SDOT's stated reason for installing a sign in this particular location is to alert drivers of incidents between Boyer Ave E and Husky Stadium. In the case of an incident, the sign will instruct motorists to turn west onto Boyer Ave E to avoid the backup. This DMS will be the only one of it’s kind in a single-family residential neighborhood. SDOT has said that installation will run $400,000. I am concerned because: * By the time you reach 24th & E. Lee, there are very few options to avoid traffic other than cutting through our neighborhoods, causing excess traffic and safety concerns. * The sign creates a visual distraction on an already dangerous street for pedestrians and bikers. This will further endanger us as we attempt to cross the street. * SDOT has failed to engage the community on this installation. While they informed the homes that are north of the corner in December 2015, they did not reach out to homes south, east or west of the installation site. * This sign will direct vehicles, including large commercial trucks and tractor-trailers, to use Boyer Ave E. Boyer Ave E. is a narrow residential street that is a major commuting route for bicyclists. It also is the home of school and church. Time is of the essence on this issue as SDOT has stated their intention to install the sign this summer. I am requesting your help in stopping it.

Last week Dylann Roof -- a white supremacists from South Carolina -- murdered nine African-Americans in a historic black church in Charleston. In his “manifesto,” the domestic terrorist credits Earl Holt for helping to radicalize him against black people. Earl Holt is the president of the Council of Conservative Citizens (CofCC), a group that is regarded by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a leading authority on hate crimes, and as a white supremacist extremist organization that opposes “race mixing” as a religious affront and that vilifies blacks as an inferior race. Just recently it was revealed by the Guardian Newspaper that Republican Congressman Steve King from Iowa received donations from Earl Holt. Steve King has said a number of horrible things about immigrants and minorities over the last decade, and these statements have attracted a number of violent extremists to his campaign. Steve King must denounce Earl Holt, refund all of the money he has received from white supremacists, and pledge to never take money from such hateful people again.

To see a murderer use the Confederate flag as his symbol of hatred and to know that same symbol flies on our State House grounds is unacceptable. I am tired of the bigotry and hatred associated with that flag. No matter what the flag might have meant, the entire country now associates it with the sort of bigotry that just cost our state nine innocent lives. It is time for our politicians to do the honorable thing, to show their concern through actions! Think what a message of love that would send to our country about SC.

Our country needs to confront institutional racism and White privilege NOW. "And we will remain a staunch ally in the movement for Black lives—working to tear down racism in all its ugly manifestations and build a nation free of violence and oppression based on the color of one’s skin." (Anna Galland, Executive Director, Move0n.org, Civic Action)

No one is looking at the truth. Bottling water is wasteful and drains our most precious resource, and the corporations don't care as long as they make money. Our fish are dying and our crops are in trouble. It's time to regulate the bottled water industry.

Last year, Governor LePage singled out asylum seekers when he unilaterally denied General Assistance (GA) from legal, non-citizens. Why? Well, he called them “able-bodied.” And, he’s right. Legal, non-citizens and asylum seekers are as eager as anyone else to work and start their lives as New Mainers. But because asylum seekers are prohibited by federal law from working for the first six months they’re in the United States, they need help from programs like GA to help meet their basic needs like food, rent, and clothing. GA is a voucher program--meaning no cash is distributed. It’s a program run by municipalities but funded mostly with state dollars. Recently, a Maine court ruled that the state was legally allowed to withhold state funding. Where does that leave Maine’s newest residents? Right here in Portland, it means there are hundreds of people who will be without housing and food. Paul LePage has given up on our asylum seeking neighbors -- but we can't. We have a second chance. This Wednesday, Portland’s City Council will have an opportunity to fully fund GA for asylum seekers in the city budget.

I'm starting this petition because I'm tired of seeing the injustice.

Any standing reminder of our nation's racists past history is a constant group builder! Many people pass the confederate soldiers in New Orleans and recite that "the south will rise again." It is a constant reminder to the minority children growing up in New Orleans that there are individuals who think less of them; and, that they can never be equal in the minds of those people and their supporters. It is a daily irritant knowing that we support the cleaning and maintenance of these pieces of hate, while our children and friends go to other countries and knock down statues of so called enemies for, I think, similar reasons --- or why do we knock down their statues if they are meaningless?

Massage therapists can provide personalized treatment specific for each patient and diagnosis. The Massage Therapists could attempt to involve in every patient and family to help identify functional treatment goals, which would allow for the establishment of an individualized plan of care.

I, along with thousands of other residents, live less than 3 miles from Norfolk Southern’s Lamberts Point Coal Pier, the largest in North America. That facility annually emits over 90,000 lbs of fugitive coal dust from its terminal operations and 200,000 coal cars. It rains down on the people and property in the surrounding neighborhoods and miles beyond. Along with the nuisance factor of frequent cleanings, remember coal dust contains arsenic, mercury, lead and other heavy metals. It has been linked to asthma attacks, neuro-developmental delays in children, bronchitis, lung cancer, pneumonia, emphysema, heart disease and premature death. Taking the reasonable measures of covering the dumpers (recommended by its own consultant in 1973), the conveyors and chute loading operations and the coal cars would significantly reduce the volume of coal dust released into the air, the soil, the river water and inhaled into people's lungs. Over the past 50 years, the estimated cumulative amount of coal dust released comes to 2 million lbs. Taking the requested mitigation measures would serve to help protect public and environmental health at a onetime estimated cost to the company of 1% of its $11.6 billion in annual revenue. If NS could afford to pay its CEO $13.5 million in 2014 ($6,500/hour or $260,000/week), it can easily take measures to STOP THE COAL DUST.

Prostitution is a form of modern-day slavery. Every day over 15,000 women, men and children in Israel are exploited for sexual services against their will. They are victims of trafficking, fraud, debt manipulation, drug addiction, extreme emotion and physical violence, sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies. The average prostitute receives between 15 to 20 clients per day, creating approximately 1,000,000 sex transactions per month in Israel. No healthy, sane human being decides to work in prostitution out of free choice.

I demanding to remove the Confederate flag from our state grounds.