Daily Republic, Monday, October 10, 2022

Putin blames Ukraine for explosion that rocked bridge

BloomBerg newS

President Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine of carrying out an attack that badly damaged a key bridge linking annexed Crimea to the Russian mainland, his first com ments on an episode that further highlighted the woes of his military in the eighth month of its invasion.

“The authors, the executors, the commis sioners are Ukraine’s secret services,” Putin said at a meeting with Alexander Bastrykin, chairman of Russia’s Investigative Commis sion, according to a transcript posted on the Kremlin website. Cit izens of Russia and some unspecified foreign states assisted Ukraine in preparing the explosion, Bastrykin responded, according to the transcript.

Ukraine hasn’t officially claimed respon sibility for the blast on the multibillion-dol lar bridge that was meant to symbolize the permanence of Russia’s earlier land grab in Ukraine, although it com memorated the explosion within hours with a new postage stamp. Stretch ing 12 miles across the Kerch Strait, the bridge was a signature project for Putin after the pen insula was annexed in 2014. Putin opened the bridge by driving a truck across it.

Either way, the ability to target a struc ture thought to have been heavily secured is another embarrass ment for Putin’s military as his ground forces struggle in eastern and southern Ukraine.

“This incident will likely touch President

See Putin, Page A8

Immigrants ready to help rebuild Florida

By SHira moolten, SOUTH FLORIDA SUN-SENTINEL

FORT MYERS, Fla. —

The wives of Fort Myers’ construction workers, painters, roofers, land scapers and electricians and their families gath ered at the food pantry of Jesus the Worker church on Thursday, as they had every day that week.

Some came to help. Others came to receive help. All were struggling in one way or another.

In the kitchen, the mostly Mexican and Gua temalan women formed an assembly line. Claudia Francisco, a clerk at Florida Southwest state college, which is closed for repairs, stood at the front of the table, packing boxes and giving orders, while several other women who were out of work because of the storm spooned Mexican spaghetti with sour cream and vats of chicken and vegetables

into to-go containers.

“It’s the poor helping the poor,” said Sister Rosa Gonzalez, who oversaw the day’s opera tions, as she watched and ate. “This is what I call the work of mercy.”

It is Fort Myers’ poor immigrant workers who will soon help rebuild the city from the ground up, removing the debris from people’s lawns, painting their homes, and fixing their roofs. Yet they do not have the same means to rebuild their own homes, even as they repair the homes of others.

While much atten tion has been paid to the devastation of Fort Myers Beach and Sanibel Island, the poor immi grant communities like the one surrounding Jesus the Worker Cath olic Church were also destroyed. Yet because of their legal status, many will not receive

See Florida, Page A8

Pin-a-Go-Go has gamers of all ages flipping to help teen center

SuSan Hiland SHILAND@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

DIXON — The ping and flash of lights from the pinball machine makes Mark Cahner smile. He is one of the organizers for the annual Pin-a-Go-Go event at the Dixon May Fairgrounds.

In addition to organizing the event this year with other vol unteers, he also repairs pinball machines in his spare time.

“My favorite machine is Godzilla,” he said Sunday, the final day of the three-day affair. “It just is a fun one to play.”

Cahner likes the way it plays and it scores well.

He remembers when pinball

machines were the child’s favor ite at pizza parlors and arcades. When they started being removed and replaced by video games, it was a little sad for him but he understood.

“They are very complicated and technologically heavy. It made them more prone to break downs and if they aren’t working they aren’t making money,” Cahner said.

Hundreds of pinball fans came to the fairgrounds this weekend for hours of fun playing the 150 machines available. They had some of the newest pinball games and in a small room to the side, they had solid state machines that were old-school ones from the

1930s and 1940s.

“We got the machines donated from hobbyists who collect them,” Cahner said. “One guy brought 10 or 15 from his collection.”

The event has turned into a fun draiser for the Dixon Teen Center over the past few years, which pro vides activities after school for teens from the ages of 13 to 18.

“We don’t have an official meeting place anymore,” teen center board member Kay Caylor said. “We are still looking for one.”

Caylor said she was pleased that as of pretty early Sunday, they had brought in between $8,000 and $10,000.

kicks

Jocelyne von Strong DRNEWS@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

RIO VISTA — People gathered downtown Sunday to celebrate one of the many high points of the 74th annual Rio Vista Bass Derby and Festival – the parade, which offered a glimpse back to a simpler time.

The weather was perfect as the parade began with a slew of emergency vehicles opening with the Rio Vista Police Department, followed by the local Boy Scouts.

Tower Park Marina towed their pontoon boat with dignitaries on board.

Several fire departments

/were on hand to show their support for the local community. The Rio Vista Fire Department, Isleton Fire Department, Montezuma Fire Protec tion District (complete

with their larger-thanlife dalmation mascot on board), paramedics, local Coast Guard and the Sheriff’s Office emer gency response vehicle all grabbed the atten

final

tion of the crowd as they passed by with their flashing lights and horns and sirens.

Rio Vision fielded a trailer with a fall theme to express their “Bridge to the Future” message to the attendees. A lone gentleman playing the bagpipe in full kilt and sash entertained young and old alike, followed by the colorfully dressed women and men of the Trilogy Ohana Dancers. Everyone was treated to a special exhibition of the Ohana Dancers’ Hula skills at the end of Main Street.

F&M Bank thrilled

Who has the best chicken nugget on the market?

a big

Susan

May

Jocelyne von Strong/Daily Republic

The homecoming king and queen pass by during the Rio Vista Bass Derby and Festival parade, Sunday.

Old TV shows can reveal personality profile

I get inspired to write columns from many different places, but this may be the first time I (naval-gazing alert) inspired myself. Last week’s The Last Laugh, about wanting desper ately to become a Nielsen family, made me reflect on many televi sion shows I have watched and enjoyed over the years. It got me to thinking: If someone did not know me, but like me were TV junkies from way back, I could create a character sketch or personality profile just by using their knowledge of characters on television programs from the past.

Tony Wade The last laugh

the Flintstones’ feet/ gas hybrid car at the drive-in and more than six loads of Tinker bell’s laundry.

Shoe Size: Homey D. Clown’s.

Body type: Well, it used to be Skipperlike, but now it is more Gilligan-esque.

Grooming: I would love to believe my day or twos worth of unshaved stubble gives me the same sexy, rugged look that Sonny Crockett champi oned on “Miami Vice,” but it actually makes me look like Grady from “Sanford and Son.”

son on the high end and Elaine on “Seinfeld” and Urkel on the low end.

Familial relationships: had two older brothers and two younger brothers so I am the quintessential Jan Brady middle child. When I was in ninth grade at Armijo High School, my Driv er’s Instruction teacher, Mr. Root, had my older brother Ken, who was a football star, in his class, and that whole year he never once called me by name, but by my brother’s. Pretty soon

I stopped correcting him. Kenny, Kenny, Kenny!

Note: If you don’t get the ref erences, I ain’t gonna explain them. They weren’t meant for you. No offense.

Race: African-American from the suburbs. Think less Fresh Prince and more Carlton (minus the money).

Height: I’m tall, but not exactly ginormous like Coolidge on “The White Shadow.” I’m 6-foot-4 like Jason Segel, who played on “Freaks and Geeks.” I sing Styx’s “’Lady” waaaay better than him, though.

Weight: Since reaching a weight range I was comfort able with in Bright Line Eating and maintaining that weight for almost two and a half years, I no longer wanted my journey to be about Earth’s gravity and I stopped weighing myself in December of last year. So if I am guesstimating, I would say I now weigh less than those brontosaurus ribs that tip over

CORRECTION POLICY

It is the Daily Repub lic’s policy to correct errors

notice an

call the Daily Republic at 425-4646 during business hours weekdays and ask to speak to the editor in

of the section where the error occurred. Corrections will be printed here.

Fashion sense (or lack thereof): While the devil may wear Prada, I wear HannaBarbera. My dream ensemble would be an amalgam of the dis parate styles first unleashed onto the world in the late 1960s show “The Banana Splits.” It would feature Fleegle the dog’s big red bow tie, Drooper the lion’s white spats and match ing white gloves, Snorky the elephant’s round pink John Len non-like spectacles and Bingo the monkey’s sporty one-button fitted vest. It would be accented by the little round helmet caps they wore. I’d call the whole piece the Tra La La. While to stay true to the originals I would not wear pants, I would don some black skivvies to be decent. Plus it’s gettin’ a little California cold lately.

Dancing ability: Well, that would depend on the music and how much it moves me, but I generally land some where between Freddy “Rerun” Stubbs and George Jeffer

Dog training skills: weenie, Chunky Tiberius Wade, will probably never get co-star billing in a cool and violent cartoon like Bandit in “Jonny Quest,” nor will he be able to tell someone in a series of barks like Lassie that Timmy has fallen down the well yet again. But he does understand the word “no” (sometimes) and com pletely understands the words “Milk Bone.” I have long sus pected he understands more than he lets on, however. I bet if Timmy fell down the well with one of his Milk Bones, he could all of a sudden speak in perfect English, French, Spanish and Tagalog.

Political persuasion: I am not a member of any political party, but rather follow the inclusion ary principles of Starfleet. That said, if I was a Starfleet captain, I wouldn’t follow the Picard ian model of “let’s have a cup of Earl Grey tea, hot, and a roundtable discussion about an issue and analyze it to death,” but would instead follow the Kirkian “shields up, fire photon

torpedoes and get into a fist fight with an alien while that dramatic music plays and a stunt double does my actual fighting (except for the closeups)” model.

Personality: I’m not chill like Bruh Man on “Martin” or cool like Arthur Fonzarelli on “Happy Days,” but I’m not a dweebasaurus like Sweat hog Arnold Horshack, either. My philosophy is to always be ready to stop in the middle of a crowded downtown street like Mary Tyler Moore and fling my beret in the air. I haven’t quite mastered the tricky art of having it freeze in the air right above my head, though.

If anyone has a problem with me trying to turn the world on with my smile and taking a nothing day and suddenly making it all seem worthwhile, I keep several Flo-isms always at the ready, including telling them to kiss my grits.

Fairfield freelance humor col umnist and accidental local historian Tony Wade writes two weekly columns: “The Last Laugh” on Mondays and “Back in the Day” on Fridays. Wade is also the author of The History Press books “Growing Up In Fairfield, California” and “Lost Restaurants of Fairfield, California.”

When seniors can’t care for dogs, these volunteers step in

The WashingTon PosT

Marcia Noel was devoted to her two dogs, Ernesto and Roger, and the feeling was mutual.

The miniature pinschers slept with her, played fetch and cuddled with her on the sofa for more than eight years, said Noel’s daughter, Debra Owens, 60.

Owens said her mom requested that after she died, her dogs would go to the rescue shelter where she adopted them, which is near her home in Sacramento.

When Noel died of cancer in August at age 79, Owens was stunned to learn the facil ity was full and couldn’t take in Ernesto and Roger.

“I couldn’t leave town imme diately to get them, and my mom’s neighbors were com plaining that the dogs were barking,” said Owens, who lives in Missouri. “Somebody was coming in to feed them, but they were alone all day.”

“My mom’s wish was for this shelter to take her dogs and get them adopted,” she said. “I had this helpless feeling. I didn’t know what to do.”

Then somebody at the shelter mentioned she should reach out to Peace of Mind Dog Rescue in Pacific Grove on California’s Central Coast. Owens called and immediately arranged for the dogs to be picked up from her mom’s apartment and placed in foster care until they could be adopted, she said.

“It was such a relief during a heartbreaking time,” she said, noting that the dogs are still in foster care.

Peace of Mind Dog Rescue has helped seniors and senior dogs since the nonprofit group was started by Carie Broecker and Monica Rua in 2009.

Broecker, 56, said she came up with the idea of helping vul nerable dogs and their elderly owners while she was caring for a friend’s dog 13 years ago.

“The woman’s name was Alice, and she had emphysema that put her in and out of the hospital,” Broecker recalled.

“When doctors told Alice she had only a few weeks to live, she was moved into hospice care and I took her dog, Savan nah, to visit,” she said. “She was anguished about what would happen with Savvy, because she had no friends or family to care for her.”

Alice didn’t want her dog to

be placed in a shelter, and was devastated at the thought of her dog possibly being put down, Broecker said.

“I told her, ‘No, don’t worry –I’ll make sure she’s okay,’ “ said Broecker, who adopted the dog.

She said the concept of a pet rescue group for seniors and their pets came to her after vis iting Alice that day.

“I thought, ‘What if we were to take in dogs from people who were dying, had already passed away or were going into nursing homes,” said Broecker, noting that studies show dogs improve the quality of life for seniors.

She called her friend Rua to ask if she would help.

Rua said she was on board, but she also wanted to take in senior dogs from shelters because they were among the first to be euthanized.

“Carie and I had volunteered together at another dog rescue, and I was always heartbroken to see older dogs passed over or having a harder time in that environment,” Rua said.

“Senior dogs still have a lot to

Peace of Mind Dog Rescue now finds homes for senior dogs in shelters, and also for dogs whose senior owners can no longer care for them. The group has around 1,300 volunteers who walk dogs for seniors who can’t, as well as provide veter inary care and assist in setting up pet trusts to ensure a dog’s care after a guardian dies.

“We want to give dogs – and their owners – dignity in their older years,” Broecker said. “Once a dog comes to us, we oversee them for the rest of their lives.”

The rescue group has found homes for more than 3,000 dogs and has helped more than 2,000 pets stay at home with their owners through their Helping Paw program, she said.

Alison Day and her husband, Steve Gross, have fostered senior dogs for the rescue agency for four years, and they recently took in a new dog, a Chihuahua named Fonzi.

“You grow attached to them and it’s hard to let them go when they’re adopted,” said Day, 34,

who lives in Pacific Grove.

“Senior dogs are so loving, and it’s rewarding to know you’re helping them because they’re often so overlooked,” she added, noting that older dogs make good pets because they’re usually mellow and have already been trained.

Day said she once had the heartbreaking experience of having an elderly foster dog die in her arms after living with him for two happy final years.

“Caring for a senior dog teaches you to be present and live in the moment,” Day added. “They’ve helped me to feel grounded and appreciative of each day.”

Tami Sojka, a Peace of Mind dog walker for about two years, was one of several volunteers who pitched in to walk Jean Haskell’s dog twice a day after Haskell had back surgery last year and needed six months to recover.

Sojka, 58, said she enjoyed her Thursday outings in Pacific Grove with Sammy, a 14-yearold Shih Tzu that she and other volunteers nicknamed Samwise because of his seemingly wise nature.

“He is such a sweet little dog and it made me feel good to walk him around the neighborhood and help Jean out,” she said.

Haskell, 68, said it was a relief to know that Sammy could keep up his regular routine while she was unable to get out.

“He loves to go for his walks and strut his stuff,” she said.

The rescue group also puts dogs into temporary foster care if an owner is hospitalized and can’t be at home.

“For so many of us living alone, it’s just a fabulous idea,” said Sheila Williams, 76, of Monterey, Calif. She was in the hospital for two weeks in April after gall bladder surgery.

