Free Republic

It’s official. Greg Johnson and his congregation have voted to leave the Presbyterian Church in America. It’s a sad departure, especially for a church that has been affiliated with the PCA since 1980. Arguably, however, it’s not only a sad departure. It’s a needful one. *** In 2018 Memorial PCA hosted Revoice, a conference ministry dedicated to “supporting, encouraging, and empowering gay, lesbian, same-sex-attracted, and other LGBT Christians *** In the spring of 2020, they raised some eyebrows by hosting a queer festival called Transluminate. The Q Collective describes Transluminate as “a short-play festival and celebration of transgender, agender, non-binary,...

LUBBOCK, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) – Texas Governor Greg Abbott made the “statewide announcement” Tuesday afternoon that it’s time to open Texas 100% and he ended the mask mandate. “Under no circumstance can someone be punished for not wearing a mask,” said Gov. Abbott.

Plano ISD Superintendent Sara Bonser opened a dialogue with Ysleta ISD Superintendent Dr. Xavier De La Torre regarding the second annual out-of-district matchup between Plano Senior High and Eastwood High, scheduled for September 6. After consulting with local law enforcement agencies, Plano ISD administrators felt obligated to prioritize the safety of the participating players, students, families and communities, and have concluded that the timing of the game falls too soon after the tragedy in El Paso.

Vernon Unsworth, the caver accused by Elon Musk of being a pedophile, filed a defamation lawsuit against the Tesla CEO on Monday.

PLANO - Employees at an office building in Plano sheltered in place and called police Sunday morning after hearing gunshots. When Plano police arrived at NTT Data around 6:30 a.m., at Custer and Plano Parkway, they saw bullet holes inside and were able to locate the suspect. Police took the suspect into custody and a rifle was recovered. ... charged with assault causing bodily injury, deadly conduct discharge firearm, possession of marijuana and unlawfully carrying a weapon.

A descendant of Gen. Robert E. Lee has stepped down as pastor of his North Carolina church after facing blowback from parishioners and others for his comments denouncing racism and lauding the Black Lives Matter movement. As a minister and newspaper columnist, Robert W. Lee IV, the fourth great-nephew of the Confederate general, has spoken and written countless words, but the five sentences he uttered during MTV's Video Music Awards last week were just too much for some members of his congregation. ... Lee, who was pastor at Bethany United Church of Christ in Winston-Salem, has long supported removing monuments...

The sprawling project will cover 34,000 square kilometers (13,100 square miles) across a lagoon of 50 "untouched natural islands." It will include resorts, hotels and other residential units that will allow travelers easy access to scuba diving and rock climbing.

"The child had been left by his mother in an enclosed trampoline in the backyard where there were four dogs," police said in a news release. ... Hernandez's grandmother told ABC-7 she knew the family and had a friendly relationship with them, but had brought it to their attention that the dogs were aggressive and always escaping the backyard.

Police said Gordon grabbed a flight attendant by the arm so hard she pulled the attendant onto her lap, then slapped her when the attendant refused to serve Gordon a drink, The Dallas Morning News reported. Gordon also got out of her seat and headed to the front of the plane, where she banged on the cockpit door several times, demanding to talk to the pilot, police said.

A Delta Airlines flight attendant on Thursday night smashed a wine bottle over the head of a male passenger who lunged for an exit door and assaulted a flight attendant and fellow passenger during a Beijing-bound flight from Seattle, according to a criminal complaint filed Friday by prosecutors in Washington State. Joseph Daniel Hudek IV, 23, of Tampa, Florida, appeared in U.S. District Court on Friday. He did not speak during the hearing. His attorney, Robert Flennaugh II, declined to comment, according to The AP. ... According to one flight attendant cited in the complaint, "Hudek did not seem impacted...

Four people have been arrested and are now behind bars as police investigate the kidnapping and death of 13-year-old Shavon Randle. The body of another man, 19-year-old Michael Titus, was found in the same abandoned Dallas home. In an arrest affidavit, investigators say a family member of Shavon Randle was dating a man who stole drugs from two people.

A passenger reportedly tried to force his way into the cockpit of the Honolulu-bound flight from Los Angeles The US military on Friday scrambled two Air Force fighter jets to escort an American Airlines flight into Honolulu international airport after a disturbance was reported on board, a Pacific Command spokesman said. Neither the military nor American Airlines immediately disclosed the nature of the disturbance, but local news media reported that a passenger had tried to force his way into the cockpit of the Honolulu-bound flight from Los Angeles. HawaiiNewsNow said an airline crew member and an off-duty Honolulu police officer...

A naked woman punched a Highland Park police officer in the face as the officer attempted to get her out of the street in Oak Lawn on Sunday morning, police said.

PLANO (CBSDFW.COM) – After two months, Plano Police have made two arrests of alleged vandals said to have painted graffiti all over Plano West Senior High.

A 10-year-old child is in the hospital after suffering injuries to the face from a pit bull bite, officials say. ... Johnson said the dog is a male pit-bull that weighs about 70 - 80 pounds. He said the dog has never shown signs of agression toward his children or the two other dogs that it lives with.

HOUSTON (AP) — A lawsuit filed against Baylor University by 10 women alleging they were sexually assaulted while students can proceed, a federal judge ruled Tuesday. The women, identified as "Jane Doe" plaintiffs, allege Baylor was indifferent to or ignored claims of sexual assault and didn't enforce federal general discrimination protections. Baylor had sought to have the lawsuit dismissed, arguing the former students' allegations were insufficient to state a claim of liability and the women had failed to plausibly allege they were subjected to "further" harassment after reporting their initial sexual assaults. -snip- Pitman did dismiss claims for four of...

Briarwood Presbyterian Church in Vestavia Hills is trying to establish its own police force. The move requires approval from state lawmakers. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Arnold Mooney (R-Shelby County) cleared its first major hurdle Wednesday. The House Public Safety Committee gave its OK.

Two pit bulls were fatally shot Sunday after breaking free from the person who was walking them at a park in Kaufman County. ... The dogs approached a man, who said he felt that his two children and small dog were being threatened ...

FORT WORTH, Texas -- A Fort Worth police spokesman confirms the department has placed an officer on restricted duty after a Facebook post surfaced this week. / snip

It started as an idea to honor a father who was also a Dallas Police officer killed during the July 7th sniper attack. ... Victoria Smith, 14, plays volleyball at Newman Smith High School in Carrollton. Recently, the SMU Women’s Volleyball team extended an invitation for her to make an honorary first serve at Saturday’s game. Then on Thursday, his widow Heidi Faith Smith received an email that left her stunned. “It just broke my heart to tell her…that the invitation had been taken away,” says Heidi Smith. In the email, Smith was told that “in light of recent events...