IMPACT: Recent Episodes
Carrie Kaufman
A daily look at the impact of the coronavirus on the lives of Nevadans through a social, educational and economic lens. We'll look at how people are responding to each other, and how they are creating new lives in times of crisis.
Carrie Kaufman talked with Akiko Cooks and her son Corey, who was one of the high schoolers targeted for assassination at Arbor View High School in 2019. She also talked with Jenna Roberts and her daughter Bella, who were part of a coalition that helped pass a CCSD gender diversity policy in 2018.
Bailey Middle School got an answer from CCSD CFO Jason Goudie about why they have almost $400,000 less in their budget. And it's not a good one.
Carrie Kaufman talks to Nevada Current reporter Michael Lyle about the housing and criminal justice bills he's seeing come up in the 2021 Nevada Legislative Session. It's a pretty progressive session, making small changes with big impacts.
Wherein Chris G takes on Nicole Cannizzaro, CCSD, challenges Legislative Dems to put their money where their mouth is, and progressives to focus on the boring organizational stuff and offers training for both Republicans and Democrats for free.
We are also joined by Leisa Moseley, who was the political director for the 2020 Bernie campaign, and Dr. Zaffar Iqbal, who is now the 2nd vice chair of the NV Dems.
But honestly, folks, this is a Chris G interview.
Pahrump resident Sara Walker jumped in last March and started making masks. Carrie checks in with her again to see how her year has been. Short answer... not that great. But she's still giving back.
Two bills are making their way through the Assembly right now that will have a big impact on how we handle traffic violations.
AB116, introduced by District 10 Assemblywoman Rochelle Wwyn, would make traffic violations - and their attendant fees - a civil rather than a criminal violation. That means if people don’t pay their fees, government entities in Nevada cannot put them in jail.
AB151, sponsored by District 16 freshman Assemblywoman Cecilia Gonzalez, would make it against the law to take someone’s driver’s license away for unpaid traffic fines.
Thousands of people a year end up in jail because they can’t afford to pay their fees, or have their license suspended but still must get to work. This often means loss of job, loss of homes, loss of residency status. All for making a right turn on red when they weren’t supposed to.
Back in October - you know, when we had nothing to do and weren’t stressing about the future of the free world - Nathan Trenholm and Justin White filed a lawsuit against the Clark County School District.
Trenholm and White are the proprietors of Data Insight Partners, which contracts with school organizational teams - SOTs - to provide data to admin, teachers, students and parents in over 35 schools.
Data Insight Partners started after the passage of AB469 - commonly known as the reorganization law - or “reorg” for short.
The reorg created autonomous school zones and was supposed to create a “marketplace” whereby schools could “buy” services that they needed from the central district. For instance, everyone needs maintenance, which the District provides. So a line item is taken out of each school’s budget for maintenance. If a school wanted to hire an extra maintenance person for special events, they could - out of their own budget.
They could also buy services from outside vendors. Venders like… Data Insight Partners.
I’ve talked with about half a dozen principals who all say things like, “Their data dashboards provides the school they partner with the ability to get really granular.”
Or Data Insight software allows their teachers to “get into the weeds”
But this fall, the Clark County School District forced schools to use THEIR data software. Their newly created data software. Which looks like a clone of Data Insight Partners’ software. Except… it doesn’t work as well and isn’t reliable.
One principal told me, “It’s just a smidge better than spreadsheets.”
Oops.
Carrie talks with Nathan Trenholm and Justing White about their legal complaint against the Clark County School District, as well as Leisa Moseley and Assemblywoman Rochelle Nguyen about decriminalizing traffic tickets. But first... we check in with a former guest in Pahrump who has dedicated this last year to helping people in the pandemic, but who has lost a lot.
Carrie talks to Elisa Cafferata, the new director of the Dept. of Employment and Rehabilitation about how real unemployment and fraud crippled DETR's ability to react to the pandemic.
Attorney Daniel Stewart with Hutchison and Steffen explains the lawsuits filed in Nevada by the Trump campaign on the day of and in the aftermath of the election.
The entire world has been watching Nevada, and figuring out how to say our state’s name.
But as much as Las Vegas has a reputation as a fast paced, now or never kind of place, our approach to counting ballots is slow and steady. Accuracy before speed.
And we have new heroes. Steve Kornaki’s trending on Twitter is pretty hilarious. But even Stephen Colbert hailed Clark County Registrar Joe Gloria.
I can’t help but think the world is getting a glimpse of the real Las Vegas. The one filled with real people who take their obligations seriously.
We’re going to talk elections in this November 2020.
Carrie's Intro:
This week started out for me with my phone blowing up over a story from the New York Times. Erica Green, one of their education reporters, wrote a story on student suicides and other mental health issues during the pandemic.
Clark County School District was front and center.
Green said on Twitter that she had gotten her info from another school district leader, when she called him to ask if they were having bad mental health issues. He said no, but talk to Jesus Jara - who is, of course, the superintendent of schools at CCSD.
