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ALEXANDRIA -- The First United Methodist Church in Alexandria, which lost some members about a year ago after a dispute involving its gay choir director, will close its doors for good at the end of 2014. David Mantor, pastor of the church, said the decision to close the church resulted from falling attendance, membership and financing problems. Mantor said statistics he's seen from United Methodist Church headquarters show a "downward spiral" of membership and donations across the whole UM church for the past 30 years. "This is a problem that's going on everywhere," Mantor said. "And that's why we're closing."

Just curious where other freepers get their contact lenses online? My tow kids are now both sporting contacts and I am looking for reputable sites that will deliver to my home for the best price. Can anyone lend their experience?

Kansas Court of Appeals upholds the search of a vehicle based solely on the presence of a ripped plastic baggie. The second highest court in Kansas declared last week that anyone driving with a torn plastic baggie is most likely involved in the drug trade and can be searched without a warrant. The state Court of Appeals came to this conclusion in upholding the conviction of Cameron Howard, who was found not with drugs but a lawfully purchased firearm. On September 15, 2011, Prairie Village Police Officer Chad Loughman pulled Howard over. In the car's cupholder, Officer Loughman spotted a...

DECEMBER 17, 2014 U Michigan Department Chair: We Should ‘Hate Republicans’ A professor explains that studies show the GOP is bad. By Katherine Timpf A University of Michigan department chairwoman has published an article titled, “It’s Okay To Hate Republicans,” which will probably make all of her conservative students feel really comfortable and totally certain that they’re being graded fairly. “I hate Republicans,” communications department chairwoman and professor Susan J. Douglas boldly declares in the opening of the piece. “I can’t stand the thought of having to spend the next two years watching Mitch McConnell, John Boehner, Ted Cruz, Darrell...

Krauthammer’s Cuba Take: ‘Is There No Tyrant in the World Obama Will Not Appease For Nothing?’ By NRO Staff December 17, 2014 Conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer lamented the Obama administration’s decision to open formal relations with Cuba on Wednesday, pegging it as part of a broader trend and wondering whether there’s any tyrannical or anti-American regime to whom he won’t grant one-sided concessions.

How do I change my tagline. Thanks.

Let's Freep this petition to prevent the smelly hippies in Corvallis to restrict open carry. Maintain and protect the right to self defense of all residents and citizens, through the lawful open carry of loaded firearms in Corvallis, Oregon

Remember Jordan Axani? He was the man left with an extra ticket for an around-the-world adventure when his girlfriend broke up with him. Undeterred from taking the trip, he set out to find another woman named Elizabeth Gallagher to use his ex's ticket. Fast forward a month...Axani has found his new Elizabeth Gallagher. After the story came out, 28-year-old Axani received thousands of emails, including 18 from women named Elizabeth Gallagher who held Canadian passports. Ultimately, Axani chose 23-year-old Elizabeth "Quinn" Gallagher, a student and former member of the Canadian Coast Guard. The two will meet in New York this...

WEST TOLEDO -- Toledo Police used pepper spray to get a crowd of early morning shoppers under control at the Franklin Park Mall, Wednesday morning. Dozens gathered outside the J.C. Penney, the department store closest to the Finish Line shoe store, in order to obtain tickets for the upcoming sale of Air Jordan "Legend Blue" Retro 11's. The shoes wont actually be available at Finish Line until Saturday and to avoid any issues the shoe store attempted to hold a raffle on Wednesday morning. Some "unruly" shoppers were then pepper sprayed as Toledo Police attempted to get the crowd under...

The cop doesn’t have to say a word. A video posted on YouTube over the weekend apparently by a Portland, Ore.,protester out to stir up trouble ended up making the guy who made it look like an idiot.

Right off the bat, Congress must make it crystal clear to President Obama that he lacks the authority to lift the embargo on Cuba, allow trade to take place between the two nations, let tourists to go to Cuba to bail out the regime or give Cuba have access to capital markets. U.S. law—the Helms-Burton Act of 1996—gives the Congress power to override any action taken by the executive to lift the embargo. In order to lift the embargo, the Cuban government would have to give the Cuban people a number of rights—of association, speech, political activity, etc.—that President Obama...

