses are “views about personal finances rather than the economy at large,” and that “voters are more pessimistic about the economy at large.”
Rasmussen also noted that in terms of behavior perceptions of personal finances are more significant than perceptions of the overall economy.”
“If people feel better about their personal finances, they are more likely to vote for the incumbent president,” he said.
The survey of 1,200 Registered Voters was conducted by Rasmussen using a mixed mode approach from August 27-29, 2020.
To see this poll question’s cross-demographic tabulations, click here.
To see this poll question’s methodology and sample demographics, click here.


thetennesseestar--2020-09-06--Two Minneapolis Men Arrested for Attempting to Aid Terrorist Organization Hamas

Two Minneapolis men were arrested earlier this week for attempting to aid the Islamic Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas .
The Department of Justice ( DOJ ) announced the arrests in a press release Friday .
Michael Robert Solomon , 30 , and Benjamin Ryan Teeter , 22 , face federal criminal complaints for “ conspiring and attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization.
” Solomon and Teeter planned to use revenue from delivering weapons to Hamas to fund their domestic terrorist plans .
The pair intended to destroy government monuments , raid white supremacist organizations , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ media members .
Solomon and Teeter allege membership to ideological group “ Boogaloo Bois ” and one of its subgroups , “ Boojahideen.
” These groups ’ focus is violent uprisings leading to total government overthrow .
John C. Demers , the assistant attorney general for the National Security Division , gave a synopsis of the months-long interaction between his undercover agents and the two terrorists .
Investigations began as early as May .
Solomon and Teeter were present at the Floyd riots in Minneapolis .
“ While planning these activities [ of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ individuals whom they believed to be members of the foreign terrorist group Hamas .
Thinking that they shared the same desire to harm the United States , they sought to join forces and provide support , including in the form of weapons accessories , to Hamas .
They failed.
” Solomon and Teeter attempted to sell unregistered and untraceable weapons to the undercover agents .
The two believed that Hamas would use the weapons to attack Israeli and U.S. soldiers overseas .
Hamas is an acronym for “ Harakat al-Muqawamah al-Islamiyyah , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ acronym is also an Arabic word for “ zeal , ” related to members ’ belief in an ongoing holy war between Muslims and Israelites .
Since its conception in 1987 , Hamas seeks to establish an independent Islamic state in Palestine .
The United States formally recognized Hamas as a foreign terrorist organization in 1997 .
Last week , a Minneapolis college student pleaded guilty to attempting to join and recruit for Al-Qaeda .
Earlier this year , a Twin Cities doctor was indicted on attempting to provide material support to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ men arrested this week , these individuals expressed their terrorist intentions via encrypted social media platforms .
The two men are scheduled to appear in court on September 9 .
Corinne Murdock is a reporter at The Minnesota Sun and the Star News Network .
Follow her latest on Twitter , or email tips to [ email protected ] .

Two Minneapolis men were arrested earlier this week for attempting to aid the Islamic Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas. The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the arrests in a press release Friday.
Michael Robert Solomon, 30, and Benjamin Ryan Teeter, 22, face federal criminal complaints for “conspiring and attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization.”
Solomon and Teeter planned to use revenue from delivering weapons to Hamas to fund their domestic terrorist plans. The pair intended to destroy government monuments, raid white supremacist organizations, and attack police, politicians, and media members.
Solomon and Teeter allege membership to ideological group “Boogaloo Bois” and one of its subgroups, “Boojahideen.” These groups’ focus is violent uprisings leading to total government overthrow.
John C. Demers, the assistant attorney general for the National Security Division, gave a synopsis of the months-long interaction between his undercover agents and the two terrorists. Investigations began as early as May. Solomon and Teeter were present at the Floyd riots in Minneapolis.
“While planning these activities [of domestic terrorism], the defendants met individuals whom they believed to be members of the foreign terrorist group Hamas. Thinking that they shared the same desire to harm the United States, they sought to join forces and provide support, including in the form of weapons accessories, to Hamas. They failed.”
Solomon and Teeter attempted to sell unregistered and untraceable weapons to the undercover agents. The two believed that Hamas would use the weapons to attack Israeli and U.S. soldiers overseas.
Hamas is an acronym for “Harakat al-Muqawamah al-Islamiyyah,” meaning “Islamic Resistance Movement.” The acronym is also an Arabic word for “zeal,” related to members’ belief in an ongoing holy war between Muslims and Israelites. Since its conception in 1987, Hamas seeks to establish an independent Islamic state in Palestine. The United States formally recognized Hamas as a foreign terrorist organization in 1997.
Last week, a Minneapolis college student pleaded guilty to attempting to join and recruit for Al-Qaeda. Earlier this year, a Twin Cities doctor was indicted on attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State group. Like the two men arrested this week, these individuals expressed their terrorist intentions via encrypted social media platforms.
The two men are scheduled to appear in court on September 9.
– – –
Corinne Murdock is a reporter at The Minnesota Sun and the Star News Network. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to [email protected].


