Free Republic

All of the 10 fastest growing counties with more than 20,000 residents between 2023 and 2024 were in five states (see Table below), according to just released Census Bureau data (Texas, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina and Arizona). Nine of the 10 fastest growers were in the now dominant southeast region. Taxes are well below the median in each of these states and they are all right to work states. Four of the fastest growing counties were in Texas. Kaufman County in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area had the largest percentage increase among the metropolitan areas. The nation’s fastest growing county...

New Year’s Day brings a rise in the minimum hourly wage in nearly half of the states in the U.S., and 48 counties, though some economists warn that the mandated raises could hurt small businesses and overall employment levels. Fox Business reported: “An analysis by The Economic Policy Institute says 21 states will raise their minimum wage at the first of the year, along with 48 cities and counties that are lifting their pay floors above their respective state minimums – mostly in California, Colorado and Washington.” The Wall Street Journal editorial page took a skeptical view of the changes,...

Americans are increasingly flocking to the outermost edges of metropolitan areas - beyond the suburbs and into rapidly growing so-called 'exurbs'. Exurbs are areas typically located 40 to 60 miles from city centers and are often appealing to families seeking more space, affordable homes and a quieter way of life. The trend has transformed once-sleepy rural towns into thriving cultural communities with booming populations and housing markets. Many of the most popular exurb hotspots are located in the South. Anna, Texas, which is located 45 miles north of Dallas, for example, has seen its population soar by a third since...

It’s no surprise Democratic Party presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris campaigned Oct. 4 in Flint, Michigan, and Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump rallied Oct. 3 in Saginaw, less than 40 miles north.Nor will it be a head-scratcher when they stump across central Michigan again and again before Election Day.Both cities are within a 100-mile corridor along Interstate 75 between Detroit and Saginaw Bay, where election results from six counties will determine who wins the state’s 15 electoral votes and perhaps cast the clinching Nov. 5 tally that seats the next president.Finding those winning voters in Michigan’s battleground...

Fifty-one Florida counties are under a state of emergency ahead of Hurricane Milton, which is now a major Category 5 storm barreling down on the West Coast of the state. “It became a hurricane very quickly,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said during a morning update at the State Emergency Operations Center. “And so not only is it a hurricane, it’s already a major hurricane, and it’s now a category four hurricane with maximum sustained winds at 150 miles per hour, it is expected to make landfall on the west coast of Florida sometime between Wednesday evening or perhaps even very early...

SARASOTA, Fla. (WWSB) - In advance of Potential Tropical Cyclone Nine, Gov. Ron DeSantis has declared a state of emergency for 41 Florida counties. “There is a significant threat of storm surge, coastal flooding and erosion, heavy rainfall and flash flooding, and damaging winds to the Florida Gulf Coast,” reads the order. Areas in Sarasota County and Manatee County are still recovering from the heavy rains and flood waters of Debby. The counties listed in the emergency declaration include: Alachua, Bay, Bradford, Calhoun, Charlotte, Citrus, Collier, Columbia, Dixie, Escambia, Franklin, Gadsden, Gilchrist, Gulf, Hamilton, Hernando, Hillsborough, Holmes, Jackson, Jefferson, Lafayette,...

<p>From gun violence to busy roads to access to emergency care, many factors can shape the safety of a community, which in turn helps determine the health of a community.</p><p>In assessing dozens of factors that shape and show the health of nearly 3,000 counties and county equivalents across the country, the 2024 Healthiest Communities rankings explore this relationship. In the public safety category of the rankings, communities are scored on a 100-point scale tied to their performance relative to one another across seven metrics in three key areas: crime, injuries and public safety capacity. Individual metrics include violent and property crime rates, the share of the population in proximity to emergency facilities, spending on health and emergency services, vehicle crash fatality rate and more.</p>

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Thursday that several counties in Florida have been placed in a state of emergency via an executive order. The state of emergency includes counties in Southwest Florida, Central Florida, Northeast Florida, the panhandle, and the Big Bend regions. The system, located over easter Cuba, could form into a tropical depression as it continues its path toward Florida this weekend. As of the 11 a.m. advisory, it was located about 420 miles southeast of Key West, Florida. It was moving west-northwest at 16 mph with 30 mph winds.

Four of New York City’s five boroughs have lost a higher percentage of residents since COVID than any of the 40 largest counties in the country, a startling new review of US Census data shows. Topping the list is The Bronx — with a 7.2% drop in the past three years, according to the analysis of county-level population estimates. “It’s been good for us — we get more work — but it’s sad,” said Manny Gomez, a 42-year-old Bronx resident and employee of Morgan and Brothers Manhattan, a storage and moving company, in the borough’s Mount Eden section.

