Free Republic

Last May, when Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels was pondering a White House bid, Jason Sorens of the University of Buffalo wrote a commentary that went largely unnoticed. Wanting to "take a look at Jon Huntsman," who has been "widely viewed as a 'moderate' Republican, but whose" policies "stake out a position that may be more libertarian than Daniels'," Sorens concluded that after former Gov. Gary Johnson and Texas Congressman Ron Paul, Huntsman offered the most libertarian credentials — besting even Daniels. Sorens's views deserve recognition in New Hampshire, a generally conservative state with decisively libertarian leanings, as our first-in-the-nation presidential...

An apparent carjacking attempt described as a random act of violence has taken the life of a 45-year-old Albion woman and led to the capture of an illegal immigrant charged with her murder, Orleans County sheriff's officials said Monday. Kathleen I. Byham was walking toward her car in the Walmart Supercenter parking lot in the Town of Albion shortly after 7 p.m. Sunday when she was accosted and stabbed multiple times, Sheriff Scott D. Hess reported. She was taken to Medina Memorial Hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 7:40 p.m.

DEER LODGE — Ranchers and landowners on Wednesday packed the Powell County Community Center, just a few miles from what has become ground zero in the debate over whether there is a place for wild bison on Montana's landscape. If those who spoke in the first of three public hearings on a proposal to relocate Yellowstone National Park bison was any indication, the answer is an emphatic no. Dozens of people from this southwestern Montana community where cattle is king told state wildlife officials they were against the plan. None was in favor of it. "This is not the 1800s....

Two bison trapped at a Pennsyvania zoo were shot to spare them from drowning in rapidly rising floodwaters. Officials at Hersheypark's ZooAmerica defended the decision as the most humane choice, though critics blasted it. The one-ton animals were trapped in their pen as waters surged from Tropical Storm Lee. Zookeepers could not evacuate them, though they managed to save other animals. "Unfortunately, no one could anticipate a weather event that went from inches of rain to feet of flooding in a matter of a few short minutes," the zoo said in its statement. "Faced with the prospect of watching the...

FRiends, I'm looking for references to what kinds of gifts or freebies a mayor in NYS may recieve. Digging thru legal pages, .Gov pages, but can't find I'm looking for. Some friends having trouble with their Mayor , drinking at different bars every day, not paying. Thank you for any help in this.

GREENVILLE, Texas — Thousands of people came from miles around Wednesday to see and honor a legend in the flesh - the white buffalo born in a thunderstorm on a northeast Texas ranch. The rare white buffalo calf, regarded as sacred by Lakota Sioux tradition, was honored with Native American prayers, religious songs and the solemn smoking of a pipe in a special naming and dedication ceremony at the Lakota Ranch in Greenville, about 50 miles northeast of Dallas. Flag-flying patriotism, a steady Native American drum beat and scorching heat provided the backdrop for the spiritual event that drew about...

Delaware Park vandals do 'thousands' in damageBy Deidre Williams NEWS STAFF REPORTER Updated: May 24, 2011, 4:57 PM Delaware Park has always brought fun and joy for Suzanne Matheson and Matthew Mitchell and their 3-year-old son, Jamie. Monday, it brought shock and sadness. "Needless destruction," she said of the damage vandals had wrought. The damage came at the hands of a group of more than 100 teenagers and young adults who went on a destructive spree Saturday night, according to officials from Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy. They were joined Monday by law enforcement and some members of the Common Council...

An angry upstate New York man says there's not a prayer that he'll remove a nasty sign prompted by a feud with the mosque next door. "BOMB MAKING NEXT DRIVEWAY," reads the stenciled message on the front lawn of Michael Heick. The message outraged many residents of Amherst, a Buffalo suburb where Heick is upset by the Jaffarya Center's proximity to his property and its bright lights. The sign is more a poke at town officials than a political statement, he insisted. And local authorities can't order him to take it down, because the message is protected by the First...