thetennesseestar--2020-09-06--After Vice-Mayor Calls for Firing, Portsmouth Police Chief Placed on Leave

Portsmouth Police Chief Angela Greene is on administrative leave “ effective immediately and until further notice , ” according to an email sent on Friday by City Manager Lydia Pettis-Patton , The Virginian-Pilot reported .
Assistant Chief Scott Burke is now leading the department .
City officials have not publicly announced any details about Greene ’ s leave .
The internal announcement comes after the Portsmouth Police Department charged 19 people , including Senator Louise Scott Lucas-Burke ( D-Portsmouth ) and many prominent city leaders , with felonies related to a June 10 protest at a Confederate monument .
After @ @ @ @ @ @ @ daughter , Vice-Mayor Lisa Lucas-Burke , began calling for Greene ’ s termination .
A private citizen then charged Lucas-Burke in a magistrate ’ s court for violating city code related to termination procedures .
The day after Greene announced the charges , Pettis-Patton said in an email to city council members , “ I was surprised and troubled when I was informed that despite acknowledging a Conflict of Interest , Chief Greene and members of the Police Department continued to be engaged without my knowledge.
“ Greene replied in a press release @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to have a special grand jury appointed or an outside agency investigate the matter , it was evident that the investigation would be left up to our agency.
” “ During our investigation , it was determined that although felonious acts were committed by several individuals , no conflicts of interest for this department were revealed , ” Greene added .
Greene became chief of police in 2019 after Chief Tonya Chapman resigned .
Pettis-Patton forced her to resign , according to a letter Chapman wrote .
Chapman had been with the department @ @ @ @ @ @ @ first Black police chief of any Virginia city , according to The Associated Press .
Greene served under Chapman as assistant chief ; both were hired in 2016 .
Pettis-Patton is scheduled to retire in December .
“ I had been advised of the external strife that existed between the community and the police department as a result of several officer involved shootings and I was also aware of the public friction between city leaders , ” Chapman wrote .
“ Nonetheless , I did not let that deter me from coming to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of two other law enforcement agencies , I have never witnessed the degree of bias and acts of systemic racism , discriminatory practices and abuse of authority in all of my almost 30 year career in law enforcement and public safety , ” Chapman continued .
According to reporting by The Virginian-Pilot , officers said Greene , who is also Black , is not as responsive to concerns about racial prejudice within the department , and in a meeting with officers , said racism was not a problem within the department .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ anything about it , ” an officer told The Virginian-Pilot .
Portsmouth City Councilmember Bill Moody declined to comment .
Mayor John Rowe did not return requests for comment by press time .
Eric Burk is a reporter at The Virginia Star and the Star News Digital Network .
Email tips to [ email protected ] .
Photo “ Angela Greene ” by Portsmouth Police Department .
Background Photo “ Portsmouth Confederate Monument ” by Doug Kerr .
CC BY-SA 2.0 .

