There are over 2,400 children in foster care in Alaska, a record number only expected to increase. The state is parent to these children, yet, does not have adequate resources to meet the growing demands of children and families in our foster care system. Cuts to programs that serve vulnerable children or that try and prevent maltreatment from occurring will result in horrific social and fiscal costs for decades to come.

One of the tools we have to help Boston residents is the Inclusionary Development Policy (IDP). This policy requires developers of new housing with 10 or more units to set aside a portion of their units as below-market affordable housing, or pay into a City affordable housing fund as a condition of receiving relief from the Boston Zoning Code. But even with this important tool, we are not meeting the needs of Boston residents. As the market quickly changes, we too have to be swift with our response. We need to improve the IDP to adapt to these changes, and better respond to our housing needs! With all of the luxury development going up across Boston it is urgent that we update this policy NOW! The mayor of Boston has the power to strengthen this policy. To learn more about the IDP, or our petition please visit us at www.bostontenant.org Our Asks: 1. Higher percentage of affordable units: IDP affordable units should be no less than 25% of total on-site and off-site units produced directly from each IDP development, regardless of whether the affordable units are provided on-site or off-site by the developer or through developer payment in the IDP fund. 2. Larger buyout payments: Developers who choose not to provide affordable units themselves on-site or off-site should make payments into the IDP fund equal to the number of required affordable units times the per unit cost of developing an affordable unit in the neighborhood where the developer is proposing the market-rate development. 3. Deeper affordability: All IDP affordable units should be affordable to households with incomes below 150% of Boston Median Income (150% of BMI=80% of AMI), with the following targeting: a) AT least 50% of affordable units should be affordable to households with incomes below 100% of BMI, which is approximately $52,000 (=55% of AMI); b) No more than 50% of affordable units should be affordable to households with incomes between 100% and 150% of BMI, which is approximately $52,000-$75,000 (=55% to 80% of AMI); on average, these units should be affordable to households with incomes of 125% of BMI (~$63,000) c) Deeper affordability should be achieved to the greatest extent possible through the use of Section 8 and MRVP vouchers and other subsidies. 4. Other Components: a) Apply 25% affordable requirement to substantial rehab developments seeking zoning or tax relief; b) Fully comply with affirmatively furthering Fair Housing; c) Maintain Detailed, publicly-available records. If you agree with our asks please sign our petition! We need to act now and help create more desperately needed homes!

Story (no longer available) from http://www.newschannel9.com Korean War Veteran Found Frozen To Death Inside Home This bitter cold weather has killed 11 people in Tennessee, most of them from hypothermia. On Wednesday, Sequatchie County deputies found a senior citizen frozen to death inside his mobile home atop Lewis Chapel Mountain. Bradley Sutter was an 85-year-old Korean War veteran. He lived somewhat in seclusion. From Shell Road, his house isn't visible. A snow covered path lined by frozen tree branches leads to his home. It's easy to never see it. Sheriff Ronnie Hitchcock said, "At the time we were on the mountain, it was 16 degrees outside and it felt as cold inside as it did outside." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Updated version from wrcbtv on February 20, 2015 includes: Fatalities Tennessee has eleven (11), confirmed, weather-related fatalities: Hamilton County - One (1) fatality: 63-year-old male, hypothermia related Henry County - Two (2) fatalities: 64-year-old female, hypothermia related; 69-year-old male, hypothermia related Hickman County (1) fatality: male, dialysis patient, unable to get to treatment Knox County - One (1) fatality: 30-year-old male, motor vehicle accident Overton County - One (1) fatality: 38-year-old female, motor vehicle accident Roane County – One (1) fatality, 44-year-old male, hypothermia related Sequatchie – One (1) fatality, 85-year-old male, hypothermia related Shelby County - One (1) fatality: 48-year-old male, hypothermia related Williamson County - Two (2) fatalities: 34-year-old female; 10-year-old male, motor vehicle accident Power Outages There are just over 6,300 customers without power this afternoon, down from more than 11,000 this morning, over six counties with the highest outage in Monroe at 5,693 customers. Shelters Open Red Cross (7): Warren, Sevier, Roane, Maryville, Loudon, Knox, Dyer Independent (6): Madisonville, Loudon, Lewisburg, Coffee, McMinn, Rhea http://www.wrcbtv.com/story/28140165/tema-confirms-6-cold-related-deaths-in-tennessee -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/local/story/2015/feb/21/war-vet-freezes-death-inside-home/289469/ War Vet Freezes to Death Inside Home DUNLAP, Tenn. -- After surviving two wars, frigid weather took the life of Bradley Sutter this week. Police found the 85-year-old dead in his rural mobile home with nothing but electric blankets for heat. With temperatures in the single digits this week, concerned neighbors asked the Sequatchie County Sheriff's Office to check on Sutter, whom neighbors hadn't seen in several days. Deputies found him dead of hypothermia Wednesday afternoon inside his squalid mobile home, which is tucked away in some woods off of state Route 111 near Dunlap. Deputies found an electric furnace in the home, but it was either broken or not turned on. Sutter's only source of heat came from two electric blankets -- one on top of him, the other underneath. A piece was missing from the bottom of the front door, plugged up with grocery bags. ...After days of searching for family members, investigators tracked down Sutter's son through an ancestry registry, though the sheriff said the two hadn't been in touch for some time. Sutter's son, who traveled from Englewood, Tenn., on Friday to sort through his father's things, declined to comment. The winter storm that swept through the country this week has so far claimed the lives of 18 Tennesseans. Nine of those deaths were hypothermia-related, according to the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency. One of those hypothermia-related fatalities was local 64 year-old Douglas King, who was found Tuesday morning near the railroad trestles at 600 E. 11th St., just a block from the Chattanooga Community Kitchen. ---------------------------------------------- Vance Perry, age 57, Madison, Wisconsin Army veteran freezes to death after being released from VA hospital He was found in a parking garage in below freezing temperatures, wearing only a light jacket. The medical examiner says he likely died of hypothermia. He was 57. Author: Staff, NBC January 5, 2018 Atlanta Erika Perry Vance Perry Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital Paul Rickert MADISON, Wis. -- An Atlanta family says it was negligence that led to the death of their father, an Army veteran. Vance Perry was found dead on New Year's Eve in a freezing-cold parking garage in Madison, Wis. http://www.ksdk.com/article/news/army-veteran-freezes-to-death-after-being-released-from-va-hospital/504994426 ---------------------------------------------- http://www.kcci.com/news/person-found-dead-at-water-works-park/31387656 Richard Miles, age 40 Des Moines "Police identified the man Saturday as 40-year-old Richard Miles. Des Moines Police Sgt. Jason Halifax said Miles was considered a missing person since Feb. 2 and that he likely died from natural causes.... Police said the man's body was 'frozen solid' and he was not wearing a coat or shoes. There was no trauma to his body." ---------------------------------------------- John Skelley, 69 Cancer-Stricken Vietnam Veteran John Skelley, 69, Freezes to Death after Michigan Utility Shuts off Gas http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/oakland/2015/02/12/vietnam-veteran-hypothermia-shutoff/23327507/ Detroit Free Press State asks: Why did Hazel Park veteran freeze to death? By Katrease Stafford, Detroit Free Press 10:47 p.m. EST February 12, 2015 John Skelley, 69, was found dead Feb. 1 in a home on West Pearl Street. Hazel Park police say Skelley died of hypothermia and other health issues. According to Consumers Energy, service was disconnected at the home on the afternoon of Jan. 19 and a tag with assistance and reconnection information was placed on the door. -----------------------------------------------...

