Daily Republic: Friday, January 13, 2023

Todd R. H ansen THANSEN@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

FAIRFIELD — Friends helped Michelle Valine move her horses from the flooded pasture, and now friends from Larry’s Produce are lending a hand cleaning up her flooded studio.

The work was being done as the entire Bay Area enjoyed a mostly dry Thursday that even included a breakout of blue skies.

Part of Valine’s home was flooded when Suisun Creek topped its levee and flooded her property this week. But the local flooding isn’t the biggest concern with Suisun Creek.

An evacuation warning issued Tuesday remains in place with additional storms forecast for Solano. The threat is if Lake Curry spills into the creek.

The Suisun Creek evacuation warning extends the length of the creek in Solano County, from the Napa County line down to Chad-

bourne Slough. Residences a quarter-mile from the creek on either side are in the possible evacuation zone.

There are no other evacuation warnings or evacuation orders in the county at this time, the county Office of Emergency Services reported in its afternoon media briefing.

OES noted that in addition to monitoring the water levels of Suisun Creek and Lake Curry, “Lake Frey and Lake Madigan continue to spill within their designed engineered spillways. Significant downstream impacts are not expected.”

“We are coordinating with the reclamation and levee districts and assisting in resource requests for flood fighting materials for the levees,” the briefing stated.

It also warned that with the ground already saturated, “there may be ponding of water and roadway flooding as rains return (Friday) through the weekend. We

advise the community to never drive through standing water. Turn around; don’t drown.”

As of Thursday afternoon, there were three power outages experienced, affecting six customers, the OES reported. Schools are not expected to be affected by the storms.

The National Weather Service in Sacramento reports there will be a series of three more storms coming through the area starting Friday.

“Rain will be coming (Friday) morning and pretty much staying with us through the weekend,” meteorologist Robert Baruffaldi said.

The total rainfall is expected to be about 2.5 inches, with the most rain coming Saturday and the lightest storm arriving Sunday into Monday.

“And that will probably be the windiest, too, Saturday,” said Baruffaldi, adding that even lighter

Storms add to difficulty of dealing with homeless, camps

Todd R. H ansen

THANSEN@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

FAIRFIELD — Cordelia area residents near Central Way and the on-ramp to Interstate 680 and Interstate 80 are concerned garbage and other materials from an abandoned homeless camp will be washed out to the bay – down creeks and sloughs – by stormwaters.

Dealing with the homeless population during the storms is, perhaps, the first priority.

“The city opened up a temporary warming center for up to 25 individuals (Dec. 15-19) as the temperatures dropped to 32 degrees and below for three consecutive nights which is the criteria to open a warming center. Additionally, the library has been open to homeless individuals during the day as an opportunity to get out of the storms,” Delaney Lydon, an administrative assistant to the city manager, noted

in an email response to the Daily Republic.

“Other than that, the city continues to work diligently with the police Homeless Intervention Team to refer individuals to emergency shelter such as Shelter Solano as space permits, as well as the Public Works Department’s Homeless Engagement and Response Team to clean up the streets and limit the debris in waterways.”

But for a couple of sisters, Kathy Abreu and Vicki Long, the issue is a camp they first became aware of in July. Since then, they have been on a six-month crusade and have little to show for it but a growing directory of Fairfield, Solano County and state agencies.

“There are pallets that have gone all the way down to Cordelia Road,” Abreu said. “I’m so frustrated because I’ve been trying to get this place cleaned up for

Garland names special counsel to review classified documents found at Biden’s office, home

Los a ngeLes Times

WASHINGTON —

Todd R. H ansen THANSEN@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

SUISUN CITY — A dozen city residents have applied for appointment to the City Council.

Notably missing are Charles Lee Jr. and longtime Councilwoman Jane Day – two candidates from the Nov. 8 election who did not win one of the two open seats.

The other, Katrina Garcia, has thrown her hat into the ring and is guaranteed to be among the seven semifinalists the council will consider.

The vacancy was created when Alma Hernandez won the mayor’s job.

Lee, at the Nov. 29 council meeting, said he should be appointed straight out because he finished a close third in the election. A number of people at a subsequent meeting supported Lee, as did Councilman Mike Hudson, who was in a similar position after the 2018 election when he lost his seat on the council and sought appointment to fill the vacancy

created when Lori Wilson became mayor.

Instead, the council, on the strength of then-Mayor Lori Wilson’s recommendation, appointed Anthony Adams, who is one of the 12 candidates seeking appointment, again.

Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday named a special counsel to investigate the unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents that were discovered at President Joe Biden’s office and home.

Garland tapped the former U.S. attorney for Maryland, Robert Hur, to conduct the investigation and examine whether “any person or entity violated the law in connection with this matter.”

Hur was appointed to his U.S. attorney’s position by former President Donald Trump and previously served as a principal associate deputy attorney general. He is expected to begin work in the coming days.

Hur said in a statement

that he “will conduct the assigned investigation with fair, impartial, and dispassionate judgment. I intend to follow the facts swiftly and thoroughly, without fear or favor, and will honor the trust placed in me to perform this service.”

A special counsel has more independence to conduct an investigation, but ultimately the decision on whether to prosecute is left to the attorney general. Hur’s appointment “underscores for the public the department’s commitment to both independence and accountability for particularly sensitive matters,” Garland said.

Documents with classification markings were found in two unsecured locations that Biden used after he served as vice

Also having met Tuesday’s filing deadline are mayoral candidate James Berg; Tara BeasleyStansberry; Lilia Dardon; Herbert Dardon; Amit Pal; Laura Cole-Rowe; Thomas D. Alder; George

What is causing the storms battering California? A5 How do Warriors improve after 41 games?

Aaron Rosenblatt/Daily Republic

Michelle Valine’s house near Suisun Creek in Fairfield, Thursday.

Saying goodbye to Mayrene Bates

Acouple of days ago I received the terrible news that local icon Mayrene Bates died last Friday. Librarian, teacher, assistant principal, principal, assistant superintendent of schools, trustee of the Solano County school board – not to mention wife, mother and friend – she was all that and so much more.

