Free Republic

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. — Fire commissioners in upstate New York have ordered a department to take American flags off its trucks, sparking a heated online debate. The Poughkeepsie Journal reports the flags were removed Tuesday from the Arlington Fire District trucks in the town of Poughkeepsie following Monday’s order.

James O’Keefe’s latest undercover video shows professors at two prestigious private universities openly disparaging, and in one case shredding, the U.S. Constitution. Project Veritas, O’Keefe’s undercover journalism unit, sent a female journalist disguised as a student to Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, and to Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio. She got commitments from leadership at each to shred the Constitution, and in the case of Vassar, Project Veritas’ undercover cameras captured the official shredding of the U.S. Constitution. Kelly Grab, assistant director of equal opportunity at Vassar College, was captured on video saying: “Yes, I think we have a...

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. -- A Poughkeepsie man has been arrested and charged with killing Fannie Gumbinger, 99, in her home this past week. Poughkeepsie City Police said Tyrek Rogers, 20, was arrested at 11 p.m. Friday and charged with first-degree murder and first-degree burglary in connection with the death of the elderly woman, who was found in her home at 22 Underhill Ave. Wednesday morning. Police said as a result of the investigation, Rogers has also been identified as a suspect in several recent burglaries in the city, including a Lockerman Avenue break-in that occurred on Wednesday, Aug. 21. Additional details...

Forbes put Detroit Mayor Dave Bing on its cover in 2011 for a story with the optimistic headline: “City of Hope.” The premise was that the city had hit rock bottom and was poised for a turnaround. “Right now, it’s all about survival,” Bing told Forbes. Two years later, Detroit’s problems continue to multiply, sadly. It is still dealing with high levels of violent crime and unemployment. Home prices, already at historic lows, plummeted a further 35% during the past three years to a median of $40,000 as net migration out of the city continued. The latest blow was Tuesday’s...

A recent poll conducted by five New York legislators showed their constituents would support higher taxes on the wealthiest population to help pay for education. Voters in all five districts strongly supported a new surcharge on incomes above $150,000, if the revenue was dedicated to providing additional aid to public schools. The poll, which was presented Monday at the state legislative budget hearing on education funding, surveyed voter opinion in the districts of Senate Finance Committee Chairman Owen Johnson (R-Babylon), Assembly Ways and Means Committee Chairman Herman "Denny" Farrell (D-Manhattan), the Senate Education Committee Chairman Stephen Saland (R-Poughkeepsie), Assembly Education...