Free Republic

One of the most infamous killers in Santa Cruz County history was denied parole on Tuesday. Edmund Kemper, now 75, was denied parole again and has spent the last 51 years incarcerated for the killings of seven women and one girl between 1972 and 1973 in Santa Cruz County. One of the victims was Kemper's mother. He is currently locked in a Vacaville psychiatric center, serving a life sentence. The man known as the "Ogre of Aptos" for his 6-foot, 9-inch frame would pick up hitchhiking UC Santa Cruz and Cabrillo College students, thus gaining the other nickname the "Co-ed...

There are pivotal moments that define a person’s transformation, both personally and politically, and Elon Musk is right in the middle of one. Thanks to the Democrats’ radical Marxist agenda and their botched, tyrannical policies, Musk has been pulling off political U-turns left and right. So much so, that jaws were literally dropping after his latest post. This was, by far, Elon’s most savage “red pill” moment to date. It all unfolded when Elon Musk chimed in on a thread about the SAVE Act on his X platform, a proposal aimed at ensuring only American citizens vote in federal elections....

A sign that went viral on social media for mocking California's retail theft problem has been removed from downtown San Francisco the sign written in official looking font read quote notice stolen goods must remain under $950 the sign is a reference to Prop 47 which made retail theft under $950 a misdemeanor instead of a felony the joke is you can steal up to that amount and basically get away with it well we reached out to San Francisco city officials who say it is not an official sign and it was gone by the time they showed up...

A homeowner in Los Angeles opened fire on numerous alleged intruders Monday around 3 p.m., critically wounding one. NBC Los Angeles noted, “Investigators believe three masked men tried to break into the home on Addison Street near Colfax Avenue, but they were stopped by the property owner.” FOX 11 reported there were “two to three” alleged intruders, who managed “broke into a home” and an altercation with the homeowner ensued. Thereafter the homeowner retrieve a handgun and shot one of alleged intruders, causing the other(s) to flee. Officers arrived to find the wounded 25-year-old suspect was “conscious and breathing,” and...

Whether you like leftism or not (I don’t), one of the most admirable things about leftists is that they are long-term planners. Conservatives dream of quick fixes, but leftists put systems in place and then patiently wait for them to come to fruition. San Francisco perfectly illustrates how this works...and it goes back to the 1960s. At the end of June, a San Francisco convenience store was robbed and vandalized. This happened in a city that no longer polices minor crimes (allowing it to boast that its crime statistics have improved), thereby paving the way for major crimes. The city,...

Delivery drivers in the South Bay say they're increasingly worried about becoming robbery targets. It's happening enough that at least one company, Core Mart, is now hiring armed guards to escort its drivers. ... Flavio Lopez works for another delivery company and said he wishes he had a guard or at least a second person to help him keep an eye on the merchandise. Lopez hasn’t been robbed, but he has had run-ins downtown. "Stuff you gotta deal with downtown," he said. "It is what it is." Darrell Cortez, a retired San Jose police officer who now works in corporate...

Vance thinks that jobs lost because of incompetent central planning don't matter—but that jobs lost to immigrants do.In an interview published this week by The New York Times, Sen. J.D. Vance (R–Ohio) calls for a more muscular federal government to intervene even more aggressively in the economy than it already does, to create what Vance calls "incentives" for American workers. In doing so, Vance inadvertently reveals one of the major flaws in this line of analysis. Vance's opinions about these things carry significant weight, in no small part because he's on the shortlist to be Donald Trump's running mate. With...

California voters will decide on 10 ballot measures in November, addressing a wide range of issues including the minimum wage, rent control, public safety, taxes, education, and health care.Each of the initiatives - including three state constitutional amendments and two multibillion-dollar bonds - will need approval from at least 50 percent of voters to pass.State Constitutional AmendmentsProp. 3: Marriage Equality (ACA 5)The California Constitution currently states that only marriage between a man and a woman is recognized in the state, but federal law prevents the enforcement of this provision.A yes vote on this ballot measure means removing this state constitutional...

a mentally ill hoarder, has turned some six acres of green space into an unlicensed dump with more than a hundred rusting vehicles, mounds of trash and scrap metal, and hazardous waste that has polluted the ground and a nearby streambed. Hypodermic needles, bags of marijuana, moldy clothes, human excrement, tires and condoms littered the street Malone, Ryan and others living nearby have begged elected leaders and nearly a dozen government agencies for help for years Fires have broken out repeatedly at Ferrera's illicit junkyard, where there are numerous containers of propane and other flammable liquids. They counted 114 vehicles,...

