Free Republic

ERIE, Pa. -- A man who soiled his underwear and tried to dispose of the evidence by tossing it over the fence of the city's largest reservoir has been fined $5,000. The city bomb squad and hazardous materials crew responded after an Erie Water Works employee spotted a black bag near the 33-million gallon Sigsbee Reservoir last month. The reservoir was shut down for several hours while the bomb squad X-rayed the bag and hazardous materials crews waited to test it. Police tracked down Troy Musil, 18, of Erie. He told police he'd been ill and soiled his underwear. He...

<p>March 16 (Bloomberg) -- Four suspect packages sent to diplomatic addresses in London on Monday contained substances initial tests showed to be ``non-hazardous,'' a Scotland Yard spokesman said.</p> <p>Police said earlier the packages were being treated as ``suspicious,'' and were first examined by anti-terrorist officers as a standard precaution.</p>

I always thought North Carolina was a conservative state. Sure, we have some fairly large cities, and plenty of liberal universities, but North Carolina is southern. Our state is mostly comprised of small towns that really are like “Mayberry” from the old “Andy Griffith Show.” We go to church, say sir and ma’am and can identify our third cousin twice removed. Our state is home to country musicians such as Lester Flatt, Doc Watson, Charlie Daniels and Randy Travis, and political leaders like Sen. Jesse Helms. Last week, I found out that North Carolina is more liberal than California! State...

LA police to begin limiting burglar alarm response Wednesday December 31, 2003 LOS ANGELES (AP) Police are to implement a new policy Thursday requiring that burglar alarms be verified before police respond if the home or business has already had at least two false alarms in a year. The plan by Mayor James Hahn also lets the city require customers buy $31 alarm permits and charge for responding to false alarms, starting at $95. The changes approved by the police commission in July was less drastic than a plan advanced a year ago, which would have ended police response...

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania May 8, 2003 For Immediate Release: Long-time Freeper William Wallace announced today that he has no complaints whatsoever about FreeRepublic. Wallace claims he harbors no animosity, deep-seated grudges or pathological hatred toward forum management and moderators. “I’m not as active on FR as I was during the Clinton years and the election controversy,” Wallace admitted. “I lurk a bit, but rarely post these days.” Wallace went through a period where he spent most of his free time here, but now mainly uses the forum as another news source and antidote to the mainstream media spin. “For the most...

BALTIMORE (AP) - Maryland's first Amber Alert was canceled Wednesday after police said the father of a missing 2-month-old girl fabricated a story that she was taken by an unlicensed taxi driver. Police continued to search for the infant, A'Shia Jenkins. They declined to say whether the father, 20-year-old Kenneth Jenkins, is considered a suspect in Tuesday's disappearance. Jenkins told police he got into a taxi with A'Shia and her twin sister, but the driver pulled over several blocks later and demanded money at gunpoint. The father told investigators the driver told him to get out, and he was able...

<p>SYDNEY, Australia (AP) -- A box of smelly tropical fruit sprinkled with carpet deodorizer sparked an aviation alert in Australia on Thursday.</p> <p>A Virgin Blue flight from the eastern city of Brisbane was delayed by four hours after cargo handlers noticed a pungent smell coming from the plane's baggage hold.</p>

HOUSTON (Reuters) - A Dallas-bound American Airlines jet returned to Houston Intercontinental Airport shortly after takeoff on Wednesday after a flight attendant mistook a passenger's comb for a knife. The incident highlighted a national case of nerves prompted by the first anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks by hijacked commercial airliners in which 3,044 people died, including the 19 hijackers. American Airlines Flight 1702 turned around shortly after takeoff from Houston and flew back with an escort of two F-16 fighter jets, Houston airport spokesman Ernie DeSoto said. "There were never any threats made or anything, but the pilot decided...