India is in the midst of the world's worst COVID outbreak. Hospitals in India are stretched beyond their breaking point. Mass crematoriums cannot keep pace with the constant stream of the dying. Helping India in its hour of crisis is the right thing to do morally – but it's also the right thing for America. None of us are safe until the entire world is rid of COVID.

For decades, California has underfunded mental health services. As a result, the criminal justice system often serves as the state’s default mental health provider, with jails and prisons filled with people suffering from mental illness. In addition, an estimated 10% of law enforcement agencies’ budgets – and 20% of staff time – are spent responding to individuals with mental illness. A direct consequence of our overreliance on law enforcement responses to mental health crises is that almost a quarter of all people killed in police-involved shootings since 2015 had a known mental illness, with black men dying at a disproportionate rate. Between when Derek Chauvin’s trial started and his conviction for the murder of George Floyd, 64 people died at the hands of police. More than a dozen of them had a known mental illness or were in the throes of a mental health crisis. In 2019, Miles Hall, a 23-year-old black man living in Walnut Creek, was in the midst of a schizophrenic mental health crisis when his family called 911 for help. Despite being familiar with Miles’ condition, the officers resorted to lethal force within a minute of their arrival. Law enforcement officers are not mental health experts and should not be expected to serve this role. A better system for Miles and all Californians is possible – one that leads with treatment, not law enforcement. Last year, the federal government established “988” as the new 3-digit alternative to 911 for mental health crises. Callers to 988 will be connected with around-the-clock support, including mobile crisis teams that can respond to the scene with trained mental health professionals and peers rather than law enforcement. If California does not act now, the state will lose critical federal support and funding. Please urge California lawmakers to pass, and Governor Gavin Newsom to sign, Assembly Bill 988 (Bauer-Kahan) – also known as the Miles Hall Lifeline Act – to implement the 988 system in California and take concrete steps to reduce shootings where mental health is involved. AB 988 will ensure that we respond to a health crisis with a health response.

The current I2 development project being rushed through Town Council approval will bring an "Amazon-type" distribution facility that will be approximately 75% of the size of the current one in Whitestown, Indiana... PLUS three other large facilities ranging from 169,000-572,000 square feet. As the first major development on RRP, these warehouses will set the tone for all future projects and discourage appropriate smaller warehouses, commercial applications and business parks that would actually provide amenities to residents. This plan is against the Town of Brownsburg Comprehensive Plan, the Economic Development Strategic Plan, the Brownsburg Unified Development Ordinances and the Ronald Reagan Parkway Master Plan. Town Council's response to these objections is that they are working on changing all of these documents to allow for this type of development to avoid these conflicts in the future. The Ronald Reagan Parkway has become the predominant transportation route for Brownsburg residents to connect to I-74, with a popular secondary route at the adjacent US 136/Crawfordsville Road. We believe this I2 development will choke these traffic patterns for residents due to 24/7 semi truck traffic and employee shift rotations, as well as make the bicycle trails connecting to the B&O Trail completely useless in this area. This I2 development plan also shows an absolute lack of care for adjacent residential properties. These neighbors have invested their lives in Brownsburg's future, so this is so much more than just an argument over property values. We believe this development will make their current homes unsustainable for any measure of quality of life. If you share the opinions above, then please sign this petition to show opposition for I2 Zoning on Ronald Reagan Parkway.

Landmines don’t understand a ceasefire. That means, even years after hostilities have ended, they can be triggered by a cow or a child and explode everyone and everything within a 27-meter radius. It’s a no-brainer that these abhorrent weapons should’ve NEVER gone into the ground in the first place. On the campaign trail, President Biden agreed, stating a commitment to "promptly roll back Trump’s deeply misguided decision" to continue their use. But the toing and froing since he’s taken office is not a great sign. That means we need to get LOUD to tell him that we demand an end to the use of landmines — for good. Will you add your name demanding President Biden end Trump’s reprehensible landmine policy?

Allegheny County Jail is the convergence of anti-Black racism, psychological trauma, and legalized torture in western Pennsylvania. Fitzgerald's attendance at JOB meetings is an essential step in the journey to reform the ACJ, where community members face brute violence, extreme isolation and medical neglect. As County Executive, Fitzgerald is required to attend JOB meetings. In the wake of public outcry and the compounding lawsuits against ACJ, Fitzgerald can no longer send a retired "designee" to JOB meetings in his absence. Please join us in signing this petition to keep Fitzgerald accountable and protect our neighbors and loved ones.

