Free Republic

A math teacher in the Liberty Central School District has been arrested, accused of possessing and promoting obscene sexual material involving children. Christopher Dedonato, 26, of Liberty, was charged with multiple felonies. He was placed on immediate administrative leave last month when the district was informed of the investigation, according to school officials. School officials said they do not believe any students at Liberty Central were involved. School Superintendent Patrick Sullivan released a statement reaffirming the district's commitment to student safety: "The safety of our students is our top priority...We remind our students if they see or experience anything suspicious...

KINGSPORT, Tenn. - Matthew Hawn checked his phone to see if the wait was finally over. It had been five months since he was fired for teaching about White privilege at a high school in rural Tennessee. Two months since he had fought to regain his job at an emotional three-day hearing, becoming a symbol of the acrimonious debate over the way race, racism and history should be taught in America's schools. A lifelong resident of Kingsport, Hawn was well aware his liberal views made him an outlier in his overwhelmingly White, mostly conservative community. But that had never mattered...

County leaders are hopeful that the $1 trillion infrastructure investment promised by Republican president-elect Donald Trump will have a big impact on the region. Trump has promised to prioritize infrastructure spending in his first 100 days in office. The move is one that Democrats, now in minority positions in both houses of Congress, have said they're willing to support. The plan, which is not yet fully fleshed out, looks to rely heavily on billions of dollars of infrastructure tax credits to private entities. And while Federal Reserve Board Chair Janet Yellen warned recently that weighing down the national debt with...

ALBANY — While the protesters who packed the stone stairwell of the state Capitol chanted "Ban Fracking Now," the political types in suits down the hall spoke of a different reality. Those protesters at Tuesday's anti-fracking rally in Albany carried signs saying "Governor Cuomo In 2014 We'll Remember" — a warning to Andrew Cuomo they won't vote for him if he doesn't ban the natural-gas extraction technique of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. The buzz among the men and women outside the state Senate chamber said Cuomo's presumed political aspirations are the exact reason why there's so much pressure on him...