Free Republic

Joe Biden's National Park Service under Interior Secretary Deb Haaland will remove the statue of William Penn from the park erected in 1982 to commemorate the 300th anniversary of his founding of the colony of Pennsylvania. The park is on the site of his original home in Philadelphia. The park, located in Philadelphia near the Delaware River at Sansom and Second Streets, will be "rehabilitated" and that proposal will include an "expanded interpretation of the Native American history of Philadelphia." The plan was "developed in consultations with the representatives of the indigenous nations of the Haudenosaunee, the Delaware Nation, Delaware...

Live coverage of the April 19th, 2023 severe weather event!

Researchers from the University of Cincinnati have found evidence of a cosmic cataclysm 1,500 years that may be responsible for the downfall of the Hopewell Culture. The Hopewell Culture was a widely dispersed set of pre-Columbian Native American populations connected by a common network of trade routes from 100 BC to AD 500 in the Middle Woodland period. The researchers found evidence of a cosmic airburst at 11 Hopewell archaeological sites in three states stretching across the Ohio River Valley in the United States, which rained debris down into the Earth’s atmosphere creating a fiery explosion around 1,500 years ago...

On April 9, 1959, the newly-formed National Aeronautics and Space Administration, or NASA, introduced the world to a new breed of heroes: the Mercury Seven, America’s first astronauts. Se-lected from a pool of over 500 military test pilots, these men represented the best the nation had to offer, and its best hope in the intensifying Space Race against the Soviets. Almost immediately, the Mercury Seven became national heroes: on May 5, 1961, Alan Shepard would became the first American in space, while on February 20, 1962, John Glenn would become the first American to orbit the earth, a feat which...

(Reuters) - A federal appeals court on Friday revived a philosophy professor’s lawsuit against a public university in southern Ohio that reprimanded him for refusing to address a transgender student by her preferred pronouns. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Nicholas Meriwether can try to prove Shawnee State University violated his First Amendment free speech and religious rights by mandating pronouns that he said did not reflect “biological reality” and contradicted his devout Christian beliefs.

The city of Shawnee, Kansas, apologized to onlookers after Kansas Secretary of State and GOP gubernatorial candidate Kris Kobach rode in a jeep beside a replica .50 caliber rifle. Kobach was taking part in a Johnston County parade on Saturday morning. The Kansas City Star reports that Kobach rode in a jeep on which a replica .50 caliber rifle was mounted.

Two Good Samaritans are being credited with saving a woman’s life after she was attacked by two suspected carjackers who hit her over the head after she left Walmart was putting her infant child into a car seat in the store parking lot in Shawnee, Kansas on Sunday. A bystander, who rushed to the aid of the woman after hearing her screams, was shot multiple times by one of the suspects, according to police. Another Good Samaritan saw what happened, got out of his car and shot one of the attackers dead. A shopper who had just exited the store...

The co-owner of a Shawnee gun store was fatally shot and three suspects were wounded during an attempted robbery Friday afternoon. The gunfight broke out after four robbers entered She’s A Pistol, at 57th Street and Nieman Road, about 2:10 p.m., according to Shawnee police. Jon Bieker, 44, of Gardner, who co-owned the business with his wife, Becky Bieker, died later at a hospital, police said. “Jon was a kind of a quiet guy, very conscientious,” said Sandy Kaspar, who for several years operated a sign language business on the lower level of the building. “He and Becky took great...

Ask the guys at the annual Shawnee Squirrel Hunt in Southern Illinois, and they will tell you that there is no finer pastime than squirrel hunting - and no finer group of people than the hunters who attend the Shawnee hunt. The Shawnee Squirrel Hunt, based at the Pine Hills campground in the Shawnee National Forest in Union County, was begun 10 years ago by Dan Kilgrove, who posted the hunt on the forum at Rimfirecentral.com. A decade later, the hunt has a core group of hunters who try to attend every year and who welcome newcomers to the annual...

Democratic politicians and left-leaning commentators, seeking to ex plain President Bush's victory, argue that Republicans have persuaded blue-collar voters to ignore their economic concerns and instead vote based on cultural issues like gay marriage, gun control and abortion.... The inspiration for this line of thought is Thomas Franks' recent book "What's the Matter With Kansas."... Social issues clearly played a crucial role in President Bush's re-election. But the notion that heartland voters are disregarding their economic well-being is wildly at odds with the facts, as a close look Franks' book and poll results makes clear. As long as Democrats continue...

Dear Lord, There's a young man far from home, called to serve his nation in time of war; sent to defend our freedom on some distant foreign shore. We pray You keep him safe, we pray You keep him strong, we pray You send him safely home ... for he's been away so long. There's a young woman far from home, serving her nation with pride. Her step is strong, her step is sure, there is courage in every stride. We pray You keep her safe, we pray You keep her strong, we pray You send her safely home...

An Academy Award-nominated film can remain in a school district's library collection. Earlier this year, a biology teacher showed "Inherit the Wind" at Shawnee Mission East. The film portrays the trial of a high school teacher and the clash of creationism versus the theory of evolution. A Shawnee Mission School District committee recommended the film remain in the school's library, but did not recommend the video be used as an accurate resource for science classes. The committee said the material is dated and may be potentially offensive. However, the committee also said teacher discretion should be the qualifier for which...

John Walsh will tape "America's Most Wanted" Tuesday morning from the Leawood swimming pool where Ali Kemp was murdered. The show, to air at 8 p.m. Saturday on Fox, will ask viewers to help solve the cases of Kemp, Precious Doe and women whose bodies were found in the Missouri River. They also will feature the case of Tabitha Brewer, a 16-year-old girl who disappeared from Shawnee with her boyfriend in 1998. Her boyfriend, Nick Travis, was found dead four months later in a Kansas City neighborhood, and Tabitha's purse was found there. The show will be taped at 8:30...