Free Republic

A grieving father was arrested as he attempted to build a barricade on the bridge where his teenage daughter died. White County Sheriff's deputies arrested Shannon Hamilton on Gene Nix Road Sunday. On March 15, Hamilton's 16-year-old daughter, Cecily Hamilton, and 18-year-old Taylor Swing died when their car went off the road and into the water below. Their car went undiscovered for hours; both teens drowned. Family members said Shannon Hamilton was trying to build a barricade on the bridge to prevent future tragedies. "The reason I was out there yesterday is because it's been 30 days and there hasn't...

LEESBURG, Ga. —A man shot an armadillo, but the bullet ricocheted off the armadillo and struck his mother-in-law. Investigators say that Larry McElroy fired a pistol at the armadillo Sunday night, WALB-TV reports. The bullet killed the armadillo but ricocheted off of it, hit a fence, went through the back door of Carol Johnson's mobile home and hit the chair in which she was sitting, hitting her in the back, The Associated Press reports. Johnson's wounds are not life-threatening, the AP reports.

Georgia middle schooler CJ Pearson is no fan of Hillary Clinton, and her pledge to be a “champion” for “everyday Americans” likely isn’t going to change his mind. “Hillary Clinton, I’m done with you,” the 12-year-old student declares in his latest viral video. “Why? Because you are one of the most narcissistic, power-hungry, self-absorbed politicians of this day. “You have no accomplishments to point out, except, oh, I was married to Bill Clinton.”

Two of the country’s most powerful and politically influential labor unions are backing President Obama in the recent court challenge to his 2014 executive action on illegal immigration, saying they support the president’s effort because "undocumented workers" need more workplace protection and their participation helps the U.S. economy. The AFL-CIO and the National Education Association on Monday each filed so-called amicus briefs in a federal appeals court case in which Texas and 26 other states are challenges the president’s 2014 memorandum on illegal immigration. The memorandum essentially expands work authorization and delayed-deportation programs for illegal immigrants. And it provides similar...

... The Delta Honor Guard is a group of employees and baggage handlers at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, Georgia. What they do for Fallen Soldiers is extremely touching ...

Dear Bill and Ann, I deeply appreciate both of you calling out Christian leaders in recent days, challenging our courage and our willingness to stand for what is right. I too have been grieved over the moral capitulation of so many professing Christians, from pastors to politicians and from congregants to congressmen. In fact, I posted this on my Facebook page just this morning: I am so deeply grieved over what I have witnessed this week in Indiana, Arkansas, and Georgia, as governors and legislators suddenly caved the moment the threats and shouts came their way. Where are the men...

A Smyrna city worker shot a man attempting to carjack a woman's vehicle on Friday, authorities said. Surveillance video shows a Cobb County woman jumping onto the hood of the car during the attempted carjacking. Police said a good Samaritan shot the driver, stopping the theft and saving the woman. The car wash’s surveillance cameras recorded the incident. The video shows the men inside a red minivan scoping out the parking lot and then the woman jumping onto the hood of her car as they tried to drive away with the Honda. “Something could have happened, because she wasn’t letting...

CNN anchor Chris Cuomo has aggressively attacked those who support Indiana's religious freedom law and on Thursday night he brought on Charles Barkley to slime Christians as "religious nuts." The former NBA player, who is from Alabama originally, sneered, "All these rednecks hide behind the Bible. That's what they do. That's one of the reason the south is behind in everything. They always hide behind the Bible. It's strictly about discrimination." Complaining about the lack of gay people invited to discuss the Indiana law, Barkley lamented, "We got some of these religious nut jobs" speaking out. Cuomo did not interrupt...

<p>ROSWELL, Ga. — The story of Anthony Stokes was supposed to have a happy ending. Instead it ended Tuesday, police say, with the teen heart transplant recipient carjacking someone, burglarizing a home, shooting at an elderly woman, leading police on a high speed chase and then dying after his car hit a pole.</p>

In 2013, then-15-year-old Anthony Stokes was dying and desperately needed a heart transplant that he couldn’t get because, according to doctors, he had “a history of noncompliance.” Stokes’s family suspected that his low grades and a history of trouble with the law gave doctors reason to believe that he would not be willing to take his medicine or show up at subsequent doctor’s visits. The Georgia teen’s story story sparked outrage, and the hospital quickly reversed its decision, giving him priority on the transplant list. But two years later, after he received a transplant, Stokes’s “second chance” has come to...

