Free Republic

AUSTIN, Texas - Gov. Greg Abbott shared a message to the City of Austin Wednesday on Twitter, saying that if the city doesn't reinstate the ban on homeless camping, "the state will do it for them." Abbott's response comes after members of "Save Austin Now" turned in over 24,000 signed petitions Tuesday, hoping to reinstate Austin’s homeless camping ban by getting it on the May 2021 ballot. The first effort to reinstate the ban was ruled invalid back in August, and they decided to try again starting December 1. "Contrary to what Austin leaders think no one has a right...

Wal-Mart really soiled his reputation. A Montana professor is suing Wal-Mart for libel because an employee listed the academic’s occupation as “toilet cleaner” on a fishing license application. Montana State University assistant professor Gilbert Kalonde bought a state fishing license from a Wal-Mart in April 2015, and a store employee used Kalonde’s MSU I.D. when filling out an application form, according to a complaint filed in Gallatin County District Court. But when the employee entered Kalonde’s occupation into a computer database, he wrote that the professor “cleans toilets,” the complaint charges. The incident exposed Kalonde to “hatred, contempt [and] ridicule,”...

Full title : "George W Bush praises Jimmy Kimmel's 'damn good' anti-Trump Oscars monologue and laughs along as the comedian roasts Donald" George W. Bush heaped praise on Jimmy Kimmel for his anti-Trump opening monologue at the Oscars on Thursday night, telling the comedian enthusiastically that his performance was 'damn good'. In a rare and lighthearted television appearance, Bush steered clear of mentioning the current president by name but was led into several subtle jabs at him by his mischievous host. Among the slights was a compliment for Kimmel's decidedly anti-Trump debut at the Academy Awards. 'I saw your opening....

Posted on August 14, 2013 at 5:26 PM AUSTIN -- Austin police arrested a man accused of trying to rob a ThunderCloud Subs with a rock. Elton Taylor, 50, is charged with aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon. Police say it happened Monday night at the restaurant on Guadalupe near 32nd Street. Employees say Taylor threw a rock at the window outside then walked in and demanded money. Workers ran out the back door and called police. Officers found Taylor inside. Taylor told police he was feeling homicidal. He's now in jail on a $60,000 bond.

Police have charged a Leander woman after they said she threatened her husband with a loaded shotgun for pouring the meal she made down the drain, according to an arrest warrant. melissa.jpg Melissa Leigh Migliore, 38, seen at right, was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, according to an arrest warrant. Her husband, William Migliore, told police that he had been arguing with her while she was making dinner Tuesday at their house on Tablerock Circle in Leander, the warrant said. He said he entered the bedroom where she was lying down and told her that he had...

Members of the ongoing Occupy Austin protest have issued a statement saying they are petitioning city officials to power wash their City Hall site less frequently. Occupiers say that their area is power washed three times a week between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m., which leaves them sleeping on wet concrete in the chilly January weather. About 30 or 40 people still sleep at City Hall every night as part of the protest, police officials have said. Many of them are homeless. Protest members say they have created an online petition that asks the city to power wash only once...

Update, 5 p.m. Occupy Austin protestors left the Capitol peacefully after Texas Department of Public Safety troopers notified them that they could only stay for three hours in a 24 hour period without a permit. DPS officials weren’t immediately available to comment on the rules surrounding protests on Capitol grounds. Troopers at the Capitol declined to comment. Update, 3:50 p.m. About 30 protestors have now gathered at the Capitol. Ihor Gowda, who has participated with Occupy Austin since its inception in October, said that troopers with the Department of Public Safety have informed protestors that there is a 10 p.m.-6...

The Golden Rule of life also applies to the tricky business of international relations. What we do to non-Americans in our country we can reasonably expect to be done unto Americans in other countries. It is for that reason that Gov. Rick Perry and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles — both in the uncommon position of making a decision with international impact — should commute or postpone the death sentence of Humberto Leal, a Mexican raised in Texas, scheduled to die July 7 for the 1994 murder of Adria Sauceda, 16, in Bexar County. The key issue in...

Travis County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Enriquez Lopez and Leona Wallace after they say the two broke into their neighbor’s trailer to accuse him of stealing Wallace’s underwear. Deputies were called by the victim just before 8:00 p.m. on Saturday. According to court paperwork, the victim told deputies that the suspects forced their way into his home and threatened to kill him. The victim claims that he was sitting inside his home watching TV when the two suspects knocked on his door. After telling the two to leave, the victim said he shut the door and walked away. He claims that...

Led by union workers from across Texas, thousands of chanting marchers converged on the Capitol on Wednesday to protest the recently passed House budget's deep spending cuts to education, health care and state jobs. "We are all in this together," Judy Lugo, president of the Texas State Employees Union, told the raucous, cheering crowd on the south steps of the Capitol. "Every Texan, now and for years to come, will suffer the consequences if the Texas Legislature does not change course." Shortly before the rally, conservative and tea party activists held a news conference on the other side of the...