“Carie [Broecker] took my dogs Chex, Tater Tot and Acey Ducey to live with her while I recovered,” Williams said. “I can’t live my life without my dogs. They’re my everything.”

“When I was in the hospital, I missed them tremendously, but I took comfort in knowing they were in good hands,” she added.

Broeker said it has become her life mission to provide comfort to senior dogs and their elderly companions in their final years.

“They deserve dignity, com passion and love,” she said. “They deserve every kindness.”

Courtesy photo illustration

Tony Wade’s political leanings are toward a Kirkian version of Starfleet.

Peace of Mind Dog Rescue courtesy photos

Peace of Mind Dog Rescue founders Carie Broecker, left, and Monica Rua with some of the senior dogs their nonprofit group has taken in.

This dog is being fostered by a Peace of Mind Dog Rescue volunteer until he can find a permanent home.

Single-day veterans stand down event returns to Solano County

DIXON — The North Bay Stand Down event will take place Wednesday.

North Bay Operation Hand Up will host the one-day event at the Dixon May Fairgrounds. Volun teers are needed to help with the setup Tuesday.

“We are back with a new one-day format. Organizers are planning the 18th event to include local community, county and Veterans Affairs benefits, services and resources for returning Operation Iraqi Freedom/ Operation Enduring Freedom veterans and homeless veterans who served their country hon orably,” Jeff Jewell, North Bay Stand Down director, said in a statement.

Past events have served more than 2,900 veterans.

Veterans, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, rep resent about 10% of the homeless population of the United States.

“The adversities of

homelessness include lack of safe shelter, unem ployment, physical and emotional disabilities, substance abuse and hopelessness. For many veterans, these adversities create a selfgenerating cycle, which leads to complete isolation

from mainstream Ameri can society,” Jewell said. “This event has assisted many veterans in our communities to get back on track in their lives.”

The fairgrounds complex is located at 655 S. 1st St.

For information,

veteran registration or to volunteer, go to www.nbstanddown.org; call the Solano County Veteran Services Office at 707-784-6590; call Jewell at 707365-8384orsendhimanemail at vetrepjeff@gmail.com.

Solano Land Trust opens 2 sites for activities

FAIRFIELD — The Solano Land Trust will open a pair of sites this weekend for the enjoy ment of the community.

A Hike and Write event will take place from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Saturday with Fairfield Poet Laureate Suzanne Bruce at the Patwino Worrtla Kodoi Dihi Open Space Park.

Participants will take what’s described as an easy/light-medium docent-led hike of around 1 mile, taking pauses to stop and write. Those who wish to share their writing may do so at the end.

ises an exciting new mitigation opportunity to expand the oak resto ration efforts at the park and they need acorn hunters. Community sci entists will spread out in small groups and try to collect as many acorns as possible, from all oak species. The new project is not only focused on blue oaks, but all of the oaks that make the open space such a special property.

Get the Rush at Rush Ranch returns from 10 a.m. to noon Satur day at Rush Ranch. It’s essentially an open house that features a series of free activities for the whole family, offered the third Saturday of each month. Guests can visit the blacksmith shop, pop-up shops, take Access Adventure wagon rides and visit various exhibit tables. All ages and mobility levels are welcome. A Marsh Walk begins at 10:30 a.m.

Fairfield, Vacaville, Suisun City fire departments hold open houses week

FAIRFIELD — The Fairfield, Vacaville and Suisun City fire depart ments are planning open houses this week.

Residents are invited to visit Station 37 in Fairfield from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday.

Plans call for a chil dren’s activity course, inflatable fire education house, hands-on fire extin guisher demonstrations, a photo booth, corn hole games and fire engine tours. Free hot dogs and refreshments will be served. Children will have a chance to meet Sparky the fire dog and will receive goodie bags and gifts.

The open house is also a chance for residents to meet city firefighters.

Station 37 is located at 1200 Kentucky St. and exits onto Pennsyl vania Avenue.

Firefighters in Vacav ille will host open houses from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday. Open houses are planned at Station 71, 111 S. Orchard Ave.; Station 72, 2001 Ulatis Drive; Station 73, 645 Eubanks Court; Station 74, 1850 Alamo Drive; and Station 75, 111 Cogburn Circle.

Guests at Station 71 may visit the safety house and see Sparky the fire dog throughout the open house. Visitors at Station 72 may watch a vehicle extraction demon stration at 11 a.m. Guests at Station 73 may witness a dollhouse burn at 10 a.m. and a police K-9 demon stration at 11 a.m. Visitors at Station 74 may view the department’s aerial ladder throughout the open house. Guests at Station 75 may take part in the Junior Firefighter Challenge with the depart ment’s Explorers.

Children who com plete a passport with a stamp from each station will have a chance to win a ride to school on one of the city’s fire engines.

Suisun City firefighters will host an open house from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sat urday at Station 47.

The station is located at 621 Pintail Drive. For more information, call 707-421-7205.

The open houses

ahead

Pumpkin Patch Festival opens at Railway Museum

SUISUN CITY — The Western Railway Muse um’s annual Pumpkin Patch Festival returns this weekend.

Special trains will carry passengers out to the pumpkin patch each Saturday and Sunday through October 30.

The museum opens at 10:30 a.m. with train departures begin ning at 11 a.m.

Pumpkins will be avail able for purchase at the patch, as well as snacks, drinks and other home made specialties. There are plenty of activi ties for the whole family like pumpkin chucking, a petting zoo, tractor rides, a hay fort, pony rides and more.

All proceeds benefit the Western Railway Museum (a nonprofit educational institution) and the Fair field-Suisun, Cordelia and Dixon Rotary clubs, whose members will provide lunch for the day as one of their fundraisers for the year.

Western Railway Museum’s Pumpkin Patch Festival admission is $8 to $23. Some activities may require an additional cost. The museum is located at 5848 Highway 12, Suisun City.

For more information and tickets, visit wrm.org or call 707-374-2978.

Council candidate plans meet-and-greet

FAIRFIELD — Nora Dizon, a candidate for the District 1 seat on the Fair field City Council, has scheduled meet-and-greet events at the FairfieldCordelia library.

The events will occur from 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday and Oct. 20. The library is located at 5050 Business Center Drive.

The other candidates for the District 1 seat are K. Patrice Williams and George Kennedy.

Rowland Center hosting movie night

VACAVILLE — The Rowland Freedom Center will host a movie night this weekend screen ing the film “Night at the Museum.”

Visitors can experience the aviation and mili tary artifacts of Rowland Freedom Center at night. Popcorn and candy will be available for purchase. Costumes are encouraged.

The event starts at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at the museum, located at the Nut Tree Airport at 300 County Airport Road, Suite C4.

For more information, visit rowland freedomcenter.org.

Vaca museum sets stage for Fall Festival

VACAVILLE — The Vacaville Museum Guild will host a Fall Festi val courtyard sale from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at 213 Buck Ave.

Guests visiting the outdoor setting may check out items the museum and guild are offering, along with goods from vendors. Breakfast refreshments are planned.

The gift shop will be open during the event.

The courtyard will include items donated by members, such as 19 hand-blown glass pumpkins ranging in size from 2 to 5 inches in size, and a blown-glass redwood tree that stands a foot tall and represents El Palo Alto, the 120-foot-tall and beloved 1,082-yearold coastal sequoia. There will also be iron stone soup tureens with pumpkin, turkey, crab, fall and pheasant themes along with some milk glass, decorative glass items, signature succulent pumpkins and more. Mer chandise from vendors will include Tupperware, jewelry, woodworking, cutting boards and embroidery items.

This fundraiser pro vides financial support to the Vacaville Museum, whose mission includes the cultural and his torical preservation of Solano County.

The museum offers exhibits, publications and educational programs.

For more information about the museum, call 707-447-4513.

For more

information about the Fall Festival courtyard sale, call Pat Zetah at 707-290-3181.

Solano governments schedule meetings

FAIRFIELD — The week will include various government meetings. They are all open to the public. Some will be online and in person. Check each agency’s website for par ticipation options.

The meetings include:

n Travis School Dis trict Governing Board, 5 p.m. Tuesday closed session, 5:30 p.m. open session, Travis Education Center, 2775 De Ronde Drive, Fairfield. Info: https://www.travisusd. org/.

n Vacaville City Council, 6 p.m. Tuesday, council chamber, 650 Merchant St. Info: ci. vacaville.ca.us.

n Rio Vista Planning Commission, 6 p.m. Wednesday, 701 Civic Center Blvd. Info: www. riovistacity.com.

n Solano County Board of Education, 6 p.m. Wednesday, Solano County Office of Educa tion, 5100 Business Center Drive, Fairfield. Info: www.solanocoe.net.

n Solano Transporta tion Authority Board, 6 p.m. Wednesday, STA Boardroom, 423 Main St., Suisun City. Info: www. sta.ca.gov.

n Solano County Civil Service Commission, 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, County Government Center, 675 Texas St., Fairfield. Info: www.solanocounty.com/ depts/bos/meetings/ videos.asp.

n Fairfield-Suisun School District, 6 p.m. Thursday, first floor boardroom at Central Office, 2490 Hilborn Road, Fairfield. Info: https://go. boarddocs.com/ca/fsusd/ Board.nsf/Public.

n Solano County Airport Land Use Com mission, 7 p.m., Thursday, 675 Texas St., Fairfield. Info: solanocounty.com/ depts/rm/boardscommis sions/solano_county_ airport_land_use_com mission/agendas.asp.

Guests are asked to bring a pen and paper and their own snack and water. Participants should wear comfort able clothing, protection from the sun, and good walking shoes. Partici pants will meet at the Ice House parking lot at the corner of Rock ville and Suisun Valley roads and drive to the property together. RSVP to Bruce by Tuesday at fairfieldpoetlaure ate@gmail.com.

Patwino Worrtla Kodoi Dihi Open Space Park is also the site of a community science vol unteer opportunity from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday.

The Land Trust prom

The park is open until sunset. Guests are invited to partic ipate in the annual Marsh Scavenger Hunt and are encouraged to wear costumes. Regis tration for the Marsh Walk is required. Reg ister at solanolandtrust. org/events.

Rush Ranch is located at 3521 Grizzly Island Road, about 2 miles from Suisun City.

Week’s work on Rio Vista Bridge requires overnight traffic controls

The bridge remains safe for travel.

RIO VISTA — Night time traffic controls will be in place overnight each night this week so engineers may test a new backup drive system that will help address the overall reliability of the drawbridge.

One-way reversing traffic control is sched uled from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. Monday through Friday, the state Department of Transportation reports.

Helping

Drivers are warned to expect delays along Highway 12 on either side of the bridge.

Waterway clo sures are planned from 6 a.m. Monday through 6 a.m. Oct. 29.

The waterway closure will affect both recre ational and commercial, Caltrans reports. The temporary exemption issued by the U.S. Coast

Robinson

Vietnam Navy veteran Rich Stroupe salutes

guard

of the North Bay Stand Down veterans event at the Dixon May

Robinson Kuntz/Daily Republic file

Rush Ranch volunteer blacksmith Doug Hampton works the forge in 2012.

Biden tries to spark voters with marijuana pardon

BlooMBerg News

The day after President Joe Biden decided to pardon mari juana smokers, the 79-year-old walked into a bookstore on the University of Pennsylvania campus with his granddaughter. One voice in the crowd outside shouted out: “Yo Joe, legalize that weed.”

The Friday evening episode encapsulates the dilemma facing Biden on the heels of a headline-grabbing announce ment that seems tailor-made to fire up young voters and Black Americans. He has to energize two lifelines for Democrats who tend not to show up for midterm elections but whose support are critical to his party, and indeed his own chances at reelec tion in 2024.

These voters carried the president to victory in 2020 with near record turnout. In that election, 60% of young people cast their ballots for Biden as did an overwhelming 87% of Black people, according to exit polling data by Edison Research. But an NPR/Marist poll taken at the end of September shows the least likely respondents to say they were definitely voting in the Nov. 8 midterm elections were Black voters, Gen Zers and millennials.

With control of Congress balanced on a knife’s edge, Democrats are hoping to ener gize those voters again.

North Carolina state Rep. Terry Brown said Thurs day’s move to pardon people convicted on federal charges of marijuana possession, and an August announcement to forgive student loan debt, would help Democrats. That’s because they are tangible steps that

voters can easily understand, unlike some of the broader leg islation that Biden has signed over the last two years.

"In politics, you've got to get the work done, but you've also got to let people know that you're getting the work done," said Brown, a Charlotte Demo crat. "Sometimes it takes these big splashy announcements to get people's attention."

The Democrats are fighting an uphill battle after failing to pass key legislation on voting rights and police reform, and given that more voters disap prove than approve of Biden’s job performance. History also isn’t on their side as they hold whisper-thin majorities in the House and Senate and the party in power has almost always lost seats during the midterm elections.

On the flip side, a string of legislative victories, includ ing a funding bill with billions of dollars to combat climate change, an issue of concern to young voters, as well as a

Supreme Court ruling that overturned abortion rights and stumbles by some Republican candidates, has buoyed Demo crats in recent months.

The pardons for marijuana possession inspired 'Dank Brandon' memes on Twitter, a reference to a fictional alter ego crafted by supporters and digital strategists of Biden, known as "Dark Brandon." It’s a play on a conservative euphe mism for a Biden insult: “Let’s Go Brandon.”

Historically, last-minute attempts to shift the electorate haven't worked. Texas Demo cratic strategist Chuck Rocha recalled how Democrats pinned their hopes on turning around the 1994 midterms on a crime bill that was signed in mid-September.

But the media environment has changed dramatically since then, especially among young voters, who tend to get their information from social media apps like Instagram and TikTok.

"It was all over their news

Addiction experts fear fallout from legalized sports betting

By M ark k reidler KAISER HEALTH NEWS

Since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2018 that states could legalize betting on sports, California – with 40 million people and numerous professional teams – has been the great white whale, eluding gambling companies and casino-hosting tribal com munities. At stake is $3.1 billion in annual revenue, according to one industry consulting firm.

It’s little surprise, then, that voters will face not one but two ballot prop ositions this fall aimed at capturing California’s sports betting market. Although neither appears to have strong public support, gambling addic tion experts are worried about one far more than the other.

Proposition 26, sup ported by some of the state’s largest tribal casino owners, would permit sports betting, but only within existing brick-andmortar establishments that already offer gam bling and at horse-racing venues. By contrast, Proposition 27, designed and funded by such national corporate gam bling sites as DraftKings, FanDuel and BetMGM, would legalize online sports betting, essentially opening the door for people to bet on games –and the athletes and plays within them – whether they’re sitting in the bleachers or on a couch.

Each measure would likely increase instances

Bridge

From Page A3

Guard allows the lift span of the bridge to open on signal if at least fours hours notice is given to the drawtender.

All work is subject to change due to traffic incidents, weather, avail ability of equipment and/ or materials, as well as

of problem gambling and gambling addiction, but mental health experts say the sheer ease of online betting – on scores, player point totals, the number of penalties in a game, and almost everything else connected to a sport ing event – increases the chance for trouble.

