Free Republic

op Biden administration officials pressed their Canadian counterparts to clear truckers blockading parts of the United States’s northern border during protests in January. A public inquiry into the Canadian government’s decision to use emergency powers to clear the “Freedom Convoy” protesters revealed on Thursday that frantic phone calls were placed by Washington to Ottawa in an effort to open up choked-off supply lines. “They are very, very, very worried,” Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland wrote in an email to her staff after a Feb. 10 phone call from White House National Economic Council Director Brian Deese, according to Politico. “If...

The Biden administration painted a grim picture of the U.S.’s ongoing bout with COVID-19 on Monday as officials grow increasingly concerned with the nation’s current trajectory despite key silver linings in the push to vaccinate Americans. Over the last week, the U.S.’s daily case count has jumped to around 60,000, representing a 10 percent rise in the seven-day average. Coupled with rising hot spots in states such as New Jersey and Michigan, it prompted a new warning from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky that a fourth surge and “impending doom” could be in the offing...

San Francisco (CNN)The gun used in the killing of a San Francisco woman in a case that gave new political prominence to the issue of illegal immigration was stolen from a vehicle belonging to a federal Bureau of Land Management agent, a source familiar with the investigation said Wednesday. Kate Steinle was shot to death on July 1 on one of San Francisco's busiest piers. The .40-caliber pistol was a personal weapon, not an official firearm, the source said. Investigators still are trying to determine how Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez, the man accused in Steinle's killing, allegedly obtained the weapon, according...

APRIL SHOWERS bring summer power. That's the upside all of those gloomy, rainy days. Some of that water, collected as Sierra snow pack, will flow into rivers and generate hydropower. It's one of the factors responsible for this summer's adequate power outlook, state officials say. The positive outlook comes despite the possibility a pair of natural-gas-fired power plants in the East Bay may shut down soon. Last Thursday, Mirant Corp. gave 90 days notice to state regulators that it may have to shut down a unit at its Antioch plant and another one at its Pittsburg plant if the company...