Free Republic

California legislators have grilled the state’s top librarian about huge sums of money tied to a statewide literacy program linked to country music legend Dolly Parton that are missing. And it’s the kids who may suffer. Greg Lucas, the state’s top librarian, has been accused of failing to account for almost $650,000 related to Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library during, a literacy initiative meant to deliver free books to young children across the state. “You don’t have receipts requested six times. You don’t have bank statements requested six times from this committee,” Republican State Sen. Shannon Grove said during a budget...

Investigators say that on the morning of Aug. 5, 2025, Vincent Wolf, a construction worker who lived in a Sylmar apartment complex with his mother and aunt, parked his black Toyota Corolla alongside an RV outside of his building. He exited his vehicle, walked up to 29-year-old Travis Harker, who had been homeless for years, and fatally shot him once in the chest, the search warrant affidavit alleges. Surveillance footage of Wolf’s vehicle led investigators to identify him as a suspect in the deadly shooting. Instagram records revealed a series of irate posts about homelessness in the city. ‘They piss...

In a desperate bid to stop Tinseltown from trekking to cheaper pastures, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is taking a chainsaw to the red tape and high costs of filming at some of the city’s most famous landmarks. Bass announced last week that the city will slash filming fees at the iconic Griffith Observatory by 70% — dropping the daily price tag from $100,000 to a more manageable $30,000. The move effectively rolls back costs to 2008 levels, signaling a massive retreat from the 2022 fee hikes that may have helped drive production out of state.

Colorado’s Medicaid program made an estimated $77.8 million in improper payments and another $207.4 million in potentially improper payments for autism therapy, according to a February report from the Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services.Auditors investigated $289.5 million in Medicaid payments from 2022 to 2023 that paid for more than 1 million claims for Applied Behavior Analysis—a therapy used to treat autism and developmental disabilities.Each of the 100 claims reviewed contained at least one improper or potentially improper payment, suggesting a 100 percent failure rate.Improper payments are not necessarily fraudulent. Payments are considered improper when the...

During a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday, Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) told Angel Families who were present in the audience that he was “sorry,” but that Americans are more likely to be murdered by fellow Americans than illegal aliens. “For the folks that are here and your families, I’m sorry. It’s terrible what happened to your children and family members, but they are more likely, American citizens are more likely to be attacked by United States citizens who are not undocumented who came here and who were born here,” Cohen told Angel Families. “[Americans] are more likely to commit...

SNIP “Average gas prices in California have stayed below $5 for nearly two years. Trump’s new war is already rattling markets. We’re watching this space. Closely,” Newsom’s press office wrote on X, sparking derision from many. “Time to school the Pajama Boy who runs this account for the Gov – because this isn’t the flex on Trump he thinks it is,” the US Oil & Gas Association, a nonprofit trade association for the domestic oil and natural gas industry, wrote in response before taking the Democrat to task over what it branded Newsom’s mismanagement of California’s natural resources. SNIP California...

An illegal alien from Sierra Leone with over thirty arrests was charged with murder this week in the fatal stabbing of a Northern Virginia woman at a bus stop on a busy highway in the Hybla Velley area of Fairfax County just south of Alexandria last Monday evening. Police say Abdul Jalloh, 32, rode on the same bus as Stephanie Minter, 41, and was seen getting off the bus with her. Soon afterward police were called to the scene where Minter was found with multiple stab wounds to her upper body.

A Chicago man is accused of robbing a Red Line passenger last week while on electronic monitoring for robbing another CTA passenger last year. Incredibly, he was on electronic monitoring at the time of last year’s robbery, too. Shannon Stephens, 23, was arrested following the February 19 robbery of a 16-year-old boy on a Red Line train near Garfield, Chicago police said. He and 20-year-old Markell Harper, of Gary, Indiana, approached the boy while wearing ski masks and hoodies and demanded the victim’s scooter and its key, according to a CPD report. When the victim said he did not have...

A Somali driver caught barreling an “80-ton truck” the wrong way down a Missouri highway failed an English proficiency test — and wasn’t able to read road signs, authorities said. The trucker was filmed driving south in the northbound lanes on Highway 61 near Troy, about 55 miles outside of St. Louis, at 8 a.m. Wednesday before finally crossing over and heading the right way, terrifying video shared by US Transportation Security Sean Duffy on X shows. “We have learned that a truck driver with a Minnesota CDL who couldn’t read basic road signs spent MILES driving the wrong way...

