Free Republic

Distressed at criminals’ preferences for committing their offenses in the downtown sector of the city, Eugene, Oregon city officials are poised to enact an ordinance aimed at excluding these felons from of the downtown area for up to one year. Under the proposed law, persons charged with a crime such as robbery or assault would be barred from entering downtown Eugene for 90 days. Convicted criminals will not be allowed downtown for one year. The proposal is the brainchild of city council members Andrea Ortiz and Mike Clark. “The outer fringes of the community are not bearing their fair share...

BAGHDAD, Nov. 7, 2007 – Just a few months ago, Operation Rogue Thunder began to reclaim the streets of Jamia and Adel, Iraq, from the grip of violence. Today, the streets not only are peaceful, they’re also thriving. Troops from 3rd Battalion, 5th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division Military Transition Team; 1st Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment; and their Iraqi counterparts have seen what was once a community gripped by fear come out of hiding and begin living for the first time in a long time. Before the joint operation in July took place, many residents were being oppressed by militia...

Can anyone recommend good neighborhoods in Houston Texas that are not a nightmare commute to downtown?

WASHINGTON, Sept. 24, 2007 – As coalition troops work among the people of Baghdad to improve security, they also are training Iraqi forces, who in turn are securing their own neighborhoods and taking more responsibility, the U.S. general in charge of coalition forces in the city said today. “This is tough work; it would be challenging even if we weren’t fighting a brutal enemy at the same time,” Army Maj. Gen. Joseph F. Fil, commander of Multinational Division Baghdad, told civilian defense experts in a conference call. “But there is progress, and I see steady progress both in terms of...

Why City Government, Nonprofits, or Business Are Not Enough to Hold Pasadena Together The Pasadena Pundit - August 9, 2007 http://www.pasadenapundit.com Who is showing the most leadership in our community when it comes to the challenge presented by the rising number of gang killings and shootings? Is it the Mayor with his policy of multiplying city commissions and nonprofits tied to city-funding? Is it Councilwoman Margaret McAustin with her inclusionary and affordable housing programs which will only move the problem around or eclipse more neighborhood associations? Is it the Pasadena Education Foundation (PEF) with its base of nonprofits funded by...

BAGHDAD — Basing Iraqi Army and U.S. troops at an outpost in central Ghazaliya is a first in the Iraqi capital. Combat Outpost (COP) “Casino” has been operating for the past two weeks with Soldiers from Company C, Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment. Being based in Ghazaliya has seen its share of success stories. Just days after moving in, Cpl. Peter Callahan, a medic, saved the life of a 4-year-old girl who was brought in by her family with a pulse below 40 beats per minute. After checking her wounds and giving her initial aid, Soldiers evacuated the girl and her...

Clean Water, Electricity on Tap for Neighborhoods Multi-National Division – Baghdad general visits Baghdad neighborhoods to gauge status of essential services projects. By U.S. Army Sgt. Kristin Kemplin CAMP LIBERTY, Iraq, Oct. 4, 2006 -- Only months away from completion, the pump tanks at “RT3” are still empty as Iraqi workers put the finishing touches on the high-tech water treatment facility that will distribute clean, fresh water to millions of Baghdad area residents at the astonishing pace of 30 million gallons per day. The water treatment facility in a Baghdad neighborhood outside Sadr City is one of two on-going...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - As a car enters the Shiite district of Sadr City, a group of men step from the curb and flag down the vehicle. "Who are you and where are you going?" one of them demands. All is well after passengers produce papers, not from the government but from the office of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. "We are sorry," one man says. "May God be with you." Al-Sadr's militia, the Mahdi Army, keeps a sharp eye out for strangers in the teeming Baghdad district, home to 2.5 million people, as well as other Shiite areas across the...

Whether on foot patrol, or from a Stryker, the Weapons Squad checks out certain hot spots one neighborhood at a time MOSUL, Iraq, Aug. 25, 2005 – They’re loaded to the hilt with weapons, armor and ammunition. They roll out in their Stryker Light Armored Vehicle to beat the 120-degree-streets, smiling, waiving, and keeping rapport with the locals. They are also searching, detaining, confiscating. Anything to accomplish the mission. "We’ve had vehicles hit with IEDs, have all 8 tires blown off, and still the vehicle drove back to camp on just the rims. You can hardly do damage to the...

