Our communities are battling a new surge of COVID-19 cases — and at the same time, we're facing a catastrophic wave bearing down on our homes: evictions. Every month, families forgo food, water, and healthcare just to pay the rent to avoid eviction. Every month, renters across the country are burdened with over $51 billion in rent payments, forcing us to work multiple jobs, take out loans and put our lives at risk just to pay the bills. It's estimated that renters will face $70 billion in rent arrears by the end of January, and more than 13.4 million households are now at risk of eviction. These evictions disproportionately impact Black, Latinx, Indigenous, API families and working class communities of color. This is unconscionable. We know housing is the cure to this crisis. And we demand more so we can survive — and thrive. We call upon the incoming Biden administration to take immediate action to protect our homes, our families, and our communities. That's why today, Right to the City Alliance members are getting SO LOUD that the incoming Biden administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) just can't ignore us. Are you with us?

We understand that herd immunity via vaccination will take months to achieve. Without the steps outlined above many more lives will be lost and many others will become ill, perhaps chronically, per the models. This hurts people, and in the long run, is also expensive across many systems. We have seen what happens when countries work to eliminate COVID. New York State may have more difficulty than a country would, but we can see that the current level of mitigation is not enough. We have seen responses from leaders like Adern, Battulga and Merkel. While they have all struggled with COVID returning, the defining feature of their response is their unwillingness to lose lives. A positive side effect is that their economies have been impacted positively by this approach. COVID Zero NY should be our aspiration. Being better than other states is not enough. It is imperative that our goals be higher because this is impacting our lives, our health, and our livelihoods. We must act, immediately. The WHO’s Dr. Mike Ryan’s statement from March is as relevant today as it was then: “Perfection is the enemy of the good when it comes to emergency management. Speed trumps perfection, and the problem in society we have at the moment is everyone is afraid of making a mistake - everyone is afraid of the consequence of error. But the greatest error is not to move. The greatest error is to be paralyzed by the fear of failure.” Respectfully submitted, Dec 22, 2020 — Sample of Information Utilized Substantial majorities (6 in 10, or more) of Americans support all seven restrictive measures. www.thecovidstates.org THE COVID STATES PROJECT: A 50-STATE COVID-19 SURVEY REPORT #25: PUBLIC SUPPORT FOR MEASURES AIMED AT CURBING COVID-19 USA, November 2020 COVID Zero: https://www.kxnet.com/news/national-news/after-eliminating-covid-19-new-zealand-pm-says-flattening-curve-wasnt-enough/ Economy and COVID: https://indianapublicmedia.org/news/a-false-choice-how-the-coronavirus-married-public-health-the-economy.php?s=09 Lack of transparency undermining response: https://www.wired.com/story/a-lack-of-transparency-is-undermining-pandemic-policy/ Updated COVID risk: https://covid19risk.biosci.gatech.edu/ Closing schools, bars, workplaces, public events reduces R to safe levels https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(20)30785-4/fulltext Additional school information: https://twitter.com/DrZoeHyde/status/1336612124835995648?s=20 Aerosols: https://time.com/5883081/covid-19-transmitted-aerosols/

Portland’s housing crisis is in uncharted territory A new study predicts a national homelessness spike due to COVID-19 and forecasts a 40 to 45 percent rise in homelessness. Affordable housing and support services are falling far short of demand. And, as a surge of evictions looms, the worst is yet to come.

This show will get Asian Americans killed. Hate crimes against Asian Americans are at an all time high during the pandemic because of the racist association of COVID-19 with China promoted by Trump, his administration and other white supremacists. Andrew Schulz’s new 4-part comedy special on Netflix fans the flames of anti-Asian American racism. The first episode aired this week contains racist and dangerous “jokes” blaming China and Asians for the coronavirus pandemic. In the first minute, Schulz calls coronavirus the "Asian parasite." He later refers to the virus as 'Wuhanic plague.' Among other blatantly racist remarks, Schulz says, 'I mean, let's be honest, next to squatting to smoke a cigarette, slinging viruses is their favorite thing to do'. These words are disgusting, vile, shockingly blaming and shaming, untrue, and anything but funny. They are the very thing which leads to violence against Asian Americans. In this time, as racist language and sentiment is being spewed by our own government officials, and as white supremacist violence is being incited and is increasing in the US and other countries, the airing of racist content by an entity as large as Netflix is absolutely dangerous and will fan the flames of violent acting-out. There have been more than 2,000 incidents of COVID-related hate crimes against Asian Americans since March, 2020. A man attacked a family with young children with a knife at a store, elderly men and women have been attacked and chased down the street, a woman suffered an acid attack, men and women are being spit on, and the list goes on. Netflix should have known better than to air this show. Racist content of any kind on television is dangerous. It is unacceptable and dangerous for Netflix to continue to air the show. Netflix needs to act responsibly now to minimize any further damage to Asian Americans and all of us, because the consequences are already too grave. For Netflix to allow this series to continue on its platform would be nothing less than an endorsement of open and blatant racism in its programming. Reed Hastings MUST cancel the program immediately.