I am grateful I was able to interview and write a two-part column about her back in 2020. It actually took four years on and off of me trying to convince her that people would love to hear her story for her to agree to do it. I mean, some poor little African-American girl who was born in a tiny town in Tennessee who did so much in her adopted city that she now has a street named after her (Mayrene Bates Lane)? It was a no-brainer. Those columns can be read here:

https://bit.ly/

MAYRENEBATES1

https://bit.ly/

MAYRENEBATES2

When we first moved to Fairfield in June 1976, I was 12 years old and would start seventh grade at Grange Intermediate that fall. I had been in a comic book club with three friends at Hamilton Air Force Base before we moved here and every spare cent I had went to getting more comics. My dad chastised me for it.

So imagine how refreshing it was to go to Grange and have the librarian sell comics and not just any comics, but Marvel Comics, at lunch time. I learned the word fruition from a Spider-Man comic book and the concept of a time-space continuum from a Fantastic Four one. Mrs. Bates encouraged reading whether it be the classics or the Incredible Hulk.

I also remember seeing her at the church we attended back then, the Fairfield Church of Christ, and had that jawdropping moment that kids have when they see a teacher

miraculously existing in the world outside their classroom. I also kinda had an adolescent crush on her, so there was that.

Many years later, in 2014 to be exact, I invited Mayrene back to that same church building to speak to the students at Solano Christian Academy, the school that is a ministry of the church, where I worked at the time. It was for Black History Month and she told the kids about her remarkable journey and how the superpower that helped her get there was education.

We took a picture and I told her when I posted it later in the I Grew Up In Fairfield Too group, a lot of people would comment on how much they loved her. I showed her some of the positive comments people had made about her when I posted a picture of her as the grand marshal of the Fairfield Fourth of July parade in 2013.

She was humbled by all the adoration, but let me know that as a principal she often had to discipline kids and that accolades from former students weren’t necessarily universal. She said she once went to the supermarket and a woman who recognized her from 40 years ago called her the b-word. She took it in stride.

You know what I loved about Mayrene Bates? She was an extremely kind and thoughtful person. I once wrote a column about her longtime friend, former mayor of Fairfield, Gary Falati. Not too long afterward I received a card in the mail from her. Another time she sent me one for hosting the Arty Awards. She would always include a little funny tear off calendar with a cartoon on it from the Far Side or something as well.

Getting emails is nice, Facebook inbox messages and texts are convenient, but I’m old school and it is still special when someone takes the time to craft and send an actual

postal letter.

For a number of years, Mayrene Bates wrote a guest column in the Daily Republic and in it she covered everything from her world travels to education to the joys of reading and much more. One from 2017 called “We can all do 1 kind thing” was memorable as at the end she gave specific examples of things people can do to practice random acts of kindness:

Keep children in school by getting them resources like tutoring. Give to communitiesinschools.org.

Inspire a child to read; $20 to reachoutandread. org gives doctors books for their young patients.

Write a letter to a senior. The website elderly.org can connect you with elderly people without family who feel lonely. Heal a veteran. Puppiesbehindbars.com trains inmates to raise service dogs for wounded soldiers; $25 gets a new collar

and a leash.

Brighten a sick child’s day; $25 to projectsunshine.org gives puppet-making materials or a journal to a hospitalized child.

Fund a girl’s education – a gift to girlproject. com supports students from Detroit to Mumbai.

Warm the homeless. Bombas. com will donate socks (the most requested item) to a shelter for every pair you buy ($12).

She once gave me a shoutout in one of her columns about my ability to write funny stuff. I, of course, following her example, sent her a thank you card. Rest in peace, my friend.

Others shared remembrances of Mayrene Bates on Facebook.

Lisa Anglin: She was the best librarian a kid could ever have. She really nourished my desire for reading and learning.

Steve Murray: I knew her as the mom who allowed garage bands at her house.

Bill Burke: I remember the

opening of Grange and Mrs. Bates put in countless hours setting up the library. She had such enthusiasm. A very classy lady.

Michael Gaither: An amazing woman (and her husband is an amazing man). I remember her at Crystal Elementary. She had a paddle with holes in it on the wall and I was a frequent visitor to her office. Although I was a troublemaker, she saw the potential in me and had me tested for the GATE (Gifted and Talented Education) program, which I made it into.

Fairfield freelance humor columnist 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.”

Pregnant male sea dragon in San Diego might produce bounty of babies

Tribune ConTenT AgenCy

SAN DIEGO -- For the first time, UC San Diego’s Birch Aquarium has coaxed a female weedy sea dragon into transferring a large number of eggs to a male sea dragon who could give birth to a bounty of babies.

On Monday, aquarium staff discovered that one of its males is carrying about 100 bright pink eggs in the “brood pouch” on its tale. Many will become fully formed and born in four to six weeks.

It is an oddity of

nature – and a scientific leap for the Birch, which is part of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

Scientists say that sea dragons, sea horses and pipefish are the only animals on Earth whose males get pregnant and give birth.

Birch made a tiny bit of progress cultivating them in 2020. A female sea dragon transferred five eggs to a male, resulting in two babies. But only now has the La Jolla aquarium done this broadly with female sea dragon, which are capable of producing

200 to 300 eggs.

“I was blown away and started cheering,” said Leslee Matsushige, associate curator at Birch. “We’ve been working on this for so long.

The Birch first imported sea dragons from the Dallas World Aquarium in 1996 as part of its education and conservation efforts.

Getting them to reproduce has been no small trick, mostly because it is hard to replicate the environment of sea dragons, which are best known for silently flit ting about in the seaweed beds and rocky reefs of

southern Australia.

“We’ve gone through a lot of trial and error, learning how to keep them healthy,” Matsushige said

done such things as finetune the creature’s diet, adding vitamins and probiotics and monitoring their calories.

dragons ready for reproduction, which begins with a courtship in which the lithe fish mimic each other’s movements in a “mirror dance”.

The female then produces eggs that are released and captured by the tale of the male, where they will stay until they hatch.

Matsushige said Birch will be ready if the pregnant male produces a lot of babies.

“We would have to provide a lot of food, but we would do it,” she said. “We would make room for them. This is a good problem to have.”

The pregnant male is currently visible in the aquarium’s sea dragon habitat.

Tony Wade Back in the day

Courtesy photos

Mayrene Bates through the years.

Covid, flu numbers decline in Solano

Todd R. H ansen THANSEN@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

FAIRFIELD — Solano

County health officials expect to see the end of the winter Covid-19 surge soon, and the rate of flu cases is also on the decline after a December rush.

The county reported 398 new positive coronavirus tests since the last report Jan. 5, of which 392 actually occurred in that seven-day period.

