Free Republic

BREWSTER – The woman who allegedly mailed a hoax weapon of mass destruction package to State Senator Gregory Ball’s regional office last month has been shot and killed by police in Georgia, a spokeswoman for Ball’s office said Monday. He is the chairman of the state Senate’s Homeland Security Committee. Ball spokeswoman Brittany Oat said Jameela Barnette was killed on Christmas day when a police officer for the Cobb county Police responded to the Bexley Apartments in Marietta and was assaulted by Barnette shortly after he opened the door. Officer shot the woman, later identified as Barnette, who died at...

NEW YORK CITY, N.Y. -- The Airtrain at JFK Airport is a fully automated system: It has no train operator, no passenger screening and an almost nonexistent police presence. And that, says the Port Authority police union, makes it one of four major vulnerabilities the Port Authority is overlooking threats so sensitive, union officials won't name the other three. "There's no scanning of bags, there's no scanning passengers. We should have uniformed personnel on that transportation corridor. We don't, in any way," said Senator Greg Ball. Friday, Ball's homeland security committee heard testimony from union officials and others who detailed...

With Election Day right around the corner, the Republicans are bringing back an issue that brought them national media attention: Former Gov. Eliot Spitzer's long-dead plan to let illegal immigrants get driver's licenses. Assemblyman Greg Ball, an outspoken Hudson Valley Republican (particularly when it comes to all things immigration-related) who won a bitter GOP primary battle last month, and Rensselaer County Clerk Frank Merola, who sued over Spitzer's license plan, are holding a public hearing in Manhattan Thursday on "massive voter fraud potential" caused by the issuance of 23,000 licenses to non-citizens during the former governor's tenure. From the press...