Free Republic

ORLANDO, Fla. — One person is dead and at least three people were injured at a shooting in the parking lot of a McDonald's restaurant, Orlando police said.

MCCAIN: It's great to be back in Florida. We need to win Florida on November 4th, and with your help -- we're going to win here, and bring real change to Washington. We need a new direction, and we have to fight for it. I've been fighting for this country since I was seventeen years old, and I have the scars to prove it. If I'm elected President, I will fight to shake up Washington and take America in a new direction from my first day in office until my last. I'm not afraid of the fight, I'm ready for...

BIDEN GRILLED BY NEWS ANCHOR: IS OBAMA MARXIST? I know this has been played before, but its BIG RED LETTERS ON DRUDGE

Video here.

WFTV-Channel 9's Barbara West conducted a satellite interview with Sen. Joe Biden on Thursday. A friend says it's some of the best entertainment he's seen recently. What do you think? West wondered about Sen. Barack Obama's comment, to Joe the Plumber, about spreading the wealth. She quoted Karl Marx and asked how Obama isn't being a Marxist with the "spreading the wealth" comment. "Are you joking?" said Biden, who is Obama's running mate. "No," West said. West later asked Biden about his comments that Obama could be tested early on as president. She wondered if the Delaware senator was saying...

WFTV-Channel 9's Barbara West conducted a satellite interview with Sen. Joe Biden on Thursday. A friend says it's some of the best entertainment he's seen recently. What do you think? West wondered about Sen. Barack Obama's comment, to Joe the Plumber, about spreading the wealth. She quoted Karl Marx and asked how Obama isn't being a Marxist with the "spreading the wealth" comment. "Are you joking?" said Biden, who is Obama's running mate. "No," West said. West later asked Biden about his comments that Obama could be tested early on as president. She wondered if the Delaware senator was saying...

DEMOCRAT UNDERGROUND http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/2965 Shame on Barbara West, WFTV, Orlando, for her ignorant confrontational interview with Joe Biden. It was absolutely ugly in nature, used ignorant talking points, and made our state look even more awful than usual. Orlando people, if you don't contact the station you should hide your head in shame. She did not even know how terrible her interview was. At one point Joe Biden asked her if she were kidding. It was that bad. Joe Biden did quite well in the face of such an ignorant interviewer. She was snide and pathetic and rude. Here is the...

Barbara West Interviews Joe Biden (10/23/08)

Early Vote for Change Rally Barack Obama & Hillary Clinton This Monday, October 20th, please join Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton in Orlando, where Barack will talk about his vision for creating the kind of change we need. Early Vote for Change Rally with Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton Amway Arena North Staircase 600 W. Amelia Street Orlando, FL 32801 Monday, October 20th Gates Open: 3:00 p.m. Program Begins: 6:00 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. Tickets are not required; however an RSVP is strongly encouraged. For security reasons, do not bring bags and umbrellas. Please...

In contrast to Mr. McCain, Democrat Barack Obama has exceeded our expectations during this campaign. He has demonstrated sound judgment and grace under pressure. Because we are now more confident in his ability to steer America through the rough waters ahead, the Orlando Sentinel is endorsing Barack Obama for president.

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Preliminary evidence shows traces of chloroform have been found in Casey Anthony's car, a source confirmed to Local 6 News. Detectives are pursuing the chloroform lead in a car belonging Casey Anthony and information found on the woman's computer, Local 6 reported. Local 6 confirmed that detectives confiscated Casey Anthony's computer during the investigation and found that someone was on the computer looking up information about chloroform. Sheriff: No Apology For Cindy Meanwhile, the Orange County sheriff and the founder of a group scouring Central Florida for missing Caylee Anthony sent harsh messages to the child's grandmother...