“You don’t get addicted to full-season fantasy foot ball; you get addicted to in-game betting,” said Dr. Timothy Fong, a psychia trist and co-director of the UCLA Gambling Studies Program. “Instead of one bet on the Rams-Chargers game, I now can make an infinite amount right from my phone.”

Sports betting is already legal in some form in 36 states and Wash ington, D.C., and calls to gambling hotlines spiked in Michigan, Connecticut, New York and other states after they allowed that form of gambling. The National Problem Gam bling Helpline Network reported a 45% increase in year-over-year inquiries

other construction-related issues. Caltrans will issue construction updates on Twitter @Caltrans Dist3 and on Facebook at CaltransDistrict3.

For realtime traffic, click on Caltrans’ QuickMap at quickmap.dot.ca.gov/ or download the Quick Map app from the App Store or Google Play.

Drivers who choose to use the Real McCoy II

in 2021, when 11 states went live with some new form of sports betting.

Although gambling addiction doesn’t involve the ingestion of drugs or chemicals, it does involve the stimulation of regions of the brain the same way that other addictive disorders do.

The American Psychiat ric Association classifies gambling as such, placing it in the same category as tobacco, alcohol, cocaine, cannabis, and opioids. Research shows that mesolimbic dopamine, which provides the brain feelings of reward and pleasure, is released in larger quantities in path ological gamblers than in people in control groups. Gamblers get hooked on that reward.

For many states, the lure is obvious: tax revenue. In 2020, Penn sylvania collected $38.7 million from gam bling – three-quarters of it generated by mobile sports betting.

Ferry on Highway 84 or the Ryer Island Ferry on Highway 220 may find additional ferry informa tion at the Caltrans Delta Ferries website at https:// dot.ca.gov/caltrans-nearme/district-4/d4-projects/ d4-solano-delta-ferry. Bay Area motorists may check 511.org, https://twitter. com/511SFBAY or follow Caltrans District 4 on Twitter @CaltransD4.

feeds," Rocha said.

Biden used his presidential authority to announce pardons for thousands of Americans convicted in federal courts of possession of marijuana. The number of people affected isn’t large – an estimated 6,500 con victed in federal courts, and a few thousand more in the Dis trict of Columbia’s system – but the White House is betting the symbolism and his backing for decriminalization will resonate with the two groups.

Black people are nearly four times as likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than White people, according to the American Civil Liberties Union, despite studies showing the groups use the drug at similar rates. The president’s pardon will likely clear the slates of numerous Black people who often face barriers to employ ment and housing with a conviction on their record.

“This is one of the boldest uses of this pardon power in furtherance of social justice in modern American history,” Marc Morial, president of National Urban League, a civil rights organization, said in an interview. “I hope what young people will recognize is in 2020, people made an investment in change, and now they see ‘My vote counts.’”

Younger Americans are more likely to support decrim inalization of marijuana, and they report using the drug at higher rates than previous gen erations. The White House also asked federal agencies to reexamine the drug’s legal classification, which currently places cannabis in the same category as heroin, despite its approval for medical use in 37 states.

Chiraag Bains, a deputy director of the White House's domestic policy council, focused on racial justice and equity, said the point of the announcement was to deliver on the president's campaign promise, despite the close timing to the elections.

"Given that Congress has not acted, and that we're almost done with this session of Con gress, it was critical for the president to take this action," Bains said in an interview. "That was what was going on."

Derrick Johnson, president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, which has long called for the decriminalization of marijuana, said previous admin istrations were wrong to impose tough crime policies leading to incarceration for marijuana possession.

"This isn't a Black problem. This is an American problem," Johnson said. "And because it is an American problem, I hope voters can understand the value of their votes."

The marijuana pardons fol lowed an announcement in August that up to $20,000 in loans for qualified student bor rowers would be canceled. That drew complaints from Repub licans and even some centrists, but has been popular among the young and African Americans.

According to a Quinni piac University poll, Black respondents supported the administration’s debt relief package by 81%, and voters of all races between the ages of 18 and 34 supported the measure by 69%. The relief comes at a time when stu dents face soaring tuition costs, and Black borrowers owe more in loans on average than White borrowers.

Yuri Gripas/Abaca Press/TNS

President Joe Biden speaks to members of the media on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C., before his departure to Poughkeepsie, New York, Thursday.

Shannon Finney/MGM National Harbor/Getty Images/TNS California voters will face two ballot propositions this fall aimed at capturing the state’s sports betting market.

(707) 427-1386

A Beatles relic was stained with gravy; now it’s valued up to $25K

Tribune ConTenT AgenCy

After the Beatles played San Francisco’s Candlestick Park in 1966, fans hung around to pick up mementos. It turned out to be the band’s final official concert, imbuing those keepsakes with added meaning.

Joe Vilardi, the owner of a catering company in San Francisco, got something unusual. That night, he served the band their preconcert meal – roast beef, York shire pudding, a stuffed baked potato, salad and a French pastry, which the band “devoured” over a white tablecloth they splattered with gravy, the San Francisco Chronicle reported at the time. On the tablecloth, they also drew “doodles of psyche delic persuasion” and signed the impromptu

artwork, according to the Chronicle. Vilardi and his cater ing company laid claim to the tablecloth and hung it in the window of his business’s head quarters. For about six days it remained there – an attraction that drew crowds, the Chron icle reported – until someone broke into his display window and made off with the cloth. It was seemingly lost forever.

But in a twist of events, Vilardi’s surviving family members say the table cloth was returned to them out of the blue last year - and on Friday, the piece will be avail able in a public auction online. It is estimated to be worth between $15,000 and $25,000, according to Bonhams, the London-based auction house.

Pearls

Dilbert

Columns&Games

Afternoon of phone-free bliss helps relationships blossom

Dear Annie: I wrote to you months ago about how those of us who have navigated a suc cessfully long marriage can help all the newly weds succeed, and you gave some great advice. I wanted to let you know of something that hap pened just a few days ago that reinforced the soundness of what you wrote.

feel in the air the tight bonds we have for our relationships.

Annie Lane Dear Annie

My wife and I went to a harvest festival at a farm er’s museum and saw young couples on dates holding hands and old couples doing the same. We saw young families who were having so much fun just running around, going on the carousel, taking the hayride, working together on children’s projects, taking in live perfor mances and interacting with the farm animals.

I loved seeing the extended families interacting with one another, three genera tions having fun together. With everyone being together without the distractions of social media, electronic games, laptops, etc., one could just

I’m sure that some will leave the museum and return to unhealthy situations, but for those few hours, it just felt so right. You were wise when you wrote that “if your relationship is planted in nature with lots of communication, books and mutual respect, that relationship will blossom into a beautiful one.” I saw it firsthand just a few days ago. — Longing to Help

Dear Longing to Help: It is a beautiful gift to be able to take in a moment and savor all of its goodness. If, each day, we notice the good things around us, we will start to get more of those good things. What we appreciate appreciates.

Yes, getting off of social media or any form of screens for a while is always a great thing and can bring more harmony to life. Thank you for writing.

Dear Annie: I have wanted to ask this question for some

Horoscopes by Holiday Mathis

ARIES (March 21-April 19). Once again, the fastest way to get where you want to go will be the slow way. It’s really no coin cidence that it keeps happen like this. The truth of the matter is, rushing around helps no one.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20). Some things get better with use. Jeans become more comfort able with wear; the fit improves. Shoes that have been kicked around soften in all the right places, and hearts are the same.

GEMINI (May 21-June 21). This is one chapter of your story. It’s not the start or the finish; it’s not the main meat of the action; it’s just a connecting bit. Think of these days as setup and necessary exposition.

CANCER (June 22-July 22). Whether a thing is a distrac tion or part of the main action has little to do with the nature of the thing itself and every thing to do with your purpose. When you’re aligned well, it’s easy to tell what fits and what’s superfluous.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). When you say, “no worries,” you’re directing the other person not to worry, not giving a true accounting of your own thought process, which may contain as many or as few worries as you feel like taking on – your business entirely.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). You can’t find out who someone is in an hour, a day or even a lifetime. Take your time with relationships, with gentle invi tations through which you’ll get to know a person in a

Today’s birthday

Your cosmic birthday boon is a clear sense of what you need and the powerful vibrations to draw it in. You’re able to get completely honest with yourself and figure out what’s holding you back and what’s helping you live your best life.

More highlights: an excellent trade, a financial win and a level-up in matters of the heart. Sagittarius and Leo adore you.

Your lucky numbers are: 4, 3, 33, 21 and 16.

variety of situations over a long period of time.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). You’re moving the pieces around, trying to find the fit, sometimes getting a match and a click and sometimes not. Either way, the puzzle is coming together. The only time it’s not is when you’re not working on it.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). When someone consistently does something that rubs you the wrong way but you don’t say anything about it because you fear being seen as petty or weak, take this as a sign point ing to where you need to erect a boundary.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22Dec. 21). Someone may think you’ve changed, and that’s because they’re observant. You’ve been working on a change, and now that it’s well

time. I have a very old and good (I thought) friend I’ve known for over 50 years. We live in different states. I would text him several times a week and phone weekly.

My friend always responds right away and seems delighted to hear from me. He is in his middle 60s, divorced and lives alone. He often says he cares about me. However, if I don’t text or call, I never hear from him. Why do you think this is? — Puzzled in Arizona

Dear Puzzled: He might be really shy, especially if he is so responsive after you initi ate contact. If you want him to start more of the dialogue, why don’t you tell him that? Remem ber that people are not mind readers, and if he doesn’t know that you would like him to pick up the phone, maybe he thinks you like it the way it is. You have to tell him how you feel and what your expectations are for a relationship.

Send your questions for Annie Lane to dearannie@ creators.com.

underway, you’re likely to get a reaction from those who will need to adjust.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22Jan. 19). Be patient as you push forward through the many tones of this day. You’ll expe rience moments of boredom, irritation, interest, excite ment and more. You will move yourself great distances, one mile at a time.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20Feb. 18). Maybe you know how you feel love, but you don’t and can never really know how another person feels love. You’ll be attentive, trying to read the signals that help you stay connected.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). One reason to set a boundary with a person is because it helps you keep your bearings in the situation. Another reason to set a boundary is because it reveals the character and/or maturity level of the other person.

CELEBRITY PROFILES:

The film director Ed Wood Jr. made an unforgettable mark on the film industry even though the critics largely regarded his films as models of terri ble filmmaking. Libra’s joyous artistic spirit was alive in his main creative aim: to make people happy, regardless of the resources or talent available to him to do so. So impactful were his efforts that he’s revered in a religion, The Church of Ed Wood.

Write Holiday Mathis at HolidayMathis.com.

KEEP BAD NEWS FROM DECLARER

If you are defending and know that a bad split is waiting just around the corner, try to make the declarer commit himself in another suit before he learns about the adverse distribu tion. Today’s deal exhibits the idea.

The bidding wouldn’t meet with universal approval. Some Norths would rebid two clubs, not one no-trump.

by Phillip Alder

South’s three-club rebid promised a game-invitational 5-5. With a stronger hand, South would have rebid two clubs, New Minor Forcing, and continued with three clubs. North liked his hand enough to take a shot at game.

West led the spade two: queen, king, nine. Back came a deceptive heart two: ace, five, four.

Declarer knew that the percentage play for one club loser was to take two finesses. However, as he probably needed two heart ruffs in the dummy, South played the club ace and another club.

West shifted to the diamond eight. Declarer rose with dummy’s ace, ruffed a diamond in hand, cashed the heart king and ruffed a heart in the dummy. East’s spade discard was a shock. However, South had another string to his bow. He ruffed a diamond and led a spade to dummy’s 10. When it won, he claimed 11 tricks: two spades, two hearts, one diamond and six clubs (four in hand and two heart ruffs in the dummy).

When in with the club king, West should have led another spade. South, thinking that the hearts were probably breaking 4-3, might not have taken the second finesse, despite the initial low lead promising an honor in the suit. Then, if declarer had put up the spade ace, he would have gone down in his contract.

Sudoku by Wayne Gould

tion.

Fill in the grid so that every row, every column and every 3x3 grid contains the digits 1 through 9, with no repeats.

means that no number

repeated in any row, column

box.

idea.

Bridge

New laws trade 1 gerrymander for another

California once had a history of epic polit ical and legal battles over redraw ing legislative and congressional districts after each decennial census.

The Legislature, dominated then as now by Democrats, would create maps that enhanced the party’s prospects of gaining, or at least holding, power and if the gov ernor was a Democrat, the gerrymandered districts would become law.

Letters to the Editor

Letters must be 325 words or less and are subject to editing for length and clarity. All letters must include the author’s name, address and phone number.

Send letters to Letters to the Editor, the Daily Republic, P.O. Box 47, Fairfield, CA 94533, email to gfaison@dailyrepublic.net or drop them off at our office, 1250 Texas St. in downtown Fairfield.

Dan Walters

That happened after the 1980 census when then-Gov. Jerry Brown signed redistrict ing bills that were especially one-sided. The late Rep. Phil Burton, who largely drew weirdly shaped, but highly partisan, congressional maps called them “my contribution to modern art.”

The initial set of maps was challenged by Republicans via referenda and voters rejected them, but Democratic legislators and Brown simply passed slightly amended versions.

However, if the governor happened to be a Republican, he would veto the Democrats’ maps and the state Supreme Court would step into the impasse and appoint a special master to draw replacement maps that tended to favor neither party. It happened under Republican Gov. Ronald Reagan after the 1970 census and 20 years later under GOP Gov. Pete Wilson.

A twist on the process occurred after the 2000 census. Although a Democrat, Gray Davis, was governor, leaders of both parties agreed on what amounted to a bipartisan ger rymander, freezing in place the partisan status quo in the Legislature and congressional delegation. An indirect threat that the Repub lican-led U.S. Justice Department would thwart a Democratic gerrymander forced the compromise.

The obvious self-interest of Capitol poli ticians dictating the shape of legislative and congressional districts ultimately sparked a backlash – a 2008 ballot measure to shift legislative redistricting to a 14-member com mission of five Democrats, five Republicans and four declined-to-state independents. Two years later, voters extended the commission’s authority to congressional districts.

The professional politicians in both parties didn’t like losing their authority. Democrats were particularly unhappy since they had leg islative majorities and the national party tried to thwart having the commission change con gressional districts.

Nevertheless, the commission drew new districts after the 2010 and 2020 censuses and while their maps may have been imperfect, they more fairly captured the population’s very diverse makeup.

So if it’s a good idea at the state level, why not for local governments, such as city coun cils, county boards of supervisors and school boards, which are just as prone to self-inter ested redistricting?

The Legislature decreed in 2016 that a 14-member commission would redraw dis tricts of Los Angeles County’s five-member Board of Supervisors. A year later, virtually identical legislation was passed for San Diego County and this year, clones were enacted that affect Fresno, Riverside and Kern counties.

All five measures, however, deviate signif icantly from the state model of even-handed party representation. They require that county redistricting commissioners reflect the parti san makeup of each county’s registered voters.

