Free Republic

In early 2020, Mandi Fugate Sheffel, 42, opened a tiny bookstore in her hometown of Hazard, in eastern Kentucky. Everyone thought she was crazy. Downtown Hazard was a forbidding place to start any business, much less a bookstore. The coal mines that once supported the area had closed over the past few decades. Many brick buildings from Hazard’s heyday were gone, bequeathing a gap-toothed look to Main Street. The rest were empty or occupied by attorneys and bail bondsmen. What’s more, Fugate Sheffel couldn’t afford a website or employees. She had never run a business before. And she had a...

REEDLEY – When Reedley code enforcement officers investigated a warehouse at 850 I Street on March 3 over an illegally attached garden hose, they had no idea what massive medical violations they would go on to uncover. “It was pretty clear right off the bat that something was going on we didn’t have a business license for,” Reedley City Manager Nicole Zieba said. “They didn’t have any city approvals; that building was supposed to be vacant.” [snip] Over 900 mice were located at the facility. Court documents identify Wang Zhaolin as the Prestige representative onsite during the investigation. Zhaolin informed...

[Video 7:38] Human Feces, Other Biohazards on San Diego Sidewalks Cost City Nearly $1 Million Every Year NBC 7’s Alexis Rivas takes a look at the issues behind filth on public streets, and the price tag for cleaning it up. NBC Universal, Inc. Taxpayers in San Diego spend nearly $1 million each year sanitizing sidewalks from biohazards, including needles, personal hygiene waste and human feces. It’s a problem that is not only gross, it's also a major public-health threat some say the city isn’t doing enough to fix. “Maybe this is really gross,” said Sherman Heights resident Essence McConnell, “but...

The mayor of Hazard, Kentucky, who is also the principal of Hazard High School, was seen receiving a lap dance from a scantily clad male high school student during a “man pageant” at a school assembly. Other staff members at the high school were also seen receiving lap dances from male students. “The incident is under investigation, and as you know, anything under investigation I really can’t talk about,” Hazard Independent Superintendent Sondra Combs told the Lexington Herald-Leader on Wednesday. Photos showcasing homecoming activities at Hazard High School were reportedly circulated on social media. The photos appear to show scantily...

Winding through green forested hills, the road to Meadowbrook Mobile Home Park in York County is nestled with brown-paneled trailers and potholes half-filled with jagged concrete. Sue Ritter has lived here for more than 40 years, before the pipes began to break, leaving faucets dry for days and causing sewage backups to soak the floors. Several trailers, constructed with cheap material and wood additions, have caught fire in recent years. When workers in large trucks began barreling down these roads in 2017, hollowing out part of the forest for Sunoco’s Mariner East pipeline project, it seemed like another nuisance the...

Apologies for the poor Bard imitation (too many syllables). But there's been a question floating around conservative internet commentary circles of late: how much of right-wing advocacy focuses on triggering leftists over making substantive philosophical points? In a profile piece for the The Atlantic on White House senior adviser Stephen Miller, reporter McKay Coppins recounts the rise of President Trump's wonky mischief-maker. "Miller represents a rising generation of conservatives for whom 'melting the snowflakes' and 'triggering the libs' are first principles," Coppins writes. "What happens when those right-wing trolls grow up to run the world?" he asks, almost hesitantly.

BEIJING (Reuters) - The U.S. navy's latest collision at sea, the fourth in its Pacific fleet this year, shows it is becoming an increasing risk to shipping in Asia despite its claims of helping to protect freedom of navigation, an official Chinese newspaper said. The USS John S. McCain and the tanker Alnic MC collided while the guided-missile vessel was nearing Singapore on Monday. The collision tore a hole in the warship's port side at the waterline, flooding compartments that included a crew sleeping area. Ten sailors are missing. The collision - the fourth major accident in the U.S. Pacific...

SIERRA VISTA — The Cochise County Sheriff’s Office has corralled more than a dozen donkeys and shipped them off for auction after their previous owner repeatedly let them loose to wander the Naco area. Animal control officers and livestock agents with the Arizona Department of Agriculture recently rounded up 19 of the animals, which have caused everything from traffic hazards to property damage, with reports to the sheriff’s office dating back to last summer, said Carol Capas, spokeswoman for the sheriff’s office. “They would be in the roadway or near the roadway, on people’s private property and causing damage,” Capas...

Watching the celebration at the NRA convention over the defeat of background checks was the most nauseating experience of the day. I am not a New York gun control liberal, either. I support a shotgun for home defense, a handgun for limited conceal/carry, and an assortment of hunting rifles to balance West Virginia's exploding deer population (as evidenced by hourly collisions with cars). So, I am hardly out of the mainstream. But, the gun safety debate is B.S. This foaming at the mouth, Obamar is coming for the guns, Nanny Bloomberg is a bad billionaire, and most despicable of all,...

