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COMMENTARY: Dying to Work — Amazon, Other Frontline Workers Bear Brunt Of COVID-19

NNPA NEWSWIRE — Nationally, workers have voiced… complaints about a lack of protective equipment such as masks, inefficient sanitizing of workspaces, and failure by some employers to honor the social distancing as recommended by the CDC to protect themselves from contracting the coronavirus.

Published

6 years ago

April 15, 2020

Oakland Post

Many have expressed anxiety about facing a kind of “Sophie’s Choice,” that is, forced to choose between going to work and possibly risk being exposed to the coronavirus or staying at home and not being able to put food on the table or pay bills. (Photo: iStockphoto / NNPA)

Many Forced to Choose Between Safety and Paying the Bills

By Mel Reeves, Community Editor, Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder

“The organizer’s conduct was immoral, unacceptable, and arguably illegal,” is how an Amazon official sought to frame the efforts of one of its workers who was fired by the company. The worker, Christian Smalls, had tried to bring attention to unsafe working conditions at an Amazon warehouse in New York City.

Smalls had complained about the lack of gloves and masks and that the company had not been forthcoming in sharing with workers that others in the warehouse had contracted the virus, putting everyone at risk.

The official Amazon general counsel David Zapolsky also wrote in notes during a company meeting that included Amazon head Jeff Bezos, that Smalls who is Black, was not “smart or articulate.” Ironically, Smalls has told his story to several national news outlets, including a major news network.

Nationally, workers have voiced similar complaints about a lack of protective equipment such as masks, inefficient sanitizing of workspaces, and failure by some employers to honor the social distancing as recommended by the CDC to protect themselves from contracting the coronavirus.

The MSR last weekend asked a few employees at one of the local Minneapolis Cub stores why they were not wearing masks. Two of them said management had told them they didn’t want them to wear masks. They said management cited the CDC as declaring people do not need to wear masks to be safe from contracting COVID-19.

Asked if management had been informed that the CDC has since changed its guidelines, they said they were not sure. “I hope it changes,” said one employee who wished to remain anonymous.” I definitely want to protect myself.”

Amazon fired Smalls last week after he led a walkout by a number of employees at a Staten Island distribution warehouse. Amazon says he was fired for violating a company-imposed 14-day quarantine after he came into contact with an employee who tested positive for the coronavirus.

Smalls disputes this, saying the employee who tested positive came into contact with many other workers for longer periods of time before their test came back. He said he was singled out because he wanted the company to sanitize the work area and be forthright about the numbers of fellow workers who had contracted the virus.

Amazon workers have been particularly vocal across the country as social media has shared protests by workers holding signs denouncing their working conditions. “This disease is killing people on a daily basis,” one worker who wished to remain anonymous told Business Insider. “As people are testing positive for it where I work, they still expect for us to come there.”

The U.S. Postal Service has confirmed that 259 employees have tested positive for the virus in its workforce of 630,000. To date, two letter carriers in New York City, one in Montgomery, Alabama and one in Detroit have died after contracting the virus.

The Postal Service has sought to make gloves and masks available in all of its work stations, but employees still say basic items are not available. More than 85,000 workers have signed a petition asking for better protections.

The Washington Post recently reported that four grocery store workers have died after contracting the novel coronavirus. Two were Walmart workers who worked at the Evergreen Park Walmart in Chicago, one was a worker at Trader Joes in Scarsdale, New York, and another was a grocery greeter at a Giant store in Largo, Maryland.

A Detroit bus driver Jason Hargrove, whose Facebook rant warned people to be careful and be responsible died from the virus only weeks after posting the video. A bus driver in King County, Washington also succumbed to the disease last week; he too had been vocal about having his transit company provide better protection for him and his fellow drivers.

According to the Daily Mail, 22 New York City transit workers have died after contracting COVID-19.

