Free Republic

Kansas Republican Gov. Sam Brownback is hoping the federal government can rescue several critical infrastructure projects that the state can no longer afford.The Brownback administration recently sent what amounts to a wish list to President Donald Trump for inclusion in his planned infrastructure initiative. It includes the following $240 million in highway and bridge projects delayed or abandoned because of the state’s ongoing budget problems: $50 million to replace a section of the Lewis and Clark Viaduct that carries Interstate 70 across the Kansas River between Kansas and Missouri.$91 million to build an I-235 interchange in Wichita.$45 million to reconstruct...

MADISON, Wis. – The director of a scandal-plagued Social Security Administration hearing office used official leave and sick leave to gamble at an area casino, while a group supervisor got paid a full day’s wage to watch a Green Bay Packers football game. TIME FRAUD: A federal investigation into a Madison Social Security Administration office found the hearing office director used sick leave to gamble at an area casino and another supervisor watched a Green Bay Packers game on the clock, according to a letter from Sen. Ron Johnson. These are just some of the many details about troubling conduct...

In a stark flashback to the events that led to Zimbabwe's terminal collapse into banana republic status, as well as unleashing hyperinflation and economic devastation, on Thursday South African President Jacob Zuma pledged to break up white ownership of business and land to reduce inequality, in a State of the Nation address which as the WSJ reports was disrupted by a fistfight, walkouts and a release of pepper spray in the parliamentary chamber.

A Brooklyn, New York, teenager lost his arm in a Craigslist robbery gone wrong on Friday afternoon, authorities said. Police say the 17-year-old boy connected with a man on Craigslist who was selling a pair of Air Jordan sneakers. They met about 1 p.m. in the Canarsie neighborhood, where the teen got into the seller's SUV and pulled out a gun, police said. The teen stole the sneakers and then walked away. He walked across the street with a bag apparently holding the sneakers, and the theft victim made a U-turn, stepped on the gas and ran over the teenager,...

A former National Security Agency contractor was indicted on Wednesday by a federal grand jury on charges he willfully retained national defense information, in what U.S. officials have said may have been the largest heist of classified government information in history. The indictment alleges that Harold Thomas Martin, 52, spent up to 20 years stealing highly sensitive government material from the U.S. intelligence community related to national defense, collecting a trove of secrets he hoarded at his home in Glen Burnie, Maryland. The government has not said what, if anything, Martin did with the stolen data. Martin faces 20 criminal...

Blaine announced her resignation over the weekend. She quit in disgrace, as did the executive director, David Clohessy, who packed it in less than two weeks ago. Both Clohessy and Blaine tried to put a happy face on their departure—which effectively kills SNAP—but no one believes them. Clohessy said his decision had nothing to do with the devastating lawsuit brought against SNAP by a former employee, Gretchen Rachel Hammond. Blaine echoed the same line, saying the lawsuit “had absolutely no bearing on my leaving.” Clohessy listed “fatigue” as his reason for quitting, saying he wanted to do something “less stressful.”...

First it was Deflategate and now Tom Brady is enmeshed in Jerseygate — and a Texas official has the state’s storied Rangers hot on the trail. The football jersey Tom Brady wore while leading his New England Patriots to a historic Super Bowl win was still missing on Monday — and perhaps stolen right out of his locker, the quarterback said. Brady told reporters he last saw his game-used threads in the New England dressing room Sunday night in Houston, following the Patriots’ stunning 34-28 overtime win. “The jersey, I put it in my bag and I came out and...

A suspected diaper thief shot dead outside a Pine Hills Wal-Mart on Saturday was a fugitive on felony probation at the time of his death, state records show. Arthur “Art” Adams, 19, was a gang member who was planning to sell the diapers, Orange County sheriff’s Capt. Angelo Nieves said. Adams had an arrest record dating to 2011, when he was 15 years old, records show. He was sentenced to four years of probation in June for two 2013 racketeering convictions. A customer — a 50-year-old man — shot Adams after stepping in to help an employee who had followed...

Larry Hauth has a farm in Coffey County and a daughter in Wichita. Good roads are kind of important to him. So he’s disturbed by the ongoing and accelerating trend of the state taking money out of the highway fund to balance the rest of its budget. “One of the things Kansas has going for it, compared to our surrounding states, is our road system,” Hauth said. “When they built them in years past, they were thinking ahead. I don’t think we’re thinking ahead right now. We’re trying to tread water, at best.” Gov. Sam Brownback wants to take nearly...

