Category Archives: Freedom

Patrick Johnston/Times Record News Fireworks burst over Sheppard Air Force Base during Freedom Fest's approximately 30-minute show Saturday night.

Patrick Johnston/Times Record News A group looks at a 1964 Chevy Nova on the lot of the car show at Freedom Fest at Sheppard Air Force Base Saturday afternoon. The car show featured various models from classics to current cars and trucks.

Patrick Johnston/Times Record News Airman 1st Class William Little (left) helps Brooke Wilson, 3, down a tall waterslide at Freedom Fest at Sheppard Air Force Base Saturday afternoon.

Crowds of people gathered at Freedom Fest hosted by Sheppard Air Force Base on Saturday despite the extreme heat.

The sun beat down without a cloud in the sky in the afternoon hours as Loius Lewis, the second of five bands to play at the festival, played their set.

"It's all about celebrating the Fourth of July and freedom, but it's also about the community relations and giving back to the community at large and also the base just a big celebration to bring us all together," said Lt. Col. Bart Kenerson, director of the event.

Water slides and bounce houses armed with water sprayers for children appropriately littered the festival grounds. Several families tried to stay cool by sitting under a pavilion in the shade.

SAFB has hosted the event for more than eight years, and Kenerson said it wouldn't be able to do so without community support.

"The great part about Freedom Fest is this event is really hosted by the base, but it's made (possible) by downtown. It makes me extremely proud to be a part of the community. It would take probably about 15 to 20 minutes to recognize every single person that aided or assisted (the event)," Kenerson said.

He thanked the community for all the support they provide, saying downtown organizations supplied more than $140,000 in sponsorship funds.

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Freedom Fest: Event a 'hot' ticket

CINCINNATI -

The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center is getting help with longstanding financial problems through a merger into the Cincinnati Museum Center's corporate structure and from a $1.8 million grant.

The Museum Center's board of trustees recently approved a resolution allowing it to become the Freedom Center's parent organization with financial oversight of the national center. The merging of the organizations' operations allows cost savings intended to provide financial stability for the Freedom Center and eliminate a $1.5 million annual budget shortfall, Museum Center spokeswoman Elizabeth Pierce said Friday.

Freedom Center officials said last year that the annual shortfall could force the center to close by the end of 2012 if the money wasn't found. The Freedom Center, which opened in 2004, also said that while attendance was up slightly in 2011 over the previous year, it has declined since a 2005 peak.

Museum Center officials have said the partnership offers financial strength and new opportunities for both organizations.

The Museum Center houses a history museum, a children's museum and a natural history and science museum. The Freedom Center, which is now its fourth wholly owned subsidiary, focuses on the 19th century Underground Railroad for escaping slaves and on freedom throughout the world.

The Freedom Center's board changed its bylaws earlier this year to allow for the merged operations, which will enable reduced administrative expenses in areas including human resources and finance, Pierce said.

The Freedom Center will remain responsible for its fundraising, programming and efforts to enhance its image.

Pierce said both organizations will retain their separate brands and missions and will remain separate legal entities for the purpose of charitable gifts and revenue.

"This collaboration also gives a level of operating efficiency that will allow both organizations to better deliver their education missions," Pierce said.

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Freedom Center gets help through museum merger

CINCINNATI (AP) The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center is getting help with longstanding financial problems through a merger into the Cincinnati Museum Center's corporate structure and from a $1.8 million grant.

The Museum Center's board of trustees recently approved a resolution allowing it to become the Freedom Center's parent organization with financial oversight of the national center. The merging of the organizations' operations allows cost savings intended to provide financial stability for the Freedom Center and eliminate a $1.5 million annual budget shortfall, Museum Center spokeswoman Elizabeth Pierce said Friday.

Freedom Center officials said last year that the annual shortfall could force the center to close by the end of 2012 if the money wasn't found. The Freedom Center, which opened in 2004, also said that while attendance was up slightly in 2011 over the previous year, it has declined since a 2005 peak.

Museum Center officials have said the partnership offers financial strength and new opportunities for both organizations.

The Museum Center houses a history museum, a children's museum and a natural history and science museum. The Freedom Center, which is now its fourth wholly owned subsidiary, focuses on the 19th century Underground Railroad for escaping slaves and on freedom throughout the world.

The Freedom Center's board changed its bylaws earlier this year to allow for the merged operations, which will enable reduced administrative expenses in areas including human resources and finance, Pierce said.

The Freedom Center will remain responsible for its fundraising, programming and efforts to enhance its image.

Pierce said both organizations will retain their separate brands and missions and will remain separate legal entities for the purpose of charitable gifts and revenue.

"This collaboration also gives a level of operating efficiency that will allow both organizations to better deliver their education missions," Pierce said.

