Free Republic

A federal investigation has found numerous instances of “unallowable, unreasonable and unsupported” spending by the Brown Foundation of Education Equity, Excellence and Research. Cheryl Brown Henderson was the founder and executive director of the foundation, as well as superintendent of the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site, when a National Park Service audit in 2011 questioned $620,871 in expenditures from October 2008 to September 2011. The audit findings prompted an investigation. With Brown Henderson as superintendent, NPS provided federal funds to the Brown Foundation through a cooperative agreement, and the Foundation employed Brown Henderson’s boyfriend, Donald Cameron, as...

The Kansas House has approved a bill aimed at keeping individuals, groups and businesses from being compelled to help with same-sex weddings.

A Kansas House committee is weighing a resolution that urges Congress to resist following President Barack Obama’s plan for addressing climate change.

Chevrolet Volt: For December 2,392 Volts were sold, which was down 9.2% over December of 2012, when GM sold an impressive 2,633. (full story here) Previously in November 1,920 Volts were sold, which was actually an increase over 2012 when just 1,519 were moved off dealer lots. December’s result means that GM sold less extended range Chevys in 2013 than 2012. 23,094 were sold in 2013 vs 23,461 – a loss of 1.9% To blame for the year-over-year miss is an inventory situation we first alluded to in October. Basically, GM overbuilt 2013 model year stock in the summer, thinking...

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev managed to drive a short distance before abandoning the SUV and running away. Hours later, he was cornered in the backyard of a Watertown house, hiding in the back of a boat.

President Barack Obama spoke on the phone with FBI Director Robert Mueller to receive an update on two explosions that occurred at the Boston marathon on Monday. Lisa Monaco, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, and Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, listen in.

Steady Voltage Chevy Volt sales have been consistent lately, with no wild ups and downs as experienced by the Nissan LEAF during the production changeover. Sales of the Volt had hit a 12-month low of 1,140 units in January 2013, but rebounded to 1,620 units in February. For March 2013, Volt sales check in at 1,478 units.

Topeka police Sgt. Tom Sipp cruises a black and white patrol car through a local business parking lot. A constant beep comes from the computer mounted in the vehicle as a license plate reader quickly scans vehicles in the parking lot. The plate numbers are compared to the National Crime Information Center. If the vehicle or plate has been stolen, Sipp will be notified through an audible alert, and the computer screen will turn red. The system also can check for offenders on the offender registry, vehicles associated with Amber Alerts and outstanding warrants, Sipp said.

TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) - The forced federal budget cuts have forced cancellation of a special concert at Washburn Rural High School. The school says it was informed Wednesday by the Navy Sea Chanters chorus that it cannot travel and keep its performance dates due to sequestration. The event was set for Saturday. There was no word on the possibility of rescheduling. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chevy Volt sales rebounded in February with G.M. reporting sales of 1,626 units....but you could benchmark February 2013 sales of 1,626 units as a big jump from February 2012 when G.M. sold 1,023 Volts

A House committee on Wednesday passed a gun rights bill after removing — for now — a provision barring doctors from asking patients about gun ownership. House Bill 2199, dubbed the "Second Amendment Protection Act" by supporters, mainly focuses on prohibiting the federal government from regulating guns manufactured and sold within the boundaries of Kansas. But a secondary provision that would have made it illegal for any doctor other than a psychiatrist to ask about gun ownership threatened to hold it up.

Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron, a native of Mobile, met the little girl more than a week earlier, when he and his family delivered presents to the hospital's pediatric patients on Christmas Eve 2011. McCarron was a patient at the hospital after he was nearly killed in a jet ski accident as a young boy. When McCarron handed Starla a present that night, she was wearing an Alabama cheerleading uniform. She handed him back a present of her own: a bright yellow bracelet that was inscribed with the words, "Just trust." McCarron promised Starla he would wear the bracelet when the...

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1vdi8iVBVg&feature=player_embedded#t=92s

President Obama is calling on lawmakers to extend the middle-class tax cuts that are set to expire in 2012 so that 98 percent of Americans and 97 percent of small businesses don’t pay higher taxes next year. Nearly everyone in Washington agrees that this is the right thing to do, and the Senate has already passed the extension. Republicans in Congress, however, are holding middle-class tax cuts hostage, refusing to extend them unless tax cuts to the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans are also extended.

An estimated 100 Muslim delegates from 20 different states are attending the Democratic National Convention this year, the Council on American-Islamic Relations said Tuesday. There were 43 Muslim and Arab-American delegates at the DNC in 2008 and 25 in 2004, according to CAIR. Only a "handful" of delegates attended the Republican National Convention, according to the group. "The more than doubling of Muslim delegates at this year's Democratic National Convention is a direct result of their hard work and grassroots organizing within the Democratic Party," CAIR's Robert McCaw said in a statement. "It is also a sign of the American...

Many Americans will consider their pocketbooks first when they decide between Republican Party nominee Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama in the coming months. The problem for many is that there is no clear explanation of what the Romney and Obama tax plans mean for the “average” American household. This article attempts to resolve this issue by outlining what the Romney tax plan would mean, specifically using real dollar numbers, for the “Average Joe American Family.” Another article will attempt to make the same outline for the Obama plan in the coming week. For the purpose of this article, I...

Stocks surged Friday following on a stronger-than-expected jobs report. The Dow Jones industrial average closed the day up 217 points, wiping out all its losses for the week. Employers hired the most workers in five months in July, giving a lift to sentiment. At the same time, a rise in the unemployment rate to 8.3 percent kept alive the possibility that the Federal Reserve could provide additional stimulus to the economy. "What is more interesting is that we're within 200 to 300 points of recovery highs, which is pretty incredible when you think of all the issues we face." The...

I was thinking about that skid mark who doesn't like to call dead soldiers heroes...and I wondered who he did feel comfortable calling a hero. From his website, I now understand that his heros include: Veronica Mars, John Kerry, Howard Dean, a neighbor who lent a coffee pot, some leftists and politicians...and he tops it off with another screed against veterans: Neighbors who lend his uncle a coffee pot: http://www.chrishayes.org/articles/grief-and-empathy-new-york-city/ “My aunt's neighbors displayed a quieter, more quotidian heroism in her final weeks, setting up a cooking schedule so that a fresh dinner would always be delivered, taking turns watching...

Law enforcement officers across Kansas will be working overtime this weekend to enforce seat belt laws as part of the Click It or Ticket campaign. The campaign began Thursday and will run through June 6. It is sponsored by a grant from the Kansas Department of Transportation. KDOT said earlier this week that Kansas Highway Patrol troopers, sheriff’s deputies and police officers statewide will work overtime through Memorial Day weekend specifically to make sure people are buckled up. Kansas is one of 32 states whose laws allow for a vehicle to be stopped solely because occupants aren’t properly restrained. Kansas...

"I feel that I no longer wish to support your presidential campaign and ask that you please return the maximum contribution that I gave to you last year," Bill White wrote in a letter addressed to the former Massachusetts governor and obtained by CNN. "You have chosen to be on the wrong side of history and I do not support your run for president any longer," White added.