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Preliminary evidence in the case of missing Caylee Anthony indicates that there was a dead body in the back of her mother's car and it was Caylee's body, Local 6 reported Sunday. "We have scientific evidence back from the lab -- the FBI lab -- and we have evidence that we have not yet made public that leads our investigators to believe that Caylee is deceased," Orange County sheriff's Cmdr. Matt Irwin said. Not only did a car belonging to Casey Anthony smell like death but scientists were able to confirm the presence of gases produced by...

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. -- Today Sgt. John Allen with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department confirmed what Channel 9 has been reporting since Wednesday. There was a dead body in the trunk of Casey Anthony’s car, and that body was Caylee.Four Orange County Sheriff’s Detectives joined Texas EquuSearch and about two-hundred volunteers Sunday morning in the search for Caylee Anthony.Orange County Sheriffs and EquuSearch are asking that individuals interested in assisting in the search go to the staging area. That is located at the Holiday Inn Select at 5750 TG Lee Blvd in Orlando.Casey Anthony awoke in the Orange County jail,...

Orange County Sheriff's deputies arrived at the Anthony home shortly before 8:30 p.m. More than half dozen vehicles - some marked and some unmarked - pulled up to the house. The lead detective - Yuri Melich - got out and went inside the home. Moments later, the door cracked open, showing Casey Anthony inside standing near Sgt. John Allen, who is supervising the investigation. The crowd who was gathered outside cheered. Someone yelled, "she's in handcuffs." At 8:33 p.m., deputies escorted her out with her hands cuffed behind her back. She showed little emotion as detectives put her in the...

Eyewitness News was informed Thursday morning by bounty hunter Leonard Padilla that he's beginning the process of having Casey Anthony's $500,000 bond revoked after details emerged that suggest missing 3-year-old Caylee Anthony is dead. Padilla said he's working to determine the process and hopes to begin it Thursday afternoon or Friday. Leonard Padilla told Eyewitness News that in the last 24 hours since the DNA test results became public he's received numerous threats to Casey's life and thinks she's be safer in jail. "As far as you're concerned, she's going back to jail?" WFTV reporter Daralene Jones asked Padilla on...

Air sample tests from Casey Anthony's car show a decomposing human body was inside the trunk, a Sheriff's Office official confirmed Wednesday. Officials have offered Anthony a partial immunity deal if she admits 3-year-old Caylee Marie died as a result of an accident. If she takes the deal, any information Anthony provides to law-enforcement could not be used against her in prosecution. Danielle Tavernier, spokeswoman for the Orange-Osceola State Attorney's Office, said they are not disclosing any details of their prosecution, but that Anthony had been "invited to our office to shed light on the disappearance of the victim in...

Pastor Who Opposes Abortion to Deliver DNC's Closing Prayer By Krissah Williams Sen. Barack Obama's team will continue its aggressive outreach to evangelical voters at the Democratic National Convention next week. Making a prime-time appearance Thursday night will be Joel C. Hunter, a Florida megachurch pastor who will deliver the convention's closing prayer following Obama's speech accepting the Democratic presidential nomination. Hunter is a registered Republican, opposes abortion and, at one point, had been chosen to lead the Christian Coalition. He has not endorsed Obama and says he agreed to give the benediction because has was asked to do so....

<p>Missing Florida 3-year-old Caylee Marie Anthony might have died accidentally on or around June 16, according to police. Orange County detectives told FOX News on Wednesday that they are looking at several theories as to what may have befallen the little girl, among them the accidental death hypothesis.</p>

OVIEDO, Fla. -- It's been 28 days since now 3-year-old Caylee Anthony was reported missing. Caylee's grandfather told Eyewitness News on Tuesday that she was kidnapped and the people that have her are being watched. George Anthony told Eyewitness News he was supposed to meet in Oviedo on Tuesday morning with "people assisting outside the normal scope of things" and he seemed to suggest that the people are doing surveillance on kidnappers who he believes have his granddaughter. "These people know they are being watched. They know it," George told Eyewitness News on Tuesday morning. "Who are these people?" WFTV...

