Free Republic

PORTLAND — Air America Radio, the liberal talk network, has gone off the air in Portland. WLVP (870 AM) dropped Air America at 6 a.m. Friday and replaced it with the national sports network ESPN Radio. Nassau Broadcasting, owners of WLVP, decided to drop Air America because of significant changes at the network recently, said Patrick Collins, senior vice president for Nassau Broadcasting in Maine. Collins said the changes, included the departure of Air America’s star personality, Al Franken. By Friday afternoon, Collins said he had gotten a couple dozen phone calls from people protesting the change. Besides the national...

A 47-year-old Portland woman is suing two city police officers, claiming they stormed into her home and arrested her without reason two years ago. Sherrie Carlson Sandau has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Portland, claiming her constitutional right to due process was violated when Portland officers John A. Wood and Christopher Cass entered her home without a warrant, grabbed her and arrested her. Sandau said she was wearing only a tank top at the time of her arrest and the officers ignored her pleas to put clothes on before she was placed in a patrol car. She...

Where will the citizens of democratic societies find reasons to resist? Where indeed? If a recent “peace march” in Portland is any example, we are defeated already. Ostensibly a call for US troops to return from Iraq, an effigy of a US solider was burned while signs proclaimed “F--- The Troops”. In front of the crowd, which included children, a man exposed himself and defecated on a burning U.S. flag, drawing cheers from some onlookers. One would expect such scenes in Karachi, Damascus or Cairo, not Portland, Oregon. In the Middle East, I am reasonably certain, the defecator would have...

PORTLAND - Portland taxpayers are getting the bill for last month's war protest that ended with police and demonstrators clashing. The cost: $70,000 and counting.

I got an e-mail recently which just about made me throw up. I don’t throw up easily. I like to keep what’s inside of me there, unless it’s supposed to leave, but this pretty much almost put me over the edge, because my baby’s over there.This is from Kathleen. She says: I hope you inform your listeners about the anti-war protestors in Portland who burned in effigy a United States soldier. I can’t even find the words that would be printable to describe how I feel. Well, I have the words, but let me finish her letter: A car was...

If the cause of peace is worth supporting ? and we believe it is ? then peace protesters must demonstrate the values they promote. The vast majority of the estimated 15,000 protesters who took part in a peace march Sunday in downtown Portland did just that. They were well-behaved, well-intentioned and serious about their cause. But then there was a smaller group of demonstrators ? if they can even be called that ? who engaged in numerous actions that violated the sensibilities of ordinary people and damaged the very cause the activists claimed to endorse. This splinter group of protesters...

A woman is arrested during an anti-war demonstration to mark the 4th anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in San Francisco, California, March 19, 2007 (Enlarge Pic). REUTERS/Kimberly White SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Police arrested more than 100 Iraq war protesters in San Francisco and New York City on Monday as the nation marked the fourth anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Uniformed police outnumbered the fewer than 100 protesters outside the stock exchange building at the corner of Broad and Wall streets in New York's historic financial district. "Stop the money, stop the war," demonstrators chanted as...

Monday, March 19, 2007 Leftists Supporting the Troops Discovered by a reader at Indymedia, this was the scene yesterday in Portland, Oregon, as “anti-war” demonstrators burned not only a US flag, but a US soldier in effigy. http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=24853_Leftists_Supporting_the_Troops&only

PORTLAND, OR, March 1, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - "It is categorically impossible for the same person to state that he or she believes simultaneously both what the Catholic Church teaches and that abortion is just a choice," says Bishop Robert Vasa in a column released today by the Catholic Sentinel, the diocesan newspaper of the Archdiocese of Portland and the Diocese of Baker. Although Vasa, the Bishop of Baker, did not mention her by name, he was referring in his column to Democrat Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi specifically, and to all politicians of a similar ilk in general. ...

