Free Republic

In a post on his Instagram feed, and concurrently on a website, former U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock says he’s gay. He confirmed the post’s authenticity in a text message, and said he would let the statement speak for itself. The former Peoria Republican, who served on the city’s School Board, in the state Legislature, and into his fourth term in Congress, made the following post: I am gay. For those who know me and for many who only know of me, this will come as no surprise. For the past year, I have been working through a list of people...

I think Trump can win Illinois in the fall. It used to be a key swing state, if not, THE swing state before 2004 realigned everything. The last Republican to win IL was either Reagan or Bush in the eighties. Can Trump contest it?

BELLEVILLE — The St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department is investigating an incident in which police say an armed intruder was shot twice in an apartment Tuesday afternoon. Police say that just before 4:30 p.m., a 20-year-old armed man tried to steal a woman's car in a parking lot near Elmway Court. He wasn't able to steal the car, according to police. The man went to a nearby apartment building, breaking several windows, and held a group of people inside an apartment at gunpoint, they say.

Car dealers may have a busy New Year’s Eve if Illinoisans try to beat a significant sales tax expansion on vehicle trade-ins that starts in 2020. The state currently collects no sales tax on a car’s trade-in value, which acts as credit toward a new vehicle purchase. By law, sales tax only applies to the difference between trade-in value and the new vehicle’s purchase price. That changes Jan. 1. Under Senate Bill 690, signed June 28 by Gov. J.B. Pritzker, state and local sales tax will be applied to any trade-in value above $10,000. The new tax is expected to...

"Shut up, I don't want to hear what you have to say." That sums up today's Democratic Party in a nutshell.There's nothing quite like a 2 way discussion where 1 person just needs to shut up......that's how you solve disagreements. This mental illness is spreading like a virus across this nation. I don't think it's merely the dumbing down of the population.

A federal grand jury indicted Illinois State Sen. Thomas Cullerton this morning on embezzlement charges related to a job with Teamsters Local Union 734. Prosecutors allege he received $275,000 in salary, bonuses, health and pension benefits for “little or no work” as a union organizer. The Villa Park senator, 49, worked for the union before assuming office in November 2012. In a statement, Cullerton’s attorney denied any wrongdoing and suggested Cullerton was the victim of Teamsters boss John Coli. Coli is cooperating with federal investigators as part of a plea deal in an extortion case related to Cinespace Studios on...

On 14 July, 2019, there was one of the frequent shootings on Chicago's West Side, in the Austin Neighborhood. A 22-year-old was killed. Bullets also hit State Representative La Shawn Ford's car. Representative Ford (D-Chicago), has been ambivalent about concealed carry in the City. He has been a representative for the past 12 years. He ran for mayor in 2019 but lost the election. In 2011, he was ambivalent about a concealed carry permit bill. He eventually voted present rather than vote against it. Representative Ford sponsored and passed a bill creating a Violence Prevention Task Force in 2013.La Shawn...

CHICAGO (Sun-Times Media Wire) - A concealed carry holder shot and critically wounded someone who approached him with a gun Monday in Little Village on the Southwest Side. He was walking into an apartment alley about 4:15 p.m. when a man approached him in the 2500 block of South California Avenue and took out a handgun, Chicago police said. The man, 25, took out his own gun and shot the 20-year-old in his head, police said. He was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in critical condition. The older man was uninjured and showed officers a valid firearms ownership card and...

SPRINGFEILD, Ill. (WLS) -- A controversial abortion bill has cleared a house committee in Springfield and has now been sent to the full Illinois House, where it is being debated Monday. The state's Human Services Committee passed the Reproductive Health Act bill in a rare late night Sunday meeting. The measure had been stalled for months. The bill would remove abortion restrictions in Illinois, repealing both the state's Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act and the Illinois Abortion Act of 1975. It also would expand insurance coverage for procedures and contraception. Proponents say the new bill modernizes Illinois' reproductive rights. "RHA...

By Sunday evening of Memorial Day weekend, Chicago police had responded to the shootings of 34 people, five of whom died of their injuries, officials said. The grim tally grew as a shooting Sunday about 6 a.m. in the 1300 block of West Hastings Street left two dead and three injured. The shooting was possibly in retaliation for an earlier one in the same University Village neighborhood where large crowds had gathered, and which also left a man dead, investigators said. (snip) Guglielmi said detectives are questioning four people of interest in connection with the shooting of five people on...