KNOXVILLE, TN (WOFL FOX 35, Orlando) -- DNA samples taken from Casey Anthony's car are still undergoing analysis, but FOX 35 can confirm that forensic anthropologists from the University of Tennessee have now been called in to test air samples from the vehicle. Anthony, 22, is being held on over half-a-million dollar bond after investigators said she lied to them and did not report daughter Caylee Marie Anthony missing for more than a month. Last week, she was formally charged with child neglect, a felony, and making false statements to law enforcement officers, a misdemeanor. Sheriff's deputies testified that her...

ORLANDO, Fla. -- An appeals court has denied a motion to lower the bond for the mother of a missing 3-year-old Orlando girl. The 5th District Court of Appeal in Daytona Beach on Monday denied Casey Anthony's motion for a rehearing. The motion was sealed. Anthony is being held on $500,000 bond on charges of child neglect, making false statements and obstructing an investigation. Police said she lied to them and didn't report her daughter, Caylee, missing for more than a month. A message left with a spokeswoman for Casey Anthony's attorney was not immediately returned Monday afternoon. Detectives and...

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Two bags of evidence likely containing clothes and personal items of the mother of a missing Orlando girl were taken Friday morning by crime-scene investigators from the home of the child's grandparents, sources told Local 6 News. Investigators were inside the home, located on Hopespring Drive in Orange County, between five and 10 minutes before driving off in an Orange County Sheriff's Office van. George and Cindy Anthony own the home and are the grandparents of Caylee Anthony, who has been missing for about six weeks. Casey Anthony, Caylee's mother, was arrested on child neglect charges in...

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Cindy Anthony expressed her frustration with the media Wednesday morning when she arrived for a video visitation with her daughter Casey at the Orange County Jail. Casey Anthony has been in jail since reporting her 2-year-old daughter Caylee missing on July 15. She is charged with child neglect and is being held on $500,000 bond. Cindy Anthony said she thinks the focus has been taken away from Caylee, and that the search for her granddaughter has been hindered by the media. "You guys are trying my daughter right now for something she hasn’t even been charged with,”...

ORLANDO, Fla. -- The mother of a missing Orlando girl said her gut feeling is that her daughter is OK and still close to home, she said during a newly released jailhouse call. The weekend call between Casey Anthony, 22, and her brother Lee Anthony was released Monday night. The conversation begins with Lee Anthony warning his sister, the mother of missing Caylee Anthony, that everything she says is being recorded and will be released to the media. He then tells her she can reach out to local detectives and she doesn't have to go through her attorney before asking...

Police have launched an investigation after an anonymous package containing a noose was sent to an Orlando commissioner. Someone sent a noose to Orlando Commissioner Daisy Lynum, and police are investigating it as a threat. The small rope noose, delivered to Lynum's City Hall office Friday, was turned over to the Orlando Police Department. The anonymous package carried no return address. ''There was no name, so to me it's like the cowards in the Ku Klux Klan who wore hoods over their faces,'' Lynum said. ``This just shows there is still ignorance in our society.'' Last week, Lynum prompted an...

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. -- A controversial billboard in Orange County has a picture of the burning World Trade Center and the message, "Please Don't Vote for a Democrat." The man who paid for the ad says he's trying to help Republicans, but officials with both political parties are calling the billboard inappropriate. There are billboards up and down busy Orange Blossom Trail, but this at John Young Parkway (see map) one sticks out. "Just looking at it, I'm not thinking about Democrat or Republican, I'm thinking about the twin towers and all the people killed," resident Mary Anderson told Eyewitness...

