- Loading stock data...
Christian Attorney’s Push For Final Judgement In Good News Club Case
| PROVIDENCE, RI – Liberty Counsel filed a motion today asking a federal district court to enter a final default judgment against the Providence Public School District and its superintendent, Dr. Javier Montanez, for discriminating against Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) Rhode Island by not allowing its Good News Clubs on campuses while allowing other clubs to meet. If granted, the court would end the case, and Liberty Counsel would obtain an injunction securing permanent protection to prevent future discrimination against the Good News Clubs. Liberty Counsel will also pursue attorney’s fees and costs against the defendants. Liberty Counsel previously filed a lawsuit against the school district and administrators did not answer the complaint by the court’s deadline. The school district previously allowed CEF Rhode Island to run a Good News Club at D’Abate Elementary School for the 2019–2020 school year before COVID caused the cancelation of all clubs in Spring 2020. When CEF Rhode Island requested to resume the Good News Club, as well as start a new club at Leviton Elementary for the 2021–2022 school year, district officials failed to respond to repeated facilities use applications by CEF Rhode Island. In March 2021, Liberty Counsel received thousands of pages of public records from the school district revealing that when it denied the Good News Clubs’ facilities use requests by repeated failures to respond, the school district was routinely approving the requests of similar groups. In November and December 2021, Liberty Counsel requested prompt approval of CEF’s requests to hold the after school Good News Clubs. The school district did not approve any of CEF’s facilities use requests, despite Liberty Counsel’s letters setting forth the applicable facts, policies, and law. |
| In June 2022, the Good News Club even submitted a “community partner” application. Again, the school district never responded while a comparable non-profit club, Girls on the Run, had its first spring meeting on February 27, 2023. Therefore, for nearly two years, the district has blocked CEF Rhode Island from hosting its elementary school Good News Clubs on district school facilities. Yet other organizations such as Boys and Girls Clubs, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and Girls on the Run are given free use of school facilities for after school programs. CEF Rhode Island is a Christian non-profit organization and a subsidiary of Child Evangelism Fellowship Inc., an international non-profit worldwide children’s ministry. CEF Good News Clubs positively impact the lives of children and their families. Good News Clubs typically meet once per week, immediately after school, and are led by trained and vetted local community volunteers. The clubs provide religious and other teaching and activities to encourage learning, spiritual growth, and service to others, as well as social, emotional, character, and leadership development. Good News Clubs do not charge any fee and welcome children with written permission from parents. There are currently more than 4,800 Good News Clubs in public elementary and middle schools across the United States, including in other Rhode Island school districts. In June 2001, the U.S. Supreme Court in Good News Club v. Milford Central School ruled that public schools violate the First Amendment by not providing equal access and equal treatment to Christian clubs when the school has opened the forum to secular clubs, as in this case. Liberty Counsel has represented approximately 200 CEF cases nationally and has never lost a case involving Good News Clubs. Liberty Counsel is a public Law Firm and a news |
Missoula Montana Sheriff Office Continue in Search Of 18-year-old Joseph Thompson
Missoula County Sheriff’s Office and Missoula County Search and Rescue are continuing their efforts in the search for 18-year-old Joseph Thompson, last seen between the 4–5-mile range on Southside Road on April 11, 2023. Thompson is described as 6’, 140 pounds with blue eyes and blonde hair.
Missoula County Sheriff’s Office, utilizing all available resources, are actively investigating the events before and after Thompson being reported missing. Missoula County Search and Rescue, assisted by Two Bear Air, conducted extensive searches over the weekend with drones, ATV and UTV’s, a canine unit, and several individuals on foot.
Missoula County Search and Rescue is continuing to actively search for Thompson in the expansive South-side Road area.
Missoula County Sheriff’s Office appreciates the outpouring to the friends and family of Joseph Thompson and the willingness to aid in search efforts. We request those venturing out to search be overly cautious not to disturb evidence that could lead to the whereabouts of Thompson, but to also not put yourself in a position of needing assistance from Search and Rescue.
If you have any information that could lead to the whereabouts of Joseph Thompson, please call 911 immediately or contact Detective Deibert at 406-258-3713.
Helena Police Department News
@ 0953 hours, 1500 block of Railroad. Officers responded in regard to a male with an active warrant. Upon arrival, Officers made contact with the male and identified him. The male was arrested for several outstanding warrants.
@1243 hours, 1200 block of Roadrunner. Officers responded to an assault. After investigation, a male was issued a citation for assault for physically assaulting another person.
@1747 hours, 200 block of E. 6th. An officer responded to a criminal mischief. After investigation, it appeared the complainant’s residence had eggs thrown at it. There is a possible suspect and this case is under investigation.
@2107 hours 3400 block of E Hwy 12. An officer responded in regard to an intoxicated driver. Upon arrival, the officer located the suspect and learned he had been driving a vehicle which was now parked. The driver exhibited signs of impairment and was ultimately arrested for DUI (2nd offense) and an outstanding warrant.