....In June, the Austin, Texas-based natural foods grocery chain said it would stop selling live lobsters and crabs — in the name of crustacean compassion. But it’s making an exception in Maine, a state synonymous with lobster

Three Rwandan rebels who were accused of murdering two Portland tourists nearly eight years ago are seeking asylum in the United States. The men were supposed to go on trial later this month in Washington, D.C., facing a possible death sentence in the brutal killings of Rob Haubner and his wife, Susan Miller, both Intel employees who were vacationing in Africa. But after a U.S. judge ruled last fall that Rwandan military officials tortured the men into confessing, the men now want the charges thrown out. Leonidas Bimenyimana, Francois Karake and Gregoire Nyaminani also are seeking asylum, a step toward...

I posted a month ago about Seattle drivers who simply were not meant to go outside any any but the most mild weather, and even then only in the kind of cars that have external airbags. Aparently, Portland (Oregon) has its share of weather idiots, too, as evidenced by this video from KING 5 News. Enjoy.

The owner of Cadillac Mountain Sports is closing his three downtown Portland stores, citing declining sales and little prospect for a turnaround because of the city's ban on chain store expansion in the area. Matthew Curtis said sales at his Portland stores ­ Cadillac Mountain Sports, Cadillac's Patagonia and Cadillac's The North Face ­ have been declining since he opened them in 2002. The city's "formula business" cap, Curtis said, represents "a slap in the face" that will prevent him and other retailers on Congress Street from creating the amount of foot traffic they need to increase sales. Curtis' decision...

By KATU Web Staff BEAVERTON, Ore. - A transformer caught fire at a PGE substation in Beaverton, causing more than 50,000 customers to lose power Saturday night. The fire started at a substation at Southwest 158th Avenue and Southwest Jenkins Road about 7:45 p.m., PGE officials said. The blaze caused PGE to "de-energize" the substation, which serves more than 50,000 customers in Hillsboro, Aloha, Beaverton, Banks and Gaston. Fire officials said several explosions accompanied the fire. About 25 firefighters were pulled back from the blaze due to safety concerns on the scene, said Karen Eubanks, a spokeswoman for Tualatin Valley...

PORTLAND, Ore. Dec 2, 2006 (AP) — Authorities said Saturday that new clues in their search for a San Francisco family who went missing a week ago during a vacation in Oregon show no indication of foul play. The Douglas County Sheriff's Office said a search of James and Kati Kim's credit history showed they had stopped for dinner Nov. 25 in Roseburg, about 160 miles south of Portland and 65 miles northeast of Gold Beach. The Kims and their two children had reservations at a lodge in Gold Beach but never arrived. "We don't have any indication of foul...

Portland City Council passes resolution against Iraq war The Portland City Council unanimously passed a long-discussed resolution today calling on the Bush administration to immediately withdraw U.S troops from Iraq. Commissioner Randy Leonard brought the measure forward after months of talks with metro area peace and social justice activists. It also calls on President Bush to take conciliatory steps to restore U.S. standing in the eyes of the world and to induce cooperation to bring safety and security to Iraq. It suggests that the money being spent to conduct the war should be redirected to address urgent needs of the...

Schumacher Furs & Outerwear, after 111 years of business and one solid year of fervent animal-rights protests, is hanging it up in Portland. Owner Gregg Schumacher, who depicts the city's core as dangerous and not conducive to retailers, said Tuesday that he's moving his shop to the suburbs, though he wouldn't say where. "We're leaving downtown Portland because we feel that it's losing its appeal for people to shop in" said Schumacher, 51, rattling off a list of what he called his customers' complaints. "The panhandling, the musicians on the street, the urination in the parking garages. Yes, the protests....

You know Portland, Oregon?... it’s a suburb of Berkeley, California. Our Mayor rides bikes with the anarchists and spends federal tax money, i.e., your money, on light rail trains and skyway trams. Although a dangerously oppressive place for conservatives, it has its amusing moments of ironical hypocrisy. It is very common to see both of the following bumpers stickers: “War is not the answer” and “Trees are the answer” stuck on the same car, preferably a hybrid. Ms. Cindy Sheehan will be in Portland Oregon tomorrow evening for a book signing. Sponsoring Cindy is two of the largest home-grown Portland...

