Governor John Kitzhaber Announces His Resignation

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Photo Credit: Oregon LiveBy Beth Nakamura. Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber resigned effective Wednesday, Feb. 18, in a letter submitted to Secretary of State Kate Brown.

“I am announcing today that I will resign as Governor of the State of Oregon,” he wrote in a statement released just after noon Friday . . .

In just four months, a public corruption scandal involving Kitzhaber and his fiancee, Cylvia Hayes, has hobbled one of Oregon’s most durable politicians. Kitzhaber, a public official for 37 years, was sworn in for a historic fourth term as governor just a month ago. Facing not only a state criminal investigation and an ethics review, Kitzhaber watched his support from fellow veteran lawmakers crumble this week.

The governor’s resignation does not end either the criminal investigation or ethics review. (Read more about Governor John Kitzhaber announcing his resignation HERE)

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Oregon Governor Agrees to Resign but Says He “Broke No Laws”

By Jonathan J. Cooper. Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber resigned Friday, giving in to mounting pressure to abandon his office amid suspicions that his fiancee used her relationship with him to land contracts for her green-energy consulting business.

In a lengthy statement, the state’s longest-serving chief executive insisted he broke no laws. He said the resignation would be effective Wednesday.

“Nonetheless, I understand that I have become a liability to the very institutions and policies to which I have dedicated my career and, indeed, my entire adult life,” he said.

The decision capped a wild week in which Kitzhaber seemed poised to step down, then changed his mind, but ultimately bowed to calls from legislative leaders that he quit the state’s top elected position.

The announcement is a stunning fall from grace for a politician who left the governor’s office in 2003 and then mounted a comeback in 2010 and won back his old job. (Read more from this story HERE)

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Democratic Leaders Abandon Oregon Governor

By Hannah Hoffman. Kitzhaber is under criminal investigation by Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum’s office for the role his fiancee, Cylvia Hayes, has held in his office and whether she used that role to obtain private consulting work.

He appears to be the first Oregon governor to face an AG investigation. He is also under review by the Oregon Government Ethics Commission, although it is on hold until Rosenblum completes her work.

Calls for his resignation have mounted as new allegations against him and Hayes have come to light.

Democratic leaders officially asked Kitzhaber to step down on Thursday. They originally thought he planned to do it Wednesday, but he apparently changed his mind that afternoon. (Read more from this story HERE)

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Expert: Illegal Aliens Now Able to Vote in US Elections Due to Obama’s Illegal Amnesty

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By Stephen Dinan. President Obama’s temporary deportation amnesty will make it easier for illegal immigrants to improperly register and vote in elections, state elections officials testified to Congress on Thursday, saying that the driver’s licenses and Social Security numbers they will be granted create a major voting loophole.

While stressing that it remains illegal for noncitizens to vote, secretaries of state from Ohio and Kansas said they won’t have the tools to sniff out illegal immigrants who register anyway, ignoring stiff penalties to fill out the registration forms that are easily available at shopping malls, motor vehicle bureaus and in curbside registration drives.

Anyone registering to vote attests that he or she is a citizen, but Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted said mass registration drives often aren’t able to give due attention to that part, and so illegal immigrants will still get through.

Kansas Secretary of State Kris W. Kobach said even some motor vehicle bureau workers automatically ask customers if they want to register to vote, which some noncitizens in the past have cited as their reason for breaking the law to register.

“It’s a guarantee it will happen,” Mr. Kobach said. (Read more about the illegal amnesty HERE)

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Illegal Alien Caught Sneaking into United States with “Obama” Shirt

By Michelle Moons. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) sees people from around the world attempting to cross into the U.S. illegally–and San Diego is no exception. Apprehensions of illegal aliens from countries other than Mexico surged last October, including foreign nationals from Ebola-affected countries, according to a source within CBP that spoke on condition of anonymity. One of those caught at the time sported a shirt that bore the name “Obama,” as shown in the above photo.