Much of the three-year $1.8 million grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation's American Healing program, also announced last week, will be used to increase awareness and understanding about the history of racial oppression in America and to create interactive and multi-media education programs. About $400,000 of the grant will be applied to the Freedom Center's endowment fund, officials said.

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Ohio's Freedom Center gets financial help

Its the most advanced flying machine in the air. It sometimes makes its pilots dizzy. Sen. John McCain hates it.

On July 4, the F-22 Raptor will fly along the Ruston Way waterfront as part of Tacoma Freedom Fairs air show. The planes appearance is a rare event, said Doug Miller, president of the Tacoma Events Commission, which puts on the fair.

Its a real feather in our cap, Miller said.

The highly maneuverable Air Force stealth fighter has its fans and detractors. It was called the most expensive, corroding hangar queen ever by McCain. Sticker price: $150 million.

The main entertainment stage is the America Be Strong stage at Camp Patriot, the farthest west location of the Freedom Fair on Ruston Way, right next to the Lobster Shop. The headlining show starts at 3:30 p.m. with Chuck Stevens (Beach Boys, Monkees, Eddie Money) and Tony La Stella & the Goombas.

Though Miller, his staff and volunteers are dedicated to putting on an entertaining event, money is forefront on his mind. Public Independence Day events have been canceled all over the country in recent years (most recently in Orting) and Freedom Fair is feeling the pressure, Miller said. Besides buying tickets to associated events like tonights Rainiers game and Sundays car and airplane show, the best way to support Freedom Fair is to make a donation, Miller said.

Its whats going to make or break the event, frankly, he said. Volunteers will be manning donation stations at the three entrances and Miller said they are hoping for $5 a head.

We could be delivered a knockout punch if the public doesnt vote with their dollars. The show must go on.

Heres a rundown of Independence Day events, which kick off today:

TODAY

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freedom soars Regional events

Freedom Communications, the company that owned The Sun Journal for nearly 40 years, grew out of a newspaper operation started by two brothers in Ohio during the early years of the 20th century.

Raymond Cyrus Hoiles, known as R.C. and the man who founded Freedom, went to work for and soon became partners with his brother Frank in owning newspapers in Alliance, Lorain and Mansfield, Ohio. R.C. later became sole owner of the Lorain and Mansfield papers and in 1927 acquired another Ohio paper, the Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum.

Shortly thereafter, R.C. became embroiled in a long and bitter battle with a local newspaper rival that included several attempts on his life, including the explosion of a bomb on his front porch. By 1932, the threats and bombings in addition to the competitive climate became so tense that R.C. sold the Lorain and Mansfield newspapers and temporarily closed his door on the business.

He made a fresh start in 1935, moving his family to Santa Ana, Calif., after acquiring the newspaper there, the Register. In this job and in this political climate, R.C. Hoiles began to formalize the philosophy that was to guide his life and the work of his growing newspaper company.

The political and personal philosophy that came to be known as libertarian a term that antedated R.C.s own awakening was, for him, built on principles found in the Ten Commandments, the Golden Rule and the Declaration of Independence. These beliefs were shared and debated with readers in a public dialogue rooted in columns and editorials he wrote for the Register.

As a libertarian, R.C. Hoiles objected to coercion of any type, including the governments power of taxation. He believed that the only legitimate function of government is the protection of its citizens against fraud and force, and that all other government-run programs should be replaced by free enterprise and voluntary actions.

That was the message shared over decades by newspapers brought into the company that in 1950 was incorporated as Freedom Newspapers. By 1970, the year R.C. died, Freedom Newspapers had grown to 16 dailies scattered over seven states.

In 1973, The Free Press became the second newspaper in North Carolina after the Gazette in Gastonia acquired by Freedom. The next year, Freedom acquired the Sun Journal in New Bern and in 1977, the Daily News in Jacksonville. These dailies formed the basis of the operating group known as Freedom ENC Communications, which also included news websites and weeklies like the Havelock News and the Jones Post.

Clarence Harrison Hoiles, the eldest son, succeeded R.C. as the companys chief executive until his death in 1981. The 1980s saw diversification into television with the acquisition of five stations and Freedom created a magazine division in 1993. The Holies family maintained control of the company until 2010, despite a rift among siblings in 2004 that saw Freedom partner with private equity firms in order to create a recapitalization opportunity for those family members who wanted to sell their shares.

The debt created for the company by this and other developments resulted in Freedom filing voluntary petitions for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code in September 2009. The company emerged from bankruptcy the next April and soon after announced the naming of a new board of directors, a board bereft of Hoiles family representation for the first time.

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The history of Freedom Communications

The other shoe has dropped in Freedom Communications' recent flurry of newspaper sales--including that of Santa Ana flagship the Orange County Register. Actually, the pink slips 66 employees just received may have to eventually be fashioned into shoes given the shitty job market they are entering. Freedom has granted mandatory employment freedom to the 66 who work at Irvine headquarters or the corporate online department housed in the same building as the Register, whose staff is not included in this round of layoffs. The sale of the Reg to a Boston investor is still pending.

