Free Republic

Brief evacuation at Sidwell Friends School on Thursday morning Students and employees at Sidwell Friends returned to the school’s Wisconsin Ave. NW campus after a brief evacuation Thursday morning, according to school officials. President Obama’s two daughters are enrolled at the private school. (exerpt)

SANTA CRUZ --" City Councilman Tony Madrigal is due in court Nov. 10 on charges of reckless driving after being pulled over because the California Highway Patrol said he was typing on his laptop, texting, impeding traffic, swerving and driving on the center divide. The charges came to light after Madrigal failed to appear in court for an arraignment last month and a bench warrant was issued for his arrest. Madrigal, 37, was cited for the offenses on Aug. 30 while driving his 2004 Toyota Prius north on Highway 1 near Mar Monte and Freedom Boulevard, according to the charges...

There is a troll named "zhanaya" who signed up yesterday and sent me an angry freep mail about something I commented on quite a while ago. "zhanaya" was very indignant and also a very bad writer. I think it's probably some teenybopper out of school for Easter Break. Seems to be a pattern here. I told "zhanaya" to back off or be zotted. That is all; film at eleven.

Firefighters are evacuating residents near a wildfire that is burning out of control this morning in the Santa Cruz Mountains. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said the fire has burned about 500 acres. Sheriff's deputies from Santa Cruz and Santa Clara counties are in the process of evacuating residents living in a three-mile stretch near Mount Madonna Road, according to Chris Morgan, a fire prevention specialist. Morgan estimates there are at least 20 homes in the are being threatened by the fire. "Our main priority is evacuations, getting people out safely," Morgan said. "Then we can start...

WATSONVILLE — Less than 24 hours after the California Department of Health Services issued a warning for consumers to beware of lead-contaminated Mexican candy, a Santa Cruz County health inspector Thursday found buckets of the candy inside a small store in Watsonville. John Hodges told the owner, Gil Garcia of Productos Diana, to remove the candy from the shelves until tests are conducted by the state to see how much lead is in it — if any. The owner of the store, located in the back of the Watsonville Discount Mall at Beach and Rodriguez streets, immediately complied, saying he...

There was a time when Santa Cruz environmentalists encouraged logging. "It is the policy of the Board of Supervisors to encourage the continued production of forest products," reads the county code, written in 1976 by former Supervisor Gary Patton, long known for his strong environmental stances. But while the code he wrote has not changed, the attitude of some county leaders has. And next month, they will further their attempt to curb one of the county's first and most controversial industries: harvesting trees. At their April 24 meeting, supervisors are tentatively scheduled to consider increasing the size that a piece...

SANTA CRUZ — It may not be a local race, but some in Santa Cruz are lining up to support congressional hopeful Pete McCloskey, the Republican primary challenger to Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Tracy. Pombo, who has proposed bills to sell 15 national parks, abolish protection for 150 million acres of wilderness and weaken the Endangered Species Act, has irked the national environmental community to the point that it is rallying for his Republican opponent, even here in Santa Cruz. Pombo is "not a desirable congressman," said Democrat and Santa Cruz resident Eleanor Wasson, 98. Wasson is hosting a fundraiser for...

SANTA CRUZ — Former UC Santa Cruz chancellor M.R.C. Greenwood, who held the No. 2 position in the University of California system, has resigned her $380,000-a-year post in the wake of an investigation into the hirings of a colleague and her son. UC President Robert Dynes made no mention of the resignation during his visit to Santa Cruz on Thursday and Friday for events celebrating UCSC's new chancellor, Denice Denton. The press statement from his office came via e-mail after the ceremonies. The statement said the investigation into possible improper hiring practices and concerns about conflict of interest centers on...

Strike-weary Santa Cruz County residents have turned to hitchhiking, taxis, jogging, walking and riding bikes. The bucolic campus of the University of California at Santa Cruz has become a huge parking lot in the redwoods, as university officials allow students and staff -- now forced to drive to campus -- to park on campus roads. The bus strike is the talk of this left-leaning town -- more than the war in Iraq or Supreme Court nominees. Last week, a group of UC-Santa Cruz Republicans clashed with bus strike supporters. The demonstration was followed by a huge protest outside the Santa...

In the halls of American schools, the date Sept. 17 might not mean much. The federal government wants to change that. A new federal law requires schools that get federal money — including colleges — to set the day aside as a special celebration of the U.S. Constitution in an effort to combat an apparent ignorance of the country’s "supreme law." The date, which falls on a Saturday this year, can be observed by schools any time this week or next week. Many schools will celebrate today or Monday. Teachers, not just in social studies departments, always include topics of...

