"In New Jersey, the number of children in pre-kindergarten through high school who cited religion as an excuse to avoid vaccines grew from 1,641 in the 2005-06 academic year to just under 14,000 in the 2018-19 year. Of these, 8,348 children were enrolled in pre-kindergarten, according to state Department of Education data." - nj.com Parents citing religious concerns as a reason to not vaccinate their children is rapidly becoming more widespread in our state. This is being framed as a "personal / medical choice" issue; however, it is a public health issue. Until 2018, measles was all but gone in North America; now there are outbreaks in California and right here in NJ. Measles, which is often framed as a "harmless childhood disease", can have serious complications, including lifelong disabilities and pneumonia (which can lead to death). This is especially true if someone sick with measles is malnourished or immunocompromised. The bill is not about "forced vaccines". The bill is about making sure that children who are at higher risk due to lack of vaccination, are not spreading VPD (vaccine-preventable diseases) to other peoples' children. It is about protecting some of the most vulnerable members of our population, such as kids who are immunocompromised and legitimately can't receive vaccines. Ideally, this bill will open up further dialogue between parents and doctors, so that healthcare providers can better answer parents' questions and assist them in determining what is reliable information and what is not. The anti-vaccination crowd has come out in full force in NJ, harassing legislators and making verbal / digital personal attacks. The protesting outside Senate has been so loud that you can barely hear what's going on inside the building. The bill has been dropped once already and passed over yesterday as lawmakers have caved to the hysteria and bullying. We can't simply let this go. The medical community is overwhelmingly in favor of vaccines. And this is who we should be listening to - not conspiracy theorists and Del Bigtree. I think it is also important to note, that there are almost no major religions that object to vaccinations. The vaccines manufactured and given now are very far away from the aborted fetal cell lines that they were once grown in. (See second link at the bottom for an article / example of this from a Christian viewpoint). This is not a slippery slope and it's not about taking away our freedom. Parental fear and misinformation does not supercede a child's right to a healthy life. Other states have done this; now it's our turn. Support bills A3818 and S2173. We have laws about child car seats. It's time to toughen up the laws about childhood immunization and keep NJ's vaccine rates high. Children have the right to be protected against disease. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41390-019-0354-3 https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/what-christians-should-know-vaccines/

Because we need to preserve our democracy, and democracy can't happen when elections are being bought!

Hi, I am a 73 year old retired, disabled, veteran who lives on Social Security and if you haven't guessed already, I live in an Affordable Housing Project owned by the County of Kauai. I have done everything requested of me from the first notice of violation as I cherish my home and can't afford to lose it. I requested a Grievance Hearing with the local Public Housing Authority (PHA - HCV Program) for my Section 8 housing. The Federal Register lists The Kauai County Housing Agency as the local PHA. The hearing was approved and I waited for a date and time. Then it was canceled saying that I had done nothing wrong within the program to warrant a hearing. I was referred to the Agency of Elderly Affairs who referred me to the Legal Aid Society. After providing everything asked for I was told it was believed I had a case and awaited an appointment with the managing director. Then I was told that the managing director was leaving to accept another job and the only other lawyer in the office doesn't believe these types of cases are winnable because the County makes out the contracts as month to month rentals rather than the HUD mandated year to year lease and you can't introduce the federal law in court because the HUD mandated Tenancy Addendum is not attached to your contract. Therefore HRS 521-71 applies, that basically says management can evict a tenant for no reason. A few days later I got a call from the legal assistant who was originally helping me, saying she had forwarded all my paperwork to a lawyer in Honolulu who specializes in this type of case. After spending several hours telling him the details, he kept saying that I wasn't giving him anything to work with. In his words it always ends in a he said she said even with witnesses or so called proof where the judge couldn't decide the truth, until I mentioned management cheating on the House Rules. The next day I got a call telling me that after an hour on the phone with EAH Housings lawyer he had convinced him that management could not win this case in court. Now I'm a bit vague as to what happened next even though I asked questions, but the next thing that happened was the new best way out was a Mutual Termination Agreement sent by EAH Housing's lawyer. When I asked what happened I was told, we work in teams using local lawyers, we do not have the budget to island hop for court appearances. All the members of the team must agree on a course of action. The only thing that makes sense here is the local lawyer refused to litigate the case in court. I read the agreement and refused to sign it because of all the illegal things it contained. We then spent time rewording the agreement and sending it back. Basically they were to dismiss the case and I must move in 60 days. The next hearing was on Aug 19 and the local lawyer presented the agreement to the judge. EAH Housing's lawyer was a no show and the judge refused to dismiss the case. He asked for a stipulation from EAH Housing's lawyer to dismiss. I knew at this point they were not going to live up to their agreement. I was assured that this would not happen until the time ran out on Oct 31, 2019 and it did not happen. I didn't move because they broke the agreement the day they were a no show in court. Next I get a summons to appear because they were suing me for breaking the agreement. That summons broke the state law for not giving me time to prepare. So the next summons was dated Dec 2, 2019 the same day they dismissed the original case. EHA Housing's lawyer flew in from Honolulu specifically for this hearing. The judge puts us in mediation because I do not have representation. EAH Housing's lawyer proceeds to tell me I can not win this case and he is very good at what he does. If we do not reach an agreement you will lose your HCV (Section 8 voucher) for five years and become homeless. I'm EMR Sensitive and the first problem I have in Lihue because of all the cell towers and free Wi-Fi is organizing my thoughts. Doctors do not recognize this problem yet. While the mediator was asking good questions he could not see a good end result for me. The fair housing Act gives up to 60 days for disabled people and I caved to that. The agreement was signed and the judge agreed. I have all along been looking for a place to live, desperately wanting to get away from this manager. Affordable Housing directly from the state or HUD (through the Hawaii Housing Agency) is 3 years out after you fill out the paperwork and approved you are put on a waiting list. Looking for other affordable housing, the waiting lists are not open and there are no vacancies. Looking on the retail rental market, no one accepts the HCV Program. So on Jan 31, 2020 at 4PM I will become homeless. The cost of moving into storage and out of storage and the deposit and my portion of the first month rent will put me in debt. I had a blowout on the way to a doctor's appointment and while I could get the spare out of the trunk I could no longer change the tire. I passed out on the front seat of the car and a kind woman stopped to help and found me. This made me realize that my desire to move out wade my physical ability to move. So I am here asking for help. If you think this was a long story you should hear the long version. If you agree this is wrong on multiple levels please sign my petition. Or better yet call (808) 241-4440 and ask to speak with Steven Franco and express the fact that management broke the house rules when getting a lawyer to serve a 45 day notice. When I was a kid this was called cheating, but she is also a habitual liar. This is why she hates me because I call her out. I'm not the only one here. According to the chair of Health and Human Services for the County she has had at least 4 complaints against her. She evicts people because their kids are out playing without supervision and making too much noise.

