Citizens living near the pipeline have had their land stolen and destroyed by Energy Transfer Partners (ETP) through the use of eminent domain laws & ETP has committed egregious violations that have damaged the local environment & threatened our water supply. Yet, after a short construction halt, it was announced this week that ETP is being allowed to start construction on the pipeline again.

Yes, it's hard to get jobs nowadays if you haven't really worked or if you have worked and quit.

Jorge Garcia—a Michigan man who had lived in the U.S. for 30 years since he was 10 years old—has a story like so many immigrant stories: one filled with hard work, strong ties to his community, and love for his family. He has cooperated with the government, paid taxes, and has no criminal record. Yet, another tragic story is unfolding. On Martin Luther King Day, ICE agents escorted Jorge onto a plane bound for a country he barely knows, away from his wife and two children—who are all U.S. citizens. We have been hearing stories like Jorge's over and over again. This must stop. When immigrants arrive as children, attend our schools, and grow up as an American, they should be allowed, when adults, to make the decision to stay or return. It should be their choice! This is a humanitarian issue. Last week, congressional leaders reached a bipartisan deal to pass the Dream Act, which may have protected Jorge from deportation. But Donald Trump rejected that deal, pushing our government closer to a shutdown as our members of Congress are forced to decide if they will fall in line with Trump's racist policies or support for immigrant youth.

By being a Moorish-American I can be very well taken hostage by making political alliances, and judged on my past life. I've read the case in it's entirety, this man was convicted with no evidence.

I was in my twenties during the Vietnam War. When that conflict and the Cold War were at last over, Americans thought (wrongly) that the need for a bloated military budget was over as well. Dr. King understood how our spending on war went hand in hand with increased poverty and greater racism in the US, and opposed the war in Vietnam. A proposed budget of 600-700 billion dollars has been offered to the Military in 2018. Cuts have meanwhile been proposed for Departments of Energy, Education, the Interior, EPA and Health and Human Services, some at close to one-third of their current budget (See Wikipedia, 2018 Federal Budget, for details). If instead of cutting these agencies, we instead cut the Military by one-half, we could approximately DOUBLE the proposed budgets for these essential services. We have already committed 5-7 trillion dollars to wars in the Middle East (as a candidate, Trump condemned the estimated 6 trillion spent, and we must stop. We demand that the Congress truly act in service of the American people.

I think that citizens through their elected representatives should prevail on them to speak out against such bigotry in the White House. This would be a wake-up call to this administration to have the least attended S of U address in history.

The Port of Los Angeles approved the San Pedro Waterfront Development Project-San Pedro Public Market Project in September 2009; and at the Final Environmental Impact Review and at public meetings the Port of Los Angeles repeatedly showed and stated that the Ports O’ Call Village Shops and Ports O’ Call Restaurant would temporarily be relocated during construction to another Ports O’ Call area until the new San Pedro Public Market was complete and they could move back; On March 2, 2016, at the San Pedro Warner Grand Theater, in the presence of Port of Los Angeles staff and project developer Eric Johnson, the development team publicly stated: “Our improvements are being constructed in two phases, so the current tenants, who will remain in the project, will be able to stay open throughout construction. We expect to complete this first phase by mid-2019.” and “We are fortunate to have existing successful tenants who we are counting on to be the backbone of our preleasing activity.” (See video 29:33 and 31:47 — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBVkwcM1kLA ); The Port of LA is proceeding with eviction of the Ports O’ Call Village Shops and Ports O’ Call Restaurant without providing for relocation and return to the new Public Market.

Traffic Safety concerns and Request for Safety Corridor designation in the NM Hwy 285 North Corridor.

I teach for the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, and both on my campus, and in my professional network as a professor of world literatures, I have the good fortune to teach and interact with students, faculty and staff from several countries in Africa, Haiti, and El Salvador. I respectfully ask the US House and the Senate to publicly censure the president of the United States and rectify the negative and undignified outcomes of the vulgar remarks made by the president against ordinary human beings living their day-to-day lives in Africa, Haiti and El Salvador. I further request and encourage each university and college in the world to celebrate the literatures and cultures of Africa, Haiti and El Salvador. Organize a book festival by authors from Africa, Haiti, and El Salvador on your campuses. Plan a reading on your campus on the literatures of Africa, Haiti and El Salvador. Celebrate Africa day, Haiti Day and El Salvador day on your campuses. Thank you. Gayatri Devi, Associate Professor of English, Lock Haven University, Lock Haven, Pennsylvania.

In today's day and age, internet is a necessity that almost everyone needs access to. California should take a step forward and guarantee it's citizens open, fast, and affordable internet. Fight against big ISP's and make internet a public utility just like electricity, water, and gas are.

Animal advocates have seen too many dogs suffer in extreme weather. Yet, there aren't enough of us, despite how much time, money and effort we devote, to rescue all of the dogs, sentient beings, who are exposed and endangered day after day. As long as these long-suffering and innocent animals are considered property, many misguided or abusive owners will continue to force them to live in harsh and inhumane conditions.. Make this a felony and we can all save so many dogs.

Prolonged solitary confinement is torture. There is a strong consensus among mental health professionals, supported by scientific evidence, that isolation exceeding 15 consecutive days can permanently alter brain chemistry and cause lasting damage to mental health. It often creates illness in those who were healthy before their incarceration and exacerbates illness in those who were already ill. That is why the U.N. Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners include a limit on isolated confinement of 15 consecutive days. Most people in prison will return to society one day; they should not emerge from prison worse than when they went in because of the harmful impact of solitary confinement. There is growing recognition that the use of solitary confinement needs to be reduced to an absolute minimum. Several other states have passed legislation that either drastically restricts solitary confinement in state prisons or requires a comprehensive study of potential reforms. Virginia should join the states that are leading the way to reducing the use of isolated confinement to a bare minimum. Although Virginia has reduced the number of men in long-term solitary confinement at Red Onion and Wallens Ridge through its Step-Down Program, serious problems remain unsolved by that program: • Solitary confinement is not being used strictly as a last resort. • Too many people with mental illness and other disabling conditions remain in solitary confinement even though that is virtually certain to exacerbate their underlying conditions. • Prisoners are not given written reasons when they are placed in solitary confinement and have no certainty about how long it will last. • Prisoners do not have unimpeded access to an effective mechanism for challenging their placement or retention in solitary confinement. • There is very little communication with prisoners about why they fail to advance or experience setbacks within the Step-Down Program, or why it takes so long to complete the program. • Even though VDOC operating procedures limit “disciplinary segregation” to 30 days, prisoners are sometimes kept in solitary confinement for much longer periods after receiving disciplinary charges. HB 795 addresses these problems with the following provisions: • Defines “isolated confinement” as confinement of an individual to his or her cell for more than 20 hours a day • With certain exceptions, bars isolated confinement of members of a vulnerable population (including those with mental illness and certain other conditions) and limits isolated confinement of others to 15 consecutive days, or no more than 20 days in any 60-day period • Requires written notification to the individual of the reasons for his or her placement in isolated confinement and a process by which the placement can be contested • Requires certain training for Department of Corrections personnel, including regarding recognition of symptoms of mental illness and the impact of prolonged isolation on mental health • Requires reporting to the General Assembly by the Department of Corrections of certain categories of data about those in isolated confinement • Requires a study of mental health needs and services in state prisons The full text of the bill is available at http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?181+ful+HB795.