Casino Insider: COVID-19 has changed how casinos do ...

Continuing… (It's Part 6 in the saga, I fucked up. Sorry.)
So, after a few re-fueling and impromptu cigar-purchasing stops in South and Central America, we wheel up to the deserted jetway at LAX.
“Thought we were going to Elmendorf?” I asked.
“This isn’t it?” the pilot replied, feigning worry.
“No.”, I replied, “Looks like California. Fruits and nuts. All around. What’s going on? One minute we’re off to Texas, then Cali, then Texas again, now we end up here at the California airport of the iconic tower.”
“Yeah, it’s confusing enough haulin’ civilians around. But when we get a call from Virginia, we tend to comply without any questions,” the pilot explains.
“Aw, shit!”, I sort of exclaim, “Rack and Ruin called?”
“Yeah”, the pilot replies, “Figures you’d know these guys. They said they were closer to LAX rather than Texas and had us divert here. In fact, you look over there, see that dark blue Chevy? That’s them; and evidently, your ride.”
I tipped the airman from earlier a couple of cigars as he helped me with my gear off the plane and into the trunk of Rack and Ruin’s plain-Jane blue late modeled Chevy. Had to move the Sidewinder Missiles off to one side, though.
“Most honorable Agents Lack and Luin!” I quipped in my faux-racist greeting. “What the hell, guys? I’ve got to get to Japan and get some newly rigidified digits.”
“Let’s see your hand”, Agent Rack asks. “Nasty.”
“Yeah”, I sigh “And with the medicos in South America and their penchant for plaster, I don’t so much have a left hand as more of an ankylosaur tail.”
“Or Thagomizer”, Agent Ruin tittered. “Anyone gives you grief, and one upside the head should set them right. Or dead.”
“You’re a riot, Ruin.” I replied, “But not entirely incorrect.”
We all agreed that I really didn’t need any extra accouterments to make myself look more dangerous. I mean with my severe haircut, stern beard clip, and perpetual ‘Go fuck yourself’ scowl.
“Yeah”, I replied, stroking the aforementioned beard, “I just can’t get that. I’m such a people person.”
After Agents Rack and Ruin finished drying their eyes from laughing what I thought was en extremis, we finally got down to business.
“So, what’s the skinny, guys”, I asked. “New marching orders?”
“No. Not as such”, Agent Ruin said, still sniggering over my ‘people person’ comment.
I see we’re moving. Agent Rack is just driving casually, like Chewbacca when they were waiting to see if the Empire went for that expensive Bothan code.
“Then, what?” I asked, getting a slight bit piqued.
“Well”, Agent Ruin noted, “When you went to South America, you took some of your artillery collection with, correct?”
“You know I did. You even made some snide comments about my personal choice of sidearms and their ‘excessive’ calibers, if memory serves”, I reiterated.
“And if you are proceeding normally, as you always do, they’re all nestled in the trunk of this very car. All cleaned, quiet, unloaded, and smelling sweetly of Hoppe’s Number 9 and WD 40, correct?” Rack inquired.
“Yes?” I cautiously venture.
“Well, ya’ big dummy, do you think they’re going to let you saunter into Tokyo armed like the Third Fleet?” Agent Ruin chuckled.
“Um…well…I do have a Diplomatic Passport.” I ventured.
“That’s not going to work this time.”, Agent Ruin said, shaking his head. “They’re tighter than Dick’s Hatband about sidearms. Want to bring in your Rigby SXS .500 Nitro Express double rifle? Not a problem. Sidearms, especially in your alien hunting calibers, nope.”
Well, that’s just….*dandy!”, I reply, semi-put out. “Now what the hell am I going to do?”
“Ever think that’s why Ruin and I are here, now?”, Rack asks.
“And here I thought it was just so you could bask in the warm glow of my fucking wonderful personality. Or that you actually cared about me as a real goddamn human”, I joshed.
“Ummm…yeah”, Rack replies, “There’s no way we can answer that without going on some Deadpool list. “
I agreed.
“OK, here’s the deal: you get your sidearms, ammunition, speed loaders, brass knuckles, Asp, laser range finders, Sap, Zeiss scopes, Kukri, Wisconsin Cheese Whittler, Buck folding skinner, Marine K-Bar, those two ultra-illegal Cheburkov Cobra titanium switchblades...”
“Three. Olga the KGB lady sent me one for Geologist’s Day.”
“Ahem. Those three ultra-illegal Cheburkov switchblades, that Wyoming Speedholer, your MASER Time-Distance Computer, garrote, pocket rail gun and whatever else lethal you carry and deposit it in the iron box in the trunk. We’ll ensure that it’s delivered to Esme post-haste. And by post-haste I mean one of our guys will deliver it personally.”
“Well…I suppose”, I conceded, “But best send someone who’s been to the house recently. I don’t know how much bigger Khan has grown since I left on this little fantasy trip. Wouldn’t want a star on the wall in Langley for someone eaten by a mastiff. Want to see a picture….Oh, bother. That’s right. My phone’s at the bottom of fucking Lake Maracaibo.”
“Good point”, Ruin interjects, “Guess we’ll do a little road trip and deliver it ourselves. Best call Esme and let her know what’s going on.”
“I have no objections to your proposals. Please give Esme this when you see her. I had some luck in the Calaveras Casino and if I don’t send her some mad money. Ouch. She’ll never forgive me for not taking her along to Japan.” I asked.
“But I thought Esme hated Japan? Too crowded and too ‘fussy’, I believe was her estimation.” Ruin asked.
“Yes, but once she saw the Ginza, all bets were off. Shopping the likes of which even Allah himself hasn’t seen.” I replied, slowly shaking my head.
“I see”, Ruin said, “Well, since you’re off to Sapporo, perhaps you can do a recon for Esme on the shopping there.”
“Not bad. Not bad at all.”, I smiled, “Now I know why I let you guys hang around with me.”
So, as advertised, I am now standing on the tarmac at LAX, basically feeling naked.
“Can’t I keep just one switchblade?” I moaned to Agent Rack.
“Go ahead, if you’re really keen on donating it to Japanese customs”, he replied.
“Fuckbuckets.” I groused.
“There, there now. That’s the usual Dr. Rocknocker of which we’re all so fond.” Agent Ruin chuckled.
“Remember, you do have that wallet-sized credit card gizmo from the Company. So you’re not entirely ‘naked’. Think of it as an emergency breechcloth.” He smiled.
“I’d like a larger model if you don’t mind. It’s chilly out here.” I joshed.
After Agents Rack and Ruin stripped me metaphorically naked as they de-weaponized me, they handed me a Business Class ticket to Tokyo, and a pass to the Japan Airlines Hospitality Suite and Lounge.
“So sorry you guys can’t hang around and have a few farewell snorts”, I chided, “But you’ve got a bit of a drive, so best be off before the weather turns to shit.”
“Who says we’re driving?” Agent Rack asked as he hooked a thumb over his shoulder at the ready and waiting C-130 cargo plane currently taxiing slowly in our direction.
“Well, in that case”, I smiled even more broadly, “Let’s invite the flight crew to join us. That’ll make the flight home all that much more interesting.”
After near tear-jerking farewell sentimentalities, i.e., “Piss on you”, “Get stuffed” and “Take a fuckin’ hike”; Agents Rack and Ruin, my weapons and the Agency’s plain-Jane Blue Chevy were all nestled snugger than buggers in ruggers in the belly of the thundering C-130.
Now truly on my own, I trudge the hundred thousand or so centisteps to my departure terminal, make a quick recon that my flight’s still slated to go in a generally westward direction, and hightail it to the nearest courtesy desk to ask for a motorized cart to take me and my remaining luggage to the JAL Hospitality Suite.
Hey. I’m old, infirm, and currently among the walking wounded.
Anyone that disagrees risks an Ankylosaur tail club swat or Thagomizer to the skull.
Finally ensconced in the JAL Hospitality Suite, Polo Lounge of course; I was drinking Tokyo Teas (3 oz. vodka, 2 oz. gin, 2 oz. rum, 1 oz. triple sec, 1 oz. Midori, good splash of lime juice, a slight splash of 7-Up (diet, of course), over ice with a lime wheel) with Pabst Blue Ribbon Extra 1844 chasers and Hangar One’s “Fog Point” vodka on the side, hiding from the brutish realities of this foul year of two thousand and twenty-something, Common Era…
I’ve already called Esme and we’ve had a good, long chat. She still managed to give me her shopping list for whenever I find myself bored on the Ginza.
She’ll be shocked when she learns that I’m not going to be in Tokyo long, but have 1st class tickets on the Bullet Train to Sapporo. Still, I’ll probably find myself in Pole Town or the Stellar Place there, trading piles of US greenbacks for locally produced Japanese curios and clothing.
I can hardly wait.
I order another round of drinks, as the wonderful attendants in the Hospitality Suite were bored out of their skulls because of the COVID-induced drop-in customers flying anywhere that requires a hospitality room stay, and I was virtually the only one around. They tried their level best to outdo each other when it comes to Japanese efficiency and friendliness.
After a couple of hours, they ask if I would like something from the grill, as the day chef had “the COVID” and the night chef just arrived. A quick perusal of the menu and I chose a 28-ounce dry-aged Porterhouse and another round of drinks.
I usually don’t like to eat too much before I fly, but JAL tells me the flight is going to be virtually empty, something like <121 pax, all told, so restroom availability shouldn’t be too much of a concern.
Plus, who am I to say no to a free, blue 28-ounce dry-aged Porterhouse?
There was a bit of difficulty conveying to the chef through the intermediaries of the hospitality just how I wanted my steak.
“Blue,” I said.
“Brue?” was the reply.
“Rare. Very, very rare.” I continued.
Look of total bewilderment.
I drag out my Personal Language Pro, speak “Steak, very, very rate” into the infernal gizmo, and hand the contraption to the attendant.
“珍しい、非常に珍しいステーキ?”[ Mezurashī, hijō ni mezurashī sutēki?]
“Raw! Nama!” I say, louder than need be.
They toddle off to find the chef.
“How is it sir, that you would like your steak cooked?” he asks.
“Very rare. Just a minute or two per side. Inside still cold.” I instructed.
All I got for the trouble was a puzzled smile.
“Give me the language gizmo…” I type in a few words…
“お尻を洗い、角をノックオフして、ここから出してください”
[O shiri o arai,-kaku o nokkuofu shite, koko kara dashite kudasai.]
“Wash its ass, knock its horns off, and walk it out here.”
“OH!” as the lightbulb pops. “Rare. Got it! Excellent!” the chef laughs and zips back to the kitchen.
Like I always say, I’m nothing if not the international ambassador of amity and goodwill.
“Crack tubes!”
Dinner was fantastic. I do wish I could have somehow mailed the Porterhouse bone back home for Khan. After that hambone incident, he might even taste it.
Finally on the plane, in an almost empty Business Class, the flight captain informs us that we’re headed to Haneda Airport Tokyo and anyone not headed in that direction better ‘haul ass off’ the flight or forever hold their peace.
Late-night international flights tend to be a bit more wooly than your average Chicago to Omaha gig.
Especially when the flight’s damn near empty and we have the next 12 hours or so to be best friends.
We taxi, turn and head into the wind. I’m doctoring up a couple of dossiers and keeping my personal cabin attendant, Luna since there were two of us in Business and two business flight attendants, busy with her trying to play ‘Stump the Geologist’.
“I’ll bet you never had this before.” She beamed and handed me a tumbler of very dangerous-looking brown liquor.
I cautiously sniff, take a modest gulp, swirl and glug the rest down.
“Ohishi Single Sherry Cask”, I say with a muffled belch. “Light. Fruity. An Englishman’s drink.”
“Oh. You knew. Let me try again.” She smiles beatifically.
“I have no objections to your proposal.” I smile as nicely as this crotchety old Komodo Dragon could.
She returns with another flagon of spirits; it smells of obsidian, leather, and earth.
I just had some of this back in LAX. I take a snort, smile, and shotgun the rest.
“Hibiki Japanese Harmony…lovely stuff.” I smile. “A little light for my jaded palate, but I’d never turn it down if it were free.”
“Oh, you win again. Wait. One more.” She smiles and skitters off to the galley.
She returns with another soupçon of some more dangerous brown liquor.
“Here, try this. It will make you very popular at social gatherings”. She smiles.
Sniff. “Splendid.” Snort. Swirl. Smile. Shotgun.
“Kanosuke New Born, if I’m not mistaken.” I smile back. “Very nice. I really do like this one.”
“You too good at this. One more!” she stands and stomps off defiantly. She returns in a trice and hands me the glass.
“Hmm…brown. Light notes of earth, leather, dating your daughter, and Kentucky…
“Beam Suntory, right?”
“You know them all!” she says, feigning irritation.
“And I thank you. Those were all excellent. Now, anything in the dangerous clear liquor category? I asked.
Luna smiled as I palmed off a 20k yen tip.
“Oh, no sir. Wait until we land.” She demurred, referring to the gratuity; which is know is not de rigueur in the Orient, but she didn’t seem to mind.
“Just in case we never make it to Tokyo”, I laughed, unknowingly presciently.
We both chuckled about that last line as she tried out various sakes and shōchūs and an actual Japanese ‘White Liquor’ (ホワイトリカー), which were all excellent as was the company.
I tell her that I need to get some work done and could she bring me a tall Rocknocker. After explain the origins and construction of the eponymous drink, she brings me one that must tip the scales at 1 or so liters.
She settles down to an empty seat and I get after the work that I need to finish before we land. I’m about ½ way through my drink when it felt as if the plane hit a brick wall. She quivered and quaked and clutched at herself while I made some comments about the pilot’s mental health.
We dropped like a paralyzed falcon, then just as suddenly, felt like it was an express elevator to Angel’s 11. The plane bucked and shimmied, wickedly. Then we slam-danced right and fell a few more stories. It was like we were in a Mixmaster and the owner was trying out every speed.
The emergency lights in the 777-300ER popped on, and the fasten seat belt sign barked loudly so even sleeping travelers could enjoy the show.
Rinse. Spin. Shudder. Repeat.
Finally, the ride smooths out and we hear the captain on the blower.
“This is your captain speaking…ah, we seem to have hit some uncharted turbulence back there.”
“Thanks, Captain Obvious”, I muttered.
“Everything’s A-OK. “ he reports.
“That’s good”, I note.
“But…”
“There’s always the but…” I groan.
“…we have a couple of warning lights for which we can’t quite account. So to just be safe and certain, we’re going to divert to Hawaii, get a clean bill of health and resume this flight once we make sure everything here is hunky-dory.”
There were scattered groans and applause. Add them together and divide by two and the average response on the flight was “Meh. Whatever.”
Except for the other guy in Business, with whom I hadn’t shared two words. He began to absolutely lose his shit.
“Oh, man! We’re so screwed! Mechanical malfunction? What does that mean?” he positively fizzed with fear.
The flight attendants tried to calm him down, to no avail. They basically gave up and said they’d report his misgivings to the Captain.
I motioned over to my personal flight attendant, Luna, and asked if I could be of service.
“Oh, Doctor Rock”, she smiled at me, “If you could speak with him. You are so calm, and he is…”
“Losing his bloody mind”, I chuckled as I finished her sentence for her. “Of course, I’ll take a stab at it.”
So, I grab my drink and ease over to my Business Class partner and introduce myself.
“Hey, pal. How’s it going? I’m Dr. Rock, gentleman, scholar, and connoisseur of cigars and things alcoholic. You doing OK?”
He looks at me with an ashen face and his eyes the size of bloodshot dinner plates.
“Yeah. I’m Todd Schotts. I’m flying to Japan for business.” He mumbles
“No surprise there,” I reply calmly and take a slug of my drink.
“But now we’re all going to die. The plane is busted and we’ll crash…” he started off again.
“So, Todd is it? Good. You drink?” I asked.
“Yeah?”, he stammered back.
I asked Luna to make us a fresh batch of my eponymous cocktails.
“OK, Todd, listen up”, I began after the drinks were served, “I have flown literally millions of miles over the last 4 decades. On Aeroflot when it was still the USSR. On TACA (Take A Chance Airways), on Chalk’s in the Caribbean, on Bob’s Verrifast Plane Company in Rhodesia, on regional carriers that don’t even exist anymore. All over the world. Had some bad experiences flying, and me ol’ mugger, this ain’t one of them. This is nothing more than the glitch for this mission.”
I chuckled lightly and complimented Luna on a fantastic drink.
“Yeah…yeah…yeah…but we have to land and check out some lights…” Todd squealed.
“Well now, Todd. It would be rather difficult to do any external assessment while in flight, don’t you agree?” I asked.
“But we’re diverting. We have to land and that adds more risk. We’re going to crash and die!” he was coming more and more unglued.
“I will bet you every cent you have on your person and home bank accounts that that will not happen”, I chuckled.
That took him by surprise. At least it shut him up for a while.
“Look, Todd. This is Boeing’s latest model. They have the most incredible safety record. And if a little clear air turbulence were to be knocking planes out of the sky, don’t you think we’d hear about it as the press went berserk?” I asked.
“But they don’t know what the lights mean! What if one of the engines’s out? How far can we fly on one engine?” Todd stuttered.
Having my fill of a supposedly grown man with inane childlike fears, I calmly replied,
“All the way to the crash site.”
He went white.
“...hope we hit something hard. I don’t want to limp away from this.”
He went limp.
Then I went to my seat and motioned for Luna to prepare a reload.
Of course, 45 minutes later, we land without incident at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport, Honolulu Hawaii.
We were told to just wait around until they figure out what the problem if any, was.
They had officials waiting at the end of the jetway to check our COVID status and passports before they let us loose in the terminal.
I asked Luna if she knew this airport. She noted that she did.
