The Black Lives Matter movement means more than just stopping police-related death of people of color at the hands of law enforcement. It means looking at how racism plays into every aspect of American life. It is time that as Americans, we take a hard look at our racist institutions and ask ourselves if we’re willing to fight for long-lasting, systemic changes or if we are willing to continue with reformism and business as usual. Defunding the police does not mean less public safety. It means that instead of spending exorbitant amounts of money on policing the ailments of society, which solve nothing, we should be investing in programs that directly benefit over-policed, POC, and marginalized communities. Please sign our petition to show the Santa Cruz City Council that they need to do more than performative gestures!

We've told you about the dire situation happening at Primex Farms, a nut company in Wasco CA. The situation is escalating. According to a July 26 CNBC article, 150 of the 400 workers have now tested positive. In addition, a UFW census shows 49 of their adult family members and 34 children have tested positive for COVID-19. Sadly, one Primex worker has since died. A second worker, who tested positive, was removed from life support and sent home for palliative care; she is not expected to survive. Protesting Primex's flawed response to the virus, employees walked out on strike and formed a picket line. Workers were requesting safety measures, including social distancing procedures, company provision of personal protective equipment such as face masks and payment of sick leave for infected or exposed employees. The company promised improvements, but when they did not happen, workers -- including those in quarantine with the virus -- defied the company and held a virtual press conference. Now the major pistachio and almond processing company is retaliating against key groups of outspoken workers. This company uses several staffing agencies to supplement their direct hire workforce. Many of the workers who spoke out worked through USA Staffing. On July 22, Primex told the dozens of workers employed by USA Staffing that they were terminated because “production had dropped” -- but then they brought in new workers the same day! Brisdey Nieto is one of these fired workers. She tells us, “The company's anti-union consultant told us that due to the union taking the actions it had taken the clients had heard and therefore production had dropped. They were firing us. I could not believe that. I saw that same day they hired new workers and that they had started working. If production had dropped; why hire new workers?” The UFW immediately filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board for the company illegally retaliating against the workers for union activities and joining together to improve conditions. Workers don't want to wait; they want their jobs back now and they want to be protected on the jobsite. They're asking you to sign their petition telling the company to rehire them, with appropriate coronavirus protections in place. Workers are hoping to turn in thousands of signatures in the next few weeks. Will you add your signature today?

This is important to protect the culture and authenticity of our city and this business is a very loved local taco shop please sign to save the best pork al pastor in town!

Progressives have been sidelined by the DNC for far too long. The people have spoken and they favor progressive politics. We will not allow our party to be taken over by never Trumpers. We believe in healthcare as a human right, a wealth tax, criminal justice reform, and so does America. We refuse to be pushed aside.

It’s important that one of the most influential people in modern day politics, especially a Democrat, to speak at the Democratic National Convention. We all need to hear what she has to say. And giving just 60 seconds is not enough. At the very least give her 2 minutes. Obviously we would love for her to have even more time than that since she is such a champion for fair wages, corporate accountability, environmental justice, and so many other important issues. Please sign and share!

Since the 2016 CDC guidelines, millions & millions of people in pain have been forced tapered or dropped on their long time safe & effective prescription pain medicines, causing them to have adverse health conditions(such as heart attacks, strokes, etc.) as well as more people committing suicide now, because they just can't deal with all of the pain. Not to mention pushing more & more to illegal street drugs because their pain is untreated or undertreated causing the overdoses & deaths to keep increasing. Less than 1% of prescription pain medicines get diverted. Where's the crisis in that??? The mass majority of people who take prescription pain meds for their pain do so safely & as directed. But everyone is not the same & needs different dosing. Some need less for their pain. But some need more. Everyone is different & they do not get the same benefits from the same dose & same kind of medicine as everyone else. So you cannot treat everyone with the same dose or put a limit on them. People in pain who take prescription pain medicines are not druggies or addicts(although they are far to often treated like they are) which is very unfair. They have the pain to work against the medicines(& vise versa) & do not get "high". The medicines help dull the pain so they can move & get through each day. The 2016 CDC guidelines were supposed to be just that .... guidelines, for PCP doctors prescribing initial pain medicines. NOT for ongoing chronic pain. But some how those guidelines are now being used as law & as a weapon. The DEA is now using the 2016 "guidelines" as a weapon against our doctors. & this needs to STOP Now! This is causing doctors to drastically taper & drop everyone off of their long time safe & effective prescription pain medicines in fear for their license being taken by the DEA. Not to mention the DEA going after doctors, closing their practices down. Where & what are all their patients supposed to do being cut off in the blink of an eye? Yep, they are going to the streets for illegal street drugs, committing suicide or having detrimental adverse health conditions. People in pain are being harmed left & right! & this needs to STOP!!! It should have never started in the first place. But it needs to STOP NOW!!!! Throw out the 2016 CDC guidelines & do not make any more. Also, those guidelines were all one sided(when made) & based on false & misinformation. Throw out those guidelines & do not make any more. So it can bring back the doctor - patient relationship, to where the doctor can help their patients without fearing for their practice, license or their lives! STOP punishing people in pain. We did not ask for pain but are stuck with it. Opioids(the opioid plant) has been around since the beginning of time. It was given to us to help us with our pain. It wasn't until illegal street drugs came into the picture that started causing problems. Its illegal street drugs that are causing the over doses & deaths. & by restricting prescription pain medicines, you're just pushing more & more to illegal street drugs & therefore to over dose or die. Stop treating people in pain like addicts. Those are 2 totally different groups of people. Each of whom should have their own individualized treatment. Our government are not doctors. Nor do they have any idea of medical conditions or how it should be treated. So, they have no right putting restrictions on our doctors & how they can or can't treat their patients & with what & how much medicines that work best. PLEASE STOP Punishing People in Pain & the doctors who treat them! Thank you!

