Free Republic

A 50-year-old British woman is on trial for killing her cheating husband in 2021. Prosecutors said that Fiona Beal stabbed Nick Billingham in the neck during sex because he was having an affair. Beal then told her friends and family that she tested positive for COVID-19 and had to self-isolate for ten days. During that time, prosecutors allege that Beal buried Billingham in the garden in the backyard of their home. They detailed her purchases of cleaning products, gardening tools, and materials used to wrap the body before she buried it. She then spent the next few months using Billingham's...

Nonprofit on boards in the city of Seattle are facing huge bosses because tenants in the city are not paying rent. Following the pandemic eviction moratorium, a lot of tenants became used to someone else paying their bills for them and continue to not pay to this day. This has hurt the revenue of the nonprofits

New York State housing advocates say they are furious about the so-called “good cause eviction bill” in the new state budget. It grants tenant protections to people in New York City but all other municipalities will need to opt in. It also requires renters to know their landlord’s portfolio to determine eligibility for “good cause” eviction protections and the information can be hard to find. Ritti Singh, communications organizer for the group Housing Justice for All, said previous iterations would have balanced tenant and landlord interests. “What it required landlords to do was to show they had a valid cause...

The Sheetz convenience store chain has been hit with a lawsuit by federal officials who allege the company discriminated against minority job applicants. Sheetz Inc., which operates more than 700 stores in six states, discriminated against Black, Native American and multiracial job seekers by automatically weeding out applicants whom the company deemed to have failed a criminal background check, according to U.S. officials. President Joe Biden stopped by a Sheetz for snacks this week while campaigning in Pennsylvania. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed suit in Baltimore against Altoona, Pennsylvania-based Sheetz and two subsidary companies, alleging the chain's longstanding hiring...

(Colorado Newsline) Colorado landlords will now need a specific reason to evict or not offer a lease renewal to a tenant under a new law signed by Democratic Governor Jared Polis on Friday. It is a victory for tenants-rights organizers and progressive legislators who seek to include renters in the conversation about how to address the state’s housing and affordability issues. Colorado is the sixth state to enact such a policy. “Everybody here wants to prevent unnecessary evictions and save families money. And House Bill 1098 does these things while placing no financial burdens on landlords. This is the right...

The City of Ithaca has been mandated by Tompkins County Environmental Health to clean up a section of homeless encampments known as “the Jungle,” after the area was declared a public health hazard. The city received a notice on April 9 to address the conditions of a specific triangular strip of city-owned land by May 10, due to the accumulation of waste including bicycles, shopping carts, hypodermic needles, and garbage.

The New York HEAT Act might not make the final budget. The bill reduces the state’s reliance on natural gas and cuts ratepayer costs by eliminating certain rules. It was in both legislative chambers’ one-house budgets, but last-minute scrambling could remove it. New York League of Conservation Voters Policy Director Patrick McClellan said, aside from people’s preference for natural gas, other challenges have made the bill hard to pass. “I think that there has also been some irresponsible fear-mongering against this bill from some people who oppose it,” said McClellan, “basically telling people this means that their natural gas service...

Wayne County is rolling out a new round of funding to assist landlords with small-scale properties in meeting federal housing standards. The initiative, explained by County Economic Development Director Brian Pincelli, is a collaboration between the county, The Housing Council at PathStone, and both the Newark and Geneva Housing Authorities. This effort aims to support landlords who manage fewer than 15 units in upgrading their properties to comply with Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program inspections and health and safety regulations. The program was designed in response to a 2021 affordable housing study that highlighted the necessity for maintaining affordable...

The state is awarding just over $15 million in bonds and subsidies for a project that will create 78 affordable homes in Ontario County. Sunlight Lane Apartments in Geneva will be for low-and-moderate low-income households. The net-zero development will be fully electric and feature rooftop solar panels. The financing is allocated through the New York State Homes and Community Renewal program.

TOPLINE A pair of conservative activists known for putting forward conspiracy theories ahead of the 2020 election have agreed to pay up to $1.25 million over a robocall campaign that New York Attorney General Letitia James said was meant to deter Black voters from voting by mail in the 2020 election. James sued Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman over the robocall campaign in 2021, and in 2023, a New York judge issued a 111-page ruling finding them liable for violating federal and state law by setting into motion “a full-scale voter suppression operation” in 2020. Under the settlement announced Tuesday,...