That puts the daily average for the week at 56, down from 80.57, with the 10-day daily average dropping from 78.6 to 58.7.

The number of residents in hospitals with a positive test also dropped – from 42 to 39 – and the number of patients in intensive

care units with the disease fell from nine to five, the county reported.

“That’s good news and hopefully we will see the surge end sometime this month,” Dr. Bela Matyas said Thursday.

There were five more cases of flu that showed up at Kaiser Permanente hospitals in the county, taking the total during the statewide surveillance program to 103. The number of deaths remained at three.

Similarly, there were no new Covid-related deaths reported. That total is 441, the county reported.

Matyas said the flu data also shows the winter trend is off its peak and on the way down.

Fairfield had 100 new coronavirus cases to take

its pandemic total to 31,548. Vallejo added 130 to take its count to 35,583. Vacaville is at 29,385 after 88 new cases, the county reported.

Suisun City (8,130) added 26 cases; Dixon (5,495) added 20; Benicia (4,842) added 24; Rio Vista (1,663) added 10; and there were no new cases in the unincorporated area, which has a count of 232, the county reported.

Matyas has previously indicated Covid-19 case counts are likely much higher with the use of in-home testing, results of which are not generally reported to government agencies and in many cases are not shared with medical providers if medical treatment is not needed. He has also said

the availability of vaccines and changes to personal behavior have slowed the disease throughout the Bay Area.

There were just 75 more booster shots administered since Jan. 5, taking the total to 184,266. The vaccination rates stayed the same: 71% for those 5 or older who have been fully vaccinated and 81% with at least one shot.

Vaccine shots administered to children 6 months to 4 years old is now 2,672 (11.8%) and for 5 to 11, 15,289 (41.2%).

The number of monkeypox cases in the county stayed at 44, the county reported.

IRS extends federal tax deadline for Solano, storm-affected areas

daily Republic sTaff DRNEWS@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

FAIRFIELD — The Inter nal Revenue Service extended the income tax filing and business filing deadline to May 15 for areas with emergency designations by the Federal Emergency Manage ment Agency.

Individuals and households that reside or have a business in Alameda, Colusa, Contra Costa, El Dorado, Fresno, Glenn, Humboldt, Kings, Lake, Los Angeles, Madera, Marin, Mariposa, Mendocino, Merced, Mono, Monterey, Napa, Orange, Placer, Riverside, Sacramento, San Benito, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tehama, Tulare, Ventura, Yolo and Yuba counties qualify for tax relief, the IRS said in a statement.

The tax relief postpones various tax filing and payment deadlines starting Jan. 8.

“As a result, affected individuals and businesses will have until May 15, 2023, to file returns and pay any taxes that were originally due during this period,” the IRS said. “This includes 2022 individual

income tax returns due on April 18, as well as various 2022 business returns normally due on March 15 and April 18. Among other things, this means that eligible taxpayers will have until May 15 to make 2022 contributions to their IRAs and health savings accounts.”

Farmers who choose to forgo making estimated tax payments and normally file their returns by March 1 will now have until May 15 to file their 2022 returns and pay any tax due.

“The May 15, 2023, deadline also applies to the quarterly estimated tax payments, normally due on Jan. 17 and April 18. This means that individual taxpayers can skip making the fourth quarter estimated tax payment, normally due Jan. 17, 2023, and instead include it with the 2022 return they file, on or before May 15,” the statement said. “The May 15 deadline also applies to the quarterly payroll and excise tax returns normally due on Jan. 31 and April 30, 2023. In addition, penalties on payroll and excise tax deposits due on or after Jan. 8 and before Jan. 23, will be abated as long as the tax deposits are made by Jan. 23.”

More information is available at www.irs.gov/businesses/ small-businesses-self-employed/ disaster-assistance-and-emergency-relief-for-individuals-andbusinesses.

“In addition, the IRS will work with any taxpayer who lives outside the disaster area but whose records necessary to meet a deadline occurring during the postponement period are located in the affected area. Taxpayers qualifying for relief who live outside the disaster area need to contact the IRS at 866-562-5227,” the statement said.

State Water Project, water storage, drought on Water Commission agenda

daily Republic sTaff DRNEWS@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

FAIRFIELD — The California Water Commission will conduct its annual State Water Project review and its Water Storage Investment Program when it meets Wednesday.

Laurence Sanati, drought coordinator for

the Department of Water Resources, also will head a panel discussion on drought preparedness and response. The panel also includes Brycen Swart, drought coordinator for the state Department of Fish and Wildlife; Jessica Bean, Drought, Policy and Planning manager

for the State Water Board Division of Water Rights Program; and Keali’i Bright, assistant director of the Department of Conservation.

The commission meets at 9 :30 a.m. in the Warren-Alquist State Energy Building, 1516 Ninth St., in Sacramento. The meeting

will be live streamed at www.water-ca.com/. To comment remotely, Zoom login information can be found at https:// cwc.ca.gov/-/media/ CWC-Website/Files/ Documents/2023/01_ January/ January2023_PublicParticipation_Final.pdf.

Smokers spend thousands each year, but fewer are smoking

R. H ansen THANSEN@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

FAIRFIELD — More than 20 million Americans have died from smoking since 1964 –about 2.5 million of those were nonsmokers.

But that is not the only cost to lighting up.

“The economic and societal costs of smoking are just as huge. Every year, smoking costs the U.S. more than $600 billion, which includes both medical care and lost productivity. Unfortunately, some people will have to pay more depending on the state in which they live,” states a new report released Wednesday by the personal-finance website WalletHub.

There are an estimated 34.2 million tobacco users in the United States and the District Columbia, the study states. The cost analysis in the report is based on smoking a single pack of cigarettes per day.

Solano County reports that about 15% of its adult population smokes cigarettes, which it defines as smoking every day.

“What has happened over the generations is smoking has come down considerably,” Dr. Bela Matyas, Solano County public health officer, said in a phone interview.

He said in the mid1900s, a peak of about 52% of American adults smoked. That is down to about 20%. The populations the medical field sees mostly now are those who are addicted and struggle to quit, and those who choose to smoke and do not want to quit.

Matyas said he believes high taxes on cigarettes and the ban of smoking in public spaces are the two biggest reasons smoking is down, but he also noted the efforts to educate children in primary and middle schools.

