Take The Initiative

Dear President Biden,

It is time for the White House to unequivocally affirm official U.S. policy established in a near unanimous historic bipartisan expression by Congress in H.Res.296 and S.Res.150 to (1) formally recognize and commemorate the Armenian Genocide, (2) reject Turkey’s efforts to associate or enlist the U.S. Government in its ongoing campaign to deny the Armenian Genocide or any other genocide, and (3) encourage education and public understanding of the facts of the Armenian Genocide.

Despite America's unprecedented role in saving the Armenian nation from annihilation through the Near East Relief effort, subsequent U.S. Administrations have succumbed to Turkey's gag rule instead of speaking truthfully about Ottoman Turkey’s genocide against the indigenous Armenian, Assyrian, and Greek nations, thereby allowing Turkey to continue this policy with impunity.

I urge you to honor your own long record of speaking truth on this issue. As a U.S. Senator, you were a strong champion of Armenian Genocide recognition. As Vice President, you commemorated the Armenian Genocide Centennial by attending a prayer service for the victims at the National Cathedral, and as presidential candidate, you pledged to recognize the Armenian Genocide if elected.

As President, you have vowed to bring human rights to the forefront of U.S. foreign policy and committed to atrocity prevention by upholding the designation of China's persecution of the Uyghur people as genocide. If we are serious about reestablishing the moral authority of the U.S. and standing up for human rights everywhere, it is incumbent on your Administration to end this shameful chapter of U.S. complicity in Turkey's denial of this unpunished crime against humanity. The failure to do so would maintain a dangerous precedent that has emboldened rights-abusing dictatorships across the world.

As a human rights advocate, I await your immediate, unambiguous and definitive recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

President Joe Biden was inaugurated on January 20th. He campaigned on the promise that he would end the death penalty at the federal level.

On his campaign website he said he would "work to pass legislation to eliminate the death penalty at the federal level, and incentivize states to follow the federal government's example".

After being in office for over a week and passing dozens of executive orders, he has yet to take any action towards ending the death penalty.

We are calling for Joe Biden to use his executive power to end the federal death penalty and commute the sentences of the 40+ individuals currently facing execution by the federal government. In addition, we are calling for Joe Biden to make every effort to work to pass legislation and incentives that can push states where the death penalty is still legal to end the cruel practice at the state level.

The death penalty is racist, inaccurate, and ineffective. It's time the United States joins the majority of the world in abolishing the death penalty. Biden has the power to do so. Add your name to this petition to take a stand against the death penalty and to hold Biden accountable to his campaign promises.

#AbolishTheDeathPenalty

So we can keep the United States of America Free, Safe, Keep Our Freedom of Speech, Keep our Country Self Efficient, and Keep More People Employed in America. We Must Also Prove Life Matters. The United States of America must be able to take care of itself and not have to rely on other Countries to survive. We must lower the debt not raise our debt to other countries. Employment needs to continue to raise. We also need to respect life. We can not do this with the President in Office right now.

Donald Trump is scheduled to arrive in Scotland later this week.

He always flies into Glasgow Prestwick Airport.

We believe this airport should be renamed 'Joe Biden International'.

The recent Idaho Bill SB 1211 signed into law by Governor Brad Little within hours of passing the Senate, condemning 1300 Wolves to be slaughtered, as well a similar Bill in Montana for a further 900 Wolves killed, highlight the swift and dire need for restored protections for wolves. Without federal protections, wolf populations across the United States are destined to meet the same fate.

This slaughters are happening because the Trump administration delisted the gray wolf in late 2020, stripping vital Endangered Species Act protections and allowing states to declare open season for wolf hunting.

Another 216 wolves killed in Wisconsin last February within only 3 days— an estimated 20% of Wisconsin's wolf population —would still be contributing to their species' recovery but for that misguided rollback.

Wolves are crucial to the health of the ecosystems they occupy. After the government encouraged the extermination of wolves from Yellowstone in the 1920s, the deer and elk populations grew out of control. Swelling populations led to unsustainable grazing — which caused rampant soil erosion, the near disappearance of beavers, and population declines for antelope and foxes. The good news, for the country and for Yellowstone, is that when wolves were reintroduced in 1995, the ecosystem swiftly rebounded as wolves began to prey on deer and elk once more — which made room for all wildlife to flourish.

