Free Republic

Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey endorsed Marco Rubio for president Wednesday, describing the Florida senator as a "thoughtful conservative leader" he believes will appeal to voters in Pennsylvania and across the country. Just hours later, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum quit the presidential race and also endorsed Rubio, calling him a "born leader" who shares his views on the central role of the family and on the national security threats facing the country. The support from Toomey and Santorum comes as Rubio is seeking to solidify backing from the GOP establishment after his third-place finish in Iowa. Toomey, a Republican from...

A shoplifting suspect is in custody after allegedly stealing an unoccupied Springettsbury Township police car on Monday, according to township police. Marlo Harvard Jr., 21, Baltimore, is charged with theft by unlawful taking of a motor vehicle, theft by unlawful taking of a firearm, retail theft, resisting arrest, fleeing and eluding police, as well as summary traffic offenses, according to a press release.

Senior Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya called on more Palestinian Authority (PA) Security Force members to follow the example of Amjad Abu-Omar, the terrorist who conducted a shooting attack adjacent to Bet El in Samaria on Sunday. Abu-Omar, a member of the PA Security Forces and formerly the personal bodyguard to the PA's Attorney General, shot three IDF soldiers wounding two of them seriously and one lightly before being shot dead by other soldiers. "Today Amjad Abu-Omar went out (to conduct an attack) without taking into account his connection to the Palestinian Authority which was granted funds in order to brainwash...

Stranded on buses overnight by a monster snowstorm that has shut down parts of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, hundreds of Catholic high school students from Nebraska and elsewhere nevertheless seemed to have things relatively in hand this afternoon. Returning from Washington D.C., where they took part Friday in the annual March for Life, they at least had food and water on board, said Tim McNeil, chancellor of the Archdiocese of Omaha. A nearby maintenance building gave them access to bathrooms. And while there was nothing resembling a chapel anywhere near the cars, buses and trucks stopped westbound between the Bedford and...

..... While Erekat would not reveal the identity of his aide, he did note an investigation was being conducted to determine if he had indeed spied for Israel and to what extent. "The law will take its course," Erekat asserted. "I say the suspect is innocent until proven guilty." According to Erekat, this is not the first time Israel has kept agents and spies among the upper echelons of the PA's leadership, nor is it the first time to happen within his own offices. Palestinian security forces confirmed to Channel 10 that despite the political deadlock, Israel still has spies...

Workers from nine U.S. airports are planning to block bridges, march through terminals and protest at airline headquarters during a day of civil disobedience on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The workers - a mix of cleaners, baggage handlers, fuelers and wheelchair attendants - will risk arrest at airports and other locations including the Mall, to bring attention to their campaign for better wages, the Service Employees International Union said. The actions are the latest in the airport workers' campaign for a $15-per-hour minimum wage, a benefits package and job protections. They're also protesting threats against their efforts to unionize....

An assistant to Saeb Erekat, a long-time senior official in the Palestinian Authority (PA), has been arrested by PA security forces on suspicion of spying on behalf of Israel. Erekat has acknowledged the facts of the case, which were published by media based in Ramallah. The suspect is accused of working for Israel for the past 20 years. He is believed to be in a Palestinian intelligence facility at present. Erekat served as the secretary-general for the PLO and headed the Palestinian negotiating team during peace talks with Israel. He often threatened Israel with ended the security agreement and worked...

The mayor of Harrisburg, Penn., ordered his police department on Friday not to provide security for an upcoming NRA-sponsored gun show after the association refused to meet a demand to pay a 60-percent increase in fees for the service. Harrisburg police have provided security for the annual Great American Outdoors Show, scheduled this year for February 6-14, in the past. Mayor Eric Papenfuse said that the decision not to offer the department’s services this year was motivated in part by the NRA’s opposition to the city’s gun control policies. “We have an epidemic of gun violence,” Papenfuse told WHTM. “It’s...

The Luzern County, Pennsylvania Sheriff’s Department has decided to auction off about 175 firearms, some air guns, knives and other items.  The items have been collected under a number of different administrations over 17 years, from 1993 to 2010.  Most of the items are from Prevention From Abuse (PFA) orders, temporary and permanent.  The Sheriffs office published (on their website, in a pdf file) a list of 154 cases that had expired, and told people who wanted their property returned to let them know that they wanted their property back.  That was done on 5 November of last year.  ...

