Free Republic

FARRELL — A “good guy with a gun” reportedly came to the aid of a Farrell police officer during a shootout early Friday morning. “He had a valid concealed-carry permit, he had a gun,” Mercer County District Attorney Peter C. Acker said. “He went to where the police officer was and fired on the suspect.” State police and county district attorney’s office detectives are continuing to investigate the incident, which took place about 12:30 a.m. Friday outside a convenience store along Indiana Avenue in Farrell. Acker said the suspect, identified only as a 49-year-old white man, was undergoing treatment Friday...

May 28 has become somewhat of a sorrowful day for Cincinnatians as it was the day the Cincinnati Zoo’s beloved gorilla, Harambe, was shot and killed eight years ago. It was a catastrophic 10 minutes that caught the world’s attention. On May 28, 2016, a young boy climbed through a barrier at the zoo’s Gorilla World and fell about 15 feet into a moat around 4 p.m., zoo officials wrote. As soon as the zoo was made aware of the situation, the first thing they did was call the gorillas of the exhibit, Cincinnati Zoo Director Thane Maynard previously said....

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg attempted to justify the progress on electric vehicle (EV) charging stations, prompting a laugh from CBS’s “Face the Nation” host Margaret Brenna. After $7.5 billion of taxpayers’ money being plowed into the initiative, just a “handful” of charging stations have been built. The interview took a comedic turn when Brennan pointed out the discrepancy between the investment made back in 2021 and the reality of the results. Just seven or eight charging stations have been built despite billions being spent, according to the Federal Highway Administration, “Why isn’t that happening more quickly?” asked Brennan. Buttigieg responded...

Major explosion at a building in Youngstown, Ohio: Multiple injuries reported Multiple injuries were reported after a major explosion, allegedly at a Chase Bank building, from a presumed natural gas leak occurred in downtown Youngstown, Ohio.

An Ohio real-estate investor is planning to take a two-person submersible down to Titanic-level depths to prove that the journey can be carried out safely following the Titan sub's implosion last year. The investor, Larry Connor, told The Wall Street Journal: "I want to show people worldwide that while the ocean is extremely powerful, it can be wonderful and enjoyable and really kind of life-changing if you go about it the right way." He's working with Patrick Lahey, a cofounder and the CEO of the submersible manufacturer Triton Submarines. They aim to show that such an expedition can be carried...

The program will give 100 people in one of Cleveland’s neighborhoods a wage subsidy or guaranteed salary of $50,000 a year for three years. Participants will also receive health insurance through their employer. “Dignifying historically low wage work and beyond the direct care industry thinking about jobs like that turnover hospital beds and also jobs that happen in community through local coffee shops and diners and things like that,” Cotten said. Councilmember Stephanie Howse-Jones said the city council voted to invest $600,000 into the pilot. She said this program could be beneficial for both employees and businesses. “In this pilot,...

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) said Thursday that he is calling a special session of the General Assembly to pass legislation next week to ensure President Biden is on the November ballot for the general election.“Ohio is running out of time to get Joe Biden, the sitting President of the United States, on the ballot this fall. Failing to do so is simply unacceptable. This is ridiculous. This is (an) absurd situation,” DeWine said, according to the Associated Press.DeWine's decision came after Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose (R) warned the state Democratic Party on Tuesday that Biden will not...

The United States Department of Justice is suing several pro-life activists and organizations for attempting to block entrances to abortion clinics in Ohio. The DOJ announced in a statement Monday that it has filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio alleging that seven pro-life activists and two pro-life organizations violated federal law by “engaging in physical obstruction at two Ohio reproductive health facilities to prevent the facilities from providing, and patients from receiving" abortions. The complaint maintains that the organizations Citizens for a Pro-Life Society and Red Rose Rescue, along with pro-life activists...

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) announced Thursday he would call the GOP-controlled state Legislature into a special session next week to discuss getting both President Biden and former President Trump on the state’s fall ballot. Democrats have been unable to certify Biden as their nominee in the state — a largely procedural issue where both parties have to certify their presidential candidate with the state ahead of the state’s deadline — because the Democratic National Convention takes place after the Ohio certification deadline.

California Assemblyman Vince Fong appears to have handily won California’s special election yesterday, bringing the Republican Party’s slim majority in the House up to five. With 87 percent of the votes in, The New York Times had Fong up over opponent and fellow Republican Mike Boudreaux 60.2 to 39.8, making it essentially impossible for Boudreaux to win unless something happens to change that math. Fong won the special election to replace former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who resigned at the end of 2023 after being ousted from the speakership and endorsed Fong in the race. ... Fong had also been...

