Free Republic

After years of sellers calling the shots, some of the hottest pandemic-era housing markets are now grappling with a surplus of listings — and not enough willing buyers. According to real estate brokerage Redfin, April saw nearly half a million more homes listed than buyers in the market, the largest gap since at least 2013. But this supply surge hasn’t translated into a wave of closings. Instead, home sales have stalled in many areas, particularly across the Southeast and Southwest, where inventory has ballooned past pre-pandemic norms. In Miami, for example, there were almost three times as many sellers as...

A Florida man ran down and pinned an 11-year-old girl he suspected of egging his home in a "reprehensible" confrontation that was caught on video, authorities said Monday. The girl was screaming for help and insisting she had done nothing wrong after Marius Mutu, 43, put her on the ground Saturday afternoon, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said. Mutu told deputies that his apartment had been egged in recent days and that when "it happened again that day, he assumed the girl walking nearby was responsible," the sheriff's office said in a statement. He "chased her, forced her to the...

ampa, FL – Newly released dash cam footage from an August 29, 2024, traffic stop in Tampa, Florida, has reignited controversy surrounding Pastor Carl Soto, co-founder of Black Lives Matter Restoration Inc., who is now suing the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) for $5.5 million. Soto claims Deputy Alex Almaguer used excessive force and racial bias during the stop, but conservatives on X are calling his reaction a textbook case of playing the victim—a narrative they say aligns perfectly with the left’s playbook. The incident began when Almaguer pulled Soto over for an illegal license plate decal featuring the Joker,...

After years of Russiagate conspiracy theories about how the Russians had somehow rigged the 2016 presidential election using Facebook ads, the Senate Intelligence report awkwardly revealed that the Russian operation had focused most of its attention on black nationalists. The Senate report revealed that "most of the videos" put out by the Russian IRA troll factory on YouTube "pertained to police brutality and the activist efforts of the Black Lives Matter organization" and found that "no single group of Americans was targeted... more than African-Americans" around "race and related issues". But that was an understatement. The Russians had created their...

President-elect Donald Trump used a “forceful hand” to get his Drug Enforcement Agency pick to drop out on Tuesday after hearing “concerns” about the Floridian’s record, sources familiar told The Post — leading outgoing Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (R-NY) to make a bid for the position. Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister issued a lengthy statement indicating he was withdrawing his name for the DEA slot — but did not reveal the specific reason he was dropping out of the confirmation process after just three days. “Everyone knows President Trump calls the shots,” a well-placed source spilled. “The president heard the concerns...

During a 30-minute call with a conservative activist that was recorded before he became a candidate, William Braddock repeatedly warned the activist to not support GOP candidate Anna Paulina Luna in the Republican primary for a Tampa Bay-area congressional seat because he had access to assassins... Source URL: https://www.politico.com/news/2021/06/17/secret-recording-florida-republican-threat-hit-squad-494976

This is in Tampa, Florida. I just came back from the superstore in my neighborhood. Making hay while the sun shines. The grocery markets are going to take pricing through the stratosphere and fleece everyone until Trump gets in on January 20. So what else could possibly motivate such a rise in prices at this particular moment, to this extreme extent? This is an absolute disgrace.

Kamala Harris’ campaign is so panicked that I was kicked out just for recording the tiny crowd for her event with Hillary

With less than two weeks until Election Day, law enforcement officials are confronting a rising wave of threats to election workers and political activists in a presidential contest hurtling toward a bitterly contentious coda and a potentially unsettled aftermath. On Monday, the Justice Department unsealed a complaint against a man in Philadelphia who had vowed to skin alive and kill a party official recruiting volunteer poll watchers. On Tuesday, the police in Tempe, Ariz., arrested a man in connection with shootings at a Democratic campaign office, which resulted in no injuries, and other acts of political vandalism. On Wednesday, prosecutors...

Joseph Malinowski, who gained internet fame because of his risky decisions to ride out Hurricane Helene and Milton on his 20-foot sailboat, was arrested Friday on multiple charges including failing to appear in court, Tampa police said. Malinowski, 54, known as "Lieutenant Dan," was arrested on two outstanding warrants for failure to appear in court and a misdemeanor charge of trespassing in a city park after warning, police said in a statement. Officers warned Malinowski on Thursday that he was creating a health hazard because he did not have an “accessible marine sanitation device aboard his unregistered vessel and did...