Mr President,
It doesn't have to be this way. I respectfully urge your administration to take responsibility for protecting wolves by swiftly reversing the Trump administration's actions.

My family is grieving the tragic loss of my husband, Ben Price. After coming down with COVID-19 this past February, Ben became increasingly paranoid and panicked. Sixteen days after his diagnosis, he left home and took his own life.

His loss has shaken us to the core. Ben was a loving husband and father, devoted son, brother, uncle and an amazing friend to many. He has two beautiful children that were his entire world. He was a successful businessman, farmer and a staple in our community. Ben was thriving in life and would never leave this way under normal circumstances.

We now know that Ben was experiencing COVID psychosis and not just COVID brain fog.

Since coming forward with my husband's story, people from all over have reached out to share their own experiences with mental health concerns related to COVID-19. Several medical professionals have confirmed to me that they are in fact seeing COVID psychosis in their patients, but had not yet heard of it. It is time to move past the triage phase and focus on what COVID-19 is doing to the brain.

Along with my family and friends, I am now on a crusade to spread awareness and spare others the immense grief we are all feeling. With expert input and national media attention, our hope is other people experiencing this horrifying condition will be able to access treatment before it’s too late.

We are asking the Biden-Harris administration to add a neurology expert to the White House Coronavirus Task Force to investigate COVID psychosis.

Our progress so far is promising: I had a meeting with Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, who has now added COVID psychosis to the Illinois COVID Task Force. Governor Pritzker forwarded Ben’s story to the White House, and the COVID-19 Intergovernmental Affairs Director contacted me to speak in greater length about what happened. I will continue to communicate with him on this topic and demand action.

Please keep sharing this petition with your networks. Our family and so many other American families need our leaders to be informed by strong medical guidance that will save lives.

Ben’s death could have been prevented, but we can save others from suffering what he did. Thank you for your support.

With gratitude,

Jennifer Price

https://twitter.com/ProtectILHS

See our Proposed Schedule on our Twitter Feed

Over the course of the many months, since March of 2020, high school sports in Illinois and the entire country have had to adapt and remain flexible to an ever changing environment due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Throughout the country high school sports associations have collaborated with state officials to offer student-athletes opportunities to engage in the extracurricular activities they love, and have trained for throughout their high school years. Those collaborations have allowed students to hold on to some semblance of normalcy during the most chaotic period of their young adult lives. Everywhere except Illinois.


In Illinois, Illinois High School Association officials and members of the Illinois Department of Public Health and Governor J.B. Pritzker's office has all shown immense failures in leadership. Mistakes and miscalculations have led to petty bickering through the press and failed to produce a cohesive plan, all while harming student-athletes that mitigations and guidance is “supposedly enacted to protect”. While the past cannot be rewritten or regrets undone, there is still time left in the 2020-21 school year to provide student-athletes meaningful extracurricular experiences. Those who have signed and publicized this petition, coaches, players, parents, and supporters would request the IHSA, IDPH and JB Pritzker to do the following:


Publicly apologize through a joint statement to student- athletes throughout the state of Illinois for the mismanagement of this situation. At the bare minimum, the lack of consistent communication and a cohesive plan had created an unnecessary atmosphere of anxiety, depression and fear, that is not a result of COVID-19, but a failure in leadership.

Establish a set of safety mitigations, specific to each offered activity through the IHSA, that will protect student-athletes, coaches, parents, officials, and event workers to the best of your ability.
Revise and publish a new calendar of extracurricular activities grounded in the following principles:

Assign all sports, regardless of their traditional season assignment (fall, winter, or spring), to a time in the calendar that gives each of them the best opportunity to be conducted in a safe and meaningful manner.
Provide all students with an opportunity to participate in at least one sport during this school year, even if sports conflict with one another. While some sports were completed in the fall, students may not participated in those sports, and the possibility of canceling sports in January strips them of a chance to participate.
See our Proposed Schedule on our Twitter Feed - Follow us on Twitter @ProtectILHSS

U.S. Congressperson Mary Miller (R-IL) has demonstrated an act of blatant antisemitism and disrespect to the Jewish people and all those who perished at the hands of the Nazis.

A sitting member of Congress who uses Hitler’s obscene methods for indoctrinating children with racism and fascism as a guidepost, igniting hate and violence has no place in Congress.

Join us in signing this petition demanding her resignation.

