The coronavirus is threatening to become a major global pandemic, with the number of confirmed cases growing inside the United States. So who are Donald Trump and his administration’s top officials most concerned about right now? Giant corporations. When asked by Congress if a future vaccine will be guaranteed to be affordable for all Americans, Trump’s head of Health and Human Services, Alex Azar--a former drug company lobbyist--refused to commit. Instead, he suggested that private pharmaceutical companies’ ability to profit would come before the health needs of the people. This is outrageous and he must resign.

As NBA superstar Kevin Durant recently said, "[M]arijuana is marijuana... I feel like it shouldn’t even be a huge topic around it anymore.” But it is if you're an NBA player. Players face a 5 game suspension for using marijuana -- even if the player lives in one of the 11 states (plus D.C.) who've legalized recreational usage or the 33 states (plus D.C.) where medicinal use is allowed. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver takes pride in being the most progressive sports league in the U.S., but suspending players for using marijuana--medically or recreationally--is out of sync with that forward-leaning image. NBA players generate $8 BILLION for the league's owners, and the players deserve the right to use marijuana without being punished for it. League commissioner Adam Silver can -- and should -- change this immediately. Sources: 1. "Kevin Durant thinks weed ‘shouldn’t even be a huge topic’ for NBA anymore," New York Post, Feb. 27, 2020 https://nypost.com/2020/02/27/kevin-durant-thinks-weed-shouldnt-even-be-a-huge-topic-for-nba-anymore/ 2. "How the NBA Makes Money," Investopedia, updated Sep. 24, 2019 https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/071415/how-nba-makes-money.asp

So far, this nation's response to the Covid-19 threat is woefully inadequate, due to underfunding of the Centers For Disease Control and lack of leadership from the Trump administration. Our lack of testing kits available for doctors and hospitals to diagnose the disease in a timely manner and the inadequate supply of hospital beds for the huge demand the disease is likely to generate, are just two examples of serious shortcoming that must be addressed!

It is wrong to continue to celebrate Columbus. He and those that followed after him raped, enslaved, and attempted to exterminate the native Taínos. He also did not discover anything. It was already discovered by the native peoples.

This petition is to support of Georgia House Bill 843 sponsored by Representative Demetrius Douglas outlining a plan to provide 30 minutes of recess to Georgia elementary school children. Currently Georgia does not have a formal requirement to provide recess to grades K-5. In March 2019 during the Georgia legislative session, a similar House Bill (#83) was approved by both the Senate and House (237 in "yay", only 15 "nay", so 96% in favor). In May 2019, Governor Kemp vetoed the bill preferring local control of recess policies. Representative Douglas is rightly passionate about this issue and is bringing recess back for consideration in 2020. Given the overwhelmingly positive response of both the House and Senate in 2019, we want to show our support as a community through this petition. Currently Georgia ranks #8 in childhood obesity. More and more children are being diagnosed with health related illnesses. Children need unstructured play time, fresh air and sunlight incorporated into their school day. House Bill 843 provides for 30 minutes of recess for all Georgia children consistently. It gives children the right to play, supporting healthy development -- physically, mentally, emotionally, socially and academically. Thank you for your support!

We believe this is an essential move to protect our national public schools.

If the candidate with the most delegates does not get to run as the Democratic nominee for President, and Superdelegates give it to a less popular candidate , it will fracture the Democratic Party. This will likely keep Trump in office for four more years, and we cannot let this happen!

This guarantees that our workers in our communities are not being treated differently from workers in New York and New Jersey, and can peacefully form their union. As Mayflower continues to be successful, the workers should also see the result of their hard work reflected in their wages, benefits, protections, and working conditions.

It is often difficult to see when stopped on Thurston at Nevada because of cars parked along the road. I have personally narrowly avoided accidents at this intersection because I thought it was clear, but there was a car coming down Nevada that I could not see. A 4-way stop would make this intersection much safer and less stressful to cross.

The current pay schedule is not competitive with the current job market in and outside of the education field. Furthermore, it does not account for the cost of living in the metropolitan Nashville area. As a result, our children are losing talented teachers to other counties and other industries. Also, without enough substitute teachers and support staff, educators bear an unfair and heavy workload that ultimately creates an unhealthy education experience for both children and teachers alike. The injustice our children experience when high-quality teachers are lost due to a system that underpays and undervalues them is unconscionable.

In October and November of 2019, Maine’s first and fourth largest cities made history. Portland and South Portland became the first places in Maine to declare a climate emergency. Brunswick and Bar Harbor declared an emergency shortly after, with more on the way or in the process. A similar resolution has now been presented to the Lewiston School Committee. It is only fitting that a school, a place where children learn about the world, listen to the youth activists. Climate change is often seen as a scary and abstract concept. How would understanding around the crisis change if students’ schools recognized it for the emergency it is? How many more environmental leaders would we have growing up today? This is why we urge Lewiston Public Schools to declare climate emergency.

With flu season still in full swing—and an estimated 10,000 deaths in the U.S. so far this season (seriously, get your flu shot)—news of the new coronavirus outbreak is also causing concern. Reports indicating a possibility of a future pandemic make it clear that we need a strong response from our elected officials. The National Institutes of Health—which is a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services—have already invested nearly $700 million of taxpayer money in coronavirus vaccine research. Public, taxpayer dollars have led the way in developing treatments and vaccines for the coronavirus, but President Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Azar are considering giving pharmaceutical corporations monopolies to sell them at whatever price maximizes profits. Research and investment in treatments and vaccines funded with public dollars should not be handed over to private corporations with no guardrails, so they can price gouge patients and rake in profits.