According to the most current FBI reports, a white police officer killed an African American individual nearly two times a week in the United States. The Department of Justice has found a pattern of excessive force within a number of major police departments.

The citizens of New Orleans declare a vote of no confidence in the Sewerage and Water Board of New Orleans (SWBNO). Our bills have risen steadily and unreasonably, and our infrastructure and streets have eroded into stagnant pools of disrepair. Meanwhile, the Sewerage and Water Board's customer service is non-existent -- the website is either down or overloaded, contact by phone is virtually impossible, and our issues of record are permanently "under investigation," an empty and meaningless term used by the SWBNO in an attempt to placate customers. Business, as usual, must cease immediately. The citizens of New Orleans demand change!

After repeated representations by supporters of this project, (live and written) we are reacting to repeated attempts at Common Council to sway their decision. Consider this the collective voice of supporters.

While President Trump has lunch with Saudi prince Mohammed bin Salman, [1] children in Yemen are starving to death. Stephen O'Brien, the United Nations' top aid official, has demanded that Yemen's Hodeida port, currently blockaded and attacked by Saudi Arabia, be opened to food imports to avert famine. [2] 53 Members of the House have urged Secretary of State Tillerson "use all U.S. diplomatic tools to help open the Yemeni port of Hodeida to international aid humanitarian aid organizations to allow them to import food, fuel, and medicine into northern Yemen and save the lives of hundreds of thousands of Yemeni children who face starvation." [3] The Trump Administration wants to sell Saudi Arabia weapons that were put on hold by President Obama. Senator Rand Paul [R-KY] and Senator Chris Murphy [D-CT] oppose the sale. "I don't know why we would give them precision-guided munitions that allow them to target civilians more efficiently,” Senator Murphy said. [4] Urge your Representative and Senators to oppose the Saudi arms deal by signing our petition. References: 1. http://money.cnn.com/2017/03/14/news/economy/trump-saudi-deputy-crown-prince-oil-tech-defense/ 2. http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/usgerc-stephen-o-brien-statement-security-council-missions-yemen-south-sudan-somalia; http://webtv.un.org/search/stephen-obrien-ocha-on-the-humanitarian-situation-in-yemen-somalia-kenya-and-south-sudan-security-council-7897th-meeting/5355321872001 3. http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/join-unreliefchief-bolivia_o?r_by=1135580 4. http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2017/03/congress-showdown-saudi-arms-sales-bombs-yemen.html

NY Times Editorial Observer 3/13/17 by Elizabeth Williamson article, "Want to Keep the President at Bay? Two Consultants Have an Inside Track", describes the lobbying efforts of the 2 former Trump senior advisors, who help companies fend off "tweet risk". Two clients of Avenue Strategies listed in the article are: Scott's Miracle Gro and Community Choice Financial, a payday lender. I have long used Miracle Gro but will no longer. It's time to spring clean, and serve notice on Miracle Gro.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is known for its poor ethical track record and constant abuse of power when it comes to enforcing our nation’s immigration laws. Under the Donald Trump’s Administration, ICE has gone from bad to worse. Now, ICE is actively taking advice from hate groups to shape our nation’s immigration policies. Recently, the Daily Beast reported how two known hate groups, the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) and the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), are actively conspiring with Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) to help craft national immigration policy. FAIR and CIS are known for their ties to white supremacist groups and racist statements, and Donald Trump has already begun implementing some of their most racist proposals, including defunding sanctuary cities, reviving a controversial program that would deputize local police as federal immigration agents, and expediting the deportation of immigrants across the nation. If we want to keep Donald Trump from destroying our American values, then we must pressure federal agencies like ICE to stop meeting with hate groups like FAIR and CIS. Please join with me and demand that ICE stops meeting with known hate groups immediately!

Aubrey Jones lost her fiance, and after becoming a victim of cyberbullying, she ended her life 4 days later, leaving behind a 4 year old and a newborn baby! I think the people who are responsible for pushing her and blaming her, threatening her, should be held accountable

Our current president, a billionaire businessman, is intent on enriching himself while gutting the federal government. To achieve both goals, he has spent most weekends since the inauguration traveling to his estate in Florida, at taxpayer expense, while his sons travel internationally to promote his business ventures, also at taxpayer expense, and his current wife and young son remain in New York, at additional expense to taxpayers.

I have worked at Starbucks for 10 years -- going on 11. I am an expecting mother, and I am asking Starbucks to expand its new paid parental leave policy to ALL employees - not just those who work in the corporate office. Last year my son Kai was born, and he died due to complications from delivery after only two days. Starbucks said I wasn’t allowed more paid maternity leave because there wasn’t a baby anymore - I got a total of $140 dollars. You never think something like that will happen to you - and with all the stress and heartbreak, it is so hard to also have to worry about finances instead of just being able to grieve. My husband and I just found out that we’re expecting a baby this summer. And when we heard the news that Starbucks had a new parental leave policy which seemed great - new parents in the corporate office get 12 weeks of fully paid parental leave, plus an additional 6 weeks for birth recovery. But you know what? Expecting parents who work in the stores - baristas like me - are being offered much much less. New moms get only 6 weeks, and new dads and adoptive parents don’t get ANY paid time off at all. Are our babies and families less important than those born to corporate employees? I am asking Starbucks to do what is right by offering the same parental leave benefits to in-store employees as new parents who work in the corporate office. Because my babies need just as much time with me as their babies need with them. I only had two days with my first child. I know how precious every minute is during that early time. I know that every parent deserves the chance to bond with their baby, and that you can’t get that time back. Please, Starbucks, your baristas deserve the chance to be there with their babies, just as much as the staff in your corporate headquarters.

Loved one of an inmate at River North Correctional Center and prison reform advocate.

In recent weeks, the Trump administration has made it clear that any and all immigrants are subject to deportation. Trump has called on local jurisdictions to help carry out his plan and to do that he wants to reinstate the failed enforcement program known as 287(g), an agreement that gives local police some authority to enforce immigration law, and a similar program known as Secure Communities. The Maryland TRUST ACT would put an end to this. The MD TRUST ACT would prohibit law enforcement agencies from collaborating with ICE on civil immigration enforcement, and prohibit the contribution of state or local resources to a federal effort to register people on the basis of protected classes including religion and race.

Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) has introduced a bipartisan bill to block additional U.S. forces from being sent into Syria. [1] H.R. 1473 prohibits the Department of Defense from funding any attempt by the administration to expand our presence in Syria by putting U.S. combat boots on the ground. Under the bill, the Pentagon would be prohibited from using funds to send troops to Syria for ground combat operations, award a contract to a private security firm for ground activity or otherwise establish or maintain a presence of U.S. troops or a private security contractor in Syria. The bill would allow for exceptions to “protect, rescue or remove” U.S. personnel. “I strongly object to the White House’s decision to unilaterally place U.S. boots on the ground in Syria," Rep. Lee said. "The Constitution is clear: Congress must debate, vote and authorize the use of military force in matters of war and peace." [2] Twenty Members of the House have co-sponsored the bill. [3] Urge your Representative to co-sponsor H.R. 1473 by signing our petition. References: 1. http://thehill.com/policy/defense/323319-dem-seeks-to-block-us-troops-going-to-syria-after-marines-deployment 2. http://lee.house.gov/news/press-releases/congresswoman-barbara-lee-introduces-bipartisan-bill-to-block-the-deployment-of-ground-troops-in-syria 3. https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/1473/cosponsors