Free Republic

Nearly half a century after a young California woman was strangled, officials say a thumbprint on a carton of cigarettes has led to an arrest. Willie Eugene Sims was arrested in Jefferson, Ohio, in connection with the death of Jeanette Ralston, according to a Friday statement from the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office. Sims, 69, has been charged with murder and was arraigned on Friday in Ashtabula County Court before being sent to California. (snip) A thumbprint found on Ralston’s cigarette carton in her car was found to match Sims’s last fall after law enforcement had asked to run...

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently announced that they are going to phase out all eight petroleum-based food dyes from America’s food supply. This is welcome news to families across the country who see increasingly alarming rates of chronic illnesses in children. According to FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, 40% of kids in the United States have a chronic medical condition, and one in seven kids is on medication. Studies have shown that petroleum-based food dyes may cause tumors, affect nerve cells, increase hyperactivity, cause allergic reactions, inflammation, and neurobehavioral...

The new regime in Damascus, under President Ahmad al-Sharaa, does not rule out the possibility of transferring to Israel the remains of Israeli spy Eli Cohen, Lebanon's Al-Akhbar newspaper reported Friday morning, quoting Arab diplomats. Cohen was hanged in Syria in 1965. In an article written by the paper’s editor, Ibrahim al-Amin, it was claimed that intensive security talks have recently been taking place between Israel and Syria. The author noted that Damascus has expressed a willingness to reveal the burial sites of Israeli soldiers who went missing in Syria during the First Lebanon War in 1982. .....

he Secret Service may try to force former FBI Director James Comey to answer pointed questions into a social media post he issued depicting an image of “8647,” but a U.S. attorney whom President Trump appointed will determine whether to prosecute Comey over the post. If Comey refuses to comply with their request for what’s known as a protective intelligence interview, the Secret Service leading the investigation into the Instagram post can apply for a subpoena through an assistant U.S. attorney. It’s that prosecutor who will determine whether the former FBI director is legally required to answer their questions, and...

On Thursday’s broadcast of CNN’s “Situation Room,” Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) responded to questions on if she saw signs of President Joe Biden’s decline by saying that she didn’t see Biden that often and she “can’t speak to that directly.” Co-host Pamela Brown asked, “You were a co-chair of the Biden-Harris campaign. You stuck with Biden until he dropped out of the race. Given your position in the campaign, what signs of decline did you notice?” Whitmer responded, “I have not read the book. I can tell you this, that, if, as the book reports, Cabinet members didn’t have...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — A wrongful death federal lawsuit has been filed against the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Explosives (ATF) and at least 10 agents after Bryan Malinowski, who was a director at the Clinton National Airport, was killed in an early morning raid. The lawsuit was filed by attorneys for Maria "Maer" Malinowski, the wife of Malinowski, and alleges "agents chose the most aggressive tactics available" to serve a search warrant on March 19, 2024. The complaint alleges the constitutional rights of the Malinowskis' were violated, with attorneys calling his death a "needless and a direct result of...

House Republicans’ “one, big, beautiful” tax bill includes a new temporary $4,000 deduction for older adults. The change, called a “bonus” in the legislation, is aimed at helping retirees keep more money in their pockets and provides an alternative to the idea of eliminating taxes on Social Security benefits, which President Donald Trump and other lawmakers have touted. The temporary provision would apply to tax years 2025 through 2028. The deduction would start to phase out for single filers with more than $75,000 in modified adjusted gross income, and for married couples who file jointly with more than $150,000. As...

And the Air Force has a general for every 22 planes.. The US Navy has under 300 ships and under 300 admirals. The ratio of one admiral to one ship seems absurd but of the hundreds of admirals in the Navy, few actually command ships. Take Rick ‘Rachel’ Levine, the transgender health secretary of Pennsylvania, whose previous naval experience had been limited to cruises to the Bahamas, who was commissioned as a four-star admiral by the Biden administration making him both the first transgender four-star admiral, and the first four-star female admiral or the first four-star female impersonator. While Rick...

NATIONAL BARBECUE DAY Each year on May 16 we celebrate National Barbecue Day. Whether you grill at home or grab some takeout, you will find Americans across the country enjoying an assortment of mouthwatering barbeque (BBQ) flavors and sauces. #NationalBarbecueDay In the world of barbecue, grillers decide how to cook their barbeque. Whether they choose charcoal, wood charcoal, wood, gas or slow cooking, they consider themselves the culinary expert of barbeque. Traditionally, Americans have four types of BBQ regions: 1. Kansas City - A variety of beef and pork cuts are slow cooked with a tomato and molasses-based sauce. 2....

