Free Republic

I think the political environment in Pennsylvania has dramatically changed since last year, and now the Republicans are looking increasingly competitive," said Terry Madonna, a political scientist and pollster at Franklin & Marshall College In Lancaster, Pa. Obama was the fifth consecutive Democratic presidential candidate to carry Pennsylvania, and winning the 21 electoral votes from the Keystone State helped him clinch the presidency. But just below the national political radar, Pennsylvania last month held statewide judicial races in which six of the seven contests on the ballot were won by Republicans. Sen. Arlen Specter, a Democrat who switched parties earlier...

Members of the Southampton Railroad Station Society plan to mark the 1921 crash of two trains near Bryn Athyn, which killed 27. For many area residents the train track on Creek Road in Upper Moreland is just that - a train track. But to some railroad historians like Charles Liberto, Frank Baldwin and Richard Mansley and a few area families, the single lane track means history. A painful history. Saturday will mark the 88th anniversary of a deadly Upper Moreland train wreck that claimed 27 lives and injured 70 people. The crash and the high number of casualties, many of...

Answering critics questioning the integrity of his research he says shows planetary temperatures are rising, Penn State University's Michael Mann said Wednesday he never manipulated data. "Any attempt to accuse me of this is false and a deliberate smear," said Mann, a meteorology professor and director of the university's Earth System Science Center. He was a co-winner of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize -- with several hundred scientists -- for work on the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Critics last month began attacking Mann for e-mails he received and wrote during at least a 10-year period with Phil...

The following is the anticipated schedule for President Obama tomorrow (12/4). It is important to remember that the only firm time and location that we have is for his speech at LCCC in Schnecksville. While we have this information from several good sources, it may either change or be slightly different. The President will most likely do everything is his power to avoid us. 10:20 AM-Air Force One lands at ABE (LVIA). Remember that there are two exits from the airport-the main one on Airport Rd and athe one off Postal Rd. He will most likely exit onto Airport Rd....

WILKES-BARRE – Months of speculation regarding the fate of Luzerne County Judge Michael Toole ended Wednesday when federal prosecutors announced the jurist has agreed to plead guilty to honest services fraud for improperly influencing a court case, and to tax evasion for an unrelated matter. A complaint filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office says Toole secretly communicated with a plaintiff’s attorney to appoint a person that attorney had sought as a neutral arbitrator in an uninsured motorist case. The neutral arbitrator is part of a three-person panel and is a key vote in deciding how much money to award or...

RIDLEY TWP., Pa. - December 1, 2009 (WPVI) -- Ridley Township police are looking for a woman in connection with a violent home invasion Monday night that easily could have been deadly. Related Content More: Send a Breaking News alert More: Report a typo More: Action News Desktop Alert More: SLIDESHOW: Viewer photos "She knocked on my door and I opened it. And she said she was broke down and could she use my phone." 84-year-old Donald Kaighn let the woman who claimed she had a car breakdown into his house. Within moments she was spraying him with lighter fluid...

Penn State Altoona's chapter of Kappa Delta Pi will present Dr. William Ayers, Thursday, December 10, 2009 in the TV Lounge of the Slep Student Center. Ayers will deliver "Democracy and Public Schools" from 4 - 5:30 p.m. Ayers is a progressive education theorist who works with education reform, curriculum, and instruction. He is a professor in the College of Education at the University of Illinois - Chicago, holding the titles of distinguished professor of education and senior university scholar. Ayers has written extensively about social justice, democracy and education, the cultural contexts of schooling, and teaching as an essentially...

If you are fed up with Barack Obama and Eric Holder’s constant attacks on what is good and right about America come to New York City’s Foley Square Federal Courthouse on this Saturday December 5, 2009 at 12 noon and let your voice be heard. The “Stop The Terror Trial in NYC Rally” is being sponsored by TEA Party 365 and the 9/11 Never Forget Coalition. Those on hand beside the 9/11 Families will be brother and sister New York City Firefighters and Police Officers representing the 343 Firefighters and 40 Police Officers who died that day. Moreover there will...