Here are the recent sales that prompted the corporate downsizing:

Orange County Register Sold to Boston Investor

Freedom Fire Sale Continues as Register Owner Dumps Florida and North Carolina Papers

Freedom Communications Sells MORE Papers That Are Not the Register

Orange County Register's Freedom Overlords Sell 8 TV Stations to Conservative Concern

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Freedom Communications Lays Off 66 Workers

TEL AVIV, ISRAEL--(Marketwire -06/28/12)- Millions of workers around the world are seeking additional income, freedom and fun by embracing alternative career paths and starting their own businesses, according to new research. In the spirit of Independence Day, Fiverr, the leading global marketplace for micro services, today announced the results of its international "Road to Job Independence" survey. More than 1,100 Fiverr sellers revealed their motivations to start a business on the world's largest marketplace for the freelance service industry, providing new insights into the flourishing economy of micro-entrepreneurs.

The freedom of the Internet now allows people to work where they want, when they want, how they want. Around the world new types of entrepreneurs are channeling their talents, passions, interests and skills to replace or supplement traditional 9-to-5 jobs. Fiverr makes it easier for anyone to make money doing what he or she loves.

According to the Road to Job Independence survey, most Fiverr sellers are successfully able to increase their income by offering unique services (Gigs) not available anywhere else:

Fiverr's survey discovered 6 out of 10 (57%) of all sellers have joined in the last 6 months as they seek the site's freedom to work at their own time, pace and place. These new sellers are already making money, with 40% reporting they've earned over $100 through Fiverr. And they're making money through a large variety of gigs, including graphic design, writing, personalized greetings, voice-overs, video production, expert advice, software and web development, advertising and marketing, music and much more.

Fiverr opens a world of possibilities for global commerce, removing the need for office space, set commerce hours and a business payment structure. Fiverr provides liquidity to the global network of service providers, connecting sellers directly with interested buyers. It gives burgeoning entrepreneurs all the tools they need to get started and be successful.

A vast majority (86%) of Fiverr sellers seek job independence, and 1 in 5 report their goal with Fiverr is to quit and work for themselves. Frustration with traditional 9-to-5 jobs is high, at more than 80%. The top 6 frustrations respondents have with their current job situation include:

"Creativity and freedom are the core drivers of today's new entrepreneurial economy. Anyone, anywhere can use Fiverr to quickly and easily start their own businesses -- we give people the platform and the tools to harness their skills, resources and creativity to make money on their own terms," said Micha Kaufman, co-founder and CEO of Fiverr. "Our goal is to offer people an alternative from the traditional work structure and become their own boss. As sellers gain experience and a positive business reputation, they can charge more for their services. Now 1 in 3 gigs sell for more than the base price, and 34% of sellers report they're getting an average of 5 or more gigs per week."

So why do people turn to Fiverr?

Since launching in early 2010, Fiverr has grown rapidly and now lists close to 1,000,000 gigs priced between $5 and $150. Sales on the site have increased 600% since January 2011, and continue to rise rapidly.

An infographic of the results can be found here: http://fiverr.com/financial-freedom.

Link:
Let (Work) Freedom Ring; 86% of Micro Service Entrepreneurs Want to Declare Job Independence, Global Fiverr Survey ...

When walking around Lefrak City with Freedom, its hard not to notice the love the neighborhood gives him. Passersby frequently shake his hand, shoot the breeze and shout out Freedom! from across the street. To the Bedford-Stuyvesant transplant though, its nothing but expanding brain power.

Knowledge is infinity, its always to meet more and more people in Lefrak, Freedom says as we walk down 57th Avenue.

Having lived in Lefrak City for a quarters century, the proud activist is not only a community staple, but just one of many giving back to that community. Freedom hires talented artists from all over New York to help him paint murals on the walls of businesses in the area, specifically walls featuring wanton, cluttered graffiti. He was instrumental in the creation of the murals at the Food Bazaar and has his eye on a wall with clustered tags on 96th Street and renaming it the Music Wall as a tribute to musical legends such as Billie Holiday and Nat Turner.

[Its] to bring up the community, give them something to look at. Theyre taking the walls and then marking up graffiti and all that. Im against that. Im here to destroy that. And once they see my art, theyll say, Oomph! Freedom was here, he said, motioning to the mural behind him, which originally filled the entire wall.

He was instrumental in the murals completion in 1994. When a Popeyes replaced the previous store, the mural was painted but later taken down. The fast-food chain, recognizing its importance to the community, later restored the mural in a compacted, hanging form. In the far right section, near paintings of President Barack Obama and Kenny Anderson, is Freedoms own face. According to him, this particular block is named in his honor as well.