That means Democrats dominate the Los Angeles and San Diego commissions and will do so in Fresno and Riverside counties as well. Republicans have a slight voter registration edge in Kern County, however.

In effect, therefore, these county redistrict ing commissions are being stacked to enhance the power of the dominant local party – exactly contrary to the party-neutral intent of the state commission.

Sponsors of the local bills said they were needed to prevent county supervisors from gerrymandering their own districts. But as constituted, the local commissions will be empowered to create gerrymanders of a dif ferent kind.

Institutionalizing party control of local redistricting also further undermines Califor nia’s historic commitment to nonpartisan local government. That’s not progress.

CalMatters is a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how Califor nia’s state Capitol works and why it matters. For more columns by Dan Walters, go to cal matters.org/commentary.

The rise and fall of the republic: Part 1

The wisdom of Ameri ca’s Founders is well rec ognized, but perhaps not fully appreciated.

No government had ever been a servant of its people, but that was their dream. No government had ever per mitted subordinate levels of government (states) to have sovereign power, but that was their dream. Their study of autoc racies, aristocracies, democracies, monarchies, oligarchies, republics and theocracies fed the Founders’ imaginations with concepts to employ and to avoid.

The Articles of Confederation, first drafted in 1771, proved inade quate, primarily by not providing the national government sufficient power. The original Congress authorized the Constitutional Convention in Philadel phia to revise the Articles, but some proponents intended to build a new frame of government based on eval uations of historic records of policies that produced governmental suc cesses and failures.

The Founders observed that human nature never changes and neither does the American Con stitution, unless amended. Only 17 amendments (after the 10 Bill of Rights developed by the Founders) in 234 years validates the Found ers’ wisdom.

With regard to the size of gov ernment, George Washington is accredited with saying, “Govern ment is not reason and not eloquence. It is force! Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.”

THE RIGHT STUFF COMMENTARY

Anticipating the potential size of

America and the need for people and government to be close to each other, the Founders severely limited the federal government to only 17 specific powers appro priate to centralized power; they delegated all other powers, including criminal law, health, welfare, voting and education, to the states.

The Founders were apparently aware of democratic failures, e.g. early Greek and Roman history that failed because the representatives were too responsive the emotion of the masses. The Founders feared the weaknesses of a pure democracy and designed this government to be a republic.

Because the Founders established the states with sovereign power, they have served as “laboratories of democracy,” as named by Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis and echos the Founders’ intent.

With regard to organization of the federal government, the Founders considered the three powers of gov ernment (legislative, executive and judicial), if combined, to be tyranny. The Constitution separated those powers, but time has shown there is some ebb and flow in the relative power of each branch to another.

Internally, the design of Congress was a masterpiece of compromise. The objective for the government to be the servant of the people was not to be lost, but there was also concern for protecting the sovereignty of states. The House of Representatives is by design more responsive to the “emotion of the masses” because they face election each two years. Hence, the title of “The People’s House.” For this reason, they have sole authority to initiate revenue bills and to impeach federal officers. Senators serve sixyear terms, have a higher minimum age and were originally elected by their respective state legislatures, all factors to increase mature thinking.

Some anti-Federalist critics com plained the proposed Constitution was primarily negative and did not prescribe duties to govern. Patrick Henry’s explanation well justifies the Constitution’s content: “The Consti tution is not a document to restrain the people; it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government.”

Why were criminal law, health, welfare, voting and education omitted from the Constitution? These sub jects were obviously not forgotten, as noted in the Federalist papers; a welleducated citizenry was considered as critical to the republic’s survival. The application of human nature dictated the Founders’ wise choices. Recogni tion of personal responsibility, local government to solve local issues, and restricting immigration to admis sion by merit produced a nation that became tops in freedom, strength of economy and integrity of law for 150 years.

Future columns will review the replacement of the republican form of government to a democracy.

Earl Heal is a retired Air Force officer, Vacaville resident and member of The Right Stuff committee formerly of the Solano County Republican Central Committee. Reach him at heal earlniki2@gmail.com.

Iran’s protests offer both hope, warning

The death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in Iranian police custody last month sparked the coun try’s biggest protests in years.

Under the rallying cry, “Woman, Life, Freedom,” pro testers have ground dozens of cities to a halt. The response from Iran’s authoritarian regime has been swift and harsh, with security forces opening fire on crowds and killing dozens. Though the protesters remain undeterred, it’s hard to imagine how they prevail.

Earl Heal Elizabeth Shackelford

When the regime in power has a monopoly on force and weapons and no qualms about civilian suffering, time is on its side. This depressing reality only makes the bravery of the Iranian people that much more remarkable.

Mahsa Amini was arrested by the “morality” police for the “crime” of not wearing her headscarf appro priately. Removing and burning headscarves has become the calling card for these protests, and many women are also cutting their hair in a sign of defiance. Though the regime continues its efforts to block inter net access, images are still making it out to the world. They make clear that, despite the crackdowns and deep personal risk, people are still in the streets.

The protests today seem qual itatively different than other demonstrations in recent years. A variety of grievances were building –Iran’s strangled economy, its terrible Covid-19 track record, unfettered corruption and repression – but the proximate cause of this outcry was its treatment of women. This fact means today’s dissent transcends socio-eco nomic divisions and finds common cause across Iranian society.

The Iranian people were also primed for a backlash. Ultraconser vative Ebrahim Raisi, a close ally of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, rose to power last year

and quickly cracked down on what had been a gradual shift toward moderation. Iran’s prior president, Hassan Rouhani, was a relative reformist. He discouraged the morality police from enforc ing harsh religious laws and sought to improve relations with the West.

The Ayatollahs, Iran’s ruling religious leaders, did not look kindly on Rou hani’s direction.

When Rouhani could not run for a third term, religious leadership ensured no moderate could win again by not allowing any to run through a candidate “vetting” process. Turnout was historically low, and Raisi’s win predictable. His rule has been unapol ogetically extreme, with the morality police emboldened to address any vio lations of religious dictate by women. Even before Mahsa Amini’s death, public calls for change were growing.

The regime is in a vulnerable posi tion. Supreme Leader Khamenei is 83 and in poor health. After more than three decades in power, his death could bring a succession crisis. The public faces high prices, inflation and few economic opportunities. Efforts to return to the nuclear deal that could ease many of the sanctions hamper ing Iran’s economy face headwinds. But none of this means the end of the Islamic Republic is imminent.

Even when “people power” suc ceeds in ousting oppressive leaders, there is no guarantee what comes next is peace or democracy. It’s not even certain to be an improvement. Con sider Sudan, where three years ago, in the face of similarly ruthless sup pression by security forces, protests successfully drove out dictator Omar al-Bashir after nearly a 30-year reign. In truth, a military coup overthrew alBashir, with the blessing and cover of the masses, who then found their lot little improved when the sham tran sitional government was ousted for a full military takeover last year. The

military’s claims that it will even tually transition to civilian rule are hardly credible, but there is no one else to negotiate with but those who hold the power.

Sri Lanka offers a similar caution ary tale. Widespread protests began in March after the country’s economic collapse. By July, protesters occu pied President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s house. Rajapaksa fled and resigned in what was widely hailed as a victory for the people. But instead of people’s rule, the former president’s allies quickly retook the helm and began harsh crackdowns, targeting those who led the protest movement with arrests and travel bans.

Rather than seek to better serve the people, those who took over in Sudan and Sri Lanka have instead sought to crush dissent. If the goal is to maintain power, that proba bly makes sense. Iran’s regime faces a similar choice. If they give in to protester demands and end the man datory hijab requirement, will that appease the public or empower them to demand more? Iran’s extremist government is likely to fear the latter.

Therefore, a continued crack down is the most likely response. This doesn’t mean the protests will end soon, but it does mean they will likely end tragically for many protesters.

The United States should continue to speak up for these protesters and all people oppressed by authoritarian regimes. But an important lesson for all of us is that, once planted, author itarian regimes are exceedingly hard to uproot. For this reason, those of us who still have democracy must care fully guard what we have, and the United States and our allies must avoid reinforcing the power of dicta tors wherever possible.

Elizabeth Shackelford is a senior fellow on U.S. foreign policy with the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. She was previously a U.S. diplomat and is the author of “The Dissent Channel: American Diplomacy in a Dishonest Age.”

Crime logs

FairField

SATURDAY, OCT. 8

2:08 a.m. — Battery, 1300 block of CROWLEY LANE

5:24 a.m. — Trespassing, 2500 block of MARTIN ROAD

7:23 a.m. — Grand theft, 200 block of EAST ALASKA AVENUE

7:58 a.m. — Vehicle theft, 1300 block of NORTHWOOD DRIVE

8:08 a.m. — Grand theft, 5100 block of PALACE COURT

9:44 a.m. — Reckless driver, HILBORN ROAD

10:49 a.m. — Fight with a weapon, 2000 block of FALCON

DRIVE

12:04 p.m. — Trespassing, 2000 block of EAGLE WAY

1:14 p.m. — Vehicle theft, 3000 block of AUTO MALL COURT

2:06 p.m. — Trespassing, 2000 block of EAGLE WAY

3:03 p.m. — Vehicle theft, 2000 block of CARDINAL WAY

3:58 p.m. — Vehicle theft, 500 block of ALASKA AVENUE

5:01 p.m. — Grand theft, 5000 block of BUSINESS CENTER DRIVE

5:22 p.m. — Reckless driver, WESTBOUND INTERSTATE 80 7:44 p.m. — Forgery, 300 block of TRAVIS BOULEVARD

7:58 p.m. — Shots fired, OLIVER ROAD

7:59 p.m. — Shots fired, 1000 block of ROOSEVELT STREET

10:44 p.m. — Trespassing, 1000 block of BROADWAY STREET

SuiSun City

SATURDAY, OCT. 8

9:36 a.m. — Hit-and-run no injury, FAIRBROOK COURT

11:14 a.m. — Reckless driver, WALTERS ROAD / MONTEBELLO DRIVE

1:48 p.m. — Assault, 800 Block of HARRIER DRIVE

4:12 p.m.

Fraud, 800 Block of CANARY DRIVE

10:31 p.m.

driver, PETERSEN ROAD / FULMAR DRIVE

fired, EIDER

assistance from the gov ernment. Even those who might qualify are “too afraid” to ask, Gonza lez said. They rely on each other, and on their churches, for aid instead.

After packing the hot meals into the car, the women from the church headed up the road to a nearby stretch of houses and trailers by the Caloosahatchee River, which had flooded during the storm. They said the neighborhood had received little attention from rescue workers.

The road was lined with ruined furniture and clothes, the homes hol lowed out. Some people were inside, trying to repair what was left. Many others had gone.

“Food and water?” they called into peo ple’s homes.

require “lots of paper work” to apply for federal assistance.

10:31 p.m.

Some came out to take the meals, then went back in without saying a word. One woman came out with her son and grand son. When they asked her to take the meals, she began to cry.

Hurricane Ian arrived only weeks after Gov. Ron DeSantis flew migrants seeking asylum to Mar tha’s Vineyard to show that Florida does not welcome “illegals.”

In the dim light of the donation center outside the kitchen, Cruz helped volunteers organize mounds of clothes that overflowed onto the floor while others delegated cans of tuna fish to those in need, as mothers with babies strapped to their backs inspected those clothes and filled plastic bags with those cans.

The two groups blended so thoroughly together that it was dif ficult to tell who was supposed to be fortunate and who was not.

“Thank God there’s places like this,” she said.

Immigrant workers not only in Fort Myers but across Florida, from the farmlands of Arcadia to Kissimmee in Central Florida, will face an uphill battle when it comes to rebuilding their own homes and lives as they work to rebuild for others.

Many of the local schools were used as hurricane shelters or sus tained so much damage that it will take several days more to reopen; Lee County has said that it plans to reopen schools no sooner than Oct. 17.

Putin

Page One

Putin closely; it came hours after his 70th birthday, he personally sponsored and opened the bridge, and its construc tion contractor was his childhood friend,” the UK Defense Ministry said in a daily update on Twitter.

The bridge was again partly operational on Sunday, even as large chucks of roadway lan guished below the surface of the strait. Russia also plans to increase ferry crossings from the Kras nodar region to Crimea.

“The explosion will not permanently disrupt critical Russian lines to Crimea, but will likely increase friction in Russian logistics,” said analysts at the Institute for the Study of War, a U.S.-based think tank.

Putin will now speak with members of his Secu rity Council on Monday. No reason was given for the meeting, which was announced by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. The event typ ically gathers top state officials and the heads of Russia’s defense and secu rity agencies to discuss matters of national importance.

Putin last met with the security council on Sept. 29 to discuss his partial mobilization of reservists to fight in Ukraine. He met members of the council four times in September, according to data on the Kremlin website.

Russian hard-liners renewed calls for more decisive action in Ukraine. Moscow’s troops, in turn, increased their bombard ment of Zaporizhzhia in the southeast, a city

around 30 miles from the nuclear power plant of the same name.

At least 13 civilians were killed in the strikes Sunday morning, Ukrai nian officials said, with around 90 more wounded and rescue teams still picking through the rubble of several apart ment blocks and private homes. They said more than a dozen missiles were launched from Russian jets.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv’s forces are “doing every thing we can to defend Ukrainian skies.”

“It is one of the highest priorities for our dip lomats to speed up the decision of our part ners to provide Ukraine with modern and effective anti-aircraft systems in sufficient quantity,” Zel enskyy said in his nightly address on Saturday.

Also over the weekend, Russia’s defense min istry announced the appointment of a new commander for its forces in Ukraine – Air Force General Sergei Surovikin.

Surovikin most recently has been in charge of Kremlin troops in southern Ukraine, and was reportedly responsi ble for Russia’s capture of Lysychansk in Luhansk province in July. In the past he led Russian forces in Syria, where Kremlin troops carried out a bombardment cam paign that destroyed much of Aleppo, the nation’s second largest city.

His appointment “has generated positive feed back with the nationalist community” of Russia, who lauded his “tough” character, the Institute for the Study of War said.

The Category 4 Hurri cane made landfall near Cayo Costa on Sept. 28, and the death toll is close to 100 in the state and growing. The storm tore through Fort Myers’ rich and poor areas indiscrim inately, tearing apart and flooding homes, leaving a city of unlivable build ings, its streets filled with debris. Some have said that the area will likely take years to recover.

In the days since Ian crossed the state, DeSan tis has visited some of the communities hit hardest by Ian, but he has not said how or whether those without full legal status will receive government assistance.

“To be honest, I don’t even know if he’s giving help,” said Beatriz Cruz, who has three kids to take care of in addition to her mother, Cristina. Before the hurricane, she had worked mowing and trimming hedges at man sions. But those homes have flooded, so she may have to turn to restaurant work — if she can find a job in the fraction that are still open.

She worried it would

Pinball

Page One

Along with pinball machines were a few vendors of comic books. Food was provided by Montezuma Lodge 172, IOOF of Dixon.

“One of the collectors even donated a pinball machine for the silent auction and it sold for $2,500,” Caylor said.

Organizers also had items for sale to help raise money.

