Month: March 2024

Two More Texas School Districts Sued for Electioneering

The Center Square
Ken Baxton Classroom

More public-school districts are being sued for allegedly using taxpayer resources to instruct staff to vote against school choice candidates in the Republican primary election regardless if they are Republicans.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued Huffman and Aledo independent school districts on Friday alleging they used state resources to influence political races through illegal electioneering.

This is after Paxton first sued Denton, Frisco, Denison and Castleberry ISDs within one week “for illegal electioneering by using taxpayer-funded resources” to “stump for specific candidates during an election” and/or “promote certain political candidates and policies” related to school choice.

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Supreme Court Unanimously Rules Trump Cannot Be Removed from Colorado Ballot

Admin

The Supreme Court ruled 9-0 Monday that former President Donald Trump cannot be removed from Colorado’s 2024 ballot. The Colorado Supreme Court found Trump ineligible for the state’s ballot in December, ruling he was disqualified under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.

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Supreme Court Rules: Trump Can Remain on Ballot

Just the News

The Supreme Court on Monday ruled that former President Donald Trump can remain on the 2024 presidential ballot in a decision that comes one day before the Colorado Republican primary after the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that the top Republican contender is ineligible.

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DHS Secretary Mayorkas Denies Illegal Immigration Led to Murder of Laken Riley: ‘One Individual Is Responsible’

Tom Pappert
Alejandro Mayorkas With Immigrants

In a Sunday interview, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Alejandro Mayorkas denied a link between the murder of nursing student Laken Riley on the University of Georgia (UGA) campus and illegal immigration despite police charging a man who immigrated illegally from Venezuela with the killing.

Asked if there was a breakdown in the federal immigration system that allowed Venezuelan illegal immigrant Jose Ibarra to allegedly murder Riley, Mayorkas on Face the Nation cited his experience as a prosecutor and declared, “one individual is responsible for the murder and that is the murderer.”

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Yale University Employs Nearly one Administrator per Undergrad

Virginia Star Staff
Yale University

Yale University employs more than three administrators and support staff for every four undergraduate students – roughly one administrator per undergrad, according to a College Fix analysis.

Over the last decade, Yale added 631 administrators and support staff to its payroll, according to data provided by administrators to the federal Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System.

As the university embraced new DEI efforts, the number of administrators and support staff increased by 13 percent, from 4,942 to 5,573, between 2013-14 and 2021-22, the analysis found.

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Border Patrol Union Defends Biden Jabs: ‘Yep, We Said All That, and We Mean Every Bit of it’

Just the News
President Joe Biden at the Southern Border

The National Border Patrol Council defended its derision of President Joe Biden’s visit to the border after the official U.S. Border Patrol union praised former President Donald Trump and mocked Biden as tired and wanting ice cream.

“Yep, we said all that, and we mean every bit of it,” the union said Saturday evening on X, formerly Twitter, in response to a Fox News article about its repeated jabs against Biden.

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California Seized Enough Fentanyl Last Year to Kill Entire World ‘Nearly Twice Over’

Virginia Star Staff

The California National Guard seized a record 62,224 pounds of fentanyl in California and the state’s ports of entry – enough of the potent synthetic opioid to kill the entire world population “nearly twice over.”

Since 2021, fentanyl seizures supported by CalGuard have increased by 1066%, according to the governor’s office.

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Government Admission: Biden Parole Flights Create Security ‘Vulnerabilities’ at U.S. Airports

Virginia Star Staff
Joe Biden Speaking

Thanks to an ongoing Center for Immigration Studies Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit, the public now knows that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has approved secretive flights that last year alone ferried hundreds of thousands of inadmissible aliens from foreign airports into some 43 American ones over the past year, all pre-approved on a cell phone app.

