I've been a Costco member since 1987 and applaud its move toward organics. However, I'm troubled to see Monsanto's Roundup in proximity to organic products and don't feel that Costco should be selling something that is quite possibly a human carcinogen.

We must take concrete steps to end racism! The Confederate flag honors the history of slavery in the United States. The message it conveys keeps dirt in a wound that deserves to heal.

Last year, it was Burger King. Now, it's Monsanto. The agribusiness giant Monsanto is considering a plan to buy Syngenta, a European agrochemical company. (1) The move would allow it to declare itself a foreign company for tax purposes. If Monsanto does indeed renounce their status as a U.S- based company, it will mean they will be taxed at a much lower rate than American-based companies, in a scheme that is referred to as "corporate inversion." The crazy thing is, they don't actually have to move their CEO or any of their central offices, they can just claim on paper to be headquartered in the UK, much in the way that Burger King is now, on paper a Canadian company. It would also allow Monsanto to permanently avoid paying taxes on the $4.4 billion of profits it has reported as holding offshore. According to the Center for Effective Government, "Monsanto could owe as much as $1.5 billion in U.S. taxes on these offshore profits, an amount that could be permanently avoided if the new company engages in complex legal and tax transactions following an inversion." (2) We can't let big corporations continue to dodge taxes with high-paid tax lawyers -- everyone should play by the same rules. How can we invest in education or job growth if large, profitable companies are scheming to avoid paying their fair share? We hear a lot of talk about how Congress wants to help the middle class. Well, they can start by stopping the biggest companies from playing a rigged game and passing the Stop Corporate Inversions Act right now, which would save us $34 billion over the next decade. (3) Sen. Barbara Mikulski has supported closing the inversion loophole in the past, but she is not on record in support of the version of the bill. If enough people weigh in, I'm confident we can add her as a supporter. 1. http://goo.gl/eEMZqV 2. http://goo.gl/BjGSaq 3. http://goo.gl/psrmNp

Last year, it was Burger King. Now, it's Monsanto. The agribusiness giant Monsanto is considering a plan to buy Syngenta, a European agrochemical company. (1) The move would allow it to declare itself a foreign company for tax purposes. If Monsanto does indeed renounce their status as a U.S- based company, it will mean they will be taxed at a much lower rate than American-based companies, in a scheme that is referred to as "corporate inversion." The crazy thing is, they don't actually have to move their CEO or any of their central offices, they can just claim on paper to be headquartered in the UK, much in the way that Burger King is now, on paper a Canadian company. It would also allow Monsanto to permanently avoid paying taxes on the $4.4 billion of profits it has reported as holding offshore. According to the Center for Effective Government, "Monsanto could owe as much as $1.5 billion in U.S. taxes on these offshore profits, an amount that could be permanently avoided if the new company engages in complex legal and tax transactions following an inversion." (2) We can't let big corporations continue to dodge taxes with high-paid tax lawyers -- everyone should play by the same rules. How can we invest in education or job growth if large, profitable companies are scheming to avoid paying their fair share? We hear a lot of talk about how Congress wants to help the middle class. Well, they can start by stopping the biggest companies from playing a rigged game and passing the Stop Corporate Inversions Act right now, which would save us $34 billion over the next decade. (3) Sen. Debbie Stabenow has supported closing the inversion loophole in the past, but she is not on record in support of the version of the bill. If enough people weigh in, I'm confident we can add her as a supporter. 1. http://goo.gl/eEMZqV 2. http://goo.gl/BjGSaq 3. http://goo.gl/psrmNp

