Free Republic

GASTONIA - Would Ronald Reagan's re-election have been even more of a runaway, or would Walter Mondale have claimed another precinct? That's one question after a bizarre discovery Wednesday in Gastonia: a locked metal box full of ballots from the 1984 election. The box was sitting behind a house off West Mauney Avenue when Jim Rudisill found it. Rudisill is having the former mill house rehabilitated and said people occasionally break into it at night to sleep there. They sometimes take things from the house, he said, but they rarely leave anything.

WASHINGTON - A woman was charged Wednesday with sexual assault after an altercation with a flight attendant on an airplane flying from Charlotte, N.C., to London, an official said. Conan Bruce, a spokesman for the Federal Air Marshal Service in Washington, said the woman got into an argument with a male flight attendant aboard US Airways Flight 1494. "During the altercation, she grabbed his buttocks," Bruce said, adding that he based that information on police reports. When the airplane landed at Gatwick Airport, Sussex police charged the woman with disrupting a flight and sexual assault, Bruce said. ___ On the...

States, Counties Begin to Enforce Immigration Law By Peter Whoriskey Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, September 27, 2006; 6:50 AM CHARLOTTE -- Police here operated for years under what amounts to a "don't ask, don't tell" policy toward illegal immigrants. As elsewhere in the United States, law enforcement officers did not check the immigration status of people they came into contact with, and in the vast majority of cases, a run-in with the law carried little threat of deportation. But....

Sept. 25, 2006 — It sounds like a plot straight out of a soap opera: A nurse crosses paths with a former schoolmate in a recovery room, and the patient winds up dead. Was it an accident or was an old high school grudge a motive for murder? Right now, investigators in Charlotte, N.C., think it may be the latter. Looking at Olympic High School yearbooks from 1972 and 1973, it would appear that Sandra Baker and Sally Jordan had everything going for them. Both were extremely pretty and moved in the same circles. They even reportedly dated the same...

Related To Story Sally Jordan Hill walks to a court hearing in Charlotte, N.C. Nurse Arrested In 2001 Death Of Former High School RivalCold Case Unit: N.C. Nurse Administered Fatal Dose Of PainkillerCHARLOTTE, Colo. -- A registered nurse from North Carolina was ordered held without bond Monday and faces homicide charges in the death of a patient who turned out to be a classmate rival from 30 years ago.  Sally Jordan Hill of Matthews, N.C., was accused of killing Sandra Baker Joyner, who died after undergoing cosmetic surgery in 2001 in Charlotte.  Hill is a certified registered nurse anesthetist...

CHARLOTTE -- A University-area restaurant employee was treated for minor injuries following an explosion Wednesday night. An employee of the Thai House, in the Grand Promenade shopping center, stayed after hours to do some cleaning and the explosion was triggered when the employee set off 20 aerosol pesticide defoggers too close to the pilot light of a gas stove. “When it was contacted by the pilot lights on the gas equipment, it caused sort of a spontaneous explosion,” said property manager Mark Hanna. Firefighters at Station 27, which is within walking distance of the restaurant, say they felt the explosion....

PITTSBURGH, Pa. -- A US Airways flight bound for Charlotte, N.C., was delayed for more than 3 hours Sunday night after a passenger found a small knife on the floor under the seat in front of him, an airline spokesman said. Flight 1897 was scheduled to leave at 7:35 p.m. The pilot declared the plane, a 737-400, a "threatened aircraft," shortly after pushing away from the gate, airport spokeswoman JoAnn Jenny said. The plane returned to the gate, where the 142 passengers were taken off the plane to be screened again. The plane also was re-checked. The flight had a...

