Free Republic

The Food and Drug Administration is going to try its hand at shaming consumers into making healthier choices when they go out to eat. Just before the Thanksgiving holiday, the FDA announced a controversial and expansive rule that will require certain establishments with 20 or more locations -- including chain restaurants, grocery and convenience stores, and movie theaters -- to post calorie information on their menus and menu boards. A separate rule was also issued requiring operators of 20 or more vending machines to post calorie information. Section 4205 of the Affordable Care Act, a provision included in the law...

Image by Cool Text: Free Logos and Buttons - Create An Image Just Like ThisListen Live: Sound Off Connecticut with Jim Vicevich 9 a.m. to noon ET (Daily Thread)Sound Off Connecticut is a popular conservative/libertarian call in talk show hosted by Jim Vicevich weekday mornings from 9 a.m. to noon ET. Although based in Connecticut, the show welcomes callers from all over the United States! This is your chance to sound off America! Call into the show toll free (800) 966-9842! Listen to the LIVE AUDIO STREAM at http://wtic.com - it's free and NO registration is required! If you're in...

MILFORD, Conn. (Reuters) - Connecticut said on Wednesday that it will provide special driver's licenses for illegal immigrants starting next week to help stop them from driving the state's roads unregistered and uninsured. The move comes days after President Barack Obama issued an executive order protecting millions of undocumented immigrants across the country from deportation, which state officials said could boost participation in their drivers' license program. "There are many undocumented immigrants driving without a driver's license who aren’t insured or registered, and we believe making that possible is very important," said Mike Lawlor, Connecticut's undersecretary for criminal justice policy...

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has a person in mind to replace outgoing Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel: Joe Lieberman. Cruz floated the former Connecticut independent senator as a “strong” option to succeed Hagel, who announced his resignation earlier Monday. President Barack Obama has not yet named a proposed replacement. “One strong option would be former Sen. Joe Lieberman, a member of the president’s own party with deep experience and unshakable commitment to the security of the United States,” Cruz said. “I urge the president to give him full and fair consideration for this critical position.”(continued)

A popular bike path became the scene of a gruesome murder late Thursday when a life insurance executive was killed while running near her Connecticut home. Melissa Millan, 54, a triathlete and mother of two, was found stabbed at about 8 p.m. in the Hartford suburb of Simsbury, Conn. Police have stepped up patrols of the bike path and scoured the area on Saturday, but no suspect has been named and the murder weapon has not been recovered, WFSB reported. Millan, a senior vice president who had been with MassMutual Financial Group since 2001, was transported to an area hospital,...

Listen Live: Sound Off Connecticut with Jim Vicevich 9 a.m. to noon ET (Daily Thread)Sound Off Connecticut is a popular conservative/libertarian call in talk show hosted by Jim Vicevich weekday mornings from 9 a.m. to noon ET. Although based in Connecticut, the show welcomes callers from all over the United States! This is your chance to sound off America! Call into the show toll free (800) 966-9842! Listen to the LIVE AUDIO STREAM at http://wtic.com - it's free and NO registration is required! If you're in southern New England listen over the air to WTIC 1080 AM, the 50,000 watt...

Adam Lanza had always been a child in need of help. At age 3, he was referred to special education after he began to exhibit oddly repetitive behaviors and couldn't socialize like most kids. By fourth grade, he had been diagnosed with anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder and autism. Yet year after year — as psychiatrists insisted that Lanza should be on treatment and strict medication — his mother Nancy refused to follow through on the requests. She chalked up her son's behavior to a presumed superior intelligence, seeing him as a gifted student, despite testing done by experts showing he...

When it came time for the US Senate to vote on the Keystone XL Pipeline, Sen. Mary Landrieu’s (D-LA) “clout” did not have much of an impact on fellow Democrat senators. In fact, 35 of the senators who voted against the project were given campaign cash by Landrieu since the 2008 election cycle. Take a look here at the list of senators who don’t seem to acknowledge Landrieu’s “clout.” Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) $10,000 Sen. Richard Blumenthal (R-CT) $5,000 Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) $10,000 Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) $7,000 Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) $10,000 Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) $3,500 Sen....