We talk about Jara a lot. I have written about Jara. Jara was the guy who tried to put through a bill during the special summer session that would take away carryover funds from individual schools and put them in a central budget. And then when the bill received backlash, he tried to pull it, and tried to say it was the governor’s idea. Or… no… the STATE superintendent’s idea.
Two days later, the GOVERNOR OF OUR STATE, along with the superintendent, wrote letters all but using the word “lie.”
Sisolak: “Being superintendent of one of the largest school districts in the nation requires leadership — especially in the midst of a crisis,” Sisolak said. “And leadership requires honesty. Unfortunately, that is not what we get from Superintendent Jara. Clark County students, staff and families deserve better.”
Ebert: “Once it became clear the proposal did not have support, Superintendent Jara disrespected our elected officials and the entire CCSD community by misrepresenting his intentions,” Ebert said. “As a leader in education, he has a responsibility to set an example for our children. Blatantly altering the truth is not only a bad example, but it’s a disservice to the educators, students and families he represents.”
This was after Assembly Speaker Jason Frierson ended discussion of the bill with this:
"I want to... make it abundantly clear that AB2 was exclusively the request of CCSD to be placed on the agenda, and that request was withdrawn two hours before the actual proclamation was issued, which was too late. And so...You don’t get to light a firecracker and run just before it goes off.
I should also note that at the same time this was happening, CCSD Trustee Linda Cavazos was discovering that the hybrid school plan that Jara told them over multiple meetings was mandated by the State Board of Ed - was not actually required at all by the State Board of Ed.
That’s the backstory. He survived being fired just narrowly, and survived being censured by a parliamentary maneuver that shut the special meeting down.
But Erica Green knew none of this. She was a reporter trying to get a story on mental health and the pandemic. And instead of calling one of our guests today - who is on the front lines of mental health in CCSD - she called the guy with the big title.
And the guy with the big title - as he has been doing for months now - said, “At-home school is leading our kids to kill themselves.”
Which is a dubious assertion at best.
Carrie Kaufman talked with Nevada Current reporters Dana Gentry, Michael Lyle and April Corbin about what they expect from the Nevada legislative session, which starts Feb. 1.
The next Nevada legislative session starts Feb. 1, 2021, and education issues will be front and center.
Not only has the pandemic decimated education funding sources - which are heavily reliant on tourism - but a new funding formula was put in place during the 2019 session, and a funding commission has been looking at how to implement it.
I sat down with the two heads of the Senate Education Committee - chair Mo Denis and vice-chair Marilyn Dondero-Loop - to talk about what might be happening in their hearings over the winter and spring.
Some highlighted issues:
Carryover Funds: These are funds that individual schools, working with their School Organizational Teams, try to save over the school year. Some schools have a long-term goal, and have saved significant amounts of money. These funds stay only with the school, and are not controlled by the district. In the special sessions this summer, Supt. Jesus Jara attempted to change the law to allow the district to take carryover funds. Senator Dondero-Loop says she is up for a compromise, but she understands both sides. Senator Denis agrees, saying he wants to "find ways to reward and not punish" principals who have managed their money well.
"When it comes to the reorg, for some schools it's been a great thing, for others it has not been as good," said Denis. "It depends on the leadership."
This conversation can be heard around the 19-minute mark.
Appointed School Boards: This has been an issue for a number of years, but this year the official position of the Clark County School District is not to oppose it. Dondero-Loop said she believes there will be "some bills" coming forward to appoint school boards all over the state. She pointed out that the State Board of Education is partially appointed and partially elected, and it works well.
"When you have a small group of seven people, it would be beneficial if we had somebody appointed who had some specific training in specific categories," said Dondero-Loop.
Denis isn't sure about appointing board members. He points out that the County Commission, which is elected, has a bigger staff and committees full of experts to look at specific things, like planning.
"With school boards I think we and do similar things," said Denis, so the board could have a subcommittee on finance that wouldn't be employees of the school district. He adds, "We need to have school trustees that represent the community."
Both Dondero-Loop and Denis agree that school trustees should be paid a living wage. Denis points out that being a trustee is a full-time job, and they only get paid about $9,000 a year.
Legislators, too, only get about $9,000 every two years for their full-time service.
This conversation starts at the 23 minute mark.
"I believe there will probably be some bills that are coming forward"
Back to School: The issue, as Dondero-Loop points out, is that kids don't get COVID, teachers do. (High school age kids are also at higher risk.)
"You have to have enough adults to cover kids," said Dondero-Loop, without putting the health of the adults at risk.
2020: Dondero-Loop has seen CCSD take advantage of this pandemic to start to rethink how they teach. "I think it's a really exciting time to reinvent some things - seat time, mental health," Dondero-Loop said. "I do think if you are an educator... you recognize that" things need to change.
"When we look back at 2020, we are going to see some amazing things that caused us to look at things differently," said Denis. He notes that the Nevada Supterintendent of schools has created a task force to look at competency-based education, which would blur the line a bit on specific grades. But the biggest issue is that parents who want their children to be valedictorian don't want the competition taken away.
