Free Republic

St. Charles District 303 is considering opting its high schools out of the National School Lunch Program to give its students more flexible and better-tasting food options. However, the district would have to forfeit about $500,000 in federal support to do so. Students haven't just vocally grumbled about the new options available under the federal program, but have voted against the program with their dollars, too. A la carte purchases have dropped steadily in the last year. District officials project a 41 percent decline in a la carte items sold by the end of the 2014-15 school year compared to...

DENVER — Colorado already is being sued by two neighboring states for legalizing marijuana. Now, the state faces groundbreaking lawsuits from its own residents, who are asking a federal judge to order the new recreational industry to close. The owners of a mountain hotel and a southern Colorado horse farm argue in a pair of lawsuits filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Denver that the 2012 marijuana-legalization measure has hurt their property and that the marijuana industry is stinky and attracts unsavory visitors.

The White House Science and Technology Advisor, says an initiative is underway “with the goal of ensuring a climate smart citizenry in the United States.” “In December of last year the White House Climate Education and Literacy Initiative was launched--with the goal of ensuring a climate smart citizenry in the United States,” Dr. John Holdren says in a White House video released last week. “Whenever I can I use opportunities like this ‘Ask Dr. H’ initiative to communicate about climate change and the strong scientific underpinnings of our actions to combat it.” “Based on our scientific understanding of climate change...

A state-level bureaucrat is standing up to the the central government planners is a most unusual way. Arizona’s superintendent of public instruction, Diane Douglas, has informed all school districts in the Grand Canyon State that they have blanket authority to ignore all federal nutrition mandates regulating school fundraisers. "Forcing parents and other supporters of schools to only offer federally approved food and snacks at fundraisers is a perfect example of the overreach of government and intrusion into local control," Douglas said in a statement. "I have ordered effective immediately, that the ADE Health and Nutrition Services division grant exemptions for...

Most of the debate over the building of the nation's first bullet train, in California, has focused on the economics of such a monumental undertaking and its projected $68-billion first-phase price tag. Largely ignored amid the excitement over the railway's recent official groundbreaking is the physical impact and design challenges that cities will need to grapple with as they prepare for high-speed rail. California should look to rail systems across Europe to fully understand the challenge of building a transportation hub that connects to the community. To make the most of California's once-in-a-lifetime chance at building a thriving transportation network,...

Yoga pants are under attack. Lately, they have been a hot topic on Facebook, blogs and other corners of the web. Some say they are too tight. Others complain that we, as a society, have lost all sense of modesty. The question has been posed: Should women wear yoga pants in public? For one state legislator in Montana, the struggle against yoga pants is real. No. Seriously. From the Billings Gazette:

(CNSNews.com) – An administrative law judge in Oregon has ruled against Melissa Klein’s effort to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a lesbian couple after Klein declined to make their wedding cake because of her biblical belief that marriage is the sacred union of one man and one woman. A hearing in March will now determine what fines will be levied against Klein for “damages” suffered by the lesbians. Attorneys for Klein, owner with her husband Aaron Klein of Sweet Cakes by Melissa in Gresham, Ore., had sought to have the case dismissed and to be awarded $200,000 in legal...

Rep. Ted Poe (R-Texas) has introduced a bill to keep the "federal food police" out of schools, taking aim at Obama administration nutrition standards applied to bake sales.Poe's bill, H.R. 881, would prevent federal nutrition standards developed by the Department of Agriculture under a 2010 law championed by first lady Michelle Obama from being applied to school fundraisers.“The federal food police need to stay out of our schools,” Poe said in a statement. “First, the regulators came into our lunchrooms, then vending machines and now school fundraisers."The nutrition standards, which limit the calories and fat in food sold in schools,...

(CNSNews.com) - Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D- Ore.) has released a plan calling for “more research on the health effects of guns.” Blumenauer’s “Enough is Enough” plan looks back to how the U.S. government addressed tobacco use and automobile safety in years past and calls for a similar approach to guns. “The Surgeon General's report on tobacco was a major catalyst for the efforts to reduce tobacco use. Ralph Nader’s research captured headlines and focused public attention on automobile safety. Similarly, we need more research on the health effects of guns. We can start by improving the ability of researchers and...

The federal government, taking pages from the playbooks of Communist nations like China, is preparing regulations that will have profound impacts on free speech online. If the regulations succeed via the Federal Elections Committee, any posts, videos or news stories posted in support or opposition of a candidate will be considered a political contribution. The FEC closely regulates contribution limits, meaning that blogs and Youtubers would have their free speech capped once their content value surpasses the spending limit. In other words, your posts, comments or videos supporting or opposing a candidate will be treated like donations or campaign independent...