GRAND RAPIDS -- Spectrum Health and Saint Mary's Health Care will require all their employees to not use tobacco at any time during their work shift beginning January 1. The staffs of both hospitals will need to arrive without smelling of smoke, and they can't use any tobacco products until they leave hospital property after their shift. Metro Health is also joining in the Smoke-Free Work Day Every Day campaign. In 2003, the Grand Rapids hospitals became the first in the country to jointly declare their hospital campuses smoke-free. Today, more than 30 Michigan hospitals have smoke-free campuses. This...

SEATTLE -- Non-tribal casinos have already lost tens of millions of dollars because of Washington’s new indoor smoking ban. A new financial study, conducted by our own KIRO Team 7 Investigators, discovers taxpayers could loose millions as well. Card-rooms, charity bingo halls, and some bars and restaurants are required to report financial information to the state every year. The state hasn't had a chance to look at the figures since the smoking ban took effect. I have. It looks like "no smoking" means economic devastation for the non-tribal gaming industry. If there was ever any doubt that gamblers are also...

Following are actual statistics reflecting examples of the negative impact upon individual businesses following the recently instituted smoking ban ordinances, effective in Springfield, Illinois and surrounding unincorporated Sangamon County this September 15, 2006 (less than two weeks ago). When small businesses account for about two-thirds of our country's economic growth and new jobs, it is difficult to comprehend elected officials' reasoning in voting to implement an intrusive ordinance which will hurt those same business owners. A restaurant owner who does not permit smoking will see it as a violation of his property rights if a coalition uses the political...

Delaware County's ban on smoking in most work places has become a problem for some nursing homes, which are both work places for employees and homes for the residents. The smoking ordinance does not prevent people from smoking in their homes, but it does ban smoking in most public buildings and work spaces. If a nursing home bans smoking, they could lose federal funding for failing to comply with regulations, but if they allow smoking they could face fines or a lawsuit from the county health department, officials said. Federal regulations state that if a nursing home changes its...

Churchill Downs could be hurt financially if it is forced to go completely smoke free, a company official said Wednesday. Kevin Flanery, Churchill Downs Inc.’s vice president for national public affairs, told a Louisville Metro Council committee considering a new, tougher smoking ban, that the race track is already facing heavy competition from Indiana and from computer and telephone betting services.And he said the company’s experience at a Florida track shows some people will stop betting when a smoking ban takes effect. But the former head of the Greater Louisville Medical Society testified that his group favors a complete...

A private smokers club in Smiths Falls challenged Ontario's indoor smoking ban with its grand opening Friday — and Ontario officials did not brave the fumes to attend. Instead, the club's founder was charged under the province's Smoke-Free Ontario act the day before it opened. Since Ontario's indoor workplace and public smoking ban went into effect, ashtrays and cigars have been illegal in bars. The grand opening of Do' Little's pub as a club for members of a private smokers association took place at noon at the Comfort Inn on Centre Street in Smiths Falls, about 65 kilometres south of...

Park Ridge aldermen will resume discussion of the city's public smoking ban, following complaints from three restaurant owners that their businesses have been adversely affected by it.The restaurant owners spoke briefly to the City Council Monday night, prompting Mayor Howard Frimark to ask the aldermen if the smoking ban should be brought back before the Procedures and Regulations Committee. Alderman Jeannie Markech agreed that it should, and made a motion for the discussion. Eight aldermen voted in favor of the issue going back to committee and five voted against. One alderman was absent.The next meeting of the Procedures and Regulations...

There have been a bunch of books about the mistakes made after the American invasion of Baghdad, George Packer's Assassin's Gate and Thomas Ricks' Fiasco being the two best in my opinion.Yesterday, the Washington Post published an excerpt from Rajiv Chandrasekaran's effort. He was their bureau chief there for a few years and his book, Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone, will be released tomorrow.I haven't read the book, but the excerpt is as damning as anything could be. It outlines how people were recruited to serve in the Coalition Provisional Authority, the group that ran...

