Endorsement Update: The Eastside Portland Air Coalition (EPAC) http://www.eastportlandair.org/ would like to endorse this petition in the interest of getting our message to DEQ and the State as quickly and efficiently as possible. Let’s show Salem how strong our voices are together and send them the message, “WE WANT CLEAN AIR NOW” On February 3rd, 2016, we woke up to alarming news that the carcinogenic heavy metals Cadmium and Arsenic had been detected at high concentrations in our moss, soil and in the air in SE Portland. The story has continued to unfold and only gets worse from there. More heavy metals in new locations all over Portland have now been identified, and the amount of Portlanders affected continues to grow. This is just the tip of the iceberg, and it should not have been a surprise to anyone. Portland has been polluted for quite a long while. Like many, we chose one of Portland's idyllic inner neighborhoods to buy our home and raise our family of three boys, ages 7, 5 and 10 months. Sadly, we had no idea that the air around us and soil under our feet could be so toxic. Our kids, like so many others, have spent countless hours digging in the dirt, making mud pies, rolling in our grass, eating out of urban vegetable gardens and going to our parks. Now, as the weather is starting to warm, all we want to do is take them outside to plant a garden, play basketball and teach our 10 month old what the grass feels like, but we hesitate because we are not sure if it is safe. Like many Portlanders, my family is not naive to pollution. We live in an urban area, so we know there is likely to be more risk. We are not complacent either. We actively compost, recycle, eat sustainably and locally and we ride our bikes when we can. We do our part as citizens to keep our city green and sustainable. We were, however, naive, and could not have fathomed that the very government agencies and laws put in place to monitor and regulate our precious environment could be so inadequate and inefficient. They are not doing their part, and it is time to hold them accountable. It is time to fix what is broken and make Portland and the rest of Oregon a truly healthy place for our kids to live and grow. Please sign this position and join me so that we can all get back to digging in our dirt and breathing fresh air.

Any organization that consistently ignores the rules of law and abuses it's position within our communities must be held accountable for it's actions. The child abuse scandal is a systemic and pervasive culture within the Catholic Church. It refused to comply with the independent 2014 UN investigative committee's recommendations. “The Committee is gravely concerned that the Holy See has not acknowledged the extent of the crimes committed, has not taken the necessary measures to address cases of child sexual abuse and to protect children, and has adopted policies and practices which have led to the continuation of the abuse by and the impunity of the perpetrators...”. The Catholic Church leadership has a culture of aiding and abetting child molesters; all while enjoying the benefits of its tax exempt status. ‪#‎TaxDay‬ 2014 UN Report URL: http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CRC/Shared%20Documents/VAT/CRC_C_VAT_CO_2_16302_E.pdf

Voter turnout in the United States is staggeringly low. In the 2012 Presidential Election there was a voter turnout of 57.5%. That means more than 40% of eligible voters did or could not vote. Any US citizen who wants to vote should be able to, as simple as that.

Unfair values

I am asking for all of my friends to sign this petition and bombard our Louisiana State Legislature with phone calls and emails. Ask them to not take away PDHC's like Mini Miracles. This is a place where medically fragile children can learn and be with other children like them, while being taken care of by medical professionals.

I’d like to target John McCain, who is running for Senator in Arizona, to reject contributions from fossil fuel companies. It is because of companies, like those that deal with fossil fuels, buying representatives votes that the voice of democracy has basically become mute to the real causes that matter to the people.

In an April 18, 2015, article The Baltimore Sun reported on a study by the National Women's Law Center showing that overall Maryland women earned $.86 for every dollar earned by a male for comparable work. Another study cited in the story, by the Institute for Women's Policy Research showed Maryland women earned $.87 for every dollar earned by their male counterparts. Nationwide, the Institute reported, that was second only to New York where women earned $.88 to the dollar. These figures for Maryland women are still nothing to brag about when you consider 1.) There is an increasing number of households in which females are either the sole provider or the absolute single head of the household; 2.) The gender gap is wider among African-American and Latina women; 3.) There are questions about the growth of the disparity as a woman advances in a career; and 4.) There is currently no means to protect a woman who is lawfully inquiring about her salary and/or lodging formal complaints with respect to it without fear of retribution by her employer. Fortunately, in the 2016 Legislative Session, there is still another (there have been other unsuccessful efforts in previous sessions) to make Equal Pay for Equal Work the law of the state! In the House of Delegates, the bill is known as HB1003, and in the Senate it is SB0481. Among other provisions, the bills' goals are identical: to prevent discrimination in pay/conversation on the basis of gender/gender identity and to prevent retribution against employees identifying disparities through various state and other channels. They accomplish this by amending and adding provisions to existing laws. The bills also TAKE INTO ACCOUNT that disparities can and will continue to exist when it comes to merit, differences in education, level of experience, distinct difference in the ability to perform specific tasks, etc. In other words, the proposed legislation strikes a FAIR BALANCE demanding ONLY fair compensation for those jobs where men and women on equal levels deserve to be paid equally! As a fellow Maryland voter, I URGE YOU to encourage your delegates and senators to get behind this legislation! Both the House of Delegates and the Senate are scheduled to begin hearings in early March. So time is critical! If you wish to join movements in support of this legislation, I encourage you to do so. And by all means, study the legislation as proposed for yourself, by all means do so! Simply go to the Maryland General Assembly website at http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/webmga/frm1st.aspx?tab=home and enter the bill's number into the search bar. Once in the bill you will find an icon for the PDF text of the proposed legislation! Thank you for your consideration. Together, we can put Maryland among the leaders in the Equal Pay Movements!

