Free Republic

Richmond police put SWAT teams on the streets today after two more people were shot, bringing the number of shootings in the city since Tuesday to 11. The violence, which investigators believe is the product of a gang war, has claimed the lives of three people. Two people were wounded, one critically, at 10:17 a.m. today when someone fired 30 rounds from a small-caliber pistol at Gertrude Avenue and Filbert Street just across the border from unincorporated North Richmond, police Lt. Mark Gagan said. Gagan said investigators believe that gangs from northern Richmond and the central district are feuding and...

Shrinking Detroit has 12,000 abandoned homes Sun Aug 14, 5:03 PM ET Rats or lead poisoning. When it comes to the threats from the broken down house next door, Dorothy Bates isn't sure which is worse. "When it's lightening and thundering you can hear the bricks just falling," the 40-year-old nurse said as she looked at the smashed windows and garbage-strewn porch. "If you call and ask (the city) about it they say they don't have the funds to tear it down." There are more than 12,000 abandoned homes in the Detroit area, a byproduct of decades of layoffs at...