Free Republic

Longtime Trump ally Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) says he recently urged the former president to promote COVID-19 vaccines among his supporters as cases and hospitalizations in the U.S. spike due to the highly contagious delta variant, The Associated Press reports. Graham on Monday revealed he tested positive for COVID-19 after he began experiencing flu-like symptoms on Saturday. Graham’s infection is the first known instance of a “breakthrough” case among senators. He received the two-dose Pfizer vaccine back in December as soon as it became available to members of Congress. The senator credited the vaccine for his mild symptoms. In a...

Congresswoman Jackie Speier (D-CA), a survivor of the Jonestown massacre, went all the way out there as she compared Donald Trump to the infamous cult leader, Jim Jones. CNN’s Brian Stelter held a Reliable Sources segment on Sunday that focused on the international perspectives on the former president’s political movement, including the view from critics that his following is a “cult.” Speier was shot while she was on an investigative mission to Jonestown decades ago, so Stelter asked for her thoughts, and she said “there is no question that you could compare” Jones and Trump as “merchants of deceit.” You...

A man was in custody after he allegedly attacked a woman inside the King County courthouse Thursday morning, another incident expected to raise more questions about security around the building and a homeless encampment that has taken root next door. Seattle Police Department Sgt. Randy Huserik said Clint James Jory, 35, was being questioned and expected to be booked into the King County Jail after that. He is under investigation for attempted rape. The woman, who worked in the Department of Public Defense, was taken home by a relative after the attack. He said the call was initially referred to...

CLAYTON, Mo. (KMOV.com) - Only one day after it went into effect, a mask mandate in St. Louis County has been repealed. The mandate was discussed at Tuesday evening's St. Louis County Council meeting, and many members of the public spoke out, mostly against the mandate. Many speakers said it is an issue of freedom, while one said the mandate could be helpful. "Why weren't we brought into the loop, why didn't we have a chance to have input on this? I represent 142,000 people, the vast majority do not want masks. the vast majority. I represent them and I...

Authorities said a man wearing a yellow dress who had just been released from Western State Hospital first stole a school bus and later drove a piece of heavy equipment through the home of his estranged wife. Employees of Osprey Rafting on Saturday said they saw a man wearing a yellow dress drive away in the company’s yellow school bus from an area east of Leavenworth on SR 2 around 7:40 p.m. Chelan County sheriff’s deputies responded and found the bus heading eastbound. Deputies said the driver ran a red light near Monitor and they tried to pull the driver...

Jackie Mason, the sometimes-controversial standup comedian who unapologetically embraced Jewish themes and political incorrectness, achieving a national profile through a series of successful one-man shows on Broadway without substantial work in film or television, died Saturday in Manhattan. He was 93. The New York Times said his death was confirmed by his friend Raoul Felder. Mason was one of the last of the Borscht Belt comedians, and he married that sensibility to strong views on racial and ethnic politics. He also recurred on “The Simpsons” as the voice of Rabbi Hyman Krustofsky, the father of Krusty the Clown, winning his...

The New England offensive line figures to be a pretty talented group in 2021. But that unit will have some changes in regards to who is coaching them. Cole Popovich, who served as New England’s co-offensive line coach last year with Carmen Bricillo, is not returning to the Patriots staff in 2021, as first reported by The Boston Globe’s Jim McBride. Bricillo will now serve as the team’s lone offensive line coach. ESPN’s Mike Reiss reported that the decision to move on from Popovich is “related to the COVID-19 vaccine and NFL guidelines.” The NFL sent out a memo to...

HARRISBURG, Pa. — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is now recommending that children 2 and older wear masks in public. The new CDC recommendations state: Children 2 or older should wear masks in public places, particularly indoors. If younger than 2, or for children who cannot wear masks, they should limit their contact with adults who are not fully vaccinated. The CDC says one of the best ways adults can protect children is by getting the vaccine themselves. Other standard guidelines continue to apply, such as: Hand-washing. Get a COVID-19 test for anyone showing symptoms. If a child...

Before he was a congressman associating with white nationalists, Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) was a dentist — and a good one, at that. Now, some of his former patients are shocked that the man who once filled their cavities has become a "conspiracy-minded, race-baiting" lawmaker, reports The Washington Post. "Gosar the dentist had to be the real Paul Gosar," said Coreen Anderson, a former loyal Gosar patient who has described his dental skills as "amazing." "It had to be. There's no way that person was fake. Did he get brainwashed? Did the power get to this head? I honestly don't...

On a sweltering June morning, Novavax CEO and COVID vaccine maker Stanley Erck stood on a stage unmasked and did something that would have been unthinkable six months ago: He shook hands with Maryland’s governor. Erck was with Gov. Larry Hogan to announce Novavax’s global vaccine headquarters ― a Gaithersburg campus expected to house laboratories and more than 800 employees. Hogan called Novavax’s future “bright” and crowed that more than 71% of the state’s adults had received at least one shot. None of those was a Novavax vaccine, which remains unavailable for the American public due to delayed clinical trial...