PORTLAND, Oregon (AP) -- When Susan Kuhnhausen returned home from work one day earlier this month, she encountered an intruder wielding a claw hammer. After a struggle, the 51-year-old nurse fended off her attacker by strangling him with her bare hands. Neighbors praised the woman for her bravery, and investigators said they believed the dead man -- Edward Dalton Haffey -- was burglarizing Kuhnhausen's home. But after an investigation, police now say the intruder Kuhnhausen strangled was apparently a hit man hired by her estranged husband -- Michael James Kuhnhausen Sr. -- to kill her. The 58-year-old husband was taken...

Jobs are being eliminated by special interest activist organizations Now that air quality test results by the likes of the American Cancer Society are proving that the secondhand smoke kills argument is completely fabricated. http://cleanairquality.blogspot.com/2004/04/american-cancer-society-test-results.html It's time for lawmakers to investigate why this fallacy has permeated the local government debate.....and specifically who is funding and spreading that false information. http://www.rwjf.org/about/founder.jhtml The "who" is in large part the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. And since RWJF is an affiliate of the Johnson & Johnson Company (the manufacturer of competing nicotine product interests Nicoderm & Nicoderm CQ), it stands to reason that the...

Oregon high court rules for Scouts, against atheist motherhttp://www.kgw.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D8K0R7JG0.html 09/08/2006 By TIM FOUGHT / Associated Press The Oregon Supreme Court rejected Friday the discrimination claim of an atheist whose son was required to attend a Boy Scout recruiting session in a Portland public school. The Scout oath requires members "to do my duty to God and my country," but simply providing information to pupils in public schools isn't discrimination under Oregon Law, the court said. Reversing a lower court, the justices denied the claim of Nancy Powell, whose son, Remington, was in elementary school when the dispute began in 1996....

Robin Brayman, a 44-year-old Greenfield resident, thought she had saved quite a bit of money buying cigarettes online, until she received a bill from the state demanding more than $2,000 in unpaid sales and cigarette taxes. "I had no idea. When I first started buying, the Web site said the cigarettes were tax-free, duty-free. You assumed you didn't have to pay anything," Brayman said. Brayman, like many other smokers, purchases cigarettes online because they are offered at a deep discount. A carton of Marlboro Full Flavor 100s costs $29.45 plus shipping from BuyCheapCigarettes.com, the site Brayman patronized. The same...

ROCKTON -- Rockton leaders snuff out an idea to ban smoking at public places. Tuesday night at their meeting, a motion to draft an ordinance banning smoking in public places failed to get anywhere. Rockton Village Trustee Dennis Meade put the issue before board members, but no one seconded the motion. The proposal would've kept people from lighting up on streets, sidewalks, parks and in businesses. Several community members including business owners spoke out at the meeting against a ban saying it would hurt their business. Others claimed it a ban would go against their rights. One person at...

The mother of deceased Ground Zero worker James Zadroga described Mayor Bloomberg as a "cold, heartless person" for opposing a series of new laws that address the health battles of 9/11 rescuers."I don't think he realizes how the common people live - maybe for one month he should try and live on $500 a week," Linda Zadroga wrote in a letter to the Daily News. "But when [you're] a billionaire, you have no concept of the so-called middle class. Well, one day he may have some tragedy in his family he will need to deal with, and then maybe...

NON-SMOKERS are being banned from drinking in outdoor smoking areas in pubs and clubs under draconian council rules. Some councils are forcing licensed venues to hire bouncers to enforce the bans, costing tens of thousands of dollars a year, while preventing non-smokers from using outdoor areas. It has raised concerns about discrimination against non-smokers and suggestions that councils are going beyond the State Government's legislation and imposing their own rules. The Daily Telegraph has learned that at least two councils – Fairfield and North Sydney – have already employed the tactic when approving development applications from premises wishing to...

Senator Susan Collins introduced legislation on Aug. 3 to help crack down on illegal sales of tobacco to children by banning the shipment of cigarettes and other tobacco products through the U.S. mail. Specifically, the bill would add cigarettes and smokeless tobacco to the U.S. Postal Service's list of restricted, non-mailable products. A first violation of mailing such a product would be liable for a civil penalty of up to $5,000 or 10 times the estimated retail value of the tobacco products, including all federal, state, and local taxes, whichever is highest. Civil penalties of up to $100,000 would...

