Cash for Clunkers was a great program. It solved several problems simultaneously. It helped American carmakers, and those whose jobs are tied to them. It helped car owners. It was great for the environment. It removed polluters and gas guzzlers from the road, reduced dependence on fossil fuel and reduced the release of greenhouse gas. Poor people want, need and deserve eco-friendly transportation, too.

Please support a ban of fracking in California. a practice that hurts everybody in our state.

On May 24, a truck from Calgary-based Mullen Trucking carrying housing for oil drilling equipment to Vancouver, Washington struck and took out the Skagit River bridge on I5. This is a preview of the problems that Washington state is going to experience if we allow the construction and expansion of coal and oil terminals. Our roads can't handle the huge and heavy loading of tar sands drilling equipment. Our rails and rail crossings can't handle the wear and tear that will come with coal and oil trains. Finally and most importantly, the atmosphere on our planet can't handle the carbon dioxide load that will follow if we maintain our fossil fuel addiction. We say NO to coal and oil trains in Washington state now. We say NO to oil and coal terminals in Washington state now. We say NO to fracking and tar sand destruction. Let's establish Washington state as a leader in green power by committing to an extensive transition to sustainable energy. Let's build our power system components in Washington state. We need good jobs in Washington state. Let's install a sustainable energy grid that the whole world can use as a model for transition from fossil fuel to clean sustainable energy. We need to fix our infrastructure in Washington state. Let's start by establishing the energy infrastructure for the 21st century.

A large percentage of your salary is taken by FICA, but the rich, who receive non-salaried compensation, don't pay it. And Social Security doesn't need it, because the government creates dollars at will. FICA widens the gap between the rich and the rest.

Because my sister as an educator and administrator has a Masters in Early Childhood Development, I had assumed all educators were required to have education in child development. Wrong. There is so much more insight to child development than even 20-30 years ago. We also know that addressing your audience is a fundamental key to communication of anything. I would like to see education in child development be a requirement for all teachers.

Fracking is dangerous and destructive to neighborhoods and our land. The consequences of Fracking are not totally determined but it can contribute to gas leaks and sink holes. Please do not let big corporations benefit at the expense of California's citizens.

A local politician once said to me that the Golden Rule is: “He who has the gold makes the rules.” The general manager, John Grubich of the Okanogan PUD #1 is negotiating, against the will of rate-payers, a $102.4 million dollar deal with a private venture capitol company to fund a series of optional “want to” projects. What the general manager (an employee, not owner of the PUD) refuses to acknowledge is that the rate payers are the owners of the gold. This deal would give our gold to for-profit “investors” and give them the power to make the rules. Mr. Grubich and his financial adviser insist that they must raise private customer rates 26% to service this loan. The Commissioners are blocking public input and enabling the management decision. Over-leveraged debt is what caused the 2008 financial crisis. I predict that this venture capital deal will lead to financial crisis for the rate-payers of our PUD. This is of concern for all tax payers because one of the projects is a hydro-dam project that has a negative cost/benefit assessment. It will never produce enough electricity to pay for itself. This project, known as Enloe Dam, is in conflict with billions of state and federal tax dollars and decades of time spent on habitat restoration on our local streams and rivers. The 1st step in our grassroots determination for fiscal sanity is to raise public awareness. Please sign our notice to the PUD that many people from across the state are paying attention. Our next step is to demand the management partner with us (honor our native and natural creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship) to create local sustainable power generation and affordable access to electric power.

Lee County Commissioners will be deciding on budget cuts sometime in September, 2013, and the entire budget for Lee County Extension Services ($885,600) is on the chopping block. Extension develops & administrates: 1. Public outreach, with free or inexpensive classes on a variety of topics that improve quality of life, nutrition, environmental sciences, bee keeping, Master Naturalist and Master Gardening. 2. Florida Yards & Neighborhood program that educates homeowners about landscapes that will protect the environment & conserve our precious water. 3. 4-H programs that provide youth programs with volunteer services valued at $330,000 in 2011. 4. Master Gardener volunteers (hours from last year alone totaled 26,874, which translates into a dollar amount of $585,584). 5. Training & certification for various occupational licenses. 6. Teaching professional landscapers the Green Industries Best Management Practices (GI-BMPs) on proper use of pesticides & fertilizers, resulting in fewer nutrients & toxins entering our water. 7. Marine Education 8. Agriculture & Natural Resources 9. Family & Consumers. Lee County Extension, providing residents with access to science-based information and education in natural and social resources through the work of UF/IFAS Extension (University of Florida/Institute of Food & Agriculture Sciences) does all this & more for a minimal investment. It’s a bargain that if lost, will certainly result in the compromise of our clean waterways, which is a big reason tourists visit our beautiful county. Save Lee County Extension. We can't afford not to.

No parents should have to go through what the parents that lost their children to the Tornado's in Oklahoma are going through. A parent should be confident that when they send their children off to school that they will be protected and that there is safe place within every school for them to go to in an emergency. A room that is engineered to protect our children and our teachers.

The Grateful Dead are truly an All-American Band. They created an entirely new genre of music. They deserve to be honored for their contributions to music and American life.

In 2014, change to a morning start time for the annual Memorial Day parade. Many residents support an earlier start time to help increase attendance. Just because it's always started at 2:15 pm does not mean it should not change.

Gov. Christie, my name is Alyssa Durnien and I’m a New Jersey Sandy survivor. In my town of Keansburg, we lost 1100 houses out of 1900. I worked on the evacuation, search and rescue, living out of the firehouse for 14 days. We’ve been working together to fix houses, cook meals, fight the mold. Even now, there are still people without electricity in my town. We’re doing what we can to keep the Jersey shore strong, but we need you to be a responsible leader, responding to immediate needs and planning for future threats. When you stood with President Barack Obama in the days after the storm, I thought you recognized that Superstorm Sandy was more important than partisan politics. It’s unquestioned — by scientists if not by politicians — that the sea level rise caused by global warming pollution made Sandy worse. So that’s why I was shocked to hear you attack a reporter for her “liberal public radio agenda” when she asked what you’re doing to prepare New Jersey for climate change. I thought you knew your job is to prepare New Jersey for the more intense storms and sea level rise that scientists have predicted for decades and that are now upon us. I thought you knew your job is to help New Jersey reduce the threat of climate change by fighting the pollution that is changing our weather. I thought you knew your job is to keep the people of New Jersey safe, but now it sounds like you want to be the next Sarah Palin instead. Please, don’t play politics with our lives.