Free Republic

With Donald Trump’s election, it seems the lines have been drawn even more firmly between the left and right, between progressives and conservatives, between the religious and the irreligious. But interestingly, another line has been quietly drawn – or rather, been quietly deepened: the line between the urban and the rural. I’ve lived in both worlds, but I’ve never made any bones about where my allegiance lies: with rural America. Flyover country. Real America, as in the name of this column. Sadly, more and more people are fleeing rural areas and migrating to cities. According to a recent article in...

Two professors from San Diego State University claim in a new book that farmers’ markets in urban areas are weed-like “white spaces” responsible for oppression. Pascale Joassart-Marcelli and Fernando J Bosco are part of an anthology released this month titled “Just Green Enough.” The work, published by Routledge, claims there is a correlation between the “whiteness of farmers’ markets” and gentrification. “Farmers’ markets are often white spaces where the food consumption habits of white people are normalized,” the SDSU professors write, the education watchdog Campus Reform reported Wednesday.

A Michigan apple grower who posted on Facebook that he wouldn’t allow gay couples to get married at his farm filed a lawsuit against the city of East Lansing on Wednesday after he was shut out of an outdoor farmer’s market. The city said Stephen Tennes wasn’t invited back to the market because vendors must follow its civil rights ordinance, which bars discrimination. Tennes alleges that the city’s actions violate his rights to free speech and religion. Tennes’ farm, 22 miles away from East Lansing in Eaton County, is a popular place to have weddings. In a Facebook post in...

I don’t know about you butt I’m sick of the sick world and need a day off. Let’s go to the farmers market!In my neck of the woods it’s peak season…for lots of things. Tomatoes – heirloom or otherwise:Corn:Blueberries:Peppers, mild and HOT!Etc.Etc.Etc. If you can’t find something here to make you happy, you’re doing something wrong. So let’s get those summer recipes rolling – even if it’s just luscious ripe tomatoes,luxurious buratta (Bel Gioioso brand now available at Costco if you can eat 8 balls within a week – and who can’t?),fresh basil, olive oil and grilled bread.Toss in some...

The Sierra Vista Farmers Market has homemade, natural products for humans, but we also realize your pet is a very important part of your life and deserves the best. Don’t miss the special presentation about Natural Pet Wellness at noon this Thursday. Market vendor Zia Bischoff, who has over 40 years of experience working with animals, will discuss topics including natural wellness remedies, healing salves, and nutritional supplements for older dogs. She’ll explain the latest research on natural pet products, what’s in them, and why they are effective. Handouts about pet wellness will be available as well as an ice...

Yay For Vegetables AND Yay For Food Policy: First Lady Michelle Obama Gives A Stunning Speech At Opening of Farmers Market In addition to purchasing local foods, Mrs. Obama was "Tea Kettle Whistling" a heavy duty food policy agenda. And a look at the White House/USDA partnership... It was drizzling and cold, but that didn't stop hundreds of people from showing up yesterday for the opening of the new farmers market by the White House, which is on a street about a block from the Executive Mansion. The market's debut was the special event for the fourth day of USDA's...

Let's say you're preparing dinner and you realize with dismay that you don't have any certified organic Tuscan kale. What to do? Here's how Michelle Obama handled this very predicament Thursday afternoon: The Secret Service and the D.C. police brought in three dozen vehicles and shut down H Street, Vermont Avenue, two lanes of I Street and an entrance to the McPherson Square Metro station. They swept the area, in front of the Department of Veterans Affairs, with bomb-sniffing dogs and installed magnetometers in the middle of the street, put up barricades to keep pedestrians out, and took positions with...

Not long ago, the first lady planted the first seeds for the White House's own organic garden. Now the Obamas want to expand the idea to set up a farmers market just outside the White House. One aim of the market will be to help local farmers deliver fresh produce to D.C. school cafeterias, to encourage kids to make healthier choices in their diet. The president announced the plan at an interactive health care strategy meeting yesterday:"When it comes to food, one of the things that we are doing is working with school districts...Let's figure out how can we get...

The elderly driver who ran down and killed 10 people in an open air market in Santa Monica was convicted today of all criminal charges, decisively denying defense pleas for mercy. The verdict leaves to a judge the task of deciding whether George Russell Weller, 89, goes to prison for as long as 18 years. Weller will appeal the decision, defense attorney Mark Overland said. By their unanimous verdict, jurors rejected arguments that the aged driver made a mistake and found him guilty on 10 counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence for killing 10 people. He injured 68 others...

