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NBA turns Atlanta Hawks strip-club night on its head: ‘Canceling … is the right decision’

The NBA’s Atlanta Hawks will not be permitted to celebrate a strip club at an upcoming home game.

The team’s “Magic City Monday” game against the Orlando Magic was set for March 16 in an effort to celebrate local nude dancing venue Magic City with wings, musical performances, and podcasts.

‘Can we just not be tied to a strip club?’

While multiple Hawks executives promoted the night — and the strip club — as a celebration of Atlanta’s cultural fabric, the promotion drew ire from at least a couple of NBA players, including San Antonio Spurs player Luke Kornet, who asked the league to protect women, not denigrate them.

Despite the Hawks telling the New York Post that the event will go on as planned and Magic City telling TMZ there would be no nudity at the arena, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver announced on Monday the league was canceling the event.

“When we became aware of the Atlanta Hawks’ scheduled promotion, we reached out to Hawks leadership to better understand their plans and rationale,” Silver wrote, per NBA Communications.

Silver went on, “While we appreciate the team’s perspective and their desire to move forward, we have heard significant concerns from a broad array of league stakeholders, including fans, partners, and employees.”

“I believe canceling this promotion is the right decision for the broader NBA community,” the commissioner concluded.

RELATED: ‘A form of art’: NBA star Draymond Green defends strip-club night at Hawks game as ‘inclusive’ promotion

Photo by Prince Williams/WireImage

The Hawks told TMZ in response that they are “very disappointed in the NBA’s decision to cancel our Magic City Night promotion.”

Although they respect the league’s decision, the team added that they remain committed to “celebrating the best of Atlanta — with authenticity — in ways that continue to unite and bring us all together.”

The team will still move forward with a performance by rapper T.I. on the night in question, though.

Magic City, on the other hand, did not complain, said it was “hyped to team up with the Hawks,” and that it was “an honor just getting picked” by the team for a celebration.

RELATED: Atlanta Hawks strip club promotion called out by Catholic NBA player: ‘Protect and esteem women’

Photo by Erica Denhoff/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Fox Sports Radio personality Rob Parker said on Monday that he disagreed with the decision to cancel the promotion and asked why the themed night would be announced in the first place if the NBA was going to cancel it.

“Horrible public relations by the NBA to cave; 100%. Never should have got to the stage of this without the league at least signing off on something of this magnitude. I don’t believe that people are doing their own thing and the NBA doesn’t know anything is going on,” Parker said on “The Odd Couple” show.

Parker said that he largely disagreed with the cancellation because people had already bought their tickets and because the Hawks were planning to celebrate a legal establishment.

“The league probably had no real position on it until all the pushback started, and then that’s when the league got involved,” he added.

Co-host Kelvin Washington disagreed, saying, “The NBA is a massive corporation, billions and billions of dollars that’s tied to other massive corporations.”

“I’m not shocked the Hawks wanted to do this and went ahead. I kept telling you I was shocked the NBA was OK with them doing this,” Washington said.

“Magic City, for you to say ‘this institution’ — and actually it is in Atlanta — but it is also, at the end of the day, a strip club,” Washington put it bluntly.

“Like, that’s what it is,” Washington concluded.

“The NBA may want to say, and their sponsors say, ‘Eh, can we just not be tied to a strip club?'”

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​Fearless, Atlanta hawks, Magic city, Atlanta, Georgia, Nba, Basketball, Strip club, Sports 

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‘Prioritize Americans’: SBA shuts door on foreign national borrowers

The Small Business Administration has announced a policy change that many are surprised even needed to happen — and others are already calling for more action.

On Monday, the SBA, headed by Administrator Kelly Loeffler, announced a new policy that will ban foreign nationals and all noncitizens from accessing SBA-backed small business loans.

‘The Trump SBA is committed to driving economic growth and job creation for American citizens.’

The policy change is a continuation of another change implemented on March 1, which made small businesses owned or co-owned by a foreign national ineligible for two of the main SBA loan programs.

