Free Republic

Residents of an affluent Utah community are furious over a proposal to dramatically raise property taxes just months after their new city was formed. The proposal has particularly angered residents because they voted to create Ogden Valley City after being told it could support itself without raising taxes. Nearly 68 percent of voters backed incorporation in November 2024, according to KSL, and the city officially formed on January 2. Ahead of the vote, an independent feasibility study commissioned through the Utah Lieutenant Governor's Office projected the city could maintain services with at least a five percent budget surplus and would...

What if the Migrant Invasion of Ceuta Is Only the Beginning? Considering Spain’s late response and the EU’s vain squabbling, there is every reason to worry that the migrant invasion of Ceuta will happen again.When people saw the videos of a horde of North African migrants storming the Spanish-held peninsula of Ceuta, many immediately recalled a famous scene from the film World War Z where a horde of zombies mount a border wall and flood one of the last remaining uninfected cities. Here was a real-life violent invasion of heedless military-aged men stampeding through a small, vulnerable Spanish town, resulting...

South Carolina Republicans will return to the polls on August 25 for a runoff that will determine the GOP nominee for the U.S. Senate seat left vacant by the death of Sen. Lindsey Graham. Rep. Ralph Norman and Sen. Darline Graham Nordone emerged from a crowded Republican field on Tuesday, with Graham Nordone finishing first and Norman advancing in second place. Graham Nordone received roughly 33 percent of the vote, while Norman finished with approximately 24 percent. The result sets up a two-candidate showdown and gives South Carolina Republicans another opportunity to decide who should represent the Palmetto State in...

Former Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) Chief Financial Officer Heidi Beirich was arrested on Wednesday, with authorities alleging that she made secret payments to informants in white supremacist groups.The Department of Justice brought charges against the SPLC earlier this year over fraudulent payments. Attorney General Todd Blanche confirmed the arrest in a press conference.

Military families and Congress members are sounding the alarm about an intensifying mental health crisis onboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, as its 5,000 sailors and marines endure a record-breaking deployment at sea tied to the war with Iran.Two leading specialist military papers, the Navy Times and the Stars and Stripes, are reporting that there have been multiple attempts by sailors to jump overboard as poor conditions and mental stresses on the Lincoln reach breaking point. The crew is in its ninth month at sea, and has spent 250 days consecutively without making land – a record for an aircraft carrier...

Regardless of your age, chances are you know at least one person in your life who loves video games, and a recent campaign by the U.S. Department of Transportation shows that those skills might be useful at your nearest airport. In April 2026, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced a new campaign aimed at hiring the “next generation of air traffic controllers,” citing an increased focus on skills often synonymous with frequent gaming, such as increased problem-solving skills and multitasking abilities. That strategy appears to have paid off. In a social media post made Sunday, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy...

One day President Trump wants to dial down hostilities with Iran. ‘We’re low-keying’ the conflict, he said on Sunday. A day later, though, he was keyed up. After Tehran demanded reparations from Washington as part of its attempt to resurrect June’s Memorandum of Understanding, Trump said on Truth Social that it was the Iranians who should: “Compensate America for all of the people that they have killed and gravely wounded with their roadside bombs and many conflicts, for which they are famous, as led initially by General Soleimani, including the families of those killed on the USS Cole, and thousands...

President Trump claimed Wednesday that the US has complete control of the Strait of Hormuz, one day after Energy Secretary Chris Wright confirmed increasing oil exports from the crucial waterway as Iran’s economy continues to free fall. “The U.S.A. has total control over the Strait of Hormuz. I THINK WE WILL KEEP IT!” Trump proclaimed on Truth Social. “Our Naval Blockade is being called, by everyone, ‘A WALL OF STEEL,’ and there is nothing Iran can do about it,” he added. ***“On Sunday alone, over 20 million barrels left the Arabian gulf region, which is above the pre-conflict average.” Only...

The New York Police Department (NYPD) denied that it was sending any personnel as security for New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s wife, Rama Duwaji, when she will travel to Syria and Lebanon next month, The New York Post reported on Tuesday. The New York Post reported on Monday evening that Duwaji would be protected by police officers assigned to her as taxpayer-funded NYPD security detail during her trip to the Middle East, citing a source in the New York City Hall. Both countries are on the United States' "Level 4: Do not Travel" list for citizens. Lebanon's Level 4...

hen you review all the data on mifepristone (the abortion pill), from those who support it and those who condemn it, the tragic truth is revealed: both viable babies’ and women’s lives are threatened. The most recent horrific situation just took place in North Carolina: A couple in Durham is facing charges for harming a newborn after the woman allegedly took abortion pills in her 3rd trimester.