George Russell Weller sat in a wheelchair Tuesday, wearing a loosely knotted tie, and looked up at a huge projection of his car after he had driven through an open-air market three years ago, killing 10 people and injuring more than 60. One dead man was draped across the hood while another victim lay under the front wheels. ... But Deputy Dist. Atty. Ann Ambrose said witnesses reported that Weller appeared intent and drove his car through the crowded weekly market along Arizona Avenue at speeds in excess of 60 mph. Ambrose said the case is much more than an...

LANCASTER, Pa. (AP) - A Democratic city councilman is demanding that a baker remove photos of President Bush from his stand in Lancaster's farmers market, saying the city needs a "healing period" following the bitterly contested election. City Councilman Nelson Polite asked baker David Stoltzfus last month to remove the pictures. When Stoltzfus refused, Polite threatened to try to enact a city ordinance that would ban all political material from public places. "I just feel that since it was a close election and the city's so divided, that we should have a healing period," Polite told the New Era of...

LOS ANGELES -- An 87-year-old man will surrender to authorities Tuesday after being charged with manslaughter in the deaths 10 people killed when his car roared through a Santa Monica, Calif., Farmers' Market, his attorney said. George Russell Weller of Santa Monica faces 10 felony counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence stemming from the July 16 crash, the district attorney's office said. The accident also injured 63 people. Weller is charged in the deaths of Theresa Bregalia, 50, of Bronx, N.Y.; Brendon Esfahani, 7 months, of Los Angeles; Molok Ghoulian, 62, of Los Angeles; Gloria Gonzalez, 35, of Venice;...

Police Ask For Manslaughter Charges In Farmer's Market Crash 10 People Killed, 69 Injured In Tragedy POSTED: 3:10 PM PST December 17, 2003 UPDATED: 5:16 PM PST December 17, 2003 LOS ANGELES -- Santa Monica police will ask the district attorney to bring a manslaughter charge against an 86-year-old man whose car roared through a farmer's market in the beach-front city last summer, killing 10 people. The accident, which also injured 69 people, was the result of unsafe speed and other violations on the part of Russell Weller, Police Chief James T. Butts told reporters outside police headquarters late Wednesday...

SANTA MONICA, Calif. -- A preliminary California Highway Patrol report on the farmers market accident that killed 10 people says error by the elderly driver was the only possible cause, according to the Los Angeles Times. The first extensive investigation into the July 16 crash rules out mechanical failures and says no objects pressed down on the accelerator as 86-year-old George Russell Weller steered his car straight through the market, said the Times, which obtained a copy of the CHP report. CHP investigators said Weller had his "eyes open, hands on the steering wheel at the 10 o'clock and 2...

When George Russell Weller sped through a packed farmers market Wednesday in Santa Monica, Calif., the 86-year-old driver apparently stomped on the gas pedal when he meant to hit the brake. His confusion lasted for nearly three city blocks, cost 10 people their lives and injured dozens more. Even so, legal experts say, it might not constitute a crime. Tests showed no signs that Weller was under the influence of drugs or alcohol. His statements to police -- that he tried to stop the car, not floor it -- suggest his actions were unintentional. Might then his age be to...

CHP: Driver May Have Hit Car Before Farmers' Market Tragedy Both Vehicles Being Examined UPDATED: 11:59 a.m. PDT July 18, 2003 LOS ANGELES -- Police are investigating the possibility that the driver who plowed through Santa Monica's farmers market was speeding from the scene of a collision with a Mercedes before crashing through the market, killing 10 people and injuring dozens of others.

SANTA MONICA, Calif. -- Authorities in Santa Monica searched the home of 86-year-old Russell Weller Thursday. Police say the elderly driver plowed through an open-air market Wednesday, leaving nine people dead and more than 40 hurt. Santa Monica Police Chief James Butts said evidence shows Weller recently struck the back of his garage at least twice with his car. Authorities are investigating why Weller's car plowed through the crowded farmers market, killing nine and injuring up to 45 others -- and whether the driver was competent to be behind the wheel in the first place. Police said Russell Weller told...

<p>SANTA MONICA, Calif. — Authorities were investigating why an 86-year-old man's car plowed through a crowded farmers market (search), killing nine and injuring up to 45 others -- and whether the driver was competent to be behind the wheel in the first place.</p>