The current Newbury Road Post Office in Newbury Park, CA enjoys a central location and convenient access for customers. It is convenient for walking to as it is for driving, as it is right off the 101 freeway. Public transit is also available. Energy and time are conserved through customers' use of the current location. The new proposed location in Grande Vista is remote , with no public transportation and in an unsafe and deserted area at night.

The Chelsea School, located in the Seven Oaks/Evanswood neighborhood of Silver Spring, MD, is selling its land, with the historic pre-Civil War Riggs-Thompson house, to the developer EYA. The site plan includes a new street that will circumvent the traffic protections designed to prevent cut-through traffic to and from the Central Business District. These protections were implemented after overwhelming approval by neighborhood referendum. This street would allow cars to bypass the one-way section of Ellsworth Drive near the library. For instance, drivers coming from downtown could enter Ellsworth going north, go through the Chelsea development, and take Pershing Drive to get to Dale Drive and the Beltway – just the kind of cut-through traffic that our traffic plan was designed to prevent. Cut-through traffic to Dale Drive will increase traffic on that artery and throughout the neighborhood. EYA claims that signs restricting access will prevent cut-through traffic. However, enforcement will be difficult – how will police know which cars are driven by visitors or residents? – and it is unlikely that the police will make it a sustained priority. SOECA and the Chelsea Task Force ask that the County and EYA use a cul-de-sac with entry and exit onto Ellsworth, which would preserve the traffic control plan. The County confirms that this cul-de-sac would satisfy Police and Fire Department requirements for access, even with the large number of townhouses in EYA’s plan.

The Chelsea School, located in the Seven Oaks/Evanswood neighborhood of Silver Spring, is selling its land, with the historic pre-Civil War Riggs-Thompson house, to the developer EYA. Although developers such as EYA must comply with all State and County environmental laws and regulations, Montgomery County has thus far failed to hold EYA to these requirements. It is vital that the County ensure that trees are preserved, and stormwater runoff properly managed, in order to avoid polluting nearby Sligo Creek and the Anacostia Watershed. It is also vital that EYA strictly adhere to green space requirements on the property, and that the Riggs-Thompson house and it setting are properly preserved. Environmental site design is not being followed in this proposed development. EYA’s plans violate State and County laws that require managing stormwater by preserving natural features --- which at the Chelsea site include numerous mature trees and steep, erodible slopes --- and using sensible design techniques, such as clustered development. The County’s forest conservation law also obliges EYA to preserve all significant trees on the site unless EYA can demonstrate that preserving them creates an unwarranted hardship. We cannot understand why County officials have failed so far to impose these requirements. Instead, EYA plans to clear-cut the site, destroying 64 trees --- only a handful outside the historic property would be preserved --- and to re-grade nearly the entire area, disturbing highly erodible steep slopes and creating new slopes, including one that takes part of the Riggs-Thompson lot and comes within 30 feet of that historic house itself. The County is also ignoring the zoning requirement that 50% of the townhouse development be maintained as green space accessible to its occupants. Instead, the County allows EYA to count the Riggs-Thompson property towards this requirement. The Chelsea property has 89 mature trees, many more than 100 years old. The 63% tree canopy coverage in the surrounding neighborhood is an important part of the green ring around downtown Silver Spring, which has only 14% coverage. Trees combat global warming by helping to clean the air, and the areas around them, and their root systems are very effective at protecting Sligo Creek and the Anacostia Watershed by controlling stormwater runoff. It would be tragic and foolish to lose these benefits in order to allow EYA to squeeze the maximum number of townhouses onto the Chelsea site. We therefore urge the Montgomery County Planning Board, and all other State and local officials, to vigorously enforce State and County stormwater laws and green space requirements, and save as many mature trees as possible, on the site of the proposed Chelsea Court townhouse development in Silver Spring.

