Free Republic

When the Baltimore Ravens released Ray Rice earlier this week, the NFL followed suit with its own punishment and suspended the running back indefinitely. How long that suspension may last is unclear, but it sounds like Rice plans to fight it. Citing multiple media reports, NBC Sports' Pro Football Talk says Rice intends to file an appeal Monday that "will be handled by the NFLPA and by an outside lawyer retained by Rice." Initially, Rice received a two-game suspension in July, after an initial video showed him dragging his unconscious then-fiancee, Janay Palmer, out of a casino elevator in New...

Four sources close to Ray Rice have told ESPN [link at URL] that the former Ravens running back acknowledged to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell during the league's investigation that he punched Janay Rice in an Atlantic city elevator, knocking her unconscious. If that is the case, it would seem to contradict Goodell's statement to CBS this week that Rice's account of the February assault in the Revel casino to investigators was 'ambiguous'. "Ray didn't lie to the commissioner," one of the sources said on ESPN's "outside the Lines." "He told the full truth to Goodell - he made it clear...

Did the NFL suspend Ray Rice indefinitely after he was given an initial 2 game suspension because A.) they saw the video inside the elevator, or B.) because we saw the inside-the-elevator video? If it is because of A, then why did they formulate a 6 game suspension to be followed by banning for a second offense and not apply the 6 game rule to Ray Rice? If this is because the inside-the-elevator video surfaced, then will the NFL have a system for those who are caught by video and those not caught by video? In the end, IMHO, Ray...

Even on a normal night, casinos can assault the senses with glitz, flashing lights, showgirls, cocktails, high rollers, fancy food and blaring music. So it follows that the long-awaited opening night of the $442 million Horseshoe Casino Baltimore would include all of those things — but magnified tenfold.

Gambling might join the list of Baltimore City's problems after Horseshoe Casino opens Aug. 26. As the city touts 1,700 new jobs, millions in education funding and an expected economic boost, new billboards advertise hotlines for gambling addiction, a dark side to Horseshoe’s shiny exterior. A moral gamble? With a median household income of $35,000, Park Heights is among Baltimore City’s poorest ZIP codes. In 2012, however, it led state lottery ticket sales, with a total of $34 million, according to a Capital News Service analysis. Father Zaborowski compares gambling spending to alcohol and drug addiction, which plague the neighborhood,...

<p>BALTIMORE - As dusk crept over Collington Square Park, in east Baltimore, the children's chatter of questions began.</p> <p>"What time is my curfew?" "What if I'm out with my brother and he's 18?" "If I hide, can I still stay out and play?"</p>

At this point, you really have to wonder: Is it still news when a Republican says something asinine? On the off chance it is, let us spend a few moments pondering the strange case of Alabama Rep. Mo Brooks, who said last week that the Democratic Party is waging a "War on Whites." Yeah, he actually said that. You can look it up if you want. Mr. Brooks was responding to radio talk show host Laura Ingraham, who had asked him to comment on a remark from National Journal columnist Ron Fournier to the effect that the GOP cannot continue to be competitive in national elections if it...

Maine Gov. Paul LePage is not thrilled with the way the NFL has handled the suspension of Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice, and said today on a radio show that he intends on boycotting the NFL and will be sending NFL Commissioner Roger Gooddell a letter criticizing the relatively light punishment Rice received for beating his fiancé unconscious. "They care so little about our women and our children that they’re going to hire these barbarians who go and hit their wives and their kids and they’re gonna get a slap on the hand? And some guy got a year...

BALTIMORE (Reuters) - Three teenagers were arrested on Thursday after assaulting a Baltimore school bus driver with a fire extinguisher and trash can, then hijacking the bus for a joy ride, police and local media said.

As a hardcore baseball guy, I often wonder why people needlessly waste their time on all those other, lesser sports. But I suppose everyone has a right to their insane opinions. In any case, football fans may want to keep an eye on this development: The NFL announced this week that it will be using RFID tracking chips on players during select games in the 2014 season. The high-tech chips — RFID stands for radio-frequency identification — will generate precise positioning data on each player on every play. Football Uniforms Throughout History For the initial rollout, the RFID system will...

