Free Republic

Doug Hampton, the supposed blackmailer of John Ensign, went to Megan Kelly of Fox News for help, the week before the story broke. "I love this country and considered it a great privilege to work in the US (sic) Senate. I am bringing this to you and Fox News to address this professionally and correctly. I could have sought the most liberal, Republican hating media to expose this story, but there are people’s lives at stake and justice is about proper process as well as outcome. Senator Ensign has no business serving in the US (sic) Senate anymore! I will...

Reporting from Washington and Las Vegas -- The 19-year-old son of a woman who reportedly had an affair with Nevada Sen. John Ensign was being paid by the National Republican Senatorial Committee during the relationship, federal election records show. Brandon Hampton, who shares an address with former Ensign staffers Doug and Cynthia Hampton, was paid $5,400 between March 2008 and August 2008. The payments, for "research policy consulting," ended the same month as the affair, which was said to begin in December 2007. Ensign staffers and committee officials did not return calls seeking comment.

One of the aspects of the Michael Vick dog fighting investigation that hasn't gotten much attention is how it all started. So let's explain: It all started with a dog named Troy. Troy is a Dutch shepherd (that's a Dutch shepherd in the photo, but it's not Troy) who joined the police department in Hampton, Va., last year. During a patrol outside a Hampton nightclub in April, Troy alerted his handler that he smelled drugs in the trunk of a car. Police found marijuana in the car, which turned out to belong to Vick's cousin, Davon Boddie. After arresting Boddie,...

HAMPTON, Ga. - Bill Lester was proud of his accomplishment, though a little embarrassed by all the attention. "I'm looking forward to when it's about racing instead of race," he said. Lester became the first black driver to compete in NASCAR's top series since Willy T. Ribbs in 1986, finishing six laps off the pace in 38th place Monday at the Golden Corral 500, won by Kasey Kahne. The 45-year-old Lester, a regular in NASCAR's Craftsman Truck Series since 2002, accomplished one of his stated goals, avoiding a crash and racing to the end of the 500-mile race, postponed on...

To many South Carolinians, Columbia’s Wade Hampton III is a statue on the State House lawn, a name on a government building or the fading personification of a past perhaps best forgotten. To Civil War buffs, Hampton was an innovative Rebel cavalry leader, overshadowed in fame by the vainglorious J.E.B. Stuart and the vicious genius, Nathan Bedford Forrest. But a recent, popular biography — the first in-depth study since 1949 — and an upcoming exhibit at the Confederate Relic Room and Museum offer more insight into Hampton. Born to one of the wealthiest families in the South, Hampton died in...

Grew Up in the Projects, Fed Up with Democrats September 9, 2005 BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Janet in Hampton, Virginia, we'll start with you today. Great to have you with us. CALLER: Rush? RUSH: Yes. CALLER: Yes. This is Janet. Listen, one thing I've been so angry about-- RUSH: Janet, hold it, you must do me a favor here. I have a little bit of a hearing problem on the phone this week for some reason. Would you slow down what you say a little bit so that I can understand? CALLER: All right. RUSH: Thanks. CALLER: I'm just so...

NORFOLK – Three amphibious ships and a rescue and salvage vessel began leaving port today in a race to the areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina, bringing everything from baby formula to bulldozers to desperate Americans. "We told the crews we’ve got a disaster of proportions that we’ve never seen before," Capt. Sinclair M. Harris, commodore of Amphibious Squadron Four, said in the pre-dawn darkness as his ships loaded relief supplies. "We’ve got American citizens who have been harmed, and we just need to get there." The amphibious assault ship Iwo Jima, the dock landing ship Tortuga, the amphibious transport dock...

An American Traitor: Guilty As Charged By Henry Mark Holzer and Erika HolzerFrontPageMagazine.com | June 10, 2005For three decades Jane Fonda obfuscated, distorted and lied about virtually everything connected with her wartime trip to North Vietnam: her motive, her acts, her intent, and her contribution to the Communists’ war effort.  With the aid of clever handlers, she so successfully suppressed and spun her conduct in Hanoi that many Americans didn’t know what she had done there, and, more important, the legal significance. Three years ago, our book, “Aid and Comfort”: Jane Fonda in North Vietnam (McFarland & Co.), laid bare...

Ex-stripper Diana Hampton will soon have something new to wear - judicial robes. Hampton was elected to the Municipal Court in Henderson, Nevada on Tuesday, defeating Michael Miller in a run-off by 176 votes. Hampton, 39, had acknowledged during the campaign that she worked at a Las Vegas striptease club to help pay her way through college 14 years ago. She called it "a fact of life" and said she hoped the interest it drew to her candidacy would eventually die down. She was elected to a six-year term.

Suspect Shot During Robbery Attempt at Hampton Food Lion Caleb Joshua Carr Hampton police say a man attempting to hold up a grocery store was shot by a store security guard Monday night.The 19-year old suspect, identified as Caleb Joshua Carr of the 3500 block of Kecoughtan Road, is in intensive care with a gunshot wound to the head. He is listed in stable condition. According to authorities, it was around 10:42pm when the guard inside the Food Lion in the 3800 block of Kecoughtan Road saw a masked man jump over a counter and demand money from a cashier....

