Free Republic

The United States Department of Education has given Palatine, Illinois School District 30 days to reach a “solution” that allows a “transgendered” boy who says he is a girl to shower with the girls. Failure to comply could result in the loss of federal Title IX funds.The young man in question “identifies” as a girl. The school district has allowed him to play on the girls’ sports team. He is called “she” by school staff who refer to him by a female name. He says his “rights” are being violated because the school district asks him to change clothes behind...

A 75-year-old veteran used his Army knife-fight training to stop a man armed with two hunting knives from going after a roomful of children Tuesday at an Illinois public library, the Pekin Daily Times reports. Sixteen children were getting a chess lesson from James Vernon in a room at the library when 19-year-old Dustin Brown allegedly came in with a hunting knife in each hand screaming that he was going to kill people. Vernon tells the Washington Post that one thought went through his mind: “This can’t happen here and I’m not going to let it happen. These kids are...

Sixteen children and a handful of their mothers found the only door to their library room blocked by a man who held hunting knives in each hand as he screamed, “I’m going to kill some people!” Dustin Brown, 19, specifically wanted to kill children Tuesday at Morton Public Library, he said after the would-be victims escaped safely. Had he brought a firearm instead, “It would’ve been a different story,” James Vernon said Thursday. Blood was shed, but mostly Vernon’s, because the retired chess club teacher kept his cool, gave his class an avenue of flight and remembered the knife-fight training...

(CNN)—The day before Pope Francis met anti-gay county clerk Kim Davis in Washington last week, he held a private meeting with a longtime friend from Argentina who has been in a same-sex relationship for 19 years. Yayo Grassi, an openly gay man, brought his partner, Iwan, as well several other friends to the Vatican Embassy on September 23 for a brief visit with the Pope. A video of the meeting shows Grassi and Francis greeting each other with a warm hug. In an exclusive interview with CNN, Grassi declined to disclose details about the short visit, but said it was...

The Pentagon has responded to a globally-released ‘Kill List’, asking law enforcement to give extra protection for military personnel whose personal information was released,News Channel 10 reports. CBS News national security correspondent David Martin reports the Pentagon spent the weekend notifying the soldiers who appeared on the list, and urged city police departments and military police to increase patrol in the neighborhoods where the targeted live. The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) published the list days ago, a report that contained names, photos, and home addresses of U.S. Armed Forces personnel, causing alarm in cities potentially at high-risk....

Democrats in the Illinois legislature may soon silence Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner by taking way his ability to negotiate with public unions. SB1229 was introduced in February in response to troubled labor negotiations between Rauner and the Illinois chapter of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). The measure would allow an arbitrator to takeover state labor negotiations if a new agreement is not reached within 30 days. Some have argued, though, that the bill is a huge giveaway to state unions. According to F. Vincent Vernuccio, labor policy expert at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy,...

Trump held 23.3 percent of votes compared to former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's 16.5 percent and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's 11 percent New poll results show that businessman Donald Trump has widened his lead over the other GOP presidential contenders in Illinois. Victory Research, a political consulting firm, surveyed 801 "likely Republican primary voters" in Illinois from Aug. 16-18, and many of them chose Trump as their candidate. Trump held 23.3 percent of votes compared to former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's 16.5 percent and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's 11 percent. Rounding out the top six in the poll are neurosurgeon...

The headline is incendiary.  It is meant to be to show the double standard that has been inculcated in this country, and to show that black people are routinely treated fairly under the law.    There is a myth that has been built and supported by the old media that only white people can use guns in self defense.  The mythology erroneously states that if black people use guns in self defense, they will be jailed.  In fact, black people are using guns in self defense more and more, and they are finding that the law applies to them the...

Speaking to Breitbart News Sunday, Big Government founding editor Mike Flynn, a conservative activist running for the seat vacated by Aaron Shock, recounted the ways the central Illinois GOP is trying to quash his candidacy. Flynn says that, instead of making robocalls which can be recorded, supporters of his primary opponent Darin LaHood are conducting live calls and telling voters in the deeply conservative district that Flynn is a liberal Republican. “They’re saying I support amnesty, that I support banning hand guns,” said Flynn. “They’re not even testing the truth — they’re just outright lying, wholesale.” The amnesty charge is...

Updated at 12:19 PM CDT on Friday, May 15, 2015 Andrea Zopp has made up her mind about a run for U.S. Senate. "Yes. I'm running," the Chicago Urban League president and CEO confirmed to Ward Room on Friday. Zopp said she will challenge Sen. Mark Kirk in next year's election and plans to make a formal announcement in the next couple weeks. During an interview last month with NBC 5, Zopp said she can "really bring something to the race." From Harvard Law School, she became the first deputy at the Cook County State's Attorney's Office, a corporate lawyer...

