Free Republic

Some help here? I received 2 phone calls yesterday from friends who have children (young adults) on unemployment. They both stated that their children went and pulled all the unemployment money off their debit cards because Kudlow? said on tv that any unused money from unemployment left on the debit cards at the end of July will be pulled off and go back to the feds because the money was meant to be spent and not saved. That there were too many debit cards out there with thousands of dollars on them that apparently the people didn't need. I don't...

The Small Business Owner’s Guide to the CARES Act The programs and initiatives in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act that was just passed by Congress are intended to assist business owners with whatever needs they have right now. When implemented, there will be many new resources available for small businesses, as well as certain non- profits and other employers. This guide provides information about the major programs and initiatives that will soon be available from the Small Business Administration (SBA) to address these needs, as well as some additional tax provisions that are outside the scope...

<p>LOS ANGELES (AP) — Officials vowed to find what sparked the inferno aboard the dive boat Conception that killed 34 people in waters off Southern California but vital evidence may have gone down with the ship or drifted out to sea.</p>

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP) — A middle-of-the-night fire swept a boat carrying recreational scuba divers anchored near an island off the Southern California coast early Monday, leaving at least 25 dead and nine others missing. Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr Matthew Kroll said Monday night that 25 people had died. Five of six crew members on the Conception escaped by jumping into an inflatable boat they steered to a nearby vessel. Rescuers initially recovered four bodies about 90 miles (145 kilometers) northwest of Los Angeles just off Santa Cruz Island, and 16 others were pulled from the water later in the...

AKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — Arrested in the death of his wife, Nathaniel Robertson admitted during an interview with sheriff’s detectives to beating her with a concrete block. But Robertson, in a confusing, rambling statement, said he did it to “give her compassion and mercy” as “the alignments were not in place to protect her,” according to recently released court documents. He said he had been infected by mayonnaise “they” put in him, the documents say. The “they” in this case was a group of “brutal, powerful” people Robertson said he couldn’t identify. There was something inside him releasing information from...

Starting up an online biz. Guess you could call it an e-commerce site. I know there are a lot of IT guys, coders, etc here so thought I’d ask. What I need: Professional host for website with managed (?) database, ease of use Medium traffic with traffic spikes Process credit cards and PayPal Email for company use and marketing I’ve looked until I’m totally confused now. I want it to be a clean, professional company that once the website is set up I and my 2 daughters can manage the site...add campaigns, remove campaigns, etc. I also want to be...

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. We are learning more about the man accused of killing a woman and baby Saturday -- and their relationship. The coroner has not released the victims names, but family members tell us they are Katrina Rivera and her newborn baby. The sheriff's department released this photo Friday of Rivera, who was 9 months pregnant at the time, and her boyfriend, Manuel Vela, 28. Officials said she was at risk and missing under suspicious circumstances. Family members held a vigil Saturday night for Rivera and her baby. Candles lined the street near East Bakersfield High School, where law enforcement...

In 2001 Governor Gray Davis signed SBX1 6 which authorized the sale of $5 billion in bonds to purchase electricity for California. I believe these were 15 year bonds. As a result our electricity rates were tiered and prices went way up. At the time I contacted PG&E and asked them what they were doing with the extra monies. The answer.....we send it to the state to pay back the bonds. The 15 years is now up and our rates are the same. Nothing has changed. I've contacted news people and asked them to look into it...silence. I called the...

Two people are dead and one is in critical but stable condition after a shooting occurred in South Bakersfield on Sunday. At about 12:36 a.m. Bakersfield police officers were flagged down for a report of a shooting that just occurred in the 6300 block of Ming Ave.

There is a fundraising drive today to collect for the families of the Granite Mountain Hotshots. I am proud to say that our Kern County Firefighters have collected over $27,000 so far today in a Fill the Boot! drive for the families. If anyone else wants to donate Granite 19 is selling memorial t-shirts on this website to help out the families. Thanks everyone!

Every few weeks for nearly four years, the Secret Service screened the IDs of employees for a Maryland cleaning company before they entered the house of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, the nation's top immigration official.

In what has been a strongly Republican county for years, a dramatic increase in Democratic registrations should be credited for the rise of Latino voters in the county, according to political experts. Increasing numbers of Latino Democratic voters combined with the launch of an aggressive "Viva Obama" campaign in the county have contributed to the changing tide, they said. There were 301,765 registered Republicans and 300,435 registered Democrats in the county, a difference of only 1,330 voters, as of July 28. The numbers reflect a rapid increase in Democratic voters just over the past few months, according to the San...