BUFFALO, N.Y., April 12 (UPI) -- Witnesses said an adult deer has taken over the role of protecting a mother goose preparing to hatch her eggs in New York state as a single parent. Locals in Buffalo said the goose, a species known to mate for life, lost her male partner and would have been left defenseless while protecting her eggs in an empty cemetery urn if a deer had not stepped in to guard the expectant mother, WGRZ-TV, Buffalo, reported Tuesday. Passersby said the deer places itself between the goose and approaching humans or animals. The deer was once...

It was an average sort of beast — gray, thick shouldered, with fat curling horns — spotted from the window of a moving car. But to Giuseppe Mozzillo, who grew up outside Naples in Italy’s buffalo mozzarella heartland, the animals dotting the Indian countryside looked enticingly familiar. “I said, ‘Wait a minute’,” he recalled. “These are the same buffalo. Their original environment is in India. The milk must be amazing. You must be able to make the best mozzarella in the world in India.” ...When he first arrived he was appalled to discover that the local idea of refrigeration often...

The Buffalo Sabres honored their past before Friday night's home finale, then assured a trip to the Stanley Cup Playoffs in their immediate future. Nathan Gerbe scored a highlight-reel goal midway through the third period to tie the game and Thomas Vanek won it with a breakaway goal 1:16 into OT as the Sabres beat the slumping Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 on Friday night. The Sabres (42-29-10) can finish no worse that seventh in the Eastern Conference -- they can go as high as six by getting one more point at Columbus on Saturday than Montreal does at Toronto. [...]

Rick Martin, one-third of the most fabled line in Buffalo Sabres history, died today of a heart attack. He was 59. Martin reportedly had a heart attack while driving in Clarence, a law enforcement officer said on the condition of anonymity. Martin became etched in local lore as the high-scoring winger on the "French Connection," skating alongside Gilbert Perreault and Rene Robert as the infant Sabres captured the area’s attention. Martin helped welcome new Sabres owner Terry Pegula to town late last month, skating onto the ice with Perreault and Robert and shaking Pegula’s hand at center ice as the...

Governor Walker Responds to Prank Call MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- Gov. Scott Walker says he won't be distracted by a prank phone call made by a blogger posing as one of his campaign donors, and he'll push forward with a bill to limit the power of public employee unions. Walker stood by his comments on the call, saying they were no different than what he has said publicly. A website called the Buffalo Beast posted audio of Tuesday's call in which its editor pretended to be conservative billionaire David Koch, who had supported Walker's campaign. **SNIP** Walker revealed his supporters...

S 190.25 Criminal impersonation in the second degree.A person is guilty of criminal impersonation in the second degree when he: 1. Impersonates another and does an act in such assumed character with intent to obtain a benefit or to injure or defraud another; or 2. Pretends to be a representative of some person or organization and does an act in such pretended capacity with intent to obtain a benefit or to injure or defraud another; or 3. (a) Pretends to be a public servant, or wears or displays without authority any uniform, badge, insignia or facsimile thereof by which such...

Kaisertown in Buffalo is a community with deep roots and plenty of history. But it may be losing two of its oldest Catholic churches in the near future. The Diocese of Buffalo, citing dropping attendance, a shortage of priests, and financial concerns, is now taking steps to merge three local parishes. Under a proposal from the diocese, Saint Bernard's parish in Buffalo will close its doors for good. Sunday morning, parishioners reacted to the news. "I sort of knew it was coming, but I didn't want it to happen. We've been parishioners here for 40 years. I love the church,"...

"Dozens of American cities throughout the industrial Great Lakes states and Midwest have lost half of their populations over the course of one generation -- places like Cleveland, Youngstown, Detroit, Warren, Buffalo and Flint. This is the first time that so many cities have lost half of their populations in such a short amount of time since the Plague struck Europe in 1348........."

BUFFALO, N.Y. — We ask so much of these kids, and they ask so much of themselves. They’re no longer boys and not quite men, most of them, and when the world junior hockey championships roll around all the nation does is ask them to live up to everyone who came before them, to live up to Canadian hockey. We ask them to play like men, or near enough, with the spotlights bright and burning. And sometimes, they falter. Sometimes, they fall. Wednesday night Canada settled for silver at the world junior hockey championships for the second consecutive year with...