They say the definition of insanity is repeating the same mistake and expecting a different result. Mass shootings should not be part of the nightly news like the weather. There have been way too many including several in the past two months alone. We aren’t safe in our grocery stores, salons, movie theaters, at concerts, at work, in our places of worship, or even in our schools. So many times the targets have been ethnic groups, people of color, religious minorities, lgbtqia, woman, and children. We teachers should not have to worry about our students or ourselves being shot during school. People should be able to worship in safety. This isn’t fake news, these events happened, hundreds of people have died. I have family that attend Synagogue in Pittsburgh PA near to where the tragedy at the Tree of Life Synagogue took place. Now, I worry they could be attacked while going to service. I’ve visited Emanuel A.M.E. in Charleston South Carolina, and to the memorial at the Pulse Night Club in Orlando Florida. These places are now forever marred by tragedy. Survivors and families are forever traumatized and altered. It is simply too easy to purchase firearms. We owe it to the survivors and the families of the slain. Honor their deaths and please tell Congress to pass these bills to make us all safer.

We, the undersigned, are shocked and disheartened with the rampant bullying and harassment happening in the Teays Valley School District. The daily reports coming home from students range from verbal abuse, cyberbullying, to physical attacks and sexual harassment. This is unacceptable! Teachers and administrators have been made aware and nothing has changed. Either the incidents are ignored, complaints brushed aside, or the perpetrators are not dealt with seriously enough to deter future incidents. Consequently, the bullies are learning that they can act with near impunity. The victims are learning that their voices do not matter. Are these the lessons Teays Valley wants to instill in their students? We, the undersigned, value Teays Valley School District. For many, it was a significant factor in choosing where to move. For others, there is the pull of tradition and family ties that keep them here. There are many strengths to our district. Sadly, diversity is not one of them. However, we do have students who represent marginalized groups. Students of color deserve a safe school. Neurodivergent students deserve a safe school. LGBTQ+ students deserve a safe school. Students of different religions – or no religion- deserve a safe school. Those who advocate for their fellow students deserve a safe school. There is absolutely no excuse to tolerate bullying and harassment of them! We now call on Teays Valley administration to actively engage with students and parents to assess the hostile environment currently in place and develop an action plan to ensure every student is safe.

Atlanta. Boulder. Indianapolis. These have been just the high-profile mass shootings that grabbed national headlines over the last few weeks. In fact, the United States has averaged more than one mass shooting a day so far in 2021. And as the pandemic unfolded in 2020, gun violence rose dramatically with over 19,000 people killed in shootings and firearm-related incidents. Tragically, who is harmed by gun violence has often been determined by race, ethnicity, or gender. People of color -- and everyone -- deserve to be safe. While we mourn the recent shootings, we must also fight the explosive combination of guns, racism, misogyny, and white supremacy to reduce the likelihood of such tragedies recurring. The U.S. House has passed gun legislation to tighten background checks on gun sales, and now it’s up to the U.S. Senate to turn it into law. Tell the U.S. Senate to act against gun violence now and pass universal background checks.

One of Insession's members was banned from participating for being homeschooled. According to the IHSA handbook, homeschooled students must be allowed a chance at being on a sports team, but because our school does not consider show choir a sport, he can no longer be a part of this group that he has been in for two years. Our school and faculty have always advised and encouraged us to engage in activities such as clubs, and the arts, but are now taking away his chance to be a part of the community. Please sign to convince our school that these activities matter just as much as other sports, and that other local families shouldn't have their opportunities at making friends and memories narrowed down to "athletics"

The health and safety of the residents in the community depend on safety and a clean neighborhood as intended, instead of a homeless drug addicts, drug dealers, illegal parking and garbage dumping section of our retirement community. It is unsanitary with mounds of garbage dumped around the neighborhood and it breeds rats and other vermin that carry disease. All around our community of homeowners the area is being used as a dumping ground with homeless pirating electricity and the theft of car parts and other personal items from homes. Residents are no longer able to stand on the number 23 bus stop in fear of being attacked with some residents being chased. Please tell Mayor Ted Wheeler and our elected City officials to support and act on our request to clean up our community and get rid of the garbage and illegal activities occurring in plain sight. Add a turning lane and no parking signs. Make Portland Beautiful again.

