It seems that every once in a while we come across something that just “bugs” us. I am a business owner and with every business comes responsibility to its clients/patrons. I have had a good business running for over 14 years and have clients who love us and also clients that have not been so happy. With that said, it seems that something has just gotten under my skin. With the climbing use of the Internet and cell phones, they have become a crutch for most of the population. Review sites and local searches have become the wave of the future when looking for a business. These sites can be beneficial to businesses and their services/products, but when they take it upon themselves to decide which reviews are real and which are fake they ultimately make it a non trustworthy site. These sites are supposed to represent a business as a whole, but in actuality it only counts the reviews shown, in their ratings and creates mayhem for small businesses. Unlike other review sites, YELP has a filtering system which it thinks is a way to “weed out” the fake reviews. On my site for instance, one week ago it was showing 1 negative review and hid 2 real, good reviews leaving my rating at 1 star. This week we had 1 negative review and 2 good ones added to the site by real customers and as of today 11/22/13 the only ones showing are the 2 negative reviews, YELP has hidden all four good reviews, again leaving my rating at 1 star. When I complained to the Better Business Bureau, I received a response from YELP and this is what it said: “ Hi Chris, Thank you for writing - we are glad to have this opportunity to address your concerns. As you may have read, the goal of Yelp's review filter is to showcase more reliable content. The system is automated, and it affects both positive and negative reviews. You requested that filtered reviews for your business be reinstated, but as the system is automated, we cannot manually restore filtered reviews (nor can we manually filter reviews). That said, reviews may become filtered or unfiltered over time as the system picks up new information. You can read more at http://www.yelp.com/faq#what_is_the_filter. Regards, Tara Yelp Inc. “ Not only does that not help me in any way, it is not a sufficient answer to my questions, which is “Why does it filter in the first place?” , “How does it determine who to filter?” , “Why does it not inform its Yelpers that their review may or may not be filtered out?” and “why are the filtered reviews hidden in light gray and can barely be seen?”. It seems to me, upon doing much research I have learned that there are many other businesses with the same concerns. Below you will find information articles on this problem with YELP: http://articles.latimes.com/2013/apr/22/local/la-me--banks-yelp-backlash-20130423 http://www.forbes.com/sites/jimhandy/2012/08/16/think-yelp-is-unbiased-think-again/ http://www.theresumator.com/blog/do-you-believe-yelp-hides-good-reviews/ SOMEONE HAS GOT TO STOP THIS FROM HAPPENING TO SMALL BUSINESSES AND SHUT YELP DOWN FOR GOOD.

Newspapers need to stop publishing letters that deny climate change.

To help students, parents, teacher's, and staff come together to problem solve the growing number of bullying incidents and fights that are breaking out on school grounds, by text, or by social media.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership is the most significant international development Denverites don’t read or hear about in local media. At least twice, The Post has rejected in-depth independent commentary on the TPP. Even national media coverage of this damaging trade deal is remarkably paltry. The TPP directly and adversely affects major Colorado agricultural exports. The TPP threatens Colorado jobs in information processing and energy production. The TPP would prohibit Coloradans from knowing where and how food is produced. And the TPP would severely limit local and state control of commerce. Leaks from the "secret" TPP negotiating texts reveal the proposed deal would expand North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) terms that empower foreign corporations to attack U.S. environmental, health and safety laws, and would penalize "Buy American" incentives with special foreign investor privileges that encourage firms to offshore American manufacturing and service-sector jobs to low-wage countries. Now, corporations are pressuring Congress to grant “Fast Track” trade promotion authority. Fast Track would allow the president to sign this encompassing trade agreement with 11 Pacific Rim countries before Congress gets to vote on it. With Fast Track, the “Trans-Pacific Partnership” (TPP) trade agreement could then be railroaded through Congress quickly, with no amendments allowed and limited debate. Fast Track removes Congress' ability to make sure deals such as the TPP are in the public's best interest. Congress has rejected this power grab in recent years, but the TPP has so many outrageous provisions – including the ban on Buy American policies – that TPP’s boosters need this Constitution-busting scheme to slip the TPP past Congress and the American people. Fast Track is an extraordinary procedure that has only been used 16 times, including NAFTA, since Richard Nixon cooked it up in the early 1970s. Since NAFTA, nearly 26,000 Colorado workers certifiably endured trade-inflicted job-losses under a narrow provision called Trade Adjustment Assistance program. This program is difficult to qualify for, and figures only include those workers who were certified. Colorado residents deserve to know that large corporations are pressuring Congress to cede its Constitutional authority over trade so that this dangerous deal can be concluded in secret. The Denver Post and all Colorado media must meet their obligation to operate in the public interest and cover the Trans-Pacific Partnership story.

