Free Republic

(Reuters) - The sophisticated booby-trap devices Denver-area shooting suspect James Holmes set at his apartment could have killed first responders and destroyed the apartment complex in a massive inferno, an official involved in the probe said on Saturday. Bomb experts entered the 800-square-foot apartment in the Denver suburb of Aurora after a controlled explosion on Saturday. Inside they found 30 aerial shells filled with gunpowder, two containers brimming with liquid accelerants and an unknown number of bullets left to explode in the resulting fire, according to a law enforcement official on the scene with expertise in improvised explosives. "Given the...

"snip..Los Angeles police officer and three bodybuilder friends.snip..arrested for..snip..punching and kicking a New York man.snip.on West Hollywood's Restaurant Row," the Los Angeles Times reported July 30, 1991. snip We're glad this was only a local story. Had it been a national one, ...reporter Brian Ross might have blamed us on national television. "Those arrested along with Defoe were Edward Spencer, 29, Ken Spencer, 27, and James Taranto, 27, all of Staten Island, N.Y.," the Times report added. That James Taranto, you will be relieved to learn, was not the one who became your humble columnist. snip Men named James Holmes...

o—Up to 20 people have been injured in a shooting at a movie theater near Denver, police said. Aurora, Colo. police said there are fatalities but they don't know how many. Police dispatchers said calls about the shooting started coming in about 12:30 a.m. local time Friday from a mall theater that was showing the Batman movie "The Dark Knight Rises." Police said one person has been arrested, but no other details were available. Police spokeswoman Cassidee Carlson said "the scene is still very active and we have little information for release at this time." Swedish Medical Center spokeswoman Nicole...

A local couple who claim to be Satanists believe they’re a victim of a hate crime and were targeted because of their religious beliefs. Someone cut down a political poster stating, “VOTE SATAN” from their front porch where they live in Mountain View, a suburb of Denver. “We are Satanists… Satanists,” said Luigi Bellaviste. Luigi and Angie Bellaviste belong to the Church of Satan. They even have a Satanic Bible in their home. The couple is upset because a poster they had hanging from their front porch was recently cut down. It wasn’t very popular with some neighbors. “Everybody that...

The trouble with education in this country starts and ends with unions. They are out-of- touch museum relics, fitting for a day that used rotary presses to distribute the news, but wildly inappropriate for an age that‘s both wired and wireless. Unions have prevented, and continue to prevent, much-needed reforms in education, public finance and government. They cultivate a sense of entitlement wholly out of order for the times, which call for more self-reliance and entrepreneurship. Frankly, unions suck. Really.They suck the money out of our wallets; they suck productivity out of workers; and suck up all the leavings from...

DENVER (KDVR) — A veteran Denver police officer and single mother was shot and killed trying to break up an altercation in City Park Sunday night. Hundreds were in the park attending the kickoff event for the popular City Park Jazz festival when a fight broke out between two groups at approximately 8:07 p.m. Denver police officers were attempting to break up the fight when shots were fired. The female officer was shot in the head and rushed to Denver Health. She died from her injuries shortly after arrival. FOX31 learned the name of the slain officer, but will wait...

A Colorado woman was reportedly attacked by three African-Americans while ordering lunch at a McDonald’s drive-thru in Colorado recently, after she asked one of the alleged attackers not to leave her trash in the parking lot. “I witnessed this young lady throwing trash out of her car and all I said was that it wasn’t cool,” Shannon, the woman who was seemingly assaulted, explained. Before she knew it, she said, the woman and her female friend lunged at her, punching her face and pulling her hair through the car’s open window. Then, in the midst of the confusion, a man...

<p>DENVER, Colorado (KUSA) - Police are investigating a vicious beating at a McDonald's drive-thru in Denver.</p> <p>Shannon, who asked us not to use her last name, was the victim of an attack on May 9 just before noon.</p> <p>She called our sister station KUSA 9News, and asked for help finding her attackers.</p>

DENVER -- A US Postal Service letter carrier was attacked by two dogs in a Denver neighborhood Monday afternoon. Denver police said the postal worker was delivering mail at West 34th Avenue and Utica Street when she was bit. The female employee suffered extensive injuries and was transported to the hospital to be treated, said David Rupert, a spokesman for the US Postal Service. A neighbor saw what was happening and came to the letter carrier's rescue, but was injured as well, Rupert said. The two dogs were eventually corralled and taken away. The dogs were described as a Malumute...

Complete Title: The Soros Summit - Free Beacon exclusive: Inside the secret Miami meeting of George Soros’s liberal conspiracy ### A secretive network of left-wing billionaires and their political operatives descended on the luxurious Biltmore Hotel in Miami over the weekend to discuss strategy for the coming elections. The location of the conference had been kept a closely guarded secret by the members and guests of Democracy Alliance (DA), a collection of ultra-wealthy liberal donors formed in 2005, and is reported here in a Washington Free Beacon exclusive. Attendees roamed the grounds at the 150-acre tropical resort on their way...

