Free Republic

Not even an hour's drive southeast from the center of Chicago sits Gary, Indiana, a semi-apocalyptic shell of its former self. Originally founded in 1906, Gary, Indiana wasn't always the way it is now. During the middle of the 20th century, Gary was a booming steel town and a hub for the United States Steel Corporation. Domestic steel workers and newly-arrived immigrants flocked to the city for its economic opportunity, and during the 50's and 60's, Gary was thriving enough to rival other major industrial hubs like Chicago and Detroit. So how did this once-thriving center of industry collapse into...

Pennsylvania governor-elect Josh Shapiro, who rose to prominence by downplaying Republican claims of voter fraud, charged one of his former campaign consultants on Wednesday with "wide scale" forgery of voter ballots. Shapiro, in his capacity as Pennsylvania attorney general, alleges that Philadelphia political consultant Rasheen Crews duplicated more than 1,000 signatures on petitions to add his clients to Democratic primary ballots for Philadelphia city elections in 2019. "By soliciting and organizing the wide scale forgery of signatures, the defendant undermined the democratic process and Philadelphians’ right to a free and fair election," Shapiro said in a statement announcing the charges....

The second largest aluminum mill in the United States has idled operations, laying off about 600 American workers, due to “untenable” electricity and energy prices. In June, Century Aluminum Co. executives announced that they would idle the Hawesville, Kentucky aluminum mill for about 9 to 12 months as a result of skyrocketing prices to merely keep the plant’s lights on. Similarly, executives with two steel mills are suspending operations because they cannot afford the costs of energy to keep the plants open. This comes after executives warned federal regulators about debilitating energy prices months ago.

A Chicago man will most likely die in prison after being sentenced to 105 years for executing a 14 year-old runaway girl found dead in an alleyway after a sex attack. Deonlawshawn Simmons, 36, was found guilty in March 2022 of murdering 14-year-old Takaylah Tribbitt and dumping her body in an alleyway in Gary, Indiana. He was jailed April 14. The victim, who had run away from home and met Simmons - who claims to have fathered 25 children - just five days prior to her death, was found with her hands bound behind her back. Tribbitt had been sexually...

CHICAGO (CBS) — Firefighters in Gary, Indiana, put out multiple suspicious fires spanning miles across the city early Sunday morning. The fires were at several abandoned structures hit by what firefighters believe was an arsonist overnight. A city spokesperson said 15 to 18 structures were burned. One fire was at 8th Avenue and Tennessee and reignited Sunday morning, still smoldering with the front steps still standing and one wall just barely hanging on. Another fire was about a half mile away at 8th Avenue and Pennsylvania. Crews found another scene 2.5 miles away at 25th and Washington. Then five miles...

There are many disturbing, deviant and remarkable aspects to the recent Netflix series Jeffrey Epstein – Filthy Rich but one of the most troubling ones – is how little effort journalists and the various strands of law enforcement are making to find Ghislaine Maxwell. Even a cursory scratching at the surface of her persona and life leads to further questions. The end of any story-line or indeed investigation should come not when all the questions have been answered necessarily but when all the questions have been thoroughly asked. A quick example. Ghislaine Maxwell has made three US political donations in...

This Christmas, South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg sought to draw his followers to a sacred story that helps shape the presidential candidate’s worldview and politics. But the pushback he received — mostly from conservative Christians — illuminates how one of the burgeoning culture wars during the 2020 election is the meaning of Christianity. Buttigieg, an Episcopalian who often discusses his faith on the campaign trail, sought to tie the Nativity story to some of the issues dominating political discourse. He tweeted: “Today I join millions around the world in celebrating the arrival of divinity on earth, who came into...

Ohio planners will move full speed ahead on a proposed hyperloop system that would carry passengers between Pittsburgh and Chicago in about 58 minutes for a one-way cost of about $93. But the full system, known as Mid-West Connect, probably wouldn’t be finished until about 2050. Thea Walsh, director of transportation and funding for the Columbus, Ohio-based Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission, said this week the agency is putting the finishing touches on feasibility and environmental impact studies but has concluded it should pursue the hyperloop system. The system being developed by Virgin Hyperloop One would move passengers and freight in...

South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg weighed in Wednesday on the fetal remains found on a former abortion doctor’s property. The 2020 Democratic presidential candidate spoke to reporters about the 2,246 medically preserved fetal remains family members found on former Dr. Ulrich Klopfer’s property in Illinois after he died on Sept. 3. “I find that news out of Illinois extremely disturbing and I think it’s important that that be fully investigated,” Buttigieg said, according to a video from WSBT reporter Max Lewis. Klopfer ran clinics in Fort Wayne, Gary and South Bend, Indiana. “I also hope that it doesn’t get...

