Free Republic

The emergency room at Northwestern Memorial Hospital was packed with flu patients when Caleb Stevens hobbled through the doors on crutches one evening in January, his leg pulsing with pain from a week-old gunshot wound. The clerk at the intake desk was unfazed when Stevens said he had been wounded in Syria. She took his passport and told him to join the rest of the people in the waiting room. So he sat with his mom for 20 minutes, his right leg wrapped in a cast, a splint and bloody bandages. He was still wearing a red-and-white Christmas sock someone...

“The group, led by Democrat Senator and Senate Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman, Patrick Leahy, arrived in Cuba last weekend to review changes in Washington’s policy toward the island since President Donald Trump assumed office in January 2017. During the press conference, Leahy mentioned the meeting that he and his colleagues held yesterday with Cuban President, Raúl Castro…During the press conference the Senator for Vermont criticized the new direction taken by the Trump administration with regard to Cuba policy.” (Cuba’s Communist party paper, Granma.)The rest of the U.S. delegation consisted of senators Ron Wyden (D-OR), Gary Peters (D-MI), Jim McGovern (D-MA),...

A manhunt is underway for a gunman who fatally shot two people inside a Michigan university dorm building early Friday morning. Mount Pleasant officials are searching for James Eric Davis, Jr., a 19-year-old black man who opened fire inside Campbell Hall at Central Michigan University around 8:30 a.m. Police described the shooting as a “family-type domestic issue.”

Police confirm the two people shot have succumbed to their injuries. 10:24 a.m. Police describe the suspect as a black male wearing mustard yellow jeans and a blue hoodie. He is considered to be armed and dangerous. 10:05 a.m. Students on campus are instructed to take shelter, said Lt. Cameron Wassman of the Central Michigan Police Department. 9:45 a.m. Michigan State Police say two people have been shot. Their conditions are not known at this time.

Department of Justice U.S. Attorney’s Office District of Massachusetts FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, March 1, 2018 Massachusetts Man Arrested for Mailing Threatening Letters Containing Suspicious White Powder BOSTON – A Beverly, Mass., man was arrested today in connection with mailing five threatening letters containing suspicious white powder to high-profile individuals around the country. Daniel Frisiello, 24, was charged in a criminal complaint with five counts of mailing a threat to injure the person of another and five counts of false information and hoaxes. Frisiello was arrested this morning and will appear in federal court in Worcester later this afternoon. As...

A Southgate man has been charged with a misdemeanor after allegedly leaving a threatening email at a Riverview church over its controversial sexual identity workshop that some people equate to conversion therapy. Brian Carl Begin II was arraigned Feb. 15 in Wyandotte before 27th District Magistrate Elizabeth DiSanto on a single charge of misuse of telecommunications services. The charge is a six-month misdemeanor, with a fine and penalty of up to $1,000, or both. “The workshop has gained so much negative attention on social media and news outlets that the church has canceled the workshop, fearing that protest may turn...

In the wake of this month’s school shooting in Parkland, Fla., Detroit Police Chief James Craig said he is open to the idea of some teachers being armed with guns in classrooms. “Certainly, there should be a very thorough vetting process,” ... “When I talk about vetting, I mean someone who is trained, someone who is responsible, the rigors associated with someone in a school environment. It could be an ex-military, ex-police officer; some of those folks are teachers, as an example.” Craig likened the vetting process to that of airlines following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, in that...

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — Hillary Clinton will appear in Grand Rapids for an event honoring former first lady Betty Ford, who would have turned 100 this year. Clinton will appear with Lynda Bird Johnson Robb, the daughter of President Lyndon Johnson, on April 11 at Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park. They’ll participate in a public discussion moderated by journalist Andrea Mitchell. Susan Ford Bales, the daughter of Betty and Gerald Ford, describes Clinton, Robb and Mitchell as three “strong women.” She says her family is pleased to have them celebrate her mother’s centennial.

The Republican National Committee revealed Tuesday that it raised $12.4 million in January 2018 — up from $11.1 million in December 2017. "As we head into the 2018 midterm elections, the Republican Party continues to break fundraising records," RNC chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel said in a statement. "We are working hand-in-hand with Republicans in Congress and President Trump to enact a pro-growth agenda on behalf of the American people. In doing so, we will continue to invest in our ground game, data operations, technology, and Party infrastructure to win elections in 2018 and beyond." The RNC also said it raised...

Mitt’s back. The former governor of Massachusetts and occasional native son of Michigan has a new persona: Mr. Utah. He’s going to bring Utah conservatism to the whole Republican party and to the country at large. Wholesome, efficient, industrious, faithful. “Utah has a lot to teach the politicians in Washington,” he says in announcing his Senate campaign. Maybe.

