Free Republic

It is inconceivable to me that we do not hold people accountable before they run for office. True the Ballot is in the process of being established to change that. The link above is to a website under construction. It gives a good idea of what this is about. Starting in St. Joseph County, Indiana, anyone who took the oath of office will be put on notice: We know who you are, and your name will be publicly available as to your grade in taking and passing our examination or ignoring it as if the oath is a mere technicality...

A teacher whom an Indiana school district fired over his religious beliefs opposing radical transgender ideology will be allowed to take the district to court. The 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled in John Kluge’s favor and reversed a previous district court ruling in a win for First Amendment rights. Brownsburg Community School Corporation fired Kluge, a music teacher, for refusing to use pronouns based on a student’s alleged gender identity instead of biological sex. Kluge cited his religious beliefs, which Brownsburg did not accept as an excuse. Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), whose attorneys were defending Kluge, was thrilled...

The Planned Parenthood abortion business is closing yet another center — the 19th center this year. Planned Parenthood’s Evansville, Indiana center, a facility long targeted by pro-life advocates, will permanently close its doors to in-person appointments on Sept. 4. The decision marks a significant victory for the pro-life movement in Southwest Indiana. The closure, announced by Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawai’i, Alaska, Indiana, Kentucky (PPGNHAIK), comes amid what the abortion organization describes as mounting financial and political pressures. The decision to shutter the clinic at 125 N. Weinbach Ave. follows years of advocacy from groups like Right to Life of...

AVON, Ind. — Federal immigration authorities made 20 arrests during a traffic blitz in Avon on Tuesday, sources tell FOX59/CBS4. Those sources said Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) worked with the Avon Police Department to conduct several dozen traffic stops throughout the town to detain illegal immigrants. There are no police reports from Avon police documenting the arrests and they do not appear in the Hendricks County Jail public log. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) confirmed they were part of the operation. “We did not conduct traffic stops as the FBI is not authorized to conduct those,” a spokesperson...

Though she has claimed the DIGNITY Act is not amnesty legislation, her own words undercut that defense.Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, R-Fla., admitted in a recent interview that her DIGNITY Act could serve as a launchpad for eventually granting citizenship to hundreds of thousands of foreign nationals currently in the United States.The DIGNITY Act, according to a press release from Salazar’s office, “allows certain long-term undocumented immigrants to earn legal status, without amnesty or a path to citizenship” so that illegal aliens who broke the law can have an “opportunity.” The bill would create a “7-year earned legal status program allowing”...

FRANKLIN — A cold case from 1994 that captured national attention was the focus of a significant update from Franklin Police on Monday. The press conference took place at the gravesite of the infant known as Baby Hope, located in Greenlawn Cemetery, marking the first major update on the murder case in several years. On April 13, 1994, two boys searching through a trash can in Temple Park in Franklin for aluminum cans stumbled upon the body of a newborn infant. The preliminary investigation revealed that the baby had been stabbed to death shortly after her birth. The discovery shocked...

In one of the first nationwide hypothetical polls for the 2028 Democratic presidential primary, Illinois Governor and billionaire JB Pritzker ranks at the bottom, receiving the lowest level of support from minority voters as prominent Democrats begin preparing for potential campaigns. On Friday, the well-regarded Emerson College Polling released new results showing former U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg leading the Democratic field with 16 percent support. Former Vice President Kamala Harris follows at 13 percent, with California Governor Gavin Newsom close behind at 12 percent. JB Pritzker, billionaire heir to the Hyatt Hotel fortune who invested over $350 million of...

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — An Indianapolis church is calling for members of the LGBTQ+ community to be put to death or to kill themselves. Local faith leaders are condemning the message. The call was made during a recent sermon titled “Pray the Gay Away” inside Sure Foundation Baptist Church on the northwest side of the city. “There’s nothing good to be proud about being a f*****. You ought to blow yourself in the head, in the back of the head. You’re so disgusting,” Stephen Falco said from the pulpit. He was speaking during the church’s “Men’s Preaching Night.” The event was...

Across the country, American factories are reopening. Companies are returning home. Jobs are being created. Under Donald Trump’s leadership, U.S. manufacturing is seeing a revival. Tariffs on foreign goods, tax incentives for domestic production, and fewer federal regulations have caused a shift. Major corporations are pulling operations out of China and Mexico and bringing them back to American soil. Kentucky. Alabama. Indiana. Texas. South Carolina. These states are attracting billions of dollars in new manufacturing investments. Thousands of new jobs are being created. But Illinois is being left out—and Governor JB Pritzker’s tax-heavy policies are a major reason why.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - A 15-year-old accused of raping a 7-year-old on a school bus in central Indiana has now been charged as an adult, according to NBC-affiliate WTHR. WTHR reported a judge in Jennings County waived Landon Doty, of North Vernon, to adult court. According to court documents, the victim suffers from “moderate to severe autism” and is non-verbal. The family of the victim said he was sexually assaulted multiple times on his school bus. Court documents say the alleged crimes took place on the bus while being taken to school in the morning/afternoon in front of other children....