“The Trump SBA is committed to driving economic growth and job creation for American citizens,” Loeffler said.

RELATED: Christopher Rufo drops bombshell report on $26B ‘No White Men’ program — Trump SBA issues quick response

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

“Last month, we made it clear that SBA would not allow foreign nationals to access our core small business loan programs — and today, we are expanding that policy to include all SBA-guaranteed loans. With our lending authority capped annually by Congress and amid record demand for access to capital, our responsibility is clear: The limited resource of SBA financing must prioritize American citizens who are building businesses and creating jobs here at home.”

These changes affect the Surety Bond and Microloan programs, which were revised earlier in the month.

Citing data from the SBA, Fox News reported that the agency has 3,300 loans for small businesses partially owned by lawful permanent residents, largely under the Biden administration. That number represents 4% of the agency’s total loans, currently at 85,000.

These changes revealed a system arguably more broken than many people would guess possible. Some X users expressed their surprise at the announcement: “Why this wasn’t already policy is mind boggling.”

Others, however, saw much more room for improvement.

“Retroactively make all loans issued to foreign nationals due immediately and in full,” Andrew Beck demanded.

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​Politics, Sba, Kelly loeffler, Loan programs, Small business, Small business administration, Foreign nationals, Congress, Surety bond, Microloan, Biden, Biden administration 

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J6 committee’s anti-Trump storyteller referred to DOJ for criminal charges: Report

The Jan. 6 Select Committee’s various improprieties and its prioritization of narrative over facts have been exposed. Nevertheless, key participants in the Democrat-led lawfare campaign have so far managed to evade consequence. That might soon change.

House Republicans have reportedly referred Jan. 6 committee star witness Cassidy Hutchinson to the Department of Justice for criminal charges.

The USSS agents … directly refuted the fundamentals of her story.

A pair of sources reportedly familiar with recent developments told CNN that Republican Rep. Barry Loudermilk (Ga.), the chairman of the Select Subcommittee to Investigate the Remaining Questions Surrounding Jan. 6, 2021, recently made the referral, which was co-signed by House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio).

The referral reportedly accuses Hutchinson — who milked her time in the limelight for a book deal — of lying to Congress in her public testimony in June 2022.

This is undoubtedly good news for President Donald Trump, who claimed Hutchinson “made up” stories about him during her testimony.

“Our great Secret Service has totally CRUSHED Cassidy Hutchinson’s (who I barely knew) made up (FAKE!) stories about me roughing up Secret Service Agents from the back seat of the Beast (Limo),” Trump noted in March 2024. “Has she now changed her testimony? Will she be prosecuted for what she did and said?”

RELATED: Judges violated the law by keeping pipe-bomb suspect Brian Cole Jr. jailed, attorney tells appeals court

Photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Blaze News has reached out to the Department of Justice and Loudermilk’s office for comment. CNN indicated that Hutchinson’s current and former lawyers did not respond to multiple inquiries.

Loudermilk released a congressional report in March 2024 alleging that the Jan. 6 Select Committee — manned by outspoken critics of President Donald Trump — erased records; hid numerous transcribed interviews; failed to turn recordings over to GOP lawmakers; and suppressed evidence that failed to conform to Democrats’ preferred narrative.

The report, penned by the House Administration Committee’s oversight subpanel, also impeached Hutchinson’s character and testimony.

Hutchinson, who served as assistant to Trump’s former chief of staff Mark Meadows, sat for six transcribed interviews and one publicized hearing with the committee.

The report noted that on June 20, 2022, in her fourth transcribed interview with the Jan. 6 committee, Hutchinson told a previously unheard tale about how on January 6, 2021, Trump allegedly got into a scuffle with a Secret Service agent and attempted to wrest control of the presidential limousine after his speech at the Ellipse.

Hutchinson’s allegations pertained to supposed incidents to which she was not an eyewitness.

