Mayor Bloomberg Announces Evacuations in NYC

Mayor Michael Bloomberg ordered an evacuation by 5 p.m. Saturday for low-lying areas that house about 270,000 people. Meanwhile, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said subways, buses and commuter trains in the city, on Long Island and in the northern suburbs will begin their final runs around noon Saturday.

Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials have said they can’t run the transit system once sustained winds reach 39 mph, and they need an eight-hour lead time to shut it down. Officials have entreated residents to take it upon themselves to get out early, but it remained unclear how many would heed the warnings that subways and buses might not be there for them if they waited.

Meanwhile, shelters were set to open and other preparations continued as the nation’s biggest city faced the likelihood of its first hurricane warning since 1985. A hurricane watch was in effect Friday for New York City and Long Island for Sunday, with storm conditions possible Saturday night.

There have already been cancellations at the U.S. Open Tennis which had hoped to put on their annual Kid's Day on Saturday, but that is now off.  Also the Mets were due to play the Atlanta Braves in a 3-game series, but Saturday and Sunday's games have been postponed.

Sarah Palin Visits the Iowa State Fair

Is she, or isn't she running?

One this for sure, she took time to visit the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines.

TX Gov. Perry to Run for President

Gov. Rick Perry of Texas has joined the race for president and will officially announce the launch of his campaign on Saturday in South Carolina, aides confirmed Thursday.

Perry was already expected to make the announcement he was running for president at the third annual RedState conference in Charleston. Since news reports about the event never used the word “announce,” many assumed that Perry would officially kick off the event at some point afterward, perhaps at an event in Texas.

Perry is scheduled to speak at the conservative gathering at 1 p.m. in front of approximately 550 attendees, according to RedState.com. Two other Texan Republicans, former Texas Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams and former Solicitor General Ted Cruz, both candidates for Congress, are also scheduled to speak at the conference that day.

Perry is also expected to attend an evening house party at the home of New Hampshire Rep. Pamela Tucker Saturday, according to the New Hampshire Union-Leader. Perry is then scheduled to head to Iowa, where his activities will include a GOP dinner Sunday where both he and Michelle Bachmann are reportedly expected to speak.

House of Reps Page Program to End

After nearly 200 years, the House will no longer have congressional pages because with the Internet and email, they have little to do other than get hit on by Congressmen and Senators and party into the early hours of the morning.

Pages are typically high school juniors who serve as messengers while they live in their  own dorm and attend their own school.

They could be seen around the Capitol complex with their dark blazers and neatly trimmed hair, running when summoned by a member of Congress. They all were smart, needing a minimum 3.0 grade average in core school subjects to get into the program.

Speaker John Boehner and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi say they can no longer justify spending $ 5 million a year on the program when most messages are delivered electronically.

The message announcing the end of the program was, however, sent by mail. The House program will end by Aug. 31. The Senate page program will continue.

Former House Pages included the likes of Bill Gates, William Cushing, and Andrew Napolitano

Wisconsin Mayor May be Thrown Out for Bar Room Scuffle

The mayor of a Wisconsin town has been asked to step down following a late-night bar room scuffle, but said on Thursday he would not resign despite a unanimous vote by a city council committee.

Bob Ryan, 48, told WHBL-AM radio that he intended to seek outpatient alcohol rehabilitation treatment while continuing to act as mayor of Sheboygan, a city of 50,000 located about an hour north of Milwaukee.

The scuffle occurred early on Monday, when police were summoned by an emergency caller to the Brown Baer tavern in nearby Elkhart Lake, where a man in a blue shirt was said to be causing a disturbance.

When the officer arrived, patrons identified Ryan, who was sitting on the curb wearing a blue shirt, as the man the caller had been complaining about. But because the bar owners said everything was fine and no victim stepped forward, the officer gave Ryan a verbal warning, the police report said.

The Sheboygan Press newspaper posted pictures on its website of a man it identified as Ryan slumped over a table at the bar. It cited witnesses who said Ryan had been drinking and making rude comments to some female bar patrons, leading to the scuffle with another patron.

This is the fourth time in two years that Ryan's use of alcohol has come under scrutiny.

In September 2009, a widely publicized YouTube video showed the mayor making sexually explicit comments about his sister-in-law while he was at a bar.

With these kind of credentials, Ryan's future plans should include running for Congress.