Bishop Thomas Wenski Orlando, Jul 1, 2008 / 06:27 am (CNA).- In a Sunday newspaper commentary Thomas Wenski, the Bishop of Orlando, Florida decried the California Supreme Court’s decision to overturn a ban on same sex marriage, saying the act of “raw judicial activism” reminds us that “society’s culture wars are far from over.”Writing in the Ocala Star Banner, Bishop Wenski said advocates of homosexual marriage erroneously label their opponents as intolerant bigots. “To defend marriage as a monogamous union between one man and one woman is not bigotry,” Bishop Wenski wrote. “Nor are the efforts of those who...

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Vandals spray-painted "Obama Smokes Crack" and other hate messages on 60 city vehicles parked across the street from City Hall in downtown Orlando. Investigators said the vandals painted the messages -- which appear to be politically motivated -- after dark Saturday night. Local 6 showed several vehicles covered in different colors with the "Obama" messages. A passing motorist initially spotted the damage and called police. "I'm driving by and every car I see has been hit with spray paint," witness Mike Lowe said. "There is so much damage to them. There are messages written on them and...

An Islamic group has been banned from visiting classrooms in Seminole County schools after officials said it crossed the line between telling students about the Muslim culture and pushing its religion. The flap over the Academy for Learning Islam's visit to Lake Brantley High School also has caused the school system to re-evaluate who it lets into county classrooms to present educational programs and what they can talk about. By fall, teachers will have stricter guidelines. Speakers on religion, drugs, alcohol and nearly 50 other touchy topics will get closer scrutiny before they can speak on campuses, Superintendent Bill Vogel...

"Hamburger Mary's", a new chain of flamobyantly gay- themed restaurants has hit Orlando. The make no secret of their orientation, lifestyle or desires. This is from their website: "Hamburger Mary's franchises are "open-air bar and grilles for open-minded people," where guests enjoy a flamboyant dining experience. Everyone is welcome at Hamburger Mary's, but our concept is unique in that we are the ONLY national franchise actively marketing to the gay community." Everything there is WAY over the top from cross-dressing waiter/waitresses to your check being presented in a red high-heeled shoe. It's very open, with rainbow umbrellas set into sidewalk...

ORLANDO, Fla. -- An unexplained image in a hospital prayer garden window moved some people to tears and drew groups of people to a hallway before vanishing, according to witnesses. A crowd inside the Florida Hospital Medical Complex in Orlando snapped photos of the image apparently showing the profile of Jesus Christ crying. "There was just a whole bunch of people putting their cell phones to the window, so I went over there and I saw a glow," witness Joel Cruzada said. "When you are standing there and there is a flurry of people talking about it, you are like,...

ORLANDO, Fla. -- A 24-year-old man held a gun to the head of a 15-month-old girl while he raped her mother for 25 minutes in a Wal-Mart parking lot, according to an arrest report. David Welker is accused of raping a woman in broad daylight at a Wal-Mart parking lot located on John Young Parkway after forcing her into her car at gunpoint. The gun was placed against the child as Welker raped the woman twice, Thursday's arrest report said. The document also said "he ordered her to dump out her purse. He then took her cellular phone, her debit...

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Channel 9 was able to sit down with the woman in a video showing an officer push her down the stairs and she said the incident ruined her career. Jessica Asprilla lost her job as a social worker when Orlando Police Officer Fernando Trinidad charged her with battery. He said she spit in his face and then she tripped. Asprilla filed her own formal complaint Wednesday. ----------------------------------------- Nearly one year after video captured Trinidad pushing Asprilla down the stairs at what was then called Club Paris, she filed an official complaint against the officer demanding he be...

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. -- A large cross in Orange County is causing quite a controversy. It stands 199 feet tall and sits in front of the First Baptist Central Florida church on Good Homes Road near Colonial Drive. The church says it wanted people to realize a church was there. While some like the cross, others are concerned it could ruin the landscape and set a bad precedent for allowing large signs in the area. "It's a cross. It serves no other purpose other than to let people know we're here," said Wil Santiago. Others disagree with it. "It's a...

