I'm a member of a civil organization that's trying to secure justice for the wrongful killing of Ronnie Shumpert.

[Español abajo] I, as an Arkansas resident and/or benefactor of the Civic Center in Springdale, wish to affirm for the Arkansas Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) Commission that Mr. Eddie Vega is an upstanding citizen and businessman, and the Civic Center is valued by the Northwest Arkansas community. Mr. Vega's generous contributions to area nonprofits and the Arkansas Children's Hospital have had a tremendous, positive imprint on Arkansas, with deep reverberations across various communities. Mr. Vega's economic impact has been just as significant, and is considered a well-recognized Hispanic leader and entrepreneur, establishing some of Arkansas' most successful businesses in multiple markets. As such, I respectfully ask that the ABC Commission give favorable consideration to the Civic Center and Mr. Eddie Vega at their August 17th hearing. Yo, como un residente de Arkansas y/o beneficiado del C​ivic Center​ en Springdale, deseo afirmar ​a​ la Comisión​ ​ de Arkansas del Control de Bebidas Alcohólicas (ABC) que el Sr. Eddie Vega es un ciudadano ​ejemplar ​y hombre de negocios, y​ que​ el ​Civic ​Centro es valorado por toda la comunidad del noroeste de Arkansas. ​Las​ contribuciones generosas del Sr. ​Vega a organizaciones sin fines de lucro y el Hospital Infantil (Children's Hospital) de Arkansas han tenido una enorme huella positiv​a​ en Arkansas, con profundas reverberaciones a través de diversas comunidades. El impacto económico del Sr. ​Vega tambien ha ​sido muy​​​​ significativ​o​, y se considera un líder empresario hispano bien reconocido, estableciendo algunas de las empresas más exitosas de Arkansas a través de multiples mercados​.​ Por lo tanto, pido respetuosamente que la Comisión de ABC adopte una posición favorable para el C​ivic Center y el Sr. Eddie Vega en su audiencia d​el 17 de Agosto​.

Donald Trump announced yesterday that, if elected president, he would enact an extreme "vetting" test to determine if the values of those seeking to enter the U.S. are so-called American values. He claims his test would expose those who have "hostile attitudes" towards America. Yet we know that his proposal is fueled by racism and xenophobia. Our country already has a test immigrants take when they apply for citizenship—one that tests their knowledge of American history and civics. So, before Trump gets to propose a new, xenophobic test, I challenge him to take the one that already exists. I believe Trump would almost certainly fail this test, given his general ignorance and weak grasp of basic facts about American history, principles, and functioning of our government. His entire political career—beginning with his absurd and dangerous campaign to discredit President Obama—has been built around alienating other Americans. The fact is, Donald Trump is nothing more than a spoiled, unpatriotic drain on society who has earned nothing and helped no one.

At the October 7 California Coastal Commission (CCC) hearing in Long Beach, the CCC staff recommended that the commissioners deny the Coastal Development Permit (CDP) for the proposed massive Banning Ranch development project. The CCC staff’s recommendation was based on the developer's proposed project heavily impacting the extensive Environmentally Sensitive Habitat Areas (ESHAs), wetlands and Native American evidence on Banning Ranch, as well as other significant Coastal Act inconsistencies, In their report, the CCC staff described how, by reducing the development footprint to 11.5 acres, the developers could build a project that would be consistent with the Coastal Act. The CCC staff report from the October hearing can be viewed at: http://documents.coastal.ca.gov/reports/2015/10/w9b-10-2015.pdf Rather than deny the development permit, the commissioners voted in October to postpone their decision and directed the developer and the CCC staff to work together to find a project that could be approved. In the months following the October hearing, the developer has submitted a reduced version of the proposed project that revised the development footprint from 124 acres to 85 acres. This revision seems more designed to secure a vote of a majority of the commissioners rather than a genuine attempt to bring the project into compliance with the Coastal Act. This proposed project still has nearly 900 homes, requires extensive grading (2.8 million cubic yards), and continues to result in significant impacts to ESHAs, wetlands and Native American evidence, and for these reasons, the Banning Ranch Conservancy opposes the developer's revised proposed project. The project was scheduled for a vote in May (ultimately postponed at the developer's request). For the May hearing, the CCC staff prepared a report in which CCC staff reclassified some areas of ESHA as non-ESHA, significantly expanding the potential development footprint from 11.5 acres to 55 acres and recommended approval of the developer's proposed project as long as the approval was conditioned such that the project would fit into the 55-acre footprint identified by CCC staff. The Banning Ranch Conservancy has strong objections to the CCC staff's reclassification of ESHA as non-ESHA and for this reason, we remain opposed to the proposed project, even with CCC staff's recommendations.

