Free Republic

A new poll released today from Commonwealth Leaders Fund, a conservative group, shows GOP candidates for Governor and Senate are each trailing by less than 3 points to the Democratic incumbents. The polling showed Gov. Tom Wolf leading Scott Wagner 46% to 43%. Sen. Bob Casey leads Rep. Lou Barletta 47% to 45%. The polling, conducted via IVR interviews from Aug. 13-15, included 2,012 likely voters. It’s CLF’s first ever publicly-released poll and it predicts a more conservative electorate than public polls. 53% of those polled identified as either very conservative or somewhat conservative. Only20% polled considered themselves very liberal...

A Roman Catholic high school will shed the name of Washington's archbishop after he was cited in a sweeping grand jury report as having allowed priests accused of sexually abusing children to be reassigned or reinstated while he was Pittsburgh's bishop. The Diocese of Pittsburgh said Wednesday that Washington Cardinal Donald Wuerl made the request to remove his name from Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic High School, and that school and diocese officials accepted it. The sign out front of the suburban Pittsburgh school was discovered vandalized Monday, with red spray paint obscuring Wuerl's name as some conservative Catholics called for...

Authorities are looking for a Pennsylvania man who is believed to have threatened to shoot President Trump. CNN reported that the U.S. Marshals Service is offering a $20,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Shawn Richard Christy, who was least seen Sunday night driving a stolen car in Cumberland, Md. The FBI said in a warrant on its website that Christy allegedly made threats against Trump and Northampton County (Pa.) District Attorney John Morganelli on Facebook between June 3 and 12. In the posts, Christy, 27, claimed he is going to shoot Trump in the head and use...

Rep. Lou Barletta (R-PA) and Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) are in a dead heat in the Pennsylvania Senate race, according to a poll released on Monday. A Commonwealth Leaders Fund poll found that Sen. Bob Casey leads by only two points, with Casey at 47 percent, Barletta at 45 percent, and 6.1 percent of Pennsylvania voters undecided. The poll had a 3.6-point margin of error, making the Pennsylvania Senate race a virtual toss-up. The poll also weighted heavily for a significant Democrat turnout that outpaces previous “Democratic waves.” The poll suggested that Democrats will have a five-point turnout advantage over...

Thousands of guns recovered in Maryland last year traced back to 49 states, but the largest portion of firearms was bought locally… ATF agents were able to determine where nearly 5,900 of the firearms were sold, according to a new analysis by the ATF, which publishes the findings of its gun traces each year. Some 47 percent were bought in Maryland, the ATF found. Virginia ranked second and supplied about 15 percent of the guns. Pennsylvania came third with nearly 7 percent. Some firearms were bought as far away as Texas (101 guns) and California (46 guns).

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro is accusing Cardinal Donald Wuerl, the archbishop of Washington, of "not telling the truth" as he attempts to defend himself amid criticism and calls for his resignation over the release of a Pennsylvania grand jury report detailing allegations of widespread predatory behavior by more than 300 priests against more than 1,000 children. The report is critical of Wuerl, who served as the bishop of Pittsburgh for 18 years, from 1988 to 2006, and describes him as one of the bishops who helped cover up abusive behavior. The cardinal's defenders note that he acted to discipline...

After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 2015, Esperanza Franco headed south to the border, where she worked defending immigrants who faced deportation. Now she’s the one who might get kicked out of the country. Franco says her former employer’s mishandling of a work-visa application — she came here from Spain five years ago — has put her in danger of losing her legal status. She fears that in less than a month, she could end up being jailed in the same Arizona detention center where she has gone to visit clients. “I’m going through so much...

Pennsylvania is one of America's most populous when it comes to gun owners. Almost one in three Pennsylvanians owns a firearm, or 31 percent. So where do they learn how to shoot? (Legally, that is.) I'm under-educated on the gun-owner side of our national debate. So, I persuaded my editors to let me take a gun class, learn gun safety, and understand more about gun culture. --SNIP-- First, the thrill. It's for real. I'm holding a firearm in my hands. It's horrifying and exhilarating at the same time. Later, I'll shoot "dry-fire" — essentially, blanks — and then real bullets....

... “In 2016, a lot of us assumed we knew what would happen in Michigan and Wisconsin,” Salvanto told The Post. “It was a great lesson for us pollsters: Even if you think you know what will happen, poll it if you can.” Blame it on the Blue Wall. Since 1992, in six consecutive presidential elections, a solid block of 18 states had voted for the Democrat every single time. They would have given Clinton 239 electoral votes — 89 percent of the way to victory — if she had held on to them all.Few bothered to ask those states’...

A Cardinal who was heavily criticised for his handling of child sexual abuse allegations in the Pennsylvania grand jury report has withdrawn from a scheduled appearance at the World Meeting of Families in Dublin next week, it has been confirmed. Cardinal Donald Wuerl, the Archbishop of Washington, was due to give the keynote address, entitled “The Welfare of the Family is Decisive for the Future of the World,” in the RDS at 2.30pm next Wednesday. No reason has been provided for the decision. Cardinal Wuerl was bishop of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1988 to 2006. The report of the grand jury,...

