eedition The Daily Mail July 22 2020

CMYK

The Daily Mail Copyright 2020, Columbia-Greene Media Volume 228, No. 144

All Rights Reserved

Beyond the bag Big retailers team up to get rid of plastic bags Inside, A2

The nation’s fourth-oldest newspaper • Serving Greene County since 1792

WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 2020

Price $1.50

Problems, but no plan for Clove

nFORECAST WEATHER FOR HUDSON/CA TODAY TONIGHT THU

By Sarah Trafton A t-storm in the area

A severe evening t-storm

A strong afternoon t-storm

HIGH 86

LOW 71

84 65

Columbia-Greene Media

Complete weather, A2

n SPORTS Sarah Trafton/Columbia-Greene Media

Dozens of residents from the mountaintop community and beyond attended a special meeting Monday at Hunter Town Hall to voice their concerns about the overuse of Kaaterskill Clove.

Houston Astros’ cheating scandal All of the implications and fallout from the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal, reeks of a cover-up PAGE B1

n NATION

Coronavirus roundtable Gov. Cuomo, Savannah, Ga., mayor agree on message: Stand united and wear masks PAGE A3

n NATION Fla. teachers file lawsuit Florida’s largest teachers union sues state officials over order mandating return to in-person classes PAGE A2

n INDEX Region Opinion State/Nation Obituaries Sports Classified Comics/Advice

A3 A4 A5 A5 B1 B4-B5 B7-B8

On the web www.HudsonValley360.com Twitter Follow: @CatskillDailyMail Facebook www.facebook.com/ CatskillDailyMail/

HUNTER — Problems at Kaaterskill Clove brought out dozens of residents to a special Hunter Town Board meeting held outdoors Monday in 90-degree heat to comply with social-distancing rules.

The public was invited to voice concerns about littering and illegal parking and many proposed their own solutions.

But it remains unclear what the immediate plan for the Clove will be.

Officials from the town of Hunter, county and state government, local law enforcement

and emergency personnel were in attendance.

Republican State Senate candidate Richard Amedure, who is running for the seat being vacated by George Amedore Jr., proposed an aggressive enforcement approach.

“There is a way through this,” he said. Amedure served with the state police and saw firsthand how a community battled a similar situation at Woodstock Dam in Cairo.

“People are going to get written tickets,” he said. “People are going to get arrested. It’s going to get ugly.”

See CLOVE A8

More than half the US on NY’s quarantine list

By Kate Lisa Johnson Newspaper Corp.

ALBANY — A COVID-19 resurgence in New York is inevitable and bars may close statewide as the virus spikes across the nation, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said before expanding the two-week isolation mandate for travelers Tuesday to 10 additional states, or more than half the nation.

It is a mathematical certainty that coronavirus cases will increase in New York as infections and hospitalizations continue to rise in 40 states and Puerto Rico, the governor said during a telephone briefing late Tuesday morning. The state’s COVID-19 transmission rate is 1.02, meaning every infected New Yorker will infect 1.02 other people.

The virus stops spreading with transmission rates under 1, or spreads quickly when one person infects more than one other person.

“It’s going to come back to New York — it is inevitable,” Cuomo said. “The virus travels.

We’ve learned that lesson. It’s not possibly, it will.”

Out-of-state travelers are the greatest threat to New York’s low coronavirus infections and transmission numbers, Cuomo said, as the European strain of COVID-19 infected the Eastern Seaboard after landing in New York and New Jersey airports in See LIST A8

Mike Groll/Office of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo

Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks during a pandemic briefing May 23 at the Executive Mansion in Albany. New York’s quarantine mandate for out-of-state travelers was expanded to 31 states Tuesday.

Virus cases up slightly in Twin Counties

By Melanie Lekocevic and Nora Mishanec Columbia-Greene Media

A bump in cases of COVID-19 in Greene and Columbia counties has health officials concerned.

The number of coronavirus cases has risen slightly in both counties in the weeks since the Fourth of July holiday, with Greene County reporting eight active cases as of Monday and Columbia County reporting 12 active cases as of Monday.

But it does not appear that the Fourth of July holiday weekend led to a large spike in new cases, Columbia County Director of Public Health Jack Mabb said Friday.

After dropping as low as one active case June 25, Greene County’s tally crept up at the

beginning of July, jumping from six to nine active cases on July 14, according to the county’s health department.

Greene County Public Health Director Kimberly Kaplan did not return multiple calls for comment Monday.

Columbia County has seen a small spike in positive cases that have been traced to the Kinderhook and Valatie area.

The Kinderhook-area cases may have originated among nursing home workers, many of whom reside in the northern part of the county, Mabb told the Columbia County Board of Supervisors Health and Human Services Committee at its July meeting.

One person known to be a Barnwell employee was part of See CASES A8

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COLUMBIA-GREENE MEDIA

A2 Wednesday, July 22, 2020

Weather FORECAST FOR HUDSON/CATSKILL

TODAY TONIGHT THU

FRI

SAT

SUN

Target, Walmart and CVS Health team up to get rid of plastic bags Emily Chasan Bloomberg

A t-storm in the area

A severe evening t-storm

A strong afternoon t-storm

Mostly sunny and humid

Partial sunshine

Hot with periods of sun

HIGH 86

LOW 71

84 65

87 65

87 64

94 70

Ottawa 80/61

Montreal 83/64

Massena 82/64

Bancroft 75/56

Ogdensburg 78/66

Peterborough 78/60

Plattsburgh 79/65

Malone Potsdam 80/63 81/65

Kingston 76/67

Watertown 82/67

Rochester 81/66

Utica 80/67

Batavia Buffalo 79/68 80/69

Albany 83/68

Syracuse 84/71

Catskill 86/71

Binghamton 80/64

Hornell 79/67

Burlington 83/70

Lake Placid 76/62

Hudson 87/71

Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.

SUN AND MOON

ALMANAC Statistics through 1 p.m. yesterday

Temperature

Precipitation

Yesterday as of 1 p.m. 24 hrs. through 1 p.m. yest.

High

0.00”

Low

Today 5:39 a.m.

8:24 p.m.

7:32 a.m.

10:08 p.m.

Sunrise Sunset Moonrise Moonset

Thu. 5:40 a.m.

8:24 p.m.

8:46 a.m.

10:40 p.m.

Moon Phases

79

65 NORMAL YEAR TO DATE 21.45

16.38

First

Full

Last

New

Jul 27

Aug 3

Aug 11

Aug 18

Forecasts and graphics provided

by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2020

CONDITIONS TODAY AccuWeather.com UV Index™ & AccuWeather.com RealFeel Temperature®

2

2

3

4

1

4

73

76

75

84

88

91

3

3

2

2

1

89

95

91

87

86

8 a.m. 9 a.m. 10 a.m. 11 a.m. Noon 1 p.m. 2 p.m. 3 p.m. 4 p.m. 5 p.m. 6 p.m.

The higher the AccuWeather.com UV Index number, the greater the need for eye and skin protection. 0-2 Low; 3-5 Moderate; 6-7 High; 8-10 Very High; 11+ Extreme. The patented AccuWeather.com RealFeel Temperature is an exclusive index of effective temperature based on eight weather factors.

NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY Winnipeg 76/61 Seattle 75/59

Montreal 83/64 Billings 99/69

Toronto 78/66 New York 90/77

Minneapolis 76/59 San Francisco 71/57

Chicago 86/67

Denver 94/66

Detroit 83/68 Washington 97/76

Kansas City 87/69

Los Angeles 79/61

Atlanta 92/75

El Paso 96/75

Houston 90/77

Chihuahua 92/68

Miami 88/79

Monterrey 93/72

ALASKA HAWAII

Anchorage 64/53

-10s

-0s

0s

showers t-storms

Honolulu 86/74

Fairbanks 64/47 Juneau 61/53

10s rain

Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.

Hilo 86/71

20s flurries

30s

40s

snow

50s ice

60s

70s

cold front

80s

90s 100s 110s

warm front stationary front

NATIONAL CITIES City Albuquerque Anchorage Atlanta Atlantic City Baltimore Billings Birmingham Boise Boston Charleston, SC Charleston, WV Charlotte Cheyenne Chicago Cincinnati Cleveland Columbus, OH Dallas Denver Des Moines Detroit Hartford Honolulu Houston Indianapolis Kansas City Knoxville Las Vegas

Today Thu. Hi/Lo W Hi/Lo W 86/63 c 90/66 pc 64/53 r 67/55 c 92/75 pc 92/74 t 89/78 pc 86/76 t 97/76 t 92/74 t 99/69 pc 89/62 pc 90/73 t 92/72 pc 96/67 pc 92/61 pc 78/71 t 85/70 t 92/77 pc 93/76 pc 89/71 t 86/69 t 94/74 t 93/72 t 87/62 c 85/61 pc 86/67 pc 82/68 pc 88/68 t 85/68 t 85/66 t 84/66 pc 87/69 t 85/68 t 88/74 t 93/77 s 94/66 c 91/64 pc 83/68 pc 84/73 t 83/68 t 80/67 pc 87/72 pc 90/67 t 86/74 pc 88/76 sh 90/77 pc 94/78 t 84/67 t 83/67 t 87/69 c 89/71 t 90/73 t 88/72 t 106/82 s 103/79 s

City Little Rock Los Angeles Miami Milwaukee Minneapolis Nashville New Orleans New York City Norfolk Oklahoma City Omaha Orlando Philadelphia Phoenix Pittsburgh Portland Portland Providence Raleigh Richmond Sacramento St. Louis Salt Lake City San Francisco Savannah Seattle Tampa Washington, DC

Today Thu. Hi/Lo W Hi/Lo W 89/72 t 92/73 t 79/61 pc 78/60 pc 88/79 t 89/80 t 81/66 pc 78/68 pc 76/59 pc 82/68 pc 90/75 t 90/74 t 92/81 pc 88/79 t 90/77 pc 90/74 t 99/81 pc 97/77 t 88/72 pc 90/72 s 85/72 pc 89/74 t 89/75 t 90/74 pc 95/78 t 91/74 t 106/88 c 103/86 t 82/68 t 82/66 t 76/68 pc 83/66 t 79/59 pc 76/56 pc 87/73 t 88/70 t 95/75 pc 94/72 t 96/75 t 94/71 t 86/57 s 86/54 s 90/73 t 89/75 t 89/70 pc 95/70 pc 71/57 pc 69/56 pc 94/78 pc 94/76 pc 75/59 pc 72/56 pc 91/77 t 90/77 t 97/76 t 94/76 t

Weather(W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain, sf-snow flurries, sn-snow, i-ice.

The world’s biggest retailers are trying to replace the plastic shopping bag.

Target, Walmart and CVS Health unveiled a $15 million joint initiative on Tuesday to replace plastic bags with something else over the next three years. The companies, which each contributed $5 million, aim to create a global competition to find a way to change plastic bags or make them unneeded. Walgreens Boots Alliance and Kroger also plan to be involved.

Called “Beyond the Bag,” the companies want to spark research about new materials for bags or technology and delivery systems that can render them obsolete. The challenge also will study consumers’ use of bags and the infrastructure that makes and distributes them.

The project will be overseen

BLOOMBERG PHOTO BY DAVID PAUL MORRIS

A pedestrian holding a Target Corp. shopping bag uses a mobile phone in San Francisco on Feb. 26, 2020.

by Closed Loop Partners, a New York-based investment firm that’s working to reduce waste and greenhouse gas emissions.

While these companies typically compete for shoppers, they all face the same dilemma when it comes to bags. “We know that this is not something

we can solve on our own,” said Eileen Howard Boone, chief sustainability officer at CVS Health.

Getting rid of bags isn’t as simple as offering reusable or paper options. While plastic bags are made from fossil fuels, their production requires far

less energy than sturdier bags made out of cotton or doublebagged paper.

Another challenge is that consumers often forget to bring enough reusable bags to stores.

Retailers also fret that shoppers may buy less because they might not have enough bags, or they lack an efficient way to get the goods home.

Globally, the planet goes through about 4 trillion bags a year, according to Waste Management Inc., and only about 1% of plastic bags end up getting properly recycled by consumers. When they do end up in the trash, they often get stuck in recycling and waste processing machines.

On average, shoppers “only use a plastic bag for 12 minutes before throwing it out, but it persists in our environment for hundreds of years in our waterways and landfills,” said Closed Loop’s Daly.

Florida’s largest teachers union sues over mandating a return to in-person classes Matt Zapotosky The Washington Post

Florida’s largest teachers union sued top state officials Monday over an order mandating a return of in-person schooling, drawing the courts into an increasingly politicized nationwide debate over when and how kids can return to class amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The suit from the Florida Education Association asked a judge to stop Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran from requiring the return of in-person schooling without first reducing class sizes and ensuring that educators have adequate protective supples.

The move came as confirmed cases of the coronavirus are increasing in many states, including Florida, raising fears in some quarters that a return to brickand-mortar schools in the fall could put students and teachers at risk and exacerbate the spread of the virus. Others argue that reopening schools is a critical step in a return to normalcy.

The Florida teachers are asking the court to strike down an emergency order by Corcoran, saying it violates a requirement in the state constitution for safe and secure schools.

On Monday, the United States added more than 55,000 new cases and more than 380 new deaths - both below seven-day averages, though Monday typically sees lower figures than other days. Seven states and Puerto Rico reported new highs for currently hospitalized covid-19 patients, with Florida reporting close to 9,500 inpatients.

At the same time, hospitalizations appear to be leveling off in Texas and Arizona. The two states combined still account for more than 18,000 of the estimated 56,000 currently hospitalized covid-19 patients.

Officials say some of the recent increase in cases is probably attributable to increased testing, which was not widely available in the early days of the pandemic. But much also is probably caused by the rollback of government-imposed restrictions on business and social life, leading more people to have contact with one another and spread the virus.

The spikes have put pressure on state and federal leaders to take steps such as mandating the wearing of masks or slowing

plans to reopen their economies.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced Monday that she was tightening restrictions on bars, gyms and personal service businesses. President Donald Trump said he would resume leading regular late-afternoon public briefings by the White House coronavirus task force, and he more vigorously endorsed mask-wearing than he has previously, tweeting a

the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota. “The question is how much, and does that enhance transmission in the community?”

The data on that is mixed.

“I’m going to await further data before I can stand in judgment whether we can assume that children are considerably less infectious than adults,” said Sten Vermund, dean of the Yale School of Public Health.

“I do say this - schools have to open.

Young people have to go to school, and there’s problems when you don’t go to school, too. And there’s going to be a funding problem because we’re not going to fund - when they don’t open their schools.”

— PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP photo of himself in a mask and suggesting that doing so was patriotic.

The Senate, meanwhile, returned to work for a three-week session before its August break.

Lawmakers are under pressure to pass new coronavirus relief legislation before the November elections.

What to do about schooling has long been one of the thorniest dilemmas posed by the coronavirus - in part because the science about how the disease spreads among children, and from children to adults, is not yet developed enough to draw firm conclusions. After Trump tweeted two weeks ago that schools “must” open in the fall, the issue has often been consumed by partisan bickering.

“We have managed to take what I think is one of the most important nonpartisan issues in America, which is getting our kids taught this fall, and turned it into a partisan battle,” said Ashish Jha, director of the Harvard Global Health Institute.

“Here’s a crazy idea: Let’s just do what’s good for kids and parents.”

Public health experts agree that children are generally less likely to get infected than adults, and they tend to develop milder symptoms. But children are not immune and a small number have died.

“They get the disease, and they do transmit,” said Michael T. Osterholm, director of

Politicians and school leaders have taken varying tacks on how to address the crisis - with some advocating for partial or complete distance learning while others seek a return to inperson instruction.

In an interview on “Fox News Sunday,” Trump made clear that he favors face-to-face instruction and threatened to withhold federal funding from districts that do not offer that.

“I do say this - schools have to open,” he told host Chris Wallace. “Young people have to go to school, and there’s problems when you don’t go to school, too. And there’s going to be a funding problem because we’re not going to fund - when they don’t open their schools.”

Vermund said it was “disingenuous of the president to demand schools be reopened and then threaten to cut funding,” as schools with more resources would probably have a better shot of safely reopening.

Missouri Republican Gov. Mike Parson on Friday told talk radio host Marc Cox that kids “have to get back to school,” though he conceded that some

were likely to contract the virus.

“They’re at the lowest risk possible,” Parson said. “And if they do get covid-19 - which they will, and they will when they go to school - they’re not going to the hospitals. They’re not going to have to sit in doctor’s offices. They’re going to go home, and they’re going to get over it.”

In Florida, the teachers union said in the lawsuit that the education commissioner’s order that districts must open brickand-mortar schools, subject to the advice of state and local health departments, would “create an unsafe and unsecure environment for students, employees, and the community at large.”

“When students and employees return to the school site, they will be indoors with each other for 7 hours a day in derogation of CDC guidelines and executive orders issued across the state,” the lawsuit said.

“They will be sharing common areas including buses, hallways, classrooms, clinics, locker rooms, and bathrooms. They will be touching door handles and sharing equipment along with potentially hundreds of other people. These millions of individuals will return to their families and to the community to continue to accelerate the spread of Covid-19.”

The Washington Post’s Moriah Balingit, Lateshia Beachum, Jacqueline Dupree and Hannah Knowles contributed to this report.

HUDSON RIVER TIDES High tide: 4:10 a.m. 4.8 feet Low tide: 11:26 a.m. −0.3 feet High tide: 4:58 p.m. 4.0 feet Low tide: 11:24 p.m. 0.1 feet

THE PUBLIC NEEDS THE TRUTH; NOT SOCIAL MEDIA HEADLINES & FAKE NEWS.

#SupportRealNews

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Wednesday, July 22, 2020 A3

COLUMBIA-GREENE MEDIA • THE DAILY MAIL

CALENDAR EDITOR’S NOTE: Most events and meetings are cancelled due to the virus outbreak. Please call ahead to confirm.

Wednesday, July 22 n Athens Village Board 6:30 p.m.

Athens Volunteer Fire Department, 39 Third St., Athens 518-945-1551 n Catskill Village Board 7 p.m. Virtual Board meeting. Dial in phone number: 1-866-584-3084

Monday, July 27 n Catskill Village Planning Board

7 p.m. Senior Center, 15 Academy St., Catskill

Tuesday, July 28 n Catskill Town Planning Board 7 p.m. Robert C. Antonelli Senior Center, 15 Academy St., Catskill

Wednesday, July 29 n Catskill Central School District Board of Education special meeting (if needed) 6:30 p.m. CHS Library, 341 West Main St., Catskill

Monday, Aug. 3 n Athens Town Board 6:45 p.m.

Town Hall, 2 First St., Athens 518-9451052 n Cairo Town Board 7 p.m. Town Hall, 512 Main St., Cairo n Greene County Board of Electrical Examiners 1 p.m. at the Greene County Office Building, 411 Main St., 4th Floor, Room 469, Catskill

Tuesday, Aug. 4 n Durham Town Board workshop

7:30 p.m. at Town Hall, 7309 Route 81, East Durham

Thursday, Aug. 6 n Ashland Planning Board 6 p.m.

at the Town Hall, 12094 Route 23, Ashland n Cairo Town Planning Board 7 p.m. Town Hall, 512 Main St., Cairo

Monday, Aug. 10 n Ashland Town Board 7:30 p.m.

at the Town Hall, 12094 Route 23, Ashland n Catskill Village Planning Board 7 p.m. Senior Center, 15 Academy St., Catskill

Wednesday, Aug. 12 n Athens Village Board 6:30 p.m.

Village Hall, 2 First St., Athens 518945-1551 n Jewett Town Board 7 p.m. at the Jewett Municipal Building, 3547 County Route 23C, Jewett n Windham-Ashland-Jewett CSD Board of Education 5 p.m. in the School Library, 5411 Route 23, Windham

Monday, Aug. 17 n Athens Town Board 6:45 p.m.

Town Hall, 2 First St., Athens 518-9451052 n Greenville Town Board 7 p.m. at the Town Hall, 11159 Route 32, Pioneer Building, Greenville

Tuesday, Aug. 18 n Athens Village Board 6:30 p.m.

Athens Volunteer Fire Department, 39 Third St., Athens 518-945-1551 n Durham Town Board 7:30 p.m. at Town Hall, 7309 Route 81, East Durham n Greene County Planning Board 6:30 p.m. Greene County Office Building, Greene County Legislative Chambers, Room 403, 411 Main St., Catskill.

Meetings are open to the public. Social Distance, masks required. n Hunter Town Board 7 p.m. at the Town Hall, 5748 Route 23A, Tannersville

Wednesday, Aug. 19 n Cairo Town Board workshop

meeting 7 p.m. Town Hall, 512 Main St., Cairo

Cuomo in Ga.: Stand united, wear masks

By Kate Lisa

Johnson Newspaper Corp.

SAVANNAH — Gov. Andrew Cuomo urged Georgians to stand united and wear face masks to slow the spread of the coronavirus, he said during a visit to the state Monday, as New York health experts ramp up testing and sending pandemic supplies to other states in need.

New York partnered with the city of Savannah, Georgia, officials said Monday, to work together to curb the coronavirus as it continues to spike in 40 states and Puerto Rico, and especially in neighboring Florida.

Cuomo and members of the state’s COVID-19 task force departed John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens on Monday to participate in a roundtable discussion with Savannah Mayor Van R. Johnson and city health experts to discuss the best practices to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

The meeting was closed to the public and held at Savannah’s Hyatt Regency Hotel. Johnson and Cuomo held a joint press briefing immediately afterward.

