Our elected officials should not be accepting campaign contributions from the National Rifle Association. How can they be unbiased on NRA matters that come before them if they are receiving NRA money. We sent them to Washington to work on our behalf. Ninety percent of voters say they want background checks on all gun sales. And yet, the people we send to vote on our behalf do nothing to protect the American people from the proliferation of guns.

The NRA has been buying influence for many years which has lead this country into an excess of weaponry without control. Mr. Heller received $122,802 in support from the NRA. Nevada, the state he represents, was recently victimized by a massive shooting event involving NRA-approved equipment. There were many victims. The $122,802 needs to be donated to these victims. And, the issue needs to be publicized. #VegasStrong

NRA and their responsibility for gun violence in this country.

Representative Ken Buck has received $800,544 in NRA support. My family owns guns which we have had to use on injured livestock and wild dogs attacking our livestock, but we do not support the NRA nor do we believe that anyone needs an assault weapon. I have lost one friend to gun violence and have watched my grandchildren become terrified of going to movies and being in crowd situations. Enough is enough.

I have lost friends and family members to gun violence and have many neighbors working at Virginia Tech, the site of a mass shooting. Almost everyone knows someone affected by gun violence.

Like many Americans, I am sickened by the carnage that occurs on a daily basis, thanks to the fact that we have more guns than people in this country, and the ease with which anyone with a score to settle can get these deadly weapons.

Mayor Emanuel has heaped about $2,000 of regressive taxes and fees on EVERY household in Chicago since he took office in 2011. The Mayor has repeatedly taken out expensive debt – sticking the taxpayers with the bill. This includes borrowing $1 billion that will cost us ONE HUNDRED PER CENT INTEREST - $1 billion! His 2018 budget continues this trend. Our aldermen have engaged in NO DEBATE and in 2016 and in 2017 there were NO PUBLIC MEETINGS held by the city around the budget. We demand our aldermen vote “NO!” ON THE 2018 Chicago budget and schedule a public forum in ALL 50 wards where we can discuss the $5 BILLION worth of revenue solutions offered in the book “Chicago Is Not Broke. Funding the City We Deserve” (www.wearenotbroke.org). The book is from the CivicLab and was published in July of 2016. There have been 55 small community meetings all over the city since then around the book. But no alderman has discussed the book and it has been ignored by all major Chicago media outlets. We should NOT be asked to pay ONE PENNY more in taxes and fees until these solutions have been thoroughly reviewed.

Many drivers are left with the run down of their vehicles with no money to fix them and Uber continues their exploitation. To have Uber Pay back drivers out their multiplied profits from Uber pool introduction.

My name is Kate Chaltain and I am the attorney for Bellevue Hospital trauma nurse Petranka Stoeva—who was just told by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that she must self-deport in 90 days. My client Petranka works legally as a trauma nurse at New York City's Bellevue Hospital's emergency department where she has treated countless law enforcement officers, tourists to NYC, and New Yorkers requiring critical emergency treatment. While right-wing politicians have been busy railing against immigrants on Twitter, Petranka has been providing a vital public benefit through her work as a trauma nurse. Her story, like so many immigrant stories, is part of what makes America resilient and strong. Not only that, her case is clear-cut: She has no criminal history, pays taxes, is the single-mother of a U.S. citizen daughter, and possesses nursing skills that are desperately needed in the United States. She is also in the process of applying for an employment-based green card sponsored by Bellevue Hospital—yet ICE has told her that she should permanently leave the United States by February 6, 2018! Deporting Petranka will take away a vital member of the Bellevue trauma team and an important member of our community at a time when we have so much more to gain by standing united.

From the beginning UPE warned DHA that its plans for the Service Delivery Redesign were flawed. We expressed concern that there would be too many phone calls and that the lobbies would be too crowded. We pointed out that a shift to phones diminished the quality of service clients receive, particularly those who speak a different language. We noted the stress the ‘Service Center’ environment places on workers and the resulting negative effects on clients. At no point was DHA willing to change their plans. Now after the failure of SDR Phase I, DHA implemented SDR Phase II. All of UPE’s fears have come true as clients are waiting longer on the phone and in the lobbies. The flawed computer system causes workers to report having to complete the same task for the same client day after day. Workers see clients regularly whose cases discontinued despite them turning in the proper paper work. Why? Because the system is so backed up that no one processed the task in time to renew the benefits. There are so many phone calls and so many people in the lobbies that the majority of tasks are now completed on overtime. The system is unsustainable. It’s hurting clients and its hurting workers. DHA’s Executive Management is unwilling to see the truth and address the deep problems with SDR. The only choice is to take the matter to their bosses, the Board of Supervisors. We hope that by bringing these matters to their attention they will hold DHA accountable and help workers return to providing quality service to their clients.

In an effort to make the world a better place, mass shootings occur way to often in today society, cutting off one of the greatest influences in violent behaviors could possibly change the world we live in.

An investigation and open rescue at Saba Live Poultry in Oakland found animals gasping on their own blood, collapsed on the cage floor, and cannibalizing one another in squalid conditions. As a city of animal lovers, there is no place for such a facility in San Francisco... or anywhere else in the world. We are asking the city of San Francisco to reject the expansion of this national chain and take a stand for animal rights. Animal rescue, and not animal torture, should be promoted by the city, and preventing the expansion of slaughter operations is a crucial affirmation of our collective values.