Julie Atwood was at her son's wake, standing next to his casket, when she got the news: The church was canceling the funeral because her son was gay. Rev. T.W. Jenkins of New Hope Missionary Baptist Church in Tampa, Florida, told Julie that he'd read in the newspaper obituary that her son was married to another man and decided that holding the funeral would be "blasphemous." This story is generating national headlines, but so far Jenkins is only doubling down, saying his church plans to "continue to stand on the word of God." We need to show Pastor Jenkins -- and the media who are covering the story -- how many people are appalled by how he's misrepresenting Christian faith and hurting Julion Evans's grieving family.

So that Jessica Ann Moore (family) can receive the Presidential Citizen Medal for giving her life for her fellow citizen. Acts such as this should not go unnoticed.

Officers of JPMorgan Chase knowingly allowed Madoff to operate his fraudulent investment advisory business in their bank. In order to enrich themselves, these officers watched as tens of thousands of people lost their life savings. Yet, the government allowed JPMorgan Chase to avoid criminal prosecution of its officers. We don’t want to live in a country where the super-rich don’t go to jail for their criminal conduct. Check out: jpmadoff.com

We are immersion parents who would like to keep experienced, quality guest teachers in our district by sponsoring H1B Visas. We have lost great teachers to other Utah School Districts who are willing to do this. Having a new teacher every year or every couple years is very difficult and not optimal to the educational environment. While there is a cost associated with the visas, there is a cost to training and support of new teachers as well; the difference is our children benefit more from experience than new teacher training. We want this issue studied and considered ASAP as teachers need to know by end of September.

My son will be in second grade at Maya Lin School, one of the three schools in the school district that have cell antennas. The middle school he will go on to attend, Wood, also has cell antennas. I don't know if there is harm from the emissions from cell antennas, but I know I don't think it is worth the risk. I also don't like that the cell companies drafted contracts that they knew were illegal, and now it seems to me that they are using their fat wallets and threat of legions of lawyers to scare the school district from taking action. The International Association of Fire Fighters has put together a great report in their opposition to antennas/towers on fire stations: http://www.iaff.org/hs/Facts/CellTowerFinal.asp

Witnesses say that Brown, a teenager, had his hands up and was compliant before being fatally shot by police after allegedly stealing gum or cigarettes from a local store. However, the behavior of the overall Ferguson Police Department is suspect. While African-Americans make up approximately 65% of the town's population, they account for over 80% of traffic stops. It's a positive step that the Department of Justice is investigating the shooting, but they should expand the investigation into an overall inquiry into whether or not Ferguson authorities have been violating the civil rights of their citizens.

Communities all across Illinois are already feeling the impacts of climate change. President Obama's Clean Power Plan is an important step forward on climate, but we need to make sure that this plan is implemented in our state in a way that puts people before polluters. We're urging Gov. Quinn to prioritize renewable energy and energy efficiency over fossil fuels and nuclear energy as he implements the Clean Power Plan in Illinois.

Europe has already fought back against powerful chemical companies and took a big step to protect bees by putting into effect a ban of the top bee-killing “neonic” pesticides. Now it’s our turn! Join Friends of the Earth and our allies in demanding that the EPA take immediate action to protect bees! Bees are critical in producing the majority of our food crops and the evidence is mounting that Bayer and Syngenta’s pesticides are a key contributor to mass bee die-offs. However, the EPA continues to ignore scientists -- even those employed by the EPA -- and has delayed action until 2018. But the bees can’t wait -- and neither can we! U.S. beekeepers have been consistently losing 40-100 percent of their hives. This winter, beekeepers are likely facing yet another season of historic bee die offs. We can’t let the EPA wait another four years to address this crisis. Please take action today and tell the EPA to ban bee-killing pesticides.

Europe has already fought back against powerful chemical companies and took a big step to protect bees by putting into effect a ban of the top bee-killing “neonic” pesticides. Now it’s our turn! Join Friends of the Earth and our allies in demanding that the EPA take immediate action to protect bees! Bees are critical in producing the majority of our food crops and the evidence is mounting that Bayer and Syngenta’s pesticides are a key contributor to mass bee die-offs. However, the EPA continues to ignore scientists -- even those employed by the EPA -- and has delayed action until 2018. But the bees can’t wait -- and neither can we! U.S. beekeepers have been consistently losing 40-100 percent of their hives. This winter, beekeepers are likely facing yet another season of historic bee die offs. We can’t let the EPA wait another four years to address this crisis. Please take action today and tell the EPA to ban bee-killing pesticides.

Europe has already fought back against powerful chemical companies and took a big step to protect bees by putting into effect a ban of the top bee-killing “neonic” pesticides. Now it’s our turn! Join Friends of the Earth and our allies in demanding that the EPA take immediate action to protect bees! Bees are critical in producing the majority of our food crops and the evidence is mounting that Bayer and Syngenta’s pesticides are a key contributor to mass bee die-offs. However, the EPA continues to ignore scientists -- even those employed by the EPA -- and has delayed action until 2018. But the bees can’t wait -- and neither can we! U.S. beekeepers have been consistently losing 40-100 percent of their hives. This winter, beekeepers are likely facing yet another season of historic bee die offs. We can’t let the EPA wait another four years to address this crisis. Please take action today and tell the EPA to ban bee-killing pesticides.

Europe has already fought back against powerful chemical companies and took a big step to protect bees by putting into effect a ban of the top bee-killing “neonic” pesticides. Now it’s our turn! Join Friends of the Earth and our allies in demanding that the EPA take immediate action to protect bees! Bees are critical in producing the majority of our food crops and the evidence is mounting that Bayer and Syngenta’s pesticides are a key contributor to mass bee die-offs. However, the EPA continues to ignore scientists -- even those employed by the EPA -- and has delayed action until 2018. But the bees can’t wait -- and neither can we! U.S. beekeepers have been consistently losing 40-100 percent of their hives. This winter, beekeepers are likely facing yet another season of historic bee die offs. We can’t let the EPA wait another four years to address this crisis. Please take action today and tell the EPA to ban bee-killing pesticides.

Europe has already fought back against powerful chemical companies and took a big step to protect bees by putting into effect a ban of the top bee-killing “neonic” pesticides. Now it’s our turn! Join Friends of the Earth and our allies in demanding that the EPA take immediate action to protect bees! Bees are critical in producing the majority of our food crops and the evidence is mounting that Bayer and Syngenta’s pesticides are a key contributor to mass bee die-offs. However, the EPA continues to ignore scientists -- even those employed by the EPA -- and has delayed action until 2018. But the bees can’t wait -- and neither can we! U.S. beekeepers have been consistently losing 40-100 percent of their hives. This winter, beekeepers are likely facing yet another season of historic bee die offs. We can’t let the EPA wait another four years to address this crisis. Please take action today and tell the EPA to ban bee-killing pesticides.