Southeast
Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn eyes gubernatorial bid: report
Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., has been placing calls and informing people that she is likely to mount a gubernatorial bid, Axios reported, citing D.C. and Tennessee sources.
State and federal elected figures have been placing calls in support of Blackburn’s potential run, a source noted, according to the outlet.
Fox News Digital emailed Blackburn’s campaign on Wednesday to request a comment from the lawmaker, but did not receive a response in time for publication.
GOP SENATOR ANNOUNCES ‘DOGE ACTS’ TO BACK MUSK, RAMASWAMY GOVERNMENT COST-CUTTING OBJECTIVES
Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs indicated in a post on X that he will back Blackburn for the role if she runs.
“Senator Blackburn has done an outstanding job as a state senator, U.S. congresswoman, and U.S. Senator. She would do an equally outstanding job as Governor and would have my full support if that’s what she decides,” Jacobs noted.
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Blackburn, who has served in the Senate since early 2019, just won re-election to another six-year term in 2024 — her current term ends in early 2031.
“The 2025 Tennessee Legislative Session kicked off day ONE today!” Blackburn declared in a tweet on Tuesday. “It’s time to get to work, protect our state’s conservative values, and fight for all Tennesseans.”
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Current Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican who has been in office since early 2019, cannot run in the 2026 contest, which leaves the field wide open for other GOP figures interested in vying for the job.
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Southeast
Tennessee AG optimistic about SCOTUS case after 'radical gender ideology' reversal in lower court
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti is cautiously optimistic about the future success of his Supreme Court gender case after he secured another legal win in Kentucky that will reverse the Biden administration’s Title IX rewrite nationwide.
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky Northern Division made the ruling in Cardona v. Tennessee on Thursday.
Skrmetti told Fox News Digital in a Tuesday interview, “Every win we get is another break in the wall of ensuring that the law means what the people who voted for it thought it meant.”
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The ruling came months after the Supreme Court rejected the Biden administration’s emergency request to enforce portions of a new rule that would have included protections from discrimination for transgender students under Title IX.
The sweeping rule was issued in April and clarified that Title IX’s ban on “sex” discrimination in schools covered discrimination based on gender identity, sexual orientation and “pregnancy or related conditions.”
The rule took effect Aug. 1, 2024, and the law stated, for the first time, that discrimination based on sex includes conduct related to a person’s gender identity.
“The Title IX rule was the height of overreach, administrative overreach by the Biden administration, and we were very happy to be able to stop that,” Skrmetti said on Tuesday.
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Now, he is looking ahead to the court’s highly anticipated decision in the United States v. Skrmetti case, which is expected by June.
The Supreme Court is weighing whether the equal protection clause, which guarantees equal treatment under the law for individuals in similar circumstances, prevents states from banning medical providers from offering puberty blockers and hormone treatments to children seeking transgender surgical procedures.
The lawsuit against Tennessee’s law banning transgender treatment for minors was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of several transgender minors and their parents. The families argue the law infringes on parental rights to make medical decisions for their kids and forces them to go out-of-state to receive transgender procedures.
“It seems like the momentum has really shifted almost culturally on these issues,” Skrmetti said. “And when you see people trying to rewrite laws through creative judging, through creative regulating, that alienates the people from the laws that bind them, and it’s bad for America.”
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Southeast
Attackers disguised as Amazon workers beat man, 66, with sledgehammer-type weapon: report
Two men disguised as Amazon delivery employees reportedly beat a 66-year-old Savannah, Georgia, pub owner nearly to death with a sledgehammer-esque weapon on the morning of Jan. 11, according to police and local reports.
The two suspects, wearing the company’s signature blue jackets with the Amazon logo and carrying a cardboard box, knocked on the man’s front door around 8 a.m.
They allegedly proceeded to attack him with the weapon for nearly eight minutes, as WTOC first reported.
In security camera footage shared by the Savannah Police Department on their website, the two perpetrators can be seen slowly approaching the man’s door in the 500 block of Price Street, wearing ski masks that cover their faces. The victim can then be heard crying out for help.
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His neighbors arrived soon after and found the 66-year-old man with multiple head wounds. The victim received 14 stitches and is continuing to recover from the surprise attack, according to WTOC.
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The perpetrators fled the scene after the attack with $80 stolen from the victim, the outlet reported.
An Amazon spokesperson told Fox News Digital that based on the company’s internal investigation, it can confirm the individuals seen in the video were not making a scheduled delivery for Amazon.
The spokesperson added that Amazon monitors the Internet regularly for unauthorized Amazon apparel and demands that those items are removed when and where possible. People who make deliveries on behalf of Amazon do not routinely knock on doors nor ask customers to sign for packages unless already prearranged, the spokesperson noted.
