Just days after the House of Representatives voted to cut a quarter of a billion dollars from Amtrak's budget, a group of nine senators stood to announce their support for fully funding Amtrak. Calling the recent derailment in Philadelphia a "harrowing and deadly" reminder of the need to invest in passenger rail, the new Senate legislation calls on Congress to provide $2 billion in funding that Amtrak has said it needs to keep passengers safe and to fix what's broken.[1] Tell Congress: fix what's broken and keep passengers safe. [1] http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/senate-democrats-want-21-billion-amtraks-maintenance-backlog/

The United States and eleven other nations are working on a massive new trade agreement called the Trans-Pacific Partnership or TPP. This deal is the latest and largest in a series of international agreements that have attacked working women and men, fueled mindless and carbon-intensive consumption, and prevented governments from enforcing their own laws to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Trade deals such as NAFTA and the TPP bestow corporations with outrageous new powers, including the right to directly challenge participating governments for enacting any measures that jeopardize their profits. These corporate grievances are heard by unelected, unaccountable trade tribunals—and as history has shown, the energy and mining giants will seize on them to try to gut all manner of environmental laws. The expansion of such agreements has gone hand in hand with the accelerating rise in greenhouse gas emissions. In short, this corporate free trade model that the TPP represents isn't only destabilizing our economies—it's also a key reason why our governments have failed to come to grips with the climate crisis. If President Obama and the U.S. Congress are going to be serious about climate change, they need to start by rejecting the TPP.

My brother was severely malnourished on his release and most other inmates that have stayed more then 4-5 months are also.

Healthcare is a top priority to life and liberty. But it is getting so expensive, most people are afraid they will lose their homes and everything they have ever worked to achieve if they become sick or injured and are unable to pay their medical costs. Many people cannot get a job that offers insurance. Many employers are now contracting out their labor or turning jobs into part-time positions so they won't have to pay the cost of employee healthcare. The federal government has tried to help low-income people with the cost of the affordable healthcare premiums. However, the State of Utah is not helping these people at all. Instead, Utah is blocking the funds that have been offered by the federal government to offset the high price of insurance. I know many college graduates who cannot get a job in our current job market, and cannot afford healthcare. Every time an illness or accident comes along, they grapple with whether they can get through it this time without seeing a doctor or if they should go to the doctor and get more and more in debt. If they need tests, or x-rays, or heaven forbid medicine, how can they possibly afford that without insurance? No wonder so many people are becoming homeless. No wonder we have so many people who wander the streets. No wonder we have so much crime and mental health issues on our streets. It is because a lot of people cannot afford to get the help they need and deserve! It's time that our lawmakers act to fix this problem in Utah.

There are over 2,000 children in both middle schools in Marlboro. Chromebooks were given on a 1-to-1 basis this past year 2014/2015. They were maintained by the schools as school property and left in the classrooms. They were charged and ready to go. Every child has their own plans in place to access Google and Google Classroom at their own homes to finish homework. Chromebooks do not store any information that anyone cannot access on their own device, even at a library. Mandating that the children bring these Chromebooks home now is an accident waiting to happen. Marlboro Middle has 3 floors and stairs. There are small lockers. Backpacks are already filled to the brim, plus the added weight of a Chromebook even if it could fit would be burdensome. If kept in the protective cases which we are told each child will be given, they will still have to be taken on the crowded seats of the bus. Children also bring drinks to school. If they open and spill, the Chromebook will be ruined. Wear and tear on the devices is inevitable. There are after-school sports and clubs and activities. There is a safety factor. Yes, children bring their smart phones everywhere they go, but they are much smaller and can fit in pockets, leaving hands free to hold their binders. Now, they will have to manage their multiple binders and carry the Chromebook to every class. In MMS, books are not allowed in the lunchroom. We must assume the Chromebook will not either, so it must be able to fit in the locker. There is a fee being attached to the children being mandated to bring these Chromebooks home. What maintenance plan is in place for breakage and water damage? When a device is purchased new, you need to have extended warranties purchased within 30 days. Are the protective cases already purchased or budgeted for in the coming year? Middle school children are still children. There is no need to burden them or their parents with this unnecessary responsibility. This current year has been a test year. Even though you took a survey last fall and said that 60% wanted them home and 40% did not, this is not an accurate picture of all students. This is just 60% and 40% of who answered your survey. However, 100% of the students were your test subjects, and there were no issues. There is just no need for this. Keep the status quo of the Chromebooks remaining in school as school property.

" As one of 3 Black females in a department of ~1000, I have witnessed the callous and hostile culture an almost all white male department has towards the minority employees; and the poor and colored citizens that call 911 for help. People are being hurt with one known death and possible more due to inadequate medical care by Hills. County Fire Rescue personnel".

If the Trans-Pacific Partnership is passed, like other trade agreements it will hurt workers by exporting U.S. jobs and it will allow trans-national corporations to sue to block U.S. environmental, health, consumer safety and financial regulations by alleging they would decrease future profits.

All of us are affected by whether or not we have the ability to create and maintain environmental regulations, whether we can create and maintain state and national laws and a democracy in general.

“Without urgent, coordinated action by many stakeholders, the world is headed for a post-antibiotic era in which common infections and minor injuries, which have been treatable for decades, can once again kill.” - World Health Organization It’s not on the label, but the danger is real. Raising livestock and poultry on routine antibiotics is causing the growth and spread of superbugs—antibiotic-resistant bacteria—that could soon become one of the world’s #1 killers. We have a right to know when our food threatens our health. Seventy percent of medically-important antibiotics are used on livestock and poultry, often on animals that aren’t sick. This overuse can grow and spread drug-resistant bacteria, aka superbugs. If the meat that consumers purchase contributes to this rising public health crisis, that should be clear to see. Tell the USDA to label meat raised with routine antibiotics.