Baltimore’s highest-ever per capita homicide rate in 2017 also made it the deadliest big city in the country, USA Today reported Monday. Though official data from the FBI won’t be available until later in the year, USA Today reviewed the homicide rates in the nation’s 50 largest cities and Baltimore came out on top. The 342 homicides the city experienced in 2017 were a 17 percent increase over the prior year, and translated to a rate of 56 killed per 100,000 people. That easily outpaced New Orleans and Detroit, which both had about 40 killings per 100,000 people, according to...

Just watched a very insecure Oprah Winfrey, who at one point I knew very well, interview a panel of people on 60 Minutes. The questions were biased and slanted, the facts incorrect. Hope Oprah runs so she can be exposed and defeated just like all of the others! 11:28 PM - 18 Feb 2018

Just watched a very insecure Oprah Winfrey, who at one point I knew very well, interview a panel of people on 60 Minutes. The questions were biased and slanted, the facts incorrect. Hope Oprah runs so she can be exposed and defeated just like all of the others!

A chorus of Democratic lawmakers have joined the education secretary, Betsy DeVos, in calling for Congress to act after a gunman killed 17 people at a high school in Parkland, Fla. In a letter on Friday, all 17 Democrats on the House Education Committee urged Representative Virginia Foxx, the committee’s chairwoman, to convene hearings on school shootings, describing them as a “public health epidemic.” “Wednesday’s preventable tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, resulted in the deaths of at least 17 students and faculty,” the letter said. “Sadly, since the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School...

In 2018, conservative Republicans are looking forward to challenging ten incumbent Senate Democrats in states President Donald Trump won in 2016, in hopes of defeating them with bona fide conservatives. In one of these states, Michigan, the Senate Conservatives Fund has endorsed a candidate to oust liberal Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich. The SCF announced Tuesday it would back political outsider John James for U.S. Senate. James, a husband and father of two young children, businessman, and combat veteran is running in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate. He is a West Point graduate and served in Iraq as a Ranger-qualified...

WASHINGTON—The Hellenic American Leadership Council (HALC) and the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) have launched a national advocacy campaign encouraging U.S. Senators to block a planned sale of U.S. F-35 stealth fighters to Turkey’s increasingly erratic and anti-American Erdogan regime. The ANCA and Hellenic American Leadership Council have joined forces to launch a grassroots campaign to block the impending F-35 sale to Turkey (Graphic: ANCA) This joint Hellenic-Armenian American initiative – the most recent in a series of ANCA-HALC advocacy campaigns – warns Senators against the dangers of providing Erdogan with advanced weapons that he may turn against our...

House conservatives on Wednesday revolted against a massive bipartisan deal to raise the debt ceiling and bust spending caps, complaining that the GOP could no longer lay claim to being the party of fiscal responsibility. “I’m not only a ‘no.’ I’m a ‘hell no,’ ” quipped Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.), one of many members of the Tea Party-aligned Freedom Caucus who left a closed-door meeting of Republicans saying they would vote against the deal. It’s a “Christmas tree on steroids,” lamented one of the Freedom Caucus leaders, Rep. Dave Brat (R-Va.). “This spending proposal is disgusting and reckless — the...

The Democratic Attorneys General Association (DAGA), a political fundraising group, touts the AGs as “the first line of defense” against Trump’s agenda. The “sheer volume” of Democratic lawsuits is “staggering,” said Scott Will, executive director of the Republican Attorneys General Association. Throughout 2017, Democratic attorneys generals filed 35 multi-state lawsuits against the Trump administration....By contrast, Republican attorneys general brought 46 multistate legal challenges during ALL of former President Barack Obama’s two terms. Attorney general races are playing out in 32 states in 2018, with 14 seats held by Democrats and 18 by Republicans. Rankin said DAGA is focused chiefly on...

A Michigan dog owner was surprised to find out that the state approved his German shepherd for weekly unemployment benefits. The Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency sent a letter to lawyer Michael Haddock saying that a Michael Ryder was approved to receive $360 a week in unemployment, reports ABC News. The only problem is that Ryder is Haddock’s German shepherd. The letter claimed that Michael Ryder worked at a restaurant chain in Detroit, Michigan. “I’m not sure what he’s going to do with the money,” Haddock said.

The father of three daughters who were abused by Larry Nassar tried to attack the former doctor in an Eaton County, Michigan, court Friday before he was tackled and arrested by security. Randall Margraves said he was a "distraught father" and cursed at Nassar, but Judge Janice Cunningham told him that was not allowed in court. He then asked the judge for personal time alone with the "demon." "I would ask you, as part of the sentencing, to grant me five minutes in a locked room with this demon," he asked. "Would you give me one minute?" The judge declined,...