For years, the Koch brothers’ corporate and political network has been harmful to Pennsylvania. Their billionaire egos are keeping working people from seeing higher wages. Their big-money influence made for a serious budget crisis. The last thing Pennsylvania needs is two out-of-touch billionaires who hurt the ability of working people to get ahead.

This month, we updated to 1.9 with a nice, new world with new features such as elytras, the mending and frost walker enchantments, and a new combat system, among others. While some server aspects are still the same as in 1.8, a few things have changed: most notably the town upkeep prices and the shop plugin. We ask colorfulchew to bring back the chest shop plugin for these reasons: The existing spawn shops monopolize the economy and do not promote any competition whatsoever, the chest shops would promote competition, encourage economic growth, and encourage people, rich and poor, to spend money on buying things from people they trust, and that more than 90% of other towny servers have the chest shop plugin or similar. The first reason why the chest shop plugin exists is that the shops at spawn monopolize the economy, which inhibits competition from occurring and prevents competition from occurring, which is essential for a healthy economy. Back in the 1.8 server, there were chest shops in most major towns, and these shops always had plenty of things in stock and never had any issues of money shortages due to people selling things to them. With this new spawn shops, money's always running out in those shops because people are selling too much stuff to them, which prevents others from stocking the shop with materials people need, unlike chest shops, where the owner of the shop can just stock the shop by filling up the chest and are able to have greater control on how much people can sell to them (i.e. diamonds by filling 26 of the 27 chest slots with dirt so they can only sell up to 64 diamonds, therefore preventing bankruptcy from occurring). Competition between the various town/nation shops ensured that the shops stayed on top of things and kept prices steady. The second reason why chest shops should be brought back is that they encourage economic growth, competition, and encourage people of all kinds to spend their money in shops that they trust, which the spawn shops do not provide. Back in 1.8, towns with chest shops were prosperous and many people visit these towns every day. These towns had beautiful spawns and a few towns even had malls where players would be able to rent a shop space to open up their chest shop, which in turns generates more extra revenue for the town (which would also help with paying the town's upkeep, which is 10 times more than in the previous map). Towns were constantly competing against each other for having the best shop on the server, which kept prices steady and people flocking into towns to spend their money. Finally, people went to shops that were owned by people that they trust, something that wouldn't occur in an economy with just one single store at spawn. The third and final reason why chest shops would return is that many other towny servers, small and large, have the chest shop plugins or similar plugins. These servers have bustling market economies, where prices are set freely by supply and demand with little government intervention. Like the 1.8 Scarlet, towns were bustling with activity, people coming and going to spend their money at the town shops and in some cases deciding to join that particular town where all of their favorite shops are located. A few of these servers can have more than 100 players online in peak hours, which shows all the activity encouraged by those server's chest shop-filled free market economies. In conclusion, in order to provide a better economy and promote competition, economic growth (especially in towns), and fix the problem of not being able to sell things to shops due to lack of money in the shop's bank, we ask that the Chest Shop plugin (which has been updated to 1.9 by the way) to be brought back to the server. Towns would be more prosperous and active, which in turn would keep more people on the server longer and boost player counts as well as vote counts. The owners of the chest shops would be able to set prices at levels where supply and demand would be at equilibrium and solve the shop stocking issue, both of which the current spawn shops would not be able to do flawlessly. We want to be able to sell things without having to deal with the shops running out of money, and we want to be able to buy things from actual shops in towns/nations run by actual people, and not by some random NPC's siting behind a counter like it was back in 1.8. Please bring the chest shops plugin back.

North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory signed into law HB2, a sweepingly broad bill that voids LGBT nondiscrimination ordinances statewide and revokes the right of transgender citizens to use public restrooms based on gender identity. Apple has invested tens of millions of dollars in North Carolina building massive data centers and solar farms. One year ago, Tim Cook said that Apple would be "standing up to oppose" state laws legalizing discrimination and attacking gender equality. Ask Tim Cook to make good on his word and publicly announce Apple's adamant opposition to HB2 and plans to reallocate future business expansion if the legislature does not repeal this law. Please sign this petition and ask that Apple to keep its promise and stand with the citizens of North Carolina in support of equality for all people.

Donald Trump has received nearly $2 billion in free earned media so far in this election – five times as much as Bernie Sanders or Ted Cruz and three times as much as Hillary Clinton. This is happening in part because some of the media have allowed Trump – and only Trump – to call into television shows, rather than appear in person on camera, whenever he wants. This call-in option allows Trump to blanket the airwaves with his message day in and day out. Other candidates have been denied this option, which is unfair and undemocratic. Join us in calling on the major media networks to apply their call-in interview policies equally to all Presidential candidates!

Despite his history of racist, sexist and xenophobic comments, Starbucks continues to operate stores in buildings named after Donald Trump including Trump Tower and Trump Taj Mahal. Here are some recent Trump actions: * Trump immediately exploited the attacks in Brussels to call again for building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and for a ban to prevent Muslims including Muslim-Americans from entering the country. * Trump attacked Mexicans and called them "murderers" and "rapists." * Trump endorsed and encouraged violence against Black Lives Matter as well as other anti-Trump demonstrators. * Trump has refused to consistently denounce and reject support from the KKK and other hate groups. Donald Trump’s bigotry stands in direct opposition to the Starbucks brand. For example, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz’s public statement in support of marriage equality showed that the company values all people. Trump, on the other hand, has promised to round up and deport 12 million immigrants. That’s not what Starbucks stands for! Starbucks should immediately disentangle itself from its business relationship with Trump and begin relocating its stores that are in Trump owned properties.