A Ukrainian diplomatic source said the Russian side demanded during the meeting that the Ukrainian army withdraws from several areas inside Ukraine in return for a ceasefire."Russian demands are detached from reality and go far beyond anything that was previously discussed", the source said

MPs have clashed over issues including the role of doctors in assisted dying as they debate proposed changes to a bill which would legalise the practice in England and Wales. The legislation would allow terminally ill adults who are expected to die within six months to seek help to end their own life. The bill passed its first stage in the Commons last November – but since then the details have been pored over and dozens of amendments added by both sides. Further changes being considered by MPs include ensuring there is no obligation on anyone to provide assistance in...

New Jersey Transit train engineers went on strike Friday, leaving an estimated 350,000 commuters in New Jersey and New York City to seek other means to reach their destinations or consider staying home. The walkout comes after the latest round of negotiations on Thursday didn’t produce an agreement. It is the state’s first transit strike in more than 40 years and comes a month after union members overwhelmingly rejected a labor agreement with management. “We presented them the last proposal; they rejected it and walked away with two hours left on the clock,” said Tom Haas, general chairman of the...

MALVERN, Pa.—Jonathan Stewart was into his fourth hour overseeing the planes flying near Newark, N.J., when he noticed two aircraft speeding nose-to-nose on his radar scope. A business jet that had departed the Morristown airport was heading toward another small plane that had taken off from nearby Teterboro, a hub for corporate flying. A midair collision was potentially seconds away with planes flying at the same altitude. The veteran air-traffic controller had been scribbling callsigns for the planes and flight information in a notebook, worried that radar and radio communication might fail as they had days earlier. After recognizing the...

President Donald Trump said Friday that the U.S. has given Iran a proposal for a nuclear deal. "Yeah they have a proposal, but more importantly, they know they have to move quickly or something bad, something bad is going to happen," Trump said. Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned this week that the United States is facing a critical moment with Iran to curb its efforts to develop a nuclear weapon and limit its uranium enrichment. TRUMP WARNS IRAN FACES ‘VIOLENCE LIKE PEOPLE HAVEN’T SEEN BEFORE' IF NUCLEAR DEAL FAILS The International Atomic Energy Agency, often referred to as the...

“I still feel that Puffy’s gonna be all right and have a fair shot at it, because Puffy didn’t — he’s not a dummy,” Knight said Tuesday evening, while calling into NewsNation’s “CUOMO.” “I’m quite sure somebody’s going to talk to those jurors and convince one or two of them — that’s all you need, is one,” he told host Chris Cuomo. “So, at the end of the day, it’s going to be a real exciting situation, but I think he’s going to be all right.” Cuomo asked Knight, who is serving a 28-year prison sentence in California for voluntary...

Judicial Watch made history last month when new developments in landmark legal actions led to the inactivation, processing, or removal of more than five million ineligible names from voter rolls nationwide. “Judicial Watch’s clean-up of over five million dirty names from voter rolls is a historic achievement for clean elections,” said JW President Tom Fitton. “I have no doubt that Judicial Watch’s election integrity heavy lifting helped stop the steal in 2024. But there are millions of more names to be removed from voter rolls.”

A man attacked a woman with a knife and then fatally stabbed a man before another man shot and killed the knife-wielding suspect in self-defense Tuesday at a South Hill apartment complex, according to the Spokane Police Department. Officers were called about 5:15 p.m. to an altercation at the Hart Terrace apartment building, 3308 E. 11th Ave., police said in a news release. Lt. Jay Kernkamp told reporters Tuesday that officers found two people injured in the parking lot of the complex. Police and other emergency personnel tried to save them, but both died, according to the release. Detectives believe...

16 May 2025 Friday of the 4th week of Eastertide St. Andrew Bobola Catholic Church, Dudley, MAReadings at MassLiturgical Colour: White. Year: C(I).First readingActs 13:26-33God has fulfilled his promise by raising Jesus from the deadPaul stood up in the synagogue at Antioch in Pisidia, held up a hand for silence and began to speak: ‘My brothers, sons of Abraham’s race, and all you who fear God, this message of salvation is meant for you. What the people of Jerusalem and their rulers did, though they did not realise it, was in fact to fulfil the prophecies read on every...

The fix appears to be in for two court cases against President Donald Trump’s tariffs, according to a very knowledgeable source. Last month, five domestic businesses filed a lawsuit in a little known trade court in New York challenging Trump’s tariffs, arguing they have to rely on imported goods that are not reasonably available to them in the U.S. In his April 2 executive order imposing a set of reciprocal tariffs, Trump declared a national emergency, calling trade deficits a threat to the nation’s national security and economy. Trump’s tariffs are central to his economic agenda and designed to reduce...

U.S. — Home Depot has begun rolling out self-deportation kiosks so local day laborers hanging around outside their stores can conveniently deport themselves for a nominal fee. "We are always looking for new ways to serve our customers, and Mexican day laborers are among our most loyal," said Home Depot CEO Dave Depot. "That's why we're proud to announce a partnership with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to make deportation a breeze." Illegal aliens say they're so excited to deport themselves that they would have considered lining up early if they weren't already loitering in Home Depot parking lots every day....