Free Republic

MONTREAL — A year after three teenagers were killed by a Via Rail train under the Turcot Interchange, families and friends are heading to Ottawa to ask the federal government for a change to Canada's Railway Safety Act. Dylan Ford, Mitch Bracken, and Ricardo Conesa, were trespassing on the rail yards under the interchange when they were hit by Train 668 on Halloween night, 2010. Two friends survived because they were not on the tracks. The boys were known for spray-painting graffiti, although their families say when the crash happened the boys were walking back to their cars.

I always appreciate a story where an individual who enjoys hunting animals simply for sport or who torments animals for pleasure- get his comeuppance. Good for the bull.

DePaul University assistant men’s basketball coach Billy Garrett took his wife and son with him on the Blue Demons’ 11-day tour of France. When the family returned to their Kenwood home on Tuesday, all of their possessions were gone. Now, the question is: Was this an elaborate burglary or a landlord-tenant dispute? Garrett insists it’s not a dispute with his landlord. But that’s how police are classifying it.

It is not unusual for popular watering holes to bar African-American males because of a dress code. If black guys are wearing baggy jeans and a $140 pair of Jordans, they can forget about getting in most clubs. On the other hand, white guys can get past security guards wearing frayed khakis and faded T-shirts. But discrimination in the club scene has been hard to ferret out. That may soon change, thanks to a whistle-blower who claims to have witnessed the discrimination firsthand.

Kenny McGill loves to be in control, especially on the pitcher’s mound. That’s where the 15-year-old from Plainfield could take charge for his youth baseball team, the Rangers, and win or lose the game. “Baseball is, like, my life,” he said. But these days he’s frustrated, and he’s not sure when he’ll take the mound again. In a frightening snowblower accident in December, Kenny lost part of one finger and the top of another on his right hand — his pitching hand. The physical wounds are healing, but some simple tasks, still challenge him. Opening a can of soda or...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLoYFvbR0XY

A hot day got hotter for about 120 animals at a South Side animal shelter after thieves made off with two of the facility's air conditioning units. The thieves also took all the copper piping and coils in the two remaining units, and did damage to other equipment on the roof of the Animal Welfare League's intake facility at 6224 S. Wabash Ave. The organization says it could cost up to $25,000 to replace the stolen machines. "This means that funds and resources that could have gone to help shelter pets must now go toward replacing stolen property and fixing...

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2011/06/24/michelle_obama_fortunately_we_have_help_from_the_media.html

Linda O’Leary says she was snapping pictures of her grandkids feeding the horses at the Glenview Park District’s Wagner Farm last year when a chestnut-colored gelding came up and chomped down on her right hand. “I just said, ‘He’s got my hand,’ ” O’Leary, a 65-year-old Northwest Side resident, recalled Friday of the incident last September in which she lost a finger. “I could feel a sucking feeling and then a crunch, and he opened his mouth, and I pulled my hand out, and it was gone.” The horse had bitten off her right index finger down to the first...

I was struck by what Tonia Rush said after her son, Dvonte Sykes, was arrested and charged with robbing a Thai man in a violent “flash mob.” Rush said she believed her son’s $250,000 bail would have been lower if the crimes were on the South or West sides. “If it’s black-on-black crime, nobody cares,” she said. Obviously, somebody cares. But Rush makes an unpleasant point. If this kind of violent behavior had occurred in a predominantly black neighborhood, it wouldn’t have even made the nightly news. But everybody’s talking about the “flash mobs.”

More than a dozen young men attacked a person Saturday night outside a building on Northwestern University's downtown campus in the Streeterville neighborhood, according to an alert issued by the university. Seven people thought to be part of that group, mostly youths, were arrested on "mob action charges" when Chicago police and Northwestern police responded, according to police News Affairs Officer Amina Greer. About 8:30 p.m., the victim had parked his motor scooter outside the building on Chicago Avenue, a little west of Lake Shore Drive, when about 15 to 20 males -- believed to be in their mid-to-late teens...

This is the biggest story on the internet today. Yet, for some reason, Drudge has completely ignored it. I know it's a holiday weekend, but there have been other updates on his site. What gives?

A local model was videotaped binge drinking before she was killed when her car plunged into the North Branch of the Chicago River, a city source said Friday. The disclosure comes after Irma Sabanovic’s family filed a lawsuit against the city saying warning signs and better barricades could have prevented the accident. Sabanovic, a 25-year-old model and college student, was last seen alive May 12 as she headed from Chuckie’s bar in Rogers Park to the Exit nightclub near North and Elston avenues. At 2 a.m., she sent a text message to a friend saying she was lost. Her car...

Is this the beginning of rap? Click

The '59 film, The Killer Shrews, found a group of folks on an island with the ravenous beasts. This time James Best's ship captain is hired by a reality crew to return to the island and...you guessed it, the shrews attack again.

<p>“The Tea Party has been the most peaceful, law-abiding . . . group in the history of American protest. . . . You have no right to lecture us on civility. You have no right to lecture us on language. . . . Go to hell! No, serious. Go to hell! Go to hell! You’ve been so rude, you’re trying to divide America. . . .”</p>

Nancy Midlock, 56, of southwest suburban Shorewood, gets teary recalling a gut-wrenching day and night on the Riviera Maya south of Cancun. It was 2003 and her 8-year-old son, Brent, had disappeared while on a family vacation. He was discovered dead and mangled after being sucked into a pool drain pipe. A trip to Mexico can go from heaven to horrendous in a moment, grieving parents of vacationers say. Last week, Midlock was among those lobbying in Washington who have lost children in vacation accidents. They urged Congress to pass a bill that would let those traveling internationally know dangers...

Everyone remembers the Paul Wellstone memorial service in Minnesota circa 2002. What should have been a tribute to a public servant who lost his life while campaigning, turned into a political rally for Democrats where Republicans and conservatives who came to pay their respects were taunted and booed. The meltdown swung the Minnesota race to the Republicans and apparently helped sway public opinion in races in other states. What's happening in Wisconsin seems to be a repeat of the Wellstone fiasco. Thousands of teachers have illegally called in sick to protest, Jesse Jackson has shown up, Obama has stuck his...

Almost 39 weeks ago, Kristine Casey set out on an unusual journey to help her daughter and answer a spiritual calling. Her goal was achieved late Wednesday when she gave birth to her own grandson at age 61. Casey, possibly the oldest women to give birth in Illinois, served as a surrogate for her daughter, Sara Connell, who had been trying for years to have a baby. Connell and her husband, Bill, are the biological parents of the child Casey carried, which grew from an embryo created from the Chicago couple's egg and sperm. Crying and praying, Connell and her...

There was a time, maybe thirty or forty years ago, before cable TV and cell phones, where one man could be so impressive in his accomplishments and force of personality, he would almost universally be recognized as the coolest man in America. His field could range from medicine, science, sports, politics or entertainment. Since the advent of the internet, though, this is no longer possible. Who, in your opinion, was the last "coolest man in America"?