Last year, it was Burger King. Now, it's Monsanto. The agribusiness giant Monsanto is considering a plan to buy Syngenta, a European agrochemical company. (1) The move would allow it to declare itself a foreign company for tax purposes. If Monsanto does indeed renounce their status as a U.S- based company, it will mean they will be taxed at a much lower rate than American-based companies, in a scheme that is referred to as "corporate inversion." The crazy thing is, they don't actually have to move their CEO or any of their central offices, they can just claim on paper to be headquartered in the UK, much in the way that Burger King is now, on paper a Canadian company. It would also allow Monsanto to permanently avoid paying taxes on the $4.4 billion of profits it has reported as holding offshore. According to the Center for Effective Government, "Monsanto could owe as much as $1.5 billion in U.S. taxes on these offshore profits, an amount that could be permanently avoided if the new company engages in complex legal and tax transactions following an inversion." (2) We can't let big corporations continue to dodge taxes with high-paid tax lawyers -- everyone should play by the same rules. How can we invest in education or job growth if large, profitable companies are scheming to avoid paying their fair share? We hear a lot of talk about how Congress wants to help the middle class. Well, they can start by stopping the biggest companies from playing a rigged game and passing the Stop Corporate Inversions Act right now, which would save us $34 billion over the next decade. (3) Sen. Charles Schumer has supported closing the inversion loophole in the past, but he is not on record in support of the version of the bill. If enough people weigh in, I'm confident we can add him as a supporter. 1. http://goo.gl/eEMZqV 2. http://goo.gl/BjGSaq 3. http://goo.gl/psrmNp

Last year, it was Burger King. Now, it's Monsanto. The agribusiness giant Monsanto is considering a plan to buy Syngenta, a European agrochemical company. (1) The move would allow it to declare itself a foreign company for tax purposes. If Monsanto does indeed renounce their status as a U.S- based company, it will mean they will be taxed at a much lower rate than American-based companies, in a scheme that is referred to as "corporate inversion." The crazy thing is, they don't actually have to move their CEO or any of their central offices, they can just claim on paper to be headquartered in the UK, much in the way that Burger King is now, on paper a Canadian company. It would also allow Monsanto to permanently avoid paying taxes on the $4.4 billion of profits it has reported as holding offshore. According to the Center for Effective Government, "Monsanto could owe as much as $1.5 billion in U.S. taxes on these offshore profits, an amount that could be permanently avoided if the new company engages in complex legal and tax transactions following an inversion." (2) We can't let big corporations continue to dodge taxes with high-paid tax lawyers -- everyone should play by the same rules. How can we invest in education or job growth if large, profitable companies are scheming to avoid paying their fair share? We hear a lot of talk about how Congress wants to help the middle class. Well, they can start by stopping the biggest companies from playing a rigged game and passing the Stop Corporate Inversions Act right now, which would save us $34 billion over the next decade. (3) Sen. Tim Kaine has supported closing the inversion loophole in the past, but he is not on record in support of the version of the bill. If enough people weigh in, I'm confident we can add him as a supporter. 1. http://goo.gl/eEMZqV 2. http://goo.gl/BjGSaq 3. http://goo.gl/psrmNp

Last year, it was Burger King. Now, it's Monsanto. The agribusiness giant Monsanto is considering a plan to buy Syngenta, a European agrochemical company. (1) The move would allow it to declare itself a foreign company for tax purposes. If Monsanto does indeed renounce their status as a U.S- based company, it will mean they will be taxed at a much lower rate than American-based companies, in a scheme that is referred to as "corporate inversion." The crazy thing is, they don't actually have to move their CEO or any of their central offices, they can just claim on paper to be headquartered in the UK, much in the way that Burger King is now, on paper a Canadian company. It would also allow Monsanto to permanently avoid paying taxes on the $4.4 billion of profits it has reported as holding offshore. According to the Center for Effective Government, "Monsanto could owe as much as $1.5 billion in U.S. taxes on these offshore profits, an amount that could be permanently avoided if the new company engages in complex legal and tax transactions following an inversion." (2) We can't let big corporations continue to dodge taxes with high-paid tax lawyers -- everyone should play by the same rules. How can we invest in education or job growth if large, profitable companies are scheming to avoid paying their fair share? We hear a lot of talk about how Congress wants to help the middle class. Well, they can start by stopping the biggest companies from playing a rigged game and passing the Stop Corporate Inversions Act right now, which would save us $34 billion over the next decade. (3) Sen. Bill Nelson has supported closing the inversion loophole in the past, but he is not on record in support of the version of the bill. If enough people weigh in, I'm confident we can add him as a supporter. 1. http://goo.gl/eEMZqV 2. http://goo.gl/BjGSaq 3. http://goo.gl/psrmNp

