Free Republic

Ever since the notion of widening Interstate 95 and making it a toll road was chased out of town by an angry mob, there was a bewildering silence out there. What to do about “America’s Main Street”? How to fix the nation’s first major interstate highway, parts of which bear a worrisome resemblance to what old-times saw on Day 1? In fact, some of those ancient parts are right in our backyard, including the too-low overpasses in Harnett County that trap an over-height truck from time to time. Harnett also owns a few of those short exit ramps that make...

North Carolinians agreed to borrow $2 billion last year to support higher education and infrastructure. Should they borrow a similar amount to more quickly build Interstate 87 and other important roads? Some local officials say yes. For more than a year, Interstate 87 has been a burning issue for elected officials in Pasquotank and surrounding counties. Creating that road from Raleigh to the Virginia state line would cost more than $1.3 billion, based on early estimates, and it could take decades to develop. Just widening U.S. Highway 17 to interstate standards from northern Pasquotank through Camden may cost almost $187...

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Former state Sen. Gene Stipe and his brother, Francis Stipe, were indicted Friday by a federal grand jury in Muskogee on charges of mail fraud, witness tampering, conspiracy and money laundering. The McAlester businessmen were accused of taking part in a real estate scheme that cheated taxpayers. Part of the scheme, the indictment alleges, involved a $48,000 kickback to ex-state Rep. Mike Mass, who has pleaded guilty to mail fraud and is cooperating with the government. Clark Brewster, Stipe's attorney, said the allegations stemmed from events in 2002 and are "entirely defensible." "To me, it is...

Teen stripping video heightens scandal Antics by Norway's 'russ', reveling high-school students who celebrate impending final exams with often unbridled debauchery, have caused a new controversy after a stripping stunt was filmed and publicized via the Internet. This received a new wave of publicity when someone posted a video of the performance online and Norwegian news site TV 2 Nettavisen made the controversial decision to provide a link to the video on their site. TV 2 Nettavisen's editor Gunnar Stavrum backed the decision to point readers to the video. "The story has already been made public. The performance took place...