Free Republic

A city board on Thursday gave a Muslim group the go-ahead to remove six crosses from the roof and spires of a century-old former Catholic church so the now-vacant Gothic structure can be used as a mosque. More than 200 people had signed an online petition calling on the Syracuse Landmark Preservation Board to deny an application by North Side Learning Center, the church’s new owner, to remove the crosses and build a six-foot chain-link fence. …

Jasper Spires boarded the Red Line Metro train at Rhode Island Avenue shortly before 1 p.m. Saturday, joining passengers from the District and elsewhere headed to various Fourth of July festivities, among them the Foo Fighters concert at RFK Stadium. As the train rumbled toward its next stop, at NoMa-Gallaudet, a three-minute ride, D.C. police said, the 18-year-old Spires — who may have been high on synthetic drugs — tried to grab a cellphone tucked into the waistband of a recent American University graduate headed to a gathering with friends. The two struggled, police said, and the terror began.

At dusk on Monday, the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, residents across the Tucson valley will be able to look up and see two pillars of light streaking toward the sky from "A" Mountain. The beams of light that will flank the red, white and blue "A" on the mountain are intended to mimic the "Tribute in Light" that occurs annually on Sept. 11 in Lower Manhattan. It was all supposed to be a secret until Monday night. "Our original goal was to turn on the lights and not tell anyone," said Tucson developer Jim Campbell, who...

The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (also known as the 9-11 Commission), an independent, bipartisan commission created by congressional legislation...is chartered to prepare a full and complete account of the circumstances surrounding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, including preparedness for and the immediate response to the attacks...