April 12, 2023 - The Michigan Star

Sarah Sanders Signs Bill to Ban Parole for Rapists and Human Traffickers

April 12, 2023 Michigan Star Staff

Republican Arkansas Gov. Sarah Sanders signed a bill Tuesday to stop criminals in prison for rape, first-degree murder, human trafficking and some other felony offenses committed after 2024 from being released early.

The Protect Arkansas Act will make those who commit any of 24 felonies including rape, aggravated robbery and child pornography possession ineligible for parole and require people incarcerated for a variety of other felony crimes like manslaughter and fentanyl delivery committed in 2025 or later to serve at least 85 percent of their court-assigned sentences. Sanders signed the act surrounded by law enforcement personnel, and tweeted, “The failed public safety status quo ends today in Arkansas.”

Walter Reed Military Hospital Reviewing Contract for Chaplain Services After Ordering Off Catholic Priests

April 12, 2023 Michigan Star Staff

The Pentagon’s health agency said Tuesday it is reviewing a contract for chaplaincy services at Walter Reed Military Medical Center after facing backlash for sending a “cease and desist” letter to the Franciscan Friars at Holy Name College Friary in Silver Spring, Maryland, according to the Washington Times.

The Defense Health Agency (DHA) terminated a 20-year relationship with the Friars on March 31, just before Easter Sunday, instead awarding a contract to a private firm that Catholic authorities say cannot provide chaplain services according to their religious tradition, because chaplains must work for a bishop, not a private company. Congressional Republicans sent a letter Tuesday to DHA calling the decision “unconscionable,” prompting a promise from Walter Reed to reevaluate the contract, the Washington Times reported.

Catholic Advocacy Group Prepared to Sue FBI for Failure to Comply With FOIA on Targeting of ‘Radical Traditional Catholics’

April 12, 2023 Susan Berry, PhD

A leading national Catholic advocacy organization says it is prepared to file a lawsuit against the FBI for failing to comply with its Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request that seeks communications information related to a leaked document that revealed the bureau was targeting so-called “radical traditional Catholics.”

Hunter Biden’s Business Associates Visited White House over 80 Times When Father Was Vice President

April 12, 2023April 11, 2023 Just the News

Seven of Hunter Biden’s business associates from his now-defunct investment firm visited the White House over 80 times while Biden’s father, Joe Biden, served as vice president, according to visitor logs.

The visitors from Biden’s now-defunct firm Rosemont Seneca Advisors include four business partners, the company’s vice president and two assistants, according to logs reviewed Tuesday by Fox News Digital.

California Mom Furious After School Kept 11-Year-Old’s Gender Transition Hidden Due to ‘Parental Secrecy Policy’

April 12, 2023April 11, 2023 Susan Berry, PhD

A California mother whose 11-year-old daughter had allegedly been helped to transition from female to male by school personnel accused the school district of keeping information about her child’s gender transition from her.

Aurora Regino, whose daughter attends an elementary school in the Chico Unified School District, told the school board last Wednesday that, during a meeting with her daughter and a school guidance counselor last school year, the child told the counselor she wanted her mother to know about her new identity.

National Pro-Life Group Praises Ruling Suspending FDA’s ‘Rubber Stamp’ of Abortion Drug as Democrat-Led States Stockpile Pills

April 12, 2023 Susan Berry, PhD

One of the nation’s leading pro-life organizations is praising the ruling out of a U.S. district court in Texas Friday that has stayed the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval of the abortion drug mifepristone nationwide.

However, within hours of the ruling by Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, a Donald Trump appointee, a Washington State federal judge then issued a decision in State of Washington v. United States Food and Drug Administration, which blocked “altering the status quo and rights as it relates to the availability of Mifepristone.”

Biden Admin Announces Strategy to Combat Fentanyl Supply Chain

April 12, 2023 Michigan Star Staff

The Biden administration announced Tuesday its strategy for combating the supply chain allowing illicit fentanyl to enter the U.S. to kill Americans.