Four workers at New York’s Shop Rite stores have come down with the disease. Frontline healthcare workers have also been contracting the virus in increasing numbers. A number of them have died.

Workers for American Airlines have reported that a few of their co-workers have come down with confirmed cases of COVID-19. A worker for an American Airlines regional carrier in Boston said, “Since my co-workers have come down with it, you would expect that they would at least investigate who the worker has been in contact with and have them quarantined.

“They are basically saying they don’t care if it spreads to our families or the general public. No serious measures have been taken to do anything about exposures.”

Eddie Ortiz, an assistant manager at the New York store Gristedes, described his staff as tireless frontline warriors. “They didn’t hesitate for one minute to stay and meet the needs of the public,” he said.

Several of the country’s most prominent union leaders and a number of New York political leaders have demanded that Amazon rescind Smalls’ dismissal. New York State Attorney General Letitia James and Mayor Bill de Blasio called for an investigation into Smalls’ firing. James called Smalls’ firing “immoral.”

“At the height of a global pandemic, Chris Smalls and his colleagues publicly protested the lack of precautions that Amazon was taking to protect them from COVID-19,” James said in a statement. “In New York, the right to organize is codified into law, and any retaliatory action by management related thereto is strictly prohibited. At a time when so many New Yorkers are struggling and are deeply concerned about their safety, this action was also immoral and inhumane.”

According to Amazon their workers are heroes: “The truth is the vast majority of employees continue to show up and do the heroic work of delivering for customers every day,” said a company spokesperson.

“Amazon would rather fire workers than face up to its total failure to do what it should to keep us, our families, and our communities safe,” said Smalls. “…We won’t stop until Amazon provides real protections for our health and safety and clarity for everybody about what it is doing to keep people safe in the middle of the worst pandemic of our lifetimes.”

Smalls told the MSR that it was important for him to express solidarity with fellow Amazon workers in Minnesota and the rest of the country and urged them to, “take the power back. We are the power. If they are not caring about your well-being, then walk out! Without us they are nothing.”

Mel Reeves welcomes reader responses to mreeves@spokesman-recorder.com.

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2026 Lucid Air Grand Touring Review — Is This $136K EV Sedan Worth It?

AUTONETWORK ON BLACKPRESSUSA — Finished in Stellar White Metallic with the Tahoe Grand Touring interior, this Lucid makes a strong first impression. The shape is sleek and low, but it still feels elegant instead of trying too hard. Features like soft-close doors, powered illuminated door handles, 20-inch Aero Lite wheels, and the Glass Canopy Roof help the car feel expensive before you even start it.

Published

2 weeks ago

May 3, 2026

Oakland Post

The 2026 Lucid Air Grand Touring is the kind of luxury EV that makes people stop and ask a simple question: Is this really better than a Tesla Model S, Mercedes EQS, or BMW i7? At $136,150, it has to do more than look futuristic. It has to feel special every time you get in it.

Finished in Stellar White Metallic with the Tahoe Grand Touring interior, this Lucid makes a strong first impression. The shape is sleek and low, yet it still feels elegant rather than trying too hard. Features like soft-close doors, powered illuminated door handles, 20-inch Aero Lite wheels, and the Glass Canopy Roof help the car feel expensive before you even start it.

Inside is where the Air Grand Touring really makes its case. The 34-inch Glass Cockpit Display and retractable Pilot Panel screen give the cabin a clean, modern look that still feels different from other EVs. The Tahoe Extended Leather and Lucid Black Alcantara headliner lifts the sense of occasion, and the front seats are a highlight. They are 20-way power-adjustable, heated, ventilated, and include massage. That matters because luxury buyers at this price expect comfort first.

Rear passengers are not ignored either. You get 5-zone heated rear seating, a rear center console display, and power rear and rear side window sunshades. Add in the Surreal Sound Pro system with 21 speakers, and the Air feels like a true long-distance luxury sedan.

