Free Republic

CENTRAL FALLS, R.I. – The blue-and-white banner exclaiming "anticipation" on the front of Central Falls High School seems like a cruel joke for an institution so chronically troubled that its leaders decided to fire every teacher by year's end. No more than half those instructors would be hired back under a federal option that has enraged the state's powerful teachers union, earned criticism from students, and brought praise from U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan and some parents. The mass firings were approved by the school district's board of trustees Tuesday night after talks failed between Superintendent Frances Gallo and the...

Carly Fiorina's exploratory GOP Senate run got some love Tuesday from the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) -- that's a national party group that decides which races to toss its money to. In a state-of-the-race memo sent to GOP senators Tuesday, Sen John Cornyn praised... "...two strong female candidates -- Kelly Ayotte in New Hampshire and Carly Fiorina in California -- continue to seriously consider bids of their own, and both poll closely with their respective Democrat opponents without having formally entered their races." But you gotta love the response from Carla's potential rival, Orange County Assemblyman Chuck DeVore: "I...

U.S. Probe Roils Nigeria PoliticsBy DULUE MBACHU LAGOS, Nigeria - A corruption investigation in Washington has roiled Nigeria, leaving the top two leaders publicly trading allegations and nudging a politically volatile country closer to the brink. Nigeria's president claims his estranged vice president is implicated in the bribery case against a U.S. legislator, and the vice president has responded with damaging allegations of his own against the president. The very public feuding in a country where politics often erupts into violence is particularly disturbing for Nigerians because presidential elections in which the vice president is expected to run are just...

Post-McGreevey power struggle roils Dems Sunday, August 15, 2004 Friday the 13th of August 2004, New Jersey woke up as the first state in the history of the United States to be led by an openly gay governor. It will be weeks before the aftershocks subside from Gov. James E. McGreevey's admission that he is a "gay American" who had committed adultery with a man he hired for a $110,000-a-year state job. The assumption then was McGreevey would resign on Nov. 15, with state Senate President Richard Codey, D-West Orange, serving as acting governor until January 2006. Two days later,...

Returning senators' day roils with emotion By W. Gardner Selby Express-News Austin Bureau Web Posted : 09/15/2003 4:38 PM AUSTIN — In the five minutes it took returning Democratic senators to walk to the Capitol from a nearby condominium tower today, Republican colleagues wrapped up official business and adjourned — avoiding personal confrontation on the Senate floor. “Kind of neat, wasn't it?” a GOP leader said later. Sen. Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, said the hasty show-and-go “eliminated the possibility of some ugly things happening. Sooner or later, all this emotion has got to diffuse itself.” But emotion rippled the first day...