Free Republic

The Israel Defense Forces recovered the bodies of three more hostages from the northern Gaza Strip in an overnight operation, the military announced Friday morning. Orión Hernández Radoux, 30, Hanan Yablonka, 42, and Michel Nisenbaum, 59, were all killed on October 7, according to “reliable intelligence” discovered in the past week amid fighting in Gaza, the military said. Until recently, there had been no information as to their status, as such they were believed to be alive. The three were kidnapped from the Mefalsim area, according to the IDF, at the same location where Hamas terrorists murdered and abducted four...

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — The 2024 HGTV Dream Home winner on Anastasia Island has been revealed. Marie Fratta, a teacher from Hawthorne, New York, was announced Wednesday on HGTV’s social media channels as the home’s winner in a video showing her being surprised with all of the prizes. The win seemed to be a family effort, as Fratta was encouraged to enter the contest by her middle daughter, HGTV said on its website. Fratta’s oldest daughter is already living on Florida’s East Coast, so they thought nabbing the home would be a good way to bring the family together. Action...

DES MOINES, IA (KCCI) -- As storms move through central Iowa, field crews with KCCI-TV captured at least three wind turbines knocked over and on fire. In the video, which was captured in Adams County, in southwest Iowa, at least three wind turbines were damaged.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – We are now in alligator mating season, so that means you can expect to see more reptiles out and about. For one local woman, that meant a sighting a little too close for comfort. The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office released a video (watch it below) showing Officers Kopp and Johnson removing a small alligator from the 104-year-old woman’s home near Atlantic Boulevard and Art Museum Drive. The officers had a little fun taking the gator away, saying, “We can’t cuff him” and then telling the gator they were going to “take him downtown” so he could “leave the...

SARASOTA, Fla. — Auburn’s running back Brian Battie is on a ventilator and is in critical condition after a weekend shooting in Sarasota, Florida, that killed his brother. The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office said the shooting happened at around 3:30 a.m. Saturday at the Tallywood Centre Plaza. Battie was among four victims who were transported to area hospitals. His brother, Tommie L. Battie IV was pronounced dead at the scene, ESPN reported. The Sarasota Herald-Tribune and WFLA reported that Brian Battie was shot in the head with sources saying on Saturday that he was able to open his eyes and...

A Massachusetts man survived what officials are calling a “surprise attack” by two grizzlies on Sunday at Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, authorities said. According to Jeremy Barnum, Grand Teton’s chief of staff, the 35-year-old man, who has not been identified, was in stable condition, the Jackson Hole News & Guide reported. The man had a “surprise encounter” with two grizzlies in the Signal Mountain Area of the park Sunday afternoon, according to the Cowboy State Daily. According to a news release from the National Park Service, one of the bears attacked the victim, inflicting serious injuries. “Grand Teton...

ESCAMBIA COUNTY, Fla. - A Florida fugitive on the run from the law for nearly two months was taken into custody on Friday after he was found hiding inside the drum of a home's clothes dryer. The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office said 31-year-old David Jerome Jackson was wanted on charges of firing a gun into a dwelling, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, damage to property and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, for an incident on March 15, 2024. On Friday, deputies received a tip that Jackson was inside a house on Edgewater Drive in Pensacola and...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – A 70-year-old Alaska man who was attempting to take photos of two newborn moose calves was attacked and killed by their mother, authorities said Monday. The man killed Sunday was identified as Dale Chorman of Homer, said Austin McDaniel, a spokesperson for the Alaska Department of Public Safety. The female moose had recently given birth to the calves in Homer. “As they were walking through the brush looking for the moose, that’s when the cow moose attacked Dale,” McDaniel said. The attack happened as the two were running away, he said. The second man, who has not...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- World No. 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler was arrested by Louisville Metro Police on Friday morning after trying to drive into the entrance of Valhalla Golf Club, the site of this week's PGA Championship. Traffic outside the golf course had been stopped after a man was struck and killed by a shuttle bus around 5 a.m. ET. Scheffler faces charges of second-degree assault of a police officer, third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving, and disregarding traffic signals from an officer directing traffic. Scheffler was released at 8:40 a.m. ET and headed to Valhalla. The assault charge is a felony;...

A wild and violent bull that was loose on a popular Mexican beach attacked a woman several times as panicked onlookers screamed in horror, a terrifying new video shows. The heart-stopping video, which was shot Saturday at Cabo San Lucas, shows the black beast charging and ramming the woman more than six times after she tries to snatch her bags away from the animal. Cabo San Lucas is a resort city on the southern tip of Mexico’s Baja California peninsula and is popular among tourists. The video first shows the black beast under a canopy with the woman who appears...