The Paoli Local, now known prosaically as the R5, passes through some of the region's wealthiest suburbs - the storied Main Line, with train stations in towns whose names resonate with privilege: Merion, Radnor, Wayne, Bryn Mawr, Devon --snip-- Along the Main Line, by contrast, the number of continuing claims rose as much as 730 percent in places such as Strafford, Wayne, St. Davids, Radnor, Haverford, and Wynnewood. Marginally better off are Ardmore, Bryn Mawr, Merion, Rosemont, Devon, Paoli, and Berwyn. In those towns, the number of claims rose 101 to 150 percent over the two years. On the whole,...

Recruit's tattoo on saluting arm becomes a problem Wednesday, December 02, 2009 By Sadie Gurman, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette A tattoo that passed muster when Kayla Bresnan was sworn into the U.S. Air Force in April might now keep her from service thanks to a rule quietly implemented last week. On Monday, the day before she was to ship out to Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio for basic training, she was told by an Air Force official that the 3-inch-by-3-inch theatrical mask on her "saluting arm" is no longer acceptable. He called a cab and sent her back to her...

EBENSBURG — Gamesa USA’s decision to furlough more than half its employees at the local turbine blade plant came as a surprise to many. But Gov. Ed Rendell remains optimistic the action is a bump in the renewable energy journey, a spokesman said Friday. “The company is still committed to its employees and its Ebensburg plant,” Rendell spokesman Michael Smith said, echoing a company statement. ...The Gamesa plant in Ebensburg was made possible through $9.3 million in state assistance.

YORK, Pa. -- Salvation Army bell ringers in York have collected the first gold coin of this year's kettle campaign. [The South African gold krugerrand is valued at nearly $1,200.] The South African gold krugerrand is valued at nearly $1,200. The coin was dropped in a Salvation Army kettle on Friday outside a Kmart on Haines Road. The South African gold krugerrand is valued at nearly $1,200. It was wrapped in a $1 bill. "As soon as the staff person saw it in the kettle, they called me and called George. They were so excited. They wanted us to come...

Dear Pro-life Friend: The next week will be a grueling and, we pray, critical effort in this life and death struggle. It is late Saturday night; I am here in Southwest Nebraska. I spoke for a few moments at a vigil Mass here, begging people to contact their Senators. I speak 3 times in the morning. Then, we leave late Sunday for an eight-city, fourteen-event effort to mobilize people against this damnable "health care" legislation. I beg you for your prayers with all my heart. If you are ANYWHERE NEAR where we will be, please join us! If you know...

Two years after the disclosure that Luzerne County officials spent thousands of dollars on overnight trips to New York City, Commissioner Greg Skrepenak still defends the trips he says were supposed to bring New York-style crime fighting to Luzerne County. Skrepenak also denies knowledge that two retired New York City police detectives involved with those trips had business ties to county contracts now being investigated by the FBI and the county solicitor. William Maguire - a retired Wilkes-Barre police captain who has agreed to cooperate with federal investigators and pleaded guilty to taking a bribe - organized the New York...

The concourse is pretty quiet most days at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport, but on a spring night in 2006 about 900 people were milling about at a black-tie affair dining on hors d'oeuvres as they took in a $30,000 laser light and music show. Few knew the lavish, invitation-only party cost $176,000, and even if they did, they probably never would have guessed that the tab was picked up, for the most part, by companies that received public contracts for the $80 million airport renovation. The construction contracts and the big party - a night that cost more than an...

Medical identity theft is on the rise and expected to worsen. The problem has grown during the recession as more uninsured people use the coverage of a friend, relative or even a stranger to get care. Of particular concern is the fact that most of the fraud is committed by people who pay medical workers for patients' information. In one case, a front-desk clerk at a medical clinic in Weston, Fla., downloaded the personal information of more than 1,100 Medicare patients and gave it to a cousin, who made $2.8 million in false Medicare claims.