Portsmouth Police Chief Angela Greene is on administrative leave “effective immediately and until further notice,” according to an email sent on Friday by City Manager Lydia Pettis-Patton, The Virginian-Pilot reported. Assistant Chief Scott Burke is now leading the department.
City officials have not publicly announced any details about Greene’s leave. The internal announcement comes after the Portsmouth Police Department charged 19 people, including Senator Louise Lucas (D-Portsmouth) and many prominent city leaders, with felonies related to a June 10 protest at a Confederate monument. After the charges were announced, Lucas’ daughter, Vice-Mayor Lisa Lucas-Burke, began calling for Greene’s termination. A private citizen then charged Lucas-Burke in a magistrate’s court for violating city code related to termination procedures.
The day after Greene announced the charges, Pettis-Patton said in an email to city council members, “I was surprised and troubled when I was informed that despite acknowledging a Conflict of Interest, Chief Greene and members of the Police Department continued to be engaged without my knowledge.“
Greene replied in a press release, “After all efforts were exhausted to have a special grand jury appointed or an outside agency investigate the matter, it was evident that the investigation would be left up to our agency.”
“During our investigation, it was determined that although felonious acts were committed by several individuals, no conflicts of interest for this department were revealed,” Greene added.
Greene became chief of police in 2019 after Chief Tonya Chapman resigned. Pettis-Patton forced her to resign, according to a letter Chapman wrote. Chapman had been with the department for three years, and was the first Black police chief of any Virginia city, according to The Associated Press. Greene served under Chapman as assistant chief; both were hired in 2016. Pettis-Patton is scheduled to retire in December.
“I had been advised of the external strife that existed between the community and the police department as a result of several officer involved shootings and I was also aware of the public friction between city leaders,” Chapman wrote. “Nonetheless, I did not let that deter me from coming to Portsmouth.”
“Having been a member of two other law enforcement agencies, I have never witnessed the degree of bias and acts of systemic racism, discriminatory practices and abuse of authority in all of my almost 30 year career in law enforcement and public safety,” Chapman continued.
According to reporting by The Virginian-Pilot, officers said Greene, who is also Black, is not as responsive to concerns about racial prejudice within the department, and in a meeting with officers, said racism was not a problem within the department.
“She didn’t want to hear anything about it,” an officer told The Virginian-Pilot.
Portsmouth City Councilmember Bill Moody declined to comment. Mayor John Rowe did not return requests for comment by press time.
– – –
Eric Burk is a reporter at The Virginia Star and the Star News Digital Network. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Angela Greene” by Portsmouth Police Department. Background Photo “Portsmouth Confederate Monument” by Doug Kerr. CC BY-SA 2.0.


thetennesseestar--2020-09-06--COVID-19 Update: New CDC Information Raises Questions, Virginia’s Outlook

It has been six months since the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States in March forcing nationwide shutdowns and changing the way millions of people live , but new information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC ) raises questions about the severity of coronavirus and who is impacted most .
For six percent of the deaths between February 1 and August 29 , COVID-19 was the only cause mentioned .
Conversely , 94 percent of deaths involving COVID have additional causes or conditions , according to the CDC .
For the deaths involving COVID and other @ @ @ @ @ @ @ per death on average , the CDC says .
Conditions additional to COVID that have accounted of the most deaths include influenza and pneumonia ( 77,700 ) , respiratory failure ( 57,502 ) , hypertensive diseases ( 37,314 ) , diabetes ( 27,528 ) and adult respiratory distress syndrome ( 22,747 ) , among others , CDC data says .
The age group that is the most impacted are people 55-years or older with people 75-84 and 85 or older accounting for more than half of the deaths where influenza and pneumonia was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ CDC .
This data allows scientists , the government and the public to continually improve their understanding of COVID-19 .
The information also raises questions about the risk for younger , healthy people with no underlying conditions and if the national shutdowns were as warranted as many people originally believed in march .
Of course , we will not know how many lives the initial shutdowns and quarantining saved for a very long time , if ever .
Nationally , the seven day average for new cases , current hospitalizations and new deaths @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for new tests is going up , but still below the end of July peak , according to The COVID Tracking Project .
In Virginia , as of Saturday , there have been 125,727 cases – 5,536 classified as probable – 9,849 total hospitalizations and 2,677 total deaths , according to the Virginia Department of Health ( VDH ) COVID-19 daily dashboard .
As far as testing goes , there have been 1,652,020 PCR ( polymerase chain reaction ) tests and the current seven day positivity rate PCR only is 7.7 percent , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Virginians with the most cases is 20-29 ( 25,495 ) , 30-39 ( 22,339 ) and 40-49 ( 20,050 ) .
Cases broken down by race : White ( 33,051 ) , Latino ( 31,409 ) , Black ( 24,978 ) and Asian or Pacific Islander ( 3,707 ) .
Females ( 64,574 ) have more cases than males ( 60,364 ) currently , the VDH says .
Virginians ages 50 and over represent the vast majority of hospitalizations in the Commonwealth with 7,060 out of 9,849 , or 71 percent , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ while latinos and Blacks have slightly less , according to VDH data .
For Virginia deaths , people 80 or older ( 1,289 ) account for nearly half of all deaths .
Whites ( 1,435 ) are disproportionately dying compared to other races such as Blacks ( 688 ) or Latinos ( 281 ) .
Additionally , COVID-19 deaths are essentially the same between females and males , separated by 84 deaths , according to the VDH dashboard .
When comparing case counts , deaths and hospitalizations of Virginia localities , the general @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on more densely-populated , urban areas than rural parts follows suit for the most part .
Some of the Virginia localities and cities with the highest COVID case counts include Alexandria ( 2,165 ) , Chesapeake ( 3,899 ) , Chesterfield ( 5,251 ) , Henrico ( 4,757 ) , Loudoun ( 6,166 ) , Richmond City ( 4,099 ) , Virginia Beach ( 6,183 ) , Prince William ( 11,125 ) and Fairfax ( 18,876 ) , according to the VDH .
Localities like Norton ( 27 ) , Surry ( 86 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Middlesex ( 61 ) represent some of the lowest case counts .
Jacob Taylor is a reporter at The Virginia Star and the Star News Digital Network .
Follow Jacob on Twitter .
Email tips to [ email protected ]

