Free Republic

A jury has acquitted former Uvalde, Texas, school police officer Adrian Gonzales for his response to the Robb Elementary shooting in May 2022. After one hour of deliberations, the jury returned a not guilty verdict on all 29 counts of child endangerment. Gonzales was among the first officers to respond to the mass shooting, in which 19 students and two teachers were killed. It took 77 minutes before law enforcement mounted a counterassault to end the rampage.

For many farms, aid helps slow the erosion of working capital but does not fully offset negative margins. As a result, producers continue to absorb multiyear losses that strain balance sheets, tighten cash flow and complicate access to operating credit. These loss estimates reflect national averages; actual costs of production and returns vary by region, management decisions and ownership structure. For example, producers who own their farmland may face lower total costs by avoiding cash rental expenses, resulting in higher returns. Specialty Crops Additionally, neither the FBA program nor the ECAP address losses in the specialty crops market. The...

“I want the very best.” That’s what we tell ourselves, isn’t it? As human beings, we understand that there is a spectrum of quality for everything, and we want only the best. We desire the best relationships, teachers, friends, food, clothing, experiences – the best of everything. But what makes something the best? Sometimes, it’s the quantity; this brand supplies more of its product for the same price. But often, it’s the quality that makes the difference. When you pay an increased rate for a service, experience, or luxury, you do so with the assumption that you are receiving a...

~ The FReeper Canteen Presents ~ ~ Remembering Our Troops!! ~ Feeding Our Troops At 19 Below Zero! Breakfast items are set in trays inside a mobile kitchen trailer in Helena, Montana, Feb. 2, 2022. The Soldiers had to endure temperatures as low as minus 19 while providing food for the fighting force as part of the Phillip. A. Connelly Active Field Competition. The Field Competition puts all aspects of a culinary team’s field capabilities under a microscope to include food quality, creativity and proficiency. (U.S. Army Photo by Spc. Jordan S. Worthy) Canteen Mission StatementShowing support and boosting...

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer went after President Trump on Wednesday for reversing position on a deal surrounding the Chagos Islands, suggesting the president did so because of tensions over his plan to acquire Greenland. “I made out my position on Greenland absolutely clear on Monday and a moment ago. President Trump deployed words on Chagos yesterday that were different to his previous words of welcome and support when I met him in the White House,” Starmer said in the House of Commons. “He deployed those words yesterday for the express purpose of putting pressure on me and Britain in...

A San Jose police officer was shot and taken to the hospital Wednesday following a pursuit involving a carjacking suspect, according to authorities. A suspect is dead, and a San Jose police sergeant was taken to the hospital Wednesday following a multi-county pursuit, according to a police source with direct knowledge. CHP said a green Corvette was carjacked in San Jose at around 2:37 p.m. Officers later found the vehicle and initiated a pursuit. The suspect arrived in Hollister, where the city's police department said he abandoned the vehicle on Westside Boulevard, armed with a firearm. Police report the suspect...

The U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily blocked an injunction Wednesday that prevented federal immigration officers from retaliating against demonstrators. A Friday ruling by U.S. District Judge Kate Menendez had prevented the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement from detaining or tear gassing people who are engaging in peaceful and unobstructive protest, including observing Operation Metro Surge, which is the feds’ name for the incursion of over 3,000 immigration officers and agents in the Twin Cities. The Wednesday decision granted Homeland Security its request for an administrative stay of Friday’s preliminary injunction. Ten of the...

[Catholic Caucus] ‘Abortion care’ still covered by Catholic Loyola University ChicagoLoyola University Chicago students can get help killing their preborn babies through the health insurance plan at their Catholic school.The Jesuit Catholic university continues to cover “abortion care services” through its campus health plan according to the certificate of coverage published by UnitedHealthcare. Loyola has covered abortions since at least the 2022-2023 school year.The health insurance coverage stands in contrast to the teachings of the Catholic Church, which has always opposed the intentional killing of innocent preborn babies. The Catholic Church has always “affirmed the moral evil of every procured...

In a social media announcement posted Wednesday, Tucson Pride’s Board of Directors said the organization has made the “difficult decision to close Tucson Pride as an organization" and therefore is also canceling the Tucson Pride Festival scheduled for Feb. 21, 2026. The Facebook post, attributed to the newly appointed board, said the decision came after “thoughtful discussion and careful consideration.” The statement thanked volunteers, sponsors, artists and activists and highlighted Tucson Pride’s role in the community “since 1977,” calling it a space of “visibility, advocacy, celebration, and resilience for nearly five decades.”

The world would be a “better, more secure place” if America took over Greenland, Nigel Farage said at Davos, while insisting that he still believed in the sovereignty of nation states. During a panel at the World Economic Forum’s “America House” in the Swiss ski resort on Wednesday, the Reform UK leader said he had “no doubt” that the world would be safer if a “strong America” was in Greenland “because of the geopolitics of the high north, because of the retreating ice caps and because of the continued expansionism of Russian icebreakers, of Chinese investment”. Speaking just after Donald...