Later transit rides enables more consumers and workers to participate in Marietta’s growing economy, dollar for dollar. Buses running a later schedule reduce risk to those who work late night and early morning shifts, preventing them from having to walk for miles down darkened streets and providing them with a small improvement in their quality of life. Low income individuals often work irregular schedules and are the most loyal customers. Based on that, their demand for later services should be met. Equally important is how later transit (directly or indirectly) reduces the number of injuries (pedestrians being hit) in the community. In the past year, there has been an increase in ridership and it is time to take the next step in reinvigorating ridership. While it is up to the discretion of the board how funds are allocated and spent, we believe future revenues should be focused on establishing regular late night ridership on a consistent schedule.

Memphis is one of the poorest cities in the U.S. There is a desperate shortage of quality affordable housing in our community. Foote Homes offers more than 400 of our poorest families a decent place to live and work in the heart of the city. It was also the site of many of our community's most important Civil Rights activities - a place where Benjamin Hooks, Mavis Staples, and Rufus Thomas and their families lived.

Right now in Washington, there is a coordinated attack on Social Security. Congressional Republicans and their Wall Street cronies are attempting to divide the American people through phony, manufactured crises. The truth of the matter is that Social Security has a $2.8 trillion surplus. If no changes are made, it can pay out every benefit owed to every eligible American for the next 18 years and around 80% of benefits owed after that. And if millionaires and billionaires pay their fair share, we can not only extend the life of the Social Security trust fund, but we can expand benefits for every American. Social Security is more than America’s retirement program—it provides an economic bedrock, protecting the disabled, survivors and veterans. Expanding Social Security is simple: it means making our Social Security system work even better by ensuring that benefits are able to meet the costs that seniors and people with disabilities face every day. It means a stronger Social Security Administration that can ensure that people can access the benefits they earn throughout their working lives. What we should not be doing is considering cuts such as the disastrous Chained CPI, or the new Republican plan to cut Social Security for 11 million Americans living with disabilities including 3 million children. Stand with Social Security Works and MoveOn.org in demanding that Congressional Republicans drop their phony crisis and stop threatening the earned benefits of millions of Americans. Demand that they listen to the American people and expand, not cut Social Security!

I remember when the I-35 bridge in Minnesota collapsed, killing 13 people. Minnesota is my state of origin, and I had driven over this bridge a number of times. Our country used to be #1 in infrastructure - no longer. If we put our federal dollars toward new infrastructure, it will prevent future tragedies, and also create many new jobs.

This petition is about starting the process of building and upgrading our infrastructure here in America. We presently have bridges, railroads, electrical grid systems and other structures in need of improvement or rebuilding. The process of building the much needed infrastructure will also create thousands of jobs for Americans, which are sorely needed.

I'm doing this to raise awareness that our government is NOT going to send the money promised to FIX THE VA. The 10 billion dollars will not go to the Veteran's but will be used for other areas. Remember, VETERANS DIED BECAUSE OF LACK FUNDS TO ADD STAFFING OR THE CHOICE TO SEE A PROVIDER CLOSER TO THEM. The whole 10 billion dollars should go, (AS PROMISED) to the veterans. Please just take 60 SECONDS to help me, veterans and for those who are currently serving.

It is outrageous that hard working people like James Robertson must walk 21 miles a day just to get to work! Southeast Michigan transit has failed Mr. Robertson AND thousands of others who struggle every day struggle just to get around. This is a crisis that has continued for far too long! It is time for our region's leaders to solve it!

To celebrate and rekindle the relations between multicultures. Also, to give residents of west Jax a state of the art skate park.

This is a basic fundamental issue of crumbling roads and bridges and other forms of what is called infrastructure.