Lucid also gives this car serious EV hardware. The dual-motor all-wheel-drive system, 900V+ charging architecture, and Wunderbox onboard charger are big talking points. Buyers in this segment care about range, charging speed, and everyday ease, not just raw performance. That is where the Lucid continues to stand out.

On the technology side, the Air Grand Touring includes DreamDrive Premium, with 3D Surround View Monitoring, Blind Spot Warning, Automatic Park In and Out, Automatic Emergency Braking, and a Driver Monitoring System with distracted and drowsy driver alerts. This one also has DreamDrive Pro, which adds future-capable ADAS hardware.

There are still some real-world annoyances. Based on your notes, the windshield wiper control is hard to find and use, and that matters more than people think in a high-tech car. When controls become less intuitive, even a beautiful interior can feel frustrating.

Still, the 2026 Lucid Air Grand Touring succeeds where it matters most. It feels luxurious, advanced, comfortable, and thoughtfully engineered. For buyers who want an EV sedan that feels truly premium and less common than the usual choices, this Lucid makes a very strong case.

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Snoop Dogg Celebrates 10 Til’ Midnight at the Compound

LOS ANGELES SENTINEL — The album is paired with a film that stars Snoop Dogg, Hitta J3, G Perico, and Ray Vaughn, and one of the strongest elements of the whole project is that the production stayed rooted right here in Los Angeles.

Published

2 weeks ago

May 3, 2026

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Snoop Dogg celebrated the premiere of 10 Til’ Midnight at his Inglewood recording studio & multipurpose facility, The Compound, but the night felt like much more than an album release. It felt like Los Angeles. It felt like legacy. And it felt like another major move from one of the city’s greatest cultural architects as he continues to prove that he is not just dropping music — he is building moments, shaping narratives, and pushing the culture forward in real time.

What made the event so powerful was the clarity behind the vision. During a panel conversation with DJ Hed, Snoop opened up about the heart behind 10 Til’ Midnight, explaining that the project was created to help bridge older and younger generations while also speaking to the long-standing divisions between Bloods and Crips in a unique way through film. That alone gave the project a different kind of weight. This was not just about songs. This was about using creativity as a tool for connection. This was about taking a story rooted in Los Angeles and telling it in a way that could bring people together.

Snoop Congratulated By Rapper & Fellow 10 Til Midnight Cast Member G Perico (CreativeLB/KreativeKapturez)

The album is paired with a film that stars Snoop Dogg, Hitta J3, G Perico, and Ray Vaughn, and one of the strongest elements of the whole project is that the production stayed rooted right here in Los Angeles. The film was shot in the city, including at WePlay Studios in Inglewood, which gave the entire project an even deeper hometown feel. It was not just a West Coast story in content — it was a Los Angeles-made production from the ground up.

That matters because, in a city like this, authenticity still carries weight. Snoop understands how to make sure that what he creates does not just represent Los Angeles on the surface, but actually comes from it.

What also makes 10 Til’ Midnight significant is that it represents another major step in Snoop’s evolution as both an artist and executive. Public reporting around the project identifies it as his 22nd studio album, but the bigger story is what it represents in this season of his life. This is one of several consecutive moves he has made in his 50s that show he is still building, still expanding, and still finding new ways to reinvent what the next chapter looks like.

Snoop Dogg at the Premiere of 10 Til Midnight (CreativeLB/KreativeKapturez)

Now, as the head of Death Row Records and the newly aligned leader of Death Row Pictures, he is taking the brand into a new dimension. That is what made this moment feel bigger than music. Snoop is not just protecting the legacy of Death Row — he is stretching it. He is expanding it beyond records and into film, visual storytelling, and larger creative worlds that can continue carrying the label’s impact forward. Public reporting has noted that this project arrives as part of that broader cinematic push.

That is a major Los Angeles move because the city has always been built on the intersection of music, film, neighborhood identity, and cultural storytelling. With 10 Til’ Midnight, Snoop is leaning all the way into that intersection.

