Free Republic

Members of Congress across the nation are getting lambasted over health-care reform, and U.S. Rep. Mark Schauer is no exception. Three protests, organized by the Jackson County Republican Party, are scheduled to take place outside his Jackson district office this month. The party's chief complaint is Schauer's decision not to have a town hall meeting this month. Schauer's office maintains he's more than available — he's had 17 town halls in the past few months and five public forums on health care across the district recently. Two teleconference town halls are coming up.

DETROIT -- A jury rejected the government's case against Geoffrey Fieger on Monday, finding the one-time Jack Kervorkian lawyer not guilty of violating federal campaign finance laws. The U.S. District Court jury in Detroit returned its not guilty verdicts Monday afternoon in the case against Fieger and law partner Ven Johnson after hearing 18 days of testimony and deliberating over parts of four days. Fieger was accused of illegally funneling $127,000 to fellow Democrat John Edwards' 2004 presidential campaign.

When Chris Fegley and his son, 4-year-old Gavin, venture out for a meal, their restaurant choice depends on the location's smoke level. "I can appreciate the people that argue for clearly defined and walled-off areas with ventilation, that if they want to smoke in their area, that's fine," the 34-year-old Jackson resident said. "But we avoid restaurants that are smoking for (Gavin's) well-being." With the Michigan Senate's approval of a bill Thursday prohibiting smoking in all bars, restaurants and workplaces, the Fegleys soon might not have to be picky about where to dine. The bill, which passed by a 25-12...

The killer of five women at a Lane Bryant store in Tinley Park made sexual advances on at least one of the victims before the slayings and may have targeted a women's shop to avoid confrontation with men, a source said Monday. The gunman entered the store after 10 a.m. Saturday and chatted briefly with some of the victims before announcing a holdup, and may have initially feigned that he was making a delivery, sources said. He then took the women to a back room and bound them with duct tape he had brought with him, a law-enforcement source said....

DURHAM -- A day after a grand jury indicted two Duke University lacrosse players in connection with a reported rape, two men emerged from a sheriff's deputy vehicle and were led, handcuffed, into the magistrates office at the Durham County Jail at 4:54 a.m. today. The arrests stem from a party that began March 13. The accuser, who is a mother of two, an N.C. Central University student and an escort service dancer, told police March 14 that she was sexually assaulted by three men in a bathroom at an off-campus house shared by three lacrosse team captains. The accuser...

A Southfield teenager died Wednesday night after being shot twice by someone who demanded his designer sunglasses. Lenell Caffey, 17, died at Providence Hospital in Southfield at 8:11 p.m. Southfield police spokesman John Harris said an 18-year-old Detroit man was in custody. He said police spoke with a 17-year-old Southfield male and a 17-year-old Detroit female about the shooting but they were not taken into custody. The shooting occurred at about 1:35 p.m. as Caffey was walking to the Cold Spot party store on Evergreen Road, just north of 8 Mile Road. Three men in a blue Ford Focus drove ...

A number of Freepers have asked what can we do as a visual protest. I left my Bush lawn sign up and it will stay up until this election is decided. However, I don't want people to think I'm just too lazy to take it down. (I did take down other candidates' signs.)Today -- so people will know that this is an affirmative act -- I tied a yellow ribbon around my Bush sign. In fact, I tied three yellow ribbons along the top of it. I then went across the street and asked my neighbor if I could tie ...