IMPACT

Links from this episode:

Coronavirus might have been in California as early as December

Steve Nash, the NBA and White Privilege

WGA West Report on Inclusivity in Hollywood

Open Letter to Hollywood

Michelle Amor Gilles

New Oscar Best Picture Rules

 

 

CCSD's performing arts programs are some of the best in the country. Carrie Kaufman talked with CCSD performing arts director Jeff Williams about how his teachers and students are adjusting to online learning.

A 5-minuted version of Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak's pre-Labor Day press conference - with a bit of commentary.

Three sites, donated by Stations Casinos are up and running for free coronavirus testing - through April 18.

The sites are at Texas Station in the north and Fiesta Casino in Henderson. Sam Boyd Stadium is also doing testing. And there is a testing site in Mesquite.

The effort is a partnership between Clark County and the Dept. of Health and Human Services.

For details, visit:

http://DoINeedaCOVID19Test.com.

Did you know that the U.S. Postal Service can't deliver liquor? Those wine clubs... all delivered by UPS or FedEx.

Former Congressman James Bilbray - who was on the Postal Commission that oversees the USPS - says that no liquor delivery is a prohibition-era rule, but that every time our modern-day postal service tries to eliminate it, the private delivery companies hire lobbyists to shoot the idea down.

Bilbray also notes that the USPS is supposed to be paid by Congressional offices for "franking" - you know, sending mail to constituents. Often, Bilbray says, Congresspeople pay for part of their franking bills, but when it goes over a certain amount, they don't pay the overage. Bilbray estimates the Postal Service would be solvent if Congresspeople just paid what they owed.

Congress has also stopped the Postal Service from expanding into simple banking - which would help rural voters tremendously - because of lobbying pressure by banks.

And USPS would certainly have enough money on hand if it hadn't been forced to pay for 75 years of pensions in advance. Another order from Congress.

In short, the Postal Service is told to "run like a business," but every time it tries, Congress prevents it from making sound business decisions.

Also, Bilbray says, Congress does not allocate money to USPS, as they do, for instance, to the Pentagon. 

This segment is part of a larger program of IMPACT that aired August 29, 2020.

Carrie Kaufman talked with Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford about how federal changes regarding mail-in ballots impact states rights. Nevada has joined one of several lawsuits against the U.S. Postal Service. We also gained a wealth of knowledge on the topic from former Congressman James Bilbray. And we talk to the author of a harrowing Review Journal piece on nursing homes in the time of COVID.

Carrie Kaufman talks with Senator Jacky Rosen, who sits on the Homeland Security Committee that heard from Postal Inspector Louis DeJoy. Rosen grilled DeJoy during the meeting. We also go over voting logistics with the head of Mi Familia Vota and the League of Women Voters of Nevada.

Sat down with Nevada Senator Jacky Rosen a couple of hours after the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, in which she grilled Postmaster General Louis DeJoy.

Barbara Buckley has been tapped to lead a task force to untangle some of the roadblocks that are keeping people from getting unemployment. The biggest roadblock she has identified? Fraud. Remember that Target data breach? Or the Experian one? Fraudsters are using that info now.

You can donate a guitar or donate money to buy guitars to Paul Kleemann at:

Amazon Wish List: https://bit.ly/dsaguitarwish

or

Donate to Guitar Program: https://bit.ly/dsaguitardonate

If you have another instrument - say that clarinet you played in high school, but has been gathering dust for the last couple of decades - call Paul at Del Sol Academy, (702) 799-6830. He will hook you up with high school teachers who need instruments.