April 21, 2021 The Skanner Portland & Seattle Page 7
Arts & Entertainment
LeVar Burton to be ‘Jeopardy!’
Guest Host; Petition Credited
LOS ANGELES (AP) —
The 200,000-plus LeVar
Burton boosters who
signed a petition calling
for him to be the new
“Jeopardy!” host will get
to see him try the job on
for size.
Burton is among the fi-
nal group of guest hosts
for the quiz show, which
lost its longtime host
Alex Trebek to cancer
last November and has
put off announcing his
successor.
Burton’s
supporters
seized the opportunity to
launch an online petition
for the actor, who starred
on “Star Trek: The Next
Generation” and “Roots,”
and was the host of
“Reading Rainbow,” the
children’s educational
program.
In his career, Burton
has “inspired and shaped
the minds of several gen-
erations of trivia-lov-
ing nerds,” according to
the petition that, as of
Wednesday, had 246,000
and counting signers.
In an email, a spokes-
woman for Burton said
he believes the petition
drive and his social me-
dia interactions with
fans were factors in the
invitation for him to be a
guest host.
There was no immedi-
ate reply to a request for
comment from producer
Sony Pictures Television.
TV anchors and jour-
nalists George Steph-
anopoulos and Robin
Roberts of ABC and Da-
vid Faber of CNBC and
sportscaster Joe Buck
are the other temp hosts
getting one-week stints,
Sony said Wednesday.
The air dates weren’t an-
nounced.
LeVar Burton attends the 70th National Book Awards ceremony in New York on Nov. 20, 2019. Burton will
serve as guest host on the game show “Jeopardy!” (Photo by Greg Allen/Invision/AP, File)
Burning Man Mulling Mandatory COVD-19 Vaccines for August
By SCOTT SONNER Asso-
ciated Press
RENO, Nev. (AP) —
Burning Man festival
organizers have said
that they are consider-
ing requiring attendees
to prove they have been
vaccinated for COVID-19
if the organizers move
forward with plans to
hold this year’s count-
er-culture festival in the
Nevada desert.
The organizers backed
off an earlier statement
indicating that they had
already decided to make
the shots mandatory.
They say they won’t de-
cide for sure until the
end of the month wheth-
er the event that was can-
celed last year because of
the pandemic will take
place this summer.
Burning Man CEO
Marian Goodell said in
a video message posted
on the group’s web site
on April 8 that “vaccines
will be required to come
to Burning Man.” She
erroneously said at that
time that the state of Ne-
vada requires that peo-
ple have proof of being
vaccinated at large gath-
erings.
She acknowledged last
weekend in an updated
statement on the group’s
web site that she “mis-
spoke.”
Citing a backlash from
many long-time attend-
ees at the annual event
that draws more than
80,000 people to the Black
Rock Desert about 100
miles (160 kilometers)
north of Reno, Goodell
clarified that organizers
had been formulating
their own guidelines on
mandatory vaccinations
as part of the health and
safety plan they must
submit to state and coun-
ty officials.
“We are weighing the
gravity of what that
does,” Goodell said. “And
we know that challenges
the concept of `radical in-
clusion.’”
She said civic respon-
sibility is an important
part of organizers’ guid-
ing principles but that
they realize people in
some countries haven’t
had access to vaccines,
nor have most children.
“That’s not quite fig-
ured out yet. There are
plenty of people that are
challenging whether it is
necessary,” she said.
Goodell added: “We
hear you. The question
of vaccines and how to
basically require them,
and even from a logisti-
cal standing, frankly —
all of that, we’re taking a
look at.”
Goodell said organiz-
ers also have not decided
whether to require or pro-
vide testing at the event.
She said they hope to
reach a decision by the
end of this week and at
the latest by April 30.
“At this point, the gov-
ernment agencies in-
volved in collaborating
with us have been really
super supportive and
super helpful. They are
not putting up any road-
blocks. We are all looking
at the resources to have
to make it happen and get
this done,” Goodell said.
Goodell said the appli-
cation organizers must
submit for a special use
permit to the U.S. Bureau
of Land Management
by April 23 seeks an at-
tendance cap of 69,000,
down from the 80,000
cap approved for some
past festivals.
She said current input
In this Sept. 2, 2004 file photo stilt walkers enjoy a sunset stroll at the Burningman counter culture arts
festival in the Black Rock Desert 100 miles north east of Reno, NV. (Photo Scott Sady/The Reno Gazette-
Journal via AP)
from leaders of the larg-
est theme camps indicate
about 20% to 30% so far
are committed to return-
ing to the playa in Au-
gust, which would sug-
gest overall attendance
in the range of 60,000 to
65,000.