Category: News

As millions of children settle into an uninterrupted academic term, widespread classroom disorder is undermining efforts to reintroduce students to in-person learning. This increased disorder corresponds with an increase in district-approved “restorative justice” programs, which address classroom dysfunction through nonpunitive measures. Though these programs have existed for decades, they are gaining momentum nationwide.

Census May Add First New Ethnic Group since 1997

January 30, 2023 Just the News

A new proposal from the Biden Administration calls for the census and federal surveys to add a new group labeled “Middle Eastern and North African,” which would mark the first new ethnic group added to federal records since 1997. According to ABC News, the new proposals released Thursday would combine all questions about race and Hispanic ethnicity into a single question, rather than keeping them separate as the 1997 standards do. The proposals were crafted by a group of selected representatives from multiple federal agencies, organized by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

Biden Administration Playing ‘Shell Game’ to Mask Illegal Immigration, Former CBP Chief Alleges

Even as the illegal immigration crisis along America’s southern border continues to worsen, Biden administration officials are resorting to sleight of hand to downplay the number of migrants crossing into the U.S., alleges former acting Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Mark Morgan.

Republicans Bring New Strategy to Wisconsin Reading Readiness Proposal

January 30, 2023January 29, 2023 The Center Square

The latest reading readiness proposal at the Wisconsin capitol, with the backing of the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) in tow, may have a chance at becoming law.

Commentary: There Is a Reason Why DEI Is Little More Than a Costly Failure

January 30, 2023 RealClearWire

Earlier this month, amid howls from the “progressive” Left, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis demanded an accounting of “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) expenditures from the state’s public colleges and universities. The results are exactly what you might expect. According to a recent report from Campus Reform, in 2022, Florida institutions spent $28 million on DEI initiatives, more than half of that ($15 million) funded by taxpayers.

Commentary: Sunshine Might Be Free but Solar Power Is Not Cheap

Mississippi residents are consistently told that renewable energy sources, like solar panels, are now the lowest-cost ways to generate electricity, but these claims are based on creative accounting gimmicks that only examine a small portion of the expenses incurred to integrate solar onto the grid while excluding many others.

Border Police Dealing with New Smuggling Problem: Eggs

January 30, 2023 The Center Square

The United States Customs and Border Protection is asking Americans to stop trying to smuggle in raw eggs from Mexico.

The Number of Schools Eligible to Participate Increase in Wisconsin Choice Program

January 30, 2023January 29, 2023 The Center Square

Former Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio called the Democratic Party’s brand “toxic” Friday during a discussion on “Real Time with Bill Maher.”

EU Approves Use of ‘Cricket Powder’ in Food, Citing ‘Environmental Pressures’

January 30, 2023 The Center Square

The European Union approved cricket powder as a novel food to be added to bread, pasta, meat substitutes and various other foods, according to a Jan. 3 entry into the EU’s regulation database.

December Consumer Spending Declines; Recession Concerns Remain

Consumer spending fell 0.2% in December from the previous month, the Commerce Department said Friday.

Commentary: New Regulation Handicaps Disabled Gun Owners

January 30, 2023January 29, 2023 RealClearWire

The Biden administration’s newly released regulations regarding “pistol-stabilizing braces” will instantly turn tens of thousands of law-abiding Americans into felons and create a national rifle registry.

Alliance of Big Tech, Dark Money Groups Partners with Counties in State That Bans ‘Zuckerbucks’ for Elections

January 29, 2023January 28, 2023 Admin

The group that distributed most of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s controversial election grants in 2020 has designated at least two Utah counties as part of a new effort, despite a state ban on private money funding election operations. The two local juridictions are Cache County, with a population of 137,00, and Weber County, population 267,000.

Utah School Administrators Admit to Deceiving Parents by Using ‘Loopholes’ to Teach Critical Race Theory in Classrooms

January 29, 2023January 29, 2023 HPoling

Less than a week after an undercover investigation revealed that school administrators in Cincinnati, Ohio have admitted to covertly indoctrinating students with Critical Race Theory (CRT) in the classrooms, they discovered similarly that school officials throughout Utah, are prepared to use “loopholes” in order to promote social justice and CRT to their students. Ohio and Utah are both conservative states, which is why activist instructors have devised more covert methods of presenting divisive subjects.

Republican U.S. Senators File Bill to End China’s Permanent Normal Trade Status

January 29, 2023 The Center Square

Several Republican senators filed a bill on Friday to end China’s Permanent Normal Trade Status (PNTR), citing concerns over American job losses and human rights abuses overseas. The China Trade Relations Act, which would strip China of its PNTR, was filed by U.S. Sens. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., Rick Scott, R-Fla., Ted Budd, R-N.C., and J.D. Vance, R-Ohio.