Man, do I feel sane! Earlier tonight I spent about 10 minutes at sunset in my hot tub, not alone as usual, but this time I was invaded by my brother, my delusional, intoxicated, know-it-all, angry-at-the-world, idiot hippy hot-tub-hijacking brother. His rants are amazing; everyone is ripping him off, he absolutely MUST keep spending money so as to make his “land” make money for him. (This in spite of the fact that he’s already thrown about $300K down a rat hole and needs to pay it back.) If he had his way he would drain every dollar out of the...

WASHINGTON (AP ) - Former New York Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik, President Bush's choice to be homeland security secretary, has withdrawn his name from consideration, the White House announced late Friday. Presidential press secretary Scott McClellan, in a conference call to news organizations, revealed that Kerik had withdrawn ``for personal reasons.'' ``The president respects his decision and wishes the commissioner and his wife, Hala, well,'' McClellan said in a statement. ``Commissioner Kerik is withdrawing his name from director of homeland security,'' the spokesman said. ``He informed the White House this evening that he was withdrawing for personal reasons from consideration...

NEWARK, N.J. -- Jails and detention centers around the country must stop using police dogs to control detainees as of Saturday under a new policy issued by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a division of the Homeland Security Department, issued a memo to its 22 regional field offices last month ordering them to refrain from contracting with facilities that use dogs around detainees. The facilities will still be able to use the dogs to sniff for drugs or other contraband, said bureau spokesman Russ Knocke. "We believe there are other effective...

New twist on old Nigerian scam. LOL! ******************************************************** From_the desk of Dr Dennis Moore, Account Officer, Nat West Bank(UK), London-UK. Dear Friend With reference from your country's Chamber of Commcer I solicit for partnership in this project knowing fully well that it will be beneficial to both parties. I am Dr Dennis Moore, an account officer the late Mr Alex Guest a customer of Nat West Bank. I know we have not met before but I am contacting you with due sense of humanity responsibility and the few awareness that you will give it a mutual understanding I have urgent...

Imagine this scenario if you can. The President of the United States is involved in a serious car accident and, while recovering, receives a visit from the Archangel Gabriel. Forced to acknowledge the desperate state of the country due to his poor leadership, the President vows to set the nation right, fires the crooked cabinet members who got him elected and transforms himself into an all-powerful dictator who wages war against organized crime, all in a determined bid to restore social order in America. What sounds like a right-wing paranoid fantasy is actually the plot of Gabriel Over the White...

'The Rape of Nanking' author is found dead Iris Chang, the bestselling Bay Area author whose book on Japanese atrocities in China during World War II catapulted her to fame and prominence, was found dead from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound. She was 36. Chang drove down a road south of Los Gatos and shot herself in her car, authorities said. Santa Clara County sheriff's Deputy Terrance Helm said a motorist driving Tuesday morning on Highway 17 south of the Cats restaurant in an unincorporated area near Los Gatos noticed a car a short distance down a private water district...

Neighbors sue man for letting peacocks roam WOODSIDE, Calif. Some people in Woodside, California, want a home where the peacocks don't roam. So the town is suing a reclusive resident who allegedly allows his peacocks to run free. Officials have received 41 complaints this summer about the birds screeching at all hours, pecking at windows and ruining flower gardens. Sheriff's deputies have visited Ronald Mullen's house five times, but have spoken to him only once. He's believed to be keeping at least 20 birds. The town manager says Mullen can keep as many peacocks as he wants. But officials hope...

A Santa Cruz soldier’s story By SARAH QUELLAND sentinel correspondent SANTA CRUZ — Twenty-three-year-old Michael Little was born and raised in Santa Cruz, but he grew up on the road to Baghdad. Little, a communications officer in the 2nd Battalion, 23rd Marine Regiment based in Encino, joined the military to get an education and serve his country. "I joined the Marines because I wanted to be the best," he said. "I wanted to put myself to a challenge. I’m constantly giving myself challenges and trying to push myself harder each time to reach those goals." In Iraq, his troop, among...

I just heard Lee and Mel on KSFO state that two California delegates were the ones who allowed the Code Pink protestors who attempted to disrupt the President's speech last night. Apparently the two protestors were seated with the California delegation. One of the protestors was Medea Benjamin, infamous leader of Code Pink. Lee and Mel just mentioned that perhaps former CA governor Pete Wilson was one of the delegates who gave his convention pass to the protestors. I've been searching FR for any articles about the disruption last night, but have found nothing.

A few minutes ago I posted a thread about BRANT, one of the Swifties. The thread got pulled as a duplicate, which is fine. BUT.....I can't find the duplicate of the Brant story, only the Drudge story about self-inflicted wounds. Can someone show me where the Brant phone call story is??