This petition was created to show Republicans in the House of Representatives how their constituents really feel about the automatic and proposed cuts to the food stamp program.

I had a severe brain stem injury 1n 1975. As a result of that injury, I became handicapped. I get Social Security Disability from my father's Social Security. Also, as a result of that injury, my defenses were weakened and I have developed certain conditions like colitis. I recently had a colonoscopy at Dr. Khaiser's office and due to Obamacare, it only cost me $55. The Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, has been under attack by mainstream media for more than three weeks now. What the media isn't telling you are the millions of success stories like mine.

Before Obamacare I was paying $355.70 for a substandard health care policy because it was the best I could afford. Now that I have an Obamacare plan, I will be paying just $27 and change for a Bronze Plan (after the subsidy I'm eligible to receive, as an under $26,000/year gross earner). I will be able to use the balance I was paying to pay off my one outstanding debt and get my head above water for the first time in seven years. As a freelance, self-employed copywriter, I will now be able to retain my lower prices and serve more small business owners without worrying as much about whether or not I'll make enough money to make ends meet month after month. So the ACA not only serves me well, it serves all the people I serve because I won't have to raise my prices. If I ever make more than $44k/annually I will be thrilled to pay more for health insurance and get off the subsidy I'm allowed now but until then, this will work wonders for me and for the small business owners and entrepreneurs I serve. We are the backbone of this country and will be the folks who pull it out of the slump, so every break we can get so we can offer our services at affordable prices is a boon to everyone. Thank you, President Obama and all of the rest of you who have our backs! God bless you!!! ................................................................................................. The Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, has been under attack by mainstream media for more than three weeks now. What the media isn't telling you are the millions of success stories like mine.

My son was unable to get insurance for his youngest child because of pre existing condition and was paying over $2000.00 per month to insure his wife and other 4 children, after signing up on aca his total insurance will cost less than $300.00 per month for 2 adults and 5 children. Because of a lack of medical insurance after both my husband and I lost our jobs due to the recession, we were forced to file for bankruptcy, this would not have happened if the aca had been in place in 2009 The Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, has been under attack by mainstream media for more than three weeks now. What the media isn't telling you are the millions of success stories like mine.

The Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, has been under attack by mainstream media for more than three weeks now. What the media isn't telling you are the millions of success stories like mine. I unexpectedly had the opportunity to retire from my medical practice but lost insurance coverage for my wife, who has asthma and a history of melanoma. I was able to enroll under Covered California within 30 minutes with no extended lapse in insurance coverage. If it weren't for the Affordable Care Act - my wife would not be insurable due to pre-existing conditions even though I'm a physician. The media needs to tell the positives of the Affordable Care Act roll-out as part of responsible journalism.

I was contacted 1 year prior to the ACA rollout by Aetna insurance. They informed me that no change was needed to my policy for compliance to the new law which would go into affect in a year. They told me I may qualify for a subsidy on my existing plan if I wish to do so after the ACA goes into affect. I was happy receiving this information a year in advance and still plan on shopping the exchange to see if my $360.00 with a $5,000 deductible premium can be lowered. I do like the fact that I get a free physical every year since 2007 on my existing plan along with free RX on generic drugs or a discount on other drugs if I need them.[ Why was I notified respectfully by my insurance company about the change a WHOLE YEAR in advance and other people were NOT and received cancellations? It sounds more like a deliberate strategic attack on people to cause an uproar over the ACA and claim Big Problems. The Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, has been under attack by mainstream media for more than three weeks now. What the media isn't telling you are the millions of success stories like mine.

A recent meeting was held between the Ravalli County Commissioners and members of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes concerning the tribes' plans to transfer a parcel of sacred land (Medicine Tree site) to the Bureau of Indian Affairs in order to protect the land as a trust within the federal government. At this meeting irrelevant, racist and extremely offensive statements were made by the chair of the Ravalli County Planning Board. The cultural insensitivity and ignorance shown by the Ravalli County Deputy Attorney and members of the County Commissioners demand an apology from all of us in Ravalli County.

We keep going round and round about what's needed in healthcare for our country. Since the government gets to keep its plan, it must be better than anything else around. Let's make it accessible to everyone. Isn't that what equality is all about?