After moving out of nearly a million square feet of office space in downtown Minneapolis’ City Center building five years ago, Target paid almost $110 million last month to officially break its lease that ran through 2031. Now the owner of the 51-story tower at 33 S. 6th St. — an entity tied to South Korean conglomerate Samsung — is preparing to list the property for sale, according to a Feb. 2 loan servicer report.

The former head of a San Francisco homelessness organization appeared in court on Tuesday after being accused of misappropriating $1.2 million and stealing $91,000 in public funds, the latest in a string of city nonprofit spending scandals in recent years. Gwendolyn Westbrook, who served as the CEO of the United Council of Human Services for two decades, faces nine felony charges related to the misuse and theft of city funds. She was booked into county jail late Monday and later posted bail. “Gwendolyn Westbrook enriched herself and misappropriated millions of dollars in public funding meant to benefit the community,” said...

Once again, the Radical Left’s favorite Squad member is substituting actual policy knowledge with absolute theatrical melodrama. As The Gateway Pundit reported, AOC delivered one of the most humiliating performances by a U.S. politician in modern history at the Munich Security Conference. She made a host of mind-boggling gaffes in response to simple questions while botching basic geography. In one instance, a moderator at the event asked AOC if the US should commit troops to defend against China, and she turned into a stuttering mess. “Um, you know, I think that, uh, this is such a, uh, you know, I...

Gov. Newsom to a black crowd in GA: "I am like you. I'm a 960 SAT guy. I can't read." Video at link.

Los Angeles City Hall looked less like the nerve center of America’s second-largest city Friday — and more like an abandoned office complex after a zombie apocalypse. Entire hallways with deserted offices. Corridors eerily silent. Parking garage empty besides the city hall guards. When the California Post visited City Hall Friday, the Office of Finance, a council liaison office, and the Los Angeles Housing Department were closed for business. Over the course of the day, about 50 Angelenos oblivious to the closure turned up to pay their bills or seek financial advice, only to find no staff to help them....

An accused pervert charged with grooming young girls in California has been linked to an extremist cult that wants to destroy civilization. Bryant Gonzalez from Downey, LA County, has been allegedly tied to “764,” an online network of creeps trying to tear apart society through the corruption and exploitation of minors. The network’s goals include social unrest and the downfall of the current world order, including the United States, according to the FBI. Gonzalez, 24, was busted in his hometown on Thursday and accused of sickening crimes against young girls aged 11 and 15. He allegedly groomed one of his...

Los Angeles Fire Department officials tried to run damage control for Mayor Karen Bass before releasing findings on how the city handled the devastating Palisades fire, according to a bombshell report. An unsigned, confidential memo flagrantly admits fire officials’ goal before releasing an October after-action report on the blaze was to protect Bass and others from a backlash, the Los Angeles Times first reported. “It’s our goal to prepare and protect Mayor Bass, the City, and the LAFD from reputational harm associated with the upcoming public release of its AARR, through a comprehensive strategy that includes risk assessment, proactive and...

An SUV used by the security detail for Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee was stolen after a thief found the keys for the vehicle in her office, sources tell KTVU.

Wall Street Apes@WallStreetApes7h WOW 🚨 California is tracking down former residents and making sure they actually left to try and collect taxesCalifornia is demanding full details on their move down to the vehicle used and moving invoices“How you know the state of California is hurting. This is the letter they just sent me — Please provide a brief narrative of events and circumstances surrounding you becoming a non-resident of California with your response. Provide the specific move out dates as it was not reported.7 years ago, California 540 non-resident return for each shipment of households, personal vehicle, Etc. Items from...

On Wednesday’s CNN This Morning, host Audie Cornish and her panel managed to recast enforcement of federal civil rights law under Donald Trump as “enforcing ideology,” while a Democratic consultant insisted that DEI “was never a problem” until Trump took office. [snip] Host Audie Cornish framed the issue this way: “What it means is the actual government now is involved in enforcing a different ideology, so to speak.” No. It means the federal government is enforcing the law. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination on the basis of race. Get the rest of the story and view the...

Washington state moved one step closer Monday to creating a personal income tax two years after the Legislature said it wouldn’t. Majority Democrats in the Senate advanced legislation on a 27-22 vote to tax households earning more than a million dollars. Passage of the bill followed a three-and-a-half hour debate on whether this will make for a fairer tax code or harm the economy and incite an exodus of Washington’s wealthy residents. House Speaker Laurie Jinkins, D-Tacoma, who watched the vote from the wings of the Senate, was all smiles as she returned to her chamber. “This is a place...