Free Republic

A California triathlete whose body washed ashore a week after she vanished during a group ocean swim off the Monterey coast was killed in a gruesome shark attack, according to a newly released report. Erica Fox, 55, disappeared in December 2025 while swimming with 14 others in the frigid waters off Monterey. A week later, her body was discovered about 25 miles away near Davenport Beach in Santa Cruz County, still partially dressed in her black wetsuit, the report said. Chris Lowe, a professor of marine biology with the Shark Lab at California State University Long Beach, said he suspects...

Explanation: The Buck Moon is a traditional name for the full moon of July. In this colorful Adriatic sea and skyscape captured on July 28 from Krk Island along the coast of Croatia, a full Buck Moon is just rising over distant mountains. Since a full moon rises as the Sun sets, Earth's shadow also rises in the twilight scene, a diffuse gray band extending above the mountainous southeastern horizon. Above Earth's shadow band is the pinkish antitwilight arch. That subtly tinted band of backscattered sunlight is more widely known as the Belt of Venus. But as it shares the...

An improvised explosive device detonated at a restaurant Saturday in central Moscow killing two people, Russian state media said, citing local officials. The suspected bomber was also killed, officials said. At least 21 people were also injured when the IED detonated at the restaurant on Kudrinskaya Square in Moscow, the National Anti-Terrorism Committee said, quoted by Russian state news agency RIA Novosti. An unidentified woman who attempted to carry the explosive device into the restaurant died in the blast as did a security guard and a patron, the news agency said. Ria Novosti reported the woman attempted to smuggle the...

A legendary Southern California classic rock station is pulling the plug on its DJs, laying off its entire on-air staff as it flips to a fully automated, music-only format. KCAL, a longtime staple of the Inland Empire radio dial, announced the sweeping changes will take effect August 1, with parent company Anaheim Broadcasting Corporation promising listeners “nothing but music all day across the Inland Empire.” Chief Operating Officer Kelly Sanders said the DJ-free format will mean fewer interruptions and more nonstop classic rock, according to a social media announcement. “KCAL has a longstanding history in the Inland Empire, and this...

Florida AG warns bishops: Catholic schools could lose vouchers over COVID mandatesFlorida Attorney General James Uthmeier says Catholic schools must honor parents’ religious objections to mandated shots or risk losing access to state scholarship dollars.Florida Republican Attorney General James Uthmeier warned the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops July 31 that Catholic schools could jeopardize their eligibility for state-funded scholarships and vouchers by denying religious exemptions from vaccination requirements.“Ironically, they won’t offer religious exemptions as prescribed by state law,” Uthmeier wrote in an announcement of his letter to the bishops. “This is troubling and may disqualify them from state scholarships and...

A non-citizen who was registered to vote in Lancaster County did vote and has been referred to law enforcement for investigation, according to the Pennsylvania Department of State. Above: Pennsylvania's voter registration process explained. "The four improper registrations about which the Department notified Lancaster County were a result of human error. In one instance, an individual filled out a paper application with the County and identified that they were a non-citizen, but the registration was approved anyway. That individual voted and has been referred to law enforcement for investigation," Department of State Communications Director Matt Heckel told WGAL News 8...

The former president of Taylor Farms’ Tennessee division has been accused of stealing $32 million from the company through multiple schemes that included funneling money to a sham company and keeping his wife and other family members on the payroll. Taylor Farms, the major U.S. produce supplier at the center of a lettuce recall and diarrheal illness outbreak, made the allegations in a federal lawsuit filed in Tennessee. According to the lawsuit, Brian Thure served as president of Taylor Farms Tennessee from 2012 through March of this year. In the roughly 14 years he was head of the Tennessee division,...

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- A man is behind bars in connection with a hit-and-run that killed Temple University student Bryce Wolfe along Kelly Drive last month. The Temple University student was pinned under an SUV and dragged for a mile. Derek Reid, 48, was taken into custody by U.S. Marshals Thursday. The U.S. Marshals Service says 48-year-old Derek Reid was taken into custody in connection with a deadly hit-and-run, as well as a child rape case. Reid has been charged with involuntary manslaughter, among other driving offenses, for the fatal hit-and-run, and will now also face charges in a child rape...

Experts have since said that those holding Bitcoin on a Coldcard device should move funds now. Since over $70 million in Bitcoin was stolen yesterday by an attack that exploited a fault in the Coldcard’s system, it has been reported that the thief used a top blockchain services provider for help. Writing on X Friday, engineer at payments company Block, Clay Garrett, said that the provider — who he did not name at the request of the services provider — had been contacted after finding blockchain movements matched the “suspected workflow” of the attacker. “During our investigation of the Coldcard...

Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, the head of U.S. European Command, sent written notification to senior Pentagon officials saying that without another Navy destroyer he will be forced to choose defense of the United States “homeland” over that of Israel, said the officials, who like some others spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the correspondence. A U.S. defense official said Grynkewich’s notification appears consistent with past outreach to the Pentagon from the military’s top generals when they see certain risks that require Washington’s consideration. This can occur, the official said, as commanders compete for finite resources and weapons. The Pentagon...

