"He grabbed me, twisted my arm on my back and shoved me in the grass and started pulling the back of my braids," — 15-year-old Dajerria Becton This past Friday, McKinney law enforcement responded to a call from white residents that a group of Black teens, 13 — 16 years old, attending a pool party “did not have permission to be there.” One of the residents is reported in having told the kids to go back to “Section 8 housing.” Officer Eric Casebolt violently arrested, verbally assaulted and physically attacked a number of the teens, including Dajerria Becton who was body slammed, pinned down and put in handcuffs while unarmed and wearing a bikini. Ofc. Casebolt then drew his gun at teens who came to Dajerria’s rescue. McKinney law enforcement and Officer Casebolt's violence against these teens highlight the systemic abuse, injustice, and criminalization that Black girls and women face at the hands of law enforcement every day. Police treated all of the Black teens unjustly, but the gender and racial stereotypes underlying their behavior are highlighted when Officer Casebolt spoke to the group of Black girls. "Stop running your mouth" and "get your a***** out of here," he shouted to the group of teenage girls in bathing suits before violently grabbing Dajerria by the hair, slamming her head into the pavement, and digging his knee into her back while she laid face down in the grass. In addition to Officer Casebolt, the other 11 police officers who stood by and allowed this violence to continue must be held accountable and Attorney General Lynch should launch a full investigation into the discriminatory policing practices of the McKinney Police Department. Join us in urging local officials to fire Officer Casebolt and charge him with assault and battery for his brutal and discriminatory actions.

With just DAYS LEFT, the restaurant lobby just launched a major push to KILL the $15 an hour movement. $15 is winnable -- but only if we speak up before Monday, June 15. That’s the day the wage board formed to decide whether to raise fast-food pay in New York is holding a big hearing in New York City. If New York raises fast-food pay to $15, it will boost paychecks for 180,000 New Yorkers -- most adults, many supporting families. They deserve to be able to pay their rent and feed their families. And this action would trigger a wave of raises for low-wage workers across the country. If minimum wage had simply kept pace with worker productivity since 1968, it would be well over $15 today. Instead, CEOs have gotten richer and richer, while the working class struggles to get by. Tell the wage board: It’s time for $15.

With just DAYS LEFT, the restaurant lobby just launched a major push to KILL the $15 an hour movement. Right now, your message to the New York wage board to raise wages for fast-food workers to $15 an hour is more important than EVER. The restaurant lobby is fighting tooth-and-nail to kill or weaken the wage board’s decision – we need to show them that New York NEEDS $15 today. We need every signature in by the big hearing in New York City on Monday, June 15. Time is running out – sign now.

"Never before in the history of the United States Navy has a Naval Board of Inquiry ignored the testimony of American military eyewitnesses and taken on faith the word of their attackers."- Captain Richard Kiepfer, MD. Fifteen minutes into Israel's attack on the USS LIBERTY, Dr. Kiepfer was operating on a wounded sailor when he was hit by shrapnel and, with complete disregard for his own personal safety, exposed himself to overwhelmingly accurate rocket and machine gun fire, administered first aid and treated 174 USA Troops for pain and shock and conducted a major surgical operation. Congress has not INVESTIGATED Israel's June 8, 1967 attack on the USS Liberty which killed 34 unarmed Americans and wounded 174 service men. In 2003, an independent commission of experts convened, including Admiral Thomas H. Moorer, USN, Ret. Former Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff, General of Marines Raymond G. Davis, Rear Admiral Merlin Starling and Ambassador James Adkins. They concluded there was compelling evidence that Israel’s attack was deliberate and "Israel committed acts of murder against American servicemen and an act of war against the United States." The esteemed experts expressed their “Duty to the brave crew of USS LIBERTY and all Americans who are asked to serve in our Armed Forces, hereby call upon the Department of the Navy, the Congress of the United States and the American people to immediately take the following actions”: The first called for a new and true Court of Inquiry to be convened. The second, for every appropriate committee of the Congress of the United States to investigate the actions of the White House and Defense Department that prevented the rescue of the USS LIBERTY, including the NSA, CIA and military intelligence. The third called for the establishment of every June 8 to be known as USS LIBERTY REMEMBRANCE DAY. We, the undersigned Call on Congress to honor the USS LIBERTY and Support the Troops by taking the 3 steps listed above! HARD COPY of Petition and signatures will be personally delivered to the Florida offices of Senators Rubio, Nelson and Congressman Webster on Sept. 10, 2015 with an electronic delivery to CONGRESS and President Obama by MoveOn.org