Illinois Republicans unhappy at the influence the Democrat-controlled city of Chicago holds over the state are looking at trying to blow the Windy City out of the state altogether -- despite the long odds that such a push would face. A new report by Pew Trusts' Stateline shines light on an effort by the state’s GOP to turn the state red by turning the blue city into its own state.

Sales Now Skyrocketing A sticker at an Illinois hamburger restaurant is getting a lot of attention. A bumper sticker at Gross Burgers says, “If you can’t read this, thank a Marine.” There is Arabic writing on the sticker. The owner of Gross Burgers, Brad Gross,says the sticker has been up for YEARS, given to him by a marine who served in Iraq. He’s never had a problem until now. According to WCIA-TV: Some say this message is offensive because it makes it seem like there’s something wrong with speaking Arabic–or we are protected from people who speak Arabic because of...

Jussie Smollett is the victim of an out of control media and social media storm and the "Empire" star is suffering profound emotional issues from simply telling the truth about the "attack" ... so says his brother. Jojo Smollett says Jussie is "violently awakening from night terrors, following the assault" ... so he says in an op-ed piece for BET. Jojo calls claims that Jussie staged the attack "ludicrous," adding he has been insanely successful and didn't need a phony reason to boost his career opportunities or salary. Jussie's brother says there are plenty of people who support the actor...

A very interesting Second Amendment case has developed in the Illinois state court system. The case challenges the requirement to qualify for, pay for, and have in possession, an Illinois Firearm Owner Identification card (FOID), to legally possess a firearm in the home for the purposes of self defense. The case is very clear. The Illinois court ruled the requirement to have an FOID was unconstitutional. From illinoiscarry.com:This is a case in my own circuit court that we have been monitoring for the past year. The court ruled the FOID Act unconstitutional in regards to the licensing and taxing...

We need your help to encourage our state lawmakers to reject two extreme abortion bills. No American should be forced by its government to violate their deeply held convictions. That is why pro-life organizations from across the state are calling for a Rally & Lobby Day on March 20th at our state Capitol in Springfield.

The Aurora murderer at the Henry Pratt Co. valve manufacturing plant in Illinois was a prohibited possessor of firearms. He had been convicted of aggravated assault in Mississippi in 1995, for stabbing a woman. He was about 22 years old at the time. Characters are pretty well formed by the time you are 22. The murderer had been arrested six times in Aurora for traffic and domestic battery incidents, the last in 2008. He was arrested in 2017, in Oswego, Illinois, for disorderly conduct and property damage.  No convictions were listed during this period. He originally passed a background...

20th Century Fox Television and Fox Entertainment have voiced their support for “Empire” star Jussie Smollett after it was reported the actor and musician staged an attack on himself in Chicago. Chicago media had previously reported that Smollett staged the attack because he was being written off of the Fox series. However the Chicago P.D. said the reports of a hoax are still unconfirmed. “The idea that Jussie Smollett has been, or would be, written off of ‘Empire’ is patently ridiculous,” the network and studio said in a joint statement. “He remains a core player on this very successful series...

The Illinois Republican Party is calling for Democratic state Rep. Stephanie Kifowit to resign after she wished an infectious disease upon a GOP colleague’s family. Kifowit directed the remark at Republican state Rep. Peter Breen during a contentious debate Tuesday over a bill to help families impacted by an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease at a state-run veterans home, according to the Chicago Sun Times.

More than five weeks after a gunman shot and killed two people in Rogers Park, apparently at random, the reward for information to help solve the case has been raised to $150,000. The reward, boosted by donations from residents and businesses, is believed to be the largest offered in Chicago for a crime suspect, according to police officials. It had been $23,000.

Image from NBCchicago.com On Thursday, about 5 p.m., 13 September, of 2018, police in Cicero, Illinois engaged in a gunfight with a suspect after a traffic stop. One officer was hit four times.  A legally armed citizen came to the aid of the police and engaged the suspect. The suspect was hit once and taken into custody.  From chicagosuntimes.com: The suspect kept running and shooting at the officers as Duarte and his partner returned fire, officials said. That’s when someone sitting in traffic on Cicero Avenue got out of his car and began shooting at the suspect as well,...