2 jets diverted for security concerns 4 minutes ago A U.S. Airways jet flying to North Carolina was diverted to Oklahoma City after an air marshal subdued a passenger involved in an incident with a flight attendant, an airline spokesman said. Law enforcement officers were questioning the passenger after the jet landed at Will Rogers World Airport, said Morgan Durrant, a U.S. Airways spokesman. He did not disclose the nature of the problem between the passenger and the flight attendant. The Airbus A321, which left Phoenix at 6:15 a.m., was to resume its flight to Charlotte, Durrant said. There were...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Charlotte-Mecklenburg police supervisors offered prizes to officers who wrote the most traffic tickets during an eight-day period over the July Fourth holiday. Five officers from the department's North Division earned $10 gift certificates to Dick's Sporting Goods, although officials Wednesday couldn't say how many tickets were issued between July 1-8. Police Chief Darrel Stephens and Maj. John Diggs, who oversees the division, said they were not aware of the contest until they were contacted Wednesday by The Charlotte Observer. "I don't think there is anything inherently evil or bad about rewarding officers for putting in extra effort...

The Nextel All-Star Challenge is the proverbial table setter for a furious fortnight of action at Lowe's Motor Speedway -- a venue that made its name with special events. The race is set this year for Saturday night, May 20, and it's got the track's ringmaster, err, president and general manager, H.A. "Humpy" Wheeler, as thrilled as ever. "The all-star race is my favorite race," Wheeler said. "I'm telling you, you talk about wild eyes and people? "You get down there before [the race], after that [Nextel] Open is done and the guys have already gone through the introductions and...

By LTC Joseph Myers and Patrick Poole 28 April 2006: From the Article: "It is too early to predict how the current diplomatic crisis over Iran’s nuclear weapons program will play out, but Americans should assume that any potential military hostilities could result in Hezbollah striking American interests across the globe and here in the US Homeland. Possibly the Iranian ayatollahs may decide that preemptive Hezbollah suicide attacks against America might serve as a deterrent to U.S. military action against their nuclear facilities. A strategic wave of Hezbollah suicide bombings, and well coordinated military attacks in America could very well...

CHARLOTTE, NC, April 26, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The first-ever "Not Ashamed Charlotte" rally will unite Christians from different churches to proclaim their faith in the public square, replacing the annual gay pride event usually scheduled for early May in Marshall Park. The Christian rally will be held from 3-4 p.m. May 6 in the park. According to Dr. Michael L. Brown, Director of the Coalition of Conscience and organizer of Not Ashamed Charlotte, the timing of this event is highly significant. "For the last four years," Brown explains, "on the first Saturday of May, Marshall Park has been will filled...

CHARLOTTE, NC, April 11 /Christian News Wire/ -- What is causing the homosexual community in the Charlotte area such consternation these days? Christians are not standing idly by while God’s Word is being trashed in the streets. They are coming out of the closet! More than 700 gentle Christians converged on the Rowan-Salisbury School Board last night to stand for Christ and say, "No," to the radical homosexual agenda that is weaseling its way into our public schools. The preachers preached, the singers sang, the prayers prayed, and the theology of the church house became biography in the streets of...

Media darling stunned; public reaction mixed JIM MORRILL jmorrill@charlotteobserver.com Friday was not a normal day for Harry Taylor. He did two national TV interviews. His phone rang all day. E-mails flooded his inbox. People he never met called him a hero and a patriot. He became a darling of Internet blogs, including one called simply: thankyouharrytaylor.org. "It's like I've got 10,000 butterflies jumping up and down in my stomach," he said in an afternoon interview. "It's been that way for 27 hours now." A day before, President Bush called on Taylor during a question session after a speech at Central...

It was a moment brought to you by the First Amendment. Minutes after finishing a face-to-face verbal assault on President Bush, Harry Taylor was talking about the experience with reporters who covered the president's visit Thursday to Charlotte. Speaking from the balcony of a theater at Central Piedmont Community College, the 61-year-old commercial real estate broker had laced into Bush for his conduct of the war on terror, his environmental record and his opposition to legalized abortion. "In my lifetime, I have never felt more ashamed of my leadership in Washington," Taylor told the president. "And I would hope from...

The head of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte is reminding priests that only men's feet are to be washed at Holy Thursday services, a move creating a buzz among many N.C. Catholics this Lenten season."I have vowed respect and obedience to my bishop. With sadness, I will obey Bishop (Peter) Jugis, with apologies to the women of St. Ann's parish," the Rev. Conrad Hoover of St. Ann Catholic Church in Charlotte said Thursday."I think it's ridiculous," said Jenifer Register, a member of St. Gabriel Catholic Church in Charlotte, who describes herself as "fired up" over the issue. "I feel...

