If the gun lobby can affect elections, we need to hit them in their wallets.

Recently, a student asked my co-worker, “Why do we keep having new principals?” One thing I have learned in my experience as a teacher is that schools must sustain a stable learning environment for students. This is not the case at ASPIRA of Illinois, which has endured two changes in the network’s administration, repeated turnover in school leadership, and well over 50 percent teacher turnover. Our students deserve stable learning environments.

SB 366 must pass the Senate Appropriations Committee by the end of January to make it to both houses and hopefully become law. SB 366 proposes modest changes to California's traffic courts that would allow adults to get their license back if they are meeting the terms of a payment plan or completing community service. It would also increase access to justice for people who are too poor to pay exorbitant fines just to get in front of a judge.

My son was killed in a home invasion in his 21st year. He was my only son and the grief of his death brought about his father's early death.

One year after the massacre at Sandy Hook, nothing has changed. If anything, things have gotten worse. Guns may be a necessary evil in society, but let us neither invest in their production, nor profit from it.

When I read a recent news story about how one hospital charged $1000 for one toothbrush, I admit to being skeptical. But then my friend’s wife accidentally cut her finger and was charged $1000 for one tube of skin adhesive -- medicine you can buy online for $40. Turns out, overinflated medical prices wasted an estimated $105 billion in America in 2009. And that’s the tip of the iceberg. Excessive administrative costs and paperwork wasted $190 billion. Duplicate treatments and medical errors wasted $130 billion. Overall, roughly one-third of all health care spending is waste. (source: Institute of Medicine) Insurance companies should focus on cutting this waste, but too many of them just raise premiums and expect consumers to foot the bill. That's why we're calling on Governor Kitzhaber to require insurers to do more to cut this waste, before they are allowed to raise premiums.

Honey bees, native bees and other pollinators are responsible for one out of every three bites of food we eat. Bees pollinate 71 of the 100 crops that make up 90 percent of the world’s food supply. Many fruits and vegetables, including apples, blueberries, strawberries, carrots and broccoli, as well as almonds and coffee, rely on bees. These beneficial insects are critical in maintaining our diverse food supply. Honey bee populations have been in alarming decline since 2006. Widespread use of a new class of toxic pesticides, neonicotinoids, is a significant contributing factor. In addition to killing bees outright, research has shown that even low levels of these dangerous pesticides impair bees' ability to learn, to find their way back to the hive, to collect food, to produce new queens, and to mount an effective immune response. Despite the mounting evidence, the EPA has delayed action until 2018. Last week 15 European countries imposed a two-year restriction on the use of several of these chemicals. Bees in America can't wait five more years – they are dying now. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has the power and responsibility to protect our pollinators and must take action now. Our nation's food system depends on it.

Every time there is a mass shooting, gun control legislation is proposed, people hurry to buy guns, and the gun industry profits. When the Commonwealth invests pension funds in gun manufacturers they are also profiting from the death of innocent people. Massachusetts can do better.

Persuade Wal-Mart to adopt a plan to recover food that is still fit for human consumption but is currently being thrown in the dumpster. Wal-Mart does a wonderful job with its food bank partnerships. But 1 in 6 people across America, once the most powerful country in the world, are going hungry in today’s rocky global economy. 96 billion pounds of food, 25 percent of the food supply ends up in the garbage each year. Grocers often toss products like dented canned goods, ripped boxes of cereal, bread, dairy and meat near or at the expiration date in the trash to make room for inventory. Help us work with Wal-Mart to set a standard for grocers around the world to recover this waste and aid national hunger – reducing costs for Wal-Mart, the environment and economy. Dream Big, Act Bigger. More info: https://www.causes.com/campaigns/70833-convince-wal-mart-to-work-w-local-leaders-to-cut-food-waste

MY BROTHER IN-LAW WAS PUT IN JAIL BACK IN 2002 OR 2003 FOR A CRIME HE DID NOT COMMIT HE JUST WOULD NOT SNITCH ON WHO DID. HE WAS GIVE 36 YEARS WITH 12 RUNNING WILD(THEY COULD ADD 12 YEARS TO HIS SENTENCE) HE HAS BEEN IN THERE SINCE HE WAS YOUNG. HE HAS DONE A LOT OF GROWING UP AND DESERVES A CHANCE. HE HAS A 12 YEAR OLD SON WITH DOWNS SYNDROME THAT NEEDS HIM IN HIS LIFE AS WELL AS HIM NEEDING HIS SON IN HIS. HE WAS PUT IN PRISON WHEN LARRY WAS JUST A YEAR OLD. THERE ARE PEOPLLE WHO HAVE KILLED PEOPLE THAT GOT LESS TIME THAN LARRY. PLEASE HELP HIS MOTHER PAT ELLIS AND FATHER LARRY SR TO GET THEIR SON HOME. THEY BOTH HAVE ILLNESSES THAT CAN NOT BE CURED. PLEASE IM BEGGING EVERY ONE TO PLEASE HELP BRING LARRY HOME. THANK YOU. LUCILLE LEONA SHUEY(REEVES)

Children as young as 5 years old are experiencing test anxiety due to standardized testing. Dallas ISD is over-testing our children. Standardized tests do not improve student achievement and are not a reliable way to measure a students or teachers abilities. My tax dollars should not be spent on standardized tests.

In light of all the gun violence in Colorado, it is time to divest from the gun industry.