December 13, 2022 - The Virginia Star

Former Loudoun County Superintendent Indicted on Three Misdemeanor Charges

December 13, 2022December 12, 2022 Admin

The former superintendent of Loudoun County Public Schools in Virginia has been indicted following a special grand jury report that concluded the school district mishandled several sexual assault cases involving students.

The Loudoun County Special Grand Jury charged former Loudoun County Public Schools Superintendent Scott Ziegler Monday on three misdemeanor charges, including penalizing an employee for a court appearance, while Loudoun County Public Schools Public Information Officer Wayde Byard was indicted with felony perjury. The Loudoun County School Board fired Ziegler Dec. 7 “immediately and without cause” following the special grand jury report.

Analysis: The Border Is Less Secure Than Ever, and the Implications Are Deadly

December 13, 2022December 12, 2022 Admin

During a recent hearing of the House Homeland Security Committee, Congressman Dan Bishop (R–NC) asked Homeland Security Director Alejandro Mayorkas, “Do you continue to maintain that the border is secure?” Mayorkas replied, “Yes, and we are working day in and day out to enhance its security.”

Contradicting that claim, objective measures show that the border is less secure than ever, and the situation is putting many thousands of lives at risk.

Republicans Made Midterm Gains with Young Voters

December 13, 2022December 12, 2022 Just the News

Republicans made gains in the midterm elections among voters under 30, a demographic that tends to lean heavily Democratic, according to the Associated Press.

Young voters swung 53 percent for Democratic House candidates and 41 percent for Republican candidates, according to the AP. The result marks a decline from recent elections: voters under 30 chose President Joe Biden over former President Donald Trump 61 percent to 36 percent in 2020, swung for Democrats 64 to 34 percent in 2018 House races.

Department of Energy Fires Gender Fluid Nuclear Official amid Luggage Theft Charges: Reports

December 13, 2022 Just the News

The Department of Energy has fired Sam Brinton, thought to be the nation’s first openly gender fluid federal employee, amid multiple allegations of luggage theft.

“Sam Brinton is no longer a DOE employee,” a department spokesperson told the Daily Beast on Monday. “By law, the Department of Energy cannot comment further on personnel matters.”

Harmeet Dhillon Wins Key Endorsement, Texas and Arizona GOP Drop Ronna McDaniel, as RNC Chair Race Heats Up

December 13, 2022December 12, 2022 Admin

Trump attorney Harmeet Dhillon is getting some support from within the Republican National Committee in her bid to unseat Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel.

Over the weekend, Dhillon got the backing of longtime RNC member Morton Blackwell, founder of the conservative training group The Leadership Institute.

University System Weighs Gutting Math Standards After Students Keep Failing Algebra

December 13, 2022December 12, 2022 Admin

The Kansas Board of Regents is considering stripping specific university math requirements after it was found that a significant percentage of college freshmen fail algebra, NPR affiliate KCUR reported.

The Regents, who oversee the system’s six public universities, are considering implementing the Math Pathways approach which matches students to a math course based on their major instead of mandating algebra for all incoming students. While many universities require that all freshmen pass algebra as a prerequisite for graduation, one in three Kansas students reportedly fail the course, which could delay a student’s graduation.

More Evidence Reveals CDC Colluded with Social Media Giants to Silence COVID ‘Misinformation’

December 13, 2022 Susan Berry, PhD

America First Legal (AFL) released a fourth set of documents obtained from litigation against the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that reveals more evidence of alleged collusion between the nation’s public health agency and social media companies to censor free speech and silence Americans under the government’s label of “misinformation.”

Last week, AFL’s 600-page document release uncovered evidence that Twitter operated a “Partner Support Portal” for government employees and other selective “stakeholders” that would allow them to delete or flag posts viewed as “misinformation,” noted AFL, which is led by former President Donald Trump’s immigration advisor Stephen Miller.

Virginia State Senators Morrissey, McClellan Favorites to Win Special Election for Vacant VA-04 Seat

December 13, 2022December 12, 2022 Eric Burk

Governor Glenn Youngkin ordered a February 21, 2023 special election to fill late Congressman Don McEachin’s seat, setting off a tight timeline for nominations in the safe-D seat. Senator Joe Morrissey (D-Richmond), Senator Jennifer McClellan (D-Richmond), and Delegate Lamont Bagby (D-Henrico) are the top candidates for the race.

McClellan and Bagby have already filed to run for the race, but only Bagby has officially announced his candidacy. On Monday afternoon, Morrissey seemed to confirmed speculation that he would enter the race, announcing a “major announcement” to be made at a Tuesday press conference. At the same time, fierce Morrissey ally John Fredericks, publisher of The Virginia Star, tweeted “Breaking…!VA-04 Shakeup! In upcoming Special,centrist VA Sen Joe Morrissey (D) expected to get in the race tomorrow-11:30 am presser at Petersburg City Hall. His entry completely changes dynamics in big name crowded field. If he gets in, he wins!”

Commentary: Moore v. Harper Terrifies Democrats for Good Reason

December 13, 2022December 12, 2022 Admin

The U.S. Supreme Court finally heard oral arguments in Moore v. Harper last week. The case involves a mundane constitutional issue concerning the definition of “legislature” as used in the elections clause. Yet it has produced panic among Democrats and a torrent of portentous predictions about the death of democracy from various leftist law professors. In the Washington Post, for example, Harvard University’s Noah Feldman expressed alarm that the court took up the “insane” case at all.

