The City's swim program activities had to rebuild after being unavailable during the COVID-19 pandemic when pools were closed, followed by a shortage of trained and certified pool guards, swim instructors, pool managers, and coaches. There was also broken pool infrastructure that took months to fix. City pools provide: • Swim lessons/classes for youth and adults at various skill levels • Year-round youth swim teams and water polo • Year-round access to recreational and lap swimming sessions for the community at large • Local high schools use city pools for their swim and water polo programs Importance of recreation swim and water polo teams: • Affordable for all • More inclusive of all swim levels; providing greater opportunities for individual swimmers - as young as age 6 • Kids who swim on recreational swim and water polo teams advance to high school aquatic programs • Neighborhood camaraderie and building community Cutting year-round recreational swim and water polo team programs: • Negatively impacts the recreational swim teams and swimmers • Large breaks in training, causing a loss of continuity, hinder progress and competitiveness in these sports, fracturing the swim and water polo programs • Families may turn to clubs or private facilities that cost significantly more and are further from their neighborhood and community Families may stop participation altogether because they are unable to find competitive aquatic programs that are budget-friendly and close to home • Creates a greater disparity in the quality of City athletic swim and water polo programs and creates a larger inequity among all residents Result in lost revenue opportunities for the City Water activities may be less top of mind for families, and there could be an increased risk of water-related accidents and drownings Deprive young people of positive recreational opportunities and social interactions San Diego boasts 26 miles of shoreline, 15 pools citywide, and a climate where residents can swim year-round. The City’s Parks and Recreation Department should invest in its swim and water polo team programs, not cut staff and resources, and continue to let pools fall into disrepair. The children learning to swim today will be more confident in the water creating a safer community. They could one day be the City’s next generation of instructors, lifeguards, first responders, and City leaders. Sign this petition to send a message to our City's leadership to preserve our youth's swim and water polo team programs.

This could be deadly to those who ARE photosensitive. It furthers the idea that bullying is okay and our disability (epilepsy) is something to laugh about. We have faced stigma since ancient times, but if the world is so inclusive these days, why is there an entire community that is able to be targeted and attacked?

The Child Tax Credit (CTC), a cash assistance program for working families, has been one of the most effective policies for helping families meet their most basic needs like food, housing, and child care. In 2021 alone, the CTC cut child poverty nearly in half. But since it expired, millions of children have been thrown back into poverty. Earlier this year, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed bipartisan legislation to expand the Child Tax Credit, which would help 16 million children and their families deal with rising costs and boost local economies. But it's currently stuck in the Senate, so we need to do everything we can to demand they pass it as soon as possible! A majority of voters support the Child Tax Credit because it's good for families, our communities, and the economy. The CTC has proven to keep kids fed and safe at home, help parents with everyday expenses like utilities, groceries, and rent, and assist parents in paying for child care. Sign the petition to demand that the Senate swiftly pass the Child Tax Credit expansion so families can get the urgent support that they need right now. Photo credit: ALEX WONG/GETTY IMAGES

People with asthma and COPD should not have to suffer through Teva’s price-gouging just to access the inhalers they need to survive. There is absolutely ZERO excuse for Teva to be the only major inhaler manufacturer that hasn’t capped out-of-pocket costs at $35. There is no cure for asthma or COPD, which means that people with these diseases need their inhalers to survive. But because of the corporate greed of inhaler companies like Teva, many have had to ration their doses due to the costliness of inhalers. Families should not have to choose between food, shelter, and electricity or their lifesaving medication while corporate executives line their pockets, but that is the reality that many Americans are facing. And in the midst of the pandemic, the worst public health crisis in the U.S., and while one out of five Americans cannot afford the medicine prescribed by their doctors, Teva has made $1.7 BILLION in revenue on their inhalers in the past five years alone. Teva has used profit from that revenue to provide huge multimillion-dollar compensation packages to the CEO and other top executives at the company while their patients ration their inhaler doses (if they can even afford them to begin with). Teva Pharmaceuticals still hasn’t, but Sen. Sanders says that Teva Pharmaceuticals is considering joining the other three major inhaler manufacturers in capping their inhaler costs at $35. That’s where we come in. We have to keep up the pressure to ensure that they listen and follow through. Together, we can make it happen. Will you sign the petition and send it to three friends to spread the word?