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Savannah police are actively investigating the attack and still looking for the two suspects.
“Contact SPD if you happened to see two people dressed as Amazon workers in the area around the time of the incident,” SPD said in a statement on Facebook. “You can contact us via CrimeStoppers at 912-234-2020, or submit an anonymous tip through the SPD mobile app.”
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Southeast
Killer mom Susan Smith heard in prison call making vow amid plot to profit from her crimes
South Carolina killer mom Susan Smith told an unknown male over the phone that she “wouldn’t talk” to the media just weeks before she was ultimately disciplined behind bars for doing just that, according to prison calls newly obtained by Fox News Digital.
The 53-year-old was denied parole on Nov. 20 after spending 30 years incarcerated – a decision that was made after she was found guilty of speaking with a documentary filmmaker, which was against prison rules.
Smith was charged with communicating with a victim/and or witness of crime on Aug. 26 and was convicted on Oct. 3, Chrysti Shain, director of communications with the South Carolina Department of Corrections, previously told Fox News Digital.
Less than two weeks before being charged with the incident, Smith told a male prison caller on Aug. 13 that she “got a letter from a woman,” who she said worked for a national media outlet, adding “I’ve already thrown it away, so I can’t even read it to you.”
KILLER MOM SUSAN SMITH DENIED PAROLE 30 YEARS AFTER DROWNING SONS
When asked what the letter was about, Smith responded, “Just wanted to talk with me. The same thing, like most of them… want to give me a platform to tell my story.”
“I wouldn’t talk to them, even if I could,” she told the male caller.
Smith then mentioned another letter she received.
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“I did get a letter from some guy in California, but all he said was, ‘Hi, you don’t know me, and I’ve never done this before. Care to talk?’ That was it – just one line. It was handwritten…it was kind of odd,” she said. “It’s probably going in the trash too.”
In a previous recorded phone conversation, seemingly with the same male caller, Smith discussed the Freedom of Information Act.
WATCH “SUSAN SMITH, THE KILLER MOM: 30 YEARS LATER” ON FOX NATION
The very same month, she was charged after having conversations with a filmmaker – Smith’s first disciplinary action in almost 10 years.
In their conversations, Smith and the filmmaker discussed conducting an interview and even filming for a documentary and ways to get paid for it.
They also spoke about Smith’s crime in depth and the events leading up to and after it, including details like “what was in the trunk of the car when it went into the water and her plans to jump from a bridge while holding the boys, but one woke up,” the incident report says.
KILLER MOM SUSAN SMITH DISCIPLINED BEHIND BARS WEEKS BEFORE PAROLE HEARING
South Carolina Department of Corrections inmates are not allowed to do interviews on the telephone or in person, according to SCDC policy, but they may write letters.
Smith agreed to provide the filmmaker with contact information for friends, family and victims, including her former husband. The filmmaker deposited money into Smith’s account for “Calls and Canteen,” according to the incident report, which redacted the filmmaker’s name.
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Smith lost her telephone, tablet and canteen privileges for 90 days.
“SCDC inmates are issued tablets that are secured for correctional use. The tablets can be used to make monitored telephone calls and to send monitored electronic messages,” Shain previously said. “They are considered a privilege. The department will determine when and if inmate Smith will earn the opportunity to be issued a tablet again.”
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Smith strapped her sons, 3-year-old Michael and 14-month-old Alexander Smith, into the back seat of her car and let it roll down a ramp into John D. Long Lake in Union, South Carolina, on Oct. 25, 1994.
Smith, 22 at the time, watched as it took six minutes for water to fill the car, drown her boys and sink the car to the bottom of the lake.
She was convicted for the murders of her two children on July 22, 1995, and though prosecutors argued that Smith should receive the death penalty, she was ultimately sentenced to life in prison.
KILLER MOM SUSAN SMITH THINKS PAROLE IS NOW UNLIKELY AFTER SHE WAS CAUGHT TRYING TO PROFIT OFF CASE: REPORT
A board unanimously voted to deny Smith’s parole on Nov. 20 after she appeared emotional and crying on a jailhouse court feed during her hearing.
“I know that what I did was horrible…I’m sorry that I put them through that…I wish I could take that back, I really do…I was just scared,” she said during the parole hearing. “I didn’t know how to tell the people that loved them that they would never see them again…I’m sorry, I know that’s not enough…just words, but they come from my heart.”
The reasons for the parole board’s denial were the nature and seriousness of the crime and Smith’s institutional record of offenses.
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