Note: The following text is a quote: Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEMonday, November 23, 2009 Arrests Made in Case Involving Conspiracy to Procure Weapons, Including Anti-Aircraft Missiles Arrests were made today in a case involving a conspiracy to procure weapons, including anti-aircraft missiles. A criminal complaint, unsealed today, charged Dani Nemr Tarraf with conspiring to acquire anti-aircraft missiles (FIM-92 Stingers) and conspiring to possess machine guns (approximately 10,000 Colt M4 Carbines). In addition, Tarraf and other defendants — including Douri Nemr Tarraf, Hassan Mohamad Komeiha, and Hussein Ali Asfour — were charged with conspiring to...

Hauling brush and old tires out of the woods in Allentown early Friday, members of the Service Employees International Union learned an Eagle-Scout-to-be is just as forgiving as he is trustworthy, loyal and helpful. The Eagle Scout service project of Kevin Anderson, 17, of Upper Saucon Township was caught up in a national media firestorm after Nick Balzano, an Allentown union official, threatened to file a grievance over Kevin's work clearing a trail in Kimmets Lock Park. Conservative pundits seized on the remark as evidence of the SEIU's ''thuggery,'' and Balzano later resigned. To show there were no hard feelings,...

A former New York hedge fund executive is running for Congress against banking bête noir Rep. Paul Kanjorski (D-Pa.). As a Republican. From Kanjorski’s left. Christopher Paige said his opposition to the massive bank bailouts motivated his decision to run in the northeastern Pennsylvania district. But when talking about the bailout, Paige sounds more like the lifelong Democrat that he was rather than the newly-registered Republican he became to run for the seat, which Kanjorski has held for 13 terms. “‘Too big to fail’ should be ‘too big to exist,’” Paige told Reuters. He said he wants to strengthen anti-trust...

With a rapidly changing political atmosphere, the 36 Senate seats up for election in 2010 are drawing a big field of office seekers. But before Republicans can try their luck after eight years of Democratic gains, both parties have to settle their own internal struggles. A look at three key primaries: Florida Republican primary Aug. 24, 2010 The combatants Former state House Speaker Marco Rubio is a conservative darling and the face of a possible new generation of Republicans. He's 38, the son of Cuban immigrants and a strong retail politician. His campaign to take the seat formerly held by...

The federal appeals court in Philadelphia has upheld a New Jersey school district's ban on religious songs during the Christman holiday season. In their ruling, three judges of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals noted that such songs were once common in public schools, but that times have changed. Michael Stratechuk sued the Maplewood-South Orange School District in 2004, saying the ban violated his two children's First Amendment's freedom of worship rights.

More details are now coming out from the lawsuit filed against the California Science Center by the American Freedom Alliance (AFA), filed in the Superior Court for the State of California for the County of Los Angeles (Central District). AFA's lawsuit contends that the California Science Center engaged in viewpoint discrimination when cancelling AFA's contract to screen the pro-intelligent design (ID) documentary Darwin’s Dilemma at the Center’s IMAX Theatre on October 25th. As discussed below, AFA's complaint contains e-mails from California Science Center staff revealing that the Center cared more about how it would be perceived by ID-critics in the...

Shortly after a jury sentenced John "Jordan" Lewis to death yesterday for killing Philadelphia Police Officer Chuck Cassidy, Lewis' attorney made a prediction. "I told John at the end of the case that he's not going to be executed," said Michael Coard. "He looked at me like I was crazy." If history is any guide, Coard is probably right. Lewis became the 222d resident of Pennsylvania's death row and the seventh man sent there for killing a Philadelphia police officer. But since the death penalty was reinstated in the state in 1978, Pennsylvania has executed just three inmates, all of...

A lawsuit has been filed against the California Science Center by the American Freedom Alliance (AFA) for cancelling the AFA’s contract to screen the Darwin’s Dilemma documentary on October 25th. According to AFA’s press release: American Freedom Alliance (AFA), a non-profit group, has filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles against a popular science museum for cancelling an event exploring the topic of intelligent design. The group says its free speech rights were violated when the California Science Center (CSC) abruptly reversed a decision to allow the showing of a pro-intelligent design documentary at the museum’s IMAX Theater. The program was...

PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 24, 2009 – How do you plan Thanksgiving dinner for 180,000 people more than 6,000 miles away? If you’re a food buyer at the Defense Logistics Agency, you start by making a shopping list in April for meals to be served to U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. “Providing superb meals to our U.S. troops is a critical mission of the Defense Logistics Agency, and one we put a great deal of effort into,” said Air Force Brig. Gen. Scott Chambers commander of the DLA Philadelphia field activity, which provides all the food for U.S. military personnel worldwide,...

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and his wife Erin are calling it quits. "For some time, like many couples, Erin and I have been working hard to build a successful marriage and have faced the challenges associated with that," the mayor said in a prepared statement released late last night. "Sadly, Erin and I have decided that it is in our family's best interested to formally separate." Erin Ravenstahl said in a separate statement that the couple's 1-year-old son Cooper will be a priority and asked that the public respect the family's privacy.

An alleged plot to send anti-aircraft missiles and guns to Syria or Iran was thwarted after a key figure was arrested in Philadelphia, the FBI said in documents released Monday. -snip- He was after missiles that could "take down an F-16," the affidavit says. Little did Tarraf know, he was requesting the weapons from an undercover agent, according to documents. The affidavit alleges that Tarraf paid a $20,000 cash deposit to the agent in July for machine guns and shoulder-fired Stinger missiles, MyFoxPhilly.com reported. The documents say Tarraf's dealings with the undercover officer date back to June 2007. -snip-

Vice President Joe Biden did everything short of shaking a pair of pompoms yesterday as he cheered on an economic recovery while criticizing those he hears booing from the sidelines. "Ladies and gentlemen, things aren't good but they're getting a lot better," Biden told 500 people gathered at a fundraiser for the Committee of Seventy. "We're no longer debating whether we're going to slide into a great depression. We're debating what the shape of the recovery is. Is it robust enough from my perspective? No. Do we need to do more? Yes." "We may be wrong," Biden said. "But the...

Showdown is playing out across the country in blogs, on the editorial pages of newspapers, and at countless gun clubs NEW YORK, NY November 23, 2009 —Mayor Michael Bloomberg is a known gun control advocate, and has built a national platform to stem the flow of illegal guns into cities and towns. The group he co-founded in 2006, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, has grown from 15 to 526 mayors. Its success has raised the ire of gun rights groups, most notably the National Rifle Association. The showdown between the NRA and Mayors Against Illegal Guns is playing out across the...

A brawl ending in deadly gunfire has fingers pointed at both the officer and the victim. Action News has learned that the man who fired the fatal shot was an off-duty Philadelphia police officer Frank Tepper. The victim is identified as 21-year-old Bill Panas.

Six held in gang rape of West Philadelphia woman By Sam Wood INQUIRER STAFF WRITER Police tonight are holding six males, ranging in age from 16 to 52, all charged in the assault of a young woman they dragged out of a Chinese take-out in West Philadelphia, and then gang-raped inside a nearby apartment. The attack ended only after people heard the woman's screams and called 911. Police arrested all six at the scene, an apartment across from Li Lai Chinese restaurant at 5609 Walnut St. Police said the attack happened late Thursday night. The 24-year-old victim was inside Li...

THREE MILE ISLAND - November 22, 2009 (WPVI) -- We are learning more this morning about a reported radiation incident at Three Mile Island. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission says later today it is sending two radiation specialists to the plant near Harrisburg. Diane Screnchi, spokeswoman at Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), tells ABC News that Exelon was doing maintenance work at TMI. Speaking to WHTM in Harrisburg, Three Mile Island spokesperson Ralph DeSantis said work was being done in Unit 1 reactor building. Workers were cutting a large number of pipes when a radiation alarm sounded. Unit 1 had already been...

Received this in my inbox tonight... Dear Friends, The Congress is continuing its work to try to get healthcare reform legislation, and I believe the prospects are reasonably good that we will produce a bill. I hope that the bill will have the public option - and a robust public option. We will have a cloture vote tonight and I believe that we should be able to get 60 Senators at least to agree to start the debate. Click below to hear my take on healthcare reform It would be my hope that my colleagues would not draw lines in...