But while large immigrant-receiving cities and media lay blame for the influx on Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s busing program, CBP has withheld from the Center – and apparently will not disclose – the names of the 43 U.S. airports that have received 320,000 inadmissible aliens from January through December 2023, nor the foreign airports from which they departed. The agency’s lawyers have cited a general “law enforcement exception” without elaborating – until recently – on how releasing airport locations would harm public safety beyond citing “the sensitivity of the information.”

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Youngkin to Receive Bill Legalizing Controversial ‘Skill Games’ in Virginia amid Call for Veto

Tom Pappert
Video Poker skill games

The Virginia General Assembly approved a unified bill that would legalize controversial skill games throughout the commonwealth on Friday. Critics, who argue the devices would institutionalize gambling throughout Virginia, have called for Governor Glenn Youngkin to veto the bill.

After the Virginia House of Delegates and State Senate passed wildly differing versions of legislation to legalize skill games, the General Assembly agreed on combined legislation that limits bars and other places that sell liquor to four machines and truck stops to 10 machines. Lawmakers also seek to impose a 25 percent tax rate on proceeds generated by the machines.

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Commentary: Reality Is Dawning on the Democrats

Virginia Star Staff
Biden Administration

You might recognize “The Look” when you see it. It made its debut on the faces of American television and media pundits during the early evening hours of Nov. 8, 2016, as the undeniable specter of a Trump presidency began to take hold.

Today, “The Look 2.0” is back. The most recent iteration is a mixture of resignation tinged with intense discomfort – a sanguine sense of impending doom born of the many dysfunctions of the Biden administration and the increasing realization that the lawfare campaign waged against Donald J. Trump is backfiring.

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Julie Kelly Commentary: In the Room at Friday’s Florida Hearing in Trump’s Classified Documents Case

Julie Kelly
FL Judge Aileen Cannon Infront of florida courthouse

I am digging into a few other matters related to this case, the contempt order issued Thursday against veteran investigative reporter Catherine Herridge, and a new appellate court ruling overturning the use of a sentencing enhancement for J6ers convicted of the controversial 1512(c)(2) charge so unfortunately I can’t write a full article on yesterday’s hearing that I attended in person in Fort Pierce. So I want to share my X posts about what happened.

A few additional observations: Judge Cannon’s approach and style is inimical from that of judges in D.C. For part of the proceedings, I kept thinking how DOJ’s J6 prosecution in Washington would be so different if only half the judges were as careful and prepared and nontheatrical as Cannon. I shared this with a J6 defense attorney last night and he agreed.

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Trump Holds Rally in Richmond, Looks Ahead to November

The Center Square
Donald Trump VA Rally

Former President Donald Trump made a campaign stop in Richmond ahead of Virginia’s presidential primary, taking his aim at the November election and President Joe Biden.

The rally marked Trump’s second stop after speaking in North Carolina earlier in the day. The former president vowed to “make a big play for Virginia” come November.

Despite the Super Tuesday matchup only days away, Trump appeared to have moved past the primaries, failing to mention former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley by name.

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Commentary: Technology Changes and Bipartisanship are Causing Journalism’s Woes

RealClearWire
Journalists Press

by Carl M. Cannon   For the American media, 2024 has been a fiasco. And it’s still only February. Nine days into the new year, highly respected Los Angeles Times editor Kevin Merida resigned rather than tolerate another round of layoffs and the meddlesome ways of a billionaire publisher and his…

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More Inflationary Woes: In One Year, Car Insurance Rates Surge 26 Percent

The Center Square
Driver in car

Car insurance rates surged 26% nationwide in the past year and are expected to remain elevated until 2025.

That’s according to the “True Cost of Auto Insurance” report from Bankrate, an independent comparison service company.

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Food Stamp Costs for a Family’s Meal Jump 31 Percent over Last Three Years

The Center Square
Person Shopping

The monthly costs for the thrifty plan for a family of four participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is increasing by 31% over the last three years.

The United States Department of Agriculture stated the food stamp benefit amounts are based every year upon the cost of the Thrifty Food Plan.

