Free Republic

The New York Times is facing more scrutiny from the pro-Israel community over Middle East-related articles it published this week, prompting the Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. to write a letter to the editor complaining about the controversial coverage. This as the paper was forced to issue a correction after a conservative website pointed out an inaccurate key, lead fact in an article.As TheBlaze reported on Tuesday, the venerated newspaper was the target of sweeping criticism after publishing a front page article on Monday that appeared to downplay Palestinian stone-throwing against Israelis, which one youth characterized as a "hobby."The U.S....

Members of Cuomo's anti-corruption panel failed to pursue 1,500 criminal referrals from Board of Elections The nine members of Gov. Cuomo’s anti-corruption commission who are also sitting district attorneys did not pursue about 1,500 criminal referrals from the board since 2006, the bulk of which were related to campaign finance filings.Philip Kamrass/Albany Times Union Albany County District Attorney David Soares' office did not prosecute 1,356 referrals from the board since 2007. ALBANY — Even as they investigate the state Board of Elections, nine members of Gov. Cuomo’s anti-corruption commission who are also sitting district attorneys did not pursue about 1,500...

Billionaire businessman and Republican mayoral candidate John Catsimatidis and wife Margo contributed $79,000 to the campaign of Democratic Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo since January, according to the latest state campaign filings. While ‘Cats’ has been self-funding his mayoral effort, it is notable that he’s still a contributor to at least one other candidate as well. Rob Ryan, his spokesman, said “John over the years has supported both Republican and Democratic candidates who have done good things for New York. He’s known the Cuomo family for 30 years.” Margo Catsimatidis was recorded as contributing $50,000 on Jan. 10 to Cuomo 2014...

If the people of a state don’t want the royalties and economic growth and jobs and truck traffic that come with oil and gas development, you can’t force it on them. That’s the conclusion made by Chesapeake Energy CHK +0.64%. According to this new story by Reuters, Chesapeake has given up trying to fight against New York’s ban on high-volume fracking and is allowing its leases in the state to expire. The company has no intention of drilling wells in the Marcellus shale formation of New York if it’s not allowed to frack them. Chesapeake had tried to extend many...

Kahr Firearms Group announced Wednesday that it will relocate its corporate offices from New York to Pennsylvania, and blames New York’s Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act as reason why. “We’re looking for a more friendly environment for our business,” Frank Harris, Kahr’s vice president for sales and marketing, told the Associated Press. “Maybe we could have stayed here and built a plant, but the way the bill was passed left us feeling there were a lot of uncertainties going forward.” Kahr is the first gun company to announce that it will move out of New York. It’s relocating its...

After Detroit filed bankruptcy two weeks ago, the attention turned to America's other financially distraught cities. Think Motown is the only major U.S. city in a boatload of financial trouble? Think again. Detroit's bankruptcy filing sent shivers down the spine of municipal bondholders, government employees, and big-city urban residents all over the country. That's because many of the 61 largest U.S. cities are plagued with the same kinds of retirement legacy costs that sent Detroit into Chapter 9 bankruptcy this summer. These cities have amassed $118 billion in unfunded healthcare liabilities. These are legal promises to pay healthcare benefits...

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) -- A firearms manufacturer in New York, partially blaming the state's new gun control law, said Wednesday it's moving its corporate offices — and its plans for expansion — to Pennsylvania. Kahr Firearms Group of Pearl River is the first gunmaker to announce it's leaving because of the Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act, which was put into law after closed-door negotiations in January. It was the first law in the nation prompted by the killing of 20 first-graders and six educators in Newtown, Conn., in December. "We're looking for a more friendly environment for our...

The editor of the New York newspaper that created a furor by publishing the names and addresses of gun-permit owners suddenly is out of a job. According to the Rockland Times, a competitor to the Gannett-owned Rockland County Journal News, editor Caryn McBride is among the casualties of a recent purge at the Journal News. The report said 17 journalists were among a total of 26 staff members at the Journal News who were let go. It was the Journal News that in 2012 published the names and addresses of all gun owners in Westchester and Rockland counties under the...

Two of the men seeking to be New York City’s next comptroller touted their different backgrounds and experiences in an Aug. 1 forum in Laurelton, each saying his made him more qualified than the other to be the city’s next top financial officer. Democrat Scott Stringer is the Manhattan borough president and also served 13 years in the state Assembly. Republican John Burnett has spent more than 20 years in the financial services industry, including supervisory and management positions at Smith Barney and Merrill Lynch. Former Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who joined the Democratic campaign just prior to the deadline for...

