Free Republic

SNIPPET: At about 12:20 a.m., a train was delayed at the Harrison stop at 608 S. State Street after an unidentified man got on the CTA intercom at the station and said he had left a bomb on the train, said Chicago Police News Affairs Officer Hector Alfaro." SNIPPET: "All trains, northbound and southbound on the Red Line tracks were stopped while police investigated, Alfaro said. Police swept the train and found no device, Alfaro said. As of 2:10 a.m., all services had been restored, Alfaro said."

Note: The following text Snippet is a quote: Chicago Man Arrested for Interfering with Operation of CTA Trains and Busses Robert D. Grant, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was joined today by Patrick J. Fitzgerald, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois in announcing the arrest of a Chicago man for making unauthorized radio transmissions over frequencies utilized by the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA). MARCEL CARTER, age 20, who resides at 235 West 37th Place in Chicago, was arrested late Friday evening, without incident, by Officers of the Chicago Police Department...

After listening to the debate at last week's Los Angeles school board meeting, business leader Carol Schatz said she was appalled. She had attended to support a resolution to speed the firing of teachers accused of serious crimes. But even this proposal -- tiptoeing on the margins of improving teacher quality -- generated heated objections from the teachers union and its supporters. With some last-minute amendments and sniping among board members, the resolution passed by a single vote. "I came away depressed," said Schatz, who heads the 500-member Central City Assn. of Los Angeles. "If they can barely pass something...

The state's largest teachers union, which has been one of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's most visible foes over the years, is the largest single financial backer of the Republican governor's budget-reform package on the May 19 special election ballot. Newly released campaign finance reports for the election show that backers of the six budget-related measures are raking in far more cash than the opposition, and the gap is widening. "We've got a lot of work ahead to educate voters about the importance of six complicated ballot measures, but we're confident we'll have the resources to do that job," said Julie Soderlund,...

The California Teachers Association has deposited another $2.2 million into the campaign to pass Propositions 1A and 1B, bringing the group's total spending to nearly $5 million.

The California Teachers Association has donated another $1 million to pass the budget package on the May 19 special election.

Initiative Enters Circulation to Make 1% Increase in Sales Tax Permanent The California Teachers Association has proposed a measure to amend the California Constitution, making the "temporary" 1% tax increase a permanent statute. The measure also specifies that revenue from this tax would be exempt from "budget and spending regulations" spelled out in the current California Constitution. The Attorney General and Secretary of State have approved this measure for circulation as an official petition. CLICK HERE to read the Attorney General's summary of the initiative and the proposed amendment to the California Constitution.

In the movies, the hero often signs off on a major agreement by slashing his hand or thumb and sharing blood with his new partner. In politics, it's a lot less messy, since the partners just share money. Over the weekend, the California Teachers Association agreed to back all six of the budget measures on the May 19 special election ballot. It's a move that likely drew a deep sigh of relief from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, ... The deal was sealed Monday when the CTA gave $47,500 to Budget Reform Now, the Schwarzenegger-backed group leading the campaign effort. On that...

As California's legal and cultural conflict over same-sex marriage played out this fall, the state's teachers union put up $1.25 million to advocate against the gay marriage ban. But at the same time, individual public school teachers in the state were giving more money to enact the ban than to defeat it, according to an NPR analysis of Proposition 8 contribution data recently released by the California secretary of state. Teachers, aides and counselors in California public school systems gave about $2 to support the marriage ban for every $1 they gave to oppose it. The educators gave some $450,000...

Teachers union proposes sales tax to fund schools BURLINGAME — The California Teachers Association has proposed a statewide ballot initiative to raise at least $5 billion a year for public education through a 1-cent sales tax increase. The tax would provide new, ongoing funding for schools and community colleges in a time of continuing budget shortfalls, the Burlingame-based association said. "California's budget process is broken," said David Sanchez, president of the 340,000-member CTA, "and our students and schools are suffering the consequences. More students are being squeezed into already overcrowded classrooms (and) more than 10,000 teachers and education support professionals...

Cardiologists have opened another front in the rancorous debate over expensive medical technologies, questioning the conclusions of a new study finding that high-resolution computer scans of the heart are almost as effective as conventional angiograms. The debate reveals a deep rift among heart specialists over the use of 64-slice or CT angiography, which produces mesmerizing 3-D images of the heart and blood vessels. CT scans are faster and less invasive than conventional angiograms, the gold standard for diagnosis and identification of blockages, but they expose patients to higher doses of radiation, which may increase the risk of cancer. Angiograms, on...

