Free Talk Live

Venture near the Black Sparrow Pub in downtown Lafayette and you might notice colorful, geometric shapes adorning the front of its building.

Owner Paul Baldwin said the pieces are the creative products of local artists. City officials said the work amounts to a historic preservation ordinance violation.

Neatly trimmed lawns and fixed picket fences could soon be the order of the day for not only homeowners in New York, but across America, if they want to avoid hefty fines and even jail time. In January, Linda Ruggles, 53, from Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, was sentenced to ten days in jail after failing to pay a $480 fine for a having a messy yard. A month later, a Florida man was reportedly sentenced to a year and one day in jail after he failed to remove litter from the front of his house.

US birth rate hits historic low

The result of a recent study just released by the US Centers for Disease Control suggests that the number of births coming out of the United States is at an all-time low.

In Orange County, California, the city is suing a couple who replaced their front lawn with wood chips to save water. Article includes great quotes like:
“Compliance -- that’s all we’ve ever wanted,” explained City Atty. Wayne Winthers.
“It’s just funny that we pay our taxes to the city and the city is now prosecuting us with our own money,” Quan Ha said.

It's a way for the gym chain to save money and cut down on fraud, but some customers are concerned about privacy. With gym memberships down across the fitness industry, the giant 24 Hour Fitness chain is taking a new cost-cutting approach to identifying its gym members — fingerprints.

The historic New Hampshire mansion is up for sale once again, 14 years after being bought at auction from the Rollins family who owned it for almost 100 years.
Three Rivers Farm is a landmark in the Dover neighbourhood, built in 1901 by Boston banking heir E.W. Rollins.

The fiscal 2011 funding bill roundly hailed for its "historic" spending cuts actually raised government spending by more than $3 billion, according to a new report.The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office concluded Monday evening, "Total discretionary outlays in 2011 will be $3.2 billion higher as a result of the legislation, CBO estimates—an increase of $7.5 billion for defense programs, partially offset by a net reduction of $4.4 billion in other spending."

WASHINGTON – The fiscal 2011 funding bill roundly hailed for its "historic" spending cuts actually raised government spending by more than $3 billion, according to a new report.

Small town Mississippi newspaper reports on the first ever gay marriage in their county. They label it "historic" and put it on the front page. The local bigots go crazy.