My sister is a breast cancer survivor. We need to support affordable copays for mammograms after the patients are cancer free to make sure the disease does not come back.

Superintendent Cami Anderson Newark Public Schools 10th Floor 2 Cedar Street Newark, New Jersey 07108 Dear Cami Anderson & Brad Haggerty, As this exhausting school year comes to a close, and while I look at my information via Salesforce with complete dismay, I am disappointed that even this year, the district will not address a deep concern that I have had for the last three years about the overwhelming influx of students with special needs being matched to Central High School. On June 2, 2014, I sent a three page letter to Dr. Katzman, Brad Haggerty, Dr. Honnick and you, Superintendent Cami Anderson, detailing my disagreement and resistance to the plan to send 70 students with disabilities out of 216 freshmen to Central High School. Of the 70 special needs students, 70% of them were improperly placed at Central High School, which is illegal under IDEA and federal guidelines. The reality is that there are no programs at Central to accommodate their needs. When students are inappropriately placed, we are immediately out of state compliance and unable to implement their IEPs. Central currently has two programs: in class support (RCI) and Autism. When I conveyed my concern and provided sound reasoning to my supervisors and to the director of OSE, I was met with resistance and even punished with poor evaluative comments on Competency 5 of my evaluation because I spoke up and addressed this issue. However, I cannot and will not sit idly by and witness the neglect of Central High School without trying desperately to get the district to hear my concerns about how we are being affected by these decisions. Two school years prior in 2013-2014, we at Central High School have never recovered from the One Newark enrollment plan. It has taken toll on our teacher morale and energy. In 2013-2014, Central High School was adversely affected by the open student enrollment process. We submitted our projected budgets in February 2013, and six months later we received more students than anticipated. We went from accepting a freshman class of about 175 in 2012-2013 to accepting a class of 255 in 2013 – 2014. Of the 255 students, we received an unprecedented amount of special needs students, 58, to service. (58) Also, to compound the issue, many of the 58 special education students had classifications for which Central High School did not have the required programs to accommodate their Individual Educational Plan mandates, which details their academic and emotional needs. For example, we received approximately 12 Emotionally Disturbed students, and we do not have a Behavioral Disabilities program to meet their therapeutic, socio-emotional and academic needs. Also, 14 Learning Disabilities-Severe freshmen were sent to us, even though, we do not have a program to service their needs. We are also out of compliance in the Autism program lacking a sufficient number of educational aides. Our plea for adequate staffing has been an on-going struggle in the district. This struggle for adequate staffing has caused overcrowding with many teachers forced to teach extra classes. In addition other grade levels currently have substitute teachers due to a lack of staff, and SPED classes are out of compliance due to a lack of resources and staff. All of these compounded issues negatively impacted the culture, morale, and learning environment causing frustration to the teachers, students and administration. We are still trying to ameliorate many of the unresolved issues aforementioned. As previously stated, Central High School only has two Special Education programs. We have an in class support program and a program for our autistic students. The autism program has had its challenges because it was started with little to no support or direction from the district. We have managed to endure. However, parents are still angry due to the District's non-compliance. Two parents either sought out of district placement or have formed legal cases to ensure compliance. Being out of compliance is a serious matter! When the district makes decisions to send the students to Central inappropriately, I AM THE ONE WHOSE NAME APPEARS ON THE SUBPOENA, as well as the child study team when parents pursue legal action. At best, we have the capacity to service about 25 to 35 SLD students on each grade level. Prior to the extreme school closings and prior to the open enrollment, accepting students from our feeder patterns allowed us to maintain a serviceable number of special education students. However with the open student enrollment process, Central High School received triple that number, forcing us to not service students because we do not have the programs, causing us to be out of compliance, adversely affecting school climate, and creating a major disservice to the students who will be improperly placed. It is the district’s responsibility to place special needs students in their correct learning environments, especially since local schools do not have the authority or input regarding student enrollment. Compliance is not just important. It is the law. This school year (2014-2015) was even more frustrating. Despite my concern and my many attempts to stop the influx of 70 SPED students at the beginning of the year, we continued to get students with disabilities everyday throughout the One Newark Enrollment process. In a normal year, we would receive only 25 to 35 freshmen SPED students, but our special needs population tripled! From 2012-2013 to 2013 to 2014, the freshmen SPED enrollment increased by 120%. From 2013-2014 to 2014-2015, the freshmen special needs enrollment increased by 21%. For the 2014-2015 to 2015-2016, the freshmen SPED enrollment will increase by an additional 15% with no increase in staff due to district mandated budget cuts at Central High School. Overall, within three school years, Central’s SPED FRESHMEN POPULATION INCREASED BY A WHOPPING 220%. I have only included the increases of the freshmen class! All ...

The spill of more than one hundred thousand gallons of oil in Santa Barbara is devastating, and is just another example of the significant impacts the oil and gas industry is having on California's environment and people. In the last few months it's been revealed that billions of gallons of oil industry waste water was pumped illegally into aquifers that hold water for drinking and agriculture; Water Defense also conducted testing that demonstrated that recycled oil wastewater was being used to irrigate crops in California's Kern County; and there have been increasing studies demonstrating that fracking and the disposal of fracking waste in injection wells is leading to earthquakes. Rather than continuing to allow the oil and gas industry to have its way with California, Governor Brown must take real action to protect California's water, air, health, beaches and the climate on which we all depend. Governor Brown recently signed a pact with leaders of several countries to set emissions targets for 2050, but we also need real action to protect California now. That's what real climate leadership would look like.