Free Republic

ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, N.C. (WGHP) -- - Rockingham Co. deputies charged five people with trafficking cocaine, according to the sheriff's office. On May 10, narcotics detectives with the sheriff's office spotted a vehicle they believed was part of a drug transaction. Deputies stopped the vehicle near Arbor Lane in Eden and as a result of the investigation arrested five people in connection with trafficking cocaine. Elda Marina Ramirez, 22, of Charlotte, Maria Del Carmen Reyes, 29, of Charlotte, Areliano Duran-Zubala, 25, of Walkertown, Eduardo Mendoza-Gutierres, 36, of Stoneville, and Eduardo Mendoza-Gutierres, 38, were charged with trafficking or conspiring to traffic cocaine....

GREENSBORO, N.C. - An estimated 3,000 people from Greensboro and beyond braved frigid temperatures Monday morning to attend the International Civil Rights Center and Museum's grand opening exactly 50 years after the sit-in at the Elm St. Woolworth's, which now houses the museum. Museum cofounders Skip Alston and Rep. Earl Jones were joined by Rev. Jesse Jackson, Gov. Bev Perdue and other North Carolina legislators for a brief ceremony followed by an official ribbon cutting along the street just outside the building on South Elm St. Franklin McCain, Jibreel Khazan (formerly Ezell Blair Jr.) and Joseph McNeil -- the three...

Has anyone seen any polls on whether obama's SOTU harangue was well received?Didn't we get these everytime G. W. Bush delivered a speech?

LANCASTER - Police in central Pennsylvania say they arrested an Amish man on drunk driving charges over the weekend after he was found asleep in his moving buggy. East Lampeter Township Police say 22-year-old Elmer Stoltzfoos Fisher, of Paradise, was slumped over and asleep in a slow-moving buggy on Sunday night. An off-duty officer from nearby Quarryville reported seeing the horse pulling the buggy at a walking pace as it straddled the center line. Police say a breathalyzer test snowed Fisher's blood-alcohol content was 0.18, more than twice the 0.08 legal limit for drivers.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - Authorities have charged a North Carolina woman with selling moonshine out of her day care center. The Charlotte Observer reports Tuesday that North Carolina Alcohol Law Enforcement arrested 57-year-old Gwendolyn Brown-Johnson last week at Parkview Community Center in Charlotte. Agents say children were in the day care center when they sent in an undercover agent to buy two gallons of moonshine. Brown-Johnson told the paper she was set up by a neighbor. She says she was just holding a package for a man in exchange for $80 and didn't even know what was in it. Agents...

The North Carolina Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission revoked an Eden night club's permit to sell alcohol after three people were shot leaving the club last week, according to the state Department of Crime Control and Public Safety. Authorities have charged two people in connection with the shootings, which included one fatality. Timothy Ronnel Seay, of Martinsville, was killed and two other Virginia men were injured during the shooting near the Icehouse Club and Lounge during the early morning of Oct. 7. Detectives arrested Shavon Lamont Reid, 21, of Martinsville, at 11:30 p.m. Tuesday after he turned himself in at the...

NEW YORK (WPIX) - Lindsay Lohan was having a secret relationship with Heath Ledger when he died, said the troubled starlet's mother, Dina, in a recently-released recording of a 2008 phone conversation with father Michael Lohan. During the recording, which was posted Tuesday on Radar Online's website, Dina Lohen says about the alleged relationship, "I don't know if you know that, but I know cause I would drop her off and they were friends. Very, very close, okay?" LiLo's mom says that Ledger's death may have pushed her daughter over the edge. The 28 year-old Academy Award-nominated actor was found...

CHICAGO -- Prosecutors have charged four teenagers with first-degree murder in the beating death of a student who was walking home from school. Family members believe the victim, 16-year-old Derrion Albert, was fatally beaten Thursday for refusing to join a gang. Charged with first-degree murder are Silvonus Shannon, 19, Eugene Riley, 18, Eric Carson, 16, and Eugene Bailey, 18, according to the Cook County state attorney's office. Shannon, Riley and Carson were ordered held without bond Monday. Bailey was due in bond court Tuesday. Chicago police said they were looking for at least three more suspects, but would not discuss...

YOUR TAX DOLLARS HARD AT WORK: FIRST CARS, NOW FOREIGN OIL.Share Yesterday at 3:10am Today's Wall Street Journal contains some puzzling news for all Americans who are impacted by high energy prices and who share the goal of moving us toward energy independence. For years, states rich with an abundance of oil and natural gas have been begging Washington, DC politicians for the right to develop their own natural resources on federal lands and off shore. Such development would mean good paying jobs here in the United States (with health benefits) and the resulting royalties and taxes would provide money...

