Free Republic

Cavs Head Coach Fired UPDATED: 10:28 am EST March 21, 2005 CLEVELAND -- Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Paul Silas was fired Monday. NewsChannel5's Chris Miller was told by Silas' son and assistant coach Steven Silas that Paul was let go before practice this morning. Steven Silas was also let go. Assistant coach Brendan Malone has been named interim coach. Silas had two years left on his contract. The cavs have lost three straight games and are 34-30 now. Silas, 59, had previously been fired by New Orleans after last season. He was chosen to coach the Cavs over former Knicks...

Banned NFL Jerseys List Causes Uproar NFL fans' personalized attempts at gridiron glory or grins have their limits. This week, the list of objectionable phrases that you couldn't put on the back of a personalized jersey at NFL.com surfaced, and it caused quite a stir. Among the banned terms: Pimpjuice, Barf, 420, Budweiser, He Hate Me, Dahmer, Carruth and even Dome.See some of the list here

Senator fights cable 'indecency' Alaska's Stevens says he'll push to apply public broadcast standards to satellite, too. March 1, 2005: 2:20 PM EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens said Tuesday he would push to apply broadcast decency standards to subscription television and radio services like cable and satellite. "Cable is a much greater violator in the indecency area," the Alaska Republican told the National Association of Broadcasters, which represents most local television affiliates. "I think we have the same power to deal with cable as over-the-air" broadcasters. "There has to be some standard of decency," he...

Student Pulled from Class for Wearing Hempstead Shirt ATLANTA -- The town of Hempstead, New York, has a message for school officials in Gwinnett (gwih-NET') County, Georgia: Look at a map. That's after a student at a suburban Atlanta high school was thrown out of class for wearing a shirt that said Hempstead on it. Hempstead is the name of his hometown. But school officials apparently thought it was a reference to marijuana. His family says Terrell Jones was pulled out of class at Grayson High School Monday -- and wasn't allowed to return until he persuaded school officials to...

Court Upholds Suspension of Beer Drinker's License HARRISBURG, Pa. -- Just telling a doctor how much you drink at home may be enough to get your driver's license suspended in Pennsylvania. A judge has ruled that the state can suspend the driver's license of a man who told his doctor he drank a six-pack of beer a day. Keith Emerich disclosed his drinking habit while being treated for an irregular heartbeat. Two months later, he was notified that his license was being recalled for medical reasons related to substance abuse. A Pennsylvania law dating back to the 1960s requires doctors...

<p>The American Civil Liberties Union yesterday sued the federal government and Metro, seeking to overturn the transit agency's recent ban on advertisements touting the legalization of marijuana.</p> <p>The ad at the center of the dispute is headlined "Marijuana Laws Waste Billions of Taxpayer Dollars to Lock Up Non-Violent Americans." Boston-based Change the Climate Inc. submitted the ad in January to run on Metro buses and be placed in subway stations, but the transit agency rejected the ad campaign earlier this month.</p>

Youngstown-area mob boss sent to prison 01/28/04 John Caniglia Plain Dealer Reporter The last Mafia boss in Ohio came out of hiding Tuesday, long enough to be sentenced to nearly 13 years in prison for killing a rival, gunning down a prosecutor and corrupting a region's political system. Despite his deeds, federal authorities asked for a reduced sentence for Lenine "Lenny" Strollo, longtime crime boss of Youngstown, because of what prosecutors call his "incredible cooperation" in helping authorities on mob cases in Cleveland, Detroit and Pittsburgh. Strollo, 73, pleaded guilty to corruption and tax charges in 1999 and went into...

Jan 22, 2:09 PM EST Seven-state info store a potent repository of personal data By BRIAN BERGSTEIN AP Technology Writer NEW YORK (AP) -- A federally funded crime database run by seven states, including Connecticut, is looking increasingly to privacy advocates like a potent substitute for the data mining program the Pentagon scrapped after public rebuke. Law enforcement officials and the private company that manages the database, known as Matrix, say it merely streamlines police access to information about suspects that authorities have long been able to get from disparate sources. But newly emerging facts about the program, including documents...

Priest accused of growing marijuana in church living quarters The Associated Press 1/22/04 3:48 PM BARBERTON, Ohio (AP) -- A Roman Catholic priest was in jail Thursday, accused of growing marijuana in his church living quarters. The Rev. Richard A. Arko, 40, was charged with illegal cultivation of marijuana, a fifth-degree felony. Jensen J. Powell, 24, who police said also lived at the Prince of Peace Church rectory, was charged with trafficking in marijuana, also a fifth-degree felony. If convicted, each faces six months to a year in jail and a $2,500 fine. Norton police arrested Arko after they searched...