Context: https://twitter.com/MarkMaxwellTV/status/1346870502388883457

Signed,

The Illinois Legislative Jewish Caucus

Illinois State Representative Jonathan Carroll

Illinois State Representative Kelly Cassidy

Illinois State Representative Margaret Croke

Illinois State Representative Daniel Didech

Illinois State Representative Robyn Gabel

Illinois State Representative Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz

Illinois State Representative Will Guzzardi

Illinois State Representative Mark Kalish

Illinois State Representative Bob Morgan

Illinois State Representative Anna Moeller

Illinois State Representative Sam Yingling

Illinois State Senator Sara Feigenholtz

Illinois State Senator Laura Fine

Illinois State Senator Julie Morrison

Illinois State Senator Ram Villivalam



Chicago's 50th Ward Alderman Debra Silverstein

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:


IN BRIEF - Fourth-year international PhD student Yidong “Ivor” Chen is being dismissed from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for COVID-19 testing non-compliance while he and his mother sheltered in place. Ivor’s VISA status is now being revoked, and he and his mother are being forced to leave the country during a deadly pandemic. Ivor has appealed this disciplinary decision with the support of his department, the Dean of his college, and the GEO, and his appeal has been callously denied.



PETITION TO READMIT IVOR CHEN TO THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS, LAUNCH AN INVESTIGATORY REVIEW ON UNJUST STUDENT DISCIPLINE


In the Fall Semester of 2020, fourth-year international PhD student, teaching assistant, and member of the Graduate Employees’ Organization (GEO) Yidong “Ivor” Chen lived with his mother in Champaign-Urbana while working remotely for the University of Illinois. Due to his mother’s increased risk for contracting COVID-19, Ivor did not leave his home except for the most essential activities throughout the Fall Semester and into the start of the Spring Semester, 2021. Throughout this time, University policy on COVID-19 testing requirements and exemptions changed several times.


On December 21, 2020, Ivor Chen received a UIUC Disciplinary Charge Notice for COVID-19 testing non-compliance. Over the Fall semester, Ivor understood the unclear and evolving instructions from the University to mean that if he was working 100% remotely, sheltering in place, and only leaving his home for essential activities, he was not required to participate in the University testing program. Ivor’s participation in the University testing system would only increase the risk to himself, his mother, and the campus community. Accordingly, following the reasonable instructions as he understood them, Ivor Chen did not participate in regular testing in the Fall semester, which the Charge Notice described as testing non-compliance. During the Spring semester, Ivor applied for a testing exemption when it was presented to him clearly in an email, and he was granted the testing exemption by the McKinley health center.


On January 29, 2021, Ivor Chen and a representative from the GEO attended Ivor’s disciplinary hearing. At this hearing, Ivor explained the reasons for his testing non-compliance. In response, the members of the disciplinary panel strongly rebuked Ivor’s behavior, and began several irrelevant, demeaning, and unreasonable lines of questioning including whether or not Ivor received health insurance from the University, whether he receives a 401K, and how often he visits the grocery store. Ivor’s union representative was not allowed to speak during the hearing. After less than 10 minutes of deliberation in closed session, the panel reconvened and issued the following discipline for Ivor’s testing non-compliance:

Dismissal from the University for 1 year, effective immediately.
Two 1,000 word reflective essays.
A trespass notification that prohibits Ivor from setting foot on University property, subject to enforcement by the University Police Department.
A petition letter for University reentry after 1 year.
80 hours of community service.
Evidence of successful academic or work history during his 1 year dismissal.
In other words, the same situation that Ivor experienced in the Fall and Spring semesters resulted in two radically different outcomes: In the Fall semester, the disciplinary panel decided Ivor’s reasons not to test regularly were cause for dismissal, whereas in the Spring semester the McKinley health center decided Ivor’s reasons not to test warranted a COVID-19 testing exemption.


After Ivor received the disciplinary decision, more than five professors in Ivor’s department and college--including Ivor’s Department Head, his department’s Associate Head for Graduate Programs, the Dean of Ivor’s college, and the Associate Dean for Graduate, Professional and Online Programs--wrote emails and signed a letter of support for Ivor, explaining in clear terms that this discipline was not proportionate to the victimless offense Ivor had inadvertently committed. The GEO promptly filed a Level 2 grievance on Ivor’s behalf, claiming unjust dismissal as well as disparate and discriminatory treatment. The GEO also wrote a letter of support for Ivor.



