The following statements are from Service Industry Workers in Kent County: As a service industry worker I had to go back to work because my family relies on me and unemployment is a nightmare. Since being back to work everyday customers refuse to stay masked and cuss at us for following the Covid guidelines to keep the community safe. We endure name calling, harsh attitudes, terrible tipping and overall unsafe conditions no matter how hard we stick to the guidelines. The only way to work safely is to make sure those of us on the front line are vaccinated. We risk getting our loved ones sick by being exposed to people who have no respect for the general population. Our mental and physical health are being put at risk every time we are serving a new table. Vaccinate all people working with the general public or close these facilities until we can. We can't keep putting people at risk. - Kim, bartender I'm a server and a host at a breakfast restaurant downtown Grand Rapids, working during the pandemic has been really hard. Our waits are far longer due to being at 25%, now 50% capacity, and people are not understanding whatsoever. We also have had so much trouble about people wearing masks. We have full on arguments at the door because people don't want to wear them. These people don't realize my job is at stake, my money to pay my bills and keep me going is at stake. To them it's just a meal. - Anonymous, server/host I work for creative dining services at Aquinas and a few weeks ago there was an employee that got Covid and they were hush hush about it. Students are constantly coming in improperly wearing their masks and eating while standing and making my job more difficult. I work full time and i’m scared i’m gonna get Covid because of this recklessness. - Sonny, supervisor

With few interstate travel restrictions, a sick Texas means the pandemic continues unabated in the United States. 1. Only 1/5 of Texans have been vaccinated and the declaration that we have sufficient personal protective equipment (PPE) does not square with the reality that teachers, domestic workers and other essential personnel continue without material or policy protections. 2. It is gratuitous to acknowledge that we have “adopted the daily habits that reduce risk of covid-19 exposure and transmission” and then to remove statewide mask mandates. We need to support Texans to continue safe practices. 3. Abbott draws equivalence with active cases in November. Test positivity now is where it was in November - around 11-12%. By January, it had escalated to 20%. This same pattern was noted over the summer. And now we want to open everything up again right before spring break. 4. Regardless of covid-hospitalizations, county governments across 254 counties are being denied purview over reducing capacity of any entity below 50%. With what public health rationale?

1. Only 1/5 of Texans have been vaccinated and the declaration that we have sufficient personal protective equipment (PPE) does not square with the reality that teachers, domestic workers and other essential personnel continue without material or policy protections. 2. It is gratuitous to acknowledge that we have “adopted the daily habits that reduce risk of covid-19 exposure and transmission” and then to remove statewide mask mandates. We need to support Texans to continue safe practices. 3. Abbott draws equivalence with active cases in November. Test positivity now is where it was in November - around 11-12%. By January, it had escalated to 20%. This same pattern was noted over the summer. And now we want to open everything up again right before spring break. 4. Regardless of covid-hospitalizations, county governments across 254 counties are being denied purview over reducing capacity of any entity below 50%. With what public health rationale?

In the COVID-19 rollout plan for Massachusetts, teachers and academic instructors are included in Phase 3, effectively putting them in line with the general public. Teachers have worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic to provide a semblance of normalcy to a disrupted academic year to the students of Massachusetts and will continue to do so moving forward, and should be protected by the vaccine immediately. As districts throughout the state are returning more students to in-person, full-time instruction, this is a change that needs to take place as soon as possible.  To all the parents of school-aged children here in MA, if you truly want your children to be safely back in-person, please make yourselves heard! Please join me in telling Governor Baker and the Massachusetts Vaccine Advisory Group that teachers deserve better and should be included in Phase 2 distribution of the vaccine (and is consistent with where other states have prioritized this profession).

We have a right to clean air. In light of the recent fire at EMR, reports of air pollution, explosions and smells coming from the various industries in our community, hearing that GP Gypsum wants to increase their output extensively is extremely distressing and should be unconscionable considering we are designated as an Environmental Justice community. What does that designation mean if not that there is a dire need to reduce emissions and not allow them to increase? We love our community, and we need it to be healthy. Increasing emissions from any source in the neighborhood would be a huge step back and jeopardize public health in a City where childhood asthma rates are an alarming 33% (compared to 9% in NJ). We need the Department of Environmental Protection to protect our community from increased pollution and risk!

