Free Republic

Based on data from U-Haul involving 2.5 million moves, South Carolina topped the list of states people relocated to across state lines in 2024, knocking Texas off the top spot. Texas had topped U-Haul's list for three consecutive years prior to 2024. South Carolina and Texas were followed by North Carolina, Florida and Tennessee. Indiana, which was ranked No. 27 in 2023, jumped to No. 8. Oklahoma jumped 30 spots from No. 41 to No. 11. Colorado had the largest drop, falling from No. 9 in 2023 to No. 40 in 2024. California topped the list of states with the...

Residents in Seattle, Washington, plan to stop tipping as a minimum wage hike in the Democrat-run city looms. The city’s minimum wage is supposed to go from $19.97 to $20.76 an hour on January 1, the Daily Mail reported on Friday. Tipping workers on top of the approaching hourly rate hike does not appear to be a popular idea with some residents who have said they will no longer be shelling out the extra money for workers. The Mail article continued: One user who shared a Reddit post on the wage hike, which has picked up steam in the local...

While residents of western Connecticut were cleaning up from deadly floods this past August, Democratic Rep. Jahana Hayes slurped down oysters, pampered herself at a pricey salon and traveled to Martha’s Vineyard and the Democratic National Convention in Chicago — spending nearly $13,000 in the process, Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings show. The three-term incumbent flew to the Windy City just as her home state was hit with a severe storm on Sunday, Aug. 18, which caused more than $206 million in damages to bridges, roads, businesses and homes due to flooding, mudslides and landslides. More than 100 residents were...

Mass illegal migration has been tough on the finances of small cities and towns throughout the U.S. So, many of these towns are raising property taxes -- through the roof. South Portland, Maine, which has seen a mass influx of illegals flown in by the Harris-Biden administration, has raised its property taxes for residents 25% in the last five years as a result. Some have seen hikes as high as 60%. Spending for illegals and their NGO "services" keeps piling up, always going higher than the previously promised budget for them.

Three Brooklyn residents were bound and beaten up by a group of greedy goons in a violent home invasion where thieves stole watches, handbags and $20,000 in cash on Thursday, cops said. The four bullying bandits broke through a front window of a house in Bensonhurst near 20th Avenue and 78th Street then zip-tied three residents and snatched the loot around 4 a.m., according to authorities. A 34-year-old man was pistol-whipped and a 41-year-old man was punched multiple times in the face during the terrifying encounter, police said. The robbers — all wearing dark clothing — also tied up a...

New York’s City Council is set to vote Thursday to authorize a controversial a task force to study reparations for black residents — a move that could lead to a call for billions in tax payer spending, as it has in other cities. The city legislation would charge a nine-member task force with examining the “impact of slavery and past injustices for African Americans in New York City” and determining what, if any, monetary or nonmonetary reparations are necessary. Minority Leader Joseph Borelli (R) told The Post he would leave the city before he paid reparations. “I’ll move before I’ll...

HOUSTON, Texas -- Federal aid is now available to residents and business owners affected by Hurricane Beryl in 15 Texas counties. The video above is from a previous story on July 10, 2024, before FEMA individual assistance was granted. In a news release, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said individual assistance was added to Texas' federal disaster declaration after officials assessed homes damaged by the storm. Patrick is serving as governor while Gov. Greg Abbott is on a pre-planned trip to Asia.

Hartford, Connecticut’s, Mayor Arunan Arulampalam (D) is denouncing residents of a predominately black community for arming themselves to fight violent crime. The New York Post reported the residents, approximately 40 in all, are calling themselves the “Self-Defense Brigade.” The armed residents patrol the streets of their neighborhood at night and keep an eye on homes and businesses via drones. The brigade was founded by Cornell Lewis, who told FOX News, “The Democrat machine in Hartford is either unwilling or unable, incapable, of doing it, and people are paying their tax dollars, and they’re not really getting any kind of service....

Life was better in the Bronx when former President Donald Trump was in office, and Democrats have “used” them, some Bronx residents told Fox News in a series of interviews ahead of Trump’s historic rally in the Bronx. Fox News spoke to residents in the Bronx ahead of Trump’s Thursday rally, and there appeared to be a consensus: They are not happy with the way things are going under President Joe Biden’s leadership. One individual told Fox News it is 50-50, as some love Trump and others hate him, but he added that Trump is “better than Joe Biden.”