Search Resumes for Missing Girl in Fla. February 26, 2005 11:11 AM EST HOMOSASSA, Fla. - Police and volunteers scoured the community and nearby woods Saturday for a 9-year-old girl who vanished from her bedroom. More than 250 people gathered at Faith Baptist Church on a cool, overcast morning to join the search for Jessica Marie Lunsford. Buses took groups of the volunteers to the woods and marshes of western Citrus County, about 60 miles north of Tampa. Some searched on foot while others rode horses and all-terrain vehicles. Atlanta Braves pitcher Mike Hampton, a Homosassa native, and his wife...

Bryan Lafond, in a photo taken at his home, before going to the holiday dance at Hampton Academy Junior High School on Friday night.HAMPTON - A parent of a Hampton Academy Junior High School student says the principal of the school told his son to leave the school’s holiday dance on Friday night because the boy was dressed in a Santa Claus costume, which was politically incorrect. Michael Lafond said his son, Bryan, went to the dance dressed as Santa because it was a holiday party. "He asked if he could dress like Santa and we said yes," said Lafond....

Educators Debate Efforts to Rename Schools HAMPTON, Va. - At Jefferson Davis Middle School, a civil war of words is being waged over a petition drive to erase the name of the slave-owning Confederate president from the school. Opinion is mixed, and it's not necessarily along racial lines. "If it had been up to Robert E. Lee, these kids wouldn't be going to school as they are today," said civil rights leader Julian Bond, now a history professor at the University of Virginia. "They can't help but wonder about honoring a man who wanted to keep them in servitude." That...

The Transformation of Dr. Erenestine Harrison by Gail Jarvis In a recent LRC blog post, Elizabeth Wright discusses the transformation of Dr. Erenestine Harrison who, as a concerned black resident of Hampton, Virginia, began a petition to change the names of two primarily black schools that were named after Confederate heroes: Robert E. Lee Elementary School and Jefferson Davis Middle School. However, Harrison later withdrew her request. In an interview, Dr. Harrison cited two basic reasons for her change of heart. First, the flood of email and letters she received from Southern heritage supporters that provided information previously unknown to...

(AP) - Hampton resident Erenestine Harrison has dropped her petition to rename Jefferson Davis Middle School in response to strong arguments from individuals and groups dedicated to Southern history. "They convinced me, basically, that this means so much to them," Harrison said. "I don't think the black community cares as much about removing (the name) as much as they care about preserving it."Earlier, she decided to forgo a campaign to change the name of Robert E. Lee Elementary School because she uncovered information indicating the Confederate general's family opposed slavery.Davis served as president of the Confederate States of America during...

HAMPTON -- The woman who proposed striking the names of Confederate leaders from two Hampton schools has dropped half of her petition, saying she's gained new perspective on the character and legacy of Gen. Robert E. Lee. "By looking at his own words, you really can see he was a good, honorable man," said Erenestine Harrison, author of the petition. "The things that changed my mind about Robert E. Lee, I really had to look deep."

<p>CAPE CANAVERAL -- A NASA manager criticized for his role in the Columbia disaster was tapped Friday to direct a new safety and engineering watchdog group that will oversee all space agency programs.</p> <p>Ralph Roe, a former shuttle program manager reassigned in the wake of the Feb. 1 accident, will head up the NASA Engineering and Safety Center at Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va.</p>

A Hampton woman has started a petition to change the names of Robert E. Lee Elementary and Jefferson Davis Middle schools, saying it's inappropriate and psychologically damaging to send a predominantly black student population into buildings named after Confederate leaders. ...suggests that Lee be renamed Maya Elementary School in honor of poet Maya Angelou and that Davis be changed to Beth-Day, after social activist Mary McLeod Bethune and Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor

CDC reacts to deaths with alert to officials By STEVE STONE AND MICHELLE MIZAL-ARCHER , The Virginian-Pilot © February 23, 2003 Officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta are alerting every state health agency to watch for child deaths similar to those that have occurred in recent weeks in Virginia, Michigan and Ohio. So far, the CDC has received reports of at least 14 children nationally who have died suddenly after experiencing upper respiratory infections and fevers. The alert is entirely routine, a CDC spokeswoman said Saturday. Local, state and federal officials said there is still...

Pediatric offices and emergency rooms in Hampton Roads were jammed Friday with parents anxious to make sure their children's fevers and runny noses weren't life-threatening, as health investigators continued to study the unexplained deaths of five children in five days. ``I took off work to bring my daughter in,'' said Mashiah Mitchell, who brought his 4-year-old daughter, Asha, to Renaissance Pediatrics in Chesapeake because she had a fever. ``I got alarmed when I heard the news about the children dying.'' The fears were triggered by an investigation launched Thursday by the Virginia Department of Health into the deaths of four...