Astronomers have detected the deepest note ever generated in the cosmos, a B-flat flying through space like a ripple on an invisible pond. No human will actually hear the note, because it is 57 octaves below the keys in the middle of a piano. The detection was made with NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory and announced at a press conference today. The note strikes an important chord with astronomers, who say it may help them understand how the universe's largest structures, called galaxy clusters, evolve. The sound waves appear to be heating gas in the Perseus galaxy cluster, some 250 million...

RALEIGH, N.C. - Israel denied entry two years ago to members of a North Carolina family that includes three men accused of plotting to execute terror attacks in foreign countries, an official said Wednesday. Daniel Boyd, 39, was arrested Monday with six others, including two sons. Authorities claim Boyd was the ringleader of a group that was gearing up for a "violent jihad," though prosecutors haven't detailed any specific targets or timeframe. If convicted, the men could face life in prison. An eighth suspect is believed to be in Pakistan. Boyd's wife, Sabrina, told a Raleigh newspaper that he and...

The president of the Stokes County NAACP chapter was arrested Monday and charged with several sex crimes, the Stokes County News reported. Larry Lash, 54, of Walnut Cove, was taken into custody at his residence on Old Highway 65 and charged with six counts of statutory rape or sexual offense, two counts of intercourse and sexual offense, two counts of first-degree sexual offense and two counts of incest.

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - The police department says officers had no choice but to shoot and kill a black bear wandering around the northwest part of the city Monday night. Officers said the bear became aggressive as it ate garbage and bird seed from homes along Kramer Court. Residents reported seeing the bear going through their trash cans around 9 p.m. Rudy Kane, who lives on Kramer Court, had just returned home from a camping trip when he noticed the bear in his yard. He said he a bear at two different times Monday. "Well I was in this house and...

THOMASVILLE, N.C. - An Archdale man was seriously injured Saturday when a cannon went off while he was preparing to fire it to celebrate the Fourth of July holiday, according to officials in the Davidson County Sheriff's Office. Kevin Scott Hankins, of 2205 Lockwood Circle, was taken to Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center shortly after 10 p.m. with serious injuries to his arms and hands as well as lacerations and burning to his torso, waist, neck, head and arms, deputies said. Investigators said Hankins was standing in front of the cannon, packing gun powder in it after a misfire...

A small, private college in North Carolina is asking creditors to be patient as it tries to raise money to pay nearly $1 million in past-due bills. Greensboro College, with 1,300 students,already has cut salaries 20 percent and a week ago was told to pay an $8,000 electric bill or lose power, The News & Record of Greensboro reported Sunday. Next, a sheriff's deputy brought a summons to small claims court to the college telling officials to appear because of an overdue office supply bill of $1,245. The 161-year-old liberal arts college also owed $136,889 for cafeteria service, $13,388 for...

ALAMANCE COUNTY, N.C. - An undercover raid leads to the shut down of an Alamance County strip club. Sheriff Terry Johnson said in the last five months, more than 700 crimes were committed at the Paradise Club on Hwy. 87 west. "We have video tape and everything else where they're jumping on laps and all kinds of different sexual acts," said Johnson, referring to the club's dancers. Thursday afternoon, the club was raided. Club owners Ronald Davis and his wife Theresa Davis face more than 400 criminal charges, ranging from drug deals to nude dancing. Ronald Davis denies any wrongdoing....

How does a voter become educated on the politics of the judges who appear on the ballot each election?I've always passed on these races because I've never known who the good guys were.Can someone share their methods for determining what judges to vote for?

Did we know this: Locofoco \loh-kuh-FOH-koh\ noun 1 : a member of a radical group of New York Democrats organized in 1835 in opposition to the regular party organization *2 : a member of the Democratic party of the United States Example sentence: “It might be said that Roosevelt was the greatest locofoco since Andrew Jackson.” (Robert E. Sherwood, Roosevelt and Hopkins) Did you know? “Locofoco” burned brightest in 19th-cenutry America, where it designated a new type of self-igniting match or cigar capable of being lit by friction on a hard surface. The word is believed to combine the adjective...

Panthers release WR Johnson May 1, 2007 Panthers.com The Carolina Panthers have released wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson, the team announced Tuesday. Johnson started all 16 games last year and produced 70 receptions for 815 yards and four touchdowns in addition to scoring one rushing touchdown on a four-yard reverse in his only season with the Panthers. Carolina had signed Johnson last offseason after he was released by Dallas. "We appreciated the contribution of Keyshawn in his season with the Panthers," said head coach John Fox. "He brought us high production, but at this time, we are in a situation in...

It's gotten where shopping is a real chore anymore since the grocery chains are all using VIC cards or their equivalent.Am I the only one who looks upon this practice as an intrusion on privacy?I've stopped shopping at Harris Teeter over a dispute concerning $.73.The details are unimportant. Suffice it to say that the attitude that store management conveys to its clerks forces the clerks to mistreat customers who elect not to use the VIC card.I'm interested in knowing how many other VIC rebels there are out there.