It has been six months since the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States in March forcing nationwide shutdowns and changing the way millions of people live, but new information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) raises questions about the severity of coronavirus and who is impacted most.
For six percent of the deaths between February 1 and August 29, COVID-19 was the only cause mentioned. Conversely, 94 percent of deaths involving COVID have additional causes or conditions, according to the CDC.
For the deaths involving COVID and other conditions, there were 2.6 additional causes per death on average, the CDC says.
Conditions additional to COVID that have accounted of the most deaths include influenza and pneumonia (77,700), respiratory failure (57,502), hypertensive diseases (37,314), diabetes (27,528) and adult respiratory distress syndrome (22,747), among others, CDC data says.
The age group that is the most impacted are people 55-years or older with people 75-84 and 85 or older accounting for more than half of the deaths where influenza and pneumonia was additional to COVID-19, according to the CDC.
This data allows scientists, the government and the public to continually improve their understanding of COVID-19. The information also raises questions about the risk for younger, healthy people with no underlying conditions and if the national shutdowns were as warranted as many people originally believed in march.
Of course, we will not know how many lives the initial shutdowns and quarantining saved for a very long time, if ever.
Nationally, the seven day average for new cases, current hospitalizations and new deaths are going down, while the average for new tests is going up, but still below the end of July peak, according to The COVID Tracking Project.
In Virginia, as of Saturday, there have been 125,727 cases – 5,536 classified as probable – 9,849 total hospitalizations and 2,677 total deaths, according to the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) COVID-19 daily dashboard.
As far as testing goes, there have been 1,652,020 PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests and the current seven day positivity rate PCR only is 7.7 percent, VDH data shows.
The age group of Virginians with the most cases is 20-29 (25,495), 30-39 (22,339) and 40-49 (20,050). Cases broken down by race: White (33,051), Latino (31,409), Black (24,978) and Asian or Pacific Islander (3,707). Females (64,574) have more cases than males (60,364) currently, the VDH says.
Virginians ages 50 and over represent the vast majority of hospitalizations in the Commonwealth with 7,060 out of 9,849, or 71 percent,. Whites make up the most hospitalizations while latinos and Blacks have slightly less, according to VDH data.
For Virginia deaths, people 80 or older (1,289) account for nearly half of all deaths. Whites (1,435) are disproportionately dying compared to other races such as Blacks (688) or Latinos (281). Additionally, COVID-19 deaths are essentially the same between females and males, separated by 84 deaths, according to the VDH dashboard.
When comparing case counts, deaths and hospitalizations of Virginia localities, the general understanding that COVID-19 has a greater impact on more densely-populated, urban areas than rural parts follows suit for the most part.
Some of the Virginia localities and cities with the highest COVID case counts include Alexandria (2,165), Chesapeake (3,899), Chesterfield (5,251), Henrico (4,757), Loudoun (6,166), Richmond City (4,099), Virginia Beach (6,183), Prince William (11,125) and Fairfax (18,876), according to the VDH.
Localities like Norton (27), Surry (86), Giles (58) and Middlesex (61) represent some of the lowest case counts.
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Jacob Taylor is a reporter at The Virginia Star and the Star News Digital Network. Follow Jacob on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected]


thetennesseestar--2020-09-06--DeWine Administration Lays out Its Work Over the Past Week, from Providing Kids with Books to Implem

