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Louisiana Congresswoman Julia Letlow Announces Four Grants Bringing Over $16 Million To The Fifth District

Press Release
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Below is a press release from Louisiana Congresswoman Julia Letlow.

Today, Congresswoman Julia Letlow (LA-05) announced four new grants that will bring the Fifth District $16,326,482 million. Congresswoman Letlow wrote numerous letters of support and worked diligently to bring the grants to fruition, as they all bring in funding specifically for projects located in the Fifth District.

The Columbia Port Commission in Caldwell Parish has been awarded $10,537,798 for the Ouachita River and Louisiana Highway 165 Multimodal Connectivity and Safety Project. This project will fund the land acquisition and construction activities for a Truck Parking Facility located near the inland Port of Columbia, Ouachita River, and Louisiana State Highway 165. This is much needed infrastructure, and will provide parking for approximately 50 commercial trucks and 100 cars. 

The Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana in Marksville has been awarded a $1.6 million grant by the Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) for the construction of a manufacturing facility. Named the Garan Building, this facility will go to support the growth of the manufacturing sector in that region and create new jobs in the area. With the local funds match of $250,000, it has the potential to generate $1.4 million in private investment and over 100 jobs. 

Through the Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA) Delta States Rural Development Network Grant Program, the Richland Parish Hospital in Delhi, Louisiana has been awarded $1,188,684. This hospital has dedicated itself to providing care for rural, underserved areas. To support them and their highly critical work, Congresswoman Letlow voiced her support for this grant early on, specifically citing their Adolescent Pre-Diabetes Prevention Program. This grant will allow them to provide life-saving preventative care.

Finally, the Fifth District will receive $3,000,000 for the Alexandria International Airport through the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Airport Improvement Program (AIP). This grant will allow Alexandria International to acquire additional land surrounding the airport to provide noise control.

Florida Republicans Tell Biden to Respect Parents’ Rights

Matt OHern
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Florida Republicans Tell Biden to Respect Parents’ Rights

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio joined fellow Republicans in the Florida Congressional Delegation to send a letter to President Joe Biden. The letter urged Biden to respect parents’ rights to inquire about school curriculum for public schools,and asked about his administration’s involvement with the Southern Poverty Law Center. Earlier this month, SPLC designated Moms for Liberty as an anti-government “extremist group.”

According to a press release from Sen. Rubio, SPLC’s director previously met with the Biden Administration’s National Security Council counterterrorism director John Picarelli, raising concerns that the White House encouraged or was involved in the SPLC targeting Moms for Liberty.

An excerpt from the letter reads:

“SPLC’s bad-faith designation of Moms for Liberty, as well as other parental rights groups, should come as no surprise, as SPLC is a corrupt and vicious tool of progressive radicals seeking to label individuals and groups with whom they disagree as hateful and/or extremist…. Is the administration using SPLC to assist in the U.S. Department of Justice’s targeting of parents?”

Joining Rubio were U.S. Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), and U.S. Representatives Bill Posey (R-FL), Neal Dunn (R-FL), Scott Franklin (R-FL), Daniel Webster (R-FL), Aaron Bean (R-FL), Greg Steube (R-FL), Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), Kat Cammack (R-FL), Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), and Byron Donalds (R-FL). 

The text of the letter is is below. 

Dear Mr. President:

We write to express serious concerns regarding your administration’s recent contact with the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).

On June 6, 2023, SPLC published a report titled Introduction: 2022 The Year in Hate and Extremism Comes to Main Street.  Among many things, this report smears parental rights groups that are concerned about the quality and content of their children’s education.  Parents have rightfully been concerned about draconian COVID-era polices that resulted in severe learning loss, school activities rooted in critical race theory, and curricula that are inappropriate for young children. SPLC takes specific aim at Moms for Liberty, a Florida-based group founded by mothers seeking to reassert the role of parents in their kids’ education, calling them an “extremist group.”  SPLC’s bad-faith designation of Moms for Liberty, as well as other parental rights groups, should come as no surprise, as SPLC is a corrupt and vicious tool of progressive radicals seeking to label individuals and groups with whom they disagree as hateful and/or extremist. 