GENEVA, Ill. - Greg Parcell isn't thinking about the 50,000 lights all around him, or the computer that has them blinking to the beat of "Let it Snow" on the radio. Instead, his mind is on what's missing as he stands in what seems the one empty spot in his front yard. "I still have to put up the penguins around the campfire," he says. Parcell, 47, is a toy soldier in a growing army of Christmas enthusiasts becoming more sophisticated at turning yards into blazing monuments to the holidays. New companies are cropping up with elaborate, automated decorations and...

There's nothing in this world more subjective than rating neighborhoods. One man's peaceful enclave is another man's Dullsville. The hoppin' heart of the city that thrills the soul of one woman, would drive another insane. But great neighborhoods everywhere do have some things in common...

Distributing Flyers Why? - Because this may be the only way to reach folks who rely on the "mainstream" media for their news (CBS, NY Times, AP Wire, etc.). These flyers are simple and are more likely to be read than glossy ones (people will appreciate the local feel to them) and they resemble pizza flyers. Flyering will be the only means to counter any October Surprises the Democrats might launch. We will have flyers on any such contingency available immediately on the home page. We experienced wonderful results with this approach in 1994 opposing a pro-abortion candidate.

City's going to pot: Convention prep skips holes in neighborhoods By Elisabeth J. Beardsley Sunday, July 18, 2004 The pothole plague has been lifted like a miracle from the areas around the Democratic National Convention site, but outlying neighborhoods are complaining that Boston's DNC beautification is passing them by. With indignation growing over the haves and have-nots of a sudden spurt of street repairs, more than 1,200 Boston residents have signed petitions in the last two months, demanding the release of pent-up roadwork money. The petitions have been flying off their stack on the front counter at Jamaica Plain's Classic...

Just heard this on Howie Carr's radio show in Boston and it was hysterical!

<p>Helen Trujillo and her neighbors spend a lot of time in their front yards, keeping an eye out from their porches for anything suspicious.</p> <p>It wasn't so long ago that the Garfield neighborhood, east of downtown Phoenix, was overrun with drug activity and gunfire, forcing law-abiding residents to stay within the safe confines of their homes.</p>

Unless a judge intervenes, the only exit ramp ferrying traffic from the Southwest Freeway into Midtown and downtown will close this week for a three-year reconstruction, leaving drivers across the Houston region scrambling to find alternate routes. U.S. District Judge David Hittner is expected to rule as early as today on a request by area residents to force the Texas Department of Transportation to delay tearing down the inbound lanes of Spur 527. The West Alabama Quality of Life Coalition argues that the neighborhoods surrounding the spur and freeway will suffer "irreparable harm" from the flood of traffic looking to...

The thought of her son dying in a federal prison breaks the heart of Wally Martinez's mother. But it is a reality that mother and son are trying to come to terms with. In a radio advertisement playing in Utah and recorded on behalf of Project Safe Neighborhoods, Martinez's mother, who lives in Utah, conveys the grief of having a son sentenced to 65 years in prison without the possibility of parole. "The first words out of his mouth were 'Mom, they killed me,' " she says, her voice breaking into a sob. "My son will die there and I...

MILFORD — The city used bureaucracy to stop the sale of sex toys Thursday, but the owner of a mammoth new adults-only establishment says he has something in store for Milford residents: Up to a half-million dollars in free porn. Daniel Quinn, the owner of the new Penthouse Boutique on Banner Drive, made the vow to give away merchandise Thursday not long after learning red tape would stop sales at his 10,000-square-foot store for up to 30 days. City officials put an 11th hour stop to opening day sales after discovering that Quinn had not obtained a permit from police...

<p>WASHINGTON (AP) -- The FBI is advising law enforcement agencies to be on the lookout for terrorists who possibly are plotting to use fuel tankers in attacks against Jewish neighborhoods and synagogues, a federal law enforcement official said.</p> <p>This official, who asked not to be identified, said the warning was sent out to local police agencies Friday.</p>