“The purpose of being here today is first to share what we’ve done,” Cuomo said. “It is hard.

We made a lot of mistakes, but if we learn from half of the mistakes we made in doing it, we’re the wiser for it.”

New York health care workers set up two sites at the Temple of Glory Community Church and Kingdom Life Christian Fellowship to test up to 500 people per day to prioritize ramping up Savannah’s diagnostic COVID-19 testing in low-income neighborhoods and communities of color. New York established two similar church testing sites in COVID-19 hotspots in Houston, Texas, on Thursday. Savannah residents can schedule tests by calling 833-693-6742.

“If they can do it, we can do it, too,” Johnson said Monday of Cuomo and his aides. “Just your presence gives us hope. We want to be able to talk about COVID-19 in our rearview mirror.”

COURTESY OF GOV. ANDREW CUOMO’S OFFICE

Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks during a coronavirus briefing in Savannah, Georgia, on Monday after a pandemic roundtable discussion with city officials about how best to curb the spread of the disease.

New York supplied Savannah with 124,000 surgical masks, 1,250 gallons of hand sanitizer, 7,500 gowns, N95 masks and face shields, 7,500 testing kits and 2.5 pallets of styrofoam coolers.

The state sent testing and contract tracing teams to Atlanta on July 13 and sent the COVID-19 medication Remdesivir to Florida on July 10 as the state struggles with a resurgence of virus cases.

Officials discussed COVID-19 diagnostic testing, how to hire and train thousands of contact tracers, increase hospital capacity and staffing, regional coordination with neighboring states and a phased, data-driven reopening.

“You follow the winners, and that’s what we’re doing here,” Johnson said. “The importance of today’s discussion is to be able to dissect the minds — a postmortem of the people who have done it, learn from their lessons and be able to apply their lessons practically in what we are doing in Savannah.”

People with underlying conditions or weakened immune systems and senior citizens are most vulnerable to the novel coronavirus. The European

strain of COVID-19 infected the Eastern Seaboard after landing in New York and New Jersey airports late last winter, and is likely the same strain to impact the Deep South.

Americans must stand united in their efforts against the coronavirus, Cuomo said, adding the body of America is in a weakened, vulnerable state.

“We all must work together in a unified way to defeat the virus,” he said. “The virus by its very nature defies resolution by any one person. We all have to come together. If the virus is thriving anywhere, it will thrive everywhere.”

Americans must be united in wearing masks or facial coverings to protect themselves and others from the coronavirus and reduce the spread, Cuomo said.

“This is essential, effective and easy and it says we’re all in this together, and together, we can defeat anything,” Cuomo said holding up a blue medical face mask. “This nation is always strongest when it is the most unified — that is the strong body and the strong immune system,” he said. “A divided nation is a vulnerable nation. That virus is just pointing out the body was weak and we have to

strengthen that today.”

New York was the first of 28 states to require the public to wear masks or facial coverings April 15. Georgia Gov. Bryan Kemp filed a lawsuit last week to invalidate a mask mandate instituted by the city of Atlanta.

Other city governments have enacted similar measures, including Phoenix, Arizona, and Jacksonville, Florida.

“I think it’s one of the smartest things that I did,” Cuomo said of New York’s mask mandate. “It’s proven by the data that masks work. Somehow, the mask became a political statement. The mask is not a political statement. The mask says I understand science and medicine and I listen to doctors and professionals. That’s all the mask says. The mask will save lives.”

Johnson said visitors continue to flock to Savannah — a city known for its beauty, rich history and tourist attractions. The mayor said the city must slow its COVID-19 numbers and maintain a strong relationship with tourism.

“Tourism for us really never stopped,” he said “Our focus is that they do it in a safe way. We know masks are the way to go.

We have to keep our foot on the

gas as it comes to wearing masks and social distancing.”

Each of the 50 states has had a different response to the coronavirus. Several states immediately reopened in late April and May to jump-start the economy after virus numbers were low following a nationwide shutdown. New York reopened gradually in four phases by region. New York City — at one time the world’s COVID-19 epicenter — entered phase 4 of reopening Monday with indoor dining prohibited. Gyms and movie theaters remain closed statewide.

“If the goal was to reopen the economy quickly, our plan actually did that better than the plans that said ‘flip the switch,’” Cuomo said. “Those rapid reopenings were wishful thinkings and wound up hurting the economy. If you want the economy running, you have to do it intelligently. That’s why following the science is the right thing to do.”

Cuomo, Secretary to the Governor Melissa DeRosa, state Budget Director Robert Mujica, SUNY Empire State College President Jim Malatras and COVID-19 task force members Gareth Rhodes, state Department of Financial Services deputy superintendent; Larry Schwartz, former secretary to the governor; Lisa Pino, state Department of Health executive deputy commissioner; and Edgar Santana, director of Downstate Regional Affairs traveled to Savannah on Monday.

The group was to return to Albany on Monday evening and does not have to quarantine for two weeks, as it does not apply to essential workers or travelers who stop in an affected state for fewer than 24 hours, according to the governor’s office.

“We have a lot of work to do together, but we will do it and we will be there with you armin-arm.” Cuomo said to Johnson. “It’s the beginning of a productive relationship.”

ShopRite kicks off 12th annual Veterans Fundraising Campaign FLORIDA — ShopRite announced its 12th annual Veterans Fundraising Campaign, held at 35 stores throughout New York and New Jersey, runs through Aug. 15. Donations will be collected at checkout at ShopRite stores throughout the Hudson Valley and Capital Region in New York, along with three New Jersey ShopRite stores, with all proceeds benefitting local veterans organizations.

“We’re proud to hold our veterans fundraising campaign for a 12th year to benefit our local heroes,” said Tom Urtz, vice president of operations, ShopRite Supermarkets, Inc. “With the ongoing support of our generous ShopRite associates and customers, we can continue to help countless veterans and their families within the communities we serve, and for that we’re extremely grateful.”

The 2020 Veterans Fundraising Campaign will benefit local veterans organizations including Tower of Hope, Hudson Valley Honor Flight, Committee for the Families of War Veterans, Orange County Veterans Food Pantry, Tri-County Council for Vietnam Era War Veterans, Unified Military Affairs Council and the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor, in addition to other local organizations that serve communities within ShopRite’s trading area.

In 2019, ShopRite raised $910,000 to benefit local veterans organizations. More than $5.9 million has been raised since the campaign’s 2009 inception.

“We take great pride in the continued success of this important initiative year after year,” said Brett Wing, president and chief operating officer, ShopRite Supermarkets, Inc.

Pizza Party

HudsonValley360.com

Delivered by Bill Williams

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Enter for your chance to win an office pizza party from Scali’s Pizza & Pasta for you and your coworkers. Every Tuesday Bill Williams will be delivering pizza to one lucky business in Columbia/Greene County.

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“We express our sincere gratitude and thanks to everyone who makes it possible through their support and contributions.”

The full list of ShopRite stores participating in the Veterans Fundraising Campaign includes: in NJ: ShopRite of Clark, ShopRite of Montague and ShopRite of Spotswood; in NY: in Albany County: ShopRite of Albany, ShopRite of Colonie and ShopRite of Slingerlands; in Columbia County: ShopRite

of Hudson; in Dutchess County: ShopRite of Fishkill, ShopRite of Lagrangeville and ShopRite of Poughkeepsie; in Orange County: ShopRite of Chester, ShopRite of Dolson Ave. and ShopRite of Wallkill in Middletown, ShopRite of Monroe, ShopRite of Montgomery, ShopRite of Newburgh, ShopRite of Vails Gate, and ShopRite of Warwick; in Putnam County: ShopRite of Carmel; in Rensselaer County: ShopRite of North Greenbush; in Schenectady County:

ShopRite of Niskayuna; in Sullivan County: ShopRite of Liberty, ShopRite of Monticello; in Ulster County: ShopRite of Ellenville, ShopRite of Kingston, and ShopRite of New Paltz; in Westchester County: ShopRite of Bedford, ShopRite of Cortlandt, ShopRite of Croton, ShopRite of New Rochelle, ShopRite of Scarsdale, ShopRite of Thornwood, ShopRite of Greenway Plaza and ShopRite of Tuckahoe Rd. in Yonkers and ShopRite of White Plains.

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A4 Wednesday, July 22, 2020

THE DAILY MAIL Established 1792 Published Tuesday through Saturday by Columbia-Greene Media

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OUR VIEW

Plain speaking about bars, restaurants and COVID-19 Plain speaking doesn’t get much plainer than this: Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday the state may close bars and restaurants to prevent a surge of the coronavirus.

In contrast to most of the nation, where the virus is in full bloom once again, New York state experienced declining hospitalizations and a plunging number of new cases.

Then Astoria, Queens, and the Lower East Side happened.

Officials may have to close the state’s bars and restaurants anew after hundreds of New Yorkers crowded New York City streets in Astoria, Queens, and the Lower East Side in Manhattan over the weekend. Few masks, little

social distancing, big worries.

The State Liquor Authority has revoked food and liquor licenses at dozens of bars, taverns and restaurants for violating COVID-19 orders requiring New Yorkers to socially distance and wear face masks in public.

More significantly, New York residents and businesses that do not comply with COVID-19 orders and break state law could ruin reopening privileges for others. That goes for the Twin Counties.

The majority of New Yorkers seen congregating at outdoor bars and restaurants were young people in their 20s. Their youth doesn’t make them immune to the virus. COVID-19 affects

people of all ages, including children, and anyone can pass on the disease to another, high-risk person and kill them.

As if the state doesn’t have enough problems, bars and restaurants are creating a whole set of new ones. New York is walking a fine line between reopening and another lockdown that could cost millions in sales tax and more lives. Congregations without strict safety guidelines are increasing the spread of the virus. It’s a fact and it’s a matter of scientific data. A second lockdown brought about by plain stupidity would be a calamity from which the state may not recover.

ANOTHER VIEW

Trump recklessly deploys forces in Portland to distract from pandemic The Washington Post

The right to protest is enshrined in the Constitution; any attempt by government to squelch it forcibly is an affront to our most cherished values.

Vandalism and violence of the sort that, for more than a month, have attended the mostly peaceful protests in Portland, Ore., are different: antithetical to public order, a blow to blameless property owners and, as a political matter, a gift to President Donald Trump.

The president is a master of distraction and misdirection; predictably, he has seized on the disorder in Portland to deflect attention from the pandemic and to exploit the country’s deepening tribal divisions, which have served his political purposes so well.

In the name of restoring order, he has weaponized law enforcement officers, uniformed as shock troops.

Rather than de-escalate, they seem deployed in order to inflame what was already a volatile series of daily demonstrations.

The troops - they can only be called that given their weapons, tactics and

aggressivity - share the unaccountable-by-design traits of those in banana republics and autocracies.

They travel in unmarked vehicles, snatch protesters from the streets without probable cause and bear no clearly visible identification by name or agency.

Administration officials say they have deployed personnel to Portland from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, both overseen by an unconfirmed acting secretary of Homeland Security, Chad Wolf. He is a political operative who worked for Republican senators and as a lobbyist; his brief previous policy roles in government afforded him minimal experience in law enforcement - and it shows.

It serves Trump’s purposes that some small percentage of Portland’s protesters identify themselves as antifa, the amorphous left-wing fringe movement. That fact, along with acts of violence against police and property, have enabled the president and his acolytes to smear them all as anarchists and

The Daily Mail welcomes letters to the editor. All letters must contain a full name, full address and a daytime telephone number. Names will be published, but phone numbers will not be divulged.

Letters of less than 400 words are more likely to be published quickly. The newspaper reserves the right to edit letters for length, clarity and content.

Letters should be exclusive to this publication, not duplicates of those sent to other persons, agencies

afforded him a pretext on which to deploy his counterproductive troops. They were requested by neither city nor state officials. With Trump trailing in the polls and the coronavirus infecting tens of thousands more victims daily, Portland may be a forerunner of other such interventions in liberal cities as Election Day approaches.

The danger to life, limb and democracy is evident.

One protester, holding up a speaker, was shot in the head and needed facial reconstruction surgery after he picked up a smoke grenade fired in his direction and rolled it a few feet back whence it came. Another, a former Navy officer, was beaten, his hand broken, by a baton-wielding officer; his offense was to try to speak with the officers. It seems like luck that no one has been killed - so far.

National hatreds are the organizing principles of Trump’s political doctrine and reelection strategy. He is content with escalation, and his reckless deployment of forces is designed to deliver it.

or publications. Writers are ordinarily limited to one letter every 30 days.

It’s clearer than ever that covid-19 will increase, not decrease, inequality Helaine Olen The Washington Post

Like almost all department stores, Macy’s was in financial trouble even before the coronavirus hit. The pandemic didn’t help matters: Revenue fell 45% in the first quarter of 2020. Late in June, Macy’s laid off 3,900 corporate employees. Tragic, but unavoidable, right? Except two weeks later, the store’s board of directors granted the C-suite management team more than $9 million in stock.

When covid-19 first hit this country, many observers suggested there could be a bright side for our epic societal breakdown. We would likely emerge, they said, with a firmer government safety net and a smaller divide between rich and poor.

Those making this argument sometimes pointed out that in western Europe, the Black Death led to gains for workers.

What they either left out or ignored is that in eastern Europe, nobles took advantage of the chaos to consolidate power.

And so far, economic and social chaos is allowing the wealthy in the United States to increase their holdings and power. We could emerge a poorer country, perhaps permanently. As Marshall Auerback, a researcher at the Levy Economics Institute at Bard College, put it, “Calling this coronavirus a great equalizer is an obscenity.”

Nowhere is this clearer than in our nation’s approach to education. Independent schools across the country are announcing returns to in-person

learning. Wealthy parents are paying private tutors, setting up their own mini bespoke schools. Public institutions?

Many are online only, inaccessible to those without computers or high-speed internet, and the instruction quality often leaves a lot to be desired. An analysis from Los Angeles Unified - the second largest school district in the United States found that fewer than 4 out of 10 students logged in on a typical day this past spring. Black and Latino students fared worse than their white counterparts.

The result, according to McKinsey & Co., will be higher dropout rates and lower lifetime earnings for many students, as well as lower GDP for decades to come. “If other countries mitigate the impact of lost learning and the United States does not, this will harm US competitiveness,” McKinsey notes.

Another group seeing gains erode: women. According to a study published in Gender, Work and Organization earlier this month, mothers with small and school-aged children have cut their work hours back significantly since the beginning of the pandemic, likely as a result of a reversion to more traditional gender roles as families were forced to compensate for lack of formal education and child care. “Scaling back work is part of a downward spiral that often leads to labor force exits,” the study notes.

“We are also concerned that many employers will be looking for ways to save money

and it may be at the expense of mothers who have already weakened their labor market attachment.”

In other words, the power is with the bosses - and they know it. Kroger ceased paying employees a $2-an-hour “hero pay” this spring. Rite Aid pulled the same stunt. Airlines, which received a multibillion-dollar rescue package from the federal government in return for keeping employees on the payroll till Oct. 1, plan to furlough or lay off tens of thousands of employees as soon as they legally can.

The Paycheck Protection Program, sold as a way to help mom-and-pop stores and local business, turned into another way to make sure those with the least need benefited. Blackowned firms found it hard to tap into the money, but private equity shops found no such barriers. Nor did the banks that administered the loans, to the tune of $18 billion, money coming straight out of the pockets of small businesses.

The bigger, more capitalized companies will survive and become even more dominant.

Reversing our slide toward increased inequality will require bravery that few politicians - Democrats or Republicans - have yet to demonstrate.

Without that, the dire situation facing our nation’s schoolchildren and their mothers and the mass extinction likely to be inflicted on small businesses are the sorts of things our descendants will one day read in history books, as a point of no return for American decline.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Encouraging support for The Borgen Project To the Editor: In the current tumultuous state of national affairs, many have lost sight of the important and valuable work that must be done overseas, particularly regarding COVD-19. What is infrequently recognized, by both citizens and officials alike, is that an investment in global health security is an investment in U.S. national security. Our economic interests are at stake as previously developing economies take even larger hits than ours, closing markets

for American products that have been growing for years.

I have been encouraging Rep. Antonio Delgado as well as Senators Schumer and Gillibrand to increase the international affairs budget to make an investment in global relief in addition to the domestic relief.

The Borgen Project is an amazing nonprofit involved in tackling global poverty on all fronts and they have been leading the charge to lobby congressional members nationwide on this issue.

Many do not believe that

foreign aid is a useful investment, but to the contrary, it is a vital investment in ourselves. By creating a safer international system, we bolster our own national security, reduce the need for the U.S. to be a global policeman, and create opportunities for economic growth of our own.

I hope these issues can gain more traction in our national dialogue about COVID-19.

SCOTT OATKIN RHINEBECK

Fighting for reproductive freedom To the editor: Medical decisions should be made between a patient and their doctor. Employers should have nothing to do with it. Yet, last Wednesday’s Supreme Court ruling has allowed employers to push their own religious agenda in the workplace by denying employees coverage for birth control. Now, more than 75,000 people are at risk of losing access to birth control, further reducing healthcare coverage during a global health crisis.

Women in every state are at a higher risk for unintended pregnancies without the ability to make reproductive

SEND LETTERS:

decisions.

This abhorrent ruling gives employers far too much control over the health decisions of their employees. It is a blatant attack on American women and their bodies to allow organizations and businesses to overrule personal choice and freedom. It is a blow to our hard-earned progress to advance reproductive rights and access to birth control, which are both basic human rights. Lack of access only furthers racial and socioeconomic health disparities.

Without widespread contraceptive coverage, women are left behind.

This decision can’t be allowed to stand. The courts hang in the balance of the November election, so it is critical that we vote Trump out of office. Last year the Senate Democratic Majority passed a long-blocked Reproductive Health Act, Comprehensive Contraception Coverage Act and Boss Bill which strives in the right direction! We need New Yorkers to head to the polls to elect officials who will stand up for the health, empowerment, and rights of everyone, everywhere. We need to #FightforHER. SARINA ABRAHAM CORTLANDT MANOR

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

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Adam Shook (Delaney) Adam Shook (Delaney) Born March 30th 1982 Died July 10th 2020 518-410-8934, Mom.

Lavina R. Fletcher Lavina R. Fletcher, 89, of Ghent, passed away Monday July 20, 2020 in Hudson, NY. Born January 14, 1931 in Greenport, she is the daughter of Kenneth and Pearl (Hawver) Almstead.

Lavina worked for many years at the A&P market in Hudson. She enjoyed embroidery and crossword puzzles, however, her favorite activities were shopping, baking and socializing. Lavina loved to ride around WalMart making new friends.

She is survived by her daughter Audrey B. Hughes and son in law Guy, grandchildren Cynthia Foster, Joseph Foster, Denise Wyant (Jason), Guy Hughes Jr. (Jessica), great grandsons Kev-

in Decker Jr. and Travis Hughes, and great granddaughter Arianna Foster. Also left to cherish her memory include step daughter Kathy Fletcher Shaper (Jim), three grandsons a granddaughter and eight great grandchildren. In addition to her parents, Lavina was predeceased by her husband Richard, and siblings Alice Decker, Kenneth, Edward, Martin, and Robert Almstead.

All services will be held at the Bates & Anderson Redmond & Keeler Funeral Home. Visitation hours are Thursday July 23 from 5-8pm, and funeral services are Friday July 24 at 10:00am. Interment will be in Linlithgo Cemetery.

BLOOMBERG PHOTO BY DIMAS ARDIAN

Commuters wear protective face masks during rush hour in Jakarta, Indonesia, on July 8, 2020.

Indonesia to start vaccine trial from next month as virus spikes Arys Aditya Bloomberg

An Indonesian state-owned drugmaker plans to start human trials of Sinovac Biotech Ltd.’s coronavirus vaccine next month and aims to begin commercial production early next year.

PT Bio Farma will administer the vaccine supplied by Beijing-based Sinovac on 1,620 people in the age group of 18 to 59 years, company’s President Director Honesti Basyir said in a statement. The trials will be supervised by the faculty of medicine at Padjadjaran University in Bandung, he said.

Bio Farma has secured 2,400 doses of Sinovac’s shot, called CoronaVac, and the clinical trial is expected to be completed in six months, Basyir said. Sinovac has said its shot is safe and capable of eliciting an immune response from human trials with the company also winning approval for Phase III trials on humans in Brazil.

Indonesia tied up with Sinovac to secure access to a vaccine as its own efforts to develop a deterrent against the pathogen

is expected to take longer. The world’s fourth-most populous nation is the worst virus-hit country in Southeast Asia, with a death toll of 4,320 and confirmed cases nearing 90,000.

Once the vaccine clears the final phase of the clinical trials successfully, its production and distribution can begin without any delay as the regulator is working on the licensing process, said Penny Lukito, chief of Indonesia’s National Agency of Drug and Food Control.

PT Kalbe Farma, Indonesia’s largest pharmaceutical company by market value, has entered into an agreement with South Korea’s Genexine Inc. to organize clinical trials for its GX-19 vaccine. Separately, Bio Farma along with the Ministry of Research and Technology and the Eijkman Institute for Moelcular Biology has formed a consortium for vaccine development targeted for commercial production in early 2022.

Indonesia will require at least 352 million doses to immunize two-third of its population against covid-19, according to official estimates.

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Poll shows Americans support BLM but resist shifts of police funds or removal of statues Emily Guskin, Scott Clement and Dan Balz The Washington Post

A majority of Americans support the Black Lives Matter movement and a record 69 percent say black people and other minorities are not treated as equal to white people in the criminal justice system. But the public generally opposes calls to shift some police funding to social services or remove statues of Confederate generals or presidents who enslaved people, a Washington Post-ABC News poll finds.

