Free Republic

The stakes may be high for the six candidates vying for the District 15 Assembly seat of termed-out incumbent Guy Houston, R-San Ramon, but there may be more on the line for the four Republican candidates. With three-termer Houston being the only Bay Area Republican serving in Sacramento, the region's Capitol contingent could become GOP-free if the Democrats win District 15 in November. Four Republicans and two Democrats have been campaigning hard for the June 3 primary, each hoping to earn their party's nomination for the November general election. Both parties recognize the need for a candidate who can appeal...

Peninsula GOP leaders asked Atherton Republican Greg Conlon "to take a bullet for the party," he said, and run against Jackie Speier in the special election to replace the late Rep. Tom Lantos earlier this month. The 75-year-old Conlon played the good soldier, dutifully finishing second with 9 percent of the vote, as Democrat Speier grabbed 79 percent for an easy - and expected - victory. Across the Bay Area, more Republicans are being asked to face that same electoral firing squad, marching into legislative contests where they have little or no chance of winning behind an increasingly tattered GOP...

Bryan DeWinter spent his summer vacation in Israel, speaking with convicted terrorists at a maximum-security prison and venturing to the Syrian and Lebanese borders, where signs of the 2006 war with Hezbollah still remained. In Washington, D.C., he spent winter break meeting with Department of Homeland Security officials, analyzing government tactics to quell terrorist activities. Although young Democrats have dominated the spotlight this presidential election, helping to swell the ranks of new voters, college Republicans like DeWinter are just as impassioned about the 2008 presidential campaign. But instead of demanding a change of course from the Bush administration's policies, young...

When voters swept U.S. Rep. Richard Pombo out of office in November, that left Assemblyman Guy Houston the last Republican left standing.The affable, athletic 46-year-old legislator laughs when asked what it felt like to be the only Bay Area Republican in an elected, partisan seat.But the pragmatic Houston doesn't complain about his party's paltry Bay Area numbers.Instead, he points out the advantage: He can raise money without fear of treading on fellow Republicans' territory."I have more license than my Democratic colleagues," Houston said. "I can raise money all over the Bay Area."It's a classic Houston response, say those close to...

Imagine screaming in your roller coaster seat as it reaches 190 mph rocketing down a 700-foot drop atop the Golden Gate Bridge. Or imagine no bridge at all. In 1929, a dam was proposed as an alternative to the now-famous bridge; San Francisco Bay would have become Lake San Francisco. For a century, seemingly outrageous proposals that could have forever changed the character of the Bay Area were seriously considered. Some of those ideas -- like erecting a dam at the Golden Gate -- seem patently absurd today. Others -- like paving over much of the Marin Headlands -- aren't...

As the store's alarm rang, thieves made off with 32 rifles and handguns from a Fremont gun shop early Wednesday, less than two weeks after police announced they will soon ignore burglar alarms unless there was a confirmed crime. Irvington Arms owner Martin MacDonald was livid over the break-in at his shop, where burglars used an aluminum baseball bat to break the front door and smashed display cases with a crowbar before making off with $20,000 in weapons. MacDonald blamed the break-in on the Police Department's policy -- announced last month but not effective until Feb. 18 -- that officers...

<p>The other students call her "white girl."</p> <p>Justine Steele is a senior at Independence High School in San Jose, a sprawling campus of 4,054 students where 8 percent are Caucasian. Forget the numbers. "Look around," she says. There are Indians and Vietnamese, Mexicans and Filipinos.</p>

BAY AREA FREEPERS (Vets): VetsCoR (Veterans for Constitutional Restoration) wants to honor our neglected veterans this Memorial Day. Please help! We want to go to the VA care home at Martinez and/or other bay area VA facilities and have a cookout for our brothers and sisters who are too often overlooked! Please sign up here so we can start planning this thing NOW!!! Also your ideas are MOST welcome!