Free Republic

NORWALK - A 74-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence Sunday after crashing her Cadillac through the front window of a liquor store, authorities said. Lynne Rice crashed her 1988 Cadillac into the front window of Joe's Food Mart, 10641 E. Imperial Highway, at 6:10 p.m., causing about $8,000 in damages, said Lt. Jenny Ha of the Norwalk Sheriff's Station. The crash apparently didn't slow her down. After plowing half-way through the store, Rice got out of the car, walked over to the cooler and pulled out a six pack of Budweiser, said the store owner,...

ORLANDO, Florida — Former astronaut Lisa Nowak told a detective she came to Orlando to meet her rival for the affections of a fellow astronaut because she wanted to know where she stood in the bizarre love triangle, according to a police interview made public Monday. A 72-page transcript of the interview conducted after her February arrest, with portions redacted, was released by the State Attorney's Office. In it, Orlando Police Detective Chris Becton asks Nowak about why she wanted to meet Navy Capt. Colleen Shipman in a parking lot at the Orlando International Airport. Nowak, 44, is accused of...

NDIANAPOLIS - The Marion County Health Department says more than 160 people have claimed they became ill after eating at an Olive Garden restaurant in Indianapolis last weekend. A health department spokesman says they're trying to isolate the cause and have found no health code violations at the restaurant on the city's north side.

NORWALK, Ohio - Some of the special-needs children who slept in cage-like beds fitted with alarms had asked for the structures to be built, their adoptive mother testified at a custody hearing. Sharen Gravelle testified Wednesday that she and her husband Michael built bunk beds and attached a wooden playhouse the family called a club house for some of the children's toys. The other children then requested them and the couple felt the brightly painted beds enclosed with wood and wire helped keep them from getting into trouble at night, she said. The couple have pleaded not guilty to several...

HADITHA DAM, Iraq (Jan. 16, 2006) -- The job of lead vehicle gunner for a convoy in Iraq is one of the most dangerous and demanding jobs for a Marine, as insurgents continue to place roadside bombs aimed at injuring Marines, Iraqi soldiers, police and civilians. Norwalk, Calif., native, Cpl. Jason M. Farias, isn’t just the lead gunner on some convoys, he is the first line of defense for 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment’s commander as he travels to visit Marines in the area. With his M-240G machine gun, he sits high above the lead vehicle to provide fire support...

The Norwalk Common Council will have to deal tonight with an issue, we are sure, it would much rather not have on its agenda. The Connecticut Yankee Council of Boy Scouts has requested a permit to hold a recruiting event Oct. 24 at Calf Pasture Beach. The event has become a cause celebre for some, bringing a clash of views over constitutional rights and discriminatory polices of the scouting organization. Now the council will be asked to approve or reject the scouts' application. We can understand the passion of those who argue that the Scout Council should be barred from...

NORWALK -- The Common Council cannot legally deny a Boy Scout troop use of Shady Beach for a recruitment event despite the national group's policy of excluding homosexuals, Mayor Alex Knopp said yesterday. To prevent the Scouts from using the beach would be a violation of First Amendment rights, Knopp said. "There are many decisions in which courts have held that a municipality's decision to deny a permit to a group based on racial, religious or political beliefs was unconstitutional," he said.

NORWALK -- Mayor Alex Knopp has asked the law department to determine whether there is legal precedent for the Common Council to deny a Boy Scouts troop use of Shady Beach for a recruitment drive based on the parent organization's policy of barring homosexual members. Knopp's request came after members of the council's Parks Committee last week told Scoutmaster Greta DeAngelis they would vote against issuing her a permit for a three-hour campfire and recruitment program Oct. 24. The committee voted unanimously to pass the matter on to the full council for its Sept. 28 meeting

This Saturday, August 7th, the Stamford Victory '04 Headquarters will be holding a door-to-door campaign event in Norwalk, CT. All those interested are welcome to come help out. We will be meeting at 10 AM at the Norwalk Inn, 99 East Avenue in Norwalk. You can volunteer for any length of time. Victory '04 staff will be at the Inn throughout the morning and afternoon to direct volunteers. Volunteers will be teaming up to go door-to-door to hand out literature and talk to potential voters. We look forward to meeting any Freepers interested. Let us know whether you have any...

"It's easy for people to say that if they shoot up on heroin the only people they're hurting are themselves. But that's not true. ... Drug abusers destroy their families ... If we legalize these vices, we erode the societal support for prohibitions against crimes such as murder. The erosion of the moral fabric of society is a gradual, insidious process." -- Rush Limbaugh, The Way Things Ought to Be, pp 53-54. As I sifted through hundreds of comments from Rush Limbaugh fans over the last week, some interesting trends emerged. About 50 percent just wanted to call me names....

- The stomach virus ripping its way through New York City appears to be the same disease that ravaged the cruise ship industry, health officials told The New York Sun.The outbreak of what they believe is the Norwalk virus was first detected in early autumn, the officials said. They are still awaiting final confirmation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that the virus is the same.“We noticed an increase in hospitalizations,” Dr. Thomas Frieden said. “But we are still waiting to make sure it is the Norwalk virus. The results are not back yet.”Officials told the Sun...

"Mystery Illness" or Mysterious Reporting? What’s wrong with science and health reporting? For a quick inventory of some common journalistic shortcomings and scientific carelessness, you could turn to a special report that appeared in The Nashville Tennessean in late September. In fact, many readers had that opportunity. The three part series, entitled "Mystery Illnesses Found Nationwide; Sickness Surrounds Nation’s Nuclear Weapons Complexes," generated national attention, with reports from USA Today ("News Report Traces Pattern of Illnesses Near Nuclear Plants," September 29) and the Associated Press ("Widespread Illnesses Hits 11 States," September 30). The central charge of the Tennessean’s report is...

Wave of illness aboard Vancouver-bound train brings nausea, vomiting Health Canada officials are investigating after a wave of illness broke out among people aboard a Vancouver-bound VIA Rail train last week. Although VIA Rail officials could not confirm the number of people affected, an American passenger hit by the illness said Sunday that dozens developed nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. "It's the sickest I've ever been," said Antoinette Renshaw, 55, who boarded the VIA Rail Canadian train in Toronto on July 16. She said in an interview Sunday that several hours after departure, rumours began to circulate that crew members were...

The jury in the Skakel murder trial has reached a verdict and have begun assembling. Nothing announced yet.

(Norwalk-AP, May 7, 2002 6:05 AM) _ After 27 years of mystery, a Kennedy cousin is being tried in the murder of Greenwich teen-ager Martha Moxley. Watch the story from News Channel 8's Jodi Latina Michael Skakel's murder trial was scheduled to begin Tuesday _ an event some long-term observers doubted they would ever see. "This was such an intractable mystery for so long," said Timothy Dumas, who grew up in Greenwich and wrote a book about the crime. Now 41, Skakel is accused of beating Moxley to death with a golf club when the defendant and victim were 15-year-old...