DES MOINES, Iowa —More than 100 students joined Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, First Lady Chris Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds for a rally at the Capitol Tuesday

First lady Michelle Obama believes Americans can keep the federal government from meddling with their lives by eating healthy foods and maintaining an active lifestyle. In an interview with Cooking Light magazine published Monday, Mrs. Obama said the best way to avoid dealing with “the system” is to take care of one’s own body. Doing so, she said, will eliminate trips to the doctor and the need to deal with Obamacare. “It’s just making sure people understand that the most powerful thing that they can do for their overall health is feed their bodies good nutritious food,” the first lady...

Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg reportedly argued Friday that guns need to be kept out of the hands of minorities in order to keep them alive. While speaking at the Aspen Institute, Mr. Bloomberg, 72, said 95 percent of murders fall into a specific category: a male minority between the ages of 15 and 25, The Aspen Times reported. Cities need to get guns out of this group’s hands and keep them alive, the former three-term mayor said, according to The Times. “These kids think they’re going to get killed anyway because all their friends are getting killed,” Mr....

Retired neurosurgeon and presidential hopeful Ben Carson attempted Sunday to diffuse the vaccination debate that has gripped the political scene, saying there’s no reason to turn vaccines for measles and other diseases into a partisan issue. Mr. Carson, a star in conservative circles, said scientists have debunked skeptics who warn of debilitating side effects from vaccines, and parents who forgo vaccinations are eroding the herd immunity that has lulled them into complacency. “We’ve had such an effective vaccination program that you’re not seeing the diseases,” Mr. Carson told “Fox News Sunday.” A measles outbreak traced to Disneyland in California has...

I'm sure, as all good Americans, you too have been pouring over every little detail of the President's latest budget proposal. I’ve basically been doing nothing but that for 4 straight days. Unfortunately, given the current Congressional makeup of selfish bigoted haters Republicans, it has very little chance of becoming law like every other budget he's proposed. Even so, there's one thing that stands out: Climate Resilience Toolkits.. I did a little video to emphasize its most important points. It was originally over three hours long as I found it impossible to winnow the important points down to less than...

More than 120 lawmakers reached by NBC News said that their children have all been vaccinated, as politicians continue to clarify their stances with a measles outbreak spreading across the western United States.NBC found that 121 lawmakers had vaccinated their children, while 33 additional do not have any kids. The rest, outside of seven who declined to share the information, did not respond.Public health officials continue to fight a measles outbreak that’s spread to 14 states, according to the CDC, most of them linked to exposure from Disneyland Park in California.Officials and doctors have urged parents to vaccinate their children...

Democrats were gleeful when Republicans Chris Christie and Rand Paul got tangled this week in the debate over the Disneyland measles outbreak, until similar words from the pasts of President Obama and 2016 front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton came out. Mr. Christie walked back his recent comments calling for “balance” and a role for “parental choice” on childhood vaccines, saying in a Monday statement that “with a disease like measles, there’s no question kids should be vaccinated.” But the Democratic posturing as the party of science was short-lived. Several websites promptly dug up a comment from Mr. Obama during the 2008...

This week, controversy broke out over whether state governments have the power to require parents to have their children vaccinated. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, no stranger to compelling his citizens to stay off the roads during blizzards, announced that he had some sympathy for the anti-vaccination position: "I also understand that parents need to have some measure of choice in things as well. So that's the balance the government has to decide." Kentucky Senator Rand Paul doubled down on Christie's remarks, stating, "I have heard of many tragic cases of walking, talking, normal children who wound up with profound...

If you’re like most Americans, you’re enjoying the fact that it costs a lot less to fill up your car’s gas tank these days. If you’re a fan of big government, you may feel a bit ambivalent, though. Why? Because one of the biggest drivers behind the drop in gas prices is the rise in directional drilling and hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) here at home. While the government is busy micromanaging the energy industry — trying to saddle it with more regulations while showering favors on so-called “green” companies — the free market is showing how to actually get things done....

<p>A California Democrat has proposed a bill that would raise the state’s minimum smoking age from 18 to 21 in an effort to keep cigarettes out of the hands of teenagers.</p> <p>State Sen. Ed Hernandez introduced Senate Bill 151, which would make California the first state in the country to raise the minimum smoking age to 21. Similar proposals have previously failed in New Jersey, Utah, Colorado and Maryland.</p>