The victim in the terrifying Chino Hills kidnapping-execution had a disturbing working relationship with his killer, according to official records unearthed by The Post. California state business records show that 67-year-old murder suspect Zhengfeng Bo, who allegedly shot 60-year-old Chino Hills resident Shukur Aikebaer to death in front of police after kidnapping him, was also the victim’s boss. Both the killer and his alleged victim worked for a limited liability firm called Panshi, according to state business records. Panshi, which means “boulder” in Mandarin, was a real estate investment company based out of Zhengfeng’s Irvine home. Zhengfeng was listed as...

The Cornell University student who declared he’s “not interested in working for a Jew” got tossed from his parents’ $1.75 million home in Virginia — and is now sniveling online for cash. Austin Franco, who went viral for declining a job interview at NYC startup VryfID for antisemitic reasons, took to X on Wednesday, declaring, “My parents are kicking me out.” But the hater did get some good news the next day, as Cornell revealed to The Post that, unlike his disappointed parents, Alexander and Diana, the liberal upstate college won’t kick him to the curb. The rising junior created...

Hundreds of thousands of student loan borrowers have gotten their debts forgiven, or soon will, due to a $23 billion class-action settlement with the U.S. Department of Education. The student loan borrower plaintiffs said that their schools significantly misled them and that the Trump administration delayed delivering the relief to which they were entitled under a protection known as Borrower Defense. That program allows defrauded federal student borrowers to get their debt excused. In late July, a federal appeals court denied Trump officials’ latest request to postpone making a decision on a large swath of the applications, paving the way...

A previously undisclosed subpoena, involving reporting on a failed SEAL Team 6 mission in North Korea, reflects the government’s expanding campaign to investigate leaks of secrets. A freelance reporter has been fighting a subpoena from the Trump administration seeking to force him to reveal his sources for a New York Times article about a failed top secret mission in North Korea, according to people familiar with the matter. The subpoena, which has not been previously disclosed, reflects the administration’s intensifying campaign to investigate leaks of government secrets by pressuring reporters to divulge their sources. Until President Trump began his second...

A nationwide explosive diarrhea crisis that has left thousands clinging to their toilets and hospitalized others also seems to have another victim: lettuce growers in California. Some like Larry Cox, who runs Coastline Family Farms in Salinas Valley, are trashing their lettuce crop and throwing the vegetables back into the soil, the Wall Street Journal reported. This week, Cox dumped 300,000 pounds of his romaine hearts.

AUGUSTA, ME — The Democratic Party of Maine explained to voters that they can do "no rape" or "no incest", but not both. After carefully reviewing the slate of possible Democratic Senate candidates in Maine, party leaders informed voters that they'll simply have to settle for one or the other. "What do these people expect from us when they say we can't run a rapist?" said party leader Mike Prather. "Once you take all of the rapists out of the equation, it's just a bunch of liberals sleeping with their cousins. Those are your options, Maine. Honestly, we're getting pretty...

According to the Atlanta Fed’s GDP Now REAL time model, Q3 Real GDP is 5%. The subcomponents of GDP growth are as follows: So much for the doom and gloom of Trump’s tariff “war” or Trump’s Iran “war.” 5% Real GDP growth is outstanding! And The Fed keeps on printing money (M2)! Keep on printin’! The Q3 Real GDP report is so good, I feel like yodeling!

A Houston funeral home director appeared in court on Friday on multiple felony charges involving a scheme to steal more than $2.2 million from a deceased man’s estate. Unique Mica Green-Battle is accused of forging documents to claim he is the spouse and successor of the victim, Lawrence Gammon. The forged documents include a fake will, a falsified death certificate, forged probate documents, and fraudulent filings used to gain control of the estate, according to Fox 26. Police executed a search warrant of Green-Battle’s business in November 2025 after families accused the funeral home of mishandling corpses and committing fraud....

Catholic Star Wars: The SSPX Excommunication as You’ve Never Seen ItOne of the year's biggest Catholic controversies in a witty, self-deprecating parody (think exiles, empires, liturgical battles, etc.). Whether you agree or disagree, this take explores why so many faithful Catholics feel like they're the rebels in their own Church. A fortnight ago, I attended the illicit episcopal consecrations in Écône to bid farewell to the SSPX as newly separated brethren (again). I did so because I was in the neighbourhood and I could; more so as an observer than participant, because I was loth to incur the wrath and...

In a recently released deposition transcript, Hunter Biden claimed that his family is broke and that he’s being crushed by legal fees. The deposition is related to an ongoing lawsuit between Biden and firm Winston Taylor for unpaid legal bills. Winston Taylor, which has a history of representing leading Democrats, claims that the Biden scion owes them $17 million from representing him in criminal prosecutions, congressional investigations and defamation suits against his critics. "My family doesn't have any money, and it's not their debt anyway," he said, according to the transcript. "I don't own anything of any value other than...