The men pictured were taken into custody during a massive influx of illegal aliens coming from Africa through San Diego’s San Ysidro Port of Entry during October 2014. The foreign nationals flooding the border crossing were turning themselves in, claiming “credible fear” in pursuit of political asylum, the source told Breitbart California. (Read more from this story HERE)

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Teacher Passes Out Pornographic Fifty Shades of Grey Puzzle to Middle School Students

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Photo Credit: WTAEBy Bob Hazen. At least five students at a Westmoreland County middle school were given word puzzles based on the erotic novel and movie “Fifty Shades of Grey” this week, and school district officials said they are investigating how it happened.

James Carter said the word search, filled with explicit sexual terms, was passed out Monday to his son and other students in his eighth-grade class at Monessen Middle School.

“I asked my son who passed it out, and he said the teacher passed it out,” Carter told said. “I don’t think this is what they should be doing in the eighth-grade level” . . .

At a school board meeting Tuesday night, Monessen City School District officials said they could not comment on who gave the puzzles to students, citing personnel issues. (Read more about the Fifty Shades of Grey puzzle given to Monessen middle school students HERE)

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Fifty Shades Of Grey Premiere: Domestic Abuse Campaigners Protest on Film’s Opening Night

By Danny Walker and Nina Massey. Domestic abuse campaigners have turned out to protest at the London premiere of Fifty Shades of Grey.

Stars of the film, which is based on books by E.L James, are walking the red carpet ahead of its release on Valentine’s Day.

But protesters have also turned out to call on the public to consider whether they should endorse the movie.

One campaigner held up a sign which read: “Some Ana’s don’t survive their Christians” . . .

“50 Shades is domestic abuse,” another sign said. (Read more from this story HERE)

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Florida Mother Dies After Choosing to Save Unborn Son

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Photo Credit: Fox 4 News By Fox 4 News. A 34-year-old woman suffering from a life threatening condition died last week after giving birth to her fourth child.

Suzanne Mazzola, a special education teacher from Tamarac, suffered from placenta accreta, a rare condition that causes the blood vessels in the placenta to attach too deeply to the uterine wall causing severe bleeding.

Mazzola knew that carrying her unborn son, Owen, 35 weeks could potentially endanger her life. But, she made a brave decision to carry the baby to term, increasing his chances of survival.

After delivering her healthy baby boy via Cesarean Section, Mazzola began to hemorrhage. A team of 15 doctors rushed her to emergency surgery. But, despite their efforts, they were unable to save her. (Read more about how the Florida mother dies HERE)

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Woman Pleads Guilty in the Murder of 6 Six Babies

By Steven Ertelt. Megan Huntsman, the Utah mother charged with six counts of first-degree felony murder in the smothering/strangling deaths of six newborn babies, today pleaded guilty to killing each of those babies.

Charged with six counts of first-degree murder, the 39-year-old Huntsman has been held in Utah County Jail since April 13. Bail for Huntsman was set at $6 million.

According to police, the deaths occurred between January 1, 1996 and December 31, 2006. How Huntsman kept the murders of all these children a secret remains a mystery, but their deaths came to light in April when Darren West, her estranged husband, went to their Pleasant Grove home to retrieve some belongings.

Inside the garage, Miller wrote: West found the remains of a baby wrapped in plastic bags and a green towel and stuffed into a white box, sealed with electrical tape. Alerted to the grisly discovery, police later found six more infant corpses similarly stored inside other boxes.

Huntsman allegedly told investigators that she had killed six of the infants, while a seventh child was stillborn. (Read more from this story HERE)

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Watch: Man Arrested for Death Threats Against Sheriff Joe Arpaio

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By Christina O’Haver. A man was arrested in California Thursday morning in connection with death threats made against Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

Stephen Crow, 35, allegedly called the Maricopa Police Department Wednesday night and made threats against the sheriff.

He reportedly referred to Arpaio as a “racist” and “Hitler,” and said he was going to take over Maricopa County and kill the sheriff.

Investigators traced Crow’s cellphone to a Winnetka hotel, where he was taken into custody by Los Angeles police.