“Is there a JAL hospitality room here at this airport? I asked.
“Yes, Doctor. It’s the Sakura Lounge. It is located on the third level above The Local, Terminal 2.” She replied.
“Please notify whoever needs to know that that’s where I’ll be for the duration”, I smiled and handed her my business card. “See you soon, I hope.”
“Oh, Dr. Rock”, she replied, “I am sure it is nothing much. We’ll be back in the air within mere hours.”
“Well then”, I smiled, “Guess I’d better get ready to hoof it to the lounge.”
“Oh, Doctor Rock”, she smiled, “No rush. I will call for you a courtesy cart. You are injured, you are Business, you are priority.”
“I love that Asian efficiency.” I smiled back and toddled down the jetway.
At the terminus of the jetway, I show my COVID-clear papers, dates and times of my Anti-Virus vaccine administrations, the letter from Virginia clearing me of all detention, and my red Russian diplomatic passport.
While in the cart, whizzing our way to the JAL lounge, the driver said “Man! You must be some kind of VIP. You were through that welcoming committee in less than two minutes!”
“Me? Nah!”, I chuckled, “Just an old phart of a geologist that they didn’t want to mess with. Not on such a bright, sunny day as this.”
“I see you’re not wearing a mask.” The driver quipped.
“Very observant. There are reasons for that.” I replied.
He careens around a corner and if this were a normal pre-Covid day, I’m certain we’d have killed hundreds. However, the airport, as I’ve come to grow accustomed to, was virtually deserted.
“Yeah? Like what?” he asks.
“Well, Scooter, 1. I have an active and hardworking immune system that I let off the chain every once in a while for exercise. Got to let it know what it’s up against, right? 2. I’ve had all my shots and some that were experimental. They seem to have worked. And 3. I find it difficult to drink and smoke cigars while wearing a mask. However, if you’d prefer, I will mask up. No problem, though it still is optional.”
“Nah, man”, he said, “I was just wondering if you were one of those religious idiots or conspiracy nuts.”
Nope”, I smiled back, “Just another geologist out in the world plying his trade for cash. Y’know, whorin’ around for money.”
He laughs aloud as we skid to a stop right in front of Lounge.
I slip the guy a $20 and ask if he’d listen for the JAL flight I was just on. If we’re going on ahead today, I’d need him to scoot by and putt-putt me back to the plane.
He laughs and pockets the $20 as quick as a mink ruts.
“No worries. I’ll just hang around this area. I hear anything about the flight, I’ll come and let you know.” He grins.
“Good man”, I say, as I hand him my card. “I’m Dr. Rocknocker. Call me Rock”.
“And I’m Kapula Mano, call me Kap” he replies.
“Good man”, I say again, “Hope to see you in a while.”
He grins, floors his electric cart, and peels out at speeds approaching 4.5 MPH.
I wander into the lounge, show my credentials, and am escorted to a post up on Mahogany Ridge.
The bar is very quiet. Besides the bartender, I can’t see anyone else in the darkened and Smooth Jazz-infused drinking emporium.
I order a local drink, a Mai Tai, just for the experience and something a bit different.
It’s served in a goldfish bowl on a stem, bedecked with a slice of lime, a sprig of mint, a stick of sugar cane, a polychromatic orchid, and the obligate paper umbrella.
“Ah. Mai Tai. I will enjoy it.” I said to no one in particular.
One was enough, and I decided to go back to the old standard. Once I explained to the bartender what that was, he made them heroic and enthusiastically.
I’m reading up on a random dossier, making notes in a new file, and puffing away on a Fuentes Onyx double Maduro Churchill cigar.
I hear a slight cough coming from my right, and this here lovely lady, she sat to my immediate starboard and looked at me semi-quizzically.
Not in the mood for shenanigans of any stripe, I give her the obligate Baja Canada nod and tilt of the drink. I return to my dossiers and continue to read and take notes.
“Excuse me!” I hear.
Fearing the worst, either the woman is Karen-oid anti-smoking or a religious fruit-and-nutburger, I slowly turn to face her and reply, somewhat glacially, I have to admit.
“What?”
“That cigar…”
“Here we go…” I mutter, eyes rolling northward.
“Smells exquisite. Could you tell me the brand? My husband would enjoy some like that.” She notes.
Instantly my demeanor switches 180^0.
“Yes, ma’am. It’s an Arturo Fuentes Onyx. Churchill size, or 60 ring x 7” length, double Maduro. Here, take one for your husband. I have an ample supply.” I smile.
“Oh, no. I couldn’t. Could I?” she asks.
“Please. I insist.” I smile the best I could given the circumstances.
“Thank you. You’re too kind…umm…Mr….?”
“Doctor. Doctor Rocknocker. World traveler, oilman, and international ambassador of amity, good drinks, and fine cigars. Call me Rock” I said.
“Oh! A Doctor?” she brightens.
“Yes, of Petroleum Geology and Engineering. Not medicine.” I chuckle.
She chuckles back.
“And I am Hella Aaberg”, as she offers her hand for a quick shake.
“Interesting name, Hella. Scandinavian or Old German heritage?” I ask.
“On my father’s side. He’s Finnish.” She replies.
“But I’ll wager your mother is not Scandinavian, correct?” I ask.
“She was from Truk, an island…”
“In the South Pacific, Micronesia. Was she from Weno city?” I asked.
“Why yes. How could you possibly know that?” she asked.
“Oh, I’ve been there. Great diving amongst the WWII wrecks. I think it’s actually called ‘Chuuk Lagoon’ or something like that now.” I said.
“That’s right! Amazing. Where else have you been?” she asked.
“Anywhere there’s oil, strife, booze, cigars, heavy explosives and typically long distances from whatever most normal people call civilization,” I replied with a chuckle.
Suddenly, I hear a voice booming out behind me.
“Why don’t you save that rapier-like wit for those musky-fuckers back home, Rocko?”
My expression changes. My eyes pop fully wide open.
“Hella?” I asked.
“Yes?”
“May I ask you a favor?”
“You can ask…”
“Thank you. Now, looking over my shoulder, is there a hulking goon of a person, thin up top, paunchy halfway down with the most ridiculously tiny sized shoes you’ve ever seen for a so-called grown man?” I ask.
“Yes. Yes, there is.” She replies.
“I thought so. Many thanks.”
I spin and launch off my barstool and grab Toivo by the hand. He hadn’t seen my left-hand Thagomizer yet.
“Toivo! You old sumbitch. What the flying fennec fox fuck are you, of all people, doing in Hawaii?” I laughed.
“Just keeping an eye on you, Rock!” he laughed equally as loud.
“No, fucking-A, seriously. What the actual fuck? What are you doing in this actual nice place?” I asked.
“Just headed to Tokyo to conduct a bit of service company business. I walked into the lounge and smelled a foul cigar. I figured it can’t be the venerable Dr. Rocknocker. He’s back at some school up north terrorizing geology and engineering grads and undergrads.” Toivo laughed.
“But there I was. Surprise!”, I laughed and pumped his hand.
“What the fuck, Rock. Now what did you do?” he asks, referring to my Ankylosaur tail club left hand.
“Ah, fuck. Long story. Oh, pardon me. Toivo, this is Hella. We were just talking about the South Seas Islands.” I said.
“Planning on running off together?” Toivo laughs, to the amusement of neither party.
“Oh, and this idiot is Toivo, a man with a congenital foot-in-mouth disorder. He’s mostly harmless.” I noted to Hella.
Greetings were shared all around. Hella made some small excuses and said she needed to depart. I gave her another cigar for her husband, shook her hand, and wished her well.
“Here’s my business card. If your husband has any questions, have him drop me a line.” I noted.
Hella smiled beautifully. She said she would. Then she thanked me shook our hands, and like that, there she was, gone.
“Well Toivo, you old bastard. Don't just stand there in the doorway like some lonesome goddamn mouse shit sheepherder, get your ass over here and have a drink.” I motioned over to my perch on Mahogany Ridge.
“Don’t mind if I do”, he says as he deftly winds his way to a seat to my left, snagging a cigar out of my pocket on the way over.
“You might want these”, I say in an exasperated tone, and hand him my gold Dunhill Hobnail lighter and V-cutter gizmo.
He cuts and fires up his heater.
“What you drinkin’, Rock”, he asks.
“Anything with alcohol, as usual. You know that Toiv.” I reply.
“No. I mean right now.” He clarifies.
“Well, I had a Mai Tai. Very nice if you like fruity, flowery drinks. It’s the locals’ favorite.” I reply.
“Sounds good. I’ll have several. And you?” Toivo asks.
“My usual. The bartender is already apprised of the situation.” I reply.
Toivo smiles the smile of one knowing his sobriety is going to be taken out for a swim. Hell, taken out and tossed into the deep end.
Toivo and I sit there, swapping lies, smoking cigars and sipping at our toddies.
Hell, Toivo was slurping them like a sump-pump during an extra-wet summer.
We chattered about family, work, whether or not Tokyo was going to host the Olympics or if the COVID-boogie man scared everyone off.
Toivo, always one afflicted with TB (“Tiny Bladder”) got up to go to the loo for the third time that hour. He left his pocket organizer on the bar and I swear on a stack of Origins of Species, I didn’t touch it.
I reached over to his vacated seat to retrieve my cigar lighter when I looked down and saw in his organizer a tab that reads “Rack & Ruin”.
“Oh. No. Fucking. Way.” I recoiled as I’d just reached out and petted a 6-foot hungover scorpion.
“One of my best friends? Secretly allied with the Agency? No. Not possible.” I drained my drink and called for another.
“No. No. No. It can’t be. No. No fucking way…” as doubt began to dissolve when I thought back to all those times I had just ‘run into’ Toivo.
“But he’s oil patch as well. That could be chalked up to coincidence.” I ruminated quizzically in my brain.
I quickly reflected back on J.M. Darhower: “Yes, you see, there’s no such thing as coincidence. There are no accidents in life. Everything that happens is the result of a calculated move that leads us to where we are.”
She may be the author of the execrable New Adult Sempre series, which Esme likes and I loathe, but she might just be right on this occasion.
Toivo return, lighter in the bladder and good sense. He never even noticed he’d left his organizer out in broad bar light for all to see.
“So, Toivo, when’s your flight?” I ask.
“Oh, man. Was I lucky. The JAL flight to Tokyo from Los Angeles had mechanical trouble and had to divert here. I got a ticket on the plane for that flight, when it continues.
“You mean ‘if it continues’,” I replied.
“Yeah. Yeah. That’s what I meant. Hey! Was that your flight?” he asks innocently. He’s really innocent of fieldcraft.
I decide to have some fun at my old friend’s expense.
“Yep. Hit some CAT (Clear Air Turbulence) and the JAL pilots reported some lighting problem. No apparent ruin to any of the systems. They relay racked their brains to figure it out, but they couldn’t that’s why I here.” I said, waiting for the words to swim upstream in Toivo’s coconut and make some sort of connection.
“Yeah. Double lucky. No problem with the plane and I get to go to Japan early.” Toivo crookedly grins.
“So, no trouble with the plane? Then why haven’t I heard that the flight’s going to resume?” I asked as I pushed a fresh, seriously strong drink to Toivo.
“Oh, must have heard it in the john.” Toivo countered and tried to cover his tracks by taking a huge gulp of his drink and damn near dying coughing.
I pound on Toivo’s back.
“Heimlich time?” I ask.
Toivo signals ‘no’.
“Jesus Christ, Rock. What was that?” he asks.
“Just my usual”, I innocently replied.
“Holy fuck. No wonder you have the reputation of…” Toivo realizes too late that he’s said too much.
“Yeah. They can rack you out. Really ruin a person if they’re not careful.” I reply icily.
“Why, Rock. Whatever do you mean?” Toivo slurred as he realized he’s been caught out.
“The jig is up, you turncoat. You know Agents Rack and Ruin from the agency. Right? You keeping tabs on me for them? You Quisling! You Benedict Arnold!” I almost was on the verge of losing my cool.
“It was nothing. They approached me years ago as I kept being mentioned in your reports. They asked me for some information. One thing leads to another…” Toivo was ready for an Ankylosaur tail club swat to the bean.
“Oh, put your fucking hands down, you asshole.” I smiled and chuckled.
“You’re not mad?” Toivo slurred badly. I had the bartender make him another special drink.
“No, Toivo. Not mad. Just disappointed.” I said, smiling like a Komodo Dragon just finishing up a fortnight-old wildebeest.
Toivo sat there and puzzled and puzzled until his puzzler was sore.
“You’re not going to kill me or anything rude like that?” Toivo asked, half-assedly trying to inject humor into the proceedings.
“Nah. The paperwork’s too ridiculous for me to do another liberation. But, Jesus Fucking Christwagons, Toivo; you could have mentioned it to me. Fuck, I thought we were friends to the end?” I said, dejectedly.
I was really getting through to Toivo. I could tell he was loaded; feeling like shit and massively deplorable.
Great fieldcraft, indeed.
I told him things “are what they are” and that I won’t blow his cover nor his honorarium.
He began to feel better. I often wonder if he was serious about the sanctioning thing.
Then I delivered the strategic missile strike.
“Just remember, Toivo. I wrote your dossier for the Company…”
He swivels to look at me.
“And one for the KGB. Olga says ‘howdy’.” I grin evilly.
Toivo short-circuited at that. Russia is his company’s bread and butter. Now he has the KGB as well as his best buddy looking over his shoulder at every move.
I bought him a few more drinks and continued to needle him about his ’leading a double life’. He was well and truly fuckered when the electric tap-tap driver from before came looking for me to whisk me back to the plane.
Seems it was simply some knocked-out wires on the plane, or slammed bulbs that were generating a false positive, indicating something other than the system that alerts one to something haywire went haywire.
Toivo was pretty much down for the count. I got him sober enough to hand them his ticket and ensure that he was really supposed to be on this flight. Thing was; h e was in Economy, and I was, as always, in Business.
I spoke to Luna, and the plane was going to be even less crowded than previously because some folks could or wouldn’t wait, or didn’t want to go on with the rest of the trip on a ‘damaged’ aircraft, or were just stupid and superstitious.
“Luna, could I pay for the difference between Business and Economy for my less than 100% conscious friend here? He’s had a rough day.” I asked.
“Dr. Rock. Just put him into Business. No one will be the wiser. Luna says so.” As she gave us a grand smile.
“Luna, I owe you. Thanks so much.” I said.
“Now get on board. Your friend looks like he needs all the downtime he can get.”
“Yes, ma’am!” I said and saluted here be best I could which dragging a schnozzled Toivo down the jetway.
I dumped Toivo in a window seat well away from my seat. I know Toivo. He snores like a semi-load of live hogs rocketing downhill locking up the brakes at 88 MPH.
Surprise! There was no one else in Business. Luna looked at me, at Toivo, and gave me a thumbs up.
Whatever I can write to further her career at JAL, she’ll have it before I deplane.
We finally get everyone settled, and with Captain Kangaroo at the helm, we bounced gracelessly off the tarmac, into the warm, tropical Hawaiian air, finally headed for the Land of the Rising Sun.
Toivo was snoring like a chainsaw hitting rusty nails as I worked on the various letters, communiques, and dossiers which needed updating before we reached touchdown. I gave Luna a thick letter with instructions not to open it until we were on the ground and Toivo and I were well off and away into the terminal.
We left Hawaii at 1300 hours, so we should arrive at Tokyo Nareda around 4:00 pm, the previous day. I was so bereft of time and time zones, I couldn’t figure out what time it really was, as judged by my biometric rhythms, so I asked Luna for a stiff drink as I was kicking off my boots and going to attempt to get some kip.
She brought me another liter or so eponymous drink. I was sawing logs by the time I slurped the last swig of that nifty drink.
Suddenly, or later, I have no idea really, some loudmouth drunk asshole from way-the-fuck-back in economy-land toward the ass end of the plane staggered into Business demanding free drinks.
Luna was nothing but civil, and asked him to both shut up and return to his seat. His air cabin hostess, or whatever the fuck they’re calling them these days, will attend to his needs.
“Naw they won’t! They want me to pay for more drinks! I’m broke but I demand more booze! You fucking owe me.” railed the asshole. “I sat at the bar in Hawaii for four hours. Them fuckers charged me an arm and a leg!”
“No, they don’t owe you shit”, I said in a voice that unmistakably loud and clear.
“Fuck you, old man! You stay the fuck out of this!” he bellowed. “Shut up or I’ll do ya’!”
“’Old man’? ‘Do me’? Excuse me. Luna, may I have a word alone with this individual?” I asked sweetly.
Luna shook her head in the affirmative, and I stood up to confront this flagrant asshole.
“Now look, Scooter. You have gone way, way over the fucking line. You are loud. You are abusive. You are obnoxious. And you stink. Plus you insulted a person who is just barely containing his righteous wrath right now. So, I’m giving you one and one only chance to shut up, sit back down before your body spontaneously develops all sort of bruises, contusions, broken bones, and unconsciousness.” I said calmly, evenly, and threateningly.
“What da’ fuck you think you’re going to do…old man?” he screeched, trying to inflate himself into full mammalian threat posture, all 5’ 9” of it.
He didn’t notice Toivo walking up quietly behind him, as Toivo was returning from the head, quiet as a moose.
“Well, Scooter, I am an Air Marshall. Duly appointed, fully trained, and properly pissed off. Right now, I can arrest you, physically detain you, turn this flight around and take you to the Hawaiian police, at your cost for the inconvenience of the entire flight. Or I could arrest you, physically detain you, and turn you over to the Japanese authorities when we land. It’s really your choice. Choose wisely.”
To be continued…⇝