To a defiant President Joe Biden, the 2024 election is up to the public — not the Democrats on Capitol Hill. But the chorus of Democratic voices calling for him to step aside is growing, from donors, strategists, lawmakers and their constituents who say he should bow out. The party has not fallen in line behind him even after the events that were set up as part of a blitz to reset his imperiled campaign and show everyone he wasn’t too old to stay in the job or to do it another four years. On Saturday, a fifth Democratic lawmaker...

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, while campaigning for President Biden in the battleground state of Pennsylvania over the weekend, was asked about his own prospects should the Democratic incumbent exit the race. A longtime top Biden campaign surrogate, Newsom has rallied behind the president's re-election bid, making stops in Michigan and Pennsylvania in recent days. Yet his own name has been floated as a potential replacement for Biden should the 81-year-old president step aside and allow for an open convention, when Democratic delegates convene in Chicago next month to formally decide their nominee.

OAKLAND, Calif. - A major sideshow erupted on the eastern span of the Bay Bridge overnight. It's becoming a common occurrence in the Bay Area. The sideshow in the middle of the night came to a close with a fireworks show. Participants shot them 30 feet into the sky with cars taking over the bridge around 2 a.m. Sunday, causing traffic to come to a halt for about an hour. Video shows multiple cars pulling donuts, getting dangerously close to spectators. Passengers hung out of car windows and sat in truck beds, as drivers spun in circles. "You could hear...

The 75th anniversary celebratory NATO summit will be in Washington, D.C. the week of July 8. It will feature public opening remarks by the NATO Secretary General and welcoming remarks by the President of the United States of America, Joe Biden. On Wednesday, July 10, there will be a Social Dinner for Heads of State and Government and their spouses, hosted by the President of the United States and the First Lady.

The best outcome for the failed Silicon Valley Bank would be for U.S. officials to find a buyer for it on Sunday, Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) said, after its collapse last week. “The best outcome will be can they find a buyer for this SVB bank today before the markets open in Asia later in the day,” Warner said on ABC’s “This Week.” “The depositors can be taken care of and the best outcome will be an acquisition of SVB.” The fall of the bank last week sent shockwaves throughout the tech industry, which relied heavily on the bank for...

A mob of looters ransacked an Oakland gas station convenience store and caused thousands of dollars in damage as the frustrated store manager claimed police took nine hours to respond to his plea for help. The horde, who had just attended a nearby car sideshow, broke into the 76 Station near the San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport around 4:30 a.m. on Friday, according to ABC 7 News Bay Area. Owner Sam Mardaie estimated approximately 80 to 100 people broke through his store’s front door and grabbed everything they could get their hands on.

A jaw-dropping video shows the moment nearly 100 robbers ransacked a California gas station in the middle of the night. Surveillance footage displays dozens of masked and hoodie-wearing thieves taking their sweet time to grab as much as they can carry just after 4:30am on Friday at the station in crime-ridden Oakland. The raid came just days after Oakland's progressive mayor bragged about a drop in crime in the hellhole city.

Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-Va.) is attempting to assemble a group of Democratic senators to ask President Biden to exit the presidential race, according to two people with direct knowledge of the effort.Warner is telling Democratic senators that Biden can no longer remain in the election in the wake of his faltering debate performance, according to the people familiar with private conversations who spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak freely. Warner has told others that he is deeply concerned that Biden is not able to run a campaign that could beat former president Donald Trump.

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey (D) has called on President Biden to “carefully evaluate” his candidacy as concerns about his ability to win the election persist, despite his team insisting he won’t step aside. In a statement obtained by NBC News, Healey said Biden saved democracy by winning the 2020 election, and that this year’s is “the most important election of our lifetimes.” Healey was one of several Democratic governors to meet with the president Wednesday evening to discuss the future of the party after his lackluster debate performance a week prior that left many of his supporters in a panic....

The president’s mental decline was like a dark family secret for many elite supporters. President Joe Biden walked before a row of flags and took his place at a lectern stamped with the presidential seal. A few feet in front of him, thin panes of teleprompter glass, programmed with prewritten remarks, were positioned to meet his stare as he spoke into a microphone that would carry his voice through a soundsystem. His White House press secretary looked on. So did several senior White House officials. Anxiety clung to the humid summer air. What the president was about to say might...

A cadre of pro-Palestinian protesters disrupted July 4th fireworks in New York City as they paraded through the streets while burning American flags and chanting anti-Israel rhetoric. Video of the march went live on Thursday, sparking ongoing concerns about the sudden rise in anti-Jewish sentiments that have erupted over the past year. This is not a video from the 1938 Kristallnacht in Germany. This is a video from July 4th Independence Day in New York as a terrifying mob march through the streets waving flames in a show of force against Jews. pic.twitter.com/cVc8Xa3Xk3 — Oli London (@OliLondonTV) July 5, 2024...