This is a persistent problem that must be addressed.

The City of Coral Gables has commenced the design of their long-planned project for a complete makeover of its signature street, "Miracle Mile", the heart of the downtown area. This $20 million project will include shrinking travel lanes, and reconfiguring angled parking to parallel parking to allow more space for the pedestrian sidewalk. When designed correctly, there is adequate space to add a protected or standard bicycle lane, so that bicycle riders can access the many retail shops and restaurants on Miracle Mile. The initial plans prepared by the firm hired by the Coral Gables Business Improvement District ("BID") in 2009 increased the sidewalk from 14.5' to 21'. Experts in street planning (Streetplans) found that by reducing travel lanes and parking lanes slightly, bicycle lanes could be added to Miracle Mile, providing a tremendous potential improvement to the safety of the street for pedestrians and bicycles, as well as allowing safe access to the bicycle riding community. Plans showing protected bicycle lanes were included and recommended in the Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan which was approved by the City Commission in 2014. In 2014 a final financing plan was approved that would create an equal cost-share where the BID and the City (residents) would each pay 1/2 of the total cost. A firm was then hired to commence the design phase services. A steering committee was appointed and the design commenced. At its first public meeting, the designers showed that the travel lanes and parallel parking lane could be narrowed, and all of the extra space would be added to the pedestrian-only sidewalk. Bicycle riders seeking to shop, dine and work on Miracle Mile will be expected to ride on the street. We the undersigned support the inclusion of dedicated bicycle lanes for bicycle riders of all ages to enjoy the many retail stores and restaurants on Miracle Mile without fear of harm from vehicles or risk of injuring pedestrians, and urge the City of Coral Gables to immediately direct the design consultants to include a bicycle lane in their plans.

We need safe roads in North Carolina now!

You can call your Supervisor at 565-2241. Some facts, as reported more fully, with footnote hyperlinks and graphs, in the SonomaIndependent dot org: While Sonoma County’s economy is surging, and tax revenues are surpassing projections, County libraries are facing their fifth year of the worst funding crisis in a century. As reported in the Sonoma Independent.org, despite being one of the wealthiest counties in California, Sonoma County spends just $34 per capita on libraries. That’s half of what Napa and Marin County spend, and barely one-quarter of the $124 per capita that San Francisco spends. As a result of this underfunding, in 2011, Sonoma County libraries cut back their weekly hours system wide by 25%. This ended Monday and nearly all evening hours at 11 libraries. The result has been that the most vital public resource of our community has locked its doors on tens of thousands of patrons, including toddlers, teens, parents, and seniors, who had relied on regular library service. Library visits, with Internet service and book and DVD lending in a free, safe working space for all, had not been diminishing until the enormous cutback in hours caused them to plummet. Fewer hours has translated into a 22% reduction in visits, meaning 600,000 fewer trips to the library each year. Cutback hours has created lines for computer usage, and reduced services for the more than 100,000 citizens who use our libraries. No other countywide public service experienced similar cutbacks during the recent recession. And no other reductions in services provided by the County missed being restored by an economic recovery that will bring a record $13.5 million surplus to the County’s treasury this fiscal year (ending June 30). An even larger surplus is projected for next year. Yet our County Supervisors continue to insist that there is no money available to restore library hours, and that this is not their responsibility because a dedicated parcel tax funds our libraries. This ignores the fact that many local governments add funding for libraries, and that the County Government regularly adds funding for services, like roads and law enforcement, when dedicated funding falls short. During the four years since the Monday closures, inflation-adjusted spending for libraries has dropped 3%. During the same period, the total Sonoma County budget has increased by 16%, and, despite declining crime rates, inflation-adjusted spending on prisons and probation has increased by 23%. Sonoma County’s Library Director estimates that it would cost $1.2 million per year to reopen the 11 main County libraries on Mondays. This is less than 10% of this year's projected budget surplus, and a small fraction of what the County will spend, from the General Fund, to augment dedicated road repair revenue. Sonoma County expects to add at least $6 million this year to nearly $50 million in its “rainy day” reserve funds. We want our Supervisors to know that this unprecedented cutback in hours has created four years of rainy days for the many thousands of us, and our families, who use and love our County libraries. We hope that in 2016, a tax initiative can permanently resolve the library funding crisis. Meanwhile, we urge you to place $1.2 million less in the reserve fund this year and next, and dedicate these funds to restoring Monday hours, starting this summer. Sonoma County’s government website says, “We Work For You.” Our County Supervisors need to fund our library hours shortfall and stop making excuses. Four years of closed Mondays is long enough.

