Free Republic

The Maui fire’s human toll is already horrific: 115 people have been confirmed dead after a rapidly moving blaze swept across the west side of the Hawaiian island earlier this month, making it the deadliest wildfire in the United States in over a century. “No one has ever seen this that is alive today,” Maui police chief John Pelleiter said at a news conference Wednesday. “Not this size, not this number, not this volume — and we’re not done.” Officials expect that the number of dead will rise as rescue teams, including cadaver dogs, continue to search the destroyed town...

Standing in a park overlooking the east Sutherland village of Helmsdale, a statue depicts a young family from the 19th century. The father is looking out to the North Sea, while the mother faces inland - casting a final glance at her beloved Strath of Kildonan. The Emigrants is a tribute to the thousands of Highlanders who sailed to the New World after being evicted from their homes during the Clearances in the 19th century. Between 1807 and 1820, approximately 2000 people were removed from their homes in Kildonan to make way for more profitable sheep farming. These traumatic and...