Why This Campaign Matters Plastic pollution is one of the most visible and preventable problems in our community. Disposable plastic bags clog storm drains, litter our neighborhoods, harm wildlife, and break down into microplastics that end up in our waterways and soil. Frederick County spends time and resources cleaning up something that doesn’t need to be created in the first place. A small, avoidable 5¢ fee is one of the simplest and most effective tools available to reduce plastic waste. Communities across Virginia have already seen dramatic reductions in litter after adopting this policy. The revenue stays local and can only be used for cleanup, environmental education, and providing reusable bags to residents who need them. This campaign is about taking a practical, commonsense step that protects our environment, reduces waste, and strengthens our community’s long‑term health. 🤝 Why Others Should Join This Effort This campaign is about more than plastic bags — it’s about showing that Frederick County cares about stewardship, responsibility, and the kind of community we want to leave for future generations. When more people add their names, it sends a clear message to Board of Supervisors that residents want action, not just talk. Every signature demonstrates that Frederick County is ready for solutions that are simple, fair, and proven to work. Joining this campaign means: • Supporting cleaner streets, parks, and waterways • Reducing long‑term environmental and financial costs • Helping ensure reusable bags reach residents who need them • Showing City Council that this issue matters to the people they serve Collective action is powerful. When neighbors stand together, we can move our county toward policies that reflect our shared values and make Winchester a cleaner, healthier place for everyone.

Microsoft holds billions of dollars in federal contracts, including a share of the $9 billion Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability contract. These business deals are the technological backbone of military operations with devastating consequences. AI-assisted warfare makes attacks more deadly and destructive, vastly increasing the scale of violence that can be committed in war. AI also makes mistakes regularly, and in war, those mistakes result in more deaths and injuries to civilians. Microsoft has deep relationships across Washington and wields enormous influence over how the U.S. government and its allies wage war. That influence comes with responsibility. We demand Microsoft: • Immediately cease providing AI support for military applications • Adopt a clear policy against providing technology that facilitates warfare Microsoft must stop profiting from war. Sign the petition and demand they act now!

While Trump and Israeli PM Netanyahu intensify their war on Iran, the Israeli government is also rapidly expanding multiple violent campaigns. Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has called for the annexation of southern Lebanon as the Israeli military demolishes homes in Beirut. Settlers have violently attacked Palestinians in the West Bank while Israeli security forces stand by. In Gaza, humanitarian aid has again slowed as Israeli air strikes persist. U.S. weapons fuel this violence, which means the U.S. government is complicit in this violence. But this flow of weapons can be stopped. Sen. Bernie Sanders just introduced three joint resolutions of disapproval (JRD), which would block BILLIONS of dollars in munitions sales and more to the Israeli military. Simply put, a ‘yes’ vote on these JRDs is a vote to save lives in Iran, Lebanon, Gaza, and beyond. It’ll take a powerful coalition of senators willing to stop the U.S. blank check approach to make it happen — and building it requires constituents like you speaking out.

This isn’t just about one student or one outfit—it’s about how our children are treated in their learning environment.  Students, especially young girls, are being singled out, embarrassed, and pulled out of class for wearing clothing that is widely considered normal and appropriate. Instead of focusing on their education, they are being taught that their bodies are a distraction and something to be monitored.  Dress code violations like this can impact confidence, self-esteem, and a student’s sense of belonging at school. It sends the message that how they look matters more than their ability to learn, participate, and grow.    These policies are often vague and inconsistently enforced, which can lead to unfair treatment and unnecessary disciplinary action. No student should lose instructional time or feel ashamed over clothing that is comfortable, functional, and appropriate.    This is about creating a school environment where students feel respected, supported, and focused on what truly matters—their education.    If we don’t speak up, nothing changes. 

The district Camp Chloe resides in, is currently overseen by councilman Mark Squilla, who has maintained councilmanic prerogative to the detriment of the residents. Meaning, he will continually back property owners, shareholders and developers needs over the needs of a vulnerable community of his constituents.  When asked to stop the most recent sweep, Mark Squilla told organizers that 'he doesn't have councilmanic prerogative over this land' which is absolutely not true. He has not been available for further comment, though the sweep was deterred by on the ground efforts of supporters and organizers.    Cherelle Parker has not made any comment about Camp Chloe, but we have heard from her office, that the needs and demands of the residents have been 'noted'.  As of 3/23, Cherelle Parker and Mark Squilla held a press conference announcing a new shelter opening up in the city, calling it a 'solution, not a shelter'.  But a solution for whom?  Funding for housing has been cut across the country. Abandoned houses rot throughout Philadelphia, seldom being repurposed into affordable housing. Rent is skyrocketing. Federal funding for social security, food stamps, and general assistance is being cut.  When this happens, the homeless population grows. Is the Mayor suggesting, with Mark Squilla standing directly behind her, that the 'solution' to losing your house, is to be indefinitely admitted into a shelter?  Is the suggestion that shelters offer more stability? Instead of curbing autonomy as we know them to do?  It is odd to offer shelters as a 'solution', to 'solve homelessness', in a city where the amount of vacant houses more than TRIPLES the amount of residents it has experiencing homelessness.  Without investing in more permanent, supportive housing, WHEN are you supposed to leave the shelter? WHERE are you supposed to go once you're out if there's no voucher and you can't afford rent? Philadelphia has more expensive transportation, groceries, and utilities than the national average. HOW are shelter systems helping offset these expenses for individuals who hope to graduate from them? HOW can one meaningfully save for an affordable future when the funding is only being spent on interim shelters?  Now you're starting to see what the residents of Camp Chloe have seen for a long time.  We demand a stop to the forced removal of the residents of Camp Chloe.  We demand negotiations instead of coercion into shelters. 