Last night, an Amtrak train tragically derailed, leaving at least seven people dead. The very next day, Congress took an initial vote to cut $262 million from Amtrak’s budget [1]. This is a devastating cut to an agency that is already radically underfunded. The exact cause of last night's accident is yet unknown, but safe trains don't pay for themselves. Is this risk worth the consequences? Tell Congress: Stop the Amtrak funding cuts. [1] Hours after deadly crash, House panel votes to cut Amtrak budget, Politico: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/05/amtrak-budget-house-panel-crash-117904.html

I have personally used this service for school and work. I do not have the luxury of a personal vehicle to travel in, and I do not make much money. The New Mexico Rail Runner Express has been there for me to use when I had no other transportation. To hear state officials say it may not be worth the money is sad. Discontinuing service would hurt not only me but all of the current 4,500 riders who use it daily.(1) If you have ever used this service or know someone—whether it be a friend or family member—who uses it, please sign your name and let New Mexico's lawmakers know we want this train to stay!

We are a group of MSW students who have taken on a cause to reverse policies that penalize the poor instead of helping them. Student's Aid to Children Project wants to bring awareness and gather support for Senate Bill 23.

YES, I AM VERY PERSONALLY AFFECTED BY THIS!! THE HOMELESS HAVE RIGHTS!! FIRST AND FOREMOST- HOUSING!!!! I lost my home by no fault of my own! I was NOT prepared for it. All the AGENCIES that I turned to for help said that I had to have children under the age of 18 or they have no funds, vouchers, no room, etc...It's been 11 weeks now. My son, daughter and myself living OUTSIDE, in our car. OUTSIDE LIKE UNWANTED DOGS!!! Even though I had a small income, it was not even enough to rent a 1 bedroom ANYTHING! We were disconnected from any of our so-called friends. We have no family to turn to. We are not drug addicts or drunks. We have no criminal charges or records. NOW MY CAR NO LONGER RUNS AND WE'RE STUCK UNDER A BRIDGE!! People everywhere are so detached and busy. They just look the other way. 47% of the State of Georgia has no HEALTH CARE. That's nearly half of our State folks! Wake up! I want people who want to help people in NEED!! It COULD happen to you!! No bed, no bathroom, no way to cook, no money and no help and SCARED OF MY SURROUNDINGS!! NO MORE RAPID REHOUSING!!! GIVE US YOUR EMPTY BUILDINGS FOR US TO REHAB!! WE WILL DO ALL THE WORK JUST TO HAVE HOMES!! Let's do something truly SEPARATE AND DISTINCT from all the REST!!! STOP THE HATE CRIMES!!! HELP ME NETWORK AND SERVE THOSE IN A CRISIS AND ELIMINATE TREATING PEOPLE AS JUST DISPOSABLE HUMANS!! ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS!!! DO AN ACT OF TANGIBLE KINDNESS, SIGN THE PETITION AND WRITE A HAND WRITTEN LETTER TO YOUR LEGISLATORS!! HELP ME STAY ON TOP OF THIS!! TAKE RESPONSIBILITY!!! YOU COULD BE NEXT!!!

The condition of our roads threatens our economy as well as the safety of the driving public. Doing nothing is irresponsible.

