Free Republic

Violent crimes — from homicides and rapes to robberies — have been on the rise in many major U.S. cities. But experts can't point to a single reason why, and the jump isn't enough to suggest there's a trend.

Republican voters are becoming increasingly cynical about the way the election process works in America, a Gallup Poll released Friday indicates. Of the 1,012 people surveyed from any party, only 30 percent said the process was working the way it should, down from 37 percent who said the same thing in January. The difference was more stark for GOP voters. Gallup found 30 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents thought the process was working, down from 46 percent who believed in the system in January. …

A tornado damaged neighborhoods in Rowlett, Texas, outside of Dallas in December, but unfortunately for one family, that wasn't then end of the destruction. After a mistake in Google Maps led a construction crew to the wrong house, Lindsey Diaz's home was demolished as she was in the process of applying for a builder's permit to repair the damage caused by the tornado.

THE TERRORIST assault on Brussels Tuesday, just four days after the arrest of an architect of last year’s attacks in Paris, underlined the resilience and continued menace of the Islamic State — to Europe, to the United States and to vital Western interests. It also revealed a crucial divide among U.S. presidential candidates about what this country must do to protect itself. One one side are those who support the internationalist response of President Obama, who said the United States “will do whatever is necessary to support our friend and ally Belgium,” and who asserted that “we must be together,...

Trump to protesters: ‘Are you from Mexico?’ and ‘All lives matter’ By Fenit Nirappil February 29 at 3:14 PM RADFORD, VA. — A Donald Trump rally in southwest Virginia on the eve of Super Tuesday turned nasty, with repeated disruptions by protesters, and a scuffle between a Secret Service agent and a photographer. Trump addressed a crowd of thousands in a Radford University gymnasium, as many more waited outside. The Republican front-runner started his remarks by citing a new CNN poll showing him with a huge national lead. The New York billionaire is poised to win many of the states...

Lennie Baker, a longtime member of the rock and doo-wop group Sha Na Na, who sang lead on its hit version of “Blue Moon,” died on Wednesday in Weymouth, Mass. He was 69. He had been hospitalized after developing an infection, David Baker, a nephew, said. Sha Na Na found fame resurrecting 1950s rock ’n’ roll with a retro style of singing and stage choreography that mixed tight harmonies with dashes of comedy. Starting in 1970, Lennie Baker spent 30 years touring with the group as a vocalist and saxophone player. He sang the group’s upbeat doo-wop version of “Blue...

A Republican attorney in Illinois, a supporter of Ben Carson, on Friday filed a motion with the Illinois State Board of Elections to have Sen. Ted Cruz's name removed from the official Republican primary ballot for the Illinois GOP presidential primary set for March 15. The legal challenge confirms fellow candidate Donald Trump's argument that the issue of eligibility to be president under Article 2, Section 1 of the Constitution will dog Cruz as the Texas senator pursues the GOP nomination for president, and possibly a subsequent White House bid. The motion from Lawrence J. Joyce, who makes his living...

The Executive Director of the Democratic Governors Association, Elisabeth Pearson, issued a statement Tuesday night crediting Donald Trump with creating the political conditions of ‘outsider’ popularity that allowed Republican Matt Bevin to win the Kentucky governor’s race over Democrat candidate Jack Conway. . . . ““Attorney General Jack Conway ran a strong campaign focused on the issues that matter to Kentuckians: good schools, good-paying jobs and economic opportunity,” Pearson said. “Unfortunately, he ran into the unexpected headwinds of Trump-mania, losing to an outsider candidate in the year of the outsider. While Jack Conway came up just short tonight, his presence...