James B. Sellinger, a former vice president for IBM’s North American operations, will serve as chancellor of education for the Archdiocese of Baltimore’s Department of Catholic Schools and Frank Bramble Sr., a member of the Board of Directors for Bank of America Corp., will serve as chairman of the archdiocesan school board, the archdiocese announced July 28. In the newly created position, Sellinger will promote the enrollment and fiscal health of the archdiocese’s nearly 50 Catholic schools. Bramble previously served as interim president of Calvert Hall College High School in Towson and as chairman of the Archdiocese of Baltimore’s Blue...

An aquatics instructor at a summer camp for youngsters at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Baltimore has been charged with sexual solicitation of a minor, police said. Charles David Beaver, 58, a former teacher at Westminster High School, was arrested Tuesday at a Baltimore County hotel, police said. Police said the Carroll County man had communicated online with a person he believed was a pimp to arrange a meeting at the hotel with two teenage boys for sex. The supposed pimp was actually a Baltimore County detective. When Beaver showed up at the hotel, he was taken into custody....

Catholic Charities wants to care for about 50 children from Central America at a campus in Baltimore County, seeking a role in the immigration crisis even though the consideration of other sites in Maryland has met with fierce local opposition.The organization plans to apply to federal officials to house the children at St. Vincent's Villa, a residential facility on Dulaney Valley Road, Catholic Charities head William J. McCarthy Jr. confirmed Thursday night.McCarthy said housing the children would amount to his organization doing its job. "Our role and our mission is to meet the needs of these children," he said. "This...

Baltimore Auxiliary Bishop Denis J. Madden is enthused by the fruit that came from recent discussions between U.S. bishops and Iran’s religious leaders. “When you build a certain sense of trust and respect, then you can move forward and deal with the issues,” he said. The faith leaders announced June 14 that they oppose actions that endanger the life, health, dignity and welfare of others, including the creation of weapons of mass destruction. That declaration was the result of a March dialogue between a delegation from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Supreme Council of the Seminary Teachers...

The VA scandal continues to unfold, although primarily through local and regional reporting, demonstrating that the issues of corruption and bureaucratic fraud go beyond just wait lists. Today, Congress will make public the testimony from an Inspector General agent, and it’s not pretty. The IG found that mail and claims were hidden in two separate VA systems, and in Philadelphia the postmarks go back to 2011, and claims were redated to hide their age:

I posted this as a response in another thread, but thought I'd also post it as a vanity, in case someone else might see it and decide to look beyond the reputation of the city to see what it might really have to offer. I've lived in Baltimore almost my whole life. And despite its problems, I love it. Those who don't know it will knock it, but it really is a great place to live, politics notwithstanding. But Cleveland was a complete unknown to me until I forced my daughter to consider attending Case Western Reserve University for nursing...

...On Friday's Laura Ingraham Show, Elaine, a black woman from Baltimore, expressed her outrage that President Barack Obama is putting the interests of illegal immigrant children above those of American citizens. Though the number of illegal immigrant children unlawfully entering the country has spiked since Obama unilaterally enacted his temporary amnesty program in 2012, the White House has said the primary cause of the border crisis is the rampant gang violence in Central America. "I'm living a nightmare. My whole neighborhood is so violent. There's so much crime," she said. "I have gangs everywhere here in Baltimore! I can't let...

An investigation has found that an elementary school principal in Baltimore who suspended a seven-year-old boy for chewing a Pop Tart into the shape of a gun acted properly in her decision. However the boy's family has lawyered up, and are threatening to take the case further. Josh Welch, a second-grader at Park Elementary School, said he was trying to nibble his strawberry breakfast snack into a mountain in March 2013. But when it started to take shape he reportedly told his classmates: 'Look, I made a gun.' Principal Sandra Blondell then removed Josh from school for two days. Andrew...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK) A victim of the knockout game decided that he would not let the teenage attackers get away with the violent assault, chased them down, and managed to bring them to justice. In a related report by The Inquisitr, the idea behind the knockout game is that a group or an individual targets the first person they see and attempts to knock the unsuspecting person unconscious with just one punch. Media reports have focused on “black mobs” going after Jews when targeting people. There is also a book that documents the trend toward violence called White Girl Bleed a Lot:...

"Celebrate Pride Month with the St. Ignatius Community!" "As members of the Mystical Body of Christ, the Church, we are called to celebrate and share the gifts of diversity of sexuality in our church today. Our organization, Embracing God's Gifts, has been formed as an instrument for recognizing these gifts and incorporating their goodness and use into the life of our parish."