Officers responded to 88 calls for service including:
17 animal
11 vehicle accident
8 suspicious activity
5 trespass
4 welfare check
4 family disturbance
3 domestic disturbance
3 civil
3 citizen assist
2 fraud
2 theft
2 disorderly conduct
2 criminal mischief
2 assault
1 DUI
Officers made 4 traffic stops
Individuals Charged In Yellowstone County Justice Court on Criminal Case
Blackburn, Vasco Vizarro 11/21/22FUGITIVE STATUSCR-23-138
McChesney, Kelsey Lanae 10/17/22FELONY REDUCTIONCR-23-160
Bullshows, Victor Juell Jr. 2/3MISD SENTENCINGCR-22-4937
Millar, Jarod Vehre 2/1MISD OMNIBUSTK-22-6011
MISD OMNIBUSTK-22-7006
Oakes, Bowen Skye 2/3MISD OMNIBUSTK-22-4038
Monroy, Carl Alan 12/25/22MISD HEARING ON MOTIONTK-20-4991
Phillips, Michael Wayne 1/5MISD STATUS HEARINGCR-23-14
Meuret, James Edward II 4/5MISD WARRANT (COP)TK-20-3544
Horn, Eric Anthony 4/5MISD WARRANT (SENT)TK-22-4255
White, Nicholas Ray 4/5MISD WARRANT (IA)CR-23-107
MISD WARRANT (IA)TK-23-1241
Lanciotti, Karen Lillian 4/6MISD WARRANT (IA)TK-20-4171
MISD WARRANT (IA)TK-20-4599
MISD WARRANT (IA)TK-20-5358
MISD WARRANT (IA)TK-21-5449
MISD WARRANT (IA)TK-22-2507
MISD WARRANT (IA)TK-22-2857
Guenthner, Samuel Eugene 4/7MISD WARRANT (IA)TK-20-3116
Rideshorse, Julia Colleen 4/6MISD WARRANT (SENT)TK-20-3720
MISD WARRANT (SENT)TK-20-4841
MISD ARREST WARRANTCR-22-522
WALK IN
Stephens, Edwin Ray NEW MISDEMEANORCR-23-178
31 States Advance Bills Protecting Youth From Radical Socialist Terroristic LGBTQ Agendas
INDIANAPOLIS, IN – With at least 31 states which have passed or are considering legislation seeking to protect minors from “transgender” ideology in areas as health care and sports, governors in Indiana and Idaho signed bills into law this week outlawing harmful puberty blockers, hormone therapies, and genital surgeries for minors. Kansas lawmakers overrode their governor’s veto enacting a law that keeps biological males from competing in female sports.
With Indiana and Idaho enacting these protections there are now 13 states that have either banned or criminalized “gender-affirming care” for children. Indiana’s Senate Enrolled Act 480 prohibits physicians from prescribing medications and performing surgical procedures within the scope of affirming gender on minors. The law specifically prohibits “Any medical or surgical service that seeks to surgically alter or remove healthy physical or anatomical characteristics or features that are typical for the individual’s sex in order to instill or create physiological or anatomical characteristics that resemble a sex different from the individual’s sex … knowingly performed for the purpose of assisting an individual with a gender transition.”
“A child cannot consent to irreversible sex change surgery and Indiana will no longer allow children to take dangerous drugs with long-term consequences like puberty blockers and hormone therapies in the name of extreme gender theories,” said Indiana Sen. Mike Braun on social media. He noted that children struggling with gender receive “compassion and mental health help rather than dangerous, un-tested, unapproved drugs and irreversible surgeries.”
Idaho’s “Vulnerable Child Protection Act” goes as far as making it a felony for anyone who “knowingly authorizes” or provides “gender-affirming” health care to youth under the age of 18. Idaho follows Alabama as just the second state to make the administration of these medications, therapies, and procedures a felony.
Idaho’s bill notes the fact that these mutilating surgeries are never necessary in the first place. The bill states that “medical intervention that results in the impairment and mutilation of the reproductive organs and parts of a child is never necessary to the health of the child on whom it is performed if it is for the sole purpose of attempting to change or affirm the child’s perception of the child’s sex if that perception is inconsistent with the child’s biological sex.”
Also moving aggressively to protect youth is the Kansas state legislature who voted yesterday override Gov. Laura Kelly’s third veto and passed the “Fairness in Women’s Sports Act.” State legislators voted overwhelmingly to protect female student athletes by not allowing biological males to compete against them. Simply written the bill requires “…sports that are sponsored by public educational institutions to be designated based on biological sex.” The bill also states, “athletic teams or sports designated for females, women, or girls shall not be open to students of the male sex.”
According to the Kansas High School Athletics Association, there are 109,000 student athletes within the association, of which 11 do not identify with their biological sex.