WASHINGTON -- Quietly leaving his post as surgeon general, Dr. Richard Carmona said he would judge himself successful if he had persuaded one student to make good health choices or one mother to stop smoking. Carmona's report condemning secondhand smoke was a hallmark of his tenure as the nation's 17th surgeon general.

The issue is no longer just about smoking. Passing a state law outlawing smoking in most public places was, by this comparison, the easiest thing to do. The law was not required to address the inevitable hardships such a bill was destined to inflict. There was clapping and backslapping on the floor of the state Senate the afternoon it passed there. But none of that really matters now, when the issue is one of how it impacts people's lives. They are men and women who once ran tiny, yet prosperous, packed-to- the-kegs establishments, who now tend mostly empty bars. The...

They're making one last attempt to force the City of Beaumont to continue to allow smoking in bars and restaurants. Opponents of a ban on smoking in public buildings say they don't have enough signatures right now, but they plan to work hard in the next 24 hours getting the support they need. Lee Melton/Comedy, Texas "I own a business and pay a lot of Taxes and now I can't smoke in my own building." Smoking ban opponents say they are not quitting when it comes to getting enough signatures on this petition. Lee Melton/Comedy, Texas "Four ladies on...

Revenue from video lottery terminals in New Brunswick declined last year, in part because of the province's ban on smoking in bars and restaurants, the Atlantic Lottery Corporation says.The lottery corportation's 2005-06 annual report shows that money generated by VLTs fell by almost $8 million, or six per cent, from the previous year.ALC spokesman Robert Bourgeois said a province-wide smoking ban imposed in October 2004 was one of the major reasons for the decline."There were other factors as well, such an increase in competition from unregulated internet sites," Bourgeois said Friday. "But definitely, the smoking ban would have been one of the factors."The...

Nearly 300 union workers will be laid off by Casino Windsor due to declining revenues caused by Ontario's new smoking ban, casino officials said Wednesday. The casino, which has nearly 4,000 employees, will lose 297 union workers over the next two weeks and immediately terminate 32 salaried employees, officials said, who also cited an unfavorable exchange rate and high gas prices for the decrease. The law, which went into effect May 31, bans smoking in all public facilities, including bingo halls, bars, restaurants, sporting venues, stores, office buildings and Casino Windsor. "This is a day that no one takes...

Poor Heather Crowe, the Ottawa waitress who recently died of lung cancer and had lent her persona to the anti-smoking lobby as the typical victim du jour. Crowe was said to be a "typical" restaurant worker who spent 40 years working in Ottawa restaurants, all the while breathing the second-hand smoke that’s said to have claimed her life.There are so many things wrong with Heather Crowe’s case that it begs for an official inquiry, but like all politically correct causes the anti-smoking lobby can do no wrong. Crowe, who really did die of lung cancer, was anything but a typical...

Concerned Women for America (CWA) says that if the Marriott hotels care so much about their customers, as indicated in their recent decision to ban smoking from hotel rooms, they should stop offering hard-core porn in their hotel rooms. “Creating a smoke-free environment demonstrates a new level of service and care for our guests and associates,” said J.W. Marriott Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of Marriott International. “Our family of brands is united on this important health issue and we anticipate very positive customer feedback. … Demand for nonsmoking rooms continues to rise with new information from the...

Cops in North Platte won’t be busting anyone for exposing children to secondhand smoke in motor vehicles.Lincoln County Attorney Jeff Meyer says he personally doesn’t like the idea of smoking around children, but it is not barred by law and doesn’t qualify as child abuse. Police Chief Martin Gutschenritter sought the county attorney’s advice based on a recent national study, reporting on the danger of secondhand tobacco smoke. Gutschenritter wanted to know if police could ticket people, who smoke when children are in their vehicles, for child abuse. ”Generally, acts that are not specifically proscribed against by statute do not...

