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Big Stories

Tennessee House votes to kick out 2 of the 3 lawmakers who led protest.

On Thursday, the Tennessee House voted to remove two of the three representatives who led a spirited demonstration in the house gallery demanding gun law reform. The decision produced accusations of racism as the two members who were ousted are black and the remaining member is white. Republican leadership denied that race was a deciding factor.

What happened?
Reps. Gloria Johnson, Justin Jones, and Justin Pearson used a megaphone to lead chants calling for stricter gun laws last week, just days after the mass-shooting in a Christian school in Nashville. The demonstration drowned out proceedings in the adjacent House chamber, and violated House rules in doing so.

What’s next?
Johnson’s fate was decided by a single vote and she will remain in office for the rest of the term. The other two may not be gone for long. Since the 2024 election is more than 12 months away, a special race will be held to fill the two vacated positions. However, the district county commissions must select replacements in the meantime and they could opt to choose Jones and Pearson who, under the Tennessee Constitution, can’t be can’t be expelled for the same offense twice. They will also be eligible to run in the special races and in 2024.

Trans girl allowed to keep running track in West Virginia.

The Supreme Court allowed a transgender girl, Becky Pepper-Jackson, to continue running track for her middle school girls team on Thursday. West Virginia is one of 20 states that doesn’t allow biological boys to compete in women’s sports.

If she’s not allowed, how is she allowed?
This is a mouthful, but I’ll do my best to break it down.

• West Virginia passed a bill in 2021 banning female transgender (biological boy) athletes from participating in women’s sports.

• Pepper-Jackson, who ran girl’s track for four years as a transgender athlete, filed a lawsuit against the state in hopes that she could still compete.

• While the lawsuit is being fought over, a lower federal court filed an injunction against the ban, which allowed Pepper-Jackson to rejoin the team.

• However, West Virginia didn’t like this and decided to go over the lower federal courts head and ask the Supreme Court to allow it to fully enforce its state law.

• To which the Supreme court said, no.

Looking forward:
This situation is unique, unlike many female transgender athletes who are dominating female athletics, Becky regularly finishes towards the back of the pack in races. Until the suit is settled in state court, the Supreme Court will allow Becky to keep competing.

Little Stories

Business

*The average 30-year home mortgage rate dropped for the fourth week in a row. The rate is down from 6.32% last week to 6.28% on Thursday. However, it is significantly higher than it was last year — 4.72%.

**Job cuts rose 15% from last month and are up 319% from last year. Companies axed 89,703 employees in March with the tech sector getting hit the hardest.

World

*Palestinian militants in Lebanon fired rockets into northern Israel early Friday morning injuring 2 people, prompting the Israeli Military to blast parts of southern Lebanon and the Gaza Strip in retaliation.

**An ice storm killed 2 people in Canada and left over 1 million without power in the two most populous provinces in the country.

Politics

*The Biden administration placed blame on former President Donald Trump for the disastrous withdrawal of the US military from Afghanistan in 2021, stating that Biden’s efforts to pull troops out was “severely constrained by actions of his predecessor.”

**Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has taken yearly luxury yacht cruises (two decades worth) on Republican super donor Harlan Crow’s dime without reporting the trips on financial disclosure forms according to ProPublica.

Sports

*The Masters is in full swing with plenty of storylines. Tiger woods limped around Augusta and finished with a 74, while LIV golf member Brooks Koepka is tied for the lead at 7 under. 63-year-old Fred Couples shot a 1 under 71 and amatuer Sam Bennet shot an impressive 4 under.

**National Champion LSU women’s basketball team accepted Joe Biden’s invitation to the White House after a team member, who was upset over remarks made by Jill Biden, said they would go to the Obama’s house instead.

One Liners

*Flooding has brought a California lake “back from the dead.”

**South African pilot finds a cobra underneath his seat.

***Crows smarter than humans? Watch crows try to solve complex problems.