“That’s why so much energy went into (educating about) vaping . . . because that was seen as a gateway to smoking,” said Matyas, who added that is another reason it was important to ban flavored tobaccos.

According to the research, California is 12th in the nation when it comes to total costs per smoker each year: $70,064; and 12th for out-of-pocket costs per smoker at $3,515.

Income lost to smoking, per smoker each year, was estimated at $14,151 – 17th highest.

The health care cost, per smoker, was reported at $4,970 per year (16th), with other costs noted at $373, which is the second highest in the nation.

The average cost per smoker over a lifetime, the report states, is $3.36 million.

The study also includes information on how to quit smoking.

“People who want to quit smoking have more ways than ever to get support. State quit lines and digital quit smoking programs like Smokefree. gov or BecomeAnEX offer free and readily available online information, individual and community support, and text messaging support programs. Nicotine replacement therapy is available over the counter and combining nicotine patches and nicotine lozenges or gum is particularly effective. Very effective prescription medications, such as varenicline, are also a good option to consider,” Christopher W. Kahler, professor and chairman of the Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences, Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, at Brown University, said in a statement.

“The key is to keep trying until a quit attempt sticks. Be clear about why you are quitting, tell people you care about that you are quitting, and plan ahead for how you will handle times when you are craving. For people who drink alcohol, consider avoiding drinking for two to four weeks while you quit smoking and if you do drink, make sure to limit how much you drink and drink only when you are with people who support your smoking quitting,” Kahler said in the statement.

“Finally, although people quitting smoking often experience some irritability and moodiness initially, after completely avoiding smoking for a month or more, people report less stress and depression on average compared to before they quit. Remind yourself that quitting smoking can have both physical and mental health benefits.”

Learn more

n For the full report, visit https:// wallethub.com/edu/ the-financial-cost-ofsmoking-by-state/9520.

n Solano County offers cessation classes. For more information, call 800-287-7357.

Aaron Rosenblatt/Daily Republic

A person sits on a ledge while wearing a face mask near Grocery Outlet in Fairfield, Thursday.

Todd

Daily Republic file Dr. Bela Matyas, Solano County Public Health Officer.

Mario Tama/Getty Images/TNS Gulls fly above above a storm-damaged pier, in Capitola, Tuesday.

Last Dixon Gun Show at fairgrounds set in February Jury convicts Vacaville man in 2018 killing of girlfriend

Daily Republic Staff DRNEWS@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

DIXON — The last Dixon Gun Show at the Dixon May Fair will be held Feb. 18-19.

“Gun collectors, sports enthusiasts and those interested in personal safety are invited to attend. The event will have plenty of ammunition, firearms, optics, military surplus clothing, jewelry, collectible coins, knives and much more,” organizers said in a statement.

“For the consumer looking to purchase a firearm for the first time, there will be plenty of guidance and information on training resources, safety, and regulations about responsible gun ownership. A representative from the Solano County Sheriff’s Office will be on hand to answer questions about the

process for obtaining a concealed carry permit.”

The event runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the first day of the show, and from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the second. The show is

produced by John and Nicole Arabia, of Solano County Shows.

State law no longer allows gun shows at stateowned fairgrounds. The organizers are looking

for another location for future shows.

For more information for vendors and attendees, visit https:// dixongunshow.com.

Vallejo sorority announces Red Cross blood drive

Daily Republic Staff

DRNEWS@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

VALLEJO — The Vallejo Alumnae Chapter Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. is partnering with the American Red Cross to host a community blood drive Tuesday.

The event will be held

10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in McCormick Hall on the Solano County Fairgrounds, 900 Fairgrounds Drive.

“The Vallejo Alumnae Chapter is committed to strengthening our community and helping meet hospital and patient needs through blood donations,” Dela Morris, president

of the chapter, said in a statement. “This blood drive is our way of giving staff, colleagues and neighbors an opportunity to help save lives.”

The Red Cross critically needs Black and African American donors, as well as all those who have not given before, to

give blood. Donors with all blood types are needed, especially those with types O negative, A negative and B negative.

For more information and to make an appointment to donate, call 1-800-RED CROSS or sign up online at redcrossblood.org.

Berkeley’s People’s Park is again in a fight for the ages, now over UC student housing

loS a ngeleS timeS

People’s Park – among California’s most contested and colorful patches of public land and a ‘60s era symbol of free speech and community power – is again embroiled in a battle for the ages, this time involving the University of California, Berkeley, a key environmental law and the acute student housing shortage.

A state appellate court heard oral arguments Thursday over its tentative ruling last month that could delay UC Berkeley’s plan to build badly needed student dorms. If the tentative ruling is made final, it is likely to open controversial new paths that stand to obstruct housing developments statewide, legal experts said.

The tentative ruling stunned the university and drew condemnation from student leaders, lawmakers, Bay Area business executives and progressive law professors. In it, the 1st District Court of Appeal in San Francisco found that the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA, required developers to analyze and mitigate a project’s potential “social noise’’ – in this case the noise generated by students who may drink, yell and hold loud “unruly parties,” as some neighbors have complained in documents submitted to the court. UC Berkeley failed to adequately assess this potential impact, the

court said in its tentative ruling.

Although the law requires an analysis of potential noise generated by a stadium project, for instance, the ruling marked the first time a court held that the behavior of a particular group of people whom a housing development might bring into a neighborhood must be assessed, according to University of California attorneys.

“This would make CEQA a dangerous and powerful tool for any neighbor that does not like the social habits and customs of potential new residents,” Nicole Gordon of the Sohagi Law Group, which is representing UC, argued in a Jan. 3 letter to the court. “It is unfortunately easy to imagine this new ‘CEQA impact’ being applied to perpetuate prejudice and stereotypes...”

The tentative ruling also found that UC Berkeley failed to sufficiently analyze how its long-range plan for land and infrastructure development through 2036-37 could potentially displace some city residents and cause more homelessness by increasing its campus population without providing enough housing.

Developers have never before been required under the environmental law to consider a proposed project’s “indirect displacement” of residents and potential effect on gentrification and home-

lessness, Gordon said.

An earlier trial court ruled that UC was not required to assess either social noise or indirect displacement, agreeing with the university that trying to predict the behavior of future students or the housing needs of future campus members was too speculative.

