Free Republic

Since 2008, former Chicago Public Schools’ CEO, Arne Duncan, has been calling for residential schools that afford Chicago Public Schools (CPS) students the opportunity to learn in safe, academically-challenging environments, free from negative influences and distractions from education. Residential schools, also called boarding schools, allow students to live and learn together well beyond the traditional school day. The underlying premise of the residential education model is that early preparation for the academic rigor and independent living of the college experience, especially for students who are the first in their families to attend college, offers an advantage when they embark on...

Local families are receiving threatening e-mails. Police say the messages are a scam. The e-mailer tells you that if you don't send money, you or a relative will be murdered.

The Obama Campaign is giving out names, phone numbers, voter ID numbers, gender and age information to any yahoo who signs up at their web site. I got all the above information for 50 people in the 502 area code. Here is a quote from that portion of Obama's web page. In all states, you'll be able to immediately start calling potential supporters. Once you select a campaign on the right, you'll get a list of voters either in your state or in an important battleground state. You can pick up the phone and get calling immediately. Or if you'd...

More than half a million Tri-state homes and businesses are without power after high winds rip through the Tri-State. Trees and power lines are down in many communities, some blocking major roads. Damage in most areas is extensive. Four deaths blamed on storm The storm is also blamed for four deaths in the Tri-State. A woman died in Mount Healthy when a tree fell onto her house. It happened on Martin Street. No word if anyone else was home at the time. Another person was killed when a tree fell on them in Ohio County, Indiana. Our partners at the...

The lawyer for Casey Anthony, mother of missing toddler Caylee Anthony, disclosed late Tuesday that the family had received a credible tip that a small child matching Caylee's description was seen boarding a flight to Atlanta at Orlando International Airport. The tip was even more credible because the person reported that the little girl pronounced her last name the same way Caylee's grandparents say she does, attorney Jose Baez told FOX News. The child's grandmother Cindy Anthony confirmed that the lead surfaced late Tuesday. She said the tip was from a woman who lives in Orlando and was left on...

Please DO NOT read this thread if you have not seen the movie. Even if you have read this book, topics under discussion can affect what you will expect in the last book. Several pet theories for the Deathy Hallows have, perhaps, been laid to rest by the release of this movie. A number of plot points I had thought were important to the end of the series were completely left out of Order of the Phoenix. 1. There is absolutely NO reference to the cleaning of Grimmauld Place. Thus, any speculation about the locket horcrux being hoarded by Kreacher...

INDEPENDENCE, Ky. -- When Derrick Carlson left for a school field trip last month, his parents never dreamed it would be the last time they would ever see him alive. "He had his group of friends and he was coming into his own," said his father, Ed Carlson. Derrick had gone on a field trip to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, with his ninth-grade class at Simon Kenton High School, and authorities said he tried to run across a road to a fast-food restaurant and was hit by a car. “Everybody’s devastated,” Carlson said. “It’s not something you...

Dear FReepers, I need your prayers tonight. My 14 year old son was killed in a traffic accident today. Please pray for us.

COVINGTON - In a step he says the federal courts have sanctioned, Covington Vice Mayor Rob Sanders is trying to get the city to go beyond state law in restricting where sex offenders can live. Sanders is asking the city commission to prohibit convicted sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of the city's schools and child care facilities. Current Kentucky law prohibits registered sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of schools and day care facilities while they are on probation, parole or supervised release, but they can live where they choose once they are released from state jurisdiction.

Signs of positive improvements in Kentucky schools are being widely reported. The number of Kentuckians with a high school diploma is up 10 percent over the past decade; more of the commonwealth’s students are taking the ACT college entrance test, with scores are up over last year; and students’ scores on the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills (CTBS), a widely used standardized test, have slightly improved. The general consensus among the education establishment and the media is that recent reports illustrate a slow, steady progress for educational attainment in the state, but that much work remains to be done. For...

Some weeks ago, I participated in a survey on gay marriage in my college math class. The guy doing the survey, apparently, is a proponent of "Al Gore" style vote counting. The questions on the survey and the results were as follows: What is your gender? Male Female (56 female, 14 male) What is your sexual orientation? Heterosexual Homosexual or bi-sexual (68 heterosexual, 1 homosexual, 1 bi-sexual) **The following results were roughly 40 to 20 in favor of gay "equality". I didn't copy down the numbers. Do you support gay marriage? Yes No Do you support civil unions? Yes No...

