We the voters of Illinois and nationwide believe that because of the undue political influence exerted by those who are only meant to provide pastoral counsel, many races in Illinois and around the country were tainted. Ultimately, electing some officials selected by the church instead of the people. We feel that our rights as Americans were violated and we are seeking justice.

For years I have been concerned of how short our children’s lunch is way too short. It's stressful on them. They do not have time to eat even half of their lunch. On an average a child will have 8-15 (it's closer to 8-10) many parents are concerned with what is taking place with all the children. Standing in the lunch line is awful. A change needs to take place within the lunchroom as well to speed up the process. Children are being excused for recess while many students are still trying to eat their lunch. It then becomes a mad dash to get out to recess. I have personally seen what takes place in my school's lunch room on a daily basis. I have taken time stamped photos as proof. My two children who attend Arbor Heights School (it is a wonderful school) have always complained how there is no time to eat lunch. They bring home mostly full lunch boxes all the time. Many other parents complain about the same thing. The kids also say being late to lunch is a common occurrence. I sat at the tables the other day. I asked the kids questions, such as how long is the lunch line. They all said that the line can go all the way to the other side of the lunch room. A child in that lunch line would really suffer by the time they found a seat and sat down to eat. Many other schools are affected by this short lunch issue as well. In fact this issue seams to be district wide. Change must occur NOW. The Seattle School District has said it will take many months to come up with a solution. I disagree. Trim 5 minutes off the day and extend the day to 3pm. I have discussed this with a few teachers already. it's really quite simple. Of course we will be told it is actually quite complicated. That gives them time to do nothing, or pretend they are working on it. Short lunches are a slap in the face to our young children. It’s an outrage after you really start hearing the children’s and parents stories. We need to start being more mindful of the care of our little ones. Our wonderful teachers are spread too thin. They need our help. Together we can ALL make a difference- for the kids! Please take the time to support this very important cause. Our children’s health and well being is at stake. https://www.facebook.com/groups/LunchMatters/permalink/1546694718905348/ A proposed plan- Lunch is now 20 min Recess is now 20 min On a larger teacher time segment (5 minutes deducted from teachers daily schedule) Extend the school day to 3pm (10 minutes added) That will make lunch 30 minutes and recess 20 minutes with a 5 minute grace period to actually get to lunch on time or for kids to wash their hands. Problem solved? Peace

I have reached my limit with these racist slurs from this Gov. and other Republicans. This kind of denied racism inflames bigotry and prejudice, making it more prominent and acceptable in our language and culture. It needs to stop.

The Military Service Buyback Bill (AKA 'Veterans Equity Act'), was overwhelmingly supported by 57 (of 57) NYS Senators and 133 (of 134) NYS Assembly Members over the Summer (June/July 2014. It waited months to be called for by Governor Cuomo (before election day) only to be promptly vetoed AFTER the election and notably right BEFORE Veteran's Day. This bill would provide all Veteran's the equality they deserve. It is in need of a two-thirds vote by the Assembly in order to have Cuomo's veto overridden. Let's show Governor Cuomo that Veteran's and their families are important and that we will not allow him to make fools of them by toying with their votes or underestimating their ability to enact change.

Big development threatens Mead Garden neighborhood. Land that is zoned for residential use only is under attack by Sention developers who want to disrupt our quiet neighborhood & build a monstrous 3 story assisted living facility on our street. Neighbors of Mead Garden & Orwin Manor stand together to protect our community from "up zoning." Join us in our effort to save our streets from big development.

We understand the desire to address traffic safety concerns, to improve under-street utilities, to replace old pavement, and to provide for future traffic loads on this stretch of 6th Street. But we believe that all of these can be done while retaining four lanes and the current street width. (Please see our reasoning below.) We still have heard no compelling arguments as to why the street must absolutely be widened. 1. Traffic safety. · The safety problem meant to be rectified is not dire. To our understanding, there is less than one accident a month on this stretch of 6th Street attributable to turning, usually a fender-bender. It’s not at all clear that this minor accident would be eliminated by adding a fifth lane. · That one minor accident might be eliminated by lowering the speed limit, putting up more speed limit signs, installing speed-monitoring signs, and enforcing the speed limit more strictly. · Most intersections in this stretch already have turn lanes. We believe those turn lanes are sufficient. 2. Utilities. To our understanding, under-street utilities can (and should) be upgraded without having to widen the street. If the project kills any trees by harming roots, those trees should be replaced. 3. Pavement. The old pavement can be replaced without widening of the street. 4. Future traffic load. While we recognize the legitimacy of this concern, we question the approach being proposed to address it. Through-traffic should be encouraged to go around town on the bypass. Any traffic going through town on 6th Street should be made to slow down for the sake of community safety and local business patronage. It would defeat some of the point of a by-pass by making it possible for more traffic to move through town on 6th Street. 5. Citizen concerns. · We need to keep the boulevards we have now in order to help with snow removal, to safely accommodate considerable foot traffic (including persons with disabilities) and bike traffic, and to preserve the distinctive beauty and historical feel of this part of the city. · We need to preserve the widespread favorable opinion of our city’s green boulevards and mature boulevards in order to remain attractive to visitors, future residents, potential students, business people, and others. · We need to retain as many of the mature trees as possible to preserve the street’s beauty; its historical nature; the canopy for the street, pedestrians and homes; and more.