Secretary of State Antony Blinken's surprise trip to Ukraine Tuesday took a musical twist when he joined a band onstage in Kyiv to perform a rendition of Neil Young's Rockin' in the Free World. Blinken's unscheduled trip was his first since Congress finally approved nearly $61 billion in fresh aid to Ukraine to bolster the nation's defenses against the ongoing Russian invasion. The secretary of State ended his day at the Barman Dictat in Kyiv, where he joined the band 19.99 onstage. Sporting dad jeans, black sneakers and a black button-down, Blinken strapped on a red guitar and told the...

Israel’s Independence Day is celebrated on the fifth day of the month of Iyar, which is the Hebrew date of the formal establishment of the State of Israel, when members of the “provisional government” read and signed a Declaration of Independence in Tel Aviv. The original date corresponded to May 14, 1948. Most of the Jewish communities in the Western world have incorporated this modern holiday into their calendars, but some North American Jewish communities hold the public celebrations on a following Sunday in order to attract more participation. In the State of Israel it is a formal holiday, so...

<p>DES MOINES, Iowa — Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is gearing up to lend a financial hand to former President Donald Trump, marking a significant shift in their political relationship, according to AP sources.</p><p>Two people familiar with the matter, who spoke on anonymity, disclosed that DeSantis is set to start fundraising efforts for Trump in the upcoming weeks, aligning with his pledge made during a recent meeting with the former president.</p>

PUTNAM COUNTY, Fla. – A man who is accused of trying to speed away from Putnam County deputies before he crashed into a utility pole was arrested early Monday morning on drug and gun charges. According to the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office, the 27-year-old Palatka man was first seen in an SUV on Gillis Street driving slowly with his lights off. When deputies tried to pull him over, he sped off, deputies said. The man reached speeds of 100 mph, deputies said, before he crashed into the concrete pole in front of ABC Liquor near Highway 17 and State Road...

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jacksonville police responded to a Thursday night protest at the University of North Florida. This comes as tensions across the nation are growing at college campuses with some protests turning violent because of the Israel-Hamas war. According to the university’s newspaper called Spinnaker, Thursday marks the third day that pro-Palestine supporters gathered to protest on the Green. Thursday’s protest started a little after 10 p.m. with about 25 protestors on the Green, chanting, “Free, free Palestine,” Spinnaker reported. UNF police were at the protest and the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office also showed up on bikes with face/gas masks....

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A woman accused of squatting in a Jacksonville home more than a year ago is now facing criminal charges. The woman, who seemingly disappeared after being evicted, was arrested in Duval two weeks ago on misdemeanor trespass and criminal mischief charges. She appeared in court for an arraignment Wednesday. Records show she was arrested on April 15 and spent two days in jail before being released on a $10,000 bond. News4JAX learned Wednesday that a warrant for her arrest was issued in June of 2023. In March 2023, body camera footage and a report from the Jacksonville...

An Idaho man has been arrested after allegedly kicking a Yellowstone bison in the leg while drunk, park officials say. Clarence Yoder, 40, of Idaho Falls, ended up injuring himself in the incident that happened near the park’s West Entrance on April 21, according to the National Park Service. "Rangers responded to the area after receiving a report of an individual who harassed a herd of bison and kicked a bison in the leg," the NPS said in a statement. "They located the suspect's vehicle near the West Entrance and stopped it in the town of West Yellowstone, Montana." "Yoder...

Two Polk County deputy sheriffs were shot and are in intensive care following a confrontation early Saturday with a man parked in Hunt Fountain Park in northwest Lakeland after it had closed. The gunman, who has not been named, was killed by other deputies who returned fire. Sheriff Grady Judd said at an early morning news conference that the gunman was aligned with the anti-government “Moorish sovereign citizen” movement that emerged in the 1990s and rejects federal, state and local authority. Lt. Chad Anderson, 46, was shot once with a bullet that went through his arm and into his chest....

DETROIT – Two fatal crashes involving Ford's Blue Cruise partially automated driving system have drawn the attention of U.S. auto safety regulators. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened an investigation of the crashes, both involving Mustang Mach-E electric vehicles on freeways in nighttime lighting conditions, the agency said in documents Monday. The agency's initial investigation of the crashes, which killed three people, determined that Blue Cruise was in use just before the collisions. One of the crashes occurred in February in San Antonio, Texas, killing one person, while the other happened in Philadelphia in March in which two...

President Biden has introduced a change to his White House departure and return routine. Instead of walking across the South Lawn to and from Marine One by himself, he's now often surrounded by aides. Why it matters: With aides usually walking between Biden and journalists' camera position outside the White House, the visual effect is to draw less attention to the 81-year-old's halting and stiff gait. Zoom in: Some Biden advisers have told Axios they're concerned that videos of Biden walking and shuffling alone — especially across the grass — have highlighted his age. Weeks ago the president told aides...