Free Republic

BRANCH COUNTY, Mich. (WSVN) — Investigators have arrested four people accused of planning to kidnap a child from a Michigan county fair planned to sexually assault the victim before burning them alive. There was no specific target named in the plot, as the two couples, David Bailey, 37, and Jayme LaPoint, 19; and Matthew Toole, 32, and Talia Furman, 32, had planned to find a random child for the deed, according to Michigan State Police. According to MLive, were all have been charged in the conspiracy that was uncovered by police detectives. According to the police report obtained by the...

PAINESVILLE, Ohio - Painesville Municipal Court Judge Michael Cicconetti, known for his very creative sentences, has handed down - or scooped out - another one. "You like to screw around with crap? That's what you're gonna do for 3 days." Bayley Toth of Painesville was found guilty of criminal mischief after a night with friends in a local park. Toth jumped on top of a van and placed a traffic cone on it. He then tipped over a porta-potty, knocked a WiFi bridge down and threw 2 lifesaving rings into the lake, one of which was never found. The Judge...

"Just as the Columbia County Fair was about to open, a top local Democratic official stated on Tuesday in the midst of a testy email exchange that the popular event “always attracts lowlife.” The wrangle began as a simple request from Ghent committee members Patti Matheney and Judy Rusk, urging the County Democrats to join others assisting the family of a local child who has been diagnosed with a very rare form of the disease. Matheney had been informed by the child’s parent at an August 29th meatball fundraiser at the Chatham firehouse that the County Republicans were planning to...

Marijuana joined roses and dahlias Friday in blue ribbon events at the nation’s first county fair to allow pot competitions. This weekend’s Denver County Fair includes a 21-and-over “Pot Pavilion” where winning entries for plants, bongs, edible treats and clothes made from hemp are on display. Organizers say the marijuana categories this year — which come with the debut of legal recreational marijuana in Colorado — add a fun twist on Denver’s already-quirky county fair, which includes a drag queen pageant and a contest for dioramas made with Peeps candies. “We’ve been selling tickets to people from all over the...

Corndogs come in two sizes: delicious and more delicious. You have until July 19th to get to the Alameda County Fair in Pleasanton for carnival rides, pig races, concerts with one-step-removed headliners like Bucky Covington and Solange Knowles, and, those portable treats, snacks on a stick. There's the classic corndog, of course, deep-fried cheese on a stick (surprisingly pleasant, like a neatly contained grilled cheese), and deep-fried Twinkies and Snickers with optional Hershey's syrup. There's the Twister Dog wrapped in potato, and the twisted potato, aka the Tornado. Shiskaberries are chocolate-dipped fruit on a stick (because you need a little...

Jim Thrasher and his wife were enjoying the California State Fair this weekend until they came upon the Colusa County exhibit. For the African American couple from Sacramento, the exhibit's depiction of "Waldo Watermelon Seed" conjured up painful images of the Jim Crow era.

Ex-Gay Ministry Harassed by Homosexual Activists at Fair Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays (PFOX) got an earful of "tolerance" at the Arlington County Fair in Virginia last week. They were faced with a barrage of verbal abuse, and one man was reportedly assaulted by a gay activist. “They accused this young man of hiding his feelings," PFOX Executive Director Regina Griggs explained. "They walked by him and hit him in the back — attacked him.” PFOX set up a display to offer hope to people dealing with unwanted same-sex attractions, but two gay activists objected to the message...

ARLINGTON, Virginia, August. 28, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Angry homosexual activists harassed and assaulted ex-homosexuals at the Arlington County Fair last week, according to an ex-gay educational and support group. Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays (PFOX) reports its volunteers were distributing education materials on same-sex attraction and awareness of ex-homosexuals at their fair booth. Homosexual activists approached them and created a disturbance, spewing obscenities and dashing materials from the exhibit table. The group demanded that PFOX leave the fairgrounds, recognize "same-sex spouses" and rejected arguments that homosexuals could change their sexual orientation although they admitted they knew heterosexuals who had done...

Just got back from the Georgia National Fair. Ahhhh, the fair. The addicting aroma of deep fried oreos, bratwurst, Indian tacos, caramel apples, assorted meats on a stick, 5 pound baskets of cajun fries drowning in melted cheese, and turkey legs, all set amidst a background of electronic sounds permeating from the midway, people lugging around massive stuffed animals won from a carnie game, barns full of goats and horses ready to be judged, and the most important thing of all: the commercial vendors. Here, in the vast confines of numerous warehouses, hundreds of vendors set up shop, peddling anything...

Folks, great news from the battleground Keystone State. The great York Fair is underway where I spent the afternoon staffing an informational booth and people watching. The folks sporting "Bush-Cheney" stickers definitely outnumbered the "Kerry-Edwards" stickers by at least 10 to 1. Two other interesting obeservations: Many of the Kerry sticker wearers also wore Bush stickers, causing one to wonder whether they were really committed to any candidate or just to collecting stickers. Or maybe they were flip-floppers like John F. Even more significant, there was a Police sponsored fake narcotic display nearby. The Kerry sticker folks were the ones...

The informal vote at the Evening News booth was close, however. BY EVENING NEWS STAFF Incumbent George W. Bush narrowly beat Democratic challenger Sen. John F. Kerry to remain the leader of the most powerful nation in the world during a neck-and-neck race for presidency of the United States. That's the way it was at the Monroe County Fair at least. A completely informal poll at The Evening News booth in the merchant's building showed the president winning his second term over the Massachusetts senator 2,220-2,087. Fairgoers visiting the booth cast their ballots during the week. President Bush won every...

Ride Accident Hurts Seven People, One Critically, at Miami-Dade County Fair Apr 3, 2004 The Associated Press MIAMI (AP) - An amusement ride broke open and ejected some passengers at a county fair, injuring seven people, including a teenage girl in critical condition. A piece of paneling came off "The Gravitron" while it was running late Friday, Miami-Dade police spokesman Juan DelCastillo said Saturday. The ride pins passengers against its perimeter with centrifugal forces. Three passengers were hurtled into the fairgrounds from a breach that opened when the structure broke apart, officials said. How far they were thrown, and how...

We had our County Fair between issues. It was a small Fair with just a few thousand in attendance, but no one in our town of 1500 would miss it for the world. There’s the parade into the fairgrounds with pretty cowgirls on horses, fire engines sounding their bells and sirens, local businesses in hokey homemade floats, and all sorts of candy thrown to the children lining the one-mile route through town. Then there’s the Fair itself with its homegrown bands, immaculately groomed goats and sheep, and mouth watering blue ribbon pies. And, of course, there’s midway, with its “characters”...

PAINESVILLE, Ohio -- An 8-year-old is in critical conditon after being severely shocked after touching a pole on a ride at the Lake County Fair Wednesday, NewsChannel5 reported. Gracian Yoe is in critical condition after being airlifted by helicopter to an area hospital. Officials at LakeEast confirmed the boy was taken there, but said the patient was transferred to MetroHealth Medical Center. He is in a coma. Gracian was at the fair with his father and called out "Help me" while being shocked, witnesses said. WEWS said witnesses said the boy was so severely shocked that his ankles were burned....