…800,000. That is number of visitors the NASCAR Hall of Fame is officially projected to draw in its first year. That allows the inevitable taper-down number to still be 400,000 visitors in the out-years and that number makes the all numbers work. Kinda. In fact the Hall’s money numbers remind me nothing so much as a federal budget document that projects this and that year-to-year, on-and-on until reality is left far behind. First, that 800,000. That is over four times the attendence for the NFL Hall in 2005. Alright-ee. Nuther small fact: Tens of thousands Charlotte’s friends and relatives will...

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- NASCAR announced Monday that it has selected Charlotte, N.C., to be the home of its Hall of Fame. The NASCAR Hall of Fame, which will be a state of the art facility capturing the spirit of the sport, will honor the NASCAR icons and create an enduring tribute to the drivers, crew members, team owners and others that have impacted the sport in the past, present and yet to come. The Charlotte area is home to 82 percent of NASCAR teams. Inside the Numbers Estimated costs of each component of the NASCAR Hall of Fame Component...

AKASHAT, Iraq (Feb. 28, 2006) -- In the battle to win the confidence and trust of the Iraqi people, Marines from 6th Civil Affairs Group guide the way. Once a city has been swept free of insurgents by coalition forces, these Marines are charged with providing aid to Iraqis to improve their quality of life and help them rebuild. Cpl. Michael C. Kissiah, Jr., of Charlotte, N.C., has come to the forefront to provide aid to the thousands who reside inside this city, located in western Al Anbar Province. The 24-year-old’s duties routinely take him to this city to deliver...

Hillary Clinton plans Charlotte fundraiser Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., will hold what's billed as an "intimate reception" in Charlotte next week to raise money for her Senate re-election campaign. Clinton will be the guest at a $1,000-per-person fundraiser Feb. 25 at the home of Johnny Taylor, a Charlotte executive and chairman of the Society for Human Resource Management. Co-hosts include the Rev. Claude Alexander and former ambassadors Mark Erwin of Charlotte and Jeannette Hyde of Raleigh. Also co-hosting is Springs Industries CEO Crandall Bowles. Bowles and Clinton were classmates at Wellesley College. A spokesman for Clinton declined to discuss...

Could we hear the call of Play Ball on site of Hialeah Race Track or could the Florida Marlins be looking at the hills of North Carolina as their new home? Representatives of the team apparently will visit the city of Charlotte, and officials in Hialeah, as they consider moving the team from Miami. A Marlins spokesman said Thursday that it'll be the first meeting between the team and Hialeah, the state's fifth most-populous city and one located just a few miles northwest of downtown Miami. "I'm not looking at it as a long shot. I want to do everything...

MATTHEWS, N.C. -- Two twin girls were stabbed to death Friday at their home on Creek Pointe Drive, police said. The father of the 5-year-olds, David Lauren Crespi, [has been charged with murdering them. Medic reported that Crespi, 45, called 911 at 12:45 p.m., saying he fatally stabbed his daughters. He also threatened to kill himself, Medic said. When police arrived at the scene, Crespi was waiting for them outside the home. The children were inside, and there was nothing paramedics could do to save them. Officials couldn’t come up with an immediate explanation. “We’re not anywhere where we can...

Education: Then and Now By Thomas Sowell Recent news that school children in Charlotte, North Carolina, had the highest test scores among children in big cities across the country had a special impact on me. Back in the late 1930s, I went to school in Charlotte and, while I don't know what the test scores were then, I do know that we were far behind the children going to school in New York. That became painfully clear when my family moved north and I enrolled in a school in Harlem in 1939. From being the top student in my class...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- NASCAR has narrowed the possible sites for its first official Hall of Fame to Atlanta, Charlotte or Daytona Beach, Fla., and expects to pick a winning city by the end of March. ``Based upon the proposals that we have reviewed internally for the past several months, we believe these three cities provide us with the best opportunity to build and develop a world-class NASCAR Hall of Fame for our millions of loyal fans,'' Mark Dyer, NASCAR's vice president for licensing, said Thursday in a statement. The decision eliminates Richmond, Va., and Kansas City., Kan. from consideration....