In a public statement after the successful override, Kansas House Speaker Dan Hawkins said, “The Fairness in Women’s Sports act protects the rights of female athletes in the state by requiring that female student athletic teams only include members who are biologically female.” Hawkins further noted that like-minded lawmakers are committed to upholding the discrimination protections and fairness intended by Title IX of the federal civil rights law.
Notably, a federal judge ruled in January that West Virginia’s biological sports law was constitutional. Many of these new state laws will go into effect either this summer or on January 1, 2024.
Liberty Counsel Founder and Chairman Mat Staver said, “These legislative victories are encouraging and the momentum needs to continue in fighting to keep our nation’s children’s well-being, health, and privacy safe. Liberty Counsel is a public law firm and a news partner with the Wyoming News and Montana News.
FTC Favors Competitors Over Competition In Fight Against Microsoft
| Op-ed first appeared in the Washington Examiner by Committee for Justice resident fellow for competition and regulatory policy Rachel Chiu: |
| Microsoft announced it would acquire Activision Blizzard, a video game company and developer of the Call of Duty franchise, on Jan. 18, 2022. Over one year later, the $69 billion deal is awaiting regulatory approval from antitrust authorities who are too concerned about rivals. In an effort to block the acquisition, the Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint late last year. Regulators argue that Microsoft has a history of withholding content from competitors and warn the acquisition will adversely affect the “new, burgeoning markets, including high-performance consoles, multi-game content library subscription services, and cloud gaming subscription services.” But these concerns are pure conjecture. Microsoft President Brad Smith has rebuffed these claims, writing that the company has consistently prioritized “access to key technologies for competing services,” and he has pointed to the 2016 LinkedIn acquisition as an example. In its response, Microsoft explained it has long lagged behind Sony and Nintendo. Purchasing Activision would enable Microsoft to expand into mobile gaming, for which it currently has “no presence.” For consumers, this would mean they could play popular video games without purchasing an expensive Xbox console. The filing concluded that the “acquisition of a single game by the third-place console manufacturer cannot upend a highly competitive industry,” especially since it made promises to keep content such as Call of Duty available to competitors. To demonstrate this commitment, Microsoft is continuing to enter into distribution deals. This case is one of many recent skirmishes between regulators and disfavored companies. Meta clashed with the FTC for months over its acquisition of Within Unlimited. Last year, U.K. authorities forced the tech giant to divest from Giphy, claiming that no other remedy would suffice. Outside of the technology sector, regulators blocked the acquisition of a cancer screening startup . To prevent ostensibly large businesses from getting any larger, government officials are clamping down on mergers and acquisitions with unprecedented force, calling for deals to be blocked and for completed mergers to be undone without much consideration of the merits and consequences of such drastic government intervention. Antitrust authorities are becoming increasingly hostile toward innocuous mergers and acquisitions because they are prioritizing the benefit of competitors. The FTC alleges that “Microsoft’s ownership of Activision would provide Microsoft with the ability to withhold or degrade Activision content [by] … manipulating Activision’s pricing, degrading game quality … or withholding content from competitors entirely.” It seems that the FTC is eager to follow the European Union, which views competition law as a means of protecting smaller firms. Yet, the U.S. approach, which centers on consumer welfare, has led to American businesses innovating and outcompeting their international counterparts. Rivals and their relative power should not be the agency’s main focus. This case demonstrates how the FTC has strayed far from its consumer protection mission, opting to use antitrust enforcement as a vehicle for micromanaging the economy. Indeed, such efforts undermine the natural rivalry that is necessary for market competition. Hearings in the agency’s administrative tribunal will begin later this year. Elsewhere, the U.K. Competition and Markets Authority is conducting an investigation, and the European Commission has delayed its own deadline for approving the deal. By blocking Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, the FTC is strengthening the power of incumbents such as Sony and Nintendo and protecting their foothold in the market. Transactions that enable companies to compete with dominant players or expand into new products and services have net benefits for consumers. But instead, these deals are being held up based on speculative accusations of harm. Rachel Chiu is a resident fellow for competition and regulatory policy at the Committee for Justice and a visiting fellow at the Independent Women’s Forum. |
Cheyenne Police Increasing Police Presence at Cheyenne Central High School
According to the Cheyenne Police Department, they have increased their presence at the Central High School once again. Back in 2021 a social media bomb/shooting threat was threatened. Now that same threat has now been recirculating on the internet AGAIN.
“The social media messaging has since resurfaced and is spreading to ‘Central High Schools’ across the nation,” the post reads.
“According to the Cheyenne Police Department, “While the threats do not target any Cheyenne area school and appear to be unsubstantiated, additional officers will be present at Central High School this week.”
Any social media threat needs to be taken serious as America now has Socialist, Radical Democrats and Democrat influenced young people who think it is ok, to make such threats. Problem is that some of the threats were carried in the past causing, tragic loss of life. If you see a threat online regarding schools or kids, contact the Cheyenne Police Department.