Romania's leftist government has adopted an emergency law to decriminalize abuse of power crimes and corruption offences. Protests erupted late Tuesday in cities across the country after the government's announcement. News Romania decriminalizes official misconduct amid mass protests Romania's leftist government has adopted an emergency law to decriminalize abuse of power crimes and corruption offences. Protests erupted late Tuesday in cities across the country after the government's announcement. Watch video 00:29 Romanians protest relaxed corruption laws The measures, adopted late on Tuesday, will decriminalize cases of official misconduct in which financial damage is valued at less than 200,000 lei (44,000...

Consider former felon Thomas Yoxall’s debt to society paid in full, with interest. The man who shot and killed an assault suspect on a dark highway in Arizona, rescuing a state trooper, said on Wednesday that he doesn’t think of himself as a hero. The Good Samaritan had requested media anonymity since the early-morning January 12 incident on Interstate 10. Today, he made his first appearance since the incident at a news conference at the headquarters of the Arizona Department of Public Safety. He identified himself as Thomas Yoxall, 43, a maintenance supervisor with a passion for photography and reading....

Matthew Lee and Richard Lardner, Associated Press January 23, 2017 Officials say the Obama administration in its waning hours defied Republican opposition and quietly released $221 million to the Palestinian Authority. GOP members of Congress had been holding up the money. A State Department official and several congressional aides say the outgoing administration formally notified Congress it would spend the money Friday morning, just before Donald Trump became president. More than $227 million in foreign affairs funding was released at the time, including $4 million for climate change programs and $1.25 million for U.N. organizations.(snip)

The National Institute of Informatics (NII) in Japan claims that taking and publishing photos of subjects who are flashing the popular two-fingered 'V' or peace sign could lead to identify theft. It warns that fingerprint recognition technology is now so advanced that even casual snapshots can be used to retrieve fingerprint information. The report also says the technology is widely available and easy to use.

PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey's decision to again take for other uses state gas tax money intended to help cities and counties build and repair roads is getting a cold reception from some in the Legislature. The Republican governor's budget proposal for the year starting July 1 eliminates $86.5 million in highway spending in the current year, a decision likely to spur a fight with lawmakers from both parties who have been seeking a permanent stop to shifts of cash for road work to other uses. Legislation that would bar the practice and require gas tax money only...

Senator Dan Coats (R-IN) asked Koskinen about the process, and for the commissioner to explain the logic behind giving tax refunds to illegal aliens who have committed a theft of a tax-payer’s identification number. Koskinen’s response, according to the Washington Examiner, was that it was in everybody’s interest to have the illegal aliens pay taxes with stolen id’s.

A man in Golden is out a car, and possibly a job, after a pizza delivery gone wrong last Thursday. College student Tyler Warren, 21, said his 1998 white Honda Civic was stolen as he delivered a pizza for Domino’s Pizza in Golden. “It is just kind of a traumatic experience. I never thought it would happen,” Warren said. (credit: CBS) (credit: CBS) Warren was at the door of a home along Ford Street delivering a pizza when he noticed someone was driving away in his car. “I ran after it, and chased down a (passing) car. They helped me,”...

The three hooded and masked men broke into a West 36th Street jewelry wholesaler at 12:01 a.m. Sunday in what appears to be an inside job — while 7,000 cops were distracted protecting Times Square revelers just a few blocks away. The source said the thieves “100 percent” planned the heist to coincide with the ball drop. They made off with around $6 million in gems and are still at large, police sources said.

WASHINGTON — An anonymous call to 911 led police to a U-Haul truck full of ATMs in Southeast D.C. Monday. The truck was found abandoned on the 2000 block of 38th Street SE around 12:30 p.m. Monday.

U.S. News compiled data on car thefts from the Federal Bureau of Investigation from 2014 – the most recent year for complete data from the bureau – to determine which of the 100 largest metro areas in the country had the highest rate of car theft. Albuquerque, New Mexico, takes the top spot for highest rate of car theft, with a total of 6,131 thefts in 2014 and 676.9 thefts per 100,000 people. The City of Albuquerque acknowledges its high rate of auto theft on its website, noting New Mexico’s shared border with Mexico gives car thieves added incentive because...

Nearly a third of retirees are playing chicken with one of the steepest tax penalties out there — and they are running out of time. IRS rules on so-called required minimum distributions generally kick in once you reach age 70½. For 401(k)s and other defined contribution plans, it's either when you turn 70½. or you retire, whichever is later. If you've inherited an IRA, you might also be subject to RMDs, even if your own retirement is years away. How much you need to take is usually based on the account balance at the end of the previous year, and...