The Pennsylvania Restaurant Association has thrown its support behind a statewide ban on smoking in restaurants, bars, casinos and private clubs. So why couldn't we find any local establishments who agree with them? Admittedly, we used a small sample, but when staff writer Jeff Pikulsky talked to owners of Mon Valley clubs and restaurants last week, he found angry opposition to the proposed ban. Monessen Elks Club Steward Marcy Zites estimated that 70 percent of her club patrons smoke and feared that a ban would be bad for business. Those sentiments were echoed at the Foster House in North...

The Surgeon General showed up very regal looking to provide a press release rehashing the tired old argument that secondhand smoke is deadly and must be banned. And with his next statement: Separate "no smoking" sections DO NOT protect you from secondhand smoke. Neither does filtering the air or opening a window. It seemed a feable attempt to pre-empt any action short of a total smoking ban.....as if to confirm that pro-smoking ban activists' credibility in the public is failing miserably. Well I am sorry to report that the American Cancer Society conducted air quality testing at several smoking...

If President Bush announced that secondhand smoke kills more Americans than the Iraqi insurgency, AIDS, drunken drivers and Katrina put together, would we nod in agreement — or look to Bellevue, if not to impeachment? Comes now Richard Carmona, the surgeon general of the United States, telling us that secondhand smoke kills 49,000 Americans a year — and there's no outcry, no notion that maybe this is nuts. Instead, the mass media buys it without question, and so apparently do the people.Does anybody out there know anything about Carmona, or even that he's the surgeon general? In 2003, he...

Everyone knows the traditional reasons why Maine is a great place to take a vacation - it has ocean, mountains, lakes and lobsters.Now the state is promoting one more inducement for people to visit: No smoking is allowed in Maine's public buildings.The state is putting up five signs at various points this week along the Maine Turnpike and Interstate 95 that advertise the fact."Breathe easy, you're in Maine," said the blue signs with white lettering. "All indoor public places are smoke-free."Dr. Dora Anne Mills, who heads the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said Maine may be "the...

First they came for the workplace, then for people's homes and cars, and then the great outdoors.Now the anti-tobacco jihadists, having helped ban smoking in most public and many private places, have turned their attention to the most private space of all — the womb.  That very personal place where humans incubate could be the next battlefield between smokers and those who have never uttered the words: “It's none of my beeswax.” This latest brainstorm comes from Arkansas, where Rep. Bob Mathis successfully shepherded legislation making it unlawful to smoke in cars in which small children are passengers. Apparently...

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - A trade group that represents liquor retailers is mounting a legal challenge to Springfield's new indoor smoking ban for public places. The Illinois Licensed Beverage Association filed a lawsuit in Sangamon County Circuit Court Wednesday, seeking an injunction to prevent the ban from taking effect Sept. 17 in all indoor workplaces. The association has also asked the court to nullify the sections of Springfield's Clean Indoor Air Ordinance that apply to bowling alleys and taverns, saying state law does not give the city the authority to include such establishments in its definition of "public places." "We have...

The Portland City Council hosted a spirited debate Wednesday about whether the city should require all local gas stations to sell biofuels. At one point, Commissioner Randy Leonard, who's sponsoring the ordinance, said it was an effort to "save the planet." Short of that, he said it would spur the local biofuels industry. But the petroleum industry says the proposal is an unnecessary government mandate. Ley Garnett reports. ----------- The ordinance says starting July of next year, all diesel fuel sold in the city must contain 5% biodiesel and all gasoline must contain 10% ethanol. Introducing the proposal, Commissioner Randy...

Psst! Hey kid! Come over here and jump off this bridge! All the cool kids've done it 'n you're the only one left! It won't hurt, it'll be fun. Anyhow, if ya don't do it, I'm gonna come back 'n bugya, 'n bugya, 'n bugya forever till ya do. With that sort of reasoned discourse in the background, accompanied by taunts of "You smell like an ASHTRAY!", Philadelphia finally jumped on the bandwagon and banned smoking. Well, sorta. They banned it unless you're a bar that agrees not to feed its customers anything healthy, one that's well-off enough to have...