(File Photo, July 2016) Robby Steinhardt joined fellow Kansas band member Kerry Livgren for a fundraiser in Topeka's NOTO arts district.(WIBW) ============================================================================ TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) - One of the founding members of the band Kansas has passed away. According to a post on Facebook, violinist/vocalist Robby Steinhardt died Saturday, July 17, 2021, at Tampa General Hospital. Steinhardt’s wife Cindy posted the following to her Facebook page: “Our final journey started May 13 when Robby was admitted into the hospital with acute pancreatitis. Later that night he went into acute septic shock and was placed on life support. Outlook was very...

Tucked away in the northwest corner of Missouri is a small, dusty town 46 miles north of St. Joseph with a decades-old secret. This past weekend marked the 40th anniversary of the killing of Ken Rex McElroy of Skidmore. And despite there being dozens of witnesses, no one has ever been arrested or charged in connection with McElroy’s murder. In short: no one saw anything. Ken McElroy died in a hail of gunfire on the morning of July 10, 1981, while sitting in his truck outside a local tavern. He was known as the town bully, but they may be...

A single father recently diagnosed with potentially fatal cancer is auctioning off a signed Tom Brady rookie card to provide for his daughters. Scott Weaver’s autographed 2000 Playoff Contenders Rookie Ticket was consigned to Heartland Sports Cards and Memorabilia where it will be auctioned off. The card is numbered 40/100. The bid has already gone over $116,000 as of Tuesday. The bidding ends on July 25 at 10:00 p.m. EST. Weaver told Sports Collectors Daily that the card became in his possession in late 2003 or early 2004 when “he purchased a “surprise box” of football cards on eBay for...

At least four people were injured by the gunfire, police say, in a drive-by shooting outside of the park's third base gate. Two of the victims were transported to hospital via ambulance conscious and breathing. Another two walked into area hospitals to be treated for gunshot wounds. Their conditions are not known at this time. One of the victims appears to be a Nationals Park employee, NBC 10 reports.

SHREVEPORT, La. -- Approximately 80 Haitian immigrants were dropped off in the city Thursday by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and local officials are warning there may be more busloads to come. The influx of immigrants came in two waves to the SporTran Intermodal Terminal at Texas and Murphy Streets in downtown Shreveport, according to a SporTran official who did not want to be identified. ICE confirmed the arrival of two buses. But the influx came with apparently little or no warning to City of Shreveport government and law enforcement officials. Marquel Sennet, spokeswoman for Mayor Adrian Perkins, said...

General Motors is telling owners of some older Chevrolet Bolts to park them outdoors and not to charge them overnight because two of the electric cars caught fire after recall repairs were made. The company said Wednesday that the request covers 2017 through 2019 Bolts that were part of a group that was recalled earlier due to fires in the batteries. The latest request comes after two Bolts that had gotten recall repairs caught fire, one in Vermont and the other in New Jersey, GM spokesman Kevin Kelly said. Owners should take the steps “out of an abundance of caution,”...

This is “Shark Week” and fascinating new research reveals something rare, scary, and exciting does happen in Midwestern waters. A study in the Journal of the Marine and Fishery Sciences says that sharks have been spotted twice in the Mississippi River near St. Louis over the past 84-years. One of the sharks was caught near Alton, Illinois on September 6, 1937. The city is located around 1,740 miles from the Gulf of Mexico. It weighed 84 lbs and was about five feet long. At the time, the Lock and Dam at Alton was the first major obstruction going north on...

What do black soldier fly grubs taste like? Stilton and cheese biscuits. At least that’s how British start-up Yora Pet Foods describes its dog food made from the bugs. Established in 2019, Yora introduced the first insect protein pet food sold in the U.K. Targeting environmentally conscious pet owners, it expects to have shipped over 200 tons of product to more than 200 countries and generate sales over $2.8 million. Its business is part of a movement in which manufacturers in North America, Europe and beyond are trying to make pet food more sustainable and environmentally friendly by using proteins...

<p>PHOENIX — Arizona's Democratic secretary of state is asking the Republican state attorney general to investigate whether former President Donald Trump and his allies broke the law in their efforts to pressure Maricopa County officials after the 2020 election.</p><p>Secretary of State Katie Hobbs asked for the investigation in a letter Wednesday.</p>

With mere hours to go before a scheduled book event on Thursday, the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum in downtown Austin removed itself from a discussion on a controversial new book that re-examines the narrative around Texas’ iconic Alamo landmark. “Forget the Alamo: The Rise and Fall of an American Myth,” was released earlier this year and attempts to present the “truth” around what happened at The Alamo and those viewed as heroes for the battle. Especially given a critical eye are Texas’ legends James Bowie and William Barret Travis. Authors Bryan Burrough, Chris Tomlinson and Jason Stanford argue...