Pin-a-Go-Go in Dixon was a spinoff of a Pinathon show in Ros eville that started in 1988. When that show ceased operation, Don and Ellen Highley took over in 1997 and started operations in Dixon and renamed it Pina-Go-Go, according to their website.

Emelia Miguel of Santa Cruz drove over for the weekend to spend time with her friends,

Nearly all of them had lost vital income from work because of Hur ricane Ian, and already struggled to pay rent. One family in the community was evicted a week before the storm, Gonzalez said, because the landlord had decided to sell the house. Many others rent mobile homes that sus tained damages that their landlords haven’t said anything about fixing.

Eriselia Cruz’s husband paints buildings for a living, so he’ll have plenty of work soon. But the couple and their son and baby daughter have been living in a shelter since their mobile home park off Bonita Beach flooded, Cruz said.

The shelter was hot and dark, the noises of other people’s pets filling the night.

“My little girl got sick,” Cruz said. She hopes FEMA will help pay her rent. Since the storm hit, their land lord hasn’t reached out to them.

She came to the church because they need food that isn’t spoiled and clothes that don’t smell like mold.

who also love pinball machines. It was her second year at the Dixon event but not the first time at one of the mara thon game weekends.

“I have one machine in the house,” she said. “I love playing pinball because of the artwork but this is a chance for me to see my friends and spend time with them.”

Her friend, Kevin Roe, is a serious collector of pinball machines with at least seven at home in Cameron Park.

“I come to this every year,” Roe said. “It is just a blast.”

Tim Dean of Auburn is not just a fan of playing pinball, he also runs Out of Order Arcade in Auburn.

“I love coming here because you get to play games you never get to play anywhere else,” he said. “It just makes it awesome.”

The Pin-a-Go-Go event happens each year on the second weekend of October.

“These are commu nities that don’t have the resources generally to build back and do all the things you need to do,” said Nezahualcoyotl Xiuhtecutli, a coordinator for the Farmworker Asso ciation of Florida. “They live paycheck to pay check essentially.”

In Arcadia, where the farms that grow produce were flooded with wide spread crop damage, many may be out of work for a while, Xiuhtecutli said. In Kissimmee, the flooding is still so bad in some immigrant commu nities that they are stuck in their homes.

Marisela Ramos Guzman and Michele Rodriguez, whose fathers work as a roofer and an electrician, shared the stories they’d heard of those killed in the storm as they handed out canned goods.

“Some people died because they were so stressed,” Rodriguez said.

Guzman’s uncle cleans up lawns, she said. His trailer flooded, so she planned to take him left over canned food and water after she was done at the church.

“There will be three years’ worth of work,” she said. She was more worried about other things, like going back to school, so she can obtain a Bright Futures scholarship and attend Johns Hopkins.

Anita Jose said her whole family went to a shelter when the hurri cane hit. When they came back, there was sand in the house, but luckily no major damage.

In the following days, her husband, a land scaper, hasn’t worked. Instead, he went to Cape Coral to volun teer, cleaning houses of ruined mattresses and clothes. Their income for those days was the tip money he received from the residents.

While new work opportunities after Ian will help those who need the income, others might leave them worse off.

After disasters, immi grant workers brought in to help with repairs are often vulnerable to exploitation.

“In the thousands of people who are doing things right, there are always unfortunately people who are in it to take advantage,” said Julia Perkins, a staff member at the Coali tion for Immokalee Workers. “What we see is often there’ll be workers who go to work and won’t get paid.”

As Maria Mejia picked through clothes, she hugged her daughter to her side. Like many of the other women, Mejia doesn’t work, but her husband does landscaping.

For the past week, they had no money coming in, and they still have no electricity, so she couldn’t cook.

the littles with candies thrown from their float to the folks grouped on the edges of the street, while Junior Rams Cheer enthusiasti cally greeted the parade-goers. The Solano County Home and Garden

Show fielded two entries, also with a fall theme, and invited everyone to attend their fall show.

Crowd favorites were the high school floats – Little Red Riding Hood on the first float; a Shrek theme on the next, complete with Donkey, the dragon and Shrek himself; and lastly, Hansel and Gretel in Lederhosen and Dirndl. Each of these floats were deco

rated and must have required some degree of carpentry skills and investment. The homecom ing king and queen follows the high school floats.

Solano County and municipal officials greeting local residents brought up the end of the parade; followed by an emergency vehicle from the Montezuma Fire Protec tion District.

Susan Hiland/Daily Republic

The display of a pinball machine is shown during the Pin-a-Go-Go event at the Dixon May Fairgrounds, Sunday. The event is a fundraiser for the Dixon Teen Center.

AFP via Getty Images/TNS Workers restore the railway tracks on the Kerch bridge that links Crimea to Russia, near Kerch, Sunday.

Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel/TNS

Tomas Alexandre Andres Pascual, 9, and his brother Fernando Angel Andres Pascual, 7, carry a box of clothes at Jesus the Worker Catholic Church, Wednesday, in Fort Myers, Florida. The church focuses on helping the immigrant population in Fort Myers.

Sacramento State football off to best start

Musgrove, Padres get by Mets, into NLDS

By k evIn aCee THE SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE

NEW YORK — There was more champagne. There will be more baseball.

Joe Musgrove, the lifelong Padres fan and now one of the team’s starting pitchers and voices and leaders, became the first pitcher in major league history to pitch seven innings while allowing fewer than two hits in a win-or-go-home game. Along the way, he endured the indignity of having his ears rubbed in front of some 40,000 people and a national

television audience.

Trent Grisham kept hitting and making plays in the field.

The Padres will keep playing.

They beat the Mets 6-0 in the deciding third game of their wild-card series Sunday night at Citi Field and are headed to play their nemesis in the next round.

Their next game is against the Dodgers at 6:37 p.m. Tuesday in Game 1 of the National League Divi sion Series at Dodger Stadium.

The Padres haven’t played much postseason baseball. This was just the seventh season to be followed by them being in

the playoffs and just their 11th series. But significant on this day is that they are 3-0 in winor-go-home games, having won Game 5 of the NL Championship Series in 1984 and Game 3 in the 2020 wild-card series against the Cardinals.

They won 7-1 in the first game here Friday before losing 7-3 on Saturday.

On Sunday, they were facing Mets right-hander Chris Bassitt, who they beat twice in the regular season. However, Bassitt allowed them just four hits on July 23 at Citi Field, and two of them were by players no

longer with the Padres.

Bassitt struggled with command Sunday and was gone after four innings with the Padres ahead 3-0.

They added a run against reliever David Peterson in the fourth and two more off Mychal Givens and Edwin Diaz in the eighth.

There were just two moments midgame in which Musgrove was at all close to being taken off course.

After Pete Alonso led off the fifth inning with a single, with the Padres up 4-0, Mark Canha sent a one-out fly ball 396 feet to

the gap in right-center field that seemed it would score Alonso and bring the Citi Field crowd and Mets to life. But Grisham ran 95 feet and snagged the ball as he ran into the wall. Mus grove finished the inning with a strikeout.

Then, as Musgrove was about to deliver the first pitch of the sixth inning, having already thrown 59 of them, Mets manager Buck Showal ter walked toward crew chief Alfonso Marquez at first base and requested that Musgrove be checked for foreign substance.

It made no difference.

Samuel stars, Bosa among hurt as 49ers rip Panthers

Cam Inman BAY AREA NEWS GROUP

CHARLOTTE — Deebo Samuel lined up in the left slot, left his defender in the dust, cut across the end zone, and, voila, snagged Jimmy Garoppolo’s 4-yard pass for a third-andgoal touchdown.

This was the offen sive answer the 49ers desperately needed Sunday, for multiple reasons, en route to a 37-15 victory.

Iguodala’s leadership big with helping Warriors move forward

By m adelIne k enney BAY AREA NEWS GROUP

SAN FRANCISCO — When Andre Iguodala saw a report surface Wednesday night ques tioning Jordan Poole’s character as word spread about a physical alter cation between Draymond Green and Poole at practice earlier that day, the 38-year-old veteran jumped to support the young guard.

“What we not gone do is talk crazy about my young fella JP… great character kid,” Iguo dala tweeted. “Miss me with all that other bs . . . . straight from the ‘SOURCE.’”

Iguodala also noted that he wasn’t taking sides in the fight.

“And it’s family business with my bro [Green],” Iguodala wrote in a follow-up tweet.

That was just the latest display of the intangible value Iguodala brings to the Warriors as he enters his 19th and final NBA season.

The Warriors might need Iguo dala’s internal leadership now more than ever as they try to move forward from Green strik ing Poole — an incident caught on video that was released by TMZ Friday morning and viewed nearly 25 million times in the first 11 hours of its publication.

It’s up to Green to make this up to the team, which he embarrassed by allowing his emotions get the best of him. Only his actions and words will dictate what will happen next. It could take time for him to mend the relationships and trust altered by his actions.

But Stephen Curry, the team’s unquestioned leader, and Iguodala,

the respected elder statesman, will have to help navigate the situation as it unfolds.

And this could be the ultimate test of the two’s leadership.

Part of the reasons Iguodala decided to unretire and re-sign with the Warriors for one more season the day before training camp opened was to strengthen Curry’s legacy and assist in men toring the next generation of Warriors greats.

Iguodala is one of the most valued voices in the organization. He has the ears of every player in the locker room, including Green, Curry and Klay Thompson as well as those within management. He’s also been known to be a fierce advocate for his teammates.

Sharks put two players on waivers, including a netminder with value

By CurtIs Pashelka BAY AREA NEWS GROUP

SAN JOSE —

The San Jose Sharks placed goalie Aaron Dell and winger Jeffrey Viel on waivers Sunday. If the two are not claimed by another team before Monday at 11 a.m. (PT), they will be assigned to the Barracuda, the Sharks’ AHL affiliate.

Both moves were expected, but the Sharks are hoping both players clear waivers, partic ularly Dell, who was sharp in training camp and in the preseason. He stopped 26 of 27 shots in his one exhibition game, a 3-1 San Jose win over

the Los Angeles Kings on Sept. 28.

Some teams could be looking for a goalie, including the rebuilding Arizona Coyotes, who did not get impressive per formances from their netminders in the pre season. Karel Vejmelka led the way with a 3.76 goals against average and a .863 save percent age in three games.

If he does clear, Dell, given his NHL experience, would likely be the first netminder recalled should either James Reimer or Kaapo Kahkonen get injured or be otherwise unavail able. Dell, 33, has played in 126 NHL games over

the last six seasons with a 50-47-13 record and a career .905 save percentage.

Dell was also with the Sharks organization from 2015-2020 and is eighth in franchise history in wins (48) and save percentage (.908). Dell was also the Sharks 2017 nominee for the Bill Masterton Memo rial Trophy.

The other pro goalies in the Sharks’ system right now are Zachary Emond, Eetu Mäkini emi, and Strauss Mann, none of whom have NHL experience.

Dell and Viel were among a group of over 50 players who were waived by NHL

teams Sunday. Viel is in his fifth season in the Sharks organization and has appeared in 45 NHL games, includ ing 34 last season when he had five points and 114 penalty minutes.

After Sunday’s trans actions, the Sharks will have 16 forwards, nine defensemen, and two goalies on their roster, which includes rookies William Eklund, Thomas Bordeleau, and Nick Cicek, and injured players Alex ander Barabanov and Markus Nutivaara.

It’s unclear if either Barabanov or Nutivaara will be ready for the Sharks’ next game.

“I was not necessar ily the No. 1 read, but I crossed the safety’s face, I popped in Jimmy’s vision, and he threw a dart,” Samuel said.

Before Samuel scored, the 49ers led just 17-9, and that was cause for familiar concerns.

You see, the Pan thers had just pulled within one score thanks to Christian McCaffrey 19-yard, fourth-down run. That was an unpleasant reminder to the 49ers that they’d blown sec ond-half leads in this season’s previous two road games at Chicago

and Denver, not to mention last season’s NFC Championship Game defeat at the Los Angeles Rams.

“It’s huge to answer. That was big time,” coach Kyle Shanahan said.

Adding to the tension before Samuel scored was this dishearten ing news: defensive end Nick Bosa was out the second half because of a groin injury. That alone could dampen the win, but other injury exits were made by kicker Robbie Gould (knee), defensive back Jimmie Ward (hand) and, with 4:12 remaining, cor nerback Emmanuel Moseley, who sustained a likely-season ending anterior cruciate ligament tear.

Amid all that carnage, the 49ers needed Samuel, their All-Pro catalyst, to spark an offense that had produced only one touchdown in 20 second-half drives prior to Sunday.

The Deebo

The crispness in the air this weekend in the Bay Area could have convinced you that the season is changing.

And watch ing the 49ers beat an overmatched and overwhelmed Caro lina Panthers 37-15 on Sunday made the case that we’re jumping directly to winter.

The 49ers’ season is still in its early stages, but there’s no ambiguity about this team’s identity.

It’s mid-October, but this is a team playing January football.

What else would you call a hard-hitting, playmaking defense, bolstered by a pow erful run game and timely (albeit inconsis tent) passing?

That’s the model the 49ers have used to win in the late regular

season and playoffs. It’s a strong model for a strong team.

There will always be injuries in the NFL. Professional football is a brutal sport — a war of attrition. But add in Carolina’s patchy artificial turf and the Niners’ brand of foot ball and one has to imagine that the risk of injury increases.

“Lots of guys got hurt in the game . . . . that def initely took away from a little excitement,” 49ers head coach Kyle Sha nahan said. “We know the deal. It’s part of this league. Everyone goes thorough it. That was a tough one today. ”

While, injuries are yet to define this Niners’ season, five games in, it’s hard to imagine this team can

49ers rolling on physicality, but it’s hurting them

Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group/TNS file Golden State Warriors’ Andre Iguodala (9) congratulates Jordan Poole after winning the NBA Western Conference Finals at the Chase Center in San Francisco, May 26, 2022.

dIeter kurtenBaCh

CALENDAR

Monday’s TV sports

Football

• CFL, Ottawa vs. Montreal, ESPN2, 10 a.m.

• NFL, Las Vegas vs. Kansas City, ESPN, 5 p.m.

Golf

• College, Jackson T. Stephens Cup, First Round, GOLF, 1 p.m.

Soccer

• EPL, Nottingham Forest vs. Aston Villa, USA, Noon.

Tuesday’s TV sports

Baseball

• MLB, NL Division Series, Philadelphia at Atlanta, 2, 40, 10:07 a.m.

• MLB, AL Division Series, Seattle at Houston, TBS, 12:37 p.m.

• MLB, AL Division Series, Cleveland at N.Y. Yankees, TBS, 4:37 p.m.

• MLB, NL Division Series, San Diego at L.A. Dodgers, FS1, 6:37

Golf

• College, Jackson T. Stephens Cup, Second Round, GOLF, Noon.

Hockey

• NHL, Tampa Bay vs. N.Y. Rangers, ESPN, 4:30 p.m.

• NHL, Vegas vs. L.A. Kings, ESPN, 7 p.m.

Soccer

• Women’s Friendly, Spain vs. United States, ESPN2, 11:30 a.m.