The Illinois Supreme Court struck down the state’s 2013 pension overhaul, unraveling an effort by lawmakers to rein in benefits for the consistently underfunded public-sector system. The current pension shortfall is estimated at $111 billion, one of the largest nationally. The high court affirmed a decision in November by a state circuit court that the legislative changes violated pension protections written into the state constitution. The decision is a victory for a consortium of public-sector unions while creating a huge challenge for new Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, who already faces a yawning budget deficit for the coming fiscal year.

The Illinois Gun Owners Lobby day was held yesterday, the 18th of March 2015.  The idea of a gun owners lobby day has spread among the many grass roots organizations across the nation.  Over a thousand gun owners showed up at the Illinois capitol in Springfield on Wednesday.  This is not in response to a crisis involving the defense of the right.  The principle of that was won in 2013.     A shall issue law was passed in 2013, against the strong opposition of the Chicago Democrat machine, and a veto by Democrat Governor Pat Quinn.   The legislature overrode Quinn's...

The difficult task for Emanuel is to win their support while not alienating the more-progressive elements of the electorate. So the mayor is raising big money from wealthy conservative donors while sending a subtle message in his campaign ads that is designed to scare the more-affluent constituencies in the city—without trumpeting support from the Right. He has welcomed Rauner's quiet outreach for his campaign while also blasting the governor for his proposed budget cuts. March 17, 2015 Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is about as partisan a Democrat as there is in this country. But to win a second term and...

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- Illinois residents might not be able to use their driver's licenses at airports starting in 2016. The Daily Herald reports the licenses don't meet requirements set by the 2005 Real ID Act that were meant to increase security. Illinois doesn't require a birth certificate to get a driver's license, which Illinois Secretary of State spokesman Henry Haupt said is one of the law's mandates. Haupt said state legislators would have to approve funding for changes to driver's license requirements. He said he's not sure how much it would cost, but the Secretary of State's office previously estimated...

WHEREAS Gov. Bruce Rauner issued a sweeping executive order Monday "respecting state employees' freedom of speech," and WHEREAS this order began with 26 "Whereas ..." paragraphs, many of which mistily invoked the violated rights of public sector workers who are now "forced against their will" to fund "activities to which they object," and WHEREAS our patience for hand-waving, smoke screens and general rhetorical folderol is limited ... THEREFORE let's cut the rubbish. Rauner's order isn't animated by empathy or some fastidious concern with constitutional fine points. It's animated by a desire to put public employee unions into a death spiral,...

Senator Tim Bivins has introduced an act to allow people with valid concealed carry permits to carry, purchase, and possess switchblade knives, stun guns, or tasers.  It is an incremental reform to the Illinois code.  If the bill can make it out of committee and up for a vote, it seems imminently sensible.  Who would object to someone who is legally allowed to carry a concealed pistol, from being allowed to carry a knife, stun gun, or taser in the same circumstances? From ilga.gov:  Amends the Criminal Code of 2012. Provides that a person who has been issued a...

(STMW) – A southwest suburban man was charged with impersonating a police officer after actual law enforcement officials saw him driving a car made to look like a police cruiser.

The 7th Circuit federal court of appeals will hear a case against a local ban on some common rifles, handguns, shotguns, and magazines.  The city of Highland Park, notorious for its anti-second amendment laws, passed an ordinance that requires residents to turn in, modify or remove the banned items from the city.   Ordinance 136(pdf) deals with "Assault Weapons".  The ordinance includes very broad boilerplate language.   Some claim that the ordinance was lifted from the City of Chicago. The definitions are broad and cover most semi-automatic rifles, and a fair number of pistols and shotguns.   Highland Park has a...

CHICAGO - The Illinois-based "Land of Reagan" website ran an online poll in November and December of 2014, asking the question: "Among potential 2016 Republican presidential candidates, who is your first choice at this time?"The results:

There is an independent site that tracks homicides in Chicago.  There are not affiliated with the police, and they use public sources to determine the number of homicides.  The numbers that they give include justified homicides and homicides by police. The numbers are very similar in 2014 to what they were in 2013.                                        2013   2014 Homicides by shooting      375     388 Woundings by shooting    1810   2231 Total Homicides                455    456 It is interesting to note that ratio of wounded to killed went up form 4.82/1 to 5.75/1 in one year. The site has a lot of great graphics depicting...