I'm sorry, but "concern" about what Native Americans do, on their own lands and territories, as such a profoundly marginally, impoverished, and oppressed group which has been subject to land seizure as well as genocide, and rather ironically to the mass diseases brought by settlers to the U.S., by Californians who live on the land which they "borrowed" from them, where they eke out a living by running gambling halls, that just sits very poorly with me. It's so completely irreverent towards the very real harms done to these people, and all because of COVID. This is a story that actively angers me towards so-called Progressive California -- especially when many casinos and casino workers are only open out of sheer economic need, as the story clearly points out, again and again: https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/as-california-tribal-casinos-stay-open-during-shutdown-concerns-grow-about/
But ultimately, the disrespect shown to one of the original people whose land this actually is, who have their own government and laws on the paltry scraps they were left will, and all because of COVID, it just is so xenophobic, at core. At some point, when your fear of a generally mild respiratory illness turns to actual xenophobic terror of being "infected" by those indigenous people's land next door to yours, you should probably reassess your values completely.
Very angry-making to hear "I think (casinos staying open) has the potential for a really negative impact and increasing cases in this pandemic," said Juliet Morrison, a virologist at the University of California, Riverside" when the article notes, "Casinos have not been documented to be the biggest outbreak sources in Riverside County. For the period of July until early this month, grocery stores topped the list with 80 outbreaks, followed by retail stores with 71, warehouses with 46, restaurant and food with 33, and skilled trade and labor with 18."
And it is also complicated and sad to hear that so many employees, many of whom are also indigenous, are working only because they have to. Like everyone else who works. But they are in a particularly impoverished demographic in California. Or, as one employee stated, "I don't want to be there because I don't want to get sick," the employee said. "But I have to be there because I need my job." Yes, that's so often the case. Unfortunately those maligning the Native American casinos, which is practically a California social media past time at this point, asking, "Why are they open?" are economically comfortable enough to ask that, and oblivious enough about the past, apparently, to then demand casino-closure.
So it's all a very fine line, a complicated situation, and a lot of history ignored, a lot of COVID-phobia emerging as awkwardly racist-looking demands by mainly white Californians for Native Americans to be put in their place already so that they don't spread their disease.
Meanwhile, the casinos are one of the only things open in California State, so naturally, they are packed (relatively speaking).

I'm the son of a union construction worker who has taken me from my birthplace of Chicago at the age of 10 and moved me and my family across the country to New Mexico, Nevada, and Indiana. I arrived in Las Vegas for my seventh grade of school, and my life has never been the same since.
Before anyone says that the "grass is not greener on the other side", I want to acknowledge the fact that I have not had only bad times. It's just the frequency of bad events and people who have gone out of their way to do harm to me or my progress is sincerely over the top.
If you have ever been to Vegas outside of the strip, you'll probably think it's beautiful and new compared to some other parts of the country, and that part may be true. It is a newly developing city that is starting to mirror the likes of other rising metropolitan areas.
Yet, I cannot accurately express my level of disgust for the quality of people that exist here, from school, to jobs, to churches, I have experienced nothing but the same variety of transient loser who has come out here to Vegas from somewhere else seeking some element of the fast life.
I have tried getting out, most recently have been here since 2014, and in the last six years, every two years; I have developed a new plan to get out of this place. And all three have failed, just a month ago I had a glimmer of hope to get to Colorado and continue my career there. I went through three interviews just to be turned down at the last minute after I already set my plans in motion.
Not to mention with covid-19 having changed everybody's worlds, it has not allowed me anymore respite from the atrocities that I witness here in Vegas on a regular basis. The last few months, there have been more stabbings, shootings, and robberies by the strip and outside of the strip. I recently just moved out of an apartment complex far off-strip where a man had thrown his infant child off of the second floor balcony and set his apartment on fire, killing his dog. The infant didn't make it. I woke up at 4am to the ungodly, horrific wailing of the mother who was trying to resuscitate her child on the cold sidewalk. For almost two months I had to look upon the apartment unit kiddy corner from mine and be reminded of what happened just a couple hundred feet away.
When things were good here, I had two large groups of friends who have since either moved away, or betrayed my trust in some way to where I have not had any friends to regularly visit but two.
Even during the so-called "good times", I had put my best foot forward working in construction, sales, logistics, you name it And jobwise it is just as depraved as any other aspect of living in this city. Absolutely everybody has gotten their job through nepotism, and they all actively seek whoever they can screw out of a job for any dumb reason. I know this is not exclusive to Las vegas, but at this point I am utterly convinced that Las Vegas is the America of america, in that they sell the wildest dreams of luck and chance to those who see this bright City from afar off and in reality opens its wide Jaws to swallow in these transient visitors, such as myself. And it will not let go until it feels it has gotten everything it wants out of you. I can't help but to feel that I have lost so much since being here, and the only thing that gives me peace is the fact that I have maintained my faith in my respective God and I have tried my best not to fall in to the same pitfalls that people around here fall into. There is no good industry besides the hospitality and tourism industry, and everybody knows how that has been going since this virus pandemic. Even before the pandemic, casinos and tourism related industries were the only thing going for this place, it has nothing else solid or respectable to speak of.
This year, since the raiders stadium especially, more people have been coming here from California and Texas and elsewhere trying to live cheaply, in every sense of the word. Our roads are completely unsafe, our government does not care unless California's does, and most of the outrageous newsworthy events that happened in the city are clearly muffled and not allowed to surface so that the city can continue collecting more people and sucking them dry.
I have lived in four states in my life, I'm only 25, and yet I can see that this is the worst place I have ever lived, and if I can do anything to get myself out of here with my girlfriend that I love, I would do it. Sometimes, I feel like I am trapped in purgatory I'm around a bunch of people who not only don't care about themselves, but seem to hate others in any given setting or scenario whether professional or casual. I and my family have become afraid to leave the house, we only shop for groceries in the very early morning because we don't trust that anybody in this city would have the willpower or intelligence or wherewithal to avoid crowds as these covid-19 guidelines have been suggesting.
Excuse this monumentally long post, but I have been stuck here for a total of six years most recently, and I'm beginning to feel like I don't exist because of this cycle of repetition I have found myself in in this city because no matter what I do, no matter what job I get, no matter how hard I work, no matter who I spend my time around with, it all turns to dust. My best advice to anyone ever, do not move here. Visit, and leave but do not live, not if you value the deeper things of life, for there is nothing but shallow Waters here that have been made to look very deep.
Please, fellow Redditors, don't ever find yourself in a place like this, and if you relate to what I'm saying, I hope we are all going to make it out of this together.
Tl;Dr: Las Vegas is a cesspool and I have been spinning my wheels trying to escape its clutches, do not move here and do not fall for their lies about how great this city is. They won't mention the level of violence and crime, the shoddy school systems, and the overall culture that exists in this city that values everything fake and tinsel over what's real and substantial.

