Free Republic

On Friday morning, 26-year-old Devon Portillo went before a U.S. Magistrate Judge in Alpine, Texas, and pleaded guilty to one charge of lying to federal investigators as part of a plea agreement. Portillo remains free on bond pending a sentencing hearing. The case began over the summer of 2020 when Portillo ran as a Republican to unseat Brewster County Sheriff Ronny Dodson. Portillo’s bid was unsuccessful. According to prosecutors, the charge stems from Portillo lying to FBI agents during an investigation into a racist social media message published to the candidate’s account. Once the old posts came to light, Portillo...

In Alpine today, 26-year-old Devon Portillo admitted to lying to FBI agents during an investigation into the source of a racist text message purportedly sent by Portillo’s election opponent, announced U.S. Attorney Ashley C. Hoff and FBI Special Agent in Charge Luis Quesada, El Paso Division.Appearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge David B. Fannin, Portillo pleaded guilty to one count of making a false statement to a federal agent. By pleading guilty, Portillo admitted that in June 2020, he was running for election against another candidate when FBI agents interviewed him about a racist social media text falsely attributed to his...

"The Swiss have put on one of the most bizarre opening ceremonies in history to mark the completion of the world's longest tunnel."

I got this in my FB page this morning and I researched itWe, in the United States are the only ones I know of that could launch a prayer attack against the true foes of Freedom, Liberty and humanity

A new, unprecedented bill passed by California’s State Senate on Thursday will encourage public schools to teach students about the historical significance surrounding Barack Obama’s status as the first African-American president of the United States of America. Assembly Bill 1921 passed with a 30-1 vote, according to the Associated Press. It was introduced by Assemblyman Dan Holden (D-Pasadena). Sen. Holly Mitchell (D-Los Angeles) says the bill would require the Instructional Quality Commission (which facilitates much of California’s Common Core framework) to consider teaching students about Obama’s election within the context of past voter discrimination, the AP notes. Sen. Joel Anderson...

ALPINE — The father of The 5 Browns performing group faces felony child sex abuse charges that were filed several days before he and his wife were critically injured in a spectacular car crash Monday evening. Keith Scott Brown, 55, was charged in 4th District Court on Feb. 10 with one count of sodomy on a child, a first degree felony, and two counts of sex abuse of a child, a second degree felony. Police have been working on the case for several months, and that the resulting charges are part of a plea agreement Brown was expected to plead...

– Italian mountain soldiers, known as Alpini have recently teamed up with the Afghan National Army, in an ongoing effort to guard the front line on the eastern sector of Bala Murghab's southern perimeter. The Alpini, who were formed in the late 1800s, are the oldest active mountain infantry in the world. More than a century after their first engagements, Alpini soldiers are again fighting in the mountains on the outskirts of the Bala Murghab valley and have built a new combat outpost, Sigma. “When we arrived in Bala Murghab, there were only two Italian combat outpost positions,” said Alpini...

Badghis, Afghanistan (January, 16) - Italian mountain soldiers, known as Alpini, teamed with Afghan National Army to hold the front line on the eastern sector of Bala Murghab's (BMG) southern perimeter. Living in rugged mountains is not a new lifestyle for the Alpini, who were formed in the late 1800s and are the oldest active mountain infantry in the world. Alpini saw their first combat on foreign soil in 1888, in Africa. More than a century after their first engagements, Alpini soldiers are again fighting, and doing it from the terrain they know best, mountains. Their current battlefield is insurgent-infested...

These are near the volcano Nevado del Huila, southwest of Bogota. I wouldn't normally think of Colombia as a semi-desert environment, but these high alpine mountain basins can be pretty dry. [Click for full-size.]

GENEVA (AFP) – Swiss researchers have found that Alpine glaciers melting under the impact of climate change are releasing highly toxic pollutants that had been absorbed by the ice for decades. They warned in a study abstract published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology that it could have a "dire environmental impact" on "pristine mountain areas" as global warming accelerates. Much of the pollution was dumped on Europe's biggest mountain range by atmospheric currents from further afield, according to the researchers at three Swiss scientific institutes. Their study of layers of sediment from an Alpine lake formed by a...

