Petition started by “Greenwich Parents Against Crumb Rubber” The turf at Greenwich High School's Cardinal Stadium is due to be replaced in Summer 2016. We are calling for an immediate moratorium on the installation of crumb rubber infill for turf fields. When turf surfaces require replacement, organic alternatives such as coconut, cork or GreenPlay should be utilized. No new turf fields containing crumb rubber should be installed at Greenwich Public Schools or at town-owned park sites. WHY THIS MATTERS: Crumb rubber is made of ground-up old tires, which are classified as “special waste” in the State of CT, meaning they cannot be landfilled. Grinding them up into small pellets exposes children playing on turf surfaces to known carcinogens (such as Benzene, Arsenic & Carbon Black) through fume inhalation, ingestion and dermal absorption as tire crumbs can get into hair, ears, eyes, mouths and may even enter the skin through wounds (such as turf burn). The Mount Sinai Children’s Environmental Health Center has urged a moratorium on the use of recycled rubber tires on fields and playgrounds. A multi-agency investigation into the safety of crumb rubber is under way at the federal level. The EPA found that “existing studies do not comprehensively evaluate the concerns about the health rises from exposure to tire crumb.” Additionally, the Consumer Product Safety Commission no longer stands by an earlier assessment that crumb rubber is “safe.” MORE INFO: You can read more about the carcinogenic substances contained in crumb rubber from a Yale study here: http://www.ehhi.org/turf/findings0815.shtml You can read more about the Mount Sinai Children's Environmental Health Center's position on crumb rubber here: http://media.wix.com/ugd/fd0a19_f5aa0824698341499b4228ebabf90cb5.pdf A University of Washington soccer coach has been tracking nationwide cancer diagnoses in players, potentially linked to crumb rubber. So far, 217 have been diagnosed, some have died. An ESPN special report can be viewed at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91svvfuF7iY (NOTE: The authors of this petition have no financial interest in or affiliations with any providers or manufacturers)

Hawaii's affordable housing shortage has reached crisis proportions. We are number 1 for homelessness per capita in the nation. Our college-educated children are priced out of the market. Politics as usual helped cause the current crisis. This is the time to tell our lawmakers that NOW is the time for them to act.

Arbitrary or obsolete speed limits encourage unsafe driving practices, such as following too closely or passing in unsafe situations. As County Highway Safety Chairman, I feel this needs to be addressed.

Squatters Action for Secure Homes (SQUASH) have produced two reports, “The Case Against Section 144” (March 2013), and “Homes, Not Jails” (April 2015) outlining the failings of s144 LASPOA, and how the new law is disproportionately affecting the homeless and vulnerably-housed. Many young people have been arrested, prosecuted and jailed unnecessarily under the law, while others have died from exposure in the winter months. For more info: http://www.squashcampaign.org/resources/

Junipero Serra High School is participating in a "Lenten Justice Project" where our focus is on raising money and awareness for the financially impoverished of San Mateo County. We also want to make policy changes. The bay area is a very expensive place to live. More and more people are becoming homeless because of the cost of living and low wages. We don't want to kick them off the streets or make criminals out of them for not having a place to call home. Our mission is to be in solidarity with and to fight for those who don't have a roof over their heads.

Sound Transit's Link Light Rail has recently expanded to include service to Capitol Hill and UW. While this is an excellent addition, the last service both to and from these areas is before 1AM. Most bars close at 2AM, leaving riders to take a taxi or rideshare back, so instead some people choose to drive - and then drive home drunk. Expanding service until 2:30AM on Fridays/Saturdays and 1:30AM on other days would not only help decrease drunk driving but likely be cost effective given the high demand of Seattle's excellent bars, which are now served by the new stations. This petition is to request that the Sound Transit Board of Directors expand operating hours for the good of public safety and service to our community.

Not only is the Central Library Marcel Breuer's final building, but it's considered one of his finest by architects and scholars. Opened in 1980, the Central Library is one of the best examples of late Modernist Architecture. It is the result of an era in which Atlanta emerged as an international center for culture and business. Breuer's Central Library, along with John Portman's Peachtree Plaza Hotel and Richard Meir's High Museum, among other projects, were built not only to serve the people of Atlanta, but to be an expression of the city's unique energy, vitality and sophistication, a role the library continues to play to this day. Preserving the Central Library will ensure that future Atlantans and visitors can experience an important piece of art in the museum of architecture that is our city. Renaming the building for its architect would emphasize Atlanta's reputation as an international center for business, culture and architecture by honoring one of the world's great architects.

We oppose this application in order to prevent destruction and pollution of this property which is near our beautiful Roosevelt Forest, and threatens our wetlands.

Thousands of local soccer-playing children in Annapolis, Maryland, many of whom are low-income minorities, are being denied equal access to modern, new, recreation and athletics facilities in publicly-owned parks located in their neighborhoods because of favoritism and cronyism on the part of the Director of Recreation and Parks, Rick Anthony. Mr. Anthony and his staff consistently award preferential access to the newest and most modern park facilities to elite groups from outside our town, who shouldn't even be permitted to use the facilities, and they deny equal access to the local residents. Elite travel teams from outside our town are being awarded most of the access to modern, newly constructed, recreation and athletics facilities in publicly owned parks in our town, while local children, many of whom are low-income minorities, are being relegated to inferior, poorly maintained, mostly dirt and stone fields that are not safe places to play. Mr. Anthony and his staff do not even follow the department's own adopted and published guidelines and policies. They violate the county's own guidelines and policies to make exceptions for a privileged group. They consistently make exceptions for one particular elite travel soccer group that seems to have Mr. Anthony's ear. Stop the conflicts of interest. Stop the insider deals. This must be stopped. Fair and equal access for the local residents must be restored.

The City of Eugene has been criminalizing our homeless community members for years and continues to do so at great cost. People have been arrested for violating no trespassing signs when sheltering themselves from the weather. Their RV's in which they live have been impounded along with all the belongings in them. They have been giving out violations and tickets for "illegal" camping and yet the City has not put the necessary effort needed into providing adequate shelter. In fact they have been doing things to make it even more challenging for people to self-shelter, such as constructing fences. Fences were constructed by the City (Parks and Open Space) under the overpass near 1st and Jefferson, near Washington Jefferson Park with a budget of $67,000. They were built in addition to the fences that were previously constructed in the park. Instead of using that money to come up with a solution to people having to live without shelter, they are using it to push people out of spaces that provide some shelter from the rain as well as a safer place to sleep. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights lists all of our human rights, including the right to housing. The City is not only in violation of this human right, but is also exacerbating this violation by not allowing people to self-shelter themselves. Recently the U.S. Department of Justice issued a brief in a court case that said punishing people who are sleeping outside when there are insufficient numbers of shelter beds being provided is a violation of the 8th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and thus "cruel and unusual punishment. Preventing people from accessing a place to self-shelter it seems is equally a violation. There are plans for more fencing to be constructed in other areas as well, which means more of our taxpayers' money being used to do so. Please tell the City of Eugene, to remove any and all fences already constructed and to stop plans of any future fence construction as well.

The Green Meadow Elementary School's playground has drainage problems so our children cannot play on it for much of the school year, and it is not accessible to children with disabilities. The taxpayers in Maynard have already set aside funds to improve recreation opportunities in town through the Community Preservation Act. We need full funding to move forward with the construction phase of this project.

To bring to their official attention public opposition of the proposed western bypass around Ashland for High Speed Rail.