Asher Holmes Elementary School is unique in that the hallway walls are covered with murals, painted by a teacher, Mr. David Bassoff Wells, starting in 1973. These murals depict stories ranging from Snow White to A Bug's LIfe. They are a source of pride for the School, and for the Students. They are more than wall coverings, they are works of art, given to the students by a caring art teacher, a gift, that has lasted more than 40 years! As stated on the Board of Education's own website, "Our walls are a source of wonder to young siblings who visit the building and a source of pride for the students who attend Asher Holmes." Yet, for some inexplicable reason, The School and Board wants to cover up this rich artistic history. THIS MUST BE STOPPED! Why is Asher Holmes willing to destroy this artwork?

Brain research proves the importance of quality early care and education programs. Childcare centers are a major part of the work-force infrastructure and the return on investment in early education is high. Minimum wage is increasing again and the states investment in the childcare subsidy program has not increased since 2009. WV childcare centers are struggling to pay the bills and numerous centers have closed. Working families and our children need your support.

California's big utilities are trying to protect their profits by adding unfair fees and making rooftop solar a bad deal for their customers. The California Public Utilities Commission is set to make a critical decision on the future of net metering and solar power in California by the end of the year. We can't let corporate greed keep our families, schools and businesses from going solar.

Stop the ban of blowers. Their is a small group trying to ban the use of blowers in Newton. This ban could potentially put several small businesses out of business, not to mention the right of homeowners to use them for their personal use. PLEASE take a minute to show your support in stopping this group that wants to dictate what everyone in OUR city can and can't use to do their job. These people WILL NOT STOP with their agenda until WE stop them. THANK YOU for your support Phil Jepsen

The Board of Aldermen’s proposal is for either a total ban of leaf blowers or a partial ban of the use of leaf blowers. Limiting the use of the proper tools to do your landscaping efficiently and quickly will impact your landscaper’s ability to service your property. This proposal, if passed will force the landscapers to increase the cost of services by a minimum of three times what you are currently paying if we have to revert to using a rake and broom instead of the leaf blower. The Leaf Blower Ban proposal goes beyond just the issue of banning leaf blowers, it infringes on your rights as a property owner in Newton.

From Senator Dodd: Thank you for contacting me to express your opposition to a bill that would allow discrimination against transgender students in our public schools. I appreciate learning your views on this important issue. I agree with your concerns and I have authored an alternative bill that would support our transgender young people in our schools. On October 6, Representative Jesse Kremer circulated LRB 2643, a bill that would prevent students who were born biologically male from entering facilities designated for biological females and vice versa. This ignores the reality for transgender young people and directly discriminates against them. Transgender students are constantly under societal pressure to conform to their pre-assigned gender identity, and are often picked on in public and at school. We should be protecting these students and ensuring that schools create a safe learning environment, not foster even more hate by using the argument of 'comfort' to support discrimination. On October 13, I joined Representative Sondy Pope to circulate LRB 3539, a bill that defines gender identity as an individual’s deeply held sense or psychological knowledge of their own gender and transgender pupil as a pupil whose gender identity is different from that traditionally associated with the pupil’s assigned sex at birth. The bill requires the state Department of Public Instruction to develop a model policy that school districts would have the option to adopt. DPI would have 180 days from the bill's enactment to craft a model policy, and school boards would have 270 days to adopt their policies. It is important that all children feel safe and supported in their learning environment. It is discouraging to see some Republicans work to increase discrimination in our schools. Thank you again for reaching out to me to share your views on this matter. Please do not hesitate to contact me if I can be of assistance to you on this, or any other matter relating to state government. Sincerely, Nikiya Q. Harris Dodd State Senator 6th Senate District

I found a picture on my feed, posted by my own brother, of Elmer Fudd hunting a cartoon President Obama in Arab head dress saying, "Shhh... Be vewy vewy twiet.., I'm hunting Muzwums!!!". Facebook says this doesn't qualify as hate speech on their policy, even though it advocates hunting the President, hunting African Americans and hunting an entire religion. We live in a time when there are mass shootings almost daily and pictures like this do not promote a 'safe and welcoming environment,' which is what Facebook's community standards and their response to my report stated is their intent. This isn't the first time Facebook has been lax on its hate speech and community standards rules, and this needs to stop. Politics isn't the issue here, hate is the issue.

During the first Democratic presidential debate, the following exchange took place between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders regarding U.S. policy in Syria: [1] CLINTON: … And, to — provide safe zones so that people are not going to have to be flooding out of Syria at the rate they are. SANDERS: Well, let’s understand that when we talk about Syria, you’re talking about a quagmire in a quagmire. You’re talking about groups of people trying to overthrow Assad, other groups of people fighting ISIS. You’re talking about people who are fighting ISIS using their guns to overthrow Assad, and vice versa. I’m the former chairman of the Senate Veterans Committee, and in that capacity I learned a very powerful lesson about the cost of war, and I will do everything that I can to make sure that the United States does not get involved in another quagmire like we did in Iraq, the worst foreign policy blunder in the history of this country. We should be putting together a coalition of Arab countries who should be leading the effort. We should be supportive, but I do not support American ground troops in Syria. CLINTON: ...Well, nobody does. Nobody does, Senator Sanders. This was a deceptive response by Hillary Clinton, because as Clinton surely knows, for the US to establish “safe zones” in Syria would require the use of US ground troops, as Gen. Lloyd Austin, commander of U.S. Centcom, has testified to the Senate Armed Services Committee. [2] Urge Congress and the Administration to oppose any use of US ground troops in Syria, including to establish so-called “safe zones,” by signing our petition. References: 1. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/14/us/politics/democratic-debate-transcript.html 2. http://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/u-s-general-only-handful-of-syrian-fighters-remain-in-battle-against-isis/