But the appellate court in its tentative ruling disagreed – and also found that UC had failed to adequately consider alternatives to housing in People’s Park. The threeperson panel focused heavily on the noise issue in its 80-minute hearing Thursday. The judges asked pointed questions to both sides about whether a group’s potential behavior was fair game to assess, for instance, and the intent of legislators in including “noise” – though not explicitly “social noise” – as an environmental impact to be evaluated.

The judges did not indicate when they would issue a final ruling.

Thomas Lippe, attorney for the two nonprofit groups that brought the lawsuit against UC, said criticism that the ruling will allow project opponents to “weaponize” CEQA to keep out people deemed undesirable was

“overblown rhetoric, not based in reality.”

He said the ruling would not stop the People’s Park project but only delay it until UC did the analyses he argued should have been done in the first place. He also said state laws protect against housing discrimination and that the California Environmental Quality Act offered a democratic way for people to know the environmental consequences of their government’s decisions on them before they are made.

“It’s UC’s own decisionmaking that has led to a situation where there’s a temporary delay in the building of housing in People’s Park,” he said.

The legal brouhaha marks the latest setback for the People’s Park project, first unveiled in 2018 by UC Berkeley Chancellor Carol Christ. The park, three blocks south of the main campus, became a national symbol of people power in 1969, when hundreds of people hauled sod, trees and flowers to a scruffy lot that the university intended to build on and proclaimed it their own park.

See Fight, Page A5

Daily Republic Staff DRNEWS@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

FAIRFIELD — A Vacaville man this week was found guilty of firstdegree murder in the killing of his girlfriend.

The body of Samantha Jack of Elk Grove was found July 22, 2018, in the garage of the Kentucky Street home of her boyfriend, Gage H. Pontarelli.

She was 22 at the time of her death.

and then pulled a semiautomatic firearm on Ms. Jack. The incident was captured on the audio of a neighbor’s security camera. (Pontarelli) can be heard telling Ms. Jack that he would ‘show her what a real gangster is’ prior to his firing a single shot into her chest,” the District Attorney’s Office statement said.

PONTARELLI

Pontarelli, now 28, was convicted Wednesday in Solano County Superior Court on the murder charge and for the use of a firearm in the murder, the Solano County District Attorney’s Office reported.

“After getting into an argument, (Pontarelli) assaulted Ms. Jack,

Pontarelli is scheduled to return to court Feb. 8 for sentencing.

The case was prosecuted by Senior Deputy District Attorney Julie Underwood. Sgt. Aaron Potter and retired Detective Kelli Gottlieb, of the Vacaville Police Department, investigated the case. Andrea Vela provided victim advocacy on the case.

Fairfield man found dead – possible hitand-run victim

Daily Republic Staff DRNEWS@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

FAIRFIELD — A 38-year-old Fairfield man was found dead Wednesday near the intersection of Highway 12 and Pennsylvania Avenue with injuries the police said “are consistent with a traffic-related incident.”

The man was identified by the Solano County

Sheriff-Coroner’s Office as Fernando Calderon.

Calderon’s body was found about 50 feet from the highway, the Police Department reported. He had apparently been walking in the area.

The cause of death is pending, the Coroner’s Office reported.

The police responded to the report at 8:20 a.m.

Frances Moore

Frances Faye Moore (Townsend) passed away in the early morning hours of January 4th, 2023, at her home in Fairfield, California. She was 79 years old.

Frances was born in Portland, Oregon, on December 20, 1943, to Harold and Alma (Warren) Townsend. She was their third child and only daughter Frances met and married Marion F. Moore in September 1961. She enjoyed a 37-year career in federal civil service before retiring to travel and spend time with family.

She is survived by her husband, Marion F. Moore; four children Victoria Bartels (Stephen), Deborah Ryan (James), Diann Barton, Dan Moore (Brie); 14 grandchildren, David Bartels (Tonya), Theresa Moore David), Lexi Bartels, James Ryan, Stev en Ryan, Nathan Ryan (Lisa), Sean Pentz (Ashleah), Taylo r Barton (James), Nick Barton, Ayden Hale (Courtney), Hunte r Hale, Cheyenne Moore, Damien Moore, Nattie Napier; 8 great-grandchildren; her oldest brother Eugene To wnsend; as w ell as many neices, nephews, cousins, other relatives, and near and dear family friends.

Frances was preceded in death by her parents Harold and Alma Townsend; two brothers Victor Townsend and Kerry Townsend; and one grandson Dominic Moore.

A memorial service will be held f or Frances on Saturday January 14, 2023, from 4:00-6:00pm, with a viewing from 3:00-4:00pm, at McCune Garden Chapel, 212 Main St reet , in Va c aville, California.

Eleanor Fay Hood

Eleanor Fay Hood was born October 26th, 1940, in Tampa, Florida. She passed away December 4th, 2022, in Placentia, California, in the company of her family.

Eleanor’s family moved to California when she was 4, where she lived in Fresno and Sacramento. She spent her Jr. High & early High School years in Vancouver, Washington. On returning to California, she graduated from Sacramento High School and attended Sacramento State University She met, and later married Elvin Hood in 1960. They lived in Fairfield, California, for 47 years. After raising their two daughters, Denise and Darla, she returned to the workplace, retiring from State of California employment after 22 years of exemplary service.

Eleanor was first and foremost committed to Jesus; to her family & friends; and especially to her husband, Elvin, with whom she shared a ‘forever love’. He says of Eleanor, “No one could be around her for 2 minutes, without being impacted. She had a huge heart for God, her Countr y, learning and the unborn. She always put others first, and her care & generosity touched hundreds, if not thousands of people – truly reach-

ing to the ends of the earth.

Her love of music and for books, brought joy and encouraged education everywhere she went. In every church in which she and Elvin belonged, she was the church pianist and librarian, either starting libraries or leading the charge to improve existing ones. She spent endless hours perfecting her piano playing, and to research and discover the right materials and resources to best serve her church community. She was a Proverbs 31 kind of lady, for sure.

Eleanor was preceded in death by her parents, Orie & Fay Bower; younger sister, Joyce Bower; mother-in-law, Ellen Blevins; sisters-in-law Janelle Steen, Ora Mae Brownlee and Nancy Simmons; and brothers-in-law, Loren Davis, Avin Brownlee, Mark Barnes and Everett Harlow.

