Free Republic

Is the Orleans Levee Board doing its job? Critics allege corruption, charge the board with wasteful spending By Lisa Myers & the NBC Investigative Unit NBC News Updated: 11:52 a.m. ET Sept. 15, 2005 Lisa Myers Senior investigative correspondent The unveiling of the Mardi Gras Fountain was celebrated this year in typical New Orleans style. The cost of $2.4 million was paid by the Orleans Levee Board, the state agency whose main job is to protect the levees surrounding New Orleans — the same levees that failed after Katrina hit. "They misspent the money," says Billy Nungesser, a former top...

Putin in charge as time runs out for sub's crew By Nick Holdsworth in Moscow (Filed: 07/08/2005) Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, moved yesterday to take control of the mission to rescue a stricken naval submarine as the race to save its crew entered its final, desperate stages. Mr Putin, who had been criticised for failing to make a public statement about the crisis, dispatched his defence minister, Sergei Ivanov, to the scene of the accident, 45 miles off the coast of the Kamchatka peninsula in eastern Russia. A USAF C-5 is loaded with personnel and machinery from the Deep...

Iran's outgoing President Mohammed Khatami says his government will resume some key nuclear work regardless of what European diplomats propose next month to defuse a dispute over Tehran's nuclear program. Mr. Khatami told reporters Wednesday, that Tehran will resume low-level uranium enrichment for use in power stations. Washington has accused Iran of trying to boost its enrichment process to create weapons grade material for use in warheads. Tehran denies the charges. Mr. Khatami gave no date for the restarting of enrichment activities, which were suspended late last year under pressure from the European Union and the United Nations. Britain, France...

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) - An 11-year old girl faces felony assault charges after seeking emergency help for a boy whom she says she accidentally injured after he bullied her with water balloons. Maribel Cuevas was arrested, handcuffed and taken by police to juvenile hall, where she spent five days with only minimal contact with her parents. Her family says Maribel meant no harm when she accidentally hit the Elijah Vang, the 9-year-old neighborhood boy, in the forehead with a rock. They say she was simply defending herself after Vang and several other boys pummeled her with water balloons outside her...

By PAUL GARWOOD, Associated Press Writer 1 minute ago Iraq Prosecutors Narrow Case vs. Saddam BAGHDAD, Iraq - Saddam Hussein could face up to 500 charges, but prosecutors will focus on 12 well-documented cases, including the gassing of thousands of Kurds in northern Iraq, an official said Sunday as the government pressed ahead with efforts to start the trial of the ousted dictator within two months. The announcement came a day after U.S. Marines said they had discovered 50 weapons and ammunitions caches over the past four days in the restive Anbar province. The find included a recently used "insurgent...

Judge May Dismiss Charge Against Ex-Aide to Clinton LOS ANGELES, May 20 - In a blow to federal prosecutors, a judge said on Friday that he would probably toss out one of three criminal charges against Hillary Rodham Clinton's former chief fund-raiser, David F. Rosen. The comments by the judge, A. Howard Matz, came in the course of a day that also featured testimony from two men who are stars in their individual firmaments: Stan Lee, a co-creator of Spider-Man, and Harold Ickes, the longtime adviser to former President Bill Clinton and former deputy chief of staff at the White...

Hillary Clinton receives honorary degree, presidential 'charge' CHARLES ODUM Associated Press Posted on Sat, May. 14, 2005 Democratic U.S. Sen. and former first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton applauds the just graduated women from Agnes Scott College as she joins them for a group photo after the graduation ceremony at the school in Decatur, Ga., Saturday, May 14, 2005. Clinton was on hand to deliver the commencement speech and accept an honorary degree from the all women's college. (AP Photo/John Amis) DECATUR, Ga. - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton on Saturday told Agnes Scott College graduates that all women must "decide what...

Reggie trying to get officer impersonation charge tossed By The Associated Press TGRETNA -- A Democratic Party operative who is the brother-in-law of U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy has asked a state judge to throw out a charge accusing him of impersonating a police officer in suburban New Orleans in June 2002. Raymond Reggie's attorney, Mike Ellis, contends in court documents that the two-year time limit to bring the case to trial expired June 21. But prosecutor Kim McElwee said she has until October to try the case. At issue is what court events stop the clock on Reggie's right to...

LOS ANGELES - Actor Tom Sizemore was sentenced Thursday to nearly two years in jail for repeatedly failing drug tests while on probation, but he was allowed to remain free while he appeals a domestic violence conviction. Sizemore, 43, failed seven drug tests, admitted methamphetamine use twice and failed to show up for further testing while on probation for a 2003 domestic violence conviction involving his ex-girlfriend, former Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss, prosecutor Sean Carney said last month. Sizemore sobbed, gestured and begged for another chance as he delivered a rambling speech before being sentenced by Superior Court Judge Antonio...

