Free Republic

The owner of a pizzeria in New Paltz, New York, said protesters vandalized the American flag mural painted on the side of her building because they believed it represented "a political position." Maria Lisante, who owns La Bella Pizza Bistro, said on “The Ingraham Angle” on Friday that the protesters were "opposed" to the flag and thus defaced the mural. "They didn't want a flag. They thought that it meant a political position and they were opposed," Lisante said.

The planning board for the upstate town of New Paltz has voted against saying the Pledge of Allegiance at its meetings after one of its members called it a “total waste of time.” The showdown over the Pledge came at Monday’s session, when board member Amy Cohen introduced a motion to say the patriotic oath at future bi-monthly meetings as a show of respect. Cohen, a local business owner and former mayoral candidate, said she’d been contacted by several veterans and “many community members” with the suggestion. “This is a government building, we have a flag here,” Cohen told fellow...

jhorrigan@th-record.com New Paltz - A group of four student leaders here have declared their support for a student militia that should be allowed to carry guns on campus. Not handguns, mind you. But shotguns. And not now, but later, maybe years later, as part of an effort to protect students' rights. It's taken a generation, but you can safely kiss the image of SUNY New Paltz as a hippie haven goodbye. It's been replaced by a whole new brand of expectation-bending politics. The students cite years of general abuse by administrators, campus and local police toward students - including profiling...

NEW York Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. made "an apology" to graduates of SUNY New Paltz on Sunday that he and his generation weren't able to revolutionize the world. Sounding more radical than any of his Op-Ed columnists, the commencement speaker declared: "When I graduated in 1974, my fellow students and I ended the Vietnam war and ousted President Nixon. OK. OK. That's not quite true. Maybe there were larger forces at play. Either way, we entered the real world committed to making it a better, safer, cleaner, more equal place. We were determined not to repeat the mistakes...

Scott Ritter ...a card-carrying Republican former Marine who was one of the United Nation’s top weapons inspectors in Iraq between 1991 and 1998, will make his third appearance at SUNY New Paltz to discuss the latest developments in Iraq and Iran and his new book, Iraq Confidential: The Untold Story of the Intelligence Conspiracy to Undermine the UN and Overthrow Saddam Hussein. AND Joan Mandle, Executive Director of Democracy Matters, will speak on various approaches to reclaim our government. Thursday March 16th JULIEN J. STUDLEY THEATRE SUNY NP - 7 PM ...What the Bush administration does not want you to...

The first gay couple to be unofficially married in New Paltz, Billiam vanRoestenberg and Jeffrey McGowan, are splitting up after two years of marriage. VanRoestenberg told midhudsonnews.com of the split and that he is “very distraught” over it. McGowan is said to have been the partner that sought the separation. According to midhudsonnews.com, the New York State courts have ruled that marriage, as defined by the state Constitution, is a union between a man and a woman. No court decision invalidated any of the solemnizations between the same-sex couples in New Paltz. Almost exactly two years ago, on Feb. 27,...

A convicted sex offender facing charges of raping his former companion's mother killed the daughter on Tuesday and then set fire to her New Paltz apartment building, the Ulster County district attorney said yesterday. The man, Michael G. Curtis, 43, of Millbrook, was arrested on Tuesday after investigators linked him to the 29-year-old victim and found a witness who saw his car near the building before the fire, District Attorney Donald A. Williams said. Mr. Curtis, a Level 3 sex offender, considered the most dangerous, was being held without bail at the Ulster County Jail last night on a charge...

ALBANY, N.Y. — A prosecutor dropped all charges Tuesday against a small town mayor who could have faced up to a year in jail for marrying gay couples on the steps of the village hall. New Paltz Mayor Jason West (search), then 26, was among the first public officials in the nation to marry same-sex couples, following San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom (search) in February 2004. He had been charged with 24 misdemeanor counts of violating the state's domestic relations law after marrying about two dozen gay couples in ceremonies that drew national attention to the village of about 13,000...

ALBANY, N.Y. -- The village mayor who challenged New York law by attempting to marry gay couples will face trial, the state's highest court ruled Friday. New Paltz Village Mayor Jason West faces 24 misdemeanor counts of violating the state's domestic relations law by marrying couples without marriage licenses last year. West's defiance of a law that state officials say forbids gay marriage made the little Hudson Valley village a flashpoint in the national gay marriage debate. The state Court of Appeals on Friday refused West's request to hear the case first, avoiding the usual process of hearing cases in...

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - The village mayor who challenged New York law by attempting to marry gay couples will face trial, the state's highest court ruled Friday. New Paltz Mayor Jason West faces 24 misdemeanor counts of violating the state's domestic relations law by marrying couples without marriage licenses last year. West's gesture, which state officials say defied state law, came amid a flurry of efforts in various states to enact gay weddings after San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom allowed gay couples there to wed in February 2004. Those efforts have largely been put on hold by the courts. The...