In the aftermath of the January 6 attack on the Capitol building, Carrie talks to Congresswoman Susie Lee, who was evacuated from her office. Then we have a discussion with Chris Guinchigliani, Pete Simi, Leisa Mosely and Tiffiany Howard about domestic terrorism and if the U.S. is a failed state.
Carrie had an hour-long conversation with five teachers about the things they've learned, what they have done for their students, and the obstacles they've had to deal with during the pandemic. A great peak at what REALLY goes on behind the scenes in teaching.
Carrie talks with University Medical Center CEO Mason VanHoweling about the delivery of the vaccine, and with Idaho Statesman editor in chief Christina Lords, who gives us some insight on protesters harassing local politicians - and journalists.
Carrie Kaufman talks with the Nevada Current's Michael Lyle about the razing of a homeless encampment in downtown Las Vegas. Then she chats with incoming CCSD Trustee Evelyn Garcia Morales. And the League of Women Voters' Nevada chapter has been disbanded. CSN professor - and IMPACT contributor - Sondra Cosgrove says she was given an ultimatum: have her speech censored of disaffiliate. She tells us why she chose the latter.
The Clark County School District uploaded a new policy document just before Thanksgiving, but didn't tell anyone. The document limited the free speech of CCSD employees. A First Amendment Lawyer in Chicago happened to find it. He wrote a Twitter thread that shocked people involved with CCSD. On this episode of IMPACT, we talk with that attorney. We also talk with three other people involved with CCSD: education advocate and law professor Sylvia Lazos, Spring Valley Principal Tam Larnerd, and Lisa Guzman, who just won a seat on the CCSD board of trustees. Guzman also works for the Nevada State Education Association, which represents teachers and support staff. Before this new free speech policy, CCSD Supt. Jesus Jara announced layoffs of up to 1,500 support staff.
But first...
Carrie chats with Leisa Moseley about the likelihood that criminal justice reform will pass the legislative session, which starts Feb. 1.
Here is CCSD's free speech proposal in its entirety.
CLARK COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT REGULATION
NEW R-4392
EMPLOYEE FREEDOM OF SPEECH
The Clark County School District supports all employees’ right to freedom of speech but must balance the interests of an employee, as a private citizen, in commenting upon matters of public concern and the interest of the District, as an employer, in promoting the efficiency of the public services it performs through its employees. The District is intent on providing a respectful learning and working environment. Therefore, the District must ensure that the exercise of free speech by employees does not interfere with the District’s educational mission and operation or the rights of others.
I. Freedom of speech refers to a person’s right to express ideas, regardless of the medium used. The term includes, but is not limited to, the spoken word, clothing, gestures, images and video, and posts to social media.
II. District employees are free to speak as private citizens regarding public concerns.
A. However, when employees engage in speech as District employees, they are not speaking as private citizens, and the speech is not protected by the constitutional right to freedom of speech.
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Any speech made during work, while performing work for the District, or while engaged in any work-related activity is not made as a private citizen.
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If employees identify themselves as a District employee while engaging in the speech, the employees are not speaking as a private citizen.
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Personal social network and social media accounts must be kept
separate from work-related accounts and identities to preserve the
status of a private citizen. This separation may be relevant in determining whether the employee is speaking as a private citizen.
B. Also, when District employees engage in speech that arises directly from their work, the speech is not protected by the constitutional right to freedom of speech.
- Speech is considered to arise from an employee’s work when the speech concerns a subject matter that primarily involves the employee’s job or duties.
R-4392 (page 2)
- Therefore, although public education is a matter of public concern, specific issues, concerns, or grievances regarding a District employee’s work are not considered matters of public concern.
C. Finally, certain job positions are subject to other laws that restrict the employee’s speech rights. For example, Vegas PBS news and public affairs content producers are subject to a specific federal law that restricts their speech rights. Employees are therefore advised to consult with their supervisors to determine whether their particular job position is subject to any law that restricts their freedom of speech.
III. Freedom of speech may not be used to engage in harassment, sexual harassment, discrimination, bullying, cyber-bullying, or the intimidation of another person. These types of speech are not protected by the constitutional right to freedom of speech and may subject the speaker to disciplinary action.
IV. Even of a District employee speaks as a private citizen regarding a public
concern, the District may limit or prohibit speech by an employee if the District can demonstrate that:
A. The speech materially and substantially interferes with school activities, the staff member’s ability to perform assigned duties, or the rights of other staff or students;
B. The speech does or is likely to create substantial interference to the educational mission and/or operation of the District; or
C. The speech violates a District policy or regulation or a state or federal law or regulation. This includes case law defining the categories of unprotected speech (i.e., speech that is vulgar, obscene, defamatory, a true threat, promotes illegal substances).
Legal Reference:
Review Responsibility: Human Resources Division
Adopted:
As a follow-up to Carrie Kafuman's column in the Nevada Current, Dana Gentry wrote a piece exploring the suicide numbers in Nevada. Alas, 14 students have died by suicide this year. That's four more than last year. But six less than 2018, when CCSD lost 20 students to suicide. We talk with Dana and Mike Kagan, a Boyd Law professor who wrote about the issues CCSD wasn't taking into consideration by arguing that getting kids back in buildings would improve their mental health.
