IMPACT

IMPACT started as a half-hour show looking at the impact of the coronavirus in Nevada. It ran daily for 58 episodes, and is now a weekly. This highlight reel gives a flavor of the tone and content of the show.

Links for this episode:

NEWS

California sees cases spike after loosening restrictions

Counties and California have different reopening rules

Cortez-Masto takes her name out of VP stakes

Golden Gate owner Derek Stevens gives away free flights to Las Vegas

Southwest is scheduling more flights to and from Las Vegas

 

The INTERVIEW

Temple Sinai Las Vegas

Indigo Valley Church

Links for this episode:

Wall Street Journal Total Deaths Up by 30%

Southern Nevada Death Rate, 2014 - 2017

LA Times - Little Sense of Shared Grief as Coronavirus Deaths Near 100,000

Elizabeth Neilson on the Link Between Toxic Masculinity and PTSD

 

Carrie Kaufman and Rebecca Colbert talk about reopening plans, the best way to go back to work, and Utah Shakespeare Festival canceling its season. Then Carrie talks to nurse Ashley Juste - who volunteered to work at her old job at Sunrise Hospital on Oct. 1, 2017, and then volunteered to work in New York with COVID patients.

Carrie Kaufman and Andrea Cole talk with Dr. Caitlin Cook, a clinical psychologist at the Ackerman Autism Center at UNLV School of Medicine; and Cory Keenan, who works at Grant a Gift Autism Foundation and has a son on the spectrum.

This is IMPACT. A daily look at how we are coping with the coronavirus in Nevada. I’m Carrie Kaufman.

It’s May 6. Of 2020. I feel I need to say the date every once in a while, just to ground us in reality.

Because this time feels so unreal. So slow motion.

There is an election this year. A big one in November, and smaller primaries all over the country. Three months ago that’s all we were focused on. Suddenly, it’s a dim ray of sunshine in a dark dystopian dream.

Is it an illusion? Will we get there? What will the world be like when we get there? Will we fall into a vast ocean of COVID stew, before we reach it?

And what if we reach it and nobody cares?

Links to Stories We Talked About

The Polar Vortex in May

Children with COVID Shock Syndrome

First ICE Detainee Dies from COVID 19 in Otay Mesa Detention Center

Sierra Vista Teacher Wins New Educator of the Year Award

Nevada Democrats Drop Lawsuit on Mail-In Ballots

Nevada GOP Election Lawsuit

 

Nevada is facing deep budget cuts in the coming year. Daniel Rothberg ran some numbers for the Nevada Independent and estimates that the state will be down about $800,000 for the coming fiscal year - which ends on June 30. For the next fiscal year, Rothberg's sources told him the state could face a $1 - $2 billion shortfall.

At the same time, MGM announced it would likely lay off the roughly 63,000 workers it had furloughed in the middle of March.

And the state's unemployment agency is straining under old systems and new demand.

Carrie Kaufman and Rebecca Garcia talk to Clark County School District Superintendent Jesus Jara about visions for a better school system post-Coronavirus and the plan to reopen schools.

Carrie Kaufman is joined by co-host Rebecca Colbert and by Athar Haseebullah, the chair of Masjid Ibrahim Mosque in Las Vegas. The topic? How can you possibly fast when you're stuck in your house in quarantine? And other tidbits about the importance of Ramadan, and of staying indoors.

The Numbers:

Today, April 17 2020:

Worldwide number of deaths: 153,000

Worldwide Cases: 2.2 million 

U.S. Deaths: Over 37,000

U.S. Cases: Just under 700,000

Nevada Deaths: 142

Nevada Cases: 3524

For context, New York numbers rose to 230,500 cases and over 17,000 deaths.

 

The News:

The New York Times had a piece today about how this virus is putting a spotlight on the inequities in our economic system

We also check in with the MIT Living Wage Tracker, to explore the numbers underpinning the NYT piece.

Following up on our Wednesday show, David Ferrera of the Review Journal reports that Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo has authorized the release of hundreds of non-violent detainees from the Clark County Detention Center.

The Federal Reserve is quietly loaning money to states for support of businesses and unemployed workers.

The Interview:

The Henderson Pavilion was build in the late 1990s as a performing and gathering center for the new Green Valley Ranch area. But it was an outdoor pavilion, in a city that sees 100+ temperatures five months out of the year. Now, as costs for shoring up the crumbling facility rose, the City is looking to build a multi-use arena that would house artists and schools and community groups - and a minor league hockey team owned by the Golden Knights. This has engendered a bit of pushback from residents, who don't want the traffic or parking issues. We talk to Rob Herr, assistant city manager and chief infrastructure officer of Henderson.