The properties of Massillon, Ohio resident and Viet Nam veteran Jim Huebner and 14 of his neighbors were mandatory pooled into a drilling unit in November, 2013. Everflow Eastern Partners, LLC requested a pooling order from the Ohio Department of Natural Resource’s (ODNR) Technical Advisory Council (TAC). Everflow’s Leasing Manager, Les Dunics, told TAC that he had Massillon City property leased when in fact the city had not yet signed a lease for 8.10 acres of city-owned roadway within the drilling unit. The chief of the ODNR Division of Oil and Gas Resources Management approved the pooling order on December 10, 2013. On the same day Everflow was issued a permit to drill, though they did not have the necessary acreage under lease and had knowingly given false testimony to the TAC. The fact that TAC nor The Chief took the time to review the evidence provided illustrates the way in which the ODNR merely serves as a rubber stamp for the oil and gas industry to do as they please. To further demonstrate the way in which ODNR acts as a rubber stamp for oil and gas: by law (ORC 1509.38) the TAC must have eight members, six of which represent oil and gas producers, one to represent landowner royalty interest, and one member to represent the public. Effectively, seven of the eight council members represent the oil and gas industry. The public representative’s seat has not been filled for several years because the Governor of Ohio has not appointed anyone to that position. What the Stark Summit Coalition want to know is: Why didn’t the TAC or the Chief review Everflow’s leases before issuing the mandatory pooling order and permit? And why are the legal proceedings weighted so heavily in favor of oil and gas? Had the TAC and the Chief reviewed the leases, an order would have never been issued and neither would the permit. Had there been a balanced process and representation, evidence would likely be reviewed. Mr. Huebner had thirty days to file an appeal with the Ohio Oil and Gas Commission and he did. Since Everflow had the permit, they could technically drill if they wanted to. Mr. Huebner also had to file a request for a Stay of Execution of the Mandatory Pooling Order to attempt to prevent any drilling from occurring while he was going through the appeal process. As the primary basis of his appeal and request for a Stay of Execution, Mr. Huebner alleged that Everflow provided the TAC, and consequently the Chief, false information regarding their lease agreements with the City of Massillon, as Massillon’s City Council had not approved the lease agreement, and backed up the allegation with documentation. As a result, the Chief revoked the drilling permit and the pooling order. Mr. Huebner is still working on his Stay of Execution and appeal because Everflow Eastern now has 30 days to appeal the revocation order. MANDATORY POOLING HAS TO STOP: 1. A Mandatory Pooling Hearing takes place in front of a biased and pro-drilling panel; the TAC. This procedure is not consistent with due process rights and undermines the judicial practice that is meant to ensure justice in a free society. The Ohio and U.S. constitutions protect due process rights, which brings the constitutionality of this law into question. 2. Pooled person(s) do not have representation on the TAC when the request is made to pool. It is unjust to force a person into a drilling unit without fair and equal representation with independent, knowledgeable council members who have no ties to the oil and gas industry. 3. Being forced to surrender an asset violates a person’s right to form or decline a contract. 4. Current oil and gas law does little to protect Ohioans from impacts that emerge over a long period of time or affect their health in ways that are difficult to prove with the high standard of certainty required for legal proceedings. The law is unclear about the liability the mandatory pooled person(s) have in the event of an accident that occurs as a result of the presence of a drilling operation or well and the associated activities when they have been forced to participate. “Owners” of the well may be liable for future problems. Those currently forced into “ownership” should not be held liable for any damages that occur. Furthermore, the company should have to remediate damages incurred on the property fully and promptly.

Animals deserve to live a happy and healthy life, not be confined to small places without sun or fresh air. They feel pain and depression and should not be subjected to mutilation and prolonged torture. The food we eat is also affected by their waning health and distress. Cows, pigs, chickens and turkeys, sheep, goats, and rabbits should get fresh air and sun daily and fed nutritional food according to their natural diet.

Stop bullying. I have been affected by bullying before, I have been depressed, I have cut because of it, I have been sent to the hospital, and I don't wanna see other kids go through what I'm going through, or worse. I want bullying to stop.

Assembly Bill 54/Senate Bill 324 limits the time available to vote. People who work for a living, the elderly, and the disabled benefit from evening and weekend hours to vote. The legislature should be expanding voting hours to maximize participation in our electoral process not limiting them, the authority of local clerks to set hours, and the staff legally authorized to accept absentee ballots as mandated in AB54/SB324.

Rep. Dave Reichert and I both live in Auburn, WA. But Rep Reichert ignores the fact that many of our neighbors here in Auburn and across his district are struggling to make ends meet. His vote against raising the minimum wage means too many of his constituents still cannot afford rent, groceries, or health care for themselves and their children. Tell Rep Reichert: Support raising the minimum wage. It's the least he can do.

The President and the Congress reduced the Food Stamp and Nutrition Assistance Programs (WIC) for poor American babies; yet, continues Foreign Aid and Foreign Assistance, at a cost of over 49 million dollars. The wars in Iraq and in Afghanistan cost Americans, one trillion dollars. Recently the new government of Ukraine requested that our country, to give them 35 million dollars. Our country does have funds for American citizens ; who are in need and, during this perilous economic downfall; it is time, to support this country and its citizens and, not the world.

Adjusted for inflation, the current minimum wage is 30% less than it was in 1968. Yet last year, Representative Heck and his fellow House Republicans voted unanimously against raising the nation’s minimum wage. Increasing the minimum wage would help Nevada's workers pay their bills and feed their families. Rep. Heck should do the right thing and side with working people over big corporations.

Members of my community are working harder and making less!

Our pollinators are facing a bleak future without some intervention in present practices. They have lost both sanctuary areas and food sources as every acre of private land is now tilled and planted with commodity crops. The pesticides and herbicides used in modern farming are threatening that very industry as the numbers of pollinators have dropped drastically over the last few decades. I don't advocate legislation that takes away anyone's right to utilize their privately owned land as they see fit, but I believe that the state should not contribute to this coming calamity on ground it owns or controls. We have farmed for thousands of years without chemicals and close cutting vegetation in areas not used for crops, but we have never farmed without pollinators.

HB 4588 passed the West Virginia House on Tuesday, February 25, 2014. We must do everything we can to stop it in the Senate before the legislative session ends on March 9, 2014.

Because there are too many Americans who look for jobs everyday yet there does not seem to be one on the horizon...With every week that goes by with resumes unanswered or interviews that lead nowhere it is clear that 26 weeks in this economy is not going to enough to bridge that gap between the last job and the next job...Further if our government can bail out corporations and hedge fund managers and be readily available for the call from expensive lobbyists and former members who have become such then they can damn well address the needs of those who are have worked and who want to work but cannot find a job and for whom 8.00 an hour is not a life line but instead a direct line to poverty.

Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted says he’s cutting early voting on Sundays and weekday evenings—the times most popular for African-American early voters. In 2012, when Ohio Republicans first tried to cut back on early weekend voting, one local Republican official explained the GOP effort to end weekend voting as follows: "I guess I really actually feel we shouldn’t contort the voting process to accommodate the urban—read African-American—voter turnout machine." The cuts to weekend and weekday evening early voting coincide with two new bills signed into law by Republican Gov. John Kasich—One to shorten the early voting period by six full days and another that eliminates same-day voter registration entirely. Ohio Republicans also recently passed a law reducing the number of voting machines in the state, which will increase wait time for voters at the polls. This has got to stop. Sign the petition to Jon Husted: No cuts to early voting hours or times. Absolutely no cuts to voter access at all.