Steelers suffer worst loss since 1989 thanks to explosive Bills

By Brian Batko PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — On the bright side, Kenny Pickett may have gotten the most lop sided loss of his NFL career out of the way in his very first start. After all, it was the worst for the franchise in 33 years. He and the Steelers should hope that mark will stand, given that the Bills booted them into the stratosphere, 38-3, Sunday at High mark Stadium.

Wait, no, that was Buffalo wideout Stefon Diggs who kicked a ball into the stands after his 15-yard touchdown catch, the Bills’ only punt of the first half. Yep, it was that ugly for the Steelers, who might have to wonder if the Pickett era started too early, too late or maybe just at the worst possible time – on the road facing the Super Bowl favorites.

The Bills looked every bit of that with their high-flying offense and punishing defense. Superstar quarterback Josh Allen racked up 400 total yards of offense before halftime, includ ing first-half career highs of 348 yards passing and four touch downs. Allen’s 98-yard strike to Gabe Davis barely a minute into the game was the longest touchdown allowed by the Steelers since 1966, the first of many indig nities in what turned out to be their worst loss under Mike Tomlin and biggest blowout since a 51-0 home loss to the Browns in 1989.

It’s not necessar ily that Pickett himself played poorly, though his interception late in the first half was badly underthrown as things just kept getting worse for the Steel ers on both sides of the ball. He finished 34 of 52 for 327 yards passing and 10 yards rushing, without any backing from a func tional run game and with a slew of mistakes by No. 1 wideout Diontae Johnson. Offensive coor dinator Matt Canada’s lack of a more aggres sive game plan also was curious, especially once the Steelers were in a deep hole. Chris

Boswell even missed two field goals.

The Steelers also started losing players on defense due to inju ries, with starters Larry Ogunjobi, Cam Sutton and Levi Wallace all leaving early and not returning, along with standout tight end Pat Freiermuth, who entered concussion protocol after a scary hit in the second half. But with a half time deficit of 31-3, the health issues didn’t matter all that much.

Davis burned Wallace (who had no safety help over the top from an out-of-position Tre Norwood replacing Terrell Edmunds) for the 98-yard score on 3rdand-10 on the third snap of the game, followed by backup cornerback James Pierre muffing the ensuing kickoff while stepping in for Steven Sims, who sustained an eye injury in warmups after being active for the first time this season in place of Gunner Olsze wski. Yes, you read that right. Obviously, there was plenty of game to play after that, and the Steelers even managed a field goal on their opening drive, but it felt like it wasn’t going their way from the outset.

Josh Allen is argu ably the best football player walking the earth, and he showed it yet again in a game when he was without his No. 1 tight end, top two slot receivers and a third injured wideout. It didn’t matter as he did what ever he wanted, other than his second-quarter interception, completing a touchdown to rookie Khalil Shakir and also rushing for 42 yards on five carries.

It had been a quiet few weeks for Cam Heyward, the longesttenured Steeler once his defensive co-captain T.J. Watt went to injured reserve. But Heyward bounced back and made plays, finishing with five tackles, a batted pass, a blocked field goal and even a forced fumble at the goal line to save a touchdown. He was also playing through ankle and elbow injuries that limited him in practice this week, but he refused to give up on a game that got away.

Scoreboard

BASEBALL

Playoffs

FOOTBALL

Sac State off to a record-setting start at 5-0 on the football field

By Cameron Salerno THE SACRAMENTO BEE

SACRAMENTO — The longest Division l football streak in the country lives.

Despite a slow start on offense which included two early four-and-outs, No. 4 Sacramento State beat Northern Colorado 55-7 to improve to 5-0 Sat urday night. The Hornets are enjoying their best start in the Division-l era. The 1991 team started 6-0 while playing in Division ll.

And there’s this: Sacra mento State hasn’t trailed in a game this season, the only team in Division I that can say that.

“That was our defense,” coach Troy Taylor said. “We didn’t play well the first two times we got the ball. ... Our defense was unbe lievable at controlling the game. Playing with the lead is a big deal. At some point you’re going to be behind, I think we are pretty good when we get a lead.”

Quarterback Jake Dun niway threw for 258 yards and had a 45-yard strike to Marshel Martin and an 11-yard touchdown to Parker Clayton. Martin finished with six catches for 103 yards and Clayton added 75 yards receiv ing. Kyle Sentkowski connected on both of his field goals from 41 and 48 yards.

“I love the offense,” Martin said. “It’s a system and if you stick

to the system you will (succeed).”

All offensive starters were taken out in the third quarter. That opened the door for backup quar terback Kaiden Bennett to get extended snaps. Bennett finished with 59 yards rushing and the Hornets’ other backup quarterback, Dorian Hale, scored a 6-yard touch down late in the fourth.

Hornets running back Cameron Skattebo continued his remark able season, rushing for 124 yards and added a 17-yard touchdown. It marked Skattebo’s third 100-yard game of the season and fifth of his career. Marcus Fulcher rushed for two scores and Asher O’Hara added a 5-yard touchdown.

The Hornets’ defense is on a remarkable run. The group held Northern Col orado scoreless in the first half and have now pitched

a shutout in 34 different quarters since the start of last season. Sac State out gained UNC 312-32 in the first half and finished with 622 yards of offense.

Sacramento State has trailed for a total 14 seconds in the regular season dating back to Nov. 13 of last year. The Hornets went down 7-6 on the night before returning the ensuing kickoff for six.

Cameron Broussard, from Folsom, had his first career interception and Marte Mapu and Vanden High School grad uate Armon Bailey led the team in tackles with four each. Northern Col orado finished with only 175 yards of offense.

“It was pretty special,” Broussard said. “Just have to keep going after that. We are doing good on defense right now.”

Northern Colorado running back Elijah Dotson, who started his

career at Sacramento State, returned to the capital city. Dotson grad uated from Antelope High School in 2017 and spent the first four seasons of his career with the Hornets. He left the school ranked seventh in school career history in rushing yards with 2,466.

Dotson rushed 14 times for 52 yards and had a 2-yard touchdown in the third quarter. He also added four catches for 23 yards. He left the Sac State program after four games last season, which allowed him to redshirt and play his final season for the Bears.

“We love Dot and we never wanted him to leave,” Taylor said. “Once the game starts, they’re just regular players. ... We wish just like we did before Dot nothing but success.”

Sac State plays in Cheney, Washington, next Saturday against No. 21 Eastern Washington. It will be the first ranked opponent the Hornets have played this season. The Hornets follow that with home games against Montana and Idaho the following two weeks.

“Our guys have played those stretches,” Taylor said. “You can only play one at a time. We don’t look ahead. We know we have Eastern Washington next and they’re a really good football team. Really well-coached and a great environment to play in. We are really excited.”

Dolphins’ Bridgewater exits start due to a revised concussion rule

By DaviD FuroneS SOUTH FLORIDA SUN-SENTINEL

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Teddy Bridge water’s first start at quarterback for his home town Miami Dolphins lasted one offensive play.

He was forced to exit against the New York Jets on Sunday at MetLife Stadium due to the NFL and NFL Players Association adjust ment to the league’s concussion protocol that was announced Saturday.

With rookie sev enth-round pick Skylar Thompson taking the reins at quarterback, the Jets pulled away in the fourth quarter for a decisive divi sional victory, 40-17, even as the Dolphins posted their best rushing output of the season.

A four-game winning streak against New York (3-2) was snapped for Miami (3-2), which lost a second consecutive road game (previously lost at Cincinnati on Sept. 29) after starting 3-0.

Taking a hit from Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner, Bridgewater was

ruled out, deemed to show signs of ataxia, the new term being emphasized in concussion checks. While Bridgewater passed all concussion tests with the Dolphins’ team doctor and the unaffiliated neu rotrauma consultant in the locker room, the spotter upstairs deemed Bridgewater stumbled, which is an automatic “no-go” symptom.

With the Dolphins backed up against their own goal line, Bridge water took the hit from Gardner in the end zone.

Getting the pass off,

Bridgewater had the back of his head hit the ground from whiplash, similar to how Miami starter Tua Tagovailoa had it happen in each of the Dolphins’ past two games.

Bridgewater was evalu ated in the team’s medical tent on the sideline and then escorted by the team doctor and UNC into the locker room. The initial announcement, before he was ruled out, said an elbow injury was also at play while he was evalu ated for a head injury.

The Bridgewater pass was ruled intentional

grounding, resulting in a safety since it took place in the end zone. While the pass landed at the feet of tight end Durham Smythe, Smythe was engaged as a blocker.

Thompson entered on the Dolphins’ second drive and second offen sive play. Miami did not have another active quar terback as recently signed Reid Sinnett was not up on the game-day roster from the team’s practice squad. Wide receiver Cedrick Wilson Jr. would have been the backup should something had happen to Thompson.

Bridgewater was starting Sunday while Tagovailoa recovers from his concussion suffered on Sept. 29. The league and union’s review of a Tagovailoa concussion check four days earlier, when he was cleared to return against the Buffalo Bills on Sept. 25, ignited the protocol adjustment put into action for Sun day’s NFL games.

Bridgewater suffered two concussions while with the Denver Broncos last season.

Xavier Mascareas/Sacramento Bee/TNS file Sacramento State head coach Troy Taylor congratulates his players after scoring the game’s first points against Utah Tech during the first quarter of the NCAA college football game, Sept. 3, at Hornet Stadium.

Edward Diller/Getty Images/TNS Sauce Gardner of the New York Jets tackles Teddy Bridgewater of the Miami Dolphins in the end zone for a safety during the first quarter at MetLife Stadium, Sunday.

What’s the best frozen chicken nugget?

The WashingTon PosT

We are living in the Golden Age of nuggets.

Entire freezer aisles at grocery stores are now devoted to bags of the pellets (mostly chicken, but an increas ing number of plant-based options) in a staggering array of shapes (dinosaurs, Minions, uni corns) and flavors (buffalo, barbecue, Southern style –whatever that is).

Sure, chicken nuggets have had their detractors over the years, as they often stand in as a proxy for America’s twin addictions, convenience and processed foods. But they’re not going anywhere. Sales of processed frozen poultry (the category that nuggets fall into, along with frozen chicken patties) are up 19 percent over last year, according to market research firm IRI. Often a hero for harried families looking for a protein that will go over with picky eaters, they are a staple for many. And given all the options out there, it turns out you don’t have to settle for spongy, leaden nuggets.

To figure out which are worth your time, we grabbed as many of the top-selling brands as possible – Tyson’s domi nates the market, followed by store brands (we included a number of those) and then Perdue, per IRI (specifically, its data came from grocery, drug, mass market, convenience, mil itary, and select club and dollar retailers, and covered the year ending in August) – and added a few other widely available options. We should note the dis tinction between “nuggets,” usually a product made up of ground chicken, and “tenders,” which are intact pieces of meat, usually from the breast. While a couple of our samples fell into the latter category, we relied on the names of the products and picked those whose brands iden tified them as nuggets.

We prepared each according to their package directions and served them to a panel of eight tasters, offering only ketchup for optional dipping. The tasting was blind, meaning our panel didn’t know which nuggets were which, and they awarded each a score from 1 to 10, factoring in flavor, texture and appear ance, giving each a maximum score of 80.

By the end of our session, we had eaten a lot of mush and plenty of bland bird – even our top scorers cried out for some sweet-spicy-tangy sauce. But not all nuggs are created equal, as we discovered.

10. Good & Gather (Target)

Score: 22

Oof. The clear, overwhelm ing loser of the bunch, this store brand from Target offered little flavor, our panel unanimously agreed. Make that none, actu ally: Comments were laced with variants like “flavorless,” “very unflavorful” and “no flavor.” One taster at least held out the charitable possibility that this sad nugg had a redeem able quality, suggesting that it “seems like a vehicle for sauce.”

9. Great Value (Walmart)

Score: 30

We had high hopes for this entrant, after a Great Value barbecue sauce unexpectedly

took the crown in our tasting of BBQ sauces. Perhaps the Walmart brand could serve up a winning combo of nugget and sauce to dunk it in? Alas, it wasn’t to be. Our tasters found it slight – “deflated” and “a bit thin,” with a heavier breadingto-meat ratio that many found unappealing. “Very little meat,” observed one. And what little chicken they found, they didn’t particularly like. “A bit stale,” according to one taster.

8. Tyson Score: 33

Perhaps we should have expected more from the brand that indisputably rules the roost in this category. Tyson sold nearly $2.2 billion in processed chicken products over the last year – that’s more than all the store brands combined (private labels accounted for less than $1 billion) and its nearest com petitor, Perdue, which did $600 million in sales. But pop ularity isn’t always the best yardstick for quality.

Many testers found the texture sadly soggy. “Wet,” said one. “Super wet,” opined another. “Is this a nugget or a meat marshmallow?” “Total mush.” But one taster thought of someone it might appeal to. “Would be good for babies new to pick-uppable solid food,” they said.

7. Smart Chicken Score: 37

Like the Great Value offer ing, many found this specimen unappetizingly moist. But a couple of tasters picked up on a little seasoning in the coating (that’s a good thing!), with one noting that it was one of the few brands to show appealing black pepper flecks. And it seemed to be the first to veer into the territory of something you wouldn’t mind eating. “Nothing special, but very comforting,” said one. “Tasted identifiably as chicken,” was about as excited as our panel got.

6. Kirkwood (Aldi)

Score: 38

Another brand that our tasters thought suffered from the curse of over-breading. “A tiny bit of chicken in the sea of crust,” as one put it.

“Mostly tastes like bread ing,” said another. Some liked its looks – the crust browned up nicely, according to some –better than its taste, which was described as bland. “I liked the crunch and texture of the coating but then . . . nothing.”

Those who did detect a flavor were unimpressed. “Like the inside of a walk-in freezer at Costco.”

5. Nature’s Promise (Giant)

Score: 38.5

Two tasters likened this one to McDonald’s chicken nuggets, which might or might not be a compliment, depending on how you feel about those child hood staples from the Golden Arches (which popularized the term “nugget” to begin with). A softer texture and a circle shape “indicating a level of perfection achieved by manufacturing” were some of the qualities our tasters discerned. “It looks like it’s going to be crunchy but it’s not,” lamented one. And the artificiality was a turnoff to several. “Chuck E. Cheese ball pit vibes.”

4. Quorn Score: 40.5

We snuck a single fauxchicken nugget into the rotation, opting to go with the winner of our 2019 plant-based nugget taste test, but obviously didn’t inform our judges of which sample was the impostor. Most didn’t peg it as such, although one saw through the subterfuge and declared it “something the old neighborhood hippie co-ops passed off as chicken.”

Several tasters liked the crispy crust on this one. And while some found the interior a little bland, it hit the right marks for several testers. “I love this nugget,” one raved. “Per fectly seasoned.”

3. Perdue Score: 47

This guy seemed to conform to the classic standards of its category and evoked some nos talgia: “the Platonic ideal of a nugg,” “the chicken nugget of my imagination” and “familiar taste,” according to our panel.

“Tastes like a chicken nugget more so than chicken itself,” one thought. Several liked that it wasn’t overly breaded and found the interior pleasantly juicy, though for a few it registered as “mushy.” And detectable spices (“pepper lingering on my tongue”) were a selling point.

