Free Republic

In the midst of inflation, funding difficulties and halted expansion projects, a budget error on the part of the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) may have exacerbated their challenges. "TxDOT does some mysterious accounting," said Rep. Chuck Hopson (D-Jacksonville). "They had close to $1 billion counted in their budget twice." "That was a serious error on our part and we have made changes to try to prevent that type of error from occurring again," said TxDOT Spokesman Chris Lippincott, adding that the amount added twice in their financial statement was unrelated to the $1.2 billion in federal rescissions, which are...

WHAT: Mayors attending the 76th Winter Meeting of the United States Conference of Mayors will hold a Press Conference regarding the immediate need for Congress to secure our nation's borders and implement a practical and effective immigration policy. WHO: Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon and Sugar Land (TX) Mayor David Wallace, Co-Chairs of the Homeland Security Task Force on the US Conference of Mayors. Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, Chandler (AZ) Mayor Boyd Dunn and Tucson Mayor Bob Walkup WHY: Members of Congress are advising the Mayors that they will wait for the next congress and the next president to address these...

Gavin Newsom, the divorced San Francisco mayor who provoked a constitutional crisis in 2004 by granting marriage licenses to 4,000 same-sex couples, has chosen the historic Mission Dolores Basilica for a family Mass on the occasion of his inauguration to a second term. Newsom and his family are scheduled to attend Mass at Mission Dolores tomorrow, Tuesday, Jan. 8, in what his press office is calling a “low-key” second inauguration. Following the Mass, his father, William Newsom, a retired state appellate judge, will administer the oath of office during a swearing-in ceremony at San Francisco City Hall. Given his record,...

Gavin Newsom's political strategist Eric Jaye jokes that he already knows what the analysis of today's mayoral election will be. "However many votes we get," Jaye says, "we know the Bay Guardian will say it wasn't enough." He's got a point. In most elections, pundits try to pick the winner. That's already been handled in this one. Newsom will certainly win a second term as mayor in a cakewalk over a group of offbeat candidates. That's not in doubt. But it does lead to a second question, best expressed by local political consultant Mark Mosher, who asks, "What kind of...

Former Atlantic City Mayor Pleads Guilty To Lying To Get BenefitsThe former mayor of Atlantic City pleaded guilty Thursday to lying to enhance his veterans benefits, a crime that played a role in his bizarre three-week disappearance earlier this fall. Making his first public appearance since leaving office Oct. 10, Robert Levy admitted to falsely claiming to have been awarded two military medals and embellishing his military record in order to receive more money in disability benefits from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Levy admitted fabricating stories that as a soldier in Vietnam, he had been left in the...

Oakland residents are fed up with random crime - from assaults to burglaries to armed robberies - that is being carried out with seeming impunity on the city's streets. Whether the answer is more cops, a restructured department or something else, businesses and residents across the city want improvements in public safety - and sooner rather than later. In recent months, as I've repeatedly beaten the drum for Mayor Ron Dellums to step up the fight on crime, hundreds of residents have sent me e-mailed notes with their tales of horror. Many of the writers have been victims of crime,...

Sharpe James The defense team of former Newark Mayor Sharpe James is bracing for testimony about marital infidelity to become part of his high-profile corruption case, according to court papers. Confronting an issue that was only hinted at in a federal indictment this summer, James' lawyers are attempting to filter out potential jurors who may be prejudiced by evidence of philandering on his part.

Mexican Consul Enrique Hubbard Urrea has issued an unusual warning to immigrants from his country: Avoid the city of Irving. Deportations in this city have skyrocketed in the last several months – from 262 in all of 2006 to 1,338 through mid-September. "In this city, one has to be extra careful," he told Al Día . "And if possible, avoid going through there, because we suspect, and with good reason, that people are being detained simply because of their appearance." At least 1,600 people have been turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement since June 2006 as part of the...

DC. .– The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), the world’s largest association of law enforcement executives, today called on Congress and the Administration, as well as state and local governments, to support strong and effective gun violence prevention policies, and to provide law enforcement with the resources necessary to reverse a two-year rise in violent crime. The IACP unveiled a set of nearly 40 recommendations for policymakers, police, and community and philanthropic leaders which are the result of the “Great Lakes Summit on Gun Violence.” The summit, held in Chicago earlier this year, was a groundbreaking collaboration of...

- - 38 leaders of cities meet in Trenton TRENTON -- Just two days after an AK-47 assault rifle and several other weapons were confiscated from a city teenager and a Miami-Dade County police officer was shot and killed in Florida, mayors gathered in the capital city for the U.S. Conference of Mayors leadership meeting called attention to the country's growing problem with gun violence.

