We are Nursing Students at the New Community Workforce in Newark. We are demanding the results of our exams, transparency in testing, graduation and job placement rates of the organization and data on how many students graduate from the program on schedule. We make these demands for ourselves and for all future students.

We are petitioning to ask local, state, and federal officials to oppose Kinder Morgan's Tennessee Gas Northeast Energy direct pipeline project.

Since the 2001-2002 academic year, there has been a 57.4% decrease in the number of Black teachers hired by the New York City Department of Education, and a 22.9% increase for white teachers hired during this same period of time. We ask Chancellor Fariña and the Panel for Education Policy to: • Make a policy statement that acknowledges the value of teacher diversity and the lack of such diversity in New York City public schools. • Centrally monitor the racial demographic of hiring and firing in NYC public and charter schools. In public school data reports include the racial profile for the teachers and administrators in each school as is currently done for the students. • Raise the percentage of Black and Latino teachers hired in the system overall, with a special focus on raising the percentage of male teachers in those groups. • Raise the percentage of persons of color in the NYC Teaching Fellows program to more closely match the NYC student body demographic. Make public the number and racial demographic of NYC Teaching Fellows hired. • Settle Gulino vs. Board of Education, in which a recent court ruling found that the NY State LAST certification exam was not validated yet was used in 2002 to dismiss thousands of NYC teachers who were disproportionately Black and Latino. • Invest in a clear and distinct paraprofessional-to-teacher career path that offers qualified applicants provisional teaching licenses while completing graduate degree requirements and subsidizes both undergraduate and graduate tuition at CUNY and SUNY

Stop the online harassment from news readers who post to social networks. Remove the ability to comment on news stories.

The Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA) is just CISPA in new clothing — and this bill is even worse! CISA would give the NSA even more authority to access our data and force companies to hand it over without a warrant than CISPA did, strengthening and legitimizing the toxic programs we're working our hardest to eliminate. We've killed CISPA every time it's been resurrected, and we can kill CISA too — but we're going to need your help!

New Mexican political leaders profess a commitment to nurturing innovation and development in our state. However, some of the appointees charged with regulatory oversight are standing in the way. I believe that regulators should work with citizens to ensure compliance with the law and uphold a consistent, objective application of statutes – not apply subjective interpretations in selective cases. I want to live in a New Mexico that champions and helps sustain endeavors that foster ingenuity, enrich our community and contribute to a more beautiful quality of life.

Eighteen months ago, the City of Buffalo's Common Council held an open forum on the future of food trucks -- mobile restaurants run by a handful of young local entrepreneurs, following a business model that has proved successful in major cities all across the United States. In addition to considerable attendance at the forum, thousands of local residents signed a petition backing the food trucks, requesting that the Council support their growth. The Council agreed, approving regulations that gave truck operators legal certainty in operating their businesses, and the trucks dutifully followed the regulations, growing in popularity while serving our community. Last month, in revisiting the original regulation, the Common Council praised the excitement and energy the trucks have brought to this area, and noted that they "have policed themselves" -- Council Member Joseph Golombek, Jr. noted that there have been few if any complaints about the trucks since the regulation was passed. Lobbied this time by a single local restaurant owner demanding more onerous restrictions on the trucks, the Council rejected those proposals, instead improving the prior regulation by lowering license renewal fees. In fact, Council Member Golombek plans to lower the fees soon, to encourage new trucks to begin operating in Buffalo. Although public support for the trucks remains high, they are now being threatened in Amherst by a small number of traditional restaurants who fear their competition. The Common Council wisely declined to enact the anti-competitive regulations several Buffalo restaurants requested, so now similarly offensive regulations are being proposed to the Amherst Town Board. Some of these proposals include: 1. Creating a 60-minute time limit for service and restricting operating hours from 9am to 8pm, limitations not faced by any local restaurant. 2. Precluding trucks from operating less than 60 feet from an intersection or 100 feet from an open restaurant, designed to stifle competition and waste police resources. 3. Imposing an additional $500 per truck permit fee, a large hit for a single town, and damaging when added to the existing permit fees already paid by trucks to the City of Buffalo. We, the undersigned, request that you support the food trucks and reject these proposals. Western New York's food trucks represent some of the most vital new businesses in our region, and have brought new food choices and quality to Amherst. In Buffalo, the trucks have delivered new lunch, dinner, and snack options to underserved areas, and some of their chefs have amazed crowds by winning local cooking competitions over established competitors. Moreover, they have accomplished all of these feats while following local laws and being good citizens. Very few local businesses have opposed Western New York's food trucks. Many businesses, notably including some local restaurants, have welcomed the trucks and even partnered with them to successfully generate more interest and economic activity. By contrast, the trucks' few opponents have had financial and/or family involvement with traditional restaurants. Rather than competing with the trucks by improving their food quality or diversity, they are attempting to exploit our local governments -- including the Amherst Town Board -- to limit potential competition. Follow the lead of Buffalo's Common Council and make it easier, not more difficult, for our food trucks to operate. As we said to the Common Council, "Existing businesses cannot and should not be able to stop new, law-abiding competitors from offering higher-quality products at different or even nearby locations. Let the market decide the victors and reward them for their quality and innovation." Please consider the unspoken needs of the many rather than the loudest shouts of the few business owners who are afraid of competing with these trucks. Respectfully Yours, Jeremy Horwitz, Nick Guy, and The Western New York Food Truck Association: Lloyd Taco Truck & Catering (Pete Cimino & Chris Dorsaneo) The Black Market Food Truck (Mike Dimmer & Christian Willmott) Frank Gourmet Hot Dogs (Frank & Paul Tripi) Amy's Truck (Amanda Amico) R&R BBQ (Renee Allen) House of Munch (Mike Albarella) Rolling Joe Cafe (Rich Spears) Roaming Buffalo (Chris & Valerie Taylor) The Cheesy Chick (Alexis Andrzejak) The Place To Go (Kenny Moriarty)

I am an immigrant from Mexico, now living in the U.S. for almost 20 years. It took me nearly 18 years to get a green card and about $20,000. Will I be eligible to become a citizen,and pay some more? Nobody should have to wait that long or spend that much to get a green card or become a citizen. We need a system that is fair and reasonable. One that encourages legal immigration by being simple to follow and affordable. People should not have to hire an attorney to get a visa. Immigrants who are in limbo and awaiting a hearing should not be incarcerated like half a million of them are right now.* *http://www.aclu.org/immigrants-rights/detention Immigration is a human rights issue. Eleven million undocumented immigrants (as well as another 5 million)who are tangled in the system. The American people are counting on us to do the right thing and be part of the solution.

The two recent unprecedented abortion bans by the North Dakota senate are unconstitutional. I demand that Governor Jack Dalrymple does not pass House Bill 1456 and House Bill 1305.

Two states have enacted Death with Dignity Acts: Oregon and Washington. These laws allow mentally competent, terminally-ill adult state residents to voluntarily request and receive a prescription medication to hasten their death. Many New Jersey residents want this legislation passed here so we can make our own end-of-life decisions rather than disintegrating to a state in which life becomes a grotesque imitation of itself.