Free Republic

The plan to build a $1.2-billion NFL stadium in downtown Los Angeles took a big leap forward Tuesday when the City Council approved the overall framework for financing the project. On a 12-0 vote, the council voted for a nonbinding agreement with stadium developer Anschutz Entertainment Group that allows for the demolition and relocation of a section of the Los Angeles Convention Center. That, in turn, would make room for a 72,000-seat stadium just south of Staples Center, which would open in 2016 with the planned name of Farmers Field. “Today, in moving this forward, we don’t lose one bit...

You would think that Democratic leaders would distance themselves from a member of Congress whose been identified with Ponzi swindler Allen Stanford, not mention a charity that is now under federal investigation for fraudulently raising money for Hurricane Katrina victims. Nope. According to one media report: President Barack Obama of the United States of America has dispatched a five-member delegation of US congressmen led by Representative Gregory Meeks to Zimbabwe. Maybe it is appropriate, after all. Meeks seems to have a special rapport with tyrants. Zimbabwe is one the most corrupt places on the face of the earth and strongman...

No one knows anything. As NLPC exposed last Sunday, a charity with which Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY) is deeply involved, can’t account for funds raised for Hurricane Katrina victims. According to a front-page New York Post story today, Meeks claims the money was used “to help displaced evacuees,” but neither he nor anyone else involved with group can or will say how. The contoversy over Meeks’ group, called New Direction Local Development Corporation, is fuel for the firestorm of surrounding the awarding by New York Governor David Paterson of a lucrative gambling franchise to Aqueduct Entertainment Group (AEG) in which...

L.A. Dem denies work for Anschutz's company improper. Sacramento -- One of the nation's largest owners of professional sports and entertainment properties paid $20,000 in consulting fees to a state senator while the lawmaker pushed legislation aimed at providing more public assistance in financing such venues, records show. Sen. Kevin Murray, D-Los Angeles, said the December payment from Anschutz Entertainment Group was for legal services unrelated to his bill. A spokesman for the company, which owns the Staples Center in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Examiner, said that Murray, who is an attorney, helped prepare a bid on a...

A City Council panel recommended Monday that Los Angeles provide $266 million in subsidies and loans to the developers of a 55-story hotel next to the Convention Center, but opponents threatened a referendum drive to put the matter before the city's voters. The financial deal was endorsed on a 4-0 vote by members of the council's Ad Hoc Committee on the Convention Center Hotel, with Councilman Tom Labonge and others saying that the project would make the center more competitive and breathe new life into downtown. (snip) The project also was endorsed by the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce and...

KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. (AFPN) -- When the call comes in for an air expeditionary group to deploy, it is usually to a destination with sand, located on foreign soil. Although the sand is still present, this time the group was called to deploy inside the United States -- right at Keesler. The 97th Air Expeditionary Group, comprising Airmen from around the United States, began arriving Sept. 6 to focus on humanitarian missions. “Our mission is to provide support capabilities for organizations such as the (state of) Mississippi and the Federal Emergency Management Agencies which request Department of Defense...