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) - An embattled professor who set off a firestorm with an essay comparing some Sept. 11 victims to a notorious Nazi refuted allegations Wednesday he plagiarized another professor's work and physically threatened her. The allegations arose during negotiations between Ward Churchill and the University of Colorado over a buyout of his contract in the wake of his controversial essay resurfacing in January. Talks broke down Friday after the Rocky Mountain News reported that a professor at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia accused Churchill of plagiarizing her work and threatening her. Churchill flatly denied plagiarizing anyone's work and...

Protester on indecent exposure charge arrives at court naked 17.02.05 1.00pm An environmental protester charged with indecent exposure arrived for his appearance at Auckland District Court today naked. Simon Oosterman, 24, a computer technician, was charged during the Auckland Naked Bike Ride last Sunday, an event he organised to protest against society's dependence on the car. After Oosterman was stopped by police, the rest of the riders covered up the lower parts of their bodies to avoid arrest. Today, Oosterman and three supporters, two males and a female, stood outside the couthouse naked and bearing a banner that read: "Stop...

Yes, the election is behind us, but it is not yet time to heal the wounds. We cannot let the Democrats forget the vitriol they spewed during the campaign. Their ugly tactics are part of history. Forget history and we repeat our mistakes. Remember Bob Woodward’s charge that President Bush and the Saudis had a secret “deal” to keep oil prices low in the run-up to the 2004 presidential election? (See also here). There is no documentation showing that such a deal was ever made. Historical oil and gas prices in 2004 provide empirical evidence that no such deal was...

NEW YORK (Nov. 24) - "Preppie Killer" Robert Chambers was arrested on a drug charge a year and a half after he was released from prison, where he served a 15-year sentence for manslaughter Chambers, 38, was freed on $1,000 bail Wednesday after being arraigned on two misdemeanors, drug possession and driving with a suspended license. The court complaint said the license was suspended in May when Chambers failed to answer a summons for running a red light. He was arrested Tuesday in a traffic stop when police allegedly found two straws and a tinfoil packet that had crack cocaine...

CHARGE!President Bush's 2nd term is charging ahead... with rapid changes This is an email-able, copyright-ready graphic you can use in emails, on blogs, in flyers, on posters... anything that's noncommercial.

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Four people, including a local Iranian TV and radio personality, were arrested and charged with allegedly filing false employment visa applications on behalf of hundreds of foreigners seeking entry into the United States, officials said Tuesday. Henry Hossein Haghighi Heguman, 59, of West Hills was described in the federal criminal complaint as the leader of the scheme. Haghighi has regularly appeared on local Iranian TV and radio shows, officials with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a statement. Haghighi was arrested Saturday along with Bita Logham Hoffman, 39, of Carlsbad; Farideh Mir, 58, of Sherman...

BAGHDAD, Oct. 27 -- Local leaders in the insurgent-held city of Fallujah said Wednesday that they were continuing to negotiate with Iraq's interim government on a possible handover of the city to Iraqi troops, but townspeople reported that insurgents and foreign military forces appeared to be preparing for battle. A U.S. military convoy of at least 40 armored vehicles was seen moving toward Fallujah, while British troops in southern Iraq headed north to plug any gaps that an offensive on the city might create. At the same time, members of the Shura Council of Mujaheddin, which governs Fallujah, told residents...

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Vice President Dick Cheney (news - web sites)'s charge that the United States could be hit by another terrorist attack if Democrat John Kerry (news - web sites) is elected president was irresponsible, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright (news - web sites) said. "I have heard a lot of outrageous statements at various times in my president's elections, but I think this kind of scare tactic by the vice president of the United States is irresponsible," Albright, a Democrat who served under Bill Clinton (news - web sites), told CNN television. September 11 "everybody knows, has...

So where is Muqtada al-Sadr and his Mehdi Army now? After taking serious losses against American and Iraqi forces and cynically hiding behind Shiite Islam’s most holy shrine in Najaf, these cowards have melted back into Iraqi society. Or have they? There are many questions to be answered regarding al-Sadr’s future, as he most certainly will oppose the growth of democracy in Iraq. Will al-Sadr and his thugs be held accountable for the violent crimes they committed in Najaf? During their reign of terror, they apparently held a kangaroo court. After Iraq’s top Shiite, Ayatollah Ali Sistani, pressured al-Sadr to...

ERIE, Pa. (AP) - An alleged militia leader who authorities claimed built a bunker on his land and stockpiled weapons for an apocalyptic showdown with federal agents pleaded guilty Tuesday to weapons offenses. George Bilunka, 59, admitted possessing unregistered firearms - two homemade land mines, a modified rifle and a homemade Sten machine gun. He also acknowledged that he and another alleged militia leader sold a copy of a Sten gun - a British-made World War II 9 mm machine gun - to an undercover federal agent for $300. His attorney, David Ridge, said Bilunka agreed to plead guilty because...

Rep. Phyllis Kahn faces a misdemeanor theft charge for snatching campaign literature last week. New Hope city attorney Steve Sondrall said he decided on Friday to go forward with the charge after considering the matter for a week. The Minneapolis DFLer has apologized to Republican House member Lynne Osterman for taking her campaign brochures from some New Hope doorsteps. Kahn replaced them with pieces from Osterman's DFL opponent, Sandra Peterson.