So this is a really juicy tale per se and it involves my cousin who is the same age as me and has been my best friend since a youngin and his 52 year old twice divorced with 4 kids girlfriend. I will refer to my cousin as Jordan and his woman as Sara. I'm from Tucson & Jordan lives in Palm Springs, California and we talk about once a week. About 6 months ago he told me had met a girl but didn't really call her his girlfriend and therefore I didn't really probe because it's common for him to meet girls off of tinder and then discard of them shortly thereafter. He told me she was older and that really didn't surprise me either because when he was living in Iowa with his father prior to moving back to PS he had dated a woman in her 30's . On top of that, when he was 16 him and his friends went to Huntington beach and at the hotel they were staying at he lost his virginity to a 30 year old woman. Ever, since then it's been "I like my older women cousin" to which I would reply yeah you like that roast beef (IK I'm gross) so its always been a running joke between him and I. Anyways, he never really mentioned this girl anymore after the first mention and so I didn't think anything of it figuring he just moved on like the rest of em. Fast forward a few months, his dad who lives in Tucson came over to my families house for a steak dinner and he said he'd been having terrible headaches but we really didn't think anything of it because he's a former collegiate wrestler who'd go for walks everyday and was in pretty good shape for a guy in his mid 60's. Not even 2 days later Jordan's father calls him and says the headaches are persisting, he can't keep food down, and the pain is so bad that he can't even sleep. Jordan like the good son he is drives straight down to Tucson to take his dad to the hospital (he knew his father was stubborn and wouldn't call us or even EMS to take him). While Jordan was down here he gave me a call to update me on the condition of his father (diagnosed a brain bleed) and mentioned he had came to town with his girlfriend and wanted me to meet her but they had already turned back around and left town because he had to get back to work. So I told him next time. My dad and I picked up his father from the hospital the next day and he was a bit weak and had lost ten pounds but it sounded like he was recovering. In the mean time, Jordan had called me and we were discussing the wellbeing of his father and it was on that phone call that he revealed to me his girlfriend was quote "50". I told him I didn't care as long as he was happy and told him I was happy for him but also reminded him that his twenties are precious and girls who are 50 can't have children lol. He knew I had his best interest at heart and everything was going to be fine as I really didn't care that much. Next couple of days go by and Jordan calls me scared because his dad won't pick up his phone and when I tried his number I got an answer but no one speaking on the other end, being a former EMT that scared the shit out of me and so I rushed over there. When I got to my Uncles house I banged on the window and door and got no reply and so I called the FD and they got in through the window and sure enough he was in the state he was before he went to the hospital but worse (could only speak in single words and couldn't get out of bed). The FD suspected a stroke and took him back to the hospital. So after getting him transported, I gave Jordan a call and he shot right back down to Tucson with his girlfriend Sara and had re insisted that I meet her so I just said sure give me a call after you see your dad and I'll come meet her. A whole day or two goes by and I hear nothing and figure out he had gone back to PS. So I'm thinking he was apprehensive about me meeting her which I thought was odd bc I pretty much said I didn't care. Fast Forward a couple weeks and his dad is out of the hospital and recovering at our house in our guest bedroom. He's getting physical and speech therapy in our home for a perceived stroke resulting in a brain hemorrhage (I think). 2-3 weeks go by and the vomiting, headaches and weakness return so we are advised by the home care nurse to take him to the hospital again so we take him to a different hospital nearest our house. Not even 2 days go by and it was determined through a CAT scan that he had lung cancer that had already metastasized to his brain. Of course we're all devastated and Jordan comes back into town again with Sara to see his dad. My cousin never brought her to the hospital (although Im wondering if he would've if covid didn't limit visitors) but my dad who was spending every day all day with my Uncle said Jordan would show up late to their agreed upon time to visit his dad (who is essentially non verbal at his point) and meet with DR.'s to discuss his condition and treatment and then leave after a few hours to return to the hotel with his woman. (sometimes saying he was going to return but never doing so) Pretty much it was determined based on his dads condition that radiation and chemo weren't an option and that it'd be best to put him in hospice. After all this was determined he was put into hospice care at our house and Jordan had to return to PS to get back to work planning to come visit every weekend. A few days go by and we could tell his condition was worsening quickly so he came down Saturday morning and arrived at our house Saturday evening and not even 2 hours after Jordan arrived his dad passed away in his arms. Even though he was non verbal and couldn't even open his eyes I truly believe his dad waited for him. So we arranged the funeral services and Jordan made it known that he'd be accompanied by Sara and we'd all be meeting her for the first time. Of course with us being so close he wanted me to meet her first. The day before the funeral I go over to their hotel to meet her and so i get there at first and it's a bit awkward as expected but we have a couple beers and get to talking and that's when I find out that she's actually 52, has 4 kids and is twice divorced mentioning that her first husband "picked up the bottle" after she left him and ended up dying from something liver related. I then proceed to ask how they met and they look at each other and go "you want to tell him? No you tell him" she says so my cousin goes on to tell me they met at a Casino and in my head i'm like hmmm I've only been to a casino once but I gathered that if you're looking for wifey material you best look elsewhere. So im a little skeptical but I brush it off because I'm there to support my cousin who just lost his father. We have, a couple more beers and hit the hot tub at their hotel and continue to reminisce mostly telling stories about his father and then we go back inside to watch Jordan's raiders play. This is where the tides shift, we're watching the game and one of the players has a fairly large diamond chain dangling from his neck and Sara goes "Put that N***er chain away" and I look to the left bug eyed and say "Woah, that's not cool. I don't play that shit" she's dead silent and so is my cousin and it's awkward between her and I the rest of the time but the part that irked me the most was my cousin was sort of rude and condescending towards ME for the rest of the night. So at that point im thinking to myself ok I definitely do not like this woman at all...whatsoever. But his dads funeral is tomorrow and it's not about me so we just gotta trudge along. To make matters even worse, I give Jordan a copy of the eulogy my brother wrote. My brother is his dad's Godson and Jordan didn't want to do the eulogy because he was still so hurt and shocked and public speaking isn't his strong suit. My brother asks if there was anything he'd like to add, perhaps a story or something he wanted to mention about his father. He takes a pen and writes "I'd like to thank my Uncle ***** (my dad) for taking all the appropriate measures to get my dad the care he needed while he was sick and especially Sara for her endless love and support during these hard times" or something along those lines. Keep in mind his father never met this girl and neither had anyone in our family except for the shit impression she left on me. Now before I even expressed my opinion of her to my parents they said yeah we're not putting that shit in there and so that comment was left out completely. Are my family and I blowing things out of proportion or is this completely un fucking acceptable? You have to understand, from the time Jordan's father got sick until he passed it was literally 5 weeks. We have never experienced sudden death in our family like this and we spent 90% of those 5 weeks at his side and when he died so suddenly it literally crushed us. It was just a huge slap in the face to us and most importantly his father that all he had to say was that he was thankful for this woman with shit character who came into his life 7 months ago. So my question to you guys and please please please I need some insight is with Christmas around the corner and him most likely wanting to bring this woman into our household for xmas festivities what should we do? Am I overreacting? I just feel bad because my cousin is living with this piece of work in Palm Springs and she's literally all he has there and if I were to tell him don't bring her for xmas dude I just feel like that would be another blow on top of just recently losing his father. At the same time, my family and I know she's not good for him therefore don't want her around, my cousin is not mature for his age and I just don't see anything remotely positive amounting from this girl. Please help, I'm so lost as to what to do in this situation.
PS his mom and my mom have already expressed their disdain towards her to Jordan and while I haven't directly but I'm sure he knows what I'm thinking. He doesn't seem to care and has a skewed perception of her.

I'm a table games dealer for a casino in California in a county with the second most Covid cases in the entire state. Our Casino, and every other one in California is just choosing to ignore the shut down and curfew mandates and remain open. But don't worry all of our guests have chin diapers on and will be served about 19 cocktails during their time there with us. We've also made it so when you're on a slot machine you're at least 1 and half feet away from the next guy and if you're playing tables you're at least 2 feet apart and playing with chips they haven't been cleaned or sanitized since the doors opened 20+ years ago. And don't worry if we catch you without a mask or with it down since every guest has 1 million strikes until they're out.
Casino's are probably the most non essential business in history and yet they refuse to close or do ANYTHING to help the spread. Our employees are actually told not to say anything if they have Covid. Our pit boss was just out for 3 weeks and when he came back all he could say was "I was sick" but we can get in major trouble if we tell guests that. This is fucking ridiculous and gross.
And to top it off, we're extending hours for the holidays since, and I quote, "We won't close, Thanksgiving is the busiest time of the year!"
Casinos will literally kill their employees before closing and losing a dollar of their millions and millions and its the grossest thing I've ever seen.

"I'm part of that community, and we love the man." - Eric Trump momentarily sending the LGBTQ community into deep despair

Ear Madness

The tension is palpable, the pundits are abuzz, and Facebook is blanketed with conspiracy theories about Joe Biden’s ear holes: We have arrived at the first 2020 presidential debate.

• The first of three presidential debates will take place in Cleveland, OH, tonight at 9 p.m. ET, moderated by Fox News anchor Chris Wallace. Wallace has selected six general topics: the candidates' records, the Supreme Court, the coronavirus, the economy, race and violence in cities, and election integrity. “Race and violence” plays straight into Donald Trump’s campaign rhetoric, and the total exclusion of climate change seems like malpractice at best, but at least Wallace has also promised not to fact-check any of Trump’s lies.
  
• Even with the benefit of those outrageous gifts, the Trump team seems, uh, less than confident about his readiness. Following Trump’s repeated attempts to manage expectations by baselessly suggesting that Biden would be on some kind of debate-enhancement drug, the Trump campaign today floated the dumb, recycled rumor that Biden would be wearing a secret earpiece (presumably because his Antifa-controlled brain implant is on the fritz). That conspiracy theory has proliferated unchecked on Facebook, and was even featured on the platform’s news tab. Another beautiful day in Zuckerberg’s Hellworld Funhouse!
  
• Trump would of course rather talk about drug tests and earpieces than the fact that coronavirus cases are on the rise in half the country, he’s rushing to seat a Supreme Court nominee before the election in the hope that she’ll vote to illegitimately install him as president and/or strike down the Affordable Care Act, and his corrupt tax evasion and vast, mysterious debts are now front page news. That’s all likely to come up tonight anyway (in spite of the Trump campaign’s reported demand that Chris Wallace not utter the number of coronavirus deaths), and Biden and Kamala Harris have each released their 2019 tax returns in anticipation.
  

“But will the debates even matter this year,” you ask?

• Impossible to know! It’s true that polling has remained incredibly consistent since Biden emerged as the Democratic nominee. Biden heads into the debates with a consistent lead (two new Pennsylvania polls show him nine points ahead there), and if the pandemic, economic crisis, nationwide protests, and DNC Rhode Island Calamari Guy haven’t reshaped the race, it’s hard to imagine that a few debates will have an earth-shattering impact.
  
• On the other hand, they don’t need to be earth-shattering. Trump has spent his whole campaign trying to paint Biden as a dementia-addled invalid hiding in his basement, and their direct confrontation will provide incontrovertible proof to the contrary. Polls suggest that most voters have already made up their minds, but the ones who haven’t largely don’t know much about Biden’s platform, and the debates are a huge opportunity to inform them.
  

We’ll have a recap of the night in Wednesday’s What A Day, and you can watch along with us for real-time commentary, fact-checking, and borderline-fireable jokes (if we can keep up with John Kerry) in the Crooked Groupthread →

Look No Further Than The Crooked Media

Once more for the people in the back: The first 2020 presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump is TODAY, September 29th at 9pm Eastern/6pm Pacific. Watch with us live on https://crooked.com/debate—we’ll be streaming the whole thing along with our Groupthread, where we and other familiar faces from the Crooked Media family will be breaking down what’s happening and giving our live commentary. Watch with us at https://crooked.com/debate →

Under The Radar

The White House put enormous pressure on the CDC to downplay the risk of sending kids back to school. Trump administration officials, including Dr. Deborah Birx, repeatedly leaned on CDC officials to provide data that could illustrate a decline in cases and low risk of infection or death for school-age children—“a snazzy, easy-to-read document” to back up Trump’s demands that schools reopen before the election. Other members of the coronavirus task force were told to go around the CDC to find alternative data to support the White House’s position. Recent data shows that coronavirus cases, hospitalizations, and deaths have increased at a faster rate among children and teenagers, and it goes without saying that the Trump administration trying to circumvent science to put kids in danger for political gain should be an unrecoverable scandal.