2. Bell & Evans Score: 49

This brand differed from the others we sampled in that it was the sole brand we pur chased in raw form – the rest came precooked, with the turn in the oven serving to defrost and (hopefully) crisp them up. Bell & Evans required a longer cooking time (25-30 minutes as opposed to the 15-minute neighborhood of the others), which potentially makes them less convenient for the truly time-crunched.

Our tasters, though, might tell you it’s worth the extra wait – they nearly unanimously praised the texture of real breast meat this brand offered.

To many it read more like chicken chunks than nuggets, partly because of the minimal breading. Though the natural texture drew raves, many tasters said the nugget cried out for something to dip it in.

1. 365 (Whole Foods) Score: 56

Whole Foods’ store brand had a texture similar to the Bell & Evans product – rather than most nuggets’ processed inte riors, it too is made up of whole breast-meat chunks. (Whole Foods is owned by Amazon, whose founder, Jeff Bezos, owns The Washington Post.) Our judges clearly liked the style, awarding this one kudos for its apparent high-quality, moist and flavorful meat. “You don’t feel as if you’re getting something that’s machine cut,” said one. One downside of the natural style is that the nuggets were irregular – one taster who got a smaller specimen dubbed it “popcorn chicken.”

One taster envisioned herself – not usually a nugget consumer – keeping a bag of these in the freezer. “Would chop these up and throw in a salad or tacos!” And while they might not be the nuggets of a 5-year-old’s dreams, that’s part of their charm. “Would be more likely to appeal to an adult palate.”

From left: Cooked chicken nuggets from Whole Foods 365, Bell & Evans, Perdue and Quorn.

Scott Suchman/The Washington Post photos Whole Foods 365 brand chicken nuggets were lauded by our panel for their moist, flavorful meat.

Can most Californians even afford to retire?

Tribune ConTenT AgenCy

Steven Johnson spent 19 years as a minimum wage laborer for a Los Angeles moving company, lifting heavy furniture and suf fering three hernias along the way.

For the last decade, the 61-year-old has worked as a waiter and as a cook in fast-paced kitchens.

Now arthritis has swollen his knees. “I tried to tough it out, icing myself down,” Johnson said. But he’s had to cut back to two days a week.

Johnson’s income last year: $11,000. As for retire ment savings, he says: “That would be a big, fat zero.”

His employers offered neither pensions nor 401(k) plans.

Johnson is hardly alone. Some 52% of California’s private sector employees ages 18 to 64 work for businesses that have failed to offer either kind of retirement plan, the AARP reported in August.

That’s 7.4 million people.

Corporate executives enjoy hefty retirement payouts, but over decades companies have jettisoned defined-benefit pen sions that once guaranteed many rank-and-file workers a steady income until death. Voluntary 401(k) plans replace them in some cases but leave millions of workers vulnerable to stock market downturns. Others are unable to contribute given their low wages.

Among low- and middleincome earners, fear of old-age poverty can be particularly acute. Eight in ten Califor nians who have lacked access to an employer-provided retire ment plan make less than $50,000 a year.

Although many government employees still get pensions, as do many union members, and some private companies offer 401(k) plans, widespread ineq uity has spurred California and several other states to fill the void by enacting state-spon sored retirement programs for the private sector.

The Golden State initiative, CalSavers, requires businesses without their own plans to upload their employee rosters. CalSavers then enrolls the workers, automatically deducts 5% from payroll checks and deposits it into a Roth individual retirement account. Workers can opt out or boost or cut the amount they stash away.

“When you consider low wages, the high cost of living, debt burdens,” CalSavers may not be “a panacea,” said Katie Selenski, executive direc tor of the program. “But we can level the playing field.”

So far, 384,000 Cali fornians have CalSavers accounts, with assets of $272 million. Employers with five or more workers had to sign up by June or set up their own plans. Employers with one to five workers must comply by December 2025.

But the program, launched in 2019, may do little to help those already close to retirement age or those who can’t afford to save. Last year, 1 in 4 Los Angeles-area workers earned $15 an hour or less – $31,200 a year in a fulltime job – according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

More than a third of employ ees eligible for CalSavers have opted out. One was Johnson, struggling to survive with arthritic knees and a parttime income. He withdrew the $620 in his account. “I needed the extra money,” he said.

For 38 years, Clara Mesa, a

single mother, has worked on an assembly line, loading bev erage carts at Los Angeles International Airport. Unable to afford an apartment, she pays $500 a month to live in an Inglewood garage and com mutes by bus.

At 60 years old, standing on her feet all day, the stress gets to her. “The supervisors say hurry

bedrock,” Nari Rhee, director of UC Berkeley Labor Center’s Retirement Security Program, testified at a federal hearing last year. But “the current average benefit of $1,500 a month is insufficient to cover basic needs for most retirees, given the cost of living.”

Rather than beef up funding by lifting the $147,000 cap on taxed wages, Congress has raised the age to collect full benefits to 67 from 65 –a hardship for blue-collar workers whose jobs are most likely to entail phys ical stress.

cations “for various maladies,” he said. And he is postpon ing a recommended cardiology appointment until he qualifies for Medicare.

Should the Monterey Park resident retire, he estimates that Social Security benefits of about $1,700 a month, together with a modest 401(k) and a pension of just $150 a month from previous jobs, might cover about half his expenses, includ ing rent, utilities, student loans, car payments and veterinary bills for his cat.

“I worry about it all the time,” he said. “I just need to keep working.”

your hand through the process and makes it easy,” she said. Automatic deductions also make saving convenient for workers without the paper work involved in signing up for a 401(k), she said.

An AARP survey shows that Americans are 15 times more likely to save for retire ment when they can do so at work. They are 20 times more likely if the program is automatic.

CalSavers “is good, because most folks don’t save money,” Garin said. The 5% subtracted from his paycheck means “I’ll have more to fall back on.” Retirement benefits vary widely by occupa tion. Sectors with high turnover and low wages also tend to fail workers in their old age. Just 30% of workers at U.S. restaurants and hotels had access to a plan, 38% of garbage collectors and sorters and 62% of construc tion workers, according to 2020 census data.

By contrast, 86% of pro fessional and technical employees had either a 401(k) or a pension plan.

Latino and Black workers are concentrated in jobs least likely to offer retirement ben efits. “The story of California’s retirement wealth is a story of racial inequality,” Rhee wrote in a UC Berkeley Labor Center report.

In the Golden State, 64% of Latino employees and 53% of Black employees were not covered by a workplace plan before CalSavers, according to the latest data. That compares with 44% of Asian workers and 43% of white workers.

Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of California workers without immigration documents don’t qualify for Social Security. And another group is mostly left out of workplace retirement programs: some 1.4 million selfemployed Californians, few of whom contribute to IRAs or take advantage of CalSav ers’ individual sign-up option. Many work gigs for companies that sidestep traditional labor protections by claiming their workers are “independent con tractors” not “employees.”

Robert Moreno, 47, drives for Uber and Lyft, traveling to San Diego from his trailer home in Potrero, more than an hour away. He picks up passengers from 11 p.m. Fridays to 3 a.m. Mondays, taking catnaps in his Honda Tucson between rides.

After gas, tolls and mainte nance, Moreno clears between $30,000 and $40,000 a year. The rest of the week, he lives across the border in Mexico, where housing is cheaper and he works with his wife building a small garment business.

up, hurry up,” she said. “But I only have two hands. I’m not an octopus.”

Still, Mesa, whose wages have gradually risen to $18 an hour, can’t imagine how she will afford to retire. She has $20,000 in a 401(k), but with rent, food and bills, her savings would be gone “in the blink of an eye,” she said.

Workers like Johnson and Mesa will get Social Security benefits once they reach retire ment age – but they can’t count on it being enough.

“Social Security is a

“Thirty years of work doesn’t add up to pay for 30-plus years of retire ment,” Ramsey Alwin, president and chief execu tive of the National Council on Aging, said at a recent symposium. “As we’re all enjoying the gift of longevity, the math just doesn’t add up.”

More than a third of Ameri cans in average health at 65 are likely to live to 90, according to actuarial studies. To main tain their standard of living over 20 to 25 years of retire ment, Californians will need savings equivalent to at least seven times their annual income at age 65, a UC Berkeley study found.

Kerwin Garin, 64, goes from one gig job to another, working as a chef for a temp agency. He is on seven medi

As much as possible, Garin takes the bus to his cafeteria gigs across the region to avoid adding to the 83,000 miles on his Chevy Cruze odometer.

His employer, Culinary Staff ing Service, has enrolled its 920 workers, more than a quarter of whom are over 50 years old, in CalSavers. The cooks, servers and dishwashers, who work shifts at hospitals, universities and sports arenas, “are very happy we’re giving them a way to save money,” said Chief Operating Officer Jessica Seastead.

The agency had not offered retirement benefits before, she said, given the administrative burden and expense involved in setting up a 401(k) program.

CalSavers, which does not charge for its service, “holds

Lately, Moreno has begun to worry about retirement. The ride-hailing giants don’t offer 401(k)s, nor did More no’s previous jobs at an investigative consultancy and a tourist agency.

“Uber and Lyft are multi billion-dollar companies,” he said. “They take more than half of what my passengers pay. They need to take care of their workers.”

Uber did not respond to a request for comment. In an email, a Lyft spokesperson wrote: “Lyft drivers are inde pendent contractors . . . . Those who are self-employed can set up CalSavers accounts to save toward retirement.”

Moreno had not heard of CalSavers. As yet, the state has done little marketing to publicize the option.

About 2,200 self-employed Califor nians, a tiny fraction of the total, have enrolled.

‘Thirty years of work doesn’t add up to pay for 30-plus years of retirement. As we’re all enjoying the gift of longevity, the math just doesn’t add up.’

president and chief executive of the National Council on Aging

Services

TVdaily

The story of one of the most influential statesmen in American history is told on “Becoming Frederick Douglass.”

AT 10 P.M. ON CHANNELS 6,9

‘Halloween Ends’ this season at movie theaters

Daily Republic Staff DRNEWS@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

FAIRFIELD —

Coming to local theaters in time for Halloween is the final installment of the franchise of the same name.

“Halloween Ends” picks up four years after the last battle with Michael Myers and Laurie Strode. Strode has found a place of peace but that is soon shat tered by a terrible and familiar murder.

Also out in theaters is “Emily,” an imaginative retelling of the story of author Emily Brontë as a misfit who finds her place through her writing.

Opening nationwide are:

“Halloween Ends,” in which all things come to a close in this “final” movie in the saga of Michael Myers. Four years after her last encounter with Myers, Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) is living with her granddaugh ter and trying to finish her memoir. Strode thinks it’s over but when a young man stands accused of murdering a boy he was babysitting, it ignites a cascade of violence and terror that forces Strode to confront the evil she can’t control. The film is rated R.

“Emily,” which imag ines the life of one of the world’s most famous authors, Emily Brontë. Emily (Emma Mackey) doesn’t fit in with the norms of society. She falls in love, finds her passion and through it all is her writing. The film is rated R.

Opening in limited release are:

“The Accident Man,” in which The Accident Man (Scott Adkins) must beat the top assassins in the world to protect the ungrateful son of a mafia boss, save the life of his only friend and rekindle his relationship with his maniacal father figure. The film is rated R.

“Cat Daddies,” a heartwarming and tender portrait of men whose lives have been forever changed by their cats. Across the United States, nine “cat dads” come from all walks of life to show how cats have changed their lives. The film is not rated.

“Life & Life,” in which musician Reggie Austin (Danielle Fraboni LaRauf), after serving 35 years in prison for murder, faces an uncer tain future back on the streets as he tries to rebuild a life, recon nect with his family and, armed with little else but his heart and his music, find a way to survive. The film is not rated.

“Sell/Buy/Date,” which tackles the complex subject of the sex industry and expands from the 2016 off-Broad way solo production of the same name. The film is not rated.

“Silent River,” in which Elliot (West Lang) is desperate to recon cile with his estranged wife, Julie. He drives across a barren desert road to reach her, hoping he can convince her to give him a second chance. He finds she has moved on with her life. In despair, he runs and finds a strange woman with a shady past who drags him into a rela tionship that makes him question reality. The film not rated.

For information on Edwards Cinemas in Fairfield, visit www. regmovies.com/the atres/regal-edwards-fair field-imax. For Vacaville showtimes, visit www. brendentheatres.com. For Vallejo showtimes, check www.cinemark. com/theatres/ca-vallejo.

information about

films

Zits Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman

Pearls Before Swine Stephan Pastis

Dilbert Scott Adams

Baby Blues Rick Kirkman and Jerry Scott

Baldo Hector Cantú and Carlos Castellanos

In ‘Triangle of Sadness,’ strained satire, and vomit, on the high seas

R

d’Or-winning social satire, “Triangle of Sadness,” is many things: a cautionary tale about the perils of slurping shellfish on rough seas, a blunt (as in dull) critique of the one percent, a (wasted) opportunity to hear Woody Harrelson espouse the tenets of Karl Marx and a pessimistic suggestion that people – both the oppres sors and the oppressed – share a fundamental willingness to exploit each other given the right circumstances. Strip away the Rolexes and scrub brushes, and we’re all the same under neath – horrible!

Don’t get me wrong. There are things to admire in Ost lund’s overstuffed exercise in derision. Example: No film in history has boasted so many artfully composed shots of people in the throes of intes tinal duress. Just how much vomit is there? Imagine the blueberry-pie-eating scene in “Stand by Me” on top of Mr. Creosote’s explosion in “Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life” mixed with the overflowing toilets of “Parasite,” and you have an inkling of what Ostlund unleashes in a drawn-out second act set piece that might tax the patience of even those inclined to appreciate exercises in grotesque absurdity.

But let’s put aside the puking (for now), as there’s a bit more to “Triangle of Sadness.” The movie is divided into three parts, along with its funniest moment, a cold open skewer ing of the high fashion world. It’s here we meet Carl (Harris Dickinson), a good-natured model, a bit past his prime, who’s told he might want to consider Botox to erase the

MOVIE Review

‘Triangle of Sadness’

Rating: R (for language and some sexual content)

Running time: 2:30

How to watch: Now in theaters

wrinkles in his triangle of sadness, the space between the eyebrows. Though equally adept at giving off the right vibe for clothing brands both bougie and basic, it seems Carl might need to consider a career change soon.

The film then segues into its first titled segment, a long scene between Carl and his model-influencer girlfriend, Yaya (Charlbi Dean, who died in August after a sudden illness), a standoff over which of them will pick up the check for an expensive, unsatisfy ing dinner. (Judging from this movie, Ostlund is clearly no gourmet – more like Harrel son’s ship captain, a burger and fries guy.) If you’ve seen Ost lund’s vicious 2014 film, “Force Majeure” (his best work), you’ll recognize the sharp approach to the gender assumptions embed ded in relationships and the fun he takes in exposing crippling male insecurity.