These findings underscore the mixed fallout after the brutal killing of George Floyd while in the custody of Minneapolis police in May. There is increased public scrutiny of police treatment of black Americans, but less unity on broader questions about how to address the country’s treatment of black Americans since its founding.

Stark divisions exist between different racial groups and among varied political identities, not surprisingly given the high profile that President Donald Trump has taken in fanning opposition to Black Lives Matter protesters and their desired changes.

Americans’ confidence in police appears shaken after a wave of national protests following Floyd’s killing. Compared with 2014, fewer Americans say they are confident that police are adequately trained to avoid using excessive force.

Meanwhile, more people say recent police killings of black people are “a sign of broader problems” in police conduct.

The share of Americans saying that black people and other minorities do not receive equal treatment in the criminal justice system has risen by 15 percentage points from 2014 - and this year marks the first time a majority of whites has held this view.

When compared with 2014, around the time of the killings of African Americans Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., and Eric Garner in New York, larger shares of virtually every demographic group and every age group now say that minorities do not receive treatment equal to white people in the criminal justice system.

Today, that view is held by 62 percent of white people, up 18 points from 2014. Among black people, 97 percent now assert there is unequal treatment of minorities, up from 89 percent in 2014. Over two-thirds, 68 percent of Hispanic people, say the same, roughly similar to 2014.

The share of white Democrats who say black people and other minorities do not receive equal treatment in the criminal justice system rose 19 points to 89 percent, while white independents jumped 24 points to 65 percent. White Republicans inched up seven points to 36 percent.

More than half of adults, 55 percent, say that recent killings of unarmed black people are “a sign of broader problems in the treatment of black people by police,” an increase from 43 percent in 2014. Meanwhile, 40 percent say they are isolated incidents.

But that 55 percent majority is lower than it was just a month ago, when a Post-Schar School poll found 69 percent of Americans - asked specifically about Floyd’s killing - said that episode was a sign of broader problems in the treatment of police. The change has been sharply partisan.

In 2014, about two-thirds of Democrats along with roughly 4 in 10 independents said deaths were the result of broader, not isolated, problems.

Just under 2 in 10 Republicans agreed. Last month, soon after Floyd’s killing, concerns about broader police mistreatment rose by more than 20 points among each partisan group from six years ago - including almost to half of Republicans.

Today, attitudes among Democrats are close to where they were last month, and while the percentages among

PHOTO BY JONATHAN NEWTON/THE WASHINGTON POST

WASHINGTON , DC - JUNE 13: Peaceful protests over the death of George Floyd, police brutality and racial injustice continue along 16th Street NW that was changed to “Black Lives Matter Plaza” near Lafayette Square and the White House. It has become the focal point of protesters for the past two weeks.

independents have slipped, a majority of them continues to share this view. But concerns among Republicans have dropped 26 points since June and are now much closer to the roughly 2 in 10 level where they were in 2014.

Overall, the Post-ABC poll finds that a slim majority, 52 percent, say that they are “not so confident” or “not confident at all” that police in the United States treat white and black people equally. That’s up from 46 percent who said the same in 2014, if a smaller percentage than those critical of how the criminal justice system overall treats minorities. Similarly, 52 percent of Americans say they are not confident that police are adequately trained to avoid the use of excessive force, up from 44 percent in 2014.

With Democrats growing more critical of police since 2014 and Republicans returning to their high confidence in law enforcement, the partisan split in views of how police treat black people has expanded. Republicans are now 60 points more likely than Democrats to have confidence that police treat white and black people equally (80 percent vs.

20 percent), compared with a 43-point gap in 2014 (77 percent vs. 34 percent).

Apart from the police, most Americans say that black people face discrimination in their own communities. A 52 percent majority of white and Hispanic Americans - excluding those who say nobody in their community is black - say that there is general discrimination against black people.

Just under 2 in 10 white people and over a quarter of Hispanic people say it happens “often.”

At the same time, almost 8 in 10 black Americans say black people experience racial discrimination in their communities, including half who say it happens “often.” People who say there are many black people living in their community are more likely to say black people there face discrimination.

The Black Lives Matter movement continues to enjoy majority support, with 63 percent of Americans saying they support it, including 46 percent who say they “strongly” support it. But there are sharp differences among partisans, with 92 percent of Democrats and 62 percent of independents saying they back the movement, while 68 percent of Republicans oppose it.

Among white people, 54 percent say they support Black Lives Matter, compared with 74 percent of Hispanic people and more than 9 in 10 black people, of whom 82 percent “strongly” support it.

A recent Pew Research Center poll found clear majorities of the public supporting several changes called for by protesters who have registered their anger in recent months, including mandatory police training to avoid using deadly force and making it a crime for police to use chokeholds or strangleholds.

Yet the Post-ABC poll finds far less support for some other high-profile proposals that

have been in the forefront of public debate recently. On the issue of police funding, for example, 55 percent of Americans oppose moving funds from police departments to social services - and 43 percent say they oppose it “strongly.”

Republicans are the most opposed, with 84 percent saying they’re against such a shift.

Among independents, 53 percent are opposed, while 59 percent of Democrats support such shifts.

On this issue, there is a sizable generation gap. Over half of Americans under age 40 support a funding shift, while less than a third of Americans 40 and older are in favor of moving funding from police to social services.

There’s even wider opposition to the government paying black Americans whose ancestors were enslaved, with 63 percent saying the government should not pay reparations.

Currently, 31 percent favor reparations, up from 19 percent in a 1999 ABC News poll.

But those figures, too, differ by race and political orientation. Today, more than 8 in 10 black people say the federal government should pay reparations while three-quarters of white people say the government should not. Among Hispanic people, 56 percent say reparations should not be paid, while 42 percent say they should.

Current opposition to paying reparations is highest among Republicans, 93 percent of whom oppose making payments to descendants of enslaved people, along with 67 percent of independents.

A narrow 53 percent majority of Democrats say reparations should be paid to ancestors of enslaved people, although there is a sharp racial divide within the party. While 86 percent of black Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents support paying reparations to black descendants, that falls to 35 percent among white Democrats and Democratic leaners.

In recent years, states and cities throughout the country have examined removing monuments to Confederate Civil War generals, and in the past two months, protesters have toppled scores of statues.

Separately, Congress is considering a bill to rename military bases named for Confederate leaders.

The new poll finds that 52 percent of Americans oppose removing public statues honoring Confederate generals, while 43 percent support their removal. That includes an 80 percent majority of Republicans and 56 percent of independents in opposition, while 74 percent of Democrats support the removal of these statutes.

Almost 6 in 10 white people, along with just over half of Hispanic people, oppose removing statues of Confederate soldiers, while over three-quarters of black people support their removal.

Opposition is even greater to the removal of public statues honoring former U.S. presidents who enslaved people,

with 68 percent of Americans opposed and 25 percent in support of their removal. But while at least 7 in 10 white and Hispanic people are opposed, 6 in 10 black Americans support removing these statues.

Half of Americans oppose renaming military bases currently named after Confederate generals, while 42 percent support the changes. Once again there is a significant partisan split, with 81 percent of Republicans and 50 percent of independents opposed and 66 percent of Democrats in favor.

A majority of Americans ages 50 and older are opposed to any renaming, while a plurality of those under 50 support the change.

The Post-ABC poll was conducted July 12-15 among a random national sample of 1,006 adults, with 75 percent of interviews conducted by cellphone and the remaining 25 percent by landline. The margin of sampling error for overall results is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points; the error margin is 4.5 points among the sample of 661 white adults and 10.5 points each among the samples of 113 black and 117 Hispanic adults.

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COLUMBIA-GREENE MEDIA • THE DAILY MAIL

A6 Wednesday, July 22, 2020

ARMY NATIONAL GUARD PROMOTION

A visit to the Boal Museum

By David Dorpfeld, Greene County Historian For Columbia-Greene Media

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Warrant Officer David Martinsen was promoted to Chief Warrant Officer 2 on May 22 by Col. Charles Worth at the Syracuse Armory. CW2 Martinsen currently serves as the Human Resource Technician for the 27th Infantry Brigade Comabt team for the New York Army National Guard. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration TUI University and is a 2004 graduate of CairoDurham High School. He is the son of Marie and Paul Martinsen of Round Top and the husband of Ashley Martinsen.

DEC issues fire danger warning ALBANY — New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Basil Seggos urged New Yorkers to practice the utmost safety when burning wood and brush outdoors during recent dry conditions. Although the State’s prohibition on residential brush burning ended in May, fire danger still exists.

“Dry weather and warming temperatures have elevated the risk of fires statewide, particularly across eastern New York,” Commissioner Seggos said. “The last widespread rainfall we saw was more than a full week ago and over the last month, some parts of the state are 90 percent below normal rainfall levels. I encourage New Yorkers to use safety precautions to help prevent wildfire outbreaks.”

DEC updates the fire danger map and forecast during fire season on its website and on the NY Fishing, Hunting & Wildlife App (also available on DEC’s website). The majority of the state remains at moderate risk, which means outdoor fires can burn briskly and spread rapidly on windy days. Precipitation in eastern New York and western New England over the last 30 days

ranged from 0.50 to 3.50 inches, which is 15 to 90 percent below normal.

Debris burning and campfires are among the top five causes of wildfires. While fireworks are not a significant cause of wildfires, they are a potential hazard. In most cases, fireworks are also illegal. Campfires with family are great fun, when done safely.

Fire safety tips for burning wood or brush: Never burn on a windy day; Check and obey all local laws and ordinances; Burn early in the morning when humidity is high and winds are low; Clear all flammable material for a distance of 10 to 15 feet around the fire; Keep piles to be burned small, adding small quantities of material as burning progresses; Always have a garden hose, shovel, water bucket, or other means to extinguish the fire close at hand; and When done, drown the fire with water, making sure all materials, embers, and coals are wet.

While camping in the backcountry, New Yorkers are advised to: Use existing campfire rings where possible; Build campfires away from overhanging branches, steep slopes, rotten stumps, logs,

dry grass, and leaves. Pile extra wood away from the fire; Clear the area around the ring of leaves, twigs, and other flammables materials; Never leave a campfire unattended. Even a small breeze could cause the fire to spread quickly; and Drown the fire with water.

Make sure all embers, coals, and sticks are wet. Move rocks as there may be burning embers underneath.

Burning trash is prohibited statewide in all cases.

Incinerator rules prohibit burning household trash in wood stoves, fireplaces, and outdoor wood boilers; DEC recommends recycling all appropriate materials (such as newspaper, paper, glass and plastic) and composting organic kitchen and garden waste; Burning leaves also is banned in New York State.

DEC encourages composting of leaves; and Disposal of flags or religious items in a smallsized fire is allowed if it not otherwise prohibited by law or regulation.

For information on open burning and campfire safety in New York, go to: https://www. dec.ny.gov/chemical/58519. html and https://www.dec. ny.gov/outdoor/7827.html.

When we travel we often try to check out a museum we have never visited before.

Such was the case over the 4th of July weekend when we visited the Boal Museum in Boalsburg, Pennsylvania.

Boalsburg, along with a couple other places, lays claim to the birthplace of Memorial Day, but that’s another story. The little town is adjacent to State College, Penn., the home of Penn State University and where our oldest daughter Kate and her family live. Kate arranged for nine members of our family to take the tour. Reservations were required because of COVID-19 and of course masks were worn.

The museum complex has an odd mix of things to see.

For instance it houses a couple of centuries of Boal family furnishings and memorabilia as well as the Columbus Chapel and a significant collection of Christopher Columbus artifacts. How could that be in a small central Pennsylvania town? Let’s follow the genealogy of the Boal family to find out.

First Generation: David Boal (1764-1837) was born in Ireland and after the failed Irish Rebellion fled to America and believed to have been hidden in a blanket chest. In 1809 he purchased the property where the Mansion now stands and built a two room stone cabin.

Second Generation: David’s son George Boal (17961867) became Associate Judge for Centre County and served as a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for a period in the 1840s. He was also one of the founders of the Farmers High School which opened in 1855 and went on to become the Pennsylvania State University. George Boal fathered 9 children.

Third Generation: David C. Boal (1822-1859), one of George’s sons, also served in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and worked as an attorney in the town of Bellefonte. Another son Captain John Boal (18381865) died in the Civil War at Averasboro, North Carolina.

A third son George Jack Boal (1835-1898) also became a

WIKAPEDIA

Chistopher Columbus.

lawyer and settled in Colorado where he served the mining industry.

Fourth Generation: Colonel Theodore Davis Boal (1867-1938) was the only child of George Boal to survive to adulthood. He was trained as an architect, married in France in 1893 and moved back to Boalsburg in 1898 where over time he greatly expanded the family home and complex of buildings. Theodore also moved the Columbus family chapel from Spain to Boalsburg.

In addition Theodore had a distinguished military career including founding his own cavalry troop in 1916 and service in Mexico and France during WWI. He is also credited with founding the Boalsburg fire, water, electric, telephone and bus companies.

Fifth Generation: Theodore and Mathilde had one child, Pierre de Lagarde Boal (1895-1966). He joined the French Calvary in 1914 at the outbreak of WWI. By 1916 he was a pilot in the Lafayette Flying Corps and then was a captain in the US Army Air Service in 1920. Eventually he served as US ambassador to Nicaragua and Bolivia. In 1952 Pierre opened the Boal Estate to the community as a museum.

Earlier I mentioned the Columbus family chapel. It came

into the family through Theodore Davis Boal’s (fourth generation) wife, Mathilde de Lagrarde (1871-1952). The structure was a portion of her inheritance from her aunt, Victoria Montalvo Columbus. It was removed from a castle in Austurias, Spain. Interesting antiquities found at the museum and in the chapel include an admiral’s desk believed to have been used by Columbus, Columbus family archives dating from 1453 to 1908, two pieces of wood believed to have come from the True Cross and an exceptional collection of European art dating from the 15th to 18th centuries.

The Boal family in America is now eight generations removed from David Boal, the young Scotch-Irishman who helped found Boalsburg, Penn. While Americans take pride in tracing their linage to the American Revolution and the Mayflower, some members of the Boal family can trace their roots to Christopher Columbus. The Columbus collection along with other family heirlooms connected with the Boal family make for an interesting visit to the museum.

To reach columnist David Dorpfeld, e-mail gchistorian@gmail. com or visit him on Facebook at “Greene County Historian.”

New recreation center opens College Corner at Letchworth State Park CASTILE — Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced a new $2 million outdoor recreation center is opening at Letchworth State Park. Construction began in April 2019 and was completed recently.

The Lower Falls Recreation Area provides a fun new option to enjoy one of the Finger Lakes Region’s top tourism destinations.

“Letchworth State Park is one of New York’s crown jewels and it provides unrivaled beauty and outdoor recreational opportunities for families and people of all ages,” Governor Cuomo said.

“With a new games area, fitness loop, and facility for whitewater rafting, these improvements will allow visitors to have fun, experience an adventure or relax, even during these unprecedented times.”

The new Lower Falls Recreation Area involved removal of an unused swimming pool at the South Complex Area, and restoration of a historic bathhouse that is used by the whitewater rafting concessionaire, Adventure Calls Outfitters.

The new recreation area provides table games, badminton and pickle ball courts, bocce and shuffleboard, as well as a fitness loop. The project was funded by the NY Parks 2020 capital initiative.

State Parks Commissioner Erik Kulleseid said, “The new Lower Falls Recreation Area

SAINT MICHAEL’S COLLEGE HANNACROIX — Deana DiBenetto, of Hannacroix and a May 2020 Graduate political science major, was named to the Dean’s List for the Spring 2020 semester at Saint Michael’s College in Colchester, Vt.

WESTERN NEW ENGLAND UNIVERSITY

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

New recreation center.

is another example of Governor Cuomo’s commitment to upgrading state park facilities under the NY Parks 2020 program. It is sure to be a vibrant place in the park where people of all ages can come together for fun, laughs and friendly competition.”

Senator Patrick Gallivan said, “New York State is blessed with some of the most beautiful parks in the country and Letchworth is among the most popular for residents and visitors. We are fortunate to have it in our backyard. The state’s investment in the new Lower Falls Recreation Area will enhance the park experience and will help attract new visitors to the park and the region. I invite everyone to come see this wonderful new

CAIRO — Ridge J. Sulkey of Cairo has been named to the Spring Semester 2020 Dean’s List at Western New England University in Springfield, Mass.

SAINT MICHAEL’S COLLEGE addition and spend some time exploring all that Letchworth State Park has to offer.”

Letchworth State Park is one of the most scenically magnificent areas in the eastern U.S. The Genesee River roars through the gorge over three major waterfalls between cliffs — as high as 600 feet in some places — surrounded by lush forests. Hikers can choose from 66 miles of hiking trails. Trails are also available for horseback riding, biking, snowmobiling, and cross-country skiing.

For more information on any of these recreation areas, call 518-474-0456 or visit parks.ny.gov, connect on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter.

COLCHESTER, VT — The following local residents graduated May 10 from Saint Michael’s College.

Brittany Ann Johnson of Greenville graduated with a Bachelor of Science, cum laude in pre-pharmacy.

Deana Josephine DiBenedetto of Hannacroix graduated with a Bachelor of Arts, summa cum laude in political science.

SUNY NEW PALTZ NEW PALTZ — SUNY New Paltz announces its Dean’s List for the spring 2020

semester, a recognition for students who excel academically and earn at least a 3.3 grade-point average in a semester with a full-time course load. The following students made the spring 2020 Dean’s List at SUNY New Paltz: Megan Betke of Athens, Skylar Coons of West Kill, Quinn Coughlin of Elka Park, Frank Fandozzi of Athens, Jessica Funke of Lanesville, Collin Moore of Catskill, Brett Olson of Prattsville, Brandon Parkes of West Coxsackie, Ashley Pinelli of Leeds, Rhiannon Radu of Prattsville, Gabriella Ricciardi of New Baltimore, John Rohan of East Durham, Rachael Steinke of Coxsackie, Camilla Trischetti of Catskill, Annie Zanchelli of Coxsackie, Ryan Alarid of Saugerties, Cody Allen of Saugerties, Kian Bachinsky of Saugerties, Cheyenne Baer of Woodstock, Bryanna Blatter of Saugerties, Prem Brahmbhatt of Saugerties, Jessica Brontoli of Saugerties, Meghan Carney of Saugerties, Jillian Ciferri of Saugerties, Madison Conlin of Saugerties, Alexa Cotich of Saugerties, Clara Flores Reininger of Woodstock,

Amanda Forste of Saugerties, Sandra Garfinkel of Woodstock, Lena Gran of Saugerties, Morgan Greaney of Saugerties, Gillian Hamilton of Selkirk, Charles Jansen of Saugerties, Trevor Keller of Saugerties, Isabella Lawkins of Saugerties, Michelle LeBlanc of Saugerties, Nathaniel Lewis of Saugerties, Jennifer Mathous of Saugerties, Christopher McCutcheon of Saugerties, Rachel Morgan of Saugerties, Olivia Prinz of Saugerties, Sofia Reopell of Saugerties, Victoria Richard of Saugerties, Chiara Rossi of Saugerties, Cindy Sandoval of Kingston, Jesse Solomon of Woodstock, Corey Spallino of Saugerties, Caitlin Staby of Saugerties, Morgan Sumner of Selkirk, Cheyenne Tremblay of Saugerties, Victoria Wells of Saugerties, Rachel Wood of Saugerties.

UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAVEN CATSKILL — Lauren Casalino of Catskill, received a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice from the Henry C. Lee College of Criminal Justice and Forensic Sciences at the University of New Haven in May.

Find us at: HudsonValley360.com

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Senior Living

www.HudsonValley360.com

Wednesday, July 22, 2020 A7

COLUMBIA-GREENE MEDIA

Why won’t Social Security give me my widow’s benefit?

Dear Rusty: I have been a widow since November 2019. I retired under the Federal Civil Service Retirement System. Before my husband died, I made an appointment with Social Security to see if I could receive his Social Security if he passed on. I was told I could. Since he passed, Social Security has adamantly refused to let me have my husband’s Social Security. I have had many problems with them. Who is correct here? I have lost $1,400 per month. My social security check is about $126 per month.

Signed: Frustrated Widow

SOCIAL SECURITY MATTERS

RUSSELL

GLOOR Dear Frustrated Widow: First, please accept my condolences on the loss of your husband. Unfortunately, I don’t have good news for you.

Because of your Federal

Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) pension, you are subject to the “Government Pension Offset” (GPO) provision of Social Security. The GPO reduces the survivor benefit for anyone who also has a pension from an employer which did not participate in Social Security (neither the employer or the employee paid into Social Security), and your Federal CSRS pension falls into this category.

GPO reduces any survivor benefit you might otherwise be entitled to by 2/3rds of the amount of your CSRS pension, which often eliminates the survivor benefit. For clarity,

Senior Menu CATSKILL — The following is the weekly nutrition menu offered by the Greene County Department of Human Services’ Senior Nutrition Program.

Served daily with each meal are bread or alternative with Promise Spread; low fat milk, coffee or tea.

All persons 60 and older and their spouses are invited. The suggested donation for each meal is $4.

The menu will be the meal that is delivered to all Greene County home bound meal clients. Those wishing to receive lunch at a center are asked to call the respective location at least a day in advance.

Rivertown Senior Center, 39 Second St., Athens; 518-9452700.

Acra Community Center, Old Route 23B, Cairo; 518-6229898.