Cities over 500,000: Safest 10 San Jose, CA El Paso, TX Honolulu, HI New York, NY Austin, TX San Diego, CA Louisville, KY San Antonio, TX Fort Worth, TX Jacksonville, FL Most Dangerous 10: Detroit, MI Baltimore, MD Washington, DC Memphis, TN Dallas, TX Philadelphia, PA Columbus, OH Nashville, TN Houston, TX Charlotte, NC

MAN PLEADS GUILITY TO THE PRODUCTION AND TRANSPORTING OF CHILD PORNOGRAPHY INTO THE USA ALEXANDRIA – United States Attorney Paul J. McNulty announced that Burhan Mahmod Hinawi, age 44, of Charlotte, North Carolina, pled guilty today to a one count criminal information charging him with production of child pornography outside the United States and transporting child pornography into the USA. Hinawi is scheduled to be sentenced on January 20, 2006, by Senior District Court Judge Claude M. Hilton. He faces a maximum sentence of 30 years imprisonment. Court documents allege that Hinawi produced videos of himself engaging in various sexual...

UNITED NATIONS - In a widening scandal over contracts, the United Nations announced Friday that it has suspended a subsidiary of the world's largest catering company as a U.N. supplier until the outcome of an investigation into alleged contract irregularities. The suspension is the latest blow to U.N. contracting which in recent months has seen the arrest of two Russians by the FBI for alleged money laundering. U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Eurest Support Services, or ESS, has been barred from seeking new U.N. contracts until completion of a U.N. investigation into allegations that it "improperly obtained" internal U.N. information...

At Least Ten U.S. Airports Face Closure Due to Jet Fuel Shortages Armbrust Aviation Group Press Release August 31, 2005… Airlines and oil companies are working on plans to supply jet fuel to at least ten U.S. airports that could be shut down due to a lack of jet fuel caused by refinery and pipeline shutdowns from hurricane Katrina. The airports in most jeopardy for closure include Atlanta, Charlotte, Ft. Lauderdale, Ft. Myers, Orlando, Tampa, Washington Dulles and West Palm Beach. AAG has learned that ChevronTexaco and Shell had cargoes loaded prior to the shutdowns destined for Florida ports. However,...

Key points • 22-month-old Charlotte Watt is seriously ill • A court order allows Doctors to choose not to resuscitate her • Parents Darren and Debbie Wyatt are appealing against the court's decision Key quote "They say that, given the improvements in Charlotte's situation and given her continuing improvement, the doctors should not have in their back pockets an open consent from the court to let Charlotte die regardless of the circumstances at the time and regardless of the views of her parents." - David Wolfe Story in full THE parents of seriously-ill Charlotte Wyatt yesterday lost the latest round...

U.S. soldiers bring toys -- and smiles -- to the young patients during a visit to the Baghdad hospital. CAMP TIGERLAND, Iraq, Aug. 15, 2005 — Task Force Baghdad soldiers spent part of the day July 31 bringing smiles to a Baghdad children’s hospital during a humanitarian aid mission. U.S. Army Command Sgt. Major James Mays, from Pineville, La., senior enlisted noncommissioned officer of the 256th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division; and Lt. Col. (Dr.) Joseph Dore, from Charlotte, N.C., brigade surgeon, hosted the mission at the General Children’s Hospital in Baghdad, bearing toys and stuffed animals for young...

Contents IntroductionWhat is the PSM/ISM?ISM Rewriting History ACT NOW! - OPPOSE GOOGLE'S PLAN Automatically send emails opposing Google's planSign a petition Introduction According to Lee Kaplan, writing for FrontPageMagazine.com: The Internet giant Google will give news agency status to the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), according to an anonymous source at Google. If true, the ISM—an affiliate of the anarchist/communist wing of the PLO—would be on par with professional news services such as CNN, Fox, and Associated Press. … The International Solidarity Movement (ISM) and the Palestinian Solidarity Movement (PSM) are related and interconnected organizations that have one goal: the...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - A city council candidate dropped out of the race Friday after it was disclosed that he posted comments to a white supremacist Internet bulletin board more than 4,000 times. Doug Hanks said the postings were fictional and designed to win white supremacists' trust as he researched a novel he was writing. He said the book was also meant to appeal to white supremacists. "I needed information for the book and some other writings I was doing," Hanks told The Associated Press on Friday. "I did what I thought I needed to do to establish myself as a...