SPLC’s designation also follows your administration actions to target concerned parents for scrutinizing decisions from local education leaders.  And indeed, there is reason to suspect your administration has been coordinating with SPLC on this matter.  It was recently reported that Susan Corke, director of SPLC’s Intelligence Project, met with National Security Council counterterrorism director John Picarelli earlier this year.  This meeting raises serious questions as to whether the White House encouraged SPLC to work on behalf of the administration to label parental rights groups and organizations as “extremist groups.” 

Given these concerns, we demand answers to the following questions:

  1. What was the purpose of Director Picarelli and Susan Corke’s meeting?
  2. During this meeting, did the White House, in any way, encourage, incentivize, or pressure SPLC to label parental rights groups and organizations as “extremist groups”?
  3. Is the administration using SPLC to assist in the U.S. Department of Justice’s targeting of parents?
  4. Can the administration confirm that neither the White House, nor any federal agency, including the U.S. Department of Justice, is actively using taxpayer dollars to target parents?
  5. Does the administration agree with SPLC that parental rights groups should be labeled “extremist groups”?

Thank you for your attention to this matter. We look forward to your prompt response.

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North Carolina to Receive $1.5 Billion for High-Speed Internet

Matt OHern
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North Carolina to Receive $1.5 Billion for High-Speed Internet

North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis (R) announced that the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is allocating $1.53 billion to North Carolina as part of the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program. The funds will be used by the state of North Carolina to expand access to high-speed internet through planning, infrastructure deployment, and adoption programs. Funding comes directly from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which was based on a bill that Sen.Tillis helped negotiate, write, and pass. The new law resulted in the largest investment to expand access to high-speed internet in the nation’s history. 

“I’m proud to have worked on the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that will deliver more than $1.5 billion to expand access to high-speed internet across the state,” said Senator Tillis said in an official statement. “This is a game-changing investment that will help bridge the digital divide for North Carolina’s rural communities and deploy the resources that families need and deserve.”

According to a press release from North Carolina governor Roy Cooper, the N.C. Department of Information Technology’s (NCDIT’s) Division of Broadband and Digital Equity has developed a draft five-year plan outlining how the agency will invest BEAD funding across North Carolina.The division will submit the five-year plan to NTIA by July 29 as part of the process for North Carolina to access its allocated BEAD funding.

“State and federal partnerships are critical to helping us close the digital divide and we are grateful to the Biden-Harris administration for this historic investment to expand high-speed Internet access in North Carolina,” said Governor Cooper. “Through this program, we will continue to make tremendous progress in making sure every household and business in our state is connected.”

The broadband division recently announced that its challenges to the Federal Communications Commission’s National Broadband Map aided in surfacing 115,000 additional North Carolina homes and businesses that do not have access to high-speed internet, adding more new unserved locations to the map through this process than any other state.

New Poll Shows Biden Tied with DeSantis, Independents Concerned About Trump Indictments

Matt OHern
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New Poll Shows Biden Tied with DeSantis, Independents Concerned About Trump Indictments

New poll results indicate that Donald Trump’s popularity among independent voters has slipped after recent legal struggles. In addition to that troubling trend for the former president, the same poll showed Trump’s top in-party rival, Ron DeSantis, defeating incumbent President Joe Biden in a hypothetical matchup, while Trump lost to Biden.

A major difference between independents and Republican voters was notable on the issue of recent indictments on Trump raising concerns. A combined 77% of GOP primary voters say the federal charges against Trump in the classified document case give them either minor concerns (14%) or no real concerns at all (63%). That’s compared with 55% of all registered voters who say the charges give them either major concerns (47%) or moderate concerns (8%).

Forty-nine percent of Republicans said that Trump should continue as a party leader, which means that a former president didn’t gain the support of the majority of his party in a primary despite the fact that none of his opponents have presidential experience.

Despite the fact that less than half of Republicans polled want Trump to continue as a party leader, only 21% said they believe that it is already time to consider other leaders, A majority of those voters picked DeSantis as their first choice,

Twenty-nine percent of Republicans polled said the GOP needs a new leader with better personal behavior and an approach different from Trump’s. Among that 29%, the group’s support is spread among DeSantis, Pence, Christie and other candidates.

