Free Republic

A federal appeals court will not rehear a case intended to stop online sports betting in Florida, but whether that means sports betting is finally coming to the Sunshine State is not clear. West Flagler Associates has been trying to stop a state compact with the Seminole Tribe that would allow online sports betting on tribal lands. Back in June an appeals court panel sided with the U.S. Department of the Interior that the federal government followed the rules when it allowed the Seminole Tribe to enter into a compact with the state of Florida in 2021. West Flagler Associates...

In the Northeast woodlands the most feared and hated nation was the Iroquois — especially the Mohawk and Seneca. The Algonquian speaking nations and Iroquoian speaking Huron were particular enemies of the Iroquois. In the 1640s, the Iroquois unleashed a virtual genocide on the other Nations of the region, one that was not quickly forgotten. The Ojibwa defeated a number of the Iroquois incursions and ran the Sioux out of their forested homeland onto the plains. The Ojibwa (Chippewa and associated bands) occupied more land than any other tribe ever has from Manitoba to Indiana and took over smaller tribes...

The office of Florida’s Seminole County Republican Party was vandalized with the message “eat -— fascists” on Sunday. The message, scrawled in graffiti, included a symbol of an enclosed “A” in what appeared to be a symbol for anarchy. The perpetrators also attempted to use a form of glue-like substance on the locks, State Committeeman Jesse Phillips said. “We basically had to break into our own office,” he added. The Seminole County GOP is considering adopting additional safety measures for the office in light of the incident. No potential suspects have been identified, and a police report has been filed.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s (D-MA) great-great-great grandfather Jonathan Crawford served in Major William Lauderdale’s Battalion of Tennessee Volunteer Militia from November 1837 to May 1838, a six month time period during which it fought two battles in Florida against the Seminoles. Today, there are two federally recognized Native American Seminole tribes, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, which has 4,000 enrolled members, and the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, which has more than 18,000 enrolled members.

A fact that is conveniently overlooked by those calling for reparations. The 13th Amendment did not free all slaves in the boundaries of modern-day US. Members of five Native American nations, the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole Nations (known as the Five Tribes), owned black slaves. Located outside the territorial boundaries of the US in a region known as Indian Territory (modern-day Oklahoma), these sovereign nations were not affected by proclamations or constitutional amendments. Instead, separate treaties had to be made between the US and these Native American nations not only to free slaves, but also to formally end...

TAMPA — Police and federal agents with rifles checked car trunks, banged on doors and gathered forensic evidence in a Tampa neighborhood Tuesday as they hunted for the killer believed responsible for gunning down four people for no apparent reason in just more than a month. [snip] Residents and police have been on edge since Oct. 9, when 22-year-old Benjamin Mitchell was shot to death. Two days later, 32-year-old Monica Hoffa, was slain. And on Oct. 19, Anthony Naiboa, 20, was killed after taking the wrong bus home from his new job. [snip] All of October's victims were either getting...

LONGWOOD, Fla. — A Longwood woman was out walking her dogs when she was attacked by a bear Monday night, according to the Seminole County Fire Department.

Before every kickoff at Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, Fla., a Florida State student in facial war paint and an American Indian costume steers a spotted Appaloosa to midfield. As the horse rises on its hind legs, the rider, who is not an Indian, thrusts a flaming spear into the turf to the crazed accompaniment of the crowd’s droning chant and an arm gesture called the tomahawk chop. Saturday will be different, though, but not because a nationwide debate is swirling around the Washington Redskins’ nickname or because some universities have re-examined their depiction of Native American culture. Remaining unimpeachable,...

SANFORD, Fla. - Minutes after George Zimmerman was found not guilty of second-degree murder in the death of Trayvon Martin, police surrounded the community where the unarmed teen was shot and killed. Police swarmed the Retreat at Twin Lakes, a gated community in Sanford, as a precaution following the verdict, which was delivered late Saturday after the jury deliberated for nearly 15 hours. "There is no party in this case who wants to see any violence," Seminole County Sheriff Don Eslinger said immediately after jurors began deliberating. "We have an expectation upon this announcement that our community will continue to...

Ignoring such basic American Constitutional rights as innocent until proven guilty not to mention the 40 year old unconstitutional right for selective minorites to affirmative action, Seminole State College in Florida has "withdrawn", as the college euphemistically put it, (in other words kicked out) Hispanic white American student George Zimmerman. Why? Channel 6 of Orlando explains. SSC officials released a statement saying, "Due to the highly charged and high-profile controversy involving this student, Seminole State has taken the unusual but necessary step this week to withdraw Mr. Zimmerman from enrollment. This decision is based solely on our responsibility to provide...

In May 2008, archaeologists began the tedious task of exhuming the remains of Native Americans at a remote site south of Lake Okeechobee and reburying them at another remote site, to make way for a man-made wetland needed to restore the Everglades. [snip] But the more the archaeologists dug, the more they found. After nearly two years, the tribes learned that what they'd been told were some teeth and bones turned out to be partial remains of 56 men, women and children moved from an ancient burial ground so significant that it would have been eligible for listing on the...

Last week’s legal victory for Seminole Electric over state regulators was a slam dunk, a review of the unanimous Fifth District Court of Appeals decision shows. The judges said Friday that the denial by Michael Sole, the state Department of Environmental Protection secretary, of a permit to expand the Palatka coal-fired power plant was unfounded. And the court ordered Sole to issue the permit, called a site certification. “Despite lengthy factual discussion preceding our analysis, the resolution of this case is quite simple,” the court’s ruling says. “In short, the (DEP) secretary had no legal basis to deny certification of...

MIAMI -- A struggling actor paraded around a local casino after managers told him he won a nearly $260,000 jackpot later found out he won nothing at all. Freddy Howard, 53, of Sunny Isles Beach, took part in a free promotional game, the Swipe and Win Progressive jackpot, while at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino near Hollywood early on Aug. 29. Howard swiped his Players Club card and said a hostess and supervisor broke the news, he won $259,945.75. For three hours, Howard was showered with all the attention he dreamed of. As he told it, casino workers...

A SWAT team member shot and wounded a pupil who appeared to be carrying a handgun at his middle school in an Orlando, Florida, suburb. The report of an armed student led to an evacuation of students, teachers and school staff. The student was taken to the hospital. His condition was not immediately known. Details of the shooting were sketchy, but Seminole County Sheriff’s officials said no other students, teachers or school staff members at Milwee Middle School were injured. Sheriff’s officials had originally said the wounded boy had barricaded himself in a restroom.

 Our fighting men doing Seminole war dance   Wed Mar 19,10:11 AM ET Tank crews from the Alpha Company 4th Battalion 64 Armor Regiment raise their pistols in the air and perform a 'Seminole Indian war dance' before convoying to a position near the Iraqi border Wednesday, March 19, 2003. The commander of the 3rd Infantry Division Maj. Gen. Buford Blount III ordered his troops to reposition to locations near the border as Predisent Bush's deadline for Saddam to leave Iraq (news - web sites) approached.(AP Photo/John Moore)   Wed Mar 19,11:09 AM ET Tank crews from the Alpha Company 4th...