During the time before his appeal was submitted, Ivor was notified that he had received a generic email in late September that served as his notification of testing non-compliance. In this generic email addressed to “student,” Ivor was notified that he “may be contacted by a university Case Coordinator soon regarding [his] status.” The GEO believes it is an unreasonable practice to notify students of possible impending discipline via mass email with no individual salutation, and it is entirely plausible that Ivor missed this email, as it was one of twenty-five that were sent in the month of September. This generic email also did not provide any contact information where Ivor could get more information about his status. In fact, the email explicitly stated, “[d]o not reply to this message or contact the Office of Student Conduct Resolution or the Office of the Dean of Students in response to this message.” Ivor was not contacted by a Case Coordinator following this email, which would have been a more appropriate response and may have circumvented the need for disciplinary action. Ivor does not recall receiving this email, but even if he did, the question becomes: Does missing one email while sheltering in place warrant dismissal?


Ivor was also notified that his non-compliant status was ‘discovered’ when he attempted to enter a Prometric testing site for a certification test issued by the Society of Actuaries. As neither Prometric nor the Society of Actuaries is formally affiliated with the University of Illinois, and the testing center was not on-campus, Ivor was understandably not aware that this testing site is technically University property. Upon entering the testing site, Ivor was asked to procure his Safer Illinois App or Boarding Pass to show his University COVID-19 testing status. When Ivor was not able to show evidence of two negative COVID-19 test results within 4 days of his visit, he was asked to leave the building. Ivor left the Prometric testing site immediately, per instruction. Ivor wore a mask during the entirety of this encounter, and set foot on University property for less than 5 minutes in total.


Both supporting letters were attached to an appeal document sent to the Office of Student Conflict Resolution through the official student discipline appeal procedures. It was the opinion of all parties involved (Ivor, the GEO, the department, and the college) that the disciplinary action levied upon Ivor was clearly unreasonable, unjust, and unfair, and any reasonable appeal panel would--given Ivor’s excellent academic standing, support from his department and his union, and the inconsequential nature of his infraction--render Ivor’s appeal successful and reduce the sanctions on Ivor. Instead, without further discussion involving Ivor, the GEO, the department, or the college, the Senate Committee on Student Discipline affirmed the original discipline, including dismissal.


As an international student, Ivor Chen and his mother’s visas are in the process of being revoked. Ivor and his mother are now stranded in the United States, subject to deportation, or required to pay thousands of dollars to travel home, without a reliable source of income, during a deadly pandemic. The University appeal committee was made aware of Ivor’s status as an international student, the undue, disproportionate, and unjust consequences of dismissal not only on Ivor, but on his mother as well; the committee callously and hastily decided to dismiss Ivor anyway.


The GEO is pursuing all available means to support Ivor, reverse his dismissal decision, and ensure he receives pay and a tuition waiver for the Spring semester, but the University administration shows no sign of empathy or willingness to support Ivor and his mother in a meaningful way. If the GEO and the University are unable to reach a mutually agreeable compromise, we will be forced to enter the lengthy process of legal arbitration, which may take up to one year and will not provide the immediate support Ivor needs.



PLEASE SIGN THIS PETITION TO DEMAND IMMEDIATE REINSTATEMENT OF YIDONG “IVOR” CHEN, AND TO CALL ON THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS TO LAUNCH AN INVESTIGATORY REVIEW INTO THE UNJUST TREATMENT THAT LEAD TO HIS STUDENT DISCIPLINE.

HB 2551 was introduced in the Illinois legislature in February. It establishes an educational savings account that is basically a voucher program, giving parents help in sending their children to private schools. HB 2551 synopsis as introduced:
Creates the Education Savings Account Act. Requires the State Board of Education to create the Education Savings Account Program. Provides that a parent of an eligible student (defined as any elementary or secondary student who was eligible to attend a public school in this State in the preceding semester or is starting school in this State for the first time and who is a member of a household whose total annual income does not exceed an amount equal to 2.5 times the income standard used to qualify for a free or reduced-price lunch under the national free or reduced-price lunch program) shall qualify for the State Board to make a grant to his or her child's Education Savings Account by signing an agreement. Requires the State Board to deposit into an Education Savings Account some or all of the State aid under the State aid formula provisions of the School Code that would otherwise have been provided to the resident school district for the eligible student had the student enrolled in the resident school district. Provides that parents participating in the Program shall agree to use the funds deposited in their eligible students' accounts for certain qualifying expenses to educate the eligible student. Sets forth provisions concerning the calculation of grant amounts and other basic elements of the Program, administration of the Program, accountability standards for participating schools, and the responsibilities of the State Board and resident school districts.