Two days after Cardinal Donald Wuerl sat down exclusively with FOX 5, others are coming forward to refute the Archbishop of Washington’s claims that he did everything he could to protect victims within the Catholic Church.A growing number of people are also calling for Wuerl’s resignation, including David Lorenz, the Maryland director for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, known as SNAP.Lorenz tells FOX 5 he had direct and one-on-one interactions with Cardinal Wuerl, who was not receptive to Lorenz’s requests on handling victims in the church.“I wanted him to develop a support group that survivors could come...

Cardinal Raymond Burke has called for “open recognition” of the Catholic church’s homosexual culture in light of recent revelations of sexual abuse. “I believe that there needs to be an open recognition that we have a very grave problem of a homosexual culture in the Church,” Burke said in an interview Thursday, “especially among the clergy and the hierarchy, that needs to be addressed honestly and efficaciously.” he former head of the church’s equivalent of the Supreme Court said it was already “clear after the studies following the 2002 sexual abuse crisis that most of the acts of abuse were...

Philadelphia mom, 44, who shelled out $25k on Arabian themed prom send-off for her son complete with camel and three dates is charged with fraud for collecting disability and faces 140 years behind bars Saudia Shuler, the mom who dropped $25,000 for her son's 2017 prom, has been charged with wire fraud, theft of government funds and Social Security fraud The 44-year-old was said to have applied for benefits, describing herself as disabled and unable to work, but continued working She even operated a restaurant called Country Cookin' - costing the government close to $37,000 Shuler could face a staggering...

A shooting at a Walmart north of Philadelphia wounded at least five people including a customer Tuesday evening before the shooter apparently escaped from the store -- and crashed a getaway car into a police SUV, reports said. Police took the 30-year-old suspect, who has not been named publicly, into custody after workers at the Walmart in Cheltenham Township identified him, Fox 29 News Philadelphia reported. A woman was also reportedly apprehended. The incident initially erupted as a disagreement at the register, during which a man took a firearm from a woman and opened fire, police told the outlet. A...

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — The long-awaited state grand jury report into sexual abuse in six Pennsylvania dioceses, including Pittsburgh and Greensburg, has finally been released. The 884-page document, two years in the making, shines a light into the dark corners of these dioceses going back seven decades, exposing the predators and the efforts of their bishops to protect them. “Today, the most comprehensive report on child sexual abuse within the church ever produced in our country was released,” Attorney General Josh Shapiro said. “Pennsylvanians can finally learn the extent of sexual abuse in these dioceses. For the first time, we can...

The long-awaited state grand jury report into sexual abuse in six Pennsylvania dioceses, including Pittsburgh and Greensburg, has finally been released. The 1,300-plus page document, two years in the making, shines a light into the dark corners of these dioceses going back seven decades, exposing the predators and the efforts of their bishops to protect them. The report begins with the following statement: “We, the members of this grand jury, need you to hear this. We know some of you have head some of it before. There have been other reports about child sex abuse within the Catholic Church. But...

Kittanning Council does not have the authority to remove a councilman from office despite charges he engaged in sexual contact with a disabled 14-year-old, Council President Kim Chiesa said Friday. On Thursday, Council Vice President David John Croyle, 60, was arrested and charged with felony counts of statutory sexual assault, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, unlawful contact with a minor, aggravated indecent assault of a person with a mental disability, corruption of minors and related charges. Croyle is the editor and publisher of the Kittanning Paper and senior pastor at the Family-Life Church on South Jefferson Street in Kittanning. Also arrested...

(Note: Croyle also runs a paper and a radio station) Kittanning (PA) Council does not have the authority to remove a councilman from office despite charges he engaged in sexual contact with a disabled 14-year-old, Council President Kim Chiesa said Friday. On Thursday, Council Vice President David John Croyle, 60, was arrested and charged with felony counts of statutory sexual assault, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, unlawful contact with a minor, aggravated indecent assault of a person with a mental disability, corruption of minors and related charges. Croyle is the editor and publisher of the Kittanning Paper and senior pastor at...

HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania, August 8, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) – Pennsylvania’s Democrat Gov. Tom Wolf signed an executive order Monday creating the Pennsylvania Commission on LGBTQ Affairs, a body dedicated to promoting homosexual and transgender interests in a wide variety of ways. “The creation of the commission on LGBTQ Affairs is one step of many we have taken to ensure obstacles are removed for anyone who is facing an unfair disadvantage based on sexual orientation, gender identity and expression,” Wolf said. “It’s a step we took together with our stakeholder and advocacy groups and one that those involved asked for – a commission...

A Jordanian immigrant facing the death penalty in Houston praised Osama bin Laden for the terror attacks on New York City on September 11, 2001, and said the violence was deserved, his daughter testified Tuesday. Nesreen Irsan, 30, told jurors that her fervently Muslim father, 60-year-old Ali Mahwood-Awad Irsan, was living in Conroe when the infamous attacks occurred and was happy that Americans had died. He also told his 12 children they should become suicide bombers if asked. “He said it’s what America deserves,” the daughter said as she testified against the father who has been convicted of killing her...