Free Republic

ADAMS COUNTY, Ohio -- The Grammy-nominated rapper Afroman won a defamation lawsuit filed by seven Ohio sheriff's deputies who sued him over music videos in which he used home security footage to mock their raid of his home. "We did it, America! Yeah, we did it! Freedom of speech! Right on! Right on!" the 51-year-old rapper, born Joseph Foreman, shouted outside the courthouse after the Wednesday evening verdict. He later posted the clip to social media. The case tested the limits of parody and the license artists can take in social commentary directed at public figures. The deputies, collectively, sought...

A leaked recording reveals the deputy Secretary of State telling election clerks they didn’t plan to inform them of the online password security breach because it would cause a media frenzy of bad publicity. We’re not sure which is more shocking. That Jena Griswold’s deputy actually admitted it, or that Kyle Clark of 9News has the recording and is reporting it. ... An audio recording reveals Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold (D) and her team didn't tell county clerks that her office had inadvertently leaked voting machine passwords because they feared a media frenzy. ... My favorite part of...

Ross Hetrick, president of the Thaddeus Stevens Society, assists sculptor Alex Paul Loza, as they unveil the new Thaddeus Stevens statue in front of the Adams County Courthouse, Saturday, April 2, 2022, in Gettysburg.

Citing alarm toward the Republican Party’s widespread embrace of 2020 election conspiracies, a moderate GOP Colorado state senator has switched his affiliation to Democrat, enhancing that party’s prospects to retain its majority in the chamber in the November midterms. Kevin Priola, who represents Adams County in Denver’s suburbs, said in a letter Monday he was horrified by the Jan. 6 insurrection on the U.S. Capitol and had waited in vain for his party to repudiate it as well as former President Donald Trump, who continues to insist that it was stolen. “It never came,” Priola said. “To my dismay, brave...

TOWN OF PRESTON, Wis. — An Adams County man has been arrested after pointing a handgun at patrons at a bar, according to a Facebook post by the Adams County Sheriff’s Office. Adams County Dispatch received a 911 call reporting a man had a gun inside the bar where there was a fight taking place early Saturday morning, according to Adams County Sheriff Brent York York said Karl Spencer, 49, of Friendship showed a handgun and pointed it at patrons at the bar. Those patrons then disarmed Spencer and he received injuries. Officials said Spencer was treated for his injuries...

Joseph Michael Lopez, 22, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Natalie Bollinger, 19, on Dec. 28, 2017. Lopez was arrested Thursday evening after investigators “mined” Bollinger’s social media accounts and phone records. “As you can imagine, a 19-year-old’s social media or phone, there’s a lot of data there,” Adams County Sheriff Michael McIntosh told KMGH Denver 7. According to court documents, investigators found more than 100 text messages between Bollinger and Lopez from the night Bollinger was reported missing. Lopez claims the conversation was in response to an ad Bollinger placed on Craigslist with the title “I want...

A 27-year-old Carroll Valley man told police he opened fire on a Pennsylvania wildlife conservation officer Thursday night because he is a convicted felon and did not want to go back to prison for illegally possessing a firearm, according to court documents filed Friday. Following a nightlong manhunt, Christopher Lynn Johnson was in police custody by 9:40 a.m. Friday, and by Friday night was at jailed Adams County prison with prosecutors saying he is likely to face the death penalty for allegedly killing wildlife conservation officer David Grove, 31, of Fairfield. Adams County District Attorney Shawn Wagner said Johnson will...