Benny the Hydrant is doing his best to bring fire safety and awareness to the community. However, Benny is not functional and needs YOUR help to be replaced with a working hydrant. In the coming months, the City of Oakland and EBMUD are upgrading the water line down Benevides Avenue, however, they didn't add a provision for a fire hydrant. Adding one at this time would be extremely cost effective, would bring additional fire safety assets to the Oakland Fire Department, and would help reduce the risk of a dangerous fire spreading in the park and through a neighborhood on a dead-end street. In the event of a fire emergency, every second is critical to contain the fire as quickly as possible. Adding a hydrant would bring the area closer to being in compliance with the current Fire Safety Building Codes (A hydrant is required within 200 feet of the dead end street per 2019 CFC Appendix C, Table C102.1). Park-goers and residents deserve to have this critical infrastructure kept up with the current fire codes to keep us all safe and to protect our beautiful parks and trees. Add your name to the petition to protect our parks and trees, to bring additional fire safety assets to the neighborhood, and to help reduce the risk of a wildfire spreading through the canyon.

The prison system is so messed up and we should take a stand to try and make things better. There are a lot of inmates dying behind prison walls and no one seems to really care about this issue. There are so many inmates that suffer from medical illnesses and they are being overlooked just because they are locked up. No one should have to go through this. A change needs to happen soon.

As a candidate, Joe Biden promised that he would take “real action” on police reform. But now, as President, he is consulting with police unions, arguably the biggest enemies of police accountability, reform, and justice. Even worse, the Biden administration is actually touting police unions’ support for their approach to police reform, welcoming police unions into the conversation, and reinforcing the false idea that police unions are reasonable actors who deserve a voice in conversations about police accountability. It’s dangerous and it needs to be called out—if the Biden administration is serious about change, they can’t afford to give police unions an opportunity to sabotage reform. Biden, in his first address as President-elect, said this: "The African American community stood up again for me. You’ve always had my back, and I’ll have yours." As millions of protesting Americans—especially Black Americans—have shown, police accountability is an incredibly urgent issue, one that will remain a top priority until real reform is passed. But as long as police unions are taken seriously in any policymaking, any such reform will stay impossible. Police unions are a dangerous obstacle to achieving even the most basic progress. We’re urging the Biden administration to do the right thing: publicly denounce the role that police unions have played in stifling efforts for accountability and commit to not giving them a seat at the table as the issue of police reform is negotiated and pursued.

Sha’Carri Richardson is one of the fastest athletes in the world—and would have a real chance of winning the 100-meter sprint in the Summer Olympics this month. However, due to an outdated and arbitrarily enforced rule around marijuana, she's now going to be kept from competing on the world stage. In no world is marijuana a performance-enhancing drug for runners, and in more places in the United States and around the world, marijuana use is legal. The United States Anti-Doping Agency should drop their penalty and allow Richardson to compete! There are many reasons to have rules against performance-enhancing drugs, but this one is absurd. The imposition of a penalty against a world-class Black, queer, woman athlete is powerfully and infuriatingly reminiscent of the way drug laws are regularly applied in the United States. Recreational marijuana use has been de facto legal for upper-middle-class white people for years—something more states are recognizing as they legalize marijuana for all people and consider how to repair the damage done to Black and brown communities by decades of the "war on drugs." The world is coming together for a Summer Olympics postponed by a global pandemic, and we deserve to see the best athletes in fair, open competition. That includes Sha'Carri Richardson, whose one-month penalty is excessively punitive for an irrational, outdated rule. Let Sha'Carri run!

The fate of the open internet is in the hands of two Trump appointees -- unless Joe Biden acts now. Ajit Pai, who as Federal Communications Commission chair under Donald Trump led the repeal of net neutrality, resigned from the FCC when Joe Biden became president. Nearly half a year later, the fifth FCC seat remains empty. Meanwhile, two of Trump's appointees are still on the FCC. With a 2-2 deadlock, they can continue to block key priorities until the vacancy is filled. In order to reinstate net neutrality and protect internet users from corporate control, we need President Biden to fill the fifth seat.

We can combat climate change, curb extreme weather, and spur the economy at the same time. Tell Congress ‘No climate, no deal’ and sign the petition today to show your support!

