Suisun Wildlife Center gets wild Saturday A3
Djokovic beats Kyrgios to win Wimbledon title B1
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Firefighters continue battle in Yosemite Blaze threatening giant sequoias Los Angeles Times Firefighters were waging an intense battle Sunday morning to protect hundreds of ancient sequoias threatened by flames raging across rugged and parched terrain in California’s Yosemite National Park. The Washburn fire had grown to at least 1,591 acres and was burning on the southern end of the park near the historic Mariposa Grove, home to about 500 giant sequoias, officials said. The blaze is also threatening the community of Wawona and prompted officials to close Highway 41. More than 300 firefighters were battling the blaze in a coordinated land and air attack, officials said. In the Mariposa Grove, crews were scraping the ground cover to bare soil to prevent flames and spot fires from spreading, and were wrapping some of the ancient giants in protective foil. Firefighters had also set up a sprinkler system to water down the famed Grizzly Giant, which is more than 200 feet tall and one of the largest sequoias in the park. “The fire is burning in difficult terrain with continuous fuels,” posing a “significant threat to firefighters,” fire officials said in a statement. On Saturday, intense smoke and flames sent embers and fire debris hundreds of feet into the air, See Fire, Page A7 INSIDE Air District issues air quality advisory for Monday. Page A7 Yosemite using aerial tankers, chemicals against wildfire. Why that’s ‘a big deal’ for park. Page A8
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President Joe Biden signs the executive order on access to reproductive health care services in the Roosevelt Room at the White House, Friday.
Biden says emergency to defend abortion rights is still on table Tribune Content Agency WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden said he has asked his team to explore the possibility of declaring a public health emergency to safeguard abortion rights after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Roe v. Wade decision. “I’ve asked the folks on the medical — people in the administration to look at whether I have the authority to do that and what impact it would have,” Biden told reporters on Sunday. He urged abortion rights supporters to ‘keep protesting.” Top officials at the Health and Human Services Department and the White House discussed the emergency option before a June 28 news conference by Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, but set aside the idea due to concern that the impact wouldn’t justify the inevitable legal battle, according to people familiar with the matter. Jennifer Klein, director of the White House Gender Policy Council, said Friday that an emergency declaration is “not off the table,” but questioned whether it would help. The government’s public health emergency fund has only “tens of thousands of dollars” and the measure wouldn’t “release a significant amount of legal authority,” she said. Biden has been on the defensive over what activists and some Democrats consider a tepid White House response to last month’s ruling, in which the Supreme Court’s conservative majority threw out the constitutional right to an abortion after almost 50 years. In a sign of the tensions, White House communications director Kate Bedingfield was quoted See Rights, Page A7 INDEX Arts B4 | Business B5 | Classifieds B6 Comics A5, B3 | Crossword A5, B3 | Food B2 Opinion A6 | Sports B1 | TV Daily A5, B3
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Phyllis Craig celebrated her 100th birthday, Saturday.
Craig celebrated 100 years on Saturday Susan Hiland
SHILAND@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET
FAIRFIELD — Phyllis Craig celebrated a century of life on Saturday. Her daughter, Linda McLevich, 71, planned a surprise party for her mom at Paradise Valley Estates over the last few months. The event brought about 75 family and friends to celebrate Craig’s life with a video, cake and lots of shared stories. Craig was born July 10, 1922, to Ethel and Lloyd Kickbush in Guttenburg, Iowa. In case anyone does the genealogy thing, her birth certificate says she was born in Osterdock, Iowa, which is not exactly true. She was born at her grandmother’s house but the other side of the family wanted to say she was born in their house. So one side
of the family claims it is there house she was born in and the other says it was their house. Anyway, officially she was born in Guttenburg. Early on she moved a lot from Iowa to Wisconsin. A farm girl, she shared her childhood with brothers Russ and Roland. They raised pigs, foxes and other critters. In high school, she joined the Glee Club, went out for basketball and ran for the track and field team. She graduated high school in West Bend, Wisconsin, with her heart set on becoming a nurse and that is exactly what she did, joining St. Thereas’s School of Nursing in Waukegan, Illinois, in 1940. She spent three years in college. Of course, her training as a nurse would be valuable for the war efforts. After working in several hospitals, she decided to enlist.
First, she tried the Navy but they were full, so then she tried the Army and they took her in May 1945. Her life after this point certainly was not dull. Craig’s new military life saw her traveling to a lot of different spots on the globe. First, she spent time in Camp McCoy, Wisconsin. She then traveled to Fort Jackson, South Carolina, and then Camp New Orleans. Finally, she along with 500 other nurses were sent to the South Pacific. While on board she got notice that she was going to the Philippines through the Panama Canal. For two weeks she spent time at Albrook Field in Panama, then she headed to Hawaii. Eventually, Craig made it to Manila in Nov. 11, 1945. See 100, Page A7
State cuts cannabis taxes to heal ailing industry Newsom’s top cannabis adviser, told CalMatters. “So I think we need to take a moment to reflect on the fact that something great got done.”
Alexei Koseff CALMATTERS
California is significantly overhauling its cannabis tax structure, including entirely eliminating a tax on growers, in an effort to boost a struggling legal industry begging for relief. The changes, which were adopted last week as part of a broader state budget agreement, will also create tax credits for some cannabis businesses, expand labor rights within the industry and switch collection of a state excise tax from distributors to retailers. That tax will pause at 15% for three years, after which regulators could raise the rate to recoup lost revenue from discontinuing the cultivation tax. Prominent cannabis industry groups praised the plan for its potential to lower costs and help make legal sales more competitive with an illicit market that remains robust six years after California voters legalized recreational marijuana. Yet even as the measure won over-
Eliminating cultivation tax was a priority Amy Jenkins, a lobbyist for the California Cannabis Industry Association who was heavily Miguel Gutierrez Jr./CalMatters file involved in the negotiCannabis plants at the Pure Beauty growing site in ations, said zeroing out the cultivation tax was Sacramento, Jan. 26. a priority for the legal whelming approval in things for the better- industry – something it the Legislature, it was ment of all Californians,” has sought for three years. Growers complained met with vocal discon- Nicole Elliott, director that the tax, a flat tent from retailers who of the Department of say they will not benefit Cannabis Control and See Taxes, Page A7 and several lawmakers who complained that it did 3VJHS .PYS 2UV^Z not do enough to address — N A PA VA L L E Y — ongoing racial disparities 9LHS ,Z[H[L in the industry. Dr. David P. Simon, While efforts to secure MD, FACS. Eye Physician & further assistance from Surgeon, Col. (Ret.), USAF the state may continue, Services include: they seem unlikely to gain • Routine Eye Exams favor any time soon with • Comprehensive Ophthalmology Gov. Gavin Newsom, who • Glaucoma and Macular Degeneration Care signed the tax revision • Diabetic Eye Exams on Thursday. • Dry Eye Treatment :HUKYH “I’m incredibly proud • Cataract Surgery 9P[JOL` )\[SLY of this bill. It accomplishes • LASIK Surgery 9,(3;69® +9, an incredible amount of • BOTOX
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