What Else?

Global coronavirus deaths have surpassed one million, and that wrenching number is still likely a significant undercount.
Kentucky Attorney General David Cameron has agreed to release the grand jury records in Breonna Taylor’s case, after a grand juror filed a motion for their release. Cameron acknowledged that he never asked the jury to consider homicide charges against the officers.
DNI John Ratcliffe has declassified a Russian intelligence assessment suggesting that Hillary Clinton hatched a plan to tie President Trump to 2016 Russian election interference (a claim the U.S. intelligence community says we have no reason to believe) on the day of a presidential debate. A reminder that Trump’s political appointees, who are supposed to run the federal government, are now spreading election propaganda on his behalf.
New interviews with immigrant women who were pressured into unnecessary surgeries at a Georgia ICE facility revealed awful details about their treatment. In some cases Dr. Mahendra Amin listed symptoms that the women hadn’t experienced or reported in order to justify surgery, even while addressing medical issues that had nothing to do with gynecology.
President Trump mocks his Christian supporters in private, according to former White House aides, and unsurprisingly. Trump reportedly also made this sweet comment to Michael Cohen when he learned that Barron had a playdate with a Jewish girl: “Great, I’m going to lose another one of my kids to your people.”
New York City voters have been receiving absentee ballots with the wrong names and address on the ballot envelopes, which sure seems bad. Those voters will all be sent a second ballot, along with a letter explaining what happened.
A new study from South Korea found that 90 percent of recovered coronavirus patients reported experiencing lingering side effects. Your periodic reminder that fatality rates, bad as they are, don’t tell the whole story.
Federal Judge Emmett Sullivan suggested he’s not ready to throw out the case against Michael Flynn, during a hearing at which Flynn’s attorney admitted to personally updating Trump and White House lawyers on the case.
New York City’s coronavirus positivity rate has shot up to over three percent, partially as a result of new outbreaks in some Hasidic communities. If the city’s positivity rate stays that high for the next seven days, public schools will automatically close.
Meanwhile, test positivity in Florida, which just flung open all business at full capacity, is now at nearly seven percent.
Sarah Palin is jonesing for some attention, if anyone would like to charitably gawk.

Be Smarter

The second installment of the New York Times report on Donald Trump’s tax returns outlines how The Apprentice temporarily rescued Trump from financial ruin. After burning through the cash his father gave him and somehow managing to lose money as a casino owner, Trump netted some $197 million from the show itself, and another $230 million through the various endorsements, hotel deals, and scams he secured through his resulting fame. Trump then borrowed from his more lucrative ventures to buy and prop up his many money-losing golf resorts, at the same time that Apprentice ratings and his licensing deals were in decline. That brilliant move helped land him in the financial hole where he once again resides, at great risk to our national security.

What A Sponsor

Is docu-binging a thing? If it isn’t then it most definitely should be. CuriosityStream has thousands of streamable documentaries and non-fiction TV shows on topics like History, Nature, Science, Food, Technology, Travel, and more. Featuring 35 Collections of curated programs handpicked by their experts, including award-winning exclusives & originals. Streaming to any device for viewing anytime, anywhere. Sign up for just $14.99 for the whole year when you use code WHATADAY.

Is That Hope I Feel?

MIT researchers say the compact fusion reactor they’re building is likely to work, which could be a huge step forward in the fight against climate change.
A federal appeals court has upheld a six-day extension for counting absentee ballots in Wisconsin.
Some U.S. Postal Service employees have been quietly resisting Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s harmful policies.
Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) has signed a law allowing California to develop its own line of affordable generic drugs.

Enjoy

Jason on Twitter: "I will donate the remainder of my life income--whatever that may be and to whatever worthy cause--if Chris Wallace just asks Trump to name three novels. Just three! Name three novels. Three long books, you big dumb orange julius bitch"

May 22: Trump orders governors to reopen churches immediately, something he is not empowered to do (legal experts and the courts agree). Those governors that acquiesce endanger their congregants, as we have seen again and again and again that these houses of worship are super-spreaders.
May 22: Researchers find that 100 million+ Twitter bot-accounts are being used to push to ‘reopen America’ (source).
May 22: Half of Fox News viewers think Bill Gates is using pandemic to microchip them
May 22: Carnegie Mellon researchers discover much of the discussion doubting the pandemic and anti-stay-at-home orders is being fueled by misinformation campaigns using convincing bots. Of the top 50 influential re-tweeters, 82% are bots; of the top 1,000 re-tweeters, 62% are bots.
May 23: Trump plays golf, and whines over twitter in response to media coverage.
May 23: Betsy DeVos openly admits she's using the pandemic to impose her private school choice agenda (audio). Her opportunism is nothing new (source).
May 23: Alabama has reopened its beaches, casinos, bingo halls, museums, zoos and amusement parks – as its hospitals are running out of ICU beds.
May 24: White House predicts that US unemployment to remain in double digits until November election.
May 24: Coronavirus outbreak at high school pool party fuels ‘second peak,’ Arkansas gov says. Missouri probably isn’t far behind. For multiple reasons.
May 25: Trump calls Marine Corps veteran (and sitting Congressman) ‘an American Fraud’ on Memorial Day, mis-spells his name, claims he voted for Nancy Pelosi as speaker of the house (he didn’t.)
May 25: Trump issues a call for schools forced to close amid the coronavirus pandemic to be "opened ASAP" (tweet) after watching segment on Fox News.
May 26: Trump shares a tweet mocking Biden for wearing a face mask in public — in line with the CDC advice that he routinely ignores, for fear of “looking weak”.
May 26: Trump leaves GOP "completely blindsided" with threat to pull RNC convention out of North Carolina.
May 26: Spiking pneumonia deaths suggest the virus is killing far more than we know
May 27: Two weeks after court scraps Safer at Home, Wisconsin sets record for new coronavirus cases and deaths
late May: As Memorial weekend ends, the US has lost 100,000 people to the virus… more than combined combat fatalities in the three-year Korean War (33,686, source) and the 11-year US war in Vietnam (58,220, source), with very little collective grief.
May 30: Trump terminates the US relationship with the World Health Organization (WHO).
May 30: Trump demands Republican convention ‘with no masks or social distancing’ despite coronavirus pandemic
June 1: Dr. Fauci told states that Trump is no longer frequently meeting with top public-health experts to discuss the fight against the coronavirus. Two weeks later, Fauci will state he hasn’t talked to Trump once in the last two weeks.
June 1: States that reported all-time highest single-day new case totals in the last week: North Carolina, South Carolina (twice), Texas (twice), Arizona (twice), Mississippi (twice), Utah (twice), Virginia (twice), Wisconsin (twice) and California (three times)
June 3: Millions Of Americans skip payments as tidal wave of defaults and evictions looms
June 10: Trump: “We’ve made every decision correctly” - White House goes quiet on coronavirus as outbreak spikes; no briefings in over a month
June 15: Trump dismisses uptick in US coronavirus cases and suggests a 'stop' to testing. "If we stop testing right now, we'd have very few cases, if any,"
June 15: US national pride falls to the lowest level in the two decades of Gallup measurement.

• Five days later another survey shows the majority of Americans say this is the lowest point in US history they can remember.
• Two weeks after that another survey shows that 75% of Americans believe the U.S. is ‘Out of Control’ under Trump.

June 17: More Americans have died from the virus (116,963) than were killed in combat during World War One (116,708).
June 18: Trump says he thinks some Americans are wearing masks to show they disapprove of him and not as a preventive measure during the pandemic
June 18: Trump claims virus will ‘Fade Away’ – as U.S. Sees 20,000 New Cases a Day. Within a month this will increase to 70,000 new cases a day.
June 20: Trump holds rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma – his first large campaign event since the beginning of the coronavirus lockdowns

• Trump’s request that masks be optional goes all the way to the Oklahoma Supreme court, where he wins a victory. Masks are not required at the rally.
  
• Six members of the advance team (including two secret service officers) tested positive for the virus prior to the rally. Two more test positive afterwards, along with a local reporter.
  
• The rally 'more than likely' contributed to a surge in coronavirus cases, according to the Tulsa Health Department Executive Director.
  
• Afterward, dozens of Secret Service officers and agents are told to self-quarantine.
  
• Two weeks after the rally, Herman Cain tests positive for the virus. In the weeks to come Cain is hospitalized, and dies on July 29.
  
• Two weeks after the rally, Fox News alumnus / Donald Trump Jr’s girlfriend tests positive for the virus after attending the rally.
  
• A week after that, Oklahoma’s governor (who hosted the rally) tests positive for the virus.
  
• Trump boasted that a million people that signed up to attend, held the rally in a 19,000 seat arena, and built an outdoor overflow area in the parking lot, but only 6,200 people attended.
  
• Trump was furious about the low turnout, and had a meltdown and yelled at aides backstage when he realized how empty his rally in Tulsa was
  
• Trump said he tried to slow down COVID-19 testing to cover up America’s high rate of infection (video)
  
• White House trade advisor Peter Navarro claimed Trump was “joking”, Trump responded 'I don't kid' and insists he meant it.
  
• Trump unapologetically called the virus the “Kung Flu”, and proved he could awkwardly drink a glass of water with one hand.
  

Planned future rallies are cancelled, due to fears of low attendance and the virus.
June 24: Fauci: White House ordered NIH to cancel coronavirus research funding, because it is in partnership with scientists in Wuhan and Trump has pushed a conspiracy theory that Wuhan purposely created the virus.
June 25: White House official: Americans will “Just Have to Live With” massive virus surge
June 25: The largest medical complex in the world, Texas Medical Center reaches 100 percent ICU occupancy, then they stopped reporting data.
June 30: The European Union bans travel from the U.S. due to coronavirus, and extends the ban two weeks later as the US situation continues to deteriorate.
June 30: The US has 4% of the world's population but 25% of its coronavirus cases. Over 2.5 million Americans have tested positive, and over 125,000 have died.
June 30: Dr. Fauci tells Congress new cases could reach 100,000 a day without changes, and that recent coronavirus surge caused by reopening too quickly, not following guidelines
Late June: Republican governors begin holding secret conference calls to complain about Trump's chaotic coronavirus response
July 2: Trump: “I think we’re gonna be very good with the coronavirus. I think that at some point that’s going to, sort of, just disappear – I hope,” as US sees record number of new cases
July 4: Arizona Department of Health Services reports that ICU's are at 91 percent capacity and nearly a quarter of coronavirus tests conducted returned positive.
July 4: U.S. breaks another daily coronavirus record with more than 57,000 new infections
July 6: White House defends Trump's claim that 99 percent of COVID-19 cases are 'harmless' with chart showing 5 percent are fatal. Unsurprisingly, the head of the FDA refuses to back up this claim.
July 7: The virus is killing more in Florida, Texas in one month than 20 years of hurricanes
July 7: Trump and the Secretary of Education demand that schools reopen with fully operational in-person classrooms in the Fall.

• Just a week earlier, a Federal assessment (69 pages, here) said fully reopening schools and universities remained the “highest risk” for the spread of the coronavirus.
• This also contradicts the CDC’s guidelines around reopening schools. Trump dismissed these guidelines over Twitter as “tough and expensive” as well as “impractical”. The CDC refuses to revise their guidelines.
• This demand came with threats: To cut off Federal funding (a mostly toothless threat) and lose international students to those that choose not to open fully.
• Pressed on how schools can re-open during a pandemic, DeVos has no clear answers (video)
• Some teachers are retiring, rather than returning to the classroom
• Only 1 in 10 Americans think schools should reopen this fall without restrictions

July 8: 56 Florida hospitals hit 100% ICU capacity (and new daily cases rise above 10,000, to rise to 15,000 per day within five more days) as Governor DeSantis defends refusal to release virus data.
July 9: Dr. Fauci says states with coronavirus resurgences should consider shutting down again
July 10: U.S. breaks another daily coronavirus record with more than 70,000 new infections.
July 11: Japan is 'shocked' and furious at the US after a major coronavirus outbreak at 2 Marine bases in Okinawa — and says the US is not taking the virus seriously. "We now have strong doubts that the US military has taken adequate disease prevention measures,"
July 12: Dr. Fauci says COVID-19 cases exploding because U.S. didn’t completely shut down
July 12: CDC holds first press briefing in over three months of being silenced by the White House.
July 13: Trump complains Biden and Obama stopped coronavirus testing even though it didn't exist during their administration
July 13: Arizona is currently registering as many new cases as the entire EU, which has a population 60 times greater.’
July 13: Trump retweets game show host saying CDC and doctors are lying; the coronavirus task force pushes back: ‘None of us lie'. The game show host’s son tests positive for the virus one day later, the host suddenly changes his position, and deletes his Twitter account.
July 14: Nearly one-third of children tested for COVID in Florida are positive; that is over 11,000 children.
July 15: Administration removes control of coronavirus data from CDC, instead funneling it through the White House. Experts and scientists highlight why this is dangerous, and states begin to lose access to data.
July 15: Trump greenlights an op-ed attacking Dr. Fauci by White House trade adviser Peter Navarro. Fauci responds that they should be ashamed. Trump then says Navarro never should have written it.
July 17: White House blocks CDC from testifying on reopening schools next week
July 18: Trump administration pushes to block new money for testing, tracing, and CDC in upcoming coronavirus relief bill
July 18: 85 infants under age 1 have tested positive for the virus in one Texas county since March
July 19: Trump claims, incorrectly, that the U.S. has "one of the lowest mortality rates" for the virus
July 20: Trump: "I will be right eventually. You know, I said, 'It's going to disappear.' I'll say it again. ... It's going to disappear, and I'll be right," – part of a larger interview citing false and nonexistent data on the virus.
July 20: Trump calls masks ‘Patriotic’ less than two months after ridiculing Biden for wearing one. Just hours later, he hosts a fundraiser without a mask (at his own hotel, where he raised $5 million).