Law & Order tonight; Corrupt Connecticut governor's wife murdered by corrupt contractor who has been getting special treatment and contracts from said governor. The murder occured while the governor is having sex (100 miles away) with the corrupt contractor's boyfriend.After much detective work, contractor's gay boyfriend admits that corrupt contractor confessed to him that he did in fact kill the governor's wife because she had found her hubby in a gay affair and threatened to expose him, which would have ruined things for all involved.Midway thru the trial, the corrupt contractor's lawyer asks the judge to not allow the gay...

A judge in New York state reinstated criminal charges against New Paltz Mayor Jason West for solemnizing same-sex "marriages." Mayor Jason West (Photo: Times Herald-Record, Middletown, N.Y.) Shortly after San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom defied California law to become the first official in the country to authorize marriage licenses for same-sex couples, West presided over about two dozen ceremonies in the small New York town last February. West, 27, was assessed 24 misdemeanor counts, but a town court judge dropped the charges, citing constitutional problems in banning same-sex marriages.

NEW PALTZ, N.Y. - The Social Security Administration (news - web sites) is rejecting marriage documents issued for heterosexual couples in four communities that performed weddings for gay couples earlier this year. The agency is rejecting all marriage certificates issued in New Paltz, N.Y., after Feb. 27, when the town's mayor began marrying gay couples, according to town officials. Certificates issued during the brief periods when Asbury Park, N.J., Multnomah County, Ore., and Sandoval County, N.M., recognized gay marriages are also being rejected. Susie Kilpatrick, 30, of New Paltz, said the local Social Security (news - web sites) office told...

NEW PALTZ, N.Y. (AP) — The Social Security Administration is rejecting marriage documents issued for all couples in communities that performed homosexual "weddings" earlier this year. The agency is rejecting all marriage certificates issued in New Paltz, N.Y.; Asbury Park, N.J.; Multnomah County, Ore.; and Sandoval County, N.M., during the brief periods when those localities illegally granted marriage licenses to homosexual couples. Susie Kilpatrick, 30, of New Paltz, said the local Social Security office told her that no marriage documents from the town could be used to establish identity if they were issued after Feb. 27, when New Paltz's mayor...

NEW PALTZ, N.Y. (AP) -- The Social Security Administration is rejecting marriage documents issued for all couples in communities that performed homosexual "weddings" earlier this year.     The agency is rejecting all marriage certificates issued in New Paltz, N.Y.; Asbury Park, N.J.; Multnomah County, Ore.; and Sandoval County, N.M., during the brief periods when those localities illegally granted marriage licenses to homosexual couples.     Susie Kilpatrick, 30, of New Paltz, said the local Social Security office told her that no marriage documents from the town could be used to establish identity if they were issued after Feb. 27, when New Paltz's mayor...

Social Security Rejects Heterosexual Marriage Documents From Communities That Performed Gay Marriages The Associated Press NEW PALTZ, N.Y. (AP) - The Social Security Administration is rejecting marriage documents issued for heterosexual couples in four communities that performed weddings for gay couples earlier this year. The agency is rejecting all marriage certificates issued in New Paltz, N.Y., after Feb. 27, when the town's mayor began marrying gay couples, according to town officials. Certificates issued during the brief periods when Asbury Park, N.J., Multnomah County, Ore., and Sandoval County, N.M., recognized gay marriages are also being rejected. Susie Kilpatrick, 30, of New...

The man who sparked national controversy by permitting same-sex marriages in San Francisco has been named the "Person of the Year" by Planet Out magazine, a publication geared toward homosexuals. Mayor Gavin Newsom topped the likes of Teresa Heinz Kerry and singer Melissa Etheridge on the 2004 list. The magazine says its awards recognize the people who most profoundly impacted the lives of lesbian, "gay," bisexual and transgender people. Editors say Newsom changed history, changed lives and changed the national debate about marriage equality, making him their obvious choice: The 36-year-old's decision to let City Hall issue marriage licenses to...

Making its break from reality official, the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) named as its new chief a college administrator who is famous for sponsoring conferences on sex at a state university. Last year, the AAUP objected when the University of South Florida dismissed a professor that the U.S. government arrested for working with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Additionally, the AAUP has consistently opposed the Academic Bill of Rights constructed by Students for Academic Freedom. “The danger of such guidelines is that they invite diversity to be measured by political standards that diverge from the academic criteria of the...

A town justice Thursday dismissed a criminal prosecution against the mayor of New Paltz, N.Y., who married gay couples without marriage licenses, saying a state law banning same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. The ruling from New Paltz Town Justice Jonathan D. Katz marked the first time a New York court has found that the marriage law violates the rights of gay couples. The judge's opinion does not, however, have the effect of invalidating the statute or giving gay couples an immediate opportunity to wed. "I am familiar with the arguments raised in the cases from other states addressing this issue and...

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- A judge Thursday dismissed criminal charges against a small-town mayor for marrying gay couples, saying the state failed to show it has a legitimate interest in banning same-sex weddings. New Paltz Town Court Justice Jonathan Katz also ruled that prosecutors failed to prove the law New Paltz Mayor Jason West was charged with violating was constitutional. West had faced the possibility of fines or up to a year in jail for presiding at the weddings of more than two dozen same-sex couples on Feb. 27. The weddings drew the Hudson Valley village of New Paltz into...