Free Republic

Obama budget receives zero votes in Senate By Jordan Fabian - 05/25/11 06:14 PM ET No senators voted for President Obama's 2012 budget when it came up for a vote in the Senate Wednesday. A procedural vote to move forward on the president's plan failed 0-97. Just minutes earlier, the Senate failed to advance Rep. Paul Ryan's (R-Wis.) budget plan by a vote of 40-57, a vote on which five Republicans voted against their party. Democrats sought to put Republicans on the defensive over the Ryan budget, which they have described as extreme. But Republicans, who demanded a vote on...

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 370 NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 1110 AM CDT WED MAY 25 2011 THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS SOUTHERN INDIANA WESTERN AND CENTRAL KENTUCKY EASTERN MISSOURI EFFECTIVE THIS WEDNESDAY MORNING AND EVENING FROM 1110 AM UNTIL 900 PM CDT. ...THIS IS A PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION... DESTRUCTIVE TORNADOES...LARGE HAIL TO 3 INCHES IN DIAMETER... THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS. THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 75 STATUTE MILES NORTH AND SOUTH OF...

National Weather Service: Denning, Ark., Destroyed By Tornado POSTED: 12:29 am CDT May 25, 2011 UPDATED: 12:43 am CDT May 25, 2011 FORT SMITH, Ark. -- The National Weather Service is reporting that a large, dangerous tornado has destroyed the town of Denning, Arkansas, in Franklin County, just south of Altus. The tornado hit the area about 12:15 a.m., and it continued to the northeast. Spotters reported that this large tornado was up to a mile wide at one point just before it struck Denning. 40/29 News reporter Kelly Johnson said there was lots of structural damage in the Denning...

[Note: above is clickable to NWS Storm Prediction Center] ZCZC SPCPWOSPC ALL WOUS40 KWNS 240919 ARZ000-KSZ000-MOZ000-OKZ000-TXZ000-241800- PUBLIC SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 0419 AM CDT TUE MAY 24 2011 ...TORNADO OUTBREAK EXPECTED OVER PARTS OF THE SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL PLAINS AND OZARKS THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH EARLY WEDNESDAY... THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER IN NORMAN OK IS FORECASTING THE DEVELOPMENT OF A FEW STRONG TORNADOES...VERY LARGE HAIL...AND DAMAGING WINDS OVER PARTS OF THE SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL PLAINS AND OZARKS THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. THE AREAS MOST LIKELY TO EXPERIENCE THIS ACTIVITY INCLUDE WESTERN AND NORTHERN ARKANSAS CENTRAL...

...there are less than a dozen that each party has won at least twice since 1992: Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Nevada, Ohio, Tennessee and West Virginia. Out of these ten, not many folks would consider Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Tennessee or West Virginia to be swing states in 2012. That leaves Colorado, Florida, Missouri, Nevada and Ohio, all states generally considered as in play for 2012... since 1992, Nevada is the most "one-sided" with Democrats winning 51.5% of the 3.1 million or so two-party votes cast since 92. Nevada voted for Clinton, Clinton, Bush, Bush and Obama. In Ohio,...

Tomorrow night (Saturday) I will announce the next step in my plans for 2012 during my show on the Fox News Channel. I would like to be able to call you or email you personally and in advance of the announcement, but due to the fact that the decision was not finalized until today and that I committed to Fox that I will absolutely not release it prior to doing so on the channel, that became impractical. [snip] It was this afternoon before I could even get word to all of my own children and even now, the executive producer...

Suspect in recruiting station shooting wants to fire attorneyMemphis Commercial Appeal Posted May 6, 2011 at midnight LITTLE ROCK -- A former Memphian charged in the shooting death of one soldier and wounding of another outside a Little Rock recruiting station wants to fire one of his attorneys. Abdulhakim Muhammad, who was once known as Carlos Bledsoe, says in a letter to Pulaski County Circuit Judge Herb Wright that he's firing lead attorney Claiborne Ferguson but wants to keep attorney Patrick Benca. He also says in the two-sentence letter that he'll plead guilty in connection with attacks and threats against...

Virtually unreported by the national media - because it might detract from President Obama's victory lap... The "Father of Waters," as President Lincoln called the Mississippi, is on a historic rampage. Almost no one now living remembers such a river crest. The levees were blown on the Missouri side of the river, below Cairo, last Monday night. Memphis is being surrounded by water. New Orleans will not even see the river crest before Memorial Day Weekend... Is CNN going wall-to-wall? Nope. ... What might this historic flood mean? Well, no one's talking, no one's predicting. Because doing so might affect...

(AP) - The Mississippi River crested in Memphis at nearly 48 feet on Tuesday, falling inches short of its all-time record but still soaking low-lying areas with enough water to require a massive cleanup. National Weather Service meteorologist Bill Borghoff says the river reached 47.85 feet at 2 a.m. Tuesday and is expected to stay very close to that level for the next 24 to 36 hours. Reaching its high point means things shouldn't get worse in the area, but it will take weeks for the water to recede and much longer for inundated areas to recover. "Pretty much the...