“It’s just not sexy to talk about money,” Yaya tells Carl, evading his earnest inquiries. But they eventually hold an askme-anything session in a hotel room that’s gutting and probing and serves as a promising foun dation for what might follow.

When we next meet Carl and Yaya, they’re on board a $250 million luxury yacht, hob nobbing with an assortment of stock super-rich pinheads, including a pervy app devel

oper (Henrik Dorsin), a Russian oligarch (Zlatko Buric) who made his fortune on fer tilizer (“I sell s–!” he boasts whenever he meets someone) and a polite, elderly British couple (Oliver Ford Davies and Amanda Walker) dealing in “precision engineering,” which at one time meant land mines. Now, thanks to the United Nations, they have to content themselves with peddling hand grenades.

Waiting on the idle rich are an all-white steward staff gunning for big tips and, under neath them (literally and figuratively), the more eth nically diverse maintenance staff. The interactions between these groups – or lack thereof –are intended to be funny and pointed, but the protracted satire falls flat, particularly in the wake of recent eviscera tions like “The White Lotus” and, of course, the aforemen tioned “Parasite.” When the Captain’s Dinner finally arrives and Ostlund opens the flood gates, the farce has worn out its welcome.

But wait . . . there’s more!

A third section properly introduces the movie’s most memorable character, a toilet cleaner named Abigail (Dolly de Leon, sensational), and serves, if nothing else, as a ringing endorsement for selfsufficiency. Here, Ostlund returns to his transactional view of human relationships, and there are a couple of good scenes – and another gratuitous one – but nothing substan tial enough to warrant the two-and-a-half-hour running time. The movie’s implica tions are obvious, though, in one case, instructive. If you want to topple the hierarchy, you’d better know how to build a fire.

Word Sleuth

Bridge by Phillip Alder

Seymour Sullivan. I added the second half for “The Bridge Players’ Boogie,” my as yet unpublished rock opera!

The fate of some contracts depends upon the timing of the play of a critical honor, as in today’s deal.

North-South had a boring auction to three no-trump. West had a clear-cut diamond lead. How should the play have proceeded?

South had eight top tricks: three spades, three hearts and two diamonds. The ninth trick had to come from the clubs. However, as the lead had to be lost twice in establishing that suit, the tempo (or timing) was with the defenders – as long as they used it to best advantage.

After winning trick one with his dia mond king, declarer crossed to the dummy in a major and played a low club.

SHOULD YOU SIT BACK OR LEAN FORWARD?

What do you make of this couplet?

“If you’re anxious for to shine in the high aesthetic line as a man of culture rare, you must play your honors high with extremely special care and a light confident air.”

The first half is a lyric by William Schwenk Gilbert for “Patience,” the comic opera he wrote with Arthur

The critical moment had arrived: East knew an entry-saving play when he saw one. With an untoward flourish, he put the club king onto the table. When he won the trick, East returned his second diamond, establishing his partner’s suit while West still had the club ace as an entry.

If East had played second hand low, three no-trump could no longer have been defeated.

When partner’s suit is one lead from being established, try to win the next defensive trick.

Sudoku by Wayne Gould

Bridge

SHOULD YOU SIT BACK OR LEAN FORWARD?

uben Ostlund’s Palme

Plattform

Pictures via ZUMA Press/TNS

Dickinson, left, and Charlbi Dean in “Triangle of Sadness.”

of t h e C a l i f o r n i a P r o b a t e C o d e o r ( 2 ) 6 0 days from the date of mail ng or personal d e liv e ry t o y o u o f a n o t ic e u n d e r s e c t io n 9 0 5 2 o f t h e Ca lif o rn ia P r o b a t e Co d e O t h e r C a l i f o r n i a s t a t u e s a n d l e

s i f i e d l i n e ads that appear on line hold no monet ary va ue; therefore they are not eligible f o r c r e d i t o r a r e f u n d s h o u l d t h e y n o t a p p e a r o n l i n e

0201 REAL ESTATE SERVICE/LOANS

Disclaimer: Fair Housing is the Law!

T h e m i s s i o n o f t h e D e p a r t m e n t o f F a i r E m p l o y m e n t a n d H o u s i n g i s t o p r o t e c t t h e p e o p l e o f C a l i f o r n i a f r o m u n l a w f u l d i s c r i m i n a tion in employment h o u s i n g a n d p u b l i c a c c o m m o d a t i o n s T h e D a i l y R e p u b l i c w i l l n o t k n o w i n g l y accept any ad which is in violation of the F e d e r a l F a i r H o u s ing Act and the Cali f o r n i a F a i r E m p l o y m e n t a n d H o u s i n g A c t w h c h b a n d i s c r i m i n a t i o n b a s e d o n r a c e c o l o r n a t i o n a l o r i g i n s e x r e l i g i o n , s e x u a l o r i entation age disab i l i t y f a m i l i a l s t a t u s a n d m a r i t a l s t a t u s D e s c r i b e t h e P r o p e r t y N o t t h e T e n a n t

0315 FAIRFIELD HOMES FOR RENT 4 b d r m 2 b a s i n g l e s t o r y D o v e r N o r t h n e i g h b o r h o o d c o r n e r l o t o p e n s p a c e t o t h e r e a r A l l n e w p a i n t f l o o r i n g r e m o d e l e d b a t h r o o m s $ 2 8 0 0 m o 7 0 7 4 8 3 6 4 7 2 o r jeffjameslink@aol com

l d $

FURN. &

GOODS

y G e n e r a t o r s p r o v i d e b a c k u p p o w e r d u r i n g u t i l i t y p o w e r o u t a g e s s o y o u r h o m e a n d f a m i l y s t a y s a f e a n d c o m f o r t a b l e P r e p a r e n o w F r e e 7 y e a r e x tended warranty ($695 value!) Request a free q

Ukrainian runners want to ban Russians from NYC Marathon

Tribune ConTenT AgenCy

A group of Ukrainian runners are making moves to ban Russians and Belarusians from taking part in the New York City Marathon.

“It started all from the Boston Marathon. In April we did a similar petition,” said Anna Shpook, 39, a member of Ukrainian Running Club NY. “I think it just would be unfair to give someone access while Ukrai nians no longer have that.”

A Boston man helped the group’s pitch gain momentum.

“He wrote the petition, we sup ported it. I think within a week or ten days it reached 1,600 and they reacted and they did prevent Russian and Belarusian runners from participating,” said Shpook, who lives in Windsor Terrace.

Shpook says she emailed orga nizers from New York Road Runners, who sponsor the mara thon, asking for the ban but was told the group was only prepared to prevent runners from the two coun tries from officially taking part in an opening ceremony called the Parade of Nations with their flags.

“I feel like they [Russians] should stand in solidarity and go against the war,” Shpook said. “Go to the Russian consulate, stand there and ask for war to be stopped. We want them to wake up, go out on the streets and turn this regime

Warriors

From Page B1

Dealing with the damage control from the practice punch, though, will be a tall task for the War riors’ leaders.

It’s unclear what triggered Green to lay one on Poole – not that there’s any excuse for it. A video of the incident shows the two talking before Green walks over to Poole and bumps him in the chest. Poole responded by pushing Green away, followed by Green taking a swing at Poole.

The two had to be separated after it looked like Green pinned Poole against the wall.

Iguodala immediately sprung into action and had numerous conversations with players and per sonnel, Curry said Thursday.

“He does an amazing job of saying all the right things at the right time to the right people,” Curry said. “That’s always been apparent, that value, it’s invalu able what he brings in on that front. I’m not going to sit here and catalog every conversation he had [Wednes

over. The same thing with Belarus, their current regime is supporting, they opened the borders.”

As of June, 75% of Russians supported the war in Ukraine, according to a study published by the Carnegie Endowment for Inter national Peace.

“What images and stories does the NYRR need to hear to under stand the level of atrocities being committed against Ukraine on a daily basis to take action? Is it the total devastation of Mariupol, where

day] but it was a lot in terms of bringing leadership and a pres ence to somebody whose voice is so respected across all the generations we have in our locker room and coaches and front office as well.”

Similar to Curry, Iguodala knows how to meet people where they’re at in certain moments. All the players respect Iguodala’s opinion and how he feels.

The Warriors believe they can get past this incident without allowing it to fester and become a season-long problem because of the winning culture they’ve built over the last decade.

“I have confidence it won’t erode the fabric of our team,” general manager Bob Myers said.

Iguodala has eight years of expe rience in the Warriors’ culture that he helped construct. If there’s anyone equipped to help Curry handle what comes next, it’s him.

“Andre is one of the great leaders I’ve ever been around, and one of the reasons we were so excited that he decided to come back this year was because we knew we were going to need his internal leader ship,” coach Steve Kerr said.

Green will be punished internally

the bombing of a maternity hospi tal, theater (sheltering thousands of civilians, many children) bodies lying in Bucha for weeks, and hun dreds of residential buildings were laid to rubble,” reads the change.org petition, posted on Sept. 29.

“I have my parents, I have my cousin, my close friends in Ukraine under occupation since March,” said runner Tetiana Samokysh, 34, whose loved ones are in the Kherson region.

“They are near the frontline.

for escalating what seemed like a normal in-practice occurrence to what would be an HR nightmare in any other job outside professional sports. He apologized to Poole and the team Thursday and is expected to return to practice Saturday. As of Thursday, Myers didn’t anticipate Green would miss any games.

Plenty of people had reactions to the video that surfaced of the punch, but the court of public opinion doesn’t matter. It’s whether the people inside the locker room feel Green’s apology was genuine and want to move past this.

The ball is in Green’s court. He needs to take responsibility for attacking Poole. But Iguodala and Curry will play a part in rebuild ing team trust and morale as they prepare to defend their title this season.

“Its internal leadership from within the locker room is the most important within a team’s makeup,” Kerr said. “You have to have guys in the locker room who are leading and really kind of laying out the blueprint for how things have to be. So Andre does an amazing job with that. We’re going to need him this year for sure.”

49ers

Drive ensued.

“That whole drive, it was (10) plays, but to cap it off third-and-goal like that with Deebo coming up with a great catch, guys were making plays today, especially on third down,” Garoppolo said.

Not much else came from Samuel, who broke out when needed most. He, overall, had two receptions on nine targets, and two carries for 12 yards.

Having grown up 80 miles east in Inman, S.C., Samuel cer tainly led that key drive toward the north end zone. It started with his first catch of the day (16 yards), followed by a 3-yard run, and kept alive by a pass-interfer ence penalty he drew against a Carolina cor nerback on fourth-and-3.

Jauan Jennings’ 32-yard, catch-and-run got the 49ers to the 3-yard line.

On third-and-goal from the 4, Samuel scored his second touch down in as many games.

It was not as theatri cal as his 57-yarder in last Monday night’s win over the Rams. It was critical, though, to stop Sunday’s bleeding.

The 49ers (3-2) now head into the West Virginia mountains to practice at The Green brier Resort for a third straight season. Then, next Sunday, they’ll visit another NFC South team, the Atlanta Falcons (2-3).

Bosa, shut down at halftime with a tight groin, might not be the only 49er missing from that next outing. Gould sustained a left-knee injury making a midfield tackle on the kickoff after Samuel’s touchdown, and Ward’s season debut lasted only one play before he left with a frac tured left hand.

The most serious injury is apparently Moseley’s, and it damp ened a win that included a first-half interception return for his first career touchdown. He got hurt defending a deep pass with about 4 minutes to go. That his poten

Physical

Page B1

take much more.

The body count is prodigious.

The 49ers have one of the deepest rosters in the NFL. They’re practiced at picking up injuries — they’ve been one of the most injured teams in the NFL for years.

But not yet halfway through the campaign and that depth is being stress tested in a way that not even the Niners could have foreseen.

San Francisco went into Sunday’s game in North Carolina without their first-string quarter back, running back, left tackle, defensive tackles, and off-ball linebacker.

By the end of the game Sunday, the Niners also had their starting kicker, free safety, cor nerback, and defensive end – All-Pro Nick Bosa –sidelined by injury.

But how does an NFL team change bad injury luck?

And how can it go away from a style of football that is winning games now and will definitely win games when those games mean even more?

It’s truly awesome watching the 49ers’ defense dominate. The Niners seem to cover every inch of the field in red and gold, but all that speed translates into tackles, too. The Niners’ defense has an old-school feel to it.

And Sunday, the

tial ACL tear came on artificial grass had teammates like George Kittle fuming and recall ing other ACL tears in wins on artificial tear before Greenbrier lay overs, such as to Bosa and Solomon Thoma sin 2020 at the New York Jets, and Jason Verrett last year at Detroit.

The 49ers defense already was playing without defensive tackles Arik Armstead (feet) and Javon Kinlaw (knee) – and their offense is without left tackle Trent Wil liams – but losing Bosa for any amount of time will sting the most.

Still on that 49ers’ defensive front, however, are pass rushers Samson Ebukam, Kemoko Turay and rookie Drake Jackson, whose fourthdown sack ended Baker Mayfield’s night and set up Tevin Coleman’s 5-yard touchdown run in the closing minutes.

The 49ers’ opponents averaged a league-low 11.5 points through four games, and although the Panthers surpassed that mark, they repeatedly had to settle for field-goal attempts. Meanwhile, the 49ers piled up their most touchdowns in a game since last season’s opener at Detroit (which also preceded a Green brier layover).

The 49ers’ vaunted defense did crack on its opening series after halftime. That’s when McCaffrey had his fourth-and-1, 19-yard touchdown run. It cut the 49ers’ lead to 17-9, and McCaffrey got stopped on an ensuing twopoint conversion try. Bosa was on the side line, still in full uniform, while that drive unfolded without him.

If Samuel’s touch down wasn’t the 49ers’ most important, perhaps it was Jeff Wilson Jr.’s 1-yard plunge early in the fourth quarter for a 30-12 margin.

Also getting into the scoring act, for the first time in his five-year career, was cornerback Emmanuel Moseley. He delivered a 41-yard interception return for a touchdown, 55 seconds before halftime.

Niners’ offense was a throwback to 2019.

Jimmy Garoppolo was money on third down, and the Niners were effective moving the ball on the ground and in the quick pass game.

Now, Carolina isn’t much competition. Pan thers’ ownership would be justified in firing head coach Matt Rhule, and Rhule – if he keeps his job – would be justified in benching quarter back Baker Mayfield after Sunday.

The Falcons likely won’t be a worthy adver sary next Sunday, either.

While the Niners do have the Chiefs – argu ably the NFL’s best team – looming later this month, but that’s one game against a team in a different conference.

Even with all the injuries – even with the second-string Garop polo at the helm of the offense – the Niners might end up being the team to beat in a confer ence that has two, maybe three quality teams.

But that can only come two things come to pass:

One, the Niners’ injury rate must decrease.

And two, the Niners need to keep playing this brand of big-boy, punch-you-in-the-mouth football. (Shoutout Dray mond Green.)

Are those concepts mutually exclusive? We’ll find out in due time.

In the meantime, per Garoppolo:

“The train ain’t stopping.”

Elsa/Getty Images/TNS file (2021)

In this photo from November 2021, runners cross the finish line during the 2021 TCS New York City Marathon in Central Park in New York City.