Representatives from ARC-SouthWest and South first were requested to stay at home until further notice. We were not offered to work from home, just like we have been doing since Covid started. This time, we were not offered any type of solution besides staying at home. On 2/22/21, we were ask to either use PTO or not get paid. There is a third option that upper management decided to ignore "reserved PTO" which is used for "emergencies". However, this option was never offered. This is hurtful, as an ARC employee I feel used. We have been working throughout Covid19 since March of 2020. We never complained about not getting hazardous pay or a raise. This is completely unfair and it should be illegal to steal PTO from employees. Upper management has been stepping all over us, as employee appreciation we got 1 canned water container from Rainwater... Why not using that money and give us at least a .5 raise? In the meantime we are opening 2 new clinics in Austin Texas. Please look into this, is not only ARC, other companies are following the steps of ARC. To top the cherry, most of our spouses are getting covered by "hazardous weather" and they get to keep their hard earned PTO. ARC needs to be brought to light and exposed their unfair treatment to their employees. I know we are not HEB but they should act better than this. Thank you for your time and consideration. Att: Really pissed off ARC employee

Democrats are in charge of the Senate -- and they’re vowing to use their majority to make cannabis legal.1 When Mitch McConnell was Senate Majority Leader any cannabis legalization bill was dead on arrival. But guess who’s not running the Senate anymore? Now we have a clear and urgent pathway to legalize cannabis and pass restorative justice reforms to address the millions of people harmed by the disastrous “War on Drugs.” Sign the petition: Tell Congress to repeal the cannabis ban and pass restorative justice reforms now! Back in November, along with electing President Joe Biden, every cannabis legalization or decriminalization initiative won at the ballot box.2 That’s a clear mandate. Of course, legalization is only part of the process. Right now, even though cannabis is legal in 15 states and DC, an estimated 40,000 people are still in jail for cannabis offenses.3 Democrats in Congress have been introducing bills to legalize cannabis and restore justice for low-level drug offenders for years. But Senator Mitch McConnell blocked cannabis legalization in the Senate. But McConnell no longer runs the Senate, and Democrats control Congress and the White House -- for now. If we want to see an end to the “War on Drugs,” then Democrats need to act now. Sign the petition: Tell Congress to repeal the cannabis ban and pass restorative justice reforms now! Sources: 1. CNBC, “Democratic senators will push to pass pot reform bill this year,” February 1, 2021. 2. Ibid. 3. Forbes, “With 40,000 Americans Incarcerated For Marijuana Offenses, The Cannabis Industry Needs To Step Up, Activists Said This Week,” June 26, 2020.

A nonprofit organization, COVAX, will help with distribution of more than 800,000 of the Astra Zeneca Covid vaccines to the Guatemalan government. These 800,000 vaccines will give priority to vaccinating healthcare workers. However, these 800,000 doses will only be enough to vaccinate approximately 2% of the Guatemalan population, given that two doses are required. Moreover, the efficacy of this vaccine after the 2nd dose is only 70%, which is a much lower efficacy than those vaccines being given in the U.S. Most of the population of Guatemala cannot expect to receive vaccines until at least the end of 2022.

We want Nevada to put Seniors First for receiving the Covid vaccine. To date, Nevada has not prioritized 65+ and residents with underlying conditions. Meanwhile, most states (three-quarters) have given these “at risk” groups top priority. In fact, Florida has vaccinated 65+ seniors for nearly 2 months. In Nevada, the 60+ age group makes up 84% of the Covid deaths. While Nevada’s older population continues to die from this disease, many non-essential, younger workers have received the vaccine. The current playbook is simply not working equitably. Since January 12, the CDC has recommended that all states adopt the 65+ guideline and we ask Governor Sisolak, and other county/state officials to immediately do the same. Lives are at stake, especially the most vulnerable citizens.

The New Hampshire Progressive Coalition is deeply disappointed, though not at all surprised, by the decision by a majority of Republicans in the US Senate to acquit Donald Trump of the crimes for which he is obviously and demonstrably guilty. This acquittal, undertaken by a group of officials who were not only jurors and judges, but also witnesses to and victims of the charged crime, should drive home an understanding among people of good will that the Republican party as a whole has abandoned all semblance of decency, fairness, and fealty to the rule of law and the tenets of democracy. Given the behavior of the Republicans, and taking them at their word, we fully expect the GOP to be as resistant as possible to any and every initiative that the Biden Administration and the Democrats propose. Though Democrats hold a majority, it is a slim one that requires that all Democratic representatives and senators #LinkArms and stand together.

Millions of people around the world may not get COVID-19 vaccines until as late as 2024--unless President Biden reverses the Trump administration’s deadly Big Pharma boondoggle at the World Trade Organization (WTO).

We, the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee, call on President Biden to take action for immigrant rights. We will hold President Biden accountable to the immigrant rights reforms he already promised AND also demand that he works to demilitarize the border and provide legalization for all. We have not forgotten the three million people who were deported under the Obama-Biden administration. Justice today does not only look like reversing anti-immigrant policies but actively seeks to repair the harm that has already been done to countless families. MIRAC will continue to push for legalization for all and an end to the whole system that profits from the mass-incarceration and the mass-deportation of immigrants, and also from the superexploitation of the labor of immigrants who live under constant fear of deportation. Please sign our petition to tell President Joe Biden to meet these demands! If you would like to get involved with MIRAC, please provide your email here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1uUMnByB-S6JGMOd7q9wgyavae_5sXwQEcpsbTOKFOgk/edit