If you look around Lefrak City, its a very beautiful community. We just have to get out and stop the violence, the former paperboy for the Amsterdam News said. Violence will always be here, but maybe a little art might change their thinking capacity. I was a child out of the street and I had the old timers to wake me up.

The Nation of Islam member doesnt want people to think he despises graffiti art, though. Walking us across the street to another wall filled with RIP messages and a small shrine to a local young man recently shot to death, he makes an exception here. This wall is also getting a Freedom-style remake and will feature pictures of young people killed much too soon with the tags intact.

This right here, this is a young boy who just passed away, Freedom noted. I respect the dead, and all the young kids wrote all over the wall. Out of respect, I dont wanna take the art out of this, because theres art in it. Art is art. You dont destroy art.

Another block over, we find ourselves outside the Food Bazaar. The sidewall features a mural of King Tutankhamen and a stone mask face, with messy graffiti tags spliced in between. Its set to become the Falling Soldiers wall sometime this year. When its done, other departed kings and queens will join King Tut.

Another small section of wall with clustered, sprayed-on scribbles behind us isnt safe from Freedoms creative wrath either. Im going to put something over there. Were gonna put art on any wall we go to.

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Freedom in Lefrak City

FARMINGTON Every year, the buzz surrounding Freedom Days can be heard early in summer. It's grown into an event that businesses, families and the entire community looks forward to all year.

"Freedom Days is a great family oriented event that not only attracts locals but draws interest region wide," said Tonya Stinson, interim Farmington Convention & Visitors Bureau manager. "With great community minded sponsors and committee members that work hard to keep it going, it offers high quality, fun and inexpensive activities for people of all ages to enjoy. It is a great way to honor and remember the freedoms we are so fortunate to have in this country and those that fight to protect our freedoms."

Celebrating its 26th year, Freedom Days has events spread throughout the five-day celebration that begins Friday.

The annual Gem and Mineral Show runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday, at the Farmington Civic Center.

Rock collectors from all over venture to this show to bring the best of what they have or to find one-of-a-kind pieces to add to their collections.

A silent auction will take place as well as a raffle, with proceeds to be used toward funding a scholarship for a San Juan College geology student.

What has grown to become a staple during Freedom Days, the Sullivan Hill fireworks display will take place Tuesday night beginning around 9:25 p.m.

The best places for viewing are from Gateway Park or San

A Freedom Days favorite is the "Party in the Park" at Brookside Park from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Food vendors and live music will take over the park, offering families a great opportunity to kick back and enjoy the holiday with others. A skateboard competition will take place during the party at the skate park.

"The Farmington Convention & Visitors Bureau, the city of Farmington and the Freedom Days committee work very hard on this event from January till the start of Freedom Days," Stinson said. "We are always looking for ways to keep events fresh, fun and accessible to everyone. With so many events on the schedule, it takes a lot of dedicated people and sponsors to make all the logistics come together. But everyone is happy to help out with something so fun, rewarding and meaningful."

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Freedom Days kicks holiday off on Friday in Farmington

IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Freedom Communications announced today that the sale of all of its newspaper properties in Florida and North Carolina to Halifax Media Group has closed.

The properties involved in the transaction include Holmes County Times-Advertiser, Bonifay, FL; Times-News, Burlington, NC; Havelock News, Havelock, NC; The Daily News, Jacksonville, NC; Free Press, Kinston, NC; The Star, Port St. Joe, FL; The Walton Sun, Santa Rosa Beach, FL; Washington County News, Chipley, FL; The Crestview News Bulletin, Crestview, FL; The Destin Log, Destin, FL; Northwest Florida Daily News, Fort Walton Beach, FL; The Gaston Gazette, Gastonia, NC; Jones Post, Kinston, NC; Santa Rosa Press Gazette and Santa Rosa Free Press, Milton, FL; Sun Journal and The Shopper, New Bern, NC; The News Herald, Panama City, FL; The Star, Shelby, NC; The Times, Apalachicola, FL and The Topsail Advertiser, Surf City, NC.

Providing value for our shareholders was a major goal of this transaction and the others weve undertaken, said Mark McEachen, Freedom Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer. At the same time we wanted to make sure current employees would transition to the new owner and that the new owner shared our view of the importance of community journalism.

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP acted as legal advisors to Freedom.

About Freedom Communications

Freedom Communications Holdings, Inc., headquartered in Irvine, CA, is a national privately owned information and entertainment company of print publications and interactive businesses. The Companys print portfolio includes approximately 50 print publications, including seven daily newspapers, weekly newspapers, plus ancillary magazines and other specialty publications. The Companys news, information and entertainment websites and mobile applications complement its print properties. For more information, visit http://www.freedom.com.

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Freedom Communications Announces Sale of Florida, North Carolina Properties Has Closed