Top Soros Director Is Frequent Guest at Biden White House

January 29, 2023January 28, 2023 The Center Square

One of the highest-ranking executives with George Soros’ far-left Open Society Foundation (OSF) has been revealed to have close access to the Biden White House, according to newly-released records. As reported by Fox News, the executive director of OSF U.S., Tom Perriello, has made numerous visits to the White House for private meetings and public events over the last two years. Perriello also sits on the board of Governing for Impact, and is part of Soros’ inner circle.

Wisconsin Budget Surplus to Top $7 Billion by July

Wisconsin’s record budget surplus is growing once again.

The Legislative Fiscal Bureau on Wednesday said the surplus will now hit $7.1 billion by July.

Commentary: The Unknown Impact of Inflation on Rural Americans

When the Federal Reserve convenes at the end of January 2023 to set interest rates, it will be guided by one key bit of data: the U.S. inflation rate. The problem is, that stat ignores a sizable chunk of the country – rural America. Currently sitting at 6.5%, the rate of inflation is still high, even though it has fallen back slightly from the end of 2022.

Commentary: The Left’s New Scheme That Threatens Free Elections

January 29, 2023 Just the News

Like a bad movie sequel, leftwing nonprofits like the Center for Tech and Civil Life (CTCL) are once again pumping millions of dollars in left-wing “dark money” into election offices across the country. Just like they did in 2020, these groups are looking for ways to skew elections and boost liberal turnout in battleground states. But this time, there’s a twist. CTCL and its allies aren’t just doling out eye-popping grants. They are aiming for nothing less than a shadow takeover of election offices. Through their new $80 million program, called the “U.S. Alliance for Election Excellence,” the left is targeting local election offices. The goal: push liberal voting policies and systematically reshape how our elections are run.

BuzzFeed Announces Plans to Use AI for Content Creation

BuzzFeed announced Thursday that it would begin using artificial intelligence to help generate its content. The company will partner with OpenAI to start producing “AI inspired content,” according to CNN Business, and plans to make such output an integral part of its regular business.

Commentary: Parents Must Take Charge of Your Children’s Education

Are America’s public schools falling apart? The evidence certainly points in that direction.

Radical Muslim Cleric Convicted in New York of Supporting ISIS

January 28, 2023January 27, 2023 Admin

Radical Islamic cleric Shaikh Abdullah Faisal was convicted Thursday on several counts of supporting terrorism after working as a recruiter for the Islamic State (ISIS), according to the Manhattan District Attorney’s office. Faisal promoted a radical interpretation of Islam that supported the idea of killing nonbelievers, leading to his incarceration in Britain in 2003 and deportation from Kenya in 2010, according to the New York Times. On Thursday, District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced Faisal had been found guilty several counts of lending support for terrorism after attempting to recruit an undercover officer into ISIS.

Trump Unveils Plan to ‘Save’ Education from ‘Radical Left Maniacs’

Former President Donald Trump announced Thursday his plan to “save American education” from “the Radical Left maniacs” as part of his 2024 presidential campaign. The plan, unveiled on Twitter, focuses on tackling cultural issues in education including critical race theory (CRT) and gender ideology. Trump proposed cutting federal funding from schools that promote “[CRT], gender ideology, or other inappropriate racial, sexual, or political content onto our children,” the investigation of schools which engage in “race-based discrimination,” and keeping men out of women’s sports.

Biden’s National Security Council Held Meetings with CDC on COVID Disinformation, Emails Show

January 28, 2023 Admin

President Joe Biden’s National Security Council (NSC) meetings with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) about COVID-19 disinformation in 2021, according to documents obtained in an America First Legal (AFL) lawsuit. After the Kaiser Family Foundation published its latest State of Vaccine Confidence Insights Report — a report it routinely produced for the Biden administration — in May 2021, Elisabeth Wilhelm, a “Vaccine Confidence Specialist” at the CDC, shared it with numerous CDC and White House officials, according to emails obtained by AFL. This prompted a meeting between agencies of the federal government, including the CDC and the NSC, about the vaccine disinformation, according to heavily redacted emails.

Sen. Marco Rubio Cites Project Veritas Undercover Video in Letter to Pfizer CEO on Alleged Gain-of-Function Research

January 28, 2023 Susan Berry, PhD

Florida U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R) cited the most recent undercover investigation released by Project Veritas (PV) in a letter to Albert Bourla, CEO of Pfizer, and noted that, according to the PV video, Pfizer may be conducting gain-of-function research to mutate the COVID virus to create additional variants and vaccines to combat them for profit. Rubio’s office noted that, in the PV exposé, Pfizer executive Jordon Trishton Walker claimed the drug company is considering the possibility of mutating the COVID virus itself via “directed evolution” in order to keep profiting off a continued stream of vaccines – which he later said would be a “cash cow” for the company.