When it comes down to demographics in a choice between Biden and Trump, Biden’s largest lead is among black voters, who support Biden over Trump by a margin of 53, at 73% to 20%, and Trump’s largest lead is among rural voters, who support Trump over Biden by a margin of 42 at 68% to 26%. Trump’s second-strongest base of support is among white voters without college degrees, which he wins by a margin of 35, 60% to 35%. Biden’s second-strongest base of support is among Latinos, which support Biden over Trump by a margin of 40, at 66% to 26%.

Sixty-eight percent of the voters polled said they are concerned that Biden doesn’t have the necessary mental and physical health to be president, including 55% who say they have major concerns. Fifty-five percent say they have concerns about Trump’s mental health, including 44% who have major concerns.

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More UFO Whistleblowers May Soon Meet with Members of U.S. Congress

Matt OHern
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More UFO Whistleblowers May Soon Meet with Members of U.S. Congress

High-ranking U.S. officials could provide congress with new information surrounding government intel on Unidentified Flying Objects, commonly known as UFO’s, according to Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL).

Florida’s senior senator revealed that UFO whistleblower David Grusch isn’t the only person to come forward to share information with the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee, where Rubio serves as vice chair. Grusch, an Air Force veteran who worked with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) and the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), recently made international headlines when he claimed to have seen evidence of a secret UFO crash retrieval program. According to Rubio, other potential whistleblowers, many who have held or currently hold high-ranking clearances in high positions of government, have come to speak with the intelligence committee have been fearful of possible harm to their personal life and professional career.

“There are people who have come forward to share information with our committee over the last couple of years”, Rubio said. “I would imagine that some of them are perhaps some of the same people that he [Grusch] is referring to. I want to be very protective of these people. A lot of these people came to us even before protections were in the law for whistleblowers to come forward. Some are public figures and we’ve heard from them in the past. Others have not shared publicly, so we’re trying to gather as much of that information as we can. The reason why I’m being cautious, is not because I’m trying to be evasive, but I am trying to be protective of these people. Some of these people still work in the government, and frankly, a lot of them are very fearful. Fearful of their jobs. Fearful for their clearances. Fearful for their career, and some, frankly are fearful of harm coming to them.”

Rubio’s disclosures marked one of the few occasions when an elected official has mentioned high-ranking officials as potential witnesses to the existence of extraterrestrial spacecraft. Past witnesses, have consisted by low to mid-level ranking government employees and contractors, such as Bob Lazar, claimed to have first-hand experience with alien spacecraft around Area 51, but didn’t produce any hard evidence to verify their claims.

The Department of Defense, sparked national interest in 2020, when they released documents, including pilot-recorded footage of UFO’s, which they refer to as unidentified aerial phenomena. The U.S. Inspector General will investigate the claims of Grusch, and if they are deemed credible, the claims will be sent to Congress. The same path could occur with other claims if the Inspector General deems them credible.

Biden Reveals Southern States to Receive Billions for Broadband Internet Access

Matt OHern
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Biden Reveals Southern States to Receive Billions for Broadband Internet Access

President Joe Biden unveiled an official list of states that will receive a cumulative total of $40 billion funding for broadband internet access expansion, including multiple states in the southeastern region of the nation.

According to an official statement from the White House, 19 states received allocations over $1 billion with the top 10 allocations in Alabama, California, Georgia, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, Texas, Virginia and Washington. Awards range from $27 million to over $3.3 Billion, with every state receiving a minimum of $107 million.

Virginia senator Mark R. Warner (D) announced that his state would receive $1,481,489,527.87 in federal funding to deploy broadband and expand access to high-speed internet in Virginia.

“This whopping $1.4 billion investment brings us a giant step closer to achieving our goal of universal broadband coverage in Virginia,” Warner said. ”We all know that access to fast, reliable, and affordable internet is crucial to ensuring our rural communities grow and thrive, and I’m thrilled that Virginia is receiving the investment we need to deploy broadband all across the Commonwealth. This funding is in no small part thanks to the Virginians that took time out of their day to report their connectivity status. Because of these efforts, we were able to accurately report our coverage and access every cent to which Virginia was entitled.”

The Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program, administered by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), expands high-speed internet access by funding planning, infrastructure deployment and adoption programs. According to Warner, the Virginia Telecommunication Initiative (VATI) will reach unserved and underserved locations throughout the Commonwealth – those lacking 25/3 internet speeds and 100/20 internet speeds.