DeWine Administration Lays out Its Work Over the Past Week, from Providing Kids with Books to Implementing School Virus Reporting Requirements

Ohio Gov .
Mike DeWine and his administration provided a “ Week in Review ” for the past week , with actions ranging from providing free books to kids to requiring schools to report coronavirus cases to local health departments .
The week started off Monday with DeWine and Lt. Gov .
Jon Husted announcing assistance for five projects to create 574 new jobs and retain 1,058 jobs statewide .
The Ohio Tax Credit Authority ( TCA ) reviewed economic development proposals brought to the board by JobsOhio and its regional partners .
Collectively , the projects are expected to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in new payroll and spur more than $ 68 million in investments across Ohio .
First Lady Fran DeWine on Monday announced progress in reaching young Ohio readers in the Ohio governor ’ s Imagination Library ( OGIL ) Program ’ s first year .
Now , 206,463 Ohio children from birth to age 5 are enrolled to receive a free Imagination Library book in the mail every single month .
The program is currently offered countywide to children in 78 of Ohio ’ s counties , with the program expected to grow @ @ @ @ @ @ @ children here .
Ohio Department of Health Interim Director Lance Himes signed an Order on the Opening of Adult Day Care Services and Senior Centers , available here .
It lays out a phased reopening plan that occupies eight pages .
On Tuesday , DeWine worried over people spreading the coronavirus during the Labor Day holiday and he told them to wash their hands and wear their masks , The Ohio Star reported .
DeWine reported Ohio had the “ highest number of new cases since the end of July , ” which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this virus has not gone away and it continues to spread in our communities.
” “ It ’ s not about where we go , but rather , what we do when we get there , ” said DeWine .
“ It ’ s about how we act when we ’ re with family and friends and what precautions we take .
The decisions we make as we celebrate the unofficial end of summer will play a major role in how we begin the fall.
” He announced three new safety efforts to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , and give young drivers the tools to drive safely .
The Ohio Highway Patrol Aviation Unit , which already uses helicopters to catch speeders , will “ conduct targeted enforcement on crash-causing violations in Ohio Department of Transportation construction zones.
” Also on Tuesday , Husted announced that over 900 grants have been approved to help a reported 121,000 Ohioan students gain high-speed internet in their homes .
Husted announced a public service campaign featuring 99-year-old Jim “ Pee Wee ” Martin , a WWII Paratrooper who jumped into France before the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to “ mask-up.
” On Thursday , DeWine released the week ’ s Ohio Public Health Advisory System map .
New health data compiled by the Ohio Department of Health indicates that seven counties currently have a very high risk of exposure and spread .
DeWine said a total of 67 counties stayed at the same level as last week , and 12 counties moved from orange to yellow .
There are now a total of 39 counties in the yellow level .
DeWine also on Thursday gave his order requiring all K-12 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ local health department , The Star reported .
Schools must do so within 24 hours of notification of a positive test result from a student , teacher , staff member or coach .
It also requires schools to notify all parents and guardians of case reports .
The order did not mention a requirement to tell the staff .
DeWine is even interested in having his people study excrement in the name of fighting the virus .
He announced Ohio ’ s new Coronavirus Wastewater Monitoring Network .
More information is available here @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mitigate the spread of COVID-19 through the study of wastewater samples .
The presence of coronavirus gene copies/fragments can be found in the waste of symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals and can be detected in wastewater as many as three to seven days before those infections lead to increases in case counts or hospitalizations in a community .
The increase of COVID-19 cases in communities is typically tracked by testing people with symptoms , an indicator that lags behind the actual spread of the disease .
Because of this , there is a need @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the disease ’ s impact on the broader community .
Husted announced that , in an effort led by the Development Services Agency , the U.S. Department of Defense has made a commitment to Ohio ’ s defense manufacturers and put the state in a position to receive a $ 5 million grant to improve manufacturing processes and train workers for next-generation jobs .
As of a week ago , all child care providers in Ohio that serve publicly funded children were required to be rated on Ohio ’ s child care quality @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Quality .
Finally , DeWine announced that Greater Cincinnati Water Works will receive $ 725,000 in H2Ohio funding from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency to remove and replace lead service lines and fixtures at nearly 200 child care facilities in Cincinnati .
Jason M. Reynolds has more than 20 years ’ experience as a journalist at outlets of all sizes .