A man suspected of trying to take bomb components onto a plane at Orlando International Airport told investigators he was going use the bomb materials to show friends how to build explosives "like he saw in Iraq." He also told them he only planned to blow up a tree stump. Those details and a few others emerged as a federal judge today ordered Kevin Brown, 32, temporarily held without bail... He is charged with attempting to carry an explosive or incendiary device onto an aircraft. A federal complaint filed against Brown charged that he was carrying components for pipe bombs,...

Afghanistan to Ask NATO for Bigger Army Afghan officials will go to the NATO summit in Romania Thursday with a request: pay to increase our national Army by 40 percent. A bigger Army, Afghan officials argue, will allow the US and other coalition members to scale back in the coming years. This appeal comes amid pleas from the US and Canada for other NATO members to commit more to the Afghanistan mission, which many analysts say has floundered over the past year for lack of resources and a coherent strategy. France is expected to contribute another 1,000 forces and...

Components that potentially could be made into a pipe bomb were found in the luggage of a man preparing to fly from Orlando International Airport to Jamaica on Tuesday, the Orlando Sentinel newspaper said. The Transportation Security Administration confirmed only that "suspicious" items were found in a search of the man's luggage. FBI spokesman David Couvertier, whose agency is handling the case, said the items "generated a high level of concern," but he declined to confirm the newspaper's report that the suspicious items included "unassembled pipes with end caps, metal ball bearings and other potentially explosive materials." The man, whose...

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Members of a nationally known church will be picketing outside of several Central Florida churches on Easter Sunday with a message pastors say is more about shock value than God's words. A group from the Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church has announced they will be outside Easter services at St. Luke's United Methodist, First Baptist Church, Calvary Assembly of God and Mary Queen of the Universe churches early Sunday. Westboro church members said they believe school shootings, 9-11 and solider deaths are "God's revenge" for America's moral decline and tolerance for homosexuality and abortion. "This nation is awash...

Here is Orlando in the NY Times: ON first watching Hillary Clinton’s recent “It’s 3 a.m.” advertisement, I was left with an uneasy feeling that something was not quite right — something that went beyond my disappointment that she had decided to go negative. Repeated watching of the ad on YouTube increased my unease. I realized that I had only too often in my study of America’s racial history seen images much like these, and the sentiments to which they allude. ... .. I have spent my life studying the pictures and symbols of racism and slavery, and when I...

Armed & Famished by: Deborah Lambert, February 15, 2008 “STUDENT ARRESTED FOR CUTTING FOOD WITH KNIFE” was the headline of a recent story on Orlando Florida’s News Channel 6. It all started, police said, when school officials spotted a 10-year-old student at the Sunrise Elementary School, cutting her food with a knife during lunch. After the suspect told sheriff’s deputies that this was not the only time she had brought the knife to school, she was charged with weapons possession, which is a felony. She was then arrested and taken ...

Orlando Sentinel Publisher Kathleen Waltz resigned today, ending a 34-year career with the newspaper's parent company, Chicago-based Tribune Co. Howard Greenberg, publisher of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, replaces Waltz, becoming interim publisher and chief executive officer of the Sentinel until a permanent Sentinel publisher is named. Waltz said that she left after discussing ways to manage Tribune's T-6 newspapers, the name the company uses to denote its six smaller market papers, which include the two Florida publications and four others in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. Previously, half those papers reported to the Tribune Co.'s corporate structure through Bob Gremillion, the...

ORLANDO, FL -- A small Florida company has turned one of the world's most popular high tech gadgets into a tool for American troops that can help save lives. "They speak with their hands -- a lot," US Army Sergeant Darren Williams said, remembering the times he worked to communicate with the local people during his year as a soldier in Iraq. "If you grab something, or if you say, 'Hold it.' Or, 'Pick it up. Pick it up.' You use that a lot, too," the Jacksonville-based Army recruiter said, waving his hands through a series of gestures. For Williams,...