“Stephen Crow did come to the door of the hotel. He did admit to making the calls,” said MCSO Det. Brian Mackiewicz. “He was very proud that he threatened the sheriff and since then he’s been very uncooperative.” (Read more about the threats against Sheriff Joe Arpaio HERE)

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Sheriff Joe Arpaio Has Soft Heart for Pets

By Steve Dale. Sheriff Joe Arpaio, of Maricopa County, AZ, puts animals in jail — and he’s proud of it.

“I believed from the start that working with animals softens hardened criminal types,” says the man who proudly touts himself as the nation’s toughest sheriff, in a conversation at the Business of Saving Lives animal welfare conference Feb. 5-7,in San Diego, CA, hosted by the Helen Woodward Animal Center.

By law, animals in animal abuse and dogfighting cases are often required to be kept as evidence until a judge hears the case. At that point, in many communities, such animals are euthanized. Not in Arpaio’s jurisdiction. “These animals have done nothing wrong,” he says.

What’s more, as shelters and rescue groups struggle to find space when animals are confiscated from hoarders, Arpaio has literally opened the local jail for them, as well as animals held as evidence. Usually, their incarceration doesn’t last long, as most are adopted. While in jail, inmates help care for the dogs and cats inside, as well as horses living on the property. (Read more from this story HERE)

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Sheriff Joe Arpaio says Illegal Alien who Murdered Clerk Should Have Been Deported

By Fox 10 News Staff. The man accused of gunning down a valley convenience store worker over a pack of cigarettes remains in jail.

There are still questions about why he was free since he was facing a deportation hearing over a burglary conviction. . .

The victim, 21-year-old Grant Ronnebeck was working at the Quick Trip store on Stapley and Broadway when Apolinar Altimirano asked for a pack of cigarettes and threw down change. He then got angry because the clerk was taking too long counting the change, police say Altimirano shot the worker.

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio appeared on FOX News Channel and said this man should not have been free:

They’re supposed to check everyone that is booked into jail, if they are here illegally holds are placed, you cannot get back out until the case is adjudicated. It’s very simple, after that you then turn them over to ICE, and they should be deporting these people, not letting them back out onto the streets. So they can make all the excuses, it’s a breakdown, a serious situation facing our country and everybody can say everything is okay, and it’s not okay.

(Read more from this story HERE)

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Judge Orders Civil Contempt Hearing for Sheriff Joe Arpaio

By David Schwartz. Controversial Arizona lawman Joe Arpaio and his top lieutenants will face a civil contempt-of-court hearing in April for repeatedly ignoring judicial orders arising from a 2007 racial-profiling case, a federal judge ruled on Thursday.

U.S. District Court Judge Murray Snow ordered the evidentiary hearing to be conducted after determining there was sufficient evidence to move ahead with the proceeding that could result in penalties against Arpaio, four other individuals, and the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office.

“After an appropriate hearing, the Court will determine whether these individuals have committed contempt of court and the sanctions for any such violations,” Snow’s order read.

Arpaio, 82, who bills himself as “America’s Toughest Sheriff,” could face fines or jail time along with other current and former officials cited in the ruling. (Read more from this story HERE)

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Ever Wonder Where Aborted Babies Go? This Abortionist Will Give You Her Horrifying Answer

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Photo Credit: Life NewsAbortion clinics operate every day in the United States, suctioning and tearing preborn babies out of their mother’s wombs. What happens to the bodies of aborted babies after they are killed?

Ideally, the remains of aborted babies are sent to a lab. They are then examined to make sure there are no serious medical problems that the woman should be made aware of. In very early abortions, the tiny embryo’s remains can be difficult to identify. Often, it takes careful examination by a pathologist to make sure all parts of the baby and placenta have been removed. A thorough examination of aborted remains at these early stages can also rule out a life threatening ectopic pregnancy . . .

Sending baby body parts to a lab to be inspected and dissected is expensive. In order to cut costs, some abortion facilities have been known to throw the remains out in the trash. Of course, this leaves the abortionist liable to legal penalties in some (but not all) states. State laws vary, but the “danger” of pro-lifers finding the aborted babies and displaying or burying them is a real threat. Monica Miller of the pro-life group Citizens for a Pro-Life Society has published entire galleries of photos of babies whose aborted remains were found in the trash outside abortion clinics. In her book, Abandoned, Miller describes in vivid detail stories of discovering the bodies of aborted babies in a dumpster outside one abortion clinic.

