Free Republic

Gov. Jared Polis and Democratic state lawmakers unveiled the most significant land-use reform in decades last week. The sweeping new efforts to address Colorado’s housing crisis are focused on increasing residential density in the state’s cities and towns. “This is how we will make more housing options for every Colorado budget in every community, drive down costs that are pricing Coloradans out of our homes and out of our neighborhoods,” Polis said. The Common Sense Institute found Colorado had a housing shortage of 225,000 units in 2021, and the affordability of purchasing a home was the lowest in 33 years....

MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AP) -- Mexican officials say soldiers searching vehicles for hidden drugs found 140 Central Americans crammed into a tractor-trailer rig. The Defense Department says troops trying to fight narcotics traffic and organized crime in the southern state of Chiapas found the migrants on Sunday. It did not say what country they were from.

A young woman was killed and 16 passengers were hospitalized when a van packed with suspected illegal immigrants rolled over on a rural road Wednesday, authorities said. Mario Olguin of Vista was arrested and will be charged with felony hit and run and vehicular manslaughter, the California Highway Patrol said. Authorities identified Olguin, 20, as the driver of the 1988 Ford Econoline van, which was carrying 18 suspected illegal immigrants. The dead woman, 21 years old, was not identified. The van was traveling at an "unsafe speed" in the predawn darkness when Olguin lost control, the CHP said. The van...

12/27/2005 - BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq (AFPN) -- In a sea of tents and trailers on Balad Air Base in northern Iraq, shrapnel is being surgically removed from a limb, medics are racing to stop someone from bleeding to death and another life is being saved from wounds inflicted on the battlefield. It is that sea of tents which houses the Air Force theater hospital, where servicemembers and civilians get the most advanced medical care possible in a combat zone. Run by the 332nd Expeditionary Medical Group, the hospital offers trauma and specialized medical care for people throughout Iraq and...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Tucked deep in the August 2005 issue of Muscle & Fitness magazine, past the photographs of men with chiseled muscles and stories such as "How I Built the World's Biggest Chest," is a glossy, two-page article proclaiming "It's Now Or Never!" The article details the bodybuilding industry's efforts to block state and federal regulations on nutritional supplements. It also proclaims the support of a powerful spokesman, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. The story describes how Schwarzenegger attended a private meeting with bodybuilding executives at the Arnold Classic in March to vow a united front in the battle...

A bag packed with explosives on his back, the bus bomber sets out on his mission of death By John Steele, Home Affairs Correspondent (Filed: 15/07/2005) The teenage terrorist who blew up a double-deck bus in Tavistock Square, London, killing 13 people including himself, was caught on closed-circuit television two and a half hours earlier. Hasib Hussain: the bus bomber Hasib Hussain, bearded and wearing jeans and a jacket, was pictured at Luton railway station as he and three other bombers headed for the 7.20am train to London last Thursday. In his rucksack was the 10lb bomb that exploded at...

SAN DIEGO -- A new study reveals that the center of our Milky Way Galaxy is loaded with black holes, as astronomers have expected in recent years. The galactic center is dominated by one supermassive black hole. It packs a mass equal to about 3 million Suns. Around it, scientists have expected to find a high concentration of stellar black holes, the sort that result from the collapse of massive stars. Each can be a few to many times the mass of the Sun. Observations have hinted at the existence of many stellar black holes near the galactic center. But...

Reeve's Star-Packed Tribute Saturday October 30, 08:25 AM For the last nine years of his life, Christopher Reeve was paralyzed, yet he still managed to move the hearts of innumerable individuals. More than 900 people turned out Friday to pay tribute to the late actor at an invitation-only memorial at the Juilliard School in New York, where Reeve honed his craft more than 30 years ago before bursting onto the big screen as Superman. Individuals who figured in different aspects of Reeve's life were due to speak at the service, including family members, fellow actors, like-minded activists and politicians. Reeve's...