Free Republic

A homeless man convicted of criminal trespassing for taking shelter in privately owned buildings during harsh winter weather won a new trial Thursday when the state’s highest court ruled that he should have been allowed to argue it was his only way to protect himself from the cold. The Supreme Judicial Court found that the judge at David Magadini’s trial was wrong to deny a request to instruct the jury on a so-called necessity defense. Magadini wanted to use that defense to argue that his behavior was justified for a person trying to escape extreme temperatures. […] The owners of...

The following is the testimony of one David Campos, a former member of Share Wheel who witnessed first hand, discrimination, theft, fraud and other problems in SHARE My name is David Campos, I am a former member of SHARE. I was in Share from 2010 to 2012. I became homeless after I was laid off from work and my job got outsourced to China. I was able to get a part time job to help myself but it wasn't enough. I joined Share in 2010. I liked the place, it was laid back, everyone kept to themselves there were just...

On the morning of May 24, a gardener working in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park spotted something out of the ordinary. At the eastern edge of the scenic park, less than 100 yards from Haight Street and its bustling shops, lies a small, shallow pond called Alvord Lake. In that lake floated a dead body. On Monday, authorities charged two men in connection to what they described as a brutal incident of vigilante justice among the park’s homeless population. According to prosecutors, Stephen Billingsley and Nikki Lee Williams attacked fellow homeless person Stephen Williams because they believed the victim had...

Four homeless people face murder charges after using their fists and feet to fatally beat a transgender man in an encampment in Vermont, and then fleeing across the country to a San Diego beach, where they were arrested, officials said on Friday. The four are accused of killing Amos Beede at the camp in Burlington, the police chief, Brandon del Pozo, said at a news conference. Mr. Beede was beaten up on May 22 and suffered blunt force trauma to his brain, the police said. He died seven days later. Law enforcement officials said they were not ruling out the...

In part 7, we discuss a solution to American homelessness and unemployment that no one except those who really are concerned are discussing. A way to get the homeless off the streets into employment and into housing while saving money in the long run. its something that liberals generally will not give into except as a last resort because they want to get the money by making the homeless problem prolonged and and visible and line their pockets. Its a policy that is being used in major cities and cash strapped states everywhere and in the case for those who...

Amid a homelessness crisis, Seattle plans to shut down an unsanctioned homeless encampment known as "the Jungle," Washington state and city officials announced Tuesday. Officials detailed plans to clean up the area stretching along and under a highway after the people are moved out, the Seattle Times reported. The announcement comes after a shooting in January that killed two people and wounded three more. Part of the plan is to offer shelter and services to the people living in the encampment, which sits under a freeway. Then the city and state will work to clean up health hazards like human...

The following is an email to the city of Seattle and administration Too whom it may concern: My name is Brian Ball. I am an activist, small businessman and lobbyist from the New England Area. I am head of the New England Alliance for liberty And Free markets which is part of the free state movement. Recently I and several of my associates infiltrated the SHARE/WHEEL organization Last winter and one of my other associates spent last summer in 2015 at several of the indoor shelters and tent cities. We are not happy at all with how SHARE/WHEEL conducts itself...

The following is a testimony by Maurice Newhope, who has stayed at Seattle's notorious share shelters and tent cities. Maurice Newhope is a conservative libertarian activist who has experienced homelessness in the past after he was wrongfully and unjustly accused of a crime. Despite having his name cleared, his arrest record has stopped him from finding work and he has difficulty. It is his third time being homeless in America. Maurice expects to get housing in a month or so in New Hampshire. He currently works part time in the Manchester Concord metro area.  Maurice was enrolled in SHARE/WHEEL from...

The women in black are as misguided, left wing and limp-wristed (more ways then one) Than when they were founded in Israel in the 1960s. Originally called Women in black for justice against war, they were founded by Israeli and Palestinian women, many widows who believed that the solution for the middle east crisis was, well... hippie values like communism, appeasement and more communism. They're biased against the US and Israel in favor of the Arab militants in case you're wondering yeah... The group has grown to chapters all over the world including most major cities in the united...

Shocking isn't it? Tent cities, refugee camps, they are all over America but in Seattle they are considered the norm. Today as of the writing of this article, one such tent city has been erected over Seattle city hall. It is illegally established and yet city hall not only tolerates it but is using taxpayer funds to promote it. They have but one demand. GIMME! GIMME! GIMME! The Tent city, dubbed Tent City 6 is run by two organizations of militant homeless bums called SHARE/WHEEL. Share stands for Seattle Housing and Resource effort. Wheel stands for Women's Housing, Equality...