We also talk to Jenne Haynal, principal of William Snyder Elementary School, about how her teachers have adapted to online schooling, and how many of their students are thriving. And Jana Lavin, executive director of Opportunity 180 shares with us other ways kids can learn rather than sitting in a classroom all day.
And Rebecca Colbert opens the show talking Carrie off the COVID numbers ledge.
Carrie Kaufman talks to Sondra Cosgrove, Leisa Mosely, Cecia Alvarado, and Sarah O'Connell about who turned out and what the election of 2020 means for our immediate future in Nevada.
It would seem at first blush that working from home might be a boon to women - especially women who endure toxic workplace culture. But it turns out the pandemic has done harm to women.
Last month, 865,000 women left the workforce. Only 216,000 men did. The trend line is down for all of us, but women are losing jobs at a faster pace. That's because not only are women at home, but their children are, too. And gender bias isn't limited to the workplace.
Andie Kramer and Al Harris are both attorneys in Chicago, and have written a few books together about how to overcome gender bias in the workplace. Andie contributes to Forbes.com.
As Al points out, a recent study found that men who are home with their families think they are contributing to their children's education equally with their spouses. Their wives think the exact opposite.
We also look at the life and career of journalist Molly Ivins. A documentary about her is being shown via UNLV and Boyd Law School.
What will happen if a "militia" shows up to a polling place and tries to block people from voting? What if we sign our ballots incorrectly? When will our votes be counted? Carrie asked Clark County Registrar Joe Gloria and Deputy Secretary of State for Elections Wayne Thorley to ease her troubled mind. With facts.
Extremism experts Pete Simi and Vegas Tenold Zoomed with Carrie Kaufman to chat about the Proud Boys, Antifa, the makeup of supremacist groups, and what they see happening after the election. It's a sobering conversation. But a much needed one.
Vegas Tenold spent years as an investigative journalist, reporting on right-wing extremists. Today, he's an investigator for the Anti-Defamation League's Center for Extremism. He wrote the book Everything You Love Will Burn.
Chapman University sociology professor Pete Simi spent six years embedded with right-wing extremists, which informed his blockbuster book, American Swastika.
Both Simi and Tenold shared with Carrie Kaufman their insight into right-wing extremists, and their view of the violence that they feel will happen if President Trump wins reelection and if he doesn't.
Carrie's co-hosts for the week - Leisa Mosely and Andrea Cole - talked about voter intimidation, and how voters may react to seeing people with semi-automatic weapons.
And SafeNest CEO Liz Ortenberger talks about their new partnership with METRO to deal with domestic violence felonies. It is, says Ortenberger, the epitome of community policing.
Links for this Episode:
Proud Boys Shirts
Sisolak on Extremism
Treasurer's Office Changes Fund to Help Small Businesses
I sat down for a longer conversation with Pete Simi - who embedded himself with right-wing extremist groups to write "American Swastika" - and Vegas Tenold, who wrote, "Everything You Love Will Burn: Inside the rebirth of white nationalism in America." This is the last question I asked them. Their answer was chilling.
Links for this segment:
Officers Not Charged in Breonna Taylor's Death
Black Police Officer Charged in Killing of White Australian Woman
Black Mother Stands Between Her Son and a Cop
Carrie Kaufman talks real estate and a new arts study that shows how much COVID has really impacted Las Vegas. And Akiko Cooks shares her feelings about the world in the wake of the decision not to charge the officers who killed Breonna Taylor.
Carrie Kaufman talked with Nevada Current journalist Dana Gentry and Frank Nothaft, chief economist at CoreLogic about real estate prices in Las Vegas - which have weathered the pandemic pretty well. So far. Nothaft thinks they are headed for a nosedive within a year.
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.
Links for this episode:
Barbara Buckley Named to Form DETR Task Force
Elissa Cafferata Named Third New DETR Chief in Five months
Producers Alliance of Southern Nevada
Help, Hope, Home Clark County Housing Assitance
The LEAP Commission, Nevada Pandemic Response
MOLODI - Jason Nious
If you wish to donate guitars or other instruments to Del Sol:
Amazon Wish List: https://bit.ly/dsaguitarwish
Donate to Guitar Program: https://bit.ly/dsaguitardonate
Nevada's second special legislative session of 2020 drew some contentious discussions - about criminal justice reforms (lawmakers didn't think they went far enough, but voted for the bill anyway), about DETR (technical fixes that most lawmakers can't even name), about voting (that's clear, but the president seems to think it isn't) and about COVID19 liability protection.
That last bill, SB4 - which was first argued into the wee hours of the night - drew the most astonishing admission of the session, when Governor Steve Sisolak's General Counsel Brin Gibson said the bill - which did not include the input from hospitals or schools or the small business community - did include the “important members of the Nevada economy.”
Meaning resort/casinos. And Culinary workers.