SPN Poll: Parents Support School Choice

January 28, 2023 The Center Square

More than six out of every 10 voters with children under 18 would be receptive to the prospect of their child attending a school outside of their locally zoned public district, a new State Policy Network poll finds. Overall, the SPN State Voices opinion poll of roughly 2,000 registered voters conducted in partnership with Morning Consult through online interviews found that 62% of respondents said they would interested in such an option, some 30% of them very much so.

As House GOP Secures First Cooperation in Biden Probe, Pressure Grows for Damage Assessment

January 28, 2023 Just the News

As House Republicans secure the first government cooperation for their probe of President Joe Biden’s handling of classified documents, pressure is building in national security circles to conduct a damage assessment that could determine if the storage of national secrets at insecure locations aided foreign powers. On Thursday, two prominent figures — a new member of the House Intelligence Committee and the FBI’s former intelligence chief — became the latest to add their voices to calls for a national security assessment of the five tranches of documents found at Biden’s Wilmington, Del., home and his old think tank office in Washington D.C. since November.

Fiscal Hawks Warn Biden: No Debt Ceiling Deal Without Fiscal Reforms

January 28, 2023 M.D. Kittle

The fiscal hawks are sticking to their guns. On Friday, Sens. Ron Johnson (R-WI) and J.D. Vance (R-OH) joined 22 of their fellow Republican senators in a letter warning President Joe Biden that they will not vote for increasing the debt ceiling without structural reforms to the federal government’s budget and debt problems.

Milwaukee County Supervisor Resigns amid Misconduct Questions

January 28, 2023January 27, 2023 M.D. Kittle

A Milwaukee County Supervisor has resigned under a cloud of misconduct in office allegations.

Supervisor Dyango Zerpa, who represents the county’s 14th District, is leaving to “pursue other opportunities,” his attorney Michael Maistelman told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Maistelman did not return a call from The Star News Network seeking comment.

Commentary: January 6 Was the Worst Incident of Police Brutality Since Civil Rights Era

January 28, 2023 Admin

One might be inclined to apply Hanlon’s razor—never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity—to the actions of law enforcement on January 6, 2021. One might even be inclined to replace “stupidity” with “incompetence” to explain why police behaved the way they did that afternoon. But a growing body of evidence suggests neither stupidity nor incompetence can justify what now appears to be the worst incident of police brutality against political protesters since the civil rights era. After two years of watching cherry-picked video clips produced by the Department of Justice and the news media to depict Trump supporters as the violent aggressors on January 6, the public now has an opportunity to see what really happened thanks to police body camera footage released at trial.

Commentary: States Raising Taxes on the Rich Should Expect a Line at the Exit

January 28, 2023 RealClearWire

It’s an old aphorism that if you tax something, you get less of it. Seven states are at risk of finding out exactly how that truism applies to wealth tax legislation introduced in each should their proposed taxes become law.

25 States Sue Biden Administration over Federal ESG Policy

January 28, 2023 The Center Square

Twenty-five attorneys general and several other plaintiffs have sued the Biden administration asking the court to halt a federal ESG policy that could negatively impact the retirement savings of 152 million Americans. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court Northern District Amarillo Division naming Secretary of Labor Martin Walsh and the U.S. Department of Labor as defendants.

GOP Sen. Cotton Vows to Stall Nominations Until Congress Gets Biden, Trump Classified Docs

January 28, 2023 Just the News

Arkansas Republican Sen. Tom Cotton vowed that lawmakers would stall Biden government nominations until it handed over the materials the FBI recovered from both former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden. “Until the administration stops stonewalling Congress, there will be pain as a consequence for them,” Cotton said, according to The Hill. “Whether it’s blocking nominees or withholding budgetary funds, Congress will impose pain on the administration until they provide these documents.”

Agriculture Economists See Several Concerns for Farmers in 2023

January 28, 2023 The Center Square

Farmers aren’t likely to enjoy a calm year this year, according to agricultural economists from Purdue University. After a year of dealing with historic inflation rates, farmers must now be prepared for an economic downturn that could spark a recession. However, there’s even more uncertainty across the horizon, said Roman Keeney, an associate professor of economics at Purdue’s College of Agriculture.