To some people, there's only one thing worse than an ordinary skunk - a rabid one. Arkansas is seeing an increase in the number of skunks with rabies, officials say. The state usually has about 32 skunks per year that test positive for rabies. So far this year, the state has already reported 35, according to Susan Weinstein, state public health veterinarian. "We are having very much of an increase this spring," Weinstein said. "It should calm down after spring weather when skunks are not as active and it is no longer mating season." The average per county is one...

Gun Beats Screwdriver in LR A Little Rock man is recovering after being shot in the arm. Police say it happened around 1:30 Saturday afternoon along the 1900 block of West 29th street. They say two 18-year-olds were trying to jump a third man with a screwdriver. Only police say the third man was armed with a gun. All three are in custody but so far no one has been charged. Lt. Terry Hastings with the Little Rock police department says if you're going to jump a man with a screwdriver, make sure he doesn't have a gun.

Dr. Michael Collins, Naval Research Laboratory scientist and bird watcher, has published an article titled "Putative audio recordings of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker (Campephilus principalis)" which appears in the March issue of the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America. The audio recordings were captured in two videos of birds with characteristics consistent with the Ivory-billed Woodpecker. This footage was obtained near the Pearl River in Louisiana, where there is a history of unconfirmed reports of this species. During five years of fieldwork, Collins had ten sightings and also heard the characteristic "kent" calls of this species on two occasions. Scientists...

NOAA Arkansas

At least seven deaths have been reported in connection with a series of tornadoes and severe weather that ripped through several states from Kentucky to Tennessee Monday, authorities said. Forecasters expect more rain and storms today to slam across the Midwest, as the system moves east. In Arkansas, three people were killed in rising floodwaters and two died in a town where a possible tornado barreled through Monday, according to the Associated Press. In Vilonia, Ark., north of Little Rock, where a possible tornado killed two people....

PUBLIC SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 0653 AM CDT TUE APR 26 2011 ...OUTBREAK OF SEVERE STORMS AND TORNADOES EXPECTED OVER PARTS OF THE SOUTHERN PLAINS AND LOWER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY THIS EVENING AND OVERNIGHT... THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER IN NORMAN OK IS FORECASTING THE DEVELOPMENT OF A FEW STRONG LONG TRACK TORNADOES AND WIDESPREAD DAMAGING WIND OVER PARTS OF THE SOUTHERN PLAINS AND LOWER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY THIS EVENING AND OVERNIGHT. THE AREAS MOST LIKELY TO EXPERIENCE THIS ACTIVITY INCLUDE SOUTHERN ARKANSAS EXTREME NORTHWESTERN LOUISIANA SOUTHEASTERN OKLAHOMA NORTHEASTERN TEXAS ELSEWHERE...SEVERE STORMS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE FROM...THE OHIO...

More than half of the 50 states have sued to block the federal healthcare legislation passed last year. Congressman Steve Womack laid out the Republican response to the ongoing debate. He spoke with 5NEWS as he toured St. Edward Mercy Medical Center Friday. Womack listened as neonatologist Dr. Victor Coloso walked him through the NICU. Hospital CEO Jeff Johnston says it's important that the federal government reduce the deficit, however he wants legislators to understand that healthcare costs money and they need to carefully weigh cuts. "It's important that people have access to quality healthcare, and we try to do...

Mike Huckabee has issued a sharp response to Glenn Beck’s derisive comments about the former Arkansas governor, saying the “inept” talk show host’s remarks “blow up in his face.” On Wednesday, Beck slapped the dreaded “progressive” label on the potential presidential candidate, saying Huckabee “is the perfect progressive candidate for the Republican Party.” Beck has equated progressivism with cancer that must be excised from America, and has sometimes derided progressives as “Nazis.” Huckabee responded on the website of his political action committee, huckpac.com. “This week Glenn Beck has taken to his radio show to attack me as a Progressive, which...

PHOENIX -- Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer on Monday vetoed a bill that would have required President Obama and other presidential candidates to prove their U.S. citizenship before their names could appear on the state's ballot. The bill would have made Arizona the first state to pass such a requirement. Opponents had warned the bill would give another black eye to Arizona after last year's controversy over the state's illegal immigration enforcement law. Brewer said in her veto letter that she was troubled that the bill empowered Arizona's secretary of state to judge the qualifications of all candidates when they file...

At least 43 people have been confirmed dead after a furious storm that has reportedly spawned over 100 tornadoes during the past week tore through the Midwest and moved on to southern states, ravaging parts of North Carolina and leaving a trail of destruction Rescue workers are searching for victims across hard-hit areas of North Carolina, People in large patches of the Midwest and the South had to contend with flash floods and hail the size of softballs as the storm that has been described as "hell on earth" pushed through their communities. In Raleigh, N.C., apartment buildings had entire...

Man Confesses To ‘Jihad Operation' Murder In Nashvilleby Jeff Tang Posted: Apr 13, 2011 6:57 PM EDT NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A former TSU student on trial for murder in Arkansas said he killed a man in East Nashville in 2006. **SNIP** But, in a letter to an Arkansas Judge, Muhammad confesses to another murder, an East Nashville man in 2006. "The letter was sent to us immediately after it was discovered and our cold case detectives will be going to interview him to see how much he knows about the case to see if he was involved," said Metro Police...