Free Republic

Let's review the events of the final week of the campaign. Exactly a week before election day, the only debate between Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan was won by Reagan by a margin of 44 to 36 in a CBS News poll, and by 46 to 34 in the AP poll, and by 2 to i in the widely publicized ABC mock public dial-a-poll. During that same final week, Richard Allen resigned from the Reagan campaign for an alleged misuse of influence during his Nixon White House days. The same day Carter's congressional liaison, Frank Moore, resigned after repeating the...

STOCKTON - The City Council on Tuesday is expected to take its first step toward filing for bankruptcy in a dramatic move to remedy Stockton's crippling finances. If bankruptcy ultimately happens, Stockton would be the nation's largest city to fall into Chapter 9 protection. While city administrators remained silent on any plans, it became an open secret Wednesday. The Downtown Stockton Alliance board of directors in a public meeting discussed the city's bankruptcy timetable. Also Wednesday, the San Joaquin and Calaveras counties Central Labor Council distributed an email, alerting its members that Stockton plans to begin the process at next...

Bet Bustamante. That's the advice of Las Vegas oddsmakers, who predict California voters will recall Gov. Gray Davis and replace him with the state's No. 2 man. America's Line gives Lt. Gov Cruz Bustamante 4-5 odds, meaning he is so likely to win that a gambler who wagers $5 on him would win only $4. Even money is on Arnold Schwarzenegger, but nowhere near the 7-5 odds he enjoyed before he skipped last week's candidates' debate. State Sen. Tom McClintock is a 20-1 pick, followed by commentator Arianna Huffington, 30-1; former baseball commissioner Peter Ueberroth, 40-1; and Green Party candidate...

"He won. Get over it." It's tempting to apply this Bush/Gore/2K catchphrase to the mounting drive to recall the governor of California. At a glance, Governor Gray Davis makes a singularly unpersuasive test case for the extraordinary step of recalling a sitting executive. The arguments against him?his alienating, drippy personality, his deep attachment to special interests, even the general outlines of his fiscal negligence?were all well-known and very much in the foreground back in November, when California voters (ably assisted by an almost criminally incompetent state Republican party) re-elected him, warts and all. Proponents of the recall?which is currently being...

Lodi High School student stabbed in fight By News-Sentinel staff A Lodi High School teen-ager was stabbed this afternoon near the campus as a result of an apparent fight with another student. Senior Anthony Melhaff, a linebacker for the school’s football team, was taken by ambulance to Lodi Memorial Hospital. Melhaff’s injuries were not life threatening, police said. He was listed in serious condition at about 4 p.m. today and was about to undergo surgery, a hospital spokeswoman said. Melhaff was reportedly stabbed five or six times, witnesses said. The suspect, whose name was not available, was taken into custody ...

This press advisory was sent out today via the Capitol Morning Report here in California: Bob Mulholland, campaign advisor to the California Democratic Party, reports that he is "on-site in Volusia County, Florida." Contact: Mulholland, mobile 916 996-8666.

An Emery Air Freight DC-8 crashed near Mather Air Force Base shortly before 8:00 pm this evening. According to early reports, the aircraft was departing from the runway, experienced problems, and crashed while attempting to return to the field. The aircraft fell into an auto salvage yard on the eastern side of the base. An area of approximately an acre is in flames, although firefighters appear to have the fire in control. Reporters at the scene report that there are no survivors in the crash.