Georgia will receive $1.3 billion out of a $42 billion nationwide, according to Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga). Earlier today, Warnock tweeted: “I’m proud to announce a historic $1.3 billion federal investment in broadband expansion!  This will help make life easier for the 15% of Georgians who lack reliable internet access & give our communities the tools they need to compete in the 21st century.”

Florida’s First Female Governor Could Be Jeanette Nuñez

Matt OHern
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Florida’s First Female Governor Could Be Jeanette Nuñez

Many current polls don’t favor Ron DeSantis defeating Donald Trump for the 2024 Republican Primary, but if DeSantis were to win his party’s nomination and ultimately win the general election, then the state of Florida would make current Lt. Governor Jeanette Nuñez the state’s 47th governor. A transition from DeSantis to Nuñezwould mark the first female governor in Florida history.

Prior to Nuñez role as Florida’s Lt. Governor, the Miami native served as a member of the Florida House of Representatives from 2010 to 2018, where she represented a district that included regions of of Miami-Dade County and Broward County, both considered Democratic strongholds at the time. Nuñez raised her profile and elevated to the House leadership. She succeeded David Rivera, who ran for Congress in 2010. During the 2016 Republican presidential primaries, Núñez was a staunch supporter of U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, and fiercely opposed then candidate Donald Trump, but she ultimately endorsed Trump after he clinched the party’s nomination, and even spoke at the 2020 Republican Convention to show her support for Trump.

In March 2017, Nuñez was appointed to the Florida Constitution Revision Commission, a 37-member commission that reviews and proposes changes to the Florida Constitution. In 2018, DeSantis chose her to be his running mate.

In addition to her role as Lt. Gov, Núñez chairs an organization as Space Florida, promotes economic development of the space industry across the state of Florida. She also chairs the Florida Cybersecurity Task Force.

Núñez is a graduate of Florida International University (FIU), where she earned a Masters Degree in Public Administration and a Bachelor’s Degree in political science and international relations. Following graduation, she worked as chief of staff for state Senator Alex Diaz de la Portilla as his chief of staff, then entered the health care industry, working as as the Vice-President of Government Affairs at Jackson Health System. Núñez also worked for FIU as an adjunct professor and an advisor.

Núñez’ Political Record

  • Ran for Florida House on a campaign that prioritized job creation, deregulation and tax reduction.
  • On social issues, Núñez is staunchly pro-life, pro gun rights and pro religious freedom.
  • Nunez voted to limited the number of post-conviction appeals for the death penalty.
  • On environment and energy issues, Núñez favors fracking and reduction of burdensome business regulations.

North Carolina Governor Offers Rewards for Information in Two Homicide Cases

Matt OHern
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North Carolina Governor Offers Rewards for Information in Two Homicide Cases

Two open homicide cases in North Carolina received extra media attention today, as Governor Roy Cooper announced rewards for information leading to the arrest of the person or person’s or responsible for the respective cases.

One of the rewards is for up to $25,000 for a tip that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the murder of Gavin Alexander Plyler, age 24. According to police, on May 5, 2020, at approximately 9:16 p.m., law enforcement officers responded to a shooting at a home on East Park Avenue, Gastonia, North Carolina. Officers located Mr. Plyler on the couch suffering from a gunshot wound. Mr. Plyler later died from his injuries.

Anyone with information about this case should contact the Gastonia Police Department at (704) 866-6890 or the State Bureau of Investigation at (919) 662-4500.

The other homicide case involves the murder of Leon Williams, age 30. The state is also offering up to $25,000 in this case for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the .

According to a news release from Gov. Cooper, on October 27, 2020, at 7:12 p.m., officers with the Greensboro Police Department responded to a shooting in the 500 block of Andrew Street in Greensboro, North Carolina. Mr. Williams was located suffering from a gunshot wound. Mr. Williams later died from the injuries sustained in the shooting.

Anyone having information concerning this case should contact Greensboro Police Department at (336) 373-2450, Greensboro/Guilford Crime Stoppers (336) 373-1000 or the State Bureau of Investigation at (919) 662-4500.

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