Free Republic

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Danica Patrick's season got off to a tough start after she crashed out early in the season-opening Honda Grand Prix. She was running ninth in the 22-car field on Sunday when rookie Raphael Matos tried to pass as the two went into one of the tightest turns on the 1.8-mile, 14-turn temporary street circuit.

One of Russia's most famous statues of Vladimir Lenin has been bombed, leaving the Bolshevik revolutionary with a gaping hole in his rear. The bronze statue, in the city of St Petersburg, was badly damaged before dawn on Wednesday, when the blast blew a hole in Lenin's coat. No-one was hurt in the attack, the motive for which was unknown. The statue, outside the Finland Station, marks the Bolshevik leader's return from exile in April 1917. "Today at 0430 [0030 GMT] there was an explosion at the Lenin monument at the Finland Station in the city centre," a spokesman for...

Petersburg Police and officers from two other counties converged on Petersburg High School to help control several fights that broken out there, officials say. School officials say the incidents stem from a bomb threat that was called in to Petersburg High in the afternoon. Police were brought in to sweep the school for explosives, but reported nothing suspicious. After students were allowed back in the school, officials say several fights broke out among the student body. Police from Petersburg, Chesterfield and Prince George were on the scene trying to gain control of the situation. Petersburg Public Schools spokesman Cliff Davis...

Wednesday, Nov 28, 2007 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASECONTACT: Kevin Madden (857) 288-6390 The Atlantic's Marc Ambinder: "Romney had a strong night, seemed raring to go, seemed to be willing to take on everybody, anybody, all comers, seemed to want to pick every fight possible." (Marc Ambinder, "The Debate In Review," The Atlantic Online Blog, http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/, 11/28/07) National Review's Seth Leibsohn: "This Is Mitt's Night." (Seth Leibsohn, "This Is Mitt's Night," National Review's The Corner, http://corner.nationalreview.com, Posted 11/28/07) Bill Bennett: "I think that Romney stood out tonight. I think he was loud and clear. Conservative. He was 'all-in' as you'd say in...

Russia's 'second city' rich in art and elegance Monday, July 10, 2006 ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) -- Glorious on one block, dismal on the next -- St. Petersburg is a chalice holding the extremes of Russia's history. For an outsider trying to grasp Russia's sweep and complexities in a short trip, St. Petersburg may be the ideal synopsis. It's the pinnacle of czarist ostentation and the place where Russian literature reached great heights. The city's miseries have been just as dramatic -- the poverty and degradation that Fyodor Dostoevsky recorded, the three-year Nazi siege that drove the city into starvation...

This Day In History | Civil War July 30 1864 Battle of the Crater On this day, the Union's ingenious attempt to break the Confederate lines at Petersburg by blowing up a tunnel that had been dug under the Rebel trenches fails. Although the explosion created a gap in the Confederate defenses, a poorly planned Yankee attack wasted the effort and the result was an eight-month continuation of the siege. The bloody campaign between Union General Ulysses S. Grant and Confederate Robert E. Lee ground to a halt in mid-June, when the two armies dug in at Petersburg, south of...

Lord, Keep our Troops forever in Your care Give them victory over the enemy... Grant them a safe and swift return... Bless those who mourn the lost. . FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer for all those serving their country at this time. ...................................................................................... ........................................... U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues Where Duty, Honor and Countryare acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated. Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel...

Tiny church saddles up for centennial By BETH PRATT A-J RELIGION EDITOR PETERSBURG — About 120 people gathered Saturday afternoon to hear and see what may well be the most unusual gospel presentation ever given in the 100-year history of Carr's Chapel. Horse trainer Chip Sugar of Abilene said that when God called him to preach, he could never have guessed that God would use his skills in horse training as an avenue of ministry. "God put it on my heart to use this round pen (for training)" as a means to describe the relationship God seeks with humanity, Sugar...

THE American Civil War was known for its ferocity and bloodshed, but one event, the Battle of the Crater, was unique in its ferociousness. Now its site -- one of a massive explosion followed by mass butchery and slaughter -- is becoming a new highlight on the tourist trail of Civil War memorials and battlefield guided tours. Much of this is because of the horror depicted by the graphic opening scenes of the film Cold Mountain, co-starring Nicole Kidman.It tells how the event unfolded when Union soldiers blasted a gaping crater beneath a Confederate camp outside Petersburg, Virginia, in July,...

HIGH POINT -- He's got sabers, rifles, bayonets, canteens, cannon balls, grapeshot and Minie balls -- lots of Minie balls. He's got a cane, hand-carved by a Confederate captain during his two years in a Union POW camp in Delaware and inscribed with the battles the man survived: New Bern, Chancellorsville, Culpepper Courthouse and Gettysburg. He's got a section of petrified pine, straight from the Bentonville battlefield in eastern North Carolina, that's still plugged with the bullets both sides were firing back in March of 1865. No doubt about it, the Civil War is a passion for Rahlo Fowler. "It's...

<p>Eugene Zebulon Hall finally had a proper burial, 139 years after his death.</p> <p>Descendants of the Civil War-era soldier gathered Saturday in Allegheny Cemetery in Lawrenceville to dedicate a new tombstone correcting a stonemason's error from long ago.</p> <p>Hall, a sergeant in the 20th Michigan Infantry during the Civil War, died of gangrene from a leg wound suffered June 2, 1864, before the Battle of Petersburg, Va.</p>

<p>PETERSBURG - The Petersburg School Board will consider revisions tonight to the student promotion policy that will make it easier for some pupils to move up to the next grade.</p> <p>The proposal would promote all kindergartners to first grade and would no longer require elementary school pupils to pass reading to advance a grade.</p>