Pendleton Woolen Mills is making new Navajo-style blankets using wool and blended hair shed by an unusual herd of white buffalo in central Oregon. Ranching experts say fewer than 50 white buffalo, or American bison, live in the U.S., The Oregonian reported. On a sanctuary east of Bend, 11 of them roam acres of isolated juniper forest under the care of Cynthia Hart-Button and her husband, Charles Button. It's one of the larger collections of white buffalos. SNIP Buffalo usually are black or brown. White buffalo are produced when recessive genes trigger the unusual trait. They are not albino. Some...

Two new voting machines were located last night in Buffalo, according to Sen.-elect Mike Gianaris, a Democratic attorney helping his party’s efforts in ballot counting. Incumbent Democratic Sen. Antoine Thompson trails GOP challenger Mark Grisanti by 821 votes, but Gianaris said the new voting machines and how they’ve been handled are a “total disaster” and “complete mess,” adding that lawyers for Thompson are considering legal action that might force a complete recount of paper ballots optically scanned by the machines. This would involve an amount of paper not seen in 50 years; elections in recent New York history have until...

Erie County District Attorney Frank A. Sedita III: 'We are having serious second thoughts' parolee released from prison just two and a half weeks ago was arrested Saturday in connection with the worst carnage the City of Buffalo has experienced in at least three decades.But before the day ended, law enforcement officials said they think they got the wrong man."We are having serious second thoughts," said Erie County District Attorney Frank A. Sedita III. "I have serious reservations about whether we have the right guy here."Sedita said he planned this morning to move in City Court to dismiss charges against...

A shooting spree in a Buffalo, New York restaurant has left four people dead and another four wounded with a man hunt launched to find the shooter. The bloody incident happened very early in the morning in the city of Buffalo after a fight at a large party inside the City Grill bar and restaurant spilled into the street around 2:30 a.m. The witness reported multiple shots. "There was some type of incident" inside the restaurant, "and it then spilled outside and that's when the shootings occurred," Buffalo Police Department spokesman Michael DeGeorge told CNN. "We're trying to sort all...

Man Celebrating One-Year Anniversary Killed in Buffalo Restaurant MassacreFive People Were Killed and Three Wounded in the Early Morning Shooting By DEAN SCHABNER Aug. 14, 2010 A man who had come to Buffalo from Texas to celebrate his one-year wedding anniversary was among five people killed in a shooting early this morning at a restaurant that also left three wounded. A man has been taken into custody, reportedly in relation to the shooting, but police have declined to comment on whether the arrest made by a SWAT team was connected to the massacre. The Buffalo Police Department has not yet...

A man had to be rescued after a large animal head hanging on a wall fell on him early Friday, the Monroe County Sheriff's Office said. Deputies found Jim Harris pinned in his recliner by a stuffed water buffalo's head, Sheriff's spokeswoman Becky Herrin said.

Buffalo public schools provide inconsistent, inadequate and inequitable services to students who speak English as their second language, according to a scathing report recently released to the administration and Board of Education. The city's rapidly growing student population of recent immigrants and refugees — now numbering more than 3,000 — has historically been "largely invisible" in Buffalo schools, the report contends. "The school system didn't seem to notice they were here, didn't think to modify an otherwise successful program to ensure that these newcomers could succeed, and didn't create an effective system to reach out to those communities," states the...

This guy is too much. Unemployment went up in April. Tax receipts to the government went down in April. The number of Americans on food stamps reached an all new high. Heck, Obama quadrupled the deficit in a year! And he’s touting his economic success? Does he really believe we’re all that stupid?

"I need a freakin' job." That's the message President Obama saw as he arrived in Buffalo, N.Y., this afternoon for an event talking up the administration's success in creating new jobs. He also pitched Congress on approving a $30 billion credit for small-business growth.

