I was born and raised in Ohio. Alfredo came into my life when I needed him most. We eventually married and these were some of the best years for us as a family. About 15 years ago, I received a call from Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that I’ll never forget. Alfredo was being deported back to Mexico. I was nine months pregnant with our first child when he was deported. I begged him to come back. Alfredo lived in constant fear of getting picked up by ICE and separated from his children. Because of his status, he struggled to find a steady, good paying job, I assumed the role of primary provider. The financial strain placed a heavy burden on all of us and led to our separation -- but we found a way to hold our family together. Alfredo remained a constant and active father in our children’s lives. He was also there for me and the kids. Our lives were turned upside down once again last month. In February, Alfredo was stopped by the police on the way to the mall. Even though Alfredo was only a passenger in the car the Border Patrol was called. He was taken away in handcuffs in front of our 11 year old daughter. Alfredo has no criminal record in the 24 years he has been in the U.S. Apparently for Mr. Hickton, the lack of immigration reform means it's a free-for-all on all the families like mine. I’m pleading with U.S. Attorney David J. Hickton and the Obama Administration to please let my ex-husband return to his family. Let him reunite with us and continue to be the model aspiring citizen he’s always been. Will you please join me in asking the Obama Administration to stop Alfredo's prosecution?

"I know right from wrong, and it is wrong to spend over $300 million on Rupp while we have homeless folks freezing to death on our streets" Jerry Moody

California is losing thousands of middle-class jobs and significant tax revenue as a direct result of other regions offering more competitive production subsidies. We need to support AB 1839 to expand our state's film and television tax credit program!

SEVERAL CITIZENS OF HOLLY SPRINGS, MS WOULD LIKE TO PETITION AGAINST THE HIGH COSTS OF UTILITY BILLS THAT ARE UNPREDICTABLE MONTH TO MONTH REGARDLESS OF USAGE. IN A LOW-INCOME PAYING CITY WITH A POPULATION OF AN ESTIMATED 7,699 CITIZENS, THE AVERAGE UTILITIES (LIGHT/WATER/GAS) BILL IS $450 USD AND HIGHER IN THE CITY OF HOLLY SPRINGS. SEVERAL CUSTOMERS' UTILITIES COST MORE THAN THEIR MORTGAGE PAYMENTS, HOUSE NOTES AND/OR RENT. THE CITIZENS AND THE HSUD NEED TO FIND A COMMON GROUND TO CONSERVE ENERGY AND FINANCIAL RESOURCES FOR THE COMMUNITY AS A WHOLE. SIGN THIS PETITION AND SUPPORT A GOOD CAUSE.

The most valuable- our children always get the short end of the stick due to poorly delegated funds. We the people- the tax payers, should have way more say in how our hard earned tax dollars are spent. Public schools being left to scrape the bottom of the bucket has to end and now. Currently the public school two of my children reside at shall lose 2 very valuable teacher aides- this March 25. A kindergarten class with at least 26 thriving students shall soon suffer since 1 teacher can only go so far. Same goes for 2 other classrooms. Aprox 75 students shall lose out on having the valuable teacher aids present. The two teacher aids help out 3 different classrooms each school day. They are vital. This is partly due to way too much red tape and politics mixed up in our public school system. The USA is on a roll with knocking down the long standing walls of obstruction. Seattle is at the forefront with this with same sex marriage being legalized and marijuana to say the least. We have a stellar football team and many other thriving organizations all within the Emerald City. Yet, our children suffer. This is absurd. So this message goes out to each and every citizen in the USA. It's time to start paying attention and tribute to our children and their education. We must all join together, problem solve and stop complicating what should be so simple- Our children should come first! We must all voice to the politicians that we are all tired of begging for money year after year for something so vital. It's not right and it has to stop now. Hard working parents can't continue to be asked to chip in constantly to keep our schools in healthy operation. I'm talking about the pure necessities. Proper funding for the teaching staff and their aids. There are not even enough aids as it is. For example- last year a 2nd grade teacher had 3 girls and the rest all boys. Just one woman teaching on a daily basis. This is not fair to the kids or the teacher. Our teachers are special people and we must take better care of them. As of now Arbor Heights Elementary needs to come up with $5900 by March 25 or the children lose two very wonderful teacher aids. This effects mostly young busy Kindergartners. They need more than just one adult. So please sign this petition and help us create change- even if you do not have children. You were once a child yourself. Didn't you deserve a healthy and rewarding education? The USA can afford to do much better for our children. If you happen to be able to help us get through the rest of the this year via a PTA contribution please contact Arbor Heights School. http://arborheightses.seattleschools.org Until we create serious change- it's still begging for money for our Public School systems. Thank you for your time. Peace