Without a 2nd petition, the RAR leadership will not permit these items be added to the meeting agenda for discussion. This request to add these items to the RAR member meeting is pursuant to the RAR Bylaws Article 12, Section 3.

The State Legislature has opted to not honor state employee contracts resulting in layoff notices to some 10,000 employees. The Legislature is citing a budget deficit of $3 billion dollars, but that isn't the real reason. Alaska has a rainy day fund of over $10 billion to deal with budget shortfalls like this. These layoffs mean state government departments would curtail or eliminate vital services should the Alaska Legislature's budget impasse continue resulting in a partial government shutdown occur on July 1. Here are just a few services that will be affected: Department of Transportation: A dozen state airports would operate at reduced hours. Department of Administration: Oversight of elected officials and lobbyists would stop; labor contract bargaining would cease; and hundreds of state leases will not be paid in full. Department of Military and Veteran Affairs: All Office of Veterans Affairs staff members would be laid off. All Alaska Military Youth Academy staffers would be laid off after August. Only three staff members would stay on at the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development: service reductions and cuts would impact rural utility assistance. Department of Education: State general funds for early learning will be reduced by $5.7 million, potentially closing Head Start programs. Department of Labor: All staff members would be laid off at the Alaska Labor Relations Agency, Wage and Hour Administration, and the Alaska Workforce Investment Board.

It's time for the characters in the hit musical Game of Thrones to finally start singing.

Hydraulic Fracturing is hazardous to the health of the Kansas community. It can destroy the water table with carcinogenic chemicals that cannot be removed affecting the entire population. Farmland could become toxic because of fracking and have a huge negative impact on the Kansas economy. The recent earthquakes are caused by hydraulic fracturing and can destroy our homes and endanger lives. It is urgent that fracking ends in Kansas. Several states in the US have fought and won against the oil and natural gas companies who are endangering our well being and public safety. It's time to End Fracking in Kansas!

Ohio charter schools have cost taxpayers and local schools millions and have only resulted in substandard results for our children. Even charter school supporters have recognized that reform is needed to protect our students from a poor education and our tax dollars from misuse. Nearly every major newspaper throughout Ohio has called for reform: • “The state legislature must eliminate the poor oversight and lax rules for Ohio’s troubled charter schools.” – Plain Dealer, Jan. 2, 2015 • “Lawmakers have solid evidence that current charter-school law is broken, and credible suggestions for how to fix it.” – Columbus Dispatch, Dec. 22, 2014 • “In too many cases, charter schools in low-income communities perform worse than traditional public schools that serve the same neighborhoods and promote themselves deceptively to parents.” – Toledo Blade, Dec. 29, 2014 • “Currently, the management companies often have the upper hand, to the detriment of effective oversight.” – Akron Beacon Journal, Dec. 23, 2014

Neonicotinoid pesticides have been positively linked to Colony Collapse Disorder in bees and adversely affect the health of many other beneficial insects. Most of the plants in Lowe's garden centers have been treated with these dangerous chemicals. Customers do not have a reliable way to determine which plants are harmful to bees. If these treated plants were labelled, people could make informed decisions about what to plant in their landscape.

Every American alive today has seen the state of endangerment that many species are in today. In Alaska, the Polar Bear. In Florida, the Condor. I do not want to live to see a vital animal in Michigan be hunted for sport in the state of Michigan.

This 62 year old tar sands pipeline is a serious threat to the Great Lakes. It has poor maintenance and is operated by Enbridge, known to have repeated pipeline leaks in their system and owners of the line that devastated the Kalamazoo River. A leak from this line, already known to have pinhole leaks, will be an environmental and economic catastrophe in the Great lakes.