Disposing of aborted babies is an issue for many clinics. Former abortionist Susan Poppema, who once performed abortions up to 16 weeks in her Seattle clinic, is now a writer at RH Reality Check. She discusses a solution to the problem in her book Why I am an Abortion Doctor:

Realistically, the best and safest way medically to dispose of tissue from the uterus is to put it directly into the general sewage system. Waste of every kind, after all, eventually winds up being disposed of in one manner or another, and short of sacred burial rites, it is safe to say that disposal of organic matter (which uterine tissue is) is generally a fairly straightforward proposition. The matter leftover from surgery is all natural tissue and blood. Could it be infected? Yes.

(Read more from “Ever Wonder Where Aborted Babies Go?” HERE)

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Alabama Official Ordered to Issue Marriage Licenses to Homosexual Couples

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Photo Credit: IB Times By Reuters. A federal judge on Thursday ordered an Alabama official to comply with her earlier ruling striking down the state’s ban on same-sex matrimony and start issuing marriage licenses to gay couples, while advocates said couples in most counties were still unable to obtain licenses.

U.S. District Judge Callie Granade’s order clarified that Mobile County Probate Court Judge Don Davis should follow her directive despite a contravening order from Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore that led many state judges to refrain from issuing marriage licenses to gay couples.

The ruling marked the latest twist in the controversy over gay marriage in Alabama, where probate judges have faced conflicting orders from federal and state courts. The resulting disarray has allowed some same-sex couples to marry in places such as Birmingham, while those applying for marriage licenses in dozens of counties were turned away.

Granade’s order applied specifically to Mobile County, where, within an hour of the ruling, same-sex couples who had been waiting in line at a county building began to receive licenses.

Judges in the other 43 of Alabama’s 67 counties that have refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples did not immediately begin issuing them in the wake of Granade’s order, advocates said. (Read more from ‘Alabama Official Ordered to Issue Marriage Licenses HERE)

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Here’s What Your State’s View of Homosexual Marriage Is

By Victoria Taft. A new survey shows American tolerance or support of same-sex marriage has increased a whopping 21% between 2003 and 2013.

The Public Religion Research Institute, which routinely polls issues pertaining to abortion and LGBT issues, says the differences are stark from one decade to the next . . .

Here’s what your state’s voters think about same-sex marriage.

(Read more from this story HERE)

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Veterans Group Demands Apology From VA Secretary Who Asked Iraq War Veteran, ‘What Have You Done?’

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By Pete Kasperowicz. A key veterans group on Wednesday demanded that Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald apologize for insulting a member of Congress who just happens to be a 22-year Marine Corps veteran.

McDonald got the attention of Concerned Veterans for America during the day when he got angry at a series of questions from Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Colo.). Coffman was asking about the VA’s failed hospital construction project in his home state, when McDonald stunned the room by trying to shift the blame to Coffman.

“You’ve been here longer than I have,” McDonald said. “If there’s a problem in Denver, I think you own it more than I do.”

McDonald then seemed to imply that Coffman wasn’t qualified to question the VA’s activities, by saying, “I’ve run a large company, sir. What have you done?”

Pete Hegseth, the CEO of Concerned Veterans for America, said McDonald was “disrespectful” of Coffman, who is the only member of Congress to serve in both Iraq wars, and demanded an apology. (Read more about the Veteran group demanding an apology HERE)

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Obama Signs Suicide Prevention Bill

By Bryant Jordan. President Obama signed the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act Thursday that will provide $22 million to help boost programs that look to reduce the veteran suicide rate that has climbed to 22 veterans each day.

The suicide prevention legislation is named for a former Marine who died by suicide in 2011 after losing his battle with mental health issues related to his service in Afghanistan. Hunt was 28.

In remarks before signing the bill at the White House, Obama said Hunt did everything he could to fight against the post-traumatic stress symptoms that plagued him.

He sought help from the VA, got involved in helping other veterans, and even volunteered with a relief organization assisting people in Haiti. He also made a public service announcement encouraging other veterans with mental health issues to get help, Obama said.