This petition seeks to extend the statute of limitations in regards to criminal and civil offenses against children. In addition, this petition seeks to amend Illinois child abuse and abandonment definitions to better protect children from institutional abuse. As a survivor of institutional abuse and child advocate, I believe these changes are necessary to better protect children from abuse in Illinois. Illinois should include kidnapping and sexual assault/abuse of children in list of offenses with no statute of limitations. Illinois legislators should amend Illinois Code 720 ILCS 5/3-5; 5/3-7 to include sexual assault/rape/abuse of children and kidnapping in the list of offenses having no Statute of Limitations. Alaska provides one example of a State that includes kidnapping, rape, and sexual abuse in the list of offenses that have no Statute of Limitations for prosecution. (Source: ALASKA STAT. § 12.10.010) Illinois legislators should amend Illinois code (735 ILCS 5/13-202.2) to extend the Statute of Limitations for child victims to file suit upon reaching age of majority. Child victims should be given 20 years from time of serious psychological and/or physical injury (in addition to sexual abuse which already has a 20 year statute of limitations for filing civil suit in IL) or 15 years upon reaching age of majority to file a tort claim against the tortfeasor. Alternatives to the above extension of time to file a claim for injured minors include judicial system providing accessible and competent attorneys required to represent minors on a contingency basis with no fees due unless case is won and amount to be paid to attorney may not exceed 50% of the damages and 50% total must include all attorney fees and expenses. In addition, Illinois legislators should revise its child abuse statutory definitions to include the following: Emotional Abuse Citation: Ann. Stat. § 9:6-8.21 (New Jersey Statutory Definition) Abused child or abused or neglected child means a child under age 18 years who is in an institution, and: · Has been placed there inappropriately for a continued period of time with the knowledge that the placement has resulted or may continue to result in harm to the child's mental or physical well-being · Who has been willfully isolated from ordinary social contact under circumstances that indicate emotional or social deprivation The definitions and laws pertaining to child abuse and/or endangering the welfare of a child in Illinois are found in Illinois Code 325 ILCS 5/. Please amend Illinois' laws to include the above definitions as applied under our Child Endangerment, Child Welfare, and Child Abuse laws. In addition, Illinois legislators should amend to include the following definition of Abandonment to Illinois' Child Endangerment Laws at 325 ILCS 5/ defined as in the following Kansas Statute: Kansas § 38-2202. Definitions.  “As used in the revised Kansas code for care of children, unless the context otherwise indicates: "Abandon" or "abandonment" means to forsake, desert or, (a) without making appropriate provision for substitute care, cease providing care for the child.” Illinois legislators should be sure to specify that “appropriate provision for substitute care” be limited to the least restrictive environment within the child’s community of residence and/or within the State of Illinois if institutionalization is required.

Emboldened by its influence on Capitol Hill, the NRA is now flexing its muscles and actively working to derail Dr. Vivek Murthy’s nomination and confirmation to the position of U.S. Surgeon General. Why? Because, like many other doctors, he has in the past referred to gun violence as a threat to public health. Dr. Murthy is a Harvard- and Yale-educated doctor at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. His concern for gun safety is completely consistent with the consensus of medical and public health experts, and shared by such groups as the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the American Medical Association (AMA) and the American Public Health Association. Even C. Everett Koop, the legendary Surgeon General nominated by Ronald Reagan, described gun violence as a “public health emergency.” The NRA has no business meddling in who should be the United States’ foremost champion for public health issues. Tell the White House and the U.S. Senate to stand firm behind the nomination of Dr. Murthy for the position of U.S. Surgeon General and to move forward with his confirmation!