She is survived by her husband of 62 years, Elvin Hood; children, Denise & Darla, daughter-inlaw Michelle Farmer, son-in-law, Tony Checchin; sister, Carol Davis; dozens of multi-generational nephews and nieces, as well as chosen grandchildren, to include the Nelson children of Fairfield, California and the Segulin children of New Jersey.

All will miss Eleanor ’s infectious laugh, chats, profound wisdom, great l ove and twinkling blue eyes.

Eleanor’s Celebration of Life service will be held from 11 am to 1 pm on January 28th, 2023, at her home church of many years, First Baptist Church. The address is: 512 First Street, Winters, California.

Robinson Kuntz/Daily Republic file

Rifles are on display at the Dixon Gun Show at the Dixon Fairgrounds, Feb. 15, 2020.

What is causing the parade of storms battering California?

Los A ngeLes Times

LOS ANGELES — California has gone from one extreme to another, from extreme drought and empty reservoirs to too much rain all at once.

Beginning on New Year’s Eve, a parade of punishing storms has hit the state, causing widespread flooding and destruction. Tragically, at least 19 people have been killed and the toll in damage is about $1 billion, with more storms forecast. Southern California is expecting additional rain this weekend.

What caused this drought-to-deluge turnabout?

The short answer is the location of the jet stream or storm track – a belt of strong winds high in the troposphere where airliners fly. “It has been parked across the Pacific with multiple low-pressure systems rippling along over the last few weeks,” said Eric Boldt, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard.

The jet stream pattern this winter is very unusual for current La Niña conditions, said Alex Tardy, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in San Diego. It looks more like La Niñas unruly sibling, El Niño, as it barrels across the breadth of the ocean, from west to east, along about 35° north latitude, on average.

Traditionally, La Niña’s are associated with dry winters in Southern California.

It’s not unusual for storms to move along the jet stream. It’s the position of that moving belt that has been a key factor this winter. This jet stream is like a moving sidewalk at the airport, where storms can pick up baggage along the way. Moisture is plentiful in the western Pacific, where waters are warmer than usual because of La Niña, and storms can easily grab more as they pass by the tropics on their eastward track. They tap into moisture from areas around Hawaii, sweeping it along in atmospheric rivers as they head toward California.

Atmospheric rivers are concentrated streams of water vapor about 100 to 250 miles wide in the middle and lower levels of the atmosphere. These “rivers in the sky” can transport enormous amounts of often-beneficial moisture. On average, about 30% to 50% of annual precipitation on the West Coast comes from a handful of atmospheric rivers. But potent ones can cause extreme rainfall with catastrophic flooding and mudslides. When they arrive in quick succession, as has been the case in recent weeks, it can be overwhelming: Too much of a good thing for a drought-stricken state. Like trying to fill a champagne glass with a fire hose, to use retired Jet Propulsion Laboratory climatologist Bill Patzert’s analogy.

W eather patterns over the Pacific since Dec. 20 found in the jet

stream to be in what meteorologists call a zonal pattern, flowing straight west to east, with a region of upper-level lower pressure to the north and an area of high pressure to the south, closer to Hawaii. Storms on this route tend to grab warmer moisture as they barrel across the ocean in expressway fashion, one after another.

This is significantly different from the patterns that brought the Southland a wet December 2021, then a a record-dry January and February 2022.

In December 2021, the upper-level high situated in the North Pacific – one byproduct of a La Niña atmosphere – backed away to the west by just enough to allow storms from the Gulf of Alaska to plummet down the West Coast over water. This upper highpressure system has been blamed for blocking storms from reaching a parched Golden State, leading to consecutive dry winters in California. Storms moving south over the ocean stock up on moisture, resulting in more rain.

Then, in January, the high shifted back to the east, slamming the storm door shut for Southern California, resulting in a record-dry January and February – months that are normally the state’s wettest.

Storms riding along the storm track were shunted inland, moving over the Intermountain West or the Rockies. These are called “inside sliders.”

This pattern is conducive to Santa Ana winds in Southern California, where winter wildfires broke out in February.

The rain-starved state had to contend with dry conditions and above-average warmth, and a heat advisory was issued because of predicted highs of 85-90 degrees when Super Bowl LVI was played at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood on Feb. 13.

Such conditions are more typical of La Niña, the cool phase of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (abbreviated as “ENSO”) climate pattern. This is the third consecutive winter that’s firmly in La Niña territory, based on conditions in the ocean and atmosphere in the trop-

ical Pacific. La Niña is forecast to persist, with a 50-50 chance of conditions turning neutral in the January-to-March period.

Conditions in the state are nevertheless entirely different this year, compared with the previous two La Niña winters. As Tardy points out, snowpack is twice average right now, and about 310 inches has accumulated at Mammoth, which is more than any of the three prior seasons there.

So La Niña typically means warm, dry conditions in Southern California and the Southwest, but it’s not always the case.

Central California continues to be the primary focus of this El Niño-like jet stream position, and the part of the state that has received the most aboveaverage precipitation.

For reference, San Luis Obispo sits just north of 35° north latitude, the line that the persistent, elongated Pacific jet stream has followed across the ocean in recent weeks. The Santa Barbara area, a bit to the south, has received 12-15 inches of flooding rain.

Even though California has been deluged with rain in recent weeks, it doesn’t compensate for more than two decades of drought, which played a big part in record-shattering fire seasons.

Atmospheric river moisture plumes in the lower and middle levels of the atmosphere, when they encounter mountains, are forced to rise quickly, enhancing the rainfall. This collision and lifting effect means that mountains wring the maximum moisture out of atmospheric rivers. This frequently causes mud and debris flows. Hillsides blackened and denuded by fires are the worst possible

place for heavy rain to fall. And heavy rains at higher elevations mean the water has to go somewhere, and that’s always downhill.

Floodwaters could strand Monterey County residents, turn peninsula into an island

Los A ngeLes Times

All eyes will be on Monterey County, California, on Thursday and Friday as officials warn that flooding could cut off the Monterey Peninsula from the rest of the state and shut down major roadways, including Highways 1 and 68.

With more storms expected to hit Northern California and the rest of the state Friday, the Salinas River region is forecast to receive another 1 to 1.5 inches of rain and up to 2 more inches over the weekend, according to the National Weather Service.

That could swell the river to one of the highest peak flood levels in its history.

The river is expected to reach flood stage, which is 23 feet, at the town of Spreckels at 10 p.m. Thursday and peak Friday, according to the California Nevada River Forecast Center. Officials are preparing for the river to be in continued flood stage through Sunday.