The Jan. 6 committee didn’t bother interviewing either of the two Secret Service agents referenced in Hutchinson’s testimony who were actually present at the time of the alleged events or anyone else implicated prior to her testimony.

When the committee put questions to the USSS agents some four months after Hutchinson’s testimony, they directly refuted the fundamentals of her story.

In December 2024, Loudermilk released another damning congressional report, this time alleging that:

former White House employee Alyssa Farah Griffin back-channeled with former Rep. Liz Cheney (Wyo.), the vice chair of the Jan. 6 committee, to help Hutchinson change her story; Hutchinson had secret conversations with Cheney without her attorney’s knowledge; and”Hutchinson committed perjury when she lied under oath to the Select Committee.”Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Cassidy hutchinson, Hutchinson, Jan. 6 committee, January 6, J6, Lawfare, Liar, Criminal charges, Department of justice, Doj, Politics 

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Virginia lawmakers send sweeping gun control bill to Democrat Governor Spanberger

Virginians are quickly learning the fruits of electing Democrat Gov. Abigail Spanberger and other Democrat legislators as the legislative session draws to an end in the commonwealth.

On Monday, Democrats in both chambers passed a sweeping gun control law that will soon land on Spanberger’s desk.

‘These are simply semiautomatic firearms that law abiding citizens own.’

The bill, HB217, places a ban on new sales of “assault firearms” and makes it illegal to possess high-capacity magazines exceeding 15 rounds of ammunition.

Virginia law defines an “assault firearm” as “any semi-automatic center-fire rifle or pistol which expels single or multiple projectiles by action of an explosion of a combustible material and is equipped at the time of the offense with a magazine which will hold more than 20 rounds of ammunition or designed by the manufacturer to accommodate a silencer or equipped with a folding stock.”

RELATED: Virginians oppose Richmond’s war on the Second Amendment: Poll

Delegate Dan Helmer (D)Photo by Valerie Plesch for The Washington Post via Getty Images

Sponsored by Del. Dan Helmer (D), the bill would make these offenses a Class 1 misdemeanor. Class 1 misdemeanors are punishable by “confinement in jail for not more than twelve months and a fine of not more than $2,500, either or both,” according to Virginia law.

Spanberger’s office did not immediately reply to a request for comment from Blaze News.

Chris Stone with the Virginia-based Gun Owners of America said, “Semiautomatic weapons, as they would like to call them, ‘assault weapons,’ have been owned by the public for years, and rifles of any kind are very rarely used in the commission of a crime. We don’t even like to use the term ‘assault weapon,’ because it’s just made up. These are simply semiautomatic firearms that law abiding citizens own.”

Another proposed bill would impose a civil penalty of up to a $500 fine for persons who store their firearms in their vehicle. The vehicle could also be towed for “safekeeping.”

Stone pointed out the catch-22 that lawful gun owners would find themselves in if that bill ever became law.

“Because of the litany of ‘gun free zone’ laws that we have in this state, if you go to somewhere where you can’t legally bring your firearm in, law-abiding citizens who have a concealed handgun permit are going to leave that firearm in their car,” Stone said.

Helmer has been busy sponsoring other bills as well, including a “first of its kind” bill that dictates that school instruction must “not describe, portray, or present as credible a description or portrayal of the actions precipitating or involved in the events of the January 6, 2021, insurrection as peaceful protest.”

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​Politics, Abigail spanberger, Democrats, Dan helmer, Virginia delegates, Virginia, Gun laws, Second amendment, Commonwealth, J6, Chris stone, Gun owners of america 

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Senate RINOs try to STRONG-ARM Trump on THIS key issue — but he’s holding all the cards

The Texas Senate Republican primary is heating up after neither John Cornyn nor Ken Paxton secured a majority of the vote, and President Trump — who previously declined to endorse either candidate — may be about to make a decision.

And that decision will likely be influenced by Paxton’s announcement that if the Senate passes the long-awaited SAVE Act, he will drop out of the race.