Hospitals were specifically left out of liability protection for COVID19. Lawmakers continuously asked why, but the closest they got to an answer was this from Gibson:
"There's a potential that this deal falls apart if we started amending our certain provisions in there and for reasons that might not be obvious, some are messaging related, some are optical related, some are substantive."
Assemblyman Glen Leavitt of Boulder City couldn't even get Gibson to say who was in the room negotiating the deal.
Carrie Kaufman talks to election law specialist Daniel Stewart about the Trump campaign's lawsuit on mail ballots, with the Nevada Legislature approved last month.
This is Impact. I’m Carrie Kaufman.
The special legislative session is over.
The Clark County School Board is in disarray.
COVID 19 rates are soaring so high in Nevada - especially Southern Nevada - that we are being grouped in with states like Florida.
I hate when we get grouped with Florida.
As of this taping, we have 41,000 Coronavirus cases in Nevada, 722 deaths. We have a 12% positivity rate. Meanwhile, less than 500,000 people have been tested for coronavirus - in a state with a population of 3 million.
Today we’re going to look at what happened in the legislature, and what happened in the school district this week. With a look ahead to the coming week, when CCSD Trustees will be meeting about Superintendent Jara’s Contract. That meeting will be Wednesday, July 29 at 1pm. I will post the live stream on Nevada Voice’s Facebook page.
Trust. Everybody says it’s the key to true democracy, and relationships. But it seems to be pretty elusive these days. Especially in Nevada, where the trust meter went off the scale this week.
First, we were shown emails that showed CCSD Supt. Jesus Jara asking for the legislature to consider moving money from individual schools to the district’s general budget, causing an uproar. Then he denied it, and blamed the state supt., Jhone Ebert, and Governor Sisolak. Then those two wrote a scathing press release essentially calling Jara a liar.
Not long after that, CCSD Trustee Linda Cavazos called the State Dept. of Education and found out the Trustees had not been told the truth regarding reopening plans.
Now Cavazos and two other trustees are calling for a special meeting to discuss Jara’s employment, as two unions - including one that represents principals - have called on the superintendent to resign.
Meanwhile, the legislature actually considered a tax proposal Thursday night into Friday morning. They argued vociferously about lowering the amount of deductions mining companies can take when calculating their taxes.
It’s something Republicans and Democrats have said they’d be open to. And it would have brought in $55 million dollars - roughly a fifth of our deficit.
Alas, it failed along party lines at 2:30am on Friday. After over an hour of public comment.
We’re taking to Senator Yvanna Cancela and Assemblywoman Maggie Carlton about the vote and what it means for Nevada in a pandemic. And later on in the show, we’ll talk to CCSD Trustee Danielle Ford.
What a year this week was. TWO Clark County School Board meetings about a reopening plan. The start of the legislative special session. Gov. Sisolak re-establishing some phase 1 COVID protocols. We explore it all on IMPACT.
We’re starting our weekly show today with an update on the coronavirus, and a look at other issues in the news.
And there’s a lot going on.
Monuments are coming down all over the country. And a lot of white people - and some Black and Brown people - are learning for the first time about how racist policies are interwoven into our societies. The most interesting story for me in the last couple of weeks is an LA Times article on how Southern California freeways were built to obliterate well off Black populations.
Here are some other antiracist websites:
Teaching Anti-Racism
Robin DiAngelo on White Fragility
Berkeley's The Greater Good
Schools have also been in the news in the last couple of weeks. CCSD and Washoe County Schools have come out with plans to have students in buildings half time, and learning at home half time. This seems to be the model for most large cities around the country. CCSD is holding a special board meeting July 6 to discuss the plan.
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.
Businesses have been shut in Nevada for a month now, and Governor Sisolak said today that he doesn’t know if Nevada will still be closed after April 30.
He said, quite pointedly in his news conference today, that he is listening to the scientists and he will open the state when they say it is safe to.
We also heard from the head of Nevada’s state labs about what they’re doing. It involves more testing and 3-D printing of testing materials.
How much past April 30 can businesses survive in this state - with being open or running at full capacity?
Today we’re checking in with Peter Guzman, who is the executive director of the Latin Chamber of Commerce, about his vast membership and how they’re doing.
The Latin Chamber represents all sorts of businesses - from hotels and casinos to restaurants for various sizes, to realtors and janitors and independent contractors. Some of their members - like construction companies - are still working. But many are not.
Guzman favors more testing, a clear plan, and a gradual reopening to start sooner than later.
News:
The news stories we talked about today are:
Protesters in Michigan
Governor Sisolak's press conference, where we learned from Dr. Mark Pandori of the State Dept. of Health Labs, that:
But Dr. Mark Pandori, head of the state Dept. of Public Health lab, was clear that we can’t go back to normal until we test people who are not symptomatic
- They have 5,000 testing kids on hand at any given time
- They are making swabs via 3D printing
- They will be doing automatic testing
- They will be opening more testing places
- They will implement antibody testing to see who has had COVID 19 already
Glitches in Stimulus Checks
Carrie Kaufman and Andrea Cole talked to Nevada ACLU policy director Holly Welborn and Clark County deputy chief public defender, and former Assemblyman, John Piro about their bid to get non-violent prisoners released from county jails and state prisons. Conditions in prisons, they argue, don't allow for social distancing.