Donald Trump has created a way for Wall Street to pay to win. Trump Media & Technology Group’s premium data product released its new subscription service for earlier access to Truth Social posts for $100,000 a month... five Wall Street firms have already signed up for the service, gaining access to Truth Social posts milliseconds before the general public. “I’ll be blunt,” Gian Luca Clementi, an economics professor at NYU Stern School of Business, told Fortune. “This is insider trading by definition.” Because Trump owns roughly 41% of the company’s shares, he stands to directly profit from the new recurring...

The Brief New York City is on track for a record-low number of murders, shootings and robberies in 2026. NYPD data shows violent crime dropped nearly 13% across all five boroughs in July, closing out the city's safest first seven months on record. The Bronx continues to see the steepest overall drop in violent crime in 2026, according to the data. New York - 2026 is on pace to be New York City's safest year on record, with the fewest murders, shooting incidents, shooting victims and robberies in recorded history, according to the NYPD. What we know: New data released...

One year after buying a controlling interest in the Los Angeles Lakers from the Buss family, team owner Mark Walter is now selling the historic NBA franchise to American businessmen Josh Kushner and ex-Disney CEP Bob Iger for a record-breaking $12 billion, ESPN is reporting. Multiple sources have confirmed the deal, which would eclipse the $10 billion record sales price Walter paid for the franchise in 2025. Kushner was part of a group of investors that recently tried to buy stakes in the World Cup from FIFA in a since-aborted proposal that has left the group's president, Gianni Infantino, fighting...

Key Points Iran-backed Houthi rebels killed six people in an attack on a cargo ship in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. U.S. forces fired missiles at a container ship attempting to breach Washington’s blockade of Iranian ports in the Gulf of Oman. The twin incidents show how the war is inflicting a toll on two of the world’s most critical shipping lanes. ================================================================== Iran-backed Houthi rebels killed six people aboard a cargo ship in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait on Tuesday, the first reported fatalities from attacks targeting Red Sea shipping in more than a year. Within hours, U.S. forces said they...

The DOJ Once Sued States to Release Institutionalized Mentally Ill Patients. That Policy Just Ended. In the 1999 Supreme Court case Olmstead v. L.C., Justice Kennedy wrote in his concurrence, "It is careful, and quite correct, to say that it is not 'the ADA's mission to drive States to move institutionalized patients to an inappropriate setting, such as a homeless shelter.'" Yet as the Cicero Institute points out, that's exactly what has happened over the last 20 years. A recent Justice Department directive aims to correct 'unintended consequences' stemming from a misinterpretation of the landmark Olmstead decision –– clearing a...

So, at time of writing, it looks as if voters don’t want to cancel Thanksgiving – on balance, at least. Come November, however, few Democrats will be expressing gratitude for their party’s vote-tabulation systems. Francesca Hong, it seems, will not be America’s first avowedly socialist state governor. She appears to have just lost an extremely tight primary to David Crowley, a Milwaukee County executive, in the gubernatorial primary in Wisconsin. The long-view – and already ubiquitous – reaction to this news is to mark it down as a major blow for the Democratic Socialists of America and their bid to...

Andy Burnham will chair an emergency Cobra meeting in response to the extreme heat, which has caused wildfires and plunged many parts of Britain into drought. The prime minister will meet ministers, officials and agencies as high temperatures continue across the UK, with 33C forecast on Wednesday and up to 38C on Thursday. A No 10 spokesperson said the government understood that firefighters, farmers and NHS staff were all facing challenges connected to the weather. It will be the second Cobra meeting this year on heatwaves, after one took place amid high temperatures in June. It comes as parts of...

The Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman stressed that Russian armed forces were capable of significantly extending their operations beyond the borders of the Black Sea basinMOSCOW, August 12. /TASS/. Russia has the right to attack any merchant ship in neutral waters if it is transporting cargo in the interests of the enemy, Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev stated. "The vast majority of Western European ships also sail under flags of convenience. So what does that mean? It means that, guided by a fair, symmetrical approach, Russia has the right to attack any merchant vessel of an enemy country...

The FBI and U.S. spy agencies received derogatory evidence about Joe Biden from 14 different informants but embarked on a secret operation to tamp down a Ukrainian corruption scandal engulfing his family during the 2020 election by formally designating Attorney General Bill Barr, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, key members of Congress and journalists as Russian disinformation “conduits,” according to explosive intelligence community documents declassified by the White House. A spreadsheet that was recovered from U.S. intelligence agency files and made public Wednesday by the White House Government Transparency Task Force shows that spy agencies and the FBI created a...

The Russian president emphasized that it wasn’t just about the areas where Russian vessels could be seized but wherever Moscow found it necessary and reasonableYUZHNO-SAKHALINSK, August 12. /TASS/. Moscow will retaliate if Western countries seize Russian commercial vessels, President and Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Armed Forces Vladimir Putin said. "If these plans are put into practice, we will have to respond in kind," he warned. Putin emphasized that it wasn’t just about the areas where Russian vessels could be seized "but wherever we deem it necessary and appropriate – anywhere, including in the Pacific Fleet’s area of responsibility." Addressing...