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Antidepressant Prescriptions for Youth Surged During COVID Pandemic

Virginia Star Staff
Therapist Session

A new study shows that the prescription of antidepressants for youth skyrocketed during the Chinese Coronavirus pandemic, rising by a staggering 65.3%.

As reported by Axios, the research from Pediatrics shows that the spike in such prescriptions may have been caused by a number of factors, including a shortage in mental health workers in schools and the shift towards remote forms of medical treatment such as “telehealth” and remote prescribing, which only contributed to a sense of isolation and depression brought on by the nationwide lockdowns.

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San Francisco to Vote on Measure to Drug-Test Welfare Recipients

Virginia Star Staff
San Francisco

The far-left city of San Francisco will soon be voting on measures that could reverse liberal policies when it comes to crime, drug use, and homelessness, in what would mark a stunning rebuke of progressive policies in the Democratic stronghold.

As reported by Fox News, when Californians go to vote on Tuesday in the “Super Tuesday” primaries, San Francisco residents will be able to vote on several ballot measures including Proposition F and Proposition E.

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Exclusive: Partner of Fani Willis’ Deputy Jeff DiSantis Works with Biden 2024 Campaign

Admin

Breitbart News Chris Huttman, the business partner of Fulton County’s Deputy District Attorney Jeff DiSantis, works with President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign, financial disclosures reviewed by Breitbart News show. Huttman’s connection with DiSantis is significant because sources with direct knowledge of Fulton County’s office exclusively told Breitbart News that DiSantis is a…

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10 Percent of 2020 Biden Voters Now Back Trump: Poll

Virginia Star Staff
Biden Harris Supporters

Ten percent of President Joe Biden’s 2020 voters now back former President Donald Trump, a new poll found.

While 97 percent of voters who cast their ballot for Trump in 2020 still plan to vote for him, Biden is only attracting 83 percent of his previous voters, according to a New York Times and Siena College poll. Trump has a five-point lead overall, ranking ahead of Biden 48% to 43%, the poll shows.

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Catholic Churches Attacked 400 Times Since 2020, Tracker Finds

Virginia Star Staff
Catholic Mass

 Catholic churches in the United States have been attacked at least 400 times over the past four years, according to data compiled by the Catholic advocacy organization CatholicVote.

The hundreds of attacks across the nation began in connection with widespread civil unrest in May 2020, CatholicVote said. Examples include church burnings, beheadings of statues of Jesus Christ or the Virgin Mary, swastikas painted on grave stones, satanic and blasphemous statements graffitied on walls, windows smashed, Masses disrupted, and even the murder of a Catholic priest.

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Biden Family Has a Long History of Being Kept Afloat by Democratic Donors

Just the News

The newly released transcript of presidential brother James Biden’s testimony before the House Oversight Committee shows he received large sums in the form of loans from Democratic donors, mirroring Hunter Biden’s relationship with lawyer and friend Kevin Morris.

According to the transcript, James Biden confirmed that he received two loans from associates who were also Democratic Party donors, though he disputed the value of the loans provided by the committee.

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Virginia Democrat-Backed Bill Would Allow Noncitizens to Serve as Law Enforcement

The Center Square
Jeremy McPike

The right to serve as law enforcement shouldn’t belong solely to U.S. citizens, but also to individuals who have been granted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, according to Senate Bill 69.

The legislation passed the Virginia House of Delegates and Senate.

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Commentary: The Left’s ‘Christian Nationalism’ Fearmongering Is Untethered to Reality

Virginia Star Staff
Church Sign

Is America on the verge of establishing a theocracy? The Left’s recent warnings about the rise of “Christian nationalism” suggest that a powerful, conservative Christian cabal is pulling the strings behind the scenes to forcibly convert the entire nation, or something.

In the past week, Politico’s Heidi Przybyla has been hammering the drum on this issue, first claiming—apparently without concrete evidence—that former Trump administration official Russell Vought has prioritized “Christian nationalism” by name in documents for a potential Trump second term, and then defining Christian nationalism as the doctrine that rights come from God, not government.