My name is ReVonda Bowen and I am sharing my story as one out of over 20 million Americans who lost their jobs because of selfish corporations putting profits over people during the pandemic, and then struggled to survive because of broken unemployment systems. I was so heartbroken and upset when I heard that Governors in 25 states across the country are ending federal unemployment benefits early for no reason, leaving 4 million workers like me with no support. Ending federal unemployment benefits programs will be devastating for families across the nation. Many will suffer, go hungry, or lose their homes as a result of these terrible decisions. These cuts are an attack on workers of color and Black workers especially: Because of racism in the job market, Black workers are the last to be hired when the economy picks up. That means Black workers are more likely to be on UI right now. These cuts are unacceptable, especially during a time where the ultra-rich in this country, who have profited off of the backs of working people, have gotten over $1 trillion richer during the pandemic that has taken the lives of almost 600,000 Americans and led to record unemployment, hunger, and starvation, has overworked health care workers, and has sacrificed essential workers to maintain the status quo. Instead of focusing on addressing the real problems that harm working people and businesses every day, such as starvation wages, poor benefits that limit access to health care, and union-busting by large corporations, Republicans are trying to take unemployment benefits—that are already low to begin with—away from the people who need them. We can’t keep ignoring the real issue, which is that workers should not be forced to go back to a status quo that was hurting them. This is where the federal government can create economic guardrails for Americans. The unemployment insurance system should be reliable, fair, and support everyone who needs help, no matter where we live. We urge President Biden and Secretary Walsh to step in and support the continuation of unemployment benefits for struggling Americans. The truth is that employers need to start paying workers a living wage, provide benefits like health care and paid sick leave, allow workers to unionize their workplaces, and much, much more. Now, the right wing GOP is blaming working people for demanding decent jobs that allow us to earn a living wage and be there for our families. They say that unemployed people are lazy and that emergency unemployment benefits are just an incentive for them to stay home, when, in reality, our economy is still down 10 million jobs. People are desperately looking for work and unemployment benefits are helping families survive until the economy fully recovers. It’s insulting. Governors are listening to the Chamber of Commerce and the Restaurant Industry, lobbying groups who represent corporations. Those corporations want to force us to take jobs with low pay and no security. These jobs require 24/7 availability but don’t guarantee full-time hours, and are often unsafe. This is why we’re asking you to take action to urge the Biden administration and the U.S. Department of Labor to take action in support of workers and against states trying to end federal unemployment benefits early! We need President Biden to fight for continued benefits for all working people, and to overhaul the unemployment insurance system so we can all count on it during a crisis, no matter where we live.

Hunter’s family and community have been denied this transparency. Hunter was 17-years-old. Hunter was a son. He was a brother. A nephew. An uncle. And a friend. Hunter was young, innocent and full of life before his life was cut short by this unjustified use of deadly force that is not captured on body mounted camera footage. This is unacceptable and must change.

Join me because I know what it’s like to have your job at risk because you don’t have job protection for things out of your control. My daughter was in the NICU for 6 months and still needed nurse care when she came home. She had 2 doctor appointments per week plus physical therapy. When I ran out of vacation/personal time my job was at risk because I didn’t qualify for FMLA. Let’s help other parents who face these dangers get the lawful protection they need. Let’s change FMLA to protect NICU parents who have children that need additional support without the fear of losing their job.

160,000 people in Massachusetts alone are uninsured. In pockets of Boston, nearly 25% of people are uninsured. Even many people that do have insurance are going bankrupt from medical costs. We have to stand up and demand that no person should go without care.

Florida, we are a state of people — not Democrats, not Republicans. We are a state of moms, dads, aunties, uncles, abuelos, and chosen family and friends. But our Florida family has lost its way. We have forgotten that we belong to one another, that we are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers. We have wayward leaders that have abandoned this family. Our Senators waste time and resources obstructing and ignoring our state’s issues on healthcare, housing, climate, education, and more. Now is the time for action — not obstruction. Both Senator Rubio and Scott need to stop obstructing, do their job, defend democracy, and build back bold for jobs, climate, healthcare, and justice here in Florida. Please take 1 (one) minute to send a message to both Senator Rubio and Senator Scott to stop playing games with peoples lives and represent the people of Florida.

As a Facebook user, I was shocked to receive an advertisement for MyPillow on my Facebook feed. MyPillow's CEO, Mike Lindell, is a dangerous liar and conspiracy theorist. During Donald Trump's crusade to overturn his defeat in the 2020 election that resulted in a deadly insurrection led by white supremacists, the "MyPillow Guy" outdid even disgraced figures like Rudy Giuliani and Sydney Powell in trumpeting false information and lobbying Trump to turn the military on the American people. His lies were so bad that major retailers like Kohl's and Bed Bath and Beyond stopped selling MyPillow products. But Lindell has doubled down on his aggressive lies, and is now holding rallies at which he spouts the QAnon fiction that Trump will somehow be reinstated as president. Department of Homeland Security officials have told lawmakers that they expect this conspiracy theory to inflame the threat of extremist violence, just like the lies Trump and Lindell spread helped fuel the racist violence of January 6. These are the kinds of dangerous lies that got Trump booted from Facebook for violating its terms of service. Yet Facebook is still making money off of MyPillow's CEO, who has increased his online advertising as a result of being kicked out of retail stores. Enough is enough. It's time for Facebook to be consistent, and stop taking money from MyPillow, indirectly propping up and amplifying Lindell's conspiracy theories.