At a moment when public trust in democratic institutions is being tested, Congress must be clear that the use of armed U.S. servicemembers to advance a political agenda—whether through deployment, intimidation, or interference in domestic affairs—undermines the checks and balances that protect our Republic. On November 19th, 2025, Senators Mark Kelly and Elissa Slotkin, and Representatives Jason Crow, Chris Deluzio, Maggie Goodlander, and Chrissy Houlahan released a video reminding members of the U.S. armed forces of their obligation to refuse illegal orders.  In response, the Trump Administration unleashed a torrent of violent rhetoric, including President Trump posting on social media that these lawmakers should perhaps be executed.  Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has announced a sham Pentagon investigation targeting Senator Kelly, a retired Navy Captain.  These actions violate some of the most basic principles of our democracy. We believe elected officials should ensure that members of the military know their rights and the resources available to them should they find themselves in situations where they may receive illegal orders. We call on ALL members of Congress to stand with their six colleagues and remind the Executive Branch that the United States military is not a political instrument, but an institution loyal to the Constitution and to the country, not to any president or political party.

Nearly 180,000 Miami-Dade residents currently have no representative in the Florida House. With a full legislative session approaching, our district 113 is being left out of decisions that affect our homes, schools, and livelihoods. This includes Brickell, Key Biscayne, Shenandoah, The Roads, Coral Gate, and parts of Little Havana, Coconut Grove, Edgewater, Silver Bluff, and Downtown Miami.

High student loan interest rates contribute to delayed homeownership, reduce GDP growth, increase financial stress, and widen inequality in access to higher education. Many students want higher education for better opportunities and access to high-paying jobs, but the burden of taking out loans makes this not possible for all. 

 The purpose of my story is to show why society must rethink how it reacts to teenage crime, especially when the first response is driven by fear rather than belief in growth. My experience shows a difficult truth: a child who commits a terrible act is not permanently broken. The human spirit can learn, change, and rise from its lowest point. Rehabilitation is not theory—it is lived reality, and my life proves redemption is possible even when a person’s greatest mistake feels unforgivable. People should join me in the campaign for reform because this is not only my story. Every person has needed a second chance and a path back into community. When we deny that possibility to children, we deny something essential about humanity. With community support, change becomes possible and humanity is restored. My name is James D. Williams, one of many juvenile lifers in Wisconsin’s adult prison system. In 1997, two months after turning 17, I committed a terrible crime and took a life. I do not offer excuses. My actions came from a misguided code of loyalty, false ideas of strength, and fear. Growing up on Milwaukee’s North side, I was taught that keeping my word meant everything—that loyalty meant pushing feelings aside and never showing weakness. In the moment that changed my life forever, fear and confusion were stronger than reason. I believed I had no other choice. After my arrest, the full weight of my actions crushed me. I hid in my cell, overcome with shame and depression. No one cared about my apologies, not the State, not my victim’s family, and even my own family was shocked. I believed honesty and accountability might bring some relief, but nothing changed. So I buried my emotions and pretended to be strong. At sentencing, I begged the judge to see me as more than the crime—to see a young person capable of change. Instead, I was labeled a “monster” without hope for redemption. At 17, I was sentenced to life with a parole date 101 years away. The judge said my life was over, and I would never be anything more than my worst act. Entering prison, I was legally an adult but emotionally a child. I was isolated, terrified, and overwhelmed by guilt. Panic attacks, depression, and conflict became part of my daily existence. Yet in the middle of all that, I managed to earn my HSED and a vocational certificate. One night, I asked myself what I needed to survive a life in prison, and the answer became psychology. I read books on persuasion and self-help, not to heal, but to control my surroundings. I distanced myself from reality for years, convinced I was unlovable and deserved only pain. My turning point came when I finally entered a true rehabilitation program in my 30s. A program called Challenges and Possibilities introduced me to restorative justice. I learned about the ripple effects of crime—how one violent act spreads pain into families and communities. That understanding forced me to confront the full impact of my actions. I apologized to my family and listened to their pain, facing the truth rather than hiding from it. Even then, shame controlled me. I tried to be the person I believed I should be, and others looked to me for guidance. Helping gave me purpose, but I was still drowning in guilt, believing that endless punishment would somehow create peace. Nothing worked until a short stay in segregation forced me to face myself honestly. There, I read House of Healing, and for the first time, I understood that seeking forgiveness included forgiving myself. It did not erase my crime, but it opened the door to real healing. From that point on, I worked to become the person I wished I had been. I continued my education, reached out to my victim’s family through the Office of Victim Services, and prepared for a future I never expected to have. When the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that juveniles could not be given life without parole, hope returned, even though I feared release because prison was the only world I knew. I filed motions, pursued vocational training, and earned degrees. The legal system offered moments of hope, then disappointment. Reform movements rose and faded. Bills stalled. Promises from officials collapsed. Each time, I had to face the possibility that I might die behind these walls, even after decades of growth. But I never stopped learning, mentoring, and preparing to contribute to society. Programs like the RYTE Program showed me the value of my experience. Speaking to youth about choices and consequences gave meaning to my life. I earned degrees, including a bachelor’s degree with honors, and continued building skills while embracing accountability and service. My story isn’t finished. I continue to study, mentor, create, and work to improve myself. I don’t know how it will end, but I know why it matters: a 17-year-old can commit a terrible act without fully understanding the scale of what he is doing. A child’s brain and worldview are incomplete. Fear, loyalty, and identity overpower consequence and clarity. But that child does not stay frozen in time. He grows. He learns. He matures into someone capable of empathy, purpose, and contribution. Rehabilitation is not about perfection—it is about persistence. It proves that even after the worst mistake, a person can build a meaningful life. My sentencing judge could not see that possibility. But decades later, I stand as proof he was wrong. This campaign is bigger than me. It is about the belief that no young person should be defined forever by their darkest moment. It is about restoring the possibility of redemption. Children deserve a real chance to become the adults they are capable of being. And when we offer that chance, we do more than help individuals—we preserve the values we claim to hold as a society. My story continues, and the work of change continues with it.