"I need a freakin job." That's the message on a billboard that went up in Buffalo, New York, just in time for President Obama's town hall meeting there Thursday. On CNN's American Morning, the creator of the billboard, Jeff Baker, said he was inspired to help pay for the eye-catching gimmick because he wanted to "refocus the national dialogue" back to "basic job creation." When the economy went south, Baker and his brother lost their 10-year-old textile business, which employed 25 people. Their family's woes are reflected throughout the city of Buffalo, which suffers from one of the country's highest...

Carl Paladino, a Republican candidate for Governor, is a favorite of the Tea Party movement. Paladino gave a speech yesterday at the Palace Theater in Syracuse, and, once again, he got a racous reception. His campaign slogan is "Mad As Hell." When he announced the start of his campaign recently in his hometown of Buffalo, Paladino says he will focus on spending and chronic deficits in the state budget. Paladino is a lawyer and highly-successful real estate developer, many of his projects in blighted areas of Buffalo. Paladino stressed he is no career politican. Paladino vowed to spend $10 million...

2/25/2010 - SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFNS) -- The members of Sheppard Air Force base learned about the legacy of Buffalo Soldiers during a banquet Feb. 19 here. Buffalo Soldiers were the first African Americans to serve in the "regular" U.S. Army immediately after the Civil War. "The Buffalo soldiers were mostly former slaves from all over the nation, but a lot of them were from the South," said Trooper Fred Gray, the former president of the Lawton-Fort Sill, Okla. Chapter of the 9th and 10th Horse Cavalry Association of the Buffalo Soldiers. "They made up about 20 percent...

Cleveland leads a slew of Midwestern towns on our annual list, but thanks to high taxes New York and Chicago make it too. The city of Cleveland has had a colorful history. The Cuyahoga River, which runs through the city, famously caught fire in 1969 thanks to rampant pollution, and it wasn't the first time. In 1978 it became the first U.S. city to default on its debts since the Great Depression. Cleveland sports fans have had to endure more anguish than those in any other city. The city has been dubbed with a less than endearing nickname: the Mistake...

Lockwood Library on the University at Buffalo North Campus was successfully evacuated this afternoon following a report of a gunman that remains unconfirmed, a UB official said at a news briefing. UB police conducted a room-by-room search of the library and they believe everyone was able to make it out safely, said Joseph A. Brennan, associate vice president for university communications. Police continue to search for the suspicious individual who triggered a campus-wide emergency alert at 4:30 this afternoon. No weapon has been found, no injuries were reported and there were no reports of shots fired.

BUFFALO, NY (WKBW) -- 26-year-old Michael J. Abdallah will be heading to court this week for a felony hearing after being accused of holding a runaway teen in his home for six months. Abdallah has been charged with kidnapping and rape, after police say he held a teen captive from July to December of 2009. Police say Abdallah forced the teen to have sex with him, and babysit his one-year-old son. Neighbors of Abdallah are finding the news difficult to believe. Abdallah will be in court for a felony hearing on February 11.

When Tobias "Bags of Money" Boyland went looking for a new career after serving 13 years in prison for armed robbery and drug dealing, he quickly found something that suited his sensibilities: He opened a collection agency. It was, in some ways, a natural move for a young man in Buffalo. Desperate for jobs, this chronically depressed Rust Belt city has become home to one of the biggest concentrations of debt collection businesses in the U.S. "Collections is the Bethlehem Steel of Buffalo," said Boyland, 44, recalling the industrial giant that once employed 20,000 people in the region. "You can...

It has been almost two Months since the vicious attack on Brian Milligan, and still no arrests have been made. If He were black and the perpetrators were white, it's my guess that the FBI would be involved to find the perpetrators of the hate Crime.Am I the only one who thinks that Obama should tell his FBI Director Robert Mueller to investigate the crime? After all, we are reminded often how it was the federal government and the FBI who had to go into the South and investigate crimes against the black community by the KKK because the...

over the last six years, Buffalo taxpayers have paid millions of dollars to teachers not to teach. Twelve different teachers have collected $2.25 million in salary while under suspension and waiting for disciplinary hearings during that time. And that amount doesn't include the costs for substitutes and the hearings themselves. The average wait for those hearings: three years. The school district doesn't release the names of the teachers, or what they've been charged with, but we've learned that right now there's a Physical Education teacher awaiting a hearing who was suspended four years ago this month and has been paid...