Richard Holtorf Colorado representative called another representative in Colorado "Buckwheat." It is clear he doesn't take his job seriously. In any corporation this would be grounds for immediate dismissal and should be for our local, state and governments too. His downplaying the use of that word only underscores how racism's toxicity seeps through every form of government. Please help support my petition.

I am a substitute teacher (aka guest teacher) in Colorado. While subbing, I recently came across an individual who has a confederate flag on display in her classroom. I made the district and the principal aware of the situation, and neither had a problem with her displaying it for "educational purposes."

In short, it is not the flag that is the problem but the symbolism behind it. The leader of the confederate army believed that whites are superior to Black Americans and said as much. By hanging the flag in the classroom, the teacher has centered her own whiteness in the conversation of the Civil War, not paying any attention how students may be internalizing that information with a confederate flag hanging in the back of the classroom. By doing this she also decenters any other racial or class's point of view in the discussion of the Civil War. Classrooms are meant to be a safe space for all students, and it cannot be a safe space if a modern-day symbol of hate is on display.


There needs to be a mandate put in place to not allow confederate flags to be hung or displayed in classrooms in Colorado. New York state has already done this and does not allow confederate flags to be bought/sold or displayed on state property: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/confederate-flag-banned-being-sold-or-displayed-state-property-new-n1251726 The house has also banned the flying of confederate flag(s) at Veterans cemeteries: https://apnews.com/article/46bbf9cc30fb453f98b59542853d6ae2 Why are cemeteries protected but our students are not?

Demand Tae D. Johnson Stop Tien Pham’s deportation and Release him from ICE Detention.

Tien Pham, arrived in the U.S. with his family as a refugee from Vietnam. As a 17-year-old, he was charged for a crime as an adult and sentenced to 28 years in prison. He served his full term in San Quentin and changed his life while imprisoned.

While incarcerated, Tien obtained his college degree, became a leader in the ROOTS ethnic studies program, became an accomplished distance runner, and worked with the San Quentin News. Tien has been an active participant in Tsuru for Solidarity, a social justice organization working to end detention of children and families at the border. After 28 years of incarceration, he was paroled from prison. The Parole Board noted that his crime was due in large part to his young age and that he no longer posed a danger to society.

But on August 31, 2020, the day he was supposed to be paroled and reunited with his family, Governor Newsom and California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation turned Tien over to ICE.

Tien was transferred to the Aurora, Colorado ICE detention facility and separated by thousands of miles from his family. When immigrants and refugees like Tien are transferred over to ICE, many do not receive adequate support and resources to fight their cases.

While in ICE custody, Tien has been transferred across multiple states and left in a cruel limbo as he faces imminent deportation to a country he fled over 40 years ago and where he has no support. His family is all here in the U.S.

Tien underwent a rigorous process to earn his freedom in which the Board of Parole Hearings and Gavin Newsom affirmed his release.

He is now scheduled to appear for an immigration court hearing to decide his fate sometime this week. ICE is attempting to once again separate Tien from his family and send him back to Vietnam in a continuing cycle of violence aimed at immigrants.

Acting ICE Director Tae Johnson has the ability to stop Tien’s deportation.

Please sign this petition to illustrate community support for Tien and to demand that ICE release him and stop deportation procedures.

The Colorado Legislature is considering allocating about $1 million toward permanent fencing around most of the state Capitol building in downtown Denver in response to vandalism during protests last year, a newspaper reported.

The funding comes from an $8 million budget allotment for Capitol construction, spending described in public budget documents as security upgrades. Enhancements include bulletproofing windows, new security cameras and fortified doors. - Source: https://apnews.com/article/legislature-fencing-denver-colorado-vandalism-823ba19de0710f6a921b5f5251a5f92e

Colorado is ranked 47th in education funding, lacks support for those experiencing homelessness, and crumbling infrastructure. The LAST thing we need to spend $1,000,000.00 on is a "fence" around the peoples house!

Sign and Share this petition to help strip this funding from the budget.

