July 20, 2022 - The Virginia Star

DOJ, Envigo Settlement Ends Beagle-Breeding-for-Testing at Cumberland Facility; ‘Huge Win for Humanity,’ Says Sen. Boysko

July 20, 2022July 19, 2022 Eric Burk

Envigo and DOJ officials announced a settlement in the government’s lawsuit against the Cumberland beagle-breeder-for-medical-testing; 4,000 beagles will be relinquished to the Humane Society of the United States and Envigo will be permanently prohibited from engaging in activity at the facility requiring an Animal Welfare Act license.

“This settlement brings to an end the needless suffering caused by Envigo’s blatant violations of animal welfare laws at this facility,” Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD) said in a Monday press release. “We will continue to vigorously enforce animal welfare laws to ensure that animals are provided the humane care that they are legally owed and deserve.”

Commentary: Joe Biden’s War on Fossil Fuels

July 20, 2022July 19, 2022 RealClearWire

Try as they might to mitigate the severe energy crisis plaguing the U.S., the Biden administration’s attempt to shore up supply is a few wellheads short of an oil rig.

With gasoline prices averaging over $4.60 per gallon and several electric grid operators warning of rolling blackouts, increasing the supply of America’s most critical energy sources is vital. Fossil fuels account for 80% of America’s energy usage, yet the administration is intent on curbing oil and gas supply, cutting gasoline refining capacity, and making it more challenging to meet rising electric demands.

Commentary: Government Is the Biggest Obstacle to Educational Freedom

July 20, 2022July 19, 2022 Virginia Star Staff

In Massachusetts where I live, average private school tuition hovers around $23,000. For secular private schools, the cost is typically much higher, with Boston-area private school tuition often exceeding $40,000. This price tag is way too high for most families to afford, but emerging microschools are typically a fraction of the cost of other private education options.

For example, the Wilder School is a new Acton Academy-affiliated microschool that costs about $12,000 a year, while Life Rediscovered, a new homeschool resource center offering up to five days a week of full-day, drop-off learning, costs about $10,000. Even established local microschools, such as Bay State Learning Center that was founded in 2014 and that I wrote about in Unschooled, have similar tuition costs and frequently offer financial aid or sliding scale tuition.

Music/Author Spotlight: Alisa Childers

July 20, 2022July 19, 2022 Bethany Bowman

Earlier this year, my brother told me about Alisa Childers, who recently wrote a book about Christian apologetics. Not only that, she was a former member of the contemporary Christian music group ZOEgirl back in the early 2000s and she was married to someone with whom we attended college.

Former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos Now Says Department Should Not Exist

July 20, 2022July 19, 2022 Susan Berry, PhD

Betsy DeVos, who led the U.S. Department of Education under former President Donald Trump, now says the department should no longer exist, an assertion many Trump voters urged him to work to make a reality during his 2016 campaign.

“I personally think the Department of Education should not exist,” DeVos said Saturday during a Moms for Liberty education summit in Tampa, Florida.

Economist: 30 Percent Chance That U.S. Enters a Recession Within a Year’s Time

July 20, 2022July 19, 2022 The Center Square

A Goldman Sachs economist says there is a 30% probability of the U.S. entering a recession within one year and 48% within two years.

Goldman Sachs Chief U.S. economist David Mericle outlined the probability of a recession at an event Tuesday and said that the likelihood of a recession would decrease if the U.S. had not entered one within two years.

Left-Wing Activists Urge Big Tech to Censor Anti-Pedophile ‘Smear’

July 20, 2022July 19, 2022 Virginia Star Staff

by Laurel Duggan Media Matters, a left-wing activist organization, is urging Twitter to censor the word “groomer,” which it characterizes as anti-LGBT. The term “groomer,” which describes an adult who befriends a child without proper boundaries in order to prime them for for sexual abuse, has been used by…

Democrat Reps. Omar, Ocasio-Cortez Arrested During Supreme Court Abortion Protest

July 20, 2022July 19, 2022 Virginia Star Staff

Several congressional Democrats, including Reps. Ilhan Omar and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, were arrested Tuesday outside of the U.S. Supreme Court during an abortion-rights protest for allegedly blocking traffic.

In total, U.S. Capitol Police arrested 34 people, including 16 members of Congress.

Instructor Terminated for Harassing Conservative Student Loses Lawsuit

July 20, 2022July 19, 2022 Virginia Star Staff

Former University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) graduate student and instructor Courtney Lawton recently lost her lawsuit against the Board of Regents, UNL Chancellor Ronnie Green, and then-NU President Hank Bounds.

She had sued the university after being removed from her teaching position for verbally harassing a student holding a Turning Point USA (TPUSA) sign in 2017.

Commentary: Justice Department Designates Obstruction as an Act of Terror

July 20, 2022July 19, 2022 Virginia Star Staff

To hear federal prosecutors tell it, Guy Wesley Reffitt almost single-handedly organized and led a bloodthirsty mob to overtake Congress on January 6, 2021.

One of the first protesters arrested in the Justice Department’s “shock and awe” dragnet of Donald Trump supporters, Reffitt was immediately indicted on numerous offenses. He spent more than a year in the D.C. gulag set aside for Americans who protested Joe Biden’s election under pretrial detention orders sought by the Justice Department—and he was the first January 6 defendant to stand trial in a city that voted nearly 93 percent for Biden in 2020.

California School Board Plans to Open New Planned Parenthood on High School Campus

July 20, 2022July 19, 2022 Virginia Star Staff

In California, the Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District (NLMUSD) is drawing up plans to install a new Planned Parenthood clinic on a high school campus within the district.

Breitbart reports that the district is eyeing the John Glen High School, which is located in a district that’s 90 percent minority, with 80 percent of that percentage being Latino.

Three Virginia Congressmen Among 18 Votes Against Supporting Addition of Sweden, Finland to NATO

July 20, 2022July 19, 2022 Eric Burk

Virginia had the most representatives voting ‘Nay’ on Monday against a resolution supporting adding Sweden and Finland to NATO. The resolution passed with 394 votes in favor, just 18 votes against, all Republican, and 19 members not voting. Three of Virginia’s four Republican congressmen voted against the measure: Congressmen Morgan Griffith (R-VA-09), Bob Good (R-VA-05), and Ben Cline (R-VA-06), while Congressman Rob Wittman (R-VA-01) voted in favor.

In a press release, Griffith said that the Senate has the constitutional power to ratify adding the two countries to NATO, but not the House. He said that the resolution also calls for other NATO countries to support adding the two countries.

“I think that goes well beyond the House’s jurisdiction,” Griffith said.