• During the same press conference, Trump says "My administration currently has zero unfilled requests for… equipment or anything else that they need from the governors. No governor needs anything right now and we think we’ll have it that way until the end because frankly we are stocked up and ready to go.". Of course, this is a lie.

July 21: Denied permission to work from home, Maryland public health worker dies after COVID hits office
July 22: White House senior adviser Kellyanne Conway accuses the states of being too hasty with reopening their economies

Since there are still no large-scale events due to the pandemic, most of our weekly events are still virtual. However, scroll down to find things you can do safely outside, as well as reopened attractions in our city.
From all of us at ExploreTO, be safe, and enjoy your week!
Virtual Events
Monday August 10th
Data Science and AI: Your Career Starts Here|7 PM
Bluffers Beach Community Clean Up|6 PM
Youtube SEO with Elif Hiz - Facebook Live|5 PM
Boys and Girls Regalia Making|11 AM
COVID and Back to School plans: Parents talking to Parents|7 PM
Paint Night on Zoom - Bokeh Sunflowers|6 PM
Talking to Children about Race|7 PM
Tuesday August 11th
Five Points, NYC's Most Notorious 19th-Century Slum Webinar|1 PM
National Face Mask Day at Lush Walnut Street|11 AM
400 Years of Horse Power: The Engine That Built NYC Webinar|8 PM
The Art of Pickling with Liz Alpern and Jeff Yoskowitz|7 PM
Students with IEPs and the 2020-21 School Year|12 PM
Bat Chat: A Sky Puppy Party for the Whole Family|7 PM
Meteor Showers|7 PM
Merlin Bird ID: Tips, Tricks, and Updates|12 PM
Members Event - Gertrude Jekyll, the Garden, and the Photograph|5 PM
Art History From Home: Me, Myself, and I|6 PM
Wednesday August 12th
Stories From The Porch - Drag Queen Story Time|6 PM
Pennsylvania Station:The Most Beautiful Train Station Ever Built|8 PM
Scugog River Sunrise! ~ Virtual PWJ ~ Free|6 PM
Profs & Pints Online: Literature for a Pandemic|7 PM
Museum Crawl: Museo Egizio (Egyptian Museum of Turin)|12 PM
Virtual Lecture: Chinatown’s Historic Signage|7 PM
Vegan Spanish Cuisine cooking class|5 PM
Star Talk: How to Measure the Universe's Oldest Light|6 PM
How To Start A Podcast|3 PM
Online Quilt Festival|10 AM
Thursday August 13th
Trauma-Informed Care of Sexual Assault Survivors: SACHA Workshop|6 PM
California Beach Sunset -Paint Night on Zoom|7 PM
Detroit Institute of Arts - FREE Online/Virtual Museum Tour via Zoom!|8 PM
Virtual Program: US Civil War “Colored Troops” in Arlington|7 PM
Virtual Car Show|12 PM
Milwaukee Irish Fest At Home - presented by CiderBoys|6 PM
Opera Pub: The Next Generation|8 PM
Dr. Ruth’s Journey from a Holocaust Orphan to Fame|8 PM
Friday August 14th
Women of Aerospace Series - Kristen Facciol|6 PM
Teal Barn Free Paint Night - FB LIVE|6 PM
Blueberry picking and Berry Teachings|12 PM
In Plain Sight: The Mansions of Midtown Webinar|5 PM
To Oz? To Oz! An online Oz event|1 PM
Old New York Told Through Antique 16mm Projector Short Films|8 PM
Nikola Tesla: The Man Who Sparked the Electrical Revolution|1 PM
Saturday August 15th
Virtual Photography Class - Travel Photography|10 AM
Japan's Koi Pond - Paint Night on Zoom|1 PM
Wine glass Painting|3 PM
Sunday August 16th
Online Baking Workshop: French Macaron and Buttercream Filling|1 PM
Online Baking Workshop: Dipped Donuts|2 PM
Virtual Photography Class - Food Photography|9 AM
Greek Village - Paint Night on Zoom|1 PM
Zoom Painting Tutorial of Cottage - $10|1 PM
​
Safe Things To Do Outside
Spend Time in Nature | It’s finally getting warm enough to enjoy the outdoors. Check out the top nearby parks and hikes
Bike Ride | Take a leisurely ride along the lakeshore. If you don’t own a bike you can rent through Bike Share (bring sanitizer if you do!)
Take Up Outdoor Photography | Up Your Photo Game!
Explore Graffiti Streets | Take a stroll through these alleys of graffiti!
Swimming Pools and Splash Pads| As the city opens up again, so do public pools and splash pads to keep the hot weather at bay. Check out your local pools here
Things To Do From Home Virtually
Virtual Theatre | These theatre companies are providing shows online to watch during COVID. Whether you like Broadway musicals or Shakespeare you'll be sure to find something here!
Virtual Games | Ranging from from classic games like Bingo, to newer actives such as escape rooms, there is something for everyone to enjoy. Play alone or with friends and family, you're sure to have a blast!
Virtual Museum Tours | These museums are offering free tours for you to explore while you're at home
Virtual Fitness | A collection of virtual fitness classes, playlists, and challenges
Virtual Classes | A blend of online classes to take while you're at home
Other Things To Do In The City
- Visit the ROM, the AGO, or the Gardiner museums, all of which have opened up again
- Have a bite to eat on a patio outside
- Head over to Ripley's Aquarium to see the aquatic animals
- Visit the Toronto Zoo Scenic Safari Drive Thru
- Take a trip to the Toronto Islands
- Visit reopened gyms, movie theatres, and casinos

Part 3 in the COVID series.
To try and make this list more helpful, I have added Weekend Day and Weekend Night, as those can be vastly different than during the week.
I'm trying to monitor Twitter and the Vegas Message Board to get some additional information.
Keep sharing all that wonderful goodness.
I'd like to update the wiki to talk about what sidebets casinos have, so if you know that info, I can add it to the table comments.

Vegas Strip Casino	Day Min	Night Min	Weekend Day	Weekend Night	Dividers	Comments
Aria	10	10	Unknown	Unknown	No	Updated 7/26
Ballys	10	15	10	Unknown		3 tables Updated 8/8
Bellagio	10	25	Unknown	Unknown	Yes, all tables
Caesars	15	25	Unknown	Unknown	No
Cosmo	15-25	50-100	Unknown	Unknown
Encore	10	10	10	10	Yes, on some tables	Updated 8/12
Excalibur	10-15	15	10	15		Updated 8/12
Flamingo	15	15-25	Unknown	25		Updated 8/8
Harrah's	15	25	25	25	No
Linq	15	15	Unknown	25	No	Updated 8/8
Luxor	10	10	15	15n		Updated 8/12
Mandalay Bay	15	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
MGM Grand	10	25	Unknown	Unknown	Yes
NY/NY	10	15-25	15	Unknown	Yes	Updated 8/8
Osheas	Unknown	15	Unknown	Unknown
Paris	15	15	Unknown	Unknown	No	Updated 8/8
Sahara	5	10	10	10		Updated 8/15
Strat	Day	10	Unknown	10	25	No
Treasure Island	5	15	Unknown	Unknown
Venetian	10-15	25	Unknown	Unknown	No
Wynn	10	10	10	10	Yes, on some tables	Updated 8/12

Downtown Casino	Day Min	Night Min	Weekend Day	Weekend Night	Dividers	Comments
Binions	5	10	Unknown	Unknown		Binions had $5 table several times (opens at noon) Updated 8/17
California	10	10	Unknown	Unknown		Tables open at 11AM Updated 8/10
The D	10	15	Unknown	Unknown	No glass
Downtown Grand	10	10	Unknown	Unknown		Table opens at noon. Updated 8/10.
El Cortez	10	10	10	10	Yes, some tables	2 tables Updated 8/15
Four Queens	10	10	10	10	No	Updated 8/15
Fremont	10	10	10	Unknown		Updated 8/10.
Golden Gate	10	15	Unknown	Unknown		Updated 8/18
Golden Nugget	10-15	10	Unknown	Unknown		$15 with one table open on 8/18
Plaza	10	10	Unknown	Unknown		Updated 7/30
Sams Town	15	15	Unknown	Unknown		1 table

Offstrip Casino	Day Min	Night Min	Weekend Day	Weekend Night	Dividers	Comments
Aliente	10	10	Unknown	Unknown
Boulder Station	10	10	Unknown	Unknown
Cannery	5	5	Unknown	Unknown		up to 2 tables - now allowing 4 per side
Ellis Island	5	5	5	5		1 table - Updated 8/17 - I just called the pit at Ellis. Craps table opens up at 10am and its 5 dollars 90% of the time
Gold Coast	10	10	Unknown	Unknown
Green Valley Ranch	10	10	Unknown	Unknown		2 tables open
The Orleans	10	25	Unknown	Unknown		up to 4 tables, I was asked to wear a mask
Palace Station	10	10	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown
Palms	N/A	N/A	Unknown	Unknown		No open date announced
Red Rock	10	15	15	Unknown		Updated 8/14
South Point	5	5	5	10	No	Updated 8/15
Strat	5	10	Unknown	Unknown
Sunset Station	5	5	Unknown	Unknown

Other NV Casinos	Day Min	Night Min	Weekend Day	Weekend Night	Dividers	Comments
Edgewater (Laughlin)	10	10	Unknown	Unknown
Harrahs (Laughlin)	10	15	Unknown	Unknown	no
Atlantis (Reno)	5/10	5/10	Unknown	Unknown		3 tables on weekends
Cal Neva (Reno)	5	5	Unknown	Unknown
Circus Circus (Reno)	Closed	Closed	Unknown	Unknown		Closed table game pit
Eldorado (Reno)	5	10	Unknown	Unknown
Grand Sierra (Reno)	15	15-25 Unknown	Unknown
Peppermill (Reno)	5	5	10	10	3 craps tables
Silver Legacy (Reno)	10	10	Unknown	Unknown
Hard Rock (Tahoe)	5	5	Unknown	Unknown
Harrahs (Tahoe)	10	10	Unknown	Unknown
Montbleu (Tahoe)	10	15	Unknown	Unknown
Nugget (Wendover)	5	5	5	5		Updated 7/31
Peppermill (Wendover)	5	5	10	10		Updated 7/31
Rainbow (Wendover)	5	5	10	10		Updated 7/31

Non/NV Casino	Day Min	Night Min	Weekend Day	Weekend Night	Dividers	Comments
Wind Creek (Wetumpka, AL)	15	25	Unknown	Unknown		4 to a table Updated 7/31
Sycuan (San Diego, CA)	10	10	Unknown	Unknown		Masks required
Barona (So Cal)	10	15	10	10-15		2 tables 2 per side, dealers managing bets for players. Updated 8/21 ($10 at times)
Harrahs (So Cal)	15-25	15-25	15-50	15-50	No	Updated 7/31
Viejas (So Cal)	N/A	N/A	Unknown	Unknown		No live tables
Foxwoods (CT)	15	25	Unknown	Unknown
Mohegan (CT)	15-25	25	Unknown	Unknown		2 were 10, 2
Harrington (DE)	15	15-25	Unknown	Unknown		Must wear mask and face shield
Rivers (Chicago, IL)	15	15
Blue Chip (Michigan City, IN)	5	10	Unknown	Unknown		5 minimum prop bets, 5 min ATS bet.
Caesars Southern IN	10	15	15	25		Updated 8/5
French Lick Resort (French Lick, IN)	15	15	25	25		Tables open at 11am and close at 3AM. Updated 8/5
Harrah's Hooiser Park (Anderson, IN)	10	10	Unknown	Unknown
Indiana Grand (IN)	10	15	Unknown	Unknown	No
Belle (Baton Rogue, LA)	5	10	Unknown	Unknown		one half sized table sometimes they open the big one. $5 small table and $10 big late at night
Hollywood (Baton Rogue, LA)	5	10	Unknown	15		Updated 7/24
L’auberge (Baton Rogue,LA)	15	15	Unknown	Unknown	No
L’auberge (Lake Charles,LA)	15	15	Unknown	Unknown	No	1 bubble craps $5 min
El Dorado (Shreveport, LA)	10	10	10	10		Updated 8/17
Horseshoe (Shreveport, LA) 15	15	15	15		Updated 8/17
Margaritaville (Shreveport, LA) 15	15	15	15		Updated 8/17
Ocean Downs (MD)	10	15		Unknown	Unknown
Maryland Live (MD)	25	50	50	Unknown	Yes	5 tables, 4 per side. Electronic craps 15 min
MGM @ National Harbor	50-100		Unknown	Unknown	Yes	4 craps tables 2 were $50 and 2 were $100 mins. Not bubble craps or low roller options.
Firekeepers (Battle Creek, MI)	10	15+	Unknown	Unknown	No dividers, only distancing	1-2 tables depending on demand, did see it at $15 during the day $25 on Fri/Sat night. Masks required, no smoking. $3 Bubble Craps.
Four Winds Casino	15	15	Unknown	Unknown		Digital craps table 5$ min Tuesday and Sunday night. Did not check bubble craps
Gun Lake (Wayland, MI)	10	15	Unknown	Unknown	No	Temp check, masks, usually the crapless table is open
Turtle Creek (Traverse City, MI)	5	Unknown	Unknown	Unknowned		2 tables, temp check, masks
Soaring Eagle (Mt Pleasant, MI)	10	15	Unknown	Unknown	Yes	5 players per side with glass. Tough to hear dealer.
Hollywood Casino, Maryland Heights (St Louis) MO	15	15	Unknown	Unknown		1 regular table & 1 no craps. 4 per side. No outside drinks.
River City (St. Louis, MS)	20	20	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	4 players per side. $20 min. You have to have at least a $20 bet for every throw to "hold your spot"
Beau Rivage (Biloxi, MS)	25	25	Unknown	Unknown	unknown	3 tables
Boomtown (Biloxi, MS)	10	10	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	1 table
IP (Biloxi, MS)	25	25	Unknown	Unknown
Scarlett Pearl (Biloxi, MS)	15	25	Unknown	Unknown	No	Masks required, temp check
The Palace Biloxi, MS)	10	15	Unknown	Unknown
Treasure Bay (Biloxi, MS)	10	10	Unknown	Unknown
Harrah’s Cherokee & Murphy	15	15	Unknown	Unknown	No
Harrahs River Valley (Murphy, NC)	25	25	Unknown	Unknown
Ballys (AC, NJ)	15	15	Unknown	10		Updated 7/29
Caesars (AC, NJ)	15	15	Unknown	15-25		Updated 7/29
Harrahs (AC, NJ)	15	15	Unknown	Unknown
Hard Rock (AC, NJ	15	25	Unknown	Unknown		2 tables - Updated 7-29
Resorts (AC, NJ)	15	25	Unknown	15	Yes	1 table - Updated 7-29
Ocean (AC, NJ)	10	15	15	25	Yes	4-6 tables
Buffalo Creek (NY)	15	25	Unknown	Unknown
Seneca Niagra (NY)	10	15	Unknown	Unknown		1 table, can go up to $25
Jack/Harrah's (Cincinnati, OH)	25	25	25	25		3 tables, $25 open to close
Hollywood (Columbus, OH)	10-15	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	2 tables, masks required
Hollywood (Grantville, PA)	15	25	Unknown Unknown	Unknown		2 tables, masks required
Harrah's Philly (PA)	Unknown	Unknown	15	25		Updated 8/10
Meadows (PA)	10	10	Unknown	Unknown		2-3 tables.
Mohegan Sun (PA)	Unknown	Unknown	25-50	Unknown
Windcreek (PA)	10	10	Unknown	Unknown
Mount airy (PA)	10	10	Unknown	Unknown
Valley Forge (PA)			10
Parx (Bensalem, PA)	15	25	Unknown	Unknown		15 but maintaining 25
Southland Casino Racing (West Memphis, TN)	N/A	N/A	Unknown	Unknown	Yes	4 tables all closed. Other pit games open with plexiglas dividers. Bubble craps $5 minimum.
Mardi Gras (Nitro, WV)			15			Usually open on weekends - Updated 7/28

