Free Republic

LANDIS — A Rowan County school bus driver remains in jail today after Landis Police say he allowed students to smoke marijuana on the bus. Police say it wasn’t the first time he allowed students to smoke on the bus. Brian Davis Overcash, 30, was charged with four counts of misdemeanor contributing to the delinquency of a minor. The incident occurred Feb. 20 after Corriher-Lipe Middle School assistant Principal Matt Krome contacted authorities. Krome told officers with the Landis Police Department that Overcash, who drove bus No. 162, told the assistant principal that several students were on the bus smoking...

Former “American Idol” runner-up Clay Aiken officially filed Thursday to run for Congress in North Carolina, saying that he wants to help end the gridlock in Washington and that no single political party has all the answers. The performer, a Democrat, turned in his paperwork at the State Board of Elections to seek the 2nd District seat currently held by Republican Renee Ellmers. Aiken, who lives in the Raleigh-Durham area, announced his bid three weeks ago and must first try to win the Democratic primary in less than 10 weeks. …

The GOP’s probability of taking over the United States Senate increased dramatically Wednesday with the entry of Rep. Cory Gardner into the race against incumbent Obamacare enthusiast Senator Mark Udall in Colorado. 1. West Virginia: Rep. Shelley Moore Capito v. no one. Jay Rockefeller quit after Capito got into the race. She will win, going away. 2. South Dakota: Former Governor Mike Rounds in South Dakota v. no one in South Dakota This is a mortal lock for the popular Rounds. 3. Arkansas: Rep. Tom Cotton v. the hapless legacy senator Mark Pryor in Ark Pryor won his seat because...

I have no idea how Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan's news conference could've been worse except had she lit a baby bunny on fire while stomping on the American flag. The junior Senator from North Carolina filed for re-election yesterday in Wake County. The media was all there, as her campaign obviusly alerted them to the event. This is pretty standard. It makes for good video to have the pol surrounded by friends, family, and supporters as they sign the paperwork and everyone cheers. But it seemed to escape Hagan and her camp that after she signs the papers she'd need...

A federal court in Tennessee has dealt a serious setback to those attacking photo voter identification laws around the country – including Eric Holder’s Justice Department in North Carolina. United States District Court Judge Ronnie Greer has thrown out a lawsuit brought by the Green Party challenging the Volunteer State’s photo voter ID law. While the decision was bad for the Green Party in Tennessee, the opinion may be even worse for voter ID opponents nationwide such as the NAACP, the Mexican American Legal Defense Fund and Eric Holder . Greer’s opinion undermines most all of the arguments being pushed...

**SNIP** Midterm elections are often a reflection of the approval rating of the incumbent president and now President Obama stands at 42.8%. And elections in the 6th year of a PresidentÂ’s term are usually not good for the incumbentÂ’s party. To make things even worse for Democrats, the issues of a weak economy and Obamacare make November look bleak for Harry Reid and his Senate Democratic cohorts. â—¾Alaska, Mark Begich â—¾Arkansas, Mark Pryor â—¾Louisiana, Mary Landrieu â—¾Michigan, Open Seat (liberal Democrat Carl Levin retiring) â—¾Montana, John Walsh â—¾North Carolina, Kay Hagan â—¾South Dakota, being vacated by retiring Democrat Tim Johnson...

The United States Postal Service has announced that former NRA President Charlton Heston will be honored with his own stamp. The stamp is part of their “Legends of Hollywood” series, and while the specific issue date has not yet determined, it will be issued sometime in 2014. Heston was a five term president of the National Rifle Association from 1998 to 2003. He was a tireless advocate for Second Amendment rights and will always be remembered by the NRA faithful for his “cold, dead hands” speech delivered at the 2000 NRA Annual Meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina. The speech was...

WILMINGTON, N.C. — A Wilmington apartment complex will soon be running DNA tests on dog poop to identify owners who don't clean up after their pooches do their business. The StarNews of Wilmington reports The Reserve at Forest Hills will ask the complex's 100 dog owners to have their pets swabbed for a DNA sample. Then, if poop found in the complex matches a pet, the owner will be fined and also will have to pay for the DNA testing which can cost up to $50.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee points out that North Carolina Sen. Kay Hagan and other vulnerable Senate Democrats are now whacking the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid… for enacting changes required by Obamacare. Hey, Senator Hagan, if you want to blame someone, blame the foolish or dishonest lawmakers who voted for the law! Wait a minute, that’s you! In 2009, Senator Kay Hagan (D-NC) promised North Carolinians who depend on Medicare that she was going to “protect Medicare” and that they would “not see a drop in their Medicare coverage.”
 But in 2010 Kay Hagan voted to slash Medicare Advantage...