The Febrey-Lothrop-Rouse estate is a unique, large privately held property in Arlington. It has a long and significant history, dating back to the Febrey family farm and house, built in 1855. The Febrey family was one of the most prestigious and well-known in the D.C. area at that time. It was the location of a large encampment for thousands of Union Soldiers during the Civil War, 1861-65. The estate was subsequently owned by Alvin Lothrop, a co-founder/owner of the Woodward-Lothrop Department Store chain. The last owner was Randolph Rouse who was married to Audrey Meadows, a world famous actress in the 1950s and 60s. The property was also once owned by TWA Airlines, which was owned by Howard Hughes, who occasionally stayed at the property. It is important that Arlington protect and preserve such a unique, undeniably historic property for public access. This is a once-in-forever opportunity to take a stand for historic preservation in Arlington County.

Federal officials recently discovered that the U.S. government was the target of one of the largest cyberattacks in history. The list is long: Treasury, Federal Reserve, Defense, State, Homeland Security, and Energy (which oversees nuclear weapons) have ALL been breached. The implications are staggering.  There’s one thing we know for sure: the incoming Biden administration MUST have the information about this hack and its potential effects if they are going to be able to face this and other challenges on Day 1.  But within days of announcing the breach, Acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller ordered a Pentagon-wide halt to cooperation with the Biden transition team, hamstringing their ability to understand and address a dangerous situation with far-reaching national security implications. This goes beyond politics and is simply unacceptable.  Sign now to demand that Acting Secretary Miller restart national security briefings with the Biden transition team immediately.

The City of Philadelphia is experiencing a gun violence public health crisis. -There has been a 53% increase in gun violence since 2019 -There are over 2,100 shooting victims so far in 2020 -Nearly half of those victims are under the age of 25 -Gun violence is traumatizing Black and Brown communities We’re talking about children, teens, and adults dying in the streets of Philadelphia at an unprecedented rate, young people turning to violence due to their communities being stripped of resources, and Philadelphia’s leadership not approaching this issue with the urgency it deserves. Neighborhoods in Philadelphia are under siege. Philadelphia must stand together, no matter which neighborhood you live in, because we all deserve to live in neighborhoods supported by life sustaining resources, where well-being and safety are the record-breaking outcomes. View the full resolution: https://phila.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=4638891&GUID=01D1971F-207F-4DDB-A581-8EB8C1F2EF0E&Options=ID%7CText%7C&Search=200447

The American people are in a dire economic situation as a result of the coronavirus. Millions of people have lost their jobs, health care, and housing. People are hungry.

The January 6 Committee recently revealed explosive text messages from Senator Ron Johnson’s staff to former Vice President Mike Pence’s staff saying that Johnson was going to deliver fake elector votes to Pence from Wisconsin and Michigan. This is completely unacceptable. It’s highly unlikely that Johnson’s staff would’ve just initiated this conversation without his explicit approval. Sen. Ron Johnson should be ashamed and needs to be removed immediately. Despite all the evidence to the contrary, Johnson continued to perpetuate the idea that the 2020 Presidential election was fraudulent and that President Biden wasn't the President for many months after the fact. His views go directly against, and even devalue, the votes of his constituents. He does not represent the citizens of Wisconsin, and continues to perpetuate the idea that the 2020 Presidential election was fraudulent. This devalues his constituents votes and their voices to be heard. His motives are dangerous to our Democracy as a whole, and disgraceful to the citizens of Wisconsin.

The Southern Beaufort Sea polar bear population is the world's most imperiled, with as few as 900 individuals. The Arctic Refuge's coastal plain is vital to its survival. Oil and gas development there could eradicate polar bears from the region. This refuge is America's largest remaining stretch of pristine wilderness. If industry is allowed to turn the Arctic Refuge into an oilfield, exacerbating the climate crisis and wildlife extinction crisis, this rare and wild landscape will be forever scarred. The high cost to polar bears and the sensitive Arctic Refuge ecosystem just isn't worth it. The federal government must not allow harm to come to polar bears while looking for oil that Americans don't want the oil industry drilling for anyway. Stand up for the Arctic Refuge, polar bears and our climate by signing the petition to oppose oil and gas leasing in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

I am a student in the USA and because of the current Coronavirus pandemic, many schools have been forced to shut down. I am not saying in any way I disagree with the schools shutting down, as I, in particular, think it is the safest option. But that isn't what I'm arguing. As the winter goes on, it is sure to snow at some point. And when it snows on a school day snow days happen. The couple of days that children get a little amount of time to just relax unexpectedly. The strain that school puts on children every day is huge and has only increased during the pandemic. I think these days should just be those unexpected things that children look forward to no matter the state in the outside world.

Even before the current moratorium on inside dining, restaurant workers were experiencing an extreme cut in wages; during what is supposed to be the busiest time of the year. Kitchen staff are seeing their hours cut and front-of-house staff has seen a drastic reduction in tips. 10% of the Pennsylvania workforce is restaurant staff. 10% of lawmakers constituents, who work, vote, and pay taxes, are restaurant staff. These elected officials, who were elected by us to represent our best interests are currently not doing their job. With the moratorium on eviction expiring at the end of this month, we are on the precipice of facing a homelessness pandemic that towers over the one that currently plagues America today. And the following months are just going to get colder and more daunting. Unless Pennsylvania lawmakers, representing us in Harrisburg, and our great state in Washington, want a crisis that would rival The Great Depression, they need to hear our voice and bail us out.