This is part 1 of a series of episodes I am doing on the Seattle homeless crisis. It illustrates perfectly the problems with big government, the insanity of liberals and the great lengths these red diaper doper baby liberal degenerates will go to get a free lunch off the backs of those who earn their lunch by their own sweat and tears. This first episode is a prologue of sorts, at focus is the failure of Olympia and city hall in particular a taxpayer funded program, The committee to end homelessness in King county that has gotten little attention but...

We get it: Cruises can be expensive, and often the food and drink at ports of call can be pricier than what you pay back home. But that doesn’t mean you have to bogart the free coffee and donuts at the homeless shelter near the dock. For many cruise ships making the trip up the Pacific coastline to Alaska, the small city of Ketchikan is the first stop heading north, allowing travelers to get off the ship for a bit, walk around and do a bit of shopping before moving on to the next port. Earlier this week, at a...

Homelessness increased in the last year in the city and county of Los Angeles, leaving nearly 47,000 people in the streets and shelters despite an intensive federal push that slashed the ranks of homeless veterans by nearly a third, according to figures released Wednesday by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. Nearly two-thirds of the homeless people tallied countywide, or 28,000, were in the city of Los Angeles, representing an 11% jump in January from a year earlier, a report from the agency stated. The county's homeless population grew 5.7%. The mayor's proposed budget earmarks $138 million for services as...

Things were looking up for Roy Burress. After a few years living on the streets, he moved into a Santa Rosa motel converted to homeless and veteran housing where he started volunteering with an eye toward full-time employment. Then financial disaster struck. Burress was pulled over by the CHP for driving in the carpool lane on Highway 101. He was slapped with a $500 ticket. Fearing he would never be able to pay it and could lose his license, Burress turned to Sonoma County’s new homeless court, where Commissioner Anthony Wheeldin allowed him to work off the steep fine with...

For over a decade, architecture students at Rural Studio, Auburn University's design-build program in a tiny town in West Alabama, have worked on a nearly impossible problem. How do you design a home that someone living below the poverty line can afford, but that anyone would want—while also providing a living wage for the local construction team that builds it? In January, after years of building prototypes, the team finished their first pilot project in the real world. Partnering with a commercial developer outside Atlanta, in a tiny community called Serenbe, they built two one-bedroom houses, with materials that cost...

A 17-year-old homeless "runaway" was arrested on a murder charge in connection with the killing of a University of Texas freshman this week, Austin police said Friday. The suspect — identified as Meechaiel Criner — was arrested Thursday and booked in the Travis County Jail, Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo said at a news conference. Student Haruka Weiser, an 18-year-old dance and theater major, was last seen alive on the Austin campus Sunday night before she was reported missing the following morning. Her body was discovered near a creek on Tuesday, and investigators declared her death a homicide — setting...

Rotterdam studio Kraaijvanger has designed a modular kitchen and bathroom unit that can be inserted into an empty building to turn it into a residence (+ slideshow). Called the Hub, the boxy 15-square-metre unit is designed by Kraaijvanger to be installed into almost any type of building, from disused office blocks to warehouses, as long as the structure has electricity and water connections. Each module contains a kitchen, bathroom and toilet, as well as facilities including heating, a sound system and a Wi-Fi connection – providing residents with almost everything they need to live comfortably. It is also possible to...

The city of Portland, Oregon, has set aside $30,000 to pay for bus fares for homeless individuals to leave town. The program, called Homeward Bound, is similar to programs offered in other cities. It is intended to help solve the homelessness problem in the city, which is so serious a state of emergency was declared last fall....

Mayor Muriel Bowser has proposed closing the family homeless shelter at DC General due to its inadequate conditions, and replacing them with smaller shelters in 7 of the City's 8 wards. While many agree with closing DC General in its current form, the Mayor's plan to relocate the 260 affected families is irresponsible. The Mayor's proposal is unacceptably expensive, lacks oversight and transparency, and most importantly does little to serve the very people it is meant to help. We deserve answers now. Not after the plan is in place and tax dollars are being spent. Ignoring Financial Consequences The cost...

Despite the onslaught of radio and television commercials you consume from supposedly benevolent entities who are doing this for veterans or that for veterans, but the reality appears to be a whole lot different and those who claim to be helping vets (of course, with your charitable donation) don't really want to solve the problem because that would eat into their bottom line.