Below is a link for a petition asking the town to hire a crossing guard for the intersection of Blueberry Hill Road/Lawrence Drive/Tanglewood Drive. We all know how dangerous this intersection is. The safety of our children is top priority. Please - lets not wait for an accident to happen for this critical change to take place.

On October 3, 2015, a United States airstrike destroyed a hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan operated by the Nobel Peace Prize-winning charity Doctors Without Borders (also called Médecins Sans Frontières, or MSF), killing at least 22 civilians--10 patients and 12 staff members--and wounding dozens more.[1] Doctors Without Borders says the attack continued for 30 minutes after its staff gave U.S. and Afghan military officials the exact location of its hospital.[2] How could this happen? An early statement released by the U.S. military attempted to characterize the hospital bombing as a mistake, almost dismissing it as collateral damage.[3] Military officials subsequently altered their accounts of what exactly occurred four times in as many days, only recently acknowledging that U.S. Special Operations Forces "most likely did not meet any of the criteria [for authorizing airstrikes]."[4][5] The magnitude of the tragedy and the astounding inconsistencies between U.S. and Afghan accounts of the bombing have prompted MSF officials to demand that President Obama call for an inquiry from the independent and impartial International Humanitarian Fact-Finding Commission.[6] Doctors Without Borders' U.S. executive director, Jason Cone, underscored the reasoning behind this call to action. "All this confusion," he noted, "just underlines once again the crucial need for an independent investigation into how a major hospital, full of patients and MSF staff, could be repeatedly bombed.”[7] Médecins Sans Frontières' international president Joanne Liu added, "If we let this go, as if it was a non-event, we are basically giving a blank cheque to any countries who are at war."[8] President Obama has apologized for the bombing and said the Pentagon will conduct its own investigation.[9] But a Pentagon investigation is no substitute for one conducted by the IHFFC. Sources: 1. http://www.wsj.com/articles/doctors-without-borders-closes-afghan-hospital-1443958030?mod=asia_home 2. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/04/world/asia/afghanistan-bombing-hospital-doctors-without-borders-kunduz.html?_r=0 3. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-doctors-without-borders-20151003-story.html 4. http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/oct/06/doctors-without-borders-airstrike-afghanistan-us-account-changes-again 5. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/07/world/middleeast/doctors-without-borders-airstrike-kunduz.html 6. http://abcnews.go.com/International/doctors-borders-calls-independent-probe-deadly-kunduz-hospital/story?id=34310266 7. Ibid. 8. http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/10/07/uk-afghanistan-attack-msf-idUKKCN0S10SZ20151007 9. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/08/world/asia/obama-apologizes-for-bombing-of-afghanistan-hospital.html?_r=0

I am saddened by the loss of innocent lives. We are a civilized country and yet we have more homicides with firearms than most of all countries. Domestic violence using a firearm causes irreversible damage whereas domestic violence without a firearm can be approached with effective counselling .Mass shootings are almost unheard of in other countries! Let's stand up and say we have had enough deaths already.

I have been a resident bordering Wharton State Forest for 34 years. Ever since Rob Auermuller tried to push the original MAP through without transparency, I have lost all trust in his judgments; I feel as if I cannot trust his involvement in the stakeholder meetings. The current "circle the roads you feel should be opened" process should be reversed to where Rob explains to us on a blank piece of paper what areas should be closed to motor vehicle access due to environmental data pertaining the certain area. We are the OWNERS of the forest and our permission should be asked for.

I am an American. This country has the highest incidence of gun violence of any not engaged in active war. I feel it is my patriotic duty to support focus on an issue which causes the deaths of more Americans, including children, than all American war deaths combined.

In Garden Grove today, we the citizens are being heavily taxed and penalized by red-light cameras. Many times they are invalid and all the time they are too costly. To challenge these tickets, one must take off from work because ticket court is only open during business hours Monday thru Friday. Garden Grove is one of only two cities left with contracts with Redflex for operating red light camera tickets.

I was moved by President Obama's speech in response to the most recent mass shooting at a community college in Oregon. He had a direct answer for each and every protest made by those who oppose gun control, and his plea for action to be taken struck me as powerful and urgent. The majority of Americans, including many Texans, agree that our laws need to change. We have nothing to lose and so, so much to gain.

As a lover of the outdoors, open space, and wildlife, I want to see our lands preserved, protected, and expanded for future generations!

On September 28, at least 131 civilians, including at least 80 women, were killed at a wedding reception in Yemen in an airstrike by the Saudi-led military coalition. The US is providing the coalition with intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and logistics information. With innocent Yemeni civilians, including thousands of Yemeni-Americans, still caught in the middle of this war, the coalition’s airstrikes should be held to the same standards for protecting civilians as any US military operation should be. According to Amnesty International, more than 2,100 civilians, including at least 400 children, have been killed in the conflict, with the “vast majority” of civilian deaths and injuries attributed to attacks by the Saudi-led coalition. More than 1.4 million people have been displaced; 12.9 million are considered food insecure; more than 1.2 million children are suffering from moderate acute malnutrition. Thousands are fleeing Yemen every week; experts warn that tens of thousands of Yemenis could join the waves of refugees seeking asylum in Europe if the conflict is not resolved soon. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has called for an “end to bombings” in Yemen and has said there is no military solution to this conflict. Diplomatic action, including sustained engagement with Iran, is the only way to end the hostilities, reverse the humanitarian crisis on the ground, and protect more innocent lives from reckless airstrikes. Urge your Representative in Congress to sign the Dingell-Ellison letter [1] to President Obama to urge greater efforts to protect civilians from US-assisted airstrikes in Yemen and greater diplomatic efforts to end the Yemen war by signing our petition. References: 1. http://fcnl.org/issues/middle_east/support_letter_expressing_concerns_of_growing_civilian_death_toll_in_yemen_airstrikes/

We have long been concerned about the increase of mass shootings in our country since the 2005 Congressional action that no longer holds gun manufacturers responsible. This must change!

My brother committed suicide with a gun, which he obtained easily in spite of his criminal record. I also have two cousins, sisters, who were murdered by one of their former boyfriends. He, too, had a criminal record, and also obtained a gun with no trouble. I also have friends and neighbors who have lost loved ones because of gun violence. This problem is way too common and it has to stop. No one is safe any more.

The Benghazi Committee has been a political dog-and-pony show for its entire 17-month history. It has been clear even to casual observers that the purpose of the committee was never to investigate the tragic death of four Americans in a terrorist attack; it was to attack Hillary Clinton.