More than 2,200 preserved fetal remains were found on the property of a dead abortion doctor, the Will County Sheriff’s Office said Friday.The remains were found on the property of Dr. Ulrich Klopfer, who was described by the South Bend Tribune in 2016 as “likely Indiana’s most prolific abortion doctor.” Court records show Klopfer lived on Pine Court in Crete Township.An attorney for Klopfer’s family contacted the Will County Coroner’s Office on Thursday about the discovery of what appeared to be fetal remains, the sheriff’s office said in a news release.Klopfer died Sept. 3.Sheriff’s detectives and representatives from the coroner’s...

A 16-year-old from Gary was shot and killed Thursday while attempting to sell his Xbox. The teen, identified as Johnny Peluyera, was with his father when they met up with two men near 51st and Maryland streets to sell the teen’s Xbox. They arranged the meeting using an online sales app. The boy’s father said he knew something wasn’t quite right. He spotted a gun and tried to warn his son, but the teen was shot in the back as he tried to run back to his father’s car.

Saving up for a home's down payment can be a hefty task that's financially out of reach for many. But the town of Gary, Indiana has a special program to make home ownership easier by selling a handful of homes every year for just $1 apiece. Called the Dollar House Program, the initiative opens home ownership up to those who would not otherwise be able to afford a traditional mortgage sale, says Lakia Manley, the housing coordinator of Gary's Community Development Division. The program also addresses a chronic problem for the town. Since the 1960s, a decline in the steel...

Former President Barack Obama will appear in Gary on Sunday to rally support for early voting and Indiana Democratic Senator Joe Donnelly. Donnelly, the incumbent and a Democrat, faces Republican challenger Mike Braun in Tuesday's election. Obama will appear at the Genesis Convention Center in Gary. Doors will open at noon Central Time. Tickets are required for entry.

On Friday, former Gov. Gary Johnson offered a guarantee. “If Mitt Romney wants to be a part of the administration, that would be a guarantee.” The comments came at Friday’s joint Deseret News-KSL editorial board meeting with Johnson and Bill Weld. I asked Johnson what role, if any, Romney might play in a Johnson-Weld administration. Although the Libertarian nominee seemed to doubt whether Romney would really be interested, he said the former Republican presidential nominee would be free to, in essence, choose his own adventure. “I think [the position] would be for Mitt Romney to decide … and I say...

The assumption is that someone whose label is “Libertarian” has libertarian values and would promote them in office. In the case of Johnson, that notion is absurd. When Johnson took the tiller in New Mexico in 1995, the budget stood at $4.397 billion. When he left in 2003, it had grown to $7.721, an increase of 7.29 percent a year. Of the eleven governors who filed to run for president this year (two Democrats, Johnson, and eight Republicans), only one had a worse record on spending growth.... On civil liberties as with fiscal issues, Johnson’s record is less libertarian than...

(CBS) — A Chicago man is suing the state of Indiana and its road building contractors blaming them for a fiery accident on the Cline Avenue Bridge that killed his wife 14 months ago. It was March of last year when Iftikhar Hussain and his wife were driving from Chicago to West Lafayette, Indiana. Hussain’s attorney Timothy Schafer says the couple took the Indiana Toll Road and then the Cline Avenue exit, following the GPS in their Nissan Sentra. Schafer says even though the road was closed because the bridge ahead was demolished, the barricades had been removed and the...

Thanks to the Gary Sinise Foundation, retired Army Master Sgt. Cedric King and his wife and family have a new home. As reported on WSB-TV in Atlanta and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Sgt. King was on his third deployment in Afghanistan in 2012 when stepped on a pressure plate improvised explosive device (IED) and lost both legs. "The house I live in right now, you have to understand, I bought it before I went to Afghanistan," King told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "I never thought in a million years that house would not be enough ... I always thought it would be...

The Hoosier State may have some prominent sports franchises and the Indy 500, but it also has been declared as the state with the highest rate of black homicides. Of course, the gun control movement was quick to blame weak gun laws (via KPNX): Indiana has the highest rate of black homicide victims in the country, according to a study conducted by the national nonprofit Violence Policy Center. The study uses FBI homicide data to rank states according to their black homicide victimization rates. According to the study, there were 213 black homicide victims in Indiana in 2013, or 34.15...

In 2012 the Daily Caller Ran this article http://dailycaller.com/2012/04/11/america%E2%80%99s-most-dangerous-cities-are-run-by-democrats/ which showed that 8 out of 10 of the most dangerous cities in America were run by democrats. (other 2 independents) So I looked into and found the current ten cities with the highest murder rates. http://www.neighborhoodscout.com/top-lists/highest-murder-rate-cities/ And found the results are quite similar with at least 8 out of 10 of the most dangerous cities (ones with highest murder rates) still being run by democrats. 1 East St. Louis, IL (Emeka-Jackson Hicks,Democrat) 2 Camden, NJ (Donna Red, Democrat) 3 Gary, IN (Karen Freeman Wilson, Democrat) 4 Chester, PA (John A...

Marquette Park Beach lifeguard sleeping on the job On July 25th, 2015 my family was on the beach when we noticed a lifeguard sleeping. I decided to film her to hold her accountable. Gary, Indiana. VIDEO ONLY ON LINK