Free Republic

Governor Chris Sununu (R-NH) said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” that voters will choose former President Donald Trump even if he is convicted of crimes. Partial transcript as follows: STEPHANOPOULOS: History being made tomorrow, that criminal trial. Will your support for Donald Trump continue even if he’s convicted in Manhattan? SUNUNU: Yeah, look, this — this trial is not going to have major political ramifications that a lot of people, I think, think it may have. And when it comes to these issues, people see it more as reality TV at this point. They really do. And so, you know,...

A recent Remington Research Group/Missouri Scout survey showed what appears to be an uphill battle for far-left Democrat Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) in her primary race, as she trails her Democrat challenger by double digits. The survey asked Democrat primary voters who they would support in the primary race, offering a choice of three candidates: Rep. Bush, St. Louis prosecuting attorney Wesley Bell, and State Sen. Maria Chapelle-Nadal. Half chose Bell as their candidate of choice, followed by 28 percent who said Bush and four percent who chose Nadal. Nearly one in five, 18 percent, remain unsure.

Brazil’s Federal Police (PF) acted to fulfill 46 search and seizure warrants and one arrest warrant on Monday against people suspected of financing the January 8, 2023, Brasilia riot. That day, thousands of supporters of conservative former President Jair Bolsonaro flocked to the heart of Brasilia – home to the nation’s Congress, Supreme Court, and presidential office – to protest against the election of socialist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Lula defeated Bolsonaro and began his third presidential term on January 1, 2023. The protest turned into a riot after the protesters stormed the premises of Brazil’s Congress, Supreme...

A lawsuit against the city of Newport has caused a ripple affect across Oregon that has municipalities checking their hole card to decide whether they want to heed the advice of their insurer and close public trails or gamble on a legislative fix before their hand is called. “On July 6, the Oregon Court of Appeals issued an opinion affectively ending recreational immunity for improved trails,” according to an assessment by CIS Oregon, the insurance provider for the majority of cities in Oregon. Based on the court’s ruling, CIS advised cities in early November to close improved trails that provide...

Republican challenger Scott Jensen trails Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) by just five points, according to the latest MinnPost poll. The MinnPost poll found that 47 percent of Minnesota voters support Walz, while Jensen followed close behind with 42 percent. The other four third-party candidates each earned one percent support. Five percent of Minnesota voters remain undecided, while one percent said they would not vote.

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) is trailing her Republican opponent, Adam Laxalt, by 2 points in her bid for reelection, according to a new CNN poll released on Thursday. With just over four weeks left until Election Day, 48 percent of likely voters said they support Laxalt, compared to the 46 percent that said they back Cortez Masto, according to the poll.

The anticipated opening of the Washington & Old Dominion trail bridge over Route 29 along the City of Falls Church and Arlington’s border is finally here, letting pedestrians and cyclists alike breathe a sigh of relief. A ribbon was cut for the bridge on Friday, signaling the completion of one major part of the Dual Trails project that is being started in Falls Church and eventually expanded to other sections of the W&OD, according to NOVA Parks executive director Paul Gilbert, the agency that primarily manages the trail. But more importantly, the bridge’s construction removes one of the 45-mile trail’s...

Thurston County commissioners voted 2-1 on Thursday to reopen the county’s three trails and many trailheads it manages, which have been closed along with most of the county’s facilities in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19. **SNIP** During this shutdown, he said, mental and physical health are important. “I think it’s critical that we have access to these trails to the extent possible,” Menser said. That opened a discussion that Commissioner Gary Edwards rapidly expanded. Edwards posited that perhaps the county should open all its parks, too. The decision to close county parks was “stupid,” he said, and...

An Australian runner found an unpleasant surprise while running on Monday near his home in New South Wales. Paul Roberts, 42, was doing run-walk intervals at Lake Macquarie State Conservation Park. when he saw what looked like a man-made pile of leaves along the trail. Though not heavily populated, the trail does get foot and bike traffic, which is why Roberts was shocked when he kicked off the top of the leaves and found wine corks with nails through them. These are similar to historic weapons known as caltrops. At first, Roberts said he didn’t think much of his initial...

Kyler Bourgeous, 30, spent the first Saturday of June like many before—out on the trails, running the peaks and slopes, and enjoying the day with his parents, who came to visit and see the wildflowers in bloom this time of year. He took his parents to the Frary Peak trail on Antelope Island State Park in Utah, a trail he runs at least once a week. An avid trail runner, Bourgeous laces up 3 to 5 times a week, totaling about 50 miles. Usually, Bourgeous will get in his own workout before hooking up with his parents, going for a...

The Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority’s ability to build new toll roads may be temporarily stymied by opposition from state leaders, but the agency is keeping busy with major ongoing projects. While the great majority of its spending is on expanding roadway capacity for cars, CTRMA Executive Director Mike Heiligenstein emphasized the millions the agency is investing in bike and pedestrian infrastructure in a Tuesday presentation to the Travis County Commissioners Court. The $108 million construction of State Highway 45 SW, linking MoPac Expressway with FM 1626, will be accompanied by a 4.5-mile shared-use path, along with pedestrian and bicycle...

Around noon on Sunday, March 31, Alicia Judy, 40, left her home in Scottsdale to run 16 to 18 miles on the Spur Cross Trail, which would lead her to Skull Mesa, a breathtaking summit surrounded by towering cactus trees. The path was very familiar to Judy, an experienced trail runner and nurse who has been running through the parks in her area regularly since moving to Arizona five years ago. Still, she studied the map before she left, double-checked her route with a fellow hiker on the trailhead, and made sure to pack her phone, compass, water, and maps...

The heartbreaking mystery of Jerika Binks, the Utah runner who disappeared over a year ago while on a trail run near her home in American Fork, may finally find some closure. On Monday afternoon, local authorities announced they had found the skeletal remains of a body in the general area that Binks was last known to have been, and with multiple personal items known to belong to Binks, according to a press release issued by the Utah County Sheriff’s Office. The remains showed evidence of an injury, though nothing at this point suggests foul play. Sergeant Spencer Cannon of the...

WASHINGTON — Efforts to alleviate traffic for tens of thousands of D.C.-area commuters were approved Wednesday, but not before Maryland attempted to eliminate a provision pushing for uniform tolling practices across the region’s express lanes. The resolution adopted by the region’s Transportation Planning Board is the first concrete action toward new goals developed over the last two years to reduce traffic jams and get people from home to work or other activities faster and with more efficiency. “The first step, a concrete effort, toward the projects, programs and policies this region [will] fund and implement in the coming years,” said...

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Northern Indiana lawmakers are calling into question Gov. Eric Holcomb’s decision against imposing new tolls on the state’s interstate highways, while allowing the Indiana Toll Road’s private operator to significantly boost rates for large trucks using that highway. Democratic Sen. Karen Tallian of Portage tells the South Bend Tribune that the situation is unfair because only the communities in northern Indiana along the Toll Road will have the burden of higher tolls, while all parts of the state will benefit from the toll money. The Republican governor announced in September that the operator of the Toll...

LAPORTE — Law enforcement in LaPorte County is preparing for the possibility of an already-congested and dangerous U.S. 20 being overrun with more semi-trucks as drivers avoid the 35 percent cost increase of traveling the Indiana Toll Road. Much of that stretch of highway being down to one lane in each direction for resurfacing adds to the concerns. LaPorte County Sheriff John Boyd said he’s reached out to Indiana State Police to help patrol U.S. 20 if an increase in truck traffic becomes too much for his staff to handle alone. “We’re going to prepare for it,” Boyd said. “We’re...

Little scant coverage has been given to the story of doctor Mark Samir Sawaf. He was a LPCC Psychotherapist in Kentucky USA. This was his public image. His private life was more sinister than you can imagine. What the media is not telling you about this case was that Sawaf was a Muslim and a terrorist before he was gunned down in Kentucky for an alleged crime. Samir Sawaf set up IED’s and pipe bombs in Kentucky, USA. While his story gained local coverage in Kentucky, the reason is that the media forgot to tell the public that the family...

The long, feathery lines of condensation that form behind aircraft, called contrails, have more of an immediate warming effect on the Earth's surface than the carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases that the aircraft emit, a new study calculates. However, the researchers add, contrail clouds disappear within a day or two; the potent greenhouse gas carbon dioxide lingers in the air for many years. Contrails form when the hot, moist plume of exhaust generated by an airplane's engines mixes with cold air in the upper atmosphere. Liquid droplets form and then freeze, forming a straight, white line. Over the span...

PARIS - Partial results showed President Nicolas Sarkozy's backers losing in Paris and other key French cities Sunday in the first round of municipal elections seen as a referendum on the increasingly unpopular conservative. Official results of the total vote nationwide showed candidates from Sarkozy's UMP party and its allies with 45.5 percent and the Socialists and their allies with 47 percent. The total was not broken down by city, but projections based on partial results by the polling agencies Ipsos and TNS-Sofres showed Socialists on track to take over key cities previously held by the right, including Strasbourg, Reims,...

Mountain bikers worry proposal could kill ‘epic ride’. Many of the area's skilled mountain bikers are concerned about a proposal that would ban them from some of their most-prized local trails, including a segment of the Colorado Trail. The proposal is part of a draft plan by the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service to guide management of 2.4 million acres of public lands in Southwest Colorado. The plan recommends classifying 55,000 acres as new wilderness, including 51,000 acres west of Hermosa Creek. Congress is ultimately responsible for establishing wilderness areas, which cannot be used by motorized vehicles...