Ron DeSantis, Florida Republicans, and Vertol Systems didn’t stop with the Martha’s Vineyard flight. In June, 36 Latin American migrants were deceived and promised work, housing, and food if they agreed to be flown to California on a chartered flight organized by Vertol Systems. And just last month, DeSantis floated the idea of flying Haitian migrants to Martha’s Vineyard. Enough is enough! We have to stop these flights before it’s too late. The migrants who were trafficked to Martha’s Vineyard have since sued Vertol Systems, and a federal judge has allowed the lawsuit to proceed and said that there was evidence to support that the migrants were targeted because they were Latinx. The federal judge recognized these sham flights as a political stunt asserting that DeSantis was exploiting migrants "in a scheme to boost the national profile of Defendant DeSantis and manipulate them for political ends,” and ruled that the treatment of these migrants was "extreme, outrageous, uncivilized, intolerable, and stunning.” It’s shameful that instead of treating asylum-seekers with the due process, dignity and care they deserve, Vertol Systems and Republican governors like Ron DeSantis are exploiting them and using them as political pawns. These are not isolated incidents. They are deliberate actions relentlessly carried out by anti-immigrant Republicans. It’s completely unacceptable, and there is no excuse for Vertol Systems to continue profiting off of deceived migrants. They must stop organizing the flights NOW. Will you take action and sign the petition?

The standard of living should be the same for all residents of the State of Michigan, County of Wayne, specifically the city of Inkster. We residents have largely been ignored and neglected when services are offered to other communities while overlooking ours.

At a time in American history when the names of those who propagated racist policies are being removed from parks, monuments, and public places and spaces being removed from public places and spaces in California and nationally, We call upon the L.A. County Board of Supervisors to honor a living civil rights icon Earl Ofari Hutchinson and his father's legacy as a fighter for open and fair housing by renaming Reuben Ingold Park Earl Ofari Hutchinson Park.

It is unacceptable that in the 10 years after lead contaminated water was discovered in Flint, Michigan—exposing millions of people to serious illness—the city still hasn't replaced the lead pipes that caused the crisis. But this isn't just an issue in Flint. Though the use of new lead pipes have been banned since the 1980s, it's estimated that there are 9.2 million lead pipes used in public water service lines across the country. Even just a tiny amount of lead can cause serious, lifelong damage to those exposed. Lead contamination in children is associated with learning and behavioral issues and long-term exposure can result in lifelong disabilities. And for adults, lead exposure is linked to high blood pressure, heart disease, decreased kidney function and even cancer. This is about more than just clean drinking water—it's about environmental justice. In Flint—a city with a majority Black and working class population—the water crisis has shown how easily government mismanagement can expose marginalized communities to environmental hazards.

Require states to report child safety data at the federal level and enforce existing child care safety regulations

Being a cancer patient or having a family member with cancer is already a very difficult situation, besides the immense emotional pain, the cost of treatment can be a heavy burden. The consequences of increasing the price of Keytruda are alarming and for many families, unbearable.Many patients rely on this medication as their best hope for survival, and price hikes could place it out of reach for those who need it most. Price gouging in the pharmaceutical industry not only threatens the lives of vulnerable patients but also reflects a disturbing trend of prioritizing profits over human welfare. We cannot allow greed to dictate access to life-saving treatments. Lowering the price of Keytruda is not only a matter of fairness but a moral imperative to ensure that individuals battling cancer have the opportunity to receive the care they deserve without the already inevitable financial hardship.

Why was Congressman Trone so dismissive, insulting and ignorant in his interaction with Dr. Marsha Adebayo at a recent MLK event. She asked to talk to him about the Bethesda Road Moses African Cemetery and efforts to reclaim the land to memorialize the lives of enslaved and post-emancipated African Community. Instead of engaging, he dismissed her with a wave of his hand and a turn of his back saying" who cares about that little cemetery?" I care about that "little Cemetery," and I don't care to have a person with David Trone's historical ignorance and dismissiveness towards African American struggles influencing our community. The people in the "little cemetery were human beings and they deserve respect. Most of those buried in the "little" cemetery were children who were kidnapped, raped, murdered and worked to death in Bethesda, Maryland. Why are we still debating whether Black Lives Matter? We need the community to speak out against Congressman Trone's statement. David Mott - retired union organizer, Poor People's Campaign, Montgomery County Contact: bethesdaafricancemeterycoalition.net

Unhoused people are human and deserve all the same rights as a person that does have a space to live. If you want to have the downtown areas clean and sanitized. People need a shelter, a building, a place they feel safe that will provide them with the basic needs of a human being.