Nov. 23 -- BURLINGAME -- California's largest teachers union will back a fight in court to overturn the state's new eighth-grade algebra requirement. The Burlingame-based California Teachers Association has joined the lawsuit by the California School Boards Association and the Association of California School Administrators against the state Board of Education's decision to require all middle school students to be tested in Algebra I by the end of eighth grade starting in 2011. The state board "acted abruptly, imprudently and without fully understanding the consequences of its actions on our schools, teachers and students," said David Sanchez, president of the...

10/13/2008 NO ON PROP. 8, EQUALITY FOR ALL No on Prop. 8, Equality for All SUPPORT MONETARY $1,000,000.00 01/04/2008 COMMITTEE FOR TERM LIMITS AND LEGISLATIVE REFORM Committee for Term Limits and Legislative Reform - Yes on Prop 93 SUPPORT MONETARY $500,000.00 01/07/2008 CALIFORNIANS FOR FAIR EDUCATION/NO ON 92 Californians For Fair Education - No on Prop 92 SUPPORT MONETARY $500,000.00 01/14/2008 CALIFORNIANS FOR FAIR EDUCATION/NO ON 92 Californians For Fair Education - No on Prop 92 SUPPORT MONETARY $500,000.00 12/17/2007 COMMITTEE FOR TERM LIMITS AND LEGISLATIVE REFORM Yes on Prop 93 - Committee for Term Limits and Legislative Reform...

The president of the Pacific Justice Institute says a large percentage of California public school teachers are outraged over the California Teachers Association's support for homosexual marriage. According to Pacific Justice Institute president Brad Dacus, the CTA has funneled more than $1.2 million into the fight against California's Proposition 8. That proposition, if passed on November 4, would define marriage as between one man and one woman and amend the state constitution accordingly. Dacus also stated CTA's opposition to Prop. 8 has angered many public school teachers whose CTA membership fees have been used to fund the opposition campaign. In...

Watch our latest TV ad to learn the truth about teaching gay marriage in public schools if Proposition 8 fails http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l61Pd5_jHQw

"Supporters of the proposition said the teachers union "did not speak for all of its members on the issue of gay marriage" and Union spokeswoman Sandra Jackson says CTA's 800-member policy body voted overwhelmingly to oppose the gay marriage ban. What 800-member body Vote??? We never saw any document, who are these 800 people??? The true question should be asked “Who's money is it? and who gave them permission without the full consent of it's CTA members that represents more than 340,000 public school teachers, counselors, psychologists and librarians in California. Its reported 800-member policy body approved this" I don't...

The California Teachers Assn. donated $1 million this week to defeat a ballot initiative seeking to ban same-sex marriage in California, joining the ranks of wealthy gay rights activists and Hollywood politicos as one of the major donors to the campaign. "For us, it's a civil rights issue," said the association's President David Sanchez. "We don't believe people should be treated differently." The teachers union also takes issue with advertisements by backers of Proposition 8 suggesting that the measure would stop children from being taught about gay marriage in schools. Union leaders echoed complaints by the No on 8 campaign...

A group of cardiologists recently had a proposition for Dr. Andrew Rosenblatt, who runs a busy heart clinic in San Francisco: Would he join them in buying a CT scanner, a $1 million machine that produces detailed images of the heart? The scanner would give Dr. Rosenblatt a new way to look inside patients’ arteries, enable his clinic to market itself as having the latest medical technology and provide extra revenue. Although tempted, Dr. Rosenblatt was reluctant. CT scans, which are typically billed at $500 to $1,500, have never been proved in large medical studies to be better than older...

Big Government types and Prop 99 All you really need to know about the two eminent domain propositions on the June 3 ballot, 98 and 99, is that Proposition 99 is being touted by politicians and other government types as the real solution to government intrusion on private property ownership. Among them are the usual suspects, including California Sen. Dianne Feinstein and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, both of whom believe in Big Government, and both of whom describe Proposition 98 as a hindrance to solving such state problems as water quality and supply. Feinstein, in a release at the end...

CHICAGO (AP) — A fire department spokesman two people are dead and more than a dozen others injured after a tractor trailer crashed into a Chicago Transit Authority station during rush hour. Spokesman Larry Langford says the two women killed Friday apparently were walking near the Cermak-Chinatown Red Line elevated train station on the city's South Side when the collision occurred. Langford says seven people were critically injured and about a dozen others could be injured. Witnesses say the truck didn't appear to slow down before it plowed into the station. Chicago police say the accident happened about 5:20 p.m.