The Upper East Side, once known as the Silk Stocking District, has embraced cotton scrubs — but not everyone’s thrilled about it. CBRE cited growing demand for healthcare services, especially for those over age 75, for the tony area becoming the “central node” in the Tristate region’s health sector, according to a new report by the company. Five major new hospital and medical projects are rising amid the upper-crust neighborhood’s fancy homes and shops — and three more enormous, highly controversial ones are proposed. New leases and expansions for health facilities in Manhattan totaled nearly 5.4 million square feet since...

An increasing number of Massachusetts residents have indicated that “migrants/immigration” is the most important issue for state leaders to address. A CommonWealth/GBH News poll conducted between March 21 and 29 by the MassINC Polling Group, surveyed 1,002 Massachusetts residents about which issues they felt were the most pressing in their state. The poll had a margin of error of 3.4 percentage points.

Unnerved residents of America’s wealthiest town are volunteering to have their multi-million homes burglarized as part of a new police sting operation, after a spate of break-ins. Lavishly leafy Atherton, California — home to NBA superstar Stephen Curry and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt — has seen ten residential burglaries so far this year, prompting local cops to launch a new “bait home” initiative. The average property in Atherton –– roughly 35 miles south of San Francisco — runs more than $7 million, making it the priciest zip code in the country and well ahead of second-place Miami Beach. Atherton...

Denver Mayor Mike Johnston announced the city’s decision to scale back migrant services by consolidating shelters to save millions of dollars. The plan involves closing one shelter per week over the next month to reduce the budget deficit by nearly $60 million. Johnston emphasized that no one will be kicked out, but rather moved to other shelters.

The city of San Francisco has issued a formal apology to Black residents for systemic racist and discriminatory policies over past decades. The board of supervisors for the city in a unanimous vote approved a resolution offering the apology. “This historic resolution apologizes on behalf of San Francisco to the African American community and their descendants for decades of systemic and structural discrimination, targeted acts of violence, atrocities as well as committing to the rectification and redress of past policies and misdeeds,” supervisor Shamann Walton said. The resolution identified actions including redlining, the razing of the Fillmore neighborhood and policies...

Angry Chicago residents railed against local leaders at a city council meeting Wednesday as tensions run high over the national illegal immigrant crisis. City and state officials have approved hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to feed, clothe and house more than 35,000 migrants who have been transported to Chicago and its suburbs in the past year and a half. The overwhelming influx of people has drained city resources and upset residents who told council members they have neglected needy American communities in favor of foreign asylum seekers. "All this asylum-seeking lie, all this about refugees – no, no no....

Over half of New York City residents either live in poverty or are low-income, according to a new report from anti-poverty nonprofit Robin Hood and Columbia University’s Center on Poverty and Social Policy. The number of people across the five boroughs living in poverty jumped from 1.5 million to 2 million between 2021 and 2022, according to the Poverty Tracker Annual Report. That 500,000-person increase pushed the poverty rate in the city to 23 percent that year, or twice the national average of 11.5 percent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. A renting family of four in New York City...

During an interview aired on Friday’s broadcast of NPR’s “Morning Edition,” Denver Mayor Mike Johnston responded to a question on Denver residents who are frustrated that the city is cutting services due to budget shortfalls caused by the influx of migrants in the city by stating that “The dilemma is when you have values on both sides and you have to manage those values. We have a value of being a welcoming, compassionate city.” And there are some cuts to migrant services. Johnston said, “We’ve asked every agency in the city to take a look at what they could do...

San Francisco residents appear to have finally had enough of what they voted for and are now open to embracing some conservative ideas, according to a poll. San Francisco Chamber of Commerce’s annual CityBeat poll was conducted by EMC Research and surveyed 500 likely voters between January 17-21, 2024. The margin of error is ± 4.4 percent, but these numbers are so overwhelmingly one-sided that the margin of error is meaningless.

New York City provided 720,765 residents cash assistance last year — the most it’s ever awarded in welfare checks in at least a decade. To handle the surge, a staggering $2.46 billion in federal, state and city funds was budgeted by Mayor Adams this year to provide cash assistance to adults unable to work or pay their bills and for their children. The city previously budgeted $1.99 billion during the fiscal year that ended June 30, and $1.57 billion in fiscal 2022.

A Chicago Democrat is calling for the city's sanctuary status to be removed as the migrant crisis continues to squeeze community resources. Government employee Cata Truss told "Fox News @ Night" Democrat voters like her are growing increasingly frustrated with the party's handling of the issue. "There is no moneys to take care of the migrants, nor is there moneys to take care of the people that are there. And so we have a mess on our hands," Truss said Wednesday. Truss argued Windy City residents are upset over low income communities and schools being "divested in" while funds are...