Saturday night in Downtown Orlando was one non-stop party as attendees of the “Florida Classic” football game continued their celebration into the small hours of the morning. The game between HBCU powerhouses Florida A&M and Bethune-Cookman drew crowds of more than 50,000. At about 2:30 AM, a church group was handing out literature and videotaping their activities in the downtown area. Police asked them to move along, as they did everyone who was still congregating in the area. Then a church member claimed police maced them. The church supplied video tape of the supposed incident to local TV stations. The...

Freedom Middle School Orlando school uses extra-sensitive dog as counselor for students Mr. Harv instinctively picks up on body language, facial expressions and tone of voice. Susan Jacobson Sentinel Staff Writer November 9, 2007 When Mr. Harv goes to school, he spends his time playing ball, sitting on students' laps and lying down on the job. It's all in a day's work for Harv, Freedom Middle School's unofficial mascot and Central Florida's only known full-time canine counselor. At Freedom, every day is a dog day. Students greet Harv with hearty "hellos" and a vigorous belly rub. If there's a crisis...

Police in Orlando detonated a suspicious device at the Orange County Regional History Center, which was the second in Downtown Orlando Thursday afternoon. The package was found in the courtyard outside the history center. Police believed there was a PVC pipe inside. The area around the history center was shut down during the investigation. [snip] "It took a lot of taxpayer dollars to make sure that this was rendered safe by the bomb squad,� said Lt. Dave Haley. [snip] Police said another package found earlier on Church Street will be investigated. They think it may be related to an incident...

Sunday, Oct 21, 2007 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Kevin Madden (857) 288-6390 National Review's Jim Geraghty: "One of [Romney's] strongest performances..." (Jim Geraghty, "Everybody Was Good," National Review's Campaign Spot, http://campaignspot.nationalreview.com/, Posted 10/21/07) National Review's Kathryn Jean Lopez: "Romney comes off as a real optimistic problem-solver – with some experience at it." (Kathryn Jean Lopez, "Democrats Also Love America," National Review's The Corner, http://corner.nationalreview.com/, Posted 10/21/07) Power Line Blog's Paul Mirengoff: "Romney was solid, as he generally is ... Near the end of the debate, he finally launched into an attack on the Clinton administration's 'vacation from history' foreign policy ('we...

I am going to post just a small review of my night with 23 Republicans at the Fox News Orlando Republican Presidential Debate. Luntz was angry early on before camera's went live when he polled the group to make sure everyone there was undecided. A 21 yr old guy raised his hand and said he was supporting Ron Paul. Luntz absolutely lost it on this kid and said "Why in the hell did you not put that on your questionaire that was e-mailed to you? Why does it not shock me that a Ron Paul supporter would pull this kind...

<p>WASHINGTON — One of the most contested states in presidential politics is center stage Sunday night as FOX News airs a Republican candidates primary debate in Orlando, Fla., that is sure to be used by the 2008 contenders as a chance to cater to the party's conservative base.</p>

Florida GOP excludes Alan Keyes from Orlando debate Uses non-existent polling data as requirement October 19, 2007 Des Moines, IA — In what he called "a major abuse of the electoral process," former Reagan administration diplomat and long-time national conservative activist Alan Keyes has been blocked by the Florida GOP from participating in Sunday's Fox News presidential debate in Orlando. The Florida party used a 1% or better showing in polls from three of six polling firms as their criterion for inclusion in the event, even though none of the selected polling firms included Keyes, the latest entry in the...

ORLANDO, Fla. -- A controversial city ordinance has led to a number of protests and now a trial. An Orlando man is the first person to face a jury for feeding the homeless. It's the first trial of its kind. A man is facing a judge and jury for violating Orlando's ban on feeding the homeless. Eric Montanez, 22, was caught feeding a group in Lake Eola Park earlier this year. The prosecution told Eyewitness News their case rests on video taken of Montanez feeding the homeless, breaking Orlando's feeding ban.