The room at The Compound reflected that. It felt like a private premiere, but it also felt like a statement — a reminder that Snoop Dogg’s staying power has never been based only on nostalgia. It comes from his ability to remain connected, remain visionary, and remain in tune with how to move the culture without losing the essence of who he is.

That is why this premiere mattered. It was not just about celebrating another album. It was about witnessing a Los Angeles legend continue to evolve, continue to unify, and continue to use art to tell stories that hit deeper than entertainment alone.

In that sense, 10 Til’ Midnight became more than a project launch. It became another example of how Snoop Dogg is still taking Los Angeles to the next level — using music, film, and legacy together to build something bigger than a moment.

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OP-ED: Small Businesses Need Minnesota to Act on Pass-Through Tax Policy

MINNESOTA SPOKESMAN RECORDER — A Twin Cities immigrant entrepreneur who built several businesses including grocery stores in underserved neighborhoods is calling on Minnesota lawmakers to extend the Pass-Through Entity tax option before it expires, warning that its loss would hit small businesses already recovering from Operation Metro Surge with higher federal tax bills.

Published

2 weeks ago

May 3, 2026

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A Twin Cities Small Business Owner Is Urging Minnesota to Extend a Tax Policy That Could Save Thousands of Businesses

By Daniel Hernandez | Minnesota Spokesman Recorder

I came to the United States as a teenager with a clear goal: to build something meaningful through hard work. I put in long days in construction, restaurants, and landscaping; doing whatever it took to learn, save, and eventually start my own business.

Over time, I built and ran several successful ventures, including an event photography company, a magazine, a tax and accounting firm, and now grocery stores serving neighborhoods across the Twin Cities where other retailers chose not to invest. I’ve created jobs, supported families, and committed to communities that deserve stability and opportunity.

That’s why I’m speaking out now.

Small business owners in Minneapolis and the communities we serve are recovering from serious disruptions, including the impacts of Operation Metro Surge. That event hit immigrant communities especially hard. In my own case, I lost nearly half of my 60 employees and saw revenue drop by about 85%. While I worked to provide competitive wages, health benefits, and paid time off, the real hardship fell on the people who lost their jobs and income.

Even as we rebuild, small businesses are facing another challenge. The Minnesota Legislature is considering letting an important tax policy expire: the Pass-Through Entity tax option.

Here’s what that means in plain terms.

Many small businesses, including mine, are pass-through businesses. That means the business itself doesn’t pay income tax. Instead, the owners report the income on their personal tax returns. But under current federal rules, there’s a limit on how much state tax we can deduct. That often leads to higher federal tax bills.

The Pass-Through Entity option fixes that. It allows the business to pay the state tax directly, which means the business can fully deduct those taxes on its federal return and lower the total amount of income taxed federally. The result is straightforward: small business owners pay less in federal taxes, without reducing what the state collects.

This policy is not new or controversial. Thirty-six states already offer it. It doesn’t cost Minnesota anything, it’s revenue neutral. And it benefits more than 66,000 businesses across the state.

In a state where the cost of doing business is already high, it’s hard to understand why we wouldn’t offer the same basic tax treatment as states like California and Illinois.

Small businesses have carried a heavy load in recent years, through a pandemic, rising costs and public safety disruptions. We’ve adapted, reinvested and stayed committed to our communities. What we need now are practical policies that support that work, not make it harder.

If the Minnesota House does not act soon, many businesses will face significantly higher federal tax bills. That’s money that could otherwise be used to hire workers, raise wages or reinvest in local neighborhoods.

I urge Gov. Tim Walz and members of the House Tax Committee to pass House File 3127 and extend the Pass-Through Entity election.

Small businesses are the backbone of our communities. We’ve proven our resilience. Now we need our state leaders to show the same commitment to us.

Daniel Hernandez is the owner of Colonial Market located at 2100 E. Lake St.

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