Predators are targeting Black elderly homeowners — especially women — because they believe no one will protect them. But we will. Our elders built Central Brooklyn. They deserve safety, dignity, and the right to age in place — not displacement through fraud and violence. Add your name. Stand with our elders. Protect Black homes.

Under Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth watch, recent unauthorized boat strikes in the Caribbean killed more than 60 civilians. This highlights a reckless disregard for civilians and basic standards of international humanitarian law. Treating civilian casualties as an acceptable cost of “showing strength” undermines U.S. credibility with other countries, fuels instability, and puts both service members and communities abroad at greater risk. His explicit effort to rebrand the Pentagon as the “Department of War” is not symbolic; it reflects a worldview that prioritizes aggression and political theatrics over careful, lawful, and restrained use of military power. Civilian lives must never be treated as expendable, and any leader who normalizes such harm and normalizes war crimes cannot credibly claim to be safeguarding our national security, our values, or the service members asked to carry out these operations. Hegseth’s background simply does not meet the standard for this job. For the safety of U.S. troops, the protection of civilians, and the integrity of our democracy, we need to remove Pete Hegseth and confirm a Secretary who values human life, international law, and true defense over permanent, endless war. 

The Morea Road warehouse project must be reevaluated because it will permanently reshape the community, placing a massive industrial facility only 300 yards from existing homes, increasing noise, air pollution, and heavy truck traffic while destroying local green space and wildlife habitat. Residents were never properly notified or given the chance to participate in earlier decisions, despite the project’s direct impact on their safety, health, property values, and quality of life. Ensuring thorough environmental studies, transparent public communication, and responsible planning is essential not to stop progress, but to protect families and preserve the long-term well-being and livability of Mahanoy Township for current and future generations.

