We are local Doctors, Nurse Practitioners, Physician Assistants’, Nurses, First Responders & Healthcare Workers. We are parents in our community. We are tired. We are doing everything we can, working tirelessly, to keep our community safe and healthy. We are asking that you please help us to keep our kids safe and make masks mandatory this fall in our schools. In the past month, the pandemic has worsened as the delta variant has spread across NC and the country. Covid-19 rates and hospitalizations have increased. Pediatric Covid-19 cases are rising nationwide and locally. Local pediatric hospitals are overrun with Covid-19 and RSV. Universal indoor masking for grades K-12 is currently recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, and the CDC. Universal masking is part of the layered mitigation strategy that works to slow the spread of COVID-19. Masking helps keep kids in school and keeps children, teachers, and school staff from becoming ill. Masking will help enable more consistent in-person learning this fall. Children under the age of 12 do not currently have access to the Covid-19 vaccine. Some of our children are immunocompromised and are especially vulnerable to Covid-19. Without a mask, these children are significantly at risk. We need to take steps to ensure a safe environment for ALL children, including those who are more vulnerable due to pre-existing conditions or social determinants of health. Along with the physical risks, the detriments of the inevitable school closures and quarantining that will occur without universal masking are numerous. We, as healthcare providers, have seen a large increase in anxiety and depression in our youth. We have seen an increase in pediatric obesity due to children being home unsupervised because many parents cannot afford to stay home. Child abuse increased across the nation from children being home more in an unsafe environment. School is a safe haven for many children across the country, and our community is not immune to that. We are a small community with already limited healthcare resources. If changes are not made soon, there will come a point where the sheer volume of illness overwhelms our healthcare resources completely and patients—children—will not have access to care. We need every healthcare provider we have and many of us are parents. The board needs to consider that if we become ill, we will be unavailable to serve the community. If our children become ill and we need to be home with them, we will be unavailable to serve the community. There is no one waiting in the wings to fill our positions. The community will simply be without care. Again, we ask, please help us keep our children of Dare County safe and be the leadership that our children need. Sincerely, Marielle Silk, FNP; Kellie Flock Byrne, PA and Sarah Summerton, FNP

The faith of the average public servant will be eroded if this egregious retaliation is not overturned. The US will say to its citizens that either you stand for truth and suffer the consequences or that it will reward courageous heroes.

Our children are important and with the current laws written schools cannot protect them under the age of 12.

Family

We owe this to the Afghan people - all of them, especially the ones who served as translators and helped Americans when were were there.

The COVID-19 cases are rising daily and people are dying, Governor Abbott is making a political issue out of a health issue.

To bring more attention to a behavior that will destroy our civilization.

Media integrity is needed in an age where conservative outlets will seek to undermine unbiased media coverage to enhance their own partisan and dangerous agenda. Two examples: coronavirus mask and vaccine mandates, and the claims of voter fraud in the right wing echo chamber.

All of the citizens of Texas need to be required to wear masks. He said no to masks being required in schools.

This planet is in crisis. There is no doubt about that. This is why, to reduce the pollution, in the atmosphere, we need not only to convert to electric vehicles, but to make charging ports very available. With charging ports available at grocery, department stores, as well as restaurants, cars could be charging while consumers either do their shopping, or eat a meal. As for the "limited range", I would remind gas-powered vehicle drivers that we, routinely, stop, at various towns, to fill gas tanks. IN fact, I fill my tank before leaving town, each time. The only difference is that, instead of smelly gas, we would be pumping CLEAN, non-smelly, electricity. Remember that ALL vehicles get rotten mileage, when driving INTO HEAD-winds. This is why transferring to electric, and providing charging ports, at major stores, and restaurants, is important. The United States needs to show the world that we WILL LEAD the charge to cleaner, safer, transportation. If you agree, then I would appreciate your signature.

According to the EPA, Americans generate more than 267 million tons of solid waste every year. And it costs MILLIONS just to bury it underground or ship it to another country. It doesn't work anymore. The American recycling process is BROKEN and needs to be fixed. Before it's too late.

We need to shut down all of Trump's minions, cronies and sycophants if we hope to save the country.