But the right combination of help, therapy and medication was not found for Hunt in time, Obama said. (Read more from this story HERE)

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New Research on Same-Sex Households Overwhelmingly Shows Kids Do Best With Mom and Dad

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A new study published in the February 2015 issue of the British Journal of Education, Society, and Behavioural Science appears to be the largest yet on the matter of same-sex households and children’s emotional outcomes. It analyzed 512 children of same-sex parents, drawn from a pool of over 207,000 respondents who participated in the (US) National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) at some point between 1997 and 2013.

Results reveal that, on eight out of twelve psychometric measures, the risk of clinical emotional problems, developmental problems, or use of mental health treatment services is nearly double among those with same-sex parents when contrasted with children of opposite-sex parents. The estimate of serious child emotional problems in children with same-sex parents is 17 percent, compared with 7 percent among opposite-sex parents, after adjusting for age, race, gender, and parent’s education and income. Rates of ADHD were higher as well—15.5 compared to 7.1 percent. The same is true for learning disabilities: 14.1 vs. 8 percent.

The study’s author, sociologist Paul Sullins, assessed a variety of different hypotheses about the differences, including comparative residential stability, experience of stigma or bullying, parental emotional problems (6.1 percent among same-sex parents vs. 3.4 percent among opposite-sex ones), and biological attachment. Each of these factors predictably aggravated children’s emotional health, but only the last of these—biological parentage—accounted for nearly all of the variation in emotional problems. While adopted children are at higher risk of emotional problems overall, being adopted did not account for the differences between children in same-sex and opposite-sex households. It’s also worth noting that while being bullied clearly aggravates emotional health, there was no difference in self-reported experience of having been bullied between the children of same-sex and opposite-sex parents.

Vocal critics, soon to emerge, will likely home in on the explanatory mechanism—the fact that two mothers or two fathers can’t possibly both enjoy a biological connection to a child—in suggesting the results of the study reveal nothing of value about same-sex households with children. On the contrary, the study reveals a great deal. Namely, there is no equivalent replacement for the enduring gift to a child that a married biological mother and father offer. It’s no guarantee of success. It’s not always possible. But the odds of emotional struggle at least double without it. Some critics might attribute the emotional health differences to the realities of “adoption by strangers,” but the vast majority of same-sex couples in the NHIS exhibited one parent with a biological relationship with the child.

Even research on “planned” same-sex families—those created using assisted reproductive technology (ART)—reveals the significance of biological ties. (Read more about the research on the same-sex households HERE)

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Conservatives laugh at Charlie Sheen’s ‘Republican’ revelation: ‘Can we throw that one back?’ [+video]

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By Nicole Haas. Just when the wacky antics of actor Charlie Sheen seemed to be dying down, he announced that he could run for president – as a Constitutional Republican!

Michael Loftus, the host of “The Flipside,” interviewed Sheen and asked him to name three laws he would pass if he were ‘King of America’ . . .

“Skilled vets in front of our schools, 10 percent tax across the board,” he started with.

“Flat tax? … I’m down with that,” said Loftus . . .

“The third would be, to just stop it, everybody relax. … Put the Constitution back into place. … I’m a Constitutional Republican, I believe in the Constitution, ya know? (Read more on why Conservatives laugh at Charlie Sheen HERE)

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Charlie Sheen: Brian Williams ‘Victim’ of Vile Witch Hunt

By Elizabeth Vanmetre. Charlie Sheen proved to be a big fan of the NBC anchor who was suspended Tuesday night without pay for six months.

Sheen took to Twitter and tweeted, what seems to be some sort of letter in poem form beginning with, “Dear Mr. Williams.”

His tweet, which he had to use the app “TwitLonger” because of its length, thanked the “Nightly News” anchor for his “24 years of inimitable professionalism and top shelf brilliance, as a stone cold passion drive and perfectly fact based journalist.”

“You good sir, are a hero in my “Entire Library,” the actor added.

Maybe the strangest part of the tweet was when he called Williams a “victim of a transparent and vile witch hunt.” (Read more from this story HERE)

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