This is IMPACT. A daily look at how we are coping with the coronavirus in Nevada. I’m Carrie Kaufman.
Why is this night different from all other nights?
That’s a question that Jews all over the world ask every year at the Passover seder, which is happening tonight.
The story of Passover is the story of Jews escaping bondage in Egypt. It is the story of Moses, becoming aware of who he really was and fighting for his people.
It is a story about a … plague. And a leader who ignored the warnings until his first born son was threatened.
It is the story about GETTING THROUGH a plague. And gaining freedom.
At this moment, Jews all over America are looking at each other through their computer screens, not around their Seder tables.
This night. Is. Different.
But we will get through it.
NEWS:
Numbers. From WaPo
Worldwide, we are at 1.5 million cases. 100,000 more than yesterday. Almost 88,000 people have died around the world.
In the U.S., we have almost 423,000 confirmed cases, about 50 thousand more than yesterday. 14,400 people have died.
I should note here that when you look at the numbers adjusted for population, the U.S. looks far rosier than other countries - especially in Europe. We have more people here. We still have more deaths than any other country. Take that as you will.
In Nevada, on more person has died, bringing the number to 72. 2,269 people are sick. Or testing positive. Most of those numbers are in Clark County.
For context, New York numbers rose to 150,000 cases and over 6,200 deaths.
Closer to home - and to today’s topic - KLUC radio host Omari Mitchell is in better condition after spending the week in ICU at Southern Hills Hospital, the Review Journal posted today.
Akiko, Mitchell was apparently doing fine, then he just rapidly declined. This is why this virus is so scary.
The RJ also reports today that under the “independent contractors” provision of the CARES package, professional gamblers will be allowed to file for unemployment
And Megan Messerly reported in the Nevada Independent today that Humboldt County has 14 cases of COVID 19. Pretty large for a population of 17,000.
The Interview
If you’re watching the numbers closely, you begin to notice a pattern in coronavirus cases - and especially deaths. It started for me anecdotally. I would see a “rest in peace” on Facebook. A friend told me her ex-husband’s grandmother died, followed a couple of weeks later by her ex-husband’s grand FATHER. And I started to realize that almost all the deaths I was hearing about were black people.
Then I started looking at the statistics. In Chicago, black people account for 70 percent of COVID 19 deaths. But they only make up 32 percent of the population.
Just up I-95 in Milwaukee, it’s a similar story. 26 percent of Milwaukee’s population are African-American. Yet that demographic makes up 73 percent of COVID deaths.
Dougherty County in the southwest part of Georgia has statistics that are only eclipsed by New York, when you account for how big the population is.
Dougherty County is 71 percent black.
In fact, if you look up a map of the “black belt” that spans from Southeast Arkansas and Eastern Louisiana, then through Alabama and Mississippi, and you lay that map over a current coronavirus map, the similarities are pretty striking.
We are going to report on this pretty steadily as we go. Because the coronavirus has illuminated something that our society as a whole has been trying to ignore for some time: Black and brown people in the U.S. have lower life expectancy and more health issues than white people.
We’re going talk about why.
Joining us today is Lowryanne Vick. She’s a Ph.D in Nursing Practice and represents the Eta, Eta, Eta chapter of the Chi Eta Phi Sorority Inc. - African American professional nursing association.
This is IMPACT. A daily look at how we are coping with the coronavirus in Nevada. I’m Carrie Kaufman.
The parents are not all right.
That’s the gist of a number of articles I have read recently and comments I have seen from parents in social media.
We have a disconnect in this country between work and parenting. When our country was full of farmers, work and parenting were pretty much the same thing. That was true, too, in the small businesses that sprung up across the nation, where people lived above their restaurants or tailor shops.
But the rules for the middle class - the GENTEEL class - were that one parent worked while the other one stayed home. Aside from the inherent sexism in that arrangement, we simply don’t live in a world anymore where families can afford only one parent working.
But, I can tell you from experience - it is hard to work and parent at the same time. Especially if your kids are younger.
We’re going to talk about parenting and school under quarantine.
This is IMPACT. A daily look at how we are coping with the coronavirus in Nevada. I’m Carrie Kaufman.
I spent the first half of my adult life doing, watching and writing about theatre.
But I really spent those decades of the 90’s and aughts writing about life.
PerformInk, which was the newspaper I started back when the first Bush was ending his presidency, covered politics, race, sexual and workplace harassment. We wrote about economic development. And leadership. And being a working parent. And global policies and issues.
Because arts is a lens that refracts and makes sense of the entire world. It is our common language. It is our shared experience.
These are the things I’ve learned from theatre:
- To be in the moment. To always be authentic and present.
- To be emotionally available. If you bottle yourself up and follow outside rules, rather than inside intuition, you will not be a good leader. You simply won’t see the people you’re trying to lead. You may not even see yourself.
- To listen. Truly listen. Not just with your ears, but with your whole being.