We need to conserve resources (ie forests) and energy. Boxes used only 1 time, then recycled or thrown out, wastes resources, energy or adds to landfills. Carboard boxes should be used multiple times. With the ever increasing use of delivered goods, mainly by Amazon, carboard use is increasing. We need to reuse resources. Amazon should start a cardboard box reuse program, which could set an example for other on line services.

So that the building can be maintained and properly overseen. So that our community can be involved in the programs that go on there without harsh criticism from the Board of parks. We need to be able to use the facility for more activities to give our youth and community a fair option to stay within our town to enjoy sports, events, dances, classes, etc. The possibilities are endless. We feel that the board of parks has failed to work with the community and run things fairly. Our community deserves better and it is up to us to see that it happens.

Our rights are being violated. Our rights to vote on a law before it goes into effect, and our rights as a legal adult.

I feel like this is very important to the whole community. Wearing uniforms makes us feel plan and also very uncomfortable. Like for example in central, when we walk around with hoodies were hounded for them to get taken off. But if you don’t take it off that exact minute the admin will confiscate it. But see if we didn’t have to worry about uniform policy’s we wouldn’t have to worry about teacher calling admin to have student remove hoodies, Or students be given unreasonable consequences

For those of us who have been 18 for a while and then all the sudden we’re not “mature” enough to buy our own products ? This is so stupid.

San Antonio must make a very clear stance that “security” is not enhanced by ramping up the lethality of forces lined up along the border or aggressively targeting immigrants. These are methods of terror. San Antonio should redefine “security” to mean access to food, housing, health care, education and work. These are the things that lead to meaningful, secure lives, not assassinations at borders or deportation of beloved community members. San Antonio has the important responsibility to behave like a compassionate city as articulated by our own city Charter for Compassion: “Compassion impels us to work tirelessly to alleviate the suffering of our fellow creatures, to dethrone ourselves from the centre of our world and put another there, and to honour the inviolable sanctity of every single human being, treating everybody, without exception, with absolute justice, equity and respect.” We are charged with the responsibility to actively demand better for ourselves, for each other, and as a city. Because of this, we demand a compassionate San Antonio that envisions, fosters, and creates a welcome home for immigrants, not an enabler of those who terrorize them. Again, rise to the challenge, and say no to the expo.

This is so important because when kids feel like they have no help or no one to talk to they take the wrong path which causes the juvenile crime rate raise and we need to make it go down.

This is a very important issue to me. I'm very concerned for myself being LGBT and my brothers and sisters in this state that we shouldn't be discriminated against just because of who we love

We are now on the verge of a major war in the Middle East due to Trump's assassination of Iran's top military leader and further goading and threatening tweets. A war would kill countless Americans and people around the world.