Free Republic

Of the 31 states that have declared their opposition to taking in Syrian refugees, one state, Kentucky, has a specific reason to be wary of the background check process: previously two Iraqi refugees who settled in Bowling Green turned out to be al Qaeda-linked terrorists with the blood of American soldiers on their hands, an ABC News investigation found. In the wake of the Kentucky case, the U.S. halted the refugee program for Iraqis for six months, a fact the Obama administration did not disclose to Congress at the time, officials told ABC News in the 2013 investigation.

Two weeks before he died of an overdose in 2011, the New York Rangers player Derek Boogaard was excused from his substance-abuse rehabilitation in California and returned to New York. He drove to Long Island, as he had done many times in the months before, and paid a man for illegally obtained prescription painkillers. This time, rather than cash, Boogaard paid with a personal check.

The Hennepin County Medical Examiner has determined former Minnesota Wild enforcer Derek Boogaard died from an accidental drug overdose. The cause of death was listed as a mix of alcohol and oxycodone, a painkilling drug. Boogaard had a history of back pain and shoulder injuries, as well as several concussions. He played just 22 games last season for the Rangers, sidelined by post-concussion symptoms since Dec. 9 after an on-ice fight with Matt Carkner of the Ottawa Senators.

NHL winger Derek Boogaard has died, the New York Rangers announced in a news release on Friday night. The news was first reported by Michael Russo of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune who said that Boogaard, 28, was found dead at his apartment in Minneapolis on Friday.