by Denise [courtesy of Blog for America]

The polling is complete, and Democracy for Riverside is pleased to announce that our members unanimously voted to endorse Bill Hedrick for Congress.  Bill, who has one son who served in Iraq, and another son and daughter-in-law still serving there, is looking forward to a tough fight even as the neo-cons’ imperialistic, pro-war policies lose favor across the nation.

Bill’s passionate but level-headed approach to issues from national defense to health care clearly resonates across party lines with Democratic and Republican voters alike.  It is going to be a tough fight, but do-able, with the support of everyday people like you.

How can you help?  Easy!  First, voice your support for Bill Hedrick to the wider DFA community on Bill’s DFA campaign page.  It is a free, easy way to build buzz and momentum as Bill competes nationally for recognition on the DFA-List.  Just click here now:

http://www.dfalink.com/campaign.php?id=2258

Then, plug in to Bill’s campaign by signing up on his official campaign web site:

www.hedrickforcongress.com

And of course, no political pitch would be complete without “The Ask!” Contribute to Bill Hedrick’s campaign through ActBlue’s secure site by clicking here now:

by Denise [courtesy of Blog for America]

Democracy for Riverside offered both Bill Hedrick and Louis Vandenberg, the two progressive candidates currently running for the U.S. House of Representatives in the 44th Congressional District, the opportunity to compete for our local endorsement and recommendation to Democracy for America for the coveted DFA-List. Mr. Hedrick accepted the offer and returned the questionnaire.

Polling on whether or not Democracy for Riverside should endorse Mr. Hedrick will kick off following discussion at our monthly meeting on November 12, and will run until midnight on Sunday, November 25. Following are the questions posed by DFR and Mr. Hedrick’s responses in his own words.

by Lucas O'Connor [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

"There's a certain kind of equation that Democrats are doing," Ducheny said. "Their concerns are that it's Sanders and Francis and, gosh, is there anybody else?"

I first heard rumblings about this at San Diego Politico last week, and now VoiceOfSanDiego has dug into it with greater depth.  With Donna Frye demurring on another run for mayor of San Diego, Dems are looking at State Senator Denise Moreno Ducheny as a candidate for mayor next year.  She's exciting a lot of Dems for being business-friendly in a cycle that may see Republicans split between current Mayor Jerry Sanders and 2004 candidate Steve Francis, who has become a consistent critic of Sanders.  Ducheny would have the added benefit of not being tainted by recent city-level scandals and has drawn the support of at least one high profile Democrat: City Attorney Mike Aguirre.

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Marianne P. Brown, MPH

Denise De Groff, a maintenance engineer at the Agua Caliente casino in Palm Springs was recently dealt a bad hand. Last year she was told to clean the drains in a women’s restroom, and because she was the only female engineer in this 130,000-square-foot casino Denise had to perform the job of two people without assistance. Not trained on how to operate the maintenance equipment alone, her gloves became entangled in the drain de-clogging tool she was using. She injured her hands trying to get free and later had to have surgery on both.. Denise still takes pain medication and has not regained full use of either hand.

In 2005, 4.2 million U.S. workers experienced a workplace injury or illness which required more than first aid. Many of the incidents which caused these could have been prevented by proper training and use of safety equipment. California’s regulatory agency, Cal-OSHA, has the strongest workplace protections compared with other state-plan states or Federal OSHA.