Please join me in getting the town of Union and the village of Endicott’s attention on these pressing issues. We can’t keep living this way!!

Schools should allow phones because they can be used as powerful tools for learning, giving students quick access to online resources and information. Phones help students stay organized with apps for calendars, reminders, and notes, which can improve their academic performance. In emergencies, having a phone allows students to contact parents or guardians immediately, ensuring their safety. Phones also prepare students for the future by teaching them how to use technology responsibly. With clear rules, phones can be a valuable asset in the classroom rather than just a distraction. Just because growing up y’all didn’t have no technology to help y’all doesn’t mean we have to endure it, too. It’s 2024 , it’s a new day and age. You might not like it but it’s time for change. Technology is a big part of our everyday lives!

This would be a very effective change of course for this property.   * Funding: Sen Chuck Schumer was instrumental in securing over $3.4+million dollars for this facility's upgrade. A small part of this very public funding could be used/offset as thanks for this funding/generosity and the continued confidence in Central Hudson's use/management of what are very public waterways.  *Community Investments: Central Hudson, along with its parent company Fortis, have made very public their intentions for continued community investment projects. This could be one such project that is already within their ownership! They own the land, a large portion of it is already used for recreation purposes (for CH employees only currently), and as state above - very generous public funding has been made available - earmarked for this location. Local town/County partnerships could easily ensure this type of property's upkeep and maintenance - if not existing maintenance that is already in place.  *Safety: Over the years there have been some really close calls with some people fishing - walking along, parking along the highway there. Kids are fishing there all the time and love it! Its time to consider allowing for more accessible means of enjoying this waterway and addressing a known safety issue too!  * Not just for residents, but Central Hudson customers!:  These aren't strangers. The people who live in this are (currently over 180,000 Ulster County residents) are Central Hudson customers. 

We must do something massive and unprecedented, or American democracy is doomed.

The safety and wellbeing of our children is a priority! 

Any further reduction in bedside nurses would compromise patient care and exacerbate an already unsafe environment. It's not just about the numbers and budget cuts; it's about the impact on patient care, the safety of patients, and the dedicated nurses. The nurse staffing is already stretched thin, and any further staff reduction will only worsen things. I've seen firsthand how hard the nurses work and how much they care for their patients, and it breaks my heart to think about the added strain this will put on them and the potential impact on patient safety. We can't sit by and say nothing when I know patient care is at risk. I believe that investing in the retention and support of the nursing staff is crucial for maintaining the quality of care, and I hope we can find a way to address budget concerns without sacrificing the well-being of the patients and the staff.

So far, over a dozen employees from OpenAI and Google’s Deepmind—two of the most prominent AI labs—have put their careers and livelihoods at risk.  They’re sounding the alarm about the dangers of the “move fast and break things” approach to AI development that has, among other problems, resulted in the proliferation of deepfake porn. These engineers and scientists see the potential dangers of AI firsthand.  Right now, they’re stepping out alone.  We can and should let them know we have their back.  If we want to ensure that AI technologies have guardrails and that the AI labs prioritize safety, we need to make sure AI lab workers feel like the public is watching. Please join us in thanking these lab workers, and encourage others to join their ranks. Challenging the “move fast and break things” culture that permeates Silicon Valley is a bold undertaking.  This way of doing business underlies the US tech sector’s lead in global innovation, and has created massive changes in society–everything from the introduction of the microprocessor and smartphone to services like AirBnB and Uber.  But this culture has another common adage, which is “ask for forgiveness, not permission,” which—when it comes to ground breaking technologies like social media and, now, AI—can produce real harms that are too damaging to correct after the harm is done.       In the case of AI, the level and pace of change is drastic.  We are already seeing unanticipated, negative consequences, like the damage being done to young women across the globe from the advent of deepfake porn, as AI technology rapidly develops without guardrails. And it’s likely just the tip of the iceberg.  And that’s why a number of those closest to the technology are risking their careers and personal economic futures, to the tune of millions of dollars, in order to sound the alarm. When Jeffrey Hinton, ‘the godfather of AI’, left Google just over a year ago so he could speak freely about the dangers of AI, it sparked a movement among lab employees who wrestle internally with balancing their professional pursuits and their social responsibility.  As we witnessed the OpenAI board, which included Hinton’s former student and OpenAI co-founder Ilya Sutskever, attempt but fail to oust CEO Sam Altman, many reported that safety concerns inside the company were at the center of boardroom battle. And more recently, when thirteen more researchers and scientists from OpenAI and Google’s Deepmind stepped out risking their jobs by calling for a “right to warn” for all employees of the labs, it further showed how serious those closest to the situation are taking the matter. In contrast, the response of AI lab leadership and some of their biggest investors is essentially “trust us—we understand the technology better than anyone, and we can’t risk slowing down and losing this technological race.” The problem is history makes it clear that companies racing to win almost never police themselves, or worry enough about the harms to society, and even often punish and destroy whistleblowers (think tobacco, fossil fuels, pharmaceuticals, airplane manufacturers).   Thankfully, we now have those who are trying to blow the whistle, many anonymously, and others, like Geoffrey Hinton, Jan Leike, Ilya Sutskever, willing to be named.  Their sacrifice–making themselves the canaries in the coal mine–is a gift to us.  You can support them, and amplify their voice as they try to help all of us, simply by adding your name.  