Many low-lying areas along the Salinas River valley in Monterey County, from the coast to Jolan Road, were under evacuation orders or

warnings “until further notice.” Flooding could sever access between the Monterey Peninsula and areas north of it, including Salinas, the county’s most populous city, Santa Cruz County and the rest of the San Francisco Bay Area.

“Residents both on the peninsula and in the Salinas area should expect to be cut off for two to three days,” Monterey County officials said in a Wednesday statement.

Highway 68, River Road, Reservation Road, Blanco Road and other secondary roads are expected to be affected by flooding, and potentially Highway 1, officials said. Motorists have been advised not to attempt to cross roads when they see road closure signs.

Law enforcement officers have gone door to door to let residents know about the likely flooding, Monterey County Sheriff Tina Nieto said at a Thursday news conference.

The communities of Spreckels, Chualar and Los Palmas Ranch 1 and Los Palmas Ranch II could be cut off from central services due to flooding, Nieto said.

After UC fenced the public out a few weeks later, thousands of protesters marched to the site and clashed violently with law enforcement. The space had become a community gathering space, but over the years the site deteriorated with trash, rats and crime. In the last few months, two bodies were found in the park.

Christ said the contro-

versial land has long been a “third rail” that campus leaders avoided addressing. But the dual crises of an acute student housing shortage and growing numbers of unsheltered residents, many of whom lived in the park, moved her to act. Her solution was to recraft the space to provide dorms for 1,100 students and supportive housing for 125 low-income residents, along with an open green meadow and commemorative exhibits about the park’s storied history.

But the plans have

been stymied by protests against construction last August, followed a day later by the appellate court’s injunction temporarily halting all work at the site. The court issued the tentative ruling four months later on Dec. 22.

Christ, in an interview, said the project at People’s Park – the university’s largest piece of land available for new housing – was “essential” to her commitment to double the number of beds for students within 10 years.

Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images/TNS

This aerial view shows two cars siting in a large sinkhole that opened during a day of relentless rain, on January 10, 2023, in the Chatsworth neighborhood of Los Angeles.

Paul Duginski/L.A. Times Map showing cause for the parade of storms battering California.

State’s volatile tax system strikes again

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s penchant for braggadocio was in full flower eight months ago when he declared that California had a $97.5 billion budget surplus and boasted that “no other state in American history has ever experienced a surplus as large as this.”

He and the Legislature then wrote a 2022-23 budget with major increases in education, medical care and social services, plus a multibillion-dollar cash rebate to taxpayers and other one-time expenditures.

A more subdued Newsom acknowledged Tuesday that the projected surplus had morphed into a $22.5 billion shortfall.

COMMENTARY

Walters

He proposed a $297 billion 2023-24 budget that throttles back some of the additional spending and indirectly borrows billions of dollars to close the gap.

Moreover, Newsom warned that if the Federal Reserve System’s interest rate increases trigger a recession, the deficit could become much worse.

The situation is another reminder that California’s public finances are at the mercy of an extremely volatile revenue system, one dominated by personal income taxes, especially those paid by high-income Californians on their stocks and other capital investments.

As he began his presentation to reporters, Newsom displayed a chart demonstrating the ups and downs of capital gains as a percentage of personal income – reaching a peak of 9.7% in 2021 and now expected to decline to 5% by 2025.

Newsom said it “sums up California’s tax structure, sums up boom and bust.”

The decline in investment earnings, Newsom said, is the primary reason for a $29 billion reduction in projected income. His estimate of revenue declines and the resulting $22.5 deficit is a bit more optimistic than a November forecast from the Legislature’s budget analyst, Gabe Petek.

The situation rekindles a decades-old debate in political, academic and media circles about the state budget’s volatile dependence on the investment earnings of a relative handful of affluent taxpayers.

Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders created a blue-ribbon commission to recommend tax system changes that would lessen volatility. The badly divided commission proposed to reduce the reliance on the income tax by flattening it to just two brackets, eliminating sales and corporate income taxes, and creating a new “net business receipts tax.”

When the “Parsky Commission,” so dubbed for its chairman, businessman Gerald Parsky, finally released its report in 2009, it was quickly consigned to oblivion. When Jerry Brown returned to the governorship in 2011, he proposed to deal with volatility by creating a “rainy day” reserve financed by windfall revenues.

That fund and other reserves now total $35.6 billion, which would easily cover the current deficit, but Newsom – agreeing with Patek – is not tapping them, citing the danger of recession.

“We’re not touching these reserves,” he said. “We’re in a very volatile moment.”

As hefty as the reserves appear, it’s questionable whether they would be enough to counter even a moderate recession.

Petek, who pegged the current shortfall at $24 billion without a recession, warned in his November forecast that “Based on historical experience, should a recession occur soon, revenues could be $30 billion to $50 billion below our revenue outlook in the budget window.”

In other words, a recession could have as much as a $74 billion negative impact on the budget, more than twice the state’s reserves. In relative terms, the state has faced deficits of that magnitude in past recessions.

“What’s consistent is the inconsistency of our tax structure,” Newsom acknowledged.

Ideally, California would alter that structure to make it less dependant on a narrow base of taxable income – but as the fate of the Parsky Commission’s report indicates, there’s little political appetite for such reform.

CalMatters is a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how California’s state Capitol works and why it matters. For more stories by Dan Walters, go to Commentary.

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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.

What the House GOP rebels got right

What happened last week in the House brought a level of chaos to the normally orderly process of selecting a speaker that had not been seen since the stormy years leading up to the Civil War. Before Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) was able to claim the speaker’s gavel, he had to endure 15 rounds of balloting and give a rebellious faction of Republican hardliners pretty much everything it wanted.

But there was one big thing the mutineers were right about: The process of writing and passing laws in the House – which Founding Father George Mason envisioned as the “grand depository of the democratic principle of government” – has strayed far from that ideal. The GOP rebels demanded a new set of rules governing how the chamber would operate.

“Congress is in a very bad spot,” says James Wallner, a Capitol Hill veteran who worked for Republicans in the House and Senate and who now teaches political science at Clemson University. “It is not serving the purpose for which it was designed.”