There’s now a new way for residents and the Ontario County Sheriff’s Office to stay in touch with one another. Sheriff David Cirencione unveiled the department’s new app on Monday. He said the app will provide residents with another way to get a hold of police in an emergency. Cirencione said the app will also allow residents to send police tips on criminal activity. The app is now available to download for free in the App Store and Google Play by searching “Ontario County Sheriff, NY”

Housing advocates say easy public access to landlord-tenant complaints hamstrings renter efforts to find new housing, but pulling records from public view also raises concerns. The Strip District woman would feel a lot more confident about apartment hunting if her tenant history was not marked by three recent court complaints filed against her by her current landlord. “Honestly, it makes me feel like a criminal,” she said. The tenant, whose name is being withheld for privacy reasons, faced a health crisis last year and an ongoing disability that slashed her income, even prompting a GoFundMe plea for help with medical...

An investigator with the Chemung County Sheriff’s Office is fighting for his life after being thrown from the hood of a moving car while trying to apprehend a suspect in Big Flats Friday night. On Friday, the Chemung County Sheriff’s Office and the New York State Police were conducting a joint retail theft operation in Consumer Square, in the Town of Big Flats. At about 6:45 pm, while pursuing a larceny suspect in the Target parking lot, the subject ran towards a getaway vehicle and jumped on the hood with Inv. Mike Theetge in close pursuit tackling him on top...

Heads up to all NYS property owners (yes upstate too) Not only is "Good Cause" back on the table, but the Winter Eviction Moratorium is also on the floor in the NY Legislature. If you want to sell your property and get out of the landlord biz, as hoards of mom and pop landlords are doing due to the overly restrictive regulations of 2019, you'll have to WAIT to evict them between October and April. As you know, if "Good Cause" goes through, you will be unable to "not renew" a lease. All "non renewals" will be turned into a...

UPDATE 3/20: The man's body found yesterday in the Highland Park Reservior may have been there more than three weeks. A source tells Bob Lonsberry there is video showing the man there February 24. Rochester police don't believe he committed suicide. Meantime, Mayor Malik Evans says we may know late today whether the boil water advisory will be extended for parts of the city. The City was told by the EPA to cover the reservoir by 2009 but was given an extension until this year.

Georgia mother was arrested for allegedly encouraging her seven-year-old daughter to steal a woman's purse. The Newnan Police Department said that 28-year-old Kenya Butler was at The Juicy Crab with her daughter when she saw a woman's purse unattended in a booth. Authorities said that Butler allegedly told her daughter to grab the purse. Her daughter snatched the purse, and then they left the restaurant along with others in their group, skipping out on a $500 bill.

The Biden administration unveiled a new program on Thursday aimed at alleviating the financial burden on homeowners by slashing closing costs on select mortgages, reviving a proposal that faced opposition from the industry in the past. The initiative targets a significant expense associated with closing on a mortgage: title insurance. In a pilot program, Fannie Mae will waive the title insurance requirement on mortgage refinancings it acquires from certain lenders, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal. This move reignites a clash with the industry regarding the cost and necessity of title insurance and aligns with the White...

We are trying to understand and learn what happened inside Batavia Downs Gaming that led to the arrest of a man and woman and what happened that caused the death of the Sgt. who was trying to arrest the woman. We think we’ll be able to find some of those answers when the two suspects are in Batavia court Tuesday afternoon. Michael Elmore is charged with aggravated manslaughter, aggravated assault on a police officer and burglary. Lindsey Wilcox is charged with attempted assault and burglary. Cell phone video captures one arrest outside Batavia Downs early Sunday morning. Other video shows...

WEST BABYLON, Suffolk County (WABC) -- The four people arrested in connection with human remains found scattered across Long Island are out on supervised release. Steven Brown, 44, Jeffrey Mackey, 38, and Amanda Wallace, 40, all of Amityville, along with Alexis Nieves, 33, who is homeless, were all charged Wednesday with first-degree hindering prosecution, tampering with physical evidence, and concealment of a human corpse. They have not been charged with the killing of the two victims, which means they are free to go until their next court appearances or until they face more charges while authorities gather more evidence. The...

New York state prison inmates would get nearly $2,600 in taxpayer-funded pocket money to make ends meet after serving just six months in the slammer in a new bill making the rounds in Albany. The proposal from two Big Apple Democrats in the state legislature would up the amount of “gate money” given to ex-cons from the current $40 — with the money used to pay for housing, transportation and other expenses, according to the Center for Employment Opportunities, which is backing the bill. “Every year, thousands of individuals return to our communities, often with little more than the clothes...