Ok, yes I live in the worst State in the Union. That being said I would like to bring to light the 2 Verifiable answers and reactions that these 2 Governor Candidates had when they saw that our Tyrannical Governor Pritzker was making laws that were Unconstitutional and hurting and intrusive on "WE THE PEOPLE" You could NOT have 2 more different reactions. And the Bottom line for folks in Illinois is what response to an OUT OF CONTROL Governor and Legislature sits well with you? And moving into the future, which response will support our future FREEDOMS should they...

Shoppers are being warned to avoid certain cans of Genova Yellowfin Tuna that were mistakenly sent to stores across nine states, even though the products were recalled last year. The products are linked to a recall issued in February 2025 by Tri-Union Seafoods, which discovered a manufacturing defect affecting the "easy open" pull-tab lids on some cans. The defect could cause the cans to "leak, or worse, be contaminated with Clostridium botulinum, a potentially fatal form of food poisoning," according to a Monday announcement from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Ingesting Clostridium botulinum bacteria can lead to botulism,...

Prime Minister of Canada,Mark Carney, makes a disastrous speech at the World Economic forum in Davos, pathetically trying to rally the "Middle Powers" around his putative leadership in order to resist and counter the ecomnomic policies of Donald Trump. Carney reveals himself as sophomoric, and someone suffering from delusions of self induced false grandeur. A huge embarrassment to Canada. This is Mark Carney's "Swan Song" Carney is actively reducing Canada's tariff protected economy to the level of a third world nation. Carney the Globalist has been defeated soundly by Donald Trump.USMCA will not be renewed. Canada is in grave economic...

Donald Trump is considering offering every Greenlander $1million – £750,000 – if they vote to join the United States. The US President yesterday ruled out using force to seize the Arctic island and is instead focused on enticing the people to secede from Denmark. If he made the vast payment to all 57,000 inhabitants of the strategically vital territory, the cost could hit £42.5billion. While the plan sounds outlandish, the price tag is a fraction of the £595billion the US spends on defence each year. It would also remove Greenland's reliance on Denmark for grants and reshape the island's economy....

Federal immigration officers are asserting sweeping power to forcibly enter people’s homes without a judge’s warrant, according to an internal Immigration and Customs Enforcement memo obtained by The Associated Press, marking a sharp reversal of longstanding guidance meant to respect constitutional limits on government searches. The memo authorizes ICE officers to use force to enter a residence based solely on a more narrow administrative warrant to arrest someone with a final order of removal, a move that advocates say collides with Fourth Amendment protections and upends years of advice given to immigrant communities. The memo, signed by the acting director...

The conference centre hosting the World Economic Forum in Davos has been evacuated, with authorities yet to give any indication of the cause. Reports from the event said emergency services had rushed to the scene and that an unusual smell was in the air and was “making some people in our area cough”. "They evacuated us all. We left all our things inside because there seems to be a fire in a hotel nearby," said Lilli Gruber, a reporter in Davos. "There are helicopters flying overhead, it's full of firefighters."

21 January 2026 Saint Agnes, Virgin, Martyr on Wednesday of week 2 in Ordinary TimeChurch of Sant'Agnese in RomeReadings at MassLiturgical Colour: Red. Year: A(II).Readings for the feriaReadings for the memorialThese are the readings for the feriaFirst reading1 Samuel 17:32-33,37,40-51David and GoliathDavid said to Saul, ‘Let no-one lose heart on his account; your servant will go and fight the Philistine.’ But Saul answered David, ‘You cannot go and fight the Philistine; you are only a boy and he has been a warrior from his youth.’ ‘The Lord who rescued me from the claws of lion and bear’ David said ‘will...

Gavin Newsom was informed at the 11th hour that his talk with Fortune at USA House in Davos was canceled.Newsom had been invited to speak on Wednesday at an event sponsored by USA House, which for the first time was recognized by the U.S. government as the country’s official headquarters at Davos. But an organizer told his office that they had opted to not include any U.S. officials in the talk focused on CEOs and other business leaders.In a private exchange of messages obtained by POLITICO, a Newsom administration official accused the USA House of bowing to political pressure from...

Hundreds of students staged a walkout at several schools across Albuquerque on Tuesday in protest of immigration enforcement under President Donald Trump. The nationwide "Free America Walkout" saw students at six Albuquerque Public Schools campuses leave their classes, according to a statement from the district. The students walked out at 2 p.m. in protest of recent actions taken by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. Students at Manzano, Highland, Sandia, Albuquerque High, Del Norte and Eldorado high schools joined in the walkout. In an official statement, APS said the district “does not sponsor or encourage walkouts, but we understand...

A Democratic Virginia lawmaker is backing a bill that would ban the state from verifying a nonprofit’s eligibility to provide and receive federal taxpayer benefits, a move that comes as scrutiny over the misuse of taxpayer funds continues to intensify. The introduction of House Bill 1369 by Virginia Democratic state Del. Jessica Anderson came in the wake of a massive fraud scandal involving nonprofits in Minnesota and amid pressure by the Trump administration for states to enact better oversight of how taxpayer money is spent. "No state agency responsible for the administration of federal funds shall impose a requirement on...