The mayor of Tampa, a city that’s in the crosshairs of Hurricane Milton, issued a grave warning to Florida residents who don’t heed calls to evacuate ahead of the monster storm. “If you choose to stay … you are going to die,” Mayor Jane Castor bluntly said on CNN while talking about the dangers of Milton, a “literally catastrophic” Category 5 hurricane that’s barreling toward the Sunshine State. The powerful storm could hit Florida as early as Wednesday and may be more destructive than deadly Hurricane Helene, which ripped through parts of the Sunshine State just last week

Tampa Mayor Jane Castor on Friday speculated that a home in the city’s upscale Davis Islands neighborhood likely burned down because an electric vehicle inside a garage caught fire. "Water and ion batteries do not mix. They literally explode. So if that was the case of this particular fire, I saw that home from the helicopter and there’s one wall left," she said. "It’s very, very tragic. Fortunately nobody was hurt."

Terrifying doorbell video has captured the moment a Florida couple was ambushed, shot and robbed just outside their home after hitting a slot machine jackpot at a casino. Kim Chambliss and her boyfriend Val Delacruz were targeted by two masked assailants soon after they cashed their $3,300 winnings at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Tampa on Aug. 2, Fox 13 reported. The two alleged perps — later identified as Marcus Jenkins, 34, and Tristin Wright, 36 — had watched the couple gamble and play the slots for roughly two hours before tailing them home just before 5 a.m.,...

On the occasion of his 100th birthday, United States Marine Corps and World War 2 veteran Carl Dekle reflected on his long life and the blessings he’s enjoyed in an interview with Tampa’s Fox 13. The Silver Star recipient recalled the Battle of Guadalcanal and his gratitude that the Lord brought him home and says that he would do it again if he had to — and if he were the right age. In full uniform for the interview, Dekle said: “Most important thing in my life was serving my country. I don’t think I could take away from that…It...

Jacksonville, Florida, rapper Foolio, whose real name is Charles Jones, was shot and killed Sunday morning in Tampa, his lawyer confirmed. Police were called to a hotel in uptown Tampa a few hours before sunrise, having received reports of a shooting at the address. Upon arriving at the scene, they found two vehicles that had been shot at in the parking lot. One person, now identified as Jones, was pronounced dead, according to the Tampa Police Department. Three additional victims are in stable condition and being treated at the hospital. Police said officers are still investigating the motive for the...

A Florida teenager murdered his parents execution style and shot a deputy during a police standoff before he was finally gunned down by authorities. The violence unfolded Saturday night inside the Tampa home belonging to Christos Themelis, 51, his wife Rebecca, 48, and their 19-year-old son Christos Jr., according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. Christos Jr. got his hands on a gun and fatally shot his father inside their house. Sheriff's deputies then received what they described as a frantic 911 call from Rebecca, who told dispatchers that her son had shot her husband. Dispatchers could hear the crackle...

Special Operation Forces Week in Tampa is the premier gathering event for all things related to Special Operations. On May 9, 2024, at the most recent event in Tampa, there was a session on “Operations in the Information Environment (OIE) Symposium”. This title is simply another name for Psychological Operations (PSYOP). Having been to the PSYOP Course at Ft. Bragg (now Ft. Liberty) in 1984, this panel caught my attention. The name, functional areas, doctrine and tactics have evolved a bit since PSYOP was first introduced in the 1950s to fight Soviet Communism that was on a post-World War II...

New York, California, Georgia, Texas, and Nevada also received migrant flights. The House Homeland Security Committee subpoenaed documents from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Tuesday detailing a list of 45 cities that thousands of paroled migrants flew into in the past two years via a controversial immigration program. The DHS established the immigration policy in October of 2022, which was intended for Venezuelans to enter the country legally as long as they had an American sponsor, and passed a vetting process. It was later opened to migrants from Haiti, Cuba, and Nicaragua. The program did not secure the...

Joe Biden on Tuesday arrived in Tampa, Florida to attack the 6-week abortion ban during remarks at Hillsborough Community College’s Dale Mabry campus.. Biden is hoping to shore up the Gen Z vote in Florida by attacking the state’s 6-week abortion ban that goes into effect May 1.. A giant Laken Riley billboard truck circled Biden’s speaking venue. 22-year-old Laken Riley, a University of Georgia student, was recently murdered by a Venezuelan illegal. The illegal alien who murdered Laken Riley crossed into the US on Biden’s open border invitation. According to an affidavit unsealed, the barbaric savage who murdered Laken...

Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Scruggs will have his day in court, but no single case will restore the equilibrium razed by J6 prosecutors.By way of introduction, my name is Adam Johnson — but most people know me as “the Lectern Guy.” On Jan. 6, 2021, I kind of broke the internet after I was photographed smiling and waving as I was carrying then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s podium through the Capitol rotunda. Suffice it to say, the authorities did not look kindly on what I did, and I was later arrested.Eventually, I was transferred to a courtroom after four...