Free Republic

According to The Washington Times, the Ohio Senate is considering legislation that reduces gun control by easing restrictions on concealed carry weapons permits (CCWs). The new legislation would allow Ohioans to acquire a CCW in eight hours instead of twelve and would open the door for active military to carry concealed without going through the permit process.

As LifeNews previously reported, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) released its national abortion report last month and the new statistics show the number of abortions in the United States have declined to a historic low. However, unfortunately, a new analysis reveals that out of the ten states where the most abortions occurred, 60.48% of the babies killed were African American and Hispanic. blackbaby6According to the Census Bureau, Blacks and Hispanics comprise only 13.2% and 17.1% of the population respectively; however they get 37.3% and 22% of all abortions. Additionally, while it definitely isn’t news that Planned Parenthood targets minority...

The recent Chapter 7 bankruptcy and liquidation filing of the Toledo, Ohio-based solar-panel manufacturer Xunlight Corp. has attracted barely any national attention. Maybe it’s gotten to the point — after Solyndra, Evergreen, Abound, and Satcon — that the failure of another government-backed alternative energy company is a dog-bites-man story. It’d be newsworthy if any of them actually ever succeeded. But it’s worth pausing for an autopsy and retrospective on Xunlight, because it’s a great (or terrible, depending on how you look at it) example of how government at all levels — state and federal — and in both parties —...

"The more the president talks about his ideas, the more unpopular he becomes. Why would I want to deprive him of that opportunity?"

A police officer who shot a 12-year-old dead in a Cleveland park late last month had been judged unfit for police service two years earlier by a small suburban force where he worked for six months, according to records released on Wednesday. Officer Timothy Loehmann, who killed Tamir Rice on 22 November, was specifically faulted for breaking down emotionally while handling a live gun. During a training episode at a firing range, Loehmann was reported to be “distracted and weepy” and incommunicative. “His handgun performance was dismal,” deputy chief Jim Polak of the Independence, Ohio, police department wrote in an...

Ohio Sen. Rob Portman, a Mitt Romney ally in 2012 who was exploring his own bid for president in 2016, has opted against a White House bid and will instead seek another Senate term, sources confirmed to POLITICO. Portman began calling allies Monday to let them know he didn’t plan to run nationally, sources familiar with the calls said.

(CNN) -- A missing Ohio State University football player has been found dead, authorities said Sunday. Kosta Karageorge, a fifth-year senior, had missed practice Wednesday and hadn't been seen since. Sgt. Richard Weiner, with Columbus police, said that Karageorge died from what appears to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound. His body was found inside a Dumpster and identified at the scene through tattoos, Weiner said. A handgun was also recovered at the scene. It was not immediately clear how long the body had been in the Dumpster, Weiner said. An investigation is ongoing.

Media outlets are reporting a body has been found near Ohio State while police are providing no updates on the search for a football player missing since Wednesday. WBNS-TV, WCMH-TV and The Columbus Dispatch reported Sunday that police confirm a body has been found. But both police and Ohio State Coach Urban Meyer say they have no updates on the search for defensive lineman Kosta Karageorge. A police report says Karageorge's mother told authorities he has had concussions and spells of confusion. She said he texted a message Wednesday citing the concussions and saying he was sorry if he was...

The short answer? The highest-ranking official in the Cincinnati office where, the IRS would have us believe, a few rogue employees initiated a scheme to target conservatives. SNIP When an application for tax exempt status comes into the IRS, agents have 270 days to work through that application. If the application is not processed within those 270 days it automatically triggers flags in the system. When that happens, individual agents are required to input a status update on that individual case once a month, every month until the case is resolved. Keep in mind, at least 300 groups were targeted...

It’s “inconceivable” that President Obama was unaware that the IRS was targeting conservative groups, House Speaker John Boehner said today. “It would be inconceivable in my operation that my staff would know it and I wouldn’t,” the Ohio Republican told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos on “Good Morning America.” “It just doesn’t pass the straight-face test. How could – how can your chief of staff – your general counsel know, and you not know?” Obama has said that he first found out about the outcome of an inspector general audit when the report was released publicly, but his aides say they...

More utter cluelessness from IRS employees, plus, as a bonus, some "Good German" excuses for why the targeting of conservative groups happened. Washington Post: As could be expected, the folks in the determinations unit on Main Street have had trouble concentrating this week. Number crunchers, whose work is nonpolitical, don't necessarily enjoy the spotlight, especially when the media and the public assume they're engaged in partisan villainy. "We're not political,'' said one determinations staffer in khakis as he left work late Tuesday afternoon. "We people on the local level are doing what we are supposed to do. . . . That's why...