Despite his history of racist, sexist and xenophobic comments, Starbucks continues to operate stores in buildings named after Donald Trump including Trump Tower and Trump Taj Mahal. Here are some of Trump's recent bad actions: * Trump immediately exploited the attacks in Brussels to call again for building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and for a ban to prevent Muslims including Muslim-Americans from entering the country * Trump attacked Mexicans and called them "murderers" and "rapists." * Trump endorsed and encouraged violence against Black Lives Matter as well as other anti-Trump demonstrators * Trump has refused to consistently denounce and reject support from the KKK and other hate groups. Donald Trump’s bigotry stands in direct opposition to the Starbucks that we know and love. For example, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz’s public statement in support of marriage equality showed that the company values all people. Trump, on the other hand, has promised to round up and deport 12 million immigrants. That’s not what Starbucks stands for! Starbucks should immediately disentangle itself from its business relationship with Trump and begin relocating its stores that are in Trump owned properties.

We should know who our press represents.

On the election trail, we know candidates are hearing the frustration of We the People with the huge amounts of dark money being spent in elections. Voters see that big donors have acquired a megaphone, which is drowning out the voice of ordinary constituents. The need for money to fund their campaigns means politicians have to spend much of their time fund-raising versus speaking to or for their constituents. We ask candidates to endorse I-735. This initiative urges the Washington state congressional delegation to propose a federal constitutional amendment clarifying that constitutional rights belong only to individuals, not corporations; that spending money is not free speech under the First Amendment; that governments are fully empowered to regulate political contributions and expenditures to prevent undue influence; and that political contributions and expenditures must be promptly disclosed to the public.

BACKGROUND: UGI Utilities has asked the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) for approval of a 19.7% rate increase for all UGI natural gas customers. The proposed rate increase will produce approximately $58.6 million to cover costs associated with the distribution of gas to residential and commercial customers. According to UGI, the requested rate hike is being driven, in part, by the cost of replacing outdated bare steel and cast iron distribution lines. This work was required by a PUC order following a deadly 2011 Allentown gas explosion that resulted in the deaths of five people, including one infant. While gas companies have been pocketing profits for years, they now want to reach into the pockets of consumers to cover the costs of what should have been routine and ongoing maintenance. Pipeline replacement should have been covered within the cost of safely operating a gas utility, but as we know, companies are often willing to forego routine maintenance in exchange for profit and at the expense of the consumers. These costs should not be forced onto consumers. UGI is the lead investor in the proposed PennEast/UGI Pipeline, a project with a $1 billion price tag. This project is unnecessary and will not benefit PA Natural Gas Customers who are already enjoying historically low natural gas prices. In fact, the opposite is true. In PennEast’s application to FERC, they claim that this proposed interstate transmission line from Luzerne County, PA, to Mercer County, NJ, which will distribute 1 bcf of natural gas at approximately 1500 psi, is not to serve local communities, but to expand natural gas service to “southeastern Pennsylvania, parts of New Jersey and beyond.” It is this last entity that suggests this natural gas is for exportation, making this rate increase even more disturbing. While UGI aims to expand its service area for profit, it is neglecting the safety and security of its current customer base. Consumers should be forewarned that they will pay for the costs of the proposed PennEast/UGI pipeline if it is approved. The cost of this unnecessary pipeline will be added to any rate increases approved by the PA Public Utilities Commission and will be borne by residential and commercial UGI customers.

Wall Street's reckless financial speculation caused the greatest economic collapse since the Great Depression, causing millions of Americans to lose their savings, their jobs, and their homes. Despite a $700 billion bailout to save the financial sector from itself, Wall Street still hasn’t learned its lesson. Today, Wall Street is up to its same old tricks—gambling with risky and unneeded financial products. We cannot allow Wall Street hedge funds to jeopardize our economic health and the hard-earned savings of working Americans for their personal gain. A small tax levied on financial speculation would rein in the worst offenders and allow us to invest in infrastructure projects that create jobs and help make quality education more affordable for young Americans.

As an avid reader of the NY Times daily, I am disturbed by the Bias in reporting on Senator Bernie Sanders bid for the democratic nomination. In an effort to tell the press what we think of them telling us how the election should go, I am asking you to take a small bite out of their bottom line. Unsubscribe to the times until after the conclusion of the General Election. It's a small but worthwhile step to make your voice heard.

ExxonMobil has taken climate change denial to a whole new level. According to a groundbreaking report released last year, Exxon has known about the cataclysmic effects of climate change since the 1970s, and they have been funding climate change denial groups to protect their profits over the planet ever since. So far, the Attorneys General of California and New York have agreed to investigate Exxon, and there are petitions circulating in multiple states to do the same! The more states that join the investigation, the better chance we have to bring this case to the US Department of Justice. This is our chance to show the world what #ExxonKnew. We are working to build a broad coalition to call on New Hampshire’s Attorney General, Joseph Foster, to launch an investigation. If Exxon intentionally misled the public about climate change for over 30 years, it’s time to bring them to justice. So please, join us in this fight.