Guardianship Updates
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THIS IS WHAT WE DO! 
The Vegas Voice received a Proclamation from the Las Vegas Mayor and City Council on June 6th for its efforts in protecting seniors. The award recognized “The Vegas Voice for being an exemplary example of bringing awareness of elderly abuse to the community.”
Happily, and proudly standing with the award are (left-to-right) Mayor Carolyn Goodman, Vegas Voice president Ray Sarbacker, political editor Rana Goodman, publisher Dan Roberts, Councilwoman Michelle Fiore, Councilman Bob Coffin and Vegas Voice project Manager Bill Caserta. Photo Credit: Michael Roberts. 
Publisher Dan, president Ray and political editor Rana thanking the Mayor for the prestigious honor and recognition.
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Four Years to
Achieve Justice It’s taken 4 years but finally justice. Private guardian April Parks was sentenced to 16 to 40 years in state prison for her exploitation and destruction of seniors on Friday, 1/4.
Not once did she look at her numerous victims who attended and spoke during the emotional court hearing. The words: “I’m sorry” were never uttered. Her attorney did say that “Everything she did was approved by the Guardianship Court.” |
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We Stopped Him!
The Vegas Voice is very proud to announce that our collective efforts to stop Charles Hoskin from being recommended to the Court of Appeals has been successful. The Nevada Judicial Selection Commission rejected his application yesterday.
In selecting the 3 finalists, the Commission considered (among others) his “professional and personal conduct.” The Commission also considered the public statements and letters/emails of (non)reference. There is no doubt that our “Stop Hoskin” campaign and our combined 657 letters and emails played a pivotal role and for that, we once again thank everyone who took the time to contact the Commission. By the way, everything you need to know about Judge Hoskin can be summed up with the following: 1. Nowhere in his extensive 41 page application did he ever mention or disclose his judicial actions regarding “guardianship.” 2. And when asked “why” his answer was as follows: “There was no room in the application to mention it.” Be assured that The Vegas Voice will continue to keep our eyes and ears on him. And if he has the arrogance to run for re-election as a District Court judge, you better believe that we will do everything to oppose him. |
"The Guardians" Awarded Grand Prize!
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Filmmaker Billie Mintz
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"The Guardians," a film by Billie Mintz that exposed the court sanctioned financial exploitation of Las Vegas senior citizens by private guardians, including Jared E. Shafer and April Parks awarded the “Grand Prize as the Best Documentary Feature” at the recent Silver State Film Festival.
This showing (which included interviews with Vegas Voice political editor Rana Goodman and publisher Dan Roberts) is a positive indication that the documentary will soon be aired nationally in the United States
Congratulations Billie!
This showing (which included interviews with Vegas Voice political editor Rana Goodman and publisher Dan Roberts) is a positive indication that the documentary will soon be aired nationally in the United States
Congratulations Billie!
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And the Award Goes To…
There is nothing more gratifying than to be honored by your peers. With that humble sentiment, I’m very proud to announce that The Vegas Voice has received a total of 8 national and state awards.
We received 5 awards from the North American Mature Publishers Association including: General Excellence (“The Vegas Voice switched from a newspaper to a magazine, but it didn’t leave behind its investigative teeth…its investigative piece on guardianship fraud resulted in indictments of one of the most scandalous abusers. The Voice should be proud of this work.”) Feature Writing – to Rana Goodman and Dan Roberts: (“The Vegas Voice is on a mission and judging by the tone and contents of these articles, it means to succeed.” For our guardianship articles – “It’s a terrific journalistic effort. Readers are well-served by this section.”) Topical Issues (“Dan Roberts doesn’t hold back…There’s no missing his meaning.”) Front Cover/Illustration – to Ray Sarbacker: (“The cover illustration captures the mystique of several elements.”) and Overall Design. Wait there’s more. The Nevada Press Association (you know the big guys – Las Vegas Review Journal, LV Sun, etc.) followed with 3 awards; including Best Print Ad by Ray and; Best Investigative Story by Rana and Dan (Great reporting and coverage on a subject. Thanks for your determined efforts to bring to light abuse of those most vulnerable in our society.”); And to top it all off, The Vegas Voice was chosen for the “Freedom of the Press” award for upholding the principles of the First Amendment and protecting the public’s right in exposing the scandal. (“The fervor to expose a major problem with guardianship led this senior’s publication to take extraordinary steps – including overcoming attempts to silence it…to see that reforms were addressed.”) To say that we’re honored and proud would be an understatement. And wait to you read what we have planned for 2018! |
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On October 1, 2017, Publisher Dan Roberts and political editor Rana Goodman were interviewed on My Generation to discuss the guardianship problems faced by seniors. This radio show is hosted by Patti Abbate and Tom Foye, owners of the South Shore Senior News, a free monthly publication distributed in the 31 towns and communities located south of Boston. My Generation is broadcast on 95.9 WATD-FM, in Marshfield, Massachusetts.
Rana & Dan:
I have to tell you that I ran into one of our listeners, Lloyd, in the grocery story this afternoon. He and his wife tuned in last night and were so interested in the topic and thought it was a great show. He was very impressed with you and Dan and asked me to send you his congratulations on your work. Lloyd is very spry, in his early 80s, has recently published three best-selling children’s books with his wife, and said to me, “I don’t ever want a judge to decide how I am going to spend my life. That’s just wrong!” So thanks for enlightening these listeners! I’m sure I’ll be hearing more feedback from the show. It was excellent!! Patricia Abbate Publisher - South Shore Senior News Host - My Generation Radio Show/WATD-FM 95.9 |
Pictured: Looking on as Governor Brian Sandoval signs the bill are (left to right): Political Editor Rana Goodman, guardianship advocate (and family victim) Julie Belshe, Publisher Dan Roberts, Project Director Bill Caserta, advocate Barbara Grostick, Senator Becky Harris and Vegas Voice President Ray Sarbacker. Photo Credit: Graphic Editor Michael Roberts.
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WE DID IT!
Three years of non-stop efforts finally pays off as Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval signs The Vegas Voice Guardianship Reform bill into law.
And with a stroke of a pen, it was done. All the work and effort by The Vegas Voice acknowledged by Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval when he signed Senator Becky Harris’ SB 229 into law last month.
Happily watching the Governor sign our Vegas Voice guardianship reform bill, we couldn’t help but wonder how many readers were saved (we’ll have the “protection” details in future editions) and will never have to worry about being “taken.” As I looked at Rana and she at me (along with the rest of our Vegas Voice family) our smiles were as wide as a child on Christmas day. The good guys won. |