Pfizer Executive Heard Claiming Company Considering Mutating COVID Virus Itself to Continue Profiting Off Vaccines, Later Seen Assaulting Project Veritas Founder James O’Keefe

January 27, 2023 Susan Berry, PhD

A top-level Pfizer executive revealed to an undercover Project Veritas (PV) journalist that the pharmaceutical giant is considering the possibility of mutating the COVID virus itself via “directed evolution” in order to keep profiting off a continued stream of vaccines. Following the release of the first video, which was published Wednesday, Jordon Trishton Walker, Pfizer director of Research and Development, Strategic Operations – mRNA Scientific Planner, is seen in a second video assaulting PV founder James O’Keefe and his staff in a restaurant, and destroying the iPad showing the undercover video recordings.

Court Releases Body Cam Footage of Attack on Paul Pelosi

January 27, 2023January 27, 2023 Just the News

A San Francisco court Friday released the video and audio tapes of the attack last year on Paul Pelosi, husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Pelosi was attacked Oct. 28, 2022, in his and his wife\’s San Francisco townhouse allegedly by David DePape.

Republican Senators Re-Introduce No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act

January 27, 2023January 26, 2023 M.D. Kittle

In a show of pro-life solidarity, 47 Republican U.S. senators are re-introducing a bill that would establish a permanent prohibition on federal funding for abortion, replacing the current restrictions with a single, government-wide standard.

The No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, the lawmakers say, attempts to clean up inconsistent and haphazard policies that have regulated federal funding for abortion.

U.S. GDP Ticks Up, but Recession Fears Remain

January 27, 2023 Just the News

The U.S. economy grew modestly in the fourth quarter of 2022, despite signs of weak domestic demand, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) Thursday. In the fourth quarter, inflation-adjusted gross domestic product (GDP) grew by roughly 2.9%, down slightly from 3.2% in the third quarter, the BEA reported. Recession concerns among economists linger, however, amid fears that the Federal Reserve’s campaign of interest rate hikes — intended to reduce economic demand to slow inflation — will lead to reduced spending and layoffs, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Schiff Launches Campaign for Feinstein’s California Senate Seat, Setting Up Epic Democrat Primary

California Rep. Adam Schiff on Thursday launched his 2024 campaign for Senate, possibly setting up a Democratic primary challenge against incumbent Sen. Dianne Feinstein. “When a dangerous demagogue tried to undermine our democracy, I wasn’t about to let him,” Schiff says in a voice-over in his first campaign ad as videos of former President Donald Trump play.

Government Report: Unemployment Fraud May Top $60 Billion During Pandemic

January 27, 2023 The Center Square

A U.S. government report released Monday estimates that there could have been more than $60 billion in unemployment insurance fraud during the pandemic. The report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office says that figure is an estimate spread over the entire unemployment system and should be “interpreted with caution.”

Sens. Ron Johnson, Roger Wicker Introduce Senate ‘No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act’

January 27, 2023 Susan Berry, PhD

Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson (R) and Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker (R) led 45 of their Republican colleagues in introducing the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, a measure that would permanently prohibit federal funding for abortion. Johnson and Wicker introduced the legislation Wednesday, a measure that would establish a “permanent prohibition on federal funding for abortion, replacing the current restrictions with a single, government-wide standard,” said a press release from Johnson’s office.

Nationally Watched Wisconsin Supreme Court Race Is a Battle Beyond the Badger State

January 27, 2023January 26, 2023 M.D. Kittle

The national left is all in on Wisconsin’s crucial Supreme Court race, a contest that will not only determine whether conservatives or liberals control the high court, but the fate of Gov. Tony Evers’ liberal agenda and, possibly, the 2024 presidential election.

Conservative Supreme Court candidate Daniel Kelly, a former justice on the court, says the race is about the very survival of the constitution and the rule of law.

Commentary: The Real Differences Between the Biden and Trump Troves

Donald Trump for now certainly seems to have had more documents labeled classified at Mar-a-Lago in Florida than did Joe Biden at his various homes in Delaware. Yet otherwise, the comparisons between the two cases, contrary to popular punditry, hardly favor Biden.

Commentary: Nationwide Rent Control Is a Dangerous Proposition

Some of our nation’s politicians seem to know very little about basic economic principles despite constantly proposing legislative action on economic issues. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D–Mass.) and Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D–N.Y.) now want federal regulators to impose rent control on the entire nation. In their letter to the Biden administration, which was signed by 50 members of Congress, Warren and Bowman request that the administration “pursue all possible strategies” to control high rents. These politicians portray themselves as fighting for the average American, but, if they get their way, the results will be catastrophic.

Cardinal Says Pope Francis Has No ‘Contact with the Holy Spirit’ in New Book