Free Republic

MT. VERNON, Ky. (WKYT) - There are more crashes on Interstate 75 than any other highway in Kentucky, and the number has increased significantly since 2010. Major work is being done on a stretch of the interstate highway to make it six lanes, especially in Rockcastle County. You will see orange cones and heavy machinery when you are driving in the area. "They're blasting all the time. Traffic is slowing. You got barrels, construction, vehicles coming in and out of locations. It's a dangerous stretch of road right now," Kentucky State Police Trooper Scottie Pennington said. Statistics back that claim...

The great George Washington was born in Westmoreland County, Virginia on February 22, 1732, and served about seventeen years as a delegate in the Virginia colony’s House of Burgesses. He is remembered for many other things as well. The Father of his Country was known as a successful merchant, farmer, and horticulturalist, a prominent frontier soldier and wartime commander, and of course, the first President of these United States. But, oddly, his service as a legislator is largely forgotten. These United States have sent 43 men to the office of the Presidency, so far. Some have been governors, others cabinet...

The National Park Service and the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) have announced a new partnership to construct the nation's first bicycle High Occupancy/Toll Express Lanes on the Mount Vernon Trail between Rosslyn and Mount Vernon.

Secretary of State John Kerry said he will meet with Chinese leaders next week for the annual U.S.-China Economic and Security Dialogue and then hold “a dinner at Mount Vernon” for them. Kerry will be hosting the Chinese at Mount Vernon, the Virginia estate of George Washington, less than three weeks after the Office of Personnel Management announced that the personnel files of some four million current and former federal employees had been hacked, reportedly by the Chinese. The secretary of State mentioned his upcoming meetings and dinner with the Chinese at Mount Vernon specifically in response to a question...

As a nervous nation watches the Obama administration’s response to the Ebola crisis, many Americans have concluded that the country’s top health officials seem more concerned with stopping the spread of panic than stopping the spread of the virus. But Americans’ fear is only growing, and one reason is that too few people believe what the president of the United States says anymore. A recent poll asked Americans this question: “How often does Barack Obama lie to the country on important matters?” Not about sex. Not about whether he really likes baseball. Not whether he still cadges an occasional cigarette...

Discussing the possibility of amending the U.S. Constitution drew approximately 100 legislators from 32 states, according to an Idaho lawmaker who attended the event. He described it as “a great start.” The lawmakers gathered in Virginia at the Mount Vernon estate of President George Washington. But, he added, a long process still lies ahead before amendments can even be drafted. “It went very well, it’s a great start,” said Sen. Marv Hagedorn, R-Meridian. “The most exciting thing for me is that we have a good plan of action. This is not going to happen quickly, and we’re moving forward with...

The father of our nation knew how to throw a Christmas party. I’m talking thousands of pounds of bacon, gallons of homemade rye whiskey, a massive “great cake” and what he called an “attack of Christmas pies.” Everyone got four days off to celebrate at his Mount Vernon plantation and while there was no regular scheduled appearance by Santa, there was at least one recorded visit by a camel. But the abundant Christmas feasts of Washington’s later years were preceded by some years that were lean on Christmas cheer. When young George was 8 years old in 1740, his home...

The Park Service appears to be closing streets on mere whim and caprice. The rangers even closed the parking lot at Mount Vernon, where the plantation home of George Washington is a favorite tourist destination. That was after they barred the new World War II Memorial on the Mall to veterans of World War II. But the government does not own Mount Vernon; it is privately owned by the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association. The ladies bought it years ago to preserve it as a national memorial. The feds closed access to the parking lots this week, even though the lots...

Mount Vernon is open. Our parking lots are now open. The barricade was placed in front of Mount Vernon’s parking lots for a short period (less than 3 hours). Once the National Park Service realized that we own the parking lots, the barricades were removed immediately. Anything you can do to help get the word out that Mount Vernon and its parking lots are open would be much appreciated!

Reflections on George Washington's Birthday... On April 5, 1769, George Washington sat down at his writing desk in Mt. Vernon, to write what historian Willard Sterne Randall calls the most important letter of his life. For a political and military leader in the days before telephones and email, that’s quite a claim… but let’s consider the circumstances. The American colonies had played a key role in the French and Indian War (a.k.a. the Seven Years War) a decade earlier. Having prosecuted such a costly war – as most wars are – young King George III (yes, even he was young...

MOUNT VERNON, Va., Feb. 13, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- George Washington's home, Mount Vernon, celebrates our first president's birthday with three days of special events including an outdoor cooking demonstration by celebrated chefs, a new food exhibition with more than 125 objects from the Washingtons' kitchen, a surprise birthday celebration for "George Washington", book signing with PBS's A Taste of History host Chef Walter Staib, and much more! Saturday and Sunday events are included in Estate admission, and admission to all events on Monday, February 20, events are FREE in honor of George Washington's birthday! Saturday, February 18All events...

Please Read: Ways to Help Knox Co. Victims' Families MT VERNON, Ohio -- The following are ways you can help the families of victims Tina Herrmann, Kody Maynard and Stephanie Sprang, as well as Sarah Maynard -- who survived being kidnapped: 1. Mad Gathering: The Breezy Bay and Mad Gathering are hosting a benefit of the family of the survivor. They are looking for local businesses to donate items to auction off at an event set for Sat., Nov. 27 from 8 p.m. - 1 a.m. Music provided by Mad Gathering and Chapter 13. Please come out to support a...

GEORGE Washington racked up a $300,000 fee at the New York Library with two books he borrowed 220 years ago. America's first president never returned the books, on international law and parliamentary debates. "We're not actively pursuing the overdue fines. But we would be very happy if we were able to get the books back," librarian Mark Bartlett said. Washington's late fee went unnoticed for almost 150 years. But in 1934 a dusty ledger was discovered in a rubbish heap in the library's basement, revealing the names of all the people who had borrowed books from the city's oldest library...

I can’t get excited about the Mt. Vernon statement, yet I am passionate about the ideas behind them. Surely, it must be possible to retell our founding principles without strangled or purple prose. Let’s try. The Manhattan Statement A truth once known does not become false due to the passage of time. An agreement is not made null because it has been neglected. A promise once made cannot be broken by arrogance. We have not forgotten the self-evident truths and unalienable rights upon which this country was founded. No one is above the law. All have the right to life,...

MOUNT VERNON, Va. - New facilities, a craft fair and fall foliage all make this a good time of year to pay a visit to George Washington's Mount Vernon estate. The craft fair, which features a recreation of an 18th-century marketplace with costumed re-enactors, will be held at Mount Vernon on Sept. 16-17. Activities include craft demonstrations, family entertainment and sightseeing cruises on the Potomac River. Two new visitor facilities, the Ford Orientation Center and the Donald W. Reynolds Museum and Education Center, open Oct. 27. The Ford center offers an action-adventure movie on Washington's life, and "Mount Vernon in...

The original bust of George Washington by French sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon is seen next to the three-dimensional scan by computer scientists at Partnership for Research in Spatial Modeling (PRISM) at Arizona State University. The modern image will be used to create three life-size models of the first president for an exhibit scheduled to go on view at Mount Vernon in Virginia in 2006. (Prism via Reuters) MOUNT VERNON, Va. (Reuters) - Americans know George Washington as the dour founding father with white hair and ponytail depicted on U.S. currency, but most people have little idea what the nation's first...