Free Republic

An 8-year-old boy suffered a gunshot wound to the head while he was out looking at Christmas lights with his mother who was also delivering food for DoorDash. It happened in Lawton, Oklahoma, which is about 90 miles southwest of Oklahoma City. Nichole Groshong said in a GoFundMe post that she, her sons Zack and Waylon and her mother-in-law were in the 900 block of SW 35th Street around 8 p.m. on Dec. 10 when she stopped and put the car in reverse to show them some more lights. Then shots rang out. “I drove away as fast as I...

Whether you’re wrapping your Christmas tree in one strand of lights or adorning your home with a Griswold-like display, the type of lights you select can have a big impact on your electric bill. A strand of 300 white mini LED lights on the typical green wire is 21 watts, while the same style with incandescent bulbs is 72 watts. Using the formula above with the national average of 16 cents per kilowatt-hour and a display season of six hours a day for a month, using a strand of mini LED lights will cost you about 60 cents. A strand...

A Mercer County family took home the big prize on “The Great Christmas Light Fight” for their oversized Christmas display.The Martel family’s Hamilton home, called “Martel’s Christmas Wonderland,” was recognized as the best Christmas lights in America with $50,000 and a trophy on the ABC show, which aired on Wednesday.The family has put together the display, which includes a walk-through exhibit of lights, figures, and a miniature Ferris wheel, annually for the past 35 years. Filmed in 2019, the episode featured last year’s elaborate set up.“We not only won the contest, we won so much more. Our display allows us...

As the weather turns from warm summer breezes to brisk chilly nights, the City of Cape May is transformed from a summer paradise to a winter wonderland. Numerous bed and breakfasts are decorated to the nines as holiday lights outline the beauty of the Victorian homes. Trees along the Washington Street Mall shine bright, lighting the way for shoppers looking for that perfect gift. A thirty-foot tree, decorated with colorful lights, is the centerpiece at Congress Hall. People bundled up in heavy coats -- appropriately dressed for a cold Thursday evening -- wandered the resort's annual Winter Wonderland that features...

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas... if Christmas looks like an internet comments section. A Lacey man made one of the year’s top memes the theme of his Christmas lights, declaring “These lights didn’t hang themselves... and neither did Epstein,” a reference to the death earlier this year of billionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Kevin Gibson took a unique approach to his holiday decorating this year, the third year he’s used memes as a part of his light design. He says he couldn’t resist turning one of the year’s biggest memes into a light display, saying “I just...

A majority of Germans say they would consider scaling down their Christmas lights to protect the climate, a survey released on Sunday said. A total of 57% of those surveyed said they would reduce Christmas lighting or even do without it in the future, according to the survey conducted by YouGov on behalf of the German news agency DPA. Of the respondents, 11% said they would make do without any lights this year due to climate concerns, while 10% said they would do so in the future. But 35% said turning off the lights was not an option for them....

Just got this 12ga shotgun shells/Christmas lights 'whimsy' gift from a lady friend: 10 shells/lights 20 shells/lights Good to get or give. Quality looks good. Haven't yet electrocuted myself plugging them in. Indoor use only.

Thomas Edison patented the light bulb in 1880. To drum up excitement around Christmas time, he strung up incandescent bulbs all around his Menlo Park laboratory compound to dazzle passing railway commuters. Two years later, Edison’s associate Edward Johnson had the brilliant idea to use electric lights to replace the beautiful, (but extremely hazardous!) candles used to decorate Christmas trees. He wrapped a tree with a string of 80 red, white and blue light bulbs and set it on a revolving platform in a window. Despite onlookers’ delight, due to expense (and a general distrust of indoor lighting) it would...

JUNIATA (WTXF) - Police are investigating a triple shooting that took place in Juniata Wednesday night. According to police, officers responded to a report of a shooting on the 4000 block of Howland Street at 10:46 p.m

Donald Trump has yet to arrange to speak with Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven, despite the Swedish leader sending him a congratulatory letter and the US President-elect already calling Denmark’s Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen. “We have sent a letter of congratulations of course, and then the Government Offices made contact with the (US) transition team,” Löfven explained in comments reported by Swedish news agency TT. Trump’s transition team has released a list of the heads of government and top politicians he has spoken with. The 29 names include European leaders like Italian PM Matteo Renzi, British PM Theresa May,...

Bright lights strung on American trees, rooftops and lawns account for 6.63 billion kilowatt hours of electricity consumption every year, according to a recent blog post by the Center for Global Development. That's more than the national electricity consumption of many developing countries. El Salvador for one, uses 5.35 billion kilowatt hours, while Ethiopia consumes 5.30 billion and Tanzania 4.81 billion.

(CNSNews.com) - Turning on the Christmas lights on a house or a Christmas tree this November cost Americans more on average than it has before, as the seasonally adjusted electricity price index hit an all-time high in the United States in November, according to data released last week by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The average price for a kilowatt hour of electricity also set a record for the month of November, according to BLS.

The Obama administration is spending billions of dollars to modernize the nation’s power grid, with the goal of changing the way Americans use energy. Your electric bill will go way up, unless you allow the utility to control your energy load at times of peak demand. “Smart grid” technology involves a wireless, two-way flow of information between individual homes and the power plant. This allows the utility to charge more for electricity, depending on when it is used; and it enables the utility to manage energy for the consumer, to reduce the impact on the grid.

Must see for anyone that enjoys Christmas lights :)

NEW ORLEANS – A Louisiana woman ran afoul of police when she gave her neighbors an unusual holiday greeting, hanging Christmas lights in the shape of a middle finger. Sarah Childs was in a dispute with some of her neighbors in Denham Springs, just east of Baton Rouge, so she decided to send a message with her decorations. Neighbors complained and police threatened to arrest her, so she and the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana sued the city. A judge ruled in her favor Thursday. "I imagine it will be back up before too long," ACLU of Louisiana executive...

Some worker didn’t get paid overtime to put up Christmas lights in Brighton England. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=gCgV-FnEcGQ) Caution: May offend some

Amazing Christmas display with 176 channels and 45,000 lights! The show is so popular that it requires a crew of 3 people to manage the traffic. (Video at link)

Christmas light shows are always a big hit around this time of year, but this one goes the extra mile. This year, Freedom AutoSport put together this fantastically awesome patriotic display. Check it out below, and please be sure to visit SemperFiFund.org to help give back to those who protect our freedom.

The laziest lighting job in Christmas history. Sometimes extreme apathy can lead to extreme ingenuity. With one simple word and a miniscule fraction of the effort, the guy on the right is expressing the exact same level of Christmas spirit as his show-offy, bigger-budgeted neighbor. Plus that guy borrowed a rake from him like three years ago, so it all evens out.

WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP, N.J. (AP) — A southern New Jersey man has died after he fell while stringing Christmas lights on his roof. Authorities did not immediately release the name of the 59-year-old man in Washington Township. The Courier-Post of Cherry Hill reported the man was found lying unconscious in his driveway around 5 p.m. Sunday. A ladder was propped against the garage roof and his hat was left on the roof. Lights were half strung along the home’s second story. The man was pronounced dead at Kennedy Memorial Hospital. Police say an average of one person a year in the...