Cable companies like Direct TV, Time Warner Cable, Comcast, Dish and others should allow the option to remove FOX News as a network that is paid for. I want to stop my money from the fees I pay for my cable from going to FOX News.

I like many others am a victim of electronic harassment and ganged stalking, a heinous crime which must end.

Hitler used the same strong-arm tactics to prevent voters from coming to the polls in Germany. Now Trump is urging his armed supporters to intimidate minority voters in the US. Many of my family members were killed in the concentration camps as a result of this fascistic practice. Trump should NOT be allowed to influence the vote in the same way.

The SWFL Clean Water Movement is a group of concerned citizens rallying to end the toxic Lake Okeechobee discharges that destroy our river, esturay, and local Gulf waters. Freshwater releases from Lake Okeechobee pose major problems for our Southwest Florida ecosystem. As a result, incidents of dead oyster beds, wilted sea grasses, toxic algae blooms, and fish kills have increased in our coastal estuaries and rivers. We demand that our elected officials, legislators, and the corporate businesses responsible for this disaster support the solution: Buy the land and send the water south!

Last week, Donald Trump put out a call on his website for "election observers" to keep Hillary Clinton from "rigging" the election. This focus on trumped up spectres of election fraud as a tool for intimidating voters is nothing new for the Republican Party. During the 1970s and 1980s, after people of color in low-income neighborhood were harassed and intimidated at the polls, the Republican National Committee (RNC) was barred from a practice called “voter caging”—challenging voters’ eligibility to cast ballots at their voting site. And now, Trump's “election observers” could be the next wave of voter intimidation based on bogus charges of voter fraud. The Brennan Center’s ongoing examination of voter fraud claims have found that “voter fraud is very rare” and “voter impersonation is nearly non-existent.” What is not rare, however, is our country’s legal history of blocking people from voting. The Fifteenth Amendment and the Nineteenth Amendment—which gave people of color and women the rights to vote, respectively—were ratified after years of campaigning, organizing, and sacrifice. Jim Crow laws kept Black Americans from voting until the civil rights movement fought for and secured the passage of the Voting Rights Action, signed into law in 1965. We cannot allow Trump supporters to harass voters—our country has come too far to be pulled backward.

The City of Rock Springs has filed a law suit against my property stating set back violations. The ordinance 13-601 states: Raised decks, stair cases, and Unenclosed Porches are exempt from set backs. They filed a law suit to have it torn down. August 16th, and September 6th are the last 2 readings on this matter.

How can we build community trust and confidence when we have public safety officers with this mindset?

NOTE: FASTING CAN BE DANGEROUS. THOSE WITH HEALTH ISSUES OR CONCERNS THAT MAY BE AFFECTED BY FASTING SHOULD NOT PARTICIPATE. ANYONE UNSURE OR WITH QUESTIONS SHOULD CONSULT THEIR DOCTOR BEFORE PARTICIPATING. Farm workers are vital to our well-being as a nation. But for nearly 100 years, they’ve been treated like second-class citizens and denied real overtime. But right now, we have an opportunity to right this wrong with Assembly Bill 1066 by Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez. AB 1066 is a commonsense solution that will give farm workers overtime pay after eight hours. But powerful corporate lobbyists are trying to tear it down. That is why on Tuesday, August 16, legislators, faith-based leaders, and activists across the country are going to fast for 24 hours in support of farm workers and help pass AB 1066.