The city of Tucson, which once gave Access Tucson more than a million dollars a year from cable franchise fees, had whittled that amount to just $150,000 this year. Even with staff taking pay cuts, the money has simply run out. Plans for a City sponsored "community media center" do not offer currently offer enough funding to keep the lights on. In the meantime, there is no funding at all to bridge the time between the end of existing funds and the awarding of a city contract. Without a last minute increase in funding, Access Tucson will close for good. Please join us in asking the city for a reasonable transition plan and a proposal that will keep community media alive in the Old Pueblo!

The oil spill caused by the negligence of Plains All American Pipeline has now reached as far as Sands Beach (near Isla Vista, CA). The beaches are now covered with oil, threatening the endangered snowy plover population, the wildlife and environmental study area in and around Devereaux Slough, and the overall health and well-being of our communities. The county should be reimbursed for all cleanup costs, wildlife deaths and injuries, damage to public health, and loss of tourism revenues, and it should take whatever steps are necessary to shut down oil drilling in this vulnerable and important area.

In a historic and momentous vote, the Nebraska Legislature voted 32-15 on Wednesday, May 20, 2015, to repeal the death penalty, but Gov. Ricketts has vetoed the bill. Enough senators voted for the bill to override the governor's veto if they all stand together. Let's thank the senators for their vote, and urge them to stand firm for justice, by overriding the veto.

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.