Jewett Municipal Building, Route 23C, Jewett; 518-2634392.

Washington Irving Senior Center, 15 Academy St., Catskill; 518-943-1343.

Town of Coxsackie Senior Center, Mansion Street, Coxsackie; 518-731-8901.

For the foreseeable future, there will be no congregate meals at any of the Greene County Nutrition Centers, including Jewett. Home delivered meals will still be delivered, and if you want a meal, you can order the day ahead and pick it up at the center to take out.

JULY 22 THROUGH JULY 29 WEDNESDAY: Crab topped cod, brown rice pilaf, spinach, apple crisp.

THURSDAY: Hot dog, sauerkraut, baked beans, green beans, fresh salad with white beans, tropical mixed fruit.

FRIDAY: Chef’s salad, potato salad, farm fresh fruit.

MONDAY: Spinach quiche, quinoa, brussels sprouts, fruit

cocktail.

TUESDAY: Barbecue chicken quarter, scalloped potatoes, winter squash, apple cake.

WEDNESDAY: Baked lasagna, Italian beans, fruited gelatin.

JULY 29 THROUGH AUG. 5 WEDNESDAY: Baked lasagna, Italian beans, fruited gelatin.

THURSDAY: Tuna salad, fresh green salad with white beans, potato salad, marinated carrots, fresh fruit.

FRIDAY: Chef’s choice, fresh green salad with kidney beans, cauliflower, farm fresh fruit.

MONDAY: Macaroni and cheese, 3 bean salad, stewed tomatoes, pears.

TUESDAY: Battered fish, scalloped potatoes, carrots, chocolate chip cookie.

WEDNESDAY: Italian sausage with tortellini, Italian mixed vegetables, peaches.

AUG. 5 THROUGH AUG. 12 WEDNESDAY: Italian sausage with tortellini, Italian mixed vegetables, peaches.

THURSDAY: Pulled pork, baked beans, cole slaw, collard greens, fruited gelatin with whipped topping.

FRIDAY: Chicken salad, fresh salad with tomatoes and chick peas, potato salad, marinated carrots, local farm fresh fruit.

MONDAY: Chicken Dijon, rice pilaf, spinach, pineapple chunks.

TUESDAY: Salisbury steak with gravy, cauliflower, sweet potato, tapioca pudding with fruit.

WEDNESDAY: Roast turkey with gravy, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, Monaco mixed vegetables, peach crisp.

AUG. 12 THROUGH AUG. 19 WEDNESDAY: Roast turkey with gravy, cranberry sauce,

mashed potatoes, Monaco mixed vegetables, peach crisp.

THURSDAY: Tuna salad plate, macaroni salad, fresh greens with cucumbers and sliced tomatoes, fruit cocktail.

FRIDAY: Vegetable lasagna, Italian beans, fresh salad, local farm fresh fruit.

MONDAY: Baked ziti, Italian mixed vegetables, brussels sprouts, peaches.

TUESDAY: Meatloaf with gravy, mashed potatoes, spinach, vanilla pudding with granola topping.

WEDNESDAY: Barbecue chicken thighs, brown rice pilaf, California mixed vegetables, pineapple chunks.

GPO also applies to a Social Security benefit from a living spouse.

As you probably already know, your CSRS pension caused your own Social Security benefit, earned from other work outside of your Federal employment, to be reduced by the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP). Unfortunately, whoever you previously spoke with at the Social Security Administration prior to your husband’s death gave you some incorrect information, because you are also subject to the GPO. And that is why Social Security will not now pay you a survivor benefit from

your husband.

I’m afraid you have no recourse on this, as both the GPO and WEP have been the law for decades. The Federal Government has now changed to a “Federal Employee Retirement System” (FERS) which fully participates in Social Security (both employees and the employer contribute to Social Security), so more recent Federal retirees are not subject to the WEP and GPO rules.

But there are still many U.S. State and local government employers which, to varying degrees, do not participate in Social Security and whose employees are still impacted by

both GPO and WEP. This article is intended for information purposes only and does not represent legal or financial guidance. It presents the opinions and interpretations of the AMAC Foundation’s staff, trained and accredited by the National Social Security Association (NSSA). NSSA and the AMAC Foundation and its staff are not affiliated with or endorsed by the Social Security Administration or any other governmental entity. To submit a question, visit our website (amacfoundation.org/programs/socialsecurity-advisory) or email us at ssadvisor@amacfoundation.org.

Greene County Public Health Dept. announces flu clinics CATSKILL — Greene County Public Health Department announces dates for this year’s Flu clinics for adults 18 and older. All clinics run from 9:30 a.m.-noon.

Sept. 22, Riverside Park, Coxsackie; Sept. 24, Windham Waste Water Plant; Sept.

29, Dutchman’s Landing,

Catskill; Oct. 1, Angelo Canna Park, Cairo.

The cost of the Senior Flu dose (65 y/o and older) is $80 and the Quadrivalent Flu (18 64 y/o) is $51. Greene County Public Health accepts the following insurances: (nonmanaged) Medicare, Senior Blue, Blue Shield of NENY,

Empire Plan (NYSHIP), CDPHP, and Medicaid HMO’s: CDPHP/Fidelis. All Clinics will be done as Drive-Thru Clinics due to COVID-19.

Pre-registration is required.

For information or to preregister, contact the Greene County Health Department at 518-719-3600.

AUG. 19 THROUGH AUG. 26 WEDNESDAY: Barbecue chicken thighs, brown rice pilaf, California mixed vegetables, pineapple chunks.

THURSDAY: Baked pork chops with gravy, fresh salad, braised cabbage, sweet potatoes, oatmeal raisin cookie.

FRIDAY: Seafood salad plate, fresh greens, potato salad, local farm fresh fruit.

MONDAY: American goulash, green beans, fruit cocktail.

TUESDAY: Baked salmon with lemon sauce, rice pilaf, California mixed vegetables, yogurt with fruit and granola.

WEDNESDAY: Baked chicken with gravy, mashed potatoes, spinach puff, apple cake.

AUG. 26 THROUGH AUG. 31 WEDNESDAY: Baked chicken with gravy, mashed potatoes, spinach puff, apple cake.

THURSDAY: Chef’s choice, cauliflower, pears.

FRIDAY: Chef’s salad with ham, cheese, egg, tomato, fresh greens and kidney beans, local farm fresh fruit.

MONDAY: Broccoli and cheddar quiche, wax beans, peas and carrots, pears.

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Farmers’ Market checks available ALBANY — The New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets collaborates with the New York State Department of Health, the New York State Office for the Aging, and Cornell Cooperative Extension in administering the Farmers Market Nutrition Program (FMNP). The purpose of the program is to promote improved nutrition through increased consumption of locally grown fresh fruits and vegetables. It is also intended to expand sales at farmers’ markets and farm stands.

Each Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program (SFMNP) check booklet is worth $20 and contains five $4 checks. Eligibility is determined by two factors: age and income. Issuance of SFMNP checks are targeted to New York State residents, 60 and older, who affirm they are low-income. The criteria for income is a gross monthly

income at or below $1967/ month for a one-person household; $2,658 for a twoperson household, or have income levels that increase by $691/month based on the number of persons in the applicant’s household. Checks will be issued on a FIRST COME FIRST SERVE basis.

Each older adult in a household is eligible to receive a booklet if they meet the requirements.

Participants must complete a Statement of Eligibility to be issued checks.

Checks must be picked up in person at a designated location and cannot be done through the mail. Proxies will not be accepted. A valid Power of Attorney (POA) may sign for checks but must bring proof of their being someone’s POA. Checks may be used by recipients through Nov. 30.

While checks are good throughout New York State,

consumers are reminded that all farmers at Farmers’ Markets do not accept them.

They can only be redeemed with a NYS participating farmer. When wishing to use a SFMNP check, look for the sign that states the booth is a participating farmer or be sure to ask if there is no sign.

In Greene County, the following are authorized locations: Black Horse Farm in Athens; Bulich Creekside Farm Stand in Leeds, Fromer Market Gardens in Tannersville and Stoneledge Farm Stand in Leeds.

The following dates/times have been announced for pick-up at the Acra Community Center in Cairo, 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. July 22.

Due to COVID-19, checks will not be available at the department of human services’ main office. Any questions can be addressed by contacting the Department at 518-719-3555.

Print & Digital Each day, our team breaks stories that matter. From coverage of crime and courts to in depth stories and series about issues of importance to the public---what we do meaningfully impacts the communities we cover.

I now turn to you and ask for your support in these most turbulent and changing times. Local journalism is more important than ever. Columbia-Greene Media’s publications - the Register-Star, The Daily Mail, Ravena News-Herald and Media’s publications - the Register-Star, The Daily Mail, Ravena News-Herald and hudsonvalley360.com inform, entertain hold public officials accountable. hudsonvalley360.com inform,and entertain and hold public officials accountable.

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COLUMBIA-GREENE MEDIA • THE DAILY MAIL

A8 Wednesday, July 22, 2020

Clove From A1

Amedure’s opponent, Democrat Michelle Hinchey of Saugerties, grew up swimming at Fawn’s Leap.

Hinchey said she understands the importance of protecting the community’s natural resources and public lands.

“The local community who has used these places for decades have really stepped up to try and help, but they can’t do it alone,” according to Hinchey’s campaign Facebook page, where she spoke of a recent tour she took to the Clove.

“We ran into two people from Highland picking up leftover garbage because they love and respect this land so much. A community cleanup after the Fourth of July weekend carried out 100 bags of garbage that people had just left there with no regard for what that meant for the environment, the water or the future of the land.”

Democratic State Assembly candidate Betsy Kraat, a Hunter native, described the situation as “heartbreaking.”

Kraat recommended officials explore a permit system, such as the one at Peekamoose Blue Hole in Ulster County.

“It’s better than denying all taxpayers access,” she said.

DEC Forest Ranger Rob Dawson spoke about his interactions with visitors to the Clove.

“I walk the Clove, I talk to the visitors,” he said. “I’ve been doing this for eight years. Definitely this year has the highest use.”

Dawson said the high use is due to a number of factors.

COVID-19 has left residents

and visitors with limited options, he said.

The weather has been exceptionally hot and sunny, Dawson added.

The final piece to this perfect storm is social media, Dawson said.

“I’m trying to change behavior,” he said. “I could write 100 tickets every weekend. But that wouldn’t solve the problem. A) It wouldn’t make the folks at the court very happy with me. And B) That wouldn’t address the problem of the garbage being left behind. People might start leaving it out of spite, thinking, I’ll show that forest ranger.”

Changing behavior is something that takes time, Dawson said.

Other measures that are being taken include working with state Department of Transportation to get proper signage up and with various police agencies including the Hunter Police Department, Greene County Sheriff’s Office and state police on parking enforcement, Dawson said.

The community needs to get through the next six weekends, and then officials can work on a long-term solution, he said.

Resident Ernie Reale criticized that approach, saying waiting until next summer was unacceptable.

“You’re asking locals to tolerate this litter for the next six weeks?” he said.

Reale supported other suggestions of towing and booting cars, he said.

“On Mountain Jam weekend you are here in full force,” he said. “Show a force so that social media goes ‘holy s--t.’ Rectify the problem way before next summer.”

Resident Josh Fromer took issue with “law-abiding residents” asked to accommodate people parking illegally and unloading their cars to visit the Clove, he said, referring to a sign at the bottom of the road telling motorists to yield.

“We have less than 3,000 residents and five law enforcement agencies,” he said. “It’s not a matter of not having enough cops around. It’s a matter of effort. When I see a trooper sitting at the top of the mountain road flipping around on his phone on Tinder or whatever, that’s insulting and we deserve better than that.”

Several residents described experiencing hostility from visitors, including being given the finger, having water bottles thrown at their vehicles and having their vehicles vandalized.

One man, a motorcyclist, described coming within inches of his life when he narrowly avoided a car door that was opened into the road.

Cathy Abramski said this is the first year she felt unsafe in her own home.

“I have people walking onto my property asking if they can park there,” she said. “I have people picnicking on my property when I’m not there and walking around on the trails.”

Abramski asked for a “Lot Full” sign to be placed at the top of her road and for alternative parking options to be provided to visitors.

“Maybe they can park in a larger lot and be shuttled in,” she said.

Andrea Morabito agreed with the shuttle idea.

“You can generate money as a town trolleying them to where they want to go and you can

eliminate the coolers, the barbecue grills because they can’t take that on a trolley.”

The trolley system would also create jobs in the community, she added.

Resident Jim Planck agreed that alternatives need to be available for visitors.

“In 1986 at a public hearing I asked for the stairs and viewing platform at Kaaterskill Falls,” Planck said, adding that he hoped it would not take another 34 years to make improvements.

“The land belongs to the people at large,” Planck said. “You have to control the access. The only way to do that is through parking.”

Planck called for maximum occupancy to be designated at each lot and establishment of parking fees and parking monitors.

Planck also proposed stricter enforcement.

“What good does it do to write a ticket if it just gets ripped up?” he said. “The car needs to be gone when they come out of that water.”

“You have to legitimize access,” he said. “You can’t just say no parking by the road. You have to give them a reasonable place to go park.”

Planck also suggested trash barrels be added to each parking lot.

“Shutting down the Clove on a temporary basis is like a tourniquet,” he said. “It’s not fair to shut it down to everyone. They have a right to use it.”

Westchester County Sustainability Coordinator Lea Cullen Boyer suggested the community change its approach.

“You are coming at an urban problem with a rural solution,” she said. “If you don’t want

someone to park there, put a sawhorse there.”

Many people are flocking to areas like the Clove because beaches are limited to 50% capacity due to COVID-19, Boyer said.

But depending on the number of visitors coming to the Clove per day, it may be classified as a bathing beach, she said.

The designation requires 1,000 people per day, Boyer said.

Bathing beaches require lifeguards, water quality testing and other safety measures.

Residents complaining of diapers left in the clove is particularly concerning, Boyer said.

“People are bringing babies down the Rat Hole because there’s not a better option,” she said. “It’s dangerous.”

Resident Shane Valcich wants to work with the tourists and educate them.

“I think we can do this with some community help,” he said.

“I don’t think it needs to close.”

Valcich said that he often sees the visitors policing each other.

“There is a vested interest,” he said.

Clarissa Perkins echoed similar remarks.

“I don’t think people come up here wanting to do something illegal,” she said. “I don’t think we want to be known as the police capital of the ski world or of any world.”

Robert Small recommended passing out flyers to visitors to educate them about Leave No Trace principles.

Chip Thomas suggested that instead of giving visitors papers, which then could become trash, visitors could learn from their phones about the penalties and fines for parking illegally and littering.

List From A1

February and March.

The governor expanded his order Tuesday to require visitors from 31 states to self-isolate for two weeks, adding Alaska, Indiana, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Nebraska, Virginia and Washington to the list.

Delaware returned to the isolation list after its removal last week. Minnesota was removed from the quarantine mandate after its coronavirus numbers declined.

Passengers who land in New York airports from one of the 31 states are required to complete the state Health Department’s traveler form before leaving the airport. Department employees greet travelers at the gate in airports to maximize enforcement. Travelers required to self-isolate may be subjected to random telephone or video calls to ensure quarantine.

The quarantine will help slow the state’s COVID-19 infections, but it is flawed, Cuomo said, because the state cannot enforce quarantining travelers who enter New York by vehicle or train.

“Yes, we have the quarantine in effect, but the quarantine is imperfect,” Cuomo said. “The only way to defeat community spread is everyone operating to help everyone else. Our future is in their hands.”

Cuomo and Govs. Phil Murphy, D-N.J.; and Ned Lamont, D-Conn., imposed a tri-state order at midnight June 25 mandating a 14-day self-quarantine for travelers who arrive in New York, New Jersey or Connecticut from states with more than a 10% positive coronavirus test rate, or a positive test rating higher than 10 per 100,000 residents over a seven-day average. Weekly calculations are completed Monday nights and the list is updated Tuesday morning.

Bars may close statewide as Cuomo and state agencies continue to receive hundreds of complaints of New Yorkers crowding streets, especially downstate and in New York City, to eat and drink.

Four downstate bars — three in Queens and one on Long Island — lost their liquor licenses Monday

Cases From A1

the string of new positives, but the spike was well contained and has died down, Mabb said.

Mabb urged caution, despite the relatively low number of new cases.

“When it comes to COVID, all we need is one super-spreader and all of a sudden we are right back in it again,” he said. “We are waiting to exhale on that. We know it is coming.”

Mabb pointed to Rensselaer County as an example of how quickly numbers can change.

Rensselaer County saw its cases spike with an outbreak at Riverside Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing, with one facility accounting for nearly half the

Georgie Silvarole/New York State Team

August Rosa, who owns Pint Sized on Broadway in Saratoga Springs, takes a break from helping customers on Tuesday, June 23, 2020. His bar got the OK from the city last month to start allowing patrons to have drinks outside on the sidewalk and in the grass after the coronavirus prompted a reduction in capacity inside his 600-square-foot space.

after the State Liquor Authority investigated continuous violations of state COVID-19 orders requiring patrons to socially distance and wear face masks or coverings in public.

The SLA has suspended 27 licenses and charged 410 establishments with citations to date after pandemic violations.

The state permits restaurants to resume outdoor dining under phase 3 of reopening, Cuomo said, but did not approve outdoor bars. Bars remain closed in New Jersey and were closed again this month in California, Texas and Florida.

“We never authorized bars to reopen,” Cuomo said. “We never authorized bar operations. Bars are congregations of people milling about. That is exactly what we’re trying to avoid.”

“I understand bars are under tremendous economic pressure and they took this outdoor dining as an opportunity to do outdoor drinking, but

county’s now 73 active cases.

While most active cases of COVID-19 in the Twin Counties are being managed at home, three Greene County residents and nine Columbia County residents are in the hospital battling COVID-19, according to the county health department websites.

Greene County Legislature Chairman Patrick Linger, RNew Baltimore, said expanded testing has led to the discovery of cases that might otherwise not have been diagnosed.

“The county is in pretty decent shape. We do have a bit of a surge right now, but there are requirements for businesses that are opening up to test on a regular basis — some have to test every two weeks, and nursing homes have to test weekly — so we are finding cases from

people who might not otherwise have been tested,” Linger said Monday. “We are finding these cases, doing contact tracing and quarantining people who need to be quarantined.”

Forty-three people are quarantined in Greene County and 35 people in Columbia County are on precautionary and mandatory quarantine.

The travel advisory put into effect by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, requiring quarantine for travelers from states with high transmission rates of the virus, has also led to increased testing, Linger said.

But Mabb warned that the governor’s order may not be working, as a high percentage of people who travel to hotspot states are not following the state’s quarantine advisory.

Preliminary data from the

that’s not what the regulations intended and this is now a significant problem,” the governor added.

“By the words themselves, ‘outdoor dining’ is not a bar operation. The word is dining. You don’t dine when you go to a restaurant to drink.”

The state’s Restaurant & Tavern Association suggested the state’s recent “three strikes and you’re out” policy for bars and restaurants should be more aggressive. Empire State Restaurant & Tavern Association Executive Director Scott Wexler advocated for a “one strike and you’re out” enforcement policy Tuesday.

“New York’s restaurant and tavern industry knows that protecting the state’s success in combating coronavirus is the key to keeping their businesses afloat,” Wexler said in a statement Tuesday.

“We support Gov. Cuomo’s calls to enforce physical distancing and face covering protocols. Large gatherings at or near bars need to end. Bad actors

state show that 20% to 30% of returning travelers are complying with the two-week quarantine, Mabb said.

Both counties are continuing to offer COVID-19 testing regularly.

Greene County offers testing at the county office building in Catskill every Wednesday from 5:30-6:30 p.m. Tests are available to anyone who wants to take one.

Columbia County is giving tests at a mobile clinic on the sidewalk in front of John L. Edwards School in Hudson on Tuesdays, with tests limited to 50 people per day.

Greene County’s number of cases has remained relatively stable compared to other counties in the Capital Region that have seen their numbers rising, Linger said.

Perkins favored the permitting option and recommended increased marketing options for alternative swimming areas.

Janet Volker stressed the need for stricter penalties for parking violations, such as towing or boots because many offenders are tearing up tickets.

Officials from the Hunter Fire Department and Tannersville Rescue Squad spoke of the risks the road poses to their departments’ response to emergency calls. “[The cars] are blocking our access to emergency treatment,” Resident Anita Ayres said. “I resent that. I want to see every car towed.”

Resident Zoe Moore, who started an online petition for the clove approaching 3,000 signatures Tuesday, as well as the Friends of Kaaterskill Clove Facebook page, urged people to take the dangers of the Clove seriously.

“I don’t want people to forget the West Point cadet who died there last summer,” she said.

“It’s only a matter of time before that happens again. I think the road needs to be closed for the rest of the summer. We need to send a message to people.”

Jim Volker spoke of another grave concern: water contamination.

“Think about all the human waste, and when it rains it all goes downstream,” he said.

“That’s pollution. Heavy pollution. I feel sorry for the people in Palenville.”

Similar issues to a lesser degree are happening in Platte Clove, Volker said, adding that the Plattekill Creek feeds the Blue Mountain Reservoir — the drinking water supply for the town of Saugerties.

need to be shut down immediately if they won’t comply with the rules.”

The governor is disgusted a nationwide maskwearing order is not in effect, as a recent Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation model projects 40,000 more Americans will die from COVID-19 without a national mask mandate.

“I am still repulsed, frankly, by the federal government’s failure to do a mask order,” Cuomo said. “Every health official says it will save lives.

Why wouldn’t you do it? It is just, to me, one of the really gross, negligent actions by government.”