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and his administration provided a “Week in Review” for the past week, with actions ranging from providing free books to kids to requiring schools to report coronavirus cases to local health departments.
The week started off Monday with DeWine and Lt. Gov. Jon Husted announcing assistance for five projects to create 574 new jobs and retain 1,058 jobs statewide. The Ohio Tax Credit Authority (TCA) reviewed economic development proposals brought to the board by JobsOhio and its regional partners. Collectively, the projects are expected to result in more than $23 million in new payroll and spur more than $68 million in investments across Ohio.
First Lady Fran DeWine on Monday announced progress in reaching young Ohio readers in the Ohio governor’s Imagination Library (OGIL) Program’s first year. Now, 206,463 Ohio children from birth to age 5 are enrolled to receive a free Imagination Library book in the mail every single month. The program is currently offered countywide to children in 78 of Ohio’s counties, with the program expected to grow.
Parents and caregivers can sign up children here.
Ohio Department of Health Interim Director Lance Himes signed an Order on the Opening of Adult Day Care Services and Senior Centers, available here. It lays out a phased reopening plan that occupies eight pages.
On Tuesday, DeWine worried over people spreading the coronavirus during the Labor Day holiday and he told them to wash their hands and wear their masks, The Ohio Star reported. DeWine reported Ohio had the “highest number of new cases since the end of July,” which he called a “stark reminder that this virus has not gone away and it continues to spread in our communities.”
“It’s not about where we go, but rather, what we do when we get there,” said DeWine. “It’s about how we act when we’re with family and friends and what precautions we take. The decisions we make as we celebrate the unofficial end of summer will play a major role in how we begin the fall.”
He announced three new safety efforts to curb fatalities on Ohio’s roads, and give young drivers the tools to drive safely. The Ohio Highway Patrol Aviation Unit, which already uses helicopters to catch speeders, will “conduct targeted enforcement on crash-causing violations in Ohio Department of Transportation construction zones.”
Also on Tuesday, Husted announced that over 900 grants have been approved to help a reported 121,000 Ohioan students gain high-speed internet in their homes.
Husted announced a public service campaign featuring 99-year-old Jim “Pee Wee” Martin, a WWII Paratrooper who jumped into France before the D-Day invasion. Martin called on Ohioans to “mask-up.”
On Thursday, DeWine released the week’s Ohio Public Health Advisory System map. New health data compiled by the Ohio Department of Health indicates that seven counties currently have a very high risk of exposure and spread.
DeWine said a total of 67 counties stayed at the same level as last week, and 12 counties moved from orange to yellow. There are now a total of 39 counties in the yellow level.
DeWine also on Thursday gave his order requiring all K-12 schools to report COVID-19 cases to their local health department, The Star reported. Schools must do so within 24 hours of notification of a positive test result from a student, teacher, staff member or coach. It also requires schools to notify all parents and guardians of case reports. The order did not mention a requirement to tell the staff.
DeWine is even interested in having his people study excrement in the name of fighting the virus.
He announced Ohio’s new Coronavirus Wastewater Monitoring Network. More information is available here.
The network was developed to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19 through the study of wastewater samples. The presence of coronavirus gene copies/fragments can be found in the waste of symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals and can be detected in wastewater as many as three to seven days before those infections lead to increases in case counts or hospitalizations in a community. The increase of COVID-19 cases in communities is typically tracked by testing people with symptoms, an indicator that lags behind the actual spread of the disease. Because of this, there is a need to use early monitoring methods that estimate the disease’s impact on the broader community.
Husted announced that, in an effort led by the Development Services Agency, the U.S. Department of Defense has made a commitment to Ohio’s defense manufacturers and put the state in a position to receive a $5 million grant to improve manufacturing processes and train workers for next-generation jobs.
As of a week ago, all child care providers in Ohio that serve publicly funded children were required to be rated on Ohio’s child care quality rating system, called Step Up To Quality.
Finally, DeWine announced that Greater Cincinnati Water Works will receive $725,000 in H2Ohio funding from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency to remove and replace lead service lines and fixtures at nearly 200 child care facilities in Cincinnati.
– – –
Jason M. Reynolds has more than 20 years’ experience as a journalist at outlets of all sizes.