Our United States is massively expanding fossil fuel infrastructure, causing disastrous consequences for health, safety, air and water quality, food systems and climate. Across our nation, residents plead with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to reject fossil fuel projects, yet FERC continues to approve nearly every new proposal. Is FERC a regulatory commission or rubber-stamp commission? FERC’s presidentially appointed commissioners have major ties to fossil fuel companies, with revolving doors between FERC regulators and the industry they supposedly regulate. FERC’s funding comes from fees FERC charges to those companies. FERC approves nearly all project proposals it receives. FERC’s decisions harm our environment, climate and livelihoods. FERC accepts dangerous energy practices that directly conflict with clean air and water standards and greenhouse gas reduction goals. FERC’s decisions hurt public health and safety. Those impacts are documented and widespread everywhere fossil fuel extraction and infrastructure occur. Overwhelming worldwide scientific consensus states that, since the mid-twentieth century, climate change has been caused primarily by human activity, particularly fossil fuel use, yet FERC ignores this in decision-making. Renewable technologies are available, efficient and cost effective, but FERC doesn’t consider alternatives such as roof-top solar or renewable option combinations in its review process. We need change. We envision a FERC that: • Includes the public, residents of impacted front-line communities, non-industry-funded environmental scientists and public health experts in all decision-making. • Bases decisions upon all downstream and upstream environmental impacts, including global warming. • Grounds decisions upon cumulative effects of entire and multiple projects, never practicing illegal segmentation again. • Encourages renewable energy technologies development while discouraging fossil fuel infrastructure expansion. • Has distinct independence from industries it regulates. • Requires the fossil fuel industry to follow the same clean air, clean water and safe drinking water standards as every other industry, and holds those companies accountable for their actions to the fullest extent of civil and criminal law.

Thanks to your pressure, Pop Weaver has agreed to phase out its use of neonics! [1]. Sign the petition to urge Pop Secret to follow their lead and drop bee-killing pesticides! It’s no secret we love popcorn. In fact, Americans consume more than 16 billion quarts of popcorn each year. But we’re getting more than we bargained for in all those bowls of popcorn: bee-toxic pesticides. Bees are dying at alarming rates, and scientists have identified a group of insecticides called neonicotinoids (“neonics”) as a prime culprit in these drastic population losses. The largest single use of neonicotinoids is as a seed coating for field crops. In fact, researchers estimate that 95-99% of all field corn grown in the U.S. comes from seed coated with bee-toxic neonic chemicals. Unfortunately, the popcorn industry uses bee-killing chemicals on their seeds, too. That’s why we’re calling on Pop Secret, one of the biggest brands in the industry, to urge them to source their popcorn from seeds that are NOT coated in these harmful chemicals. Neonics are the most widely used insecticides in the world, and are a class of systemic chemicals, meaning they are dispersed throughout the treated plant, rendering the whole plant toxic. Just as alarming, neonics can last in the environment for years and they can harm species that the chemical was not designed to kill -- like bees, butterflies, birds, and entire food chains. As one of the largest popcorn brands in the U.S., Pop Secret can make a big difference for bees by joining Pop Weaver in phasing out their use of neonic-coated seeds. ---------------------------------- References: 1. http://www.popweaver.com/news/2015-10-21Neonics%20Statement.pdf#zoom=66.7

As one of millions of Americans participating in the democratic process, I have a right to know the facts about Bernie Sanders' positive effect on viewers during the debate.

We are living in a time where history seems to be repeating itself. We are constantly destroyed from lack of knowledge. We face racial division, racial inequalities, systemic and institutional racism, profiling, racially motivated killings, protests, riots and what seems to be, on the brink of a race war. We see the "Black Lives Matter" movement and its focus on Black men and women dying at the hands of law enforcement. "Our History Matters" is a specific focus on African American History being implemented into every child's daily curriculum in school. A large number of Black children attend schools named after leaders of the Klu Klux Klan; Schools that wave the confederate flag with pride and children of color are totally unaware of the dark history it symbolizes. We still have federal buildings demonstrating flags and monuments that shows homage to leaders of the Confederate. Why are our children educated more on the Confederacy than the Union? We are petitioning to bring awareness to the fact that Black History is ignored in our schools and it is a disservice to our children and our ancestors of African descent. We are asking that you right this wrong by improving the African American curriculum material provided, and the amount of time spent in classrooms covering Black History and its contributions to America. Also, that you have African-American History be mandatory material and not just optional as it is now. African-American children have a craving to know who represented them in the past and a craving to know where they belong. Black children are more likely to appreciate History and education in its entirety when the curriculum involves and reflects them as well. The curriculum in our classrooms are strategically designed to exclude the tragic history of African American Slavery and African American people as a whole who have died for the many rights we have today. Slaves built the wealth in America, roads, bridges, farms, buildings, cities, and towns. So, why aren't we paying homage to them? We will increase the self-worth of our children by including our rich culture and truth into the curriculum. Every culture and history is celebrated in our schools except Black History. During Black History Month schools avoid mentioning Black History or holding programs to honor African-Americans and it's time we stand and push for change because Our History Matters. Home-schooling our children should not be the only option that our children have in order to learn Black History. We should not have to educate our children in private on Black History when we pay taxes to fund the schools in our neighborhoods. To know thyself is the key to true success. Our History Matters! "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that Matter"-Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.