Keep Tahoe Blue removes a record amount of trash surrounding Lake Tahoe over July 4th. How the Supreme Court affirmative action ruling impacts California. An Elk Grove music prodigy is selected for the prestigious GRAMMY Camp.

Record trash levels at Lake Tahoe

July 4th is one of the busiest holidays– if not the busiest– across Lake Tahoe. For the past 10 years the non-profit known as Keep Tahoe Blue has spent the morning after cleaning up what’s left behind. This year came with a sad milestone. In the span of just three hours volunteers removed more than 8,500 pounds of trash surrounding Tahoe, which the non-profit says is an all-time high. Dr. Darcie Goodman Collins is the Chief Executive Officer of the League to Save Lake Tahoe– also known as Keep Tahoe Blue. She along with volunteer Naomi Morgan joined Insight to discuss the record clean up, how litter has changed in the past decades, as well as which areas have improved significantly since the first July 5th beach cleanup in 2014.

Affirmative action

In a 6-3 ruling, the Supreme Court effectively ended affirmative action nationwide. While proponents believe this ruling is a step in the right direction, others warn it will continue to fuel inequality in higher education. By declaring race can no longer be a factor in the admissions process, the ruling forces colleges and universities to find other ways to cultivate a diverse student body. Something that California public universities have been attempting for decades. In 1996, California voters approved Prop 209, which banned race-based admissions at public universities. The University of California actually filed an amicus brief to the Supreme Court supporting affirmative action, saying that despite more than 25-years of finding alternatives, campuses still struggle to enroll a diverse student body. But there are success stories– and we don’t have to travel far. Dr. Mark Henderson, Internist and Associate Dean of Admissions at UC Davis School of Medicine, explains how UC Davis became one of the most diverse medical schools in the nation without affirmative action. Insight is also joined by Lance Izumi, Senior Director of Education Studies at the Pacific Research Institute, about why he supports the Supreme Court’s decision ending affirmative action, and why he believes the problem is a systemic failure of our country’s public school system.

Elk Grove music prodigy

Learning an instrument is a big accomplishment. But an Elk Grove teen has taken that skill and passion to a new level. Neil Nayyar is a musical prodigy who can play more than 100 instruments– and counting. Many are rare instruments from all over the world. This extraordinary talent has landed him on Good Morning America and the Jennifer Hudson show. Neil joins Insight ahead of attending the Recording Academy’s GRAMMY Camp, a music industry program for high school students interested in careers in music.