Free Republic

The masked man robbed a 7-Eleven store in La Mesa while wearing the creepy Halloween gearPolice are searching for a man who allegedly wore a “bloody clown face” mask during an armed robbery at a 7-Eleven in San Diego’s La Mesa area. According to police, the Halloween-themed heist happened just after 4:30 a.m. Thursday at a 7-Eleven store located at 5746 Amaya Drive. The suspect walked into the convenience store wearing what La Mesa police describe as a “Halloween mask of a bloody clown face” and pointed a handgun and mace at the clerk. The man allegedly ordered the clerk...

Jim Garlow is the pastor of a large Methodist Church in La Mesa, California. On October 7th, just weeks before the 2012 presidential elections, he plans to endorse a presidential candidate (and maybe congressional candidates) from the pulpit. While I cannot confirm that he will endorse Mitt Romney, I can confirm that he was an advisor to former Speaker Newt Gingrich. An initiative known as Pulpit Freedom Sunday began on a Sunday morning in October 2008, and has continued on that same Sunday each year since. In June, Garlow began meeting with other pastors across America to encourage them to...

The feds are saying flatly that the Vegas ricin case is not related to terrorism but I’m not so sure. The man who was staying at the Vegas hotel and is in the hospital in critical condition, who almost certainly manufactured the ricin from raw castor beans by following instructions in what authorities described as an “a book on anarchy,” is apparently obsessed with domestic animals: Neighbors in Utah described Mr. Von Bergendorff as a peculiar loner commonly seen in brown slacks and a brown shirt. Pauline and Grant Dansie, who live three doors down from Mr. Tholen, said Mr....

THERE'S GOOD NEWS in the latest Ports-to-Plains progress report for Lubbock and West Texas residents who recognize the evolving trade route's potential economic benefit to our area. Extending from the most active U.S.-Mexico border port, Laredo, through Lubbock and West Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Colorado, the Ports-to-Plains Corridor links the nation's plains states to the border centers of commerce. The Texas Department of Transportation is analyzing funding alternatives including opportunities for private investment and partnerships to pay for moving freight and utilities along the trade route. Using Ports-to-Plains as a case study, TxDOT will research the best potential applications...

As the proposed implementation of a pilot cross-border trucking program draws near, another international trade corridor project is drawing heat from local residents in Texas. The March 18 New York Times reported on the reactions of residents of the West Texas towns of Marfa and Alpine to a hearing held by the Texas Department of Transportation on the development of an official trade corridor, La Entrada al Pacifico, or “Gateway to the Pacific.” It would link the port of Topolobampo in Mexico’s Sinaloa state through Chihuahua to the U.S. market, via the border crossing at Presidio, Texas, and the oil...

OBITUARY 'Pavarotti of the Plains' Don Walser dead at 72 Late-blooming musician sang and yodeled his way to country heights in early 1990s. There's never been a more special relationship between a musician and his fans in Austin than when rotund National Guardsman Don Walser started over in the music business in 1990 at the now-defunct Henry's Bar on Burnet Road. His improbable rise and signing to Sire Records, the label of Madonna and the Ramones, at age 64 was the feelgood story of the Austin music scene. Dubbed "the Pavarotti of the Plains" for his clear, powerful tenor, Walser...

Debris is reported as Griffith Park. There's a home on fire in the area. Listen live

The president of two San Diego-based Somalian organizations pleaded not guilty yesterday to lying about taking money from a group linked to terrorists. Community leaders and his family said they were mystified by the charges. Omar Abdi Mohammed, 41, a teacher's assistant in a San Diego elementary school, was described by prosecutors in federal court as a shadowy figure who collected more than $351,000 from a group accused of financing international terrorism. Prosecutors have refused to say what they believe Mohammed did with the money, but they said in court that, in addition to the $351,000, he also received $1,700...

Letter will air area stand on redistricting By JOHN FUQUAY AVALANCHE-JOURNAL Representatives from seven area cities are expected to send a letter to Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst today expressing their desire for West Texas congressional districts to remain unchanged. The action comes a day after a stormy redistricting session in the Senate, where one member abruptly walked out of a committee meeting where members were drafting a map of congressional districts. The letter to Dewhurst reiterates the position that mayors and chamber representatives expressed to him during a private meeting Monday in Austin. Lubbock Chamber of Commerce President Eddie McBride...

Police have arrested a woman who admitted stabbing her seven-year-old son in La Mesa. Police responded to an emergency call shortly before 4:30 p.m. Tuesday. They found the body of a boy in an apartment in the 4500 block of Third Street in La Mesa. The woman reportedly stabbed the boy, then went to her parents' home, where she confessed that she had just killed her son. The woman apparently was going to kill herself, but her family convinced her to turn herself in. Police raced to the apartment to check on the status of the boy, but found the...