Cuomo and top aides in the state’s coronavirus task force had a successful trip and meeting to Savannah, Georgia, on Monday. Health Department workers continue to follow up to establish adequate testing and contact tracing organization Cuomo repeated his offer for New York to assist states and cities battling the surging coronavirus.

More than 30,000 out-of-state health care workers, including nurses and doctors, volunteered to come help in New York during the height of the pandemic this spring.

“Anyone who needs help, we will be there,” Cuomo said. “New Yorkers don’t forget, and we will be there for you when you need us.”

Eight more virus patients have entered New York hospitals, bringing the total to 724 hospitalized.

Two New Yorkers died from the virus Monday, down from eight Sunday. The state’s virus-related fatalities have remained flat for several weeks.

“That’s a significant milestone for me, personally, and I think all New Yorkers,” Cuomo said.

“Obviously, that’s two too many, but remember, at one time we had over 800 deaths in a single day April 14. ... New Yorkers, by their actions, have saved lives. At two deaths, they saved lives. There’s no greater accomplishment one can achieve.”

The state reported 855 new COVID-19 cases, or about 1.29% positive, of the 66,169 tests conducted Monday. Each of the state’s 10 regions reported a low, consistent positive COVID-19 testing rate of 1.6% or lower.

To see where each region stands on reopening and the complete county breakdown of COVID-19 cases and deaths statewide, view the COVID-19 map and tracker at hudsonvalley360.com/site/covid19.html.

“There are no outbreaks [in Greene County], but cases are popping up one by one,” Linger said. “Even with weekly testing we are doing at the county offices, we are finding one or two cases, but it is relatively minor compared to other places in New York state.”

Other counties in the region have seen cases and community transmission from travelers coming in to Albany International Airport and other area travel hubs, Linger said.

Greene County Public Health has been working seven days a week to meet state reporting mandates, Linger said.

“The department has a requirement from the state to do daily reporting, so someone is coming in every day of the week, checking the test numbers, and doing contact tracing for any

cases that are reported,” he said.

Linger urged county residents to continue following health department guidelines to remain virus-free.

“People need to stay diligent,” Linger said. “It is difficult right now and we know that, but people have to stay diligent and make sure they don’t put not only our residents in danger of contracting the virus, but when they are at local businesses we don’t want our businesses to be in violation of the state orders as well. This is not the businesses’ fault — just please follow the guidelines they are required to adhere to.”

Mabb said most people are doing a good job complying with safety regulations.

“We need to keep at it,” he said.

CMYK

Sports

SECTION

Branching out

COLUMBIA-GREENE MEDIA

& Classifieds

Mets’ Alonso will be mic’d up during games this season for YouTube series. Sports, B2

B Wednesday, July 22, 2020 B1

Tim Martin, Sports Editor: 1-800-400-4496 / sports@registerstar.com or tmartin@registerstar.com

LOCAL ROUNDUP:

16U Outlaws shut down Royals Columbia-Greene Media

COXSACKIE — Patrick McManus and Matt Bowes combined on a one-hit shutout and Alek Wagor went 3 for 3 with two RBI as the Greene County Outlaws 16U defeated the Lansingburgh Royals, 120, in an Eastern New York Travel Baseball game at McQuade Park on Monday.

The game was stopped in the fifth inning because of the 10-run rule.

McManus threw the first 4 1/3 innings for the Outlaws, allowing the Royals’ lone hit with five strikeouts and four walks.

Bowes got the final two

outs, striking out one and walking one.

The Outlaws jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first innings. Isaiah Edmonds and Dylan Norton singled, Ethan Conrad walked and Wagor drilled a two-run double. Kasey Moore ripped a runscoring single, McManus knocked in a run with a sacrifice fly and with the bases loaded, Bowes, Edmonds and Norton all drew walks to force in three more runs.

The Outlaws tacked on three more runs in the second. Wagor

WIRE PHOTO

Houston Astros infielder Jose Altuve (right) and Alex Bregman (center) address the media before the morning spring training workout on Feb. 13.

MLB PREVIEW:

See ROUNDUP B3

Houston Astros’ cheating scandal and unanswered questions

By Matt Fortunato Columbia-Greene Media

PART ONE

VINCENT CARCHIETTA/USA TODAY

New York Yankees second baseman Thairo Estrada (71) throws the ball to first base for an out during Friday’s intrasquad game during summer camp workouts at Yankee Stadium.

Thairo Estrada is still in consideration for spot on Yankees roster Kristie Ackert New York Daily News

Thairo Estrada spent the nearly four-month baseball shut down working on some changes to his approach at the plate. The 24-year-old infielder had a taste of playing in the big leagues last season,

but struggled when baseball originally held spring training.

So, when the coronavirus pandemic shut down the sport, Estrada worked on trying to get back to the big leagues.

Before Sunday night’s See YANKEES B3

If anyone remotely associated with Major League Baseball were to share the following opinion publicly, they would be asked to resign immediately, get labeled as a conspiracy theorist, and be blacklisted from further employment opportunities with MLB. Luckily for you, I have no such association and will do the speculating for you.

All of the implications and fallout from the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal, arguably the biggest scandal in baseball history, reeks of a cover-up by the higher ranking officials in Major League Baseball and the commissioner Rob Manfred.

The biggest problem with this claim, is that I do not have any actual proof, however rarely does any conspiracy theory have evidence beyond circumstantial, supplemented with a cynical spin in the interpretation of said circumstances.

But the absence of a vertebrae in the eyes of the public that Manfred has displayed, has left me, as well as many others, no choice but to speculate and have tons of reasonable doubts. So please stick with me.

In order to conduct interviews about the cheating scandal, concocted by

WIRE PHOTO

Houston Astros Manager A.J. Hinch, left, speaks during a press conference as President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Jeff Luhnow, right, listens at Minute Maid Park Monday, Oct. 22, 2018 in Houston, TX.

Astros players and coaches to steal the pitching signs through the use of video and relay them to the batter in real time, the players were granted immunity from any type of punishment whatsoever, before they were to ever step foot into the office to be questioned.

This was found out later to have been a demand by the MLB Players’ Association, and not an original, brilliant idea that the commissioner supposedly had to elicit truthful testimony.

See MLB B3

Giants, Jets playing 2020 home games without fans ‘until circumstances change’ Pat Leonard New York Daily News

The Giants and Jets will play their 2020 home games at MetLife Stadium with no fans in attendance “until circumstances change,” the teams jointly announced on Monday. The two NFL franchises are following New Jersey state guidelines attempting to curb the coronavirus pandemic, which is still threatening whether the Giants and Jets will even be able to play those games.

Governor Phil Murphy decided after consulting with both the Giants and Jets that his executive order limiting outdoor public gatherings will apply to events at MetLife Stadium “until further notice.”

“This decision was reached after careful consideration of the current state of the COVID-19 crisis, in discussions with the Giants and Jets, and in consideration of the health and safety of our fans, players and staff, which will continue to be the primary focus for our teams,” the teams said in a statement. “We support Governor Murphy’s decision in the interest of public health and safety and, until circumstances change, both the Giants and Jets will play our games without the benefit of fans in attendance. Although we would prefer to have fans at MetLife Stadium for our games, we will continue to work with Governor Murphy’s office and will provide updates if necessary.”

The Giants and Jets also said that “out of an abundance of caution, each team’s 2020 training camps and practices will not be open to the public.”

MIKE COPPOLA/GETTY IMAGES

Metlife Stadium is illuminated in blue to honor essential workers on April 9, 2020 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The Giants and Jets announced they’ll play 2020 home games without an audience “until circumstances change.”

“We urge our fans to continue to take the necessary precautions recommended by health officials to stay safe and we look forward to seeing you at MetLife Stadium as soon as possible,” they added.

Murphy added in a statement of his own: “My Administration has been working in close coordination with professional sports and college teams to determine how to proceed safely with games at their stadiums amid the ongoing

COVID-19 pandemic. While we look forward to the day we can return to games as normal and cheer from the stands, continued concerns for the health and safety of fans, team members, and staff dictates that our executive order limiting outdoor gatherings does apply to sporting events, including training camp.”We will continue to closely monitor the public health reality and work with health experts to determine how to move forward,” Murphy added, “and we will continue to work closely with the teams as conditions change. Like all fans across New Jersey, I look forward to watching our teams play from home and plan to be there in person to support the teams when it is safe to do so.”

No fans at the games will mean no tailgating outside MetLife Stadium, also. ?If the building isn’t open to the public, the lots won’t be, either.

In June, the Giants and Jets gave their season ticket holders the option to forego the 2020 season amid the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic and retain their personal seat licenses (PSLs) for 2021.

Season ticket holders who had made payments on their 2020 tickets already and decided to take the season off could choose to either have the money refunded or simply apply it to the 2021 season.

It’s unclear how the Giants and Jets will pivot if at some point this fall they are allowed to begin having fans in the stands. For now though, first things first: getting the 2020 season in safely at all.

CMYK

COLUMBIA-GREENE MEDIA

B2 Wednesday, July 22, 2020

Pro basketball NBA RETURN SCHEDULE Orlando, Fla. Thursday, July 30 Jazz vs. Pelicans, 5:30 p.m., TNT Clippers vs. Lakers, 8 p.m., TNT Friday, July 31 Magic vs. Nets, 1:30 p.m.

Grizzlies vs. Blazers, 3 p.m., NBATV Suns vs. Wizards, 3 p.m.

Celtics vs. Bucks, 5:30 p.m., ESPN Kings vs. Spurs, 7 p.m.

Rockets vs. Mavericks, 8 p.m., ESPN Saturday, Aug. 1 Heat vs. Nuggets, noon, ESPN Jazz vs. Thunder, 2:30 p.m., ESPN Pelicans vs. Clippers, 5 p.m., ESPN 76ers vs. Pacers, 6 p.m.

Lakers vs. Raptors, 7:30 p.m., ESPN Sunday, Aug. 2 Wizards vs. Nets, 1 p.m.

Blazers vs. Celtics, 2:30 p.m, ABC Spurs v. Grizzlies, 3 p.m.

Kings vs. Magic, 5 p.m., NBATV Bucks vs. Rockets, 7:30 p.m., ABC Mavericks vs. Suns, 8 p.m.

Monday, Aug. 3 Raptors vs. Heat, 12:30 p.m., NBATV Nuggets vs. Thunder, 3 p.m., NBATV Pacers vs. Wizards, 3 p.m.

Grizzlies vs. Pelicans, 5:30 p.m., ESPN Spurs vs. 76ers, 7 p.m.

Lakers vs. Jazz, 8 p.m., ESPN Tuesday, Aug. 4 Nets vs. Bucks, 12:30 p.m., NBATV Mavericks vs. Kings, 1:30 p.m.

Suns vs. Clippers, 3 p.m., NBATV Magic vs. Pacers, 5 p.m.

Celtics vs. Heat, 5:30 p.m., ABC Rockets vs. Blazers, 8 p.m., TNT Wednesday, Aug. 5 Grizzlies vs. Jazz, 1:30 p.m.

76ers vs. Wizards, 3 p.m., NBATV Nuggets vs. Spurs, 3 p.m.

Thunder vs. Lakers, 5:30 p.m., ESPN Raptors vs. Magic, 7 p.m.

Nets. vs. Celtics, 8 p.m., ESPN Thursday, Aug. 6 Pelicans vs. Kings, 12:30 p.m., NBATV Heat vs. Bucks, 3 p.m., TNT Pacers vs. Suns, 3 p.m.

Clippers vs. Mavericks, 5:30 p.m., TNT Blazers vs. Nuggets, 7 p.m.

Lakers vs. Rockets, 8 p.m, TNT Friday, Aug. 7 Jazz vs. Spurs, noon Thunder vs. Grizzlies, 3 p.m., NBATV Kings vs. Nets, 4 p.m.

Magic vs. 76ers, 5:30 p.m., TNT Wizards vs. Pelicans, 7 p.m.

Celtics vs. Raptors, 8 p.m., TNT Saturday, Aug. 8 Clippers vs. Blazers, noon, TNT Jazz vs. Nuggets, 2:30 p.m., TNT Lakers vs. Pacers, 5 p.m., TNT Suns vs. Heat, 6:30 p.m.

Bucks vs. Mavericks, 7:30 p.m., ESPN Sunday, Aug. 9 Wizards vs. Thunder, 11:30 a.m.

Grizzlies vs. Raptors, 1 p.m.

Spurs vs. Pelicans, 2 p.m, ABC Magic vs. Celtics, 4 p.m.

76ers vs. Blazers, 5:30 p.m., NBATV Rockets vs. Kings, 7 p.m.

Nets vs. Clippers, 8 p.m., NBATV Monday, Aug. 10 Thunder vs. Suns, 1:30 p.m.

Mavericks vs. Jazz, 2 p.m., NBATV Raptors vs. Bucks, 5:30 p.m, ESPN Pacers vs. Heat, 7 p.m.

Nuggets vs. Lakers, 8 p.m., TNT Tuesday, Aug. 11 Nets vs. Magic, noon Rockets vs. Spurs, 1 p.m., NBATV Suns vs. 76ers, 3:30 p.m.

Blazers vs. Mavericks, 4 p.m.

Celtics vs. Grizzlies, 5:30 p.m., TNT Pelicans vs. Kings, 8 p.m., TNT Bucks vs. Wizards, 8 p.m.

Wednesday, Aug. 12 Pacers vs. Rockets, 3 p.m., NBATV Raptors vs. 76ers, 5:30 p.m., ESPN Heat vs. Thunder, 7 p.m.

Clippers vs. Nuggets, 8 p.m., ESPN Thursday, Aug. 13 Wizards vs. Celtics, TBD Blazers vs. Nets, TBD Kings vs. Lakers, TBD Bucks vs. Grizzlies, TBD Pelicans vs. Magic, TBD Mavericks vs. Suns, TBD Spurs vs. Jazz, TBD Friday, Aug. 14 76ers vs. Rockets, TBD Heat vs. Pacers, TBD Thunder vs. Clippers, TBD Nuggets vs. Raptors, TBD

Pro hockey NHL RETURN SCHEDULE EASTERN CONFERENCE (at Toronto) ROUND ROBIN Sunday, Aug. 2: Philadelphia Flyers vs. Boston Monday, Aug. 3: Washington Capitals vs. Tampa Bay Lightning Wednesday, Aug. 5: Lightning vs. Bruins Thursday, Aug. 6: Capitals vs. Flyers Saturday, Aug. 8: Flyers vs. Lightning Sunday, Aug. 9: Bruins vs. Capitals QUALIFYING ROUND (No. 5) Pittsburgh Penguins vs. (No. 12) Montreal Canadiens Saturday, Aug. 1: Canadiens vs. Penguins Monday, Aug. 3: Canadiens vs. Penguins Wednesday, Aug. 5: Penguins vs. Canadiens Friday, Aug. 7: Penguins vs. Canadiens* Saturday, Aug. 8: Canadiens vs. Penguins* (No. 6) Carolina Hurricanes vs. (No. 11) New York Rangers Saturday, Aug. 1: Rangers vs. Hurricanes Monday, Aug. 3: Rangers vs. Hurricanes Tuesday, Aug. 4: Hurricanes vs. Rangers Thursday, Aug. 6: Hurricanes vs. Rangers* Saturday, Aug. 8: Rangers vs. Hurricanes* (No. 7) New York Islanders vs. (No. 10) Florida Panthers Saturday, Aug. 1: Panthers vs. Islanders Tuesday, Aug. 4: Panthers vs. Islanders Wednesday, Aug. 5: Islanders vs. Panthers Friday, Aug. 7: Islanders vs. Panthers* Sunday, Aug. 9: Panthers vs. Islanders* (No. 8) Toronto Maple Leafs vs. (No. 9) Columbus Blue Jackets Sunday, Aug. 2: Blue Jackets vs. Maple Leafs Tuesday, Aug. 4: Blue Jackets vs. Maple Leafs Thursday, Aug. 6: Maple Leafs vs. Blue Jackets Friday, Aug. 7: Maple Leafs vs. Blue Jackets* Sunday, Aug. 9: Blue Jackets vs. Maple Leafs* *If necessary WESTERN CONFERENCE (at Edmonton, Alberta) ROUND ROBIN Sunday, Aug. 2: St. Louis Blues vs. Colorado Avalanche Monday, Aug. 3: Dallas Stars vs. Vegas Golden Knights Wednesday, Aug. 5: Avalanche vs. Stars Thursday, Aug. 6: Golden Knights vs. Blues Saturday, Aug. 8: Golden Knights vs. Avalanche Sunday, Aug. 9: Stars vs. Blues QUALIFYING ROUND (No. 5) Edmonton Oilers vs. (No. 12) Chicago Blackhawks Saturday, Aug. 1: Blackhawks vs. Oilers Monday, Aug. 3: Blackhawks vs. Oilers Wednesday, Aug. 5: Oilers vs. Blackhawks Friday, Aug. 7: Oilers vs. Blackhawks* Saturday, Aug. 8: Blackhawks vs. Oilers* (No. 6) Nashville Predators vs. (No. 11) Arizona Coyotes Sunday, Aug. 2: Coyotes vs. Predators Tuesday, Aug. 4: Coyotes vs. Predators Wednesday, Aug. 5: Predators vs. Coyotes Friday, Aug. 7: Predators vs. Coyotes* Sunday, Aug. 9: Coyotes vs. Predators* (No. 7) Vancouver Canucks vs. (No. 10) Minnesota Wild Sunday, Aug. 2: Wild vs. Canucks Tuesday, Aug. 4: Wild vs. Canucks Thursday, Aug. 6: Canucks vs. Wild Friday, Aug. 7: Canucks vs. Wild* Sunday, Aug. 9: Wild vs. Canucks* (No. 8) Calgary Flames vs. (No. 9) Winnipeg Jets Saturday, Aug. 1: Jets vs. Flames Monday, Aug. 3: Jets vs. Flames Tuesday, Aug. 4: Flames vs. Jets Thursday, Aug. 6: Flames vs. Jets* Saturday, Aug. 8: Jets vs. Flames* *If necessary Playoffs will be re-seeded after qualifying and round robins.

Mets’ Alonso will be mic’d up during games this season for YouTube series Deesha Thosar New York Daily News

Pete Alonso is on the way to becoming your new favorite regular talk-show host.

The All-Star first baseman is teaming up with Major League Baseball to give fans the opportunity to get to know him through MLB’s YouTube channel — where episodes featuring Alonso being mic’d up during Mets games will be available for public viewing.

Alonso will be mic’d up starting Opening Day on Friday against the Braves. The episodes should be available early in the 60-game season.

This is different than just being mic’d up here and there. What Alonso has in store includes regularly appearing in an actual series of episodes. If all goes to plan, the first baseman will be mic’d up during Mets games with a focus on his conversations with other MLB superstars and teammates. He hopes other players will also be mic’d up.

“I’ll have my own YouTube channel and MLB is going to help produce this and provide the content,” Alonso told the Daily News. “There will be more of an interactive and inside look into the games from what actually goes on. I’m really excited for it.

“I think having a heightened fan experience — especially without fans being in the stands — that’d be really cool and hopefully impacts a lot of fans and brings some new fans in the game because I feel like any chance we have to grow the game of baseball, I feel like it’s a good thing.”

He took the first step toward the league’s next frontier over the weekend.

The audio won’t air live, but will be curated from multiple games for each episode. The mic will be turned off when he’s in the dugout and will mainly be used when he’s defending at first base.

It may also be used during his at-bats.

Alonso was mic’d up when the Mets hosted the Yankees at Citi Field on Saturday. It was part of a trial run to make sure Alonso felt comfortable wearing the mic as he took at-bats and played first base. MLB provided the gear and used a new mic with wireless technology. Alonso said Saturday’s experience was better than last year’s All-Star week, when he wore a clunky mic that made it hard for him to move freely on the field.

The new mic is hidden underneath his jersey and Alonso barely noticed it was

JIM MCISAAC/GETTY IMAGES

Pete Alonso (20) of the New York Mets connects on his third inning home run against the Atlanta Braves on Sept. 28, 2019 at Citi Field in New York City. Alonso will be mic’d up during Mets games for MLB’s YouTube channel.

there.

“The mic this year is way more comfortable how it fits in the jersey,” he said. “I’m really happy how they kind of worked that in and made some adjustments.”

MLB’s never-ending quest to expand the sport’s entertainment value pairs well with Alonso’s chatty personality.

The first baseman is the perfect fit for the type of reality show content that young baseball fans in particular would enjoy watching. Alonso attracted viewers when he was mic’d up during the 2019 Home Run Derby and ESPN’s AllAccess initiative in spring training this year.

Alonso aspires to be a positive ambassador for the sport. He views this mic’d up YouTube series as a way to grow the game and attract younger audiences. Alonso wants MLB to catch up to other professional sports leagues.

“I know other sports are being very, very forward-thinking in being mic’d

Clint Frazier is making a statement on and off the field Kristie Ackert New York Daily News

Clint Frazier wasn’t looking for the attention he got early in this rebooted spring training.

The 25-year-old Yankee outfielder wanted a quiet training camp off the field after a tumultuous 2019 regular season.

Instead, his simple decision to keep himself, his family and his teammates healthy by wearing a mask put him right in the middle of a political debate in the country.

Saturday night, Frazier made the statement he wanted to make. He smacked a two-run home off Mets right-hander Rick Porcello in the fourth inning of the Yankees’ 9-3 win in an exhibition game at Citi Field.