*Last update 8/21
Part 1. It's getting buried so I figured we would make a new one. Part 2
Pulled additional info from here.

The previous post is here. It's getting buried so I figured we would make a new one.
Keep reporting those minimums:

Vegas Strip Casino	Day Min	Night Min	Dividers	Comments
Aria	10	10	Yes
Ballys
Bellagio	10	25	Yes, all tables	)May be lower on weekday nights, $15 has been seen) Poker tables open
Caesars	15	25	No	Poker tables open
Casino Royale	N/A	N/A	N/A	Table Games not open
Cosmo	15/25	50-100
Encore	50	100	Yes, on some tables	Reports of $10 tables during the day
Excalibur	10-15	15		10 crapless, 15 regular
Flamingo	10-15	15-25
Harrah's	15	25	No
Linq	10-15	10-15	No
Luxor	10	10
Mandalay Bay	N/A	N/A
MGM Grand	10	25	Yes, all tables
NY/NY	10	15-25	Yes, all tables
Osheas	Unknown	15
Paris	10-15	15	No	Opened 6/18 - Masks required at tables.
Planet Hollywood	N/A	N/A		No open date announced
Rio	N/A	N/A		No open date announced
Sahara	5	10
Strat	Day	10	Unknown
Treasure Island	5	15
Venetian	10-15	25	No
Wynn	25-50	50-100	Yes, on some tables	Updated 6/16

Downtown Casino	Day Min	Night Min	Dividers	Comments
Binions	5	10		Binions had $5 table several times with little to no social distancing
California	10	10		From 7/15 on Vegas Message Board
The D	10	15	No glass
Downtown Grand	10	10		Checks your temperature before letting you into casino, also NO valet, self-park only.
El Cortez	10	10	Yes, some tables	2 tables
Four Queens	10	10	No	From 7/16 on Vegas Message Board, Four queens had a $5 table in the morning on saturday
Fremont	10	10		From 7/15 on Vegas Message Board
Golden Gate	10	15		From 7/14 on Vegas Message Board
Golden Nugget	10	10		From 7/15 on Vegas Message Board
Plaza	10	10
Sams Town	15	15		1 table

Offstrip Casino	Day Min	Night Min	Dividers	Comments
Aliente	10	10
Boulder Station	10	10
Cannery	5	5		up to 2 tables - now allowing 4 per side
Ellis Island	5	5		1 table
Gold Coast	10	10
Green Valley Ranch	10	10		2 tables open
The Orleans	10	25		up to 4 tables, I was asked to wear a mask
Palace Station	10	10	Unknown
Palms	N/A	N/A		No open date announced
Red Rock	10	15
South Point	5	5		2-3x tables w/ only one $5 buy in
Strat	5	10
Sunset Station	5	5

Other NV Casinos	Day Min	Night Min	Dividers	Comments
Edgewater (Laughlin)	10	10
Harrahs (Laughlin)	10	15	no
Atlantis (Reno)	5/10	5/10		3 tables on weekends
Cal Neva (Reno)	5	5
Circus Circus (Reno)	Closed	Closed		Closed table game pit
Eldorado (Reno)	5	10
Grand Sierra (Reno)	15	15-25
Peppermill (Reno)	10	10	3 craps tables
Silver Legacy (Reno)	10	10
Hard Rock (Tahoe)	5	5
Harrahs (Tahoe)	10	10
Montbleu (Tahoe)	10	15

Non/NV Casino	Day Min	Night Min	Dividers	Comments
Foxwoods (CT)	15	25
Mohegan (CT)	10-50	10-50		2 were 10, 2 $15, 1 $25, 1 $50. Plus a high rollers table
Harrington (DE)	15	15-25		Must wear mask and face shield
Blue Chip (Michigan City, IN)	5	10		5 minimum prop bets, 5 min ATS bet.
Harrah's Hooiser Park (Anderson, IN)	10	10
Indiana Grand (IN)	10	15	No
Belle (Baton Rogue, LA)	5	10		one half sized table sometimes they open the big one. $5 small table and $10 big late at night
Hollywood (Baton Rogue, LA)	5	10		one half sized table sometimes they open the big one. $5 small table and $10 big late at night
L’auberge (Baton Rogue,LA)	15	15	No
L’auberge (Lake Charles,LA)	15	15	No	1 bubble craps $5 min
Harrahs (Shreveport, LA)	15	25
Margaritaville (Shreveport, LA)	25	25
Ocean Downs (MD)	10	15
Maryland Live (MD)	25	50	Yes	5 tables, 4 per side. Electronic craps 15 min
MGM @ National Harbor	50-100		Yes	4 craps tables 2 were $50 and 2 were $100 mins. Not bubble craps or low roller options.
Firekeepers (Battle Creek, MI)	10	15+	No dividers, only distancing	1-2 tables depending on demand, did see it at $15 during the day $25 on Fri/Sat night. Masks required, no smoking. $3 Bubble Craps.
Four Winds Casino	15	15		Digital craps table 5$ min Tuesday and Sunday night. Did not check bubble craps
Gun Lake (Wayland, MI)	10	15	No	Temp check, masks, usually the crapless table is open
Turtle Creek (Traverse City, MI)	5
Soaring Eagle (Mt Pleasant, MI)	10	15	Yes	5 players per side with glass. Tough to hear dealer.
Hollywood Casino, Maryland Heights (St Louis) MO	15	15		1 regular table & 1 no craps. 4 per side. No outside drinks.
River City (St. Louis, MS)	20	20	Unknown	4 players per side. $20 min. You have to have at least a $20 bet for every throw to "hold your spot"
Beau Rivage (Biloxi, MS)	25	25	unknown	3 tables
Boomtown (Biloxi, MS)	10	10	Unknown	1 table
IP (Biloxi, MS)	25	25
Scarlett Pearl (Biloxi, MS)	15	25	No	Masks required, temp check
The Palace Biloxi, MS)	10	15
Treasure Bay (Biloxi, MS)	10	10
Harrah’s Cherokee & Murphy	15	15	No
Harrahs River Valley (Murphy, NC)	25	25
Harrahs (AC, NJ)	15	15
Hard Rock (AC, NJ	25	25	Yes	2 tables
Resorts (AC, NJ)	15	25	Yes	1 table
Ocean (AC, NJ)	15	25	Yes	4-6 tables
Buffalo Creek (NY)	15	25
Seneca Niagra (NY)	10	15		1 table, can go up to $25
Hollywood (Columbus, OH)	10-15	Unknown	Unknown	2 tables, masks required
Hollywood (Grantville, PA)	15	25	Unknown	2 tables, masks required
Meadows (PA)	10	10		2-3 tables.
Windcreek (PA)	10	10
Mount airy (PA)	10	10
Parx (Bensalem, PA)	15	25		15 but maintaining 25
Sycuan (San Diego, CA)	10	10		Masks required
Barona (So Cal)	5	5		3 tables, dealers managing bets for players.
Harrahs (So Cal)	15-25	15-25		Bubble craps $5 min, Interblock bubble $3 min, 1 electronic table $5 min
Viejas (So Cal)	N/A	15		1 table
Southland Casino Racing (West Memphis, TN)	N/A	N/A	Yes	4 tables all closed. Other pit games open with plexiglas dividers. Bubble craps $5 minimum.

Last update 7/21
Pulled additional info from here.

Major talking points he made:
  12:07pm start, 12:55pm end  
General
   
Masks keep Californians healthy! Wear One! Renewed emphasis on the evidence pointing to decreased transmission rates with masks. Masks are one of the most impactful COVID-19 prevention measures. Countries that have worn masks or have had universal mask policies in place have seen significantly less spread of COVID-19. Similar trends in other US states who have adopted masks early.
Launching major multilingual public awareness campaign (PSAs) today for masks. More comprehensive & dynamic, hopefully more impactful. Already received $10.75 million dollars for this campaign. Look at question & answer #2 below for more info.
   
Update on local county actions:
Issued local order yesterday (thanks to help of community leaders): LA, Kings, Ventura, Solano, Imperial
Will issue today: Glenn, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Fresno, Santa Barbara, San Bernandino, Riverside
Highlighted in particular OC local health officials for going beyond the basic, minimum closures issued by Newsom yesterday.
 
Health and Safety
Over 350k businesses received notifications from California's Department of Occupational Safety and Health (OSHA): notices inform businesses that public health orders MUST be followed.
 
July 4th Announcements
Counties with mandatory closures should consider cancelling fireworks shows (due to the social aspect of July 4th)
Californians should not gather with people you do not live with. Avoid crowds. We need to temper the curve again like we did months ago. This week is EXTREMELY important, the gov stresses. He wishes us all a Happy 4th of July otherwise!
 
Positivity Rate:
A metric to show changes in the trendline of infection. It shows the number of positive cases in the tests conducted. An increase in the rate indicates an increase in spread of the virus.
 
24 hr: 4,056 new cases
7 day: 6.9%, up from ? 1 week ago
14 day: 6.3%, up from 4.8% 2 weeks ago
Conclusion: clear increases in the spread of COVID-19 due to steady increases in positivity rate over the last few weeks.
 
 
Hospital Capacity
 
5,355 hospitalizations (56.6% increase over past 2 weeks)
Non-ICU Beds: 46/73k beds taken; 5,355 (~7%) of the 46k are COVID patients
ICU: up 49% in the last two weeks. 1676 ICU cases. 3451 ICU beds available immediately, 10,788 surge aggregate ICU capacity (total CA capacity ICU), 11,480 ventilators available.
 
 
WEAR A MASK!!
Infected droplet spread and distance potential without a mask:
Exhalation: 4.5 ft
Cough: 6 ft
Sneeze: 26ft
   
QUESTIONS
 
q1: many consequences of ignoring orders falls on businesses when it's sometimes the patrons violating. how can we have law enforcement enforce without a mandate with ticket?
a1: fiscal contingency: 2.5 billion in budget contingent upon county enforcing orders by health officers. task force OSHA, etc) will help enforce. This budget transcends the business sector. focus on education. Citations are warranted for gross and repeated neglect.
 
q2: stat of ICU use is concerning. Will state deal with large protestors? What about family gatherings and large parties during July 4th? Is it up to the state to enforce?
a2: We never could enforce fully at this scale, even before COVID-19. The health crisis requires some level of personal responsibility. Have been taking steps to educate the populace in a culturally competent way with trusted public messengers on various platforms (Snoop Dogg, former Governator Arnold). 73 dead in last 24 hours. The ICU numbers are alarming. We must mitigate the spread.
 
q3: asking about how new restrictions yesterday change the re-opening strategy. Any lessons from what did/didn't work?
a3: more targeted education. We need to have a deeper conversation about how to safely re-open. Focus on guidelines with more intensity and specificity. We can safely re-open with different set of expectations and behaviors.
 
q4: PSAs are great, but we need fines and orders from state level for masks and distancing, not local level.
a4: look at q1 & a1 for answers. Counties not following guidelines will have funds withdrawn. [editor's note: the Governor seems hesitant to answer the question about the fines directly. He is slightly hinting that more information will be released in the coming few weeks)
 
q5: what will be done for OC's past disregard for mask orders? Is the fiscal contingency going to work for a county that has grossly disregarded rules?
a5: working together with county officials to ensure that counties are attentive. OC has done a quick 180, looks as though they are moving very quickly.
 
q6: gyms, fitness, churches are still open. why is that?
a6: new guidelines for gyms were placed yesterday. visit covid19.ca.gov/. New guidelines for places of worship. In regards to casino, having government-to-government conversations with sovereign states. Many of these sovereign reservation lands have already started to enact stricter mask and stay-at-home orders. We will be targeting hot spots and monitoring cases in different sectors.
 
q7: CHP permit calendar for July 4th (300 person protest, 2 weddings, another demonstration scheduled 07/04). How would you address?
a7: don't have details of the permits right now, he apologizes. Galeducci (?) is head of CHP force and answered the rest of the question. Been working to try to provide opportunity for peaceful protests to take place safely.
 
q8: same as q1, q4
a8: we are just trying to encourage people to be safe, thoughtful of self and others. "Just because someone else is doing it, doesn't mean you should..." He encourages people to do the right thing. Look at the hard numbers. The facts. Consider that when you are coming together with people this weekend, that one of those statistics could be YOU!
       
