Students and staff should feel safe when they come to school. Students were aware that if they chose to come back to school, they would be required to wear a mask. COVID has not gone away yet. We need to do the most that we can to protect ourselves and others.

This is following the mass murders of Indianapolis, IN at the FedEX airport Facility. People need to be able to contact their families, spouses and loved ones and let them know they are still alive. It is cruel to make people wait so long for news.

The illegal Dakota Access Pipeline poses serious environmental risks, while trampling over Native American treaty rights and tribal consultation. This is another historic injustice that needs to be reversed immediately to advance justice, respect environmental laws, and protect the rights of Indigenous people.

The world is waiting to see if Derek Chauvin, the white former police officer will be convicted for the murder and manslaughter in the death of George Floyd. Meanwhile in Connecticut, Black and Brown people are anxiously awaiting the declaration of the oldest pandemic, racism. In the midst of this, Valerie Horsley, a white woman and Hamden Town Council member representing District 4, used profanity against a Black man and fellow council member, Justin Farmer, exercising her privilege by demanding he refer to her by her professional title, justifying her demand by her acclaimed 'tribal' roots.

According to the CDC, mental health is our, “ emotional, psychological, and social well-being” (CDC, 2018). Mental health can affect many aspects in a person's life including the way they think, feel, and act. How someone thinks, acts, and feels can have a great affect on how they handle things in their everyday life especially if those thoughts, feelings and actions are coming from a negative place. In schools there are programs and classes put in place to promote good physical health such as gym class, health class, and physical activity based after school programs but, there are rarely spaces in school to talk about and promote the importance of good mental health. Being able to talk about mental health and having the proper support when struggling with a mental illness can have a very positive affect on someone's life. Since having good mental health is just as important as having good physical health, why are schools not focusing on providing support and education for mental health like they do for physical health. Schools need to have more accountability to provide resources for promoting positive mental health practices for students and teachers through programs, funding, and outreach to help erase the stigma regarding mental illness.

To make sure it never happens again.

To prevent needless deaths in our state. First, the pandemic is ongoing and we have no leadership from our governor. Second, Governor Lee was aware TN law enforcement along with the majority of Tennesseans were against this gun law.

Veterans are not receiving the medical care and benefits they’ve earned. Stop sending vets to rubber stamp clinics and provide exam results.

Recent events in Boulder have brought the issue of sensible gun control to the forefront of our public discourse again. I live in the small city of Louisville in the Boulder/Denver area. Several months ago, I was in the Louisville King Soopers when a young man appeared in the store conspicuously wearing a very large handgun and not wearing his mask. Many shoppers noticed this person but were not about to mention the mask issue given the gun. I do not believe store owners and their employees should be put in the position of confronting someone wearing a gun to enforce other rules. Additionally, it was clear that patrons in the store were uncomfortable with the situation -- not a good thing for a business. The State of Colorado enacted a preemption of local government efforts to control some aspects of gun ownership. The courts upheld the Denver bans based on the urban nature of Denver and the inherent interest of the City of Denver to protect its citizens. The front range is basically one big urban area now and as demonstrated by the shooting in Boulder, like COVID-19 we are one big community. If the state won't pass reasonable gun control laws, we can try getting it done city by city even if the courts eventually need to get involved.

The GA legislature and Governor have enacted a shameful law to restrict voter access to polls and to inflict pain on people trying to exercise their democratic right to vote. It is cruel and unusual to make it a crime to provide someone with a cool drink while waiting hours in line. Coca-Cola should take a brave stand against this assault and stand up for democracy as an iconic American company.

Over the last year, the COVID crisis has hit Texas especially hard, and its effects are far from over. In fact, around 1.3 million Texans are reported to be behind on rent, and about 40% of Texas adults are still having trouble covering usual household expenses. If the American Rescue Plan hadn’t passed, millions of Texans would’ve been thrown into even deeper economic insecurity. Without its survival checks, expansion of unemployment insurance, funding for state and local government (to make vaccines more accessible and for safe schools reopening plans), or expansion of the child tax credit, there’s no telling how much more economic pain Texans would have suffered. Because of the ARP, over 11 million Texans received direct checks, and over $27 billion went to our state and local governments to prevent essential worker layoffs and to aid vaccine production, and $13 billion went to help schools reopen faster. This is having direct impact in Texas and everywhere—and will help us all recover with greater health and economic security. In our time of greatest need, Sen. Cruz voted against these provisions. He let down his constituents, and must resign immediately.

Over the last year, the COVID crisis has hit Florida especially hard, and its effects are far from over. In fact, over 900,000 Floridians are reported to be behind on rent, and over a third of Florida adults are still having trouble covering usual household expenses. If the American Rescue Plan hadn’t passed, millions of Floridians would’ve been thrown into even deeper economic insecurity. Without its survival checks, expansion of unemployment insurance, funding for state and local government (to make vaccines more accessible and for safe schools reopening plans), or expansion of the child tax credit, there’s no telling how much more economic pain Floridians would have suffered. Because of the ARP, over 10 million Floridians received direct checks, and over $17 billion went to our state and local governments to prevent essential worker layoffs and to aid vaccine production, and over $7 billion went to help schools reopen faster. This is having direct impact in Florida and everywhere—and will help us all recover with greater health and economic security. In our time of greatest need, Sen. Rubio voted against these provisions. He let down his constituents, and must resign immediately.