I moved here from California and I was genuinely confused when I saw all of the taxes taken out of my paycheck. On top of that, the gas tax may be lower than CA, but that doesn't do much for me when I have to drive an extra hour or two just to avoid the stupidly high cost toll roads.

That's not really how it works. "Open beds" is sometimes used colloquially to indicate that a unit can take more patients, but literal "empty beds"/rooms can't always be filled due to mandated patient ratios. There's a massive staffing shortage and so the number of patients that a unit can take is heavily limited. People in charge of placements cannot see staff census, so they would not be privy to that information.

No, but I have first hand experience that's led me to always check my sodas for bees. I've had a couple extra spicy root beers lol

My grandma said the same thing!! But it was Chinese people in San Francisco blowing opium in your face.

I moved here 3 years ago from California and the lack of lettuce, onion, and tomato on burgers was an unwelcome culture shock.

I don't know for sure, but I don't think you can.

You can change your party affiliation to nothing and then just not vote.