Full title: Atlanta cheating scandal teachers go to cells in hand-cuffs: Eleven educators face up to 20 years in prison for inflating their students' test scores to get bonus money for their schools . . . and for themselves The 11 teachers, testing coordinators and other administrators were convicted Wednesday of racketeering after a five-year investigation Evidence of cheating was found in 44 schools across the Atlanta school system, with nearly 180 educators involved A racketeering charge could carry up to 20 years in prison and most of the defendants will be sentenced on April 8 The cheating came to...

Everyone should take note, because THIS is how you respond to the radical left screaming about Indiana’s RFRA law. Not only does he defend Mike Pence on HuffPost Live, he calls the opposition a lynch mob and won’t back down when challenged. He also hits back at the louder voices condemning the law over their selective moral outrage and blatant hypocrisy:

In a major victory for prosecutors, a number of Atlanta educators were found guilty on Wednesday for their roles in public schools cheating scandal, bringing a close to a half-decade drama that tarnished a major school district’s reputation and raised questions nationwide about the wisdom of pushing educators to improve students’ standardized test scores. On their eighth day of deliberations, the jurors convicted 11 of the 12 defendants of racketeering, a felony that could put them in prison for decades. Many of the defendants — a mixture of teachers, testing coordinators and administrators — were also convicted of lesser charges,...

A jury has reached guilty verdicts in 11 of 12 defendants in the Atlanta Public Schools cheating trial. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Jerry Baxter read verdicts for 26 counts Wednesday afternoon. Only one person, Dessa Curb, was found not-guilty on all counts. The decision comes 7 years after the first investigation by the Atlanta Journal Constitution. A grand jury indicted 35 educators in March 2013. Twenty-one took plea deals, and another defendant, former APS Superintendent Beverly Hall, died.

On a recent Friday, Kwanza Brooks, a $7.25-an-hour McDonald’s worker, climbed into a 14-person van to take a four-hour ride from Charlotte, N.C., to Atlanta. As she and other workers headed south, Ms. Brooks, a short, fiery woman, swapped stories with her companions about unsafe conditions and unfair managers. Upon arriving, they joined more than 400 other people — including home care aides, Walmart workers, child care workers and adjunct professors. The gathering was a strategy session to plan for the fast-food movement’s next big wave of protests, which is now scheduled for April 15. But the meeting was also...

My heart is broken right now realizing that harm has been done to LGBT people in this country. Much of it is real involving bullying and sexual abuse, among other things. But much of it is also imaginary leading to imaginary notions about 'enemies'. Those who have conservative religious beliefs about sexuality have been defined by activists that include major business leaders like Apple CEO Tim Cook as bigots, racists, KKK and Nazis. With that notion in their heads and with business- political-media support, one shudders to think what is happening at this moment in the attack on the Indiana...

The climate in the state Capitol is such that you half-expect to turn a corner and find Lord Cornwallis’s fife-and-drum corps belting out “The World Turned Upside Down.” A Legislature with massive Republican majorities is on the verge of thumbing its nose at anti-tax guru Grover Norquist by raising $1 billion in new spending for transportation. It has legalized a form of marijuana. And in the midst of unrelenting hostility toward Obamacare, GOP lawmakers have brokered an insurance mandate to provide for children with autism. But none of this holds a candle to the fact that the General Assembly has...

CNN's Brooke Baldwin slanted towards the sympathizers of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl on Wednesday's CNN Newsroom, just minutes after the U.S. Army announced that the former captive would be charged with desertion. Baldwin asked special forces veteran Scott Mann, "You have those who...on the opposite end, [are] vilifying him. Again, this is someone who was held...for five years by terrorists. Is that not – this is what some say – is that not punishment enough?" [video below] Moments earlier, the anchor turned to Reuters correspondent David Rohde, who was held by the same Taliban-affiliated terrorist group that had captured Sgt. Bergdahl....

A 67-year-old Roswell man claimed he was only trying to be a “patriot” when he planted a bomb at a local park, according to a federal complaint against him. Michael C. Sibley, 67, was arrested Saturday for allegedly leaving an explosive device at Vickory Creek Park in November, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. “The defendant allegedly placed a bag containing what appeared to be pipe bombs in Vickery Creek Park,” Horn said in an emailed statement. “This arrest should reassure the community that serious crimes like this will be investigated thoroughly and all leads followed to identify the perpetrator.” A...

The White House has been examining a proposal by James Baker to launch a Middle East peace effort without Israel. The peace effort would begin with a U.S.-organized conference, dubbed Madrid-2, and contain such U.S. adversaries as Iran and Syria. Officials said Madrid-2 would be promoted as a forum to discuss Iraq's future, but actually focus on Arab demands for Israel to withdraw from territories captured in the 1967 war. They said Israel would not be invited to the conference. “As Baker sees this, the conference would provide a unique opportunity for the United States to strike a deal without...