Free Republic

Commerce: The U.S. has slipped again in world rankings that assess the ease of starting a new business. If we're to bring down our stubbornly high unemployment rate, this trend has to be reversed. According to the World Bank's "Doing Business 2012" report, America is 13th among 183 countries ranked in the "Starting a Business" category. In the 2011 report, the U.S. ranked 11th. The year before, it was No. 8. In 2009, the U.S. was ranked No. 6. It was fourth in 2008 and third in 2007. In the 2012 ranking, the U.S trailed such job creators as Macedonia,...

MAGNOLIA, WI — John Adams can’t see the nearly 3,000 cows on the dairy farm two miles from his Wisconsin home, but when the wind blows he can smell them. The stench gives him and his wife headaches. They blame the big farm for contaminating their air and polluting the groundwater well they use for drinking, bathing and watering their garden. They no longer feel safe eating the vegetables they grow. Adams also blames the state, which requires local governments to grant permits to large farms that meet certain limited criteria, even if there are additional environmental concerns. The rural...

JEROME COUNTY< ID (KMVT-TV) - Discussions about a rifle range in eastern Jerome County are underway yet again. The Jerome County Commissioners are looking at possibly opening up a range three miles west of the Jerome Minidoka county line. But, this proposal is worrying people who live in the area. The Carneys own an organic straw field being a farmer is something they pride themselves on. But, their farm life may soon be disturbed. "We like the serenity. It's not that we are against guns, we just don't want them shooting in our backyard,” said Polly Carney, Carney Farms. "They...

— A refusal by the Athens City Council to rezone property for a private Internet sales club may lead to a lawsuit. Club owner Jay Spencer had previously asked the Athens Planning Commission to rezone property at 1310 West Elm St., from agricultural to B-2, or business district. The commission voted 6-1 on April 19 to deny the request. On Monday night, Spencer was at the council meeting to request the property be rezoned. Spencer’s attorney, Eddie Alley, said surrounding properties do not conform to agricultural land use because the AT&T service center, county school bus garage and the Athens-Limestone...

As a labor union leader, Councilman Steve Ross knows what union negotiations entail — and he’s urging Las Vegas firefighters to go back to the table and reach an agreement with the city for next year. “We’re really not that far apart,” Ross said at Wednesday’s Las Vegas City Council meeting, where council members were told negotiations had stalled with a difference of about $3 million and that an outside arbitrator is being brought in to resolve the differences.

Asphalt Is Replaced By Cheaper Gravel; 'Back to Stone Age' ....Paved roads, historical emblems of American achievement, are being torn up across rural America and replaced with gravel or other rough surfaces as counties struggle with tight budgets and dwindling state and federal revenue. State money for local roads was cut in many places amid budget shortfalls. [SNIP] But higher taxes for road maintenance are equally unpopular. In June, Stutsman County residents rejected a measure that would have generated more money for roads by increasing property and sales taxes. "I'd rather my kids drive on a gravel road than stick...

Politics: Has corruption tainted even the battle over free trade? If not, why has the White House buried its own study of a jobs "retraining" program that it insists Congress must vote for as a condition for signing three trade deals? A Labor Department study on the effectiveness of Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA), a $1.3 billion program for workers who claim their jobs were lost to foreign competition, has not only missed its deadline by four years, but is also being withheld until the end of the year, the Wall Street Journal reports. Based on how this White House operates,...

"On Oct. 17, 2007, Marcelle opened the door to a loud knock. Her heart jumped when she found a man backed by two armed county agents in bulletproof vests. She was alone in the cabin, a dot in the vast open space of the Antelope Valley, without a neighbor for more than half a mile...." "The men demanded her driver's license, telling her, "This building is not permitted — everything must go." Normally sassy, Marcelle handed over her ID — even her green card, just in case. Stepping out, she realized that her 1,000-square-foot cabin was surrounded by men with...

Hopes of turning an informal target shooting area off Ayres Road at the far southeast end of Benton County into a properly managed shooting facility have been shot down. County officials said the state's Growth Management Act and a related King County court ruling prevent them for allowing a shooting range on land zoned for agriculture. Ag lands must be preserved only for ag-related uses, according to the 2000 case, King County v. Growth Management Act Hearing Board. "We used to have shooting ranges and even race tracks allowed in our zoning ordinance until 2007, but we had to take...

It was hard to tell which side had more supporters during a two-and-half hour hearing on a proposed shooting center outside Valley Springs. Applause came frequently after each side made a point, with neighbors worried about noise and supporters touting sound mitigation techniques and the business and community value of the center. In a 4-1 vote, the Calaveras County Planning Commission ultimately decided that shooting centers were allowable on industrial properties. The center is the project of Tom Coe, who wants to build on his industrial-zoned property off Watertown Road near Campo Seco. Numerous industries could be allowed on such...

