Free Republic

The time is now to see bobcats and other wildlife. In some cases, they might be as close as your own backyard. In response to last week’s story about the surge in bobcat sightings this spring, Chronicle readers reported many new encounters, including bobcats with newborn kittens. Four Chronicle readers, Carl Skornik, Jeff Dauber, Bart Selby and Dan Fredrich were able to capture photographs of the animals and contributed them for this gallery. Dauber’s photos came from his brother’s backyard in Cupertino, adjacent to Rancho San Antonio Open Space Preserve. The photos were taken from inside the house looking out,...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- Armed men broke into the home of Charlotte Bobcats player Stephen Jackson, locking his wife in a bathroom as they made off with a gun and some luxury items, police said. The break-in happened early Wednesday while Jackson was in Texas for a basketball camp. His wife was home but was not injured by three masked gunmen who entered the home in a gated community of two dozen million-dollar homes, multiple media organizations reported.

Nice Kitty

ALLIES.........And The Misinformed I apologize to my vast e-mail audience for misstating the operational cost of our cute little uptown trolley in last week's e-mail. New figures from the city reveal the cost will be $1.1 million per year, not $750,000. With ridership projections remaining at 100,000, the cost per ride is now projected to be $11.00! The rider will pay $1.00----you, the taxpayer will pay $10.00! Here's a very real example of how it will work: a rider from the uptown area, who chooses to have lunch in the Southend, will pay $1.00 each way and you will subsidize...

The Charlotte City Council potentially trashed a $24 million deal Tuesday night when it unanimously voted to rezone what was once the land of the Hornets. You know, the Charlotte Coliseum that sits out there on Tyvola Road like a giant white elephant the city spent in excess of $100 million to build. The property was supposed to be sold for $24 million, but now nobody’s sure what it will fetch. Last year, Crescent Resources – the development subsidiary of Duke Energy – stepped up to the plate and committed to buying the 154-acre parcel for $24 million as part...

[a bill, West Virginia HB 4315], will allow anyone with a concealed carry permit to carry a sidearm while hunting, hiking, or camping. Prior to this revision, DNR law (Chapter 20 of the state code) conflicted with state law on the carry of firearms. DNR law claimed it was illegal for a hunter to carry a concealed firearm while hunting. The revision is a good one and one Gov. Wise should sign. It allows landowners, for example, to patrol their own lands while hunting, and to carry a loaded sidearm in the vehicle for protection - which was already allowed...