Free Republic

A rising college football quarterback was killed when a barrage of 50 bullets was fired into his car, causing him to crash at a Florida intersection, authorities said. Ladarius Clardy, an 18-year-old who played in two games for Georgia’s Kennesaw State University last year, was set to return for his sophomore season before he was gunned down Thursday as he drove in Pensacola, WAGA-TV reported. “Someone fired over 50 rounds into the car, most of them into the car, the driver’s door,” Escambia County Sheriff Chip Simmons said. The 6-foot, 170-pound KSU backup quarterback and Pensacola native was killed just...

The number of violent crimes in California increased by 3.2 percent last year, according to preliminary figures released Wednesday by the state Department of Justice. There was a 4.4 percent increase in homicides in 2005 compared to 2004, a 5.2 percent increase in robberies, and 2.6 percent increase in aggravated assaults, according to the preliminary report. Rapes decreased by 2.5 percent. This was the first time the state recorded an increase in violent crimes since 2001, when the rate rose by 1.7 percent. "Although crime levels remain at their lowest levels in years, we cannot ignore these small increases in...