Free Republic

What happens when the world’s oldest travel company closes its doors? It leaves a lot of people very far from home and no clear way to get back. Thomas Cook collapsed overnight after 178 years of operation thanks to debt commitments that could not be met, leaving more than 150,000 people scattered across the globe with no way home and no paid accommodations.The legendary firm’s CEO issued an apology, but that alone won’t do much: Thomas Cook CEO Peter Fankhauser apologizes after the world's oldest travel company went into liquidation, leaving thousands of passengers stranded around the world. More:...

Oak Creek — A local businessman has stepped up to pay the legal fees of Earl Giefer, the 94-year-old farmer who was in the center of an eminent domain controversy earlier this summer. After following Giefer's case in the newspaper, Scott Mayer reached out to the family - which is acquainted with his own family - to pick up $5,000 in legal fees. Empathic understanding Mayer said he, like Giefer, has had difficulty dealing with municipal government and was taught by his father to give back and help people. "I've been jagged around in the past on real estate stuff...