thetennesseestar--2020-09-06--Ohio Senate Discusses Limiting Pandemic Executive Powers, Passes COVID Liability Limits and Federal

Ohio Senate Discusses Limiting Pandemic Executive Powers, Passes COVID Liability Limits and Federal Relief Funds

The Ohio Senate passed two bills and discussed a third this week that would “ check and balance ” state executive orders .
The two passed bills would limit essential workers ’ liability for COVID-19 transmissions and grant $ 650 million of federal relief funds statewide , respectively .
The controversial bill to reign in the executive and open up the state remains under review .
Senate Bill ( SB ) 311 aims to install a balance of powers between Congress and Ohio ’ s Department of Health ( DOH ) during this and any future pandemics .
In an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Andrew Brenner ( R-OH-19 ) explained the historical rationale behind the bill .
“ In the 1800s , the original purpose of granting executive power for health orders was to quarantine sick people .
This bill tries to fine-tune what the director can do in a pandemic and limit it to people who are sick , ” he said .
“ It allows us to either sign off on a joint resolution , or we can say , ‘ No , I don ’ t think this will work . '
” Senators @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Roegner ( R-OH-27 ) are the main sponsors of the bill ; Brenner is a co-sponsor .
The bill amends sections of the current Revised Code to disallow “ a general , mandatory statewide or regional quarantine or isolation order.
” Instead , orders should apply to the infected or directly exposed .
The bill also grants the General Assembly power to rescind any special or standing orders related to pandemics .
A version of the bill was first introduced in May .
“ It ’ s a check and balance restoration on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
“ Right now the director can write these orders and we have no say .
There could be economic or even scientific challenges to the orders that we ’ d like to address.
” SB 311 is projected to be up for a vote in several weeks .
House Bill 606 on limiting pandemic liability for essential workers will go before Governor Mike DeWine .
SB 357 adding statewide relief funding awaits a House vote .
Corinne Murdock is a reporter at The Ohio Star and the Star News Network .
Follow @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tips to [ email protected ] .

The Ohio Senate passed two bills and discussed a third this week that would “check and balance” state executive orders. The two passed bills would limit essential workers’ liability for COVID-19 transmissions and grant $650 million of federal relief funds statewide, respectively.
The controversial bill to reign in the executive and open up the state remains under review. Senate Bill (SB) 311 aims to install a balance of powers between Congress and Ohio’s Department of Health (DOH) during this and any future pandemics. In an interview with The Ohio Star, Senator Andrew Brenner (R-OH-19) explained the historical rationale behind the bill.
“In the 1800s, the original purpose of granting executive power for health orders was to quarantine sick people. This bill tries to fine-tune what the director can do in a pandemic and limit it to people who are sick,” he said. “It allows us to either sign off on a joint resolution, or we can say, ‘No, I don’t think this will work.'”
Senators Rob McColley (R-OH-1) and Kristina Roegner (R-OH-27) are the main sponsors of the bill; Brenner is a co-sponsor. The bill amends sections of the current Revised Code to disallow “a general, mandatory statewide or regional quarantine or isolation order.” Instead, orders should apply to the infected or directly exposed.
The bill also grants the General Assembly power to rescind any special or standing orders related to pandemics. A version of the bill was first introduced in May.
“It’s a check and balance restoration on the executive branch,” said Brenner. “Right now the director can write these orders and we have no say. There could be economic or even scientific challenges to the orders that we’d like to address.”
SB 311 is projected to be up for a vote in several weeks. House Bill 606 on limiting pandemic liability for essential workers will go before Governor Mike DeWine. SB 357 adding statewide relief funding awaits a House vote.
– – –
Corinne Murdock is a reporter at The Ohio Star and the Star News Network. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to [email protected].