Audrey vanished in 1962 after a babysitter said they took a bus from Madison to Indianapolis. She was never seen again, until she resurfaced 60 years later at age 82A woman who vanished 60 years ago has been found alive at the age of 82, leaving her family and authorities stunned. Audrey Backberg, who disappeared from her Wisconsin home in 1962, has resurfaced, claiming she has “no regrets" about her decision. Audrey was just 20 years old when she vanished. Her disappearance led to a frantic search by her family and local police, which eventually turned into a ‘cold...

The stunning downward spiral of Michael Madigan’s political career ended Friday with a 7 1/2-year prison sentence and a $2.5 million fine for the former Illinois House speaker and the longest-serving legislative leader in U.S. history after he was convicted of trading legislation for the enrichment of his friends and allies. U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey sentenced the 83-year-old in U.S. District Court in Chicago. Nicknamed the “Velvet Hammer” for his quiet but hard-nosed style, Madigan was convicted in February on 10 of 23 counts in a remarkable corruption trial that lasted four months. The case churned through 60...

Hundreds of billions of screaming insects are emerging from the ground throughout the US in a jarring sight that hasn't taken place in 17 years. The long-awaited cicada invasion is here, and the bugs have already been spotted hatching in at least three states: Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee. Scientists are also expecting billions more to emerge at any moment in Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia. This startling awakening of cicadas is referred to as Brood XIV. The insects last appeared in 2008, and now the next window in their synchronized...

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WISH) — A 19-year-old woman has been arrested in Evansville after police say they found destructive devices in her backpack that she wanted to use at her old high school. On Thursday, an Evansville Police Department officer took Ahnna Tipton to a hospital for an evaluation. During the intake process, a hospital police officer found a suspicious item in Tipton’s backpack, EPD said in a release. The officer said it looked like a “pill bottle wrapped in duct tape with a matchstick sticking out of the lid” and a piece of cloth attached. The officer then found...

A mother shot and wounded a convicted child molester after she found him allegedly trying to rape her 12-year-old daughter inside an Indianapolis motel room Saturday, according to reports. The mother walked in on Bruce Pierce, of Indianapolis, allegedly on top of her child as the preteen repeatedly said no, leading up to the gunfire at the Baymont Inn, court documents state. The young victim’s grandmother told police that Pierce had been talking with the 12-year-old online and over the phone, trying to persuade her to leave town with him, according to the documents obtained by WTHR Wednesday.

The WNBA concluded its investigation into allegations that fans taunted Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese with racist slurs during their season-opening game against the Fever in Indiana last week. The league concluded that the reports of racial taunts could “not be substantiated.” Now, a U.S. senator from Indiana thinks Reese owes fever fans an apology. Jim Banks (R, IN) called on Reese to apologize to Fever fans for accusing them of being racists. “Angel Reese owes Indiana fans an apology,” the senator wrote. While there is some ambiguity over whether Reese herself made the initial complaint, sparking the investigation. There...

Former Vice President Mike Pence said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that President Donald Trump should not accept a jet from Qatar to use as the next Air Force One. Pence said, “First, we’ve got to remember who Qatar is. We’ve got a military base there. I have members of our immediate family that have deployed to the region. But Qatar has a long history of playing both sides. They support Hamas. They supported Al Qaeda. Qatar has actually financed pro-Hamas protests on American campuses across the United States.” Host Kristen Welker said, “So you are saying President Trump...

The banking industry is attempting to take programs from Indiana’s state treasurer because he works to protect Christians and conservatives. ndiana lawmakers amended a proposal that had attempted to give some of state Treasurer Daniel Elliott’s powers to big banks angered by his strong defense of taxpayers, Christians, and conservatives. Yet the program is still at risk of being turned over to the state’s powerful banking lobby, which has donated to all the politicians who control the $3 billion local investment pool targeted by the changes. The provision inserted by Republican Sen. Travis Holdman, a former bank CEO, initially attempted...

S’Doni Pettis, a black career criminal “on probation after serving time for aggravated battery” (a downgraded charge as Pettis was facing attempted murder) reportedly led police on a high-speed pursuit in a stolen vehicle in February, a chase which ended almost as soon as it began: In less than 30 seconds, Pettis had “slammed” into an SUV with a father and his two young children on their way home from a pediatric check-up. The car “exploded into a fireball,” allegedly killing little 2-month-old Iris instantly, and burning the three-year-old Ares so badly, he died from his injuries shortly after.

When Pete Buttigieg was the Secretary of Transportation under President Biden (and whoever was actually making the calls at the White House during that time), one of the more glaring examples of bloated bureaucracy came in the form of what was required in order to qualify for government grants for infrastructure projects: Shortly after taking office, the president signed an executive order mandating that the beneficiaries of 40 percent of all federal climate and environmental programs should come from "underserved communities." The order also established the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council, which monitors agencies such as the Department of...