Is Moore v. Harper really insane? Of course not. The case arose early this year when the North Carolina Supreme Court struck down a redistricting map produced by the state Legislature, then replaced it with a redistricting scheme of its own. The North Carolina General Assembly petitioned SCOTUS for relief on the grounds that this action violated Article I, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution.

Commentary: Manchin-Collins Bill Would End the 1887 Electoral Count Act’s Provision of State Legislatures Choosing Presidential Electors

December 13, 2022December 12, 2022 Admin

Legislation offered by Senators Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) would repeal Sections 1 and 2 of the 1887 Electoral Count Act, and replace the appointment of electors by state legislatures in the event a state fails to make a choice in that election under current federal law to “the executive of each State”.

3 U.S.C. Section 2 currently states, “Whenever any State has held an election for the purpose of choosing electors, and has failed to make a choice on the day prescribed by law, the electors may be appointed on a subsequent day in such a manner as the legislature of such State may direct.”

Youngkin Sets Date for Virginia Special Election

December 13, 2022 The Center Square

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Monday a special election following the death of U.S. Rep. Donald McEachin (D-VA-04), will be February 21.

The election will fill Virginia’s 4th Congressional District, which was held by McEachin from 2017 until his death November 28. McEachin died from complications of colorectal cancer less than three weeks after winning re-election, as previously reported by The Center Square. McEachin’s funeral was in Richmond last week.

Cross-Dressing Book for Pre-K Students Crossed the Line in Kansas

December 13, 2022December 12, 2022 RealClearWire

A school district that gave preschoolers a book on cross-dressing has changed its procedures for giving out books after news of the incident surfaced last week.

As first reported exclusively by The Lion and The Heartlander news sites, a 4-year-old preschooler in the Turner School District in Kansas City, Kansas, took home the book Jacob’s New Dress. It’s a picture book in which a little boy wears girls’ clothes and even competes with his friend Emily to be a princess.

Multiple Schools Used Pandemic Aid to Give Teacher Bonuses, Go on Hiring Sprees

December 13, 2022December 12, 2022 Admin

A new report by a watchdog group reveals the extent of how many schools abused their COVID-19 relief funds to instead pay teachers even more despite not returning to work.

According to the Washington Examiner, the report by FutureEd reveals that many schools still haven’t completely spent the money that they received as a result of three major stimulus bills passed in 2020. Following Joe Biden’s “American Rescue Plan,” at least $190 billion has been allocated exclusively for schools. But as of October, schools nationwide have spent less than 15 percent of the money given to them through the American Rescue Plan.

Democratic Memo: Party Recaptured Some Latinos Who Left During Trump Era, but Critics Say More Needed to Win 2024

December 13, 2022December 12, 2022 ADN America

A strategic memo created by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) that examines the party’s success in the 2022 midterm elections says the party recaptured some Hispanic Americans who left the party and turned Republican during the Trump years, according to reports.

The DCCC spent $18 million on digital and TV ads along with other forms of communication to target Hispanic Americans in races across the country, which was double the money spent on Latinos in 2020, according to the memo.

Biden Administration Removed 71 Percent Fewer Criminal Aliens vs. Comparable Period under Trump

December 13, 2022December 12, 2022 Just the News

Over its first nine months, the Biden administration removed 71% fewer locally arrested criminal aliens than were deported during a comparable period in 2019 under Donald Trump, according to a new study of state and local statistics — despite record illegal immigration numbers.

Commentary: Young Montana Entrepreneur Is Being Legally Barred from Hauling Trash Because Established Players Don’t Want the Competition

December 13, 2022December 12, 2022 Admin

When Parker Noland launched his trash-hauling business at age 20 in the summer of 2021, he was excited about the opportunities that lay before him. After taking out a loan from a local bank, the Montana native bought a truck and some dumpsters and got to work promoting his services. The business plan was simple: he would deliver dumpsters to construction sites looking to get rid of debris and then transport the dumpsters to the county dump once they were full.

U.S. Officials Set to Announce Fusion Energy Breakthrough: Report

December 13, 2022December 12, 2022 Admin

U.S. government scientists have recently managed to make significant progress toward successfully utilizing fusion energy, according to The Financial Times.

Scientists at the federal Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California managed to create net energy gain via a fusion reaction in the past two weeks, the FT reported Sunday, citing three people with knowledge of the experiment. Researchers have been attempting to produce more energy than they burn during fusion reactions, which power the sun, for 70 years; however, no reaction has produced more energy than it burns until now.

The School Choice Movement is Picking Up Steam Across the Country

December 13, 2022December 12, 2022 Admin

The school choice movement is gaining momentum as states focus on legislation that would give families greater freedom to select their child’s education, advocates told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Utah, New Hampshire and South Carolina are pushing for more expansive school choice legislation that would increase the value of school choice vouchers and the number of eligible students, while states such as Arizona and Florida have already implemented programs that provide vouchers to students outside of the public school system. The increasing push for more school choice legislation across the country is because other states have provided the model to do so, advocates told the DCNF.