HUGE CROWD LINES UP TO SEE SARAH PALIN, GET BOOKS SIGNED AT Least Six States Represented in the Crowd --And one hockey mom. Sarah Palin Going Rogue book tour Washington PA, November 21, 2009 DBKP Pictures from the tour stop Sarah Palin's "Going Rogue" book tour came to Washington, PA and folks from at least six states were there to greet her. DBKP was there too and got some pictures--five pages of them, to be exact. Just from our own observations, it seemed like slightly more women were present than men, which would seem to contradict those who say that...

LOCK HAVEN - Student government leaders at Lock Haven University could be facing impeachment over a controversial trip to California and an alleged cover-up about attendance at a national conference there. A large group of angry students turned out Wednesday night at a Student Cooperative Council meeting, demanding action against leaders who did not attend a conference despite traveling to Los Angeles and staying for nearly a week. University officials also came under fire for allegedly failing to follow university policy in regard to the trip. The student Senate made a motion to impeach SCC President Christopher Lunden, Vice President...

Thrilled with twin victories this month, Republican governors are looking to lead a party-wide resurgence in 2010 and shape the GOP for years to come. Republicans boast of a strong crop of gubernatorial candidates who could be future party leaders, $25 million in the bank a year before the elections and a difficult environment for Democrats, particularly in financially ailing swing-voting states like Ohio and Iowa. "Next year's going to be a good year for Republican governors," predicted Haley Barbour, Mississippi's governor and chairman of the Republican Governors Association. "In states where there are Republican governors, people can see if...

PA Activists: Protest Pitts Nov. 21! Join NOW President Terry O'Neill, Pennsylvania NOW President Joanne Tosti-Vasey and Lois Herr, candidate for Congress in a protest outside of the Chester County Courthouse in Pennsylvania. This is Joseph Pitts' district -- as in one of the authors of the Stupak-Pitts Amendment. Starts at 10:15 Saturday, Nov. 21 with press conference at 10:30 am. All events will take place on the courthouse steps (2 N High St, West Chester, PA 19380 -- View map) Coalition partners for this event include Pennsylvania NOW, National NOW and Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania.

Senator John Kerry described international terrorism as “primarily an intelligence and law enforcement operation,’’ and urged voters to think of deadly jihadist violence as merely “a nuisance’’ that we need “to reduce’’ - akin, he said, to gambling or prostitution. Kerry lost that election, and the Bush administration’s very different approach - treating terrorist attacks as acts of war, not criminal violations - continued for four more years. Pre-empting terror in advance, not prosecuting it after the fact, remained the overriding priority. Counterterrorism efforts under George W. Bush were aggressive and they drew much criticism. But whatever else might be...

PITTSBURGH -- City police have a message for Pittsburgh shoppers this holiday season: Put your junk in the trunk. The phrase is the name of a campaign aimed at improving holiday safety and shopper awareness. Pittsburgh police want to remind shoppers to stow purchases and other valuable items out of sight, such as in a car's trunk, to deter thieves. "The person that's going to be breaking into your vehicle wants it fast. They're going to walk by your vehicle, glance at your vehicle, and if they don't see valuables in there, they're going to move on to an easier...

Thank you for your message regarding H.R. 3962, the Affordable Health Care for America Act. Hearing from the people of northeast and central Pennsylvania is an integral part of my job in Congress and I appreciate you taking the time to contact me. I voted in favor of the Affordable Health Care for America Act, which passed the House of Representatives on November 7, 2009 with bipartisan support. This bill is far from perfect and there is much more work that must be done but I and other Members of Congress stood firm and passed healthcare reform legislation that explicitly...

A federal judge in Pittsburgh on Tuesday sentenced an illegal immigrant to time served in jail for his 10th illegal entry into the country. Uziel Jesus Lopez-Jiminez, 28, of Mexico has been deported nine other times between 1998 and 2007, prosecutors said. He was last deported in March, re-entered the country in May or June and was arrested in Beaver County on Aug. 16.