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FDA Threatens Endangered Species with Shoddy Abortion-Drug Reviews: Lance Armstrong Investigator

Just the News

Federal public health officials created strange bedfellows among animal-welfare advocates, scientists and vaccine skeptics for allegedly cutting corners in viral and COVID-19 vaccine research and oversight, possibly engineering a pathogen, then a cure that’s worse for some.

The Food and Drug Administration may be creating another odd couple in a case at the Supreme Court: environmental and pro-life activists.

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Green: Taxpayers’ $3 Billion Supplying Clean Ports Program

The Center Square
NC Port

The Biden administration’s choice for zero-emissions operations in America’s ports was boosted Wednesday with the opening of applications for $3 billion from taxpayers in the Clean Ports Program.

Equipment and infrastructure needs can be met that “reduce mobile source emissions at U.S. ports,” a release from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says. EPA Administrator Michael Regan was in Wilmington, N.C., alongside Gov. Roy Cooper, whose administration he previously worked in, to make the announcement.

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Pope Francis Decries Transgenderism as ‘Ugliest Danger,’ Urges Embracing Differences Between Sexes

Just the News
Pope Francis

Pope Francis is delivering another robust denunciation of liberal transgender ideology sweeping the West, declaring it was the “ugliest danger” while urging the world to embrace the differences between men and women.

“Erasing differences is erasing humanity,” the pontiff declared Friday in Rome. “Men and woman, however, are in a fruitful tension.”

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Commentary: Immigration Drove America’s Biggest Population Growth Ever Recorded

Virginia Star Staff
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

Immigration is behind the biggest annual population increase in the history of the United States, according to an independent research firm.

“US population grew +3.8M in 2023 – the largest one-year increase in US history,” tweeted Eric Finnigan of John Burns Research and Consulting (JBREC) earlier this month.

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Poll: A Majority of Americans Support Building the Border Wall

Virginia Star Staff
Border Wall Construction

A new poll suggests that more Americans than ever before support the idea of building a wall along the southern border, as the mass migration crisis rages out of control and has cost more American lives.

According to the Washington Free Beacon, the latest poll from Monmouth University shows that 53% of respondents support building the wall, while 46% oppose it, marking the first time ever that a Monmouth poll has shown majority support for the proposal. While more Republicans and independents support the wall than in past years, Democratic support for the idea has fallen.

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Montana Judge Throws Out Three Laws Restricting Abortion

Virginia Star Staff
Montana Planned Parenthood

A Montana judge ruled Thursday that three of the state’s laws limiting abortion were unconstitutional, according to the Daily Montanan.

The laws banned abortion after 20 weeks and by way of telehealth services, as well as required a 24-hour waiting period and two ultrasounds. District Court Judge Kurt Krueger sided with Planned Parenthood of Montana, who filed the lawsuit, arguing that the government should not be able to “infringe” on bodily autonomy any more than it can force someone to have an abortion, according to the Daily Montanan.

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University of Virginia Professor Cancels Class to Support Anti-Israel Walkout

Virginia Star Staff
Christa Robbins

A University of Virginia professor on Monday canceled her class to support a walkout on campus timed to coincide with voting on a student referendum calling on the school to divest from companies with ties to Israel.

“I’m writing to let you know that I am canceling class today in solidarity with the ‘Yes on Divest Walkout’ that the UVA Apartheid Divest Coalition organized. I realize this issue is polarizing right now, so I want to take a moment to let you know why I made this choice,” Christa Robbins, an associate professor of art history at UVA, wrote in a Monday email to students, reported the Daily Caller, which obtained a copy of the memo.

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Commentary: Battleground States Reject Biden on the Border

Virginia Star Staff
Illegal Immigrants

Michigan is very much in play for November.

Our new poll shows a dead heat, with Trump and Biden tied at 43% each and 14% undecided for this key swing state. With Trump leading comfortably right now in Georgia and North Carolina, a win in Michigan could well tip the entire election to the 45th president.