Personally, I feel strongly about the enactment of this bill. I strongly believe that schools should require preventative education on both teen dating violence as well as consent, to help lower the number of persons impacted from this issue. Everyone should be educated on what a healthy relationship is and what consent looks like. Students in many schools are missing out on vital information regarding comprehensive sex education that each young adult should receive education on. Not educating our young persons on important topics such as different birth control options, teen dating violence, healthy versus unhealthy relationships, and what truly constitutes as consent is not giving teens and young adults the tools that they need to make smart and healthy choices not only now, but also in the future. For a long time, the idea has been that “if we don’t talk about sex, they won’t think about it and therefore won’t do it.” As many are aware this is an outdated way of thinking and simply not a true statement. We can no longer hope that leaving young people in the dark around this topic will inevitably keep them from engaging in sexual activity. We know that many young persons are now starting to engage in in sexual activity at a younger age, and without proper education around this topic we are not setting them up for success. With the government funding Sexual Risk Avoidance programs which focus on abstinence, students are missing out on so much important information to make safe and healthy decisions which will impact them well into their future. If we want to set up our students for success, we need to change the outdated polices we are currently using which control the type of sex education our schools are providing to students and provide education that is relevant for today.

The Cincinnati NAACP and many organizations adamantly oppose the advancement of House Bill-22 (Expansion of Obstruction of Justice) because it is an arbitrary law proposal that will give more power to law enforcement to selectively penalize citizens. This bill allows police to increase the penalty of Obstruction of Justice up to a Felony against citizens simply exercising their right to free speech. The expansion of Obstruction of Justice is not only unnecessary but counter-productive to ongoing efforts toward better police and community relations. The current law reads as follow: ORC. 2921.32 OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE states: “No person, without privilege to do so and with purpose to prevent, obstruct, or delay the performance by a public official of any authorized act within the public official’s official capacity, shall do any act that hampers or impede a public official in the performance of the public official’s lawful duties.” There is no evidence of an increase in citizens impeding and preventing officers from performing their official duties. The current law as it stands is sufficient and addresses all acts that prevent, obstruct, or delay the performance of a public official. Adding failure to follow a lawful order and diverting the attention of a law enforcement officer will only broaden the scope in which law enforcement can penalize Ohioans. It is also extremely punitive to charge concerned citizens with the same level offense the accused is being charged. This regressive measure will only create more low-level felons in an already exhausted correctional system. HB-22 will lend more opportunity for police abuse of power, leaving citizens vulnerable and their rights exploited. Legislators and law enforcement who believe in our free society should never support a bill like this that attempts to thwart and penalize law-abiding citizens who exercise their rights to observe and record interactions with police and the public. If citizens witness police misconduct and have reasonable objections, the answer is not to create laws to penalize those good Samaritans, the answer instead, should be, to seek laws that welcome accountability and discourage police misconduct. Similar to the concerned citizens who witness police misconduct that led to the murder of George Floyd, they were within their rights to record the incident as evidence. As taxpayers, it is our right to freely approve and disapprove of Police conduct. Our inherit freedoms should not be left to the mercy of an officer whose tolerance levels could be biased. If HB-22 is made into law, it would only lead to more abuse of power that is subjective and discriminatory. Law Enforcement Officers receive first class, taxpayer funded training that provides an abundance of skill sets on how to work under pressure. We should not have to lower the bar and include unnecessary measures to Obstruction of Justice for trained professionals. Lawmakers must stop using every opportunity to strip away the freedoms and rights of citizens just to further empower a government agency that already lacks meaningful measures of accountability. If HB-22 becomes law, it will have a negative impact on peaceable citizens that could potentially face severe criminal charges for exercising their basic rights provided and protected under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. Again, we are asking you to join us in opposing this bill by signing this petition to show lawmakers that you do not support HB-22 and demand the members of the Ohio House Criminal Justice Committee DO NOT ADVANCE THIS BILL out of their committee. Below are the hyper link email addresses to each member of the Ohio Statehouse Criminal Justice Committee. Please also send emails and feel free to use the points above for reason why the bill should not pass: EMAIL ADDRESSESS OF OHIO LEGISLATORS BELOW: CC: Jeff Lare District 77 R- email: [email protected] DJ Swearingen District 89 R- email: [email protected] Cindy Abrams District 29 R- email: [email protected] David Leland District 22 D- email: [email protected] Willis E Blackshear Jr District 39 D- email: [email protected] Sedrick Denson District 33 D- email: [email protected] Tania Galonksi District 35 D- email: [email protected] Adam C Miller District 17 D- email: [email protected] Phil Plummer District 40 R- email: [email protected] Sharon A Ray District 69 R- email: [email protected] Jean Schmidt District 65 R- email: [email protected] Bill Seitz District 30 R- email: [email protected] Andrea White District 41 R- email: [email protected]