Republican lawmakers are already denouncing President Barack Obama's planned executive action on immigration and the idea of another government shutdown has been floated. But Connecticut Representative Rosa DeLauro says the gridlock is a product of her chamber in Washington. "The House has been recalcitrant. [It] refuses to do it because I believe [that] they believe that it is better to deal with gridlock, and not to move in any direction that the Senate has," said DeLauro. She complimented the Senate's ability to compromise on an immigration bill they eventually passed. When asked if Obama's executive action could result in more...

Listen Live: Sound Off Connecticut with Jim Vicevich 9 a.m. to noon ET (Daily Thread)Sound Off Connecticut is a popular conservative/libertarian call in talk show hosted by Jim Vicevich weekday mornings from 9 a.m. to noon ET. Although based in Connecticut, the show welcomes callers from all over the United States! This is your chance to sound off America! Call into the show toll free (800) 966-9842! Listen to the LIVE AUDIO STREAM at http://wtic.com - it's free and NO registration is required! If you're in southern New England listen over the air to WTIC 1080 AM, the 50,000 watt...

Fed up with inaction from the Obama administration, Jose Luis Piscil, an undocumented worker who lives in New Haven, has sued federal immigration officials to limit deportations -- even as President Obama is on the verge of taking steps to change the status of millions of undocumented workers. Piscil, 26, is one of five immigrants currently in deportation proceedings who filed an official rulemaking petition with the Department of Homeland Security in February, asking the agency to delay deportations of immigrants with ties to the community and no criminal records. Since DHS did not respond, Piscil and the other plaintiffs...

GROTON– Two Navy Civilian Police Officers were hurt after an unauthorized person tried to enter the Naval Submarine Base New London.

Federal regulators slapped a six-month ban on most cod fishing off New England this week and are threatening to cut next year’s catch by up to 75 percent, in a move some say will destroy the livelihoods of fishermen across the region. ... NOAA announced several measures, including the ban which expands no-fishing zones, on Monday. But fishermen whose livelihoods rely on catching cod, as well as the coastal communities that depend on money coming in from that industry, worry the new regulations will devastate them.

Listen Live: Sound Off Connecticut with Jim Vicevich 9 a.m. to noon ET (Daily Thread)Sound Off Connecticut is a popular conservative/libertarian call in talk show hosted by Jim Vicevich weekday mornings from 9 a.m. to noon ET. Although based in Connecticut, the show welcomes callers from all over the United States! This is your chance to sound off America! Call into the show toll free (800) 966-9842! Listen to the LIVE AUDIO STREAM at http://wtic.com - it's free and NO registration is required! If you're in southern New England listen over the air to WTIC 1080 AM, the 50,000 watt...

An Ohio man caused a great deal of commotion early Sunday after officials say he was found on the roof of a moving Metro-North train. He was also on fire.

Poll monitors in Haddam, CT attempt to turn away Andrew Krzeminski and his brother on 11/4/2014 while attempting to vote with a CCDL shirt on. State police officer is called. Camera protects the voter's rights.

Maria Praeli stood crying at the podium as she held the hand of her mother, Chela Praeli. Maria Praeli, 21, has a special status bestowed by President Barack Obama on young adults brought here as children by their undocumented parents that allows her to go to school and work without fear of deportation. But Chela Praeli, a psychiatrist when she was living in Peru, but who now cleans houses for a living, lacks that protection. “The thought of her being taken away from me is unbearable. My mother deserves to be included in President (Barack) Obama’s administrative relief,” she told...

Another underreported fact from Tuesday's election is the extraordinary night Republicans had in winning state legislative seats. The GOP now controls two thirds of state legislative houses – 66 of 99 (Nebraska's legislature is unicameral).  They upped the number of states where they control both house and senate to 24 – one more than they had before the election.  And according to this article in Vox, they cut the number of Democratic-held legislatures from 14 to 7. Republicans made historic gains in state legislatures in 2010. They held on in many states in 2012, or made up for losses...

New Haven, Conn. (WTNH) — New Haven voting officials were overwhelmed with more than 1,000 people who showed up the polls today to register to vote. Large crowds developed at several polling locations across the city, including the Edgewood School in Westville, City Hall, and the Nathan Hill School in the East Shore neighborhood. A New Haven Registrar of Voters told News 8 that crowds they never anticipated would show up on Election Day to register to vote, did show up. They said the mood was peaceful, and people were having fun, but tensions rose when the people in line...

A Hartford judge has decided to extend voting hours to 8:30 p.m. at two city polls hampered by delays and missing registration lists early Tuesday morning.