Free Republic

BRINKLEY, Ark., April 28 - The ivory-billed woodpecker, a magnificent bird long given up for extinct, has been sighted in the cypress and tupelo swamp of the Cache River National Wildlife Refuge here in Arkansas, scientists announced Thursday. Bird experts, government agencies and conservation organizations involved kept the discovery secret for more than a year, while they worked to confirm the discovery and protect the bird's territory. Their announcement on Thursday brought rejoicing among birdwatchers, for whom the ivory bill has long been a holy grail - a creature that has been called the Lord God bird, apparently because that...

N.J. to pay McGreevey legal bills More than $64,000 has been billed, and more is expected. Republicans blasted the expense. By Mitch Lipka Inquirer Trenton Bureau Posted on Sun, Sep. 19, 2004 TRENTON - More than $64,000 in legal bills racked up by Gov. McGreevey between March and June in a federal extortion case are being picked up by taxpayers, according to records released Friday. Additional bills are expected for work done on McGreevey's behalf in that matter, as well as another that led to his announced resignation in August. The governor's chief counsel hired former federal prosecutor William E....

WASHINGTON - After a grenade exploded inside his Humvee in Iraq, Marine Staff Sgt. Bill Murwin was treated at a military hospital in Germany and spent four weeks at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. Part of his left foot was amputated. His medical care was free, but the government billed him $243 for the food. Then, just three days after he received his first bill for the hospital food in Germany, he got a stern letter saying the bill was overdue. It warned that his account would be referred to a collection agency. Murwin, like thousands of...