Free Republic

When then-candidate for sheriff Scott Miller announced he would ease the application process for firearms carrying permits in Monterey County, Second Amendment advocates were thrilled. "If you just say you want to carry a gun for personal protection, we consider that good cause," Miller said of a dramatic change in the office's long-standing requirement that applicants provide detailed justifications of why they're at risk and should be allowed to carry concealed guns in public. When Miller took office in 2011, websites frequented by gun owners buzzed with hopeful chatter that Monterey County had finally loosened up. But they soon grew...

More than three decades ago, a young Monterey County prosecutor helped send a 19-year-old soldier stationed at Fort Ord to prison on a murder charge. In May, that 51-year old former soldier passed through a prison gate to rejoin a world completely unlike the one he left behind. Mark Watts won his freedom partly through the efforts of the same man who put him away: John Phillips, now a retired superior court judge. This is not a story of wrongful conviction and Watts is not an innocent man. But since the days when Phillips helped make sure Watts was imprisoned,...

California's New Immigration Law - How Does it Affect Tenant Screening? As of January 1, 2008, landlords may not ask tenant applicants whether they are U.S. citizens or about their immigration status. This new law makes California the first state to prohibit landlords from asking about tenants' citizenship status. This measure was enacted to prohibit cities, such as Escondido, from passing laws that essentially made landlords de facto immigration authorities. Last October, the city of Escondido approved an ordinance that made it illegal for landlords to rent to illegal immigrants, thus putting the landlords in the position of policing the...

On Tuesday I voted to end the war in Iraq. Finally, the House of Representatives passed a bill that provides money solely for the purpose of withdrawing our troops from Iraq. Though the bill, HR 4156, must leap high hurdles in the Senate and again at the White House, I am proud to have cast my vote to get out of Iraq and bring home our troops. The bill passed 218-203 and joining me in this vote were my strong anti-war colleagues such as Rep. Barbara Lee and Rep. Lynn Woolsey. The majority of 'no' votes were cast by Republican...

Text of email I rec. this morning Thank you for contacting me regarding Leader Nancy Pelosi's remarks on the war in Iraq. Admittedly, Leader Pelosi was frank and direct in her remarks but she gave voice to a growing sentiment -- and evidence -- that this Administration has mislead the country with regard to the war and miscalculated the impact of U.S. actions in Iraq on the global community. I, too, believe that this war's failure is largely due to the lack of leadership by President beginning with his willingness to make grand foreign policy gestures at the expense of...

Dear Congressman Farr, I noticed the news reports re: your attendance at the recent anti war gathering in Santa Cruz. I was disappointed, although not the least bit surprised, at the decidedly anti Pres. Bush and Anti American rhetoric contained in the telecast. I trust you would agree the security and future of our country cannot be left to those with such agendas. As a long time resident in your Congressional district, I would like to weigh in with my thoughts. As Tony Blair pointed out the other day at a meeting of the European Union, there isn’t an intelligence...

Oct. 18 — Bacteria found in a 2,000-year-old piece of cheese could be the final evidence that this food was a continuous source of infectious disease in the ancient Roman world.

District Asks Parents To Pay For Absences SALINAS, Calif., 4:26 p.m. PDT September 4, 2002 - Parents in a Northern California school district are being asked to pay $25 every time they take their child out of school for a vacation. The school board in San Mateo recently approved the plan as part of an effort to make up the funding that school districts lose every time a student is absent. School officials said that funding averages about $40 per student per day on the Central Coast, which can add up to tens of thousands of dollars over the course...

<p>In a city rife with bar hoppers and street people relieving themselves on sidewalks, alleys and busy streets, the stench of urine has joined fresh sourdough and coffee as among the city's famous aromas.</p> <p>And the usually tolerant board of supervisors is no longer going with the flow.</p>

WASHINGTON, June 16 — President Bush early this year signed an intelligence order directing the CIA to undertake a comprehensive, covert program to topple Saddam Hussein, including authority to use lethal force to capture the Iraqi president, according to informed sources.

Mass misbehavior leaves zoo a mess By TOM BUCKHAM News Staff Reporter 5/29/2002 Widespread rowdiness and vandalism at the Buffalo Zoo on Memorial Day, after more than 15,000 people came through the turnstiles free of charge, may spell the end of open admission on major holidays, zoo President Donna M. Fernandes said Tuesday. Though zoo staff members and private security officers were out in force, Fernandes said, they couldn't stop the mischief, most of which was committed by teenagers. It included: Garbage and other objects - including a baseball hat - hurled over exhibit barriers at bears, lions and tigers....