Only about one-third of students from grades 3-8 passed the new math and reading proficiency tests, down from nearly a two-thirds in 2012. The new tests are more closely aligned to academic standards adopted by nearly every other state, but critics say children weren't properly prepared to the roll out. New York students struck out on tougher math and reading exams, posting a giant drop in scores on the high-stakes tests that were just as dire as education officials predicted. Only 31% of New York State students in grades 3 to 8 passed the 2013 math and reading tests, down...

Employees of the Class A Brooklyn Cyclones, a New York Mets affiliate, arrived at work Wednesday morning to find swastikas and racial and anti-Semitic epithets painted on a statue of Jackie Robinson and Pee Wee Reese that is on display outside MCU Park... "This is being treated as a bias crime," detective John Nevandro of the 60th precinct said in a statement. "Hate Crimes will investigate the incident.

In an open letter to the public in late July, several retired Border Patrol agents wrote on behalf of the National Association of Former Border Patrol Officers to warn that Mexican drug cartels are actively operating inside the United States spending millions every year to try to build their networks here. They argued that American politicians are protecting their activities as well. “Transnational criminal enterprises have annually invested millions of dollars to create and staff international drug and human smuggling networks inside the United States; thus it is no surprise that they continue to accelerate their efforts to get trusted...

the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene headquarters, which cost taxpayers $316 million, is overrun by bed bugs. The building is 21 floors, and five of those are home to a bed bug infestation. That’s no shock, since the city itself has been ranked the worst in the nation when it comes to bed bugs. This is the second time in under a year that bed bugs have been found in the facility, which is only three years old. Critics say that the city is actually underreporting the problem ... Other major New York landmarks have become...

The number of New York students passing state reading and math exams dropped drastically this year, education officials reported on Wednesday, unsettling parents, principals and teachers and posing new challenges to a national effort to toughen academic standards. In New York City, 26 percent of students in third through eighth grade passed the tests in English, and 30 percent passed in math, according to the New York State Education Department. The exams were some of the first in the nation to be aligned with a more rigorous set of standards known as the Common Core, which emphasize deep analysis and...

Is Hillary Clinton trying to get in shape for a possible 2016 presidential run? The former secretary of state who left the Obama administration to recharge her batteries after traveling the world for four years has been spotted with diet guru Dr. Mark Hyman, who helped former President Bill Clinton lose weight on a vegan diet. “We’re into the science of creating health using food as medicine”, Hyman told the Boston Herald. “It’s about diet, lifestyle and personalized medicine.” Hyman, who says he’s “good friends” with Hillary Clinton, might have foreshadowed the former first lady’s presidential aspirations for 2016. “Being...

In the past week, The New York Times Co. announced it was selling the Boston Globe to Boston Red Sox owner John W. Henry, and Washington Post Chairman Donald Graham announced Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos was buying the paper that Graham's family has run for decades. Both papers went cheap. The Times bought the Globe in 1993 for $1.1 billion and is now selling it for $70 million. The price tag on the Post was just $250 million. The combined $320 million market value of these two big-city dailies is about as much as the federal government now spends in...

NEW YORK -- Employees of the Class A Brooklyn Cyclones, a New York Mets affiliate, arrived at work Wednesday morning to find a swastika and racial and anti-Semitic epithets painted on a statue of Jackie Robinson and Pee Wee Reese that is on display outside MCU Park. ... "This is being treated as a bias crime," detective John Nevandro of the 60th precinct said in a statement. "Hate Crimes will investigate the incident."

(CNSNews.com) – As part of his ongoing campaign to transform New York City into what he calls “Fit City,” Mayor Michael Bloomberg is promoting “active design” for low-income housing developments being built there, including plans to prompt residents to use the stairs and rooftop gardens for growing “healthy” foods. In 2010, the Bloomberg Administration and other public and private sector groups issued the “Active Design Guidelines,” which promotes car-free neighborhoods, encourages “physical movement” inside buildings and “improves access to nutritious food.”The Center for Action Design was launched next as a resource for architects and developers who sign on to the...

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) made his clearest indication yet that he would be fine with a piecemeal approach to immigration reform preferred by the Republican-led House. Schumer, the leader of the Gang of Eight whose comprehensive immigration reform legislation passed the Senate in June, said even if the House passes separate bills, those measures could eventually be bundled in a House-Senate conference committee.

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — The boo-birds came out in force again Tuesday for Alex Rodriguez. But then something different — a swelling of cheers from the crowd in Chicago.