Perhaps this will feel a little counterintuitive after seeing today’s jobless numbers, but it actually makes a lot of sense. Gallup’s latest poll on soak-the-rich tax policies show that Americans are less open to redistributionism than at the peak of the pre-Great Recession economy, with a plurality rejecting “heavy taxes on the rich”: Americans break into two roughly evenly matched camps on the question of whether the government should enact heavy taxes on the rich to redistribute wealth in the U.S. Forty-seven percent believe the government should redistribute wealth in this way, while 49% disagree, similar to views Gallup found...

WAYNESVILLE, Mo. (April 28, 2011) — During a Tuesday evening review by members of the Waynesville Planning and Zoning Commission of their recent actions, City Administrator Bruce Harrill explained the details of why the commission’s prior objections to a church renting space in a special tax district were set aside based on legal advice. “I’d asked Bruce to brief us on that,” commission member Tim Bartlett said. “When things like that happen, it’s probably better that we hear it this way than driving by a restaurant and seeing a cross on top. That’s how I found out about that one.”...

WAYNESVILLE, Mo. (April 28, 2011) — During a Tuesday evening review by members of the Waynesville Planning and Zoning Commission of their recent actions, City Administrator Bruce Harrill explained the details of why the commission’s prior objections to a church renting space in a special tax district were set aside based on legal advice. “I’d asked Bruce to brief us on that,” commission member Tim Bartlett said. “When things like that happen, it’s probably better that we hear it this way than driving by a restaurant and seeing a cross on top. That’s how I found out about that one.”...

The right to own private property unfettered by excessive government control is under attack in Virginia. Private property is a fundamental right that distinguishes us as a free people, The framers of the constitution understood the importance of protecting private property rights. The Fifth Amendment of the Bill of Rights states, “No person shall be … deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation.” (Related: Agenda 21 Resource Page and also The Path To Agenda 21 Sustainable Development) Despite constitutional protection against property confiscation, state...

WAYNESVILLE, Mo. (March 2, 2011) — Efforts by Waynesville city officials to keep a church from renting the former Ashley Mae restaurant building behind the Bank of Crocker in a special tax district have hit a snag. “I don’t want this to sound negative at all — the city is not negative at all toward anybody, businesses, churches, whatever,” Councilwoman Luge Hardman said at Tuesday evening’s meeting of the Waynesville Economic Development Committee. The city’s planning and zoning commission earlier denied a conditional use permit to New Life Ministries and Foundation, whose leaders have said they like the option of...

WAYNESVILLE, Mo. (March 2, 2011) — Efforts by Waynesville city officials to keep a church from renting the former Ashley Mae restaurant building behind the Bank of Crocker in a special tax district have hit a snag. “I don’t want this to sound negative at all — the city is not negative at all toward anybody, businesses, churches, whatever,” Councilwoman Luge Hardman said at Tuesday evening’s meeting of the Waynesville Economic Development Committee. The city’s planning and zoning commission earlier denied a conditional use permit to New Life Ministries and Foundation, whose leaders have said they like the option of...

Americans can do whatever they decide to do. Witness the politiscape littered with the careers of Democrats deposed by determined Americans who have had enough big-government socialism forced upon them. The next challenge for the tea party – and other organizations – is local and state governments that are systematically implementing freedom-robbing policies in the name of comprehensive planning, smart growth, sustainable development and environmental protection. If the word “freedom” is to have any meaning at all, it must mean that people are free to live wherever they choose, and free to use their property as they choose. For nearly...

Comments on articles about these horse shootings have been pro and con against the Twiss family. While no one thinks shooting horses is an answer, some have expressed their dislike of the Twiss family and their horse stable. Concerns of manure disposal and diseases were brought up. And yes, zoning issues too. The $5,000 reward for the horse shootings may bring some needed information to light. Meanwhile, you can't help wondering where the escalation of events will end. Nor can you help from wondering who wants the Twiss land or what's really behind the harassment and the change of ruling...

Obama’s Ocean Policy Initiative: Washington’s latest power grab As if the sputtering U.S. economy weren’t in enough trouble already, the Obama administration is cooking up a new scheme that will extend the heavy hand of Washington to somewhere it has never gone before. Unveiled with precious little fanfare on July 19 in the form of an Executive Order, the White House’s Ocean Policy Initiative will subject America’s waterways — oceans, rivers, bays, estuaries, and the Great Lakes — to federal zoning. Under the scheme, these areas would be managed according to the Orwellian-sounding notion of “coastal and marine spatial planning.”...

DeKalb County is suing a man for growing too many vegetables on his own land, Channel 2 Action News reported. Steve Miller of Clarkston said he plans to fight the county and has gotten his 2-acre property rezoned so that he can have his garden. But he still faces nearly $5,000 in fines, Miller told Channel 2. Miller has been growing a variety of vegetables for 15 years, and his neighbors support him. He sells what he grows at local markets and gives some away, he said. "It's a way of life, like it's something in my blood,” Miller told...