CNN’s Drew Griffin broke into Wolf Blitzer‘s Newsroom report Wednesday afternoon to reveal new information about the investigation into the IRS’ admission that they targeted conservatives during the 2012 election year. Griffin said a Congressional source told him that the acting commissioner of the IRS, Steven Miller, has identified two “rogue” employees in the agency’s Cincinnati office, who he characterized as “off the reservation.” The commissioner reportedly said the two, as yet unnamed, employees were “principally responsible for overly aggressive handling of Tea Party requests for tax exempt status over the past two years.” Another source, according to Griffin, said...

Monday afternoon, ABC News released a chilling report that details what journalists have faced while trying to get some answers from the Cincinnati IRS office, which is where a majority of the Tea Party targeting took place. According to ABC, an "armed uniform police officer with the Federal Protective Service" "escorted" reporters through the public building. ABC says if the intent wasn't to "scare off" employees who might talk, "it was the effect."ABC News is also hearing conflicting reports from Cincinnati IRS employees and the IRS Headquarters in Washington. A Washington spokesman told ABC that press queries are "referred to...

CINCINNATI, OH (FOX19) - The claim that the ongoing IRS scandal is limited to low level employees is falling apart. The six Cincinnati workers we have identified, who sent scrutinizing letters to conservative groups with words including "patriot, liberty, tea party or 9-12" in their names are Mitchel Steele, Carly Young, Joseph Herr, Stephen Seok, Liz Hofacre and a woman identified only as Ms. Richards. But was all of this done at the hands of a small group of Cincinnati employees working together? During Friday's congressional hearing, that appeared to be the theme. Now, that explanation just became less likely....

FULL TITLE - "BREAKING: Boehner on IRS Scandal: My Question Isn’t Who’s Going to Resign, My Question Is Who Is Going to Jail? (Video)" The Republican Leadership team held a press conference this morning. Speaker Boehner led off and finished with this: “In addition to this the IRS has admitted to targeting conservatives. Even if the White House happens to be stuck on the word “if.” Well my question isn’t about who’s going to resign. My question is about who’s going to jail.“ Via America’s Newsroom: [video]

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Nine non-African American Cleveland police officers accused the police department of racial discrimination in the aftermath of the deadly Nov. 29, 2012 chase in a federal lawsuit filed late Friday. The officers - eight white officers and one Hispanic - claim the department has a history of treating non-black officers who shoot black residents "more harshly" than black officers involved in shootings, according to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court Northern District of Ohio Friday. The suit was filed on the eve of the two-year anniversary of the deadly chase, when 13 officers fired 137 shots...

Kasich justifies his “very conservative” decision to expand Medicaid and implement Obamacare… I mean, that’s what we’re supposed to do in life, right? Help our neighbor. Help people…that’s my whole philosophy in the state. Medicaid is another one we did…making sure that people could get health care. … There’s a, kind of a big faith-based component of the conservative movement…so, to me, that’s very conservative. On issue after issue, Kasich is severely conservative. Guns Kasich received an “F” rating from the NRA after voting for Bill Clinton’s 1994 Assault Weapons Ban (AWB).

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- A missing Ohio State University football player told his mother in a text message the day he disappeared that concussions had his head messed up, according to a report filed with police.

AKRON, Ohio — An Akron police officer shot a man threatening to kill a woman while holding two knives to her throat. Earion R. Feaster, 31, of Akron, faces charges of felonious assault, abduction and domestic violence in Akron Municipal Court. He is booked into the Summit County Jail. The officer, a 7-year police veteran, is on paid administrative leave while the shooting is investigated, which is the department's policy for an officer-involved shooting. Akron police were called about 10 p.m. to the home in the 200 block of East North Street for a report of a domestic dispute. Dispatchers...

KRON, Ohio - The man accused of shooting Akron police officer Justin Winebrenner pleaded not guilty on Tuesday. Kenan Ivery, 35, had a special hearing Monday , where no bond was set. He was arraigned Tuesday morning on murder charges. The courtroom was filled with officers, including Akron Police Chief James Nice. Police said Ivery shot Officer Justin Winebrenner at Papa Don's Pub in Akron after he was asked by the staff to leave the bar for being unruly. Officers said Ivery went to his car and returned armed with a gun. Investigators said Ivery shot five people, including Winebrenner,...