Colorado HB 1102 should not be labeled as just a "consumer protection bill". Please see the following for our reasoning why:

Little Shih Poo puppy, Sammy, died a little over a week after my husband and I adopted him from Pet City.... a pet store in Fort Collins, Colorado. We were syringe feeding him constantly because he refused to eat after day one. The pet store kept telling us that this behavior was most likely caused from anxiety and to follow the folder feeding guidelines. They also told us not to give Sammy puppy formula, which my husband and I know kept Sammy alive for the week. He was NOT chewing... let alone, eating on his own.

Pet City recommended the veterinarian at Moore Animal Hospital of Fort Collins, per their "visit within 5 days or nothing" stipulation of their sale contract. This vet never saw any concern when she supposedly examined Sammy on this first free visit. She just told us to try rotisserie chicken and baby food meats. The day Sammy puppy died, a little more than four days after the vet appointment, we ended up calling this same vet because little Sammy's puppy tummy was swelling and he was crying. She told us to give him pumpkin for constipation. No concern or mention to bring Sammy in.

We trusted this vet and followed all recommendations, but Sammy died that night..... right after we called the vet about his tummy. He was ONLY a little over 2 months old. Bless his.heart. He had been through a lot in his short life: born in South Dakota (Pet City lied and told us they only use local Colorado breeders), shipped to Nebraska to be neutered and receive umbilical hernia repair, received four worming medicines in 3 days.... he weighed 3. 7 pounds, and then shipped to Pet City in Fort Collins, Colorado.... whom receives their animals from mill breeders.

We learned about Pet City"s puppy mill involvement as we researched symptoms online for Sammy. This is so very unfortunate. But.... We are so glad Sammy came into our lives for that "9 days". His little tail wagged up until the end. He was so loving.

As we all read this, we know the quick sales of mill animals.... who could very likely be sick, cannot go on. We also know that animal welfare is a necessity when little lives pass through many hands. Please help us help all pet store animals through Sammy's experience. Sign, share..... let us work together to end this injustice for mill bred animals that are being sold in stores too quickly..... from not-so-desirable environments.

This is not an issue of consumer protection. Animal lives matter. Animal health matters. Animal mental health matters. Animal safety matters. Be open-minded. Animals feel love, and they cry when they are hurting. What if your pet was in any/ or all situations that my Sammy went through before he passed away?

If Colorado cannot see fit to shutdown puppy mill pet stores, then Colorado must support the welfare if these little lives that are being sold in these puppy mill stores. The ENTIRE mill process is unfair, abusive, and can lead to the deaths of all animals involved. Colorado should encourage the discontinuation of all pet stores nationally, their supporting veterinarians, and all mill breeders that provide the animals to sell.

But..... certain pet stores are licensed already, prior to the bill start date? This shouldn't matter. Why? Simply put, Pet City swore up and down that Sammy came from a local breeder. Pet stores can lie, just like Pet City did. If you look up Sammy's USDA number, you can plainly see he came from an breeder in South Dakota.

The solution is simple. HB 1102 should start out supporting consumer protection, and ALSO include stipulations for animal welfare, banning puppy mill involvement, abolishing pet store quick sale. If pet stores, their mills, additional affiliates don't follow these stipulations, then they must be punished to the full extent of the law. But.... since we know that humans will do what they want when no one is looking, the end goal MUST topple puppy mill practices.... for good.

We would.like to ensure ALL of these matters are covered under Colorado HB 1102..... for little Sammy angel puppy and ALL of his animal friends sake.

Thank you!

It is with great concern for the overall health and safety of Colorado student athletes that we respectfully write to you and ask you to rescind the rule which you recently put into place requiring basketball players to wear masks while competing.

This requirement defies a growing body of scientific data about significant negative health effects of physical exertion while wearing a mask.

This is directly from the Mayo Clinic, “it's recommended that you perform low- to moderate-intensity exercise rather than vigorous exercise while wearing a mask. This is because of the decreased airflow allowed through the mask which can affect breathing and your ability to properly regulate body temperature."

Basketball players not just throughout the country, but also globally are currently competing in various sports without being required to wear a mask. Whether on the field, on the court or otherwise engaged in competition, their ability to breathe while exerting themselves is not impaired. It hardly makes sense that Colorado athletics would be an outlier in this regard.

To be forced to restrict one’s breathing by order of variance issued by the CDPHE to a board of athletic governance while engaging in an otherwise healthy activity not only makes the activity more difficult, but it also could threaten the health and safety of our athletes, especially for those who may have underlying breathing issues, such as asthma.