Wallowa County became the 12th Oregon county to join the "Greater Idaho" movement when special election results on the measure were finalized Tuesday. The vote originally took place in May, with preliminary results showing support for the effort leading by only 21 votes. After all votes were finalized in June, the lead shrunk to only seven votes, narrowly avoiding the state requirement for a recount. The "Greater Idaho" effort originally began in 2020 as an idea for large swaths of rural eastern Oregon to secede and join the more conservative Idaho to get away from the western, progressive part of...

Homicide rates have spiked, but most of America has remained untouched. Only a tiny fraction of U.S. counties account for nearly all of the country’s homicides, according to research released Tuesday that showed a striking concentration where killings take place. The worst 31 counties — generally urban jurisdictions — have about a fifth of the country’s population but accounted for 42% of the country’s homicides in 2020, said John R. Lott Jr., president of the Crime Prevention Research Center, which conducted the study. The worst 5% of counties accounted for 73% of homicides. That ticked up slightly from 69% in...

It suffices to say that Election Day didn't go as planned for some polling places that experienced and are still experiencing ballot-counting issues. Despite the varying election-related difficulties, multiple jurisdictions share one foreseen commonality. There's a common thread connecting five counties spread across several states that were in disarray on Election Day: federal "monitors." On the eve of the elections, the Biden administration's Department of Justice announced Monday it would be dispatching such monitors to as many as 64 jurisdictions in almost half of U.S. states on Election Day to oversee federal election law "compliance According to the DOJ's watch...

Pennsylvania has not certified the results of its May 17 primary election in three counties due to lingering legal disputes over the counting of mail-in ballots. Berks, Fayette and Lancaster counties have become embroiled in litigation challenging the counting of such ballots on which the voter did not write the date, according to the Pennsylvania Department of State. The state last week sued the three counties, aiming to force them to count mail-in ballots without handwritten dates, the Associated Press reported. Fayette County asserts that the state lacks the authority to compel the counting of the disputed ballots and highlights...

Eight Michigan counties will end school COVID-19 mask mandates on or before Feb. 28, citing lower COVID-19 metrics.The Health Department of Northwest Michigan – which covers Antrim, Charlevoix, Emmet and Otsego counties – will repeal its mandate Thursday, followed by Ingham County on Saturday. Oakland, Washtenaw, and Wayne counties will drop their's Feb. 28, the last day of the month."The purpose of the First Amended Order was to protect students, school staff, as well as the community and was originally issued on August 27, 2021, and amended on November 9, 2021," health officer Lisa Peacock said in a statement."It was...

Representatives of three Maryland counties are saying Montani Semper Liberi. Legislators from Allegany, Garrett and Washington counties submitted a letter to West Virginia legislative leaders to explore the possibility of jumping the border. Terrapins are always free. Don’t take this as a land grab or a succession just yet. It’s by no means a done deal. “These three counties in Maryland, we would welcome these counties. This is the first step. It’s early in the process if it even does happen. These counties are more like West Virginia than they are the rest of Maryland,” said West Virginia Delegate Gary...

President Joe Biden’s aggressive push to require millions of U.S. workers to vaccinate against the coronavirus is running into a wall of resistance from Republicans threatening everything from lawsuits to civil disobedience, plunging the country deeper into culture wars that have festered since the onset of the pandemic. There are even some Democrats that are speaking against Biden’s mandates.The mandate, which requires employers with more than 100 employees to mandate either vaccination or weekly testing, will be covered under a forthcoming rule from the Labor Department and its Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Biden believes OSHA has the authority to...

More than 95 percent of U.S. counties are now seeing “high” rates of COVID-19 transmission, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC's COVID Data Tracker revealed on Tuesday that 95.19 percent of counties in the U.S. are seeing a “high” rate of transmission, meaning there were at least 100 new cases reported per 100,000 people in the past seven days. Around 2 percent of counties are seeing “substantial” and “low” rates of transmission, and less than one percent of counties are seeing “moderate” rates of transmission.

Two Washington counties are implementing outdoor mask mandates beginning Tuesday, forcing individuals attending large outdoor events to mask up and recommending them to do so in any outdoor situation where they cannot keep a six-foot distance. The orders cover large events in both King and Pierce counties. Under the rules, those five and older must wear a mask outdoors if they are attending a large gathering, which is described as any event with over 500 people.

BREAKING REPORT: Wisconsin Governor Tells Counties to IGNORE SUBPOENAS for House Election Audits…

While there are literally millions of different viruses around the world, most of which, of course, are benign, there is one thing that defines those which afflict humans most: Mutation.The first thing a virus does when it is met with resistance, for the most part, is to mutate so that it can continue to survive. Only when there is no host to mutate to, do most viruses finally die off.But that’s what is driving the new spike in COVID-19 infections in Florida — higher than average vaccination rates, and a vulnerable population.Thanks to the COVID-19 vaccines, the original strain has...