Richard McElrath and his sister, Natheley McElrath, at a community forum in West Charlotte, N.C. (Photo by Michael Falco) RACE AND IMMIGRATION Pressed by a New Invasion of Yankees, Schools of the New South Resegregate BY Jonathan Tilove   CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Jane Henderson's voice trembled as she implored the school board not to let Charlotte-Mecklenburg's schools resegregate any more than they already have.     Jack Heilpern, wife Mary, son James, 17, and daughter Jennifer (on stairs), 12, in the foyer of their Huntersville, N.C., home. James, a high school junior, and a fellow student started a movement...

Neighbors take shots at gun range 6/18/2005 7:07 PM By: Kate Barker, News 14 Carolina MARVIN, N.C. – A shooting range on the same street as an elementary school has many parents outraged. The Charlotte Rifle and Pistol Club built a range in Union County nearly a half century ago, but now there are some new people in town who want the range closed down. With that in mind, the gun club held an open house Saturday. “The purpose of the open house is to let people who have moved into the area recently who drive by and see the...

. The Coca Cola 600 Sunday Night from Lowe's Motor Speedway Please give your support to the FR Canteen, our troops, veterans, and their families here... The FR Canteen God Bless Our Troops

Join us for Saturday Night Racing at Lowe's Motor Speedway, Open qualifying Friday.

Police say 67-year-old pointed gun, threatened them GARY L. WRIGHT Staff Writer A Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer shot and killed a 67-year-old man in a wheelchair early Wednesday morning after authorities said the victim pointed a handgun at officers and threatened them. Police wouldn't say how many shots were fired or where the gunfire struck Alexander Ehrenburg. Police spokesman Keith Bridges told reporters that Ehrenburg, a double amputee, was shot at his home on Amity Springs Drive near Sharon Amity Road after he pointed a handgun at police officers and refused to put it down. Ehrenburg did not fire at the...

The 2004 elections brought a conservative sweep to much of the nation, but Mecklenburg County was not part of it. As a result, our County Commission came back under the control of liberal Democrats and the arrogant and extremist liberal Parks Helms re-assumed his position as chairman of the County Commission. It should be no surprise to any of us that in his first months back in his position, he has worked tirelessly to expand government and raise taxes. But this week, he announced another item on his agenda -- one that calls for economic and social conservatives to respond...

Cites concerns about Roman Catholics, other faiths KEN GARFIELD Staff Writer One of Charlotte's best-known churches has withdrawn support for a food pantry that serves the needy because the pantry works with Roman Catholics. Central Church of God explained its decision in a letter March 1 from minister of evangelism Shannon Burton to Loaves & Fishes in Charlotte: "As a Christian church, we feel it is our responsibility to follow closely the (principles) and commands of Scripture. To do this best, we feel we should abstain from any ministry that partners with or promotes Catholicism, or for that matter, any...

Hundreds of NC FreedomWorks Members Rally in Raleigh Activists fight tobacco tax increase, demand smaller government Contact: Allen Page Phone: (336) 213-1167 Email: apage@freedomworks.org Raleigh, North Carolina - Today, Governor Mike Easley and many North Carolina legislators got a lot more than they bargained for when they proposed a massive tax increase on smokers. That’s because over 400 FreedomWorks activists traveled from all across the North Carolina to the state Capitol to tell their representatives and senators: “We Want Less”. During the 6th annual ‘FreedomWorks CSE Day at the Capitol’, activists focused on the campaign against the 900 percent increase...

The battle over Southern heritage was waged Saturday as hundreds filled Elmwood Cemetery for a rally to resurrect the Confederate battle flag.The flag hasn't flown at the cemetery since the city of Charlotte removed it two weeks ago, but protestors waved dozens among the monuments and spoke from a podium draped in the flag.Organizers said the rally was the first step toward gaining the attention of city leaders, and political hopefuls used it as a platform to campaign for office.Democratic mayoral candidate Craig Madans and Doug Hanks, who's running for Patrick Cannon's at-large seat on the Charlotte City Council, spoke...