The Rev. Francis X. Mazur, right, Wednesday points out details of the former St. Gerard Catholic Church at Delavan and Bailey avenues to the Rev. David M.Dye of Georgia. St. Gerard Catholic Church, open for a century before the doors shut after last year’s final Mass, has attracted a priest now raising $15 million to take the place apart this spring and rebuild it outside Atlanta. Wednesday, church and architectural representatives from Georgia were in Buffalo to build public support and attend an evening forum about church reuse, organized by the nonprofit Preservation Buffalo Niagara and held in Unitarian Universalist...

A recent mob-beating of a Buffalo, NY teen has caused a great deal of outrage within the community, and while the crime has been covered locally, the national mainstream press has completely ignored the story. The victim is white and the assailants were black. On August 18, Brian Milligan Jr., 18, was walking home when he was reportedly attacked at the corner of Genesee Street and Floss Avenue, by between 10 to 15 black men. In addition to being punched and kicked, Milligan’s attackers hit him in the back of the head with a brick. Amazingly, despite his severe injuries,...

DAYTON, Ohio -- Here's an idea for saving Rust Belt cities: Tell bloggers and radio stations to stop calling your town a basket case. That was one suggestion from representatives of eight of the 10 cities labeled last year as America's fastest dying. They met at the Dayton Convention Center last weekend to swap ideas about how to halt the long skid that's turned cities like Detroit, Cleveland and Buffalo, N.Y., into shorthand for dystopia. The city representatives lunched on $6 sloppy Joes and commiserated through Power Point strategy sessions: Lure back former residents, entice entrepreneurs and artists, convert blighted...

Freepers and other concerned citizens gathered to protest the Health Care Bill in Buffalo at a fund raiser for Democrat Brian Higgins. Higgins had already said he would support the bill. About 200 protestors gathered to shout and laugh at about 2 dozen mindless supporters. The supporters had such convincing arguments such as "Health care for people not for profit" but a shouted question of "What's wrong with profit?" confused their addled brains significantly "Read The Constitution" and "No to Socialism" broght no coherant reply. A young supoporter asked "What wrong with socialism?" to some laughter and embarrassment (for his...

The NYTimes: Top Bush administration officials in 2002 debated testing the Constitution by sending American troops into the suburbs of Buffalo to arrest a group of men suspected of plotting with Al Qaeda, according to former administration officials. Some of the advisers to President George W. Bush, including Vice President Dick Cheney, argued that a president had the power to use the military on domestic soil to sweep up the terrorism suspects, who came to be known as the Lackawanna Six, and declare them enemy combatants. Mr. Bush ultimately decided against the proposal to use military force. ~~~ Mr....

The Bush administration in 2002 considered sending U.S. troops into a Buffalo, New York, suburb to arrest a group of terror suspects, the New York Times reported. WASHINGTON - The Bush administration in 2002 considered sending U.S. troops into a Buffalo, New York, suburb to arrest a group of terror suspects in what would have been a nearly unprecedented use of military power within the United States, The New York Times reported. Vice President Dick Cheney and several other Bush advisers at the time strongly urged that the military be used to apprehend men who were suspected of plotting with...

For the second time this year a tourist at Yellowstone National Park has been attacked by a bison. a 55-year-old man from Norco, California, was taking pictures of a bull bison that was wandering in the Bridge Bay Campgrounds. The two were about 10 feet apart when the bison charged. a bull bison can stand six feet tall, weigh up to 2,000 pounds and run up to 30 miles an hour. During the next several weeks they are more dangerous than usual because it's their mating season.