“The Republican Primary Race for the United States Senate in the Great State of Texas, a State I LOVE and won 3 times in Record Numbers … cannot, for the good of the Party, and our Country, itself, be allowed to go on any longer. IT MUST STOP NOW,” the president wrote in a post on Truth Social.

“We have an easy to beat, Radical Left Opponent, and we have to TOTALLY FOCUS on putting him away, quickly and decisively! Both John and Ken ran great races, but not good enough. Now, this one, must be perfect!” he continued.

“I will be making my Endorsement soon, and I will be asking the candidate that I don’t Endorse to immediately DROP OUT OF THE RACE! Is that fair? We must win in November!!!!” he concluded.

“Of course, Ken Paxton is a Texan patriot,” BlazeTV host John Doyle says on “The John Doyle Show.” “So Senate Majority Leader John Thune encouraged Trump to endorse pro-amnesty John Cornyn, and the rumors are essentially that John Thune is using the SAVE Act, a policy by the way that is supported by 80% of Americans, as a kind of leverage of Trump.”

“Essentially like extorting him into endorsing this Cornyn character. So basically, he’s saying he’s not going to pass the SAVE Act unless Trump personally intervenes to endorse, like, literally this establishment RINO pro-amnesty,” he continues.

Doyle also points out that Thune has “been an extremely ineffective Senate leader.”

“He’s passed the fewest bills ever. He’s blocked Trump’s recess appointments. Generally, just slowed down the administration, right? He’s failed on the SAVE Act despite promising repeatedly to pass it,” he says, adding, “This is literally the most important thing that could ever be done, literally ever.”

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​The john doyle show, John doyle, The blaze, Blazetv, Blaze news, Blaze podcasts, Blaze podcast network, Blaze media, Blaze online, Blaze originals, John cornyn, Ken paxton, John thune, Senate republican race, Senate republicans, President donald trump, The save act 

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Male breaks window of home after midnight. Homeowner warns him he has a gun — then uses it when intruder keeps advancing.

A male broke the window of a Pennsylvania home after midnight Monday and demanded to be let in. But the awakened homeowner warned him he had a gun — and then pulled the trigger when the intruder kept advancing.

State police said in a news release on X that troopers were called to a home on Locust Street in Somerset Township around 2 a.m. for the reported shooting, KDKA-TV reported. Somerset Township is about 70 miles southeast of Pittsburgh.

‘Another one bites the dust.’

Investigators found one person dead near the rear of the residence with an apparent gunshot wound to the head, the station said.

State police said the homeowner told investigators he woke up when a male demanding to be let in the residence was banging on his kitchen window, KDKA said.

The station, citing the news release, reported that the male soon broke a window and tried to enter the home.

The homeowner told authorities he warned the male that he was armed and then shot him when he continued trying to enter the home, KDKA said.

RELATED: Florida home invader threatens homeowner with weapon, advances toward him, refuses to leave. But crook picks wrong victim.

While the homeowner was detained and taken to the state police barracks in Somerset, a preliminary investigation found that the homeowner was acting in self-defense, the station said.

The identity of the fatally shot male was not released as of Monday evening, KDKA said.

No other information was released Monday, the station said, adding that those with information can contact the state police barracks in Somerset at 814-445-4104. State police told KDKA the investigation is continuing.

Somerset County District Attorney Tom Leiden previously reported that no charges have been filed at this time, and there is no danger to the public, according to WJAC-TV.

Commenters under WJAC’s Facebook post about the incident seemed pleased with the outcome:

“Good for the homeowner,” one commenter wrote. “Defending his property & his life.””It’s exactly what people will do to protect themselves and their families from harm from people that have no business being there,” another user said. “99% would do the same thing.””Another one bites the dust,” another commenter declared.

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​Crime thwarted, Pennsylvania, Home invasion, Intruder, Break-in, 2nd amend., Fatal shooting, Self-defense, Homeowner shoots intruder, Crime, Somerset township