Flint's water has been poisoned for more than 650 days. In order for Flint residents to have confidence and trust in the water coming from their faucets, all lead pipes in the city of Flint need to be replaced. Flint Mayor Karen Weaver is moving forward with a $55-million plan, called Fast Start, to remove and replace Flint's residential pipes starting immediately, with first priority given to high-risk households. The plan is based on technical assistance and expertise from the Lansing Board of Water & Light, which has replaced most of Lansing’s lead service lines over the past decade. However, Gov. Snyder will commit only to reviewing the proposal. It's been months since the governor finally acknowledged the lead problem, and not a single lead pipe has been replaced.

Flint's water has been poisoned for 680 days and counting. In order for Flint residents to have confidence and trust in the water coming from their faucets, all lead pipes in the city of Flint need to be replaced. And Flint residents should be trained and employed to complete the work. Flint Mayor Karen Weaver is moving forward with a $55-million plan, called Fast Start, to remove and replace Flint's residential pipes, with first priority given to high-risk households. The plan is based on technical assistance and expertise from the Lansing Board of Water & Light, which has replaced most of Lansing’s lead service lines over the past decade. However, Gov. Snyder will commit only to reviewing the proposal. It's been months since the governor finally acknowledged the lead problem, and he has not replaced a single lead pipe.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~MARCH 2016~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Thank you so much for all of your support! Our mission is to spread awareness against classism on campus by emphasizing the student need for this pantry -- as many other liberal arts campuses have free food initiatives and closed systems with food "waste" -- we should have this included in our structure as we promote ourselves as a campus that is accessible to many types of students. Although it is too early to declare victory, and we will continuously work on sensitively spreading awareness about the initiative and marginalized narratives related to food insecurity. We have gained institutional support and revved up the process, and expect to have the pantry set up as soon as right after Spring Break. Today we will have a meeting with some people who manage food on campus (the SUB, Diversions, and the Cellar) and tomorrow will be working in the space that we are most likely to use to help ensure that we can use it. At the same time, we're working on finding plans B and C etc. for space in case there are more roadblocks. Please read about the pantry in the newest issue of the Trail and stay tuned for more updates about the project, where to find it, and when it will be open. Keep checking the UPS Garden facebook page for updates too! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~FEBRUARY 2016~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We, the UPS garden and allies, want to localize our campus's food salvage programs, which donate the diner's leftover food to food banks in Tacoma, as well as give out produce from the garden to the public for free in a more systematic and accessible way. Please sign this petition so we can show the institution that this initiative represents the beliefs of the student body. There are hungry members of our community, students and non-students, who need free food. When we've given DCS the garden's produce, they have re-sold it to students. The garden is open to the public all the time, but we need to strengthen our initiative for free food -- which shouldn't be in opposition to the university, but right now seems to be. Last semester at the student market we raised about $60 in hopes of simultaneously being able to get institutional support for a food pantry on campus. We are no longer searching for institutional support to initiate the mission but rather want to go ahead as soon as possible. If this is not an effective way to implement change in the institution's mind, it can, at least, help us defend ourselves once we get the food pantry started either way (hopefully soon -- this will be by word of mouth as to protect the resource for now). Spread this petition -- we are ready to set everything up and want to give out more free food in a more efficient way ASAP.

It will not matter who becomes President if the state government is left in the hands of the Republican Party. Yet the Florida Democratic Party spends nearly all of its time and resources promoting the federal elections while it fails to contest the state legislature races.

Dr. Lester has nobly served the State of California as Executive Director of the California Coastal Commission for four and a half years since being unanimously elected by the commission. To be clear, Dr. Lester has not been accused of any improprieties. No accusations have been leveled against him regarding his job performance meriting cause for immediate dismissal from his position as Executive Director. Furthermore, and appallingly, Director Lester was fired despite overwhelming support, including 35 former commissioners, 156 current staff members of the California Coastal Commission, over 20,000 signed letters of support, online petitions totaling over 3,000 signatures, numerous hours of public testimony and speeches made by dozens of elected officials state, county and city, developers, conservancy groups, environmental, educational, university scholars, scientific groups and over 1,000 California citizens that travelled from all over the state of California to Morro Bay to attend the Coastal Commission's public hearing to show their support for Director Lester on February 10, 2016. In all, the consensus overwhelmingly confirmed Dr. Lester's impeccably immaculate and exemplary record of service as Director of the Commission and solidified his undaunted commitment to the Coastal Protection Act of 1972.