Free Republic

The children of US Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) relentlessly tormented their mom’s personal assistant, driving him to commit suicide, an explosive lawsuit claims. Brandon O’Brien, 35, worked for the senator’s wife, Nancy Bass Wyden — owner of Manhattan’s famed Strand Bookstore — from June 2022 to September 2024 and was “frequently tasked” with caring for the couple’s young kids, including driving them to school in NYC and watching them during trips to Disneyworld. The disturbing behavior began in September 2022 when the couple’s then-10-year-old daughter allegedly exposed herself to O’Brien, making “sexually explicit” comments and asking about his “intimate life”...

The Strand Bookstore, a New York City icon home to 2.5 million books and 92 years of storefront history, was commemorated by the city and chosen as a historic city landmark this week. Nancy Bass Wyden, the store's third-generation owner, isn't taking it as a compliment. "Some people have congratulated me and I said, 'No, this is no congratulations. This is a punishment,' " Bass Wyden tells NPR's Scott Simon. Bass Wyden feels that the designation is counterproductive. "We don't need the city to come in and just put red tape and bureaucracy and take control over decision-makings of the...