HARRISBURG - State Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane, who has castigated prosecutors, judges, and others for exchanging offensive emails, failed to disclose that her twin sister - a top prosecutor on her staff - sent and received emails that mocked African Americans and Asians, joked about domestic abuse, and included photos of scantily clad men and women. Kane made public her sister's emails late Wednesday after coming under pressure from a Philadelphia prosecutor, who asserted that Kane's sister had sent or received 58 troubling emails - and Kane herself had received 11. The 49-year-old Democrat and her sister, Ellen Granahan,...

MK Moti Yogev (Jewish Home) attacked US Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday after the latter lashed out at Israel, arguing that current trends in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are leading to a “one-state” reality. "With all due respect and gratitude to our friend the United States, the reality has proven that all of John Kerry's assessments and diplomatic actions in various sectors of the world were a series of mistakes and failures: in Egypt, Ukraine, Syria and also in Israel," Yogev blasted. "His opinions and speeches are disconnected from the Middle Eastern reality," Yogev charged, adding that "the land...

Amid a national clamor for stricter gun laws, Sen. Pat Toomey, (R-PA), on Thursday said he would back gun legislation that would expand background checks.

Surveillance video shows 51-year-old Robert Barnes being pummeled by teens with a hammer, a piece of wood and punches, after police say a 10-year-old boy told his mother he got into an argument with Barnes.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) ~ An Amish man turned heads as he whizzed by fellow runners at a recent marathon ~ not because of his speed but because of his unusual racing attire. Twenty-two-year-old Leroy Stolzfus finished the 26.2-mile Harrisburg Marathon on Nov. 8 in just over three hours and five minutes, all while wearing his community's traditional clothing, Pennlive.com reported

ALLENTOWN, Pa. (CBS) — They are Egyptian, Jordanian, Iraqi – but mostly Syrian, and just under 200 arrived to the Syrian Arab American Charity Association in Allentown to receive food, supplies and medical care. “No one comes here to make problems… they come here for a better life,” Syrian-born, Allentown resident Mohamad Salloum told Eyewitness News. By here, Mohamad means America, but also Lehigh County where the need for resettlement assistance is increasing, hence – this monthly event.

Police: "It appears as though this will be a case self defense and the shootings will be justified." According to witnesses and video evidence, Reading police say it looks as though three masked males entered the market. One male was armed with a pistol, which he fired inside the market, and another male could be seen pointing a stun gun at one of the employees. Police do not know if the third male was armed. According to Reading police, sometime during the robbery both employees pulled out their own guns and fired several shots at the masked males, striking two...

Donald Trump 23% Ben Carson 22% Marco Rubio 13% John Kasich 6% Ted Cruz 4% Jeb Bush 3% Chris Christie 3% Carly Fiorina 3% Mike Huckabee 1% Bobby Jindal 1% Rand Paul 1% Rick Santorum 1% Lindsey Graham -- George Pataki -- Don’t know 20%

The Ariel Police detained five people - including three minors - overnight Saturday/Sunday, on suspicions of entering Joseph's Tomb outside Shechem (Nablus). Their attorney, Itamar Ben-Gvir, reported that some detainees were bleeding after Palestinian Authority (PA) police found them and beat them; two of them are suffering from head injuries. On Saturday night, the detainees arrived at the Tomb together with about 30 people to protest the site's arson by Palestinian Arabs last week. The PA police beat as many people as possible upon their entry to the site, however, banging their heads against their jeeps until the IDF arrived;...

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Pope Francis urged hundreds of thousands of the faithful gathered Sunday for the biggest event of his U.S. visit to be open to "miracles of love," closing out his joyful six-day trip with a message of hope for families, consolation for victims of child sexual abuse and a warning to America's bishops.

Philadelphians and visitors to the city woke up on Friday morning to a world of barricades and tight security measures as authorities prepare for Pope Francis' weekend arrival. Fencing blocked off areas starting just east of City Hall, requiring people in that area to walk north to Cherry Street, where security checkpoints were set up, if they need to get inside the perimeter. Maureen Shaeffer and Ruth Schanbacher, who both came from the suburbs to go to work, didn't know each other before Friday morning. But they bonded over the tricky security measures. "We've been brought together through adversity," Shaeffer...