Search query: new york

San Diego, CA. - There is no debating the value of the San Diego Junior Lifeguard program. Now in its third decade, the program gives kids ages 7 to 17 the opportunity to learn a litany of useful skills including: first aid and CPR, surfing, snorkeling, kayaking, water rescue techniques, the importance of physical fitness and techniques to improve their swimming skills. In short, it's a great program, and the community knows it. Now, with help from the City of San Diego, the Junior Lifeguard F

JUNEAU, ALASKA - Independent Alaska Governor Bill Walker signed a new anti-corruption law Thursday that reduces the influence of special interests, lobbyist gifts, and cracks down on taxpayer-funded foreign travel. HB 44 passed the legislature after a nearly identical ballot measure was proposed earlier this year. The bill received broad support from Republicans, Democrats, and independents in the legislature. Rumors suggest that lobbyists for the oil industry made a last minute effort against

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwyVJ_-q0mE&feature=youtu.be Video Source: Rebel HQ When it comes to electoral reform right now, there is no hotter topic -- arguably -- than ranked choice voting (RCV). I have covered its use and its growth in popularity extensively on IVN, and momentum for the reform continues to grow. The biggest news came in June when Maine became the first state in the US to use RCV for state and non-presidential federal elections. The numbers indicate that independent vot

FLORIDA - In March 2017, I was asked to assume leadership of the grassroots organization Florida Fair and Open Primaries (FFAOP). The organization was created by Duane Pike, of Tampa, FL in 2012 under another name, but the mission was always to advocate for Florida’s adoption of a top-two open primary. At that time, a couple of events intersected that provided a prime opportunity to build on what Duane had created. I was introduced to John Opdycke, president of Open Primaries, at Independent Vo

I was on a roll. As the Green Party congressional candidate for District 21 in upstate New York (NY-21), I participated in five congressional candidate debates or forums between April and June 2018. The forums originally focused on the June primary with seven then six then five people competing to be the Democratic candidate in the November election. I was already on the Green Party line on the November ballot, yet organizers of the five forums invited me so audiences could hear more points of v

Nearing the two year mark since the shocking 2016 presidential election result devastated both the Democratic and Republican Party power structures, liberal mainstream media journalists are still stuck in the denial stage of the Kübler-Ross model of grief. They were so certain Hillary Clinton would win, the election result they expected was so cemented into their minds as an immutable reality before the election had even taken place, that they could not let go of the perfect world they had crea

Maine became the first state in the nation to use ranked choice voting in statewide elections in June. The historic moment has boosted interest in alternative voting methods that offer better election results and an improved system for choosing elected officials. ALSO READ: Independents Made the Difference in Maine’s Ranked Choice Voting In response to IVN's coverage of Maine ranked choice voting (as well as the growing interest in the reform), a number of other voting methods have been sugges

We are having a big argument within the country -- about culture and norms. But mostly about power. I’m intimately familiar with power struggles, changing cultures and norms. I grew up between two worlds and two families. My weekday family with my step-father was a “his way or else” culture -- he had the power. My weekend family had boundaries to provide structure, and supported creativity--we played Monopoly by different rules so no one would lose. I had two families, two sets of norms and two

The following blog is based on a new FairVote report on ranked choice voting elections in 2018In the first half of 2018, nearly half a million voters ranked their choices in elections for the most important offices in their communities. Voters in Santa Fe, New Mexico elected their first full-time mayor, voters in San Francisco elected their mayor in a hotly-contested special, and voters in Maine ranked their choices in state and congressional primary elections – and then convincingly upheld rank

I was following the story of the boys, the Thai soccer team and their coach, who were trapped in Tham Luang Cave in Thailand.  When I passed a newsstand on Monday night and saw that four were rescued, I choked up for a second. There were still eight more and the coach to go. Scores of divers traveled to the cave from around the world to help with the effort and a Thai Navy Seal died trying to chart an escape route through the floodwaters that filled the mile and a half of treacherous cave pathwa