FORT HUACHUCA — For years, Building 66050 has been vacant. It is deteriorating, but members of the Southwest Association of Buffalo Soldiers are determined to save the structure, which during World War II housed the Colored Officers Club. The building, its paint now peeling, windows broken and interior unsafe, is where black entertainers such as Lena Horne would come to the post to perform for black soldiers when the Army was segregated. The fort is where two black divisions, the 92nd and 93rd, trained before heading off to combat in World War II. One division went to Italy and the...

Some members of 'Anti-American Imperialism Forum', protesting against US President Barack Obama's "Bangalore to Buffalo" remark were arrested when they tried to forcibly enter Bank Of America, on M G road here on Wednesday. About 25 protestors of the city-based outfit, carrying placards and shouting slogans - "Down, Down Big Brother Obama", "Buffalo has buffaloes, Bangalore has brains" "Osama terrorised innocent, Obama terrorises BPO workers" - were arrested when they tried to forcibly enter Bank Of America, deputy commissioner of Police (Central Division), G Ramesh said. The agitators took out a protest march from Mahatma Gandhi statue to the Bank...

'Say no to Bangalore and yes to Buffalo,' seems to be the latest mantra of US President Barack Obama as he struggles to bring the ailing American economy back on track. Meeting one of his major election promises, Obama yesterday announced end to years of tax incentives to those US companies which create jobs overseas in places like Bangalore. Instead, the incentives would now go to those creating jobs inside the US, in places like the Buffalo city -- bordering Canada in upstate New York. "We will stop letting American companies that create jobs overseas take deductions on their expenses...

City School Board racks up big bills for travel, dinners. Tune in to public-access TV just about any time, and there’s a good chance you’ll catch the Buffalo Board of Education in action during a televised meeting. There’s also plenty that you won’t see. You won’t see board members and top administrators digging into a buffet every Wednesday before meetings. Last week, for instance, they could choose from egg rolls, shrimp lo mein, General Tso’s chicken, pepper steak, sesame chicken, cheesecake, cookies and flan, among other goodies... Other weeks, board members enjoy meatballs, turkey, chicken, potatoes, corn and salad. Sometimes,...

Bishop Robert J. Cunningham Syracuse, N.Y., Apr 21, 2009 / 10:50 am (CNA).- The Diocese of Syracuse in New York received the news this morning that it has a new shepherd—Bishop Robert J. Cunningham. The Buffalo-born bishop will move from the Diocese of Ogdensburg in upstate New York to serve the faithful in his new diocese.Pope Benedict's appointment of Bishop Cunningham to lead the Diocese of Syracuse comes almost two years after Bishop James Moynihan submitted his resignation upon reaching the age of 75. Until Bishop Cunningham is installed on May 26 at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception...

BUFFALO — About 1,000 men and women encircled speakers Saturday afternoon at the Buffalo inner harbor to protest taxes and almost everything about Albany. With the USS Little Rock as a backdrop and the dilapidated Memorial Auditorium in the foreground, many people carried protest signs. An emotional Clarence man rushed up to the speaker and put $20 in protest money on the podium. Protesters were discouraged from tossing tea in the water, but a stream of citizens rushed to the stand and donated cash. “People came forward with loads of cash. I had no idea this would happen,” said Jim...

[One of the funniest photos you will ever see!] About ten days ago, an ad for “Muslim matrimonials” appeared right next to our story about the Muslim TV executive who beheaded his wife. You can see the hilarious juxtaposition on the screen capture above. Click the image or here for a full size, full screen image. At first we thought our internet advertising provider had merely misinterpreted the context of the key words in the story — Muslim, husband, wife – and placed the ad there by mistake. But we’ve changed our minds. Because these are the smartest companies in...

BAGHDAD, Feb. 20, 2009 – The U.S. military fielded its 10,000th mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicle in Iraq today during a ceremony on Camp Liberty, just 22 months after it was introduced into the theater of operations. Mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicles sit in a row on the Camp Liberty, Iraq, fielding site, Feb. 20, 2009. The day marked the introduction of the 10,000th vehicle into Iraq. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Christopher Gaylord  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Servicemembers and civilians from across Victory Base Complex gathered among rows of MRAPs at the largest fielding site in Iraq to acknowledge the...