Over the past several years we have all watched Global Warming become Climate Change, and now we find ourselves in a full Climate Crisis.  Sea levels are rising and destroying homes and property.  Tropical superstorms are ravaging the coastal states, including New England.  Expanded and prolonged forest fires sweep across the continent.  We must act in every possible way to reduce our Carbon Footprint, and to provide climate resiliancy.  And we must act N.O.W.!

"Saturday Night Live" has a long history of culturally relevant political satire. It's often a mark of honor to play a candidate for president and vice president—and choosing a great and beloved comedian is a way to capture public attention ... and ensure we get to see more of that candidate in the show's autumn episodes. When Sarah Palin was tapped from obscurity to be John McCain's running mate in 2008, it was an opportunity for "SNL" to cast beloved writer/actor Tina Fey, whose line "I can see Russia from my house" has become famously associated with Palin herself! SNL made joyful news recently in announcing that Maya Rudolph would return to portray Kamala Harris. Now, with the announcement of Tim Walz as her running mate, SNL has an excuse to bring back one of the show's most storied recurring guest hosts: Steve Martin. Look at those wide smiles, the eyes that scrunch at the corners, the bold eyebrows! Steve Martin is made to play Tim Walz—and bring a bright, generous, and absurd humor to the role. "SNL": Do America this favor! Enlist Steve Martin. Give Tim Walz the portrayal he deserves, as he runs to help elect the president and vice president we all deserve.

Local governance is a time honored American tradition.  Local governments know what is needed and what is best for their communities.  HB 2127 is extreme government overreach and should be repealed.

This is an historic election, one that will determine the future of our country—a future either shaped by Trump and Vance, who are set on eroding our rights and freedoms, or Harris and Walz, who will protect and expand our rights and put people and our democracy first.  Walz's progressive track record could not be more distinct from Vance. Where Vance voted against the "Right to IVF Act," Walz and his wife used IVF to conceive their daughter, who they named Hope. Where Vance’s anti-abortion beliefs go so far as to call for federal intervention to stop people from even being able to travel to access abortions in other states—Walz worked to codify abortion rights in Minnesota and protect patients traveling to Minnesota for reproductive care. Where Vance prioritizes fossil fuels above our climate, Walz recognizes the climate crisis and outlined an ambitious goal of helping Minnesota reach 100% clean energy by 2040. Vance—whose book in part profited off of the exploitation of stories from rural Americans struggling with opioid addictions—created a failed anti-opioid nonprofit, Our Ohio Renewal, that employed a doctor with ties to Big Pharma and invested $0 on charitable activities or grants. Walz took executive action to create an Opioids, Substance Use, and Addiction subcabinet and signed a $300 million investment combating opioid addiction and funding overdose education, prevention, treatment.  It's time that politicians like Vance are forced to confront their far right and extreme platforms and answer to the American people. Together, we can build the public pressure to make sure Vance doesn’t waffle like Trump on facing his competitor on the debate stage.  Add your name to the petition to call on Vance to agree to and follow through on debating Walz!

Trump knows that more and more voters are learning about Project 2025 and he's trying to distance himself from it by claiming to not know anything about Project 2025 or who's behind it. That is a lie. Many members of Trump's former administration and Trump allies are involved with Project 2025, and in 2022, when talking about the Heritage Foundation, Trump said, "This is a great group, and they're going to lay the groundwork and detail plans for exactly what our movement will do and what your movement will do when the American people give us a colossal mandate to save America." Trump has a track record of inciting the deadly white supremacist-led January 6 insurrection, attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election, packing the Supreme Court with MAGA Republican judges who have stripped away our freedoms and bodily autonomy over and over again, giving tax breaks to billionaires and big corporations, hurling racist, sexist, Islamophobic attacks, and more. Harris has tirelessly advocated for and fought for our communities and freedoms. She has fought to raise the minimum wage, protect our voting rights, make higher education tuition-free, reform the cash bail system, expand access to health care, hold sexual abusers accountable, protect our reproductive freedom and bodily autonomy, protect the LGBTQIA+ community, and so much more. Harris has a proven track record of putting people over corporations by taking on fraudsters trying to cheat the American people—and winning, successfully going after Big Oil, greedy pharmaceutical companies, and predatory mortgage lenders to deliver wins for working people. This is why she is ready to show up to the debate on September 10, with or without Trump. Will you sign the petition to tell Trump that voters expect him to stop playing games and show up to debate Vice President Kamala Harris NOW?