Free Republic

A small stretch of four streets will temporarily close to vehicular traffic as the city tests out a pilot program providing more social distancing space during the coronavirus pandemic. Mayor Bill de Blasio has picked one street to be converted to pedestrian-only corridors in Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx, for a pilot running from Friday, March 27, to Monday, March 30. Each of the following streets will be closed to cars from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. for the four-day test. The closures in total make up roughly 1.6 miles of the city’s 6,000 miles of roads: Manhattan: Park...

ABC employees were dubious about Jussie Smollett’s alleged racist and homophobic assault immediately following his interview with Robin Roberts, a new report says. Staffers who were present for the exclusive sit-down with the “Good Morning America” host felt the truth behind Smollett’s story was “up in the air,” sources told The Blast.

Southern California houses don’t have gutters. Not enough rain. I wish I could say I noticed this, with my keen journalist’s eye. But it was my wife who, strolling around the lovely college town of Claremont, east of Los Angeles, pointed it out. That happens a lot. What I noticed was the sign for the “Black Graduation Ceremony” two days before commencement at Pomona College, the liberal arts school where my kid got his degree Sunday. The sign was the first thing I saw stepping on campus, and set the tone. What could black graduation be? Like black proms at...

Tomorrow night, Scripps College will be hosting a pool party (click here for archived event) at the Sallie Tiernan Field House pool that only non-white people will be allowed to attend. Organized by Scripps’s Latinx group “Cafe con Leche”, the event was announced via Facebook (click here for archived description) under the claim of being the “first ever POC [person of color] pool party in [Clare]mont”. The three-hour use of Scripps’ Sallie Tiernan House Pool is aimed at the creation of “a safe space for 5C students that identify as POC to come together and build community,” and will be...

Students are reportedly upset that the university wants them to keep up with their academics amid their protesting. Student activists at Brown University are complaining of emotional stress and poor grades after months of protesting, and blame the school for insisting that they complete their coursework. “There are people breaking down, dropping out of classes, and failing classes because of the activism work they are taking on,” an undergraduate student going by the pseudonym “David” told The Brown Daily Herald Thursday. “My grades dropped dramatically. My health completely changed. I lost weight. I’m on antidepressants and anti-anxiety pills right now....

A Phoenix business executive wore a pro-immigration law T-shirt to Game 2 of Los Suns against the Spurs on Wednesday night. The executive was hassled over the shirt by Suns security but was later allowed to return to his seats behind the San Antonio bench, and he was allowed to still wear the shirt. Jim Clark, CEO of Republic Monetary Exchange in Phoenix, got two seats to Game 2 and decided to don an orange shirt that read ‘Viva los 1070’ for the game. Clark said a friend who has a professional security background also wore the shirt. It was...

Recent legislation to stem the flow of illegal immigration in Arizona is causing uproar across the country. Padres first baseman Adrian Gonzalez spoke about the issue, in large part because the 2011 All-Star game will be held in Phoenix next year. One New York congressman already said that Major League Baseball should pull the ASG from Arizona because of the new law, and Gonzalez is only reinforcing the issue by hinting at a boycott. "I'll support the Players Association 100 percent," said Gonzalez, who grew up in both Tijuana and a suburb south of San Diego. "If they leave it...

NEW YORK — The Major League Baseball players' union says it opposes the new Arizona immigration law. The union says it's concerned the law could have a negative impact on hundreds of ballplayers and their families. Union head Michael Weiner says in a statement released Friday that the law could force foreign-born ballplayers to prove their immigration status at any time. As of opening day, more than one-quarter of big league players were born outside the United States. Weiner says the union hopes the law is repealed or modified. The All-Star game is scheduled to be played in Arizona in...

Arizona's passage of a controversial anti-immigration law could cost the state Major League Baseball's All-Star Game, potentially depriving an already battered economy of millions of dollars. Opponents across the U.S. call for a boycott of Arizona goods and tourism. A New York congressman who called for the league to move the 2011 game from Phoenix is the latest person to push for an economic boycott against the state in protest of the new law. Companies have been pulling conferences out of Arizona resorts while others have suggested consumers shun companies, such as US Airways, that are based in the state...

<p>PHOENIX (AP) _ Cochise County investigators say a prominent southeast Arizona rancher likely was killed by an illegal immigrant but there's no evidence to suggest there was any confrontation that led to the shooting.</p> <p>The body of 58-year-old Robert Krentz was located before midnight Saturday on his 35,000 acre ranch about 35 miles northeast of Douglas after his brother reported that he had lost radio contact with Krentz earlier in the day.</p>

JIM ACOSTA: Now a college professor in Chicago, Ayers and Obama served together several years on a nonprofit board. And in 1995 Ayers hosted a coffee for Obama when the young community organizer was making his first run for the State Senate. At this point looking back, should he not have done that? DAVID AXELROD: Well I mean, when he went, he certainly — he didn’t know the history. ACOSTA: The Democratic nominee’s chief strategist David Axelrod maintains Obama at that time had no idea about Ayers’ violent past.

Sen Jon Kyle will be interviewed on KFYI, the local Phoenix radio station, at 8:40 am Pacific time this morning. Listen live here... http://www.kfyi.com/main.html

AXcess News) Washington - Standing before voters on the steps of the Old State Capitol in Springfield, Illinois, where Abraham Lincoln served for eight years before becoming President of the United States, presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) said he saw the nation needing an inspirational leader who could save the union - stating that he was that man - during his official launch of his Democratic presidential campaign. Obama, accompanied by his wife Michelle and daughters Sasha and Malia, said just as Lincoln saved the union, fighting a bloody civil war, so America would need an inspirational leader after...

Everyone figures that nightmarish traffic jams are the worst problem the Oakland A's will face if they move to the bayfront wilds of Fremont. But their biggest challenge may be something they hadn't thought of -- global warming. The A's want to build their ballpark and mall village on low-lying land west of Interstate 880, less than half a mile from a tidal channel. With ocean levels expected to rise as the globe heats up, the high tides that churn up that channel could turn the A's ballpark into prime waterfront property -- or into soup.

At some point tonight on the Amtrak from Baltimore to Miami, a passenger might feel a gentle tap on the shoulder and see a large man balling a fist, ready to hit him with a bit of nostalgia. "See this?" John Mackey will say sweetly to the stranger while flashing a striking piece of bling. "This is my Super Bowl ring. I scored the 75-yard touchdown to beat the Dallas Cowboys." This is what he tells people -- on the streets, in the malls, wherever -- not just because the memory of his thrilling catch in Super Bowl V gives...