Ga. mayor's outreach to Venezuelan leader upsets some residents Associated Press - August 12, 2007 MACON, Ga. (AP) - Some Macon residents have called for demonstrations and boycotts after the mayor of the middle Georgia city formally reached out to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez with a declaration of solidarity. Mayor Jack Ellis said the declaration -- sent about two weeks ago by courier -- was a message that local leaders can stand together despite disagreements at the highest reaches of government. Some local leaders have blasted the mayor's decision to support Chavez -- who is a vocal ally of Iran...

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa agreed Thursday to pay a $5,200 fine for violating multiple campaign finance laws stemming from his 2003 race for the City Council. --snip-- In all, Villaraigosa violated 30 aspects of city campaign finance laws, according to a proposed agreement that he signed Thursday. --snip-- Villaraigosa's campaign lawyer, Stephen Kaufman, downplayed the significance of the violations, calling them common mistakes that other campaigns have made. "These are administrative errors, but nonetheless they should not have happened," Kaufman said. "The mayor has taken steps to make sure this does not happen again." --snip-- Villaraigosa could have faced...

CWA Calls on Local Law Enforcement to Crack-Down on Illegal and Widespread Public Health Problem – Launches YouTube Support Video Washington, D.C. – Fort Lauderdale, Florida Mayor Jim Naugle has been under rapid fire assault from homosexual activists and liberal media for asking people simply to obey the law and to be responsible and respectful to families and children. Recently, Mayor Naugle exposed a popular “gay” community website that serves as an online directory which both encourages and facilitates illegal, public and anonymous “gay” sex. The Mayor was particularly upset that this activity is taking place at two children’s parks...

"Atheists and Criminal Lobbying Union" regarding the meaning of the acronym ACLU. New Times, October 26, 2000 "I don't use the word 'gay.' I use the word 'homosexual.'  Most of them aren't gay. They're unhappy."Sun-Sentinel, July 4, 2007  "I'm supposed to subsidize some schlock sitting on the sofa and drinking a beer, who won't work more than 40 hours a week?" Sun-Sentinel, May 20, 2006  Regarding a proposal to reduce greenhouse gases, calling it "hate-America stuff" concocted by "a bunch of scientists meeting in Paris who've had too much wine.” Sun-Sentinel May 9, 2007  "We're trying to provide a family environment where people...

Just about every proposal Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums has pitched since he took office seven months ago has sailed past the City Council. His first, a plan to hire qualified ex-felons for city jobs, was praised for its utility and humanity. And when he asked the council to significantly increase the budget for the mayor's office, not one member of the council questioned it. But now it seems that Dellums' honeymoon with the council and the public is coming to an end. Many residents are weary from the 3-week-old garbage lockout and are looking to Oakland City Hall -- including...

Say you write for or edit the metro section of a major metropolitan newspaper and you have a juicy story of a local ex-mayor who was arrested for running a brothel. It's right on the heels of the Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) prostitution scandal and the politician in the local story in question was once a sheriff's deputy, clearly no stranger to anti-prostitution laws. Party affiliation is just one more tidbit of information that couldn't hurt your readers, right? Not for the Washington Post. Seventy-two year old former Dumfries Mayor Melvin Bray was "charged with running a brothel out of...

Salt Lake City mayoral hopeful Keith Christensen's newly minted support for a downtown skywalk will not vault Mayor Rocky Anderson back into the race after all. "I'm out. I'm not running for re-election," Anderson said Friday, slamming shut the third-term door he had creaked open last month.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was greeted by a crowd of thousands Friday with something he doesn't usually hear - a booming chorus of boos. The icy reception came as Villaraigosa took part in a welcoming ceremony for the newest member of the Los Angeles Galaxy - soccer superstar David Beckham. But when the mayor was introduced, the crowd estimated at 5,000 turned on him with jeers and howls as if he was a member of an opposing team, while the moment was recorded by a vast array of international media. It might have been payback. At a 2005 match...

The NAACP wants Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory to apologize for remarks he made about African American youth after last week's arrests during Fourth of July festivities in uptown. Ken White, president of the Charlotte Branch of the NAACP, on Wednesday called the mayor's comments "insensitive" and said he's concerned they painted "African American youth with a broad swath that cuts deep in many of our communities." McCrory's comments came July 5 in a letter to the city manager congratulating police on their efforts the night before, when 169 people were arrested in uptown. McCrory also wrote that "too many of...

D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty yesterday said he is close to a decision on whether city officials will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court a federal court ruling that would repeal the District's 30-year-old handgun ban. "We're planning to make that announcement within the next week," Mr. Fenty said yesterday. "We're still exploring all of our options." The Supreme Court appeal must be filed within 90 days of May 8, the date a federal appeals panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit declined to reconsider its earlier ruling in the case. That gives Fenty administration officials...