Free Republic

CENTRAL KITSAP — Kitsap Rifle and Revolver Club is fighting for its life, according to legal documents filed with the Washington State Court of Appeals. Under a court order, the club’s shooting range on Seabeck Highway is effectively shut down at the moment. The club now faces what it considers to be severe restrictions on any future operations — including limited hours and the type of guns to be shot. That’s why the club went to court last week pleading for a postponement of the order handed down in Pierce County Superior Court. Members should know soon whether the stay...

President Barack Obama has an ambitious plan for Washington bureaucrats to take command of the oceans—and with it control over much of the nation’s energy, fisheries, even recreation in a move described by lawmakers as the ultimate power grab to zone the seas. The massive undertaking also includes control over key inland waterways and rivers that reach hundreds of miles upstream, and began with little fanfare when Obama signed an executive order in 2010 to protect the aquatic environment. “This one to me could be the sleeping power grab that Americans will wake up to one day and wonder what...

An innocent man who had legally been raising a few dozen chickens and other small birds in the backyard of his suburban Atlanta home is now dead, following a crusade of terror perpetrated against him by the City of Roswell in Georgia. Andrew Wordes, who died during a recent raid on his property in which county marshals tried to illegally evict him, was the obvious victim of a rogue state gone mad -- and his blood is now on the hands of the Roswell City Administrator, the Roswell City Council, and the Roswell Police Department, all of which robbed from...

Conn. — Nearly 500 people packed a Norwalk Zoning Commission meeting to weigh in on plans for a 27,000-square-foot mosque. Neighbors say they are concerned about traffic and parking issues, not religion, should a mosque be built on Fillow Street.

The battle between one man and the city of Roswell that started over his keeping of chickens ended Monday afternoon in a fiery explosion. Investigators believe that rather than be evicted from his home, Andrew Wordes poured gasoline throughout the house and set it on fire. "There was an initial explosion and subsequent fire," Lt. James McGee with Roswell police said during a news briefing. A body was found inside the home, but a positive identification had not been made late Monday afternoon due to the condition of the body, Capt. Paul Piccirilli with the Roswell Fire Department said. The...

The age-old hobby of tossing a football or Frisbee on the beach on a beautiful summer day in Los Angeles will cost you a cool $1,000 thanks to a new ordinance passed by the Board of Supervisors Tuesday. Claiming that such activity could be dangerous to other beachgoers, the Supes outlawed "any person to cast, toss, throw, kick or roll any ball, tube, or any light object other than a beach ball or beach volleyball” on or over a beach.

SPRING HILL -- County Commissioner Jim Adkins said he is a strong supporter of a person's right to keep and bear arms. But there is a limit, he said. And that limit may be reached when it comes to someone extending that constitutional right to selling firearms out of his home. "I'm a very strong Second Amendment person," Adkins said. "I just don't think residential areas are good for that type of business." But, he added, "I can be convinced either way" and awaits more information on Tuesday. That's when a contingent of neighbors who live in a quiet cul-de-sac...

In a push to expand across California without interference, Walmart is increasingly taking advantage of the state's initiative system to threaten elected officials with costly special elections and to avoid environmental lawsuits. The Arkansas-based retailer has hired paid signature gatherers to circulate petitions to build new superstores or repeal local restrictions on big-box stores. Once 15 percent of eligible voters sign the petitions, state election law puts cash-strapped cities in a bind: City councils must either approve the Walmart-drafted measure without changes or put it to a special election. As local officials grapple with whether to spend tens of thousands...

What we instead need are more free markets and more liberty – for history has shown that this is the way for our country’s restored greatness – both as a nation but also for the general populace. To that end, we will be rallying on December 3rd at 11:30 a.m. on the West Steps of the Colorado State Capitol to show support for free market capitalism. Additionally, we will be having a charity drive for a charity to be determined to help show that voluntary contributions – not forced altruism at the hand of the government – is the most...

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...