ALPINE — The tavern’s visitors nodded in rhythm as a musician sang 19th-century songs, drinking hot cider and savoring bread and cheese.   At the Kearney House in Palisades Interstate Park in Alpine, Michael Giorgio, 6, listens to a timeless song from historian Thaddeus MacGregor. With a roaring hearth, songs and stories were grand entertainment before radio, TV and the Internet. A fire crackled in a hearth near the table, heating a kettle of water for cleaning dishes after the meal. A young woman in a dress served drinks, while the host — the floppy brim of his traditional slouch...

Alpine guardians try to put treasures on ice Richard OwenApril 17, 2008 Prehistoric treasures unearthed in the Alps as melting glaciers recede are under threat from looters who are removing many of them. Such is the concern for the newly revealed objects - which include weapons, clothing and tools - that a task force of archaeologists, anthropologists, mountain climbers and Alpine rescue teams has been formed in an attempt to salvage them. Franco Nicolis, an archaeologist from Trento, said: “We must be ready to intervene as if we were dealing with a public calamity.” He said that mountain climbers and...

California Rep. Duncan Hunter is AWOL from Capitol Hill today, but for good reason. Instead of casting votes, the Republican presidential hopeful is in his home state trying to help his constituents with the wildfires that are raging in their district. But he's not sleeping at home. Hunter's neighborhood has been evacuated. "We lost ours in the last fire," said Hunter today, referring to a 2003 blaze that burned 2,000 homes around San Diego, including Hunter's.

As the proposed implementation of a pilot cross-border trucking program draws near, another international trade corridor project is drawing heat from local residents in Texas. The March 18 New York Times reported on the reactions of residents of the West Texas towns of Marfa and Alpine to a hearing held by the Texas Department of Transportation on the development of an official trade corridor, La Entrada al Pacifico, or “Gateway to the Pacific.” It would link the port of Topolobampo in Mexico’s Sinaloa state through Chihuahua to the U.S. market, via the border crossing at Presidio, Texas, and the oil...

Special trains and buses brought in protesters from across Italy Thousands of people have been arriving in the north-eastern Italian city of Vicenza for a march against a planned extension of the US army base there.Organisers say the majority of local people are opposed to US plans. They say Prime Minister Romano Prodi has ignored strong local objections. Thousands of extra police are on duty in Vicenza for what is planned as a peaceful march. There are fears that extremist fringe groups will try to cause violence. Vicenza's mayor fears the march will be infiltrated by left-wing extremists from...

DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) - Winter temperatures are rising steadily across the European Alps but snow volumes have varied wildly, making it harder to assess the risk of avalanches, a Swiss climate expert said on Friday. Climatologist Christoph Marty said the cold winds and snow that greeted more than 2,000 members of the world's political and business elites in Davos this week masked a clear warming trend in the region, where winter had a very mild start. A reduction in snow cover generally means that the danger of avalanches decreases, but Marty said increased variability of snowfall made it hard to...

February 17, 2005 4:30 AM Alpine iceman reveals Stone Age secrets By Sophie Hardach BOLZANO, Italy (Reuters) - Some 5,300 years after his violent death, a Stone Age man found frozen in the Alps is slowly revealing his secrets to a global team of scientists. But despite more than a decade of high-tech efforts by geneticists, botanists and engineers many questions about his life and death remain unsolved. And rumours of a deadly curse on those who found him continue to swirl. German amateur mountaineer Helmut Simon and his wife spotted Oetzi, as he became known, in the mountains between...

Sun-starved Alpine villagers 'see the light' with the help of solar mirrors By Clare Chapman in Innsbruck (Filed: 16/01/2005) Residents of an Austrian mountain village deprived of sunshine for four months of the year have found a way to beat the winter gloom. Mirrors will be installed in a sunnier spot across the valley, to reflect sunlight back to Rattenberg and eliminate the shadows that make its inhabitants feel so depressed. Franz Wurzenrainer, the mayor, said: "When weather forecasters predict a bright winter's day with plenty of sunshine, we have to take their word for it. From November to February,...

Okay, okay... I know this is late for The Birthday, but I just received it.  I checked snopes and they don't seem to have it yet.  The e-mail came from a woman whose brother went to high school with Bum at French High School (Beaumont, Tx), so I'm thinking he really wrote it.  It sure sounds like him, anyway.  Does anyone know him personally so we can verify? HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TEXAS -- FROM BUM PHILLIPS  Being Texan by Bum PhillipsDear Friends,   Last year, I wrote a small piece about what it means to me to be a Texan. My...