Airborne troops from Russia and the Untied States would hold joint anti-terror drills in the U.S. state of Colorado between May 24 and 31, spokesman of the Russian Defense Ministry Col. Alexander Kucherenko said on Thursday. According to the spokesman, it will be the first time that the Russian airborne forces have held exercises with the U.S. airborne forces on the U.S. territory. "According to the exercise scenario, soldiers of the two countries will hold a tactical airborne operation, including the reconnaissance of imaginary terrorists' camp and a raid," Kucherenko said. "After the operation, a helicopter will evacuate the soldiers,"...

According to reports, the U.S. and Russian military will be engaging in an anti-terrorism exercise that will involve Russian paratroopers using U.S. weapons to “take and hold” the main facilities of the CIA and Denver International Airport in Colorado and the National Security Agency in Utah. (Related: Learn about the hypothetical ‘war games’ the U.S. and China have been playing) The European Union Times has more on the report announcing this exercise from the Russian Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation: Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Colonel Alexander Kucherenko publically announced this 24-21 May “anti-terror drill” this Friday past noting that this...

Full Title: ‘He Enjoyed Booze, Guns, Cars, and Younger Women Until the Day He Died’: Unrepentant Obituary Deemed ‘Best Ever’ ------------------------------------------------------- Michael “Flathead” Blanchard’s obituary, published in the Denver Post on April 12, bears little resemblance to the standard “in memoriam.” Penned by Blanchard before his death, the obituary notes, among other things, that Blanchard was “weary of reading obituaries noting someone’s courageous battle with death.” Rather, he wanted it known that he “died as a result of being stubborn, refusing to follow doctor’s orders and raising hell for more than six decades.” “He enjoyed booze, guns, cars, and younger...

Blanchard, Michael "Flathead" 1944 ~ 2012 A Celebration of the life of Michael "Flathead" Blanchard will be held on April 14th, 3 pm 8160 Rosemary St, Commerce City. Weary of reading obituaries noting someone's courageous battle with death, Mike wanted it known that he died as a result of being stubborn, refusing to follow doctors' orders and raising hell for more than six decades. He enjoyed booze, guns, cars and younger women until the day he died. Mike was born July 1944 in Colorado to Clyde and Ethel Blanchard. A community activist, he is noted for saving the Dr. Justina...

The lesson: if you’ve found a creative way to avoid jury duty, keep it to yourself. The Denver District Attorney has charged a 54-year-old woman with two felonies for allegedly acting mentally unstable in order to avoid jury duty after she shared her story on talk radio. Susan Cole faces charges of first degree perjury and attempting to influence a public servant. According to the arrest affidavit, an investigator with the DA’s Office was listening to the “Dave Logan Show” on 850 KOA radio on Oct. 11, 2011 when the hosts were taking calls on the topic of avoiding jury...

JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) – Valuable parts have been stolen from restrooms across the Denver metro area and then cashed in for money. Now investigators say they know who is responsible. Donald Allen Citron, 48, faces 18 charges, including burglary and theft. He’s accused of stealing toilet parts from several locations, including Southwest Plaza Mall, University of Denver, and Craig Hospital. Most of the crimes happened in just a few minutes, but police Citron is a plumber and all he needed was a wrench and a screw driver to steal pipes and the plumbing in toilets. The items he’s accused...

DENVER -- A Denver police officer arrested in the beating of his girlfriend claimed that she attacked him with a Justin Bieber doll. Officer Michael Nuanes, Jr., 37, said that his girlfriend hurled a Barbie-sized Justin Bieber doll at him, injuring his foot.

Denver, CO - Max, an 85-pound Argentine Mastiff, will be going home with his owner today. Max was sent to a mandatory 10 day quarantine following a bite to news anchor, Kyle Dyer's, face. The tragic incident occured in the midst of a live broadcast in which Dyer was interviewing Max's owner, Michael Robinson, and a firefighter who had rescued Max from a frozen pond just a day before. In the moments leading up to the bite, Dyer was petting Max on his head while kneeling in front of him. She appears to be about to kiss Max on his...

A Denver woman claims she couldn’t board a flight from Wyoming to Denver because of her gender. Jennifer Winning makes the flight from the small airport of Rock Springs, WY to Denver often, but on January 29th it was different. “They wouldn`t let me get on the plane because I`m female,” Winning said. She said she checked in and arrived at security about 35 minutes before the scheduled departure of her United flight. “They asked if I was on the flight to Denver, I said yes, they said that they couldn`t screen me because they sent all the female TSA...

I confess I am not a zealous football fan, and until a month ago, I hoped Tim Tebow would don a Colorado Rockies uniform so I could get really excited about him. But like the other five million residents of Colorado, I have come to love the amazing Broncos quarterback who does not hide his evangelical Christian faith. According to a poll by a national sports magazine, Tebow is today the most popular American athlete, ahead of Kobe Bryant, Tiger Woods, Peyton Manning, and (no surprise here) Tom Brady. Tim Tebow has made believers out of millions in more ways...