And just to be clear for all the people who called Frazier a “sheep,” he hit the moonshot to left field for two runs while wearing a gaiter covering his nose and mouth.

“He’s embraced that and you know he’s been really playing well here these last few days and I feel like when he first got here he was a little out of whack and then I feel like the last week the quality of his at bats have really ticked up, he’s gotten into a lot of deep counts,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “Same again tonight and obviously, he really clipped one all the while you know, it’s been important to him to have the mask or the gaiter on during the game.

“And obviously it’s not affecting him.: While Frazier said he did not care about the backlash he received for wearing the mask as baseball tries to pull off an unprecedented season in the midst of a pandemic,

he certainly did need to make a statement during training camp.

When baseball shut down four months ago, it was a lock Frazier was going to make the Yankees Opening Day roster just because of numbers. At the time, Aaron Judge (fractured rib), Aaron Hicks (Tommy John surgery rehab) and Giancarlo Stanton (strained calf) were all expected to be on the injured list for the March 26 opener in Baltimore.

With the COVID-19 pandemic shutting down the game for nearly four months though, it allowed them all to heal and all three are projected to now be in the Opening Day lineup when the Yankees take on the Nationals in Washington, D.C. Thursday. With Mike Tauchman having established himself as an excellent defensive outfielder who added some speed and the Yankees seeing the corner outfield spot as a way to get Miguel Andujar’s proven bat in the lineup, Frazier will likely make the expanded 30-man roster for the first two weeks of the season.

But Frazier knows that his immediate future is foggy.

“I think it’s pretty natural to let your mind wander to those areas. But something I’ve learned the last couple years is to stop trying to play GM. I have a role. I don’t know what that role is going to be and I guess as the season continues to unfold, we’ll figure out what all of our roles might be,” Frazier said this week. “Hopefully it’s one that gets to play a big part and a consistent role if I earn it.”

up and having that inside look or having that inside scoop — whether it be on the sidelines, on the field or on the court,” Alonso said. “It can be really cool if we can be a part of that — the new wave of fan interaction. We saw other sports doing it. They’ve figured out an effective way to make it comfortable for players to wear mics.”

Back in March, Alonso revealed hilarious details about his conversations with opposing players. Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant asked Alonso what bat he’s using and if the first baseman wouldn’t mind sending him the same bat, because it was clearly getting positive results at the plate. In another instance, he had a long conversation with Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman — all while playing first base — about their mutual passion for wine.

“He’s a big wino,” Alonso said of Freeman. “And I love wine too. We had an off-day before and I asked, ‘How was your off day?’ and he said, ‘Great,

we had a lovely bottle of wine.’ He said he had Screaming Eagle and I was like, ‘What is that?’ He said, ‘You’ll know when you sign your big contract or your big extension.’ I think it’s a very expensive bottle of wine.”

These are just some of the type of conversations the always-entertaining Alonso would feature in his new YouTube channel. He continues to hope the new mic’d-up segments will give fans a closer feel to the game as he undertakes an ambitious opportunity that seems essential now more than ever, with fans having to watch the shortened season from home.

“I feel like this year we’ve taken some pretty big steps forward to improve us players being mic’d when we play,” Alonso said. “Hopefully we can keep pushing this thing forward and providing more content and reach more people and reach more fans.”

Ron Roenicke must solve a difficult Red Sox outfield equation Bill Koch The Providence Journal

BOSTON — How different could the Red Sox outfield look in 2020?

Start with the obvious, of course. Mookie Betts has been traded to the Dodgers, and you don’t just simply replace a former Most Valuable Player with five-tool ability.

J.D. Martinez now has the luxury of serving as the designated hitter for all 60 games this season. Pitchers will no longer make their generally token attempt to get on base in National League ballparks.

Martinez struggled with lower back soreness on several occasions after playing the field in 2019, and having him focus exclusively on offense could be beneficial.

That leaves four players for three spots, and Boston manager Ron Roenicke is still weighing how to divide the playing time. Three of them — Andrew Benintendi, Jackie Bradley Jr. and Alex Verdugo — are left-handed hitters.

Kevin Pillar was brought in specifically to provide balance and take a place in the lineup against southpaws.

“Sometimes it’s going to be a little tough on who to play and who not to,” Roenicke said. “We feel like we have four guys that are capable of playing every day.”

Opening Day will see the Orioles send left-hander John Means to the mound, so Roenicke has until Friday night to make up his mind. What ultimately factors into his decisions? Summer Camp performance, career numbers and organizational investment

in each player all must be weighed over the course of this 60-game sprint to October.

Benintendi and Bradley have been strong throughout the past two weeks of intrasquad games, spraying line drives to all fields. Verdugo has shown less with the bat and was scheduled to play in a Monday night game with what essentially amounts to two teams of reserves. Pillar has proven capable of both handling himself at the plate and playing either center field or right field.

“I know when a left-hander is pitching, I want Pillar out there somewhere,” Roenicke said. “It kind of depends on who needs a day off or who’s struggling more against the left-handers. That’s how I’m planning to do that now.”

Benintendi and Bradley both own considerably larger sample sizes than Verdugo in terms of at-bats against left-handed pitching, and the results have been generally underwhelming. Benintendi slashes .247/.327/.369 against southpaws while Bradley checks in at .232/.313/.356. Verdugo owns a .306/.333/.452 line against lefties in the big leagues and compiled an .815 OPS against them during his final full Triple-A season with Tulsa in 2017.

“We know they’re all good defenders,” Roenicke said.

“It’s not like if we put one guy out there he’s a better defender than the others. So, it really comes down to the offensive part and who needs more rest.”

The last piece of this puzzle

involves off-field considerations. Benintendi (Ben Cherington, 2015) and Bradley (Theo Epstein, 2011) were both drafted and developed under previous front-office regimes. Chaim Bloom is in his first year as the Red Sox chief baseball officer, and his perspective is bound to be different.

Verdugo was the only big league piece acquired from Los Angeles in the blockbuster that sent Betts and David Price to the West Coast. Jeter Downs and Connor Wong are certainly promising prospects, but there is no guarantee either player will develop ultimately into an impact player in Boston. Any failure

by Verdugo to establish himself as an everyday piece of the Red Sox lineup would reflect poorly on Bloom as well.

Verdugo doesn’t hit free agency until 2025, which gives him the most guaranteed time remaining with the organization among the outfield group. Benintendi signed a two-year deal last offseason to avoid arbitration and isn’t a free agent until after the 2022 season. Bradley will be a free agent at the close of this year, and there have been few whispers of Boston making any real attempt to lock him up long term.

Based on those contract situations, Verdugo and Benintendi have to be considered the most likely Red Sox outfielders to be in the lineup over the course of the next three seasons. Whether or not Boston makes an organizational commitment to both players beginning with 2020 remains to be seen.

CMYK

Wednesday, July 22, 2020 B3

COLUMBIA-GREENE MEDIA

Will Joe Girardi make a difference for Phillies this season?

Scott Lauber The Philadelphia Inquirer

It was the last — if not the lasting — image from the Phillies’ 2019 season.

The final out had just been made. Players were still streaming off the field. But owner John Middleton left his suite, stood on the steps near the entrance to the dugout — in full view of cameras — and waited to shake manager Gabe Kapler’s hand.

Eleven days later, Middleton fired Kapler. Two weeks after that, he hired Joe Girardi. And nothing else the Phillies did in the offseason — not throwing $118 million at free-agent pitcher Zack Wheeler nor signing shortstop Didi Gregorius — carried more weight.

In replacing a manager who had a 161-163 record in two seasons at the helm with one who made the playoffs six times and won a World Series in 10 years with the New York Yankees, Middleton made his opinion clear: The manager matters.

Maybe even as much as the makeup of the roster.

“People were telling me, ‘You had injury problems and you can’t blame Gabe for that,’” Middleton said in October. “But ultimately, I felt, if I was going to bring Gabe back, I had to be very, very confident we were going to have a different outcome in 2020. I couldn’t get confident enough that if I brought him back we wouldn’t run into other

Roundup From B1

singled, Moore and McManus walked, Gorman had an RBI single, Isaiah Maines walked to force in a run and Bowes had an RBI single to make it 10-0.

Wagor’s RBI single in the third and Edmonds’ basesloaded walk in the fourth closed out the Outlaws’

Yankees From B1

exhibition game against the Mets at Yankee Stadium, he was “very much in play” for a spot on the 30-man roster.

“Versatility is certainly one of the things that’s very appealing about Thairo, obviously he can play the middle of the diamond,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “We saw him, on the fly, be able to go and play in the outfield. He runs well. We continue to see the bat. I feel like he continues to make big time strides. He did a good job with the bat last year. I feel like he’s even better

MLB From B1

The investigation went on for almost over two months, and then MLB had reached a decision by mid-January of this year. Though in their investigation, the scandal was labeled as “player-driven,” because of this immunity agreement, no player could be disciplined, and others took the fall. Astros’ manager AJ Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow were the first scapegoats, getting suspended for a year each, and subsequently fired

by Astros owner Jim Crane.

This stands as the only discipline dealt in this scandal thus far, and Manfred maintains that it was a result of these two men, failing to notify players of a memo the commissioner sent out in September 2017 in an attempt to curb these actions, which continued through the Astros’ championship run, and not have to worry about it. Well, MLB painted themselves into a corner with this, as the cheating did continue, and resulted in a World Series title for the Houston Astros.

This act of the 2017 memo being sent, in and of itself, is a strong indication of Major League Baseball’s original

problems.”

It was a fair take. The Phillies did underachieve in going 81-81, their eighth consecutive nonwinning season — after Middleton green-lit half a billion dollars in player additions, no less.

But the managerial upheaval, at a time when the Phillies have a club-record payroll that is approaching the $208 million luxury-tax threshold, also raises reasonable questions. Over the course of a season — 162 games in normal times or 60 in the middle of a pandemic — how many wins and losses can be traced directly to the manager?

In the absence of an equivalent to the WAR metric that is typically applied to players, and considering the myriad facets of the job, is a manager’s impact even measurable?

“I think managers are undervalued in baseball, to be honest,” said Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto, who has played for five of them since 2014. “Just putting your players in the best position to succeed is not as easy as it seems.”

Middleton seems to concur.

He made a calculation that Girardi — along with new pitching coach Bryan Price — is good enough to bridge the roughly 10-win gulf between a .500 record and the postseason appearance that has eluded the franchise since 2011.

Is he correct? scoring.

Along with Wagor’s perfect day at the plate, Edmonds had a double and single with two RBI. Gorman contributed tow singles and an RBI, Bowes had a single and two RBI, Moore a single and an RBI, Norton a single and Conrad and Maines an RBI apiece.

The Outlaws (4-3) host the South Troy Dodgers 15 on Tuesday at 6 p.m. at McQuade Park.

JOSE F. MORENO/THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER

Philadelphia Phillies owner John Middleton looks on during the first day of spring training in Clearwater, Fla., on Feb. 13, 2019.

As with most things, it depends on who you ask.

Bill James has a statistical formula for everything in baseball.

But even the godfather of sabermetrics gave up long ago on trying to scientifically quantify a manager’s value.

“My contribution to the subject was to stop asking that question and shift to a different question: Not how good is this manager, but how does he manage?” James said. “What does one manager do that another does not? How much does he bunt? How many relievers does he use? How many different lineups does he use?

By focusing on process questions, you can see some differences between one manager and another. If you focus on

the question of whether a guy is good or bad, in my experience, you don’t really learn anything.”

Kapler has cultivated a reputation as a progressive thinker who is unafraid to push the bounds of baseball convention.

He once summed up his managerial approach by saying, “We all need to challenge the (bleep) out of our own beliefs.” But his ideas on daily lineup construction, hitting philosophy, and bullpen management aren’t radical. Many are adopted from what has worked for other organizations. And for a franchise that had fallen far behind the analytical curve, Kapler’s datadriven method was appealing.

Girardi is big on data, too.

Early in his Yankees tenure,

he was ridiculed for carrying a binder chock full of trends and statistics. But you don’t last a decade in the manager’s office of the most scrutinized team in baseball without evolving. Girardi became known for blending new-school analytics with a traditional gut-feel. In particular, he excelled at wringing the most out of his bullpens with optimal deployment of relievers.

“He knows what he’s doing from the first pitch to the last out,” Phillies pitcher Jake Arrieta said. “He’s very good about handling a bullpen and understanding when it’s time to get the starter out of the ballgame.

That’s something I really appreciate and I know the guys in the bullpen do, too.”

Said Realmuto: “Some managers go 100% off what the computer tells them; some managers go all off feel. Joe has a good understanding to be able to do both and not just do it because the piece of paper tells him.”

But does that translate to two wins per year? Five wins? More?

As former Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. sees it, the traditional 20-80 scouting scale for players (50 represents a solid regular; 70 is an all-star) can be applied to managers, too, with the grades loosely equating to a win total.

By Amaro’s admittedly subjective formula, a slightly aboveaverage manager (50-55) can

account for two or three wins in a 162-game season. A manager who is solidly above average (60-65) “probably gives you five to seven,” Amaro said. An allstar manager (70 or above) can win eight to 10 games.

“If it’s someone that fits not just the city but the personality of the team, he can make that much of a difference,” Amaro said, pointing to the Phillies’ 27-win improvement under Jim Fregosi from 1991 to 1993.

“You can see that kind of turnaround.”

James tends to be more skeptical.

In the right situation, yes, he believes a manager can have a considerable impact. He cited Whitey Herzog, the St. Louis Cardinals’ longtime Hall of Fame manager, whose “smallball” style maximized the offensive capabilities of Ozzie Smith, Lonnie Smith, Willie McGee, Tom Herr, Jose Oquendo, and others.

Generally, though, James believes a manager can only do so much.

“I think almost all managers make themselves obsolete after a year, two years, three years,” James said. “They solve the problems that they know how to solve. The ones that they don’t know how to solve fester and grow worse. Not many managers are able to continue to solve new problems in new situations.

Kapler becomes first manager to kneel during anthem Field Level Media

The San Francisco Giants’ Gabe Kapler became the first major league manager to kneel during the national anthem, joining a number of his players in the action before a Monday night road exhibition game against the Oakland Athletics.

According to multiple media reports, other Giants who took a knee were outfielders Austin Slater, Jaylin Davis and Mike Yastrzemski as well as first base coach

Antoan Richardson.

Kapler has been an outspoken backer of the Black Lives Matter movement, but he did not publicly announce his intention of kneeling on Monday. He did inform his players, though.

Giants right-hander Kevin Gausman said to reporters, “He told us before the game. He said it’s everybody’s option. His biggest thing to us is whatever side you’re on, whether you decide to stand or kneel, whatever reason, he’s going to stand by

us.”

In online posts, Kapler has decried discrimination including racism and sexism.

He wrote, “The number one thing I can do right now is carefully listen to Black people.

I can hear their stories, their experiences and their pain. I can ask follow-up questions. I can use my platform and my voice to amplify theirs. The follow-up step is to encourage and have the difficult conversation in the clubhouse.”

this year. And I just love the makeup of the person.

“So there’s a lot of things that Thairo brings to the table and his performance has been outstanding,” Boone added.

“So, you know, add all those things up and he’s very much in play.”

The Yankees have four days before they open the pandemic-shortened MLB season in Washington D.C. against the defending World Series champion Nationals, when they will have to cut their camp down to a 30-man roster. They will then have to cut it to 28 after two weeks and have it trimmed down to the normal 26-man roster a month into the season.

Putting together a 30-man roster is new — a product of the shortened reconvened training camp as a way to help teams continue to build up their pitchers as the season begins.

“What’s the makeup with 30 people,” Boone said was one of the questions they are debating internally. “How many pitchers are you going with?

Deciding on who are those last couple of pitchers? What gives you flexibility? How many outfielders? How many catchers, how many infielders to carry?

When do we think we’re gonna potentially have DJ (LeMahieu) and (Masahiro) Tanaka and (Luis) Cessa and these other guys in the mix? And

how does that affect things? So those are all things we’re just kind of wrestling with internally while still trying to make some really good evaluations here in these final days.”

Honestly, though, there are only a few questions the Yankees have heading down the stretch. They are deciding between carrying 15 to 18 pitchers and how to fill their bench.

Will the Yankees carry Mike Tauchman, an excellent defensive outfielder who Boone showed a lot of faith in last year, over Clint Frazier, whose bat can be electric at times?

Will the Yankees use a spot starter like Mike King or Clarke Schmidt the first time through the rotation as they wait for

Tanaka, rehabbing a concussion, to get ready? Or will they head to the bullpen and learn to pitch in the big leagues the old fashioned way?

And with it looking like LeMahieu will be available by Opening Day, or a very shortly thereafter, what will the Yankees do with their utility man on the bench?

Tyler Wade and Estrada can both back up Gleyber Torres at shortstop and have shown they can play the outfield in a fix. Wade offers the Yankees speed, something that is valuable with the new extra-inning rule that begins the 10th with a runner on second base. Estrada offers more of a bat.

He hit .250 with three

homers, three doubles and 12 RBI in 35 games last season, before changing his approach at the plate. In this rebooted camp, he hit three home runs in the intrasquad games.

“Some of the things that I can point out was a matter of being more selective at the plate,” Estrada said through Yankees interpreter Marlon Abreu. “At the same time making better contact. Being aggressive with those pitches and making better contact.

And I’m extremely excited about the results that I’ve had so far. And I find myself in a good place right now and just keep on working and getting myself ready for the upcoming season.”

intent of sweeping this scandal under the rug if the systematic cheating would have stopped afterward; we now know for a fact that it did not.

But the memo itself seemed to be some sort of warning, saying that the MLB had heard things about stealing coded signs using comprehensive methods that involved illegal use of video by teams during games, and sounded, in retrospect, that MLB had zero intentions of following up if they had heard nothing more beyond that point in time.

This leads me to have doubts about what the immunity agreement led to, when it came to interviewing players and coaches during this winter’s investigation.

With the 2017 memo, MLB presumably had enough information to call for the investigation then, but chose not to, and only issued a widespread statement for whatever was going on, to stop.

The investigation that concluded in January, found that the cheating system went on in 2018 as well, following its championship success the previous year. Where all of this gets interesting, is the walkoff homerun that José Altuve hit off of Aroldis Chapman in ALCS Game 6 of 2019, which sent the Astros to their 2nd World Series in three years.

The video clearly shows

Altuve clutching his jersey closed at his chest as he rounds third base, and screams to his teammates waiting at home, “Don’t rip my jersey off.” The point here that a lot of people have made is that although the investigation “found that the Astros’ cheating did not go on into 2019,” they have set themselves up for a majority believing that it did, and they just did it differently.

Some have alleged that the players moved on from banging a trash can, their 2017 method, to batters wearing electronic buzzers on their bats or their bodies, so the guys in the dugout hallway watching the camera feed, could more easily relay the stolen sign without having to rely on the batter hearing the banging on the trash can.

This only amplifies suspicions when you factor in the aforementioned video of Altuve holding his jersey closed so tightly.

Reporter Ken Rosenthal actually asked José Altuve, minutes later in the immediate post-game interview after he hit the homerun, “why didn’t you want the jersey taken off?”

Altuve sheepishly answered that he didn’t want to get in trouble with his wife, who apparently got jealous multiple times prior, when he’d get his jersey ripped off.

Hold on. You just hit a

game-winning homerun, off arguably the best closer in Major League Baseball, to send your team to the World Series, and you’re worried about a little argument with your wife about your shirt being ripped, and slight parts of your body being exposed? I’m calling hogwash on that excuse.

If you pause the video at precisely the right moment as Altuve rounds third base, you can actually see a band-aid or a small piece of tape on his chest as his jersey flaps open prior to him clutching it.

If you’re still with me, here’s where the conspiracy picks up. Remember the immunity agreement that was granted to the players in exchange for interviews? That sounds like a perfect chance for a coverup, and for MLB to sweep the bigger story under the rug, after they failed to do it in 2017 with the memorandum that the Astros either completely ignored. The immunity is obviously contingent upon the players being truthful and forthcoming in the conversations with MLB. Here’s what I think happened: I’ll give the players the benefit of the doubt and say I believe they did give open and honest accounts behind the closed doors of the investigation. With the threat of punishment out the window, they supposedly had no reason to

hide anything.

However, it also gave Major League Baseball an out, if they offered to squash any and all questions about the buzzers in 2019 if the Astros players came clean to them in the meetings.

Commissioner Manfred said that he addressed these speculations about the Astros’ use of buzzers in 2019 in the investigation. Back in 1989, Pete Rose was banned from MLB for life, after denying that he had ever gambled on baseball games.

This was preceded by a meeting Rose had with MLB executives, where they essentially told him that they had the bank records and the proof, and to just not answer questions about it, and he probably would not get such a harsh penalty. Rose left the meeting, and when he was questioned by the media, he immediately folded on the agreement, and denied ever doing it.

Major League Baseball then released their proof, and imposed the lifetime ban. I believe that inverse happened in the Astros’ case. MLB had the immunity deal put in place, got the information they needed to confirm the 201718 scandal, presented the revelations about the buzzers in 2019, and agreed to deny their existence when the Astros admitted to the buzzers being

utilized.

The reason I cling so tightly to this, is the complete lack of contrition and remorse that the Astros players are showing in the wake of this bombshell investigation.

The cockamamie press conference at their spring training facility when Alex Bregman and Jose Altuve said two sentences each while playing the victim card, not taking any responsibility for their despicable actions, when they’ve been the first ones to trash talk fans on Twitter and at the ballpark the last three to five seasons.

