Fix bugs in github actions

[liaochris]

1. Explicitly specify contents: read permissions in checks.yml

[liaochris]

@zhizhongpu I made #148 a list of "nice to haves" that we can keep open for a few weeks while we work with actions in project environments and #150 a list of bugs we want to address immediately. Let me know if I'm missing anything here.

[zhizhongpu]

@liaochris I think we can open the PR now.

[github-actions]

Summary

In this issue, we:

• WHAT DID YOU DO?

Deliverables:

• WHAT DID YOU BUILD? IN PERMALINK

[Optional] Issue folder is PERMALINK

Last commit in issue branch: 71d3a50