Austin City Council Member Sheryl Cole wants visitors flocking downtown today and through the weekend for the Texas Relays and Urban Music Festival to know that the city welcomes them and their dollars. We do, too. More than 40,000 people are expected to be in town, generating more than $8 million for the city's economy. Special events have boosted Austin's tourism business, which generates $3 billion annually for the city's economy, according to the Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau. snip Cole also wants to get the word out that there are plenty of things to do in addition to the...

<p>Mystery solved!</p> <p>A Florida woman confirmed yesterday that her long-lost son is the bearded drifter charged with stashing guns and ammo in a South Street storage locker.</p> <p>Alicia "Jamie" O’Donnell said seeing photos of James O’Donnell Jr. on The Post’s Web site was her "biggest, greatest Christmas present" this year.</p>

BURNET COUNTY, Texas (KXAN) - In a gated community on the outskirts of Marble Falls, visitors need another gate code to get into Sandy and Bobby Doyal's home. A long gravel driveway leads to the top of a hill where the couple built their dream home. It was a place they felt was quiet and secure -- until April 14, 2009. "I had told Bobby that day that I felt safe here," said Sandy, a local nurse. After the two went to bed, their dog started barking. Sandy, 49, woke and heard a noise inside the dark house that was...

SAN JUAN — When Ruth Garcia's twins are born in two months, they'll have all the rights of U.S. citizens. They and their six brothers and sisters will be able to vote, apply for federal student loans and even run for president. Garcia is an illegal immigrant who crossed into the country about 14 years ago, before her children were born, and the citizenship granted to her children and millions others like them is at the center of a divisive national debate. Republicans are pushing for congressional hearings to consider changing the nation's 14th Amendment to deny such children the...

Some of an estimated 1,000 students who stood in a sprawling line from the Texas Union to San Jacinto Street this morning were prepared to wait outside overnight to get coveted tickets to see President Barack Obama speak on Monday. The good news was that they didn’t have to. Last night, when students were allowed to line up starting at 10 p.m., they were given green vouchers to hold their places in line. So, it turned out Erica Puckett, Leah Brown and Crystal Henry didn’t have to bring their laptops, groceries and sleeping bags to campus after all — but...

NEW ORLEANS — The federal official in charge of the Gulf oil spill says he has approved BP's plan to pump cement down the throat of the blown-out Gulf of Mexico well in hopes of sealing it for good. The company plans to shove cement down from pipes attached to ships a mile above the sea. Earlier, crews were able to force down the oil with mud. National Incident Commander Thad Allen said Wednesday night that he has approved the cement plan. But he ordered that it should not delay the ultimate solution of drilling a relief well that will...

The Gallup folks tell us that Americans, by a 17-point margin, oppose the Obama administration's decision to go to court to challenge the legality of Arizona's controversial immigration law. On this one, Americans are wrong. Regardless of where you stand on the Arizona law, there is plenty of room for discussion of it. And, we believe, the courthouse is a good place for that discussion. This one is worth making a federal case over. "Emotions run high on both sides of the issue," Gallup said in reporting that 50 percent of respondents oppose the lawsuit and 33 percent favor it....

Austin city officials and attorneys for the family of Nathaniel Sanders II, who was fatally shot by a police officer last year, have agreed to settle a federal civil rights lawsuit for $750,000, sources close to the negotiations said this afternoon. The agreement is pending an Austin City Council vote this month. The sources asked that they not be identified because the agreement has not been finalized. Council Member Bill Spelman confirmed the two sides had reached terms on a settlement and that the council is scheduled to make a decision July 29, which is the next time the council...

The rows of officers snapped to attention, arms raised in a salute, at 4:35, when a van pulled up to deliver the seven members of Ablanedo’s family who will witness Powell’s execution. For four minutes, they held the salute as Bruce and Judy Mills, Ablanedo’s 87-year-old mother Betsy and other family members were greeted by hugs from Acevedo. After reviewing the assembled officers, sometimes waving, the family was led inside the unit. Once the doors closed, the officers broke ranks and milled around, talking and mopping their brows. Suddenly, the protesters fired up their microphone: “We are here because in...

For all of you out there in America and across the globe who have fought so hard to tackle the hideous enemy of our planet, namely carbon emissions, that bogus god you worship named "Climate Change" or "Global Warming", there is some really bad news that will be very painful for you to process. But it is my duty to pass it on to you anyway. Are you sitting down? Okay, here's the bombshell. The current volcanic eruption going on in Iceland, since it first started spewing volcanic ash in March, has, to this point, NEGATED EVERY SINGLE EFFORT you...