As part of the HSE school redistricting initiative our neighborhood has been proposed as one that may split schools. In addition, the schools proposed for our children are a wholesale difference from current state and involve much longer bus times and 2-3x greater distance from our home. Especially at the intermediate/junior high level, it is so important that kids can stay together as a group that feed to HSE. Right now, all the options have our kids going to schools that mostly funnel to FHS (in some cases a 65/35 split which is entirely unacceptable).

Pharmacists are being pushed beyond their limits. Medication errors are on the rise and the companies only care about the bottom line! It's time for Pharmacists to take the Profession back!!!!!

It has been well documented that inmates have a better transition to the prison system and life behind bars if they continue to have family visitation and support. Even though Massachusetts has varying visitation times at each DOC facility, it does not include any way for the families to bond beyond a hour and a half visit. In addition, the visiting rooms are ill-equipped to foster parent bonding between the inmate and his/her children. An Overnight Family Visitation Program will assist the inmate and his/her family in several different ways and establish the Mass DOC as one of the states that promotes preserving the family unit within prison policies and rehabilitation methods for the inmates. The United States in now #1 in the world in the incarceration rate of it's citizens. This translates to millions of children and families without father's and mothers present in their day to day life. In addition, it has been shown that children with parents that are incarcerated have a greater chance of doing poorly in school, developing behavior issues, and getting involved in the legal system themselves. The citizens are now fed up and no longer believe mass incarceration is in the best interest of the lives of our society's children. By establishing an Overnight Visitation Program it would allow children to enjoy the simple pleasures of parenthood by ; eating dinner at the table with their parent, having a bedtime story being read to them or being tucked under the covers at night. Inmates will be involved with children's homework, be able to discussing a child's academic, social or medical condition in depth or planning positive future goals upon release with their spouse. It will also reduce the chances of the inmate re-offending and therefore reducing the recidivism rate. Currently California, Mississippi, Connecticut, New Mexico , New York and Washington have successful family overnight visitation programs. They understand that preserving the bond of the family unit makes the chances of the inmates rehabilitation greater. Protecting the family bond does not just benefit the inmate, it is also important to the spouse and children to interact privately as a " normal family" even if it is only for a weekend. Of course , all the states are unified that these visits are a “not a right, but a privilege.” Prisoners must earn the opportunity to participate in this program and visitors must also meet certain criteria. As the author of this petition, I have personally been affected by having a loved one that is incarcerated. For me and the thousands of women in Massachusetts, being able to spend quality time with my loved one would prove invaluable to maintaining the sanctity and bond as a married couple and also create a major incentives for him to continue with positive behaviors and attitude until release. For the thousand of Massachusetts children who have a parent that is incarcerated , a weekend with their parent would prove invaluable to having their other parent be " engaged and supportive in their lives" . It is my sincerely hope that you consider the numbers of signatures in support of this program and implement this program immediately within the Mass DOC system.

There is a War being waged against one of our most venerated, and cherished Holidays; Thanksgiving. A war to separate family members on a day in which to many people is the only day of the calendar year that their relatives gather together. A national day of Thanksgiving was proclaimed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863, and proclaimed by both Houses of Congress on Oct. 6 1941 as a National Legal Holiday, not as a National day of Shopping.

On September 24, United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS) sent a letter to Teach for America on behalf of their 150 local student chapters across the country. USAS explained that they are launching groundbreaking campaigns to sever institutional ties between our universities and TFA, unless they agree to move away from lending a hand to corporate behemoths like Walmart and Goldman Sachs in destroying our public education system, and move towards building a better, fully public education system. Students are asking TFA to agree to the following: 1. TFA must only operate in areas where there are actual teacher shortages, instead of pursuing aggressive expansion that displaces lifelong teachers. 2. TFA must give aspiring teachers adequate education and training. 3. TFA must cut ties with corporations like Walmart and Goldman Sachs. Student leaders from across the country are meeting with TFA to see how they respond to our national campaign demands in person. Sign the petition to show you support students’ work and encourage TFA to change.

Eric Holder was caught by Matt Taibi letting big bankers off with slap-on-the-wrist fines for crashing the world economy. His association with the Covington & Burling, that played a major role in creating the MERS system that led to the Great Recession, is disturbing. He also admitted some banks are too big to fail. Mr. Holder has a blemished record. Ms. Lynch will uphold and build upon Mr. Holder's blemished record given that she worked for Wall Street-connected law form Cahill Gordon & Reindel and lobbying firm Hogan Lovells. Ms. Lynch's nomination has at least the appearance of being another pro-big business appointee - another fox guarding the economic chicken coop.