The county board needs to adopt a resolution of approval in order to have the state take the trail into the state park system. The trail is in private hands and available for use only by permit. Having it be a public trail would provide for regular maintenance and capital improvements, thereby greatly increasing its utility for public use.

We are a small business that provides high-quality therapeutic programming. We believing in supporting families and providing them with all of the tools to promote a successful quality of life for individuals.

Since September 2013, eleven universities – Duke University, University of Pennsylvania, New York University, Temple University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Georgetown University, Brown University, Penn State University, University of Wisconsin and Syracuse University – have formally required their brands producing collegiate apparel in Bangladesh to sign the Accord, as a condition of producing university apparel. This is a broad group of universities, representing Big Ten sports schools, Ivy League schools, and public schools. These universities’ actions have shown that there is nothing preventing universities like ours from taking a stand for workers rights. The time is now for Emerson College to follow the lead of these other universities and require its brands to sign the Accord. The actions of these universities are already making an impact on the behavior of brands in the collegiate market. In response to this growing university pressure, eight college-logo apparel brands – Fruit of the Loom, Adidas, Knights Apparel, Top of the World, New Agenda, Cutter & Buck, Ahead LLC and Zephyr Headwear – have signed the Accord since our campaign began. Fruit of the Loom's signing of the Accord is significant not only because it is the first company affiliated with the corporate-controlled, non-binding Gap/Walmart "Alliance" to also join the Accord, but also because it is the tenth U.S. company to join the Accord. Nevertheless, at the date of writing, several major licensees in Bangladesh, including Columbia Sportswear and VF Corporation, have refused to sign the Accord. This indicates a dire need for more universities to issue a formal requirement for their brands to sign. We would also like to clarify that, as part of the university requiring its brands to sign the Accord, we expect the university to terminate its licensing relationship with Jansport and VF Imagewear, unless their parent company VF Corporation signs the Accord. As you know, the WRC officially recommended to its affiliates in October 2013 that “colleges and universities add, to their existing labor rights requirements for licensees, a requirement that licensees that sourced, produced or purchased collegiate apparel in Bangladesh as of January 1, 2013, or do so at any point thereafter, become signatories to the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh." VF Corporation, parent company of Jansport, VF Imagewear, North Face, Timberland, and Vans, contracts with a factory called Optimum Fashions in Bangladesh to produce collegiate VF Imagewear apparel. In August, the Worker Rights Consortium conducted a safety assessment of Optimum Fashion. After VF attempted to prevent the WRC from accessing the factory, the WRC’s inspection uncovered a number of very serious safety hazards, all of which constitute violations of university code of conduct provisions requiring licensees to maintain safe workplaces and any of which could result in injury or death to workers. These violations “included inadequate means for workers to escape the factory in the event of a fire and structural flaws that would facilitate the rapid and widespread propagation of deadly smoke throughout the factory building.” (http://www.workersrights.org/Freports/WRC%20Fire%20Safety%20Assessment%20re%20Optimum%20Fashion%20Wear%20Ltd%20%28Bangladesh%29%2012.5.13.pdf) Given that VF Imagewear and Jansport both belong to the same parent company, and given that it is the decision of the parent company, not the subsidiary, to sign or not sign the Accord, the university should cut ties with all VF Corporation brands, including Jansport, unless VF Corporation signs the Accord. To not do so would be a logically and morally inconsistent position for the university to take. Please let us know as soon as possible if the university will be applying the requirement to sign the Accord to all VF Corporation subsidiaries, including Jansport.

Both parties just made themselves complicit in turning the rest of American politics over to Walmart and Monsanto. Don't let our president finish the job!

The Irish beer staple's Dublin history and iconic status make its sponsorship a loss anti-gay organizers can't afford to ignore. Celebrate St. Patrick's day by thanking them now!