Free Republic

Do any freepers know someone who's passed due to the virus??

We've been advised that our medical coverage will be dropped at the end of the year. We've paid for our own coverage for about the last 10 years. Others out there? It'd be interesting to send a list to the a$$holes in DC describing the extent of the problem. thx

Poll on top of page. http://www.ksco.com/

County supervisors may take the unprecedented step of banning the local importation, sale or posession of bullfrogs, part of effort to save other amphibians. Bullfrogs are native to the eastern U.S. but have infested local waters such as Antonelli Pond and Loch Lomond, preying on smaller species such as the endangered California Red-Legged Frog. They can also spread disease to native species, and are difficult to eradicate. Based on a recommendation from the county's Fish and Game Advisory Commission, the board voted on Tuesday to consider enacting a ban in February, but also to urge the state to finally enact...

A legislative Catch-22 may put a permanent stop to controversial suction dredge mining, which has been halted by a moratorium since 2009. Budget language approved in May by committees in both houses of the California Legislature would extend the moratorium for five years, or until there are sufficient regulations to mitigate all impacts of the dredging and a fee structure to cover program costs. At the same time, the language would prohibit the state Department of Fish and Game – which administers suction dredging – from spending any money to develop regulations to end the moratorium. Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2011/06/02/3670603/catch-22-in-california-budget.html#ixzz1O7x9xL9M

Wisconsin Republican lawmakers dispatched state troopers to the homes of absent Democratic senators in search of a quorum Thursday but came up empty as the state's legislative standoff continued.

Any Ron Paul threads available?

BONNY DOON - A helicopter, two search dogs, sheriff's deputies and police joined in a hunt for a 24-year-old man wanted on a felony warrant today on Ice Cream Grade Road and Martin Road, the Sheriff's Office reported. The chase has been on since at least 2:40 p.m. for Juan Mendoza Cruz, who is wanted for weapons violations with a gang enhancement, said Sheriff's Sgt. Dan Campos. "He's a known gangster," Campos said. "We'll oftentimes chase someone on a warrant, but it usually doesn't reach this level," Campos said. It is unclear if Cruz has a weapon, but deputies are...

It seems that bets on Solyndra are going sour — the government provided the company with a flagship $535 million Department of Energy loan guarantee for that first factory, even getting a visit from President Obama. But in June, the company yanked its IPO filing, but still raised another $175 million by selling promissory notes to existing investors.

SANTA CRUZ - Employees of the local Salvation Army say they can offer the next best thing to the recently-canceled veteran's Thanksgiving dinner: their own community meal. The downtown nonprofit is more than doubling its shopping list so folks missing out on the traditional vets' dinner have another option. "We are totally happy to have anybody that doesn't have a place to go on Thanksgiving join us," said Denise Acosta, social services director of the Santa Cruz Salvation Army chapter. "And we want to extend a formal invitation to our honorable veterans." The Salvation Army's Thanksgiving dinner, it should be...

SANTA CRUZ -- City leaders will pay the state $25,000 to settle a 2006 allegation that sediment illegally backed up in a North Coast waterway that provides almost 10 percent of the city's drinking water.

I spoke with Tom Campbell today. He said there are two ways which could require California to base the annual budget on the previous years revenue. One lets the gov. veto spending. (Not a guarentee) The other is a state constitutional amendment. He said those are tough. I agree but ask this: What do Freepers think about it?

The continuing war of words over the controversy surrounding the possibility of dam removal on the Klamath River escalated March 17, as the Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors sent a letter of response to California Resources Agency natural resources secretary Mike Chrisman. The letter was in reply to Chrisman’s threat to end support for the county’s participation in the process of looking into the status of four hydroelectric dams and the effects of their possible removal on the river system and the local economy.

21:28 PST Sausalito -- A southern Marin County sanitation district under federal orders to replace aging infrastructure will have spilled 300,000 gallons of bacteria-laden sewage into San Francisco Bay by noon today after a rupture in a sewage treatment plant pipeline.

Conservationists gain the upper hand in rare salamander debate Judge orders U.S. Fish and Wildlife Department to take another look at whether the old-growth species should be declared endangered By chris conrad Mail Tribune A federal judge in California ruled Friday that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service illegally dismissed a petition by conservation groups to place a threatened salamander on the endangered species list. Judge William Alsup ruled that Fish and Wildlife officials ignored relevant information and relied on vague reasoning when it decided not to place the Scott Bar salamander, which lives in old-growth forests in Northern California...

June 30, 2006 About half the timber land in Santa Cruz County will remain off limits to loggers after a ruling by the California Supreme Court on Thursday. The 4-3 decision in favor of Santa Cruz County over Davenport-based Big Creek Lumber grants a local government the power to restrict timber operations to certain areas. Historically, logging was under the purview of the state; the court's ruling validates Santa Cruz County's 7-year-old law regulating where trees can and can't be logged.

December 9, 2005 (CNN) While interviewing an anonymous US Special Forces soldier on his sniper skills, a Reuters News agent asked the soldier what he felt when shooting members of Al Qaeda in Afghanistan. The soldier shrugged and replied, "Recoil."

The City of Arcata has announced a 2006 New Year’s resolution calling for the impeachment of President George W. Bush and Vice President Richard B. Cheney for breaches of constitutional and international law. “I am hoping that it will raise consciousness over the fact that the president has violated the Constitution and I’m hoping that it will inspire other cities to pass similar resolutions,” Arcata City Councilmember Dave Meserve said. Meserve and Arcata City Councilmember Harmony Groves wrote the resolution to reaffirm an earlier one passed in October 2004 that demanded Bush’s impeachment over the administration’s policy regarding the war...

Feinstein wants end to Electoral College Senator says she'll seek constitutional amendment Edward Epstein, Chronicle Washington Bureau Thursday, December 23, 2004 Washington -- Sen. Dianne Feinstein said Wednesday that when Congress returns in January, she will propose a constitutional amendment to abolish the Electoral College and replace it with a one-person, one-vote system for electing the nation's president and vice president.

WEED - When the senior class at Weed High School was told it could not paint a Nativity scene on a window, student body president Jessica Hofer knew from her senior project research that the students had a constitutional right to do so and with her help they did. By school tradition, classes decorate the school for seasonal holidays with the work judged, earning the class "spirit points." The designs are approved by faculty advisors before the actual work begins. This year senior class president Becky James and her classmates designed a simple Nativity set painting for a small window...