Their shortstop Carlos Correa even spoke out in an interview, condescendingly denying that they had not used the elaborate scheme in the playoffs, when the investigation was already published and found out that they did.

Logically, it makes sense to me. Major League Baseball attempted to stop the cheating in September 2017 with the memo, and not have to deal with it.

By doing that, they have caused it to leave an even bigger black eye on the sport’s integrity as a whole, and they have soured the one-on-one nature of baseball, which helps make it stand out among the others.

Part two of this analysis will be published in Thursday’s paper.

CMYK

COLUMBIA-GREENE MEDIA

B4 Wednesday, July 22, 2020 Register-Star

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FOR THE PURPOSE OF WELLHEAD PROTECTION FOR THE MUNICIPAL WATER TREATMENT FACILITY PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that at a Regular Meeting of the Town Board of the TOWN OF ASHLAND, Greene County, New York duly called and held at the Town Hall, Ashland, NY on the 20th day of July in the year 2020, it was on motion duly made, seconded and passed, NOW, THEREFORE IT IS RESOLVED that the Supervisor of the Town of Ashland, or his designee, is hereby authorized to execute any and all documents necessary to complete the purchase from the estate of Donald Tompkins a certain 36.6 acre parcel of real property located in the Town of Ashland bearing Tax Map Section 93.00, Block 2, Lot 36 for the sum of $36,600 (Thirty Six Thousand Six Hundred Dollars) at One Thousand Dollars per acre, subject to an appraisal of the fair market value and a survey of the parcel and it was further RESOLVED that the foregoing Resolution was adopted subject to a permissive referendum, PLEASE TAKE FURTHER NOTICE that the foregoing resolution shall become effective without action of the Town Board on the 20th day of August in the year 2020 unless a petition requesting that a Referendum thereon be submitted to voters in the manner required by law.

Heather Younes, Deputy Town Clerk Town of Ashland Dated: July 20, 2020 NOTICE TOWN OF ASHLAND NOTICE OF ADOPTION OF RESOLUTION SUBJECT TO PERMISSIVE REFERENDUM, PROPOSING TO PURCHASE 36.6 ACRES OF REAL PROPERTY FOR THE PURPOSE OF WELLHEAD PROTECTION FOR THE MUNICIPAL WATER TREATMENT FACILITY PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that at a Regular Meeting of the Town Board of the TOWN OF ASHLAND, Greene County, New York duly called and held at the Town Hall, Ashland, NY on the 20th day of July in the year 2020, it was on motion duly made, seconded and passed, NOW, THEREFORE IT IS RESOLVED that the Supervisor of the Town of Ashland, or his designee, is hereby authorized to execute any and all documents necessary to complete the purchase of this parcel from Larry and Donna Tompkins a portion of or all that certain 13.3 acre par-

cel of real property located in the Town of Ashland bearing Tax Map Section 93.00, Block 2, Lot 41 for the sum of $13,300 (Thirteen Thousand Three Hundred Dollars) at One Thousand Dollars per acre, subject to an appraisal of the fair market value and a survey of the parcel, and it was further RESOLVED that the foregoing Resolution was adopted subject to a permissive referendum, PLEASE TAKE FURTHER NOTICE that the foregoing resolution acres w/above ground well, shall become effective septic tank & electric, aswithout action of the sessed value $17,300 obo, Town Board on the (315)256-1505. FSBO 20th day of August in the year 2020 unless a petition requesting that a Referendum thereon Employment be submitted to voters in the manner required by law.

For The Town Board General Help Heather Younes, Dep- 415 uty Town Clerk AIDE- LIVE-IN or in come Town of Ashland AM hours in Claverack area.

Dated: July 20, 2020 Call (518)821-5858 for infor-

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Village of Coxsackie DPW Superintendent Position The Village of Coxsackie is accepting applications for a Dept. of Public Works Superintendent. The position is a full-time position, starting immediately with benefits.

Normal work hours are Monday-Friday 7 a.m.-3 p.m., with after hour call-ins anticipated. The pay scale is $55,000.00/yr.-$60,000.00/yr. depending on qualifications. Applicants must be at least 21 years of age and hold a valid and acceptable driver’s license and be physically capable of performing the job duties. Applicants must submit to a background check. The job description and application is posted on the Village’s website, www.villageofcoxsackie.com, Facebook or can be picked up at the clerk’s office at Village Hall at 119 Mansion St., Coxsackie, NY. Applications will be accepted until 4pm on July 31, 2020.

CMYK

Wednesday, July 22, 2020 B5

COLUMBIA-GREENE MEDIA

Sports’ return will require a new and different measure of toughness from athletes Mike Sielski The Philadelphia Inquirer

There’s a contrast at the core of what sports — let’s use that umbrella term to refer to the major professional leagues on this continent and the people who direct and compete within them — will try to do over the next couple of weeks. Sports will try to return, in as normal and stable a structure as it can build, even though the coronavirus has reconfigured just about all the structures we have, if not melted them down into liquid iron.

Major League Baseball will try to play a 60-game regular season, then a postseason. The NHL will hold round-robin tournaments among its top four teams in each of the two conferences to determine their seeding for a 16-team playoff tournament. The NBA will go with an eight-game warm-up before commencing with its postseason. Major League Soccer is attempting to hold 51 matches in 26 days among 25 teams. The NFL, for now, will sit back and watch and take notes.

There have been and will be bubbles — when sports is indoors, that is. Franchises and leagues and broadcast networks will implement artificial ARMANDO L. SANCHEZ/CHICAGO TRIBUNE measures to simulate the atmosphere and feel of pre-pandemic games. On the same day that The sun sets during the fourth inning of an exhibition game between the Cubs and White Sox at Philadelphia officials erroneously announced Wrigley Field on Sunday in Chicago. that the city government would not allow fans to “Hockey players sometimes feel like they’re attend any professional sporting events in 2020, routine, thrive amid them, and a feeling of being invincible.

You’re tough. You’re this. You’re that. indestructible, of being more than mortal, sets in. the Phillies provided a glimpse of what an average And it might get in your mind, ‘Hey, I’m going to “There’s no question,” said former NFL ofnight at Citizens Bank Park this summer might shake that virus off like nothing.’ Hopefully, that fensive lineman Barrett Brooks, who played for look and sound and feel like. four teams, including the Eagles, over his 11 years won’t be the case. I played a pretty tough game For an intrasquad game, Dan Baker anin the league. “I used to make a joke of it: People and felt like I’m invincible, but I’m 46 now, and nounced the starting lineup to a mostly empty would ask, ‘What do you do for a living?’ ‘Well, I I’ve got a family. I’m not invincible.” ballpark. Andrew McCutchen pretended to slap That’s what the virus does and has done. It choke 400-pound men.’ I could do anything. For his teammates’ hands. Walk-up songs and organ 10 yards, I was as fast as anybody in the country turns courage (such as it exists on a playing field) music echoed. Scott Kingery hit a home run, and — Carl Lewis, anybody. For those 10 yards. Now into caution, sending into hyperdrive a trend — a the ball didn’t disappear silently and softly into a past that, 10½, I don’t know. But for 10 yards, I greater understanding and acceptance that athfield of outstretched hands. It clanked against the was as explosive as a track guy.” letes should do what they can to conserve their hard, plastic chairs in the right-field stands. Once But the pandemic upends the notion that it bodies and protect their health — that has been the season begins, cardboard cutouts of people is a good thing — and more than that, a neces- accelerating anyway. will fill those seats.

“It is more acceptable to be injured,” said sary thing — for an elite athlete to believe that he And there, right there, is the contrast. Fake or she is bulletproof. When Donovan McNabb former Eagles fullback Jon Ritchie, now a host crowds. Fake crowd noise. Fake high fives. Real throws four touchdown passes on a broken an- on WIP-FM. “People don’t expect you to play competition. Real risk. Real ramifications. That kle, when Carson Wentz throws one on a torn-up through everything as you once did. Concussions contradiction raises a profound question as the knee, when Willis Reed hobbles out to the court started the ball rolling in that direction. I have games resume: What exactly are we asking of for Game 7, they inspire their teammates and often wished I had been less gung-ho and stuthese athletes once sports comes back, and are their teams’ fans. They stand tall and perform de- pid with my own body. I see players being more they equipped to handle it? spite pain. They overcome adversity. They show conservative and erring on the side of caution. It We often leave unmentioned the danger in- themselves to be unselfish. certainly was not installed in the athlete lexicon herent in sports. The allure of the games that we Try to be that brave and tough these days, when I was playing. It’s more important than evwatch and play is two-pronged: They show us the try to project strength and appear indomitable er that a player, if he has a sniffle, alert everyone limitless capacity of human potential — tough- around the court or the ballpark or the rink, and and protect everyone in that clubhouse or locker ness, endurance, grace under pressure — and you won’t inspire your teammates, but you might room.” they do so, generally speaking, without requiring infect them.

Here’s something else the virus does: It takes the competitors to put their lives on the line. (This Flyers assistant coach Ian Laperriere spent all the aspects of life away from sports, all the eldistinction is why comparisons of sports to war 16 seasons in the NHL as a player, and his ca- ements or “distractions” that an athlete is supalways ring hollow.) But we also shouldn’t mini- reer would have been longer if not for a couple posed to cast aside once the game begins — his or mize the hazards that those who have reached of minor complications: He took two slap shots her family and friends, the triumphs and troubles sports’ highest and most demanding levels con- to the face, one in 2009, one in 2010, the second of his or her daily existence — and shoves them front each time they slip on shoulder pads or grab of which left him with a bruised brain and post- right to the front of the athlete’s mind. a bat. concussion symptoms and caused nerve damIt’s unlikely that fear of contracting COVID-19 Several times each game, an NFL offensive age to his right eye. So Laperriere’s bona fides as would give a player pause in the middle of a conlineman might experience a collision that carries a first-team all-heart guy are well established. Yet test; no athlete is wired that way. “You can’t not the G-force of a car crash in which the vehicle was he is also a husband and a father of two sons, and play,” said Brooks, who works as an analyst for traveling at 30 mph. A major-league batter stand- he acknowledged in a recent interview that he’s NBC Sports Philadelphia. “You have to go full ing 60 feet, 6 inches from a pitcher has between concerned that too many NHL players who have speed.”

425 and 450 milliseconds to recognize that the the same mentality he did will apply it where it But several athletes in various sports have depitcher has thrown a 95-mph fastball, that the doesn’t apply: the safety of themselves and others cided that the threat of exposure isn’t a risk worth fastball is targeted for his head, and that he must vis-a-vis COVID-19. taking, and others wake up every morning knowhit the dirt. An NHL player straps knives to his “We’re going to have to wear masks,” he said. ing that they have to weigh the benefits against feet, carries a long stick with a blade that he him- “We can’t shake hands. We’ve got to get tested the possible costs. self has sharpened, and must always be aware three times a week during camp, and when we get Take Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler. His wife, that an opponent wielding the same combat ac- to the hub cities, I think it’s going to be every day. Dominique, is due with their first child at the end cessories might stab or slice him samurai-style or If we don’t do that, we’re not going to play. People of the month. In a non-coronavirus world, with are not doing it out there, and it’s one of the rea- all other things being equal, Wheeler would take check him headfirst into Plexiglass walls.

Withstand those conditions and those risks sons the virus doesn’t want to go away. We have his regular turn in the rotation and wait until it was time for him to leave the team and be with for long enough, make them part of your daily to do that. We have to do the right thing.

Dominique. He would sit next to his teammates in the dugout or shake their hands after pitching seven shutout innings, and he wouldn’t give it a second thought.

Now? Now every second Wheeler spends at Citizens Bank Park presumably increases the chance, however slight, that he might contract COVID-19 himself or carry the virus back to his home. Is he selfish, a bad teammate, if he doesn’t take that risk? Or is he selfish, a bad husband and prospective father, if he does?

“It’s a very difficult decision, something that I’m still playing in my head,” he said. “I’ve got to be very careful here at the field, outside of the field, wherever I go. The baby’s and Dominique’s health is most important to me. So whatever I can do to make sure they’re safe, that’s the numberone goal for me. Baseball comes after that.”

In some ways, of course, baseball is the easiest of the sports for athletes to navigate during the pandemic. Every game can be played outdoors, which should mitigate the virus’ spread, and though the batter, the catcher, and the homeplate umpire are clustered on every pitch, baseball has what former manager Bobby Valentine calls “built-in social distancing” among the other players and umpires on the field.

The sports in which the athletes are indoors and in closer and more frequent contact, such as basketball and hockey, present different challenges and arguably more peril. Wheeler must be careful around his wife and unborn baby, but at least he is able to interact with them in person.

NBA players within the Orlando bubble and NHL players sequestered in the league’s two hub cities, Toronto and Edmonton, don’t have even that modest luxury. Already, Zion Williamson, the New Orleans Pelicans’ star rookie, has left to attend to what the team described as “an urgent family matter.”

From those who wish to compete, a different measure of discipline, a lack of personal freedom, will be required. For instance, former Sixers center Richaun Holmes, now with the Sacramento Kings, exited the bubble for a less-pressing reason than Williamson’s. He went to pick up an order of takeout food. He has been placed in quarantine, and he provided early validation of a recent assertion by the Sixers’ Joel Embiid, who didn’t trust that every NBA player would abide by the rules of isolation.

“I know myself,” he said. “I know I’m not going to put everybody else at risk. But the question is, is everybody else going to do the same? Being around this business, I surely don’t think so.”

Embiid made the same point in an exaggerated manner on the day he traveled to Orlando, arriving for his flight clad in a white hazmat suit. It was a hilarious sight, but it also cast in stark relief the choice that every athlete in every sport has had or will have to make — and the gravity of that choice.

Put it this way: It’s a safe bet that, over the month he spent stricken with and recovering from COVID-19, losing his senses of taste and smell and seeing his body temperature rise, Kingery wasn’t worrying first and foremost about his team’s postseason prospects or the incentive clauses in his contract.

“I play in a city that’s tough, and I consider myself being tough,” Embiid said. “You look at the way I play the games: physical, getting to the free-throw line. I’m not going to give up that easy.

But if you told me the current trend was a lot of people getting sick and people dying, obviously you don’t know what’s going to happen, and you don’t want to be in a situation where you put your life at risk for just, what, the money?

“At the end of the day, basketball is not all that matters.”

College football and NFL should forget about 2020 and look to next year Bill Plaschke Los Angeles Times

It’s a Hail Mary pass that just doesn’t fly.

It’s a two-minute drill in the final 10 seconds.

It’s a desperate money grab at potentially great personal cost to the players and their families, and it has to stop now.

Football, all of it, from Pop Warner to Roger Goodell, needs to avoid the inevitable sack from a surging coronavirus and call a six-month timeout.

Shut down NFL training camps before they open. Forget the idea of unpaid college athletes playing abbreviated schedules on campuses deemed unsafe for regular students. Follow the lead of California high schools and temporarily dim all Friday night lights.

Start the seasons in January.

Play the championships in the spring. Learn from the mistakes that will be made by the restarting sports. Understand that you are playing a very different, far more dangerous game.

You’re not the NBA, which has covered itself in a bubble.

You’re not baseball, which competes with most players standing a baseline apart.

You’re tackle football. You’re a contact sport. You’re the exact opposite of coronavirus safety.

You don’t do social distancing.

You do antisocial colliding.

Football is the only sport where there is actually a play called a “slobberknocker.” One of its most admired phrases contains the virus-ominous words, “smash” and “mouth.”

Many players spend entire games at a social distance of about six inches.

“I would say given the fact we’re seeing spikes all over the country, and we don’t have a national strategy, still don’t have enough testing and tracing capacity, playing a very close contact sport like football would come with significant risk,” said Anne Rimoin, professor of epidemiology at the UCLA Fielding School of Health and an expert in emerging infectious diseases. “There’s no way to socially distance as you play, you’re sharing a lot of air space, I just think football players are going (to) end up in a situation where every interaction during a football game has the potential for spreading disease.”

If there wasn’t such a tremendous monetary incentive, this wouldn’t even be a debate. All of football would have been postponed a couple of weeks ago, with everyone following the Ivy League when it shut down the sport with no apologies.

Of course, in the Ivy League,

WIRE PHOTO

USC football players run onto the field at the Coliseum before playing Notre Dame.

football is not a big revenue producer. Safety is not costing them much money. So other leagues just ignored them.

The NFL is welcoming players to training camps this week without a bubble, without guaranteed daily testing throughout camp, and with some of its biggest stars openly begging to be kept safe.

Tweeted Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson: “I am concerned. My wife is pregnant. NFL Training camp is about to start. And there’s still No Clear Plan on Player Health & Family Safety.”

The heart of college football, meanwhile, is still insistent on forging ahead despite the Big Ten and Pac-12 having cut down their schedules to

conference games only. In an open letter to fans, Iowa State athletic director Jamie Pollard bluntly gave his sport’s stubbornness a monetary perspective.

“We must also be cognizant of the absolute need to generate revenues to sustain our long-term operations,” Pollard wrote, and, oh, we’re cognizant all right.

Football generates billions for NFL owners. Football rakes in as much as 85% of the entire athletic budget for Power 5 conference teams, who average more than $60 million in football revenue per season. Football generates priceless identity and community for countless high school teams.

But if football doesn’t drop

the swagger and humbly respect a COVID-19 virus that has killed more than 140,000 people in this country and is surging through Southern California, our national pastime could become a national disgrace.

“Right now unless people are bubbled and you have very frequent testing and really stringent controls, it’s going to be extremely difficult,” Rimoin said. “Given the number of teams, the number of players, the number of people involved in producing football, this could be very problematic.”

You don’t want to listen to the scientist, listen to the football player. Jackie Slater, a Hall of Fame Rams tackle who played in the NFL trenches for 20 years and whose son Matthew stars for the New England Patriots, also has his doubts.

“I’m skeptical,” Slater said.

“For me personally to imagine that environment without the virus being able to spread, it’s unimaginable.”

Slater said the problem isn’t just the constant contact, it’s the constant close communication, from the 11-man huddle on the field to the five-linemen huddle on the sidelines.

“I can’t imagine sitting on a bench with my teammates and not being close enough to talk with each other,” he said. “Look

how closely guys communicate within every group on the team.

This is not golf. The individual has to function within a group.”

Slater said just the mere fear of the virus could affect play and put players at risk for injury.

How hard do you jump into a pile when chasing a loose ball?

How long do you hold your block?

“If you think, ‘I can’t hit this guy because of the virus,’ then you’re not playing very focused,” he said. “And a lot of injuries happen when guys are not focused.”

Postponing the season would be a great inconvenience to many people. But then again, so is wearing a mask.

“I’m optimistic that we will have breakthroughs in therapeutics and vaccines and testing that will make sports and life in general much safer in coming months,” Rimoin said. “But where we stand today, we don’t have those things in place. ... I would love to be able to watch football on TV, but it’s all a matter of trade-off, and right now we’re not doing the hard work that is necessary to shut down the spread of this virus so we can reap the benefits.”

C’mon football, do the hard work. It’s fourth down with lives on the line. It’s time to punt.

CMYK

COLUMBIA-GREENE MEDIA

B6 Wednesday, July 22, 2020

As sports resume, major concerns imperil start of NFL and college football training camps Greg Cote Miami Herald

It’s about to get real.

Real exciting. Real scary. Real weird. Real fast.

This week into next, sports resumes in full — playtime in a pandemic. It might be a wonderful, needed boost to the American spirit. It might be closer to insanity.

Sports is high on a 10-meter board, blindfolded, about to dive in. It might be water below. It might be concrete. The massive endeavor could prove a huge success, or collapse under the weight of enough athletes testing positive for COVID-19 to call the whole thing off.

The only certainty is that nothing is certain.

Major League Soccer has been at it for a while in the Orlando bubble; expansion Inter Miami played Monday, losing its third consecutive match since returning.

Now all of the other major U.S. team sports step into the great unknown as well — including the NFL and college football, whose trainETHAN MILLER/GETTY IMAGES ing camps are set to begin amid trepidation and From left, Safety Erik Harris, fullback Alec Ingold and linebacker Kyle Wilber of the Las Vegas uncertainty.

Raiders work out in a park on June 17 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Training camp for all NFL teams is Dolphins rookies are to report to training scheduled to start on July 28, depending on complications from the coronavirus pandemic. camp Thursday (two days later than first schedcompetition. Wait a minute. In football? Good uled), with full camp starting July 28. The Hur- been agreed upon?

There are no answers. Understandably, play- luck with that one. ricanes (at least three of whom have tested posThe institute’s executive summary on the itive for the virus) are scheduled to open camp ers want answers.

Wilson tweeted: “I am concerned. My wife is return of football begins with this simple deAugust 7. Major concerns hover, though, as football is the sport with by far the largest ros- pregnant. NFL training camp is about to start. clarative: “Asymptomatic and pre-symptomter of players and coaches. And the one sport And there’s still no clear plan on player health atic spread of COVID-19 is common in young that, in an age of social distancing, mandates and family safety. We want to play football but adults.

College football players = young adults. we also want to protect our loved ones.” unavoidable physical contact on every play.

The idea of college football happening this Another complaint: That the NFL is ignoring You saw NFL players’ concerns arise in a coordinated tweetstorm Sunday, one coordinat- the advice of its own medical committee, which fall, even with reduced conference-only scheded by new Dolphins cornerback Byron Jones in recommended players have a 21-day training ules, even without fans, is far from certain at the camp acclimation period. Instead the league is moment. a recent players conference call.

As NCAA president Mark Emmert said last Stars including Chiefs quarterback Patrick making room for two preseason games, while week, “Sadly, the data point in the wrong direcMahomes, Texans pass rusher J.J. Watt and the NFLPA wants none.

