Since the summer of 2011, hundreds of thousands of county residents have been deprived of the use of our local libraries on Mondays and evenings, due to an ill-advised 25% cutback in hours countywide. Libraries feel overcrowded during the reduced hours they are open. The number of children participating in library programs has fallen by more than 12,000 a year. Seniors, children, parents, and the needy are the hardest hit by this failure of government, for the first time in our local library system’s 109-year history, to adequately fund this vital public resource. Yet the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors has refused to take responsibility for addressing this budgetary shortfall and has no plan to restore library hours for the coming fiscal year. The library system's $1.3 million shortfall represents just one-tenth of one percent of our county’s $1.3 billion budget. During this library funding "crisis" period, the Board of Supervisors has approved numerous expenditures that serve fewer citizens, are less popular, and less urgent. For example, during last June’s budget deliberations, our supervisors voted to add $8 million to the county's $80 million road maintenance budget. And since 2006, it has also added millions more per year to fund an unpopular 250% increase in county marijuana busts, prosecutions, and incarcerations. Sonoma County is relatively wealthy, and our government has sufficient taxpayer resources to fund the restoration of library hours for the coming year—provided that our Board of Supervisors responds to this urgent public need. This public awareness campaign and petition is a volunteer project of Sonoma County’s Progressive Source Communications. Please help us spread this petition. Without public awareness there can be no public pressure, and without public pressure, county supervisors will continue to ignore their responsibility to restore library hours. More information and contact information for the supervisors is available at RestoreLibraryHours.org.

Recently Flickr did a remodel of the site and it was VERY poorly done. I am hoping to get at least 10,000 signatures to turn into Marissa Mayer. Please share this with all your friends! We need this to go viral.

The oil and gas billionaire Koch brothers are trying to purchase the multiple spanish-language newspapers! It’s part of a larger bid to buy the Tribune Company’s media assets, which includes The Los Angeles Times and other major newspapers across the country in addition to Hoy, the second-largest spanish-language daily. The Koch brothers—David and Charles—are fossil fuel barons who have devoted their fortunes to bankrolling climate change denial, union busting, and the Tea Party. Now, they want to expand their radical right-wing propaganda to communities across the country by “Fox-news-ifying” local papers like Hoy. Hoy and El Sentinel readers are key stakeholders in the decision. By showing Tribune Company executives that the public counts on them for accurate and informative journalism, we can help persuade them not to sell to climate change deniers. We can’t allow respected journalistic institutions to become mouthpieces for the Kochs’ corrupt agenda.

Apple is the country's most profitable technology company--yet it's hiding billions of dollars in offshore companies to avoid paying taxes. We've seen tax dodging before, but as one economist described it, Apple's complex scheme shows "unbelievable chutzpah." Apple wasn't satisfied with putting money in offshore tax havens with low rates--it created foreign subsidiaries that have no employees and are exempt from paying any taxes anywhere in the world. Between 2009 and 2012, one of Apple's foreign subsidiaries, which has not filed any tax return, had an income of $30 billion. Everyday people pay our taxes to fund things like good schools and safe communities--huge companies like Apple need to pay their fair share too. Sign our petition today.

Adjunct professors face a lot of pressures-- nationally we earn just $2700 per course. That’s $2700 to develop curriculum, teach, grade papers and tests, provide detailed student feedback, have office hours, and write student recommendations. We have no job security semester-to-semester, and few of us have access to affordable benefits, even though we now teach more than 50% of college courses nationwide. One of the biggest obstacles adjunct faculty face is figuring out how to get access to affordable healthcare. As millions across the country are gaining access to healthcare with the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (also known as ObamaCare), many part-time faculty are finding that the universities and colleges where they work are adopting measures that prevent part-time faculty from gaining access to affordable benefits. In fact, part-time faculty are seeing their course loads and hours cut as universities seek to avoid mandates requiring them to provide insurance to their employees who work 30 hours a week. With this trend, our contingency and lack of stability deepens. Many of us must teach courses at several campuses in order to earn the same salary, but still without access to affordable healthcare. I spent much of my career piecing together adult basic education teaching work and adjunct and/or contracted faculty work in English Departments within both public and private higher education institutions, and I know access to affordable healthcare is an issue of great importance for contingent faculty. Stand with me in calling on colleges and universities to work with adjunct faculty to ensure everyone has access to affordable healthcare. The petition will be delivered to the Boston Consortium for Higher Education, which works to develop quality improvements at 11 universities and college in Boston. Deborah Schwartz, Asssistant Director of the Adult LIteracy Resource Institute/Greater Boston SABES Center at the University of Massachusetts Boston.

Right now, the Obama administration is deciding on rules that will determine whether fracking is allowed in many of our national forests or near our national parks. The frack-fueled oil and gas rush has marred countless landscapes across the nation. It has also contaminated drinking water and made people sick. Let’s tell President Obama to keep our forests and parks frack-free.

I have been unemployed for one year now and have contacted the American Education Services for a deferment or Forbearance on my student loan but to no avail. I have made payments to the point that i am able to under the circumstance and have run out of money. My unemployment benefit is enough to put a roof over my head not to mention paying for any other thing, I believe student loan companies should work with people based on their situation especially if they never missed a payment before now.

i see homelessness everywhere in the East Bay and San Francisco. most of the people look like they are in need of medications for mental illness and are living a very loveless life being ignored for their lifes issues... It's a growing concern of mine.

Many families with children and animals live on Moose Hill Road and have a difficult time when crossing the street or taking a walk. This is due to the dangerous speeds at which numerous drivers drive while on this road. This is unsafe, and measures need to be taken.

With the extensive work of the Affordability Care Act, there still may be many people left without the option of buying affordable health insurance, especially in a simple manner. Many of the people without simplified access provide the social fabric of our society through part-time work, so they can have time with their family and perform volunteer activities. These people may add a relatively healthy population to both pools, helping with the budget problems of Medicaid and Medicare.

Is it appropriate for a pastor to attack the Christian faith of the president of the United States? Or accuse an entire political party of pursuing an "agenda worthy of the antichrist"? Apparently the leaders of Virginia's Republican Party think so - they just nominated pastor E.W. Jackson to be the state's next lieutenant governor. E.W. Jackson has said that "the idea that Barack Obama is a Christian is laughable" and that Obama "sees the world from a Muslim perspective." He also describes gays and lesbians as "perverted" and "degenerate" and says that "there is a direct connection" between homosexuality and pedophilia. So far, the party's gubernatorial nominee, Ken Cuccinelli, is campaigning alongside Jackson, despite Jackson's long record of hateful and extremist rhetoric. We've got to show Ken Cuccinelli that this shameful misrepresentation and exploitation of Christian faith is no way to run for public office.

Im one of the student have been going to Stockton School for Adults. Which this adult education will be no longer available for me to attend to. Which I don't want to attend to community colleges because you have to pay to get your classes that you want to attend to. Also include, communtiy college will want student first then adult education students will be the last one to get in, which it is complicated. Because most of them students will get there classes and half of them have to go somewhere else. This also include, SAT and also California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE) and etc. will not be free no more. I want the government to stop cutting school funds!