Free Republic

A group of college students is working together with lawmakers and communities to try to make the route to locations throughout the southeast a little shorter by using Interstate 14 to connect Killeen, Texas, with Columbus, Georgia. The idea started when Frank Lumpkin was in high school, taking part in Youth Leadership Columbus. While taking part in the class, he said he realized that the city needed more infrastructure to succeed, and he said he has been working on the project ever since. “From the moment I saw this robust transportation network that linked the southern military instillations, would address...

Trump needs him. Texas needs him. If we are going to help Trump move his (our) conservative agenda, then we ALL need him. It would be absolutely insane to have any FReepers working against us on this critical point. O'Rourke would be a disaster for all of us. If you're going to badmouth Cruz, don't do it on FR! Go, Trump, GO!! Go, Cruz, GO!!

A controversial plan to oust a top Tarrant County Republican official because he’s Muslim was revived late Thursday. . . . . . This issue began flaring up again recently on social media, particularly when local Republican James Trimm posted an article he wrote — Has Tarrant County GOP turned its back on Israel? — on Facebook. He noted that Tarrant County is the largest red area across the state and nation and “If Tarrant County goes, so will go the state of Texas and the nation.” “If Dr. Shafi himself will publicly state that he will support Israel with...

A man in a bandana was killed a late night shootout at a Whataburger in Southwest Houston after walking in to the fast food restaurant and starting shooting, witnesses said. The man, whose identity has not been released, walked into the restaurant at 7629 W Bellfort about 1:o0 a.m. Saturday, possibly to rob the store and started shooting. ... Witnesses said the security guard returned fire, hitting the man who fled the restaurant. He died in the parking lot while trying to get to his car. Some witnesses said the man was not trying to rob the restaurant, but was...

A special perk for seniors at Austin’s Bowie High School is feeling like a punishment for some after the students said they were told to change — or were denied — the designs they wanted to paint on their reserved parking spots. One student, who asked to not be named, said Principal Mark Robinson told her to make it obvious her painting of the Taj Mahal was not a mosque. The student, who is from India, said the painting was previously approved by school staff well before school started, but Robinson only recently told her it was not allowed. Another...

Presidential Proclamation on National Hispanic Heritage Month https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/presidential-proclamation-national-hispanic-heritage-month-2018/ White House PROCLAMATIONS Presidential Proclamation on National Hispanic Heritage Month, 2018 Issued on: September 13, 2018 During National Hispanic Heritage Month, we honor all American citizens of Hispanic descent and celebrate their rich and vibrant traditions of faith, family, hard work, and patriotism. We are grateful for the innumerable contributions they make to our society, which are vital to our thriving Nation. We are especially grateful for the 1.2 million Hispanic-American men and women who have answered the call to serve in our Armed Forces, demonstrating remarkable loyalty, bravery, and dedication to duty. My...

The State Board of Education in Texas voted on Friday to eliminate several historical figures, including Hillary Clinton and Helen Keller, from the state’s social studies curriculum. Barbara Cargill, a Texas Republican and member of the board, told The Dallas Morning News that "the recommendation to eliminate Helen Keller and Hillary Clinton was made by [Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills] work groups.” “However the board did vote to agree with the work groups' recommendations,” Cargill pointed out. "In speaking to teachers and testifiers, they did not mention these specific deletions."

History curriculum in Texas remembers the Alamo, but could soon forget Hillary Clinton and Helen Keller. As part of an effort to "streamline" the social studies curriculum in Texas, the State Board of Education voted on Friday to change what students in every grade are required to learn in the classroom. They voted to remove several historical figures, including Hillary Clinton and Helen Keller. The board also voted to add back into the curriculum a reference to the "heroism" of the defenders of the Alamo, which had been recommended for elimination, as well as Moses' influence on the writing of...

Texas authorities have suspended a suburban Dallas notary for botching her role in Stormy Daniels’ agreement to stay silent about her alleged affair with President Donald Trump. The disciplinary action faults the Forney notary for not properly witnessing and documenting the porn star's’ signature on the agreement struck with Trump's personal attorney just days before the presidential election, according to records obtained Wednesday by The Dallas Morning News. But the Texas Secretary of State office said the notary’s sloppy work has no bearing on the legal validity of the hush-money deal, which is under intense scrutiny by U.S. prosecutors investigating...

A Pflugerville fugitive has been apprehended in Canada as he was attempting to flee to his home country of Nigeria, the U.S Marshals Service says. Olanrewaju Sodiq Fadairo, 28 is a Nigerian citizen who was a suspect in a sexual assault case. The U.S. Marshals Lone Star Fugitive Task Force coordinated with Canadian officials to extradite Fadairo from Montreal to Texas. The investigation into Fadairo began in October 2017, when it was learned that he was attempting to flee back to Nigeria. The Canadian government learned in August of that year that Fadairo had crossed the border into Canada. Fadairo...