For geriatric populations that are unable to go outdoors due to health or safety complications, the Gov urges them to sign up for the "Great Plates Program" which provides seniors with meals 3x/day. Visit covid19.ca.gov for more information.
 
List of counties on watchlist:
(Old: 19) Contra Costa, Fresno, Glenn, Imperial, Kern, Kings, LA, Merced, Orange, Riverside, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Joaquin, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Solano, Stanislaus, Tulare, Ventura
(New: none)
   
Edit: updating as he releases more info.
Link to live press conference
Link to yesterday's discussion thread
   
Helpful Links:
California Department of Public Health (CDPH) website
What to do if you start to develop symptoms of COVID-19 & want to get tested (courtesy: CDPH)
COVID-19 CA Emotional Support & Well-Being Resources
 
editor's note: Remember folks, spread the love, not the virus!

Major talking points he made:
  12:07pm start, 12:55pm end  
General
   
Masks keep Californians healthy! Wear One! Renewed emphasis on the evidence pointing to decreased transmission rates with masks. Masks are one of the most impactful COVID-19 prevention measures. Countries that have worn masks or have had universal mask policies in place have seen significantly less spread of COVID-19. Similar trends in other US states who have adopted masks early.
Launching major multilingual public awareness campaign (PSAs) today for masks. More comprehensive & dynamic, hopefully more impactful. Already received $10.75 million dollars for this campaign. Look at question & answer #2 below for more info.
   
Update on local county actions:
Issued local order yesterday (thanks to help of community leaders): LA, Kings, Ventura, Solano, Imperial
Will issue today: Glenn, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Fresno, Santa Barbara, San Bernandino, Riverside
Highlighted in particular OC local health officials for going beyond the basic, minimum closures issued by Newsom yesterday.
 
Health and Safety
Over 350k businesses received notifications from California's Department of Occupational Safety and Health (OSHA): notices inform businesses that public health orders MUST be followed.
 
July 4th Announcements
Counties with mandatory closures should consider cancelling fireworks shows (due to the social aspect of July 4th)
Californians should not gather with people you do not live with. Avoid crowds. We need to temper the curve again like we did months ago. This week is EXTREMELY important, the gov stresses. He wishes us all a Happy 4th of July otherwise!
 
Positivity Rate:
A metric to show changes in the trendline of infection. It shows the number of positive cases in the tests conducted. An increase in the rate indicates an increase in spread of the virus.
 
24 hr: 4,056 new cases
7 day: 6.9%, up from ? 1 week ago
14 day: 6.3%, up from 4.8% 2 weeks ago
Conclusion: clear increases in the spread of COVID-19 due to steady increases in positivity rate over the last few weeks.
 
 
Hospital Capacity
 
5,355 hospitalizations (56.6% increase over past 2 weeks)
Non-ICU Beds: 46/73k beds taken; 5,355 (~7%) of the 46k are COVID patients
ICU: up 49% in the last two weeks. 1676 ICU cases. 3451 ICU beds available immediately, 10,788 surge aggregate ICU capacity (total CA capacity ICU), 11,480 ventilators available.
 
 
WEAR A MASK!!
Infected droplet spread and distance potential without a mask:
Exhalation: 4.5 ft
Cough: 6 ft
Sneeze: 26ft
   
QUESTIONS
 
q1: many consequences of ignoring orders falls on businesses when it's sometimes the patrons violating. how can we have law enforcement enforce without a mandate with ticket?
a1: fiscal contingency: 2.5 billion in budget contingent upon county enforcing orders by health officers. task force OSHA, etc) will help enforce. This budget transcends the business sector. focus on education. Citations are warranted for gross and repeated neglect.
 
q2: stat of ICU use is concerning. Will state deal with large protestors? What about family gatherings and large parties during July 4th? Is it up to the state to enforce?
a2: We never could enforce fully at this scale, even before COVID-19. The health crisis requires some level of personal responsibility. Have been taking steps to educate the populace in a culturally competent way with trusted public messengers on various platforms (Snoop Dogg, former Governator Arnold). 73 dead in last 24 hours. The ICU numbers are alarming. We must mitigate the spread.
 
q3: asking about how new restrictions yesterday change the re-opening strategy. Any lessons from what did/didn't work?
a3: more targeted education. We need to have a deeper conversation about how to safely re-open. Focus on guidelines with more intensity and specificity. We can safely re-open with different set of expectations and behaviors.
 
q4: PSAs are great, but we need fines and orders from state level for masks and distancing, not local level.
a4: look at q1 & a1 for answers. Counties not following guidelines will have funds withdrawn. [editor's note: the Governor seems hesitant to answer the question about the fines directly. He is slightly hinting that more information will be released in the coming few weeks)
 
q5: what will be done for OC's past disregard for mask orders? Is the fiscal contingency going to work for a county that has grossly disregarded rules?
a5: working together with county officials to ensure that counties are attentive. OC has done a quick 180, looks as though they are moving very quickly.
 
q6: gyms, fitness, churches are still open. why is that?
a6: new guidelines for gyms were placed yesterday. visit covid19.ca.gov/. New guidelines for places of worship. In regards to casino, having government-to-government conversations with sovereign states. Many of these sovereign reservation lands have already started to enact stricter mask and stay-at-home orders. We will be targeting hot spots and monitoring cases in different sectors.
 
q7: CHP permit calendar for July 4th (300 person protest, 2 weddings, another demonstration scheduled 07/04). How would you address?
a7: don't have details of the permits right now, he apologizes. Galeducci (?) is head of CHP force and answered the rest of the question. Been working to try to provide opportunity for peaceful protests to take place safely.
 
q8: same as q1, q4
a8: we are just trying to encourage people to be safe, thoughtful of self and others. "Just because someone else is doing it, doesn't mean you should..." He encourages people to do the right thing. Look at the hard numbers. The facts. Consider that when you are coming together with people this weekend, that one of those statistics could be YOU!
   
For geriatric populations that are unable to go outdoors due to health or safety complications, the Gov urges them to sign up for the "Great Plates Program" which provides seniors with meals 3x/day. Visit covid19.ca.gov for more information.
 
List of counties on watchlist.
(Old: 19) LA, Fresno, Imperial, Kern, Kings, San Joaquin and Tulare, Contra Costa, Riverside, Sacramento, San Bernardino, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Stanislaus, Ventura, Solano, Merced, Glenn and Orange
(New: none)
   
Edit: updating as he releases more info.
Link to live press conference
Link to yesterday's discussion thread
 
Remember folks, spread the love, not the virus!

Major edit Specific, local SB county guidelines released in conjunction with the 330pm SB county press conference.
Beaches are CLOSED to the public with the exception of exercise-related activities. NO stopping, sitting, picnic-ing, etc. Additionally, ALL BARS, REGARDLESS OF WHETHER THEY SERVE FOOD, WILL BE CLOSED. This was a big point of contention for the city and a large loophole as many bars/breweries merely applied for a food license to resume normal operations....
   
Major talking points he made:
  12:07pm start, 12:55pm end  
General
   
Masks keep Californians healthy! Wear One! Renewed emphasis on the evidence pointing to decreased transmission rates with masks. Masks are one of the most impactful COVID-19 prevention measures. Countries that have worn masks or have had universal mask policies in place have seen significantly less spread of COVID-19. Similar trends in other US states who have adopted masks early.
Launching major multilingual public awareness campaign (PSAs) today for masks. More comprehensive & dynamic, hopefully more impactful. Already received $10.75 million dollars for this campaign. Look at question & answer #2 below for more info.
   
Update on local county actions:
Issued local order yesterday (thanks to help of community leaders): LA, Kings, Ventura, Solano, Imperial
Will issue today: Glenn, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Fresno, Santa Barbara, San Bernandino, Riverside
Highlighted in particular OC local health officials for going beyond the basic, minimum closures issued by Newsom yesterday.
 
Health and Safety
Over 350k businesses received notifications from California's Department of Occupational Safety and Health (OSHA): notices inform businesses that public health orders MUST be followed.
 
July 4th Announcements
Counties with mandatory closures should consider cancelling fireworks shows (due to the social aspect of July 4th)
Californians should not gather with people you do not live with. Avoid crowds. We need to temper the curve again like we did months ago. This week is EXTREMELY important, the gov stresses. He wishes us all a Happy 4th of July otherwise!
 
Positivity Rate:
A metric to show changes in the trendline of infection. It shows the number of positive cases in the tests conducted. An increase in the rate indicates an increase in spread of the virus.
 
24 hr: 4,056 new cases
7 day: 6.9%, up from ? 1 week ago
14 day: 6.3%, up from 4.8% 2 weeks ago
Conclusion: clear increases in the spread of COVID-19 due to steady increases in positivity rate over the last few weeks.
 
 
Hospital Capacity
 
5,355 hospitalizations (56.6% increase over past 2 weeks)
Non-ICU Beds: 46/73k beds taken; 5,355 (~7%) of the 46k are COVID patients
ICU: up 49% in the last two weeks. 1676 ICU cases. 3451 ICU beds available immediately, 10,788 surge aggregate ICU capacity (total CA capacity ICU), 11,480 ventilators available.
 
 
WEAR A MASK!!
Infected droplet spread and distance potential without a mask:
Exhalation: 4.5 ft
Cough: 6 ft
Sneeze: 26ft
   
QUESTIONS
 
q1: many consequences of ignoring orders falls on businesses when it's sometimes the patrons violating. how can we have law enforcement enforce without a mandate with ticket?
a1: fiscal contingency: 2.5 billion in budget contingent upon county enforcing orders by health officers. task force OSHA, etc) will help enforce. This budget transcends the business sector. focus on education. Citations are warranted for gross and repeated neglect.
 
q2: stat of ICU use is concerning. Will state deal with large protestors? What about family gatherings and large parties during July 4th? Is it up to the state to enforce?
a2: We never could enforce fully at this scale, even before COVID-19. The health crisis requires some level of personal responsibility. Have been taking steps to educate the populace in a culturally competent way with trusted public messengers on various platforms (Snoop Dogg, former Governator Arnold). 73 dead in last 24 hours. The ICU numbers are alarming. We must mitigate the spread.
 
q3: asking about how new restrictions yesterday change the re-opening strategy. Any lessons from what did/didn't work?
a3: more targeted education. We need to have a deeper conversation about how to safely re-open. Focus on guidelines with more intensity and specificity. We can safely re-open with different set of expectations and behaviors.
 
q4: PSAs are great, but we need fines and orders from state level for masks and distancing, not local level.
a4: look at q1 & a1 for answers. Counties not following guidelines will have funds withdrawn. [editor's note: the Governor seems hesitant to answer the question about the fines directly. He is slightly hinting that more information will be released in the coming few weeks)
 
q5: what will be done for OC's past disregard for mask orders? Is the fiscal contingency going to work for a county that has grossly disregarded rules?
a5: working together with county officials to ensure that counties are attentive. OC has done a quick 180, looks as though they are moving very quickly.
 
q6: gyms, fitness, churches are still open. why is that?
a6: new guidelines for gyms were placed yesterday. visit covid19.ca.gov/. New guidelines for places of worship. In regards to casino, having government-to-government conversations with sovereign states. Many of these sovereign reservation lands have already started to enact stricter mask and stay-at-home orders. We will be targeting hot spots and monitoring cases in different sectors.
 
q7: CHP permit calendar for July 4th (300 person protest, 2 weddings, another demonstration scheduled 07/04). How would you address?
a7: don't have details of the permits right now, he apologizes. Galeducci (?) is head of CHP force and answered the rest of the question. Been working to try to provide opportunity for peaceful protests to take place safely.
 
q8: same as q1, q4
a8: we are just trying to encourage people to be safe, thoughtful of self and others. "Just because someone else is doing it, doesn't mean you should..." He encourages people to do the right thing. Look at the hard numbers. The facts. Consider that when you are coming together with people this weekend, that one of those statistics could be YOU!
   
For geriatric populations that are unable to go outdoors due to health or safety complications, the Gov urges them to sign up for the "Great Plates Program" which provides seniors with meals 3x/day. Visit covid19.ca.gov for more information.
 
List of counties on watchlist.
(Old: 19) LA, Fresno, Imperial, Kern, Kings, San Joaquin and Tulare, Contra Costa, Riverside, Sacramento, San Bernardino, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Stanislaus, Ventura, Solano, Merced, Glenn and Orange
(New: none)
   
Edit: updating as he releases more info.
Link to live press conference
Link to yesterday's discussion thread
*nbsp;
Remember folks, spread the love, not the virus!