When the COVID-19 pandemic started and restaurant dining rooms throughout town began to close for safety, Meritage Hospitality was the very last quick service restaurant (referred to as QSR from this point on) to close their dining room doors to the public. Less than one week after local restrictions were altered to allow for dining rooms to be open again Poplar Bluff Missouri’s location 5009 was reopened for dine in orders; requiring all crew to wear face masks and gloves but applied no restrictions to patrons of the restaurant. Steps have been taken to make the customers feel safe and slash the possibility of crew spreading any germs to them but the staff of the restaurant is put in danger constantly with the only protections in pace for them being a plastic barrier in front of the register which customers often will stand to the side of to better hear the cashier and refuse to maintain a 6 foot distance from the order taker. Meritage has jumped the gun by allowing people back in their restaurant putting all their employees in danger, blinded by the profit to be had by being among the only restaurants with open dining rooms. As of this petition being written on 8/10/2020 only 2 other QSR establishments have opened their doors to the public again; with no plans to open before December or even this year. Just over 4 weeks into the dining room being open store 5009 has already tested with a positive COVID-19 case. The confirmed cases for the county have been rapidly increasing every day for weeks with over 500 cases between 7/28 and 8/8 alone. Every day that the dining room remains open your employees are at higher and higher risk of becoming infected and passing it to family and friends. The response to the positive test has been the dining room closing for the remainder of the week before reopening on Monday 8/17. By closing the lobby for these few days Meritage is acknowledging the safety increase that restricting the public to the pick up window brings, but also shows how little they care for the well being of their staff by making it last only one week. One week for the employees to be safe. One week for the staff to not have to worry about passing COVID-19 to the ones they love, but Meritage only sees a week of reduced profit. No amount of money is worth strengthening the spread of an infectious disease through a community, especially not a Frosty. The only responsible response to a clear indication of unsafe working conditions with an open dining room should be to reinstate the restrictions that limit customers to the pick up window to limit direct contact with crew and patrons; the current precautions are nothing short of laughable in the face of a global pandemic.

because trump is a racist, sexist, homophobe , transphobe , rapist and hes an ignorant piece of shit.

Biodegradable plastics have existed for years. My time working at both Starbucks and Coffee Bean showed me the amount one single store throws away in a day. My heart breaks for the landfills full of plastic, the animals and environment we destroy and ultimately ourselves. If Starbucks switches cups and straws alone to biodegradable plastics imagine how many lives we save. Banning straws did nothing and is ablist! Don’t be fooled by recycling! All the recycling would go into the same dumpster as the trash, and most places in the US say they recycle but it ends up in a landfill. STOP THE WASTE - CHANGE TO BIO DEGRADABLE PLASTICS NOW. Starbucks claims to be at the forefront of innovation, I believe if they make the switch others will follow suit!

Their health and safety is essential and impacts the city of Philadelphia.

It is important because of the current Covid crisis because families are having to keep children at home and do school online and because monopolies and collusion between corporations that compete with each other is illegal and destroys the very foundation of a free market.

In the last 5 months and counting, non-essential small businesses have not been able to open or generate any revenue, while rents and other expenses are still owed. County specific moratoriums only delay the payment of rents and evictions and do not protect small businesses from landlords collecting rents due from the mandatory closure. To obtain a commercial lease, small business owners personally guarantee the lease. Not only is the small business itself at risk of closing, business owners will face bankruptcy if landlords expect all rents during closure to be paid and expect rents to continue to be the same amount while the economic landscape has drastically changed. Commercial leases are generally very lengthy and primarily tip in the favor of the landlord, leaving the tenants little to no rights for rent relief or renegotiations. To-date, most non-essential small businesses that are allowed to reopen are operating at 10-30% of regular capacity, while some businesses are not able to use outdoor space to reopen, and others are not able to reopen at all. While earning zero to reduced revenues, overhead costs have also increased significantly for businesses with the new mandates to provide PPE, additional cleaning and sanitation, hazard pay, and other COVID-19 related expenses. It is nearly impossible for small businesses to survive the impacts of COVID-19. Small businesses are the backbone of the American economy. Without financial relief or a law in place to provide protection against commercial leases, more businesses will close and owners will declare financial bankruptcy. It is vital that Governor Newsom issue an executive order to provide small businesses relief and protection, and the ability to weather through the long term impacts of COVID-19 on our economy.