To the All Creatures Animal Hospital (ACAH) community of pet parents, rescue organizations, and those who value the role of the local veterinarian in their community, We are veterinary support staff at ACAH. But we are also all pet parents and members of the community. When we walk through the door of our local veterinary hospital seeking care for our furry, feathered, and scaled family members, we also want to see familiar faces who we know we can trust. We feel relief knowing dedicated veterinary staff are only a phone call away when our pets are in need, no matter the species. We understand and appreciate that work requires skills and knowledge and we all want to be assured that the most qualified individuals are caring for our pets. The veterinary profession is rewarding and challenging. For many of us, this is our dream career. We are here because we love helping animals, and providing support to the people who love and care for them. Unfortunately, our profession has long been plagued with burn-out, compassion fatigue, and other systemic issues. The average length of time a veterinary support staff member stays in the field is only 3-5 years. These receptionists, kennel staff, veterinary assistants, and licensed veterinary technicians have valuable on-the-job training and/or traditional education. Many of these highly skilled and educated individuals are forced to choose between their own mental and physical health and doing the job they love. The ongoing loss of such knowledge, and the constant retraining of new staff, leads to a decline in the quality of patient care and a further increase in burn-out for those who remain. We are working to change this trend. We know that patient care is at its best when devoted and skilled individuals are at the forefront, and that can only happen when we are supported by industry leadership with the tools we need to be successful, including: - Fair pay and compensation - Decent and affordable healthcare - Adequate sick leave and paid time off to care for ourselves and our families - Mental health support - Assurances that our own beloved pets will receive quality care - Sustainable staffing and scheduling - Improved staff retention programs - Robust safety measures to protect staff from workplace hazards (including safe COVID protocols) Since the purchase of our beloved hospital, ACAH, by the Cara Corporation in May of 2020, these resources have been cut, threatened, or simply not provided at all. The corporation promised these things and more (most of which we had before the purchase, under our previous ownership). The intention was for ACAH to continue to provide high quality care to its patients as well as open opportunities for employee growth and even better patient care. We are devastated that this has become our reality instead. As the staff of ACAH, we are the bridge between the Cara Corporation and our patients. We are fighting for our rights and to continue our ability to give the high quality care you and your pets deserve. In addition to staff support, we were promised that the Cara Corporation shared the values that we hold dear. The staff and our patients were never supposed to become just numbers: those we serve were to remain the highest priority. After many attempts to discuss our concerns with the Cara Corporation were ignored, we have decided to partner with the National Veterinary Professionals Union and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union to organize our hospital so that the Cara Corporation will be required to negotiate over these issues. Our goal in this fight is to retain our autonomy, to maintain our vision of animal healthcare, and to care for the health of our families. Unionizing will give us the right to be involved in policy, ensuring that conditions remain fair to all involved and that patient care - not just profit - is central to the hospital’s mission. Our goal is to feel safe and heard and to have a stable environment where we can give you - our clients and our patients - everything we have. We will protect our patients and their care from becoming the bottom line. We will retain our authenticity. We will stop the disintegration of our caring staff. The Cara Corporation rejected our request to voluntarily recognize our union and we will soon be holding a union election (with the National Labor Relations Board) secure our union and solidarity to fight for each other. The Cara Corporation is fighting our right to organize by hiring a notorious union-busting law firm, wasting valuable resources that could be spent ensuring the best care possible for your pets. These actions are disrespectful to us and our vision, and also to YOU, the pet parent. Please show the ACAH staff how important we are to you and to our community. Your signature will strengthen our resolve, giving us a strong foundation on which to stand and fight together for what is important. All Creatures Animal Hospital is not a place, it is its people, and the clients and patients we serve are our hearts. Thank you for your support.

Five nights a week, an average of more than 3 million people tune in to watch Tucker Carlson on Fox News—it's the largest audience of any show on cable news. In April alone, those millions of viewers have heard Carlson claim that COVID-19 vaccines don't work, that having children wear masks to protect them from the virus is child abuse, that convicted murderer Derek Chauvin did nothing wrong, and that Democrats want to replace white voters with immigrants—a decades-old racist and antisemetic argument known as the "replacement theory." Videos featuring Carlson's comments doubting the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines are spreading like wildfire on social media, with one clip viewed nearly 6 million times on Facebook alone. Carlson isn’t the only one: FOX pundits have been behaving in the most irresponsible manner imaginable for years. According to Media Matters, two weeks after the election was called for President Joe Biden, Fox pundits casted doubt on the results nearly 800 times. Fox News repeatedly aided Trump’s efforts to undermine election results, laying the groundwork to cry foul if Trump lost, echoing debunked theories of fraud, pushing the idea that Democrats are trying to “steal” this election, and arguing that Trump is justified in pursuing his claims of a rigged election. This pattern of coverage consequently led up to the deadly insurrection led by white nationalists. With our democracy—and human lives—on the line, we cannot allow despicable figures like Tucker Carlson to drive these harmful and dangerous messages. Please sign this petition and ask everyone you know to also sign it so we can send a clear message to Tucker Carlson and FOX News that their irresponsible conduct is being monitored and will not be tolerated.

Our nation was founded on the principle of equal rights for all people. Advancements have been made with respect to equitable treatment of LGBTQ persons throughout the nation. But the ideals of our founders have yet to be realized. The City of Roseville has a diverse LGBTQ community which continues to struggle for inclusion especially in this time of extreme divisiveness. The City of Roseville has a duty to: * bring its residents together, * to support one another, * to show solidarity for all its citizens, and * to invite everyone to reflect on ways we all can live and work together, committed to mutual respect and understanding, committed to supporting dignity and equity for all people in the community. The City of Roseville can demonstrate its support for our city’s diversity and our LGBTQ community by flying the rainbow flag at City Hall during the month of June.