PERKASIE, Pennsylvania — Carin Froehlich pegs her laundry to three clotheslines strung between trees outside her 18th-century farmhouse, knowing that her actions annoy local officials who have asked her to stop. Froehlich is among the growing number of people across America fighting for the right to dry their laundry outside against a rising tide of housing associations who oppose the practice despite its energy-saving green appeal. Although there are no formal laws in this southeast Pennsylvania town against drying laundry outside, a town official called Froehlich to ask her to stop drying clothes in the sun. And she received two...

<p>Contact your Senators and let them know what you think!</p> <p>U.S. veterans or subsidies for United Nations (U.N.) bureaucracy.</p>

CARNEY ANNOUNCES TOWN HALL MEETINGS Four Listening Tour Town Hall meetings to be held Monday and Tuesday All Invited to Attend Washington, D.C.—Congressman Christopher P. Carney has announced four Listening Tour Town Hall Meetings for Monday and Tuesday to be held in Susquehanna, Pike, Wyoming and Bradford counties. He will be available to discuss issues affecting our community, including actions Congress is taking to reform our health care system, help our economy and support our veterans. In addition, Congressman Carney will have staff on hand to help with casework issues, including veterans’ benefits, Social Security and Medicare payments. “Listening to...

For all of you who are interested in going to the Washington, PA (Western PA) book signing for Sarah Palin's "Going Rogue" this Saturday, November 21 from 11AM to 2PM, here is the procedure, according to the contact I just spoke to at Sam's Club in Trinity Point: You must be a Sam's Club member to get in, and must purchase your book either at that location or another Sam's Club, with a receipt to prove it. They will start handing out wristbands at 6AM. You cannot leave the premises before the book signing starts at 11AM, or you will...

The ongoing jockeying among cars, bicycles and pedestrians in Philadelphia took a tragic twist in recent weeks with the deaths of two pedestrians who were struck by bicycles. Now, city council may look at requiring the registration of bikes so cyclists who cause accidents can be tracked down. City councilman Frank DiCicco says countless pedestrians are struck by bicyclists and rarely does the cyclist stop: "When someone's struck by a bicycle, all you know is its someone on a bike, and the bicyclist takes off." His colleague Jim Kenney says the deaths of the two pedestrians highlight the need to...

... Under the rules adopted by Philadelphia’s primary civil court, no owner-occupied house may be foreclosed on and sold by the sheriff’s office before a “conciliation conference,” a face-to-face meeting between the homeowner and the lender aimed at striking a workable compromise. Every homeowner facing a default filing is furnished with counseling, and sometimes legal representation. ... When homeowners in Philadelphia receive legal default notices from their mortgage companies, the court system schedules a conciliation hearing. Canvassers working for local nonprofit agencies visit foreclosed homeowners, distributing fliers that inform them of their rights to a conference, and urging them to...

In pursuit of an Eagle Scout badge, Kevin Anderson, 17, has toiled for more than 200 hours hours over several weeks to clear a walking path in an east Allentown park. Little did the do-gooder know that his altruistic act would put him in the cross hairs of the city's largest municipal union. Nick Balzano, president of the local Service Employees International Union, told Allentown City Council Tuesday that the union is considering filing a grievance against the city for allowing Anderson to clear a 1,000-foot walking and biking path at Kimmets Lock Park. "We'll be looking into the Cub...

A West Wheatfield Township family that took in a black teenage foster child who plays for the United High School football team said they were targeted by a wooden cross burned outside their home over the weekend after his team lost a playoff game. State police said Monday they don’t know who burned the 6-foot-tall cross, which Joe and Candy Walbeck said they were shocked to find charred in their yard early Sunday. The Walbecks took in 16-year-old Shaq Howard three years ago as a foster child because he was having problems with his family, and they now have legal...

Runny nose, fever, cough, even pneumonia -- the symptoms sound like swine flu but children hospitalized at one U.S. hospital in fact had a rhinovirus, better known as a common cold virus, doctors said on Tuesday. Hundreds of children treated at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia had a rhinovirus, and federal health investigators are trying to find out if it was a new strain, and if this is going on elsewhere in the country.