Free Republic

Fourth District U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler on Friday became the only member of Missouri’s congressional delegation to issue a public statement in support of Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis, who was jailed because of her defiant stance against same-sex marriage. There are six Republicans and two Democrats in the House delegation, while the Senate seats are held by Republican Roy Blunt and Democrat Claire McCaskill.

The protest was part of a national event held by Women Betrayed, an anti-abortion organization that aims to eliminate public funding for Planned Parenthood. The location on Providence Road is officially called the Columbia Health Center. The rally came two days before the center will begin taking appointments for abortions. Columbia Health Center will be the only abortion provider in mid-Missouri. Because of the 72-hour waiting period, the first day that abortions can be administered will be Aug. 3.

A few months ago I finished writing a book on adoption, but as a first time author I was unsure where to go from there. Knowing that several successful authors and writers are known to grace these boards I sought out help from this site. The responses were very helpful and also as a direct result I was put in contact with a publisher that ultimately accepted my work. As of yesterday that book is now available. I don't think it would have happened but for the help I received from this site. So, thank you Free Republic readers/posters very...

FORT MEADE, Md. (AP) -- A firefight erupted Monday when two men dressed as women tried to ram a car into a National Security Agency gate at Fort Meade, killing one of them and wounding the other, officials said. An FBI spokeswoman said the incident was not believed to be linked to terrorism.

Livestock thefts happen on occasion in Boone County, but the latest incident has branched into uncharted territory for sheriff’s investigators: Detectives are working to figure out who stole two double-hump camels Monday along with two Black Angus cows. Boone County sheriff’s Detective Tom O’Sullivan said....While cattle theft is not unheard of ... the department is working to figure out why someone would steal two 9-foot-tall camels and where they would possibly take them.

Management at Roxy’s bar and dance club apologized on Facebook late Friday for a “hands up, pants up” wristband that sparked a late night protest linked to police involvement in the deaths of black men in Ferguson and New York. A group of around 90 protesters linked arms and stopped traffic outside of Roxy’s at 1025 E. Broadway at 11:30 p.m. Friday, eventually causing police to close the intersection of Tenth and Cherry streets to vehicle traffic for a short time. The Facebook apology said the wristbands were meant to be a joke about the bar’s dress code policy, which...

State Rep. Scott Fitzpatrick filed legislation this week that would prevent anyone without legal status from getting state aid for higher education. His goal is to block a proposed rule by the state Department of Higher Education that would allow some immigrant students to qualify for the state's A+ scholarship program, which covers two years of studies at a community college. At issue are students who qualify for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, created by Obama in 2012 to stop the deportation of children who have lived in the U.S. for years but whose parents brought them to...

A publicly traded firearm manufacturing and design company announced its pending purchase of Columbia-based Battenfeld Technologies. Smith & Wesson, headquartered in Springfield, Mass., has signed an agreement to purchase Battenfeld for $130.5 million. ...Battenfeld, which employs 62 people, will stay at its Columbia facility... Smith & Wesson ...wants to move all of its accessory business to the Battenfeld facility. “Our intention is that eventually all existing Smith & Wesson, M&P and Thompson/Center Arms accessories will be housed within this new division,”

I know that some freepers here have written books that have done well. November is National Adoption Month and, surprise, I have written a book about adoption. Currently it is only in ebook format. Do any of the authors here have suggestions as to how an unknown author would go about promoting an ebook?

A reality TV Star on TLC's Cheer Perfection has been sentenced to ten years behind bars for raping a 13-year-old boy. TMZ reports that Andrea Clevenger, 34, pleaded guilty to sexual assault and engaging in sexually explicit conduct with a minor at a court hearing on Thursday

ST. LOUIS • City police officers called after a violent domestic dispute in July were dispatched to the wrong address while the attacker returned and shot two people dead, officials said Friday.

France, the once atheistic land, has really began to find a spine in recent weeks. I reported a little over a week ago that France had banned Pro-Palestinian terror protests and leveled stiff penalties for violators. Now, word is that France is opening up their borders for asylum to Christians suffering persecution from Islamists in Iraq.

A Missouri trooper has returned to work after a handcuffed Iowa man drowned while in his custody on the Lake of the Ozarks.

A Missouri inmate facing execution next week says he is scared that the lethal drug could cause him to suffer...

It’s the genocide few talk about, but taking a cue from her uncle, Dr. Alveda King is bravely speaking out about it, spreading her message far and wide. Her warning: black people are murdering themselves. The shocking statistics surrounding the rate of abortion among African Americans was one of the highlights of a speech King gave earlier this week at the University of Missouri.

An attempted robbery was foiled Tuesday morning when one of the residents grabbed a loaded shotgun and alarmed the suspects...the suspects ran south from the home, and one fired multiple shots toward the residence while he was fleeing.

A former Transportation Security Administration employee pleaded guilty Monday to felony stealing in relation to an April incident in which he stole a wallet at Columbia Regional Airport.

Sun streamed Monday through the glass walls of the University of Missouri's Bond Life Sciences Center, illuminating academic posters on the third floor as added light was shed on a science that was kicked back into the dark two decades ago because it was not understood. The science deals with low-energy nuclear reactions, previously referred to as cold fusion, and the Bond Life Sciences Center is playing host this week to the 18th International Conference on Condensed Matter Nuclear Fusion.

COLUMBIA — From Sunday through Friday, MU will host the 18th International Conference on Cold Fusion. The conference will bring together scientists studying the potential for new forms of energy production.

Rather than squabbling over the merits of studying cold fusion or jumping to the conclusion that excess heat produced at room temperature is a nuclear reaction, the scientific community needs to back up — all the way to the top of the scientific method.