Thousands of National Guard troops have already been deployed to cities across the country — where Trump has ordered them to do everything from “protecting” Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities to assisting law enforcement efforts. Communities are on edge and people are scared. No matter, Trump has threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act and mobilize even more troops against civilians.  No matter which way you cut it, it’s NOT what our cities wanted or asked for. It’s NOT what our servicemembers signed up for. And, it’s NOT making anyone, anywhere, any safer. Every governor in the country now faces the same choice: Push back against these domestic deployments, or allow the Trump takeover to continue. We’re not leaving it up to them, which is why we’re driving letters to governors, letting them know where we, the people, stand.

Trump wants you to foot the bill for his scandals. He’s demanding $230 million in taxpayer money from the Department of Justice (DOJ) after being investigated for alleged election interference and mishandling of classified files – claiming he’s the victim and that we owe him for trying to hold him accountable. [1] You read that right: $230,000,000. That’s hundreds of millions of dollars that should be going to schools, healthcare, and working families – not lining Trump’s pockets. In Trump’s own words, “it sort of looks bad.” [2] We agree. Even worse, the decision would come from Trump’s own political appointees inside the DOJ [3] – many of whom were his personal lawyers previously. If they sign off on this, Trump could quietly funnel taxpayer money straight to himself. It’s an open invitation to corruption – telling every powerful politician they can demand payouts just for being investigated. We need your help to stop this scheme in its tracks. SIGN THE PETITION: We won’t stand by while Trump raids our pockets. Tell Trump’s loyalists to recuse themselves – and tell Congress to stop this grift for good >> [1] https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-doj-compensation-millions-b2849569.html [2] https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/21/us/politics/trump-justice-department-compensation.html [3] Ibid.

Republicans in Congress are holding food assistance for 42 million Americans hostage to force through Donald Trump’s budget — a plan that would raise healthcare premiums for millions of working families while handing out new tax cuts for billionaires.  USDA has used a contingency fund to make sure no one went hungry, and food assistance has never been stopped during a shutdown.  But now, the Trump administration is refusing to release funding for food assistance programs like SNAP. USDA under Trump is deliberately refusing to deploy the $5 billion SNAP contingency fund — a decision meant to pressure Democrats into passing the Republican budget that favors the billionaires at the expense of everyone else.  This isn’t just political brinkmanship. It’s cruelty--especially for Rural America, who use SNAP at a higher rate than Americans in larger cities.

SB 2420 expands state surveillance powers and undermines the confidentiality of personal communications and online activity. Texans should not have to sacrifice privacy to participate in public life or express their views freely. This bill sets a dangerous precedent for government overreach and violates the spirit of constitutional protections guaranteed under both the U.S. and Texas Constitutions.

1. Many residents have schedules that are prohibitive to attending City Council meetings. The recordings we have of the regularly scheduled meetings allow us to review the dialogue that occurs and gain a more comprehensive understanding of the issues at play. How is this any less relevant for committee meetings, which so many people describe as "where the action occurs." 2. This is long overdue. See https://share.google/yQCi0GwKls6x8K0MR and https://share.google/HyZIUaHVB2ZHpjbr9 we gather that Mayor Levin is worried about how recording would impact cost and the continued ability to foster open dialogue, A) Livestreaming is free and B) Recording actually shouldn't be prohibitive to elected officials conversing in a candid manner. In addressing the mayor's concern that snippets of recorded meetings could be posted to social media and potentially subject to poor contextualization, isn't the same risk applicable to ANY meeting that is recorded and made accessible to the public? 3. Other neighboring communities (Hinsdale, Lombard, Naperville, and Addison to name a few, indicate on their websites that they record committee meetings. Is it not worth considering why they are willing to take this extra step to strengthen community transparency)? Please therefore consider placing Michael Bram's request to record committee meetings on the agenda for a vote. He has asked twice, and neither request has ever made it to the agenda.  As residents, we understand that maintaining and improving our town requires an ongoing investment. Yet, the more that is asked of residents, the more that residents have a right to evaluate the conversations and information that ultimately drive decisions that affect all of us.  Please take steps to preserve the transparency that is so critical to our moving together as what Elmhurst truly is--a community. Thanks for your time and consideration.