Free Republic

f you’re a Philadelphia shopkeeper and someone shoots you, you can die knowing that at least you weren’t a bigot. Thanks to the city’s Public Health and Human Services Committee, the city is one step closer to getting rid of bulletproof glass in a number of its small businesses as an attempt to “crack down on loitering, public urination and potential drug sales.” It’s no doubt a seemingly pointless way to achieving those alleged goals, and the main reason they don’t make much sense is that they’re cover for what they’re really trying to fight: racism (yes, really). According to...

Pedro Quezada, a New Jersey bodega owner who struck it rich by winning Powerball, celebrates his lottery victory during a press conference on Tuesday. But the Passaic County Sheriff says Quezada can’t claim his bounty, $338 million, until he pays off $29,000 in outstanding child support.

The mystery winner of a $338 million Powerball jackpot has come forward, according to a report on NorthJersey.com. Pedro Quezada, a 44-year-old father of five who owns a bodega on 8th Street in Passaic, showed up at the liquor store where the ticket was sold to claim his prize this afternoon, the report said.

A crusader for city bodegas wants to turn deli owners into Dirty Harrys - by urging them to pack heat behind the counter. Luis Ducasse, head of the Bodega Association of the United States, has been targeting cornershops and delis in crime-ridden neighborhoods, handing out gun-license applications to owners. "Deli owners make for easy victims," he said. "A person can come in wearing a ski mask and carrying a gun, and the person behind the counter has no place to go, or way to fight back." The pistol push began after at least 12 deli owners from the Bronx and...

THE NARCOTICS officers knew they were being watched on video surveillance moments after they entered the bodega. Officer Jeffrey Cujdik told store owner Jose Duran that police were in search of tiny ziplock bags often used to package drugs. But, during the September 2007 raid, Cujdik and fellow squad members seemed much more interested in finding every video camera in the West Oak Lane store. "I got like seven or eight eyes," shouted Officer Thomas Tolstoy, referring to the cameras, as the officers glanced up. "There's one outside. There is one, two, three, four in the aisles, and there's one...