101 George Michael Exposed 100 Martha Stewart Indicted 99 Michael Jackson Plays Danglin' Daddy 98 Melissa Etheridge Delivers Baby Shocker 97 Dennis Rodman Gets Married 96 Zsa Zsa Slaps Cop 95 J.Lo's Grammy Gown Raises Eyebrows 94 The Crying Game Keeps a Secret 93 Carnie Wilson Gets a Tummy Tuck 92 Milli Vanilli Lip- Synchs to Scandal 91 Gianni Versace Murdered 90 Ben Affleck in Rehab 89 Barbra Streisand Does Coffee Talk 88 Sean Young Pursues James Woods 87 Chris Farley Dies 86 Drew Barrymore Deals with Drugs 85 Jessica Hahn Brings Down Jim Bakker 84 Roseanne Butchers the National...

I am giving an oral presentation to my American Literature class about the Declaration Of Independence, specifically the section: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness" I'm having trouble figuring out exactly what I want to say. What I have included so far is the idea that Jefferson was talking about inherent worth of humanity at our individual creation. He cannot be meaning that we are all of equal worth at 20,...

Frankfort, KY (October 8, 2002) – Attorney General Ben Chandler today announced that his office is launching a preventative strike against voter fraud in the coming election. “It is much easier to prevent election fraud before it happens than to prosecute the crime after it’s been committed,” said Chandler at a news conference in the state Capitol. Chandler said that investigators from his office will coordinate with the Kentucky State Police and visit every county clerk in Kentucky to identify potential problem areas. Joining Chandler at the news conference were Major Mike Sapp of the Kentucky State Police, Secretary of...

I received a postcard today regarding a local political event. On this postcard it also said: Sign up to be a Team Leader at www.GOPTeamleader.com, the party's interactive and online resource for party activists and volunteers. I looked at the site briefly. It encourages phone calling and letters to the editor. It also has some basic information, aka talking points. The information about the political event is as follows. Please join senior Republican Party officials as we discuss the findings and implications of our year long 72 Hour Task Force top-to-bottom review of GOP grassroots activities. We need your help...

NEW YORK — Former president Bill Clinton said Saturday that he would like to come to Cincinnati to help mediate a solution to the city's racial divisions. The former president was speaking at an AIDS conference at Columbia University. After the event he shook hands with some of the journalists and researchers in the audience. In greeting an Enquirer editor, he asked how things were going with Cincinnati's racial situation. Mr. Clinton said he had planned to offer his help, but then learned of the mediated settlements last month that ended a Department of Jus tice police investigation and a...

Kenton County taxpayers should be getting more money in payroll tax refunds, Democrats looking to unseat the all-Republican Fiscal Court say. The county has incorrectly calculated the refunds, the challengers maintained during a news conference Friday. Refiguring the amounts could give taxpayers another $30 to $50 this year and as much as several hundred dollars over several years, said Patrick Hughes, a Democrat running for judge-executive. Hughes and two Democrats running for county commissioner seats, Sue Sampson and Mike Baker, called for the Fiscal Court to correct its mistake. The Democrats hinted that ignoring the issue could bring more legal...

Tonight on Flipped, guns. MTV took two young men, approximately 16 years old and showed them what happens when idiots have guns. Teen number one, white male with an attitude. He confesses to being a fairly little guy with a very big mouth. But having a gun in his hand makes him feel like a big shot and when you're a little guy who causes trouble for yourself, I suppose you need an equalizer. Teen number two, black male likes to hang out with his friends in a parking lot tossing dice and shooting off guns. As long as ...

WKRC radio is reporting anthrax scare in IRS building, Covington, KY. The building is in lockdown. Developing....

Many Freepers seem to be dog owners, so I am coming to you for advice. My family adopted an 8 week old puppy from a shelter today. We've been preparing for this for some time as we are inexperienced dog owners and have young children. We've talked with the shelter people a number of times, so when they assured us that the puppy we found today would be a wonderful family dog and very smart and trainable, we believed them. The dog is a Jack Russell Terrier/Beagle mix. In the little freebie bag they gave us was a pamphlet ...