With cookie season in full swing, the archbishop of St. Louis is asking Catholic parishes to end a century-old tradition of hosting Girl Scout troops. Archbishop Robert Carlson claims that the Girl Scouts are "increasingly incompatible with our Catholic values" because of tenuous connections to organizations like Oxfam and Amnesty International whose political views he disagrees with. Despite conducting a lengthy witch hunt, the archbishop and his staff found nothing happening in local troops that he objected to. Unfortunately, that didn't stop him from writing a misleading letter to priests and troop leaders which makes plenty of vague accusations but omits the simple fact that the Girl Scouts don't take positions on controversial issues like abortion. More than 4,000 Girl Scouts meet in Catholic churches in the St. Louis area. They don't deserve to be held hostage to Archbishop Carlson's culture-war politics.

This BARRIER to REPRESENTATION, HB4013, will now be voted on by the Senate Judiciary. West Virginia’s Republican-controlled House passed a bill which would require voters to show one of several types of ID cards before voting. Some West Virginia lawmakers claim the bill is little more than an effort to suppress participation from elderly and minority voters, that this bill will only lead to further disenfranchisement of voters. Voter ID laws only prevent “voter impersonation” — someone pretending to be someone else — and that there have been NO reported cases of voter impersonation in West Virginia! Let your voice be heard and say "NO" to Voter ID Laws in West Virginia!

Honorably discharged veteran, Raymond Schwab, working at the Dept. Of Veteran Affairs in Kansas, requested a transfer to Colorado, so he could pursue cannabis treatment for his PTSD. The state of Kansas responded by taking his children away, and will only return custody if he gives up his legal cannabis treatment, even though he is a Colorado resident with a medical necessity. It is sickening that we repay our veterans by first denying them a safe and effective treatment in the state they reside, and then we punish them by taking away their children when they attempt to move. The state of Kansas should have no legal ground to keep his kids from him any longer.

As a board member of IAEE, want to realize the establishment of a free for all learner university to achieve equity. ofaarook@ gmail.com

Kids need recess. After all, "play" time is critical learning time and exercise. We shouldn't expect our kids to sit still in class for hours on end. But over the past few years, elementary schools in Florida have been phasing out recess—sometimes doing away with it entirely. Recess is proven to help kids develop important social skills, like communication, cooperation, and sharing. Recess also helps kids do better in school, as they become more focused in class. Every child should have the opportunity to benefit from recess.

Michigan business leaders know that equal protection for all people, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, is good for business. It's also the right thing to do. Michigan is behind the times on this issue. You can still be fired or denied housing for being gay or transgender, and it's perfectly legal here in the mitten! It's long past time to amend Michigan's civil rights laws to protect every Michigander equally.

Over half a million people in Iowa are presently covered under Medicaid. Their care is a paramount concern of all Iowans.

The state will lose good paying jobs to out-of-state companies and tax dollars will be lost and wasted on for-profit companies while our citizens in Iowa suffer.

Acting at the behest of the FBI, a federal court has ordered Apple to develop technology to help the FBI break the security on an iPhone. Apple has resisted the FBI's demand and is expected to appeal the order. Privacy advocates fear that the FBI is trying to set a precedent in court that will make it easier not just for the U.S. government but also for foreign governments to demand that technology companies comply automatically with broad government requests for citizens' private information. If the FBI has its way, this precedent would be set without a debate and vote by Congress, bypassing the shift in public attitudes on government surveillance following Edward Snowden's revelations. The ACLU and Amnesty International back Apple's legal fight against the court order. The ACLU said: “The Constitution does not permit the government to force companies to hack into their customers' devices...The government's request also risks setting a dangerous precedent. If the FBI can force Apple to hack into its customers' devices, then so too can every repressive regime in the rest of the world.” [1] Amnesty said: "Apple is right to fight back in this case: the FBI's request ... would set a very dangerous precedent. Such backdoors undermine everyone's security and threaten our right to privacy. Undermining mobile security ... threatens privacy and freedom of expression at a time when [it] is a clear lack of checks and balances that prevent[s] authorities from abusing surveillance powers." [2] Urge Congress to debate and vote on the government's power to break encryption and to push the FBI to step back in the meantime by signing our petition. References: 1. https://www.aclu.org/news/aclu-comment-fbi-effort-force-apple-unlock-iphone 2. http://www.theverge.com/2016/2/18/11044642/apple-fbi-encryption-eff-aclu-amnesty-snowden

How many of you have children with asthma, eczema, allergies, autism, an auto-immune disease, cancer, etc.? We do too. Pesticide use is linked to all of these things. We are extremely concerned about the spraying of pesticides in our cities, especially our public areas, and we want it to stop!

Mayor de Blasio has his own special interest group, the Campaign for One New York - and it is setting a dangerous precedent. As a non-profit organization, One New York collects millions of dollars in large checks from businesses and individuals directly doing business with the City. Using this cash flow, One New York then hires expensive political and PR consultants to promote the mayor’s policies and initiatives. This cycle makes a mockery of our campaign finance laws - which are designed to prevent corruption and conflicts of interest. The good government group Common Cause New York has filed an official complaint letter with the city's Campaign Finance Board and Conflict of Interest Board. Tell Mayor de Blasio that NYC residents find this unacceptable – we need to end to One New York now!

Mayor de Blasio has his own special interest group, the Campaign for One New York - and it is setting a dangerous precedent. As a non-profit organization, One New York collects millions of dollars in large checks from businesses and individuals directly doing business with the City. Using this cash flow, One New York then hires expensive political and PR consultants to promote the mayor’s policies and initiatives. This cycle makes a mockery of our campaign finance laws - which are designed to prevent corruption and conflicts of interest. The good government group Common Cause New York has filed an official complaint letter with the city's Campaign Finance Board and Conflict of Interest Board. Tell Mayor de Blasio that NYC residents find this unacceptable – we need to end to One New York now!