City budget boosts spending for homelessness services The new city manager and City Council agree: The city needs more money to address the homelessness situation. The proposed Fiscal Year 2018-19 budget submitted by City Manager Spencer Cronk includes $3.1 million in new spending on homelessness-related services. That’s on top of the roughly $25 million of spending on such services that will continue from last year. Part of that proposed increase comes from the Watershed Protection Department, which has proposed hiring a contractor for an estimated $1 million over four years to clean up litter in creeks or drainage facilities that...

DALLAS - Following the shooting death of Botham Jean by the hands of Dallas Police Officer Amber Guyger, multiple search warrants were executed at Jean’s apartment as part of the investigation. One of the warrants became a public record Thursday afternoon when it was returned to the judge who signed it. It was shortly after Jean’s funeral had ended. It listed several items found in Jean's apartment, including a small amount of marijuana.

The Texas State Board of Education appears to have decided the heroism of the Alamo is worth teaching to students after all. State politicians erupted in protest this month after a volunteer team of educators, looking for ways to “streamline” the state’s social studies curriculum, recommended scrubbing references to “all the heroic defenders” at the Alamo from classroom teaching plans. Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, both Republicans, accused the panel of allowing the dictates of political correctness to run wild and demanded that Texans call the board to complain. Rep. Ted Poe showed up personally before the...

AUSTIN, Texas (KTRK) -- Some Willie Nelson fans are seeing red after learning the country musician will be headlining a rally for Democratic Senate candidate Beto O'Rourke. Dozens of people weighed in on Willie's Facebook page Wednesday after he shared a story about the upcoming rally in Austin. While some people told Willie he needs to stay out of politics, others threw insults at the music legend. Still others applauded Willie's contribution to the 2018 campaign. The event is set for Sept. 29 at Austin's Auditorium Shores. Nelson is scheduled to perform alongside Joe Ely, Carrie Rodriguez, Tameca Jones and...

Four years ago a seemingly invincible US senator came within a percentage point of losing his seat in an unexpectedly close election. Mark Warner was pretty moderate as far as Democrats go, a good fit for a state, Virginia, that had drifted out of the Republican column in the last two presidential elections and just elected a full slate of Democratic statewide officials a year before. But midterms are when presidents and their parties get rebuked, and Warner, a telecom millionaire who had once been tipped as presidential contender, took his support for granted. The Republican, lobbyist Ed Gillespie, was...

Rep. Beto O'Rourke (D-Texas) is hosting a private fundraising event in New York on Wednesday as he campaigns to unseat Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (R) in November. According to the event invitation, first obtained by CNBC, the campaign fundraiser will take place at the Cutting Room, a concert venue in Manhattan. Andy Cohen, host of the Bravo's late night show "Watch What Happens," will also be in attendance. The fundraiser comes as O'Rourke's senate race against Cruz tightens. A CBS Dallas-Fort Worth/Dixie Strategies poll from Wednesday shows Cruz's margin at 46 to 42 percent, with 9 percent undecided and a...

HOUSTON (AP) — As U.S. Catholic leaders head to the Vatican to meet with Pope Francis about a growing church abuse crisis, the cardinal leading the delegation has been accused by two people of not doing enough to stop a priest who was arrested this week on sexual abuse charges. The two people told The Associated Press that they reported the priest and met with Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. One of them says she was promised in a meeting with DiNardo, several years after she first reported abuse, that the priest would be removed from any...

HOUSTON — Days after a top adviser to President Trump questioned Senator Ted Cruz’s chances of winning re-election, the Texas lawmaker casually stepped into the pinnacle of his hometown’s energy industry on Tuesday — the lobby of the Petroleum Club of Houston, on the 35th floor of a downtown skyscraper. Mr. Cruz shook hands while holding a cup of McDonald’s coffee. By the end of his remarks to the American Petroleum Institute, the audience rose for two standing ovations. It was not a campaign event, but it might as well have been: Mr. Cruz was relaxed and confident, eager to...

Generations of Texans have rightly drawn inspiration and strength from the heroes of the Alamo – the brave men who fought to the death to defend the battle-scarred mission in San Antonio in 1836 in the fight for Texas’ independence from Mexico. These freedom fighters are a symbol of valor for all Americans. It is bizarre, then, that an advisory group recommended to the Texas Board of Education that it remove the words “all the heroic defenders” from the state’s social studies curriculum describing the men who gave their lives at the Alamo. The Board of Education was holding a...

A Dallas police officer who fatally shot her neighbor in his apartment, claiming she mistook the unit for her own, told the authorities that the door was already ajar when she entered and that she shot him after he ignored verbal commands, according to court records released on Monday.The officer, Amber R. Guyger, 30, who has been charged with manslaughter, could face additional charges in a case that has led to accusations that the officer received preferential treatment and debate about whether race may have played a role in the deadly encounter between a white police officer and a black...