Free Republic

While New York and California are losing population, states like South Carolina and Alabama are not only gaining residents at a record rate, but are also experiencing rapid economic growth.AdvertisementA recent JL Partners poll captures a shift in perception: 36 percent of Americans now expect the South to lead economic growth over the next decade — far ahead of the West Coast (23 percent), Northeast (21 percent), and Midwest (19 percent). This is quite a transformation. For as long as anyone can remember, the South seemed to be a byword for backwardness. Since the late nineteenth century, American commerce and...

The city of Jacksonville’s inventory for Confederate memorials lists three monuments and eight markers on city property related to the Civil War. As of Tuesday morning, there was one less, and Mayor Lenny Curry said the others are coming down, too. Crews were seen overnight using a crane to remove a Confederate monument in Jacksonville’s Hemming Park, the downtown city plaza framed on two sides by City Hall and the Federal Courthouse. The statue and nameplate were hauled off well before daylight, leaving an empty pedestal.

VERBENA (AP) — A huge Confederate battle flag flying over Interstate 65 north of Montgomery will become a permanent fixture, according to officials with the Sons of Confederate Veterans. The organization bought land on the side of the interstate near Verbena and put up the flag, which has been flying for several months above the tree lines from the top of a large pole, easily visible from the heavily traveled interstate. Leonard Wilson, commander of the Alabama division of Sons of Confederate Veterans, said the flag will be dedicated in a ceremony at 5 p.m. on June 26. The flag...