Ohio is launching additional measures to ensure foreign nationals aren’t voting in elections, the state’s leading election official announced Tuesday.According to an office press release, LaRose, a Republican, issued a directive to the state’s 88 county boards of elections “initiating a confirmation and removal process of non-citizens from the state’s voter registration rolls.” LaRose’s office will also be taking further steps to “conduct an annual review of the statewide voter registration database to identify persons who appear not to be United States citizens,” as required by state law. “It is my duty under the law to uphold the constitution, and...

Ohio is taking action to secure the integrity of elections ahead of the contentious 2024 presidential election. Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose is urging the Biden Administration to grant access to federal citizenship information after removing “non-citizens” from the state voter rolls. During a review of voting registrations, LaRose announced that 137 non-citizens were registered to vote despite not being U.S. citizens. Following the discovery, LaRose instructed all 88 of Ohio’s county boards of elections to sift through their voter rolls for illegal immigrants. “These individuals will receive at least two written notices from the Secretary of State’s office...

Sen. JD Vance’s (R-Ohio) surprise appearance at a Manhattan courthouse to support former President Trump, and his qualified answer about supporting the results of the 2024 election, show he’s challenging Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) as the Senate front-runner to be Trump’s running mate in the fall. GOP senators and strategists say it’s hard to predict whom Trump will choose, but they say Scott and Vance are viewed as the two most likely choices within the Senate GOP conference. Vance and Scott are stepping up their efforts to grab Trump’s attention by staying close to his orbit and showing off their...

A security guard at the Amazon warehouse facility in West Jefferson — whom police say shot twice at close range at his supervisor and missed and later shot a Columbus police officer's bulletproof vest before he was fatally shot by law enforcement — was not supposed to have a gun on duty, police said at a press conference Monday. Ali Hamsa Yusuf, 22, was fatally shot by law enforcement after he shot a Columbus police officer during a confrontation with law enforcement at Georgesville and Clime North roads on Columbus' West Side. That shooting and another one Saturday evening in...

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has collected enough signatures to qualify for the ballot in Texas, his campaign said.

Anti-Israel protesters at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) in Cleveland, Ohio, tried to stand guard over a wall they had vandalized, and when they refused to stand down, the contractor hired to repaint the wall simply painted over them. The wall had been covered with red handprints and what CWRU President Eric Kaler referred to in a letter as “threatening, intimidating and antisemitic” language. Another wall was also painted by protesters, Kaler noted, saying that the language on that wall was “less threatening but still intimidating to some in our community.” In that same letter, he announced the university’s plans...

Has the U.S. government secretly retrieved exotic craft of “non-human” origin? Newly declassified documents, along with extraordinary legislation, illustrate how two successive Democratic Senate majority leaders appear to have believed so. Notably, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and the late Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) were not alone in their focus on UFOs. The Democratic heavyweights received critical support and encouragement from a bipartisan group of high-profile senators over the years, including former fighter pilot and famed astronaut John Glenn (D-Ohio); Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), who observed a UFO as a World War II pilot; Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), then-chairman of the Senate Appropriations...

According to a new report, Ohio lawmakers ended their session on Wednesday without reaching a consensus on a proposal to include President Joe Biden on the state's general election ballot. The Republican-controlled House and Senate need to find a solution by May 9; otherwise, Biden may not appear on the ballot in November. Unlike leftist efforts to boot Trump from state ballots nationwide, this issue comes down entirely to the enforcement of a legitimate law on the books. This issue revolves around the deadline for political parties to nominate their presidential candidates. Per Ohio law, this deadline falls 90 days...

Ohio’s top lawyer has advised the state’s public universities that a law written to deter Ku Klux Klan demonstrations could be used to impose felony charges on students who wear face coverings while protesting the war in Gaza. In a letter sent Monday, after weeks of pro-Palestinian campus protests around the country, Republican Attorney General Dave Yost advised the presidents of Ohio’s 34 public, four-year universities – which his office represents – to forewarn students about the 1953 law. “In our society, there are few more significant career-wreckers than a felony charge,” the letter said. “I write to you today...

Ohio by: Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young Tin soldiers and Nixon coming We're finally on our own This summer I hear the drumming Four dead in Ohio