May 9, 2023 - The Arizona Sun Times

Jury Holds Trump Liable for Battery, Defamation in E. Jean Carroll Case

May 9, 2023 Just the News

A jury held former President Donald Trump liable for battery and defamation after hearing arguments in a civil trial brought by writer E. Jean Carroll, who said Trump raped her in a department store during the 1990s. Trump’s conduct was specifically determined to have been sexual abuse. The jury awarded roughly $2 million in damages to Carroll for the battery count, according to CNN. Carroll will also receive $3 million for the defamation count.

Republican State Representative Applauds Increased Access to Childcare Coming to Arizona

May 9, 2023May 8, 2023 Neil Jones

Arizona State Representative Matt Gress (R-Phoenix) released a statement Friday applauding the new executive rulemaking from Governor Katie Hobbs (D) that aims to increase access to childcare services in the state.

“This policy is designed to expand opportunities for Arizona’s working families and provide more options for their children when they are not in school,” Gress said. “Given the lack of providers for school-age children, it is crucial that we increase the supply of childcare centers to better serve our communities. For parents that qualify for federal subsidy, this effort will help ensure that parents can continue to work and provide for their families. I applaud the Governor for taking action on this important issue.”

Republicans Take a Page from Democrats, Offer Novel Idea on Medicaid

May 9, 2023 Just the News

Democrats are trying to paint Republicans as enemies of Medicaid, but Florida GOP Rep. Daniel Webster is gaining support for a bill that would provide a tax deduction to healthcare providers in exchange for pro bono health services for people who rely on Medicaid or CHIP, the Children’s Health Insurance Program.

Webster’s Helping Everyone Access Long Term Healthcare Act, or HEALTH Act, would amend the IRS code to allow medical professionals to take a tax deduction for the value of service performed, which he says will reduce the amount of paperwork associated with the low-income healthcare systems.

South Carolina Mom Asks School Board ‘Why Are Adult Teachers Allowed to Sponsor a Group Regarding Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity with Minors?’

May 9, 2023May 8, 2023 Susan Berry, PhD

A South Carolina parent challenged the school board of Richland School District Two in Columbia where Blythewood High School (BHS) hosted the Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) “No Place for Hate” program that invites children to “explore identity,” and “apply this understanding to recognize the relationship between identity, bias and power.”

Transgender and ‘Queer Theory’ Materials in K-12 Schools in All Continental United States: Map

May 9, 2023 Admin

Campus Reform surveyed the entire US and found instances of K-12 public school districts carrying children’s books with messaging about “gender identity,” some including sexually explicit material.

As Juvenile Crime Skyrockets to Record Levels, States Seek to Crack Down

May 9, 2023 Admin

As juvenile crime has skyrocketed across the nation following the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, state lawmakers are looking to pass laws to curb rising youth violence and lawlessness.

Juvenile homicides nationwide increased by 44% from 2019 to 2020 and increased by 83% from 2013 to 2020, according to data from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, as school closures and police reforms have contributed to rising youth crime. Lawmakers in Kentucky, Louisiana, Alabama, Florida and New Jersey have introduced bills to implement measures such as penalty enhancements for juvenile gang members, as well as mandatory holding periods for juveniles charged with violent crimes, to address the rising violence.

Ballot Signature Matching System in Maricopa County Is ‘Almost Illegal,’ Says Longtime FBI Expert

May 9, 2023May 8, 2023 Just the News

As Kari Lake’s lawsuit returns to the trial court for consideration of alleged violations of Maricopa County’s signature verification rules in the Arizona 2022 general election, a retired FBI counterintelligence agent with longtime expertise in signature analysis says that matching ballot signatures with little time to review is “almost illegal.”

If election workers have a limited amount of time to review signatures on early ballots to ensure they match with voters’ files, it’s “almost illegal to have it work that way,” said retired FBI Special Agent Wayne A. Barnes, adding, “almost pathetic.”

State Lawmakers Urge Gov. Hobbs to Protect Arizona’s Water Supply from the Colorado River

May 9, 2023May 8, 2023 Neil Jones

A group of Republican lawmakers, including Representatives Gail Griffin (R-Hereford), Lupe Diaz (R-Benson), and Senator Sine Kerr (R-Buckeye), sent Governor Katie Hobbs (D) a letter Friday, demanding that she stick up for Arizona’s water future and defend access to the Colorado River.

“Under the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation’s (“BOR”) Action Alternative 1 for allocating cuts on the Colorado River, which allocates cuts based strictly on the seniority of rights, Arizona’s citizens that rely on the Central Arizona Project will see dramatic reductions, potentially cutting them off from the Colorado River completely,” the legislators wrote. “With our state’s population and economic prosperity on the line, protecting our state’s share of the Colorado River from the looming risk of complete disconnection is paramount.”

Victor Davis Hanson Commentary: The Impending Thermidor Reaction in Jacobin America

May 9, 2023 Admin

The decade-long French Revolution that broke out in 1789 soon devolved into far more than removing the monarchy, as it became antithetical to the earlier American precedent. American notions of liberty and freedom were seen as far too narrow, given the state, if only all-powerful and all-wise, could mandate “equality” and force “fraternity” among its subjects.

Each cycle of French revolutionary fervor soon became more radicalized and cannibalistic — until it reached its logical ends of violent absurdity.

Commentary: Mr. President, the Debt Ceiling and Spending Cuts Were Linked in 2011 and 1996

May 9, 2023 Admin

“You just can’t. No one’s ever tied them together before.”

That was President Joe Biden on MSNBC on May 6, claiming that Congress has never increased the debt ceiling in exchange for budget, spending and regulatory changes.

There’s only one problem. It’s completely false.

School District Pays Thousands for Controversial Emotional Survey Program with Ties to Merrick Garland

May 9, 2023 Admin

A Massachusetts school district has spent more than $30,000 to conduct “social-emotional learning” (SEL) surveys on students and staff led by an educational organization founded by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland’s son-in-law, according to a public records request by Parents Defending Education (PDE), a parental rights in education group.

From 2018 to 2023, Old Rochester Regional School District spent $30,620.25 to partner with Panorama Education through January 2024 to conduct SEL surveys and trainings, a learning concept that has been accused of laying the foundation for Critical Race Theory (CRT), according to a public records obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation. Panorama Education has previously come under fire by parents for its connections to Garland, who directed the FBI in 2021 to “use its authority” on parents who protested at school board meetings.

DHS ‘Bystander’ Training Singles out Pro-Lifers, Government Critics as ‘Radicalization’ Suspects

May 9, 2023 Just the News

Nine days after President Biden’s inauguration, a Department of Homeland Security office proposed creating several “Choose Your Own Adventure” videos to show Americans how to identify and mitigate “radicalization and potential violence.”

Among the Americans that worry the sprawling bureaucracy created in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks: middle-aged pro-life women, white men who question the government, and divorced mothers who suspect “government connections to child abuse and trafficking.”

U.S. Crude Oil Production Approaches Pre-Pandemic Levels

May 9, 2023 The Center Square

For the first two months of 2023, production of crude oil in the U.S. neared pre-COVID levels, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

The production of crude oil in the U.S. in January and February was the most since March 2020 when the pandemic hit.

The U.S. produced 12.54 million barrels of crude oil per day in January and 12.48 million barrels per day in February. That represented the highest levels since 12.80 million barrels per day in March 2020.