The plan includes partnering with other countries, increasing law enforcement information sharing, leveraging the private sector, increasing financial sanctions and urging congressional action, the White House said in a statement. Roughly 70,000 people in the U.S. died of synthetic opioid overdoses in 2021, up from roughly 57,000 in 2020, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

1 Million Michiganders to See Records Expunged Today

April 12, 2023April 11, 2023 The Center Square

More than 1 million Michiganders should receive automatic expungements today for their criminal records, thanks to Clean Slate legislation enacted in 2020 and effective Tuesday.

The Michigan State Police launched its new automatic program to search the state’s Criminal Historical Record database system daily for eligible convictions to expunge automatically.

Commentary: Biden’s 10-Year Plan for Fiscal Disaster

April 12, 2023 Michigan Star Staff

Last month, President Joe Biden unveiled his proposed 10-year budget plan. The dollar figures are eye-popping: $17 trillion dollars in additional debt.

The previous 10-year period, 2013 through 2022, saw the national debt rise by an unprecedented $14 trillion, an amount that was turbo-boosted by the over-the-top COVID spending blowout. Yet, instead of a return to the bad-enough normalcy of an annual debt increase measured in the hundreds of billions rather than trillions, Biden wants to set a new record for debt accumulated in a decade, with an average annual deficit of $1.7 trillion being his “new normal.”

Commentary: Trump Should Fight Fire with Fire

April 12, 2023 Michigan Star Staff

John Adams may have summed up the American experiment best: “We are a government of laws, not men.” This was the origin of all talk of a “rule of law.”

Alas, we are currently a nation in manifest decline. Accordingly, “rule of law,” the cornerstone of our judicial system, must be radically reassessed. The concept, much like the justice system as a whole, has been contaminated, perhaps irrevocably, by bad-faith actors, for which the Constitution, understood in its proper, historical context, is totally foreign. Our historic Constitution ought to be understood as hopelessly forgotten by those now tasked to defend its sacred tenets. And so accounts for the present chaos.

Small Businesses Are Less Optimistic About the Future, Survey Finds

April 12, 2023 The Center Square

Small businesses are less optimistic about the future, a newly released survey shows.

The National Federation of Independent Businesses released survey results showing their small business optimism index decreased in March, “marking the 15th consecutive month below the 49-year average of 98.”

Commentary: ‘Splintered’ Court Ruling Throws January 6 Prosecution into Chaos

April 12, 2023 Michigan Star Staff

A Massachusetts man on Friday was charged with a felony related to his participation in the protest at the Capitol on January 6, 2021. Mark Sahady already faced misdemeanors for his nonviolent and brief jaunt through the building that afternoon, but the Justice Department decided to add the common “obstruction of an official proceeding” charge to Sahady’s case on April 7.

That same day, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia threw Sahady—and more than 300 January 6 defendants charged with the same obstruction felony—a potential lifeline. In what one judge described as a “splintered decision,” a three-judge panel narrowly reversed a lower court ruling that tossed the obstruction count against three Capitol protesters. D.C. District Court Judge Carl Nichols dismissed the charge last year largely based on the argument that the statute “requires that the defendant have taken some action with respect to a document, record, or other object in order to corruptly obstruct, impede or influence an official proceeding.”

Commentary: China Builds the New World Order with Biden Asleep at the Wheel

April 12, 2023 Michigan Star Staff

China is rapidly growing economically, militarily, and influentially, and none of this is good for the United States. Since diplomatic ties with China were officially established in 1979 under President Jimmy Carter, each president has done a fair job (some better than others) of keeping China in check on the international stage, despite China’s growth. All with the exception of President Joe Biden, who has allowed China to lead a global coalition and a new world order against the United States of America, which has fulfilled our worst fears.

Music Spotlight Artist Julia Cole Hosts Circle Network’s ‘Ultimate Fan Fest’

April 12, 2023 Bethany Bowman

Premiering April 13th, Circle TV partners with Nashville-based singer/songwriter and Music Spotlight artist to bring the network’s newest series, “Ultimate Fan Fest.”