One of Insession's members was banned from participating for being homeschooled. According to the IHSA handbook, homeschooled students must be allowed a chance at being on a sports team, but because our school does not consider show choir a sport, he can no longer be a part of this group that he has been in for two years. Our school and faculty have always advised and encouraged us to engage in activities such as clubs, and the arts, but are now taking away his chance to be a part of the community. Please sign to convince our school that these activities matter just as much as other sports, and that other local families shouldn't have their opportunities at making friends and memories narrowed down to "athletics"

The health and safety of the residents in the community depend on safety and a clean neighborhood as intended, instead of a homeless drug addicts, drug dealers, illegal parking and garbage dumping section of our retirement community. It is unsanitary with mounds of garbage dumped around the neighborhood and it breeds rats and other vermin that carry disease. All around our community of homeowners the area is being used as a dumping ground with homeless pirating electricity and the theft of car parts and other personal items from homes. Residents are no longer able to stand on the number 23 bus stop in fear of being attacked with some residents being chased. Please tell Mayor Ted Wheeler and our elected City officials to support and act on our request to clean up our community and get rid of the garbage and illegal activities occurring in plain sight. Add a turning lane and no parking signs. Make Portland Beautiful again.

He deserves for his awesome memory to live on for a very long time. He was a very hard worker for this county

We’ve kept this game relevant for 8 years and have tolerated countless efforts by Gameloft to extract our money (ie, fusion coins, kit cars). The spring 2021 update has destroyed multiplayer and killed this game. WE WILL NOT GIVE YOU ANY MONEY until you undo the damage of this update.

Dear Emily Powell, You have addressed us, the Powell’s community, several times over the past year to offer insight into Powell’s health and challenges during the pandemic. We’ve appreciated those updates and your candor, as well as the acknowledgement that we, the community, play a role in the company’s success. We have responded to your letters with patience and online orders while the stores were closed, and our continued patronage and support now that they’ve begun to reopen. While the most recent community message came from the new Powell’s CEO, Patrick Bassett, we don’t yet know Mr. Bassett the way we’ve come to know you and your family over the years. We also know that because you are the owner of the company, Mr. Bassett's message carries your endorsement, so we would like to continue the conversation with you. Your workers — many of whom have devoted years, some decades, to Powell’s success — are what makes your stores special. Their friendly faces, depth of knowledge, and devotion to their work are what has kept us coming back for so many years. We were saddened by your announcement of mass layoffs at the beginning of the pandemic, but also heartened to learn that the contract between Powell’s and ILWU Local 5 would ensure your workers' rightful return to the workplace, in order of seniority, as jobs became available. We understood that it might take a while, but we trusted that on the other side of things, we would be able to walk into a Powell’s store, see a familiar face, and breathe a collective sigh of relief as things returned to some kind of normal. So you can imagine our dismay when we read the recent announcement and learned that many of those workers — who lost their jobs through no fault of their own — were no longer eligible to be recalled and would have to apply for their former jobs. That is unconscionable. We understand there’s some dispute over the language in the labor contract or what was agreed to in conversations between the company and the union at the onset of the pandemic. We want to be clear that this letter has nothing to do with either of those things. This is about what is kind and morally right. This is about going above and beyond whatever is minimally required by a labor contract or by law and showing compassion for the dedicated workers who have made Powell’s a success. This is also about what we, as a community, are willing to support, and frankly, we need you to do better. We, the members of the Powell’s community, ask that you immediately halt all external hiring and begin recalling your laid-off workers in order of seniority. It's the right thing to do, and we’re saddened by the fact that we even have to ask. Sincerely, The Powell’s Community

Because he’s fam

There are a number of reasons why remote access to meetings should be preserved. First, it allows more people to attend meetings. This method has been necessary and is overdue - to remove it is discriminatory. There are those who cannot physically attend meetings for myriad reasons. Lack of transportation, caregiving, illness, age, etc. can all keep folks from in-person attendance. Second, following CDC guidelines in the meeting room means that attendance will be limited and, therefore, that fewer folks will be able to participate. To have meetings with only physical attendance and a limited number of attendees diminishes the public's ability to participate in decisions that involve them. Neptune had a hybrid meeting style in place. Third, NJ is still a highly at-risk state in terms of Covid infections. As of 9 April 20, cases were up 20% from a month ago. Monmouth County has the fourth-highest number of new cases. The Covid Tracker at the NY Times, updated on 10 April 21, states, "Monmouth County is at an extremely high risk of exposure to Covid-19." With these facts in mind, the reality is that there are those who will neither be able nor choose to participate because of health concerns. To deny the public remote access to meetings is exceedingly undemocratic and, at this time, medically unsafe.

We all know that corporations give to both sides of the aisle. It's how they get legislation that's favorable to what they want to do in business. It's been like that for decades, and until we pass legislation to get rid of dark money, it will stay that way. But now Mitch McConnell says corporations must stay out of politics. Well, staying out of politics means no more corporate contributions to politicians then. Since Mitch doesn't want corporations sticking their noses in politics, Mitch has to give back ALL the money he has taken from them. After all, we wouldn't want him to get any more corrupted than he already is, right?

In 2017, the government of Michigan signed into law a number of exemptions regarding the disclosure of body camera recordings by public-records request. Unfortunately, the truth is that less than 0.1% of police body camera video files are ever reviewed. There is simply too much data for a human to automatically review. However, this data contains valuable insights that can be used to generate police performance metrics. The technology exists for these files to be scanned and analyzed to make reviews and reports an efficient and effective process. Wearing body cameras alone is not enough to instill trust in law enforcement transparency. The audio data needs to be analyzed through natural language processing that can identify the areas police departments need to improve to build community approval levels.