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Average Long-Term Mortgage Rises to 6.94 Percent in Fourth Consecutive Weekly Increase

Virginia Star Staff
Financial Meeting

On Thursday, the average long-term mortgage rate in the United States rose for the fourth week in a row, in a setback for Americans looking to potentially buy a home in the traditional homebuying season of spring.

According to ABC News, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac announced that the average rate on a 30-year mortgage rose from 6.90% to 6.94%. Although this is slightly less than the recent high of 6.95% in December, it is still higher than what it was at the same time one year ago, when the average rate was 6.65%.

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Bukele Generates More than $30 Million in Profits for El Salvador with Bitcoin

Virginia Star Staff
Nayib Bukele

El Salvador has accumulated more than $30 million in profits by retaining bitcoin reserves, after becoming the first country in Latin America to adopt this digital currency in an initiative led by President Nayib Bukele since 2021.

Bitcoin , the most used cryptocurrency , soared this Wednesday, reaching November 2021 levels and exceeding $60,000 , after surpassing $57,100 the day before, which has generated profits for the Central American country.

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House Speaker Johnson Announces the Release of 5,000 More Hours of January 6 Footage

Just the News
Mike Johnson

House Speaker Mike Johnson announced Friday the release of 5,000 additional hours of video from the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. 

The additional video, equal to roughly 208 straight days of viewing, is being released by the House Administration Oversight Subcommittee. 

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Trump Calls Border Crisis ‘Biden invasion’

The Center Square
Donald Trump And Gov Greg At Border

Former President Donald Trump on Thursday said the border crisis is a “a Joe Biden invasion. This is a Biden invasion.”

He met with Gov. Greg Abbott in Eagle Pass, Texas, to tour a new military base established through Abbott’s border security mission, Operation Lone Star. “What they showed me is nothing less than incredible. This is a military operation. This is like a war,” he said.

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Climate Activist and Liberal Billionaire Quietly Gobbles Up Rural Land in Hawaii

Virginia Star Staff
Marc Benioff

Salesforce CEO and climate activist Marc Benioff is purchasing rural land in Waimea, Hawaii, NPR reported on Wednesday, citing public records.
Benioff’s funds have invested hundreds of millions into climate agendas and he is a prominent proponent of net zero, the complete negation of human greenhouse gas emissions. His recent acquisitions of rural land have prompted local residents to express concerns about the implications on prices in the area, according to NPR.

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Road to Hunter Biden’s Burisma Riches was Paved in Moscow with Effort to Court Russian Oligarchs

Just the News
Hunter Biden Moscow Money

The effort to revive Russian collusion claims in Joe Biden’s impeachment probe is running into an inconvenient truth for Democrats: Hunter Biden and his business partners waged a concerted campaign to squeeze oligarchs in Vladimir Putin’s country for investments, an effort that ultimately paved the way for the first son to score a big payday from Burisma Holdings in neighboring Ukraine.

Hunter Biden and his partners’ pursuit of Russian riches began as early as 2010 with payments from a Moscow-based machinery firm and its “patriarch,” and they intensified a few years later at a time when Joe Biden’s son was actually still serving as a U.S. Navy officer. That timeline is confirmed by bank records, contemporaneous emails and congressional testimony that chronicle a far larger effort by Biden, Inc. to target Moscow than has previously been acknowledged.

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Montana Rep. Rosendale to Seek Reelection After Dropping Senate Campaign

Just the News
Rep. Matt Rosendale

Montana Republican Rep. Matt Rosendale on Wednesday confirmed that he would seek reelection in the lower chamber after ending a brief Senate campaign to oust Montana Democratic Sen. Jon Tester.

Earlier this month, Rosendale announced his Senate bid, hoping for a rematch after losing to Tester in 2018. He ended the campaign within a week, however, as former President Donald Trump and Senate leadership largely lined up behind businessman Tim Sheehy for the party nod.

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