Tens of thousands of U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers have been impacted by the partial U.S. government shutdown, the second unpaid work stoppage in six months. More than a third of TSA staff at airports in Houston, New York City, and Atlanta have been absent or called in sick—affecting travel. In some places, people have had to wait up to six hours for their flights, standing in line for hours.  Already, ICE agents have been deployed to major airports, including Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City and O’Hare International Airport in Chicago. It’s reported that agents are expected to be sent to 14 locations total across the country, including Pittsburgh, New Orleans, and Houston. ICE agents do not have specialized training for airport security—they are simply not qualified to do the job that TSA staff have been hired to do. Trump has destabilized our global relations and foreign policy, and is making our airport security weaker at the same time. It’s a dangerous and reckless situation. We should be paying the people specially trained to keep our airways safe—not wasting taxpayer dollars for Trump to send ICE to our airports and intimidate passengers and staff.  The American people have been clear: we disapprove of Trump’s inhumane immigration raids and we do not want additional funding for ICE’s brutality and unchecked violence. The government is shut down because elected officials are doing their job—listening to the people they represent and demanding no additional funding for ICE. But Trump is trying to jam through his unpopular budget anyway.  The shutdown is causing a crisis at our airports—but ICE agents aren’t the answer. We need every single elected official to be working tirelessly to end the shutdown, pass a budget that puts our families and communities first, and bring federal employees back to work NOW.

Douglas County residents are united in a deep sense of care for the wellbeing of our families and community.  Our petition is rooted in that shared commitment. 

It is important for Electric Bicycles to be allowed so people of all ages can have a budget-friendly form of transportation.

Stephen Miller wants Congress to quietly extend the government’s warrantless spying powers, calling the law that the FBI and NSA abuse to surveil Americans “critical.” At the same time, Trump and Pete Hegseth are demanding that tech companies give the government unrestricted use of their powerful AI programs for warmaking AND domestic surveillance of Americans. Federal law enforcement routinely abuses Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to search through the electronic communications of Americans without a warrant. A recent report shows that these searches rose by a whopping 35% at Kash Patel’s FBI. It would get even worse with the help of AI. Congress must halt this potential explosion of domestic spying under Trump! Sign the petition: Block the Trump administration from AI-supercharging warrantless government surveillance of Americans! Demand Progress led more than 90 organizations in a letter to Congressional leaders urging them to reject Stephen Miller’s push for a simple reauthorization of Section 702 before it expires on April 20. It’s critical for Congress to use its leverage to close glaring surveillance loopholes. Law enforcement and intelligence agencies spy on Americans by abusing the data broker loophole, bypassing privacy rights by purchasing our sensitive information from data brokers. The backdoor search loophole allows law enforcement agencies to circumvent court orders and search through billions of communications for information about people in the United States. AI tools will give Trump, Miller, Patel, and Hegseth unprecedented capabilities to use these loopholes to violate the privacy of Americans. Congress must stop this supercharged authoritarian surveillance regime. Sign the petition: No warrantless AI surveillance in America! Block reauthorization of FISA unless it includes protections for our privacy.

The original permit specifying that the facility will process petroleum soil was issued more than 30 years ago. We agree with the CEO that this does not reflect the full scope of ESMI/Clean Earth's current business. Therefore, it is logical that the company needs to either apply for a new permit or return to the original scope of work.  We disagree with the letter that the company's lawyers submitted to the ZBA in February demanding that this determination be revoked. The letter describes how the ESMI facility has gradually increased their scope to include the treatment of various materials including paper pulp, PCBs, sewage sludge and more. The letter asserts that all of these were reasonable extensions to the existing permit and have been allowed up to this point. They state that the original permit allows them to operate "without restriction", "without limitation" and ask why things should change now that the company is planning to add PFAS to the list of contaminants. The letter theorizes that the decision to suddenly impose a strict interpretation of the code is politically motivated and was prompted by "out of state environmental activists." This is simply not correct. We, the people who live here, pay taxes here, and raise our families here, agree with the Code Enforcement Officer's opinion and reject the reasoning of ESMI/Clean Earth. We request that the ZBA keep Fort Edward safe by denying this appeal. We believe that failing to do so would set dangerous precedent, undermine the authority of the village, and lead to possible harm to health and human safety. 

By giving Queens Innovation Center a girls volleyball team it would encourage healthy activities like exercising and working out. It would also help the students in engaging in team spirit as well as socializing. Joining a team, specifically a volleyball team (a very team motivated sport) it helps the students create new connections with their peers. Sports, such as volleyball, also contribute to decreasing the sadness in a student's system. Working out and playing sports increases your happiness because it triggers your brain to release chemicals like endorphins, dopamine, and serotonin. These chemicals help lift people's mood, create feelings of calmness, and reduced stress.

Others should join this campaign because this decision impacts not just individual families, but the strength and stability of our entire school community. Gryphon’s Kids Club provides a safe, trusted, and structured environment that many working parents rely on every day. Without it, families are left scrambling for childcare—often without comparable or reliable alternatives. This is also about having a voice. Decisions that directly affect our children and families should include parent input, transparency, and thoughtful planning. Supporting this campaign is an opportunity to advocate for those values and ensure that our community is heard. By coming together, we demonstrate that Gryphon’s Kids Club is not just a convenience—it is an essential service that supports our children’s well-being, our families’ stability, and the integrity of the TJCA community.