Over 300 cities (urban, suburban and rural, wealthy and poor) across America have now ended the needless killing of healthy and treatable companion animals. Ask the Governor and the State of New Mexico to support the animal life-saving event “Just One Day” by urging animal shelters across New Mexico to take a pledge not to kill any savable animals on June 11, 2013. Instead of clearing cages by euthanizing, animals will leave the shelters with their forever families. At the end of the day, the shelters will have many more empty cages than at the beginning of the day. Yet, no animals will have had to die in order to make that happen. More about Just One Day can be found at http://www.justoneday.ws

On Friday, March 1, Celeste Greig, head of the California Republican Assembly, told the media that pregnancies by rape are rare "because it's an act of violence, because the body is traumatized." Ironically, she said this while criticizing former Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin for his comments last fall about "legitimate rape." I started this petition because I am disgusted by scientifically illiterate Republican leaders attempting to defend rape related anti-choice policies. These uneducated and fanatical politicians attempt to minimize the horrific consequences of rape in order to pursue a twisted political agenda and in so doing degrade women. Everyone is welcome to their own opinion, but not to their own facts. Rapes cause pregnancy. Celeste Greig (and other factually challenged politicians) need to resign from their high profile political positions so policy can be made based on science, not ideology.

I'd like to find out what would happen if we, the people, the 99% of the United States, decided NOT to pay FEDERAL INCOME TAX this year? Put it in an escrow account until the CONGRESS starts to do the work it was elected to do. After all, we wouldn't pay the lawn men to talk about mowing the lawn and then cut down the vegetable garden, would we?

The current California Beverage Container Recycling and Litter Reduction Act (AB 2020), aka Bottle Bill, provides for container deposits as follows: Distributors pay a per container fee (CRV) of 5¢ <24 oz and 10¢ >24 oz into a state fund. Consumers pay a deposit of 5¢ for each container < 24 ounces and 10¢ for each container >24 ounces. In turn, they receive a refund of 5¢ for each container of less than 24 ounces redeemed, and 10¢ for each container of 24 ounces or greater redeemed. The weakness of this system is that consumers have to return containers to separate recycling centers. These centers are often hard to find, have long lines and discourage consumers to collect their deposits. The containers end up on the streets and in our waters, creating the pollution the Bottle Bill intended to end. Those containers that end up in recycling bins encourage dumpster divers. Other states such as Michigan offer a much more practical solution. Grocery chains that sell products packaged in containers requiring deposit are required to have recycling machines onsite. They are in operation during the full hours of the store, not limited hours during the day. This solution restores fairness to recycling and removes the barriers that cause many consumers to either avoid purchasing deposit-bearing containers or just throwing them out in the trash, recycling bins or the street. Let's put the deposit value to true use. Let your legislators know that it is now time for change. Stop the cycle of bottles that end up on our streets, streams and the ocean. End the threat to marine wildlife. Ask that AB2020 be amended to require all major stores to offer recycling stations operated by their store. Remove the bar code scanning that denies returning a container that the machine does not recognize as a valid redemption. If it is marked CA Redemption Value, all recycling locations should equally accept it without the consumer having to stand in long lines. Let's create a *real* recycling system together for the health and future of California!

Queen Anne's County High School doesn't have a dance team, but Kent Island High School does. For years, the two schools had a combined Ice Hockey Team, and our goal is to allow students from Queen Anne's to be able to go to Kent Island to create one combined Dance Team.

The truth invading Public Schools and classrooms now involves teachers not only teaching to the test — for it is the test which will measure the teacher NOT direct instruction as per student needs — but also forfeiting time and energy with best practices for the sake of gathering EVIDENCE to prove themselves as educators. Confused? How many hours of direct math and reading / writing instruction engulf each school day? Are hours with these specific subject areas replacing other content not yet tested? Art/ music? Science? Library time? Recess? After one becomes aware of such meaningless and, dare I say, harmful reform, I believe it then becomes our responsibility to seek the truth with the right questions.

As a straight male, I have the right to get married. We should all have the right to get married. Gay, lesbian, whatever.... We need to get the government out of marriage. We should be allowed to marry whoever we want, regardless of gender! Make marriage laws unbiased in the state of Georgia!

I am sick of our nations leaders being paid not to lead

Accepting Federal money for Medicaid expansion in Alabama will benefit everyone. It will bring billions of dollars into our economy, create thousands of jobs, save money for employers, support our health institutions, and produce a net savings in the state's budget. More importantly, it will save lives. Please vote to allow Medicaid expansion to move forward in the State of Alabama!