It is truly cumbersome to drive at snail speed when your car as well as the large highway that you drive on are both capable of maintaining high speeds without compromising the safety of you, as well as your fellow drivers.

I remember some of the best times of my childhood were spent swimming and hiking at our state parks. Now our state is considering closing them. I want to preserve them so that future generations can enjoy nature as I have.

I do not believe that state land should be sold and used as a limestone mining place.

Too many local families are getting caught in the debt cycle to leave this industry unregulated. This debt is bad for families and bad for the local economy. People I know and love have been hurt badly by these loans - and not just in the pocket book. The stress these loans have placed on family stability is really tough to see.

The Distributed Wind Energy Association (DWEA) is pursuing legislation in the current Colorado legislative session both to establish credits for rural renewable energy gardens and to create a refundable income tax credit for small wind (please see separate sign-on at: http://distributedwind.org/take-action/state/support-colorado-refundable-income-tax-credit-for-small-wind/) New provisions are needed to allow rural cooperative electric associations (co-ops) to use the production from shared wind and other facilities to meet their retail distributed generation requirements under Colorado's renewable energy standard. Subscribers of the shared facilities must be members of the co-op in whose service territory the facility is located, and the renewable energy credits must be allocated to a physical address within that service territory. Distributed generation (DG) systems help diversify our energy supply and relieve some of the burden on energy producers during peak energy times in the summer and winter. Rural DG systems also avoid expensive transmission upgrades and projects that increase costs for all ratepayers. Coloradoans unable install their own wind turbines (i.e. renters and people in low wind areas), can help increase the amount of wind power in Colorado if co-ops are encouraged to allow shared investments in local wind projects. Similar community renewable initiatives are underway in several states from New York to Oregon that engage diverse communities and create accessible pathways to clean energy ownership. Note: If appropriate, please include your company name together with your name or in the comment field.

A college education is still the primary pathway to the middle class, yet the average college graduate leaves school with nearly $30,000 in debt. And for students who don’t graduate, even small amounts of debt can be insurmountable. It wasn’t always this way. Just 25 years ago, if a student wanted to attain a bachelor’s degree, it was more likely than not that he or she would be able to do so without borrowing money to pay for it. Now, due to disinvestment in education, borrowing is nearly always required to pay for a four-year degree, particularly for low- and middle-income students. Reversing this trend will require the federal government and states to work together to make college more affordable and return it to the debt-free promise it once was. A federal-state partnership, like the one proposed in the new resolution, would alleviate the student debt burden and address many of the contributing factors of rising college costs.

For almost 14 years, Philadelphians have been unable to elect their own school board, thanks to efforts of corporate backed education privatizers. It's time for the voters of Philadelphia to be able to vote for our own school board. Join me in calling on Gov. Wolf to return local control to Philadelphians now.

Florida needs to expand Medicaid, and the governor needs to stop being an obstacle to helping Florida's working poor.

HB 525, The Cleveland Plan, enables the CMSD CEO to create a Corrective Action Plan (CAP) for the lowest performing schools in the District, known as Corrective Action Schools. In 2013 and 2014, the Cleveland Municipal School District Board of Education adopted the CAPs for these buildings. Corrective Action School teachers and paraprofessionals had to re-interview, be selected, and sign a Commitment Letter in Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the plan. In year three, with little collaboration or notice, the District presented new plans that de-professionalize the staff and do little to address student success. As teachers and paraprofessionals have been following the plan for the past year or two, positive changes can be seen. Instead of starting over, the District needs to stand behind and support their original commitment letters.

Since our government lacks the required morality and integrity to take these war criminals out of circulation within the confines of a civilized society that operates under the rule of law and hold them accountable for their crimes, we the undersigned feel it is our civic duty to do so.

President Obama promised during his 2008 campaign that he would call the massacre of Armenians by the Turkish government during World War I a genocide. Since taking office he has not followed through on this campaign promise. April 24, 2015 marks the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide when 1.5 million Armenians were either brutally executed or forced marched into the desert and starved to death. As stated in April 22, 2015 Wall Street Journal, again President Obama will not use the term genocide when he commemorates this sad anniversary in order to appease the Turkish government. Full disclosure, I voted for Obama so this is not political for me. It is however political for him. Why should Turkey govern our moral standards? Standing up for crimes against humanity should never be a political decision. True leaders don't make popular decisions, they make morally correct decisions. By not speaking out, tragedies and crimes against humanity are repeated, as evidenced throughout history. When Hitler was preparing his Nazi leaders about his idea for the "final solution" for Jews he actually sited the Armenian genocide and told his team that the world never said or did anything then so why would they with what he planned? The Pope, Canada, France, EU and soon Germany have all spoken out and support the historical and fact based claim that there was an Armenian genocide. And today, Christians are being brutally murdered in the Middle East for beliefs alone, and again our President is silent. Its about time President Obama stands up not down to all these cowards, and speaks out! #Silence is acceptance.

As early as noon on Thursday, the Minnesota Senate could vote to legalize silencers and weaken our pistol permit law. Minneapolis has "shot spotter" technology to locate the source of gunshots. Gun lobbyists are claiming, with no evidence, that shot spotters won't be impacted by the use of silencers. At the same time, they want to weaken our pistol permit law to honor permits from any state with a "similar" rather than "substantially similar" law, a vague and lower standard.