A House bill introduced at the General Assembly on April 26 would allow the Providence Water Supply Board, which provides water to 60% of Rhode Islanders, to be sold or leased to a private or quasi-private entity. An identical Senate bill is due for a hearing on Tuesday, May 29 at 4:30 p.m. or later in Room 313 of the RI State House. Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza supports this legislation because he wants to raise money for the City of Providence's pension fund, which is currently funded at 26%. While the pension fund is a serious issue, water, a critical public resource and the foundation of our health and economic well-being, should not be used to correct decades of fiscal mismanagement by the City of Providence. Privatizing water, or using a public-private partnership to manage water, has been tried in the US and abroad and has led to corruption, environmental hazards, water rates that rise by 59 percent, poor service and damage to infrastructure. The public loses control over a resource we cannot live without, and cities have spent tens of millions to reclaim public control over the water utility.

Recently SDOT has suggested replacing the Garfield Street Bridge with something much inferior to what is there today. This gateway is key in and out of our part of the city as many learned during the 2001 rebuild from the Nisqually Earthquake. In November 2015, Seattle voters approved a 9-year, $930 million transportation Levy to Move Seattle, providing funding to improve safety for all travelers, maintain our streets and bridges, and invest in reliable, affordable travel options for a growing city. The levy provides roughly 30% of the City's transportation budget and replaces the 9-year, $365 Bridging the Gap levy approved by voters in 2006. The residents of Magnolia believed that we were part of this levy and supported it by a large margin. Since this levy we’ve learned that bike lanes in the city are costing more than $13MM per mile. Due to this overspend, we’ve heard the following "We do not have enough funding right now to do everything that was promised, we just don't," said the city's interim Department of Transportation (SDOT) chief, Goran Sparrman, at an oversight meeting last week. Sparrman added that "some of those dollar amounts estimated for what projects would cost were clearly insufficient, even at the time." This isn’t an acceptable answer The residents of Magnolia ask you to work with us to determine the best solution for the bridge. This city is home to more than 25 Fortune 500 companies, and a wide array of smart people. Engage us to help determine how we can do more for less, and ensure that Seattle is a place our grandchildren are proud to call home.

The recent bus accident involving Paramus, NJ middle school students has once again brought the seat belt debate to the forefront. Seat belts are required by law in most passenger vehicles, but yet they are not required for our school buses. Our babies deserve to be safe when being transported to and from school. Belt Our Babies! http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2018/05/nj_school_bus_accident_fatalities_confirmed_in_route_80_crash.html

To cut down the use of single use plastic bags. Save our environment from nonsustianable single use items. Encourage people to bring reusable bags.

AT&T has admitted to paying more than $1 million to the shell company controlled by Trump attorney and “fixer” Michael Cohen. AT&T's shareholders have been asking the company for five years to be honest about the extent of its lobbying, but the company has opposed disclosure at every turn. Corporate reputation is an important component of shareholder value. Without transparency, corporate lobbying can present reputational risk that harms shareholder value. In the case of AT&T and its hidden payments, AT&T management is getting a crash course in what happens when you try to influence politics in secret. To prevent further harm to the company and promote transparency in our democracy, AT&T must fully disclose all of its lobbying information.

Racist, xenophbic lawyer Aaron Schlossberg was recently caught on camera yelling at women speaking Spanish and saying they should be "kicked out of my country." Another instance shows him yelling at a couple on the street "I'm a citizen here. You’re not. You’re an ugly f***ing foreigner, so f**k you!" Civil rights advocate Shaun King also reports that more than dozen other people have come forward to share stories about being "targeted & harassed" by Schlossberg. It should come as no surprise that Schlossberg donated hundreds of dollars to the Trump campaign and is now apparently one of the many bigots emboldened by the administration's racist and xenophobic agenda. We demand a full investigation into Schlossberg's racist and xenophobic history and for him to be disbarred so he can no longer practice law.

Pebble Mine would be disastrous for both Bristol Bay and the communities its waters support. The mine would pollute the water and air and could even wipe out the wild salmon population that is central to the local economy. But instead of considering those impacts fully, the Army Corps is trying to rush through the permitting process. We can’t let that happen.

Congress is close to voting on the Farm Bill -- a massive piece of legislation that sets priorities across our entire food and agricultural system. But Republicans are using the bill as a tool to roll back vital public health and environmental safeguards, including on pesticides. We need your help NOW to stop this giveaway to chemical companies like Dow and Monsanto!

Bee-killing neonicotinoid pesticides. Monsanto’s monarch-harming Roundup®. Dow’s Agent Orange pesticide. All these toxic chemicals and more could soon find their way into organic agriculture -- if some members of the Senate get their way. They’re trying to sneak this attack into the Farm Bill -- a massive piece of legislation that touches every aspect of our food system. Your Senators can stop this attack on organic agriculture in its tracks. But they need to hear from you today!

Last month, Republicans in Congress unveiled their Farm Bill. This bill would be a disaster for our food system. It would harm our environment and public health. And it would allow pesticide companies to keep poisoning bees and butterflies. This bill is nothing more than a massive giveaway to Big Ag. We need your help to push your Representative to reject it!

Recently a construction site nearby added a trash can in front of a porta potty they set up on the street. The trash can is constantly full and it shows the need for public trash cans to be located across the neighborhood not just on the main streets like Broadway and Columbia Road/Day Blvd.

Donald Trump stated that immigrants aren't human beings, that they are just animals. The worst crimes in history have come from this kind of dehumanization. Human beings are human beings. Never Again!