Free Republic

ALBANY, N.Y. -- Environmental groups and energy companies both claimed victory after Gov. David Paterson ordered a seven-month moratorium on some natural gas drilling in the state, although environmentalists would have preferred the broader ban that the Legislature had approved. The outgoing Democratic governor vetoed a bill on Saturday that would have suspended all new natural-gas drilling permits until May 15. Instead, he issued an executive order prohibiting high-volume hydraulic fracturing of horizontally drilled wells, such as those in the Marcellus Shale region of southern New York. The order stands until July 1...

ALBANY, N.Y. (Associated Press) -- An unfolding scandal threatening Gov. David Paterson and his administration claimed its second public safety official Tuesday when the head of the New York State Police casually told a television reporter that he was retiring, partly because of intense media scrutiny. Superintendent Harry Corbitt had acknowledged in February that a State Police official had contact with a woman who had accused a top Paterson aide of assaulting her on Halloween in New York City's Bronx borough. Soon after, the woman dropped the domestic violence complaint against the aide, David Johnson.

Of all the names floated around out there, Suozzi is the least radically left. Of course, I'd like Paterson to pick someone like John Faso, but I know that's not going to happen. When Tom Suozzi ran against Eliott Spitzer in the gubernatorial primaries, cutting property taxes was high on his list, Suozzzi opposed gay marriage, and backed a ban on late-term abortion.

Elitism: Is Democratic New York Gov. David Paterson his own man? If he is, he'll appoint an accomplished leader as senator. If he isn't, he'll kowtow to the party bosses and pick . . . a Kennedy.When the Empire State's legally-blind governor made a huge stink this week about an NBC "Saturday Night Live" skit that lampooned him, was he just conniving to convince New Yorkers how independent and determined he is — prior to caving in on Caroline Kennedy? In the days since Gov. Paterson was depicted by comic Fred Armisen as confused and disoriented, holding charts upside down...

The authors of a 2019 study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that examined “917 fatal police shootings of civilians from 2015 to test whether the race of the officer or the civilian predicted fatal police shootings” was withdrawn by the authors after being cited by noted conservative author and essayist Heather MacDonald. Psychologists Joseph Cesario of Michigan State and David Johnson of the University of Maryland say they stand behind their work, which concludes there was “no significant evidence of anti-black disparity in the likelihood of being fatally shot by the police.” But they objected...

An academic paper from 2019 defies the current progressive narrative about police targeting minorities. The paper has been cited by right leaning scholars, such as Heather Mac Donald of the Manhattan Institute. Now the authors of the paper are seeking to retract it. We’re now politicizing inconvenient facts and data. Retraction Watch reports: Authors of study on race and police killings ask for its retraction, citing “continued misuse” in the media The authors of a controversial paper on race and police shootings say they are retracting the article, which became a flashpoint in the debate over killings by police, and...

The mother of the Green Beret killed in Africa said President Trump disrespected her son and family when the commander in chief called the soldier’s widow and said her husband ” knew what he signed up for,” according to a report on Wednesday. “President Trump did disrespect my son and my daughter and also me and my husband,” Cowanda Jones-Johnson told the Washington Post. She commented on the controversy that exploded after Rep. Frederica Wilson said she was in the car with the widow of Army Sgt. La David T. Johnson when Trump called and told her that the soldier...

The news that an Iowa Republican State Senator has dropped out of the Republican Party is indeed significant. I, like many others across the country, have done the same thing. The “bold” move by Senator David Johnson whose district is described as “heavily Republican” came as what I initially thought might be good news, “Finally they are beginning to understand our frustration with them and responding accordingly,” I thought; but I was wrong. I had hoped that Johnson left the Republican Party because of Paul Ryan’s childish grandstanding or his lies about ending Obamacare. “Maybe Ryan’s insistence upon helping Barack...

A senior member of the Iowa Senate says he has dropped his Republican Party affiliation in protest of what he calls Donald Trump’s “bigotry,” in light of the presumptive GOP presidential nominee’s comments about a federal court judge’s ethnicity. Sen. David Johnson, from heavily Republican northwest Iowa, told The Associated Press in an interview Tuesday that “somebody had to make a statement.” Johnson, an 18-year state legislator from Ocheyedan, was referring to the billionaire’s allegation that U.S. District Court Judge Gonzalo Curiel was biased in his decision against the now-defunct Trump University, a business owned by Trump, because he disagrees...

NOTE The following text is a quote: September 8, 2010 2 men plead guilty to impersonating U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers in advance fee fraud scheme MIAMI - Saleumsak Khammungkhune, 57, of San Diego, and David Johnson, aka Ukoha Eke, 39, a Nigerian national residing in Upper Marlboro, Md., pleaded guilty to conspiring to impersonate U. S. officers and to commit wire fraud following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR). David Johnson pleaded guilty earlier today before U.S. District Judge William Dimitrouleas to conspiracy to impersonate a federal officer and to...

WASHINGTON - One day after its hurricane forecasters complained of budget cuts, the head of the National Weather Service and his deputy announced they will retire next month. David Johnson, the director, and John Jones, the deputy director, plan to bow out at the end of June, according to an internal memo they sent Friday to staff of the nation's weather agency. On Thursday, the AP reported that the director of the Miami-based National Hurricane Center, which is part of the weather service, believes the government is wasting millions of dollars on advertising while shortchanging his hurricane forecasters' budget. Bill...

A sex offender who has criminal convictions for assaulting young girls was recaptured early Tuesday, a day after he escaped through a bathroom window at North Dakota's state psychiatric hospital, authorities said. David Johnson, 28, was captured about 1 a.m., after a chase through downtown Jamestown and a scuffle with police and another man, Police Capt. Gary Peterson said. Johnson did not have a weapon, Peterson said, but he struck and kicked officers and ran several blocks before they cornered him. Johnson also hit another man in the face after he tried to help, Peterson said. Johnson crawled through the...

3:35 p.m. - BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A sex offender who has criminal convictions for assaulting young girls escaped from North Dakota's state mental hospital, where he has been confined for treatment, authorities said. David Johnson David Johnson, 28, apparently cut through a security screen in a bathroom at the hospital between 1:05 a.m. and 1:25 a.m. on Monday, Highway Patrol Capt. Mark Bethke said. More than 20 sex offenders are confined at a special unit of the Jamestown hospital for counseling and treatment. The process is called civil commitment, and it takes place when prosecutors, a judge and analysts...

The US is preparing to reshuffle top officials with responsibility for Afghanistan, expand the number of staff serving in the country, and award an additional $1bn (?870m, £620m) in assistance in a bid to re-energise its reconstruction effort, according to US and Afghan officials familiar with the plans. The policy shift, whose motto is "Accelerate Success", was a response by US State and Defense Department officials to a chorus of concern about the Afghan reconstruction process, officials said. The US government was eager to point to Afghanistan as a success story as it faced difficulty in getting the situation in...