Free Republic

Woman opens beach with 1776 flag. Click link for video

MANILA (Reuters) - At least 11 people have been killed and more than 300 treated in hospital after drinking coconut wine in the Philippines, including some who were celebrating at a Christmas party, health and local authorities said on Monday. The poisoning occurred in Laguna and Quezon, two provinces south of Manila, and all had consumed lambanog, a drink popular in provinces and consumed widely during holidays and celebrations. Many were admitted to hospitals on the urging of mayor Vener Munoz in Rizal, Laguna, where the deaths occurred between Thursday and Sunday.

LAGUNA BEACH, Calif. (FOX 11) - Pride and patriotism were on full display in Laguna Beach Tuesday night where a crowd packed City Hall to throw their support behind the new USA-themed decals on Laguna Peach Police Department patrol vehicles. There was even a moment during the meeting where most people broke out in song, belting out the Star Spangled Banner. **SNIP** But apparently, not everyone loved it. The decals prompted criticism from a small minority of the public who said the stars and striped are offensive, and aggressive, particularly to immigrants.

Residents of a California beach community witnessed a surprising incident as a small boat packed with illegal aliens made landfall. The migrants made their way to the beach resort located about 100 miles from the Mexican border in a small panga boat. Officials with the Laguna Beach Police Department tweeted a video showing the boat making landfall early Thursday morning and 13 illegal aliens running on shore. Police say that U.S. Border Patrol agents responded quickly and took custody of seven of the migrants and two suspected human smugglers who were allegedly waiting to pick up the migrants, the Orange...

My husband, Art Laguna, was a hero. He was a man of honor -- he kept his word and he valued truth and honesty, and he expected no less from anyone else. His life was spent in service to his country and his family. Here at home, Art served as a sheriff's reserve deputy. He was a volunteer helicopter pilot and flew medical evacuation missions with the California National Guard out of Sacramento 's Mather Field. He was the father of four and grandfather of six. Art was proud of his three-decade career with the U.S. Army and the National...

LAGUNA BEACH - A 19-year-old woman was jailed on suspicion of hitting her boyfriend with her purse Sunday at about 2 p.m. on Cliff Drive. A Laguna police officer was driving by and began videotaping the incident, according to Laguna Beach Sgt. George Ramos. The boyfriend tried to restrain her from swinging her purse at him, but she began hitting him again, this time with her hands and fists, police said. At that point, the officer intervened, made them both sit on the curb, and then took the woman into custody. Apparently, the couple, who live together in Paramount, had...

On election eve when much of the country was transfixed by the nation's political races, a hastily assembled panel of school board candidates sat uneasily on stage at the Laguna Beach Women's Club. Facing them was an audience of parents looking for answers. Not answers about academic standards, curriculum or school funding, but answers on where candidates stood on something far more divisive: MTV. ~snip~ The politics of "Laguna Beach" and residents' race to condemn and distance themselves from the series, which is filmed off campus, reflects the depth of resentment the series has engendered here. At the same time,...

STA. CRUZ, Laguna (philippines)— Only three months since a radio announcer was gunned down in Lucena City, another hard-hitting newsman was silenced by an assassin’s bullet here on Tuesday night. Noel Villarante, 32, columnist of Laguna Score, a community paper here, and a broadcaster of local radio station dzJV, was gunned down in front of his house at about 6:45 p.m. Chief Inspector Josemarte Paras, Sta. Cruz police chief, said Villarante could have survived the attack if the gunman had not returned to finish him off. Villarante was first shot in the chest as he emerged from his house in...