To require basketball players to “mask up” while competing is a penalty they should not be required to suffer. Please amend this rule to the CHSAA variance and let our athletes breathe.

Respectfully,

Colorado parents and student \ athletes

The senior class of 2021 at Illinois College is asking that the current commencement plans be reevaluated. This is a big milestone in anyone’s life, and deserves to be celebrated with family, friends, etc.

Illinois college currently is giving seniors an in person commencement, but is not allowing any guests. Other colleges in the surrounding areas are giving their students the opportunity to bring guests following COVID guidelines (social distancing, mask wearing, commencement taking place outside, limit on guests, etc).

The college has had many prospective students and their families on campus the last few weeks, and this does not support their statement of “campus being closed to the public.” If the college is willing to allow prospective students and their families on campus, then why can’t the class of 2021 be allowed to bring 1-2 guests to their college graduation? As stated previously, this is a huge milestone and everyone deserves to have someone watch them graduate. Some students may be first person to graduate college in their family and some students may not be furthering their education after undergrad, so this is their last graduation they will ever have.


The college never had an open discussion with the class of 2021 about possibilities for graduation or what they wanted to do. The class of 2021 would like the possibility of commencement plans to be reevaluated.


Commencement could take place outside so it is easier to follow Covid guidelines. Students could be given a certain number of tickets for guests and guests would then need to present these tickets in order to attend the commencement ceremony. Commencement could be split into two ceremonies: Bachelors of Arts & Bachelors of Science. Commencement could be split into time slots that students would need to sign up for. These are just some ideas that have been brought to the table that we would like Illinois College to take into consideration.

Illinois College students are tested weekly, and as vaccines have become more readily available many students are vaccinated, as well as their families.

The class of 2021 should have the right to decide if they want to take the risk, given the current state of the pandemic, of allowing family members to attend their commencement.

Please sign this petition if you are in support of the college reevaluating commencement plans for the class of 2021.

First introduced 2019, Rand Paul blocked this legislation in the Senate because of his contention that the law was too broad and a convicted criminal could face "a new 10-year penalty for... minor bruising." The bill has been reintroduced in the House in January 2021 H.R.55 117th Congress. It is now in the House Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security.

Between 1882 and 1951 4,730 people were lynched in the United States; 3,437 were black,1,293 were white. This number is likely only a small percentage of these grievous murders, which were seldom reported. In 1919, the NAACP published a report which disproved the myth that assumed that most lynchings were based on African-American attacks on white women; less than one sixth of the 2,500 African Americans lynched from 1889 to 1918 had even been accused of rape. If you can stand it, Without Sanctuary: Lynching Photography in America can be viewed online. It is beyond words.

Here also is an historic speech about lynching from the year 1900: https://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/185/civil-rights-and-conflict-in-the-united-states-selected-speeches/4375/speech-on-lynch-law-in-america-given-by-ida-b-wells-in-chicago-illinois-january-1900/

From 1882 to 1968, some 200 ANTI-LYNCHING BILLS were introduced in Congress; three passed the House. No bills were approved by the Senate due to filibusters by the united voting bloc of reactionary southern senators. Gallup first polled the American public about lynching in 1937; 60 percent favored a “law which would make lynching a federal crime.”

Please sign this petition in memory of our fellow citizens who endured the unendurable and in recognition of our determination to say NEVER AGAIN with the passage of the Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act. Please publicize and share this petition if you have the resources to do so.

To ensure that children and teachers can thrive in the school environment, we ask the government to not make it mandatory for students and staff to have to wear a face mask in classrooms or any school property.

Students and staff should retain the right to chose for themselves whether wearing a face mask is necessary.

By imposing the wearing of masks we could be in danger of psychologically damaging the current generation of children in schools.

We have already seen children returning home in distress as a result of the COVID measures that schools have been forced to implement.

2020/2021 has been traumatic enough for children, and given the low health risk to children posed by the school environment, we feel it is only right that the wearing of masks should be a personal choice made by parents. Let the families decide if their children need to wear a mask or not. Don’t REQUIRE it!

We want change! If you agree that masks should not be mandated in our schools, please sign the petition today!

A horrible accident recently happened. In talking to my friends, we all know this intersection and growing up in Fairfield I didn’t even need to read an article to know where. We need attention and change.