Child homelessness in San Francisco is the most severe it has been since the 1906 earthquake. Enough public schoolchildren are homeless to fill 70 classrooms. Throughout the city, there are children who live in cars with their parents, in residential hotels, crowded on mats in church basements, in shelters, or in tents. This MUST END! The change has been rapid and dramatic: A decade ago, waits for shelter were no more than a week, and a family could generally expect to find a place to live in San Francisco by the time their shelter stay ended. Today, not only are more San Franciscans losing their housing due to displacement, but also the likelihood of finding housing at the end of a shelter stay in San Francisco has faded to the vanishing point. In San Francisco, we are fortunate to have the resources and know-how to end this crisis. We are calling on the Mayor to address the housing needs of all those families with minor children who meet the City’s definition of homelessness including those in shelters, in cars, in residential hotels, doubled up and in garages. Each of these forms of existence have negative impacts on the development of children that can be addressed by ensuring dignified housing. Our goals are not modest, but they are achievable: • By housing all currently homeless children, we will halt an accumulated backlog that has been driving lengthy episodes of homelessness. • We will return our emergency system to the role it was designed to play, an emergency system that can quickly shelter families without waiting for a bed to open. • We will prevent homelessness through dynamic interventions that capture families before they lose their housing for those for which there is a remedy. For those instances there is no preventing, such as domestic violence or fires, we will be able to quickly shelter and rapidly re-house.

If Wisconsin's current Family Medical Leave Act was changed to federal law: • Individuals would NOT be able to care for parent-in-law or domestic partner • Part time employees working between 20-26 hours per week would NOT be covered • Employees of business under 50 spread out over the state would NOT be covered • Employees would NOT be able to choose whether they want to use their accrued time while on leave. Let's tell Wisconsin legislators that our FMLA law must be protected and kept in tact!

What is Group Residential Housing (GRH)? The Group Residential Housing (GRH) program is a state funded program that provides an income supplement to recipients each month to pay for rent and food. All of those supported by the program are at risk of institutional placement or homelessness. The amount of a GRH payment is based on a federal and state standard of what an individual would need, at a minimum, to live in the community. In addition, there are income and asset maximums. Counties administer the GRH program for the state and are responsible for determining eligibility. The GRH Housing Rate is a payment directly to the provider of housing on behalf of the eligible person. Many types of settings may enter into a GRH contract with their county, including adult foster care (family and corporate), board and lodging establishments, non-certified boarding care homes, and registered housing with services establishments. The Problem The current GRH base-rate, less $96.00 for the recipient’s personal needs, as of July 1, 2014, is $876.00 per month or $28.80 per day / per bed / per recipient. In addition to the base rate room & board paid to the facility, each person in the GRH program will receive for personal needs, clothing allowance, and prescription medication co - pays currently not less than $96 per month. In other words, the program takes all of the recipient’s money and only gives them $96 a month to live on for people’s personal needs money. Recipients are not allowed to work while living in GRH. They can’t pay other bills and they don’t have enough money to live on. Basically it’s a program that keeps people in poverty and doesn’t allow them to move out of poverty. When talking to a Minnesota State Senator about GRH housing, he said that the reason the government only gives people $96 to live on, is because that’s how GRH housing gets their funding. The Minnesota State Government doesn’t want to pay all of it, so they charge poor people an arm and a leg for it. The Solution When you think of everything you need to buy in a month to survive and all of the bills you have to pay, $96 barely covers it. No one can live on $96 a month and it is unfair to ask GRH recipients to do the same. No matter what people’s living situation is, they need to have money to properly live on and to be able to pay their bills. Most importantly, they need to be able to move out of poverty, which is why they also need to be allowed to work and go to school. By amending the GRH program to where the recipient only has to pay 1/3 of their income for rent, and where the Minnesota state government pay for the rest of the budget for GRH, will allow poor people to pay their bills, have enough money to live on, find a job or go back to school, and move out of poverty. Please sign the petition and contact Governor Mark Dayton, and your Minnesota State Senator and Representative and ask them to reform the funding for GRH.