Last year, it was Burger King. Now, it's Monsanto. The agribusiness giant Monsanto is considering a plan to buy Syngenta, a European agrochemical company. (1) The move would allow it to declare itself a foreign company for tax purposes. If Monsanto does indeed renounce their status as a U.S- based company, it will mean they will be taxed at a much lower rate than American-based companies, in a scheme that is referred to as "corporate inversion." The crazy thing is, they don't actually have to move their CEO or any of their central offices, they can just claim on paper to be headquartered in the UK, much in the way that Burger King is now, on paper a Canadian company. It would also allow Monsanto to permanently avoid paying taxes on the $4.4 billion of profits it has reported as holding offshore. According to the Center for Effective Government, "Monsanto could owe as much as $1.5 billion in U.S. taxes on these offshore profits, an amount that could be permanently avoided if the new company engages in complex legal and tax transactions following an inversion." (2) We can't let big corporations continue to dodge taxes with high-paid tax lawyers -- everyone should play by the same rules. How can we invest in education or job growth if large, profitable companies are scheming to avoid paying their fair share? We hear a lot of talk about how Congress wants to help the middle class. Well, they can start by stopping the biggest companies from playing a rigged game and passing the Stop Corporate Inversions Act right now, which would save us $34 billion over the next decade. (3) Sen. Ron Wyden has supported closing the inversion loophole in the past, but he is not on record in support of the version of the bill. If enough people weigh in, I'm confident we can add him as a supporter. 1. http://goo.gl/eEMZqV 2. http://goo.gl/BjGSaq 3. http://goo.gl/psrmNp

On June 17,2015, my son was at the Shelby community center playing basketball when he suffered a heat stroke. He collapsed three times, hitting his head twice and losing control of his muscles and vision. Luckily his dad arrived and began pouring water on his head and ran him home to a cool bath before heading to the emergency room. The temperature in the gym was 105°and the water fountain only had hot water. He was treated at the hospital with iv fluids and underwent multiple tests. His headache is going on day three and he still has little strength and energy but otherwise was able to come home. This could have ended in tragedy and the next child might not be lucky enough to recover so well. When I contacted metro parks I discovered that Shelby center was one of 6 centers that still had not been upgraded with a/c and proper fountains. Since budget and funding are the only things keeping these centers from being upgraded, we need more funding allotted to these centers immediately. No child's life should be in jeopardy in a place created to be a safe environment for them and no amount of money will ever be worth the loss of life that could occur.

Contrary to the clear intent of Board of Education policy, the Superintendent has been discharging non-tenured teachers without following the Board's dismissal procedures. Rather, he has chosen not to renew their contracts (non-renewal). Dismissal of poorly-performing teachers is a necessity at times, but hiring and orienting new teachers is expensive and disruptive. To learn well, children need stability and predictability in their schools. Dismissing teachers without clear reason creates a climate of uncertainty for children, parents and teachers, and it disrupts the conditions needed for positive, productive school communities.

On Thursday, June 18, with mostly Republican votes, the House passed a fast-track trade bill that would attempt to pre-approve the job-killing, environment-destroying, medicine price-raising Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, a week after a Democratic rebellion blocked the proposal in the House. Now the fate of this proposal lies before the Senate. The proposal will be blocked in the Senate if 41 Senators vote against “cloture” to proceed to a vote – that is, if 41 Senators support a “filibuster.” Populist champions Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Sherrod Brown have led the fight in the Senate against this proposal. Now we need them to pull out the stops. A “talking filibuster” – where Senators hold the floor, speaking against Fast Track - would galvanize public opposition to the bill. It would be a televised national town hall on how our current trade policies are worsening extreme inequality, undermining democracy and human rights, and giving more wealth and power to the 1% at the expense of broad public interests. Urge Senator Sanders to lead a talking filibuster against Fast Track by signing our petition.

I live in the Santa Clarita Valley and the we do not need our neighborhoods destroyed by this ill-conceived project. We need water. Our lakes, rivers and reservoirs are drying up with each passing day. The farmers use 80% of the water and the remaining 20% is for consumer usage. We are told to conserve, which the majority of us are doing, but how wrong is it to have our taxpayer dollars wasted on the vanity project of our out of touch governor when his constituents are suffering. Please sign to let him know how we all really feel. Thank you.