Human Rights Group Warns FBI: Cuban Regime Members Are Masquerading as Asylum Seekers

A project from the Florida-based Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba that works with activists and victims of political persecution in Cuba recently reported the presence of an alleged repressor of the Cuban communist regime in the United States. Cuban Repressors, a program of the Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba (FDHC), filed a formal complaint with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on Jan. 4, against 55-year old Cuban citizen Iran Septiem Suarez, accusing him of “advising and participating in the repressive political persecution of Cuban activists on the island,” according to former political prisoner and Florida Cuban Repressors Director Rolando Cartaya told ADN Cuba.

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Fed Hike Rates .025 Percent as Inflation Fears Loom

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday raised interest rates by 25 basis points, issuing an 0.25 percent hike in line with earlier expectations in a move that signals a rate slowdown in the Fed’s fight against inflation. The Fed said in a statement that its Federal Open Market Committee “anticipates that ongoing increases in the target range” will still be necessary “in order to attain a stance of monetary policy that is sufficiently restrictive to return inflation to 2 percent over time,” a sign that the central bank will be looking to more rate hikes in the near future.

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Biden’s Second Home in Delaware Searched by FBI for Classified Documents

President Joe Biden’s personal residence in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, was searched by the U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday as part of an ongoing probe into classified documents, according to a statement released by Biden’s personal attorney. “Today, with the President’s full support and cooperation, the DOJ is conducting a planned search of his home in Rehoboth, Delaware,” attorney Bob Bauer said in a statement. “Under DOJ’s standard procedures, in the interests of operational security and integrity, it sought to do this work without advance public notice, and we agreed to cooperate.”

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Ohio Governor DeWine Asks for Family and Education Policy Changes in State of the State Address

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine proposed major expansions of various social programs in his 2023 State of the State address to legislators in Columbus on Tuesday.

The Republican governor called on lawmakers to enact a variety of new policies to aid families through the budget for Fiscal Years 2024 and 2025. Those requests include allowing parents who adopted children from private agencies to access Medicaid coverage and expanding a home-visit program providing health assistance to expectant mothers. 

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Republican Think Tank Leader Matt Mayer Announces Exploratory Campaign for Ohio Governor in 2026

Republicans swept the statewide positions, beginning with the governor, in the November general election. However, a probable Republican candidate for the upcoming 2026 election for governor has already been identified.

Former president of the conservative policy organization Buckeye Institute, Matt Mayer now serves as president of Opportunity Ohio. Due to the time and resources required to create that campaign, he has decided to launch an exploratory campaign for the Republican nomination for governor in 2026.

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Ohio Senate Bill Allows Drivers with Marijuana in Their System to Prove They’re Not Impaired

A bill filed by Republicans in the state Senate would allow Ohioans stopped by law enforcement for driving with marijuana in their system to attempt to demonstrate that marijuana usage did not impair their driving.

Senate Bill (SB) 26 sponsored by state Senator Nathan Manning (R-North Ridgeville) would allow people the possibility to avoid an OVI even if they tested positive for marijuana by claiming they were sober. Manning told The Star that the legislation looks to address the challenging science of marijuana use and how long it lingers in the body after any benefits have worn off.

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Second Amendment Lawsuit Challenges ATF’s New Gun Control Rule

A new federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ (ATF) rule on pistols with stabllizing braces faces a Second Amendment lawsuit filed on behalf of disabled veterans.

The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) filed the complaint Tuesday in the U.S. Northern District of Texas Amarillo Division.

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Acquitted Pro-Life Activist Describes Raid of Family Home by FBI and State Troopers

Veteran Catholic pro-life activist Mark Houck described to Steve Bannon Tuesday the scene at his family’s home on September 23, 2022, when over 20 FBI agents and Pennsylvania state troopers banged on his door at 6:45 a.m.

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Overregulation Can Limit Reach, Effectiveness of U.S. Charities

Overregulation of charitable organizations can make it more difficult to get care to residents where they need it most, according to a new study from Philanthropy Roundtable, a Washington D.C.-based organization dedicated to protecting philanthropic freedom. 

The group’s analysis classified state regulations of charities into five categories: start-up regulations, annual reporting requirements, rules for paid solicitors, audit mandates and oversight regulations. Pacific Research Institute economist Wayne Winegarden wrote the report, The 50 State Index of Charity Regulations, for Philanthropy Roundtable.

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Rittman City Council Seeks to Reinstate Higher Tax Rates After Overtaxing Mistake

Angry community members confronted municipal leaders over taxes at a tense meeting on Monday after learning they had been overtaxed for 15 years.

Residents had the chance to express their concerns and ask questions of city council members and other local leaders while there was standing room only inside the Rittman Recreation Center. Most were irate after receiving a letter informing them that Rittman had been overtaxing them on municipal income tax.

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Wyoming Bill Would Allocate Resources to Fund Border Wall

Republican lawmakers in Wyoming are advancing legislation that would appropriate more than $5 million toward border security efforts in Texas, Arizona and Florida.

SF0166, “Border wall and sanctuary city transport,” was filed by Republican state Sen. Larry Hicks, with Sens. Dave Kinskey, John Kolb and Cheri Steinmetz cosponsoring. Republican state Reps. John Bear, Donald Burkhart, Mark Jennings, and Ember Oakley filed the House companion bill.

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Ohio City’s Sanctuary City for the Unborn Goes into Effect After Abortion Activists Drop Lawsuit

After pro-abortion groups decided to abandon their lawsuit, the city of Lebanon, Ohio may start implementing its Sanctuary City for the Unborn ordinance once more.

In May of 2021, Lebanon, Ohio became the first in the state to enact a measure outlawing abortion and declaring itself “a sanctuary city for the unborn.” According to the Sanctuary City for the Unborn website, more than 60 other cities across the U.S. have passed similar ordinances.

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Commentary: Big Philanthropy Advances as a Big Player in the Private Funding of Public Elections

Echoing the private financing of public elections that critics saw as heavily favoring Democrats in 2020, some of America’s richest foundations are pouring money into a similar effort again, in the face of more organized conservative resistance.  

A nonprofit group called the Audacious Project, whose supporters include the Gates and MacArthur foundations and the Bridgespan Group, a consultant whose clients include Planned Parenthood, has committed $80 million to a progressive organization, the Center for Tech and Civic Life, to provide grant funding to run local elections.   

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Music Spotlight: Casi Joy

NASHVILLE, Tennessee- Casi Joy has been singing publicly since she was 5 years old. Her first performance was a talent at her hometown’s local talent show near Kansas City, Missouri. Not being from a musical family, her parents were a little confused by her desire to become a singer.

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Commentary: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Has Already Killed Public Education

During the last few years, most conservatives have become at least dimly aware that leftist ideology, in the guise of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), has infected public education. It’s unlikely, however, that many Americans realize just how far the disease has advanced. It has long since spread beyond a few courses embedded into the social studies curricula of secondary schools and elite colleges. Public school students as young as 9 and 10 years of age effortlessly recite leftist shibboleths even as they descend into functional illiteracy in reading, writing, math, and science.

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Nation’s Highest-Paid Teachers Are Shutting Down Schools to Demand Higher Pay

Teachers of a Massachusetts school district are striking for a second day over higher pay, according to Boston 25 News.

Woburn Public School District canceled classes for a second day on Tuesday as teachers continue to strike for a 14.75% raise, an increase in salary for paraprofessionals and smaller class sizes, according to Boston 25 News. Massachusetts‘ teachers are among the highest paid teachers in the country, averaging more than $88,000 for a full time salary, according to World Population Review.

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