- To take risks. I just started a radio show on two days notice. I am a gay, single mother who reoriented her career halfway through her life.
- To say Yes… AND. That’s one of the main tenets of improv. You come into a given situation, you find agreement, then you add something to help it move forward.
Theatre has taught me how to live. It’s made me a good journalist and interviewer and manager. It’s made me a halfway decent teacher. It’s made me a damn good mother.
We’re going to talk today about how arts are influencing us in this time of lockdown and fear. And how we can take the lessons that arts have to teach us to see our way through to more meaningful experiences on the other side.
I’m joined today, as I am going to be every Friday, by Sarah O’Connell. Sarah is the artistic director of Asylum Theatre, and former associate director at American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco. She is also a fierce arts advocate and leader, and has stepped up to bring the performance community in Las Vegas together, most notably through her website, Eat More Art Vegas, and her monthly Arts Table gatherings.
Matt Elwell is an old friend from my Chicago Theatre days. He’s Executive Director of CSz Worldwide and a speaker and consultant in Applied Improvisation. CSz Worldwide produces ComedySportz. In addition to his exec duties, Matt has been a performer in ComedySportz for 20 years.
I met both of these people because I interviewed them. And I was like, “Yeah, I have to keep these people.”
Health care workers are on the front lines of COVID 19. Especially at Clark County's one public hospital - University Medical Center.
Which is why it came as such a surprise when Clark County Manager Yolanda King told SEIU today that the County would be suspending all union contracts till the end of the emergency order.
This came as a surprise to Brian Shepherd, the chief of staff of SEIU in Southern Nevada. UMC employs over 4,000 University Medical Center workers, such as nurses and respiratory techs.
The Washington Post reported today that the Dept. of Homeland Security’s emergency stockpiles of protective gear are dangerously low. This includes gloves, face masks and other medical supplies.
“The stockpile was designed to respond to a handful of cities,” a source told the Post. “It was never built or designed to fight a 50-state pandemic.”
The Guardian reported yesterday that the day after California’s Shelter in Place order, ICE agents raided immigrant communities, putting dozens of people in detention.
But get this… the ICE agents were wearing N95 masks. You know, those masks that medical professionals are desperate to get.
Yesterday the ACLU of Nevada filed a lawsuit over detentions of two immigrants who have pre-existing conditions that make them more vulnerable to the virus. This follows a handful of lawsuits around the country in which the ACLU has prevailed.
Federal Judges in the U.S. have held that keeping people in detention demonstrates "deliberate indifference"; is "life threatening" and that social distancing is impossible in overcrowded detention centers; that filling detention centers represents "callous disregard" for detainees.
This is IMPACT. A daily look at how we are coping with the coronavirus in Nevada. I’m Carrie Kaufman.
So I took some risk today. To get a story. Valley High School is handing Chromebooks and I went to talk to kids and to principal Ramona Esparza. I wore gloves and a mask. Upside down, apparently, according to my know it all Facebook friends.
I think it turned into a good piece. We’ll play it in a few minutes. But first we are joined this evening by Rebecca Garcia, one of the people who runs the CCSD parent Facebook group.
And we're going to check the numbers.
As of March 30, the U.S. has passed 159,000 cases.There was 141,000 yesterday. And almost 500 more deaths, at 2945.
Around the world, there’s been a 35,000 case uptick since yesterday. We’re at more than 755,000 cases, with 37,000 reported deaths.
Nevada is at 1008 cases and 15 deaths. That death rate has held steady over the last couple of days. Keep staying in, Nevada!
Governor Steve Sisolak held a press conference yesterday with Attorney General Aaron Ford and State Treasurer Zach Conine. They announced an emergency order to prohibit evictions for Nevadans struggling to pay their rent or mortgage. Ford also announced his office is spending $2 million to United Way of Southern and Northern Nevada to cover the cost of food.
Sisolak’s moratorium on evictions will last as long as the state of emergency is in effect, it will not get people out of having to pay once the pandemic is over, and it will not allow any late fees. In addition, landlords must still carry out their contractual obligations - for instance, if a pipe bursts.
This is IMPACT. A daily look at how we are coping with the coronavirus in Nevada. I’m Carrie Kaufman.
What can I do to help?
No doubt, we’ve all asked that question without even thinking about it.
When we walk in to a party and see the host scurrying around trying to get last minute cooking done.
What can I do to help?
When we volunteer at our kids’ schools
What can I do to help?
When we do walk-a-thons to raise money for cancer or sign people up to vote.
Humans DO things. And most of us want to do things to make the world a better place.
I’m a journalist, because I want to connect people with information.
Artists… actors, clowns, musicians, painters… connect people not with information, but with images, drama, laughter.
We’re going to talk today about different ways people are DOING SOMETHING in this time when we feel utterly helpless and staying home - while the experts say it is the best thing we can do - just doesn’t feel like enough.
The NEWS:
CCSD Trustees held an emergency meeting this morning to take care of routine business that had routine due dates.