AURORA, Colo. -- Going 75 mph in a 55 mph zone seemed like a simple speeding ticket. Instead, the stop along Interstate 70 Wednesday morning would highlight an immigration system that is still full of holes. A red Dodge minivan was pulled over going eastbound near Tower Road at 9:19 a.m. According to the police report, the Aurora officer found a driver and 13 passengers in the van. Further investigation revealed that all 13 said they were picked up in Mexico two days prior by a man offering to get them work in Kansas. Valente Cantoral-Herrera, 33, faces 13 counts...

WEST COVINA - Two men believed to be Mexican federal police officers were arrested along with two others Wednesday on suspicion of being part of a narcotics ring at a home in an unincorporated county area near West Covina, authorities said. Victor Manuel Jaurez, 36, and Carlos Cepano Filippini, 34, were taken into custody by a Drug Enforcement Administration Task Force, Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office spokeswoman Jane Robison said. They are both believed to members of the Agencia Federal de Investigacion. Filippini is a commander in the AFI, she said. Juarez's rank was not clear Friday.

Fourteen years and numerous judicial reviews have passed since José Medellin was sentenced to die after confessing to the brutal gang rape and murder of two teenage girls in Houston. JOSÉ MEDELLIN That's long enough, state officials say. It's time to carry out the sentence. But defense attorneys, and an unusual coalition of federal officials, including no less than the attorney general and secretary of state, say if his Aug. 5 execution is not stayed, so Mr. Medellin's case can be reviewed one more time at the behest of the International Court of Justice, Texas will be rushing to judgment...

Investigators struggled Tuesday to explain why a 27-year-old man with no criminal record and no apparent signs of mental illness savagely beat his toddler son to death on a dark country road. Sergio Casian Aguiar, who worked at a supermarket in Turlock, was fatally shot by police Saturday night after he refused to stop attacking his 2-year-old son, according to the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department. Aguiar's wife, Frances Liliana Casian, a kindergarten teacher, told detectives that she didn't know why Aguiar would brutally beat their child and said he didn't have any mental illness that she knew about, according to...

When her neighbor's roosters and chickens persisted in running through her yard, G. Stone took matters into her own hands. She marched next door and issued a warning: Do something about the uninvited guests or the birds "were going in my pot." The incursions stopped. But Stone, a retired Los Angeles County librarian who lives northwest of Watts, shook her head in exasperation as she recalled the incident. "I've lived here for 50 years," she said. "All of a sudden, there's an influx of chickens. You're not supposed to have chickens in the city." For many, the image of South...

HOUSTON -- Surveillance video captured something unforgettable last week. The images showed a carjacker attacking, stabbing and killing Tina Davila. She was laid to rest Monday. Police say the man responsible for Davila’s murder is 22-year-old Timoteo Rios. On Monday, authorities confirmed that Rios was involved in a fourth carjacking over two days this month. The last incident happened just hours after Davila was killed. Investigators believe Rios is an illegal immigrant who may have fled to Mexico. That news comes as no surprise to groups fighting illegal immigration. Bob Price works with U.S. Borderwatch. “This man spent 40 days...

WASHINGTON: A legislation targeting India and seven other countries which allegedly refuse to take back illegal immigrants convicted of crimes in the United States has been introduced in the House of Representatives. The bill requires reports being sent to Congress every 90 days on the countries which inhibit repatriation that will automatically trigger denial of foreign aid as well as suspension of visa issuances to them. The bill, a companion to the Accountability in Immigrant Repatriation (AIR) Act of 2008 introduced last month in the US Senate, was introduced by Congressmen Charlie Dent and Michael Castle.

More than 37 million immigrants in the United States, both legal and illegal, cost the federal government more than $346 billion last year, twice as much as the nation's fiscal deficit, according to a report released yesterday. "This is another nail in the coffin of economic growth," said Edwin Rubenstein, director of research and president of ESR Research, which released the report. "There is absolutely no reason immigration policy shouldn't be discussed on its economic merits." Mr. Rubenstein, a former director of research at the Hudson Institute, a nonpartisan policy research organization, said U.S. taxpayers paid more than $9,000 for...