Free Republic

I live in Putnam County which is referred to as “upstate” New York. We are just a stone’s throw from Westchester County. When traveling around Putnam I see some Trump signs but very few Harris signs. Sort of makes sense since the county is home to retired cops and mostly middle class families. Now when my travels take me into Westchester which is a pretty affluent area I see many more Harris signs than Trump. Some are rabid supporters with multiple lawn signs and even Trump signs with a circle and bar across it. Why is that? How can you...

PUTNAM COUNTY, Fla. — Newly released Putnam County Sheriff’s Office body-worn camera video shows the moments before and after a pipe bomb exploded on a deputy in April. Action News Jax told you when Charles Legault of Crescent City, was stopped for a traffic violation on Fri., April 5 at the intersection of Moseley Avenue and U.S. 17 in Palatka. Sgt. Ryan Owens was searching the vehicle when a makeshift “pipe bomb” discharged, releasing a white substance on Owens. It was later determined to be chlorine and brake fluid cleaner. The video, which is about 16 minutes long, starts with...

PUTNAM COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) — Deputies in Florida arrested a man on Sunday morning after he allegedly planned to “start a war” with law enforcement officials, they say. The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office said Glen Ressler, 42, had planned to engage deputies in a shootout, in retaliation for having his driver’s license seized during an earlier traffic stop. His license had been suspended, they said. The sheriff’s office said they received word of Ressler’s threats toward deputies early on Sunday morning. He had “armed himself intending to initiate an ‘active shooter’ situation with deputies and planned to ‘start a war,'”...

A Florida man has been arrested after driving through someone’s yard, losing his bumper, then being caught with Fentanyl. According to investigators, shortly before 12:30 a.m. on Monday, deputies stopped a vehicle missing a rear bumper. Prior to the traffic stop, dispatchers received a call in San Mateo that a vehicle drove through their yard and one occupant of the vehicle had jumped out. A rear bumper fell off when the car left the yard onto Kyte Road. The driver of the vehicle, Michael Givens, 27, of Palatka had a suspended license. Deputies conducted a search of the vehicle and...

Ohio Republican leaders are calling on President Trump to not endorse J.D. Vance in the state’s Senate primary in a letter that surfaced on Thursday. The letter, which was signed by more than 30 signatories from various county GOP chairs as well as state central steering committee members, cites Ohio Republicans’ support for Trump in 2016 and 2020 and Vance’s past anti-Trump comments. “While we were working hard in Ohio to support you and Make America Great Again, JD Vance was actively working against your candidacy,” the Republicans wrote. “He referred to your supporters as ‘racists’ and proudly voted for...

The Putnam County school board warned students and coaches last week not to pray together following their football games. The radical atheists behind Americans United for Separation of Church and State had threatened the community to stop their praying of face consequences. But on Friday the players defied the school board and kneeled to pray together anyway following the game.

When communication about the unspeakable stupidity of the recent U.S. 231 rock-throwing incidents first popped into my email inbox a couple months back, the subject line made me gasp. "Rock throwing arrests," read the line heralding arrival of an email from Owen County Prosecutor Don VanDerMoere, a likable former deputy prosecutor for Putnam County who still keeps in contact. Before I could even click to open it, my heart was pounding and my mind went to thoughts like, "Oh, my god they finally caught those guys." However, it was a leap of faith to a wrong conclusion. Instead we have...

COLD SPRING - A Baptist church in Putnam County is under fire after posting a controversial, anti-abortion sign outside its building. The sign outside the Church on the Hill in Cold Spring reads, "Defund Planned Parenthood... a person's a person no matter how small." The message went up a few days ago after videos surfaced suggesting that Planned Parenthood is selling fetal tissue. Pastor Tim Greco put up the message himself. Speaking with News 12 via Skype, he says that he wanted the community to know where the church stands on the issue. "I think the churches should stand up...

WINFIELD, WV - Students at Winfield High School in Winfield, WV have started a petition asking the Putnam County Board of Education to reconsider their decision to remove a popular graduation day tradition. Coach Leon McCoy is well known in Winfield, WV. He has made it a tradition to speak at Winfield High School's graduation. But after complaints from some parents about the religious theme in his presentation the speech has been called off. Students are fighting back. "I think it is very disappointing and unfortunate that Coach McCoy can't speak," said senior Hannah Clark. She said when she was...

PUTNAM COUNTY, Ga. — The Putnam County Sheriff confirms to Channel 2 Action News that a body pulled from Lake Oconee late Friday afternoon is that of Shirley Dermond. Dermond disappeared two weeks ago after her husband, Russell Dermond, 88, was found decapitated at the couple’s home on Lake Oconee. Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills said in his 40 years in law enforcement, he's never seen a case quite like this. “It is unusual for me at this point in the investigation, especially with this many people involved in the investigation, not to have a clear path that we are...

Putnam County clerk refuses to release names of gun owners to the paper who published names of gun owners on a map.

MACON, Ga. May 13 — The leader of a religious group molested dozens of children, some as young as 4, at the sect's compound over the past nine years, an FBI agent testified at a bail hearing Monday. Dwight York, founder of the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors, and his partner, Kathy Johnson, are seeking bail on federal charges alleging they transported minors across state lines for sex beginning in 1993, the year the group settled in central Georgia. FBI agent Jalaine Ward testified that three children told her they were forced to perform oral sex and other acts with...