State law requires meetings outside of the regular schedule to be labeled, "emergency." But we're in the middle of an actual emergency, and there is a lot of confusion and unanswered questions about what students and teachers and parents are supposed to do. At the very least, calling and "emergency" meeting without planning to address some of the issues related to the pandemic was a communication gaffe.
Alas, an item was added to the agenda at the last minute to talk about distance learning, which started today.
CCSD Superintendent Jesus Jara said that 63 percent of students have access to the internet. Which means 47 percent will have to pick up paper packets at food distribution points, or go without homework.
Jara also said he is not abiding by the an order from the State Dept. of Ed to have distance learning in place by today. There are simply too many hurdles to overcome. We’ll have more on this tomorrow and Wednesday.
The Washington Post is reporting - via its ever changing coronavirus map - that the U.S. had 100 deaths from the novel virus - the single biggest death toll yet.
Worldwide, there have been 375,458 confirmed cases and 16,371 deaths - a 4 percent death rate. The death rate from the flu is less than 1 percent.
The New York Times is reporting that Republican led legislators in Texas and Ohio are labeling abortion as unnecessary elective procedures, to be stopped while the coronavirus is spreading. Critics argue that coronavirus is not treated in abortion clinics.
The INTERVIEW:
We talked today to Robin Slonina and Troy Heard. Robin runs a body painting and event company in the arts district. Troy runs the Majestic Theatre in the arts district.
Both of them have had to shut their businesses when Gov. Sisolak ordered a shut-down of non-essential businesses. The Majestic had just opened an interactive show - Garden Party - in which actors would physically interact with audience members.
Slonina had to cancel a charity event she was planning for One Drop. She also lost income on the canceled Electric Daisy Carnival.
"My concern is not making it through, it's what's going to happen on the other side. Who's going to want to come into an enclosed space," said Heard.
He's also worried about whether people who make up their audiences are going to have expendable income after the pandemic recedes.
"How long does it take to recover from everyone in the city losing months of work," adds Slonina.
In the meantime, both Slonina and Heard are keeping busy, planning for the future. Slonina is launching a TV show on You Too (known as YTA) called Vegas Unveiled. They're producing it with Vegas: The Network. The idea is to get artists to film themselves teaching their kids to do tightrope, or doing acrobatics in open spaces that are now empty on the Strip. It will premiere March 30, and run an hour a night.
Heard is doing online interactive online shows, where people can dial in and talk to characters.
The CONVERSATION:
Carrie is joined today by Andrea Strohm Cole of CCSD Parents to talk about issues with teachers having to clock in and a New York Times piece on how coronavirus could overwhelm U.S.
They also talk about confusion among teachers about what they are required to do with distance teaching. Many teachers are reaching out to their students, but nobody is sure how much of the homework will count.
The INTERVIEW:
Hugh Jackson and his team at the Nevada Current are reporting on new orders by Governor Sisolak to clarify what "non-essential businesses" are.
He also takes Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman to task for writing off the pandemic as akin to the flu, and accusing Gov. Sisolak of over-reacting.
The Current is also reporting on how the state is handling the overwhelming amounts of Medicaid and Unemployment claims.
And, for the record, Jackson's concern about gig workers not being covered by unemployment was addressed a week later by Congress - which included independent contractors in their rescue package.
Carrie also talked to Jackson about how the shutdown is affecting him and his journalists.
SILVER LININGS:
Andrea went to Disneyland the first week of the shutdown. Virtually, of course. Her 5-year-old niece is teaching herself to draw on YouTube and lots of one on one instruction.
Carrie discovered this week that there are more Broadway musicals online, including Sweeney Todd - Stephen Sondheim's masterpiece about love and desperation.
Felicia Ortiz joins Carrie Kaufman and today's co-hosts Akiko Cooks and Andrea Cole to talk about how the Nevada Department of Education is dealing with this coronavirus statewide shutdown.
Two days before he announced the shutdown, Governor Sisolak announced that all schools throughout the state were to be closed.
What does this mean for the rest of the school year? What does this mean for SATs and AP tests? What about seniors? Born in the aftermath of 9/11, our seniors are faced with graduating during a pandemic.
Ortiz is an elected member of the State Boards of Ed. Cooks started No Racism in Schools 1865 after her son was targeted at his school. And Andrea Strohm Cole is one of the moderators of a very active Facebook group, devoted to Clark County School District Parents. If you have a child or grandchild or are a student in the district, you would be wise to join CCSD Parents.
Impact is produced by The Nevada Voice, which is edited by host Carrie Kaufman. It is co-produced by UNLV 91.5 Jazz and More. And we are working closely with CCSD Parents, No Racism in Schools 1865 and The Arts Table.
You can listen to us in Clark County at 91.5 on your radio dial, every weeknight at 7.
Every weekday, from 7 to 7:30pm, we will talk about how artists are making it, now that every show on the strip is closed. We will talk about education, now secondary schools are closed and colleges and universities are online only. We will talk about the economic impact from a personal perspective and from a public perspective. Most of the show will be interviews and commentary, with some features mixed in. This is our first show, on education. Enjoy.