Rules for voting, firearms, and government services should all be heavy — or light.Insofar as it is a case at all, and not merely a political cudgel, the brief against voter ID is simple. Minorities and the poor, advocates charge, disproportionately lack government-issued identification documents, and, as a result of the allegedly arduous process that is required to obtain them, they may struggle in perpetuity to remedy this. In consequence, laws that make presentation of ID the price of exercising a fundamental right are unacceptable — disenfranchising the marginalized, removing their voices from the public square, and imposing obstacles to...

Author's Note: The fight for student’s rights continues. The series is stretching out longer than anticipated but you will want to keep reading. There's some good news at the end of the road. Dear Chancellor Miller (chancellor@uncw.edu); After laying the groundwork in my previous correspondence, I finally have an opportunity to respond to the sweeping claim that UNCW's student affairs division treats student groups equally, regardless of their political viewpoint. I will also respond to the Dean's claim that there are hundreds of student groups on campus that have been approved without any difficulties whatsoever. That claim suggests that those...

A Pennsylvania woman has admitted to killing a man she met through a Craigslist advertisement and claimed to have killed more than 20 other people across the country. Miranda Barbour, 19, claims in an interview with the Daily Item of Sunbury, Pa., to have killed at least 22 other people in Alaska, Texas, North Carolina and California in the last six years. Barbour reportedly claimed it was part of her involvement in a satanic cult, though she offered few details of the murders she claimed to have participated in. “I can pinpoint on a map where you can find them,”...

The owner of a Rocky Mount convenience store shot and wounded one of three men suspected of trying to rob the store Sunday night, according to Rocky Mount police. Three men entered Mix Mart at 1522 S. Church St. about 9 p.m. police said. Two of the men were armed with handguns while the third suspect attempted to rob the 43-year-old man, but the store owner pulled a handgun and the two groups fired multiple shots at one another, police said. The three suspects then fled the scene.

Last night on Fox News' Hannity, Republican Senator Tim Scott responded to North Carolina NAACP Leader William Barber after he doubled down on comments he made calling Scott a "dummy." Fox News Contributor, radio host and tea party leader David Webb traveled to North Carolina over the weekend to confront Barber, who refused to apologize. In addition, supporters of Barber laughed out loud at the idea Barber's comments were inappropriate. National leaders at the NAACP have refused to comment, despite Scott being the first African-American Senator since Reconstruction.

The relentless snow and ice storms this winter have led to the highest number of flight cancellations in more than 25 years... U.S. airlines have canceled more than 75,000 domestic flights since Dec. 1, including more than 14,000 this week. That's 5.5 percent of the 1.37 million flights scheduled during that period.

Upholding a lower court decision, a federal appeals court has unanimously ruled that North Carolina legislation permitting “choose life” license plates is unconstitutional. Because the legislation does not permit pro-abortion license messages, the state engaged in “blatant viewpoint discrimination squarely at odds with the First Amendment,” the court ruled. “I am naturally disappointed at the appeals court ruling prohibiting the issuance of the Choose Life license plate in North Carolina,” said Bishop Peter Jugis of Charlotte. “Since 30 states and the District of Columbia already allow these plates, I hope that a way can be found, either through the legislature...

The National Weather Service predicts that the major winter storm that dropped significant snowfall and ice on the Southeast yesterday will intensify as it moves up the Eastern Seaboard today. The accumulation of ice can damage the electric distribution system and make road conditions unsafe, which could hamper power restoration efforts. As of 3:30 p.m. yesterday more than 450,000 customers were without power from Florida to Pennsylvania, according to the Department of Energy's Energy Assurance Daily. States of emergency have been declared in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland. The U.S. Energy Information Administration provides...

Despite a firestorm of criticism, North Carolina Democratic Party Chairman Randy Voller Wednesday left open the possibility of hiring civil rights leader Ben Chavis to run the party. Voller canceled a morning news conference at which he was expected to name Chavis as party executive director. Instead, the party has an interim director, days after Voller fired Robert Dempsey from the post. The decision came after what was described as a contentious conference call Tuesday night with more than 100 party leaders. Many Democrats objected to Chavis, an Oxford native who has been a high-profile civil rights figure. He was...

Subfreezing temperatures and a night of rain and sleet on top of Wednesday’s snow promise to keep the Triangle largely shut down through Thursday night and possibly into Friday. The second stage of the storm was setting in even as police and tow trucks tried to clear the vehicles abandoned on the sides of roads and highways Wednesday. Forecasters had predicted the storm for days, prompting Wake County schools to close Wednesday, but the snow seemed to catch thousands off guard, trapping columns of cars on snow-whitened streets and highways.

Interstates remained gridlocked around the Raleigh-Durham area Wednesday night, creating eerily similarities to the traffic nightmare in Atlanta just two weeks ago. The trouble started around lunch as businesses and schools released early, just as the heaviest snow started falling. NCDOT online maps showed no one was moving on I-40, I-85 and other major roads. According to ABC 11 in Raleigh, police weren't even responding to minor accidents, instead telling drivers to exchange license and insurance information. Officers want to clear the roads as quickly as possible. One driver in Durham told The Weather Channel he'd only gone one mile...