Free Republic

We all know them. People that abuse the system. People that work a few months of the year, just long enough to qualify for unemployment, and then jump on the unemployment bandwagon. Those that get food stamps to support their families despite being able bodied, often educated and capable of work. And, of course, the people that work “under the table” while receiving government aid intended for the truly needy. One such image sticks in our minds from a visit last year to a local softball game. Across the street was a truck distributing food for the needy. A brand...

Henrietta Hughes says she's not milking the system SOUTHWEST FLORIDA - A woman making national headlines after a tearful moment with President Obama has a new home. Thursday morning, Chene Thompson handed Henrietta Hughes the keys to her home in Hendry County. Thompson is the wife of State Representative Nick Thompson (R-District 73). Hughes and her son will live at the home rent free. At President Obama's town hall meeting in Fort Myers on Tuesday, Henrietta Hughes stood up and told the President she has been homeless since 2003 and can't find a job. She also says she's reach a...

UPDATE: Henrietta Hughes says she's not milking the system By Nick Spinetto, WINK News Story Created: Feb 12, 2009 at 5:10 PM EST Story Updated: Feb 13, 2009 at 1:41 PM EST SOUTHWEST FLORIDA - A woman making national headlines after a tearful moment with President Obama has a new home. Thursday morning, Chene Thompson handed Henrietta Hughes the keys to her home in Hendry County. Thompson is the wife of State Representative Nick Thompson (R-District 73). Hughes and her son will live at the home rent free. However, a local organization is coming forward saying Hughes isn't being honest...

Henrietta Hughes was offered a home by Chene Thompson, wife of State Representative Nick Thompson, who heard the homeless woman’s pleas for help to President Obama before a local and national crowd. The house is in LaBelle, the first home [Chene] Thompson bought after law school. She told Hughes, “Just give me the opportunity to help you.” Hughes broke down in front of thousands when she told the president that she and her son have been homeless for more than a year. They are living in a pickup truck.

HENRIETTA -- For almost 60 years, the dense red earth of Clay County covered both the body of Harold Eugene "Buddy" Vest and the secrets of his death. Now that earth has been removed. Vest's body lies in a forensic anthropologist's lab in Denton, awaiting examination. A death once thought to be a bizarre, autoerotic suicide could be a murder. And skeletons may rattle in a few closets in Gainesville. The chance that history may be rewritten in that town rose with Vest's coffin on April 23. Standing by, as that rusted casket was lifted from the ground of Hope...