Congress Quietly Ends Federal Government's Ban On Medical Marijuana Under a provision in the spending bill passed by Congress over the weekend, states where medical marijuana is legal would no longer need to worry about federal drug agents raiding retail operations. Agents would be prohibited from doing so. By EVAN HALPER Tucked deep inside the 1,603-page federal spending measure is a provision that effectively ends the federal government's prohibition on medical marijuana and signals a major shift in drug policy. The bill's passage over the weekend marks the first time Congress has approved nationally significant legislation backed by legalization advocates....

Early national presidential primary polls are, at best, rough indicators of who will eventually become the party's standard-bearer. But the Republican primary field is especially scattered heading into the 2016 cycle, which is one reason why Jeb Bush's recent moves toward a candidacy are getting so much attention. In fact, the GOP field is more scattered at this stage in GOP primaries since at least 1987, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. The table below looks back at early Post-ABC surveys in the past five open Republican primary contests. A few findings help give a sense of just...

Newt Gingrich Interview: Sony Hack Is An Act Of War

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. — A 25-year-old woman and her 51-year-old mother face charges of child abuse and neglect after police say the younger woman poured extremely hot water on her daughter, not yet three years old. Doctors at Children’s Mercy have been treating the child, born January 20, 2012, for second-degree burns on 12 percent of her body, including her face and back. The girl was brought to the hospital on Saturday,December 13 at about 9:30 p.m., over 24 hours after the abuse occurred. A child services investigator says the victim twice told her “Mommy is mean,” and stated that the...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Two North Kansas City parents are outraged after they say their blind son’s cane was taken away from him at school by a bus driver. Eight-year-old Dakota Nafzinger attends Gracemor Elementary School. Rachel Nafzinger said school staff took away her son’s cane as punishment for bad behavior on the bus and then gave him a swimming pool noodle to use as a substitute. The school wouldn’t go on camera, but North Kansas City School District Spokeswoman Michelle Cronk confirmed taking away Dakota’s cane, calling it school property that was given to him when he enrolled. They...

THE brutal nihilism of Islamist terrorism is a difficult concept for most of us to understand, but comprehend it we must. ..... Nothing underlined the denial and delusion of the political class more than the statement by the Australian Press Council chairman Julian Disney chastising media coverage of what he called the “Sydney hostage incident”. He was reacting to complaints about News Corp Australia’s Daily Telegraph and its special Monday afternoon edition linking the attack to Islamic State under the headline “Death cult CBD attack”. The perpetrator of this atrocity defined himself by Islamism; a self-styled Shia cleric, he objected...

Cordova student hospitalized, claims he was victim of 'knock out game' Posted: Dec 16, 2014 10:29 PM CST Updated: Dec 17, 2014 5:31 PM CST By Sherea Harris CORDOVA, AL (WBRC) - A 15-year-old has been charged with assault after an incident at Cordova High School where a teenager claims he was a victim of the "knockout game." The victim - Matthew Cooper - is home from the hospital after suffering a broken jaw and concussion. The victim, Matthew Cooper, said he believes he was a set up by his own friend. Cooper thinks his friend thought the punch in...

Not a shock: megachurch celebrity tv star preacher Joel Osteen doesn’t know the Bible, reports the clever and energetic Tristyn Bloom of The Daily Caller. (The story’s several weeks old but I just saw it so pass it on for those of you who hadn’t.)In a Monday post to his verified Facebook page, Joel Osteen ministries, read: “God said in Numbers 11:23, ‘Moses, is there any limit to My power?’ He was saying, ‘Moses, you saw Me part the Red Sea, stop the sun for Joshua, keep three Hebrew teenagers safe in a fiery furnace, don’t you realize that I...

Driver lands on top of car.