<p>A figure of baby Jesus stolen from a Maumee church is back in his manger, wearing a new coat - of paint, that is.</p> <p>During his two-week absence, Jesus’ white skin was covered with dark brown paint, said the Rev. Roger Miller, pastor of St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church on East Wayne Street.</p>

A friend who works on lower Manhattan just e-mailed to say that (at least part of) Canal Street & Hudson Street in lower Manhattan are shut down & that there are cops everywhere in haz-mat suits. Brooklyn & Manhattan bridges shut down. Developing?

Mets’ Trouble With the GrassSources: At least 7 players suspected of marijuana use By David Lennon and Jon Heyman Newsday Staff Writers September 20, 2002 At least seven Mets have been suspected of using marijuana this season, part of an alleged pattern of drug use that reaches from the team's minor league system right up to the major league roster, sources close to the team have told Newsday. Manager Bobby Valentine acknowleged he worried about the drug problem on his team as early as spring training and said he spoke to general manager Steve Phillips about his concerns, although Phillips...

September 13, 2002 Pornography a growing problem, national activist tells KC group By Erik Petersen The Kansas City Star September 13, 2002 Pornography hurts the women it exploits, the men it addicts and the children it traps, a national anti-pornography leader said Thursday in Kansas City. Jerry Kirk, chairman of the National Coalition for the Protection of Children and Families, came to Kansas City to help announce the launch of Kansas City for the Protection of Children and Families. The group plans to focus on children and teen-agers with a message that counteracts not only pornography, but also the overly...

<p>There's no place like Stone Park to hold a rally for legalizing marijuana, organizers say, but Ashland officials aren't buying it.</p> <p>''I had a rally in Framingham Common, but it's just not the same as Stone Park,'' said James Pillsbury, coordinator of the MetroWest chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. ''It's a great name.''</p>

Two more hotels pull sex movies By Michael D. Clark The Cincinnati Enquirer August 29, 2002 NEWPORT — Two more Tristate hotels have agreed, under pressure from a local prosecutor and police, to remove adult, in-room movies after complaints from anti-pornography activists. It's an unusual strategy, say its proponents and national experts, and a further sign that Greater Cincinnati continues to take a leading role nationally in battling the distribution of sexually explicit materials. Campbell County prosecutors this month warned owners of the Comfort Suites hotel on Riverboat Row in Newport that they should cease offering adult movies to guests...

Making Monkeys Out of Evolutionists Wednesday, August 28, 2002 By Cal Thomas Tribune Media Services It's back-to-school time. That means school supplies, clothes, packing lunches and the annual battle over what can be taught. The Cobb County, Ga., School Board voted unanimously Aug. 22 to consider a pluralistic approach to the origin of the human race, rather than the mandated theory of evolution. The board will review a proposal which says the district "believes that discussion of disputed views of academic subjects is a necessary element of providing a balanced education, including the study of the origin of the species."...

<p>DEVILS LAKE, N.D. -- Reluctantly but by a 5-0 vote, the school board has made its decision: Get thee behind us, Satan.</p> <p>For more than 80 years, high school athletic teams from this town on the shore of a lake named for the devil have been called the Satans. Years ago, their mascot carried a pitchfork and roamed the sidelines in a red jumpsuit with horns and a tail.</p>

Cobb mulls teaching evolution alternatives By Mary MacDonald Atlanta Journal-Constitution Staff Writer Evolution may be on the way out as the only theory on the origin of life taught in Cobb County's schools. The school board is considering a policy that would allow science teachers to introduce alternative theories on the beginnings of life, including what one board member called "scientific creationism." All students in Cobb high schools already have biology texts that carry disclaimers saying biological evolution is theory, not fact. Now several board members say they are responding to parent and community pressure and want the district to...

<p>The people at Indiana NORML, a branch of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, for several years had thought how nice it would be to be part of the Indiana State Fair: all those people, all those potential converts.</p>

Nevada Police Back Legalizing PotAugust 8, 2002 Associated Press LAS VEGAS- Nevada's largest police organization has endorsed a state ballot initiative that would let adults legally possess small amounts of marijuana. The board of the Nevada Conference of Police and Sheriffs, a 3,000-member group that represents about 65 percent of the state's street patrol officers, voted 9-0 on Tuesday to support a change in the state constitution that would decriminalize possession of up to three ounces of marijuana. "I was a Metro Police officer for 28 years and I spent a lot of time booking people on marijuana charges that...