After seeing "Blackfish" and reading "Death at Sea World" and "Beneath the Surface", and doing my own research on killer whales, I strongly believe in this mission.

I have had the opportunity to volunteer at the Illinois State Museum and see firsthand what a vital role it plays in the education of our citizens. More importantly, I've had a chance to work with the amazing staff of the ISM, both on the public side and the research side, and I know they take their mission to heart. Closing the ISM would leave a void in the culture of the state, and these passionate and hard-working people will be caught in the crossfire of the dangerous game Mr. Rauner is playing. Join me in making him understand that people's lives matter. For more information about the work of the Museum, please follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Save-the-Illinois-State-Museum/917517601639564?fref=ts

Chicago was recently ranked 5th in bicycle fatalities with two-thirds of those riders NOT wearing helmets.[1] Our streets are more dangerous than ever with more traffic -- both cars and bicycles -- and more distractions while we're on the roads. Everyday we move at a faster pace. Let's be smart and embrace the statistics -- honoring those who have paid the ultimate price -- and require one of the smallest but most beneficial pieces of protection. Source: 1. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-bike-deaths-illinois-met-20141027-story.html

We are appealing to Bayer to change their contraceptive name to one that is not personally insulting to many women and girls, who are now subjected to slander and ridicule regarding being the moniker of birth control, to a name that that does not hold international cultural value as a personal name.

To keep motor vehicles in their lanes until passing the farm area. This would reduce the temptation to increase speed and pass slower vehicles in an area where vehicles frequently enter and exit. Thus it would increase the safety of people and possibly animals that live there. No passing zones are created for work and construction areas to keep people safe why not those of us who work on farms

Maine has had medical marijuana since 1998. Legalizing adult recreational use of marijuana will create a whole new economic sector for the state, and will decrease arrests and incarceration for marijuana offenses, thereby creating needed criminal justice reform. It is time for the nonsensical prohibition of what is essentially a plant to end. Personal freedom, economic possibilities and criminal justice fairness demand it.

[PLEASE WHEN SIGNING THE PETITION, USE YOUR REAL FIRST AND LAST NAME] I am a student at Jesse M. Bethel High School in Vallejo and have talked to a multitude of students and parents who feel that Dr. Ramona Bishop has done nothing to improve school safety over a period of four years. She has continuously ignored parents' and students' complaints and has constantly refused to discuss safety concerns for all schools in the district. In the past two years there have been mobs, weapons pulled on both of the high school campuses, and a gas line explosion. Dr. Bishop claims that our schools are safe and there are no concerns about student safety from her point of view. We need change and if she can't make it happen, then we need someone who can. I would like to have as many signatures as possible to have her removed from her position if she continues to do nothing. Please this can only be signed by people who live or work in the city of Vallejo to be effective. If you graduated from on of the Vallejo high schools but no longer live or work in Vallejo, you can sign this petition as long as you mention that note. Also if you have family in one of the Vallejo schools please mention that. Please sign and share.

Every day animals around the world are mistreated and abused due to callousness or ignorance. As human beings of good conscience, it is our duty to protect those who can't protect themselves, especially innocents like children and animals. This petition aims to protect some of the most vulnerable among us, creatures that, with open hearts, place themselves entirely in our hands. We must act now to protect the pets of Illinois.

Responsible RI citizenship is needed NOW.

I am tired of the hypocrisy of Texas leaders complaining about the Federal Government until it is time for them to get help.

This country cannot survive another 8 years of Neo-Liberal Economics and Neo-Conservative Politics. With Senator Elizabeth Warren not running for President in 2016, the candidate that gets people excited and hopeful is the progressive Senator Bernie Sanders.

**June 11 good news: Please scroll to the bottom of this letter for an update. It has come to our attention as current band members of the BMI/New York Jazz Orchestra that there are core components of the current configuration of the workshop that are about to be dropped (namely, the professional jazz orchestra). Many of us have performed in the orchestra for over a decade; some have been here since the workshop's inception in 1988. Many of us are not only performers: we are composers who have participated as writers in the workshop. Furthermore, some of us are BMI-affiliated writers and publishers. All of us are aware of the one-of-a-kind experience that the workshop affords us as a community-- most keenly, to the composers who are able to study big band writing free of charge with the most respected large ensemble composers writing today. Many of the workshop composers have gone on to receive significant awards and accolades and credit the workshop as a key part of their development. As band members, our monthly playing in and of itself provides a sounding board for composers to hear what works and what doesn't. Both the composers and the performers are vital parts of the BMI Jazz Composers Workshop. To be a longtime affiliate or supporter of a performing rights organization - one whose mission is to serve composers not only by collecting royalties but by providing opportunities for their musical development (and, in turn, providing performance opportunities for performers) - and to be a longtime member of the BMI/New York Jazz Orchestra, where we provide services mostly free of charge for the entire year, is a commitment that all of us take extremely seriously. To come to a final reading session and to not be met by BMI's director of jazz, or, frankly, anyone on senior management, and then to be told that the professional reading band will not be used after next month's concert, does not show any of us the same respect that we have faithfully given to BMI. We ask that Patrick Cook meet with the current workshop composers and band members to discuss his vision that seems to disregard the vibrant community of jazz composers and performers that have, in conjunction with the legacy of artistic directors including Bob Brookmeyer, Manny Albam, Jim McNeely, and Mike Holober, made BMI attractive as a creative home for jazz musicians. Finally, we realize that the dissolution of the jazz workshop as it has been known for the past 26 years does not merely affect us as current band members and composers; we realize that it affects those composers coming after us who are losing the opportunity to learn this idiom in this environment, and it affects the public who will have fewer opportunities to experience progressive big band music. **June 11 update: Dear friends, on Thursday morning, I visited BMI's New York offices with one other representative from the BMI Jazz Composers Workshop. We hand-delivered our petition- with over 1000 of your signatures- at a sit down meeting with Patrick Cook and Charlie Feldman. I am happy to report that both Mr. Cook and Mr. Feldman made it clear that both the band members and the workshop composers will stay intact for the fall. There is no interest in disbanding the BMI/New York Jazz Orchestra. Furthermore, the workshop's focus on big band writing will continue as such for at least the next two years. We are also working to foster an ongoing relationship between the workshop/band members and BMI that has just begun in earnest with this first meeting. Thank you for helping us to get to this point. Finally, if you are in the greater New York area, you are warmly invited to attend the 27th annual BMI Jazz Composers Workshop concert on Thurs, June 25 at 7:30 pm at Christ and St. Stephen's Church, 120 West 69th Street. Admission is free, and we are especially encouraging students and young musicians to attend. With thanks, Deanna Witkowski Pianist, BMI/New York Jazz Orchestra **June 1 update: Dear friends, I have an update from Charlie Feldman, VP of Writer/Publisher Relations in New York. I have just scheduled a meeting with Mr. Feldman for next Thursday, June 11. Mr. Feldman has informed me via email that BMI wants to keep the focus of the jazz composers workshop as is: on jazz large ensemble writing. Furthermore, he wants to keep all of the current band members intact in the fall. I would ask that those of you who have specific questions and concerns send them directly to me (a link to contact me is at the top of the page), so that I can bring them up at this in person meeting. Please also continue to share the petition so that we can show as much support as possible in advance of the in-person meeting on June 11. Thank you for your ongoing support! -Deanna Witkowski, Pianist, BMI/New York Jazz Orchestra