The NFL as ignored the safety recommenda- tion. If there is to be college sports in the fall, we Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson tweeted their concerns. The theme: Training camps are tions from the experts that THEY hired,” tweet- need to get a much better handle on the pandemic.” opening despite no agreement between the ed 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman.

Meanwhile it’s opening week for MLB, alConcerns pulse just as much around college NFL and NFLPA on health and safety protocols. though, in 2020, “Play ball!” is less a declarative Will there be daily testing? How will positive football — and whether there will be a season. tests be handled? What about an opt-out clause The NCAA Sport Science Institute ominously than a question. Play ball? Really? In a pandemfor players who are at higher risk or have family calls football a “high contact risk sport.” One ic that is not nearly contained and worsening members who are? Can players be fined for not of its recommendations for the “resocialization in some hotspots including South Florida? And showing up up even though protocols have not of collegiate sports” is social distancing during travel from city to city to do it?

Will Ben Simmons finally unveil his jump shot in Orlando?

David Murphy The Philadelphia Inquirer

I’m in the camp that says the level of angst about Ben Simmons’ lack of threepoint shooting wildly exceeds the actual gravity of the situation.

I’m also in the camp that says if Simmons ever gets to a point where he is shooting three threes a game and knocking down one of them, he will almost certainly establish himself as one of the 10-to15 players in the league whose presence will make any team a contender regardless of his supporting cast.

Now, I know what you are thinking: that sounds like an oddly specific camp. And you’re right. The signage could be difficult to pull off. But there is room beneath our tent, and all are welcome. Feel free to bring cake.

There are a number of reasons why Simmons’ jump shot is once again a pertinent topic of conversation. Granted, there’s probably an equal number of reasons to think that we are at the same point we’ve been plenty of times before, and that the current batch of scuttlebutt trickling out of Orlando will only serve to exacerbate everyone’s battle weariness. But you shouldn’t completely discount the possibility that the next two or three months will yield the expansion of Simmons’ offensive game that everyone has been waiting for. In a recent video published on his YouTube page, Simmons made sure to include a series of clips of him knocking down shots from outside the paint, as well as a verbal exchange in which Pistons guard Tony Snell tells him that he should be shooting more and Simmons responds by saying, “Orlando.”

While it would be a mistake to read too much into the production decisions of most players’ personal marketing campaigns, Simmons has always been a player who acts and speaks with a level of deliberate intention that makes it difficult to attribute the inclusion of such a sequence to whimsy. Couple this with Brett Brown’s recent claim that Simmons has shot more threes in three days of practice than he had in the previous half of a season, and it isn’t a stretch to think that, this time, change is truly at hand.

“He looks good, he feels good, and I know he’s getting tremendous encouragement from his teammates,” Brown said.

Simmons has always struck me as someone with a unique enough mixture of self-awareness, perfectionism, and feel for the moment to assume that any alteration in his game will reveal itself on his terms alone, and that the most important

Opening Day on a 60-game regular season is Thursday, with the Marlins launching Friday in Philadelphia and playing their first home game next Monday. Imagine. Starting this weekend, others teams will be flying into Miami, one of the epicenters of the virus.

Baseball like other sports will go on without fans in the stands for the foreseeable future.

Replacing crowds and crowd noise will be 75 different available crowd reactions to pipe through the stadium PA systems. So we’re pretending there are fans there. How bizarre.

The NBA resumes its season in the Orlando bubble July 30, with the Heat’s first game back (against Denver) on August 1.

The NHL restarts with playoffs on August 1 in two hub cities, with the Panthers beginning a five-game series against . the Islanders in Toronto.

Within a week or 10 days all of our sports will be back at it with games that count happening in empty arenas and stadiums, and football fields will (theoretically) be filled with players preparing for a season.

All of it surrounded by an ongoing coronavirus that as of Monday had killed nearly 140,000 Americans.

Sports are restarting not as some magnanimous, heroic gesture to boost America’s morale. That’s a byproduct leagues may try to take credit for. But get it straight: Sports are restarting in a pandemic to rescue their own bottom line and stave off the financial hit. No fans in the stands to buy their $12 beers, but at least the TV revenue will be flowing again.

We saw what happened when too many states including Florida reopened their economies prematurely. COVID-19 cases spike. So do deaths.

Sports are OK with putting their teams and athletes at an increased risk by playing right now. The risk is lessened by extreme caution and health and safety protocols and all of that.

But the risk is still there.

How MLB and the NBA and NHL manage their restarts will be a Petri dish of sorts, and you can bet the NFL and college football will be watching closely.

Because right now the whole restart of sports and the prospect of football happening at all are precarious, fragile things indeed.

At NBA bubble practices, ballrooms are gyms and stars stare back at themselves in interviews Ben Golliver The Washington Post

QUINN HARRIS/USA TODAY

Philadelphia 76ers player Ben Simmons shoots during media day for the NBA All Star Game at Wintrust on Feb. 15.

of those terms will be his ability to execute with a level of efficiency that he deems acceptable. Furthermore, he has always come across as the kind of person who would secretly fantasize about proving people wrong in the loudest and most dramatic way possible.

That is to say that I’ve always partially assumed that whenever he starts shooting threes, he will immediately begin doing it with a success and frequency that dominates headlines and allows him to field the ensuing flurry of questions with the same level of quiet, almost smirking, self-confidence that he always brings to the postgame podium.

He has never struck me as a guy who would be satisfied with a development arc that starts with him taking a gratuitous three-pointer or two per game and follows a gradual upward curve from there. He strikes me as a guy who wants to come out in a high-leverage situation and drop three or four of them over a stunned defense, each time back-pedaling down the court with a subtle nod to the crowd that says, “Are you not entertained?”

To be clear, I respect this sort of mentality. The hand-wringing about Simmons’ reluctance to shoot has always been incommensurate with the overall utility that he brings to the court, particularly when compared to the progress toward self-actualization that most players have made at a similar age. The fact that Simmons has become as impactful of a player as he has without consistently scoring outside the paint should be one of the biggest reasons to be excited about his potential. Instead,

it is regarded in a lot of circles of the Sixers fan base as evidence that he is not the sort of player whom the organization will ever be able to build a championship team around. Such thinking ignores previous examples of the shooting progress that young players have made. A decade ago, few people questioned Blake Griffin’s superstar credentials when he shot just 14-of-68 from three-point range in his first three years as a pro. Over the last four years, Griffin has averaged more than 200 attempts per season from behind the arc, connecting on a respectable 34.2% of them. Maybe Simmons’ shot never comes.

But there’s little reason to assume that it won’t.

In fact, there’s a strong argument that says the NBA’s Orlando re-start will be the perfect place for Simmons to finally deploy the hundreds of hours of work that he has put in over the last three years. While I don’t necessarily buy the notion that his reticence to shoot has been a product of a fear of failure as much as it has been a product of his desire to be perfect, there is plenty of reason to think that he will feel considerably less pressure in a neutral environment that does not include entire sections of fans yelling at him to shoot the ball. The more important variables might be the four months of downtime that he had to work on his individual game following the NBA’s mid-March suspension of operations, along with the month of practice that the Sixers are getting leading up to their first game on Aug. 1.

KISSIMMEE, Fla. — LeBron James had barely finished speaking when the duct tape came out.

During his first in-person media interview since the NBA shut down due to the novel coronavirus in March, the Los Angeles Lakers forward held court on everything from Rep. John Lewis’s legacy to the MVP race. But there was a problem.

About 10 reporters, angling for space around a massive television monitor used to facilitate a virtual interview with media members around the country, had inched too close for the league’s comfort. After the session, an NBA staffer pulled out a roll of black tape and marked off a protected zone to ensure proper social distancing. The quick-thinking adjustment was a reminder that many aspects of the NBA’s restart at Disney World remain works in progress, even as the league announced Monday that none of the 346 players living inside the bubble tested positive for the coronavirus during the past seven days.

Practices opened to the full media contingent Monday, with the Lakers taking the court at The Arena at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports Complex. Outside the building, a table saw and a stack of wood pallets greeted reporters as they arrived via chartered bus from media housing. Inside, huge dark curtains prevented reporters from seeing the playing court, which also appeared to be under construction. Makeshift signs posted to doors directed traffic throughout the arena’s ground floor.

James sat in a chair in a secluded wedge just removed from the concourse hallway’s hustle and bustle. Players and

coaches, unlike media members and public relations staffers, are not required to wear masks during interviews, and James was relaxed and patient.

He smiled easily, even when loud static feedback briefly sabotaged his virtual interview.

“It’s 2020,” James said, when asked how he was adjusting to life inside the NBA’s bubble.

“Nothing is normal in 2020.

Nothing seems as is. Who knows if it will ever go back to the way it was? It’s 2020. It’s different from the vision 20/20. It’s not that clear.”

Even that interview, a fundamental element of journalism, was a major departure from traditional norms. In Los Angeles before the pandemic, more than two dozen reporters regularly jockeyed for position during James’s postgame locker room interviews. The scene often required crowd control from team staffers and security guards to ensure that the other Lakers could access the showers. Cameramen from local news stations might push and shove each other for prime position, while reporters fought to catch James’ attention by calling his name or raising their voices to ask their questions.

Here, locker room interviews are prohibited and all one-onone opportunities require approval from NBA or team public relations staffers. For James’s interview Monday, there was only a camera attached to the top of the large television monitor, an ESPN camera and a few smartphones filming him in front of a simple backdrop. An on-site staffer took requests for questions from reporters in attendance and relayed them to an off-site staffer who coordinated similar asks from dozens of reporters who weren’t in the bubble but were invited to a Zoom call.

CMYK

Wednesday, July 22, 2020 B7

COLUMBIA-GREENE MEDIA

Terms of endearment have opposite effect on woman Dear Abby, My boyfriend and I are middle-aged. We have been together for 2 1/2 years. I love him, and I’m grateful for such a wonderful man at this point in my life. My problem is, he calls me “Sweet Baby” every single time he DEAR ABBY addresses me. (“Sweet Baby, what do you need help with?”

“Sweet Baby, I am on my way.”

“What did you say, Sweet Baby?”) Even when it comes to trying to be affectionate, he’ll say, “You’re my sweet baby, aren’t you?” He asks this over and over and over, and then says, “You’re my sweet baby.”

Abby, I could probably take it occasionally, but his continuous use of it now makes me cringe. I hate it! I have told him how much I’d prefer for him to use my name, but he won’t.

He continues with the “Sweet Baby” in texts, calls, in person — constantly. I’m starting to wonder if he’s doing it deliberately.

He, in turn, likes being called “Big Daddy,” but I won’t do it. He’s not my daddy, and I don’t care for pet names.

How can one little thing like that be so annoying, to the point that I’m beginning to avoid him and visit him less? It breaks my heart because we can have such a good time together, but he is ruining it. I’m trying not to end a wonderful relationship. I feel that by ignoring my request, he is being rude. Your advice?

Cringing In The South

JEANNE PHILLIPS

Your boyfriend may be following a script he has written in his head. Has it occurred to you that “Sweet Baby” may be what he has called ALL the women in his life — which would make it less a term of endearment than rote recitation?

After two years of this, you should have made

Family Circus

clear to him that “Sweet Baby” is not only not having the desired effect, but it’s making you cringe. While you are at it, tell him plainly that you have an aversion to pet names like “Big Daddy” because one daddy was enough for you, and you neither want nor need another one.

If you can’t communicate what you really feel, then indeed this romance isn’t going to last, so you might as well speak up.

Dear Abby, My 14-year-old son and I recently went to visit family a few hours away. We stayed at my mother’s home. My mother overheard him talking to his male friend about engaging in sexual activity with him. He thought everyone was asleep when she overheard the conversation.

I never suspected that my son might be gay or bi. She told me in private the next day.

Should I say something to him about what she heard? I don’t want to embarrass him, and my mother doesn’t want him knowing what she heard. Should I keep quiet?

Caught By Surprise In Texas

Classic Peanuts

Garfield

Your mother may have misinterpreted what she heard. Your son is at an age when he is trying to figure out who he is. I don’t think it would be constructive to talk to him about what she told you, so bide your time. Let him know you love him and are always available to listen and talk with him about anything that might concern him. But the topic of his sexual orientation should be raised by him, not you.

Contact Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.

Blondie

Is ‘really low’ urine pH a health hazard?

I have a friend who’s 28 with “really low” urine pH (I don’t know how low). Apparently, it is due to constant dehydration and drinking coffee all day long, to the point that the doctor recommended that he drink lots of water with lemon (perhaps just to prevent dehydration and nothing else.)

TO YOUR That sounds counterintuiGOOD HEALTH tive to me. I recall you mentioning before that the body maintains a fairly constant pH. Does that also apply to urine? Could you please comment on urine pH, its spontaneous changes, causes and potential issues that acidic urine may cause in otherwise healthy males?

DR. KEITH ROACH

The body maintains a very constant pH of the blood at a slightly alkaline 7.4 (7 is neutral; below 7 is acidic, above 7 is alkaline). Even a few tenths of a point higher or lower and the body is in severe trouble, as enzymes stop working properly.

The primary method the body uses to regulate blood pH is by increasing or decreasing carbonic acid loss through breathing out more or less carbon dioxide, but the kidneys play their part by adjusting urine pH. Most North Americans consume a diet high in meat, which requires the kidney to excrete acid, but the

urine pH cannot get much below 4.5 due to limitations of the kidney.

It is counterintuitive that consuming lemon juice, which is a quite strong acid (with a pH between 2 and 3), will cause the urine to become less acidic. This is because citric acid (which makes lemons “tart,” i.e., acidic) is metabolized to bicarbonate, which is alkaline and excreted in the urine. Nephrologists use this effect therapeutically in people with calcium oxalate stones.

If your friend has normal kidneys, a change in diet away from meat and with more plants will make the urine pH less acidic.

That said, there are a host of unusual causes of urine pH changes. The ones making the urine pH acidic are quite uncommon, and they include Cushing’s syndrome (excess cortisone) and excess licorice ingestion. Yes, really. Licorice contains glycyrrhizic acid, which acts like a hormone on the kidney to affect urine pH. Coffee has no consistent effect on urine pH, but dehydration can make urine more acidic. Because of the body’s immense capacity to maintain blood pH, however, it is unlikely your friend will develop medical issues due to low urine pH.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) — Someone will be watching you closely to be sure that all you do falls within established parameters. Fear not, you’re following all the rules.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) — Changes you make today to yourself or your work will not have an immediate impact — but be patient! Today’s efforts pay off very soon.

Zits

Readers may email questions to ToYourGoodHealth@med.cornell.edu.

Horoscope

By Stella Wilder Born today, you are perhaps one of the most opinionated individuals born under your sign — and that’s surely saying something, as the vast majority of Cancer natives share with you this particular trait. What makes you different, however, is your tendency to share those opinions freely and openly, without waiting for an engraved invitation to do so, and that will surely result in your gaining a reputation as one who either knows what he or she is talking about, or one who doesn’t — depending on the views of those who are exposed to your opinions.

You’re likely to realize at an early age that you have been endowed with tremendous talents and that you are capable of doing a great deal of things — but later you’ll realize that in the company of one or two other people you’re able to do even more.

Also born on this date are: Selena Gomez, singer; David Spade, actor; Danny Glover, actor; Bobby Sherman, singer; Alex Trebek, game show host; A.J. Cook, actress; Don Henley, musician; Willem Dafoe, actor.

To see what is in store for you tomorrow, find your birthday and read the corresponding paragraph. Let your birthday star be your daily guide.

THURSDAY, JULY 23

Hagar the Horrible

Baby Blues LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) — You are at risk of overextending yourself at this time. Do what some of those around you keep telling you to do: Take care of yourself!

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) — You may discover today that forgiveness is much easier to secure than permission — though this is a risky way to go about your business.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) — The more important your work today, the more relaxed you must be as you get it done. A friend or loved one affects you indirectly.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) — Your critics are hard at work trying to prove that your methods are ineffectual, but have no fear! What you’ve done will speak for itself.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) — Pay attention to externals today, as they will matter every bit as much as what is going on beneath the surface — at least for now.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) — You may find yourself waiting for someone to give you the goahead before you can swing into action and do what you’ve been asked to do.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) — Complications arise today that may slow you down for reasons at first beyond your comprehension. Later you’ll fit all the pieces together.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) — You may have to travel farther today than you had expected, but fortunately, you have equipped yourself with all you need along the way.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) — Slow and steady wins the race today. You can prove that one needn’t be in crisis mode to reach important goals. Show someone how to get things done.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) — Take care today that you don’t skip something that, in the end, will mean the difference between success and failure.

It’s easy to do.

COPYRIGHT 2020 UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE, INC.

Beetle Bailey

Pearls Before Swine

Dennis the Menace

CMYK

COLUMBIA-GREENE MEDIA

B8 Wednesday, July 22, 2020 Close to Home

SUPER QUIZ

THAT SCRAMBLED WORD GAME

By David L. Hoyt and Jeff Knurek Get the free JUST JUMBLE app • Follow us on Twitter @PlayJumble

Unscramble these Jumbles, one letter to each square, to form four ordinary words.

UNEEV FEYBE INCIOC SNIVHA

Yesterday’s

“

Horses Level 1

2

3

4

Now arrange the circled letters to form the surprise answer, as suggested by the above cartoon.

©2020 Tribune Content Agency, LLC All Rights Reserved.

Answer here:

Score 1 point for each correct answer on the Freshman Level, 2 points on the Graduate Level and 3 points on the Ph.D. Level.

”

(Answers tomorrow) Jumbles: FUSSY EVOKE MULLET HOTTER Answer: The restaurant’s all-you-can-eat buffet was being enjoyed — TO THE FULLEST

7/22/20

Solution to Tuesday’s puzzle

Complete the grid so each row, column and 3-by-3 box (in bold borders) contains every digit, 1 to 9.

For strategies on how to solve Sudoku, visit

Heart of the City

sudoku.org.uk © 2020 The Mepham Group. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency. All rights reserved.

(e.g., What was the name of the Lone Ranger’s horse? Answer: Silver.)

Freshman level 1. What term is used for female horses?

2. What is a foal?

3. What is the title of Anna Sewell’s novel about a horse?

Graduate level 4. Five-letter term for a work horse or heavy horse.

5. In this competition, the rider makes the horse perform particular movements.

6. What unit is often used to measure the height of a horse?

PH.D. level 7. What breed is closely associated with the Spanish Riding School of Vienna, Austria?

8. This breed takes its name from the former French province of Perche.

9. The color of this type of horse typically consists of a gold coat and white mane and tail.

SUPER QUIZ ANSWERS 1. Mares. 2. A young horse. 3. “Black Beauty.” 4. Draft horse. 5. Dressage. 6.

Hand. 7. Lipizzaner. 8. Percheron. 9. Palomino.

18 points — congratulations, doctor; 15 to 17 points — honors graduate; 10 to 14 points — you’re plenty smart, but no grind; 4 to 9 points — you really should hit the books harder; 1 point to 3 points — enroll in remedial courses immediately; 0 points — who reads the questions to you?

Mutts

Dilbert

Pickles For Better or For Worse

Get Fuzzy

Hi & Lois

Crossword Puzzle Mother Goose & Grimm ACROSS 1 __ on the back; show of praise 4 Divide down the middle 9 Try to persuade 13 “And on top of that…”

14 Planetary visitor 15 “All You __ Is Love”; Beatles song 16 “__ move on!”; cry to a slowpoke 17 Failing to keep up with others 19 __ none; without exception 20 “Thou shalt not __” 21 Toast topper 22 __ than; besides 24 Battery size 25 Arizona’s Grand __ 27 __ up; dress warmly 30 One way to enlarge a family 31 Asian nation 33 “You are what you __” 35 Green fruit 36 Whitney or Rainier 37 Violent frenzy 38 Money paid for a service 39 Tropical island trees 40 Remington or Winchester 41 Suave; sophisticated 43 Hopeful desires 44 “__ we having fun yet?”

45 Western competition 46 Long-legged bird 49 Twenty 51 __ Beta Kappa 54 Brave 56 Potato 57 Tool with an arched blade 58 Jagged 59 Game similar to lotto 60 Implement 61 “The Beverly Hillbillies” star 62 Make angry DOWN 1 __-bargain; avoid a trial

Bound & Gagged

Created by Jacqueline E. Mathews

2 Stargazer 3 __ degree; somewhat 4 Waste no time 5 Modify 6 Turkey’s currency 7 Tender meat 8 Nigeria’s official lang.

9 Remove cargo 10 __ in; bring under control 11 Actor Hackman 12 Nervous 13 Bell’s monogram 18 Nation whose capital is Accra 20 Big __; VIP 23 __ A personality; aggressive one 24 Rosemary Clooney, to George 25 Part of the leg 26 Toulouse farewell 27 Canisters 28 Tiny plant pest 29 Bird of prey 31 Composer __ Porter 32 Ho-__; dull 34 Golf shop purchase

7/22/20

Tuesday’s Puzzle Solved

Non Sequitur

©2020 Tribune Content Agency, LLC All Rights Reserved.

36 Horse’s hair 37 Stand up 39 Hooded jacket 40 “__ a cock horse to Banbury Cross…”

42 Garbage can 43 Deteriorate 45 Waken 46 “Beat it!”

47 Commotion

7/22/20

48 Greek aperitif 49 Many a Kosovo resident 50 Pigeon noises 52 Attractive guy 53 “What’ll __”; Irving Berlin song 55 Seventh letter 56 Word with mask or lift

Rubes