Slavery is a practice that represents the darkest corner of the human heart....The rebel flag is a universal symbol of that practice and that belief...To many Americans who have witnessed the virulence of that message, it can never represent heritage. It will always represent hate.

I don't know about the rest of America, but as a former intelligence analyst, what we don't know right now about nuclear proliferation in the world scares the hell out of me. Let's review just some of the news reports over the last several weeks... Many have probably heard of A.Q. Khan... Osama Bin Laden who has already declared it a Muslim duty to acquire nuclear weapons, recently received a Fatwa, or religious declaration, approving his use of one.... CIA Director Porter Goss... "It may be only a matter of time before al-Qaida or other groups attempt to use chemical,...

Charlotte has removed the Confederate battle flag flying in Elmwood Cemetery, City Manager Pam Syfert announced Tuesday morning.

Eight years ago, a handful of Roman Catholic families in Huntersville, a suburb of Charlotte, N.C., started a new parish. The home of their church, St. Mark, was a bowling alley. Our Lady of the Lanes, as they jokingly called it, was an apt symbol of the scarcity--and supple ingenuity--of Catholics in a region known as the buckle of the Protestant Bible Belt. Soon St. Mark was gaining a family a day. Now its almost 2,800 families hear Mass in a cavernous gymnasium as they await completion of a new church. Among the newcomers is Ben Liuzzo, 54, a financial-services...

HENDERSONVILLE, N.C. - Descendants of slaves will work along with men of Confederate ancestry to clean up an overgrown cemetery where the oldest graves belong to free blacks buried before the Civil War. The Sons of Confederate Veterans Walt Bryson Camp 70 began visiting old family and church cemeteries in Henderson County in an effort to find Confederate veterans. They soon discovered many of the historic cemeteries were endangered by development and neglect. Some had houses built on top of them and others were plowed under in fields. Louis Dunbar, who represents blacks on the county Cemetery Advisory Committee, also...

Local politician who spoke up on inner city moral decay - coming up live on Hannity and Colmes ------ Racist or Realist - Rhino Times, M E Pellin Jan 6, 2005 Bill James has been a county commissioner for the last decade, and for the last decade he has been sending out e-mails laced with politically incorrect, incendiary, and often divisive commentary on what he considers the contributing causes to society’s moral decay. Chief culprits have included a lengthy list of –alities: homosexuality, sexual promiscuity, and infidelity, to name a few. For years the media and elected officials from both...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The confederate flag flying in Elmwood Pinewood Cemetery in uptown Charlotte should be taken down – that is a recommendation from a committee looking into the flag issue. The confederate battle flag flies above a section of the cemetery dedicated to confederate soldiers. Some were concerned about the image this created for the city. Last month, the community relations committee executive council met to review information gathered on the flag. The information included public feedback and legal research. In a draft report, the committee recommended: The current flag be taken down and placed in a glass enclosed...

Pakistani in custody had film of Dallas, other cities 12:15 PM CDT on Tuesday, August 10, 2004 Associated Press CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Federal officials charged a Pakistani citizen with immigration violations and said Tuesday the man was detained last month after being spotted taking videotapes of downtown skyscrapers. A federal affidavit unsealed Tuesday said a review of the tape in Kamran Akhtar's camera and others in his possession showed film of the downtown Wachovia Bank and Bank of America headquarters buildings in Charlote, N.C., as well as film of other major U.S. cities, including Atlanta, New Orleans, Dallas, Houston and...

August 11, 2004 -- A Pakistani who lives in Queens is being held in Charlotte, N.C., after videotaping skyscrapers in six major U.S. cities and making mysterious money transfers totaling $120,000, prosecutors said yesterday. Kamran Shaikh, 35, a father of three who lives in Elmhurst, also videotaped mass-transit systems in four of the cities and a dam in Texas, prosecutors said. Shaikh, who has lived in the United States for 13 years and has used the alias Kamran Akhtar, is being held without bail on immigration charges. He was busted in Charlotte on July 20 after Police Officer Anthony Maglione...