Free Republic

In the conversation with the donor, Cruz was asked if gay marriage was a top-three priority for him and he said it wasn't. In a recording provided to POLITICO, Cruz answers a flat "No" when asked whether fighting gay marriage is a "top-three priority", an answer that pleased his socially moderate hosts but could surprise some of his evangelical backers. By late summer, she said, the River Valley Teenage Republicans were a grassroots advocacy group working to put Cruz over the top.

Scott Michael Turner, 29, charged with felony animal cruelty for throwing a kitten against a wall, is sentenced to seven months in the Ramsey County Workhouse. He's also banned from possessing animals during a four-year probationary period. Turner is also required to undergo anger management treatment and must abstain from using drugs or alcohol as part of his sentence, as part of a stayed 15-month prison sentence. Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner was pleased with the sentence, saying that animal cruelty crimes are often a red flag for abuse to children or adults. The St. Paul man was convicted by...