In a bizarre op-ed in The Charleston Gazette last week, journalism professor Christopher Swindell argued that the National Rifle Association “advocates armed rebellion against the duly elected government of the United States of America.” Stirring words, to be sure, but Swindell was hardly done — not even close. He also said that the NRA is guilty of “treason” “worthy of the firing squad.” “To support the new NRA president’s agenda of arming the populace for confrontation with the government is bloody treason,” Swindell charged in his wacky essay. After briefly playing the race card and alluding to the Civil War,...

An oldie from way back in September 2012. Seems so long ago. I think the point of the song / video is that some kind of tax hikes are needed along with spending cuts to avoid the fiscal cliff. They call tax hikes broadening the base and eliminating loopholes. Both Romney and Obama want to tax the rich. It's just that Romney wants to cut spending. Watch for Obama calling out Romney on extreme spending cuts in the next debate. And think about the Boomers who will be taxed so they can pay for their own entitlements in the next...

They will now only get the $7.50 daily proration for the individual days they are actually serving in harm’s way instead of for the whole month. (DOD) Barack Obama cut pay for military men and women serving in harm’s way starting this month. The Army Times reported: Starting this month, some troops will begin receiving less Imminent Danger Pay when a new policy takes effect that will prorate the standard $225 monthly IDP stipend. Under the new policy, troops will be paid only for the actual days they spend in the danger pay location, defense officials said Thursday. Under the...

On Saturday, dozens of people protested the actions of a city employee, who allegedly removed two gay men with disabilities from a facility run by the city of Hazard. In a report released by the city, a lifeguard at the Pavilion alleges the men were repeatedly hugging and kissing. Facility officials say this is inappropriate for both heterosexual and homosexual couples. However, the Kentucky Equality Federation says the men were only sitting on each other's laps, and they were discriminated against. Dozens from across the Commonwealth came to support the two gay men, who were allegedly thrown out of the...

Okmok on August 3. It's gotten less active since this big day. Larsen, Jessica. Image courtesy of the AVO/UAF-GI. Kastochi: Aviation hazard code is RED Google Earth image showing AVHRR image of volcanic cloud (band 4) from Kasatochi, and earthquakes located in the region. Note: coastlines are slightly mis-registered in this image. To download a .kmz file of AVO located earthquakes, see this page: http://www.avo.alaska.edu/earthquakes/ . Picture Date: August 07, 2008 Image Creator: Bailey, John Image courtesy of the AVO/UAF-GI and USGS. Quickbird true-color satellite image of Kasatochi Island collected on April 9, 2004. Image copyright Digital Globe. Picture Date:...

Picked this up from an email forward from an old friend. We, too, switched over to CF lamps over 5 years ago and did have one of the early ones overheat and melt down but caught it before it flashed up. Just passing along the disturbing photos found at the listed link FYI to keep Algore from roasting any fellow Freepers. http://www.execulink.com/~impact/pur-lite_pro-9000X.htm

"Pre-emptive war" got us into a real mess in Iraq. So maybe we ought to think twice before adopting similar measures when it comes to traffic law. Specifically, when it comes to an idea floated by Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) to require that all new cars be fitted with an ignition interlock that can detect alcohol in the driver's system -- and shut the car down if it does. Several large automakers (including GM, Ford, Toyota and Honda) also support the idea -- and are working on ways to get these things into new cars, maybe within the next...

Defense issued anthrax alert A female employee at Norway's Defense has undergone preventative treatment after opening an envelope that contained white powder. The incident took place at Jåttå in Stavanger, at a military base that houses both NATO's training center and the Norwegian Defense Joint Operative Headquarters. The envelope, sent from the USA, was addressed to American representatives. "The police have been called in and they took the powder, which is now sent for analysis," press spokesman Erling Kristiansen at DJOH told newspaper VG. The woman, a civilian employee, is being treated as a precaution as the Defense cannot rule...

Link above or this shows pictures from the ongoing activity of Augustine, which was a bit more vociferous this past weekend and yesterday. Augustine Images -- 2006 Related thread: Geology Pictures of the Week, Jan 29-Feb 4, 2006: Augustine (AK) Eruption and Kootenai Falls, MT

I posted this as the Geology Picture of the Week, but I felt that it's "newsworthy" enough for the Activism side. Geology Picture of the Week, December 18-24, 2005: Augustine Volcano Erupts (Alaska)

Senate says LNG siting should be federal decision 6/23/2005, 7:15 a.m. CT The Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has voted to let the federal government override states' objections to the location of liquefied natural gas terminals. Supporters argued that L-N-G imports will help meet a growing demand for natural gas and lower prices. But opponents of the provision, part of a wide-ranging energy bill the Senate hopes to complete this week, said states should get more of a say in locating terminals because of concerns about tanker spills and terrorists. An amendment that would have given governors the...