Aug 10, 2021

Following infrastructure bill victory, Senate Dems look to universal pre-K

Win McNamee/Getty Images

Plus: inequality in higher education, the cost of wildfire prevention and the rise of the micro-wedding.

Segments From this episode

A Warmer World

As wildfires rage, infrastructure bill aims to mitigate their impact

by Samantha Fields

Aug 10, 2021

As it stands, the bill would fund several agencies' efforts to predict, control and plan for blazes caused by climate change.

"You can pay kind of a lot to get us where we need to be on the front end of a disaster...or you could pay twice or three times as much to rebuild and recover," said Mark Ghilarducci, Director of the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services.

David Odisho via Getty Images

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Senate proposal lays path for universal pre-K

by Amanda Peacher

Aug 10, 2021

For many 3- and 4-year-olds, pre-K is the real start to their education. Some cities already fund programs.

Pre-K students at Yung Wing School in New York City. A major bill created by Democrats in Congress includes federally funded universal prekindergarten.

Michael Loccisano via Getty Images

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COVID-19

Small business optimism shrinks as labor shortage, price hikes continue

by Mitchell Hartman

Aug 10, 2021

Owners expect lower sales and worse business conditions in the coming months, reflected in the NFIB’s declining optimism index.

Though the economy is rebounding from the COVID-19 downdraft, small-business owners expect near-term business conditions to worsen.

Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

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Tenants in Los Angeles anxiously await rent relief as the city struggles to get funds out

by David Wagner

Aug 10, 2021

In hard-hit L.A., only about 15% of the city’s current rent relief funding has reached households in need.

Los Angeles demonstrators protest evictions and advocate rent cancellation during the pandemic in August 2020.

Valerie Macon/AFP via Getty Images

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Music from the episode

6000 Ft. Bonobo, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs

Make It Better (feat. Smokey Robinson) Anderson .Paak, Smokey Robinson

French Letter J-Walk

Natural Green Blazo

Deceptacon Le Tigre

The team

Nancy Farghalli Executive Producer

Daisy Palacios Senior Producer

Maria Hollenhorst Producer

Sean McHenry Associate Producer

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