Procedural issues rarely get the attention they deserve, which is why it has largely slipped the public’s notice that in the past few decades, legislating has become far more centralized, with power increasingly concentrated in the leadership offices of whichever party happens to have a majority at the moment. Individual lawmakers and even committees of jurisdiction are routinely sidelined as sprawling pieces of legislation, especially spending bills, are crafted behind closed doors and presented to members as take-it-or-leave-it propositions – often as a cataclysmic deadline approaches.

Since 2000, the average number of pages in legislation enacted into law has roughly doubled, according to the Brookings Institution; the recent $1.7 trillion fiscal 2023 omnibus spending package, presented to lawmakers three days before they had to vote on it, came in at more than 4,000 pages.

And consider this: As recently as the mid- to late-1990s, when Newt Gingrich (R) was speaker, more than half the bills that reached the House

COMMENTARY

Tumulty

floor did so under an “open rule” – that is, any lawmaker could offer an amendment to be voted upon by the entire chamber, according to statistics compiled by the Bipartisan Policy Center. But since 2016, under speakers Paul Ryan (R) and Nancy Pelosi (D), there has not been an open rule on a single piece of legislation. No amendments at all are allowed on most bills – a restriction that used to occur relatively rarely – and on the remainder, the only amendments that can be put to a vote are ones preapproved by the Rules Committee, which has been tightly aligned with the speaker.

There are understandable reasons that House leaders of both parties have had to exert more control. When the chamber is closely divided and there is virtually no common ground between Democrats and Republicans, the alternative to legislating by leadership fiat may be getting nothing done at all.

Another impetus for leaders to take a firmer hand over the procedures is that the nature of today’s media has changed the culture of the House. Individual members can fast-track their way to celebrity – and raise campaign cash – not by putting their heads down, climbing the seniority ladder and building respect through their committee work, but by doing and saying outrageous things on social media and partisan cable channels.

What’s more, the truth is that many lawmakers prefer it this way. Freer rules on the House floor would mean they would be put on the spot more often, casting what are often difficult votes on amendments that could come back to haunt them at election time. And a top-down process allows party leaders to paper over differences within their own ranks – which, as last week’s revolt against McCarthy showed, can be substantial.

Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), a leader among those who held McCarthy’s speakership hostage, has been complaining about the absence of “regular order” practically since he arrived in Congress four years ago. “Note to both GOP & Dems . . . if you want my support on anything – we will restore regular order. We will debate. We will amend. We will vote. No more legis-

lating by self-appointed committees,” he tweeted in 2020.

Still, the hard-right members who demanded concessions from McCarthy were not operating entirely from high principles. Many of the deals they made were designed to maximize their own leverage – and ability to foment mayhem, including on the upcoming deadline to lift the debt ceiling. Their commitment to transparency is questionable, given that all of those agreements, which presumably include plum committee assignments for themselves, have not yet been made public.

But some of what they extracted from McCarthy, such as adhering to a 72-hour period for members to read legislation before they have to vote on it, and putting forward narrower spending bills, are true improvements.

Others, such as surrendering some seats on the Rules Committee to the insurgent faction, could go either way. Paradoxically, if it turns out Republicans are serious about opening up debate on the House floor, giving the rank-and-file more ability to shape legislation, Democrats should rejoice. Which is why I’m skeptical that will happen.

What is clear is that they have found a way to disrupt what have been some unhealthy – and undemocratic – trends in the House. Having surrendered so much power, McCarthy will not be able to reclaim it, especially after he agreed to a procedure in which a single member can call for a snap vote on kicking him out as speaker.

“The country is better off if Democrats and Republicans engage each other constructively and out in the open,” says C. Lawrence Evans, who worked for Democrats on the Joint Committee on the Organization of Congress and is now a College of William & Mary government professor. But for that to take place again in today’s House of Representatives, it is going to take a lot more than fixing the rules.

Karen Tumulty is a deputy opinion editor and columnist covering national politics. She joined The Washington Post in 2010 from Time magazine and has also worked at the Los Angeles Times.

Why can’t Tesla drive US oil demand lower?

It’s the battle that will define the U.S. oil market this decade. On one side, the combination of rising sales of electric vehicles, more efficient conventional cars, and the impact of working-from-home is pushing down gasoline demand; on the other, the ever-growing popularity of plastics combined with a growing population is boosting consumption of petrochemicals.

In short, one can call it “Tesla against the plastic industry.”

If Tesla and its electric-vehicle rivals win the battle, oil demand will peak soon, helping to meet global climate change goals by reducing consumption of fossil fuels. For now, however, plastics have the upper hand, keeping overall oil demand growing.

On Tuesday, the Energy Information Administration, the statistical arm of the U.S. Department of Energy, released its first forecast for the 2024 oil market. The look is tentative but provides early clues about its direction. Every January, the EIA is the first of the three major public bodies to publish its outlook for the next year. The International Energy Agency will release its take in June, and OPEC will follow up a

month later.

The EIA analysis shows that U.S. oil demand will rise next year to 20.63 million barrels per day, surpassing the most recent peak, set in 2018 and 2019, and within a whisker of the all-time high set between 2004 and 2007, when demand averaged 20.7 to 20.8 million barrels per day just before the onset of the global financial crisis.

Strikingly, American oil demand will rise to near-record levels in 2024 despite a significant drop in gasoline use, which in the past was the engine of U.S. oil consumption. It’s an indication that electric-vehicle sales would need to grow significantly before they force overall oil demand down. The EIA estimates that by 2024, American gasoline demand will drop to 8.73 million barrels per day, or about 600,000 barrels a day lower than it was in 2018. That’s equal to the total oil consumption of a mediumsized European nation like Belgium. All suggest the heyday of American gasoline demand is in the rear-view mirror. But the fall would be more than offset by rising consumption of the feedstock used in the petrochemical industry to produce plastics, which will hit a record high of about 4 million barrels per day by 2024, up

more than 700,000 barrels from 2018.

The U.S. trends are mirrored elsewhere in the world, with plastic consumption soaring in emerging markets like India and China.

The EIA anticipates that global oil demand will hit an all-time high of 102.2 million barrels a day in 2024, up 1.7 million barrels a day from 2023 and above the pre-Covid peak set in 2019 of 100.8 million barrels a day.

In projecting another year of strong consumption growth, the EIA is further postponing peak oil demand.

If a peak in oil demand is near, it’s not showing up in any contemporaneous data or reliable short-term forecast. Only long-term models –rather than forecasts – point to a peak within the next few years. Everything else shows steady-as-it-goes consumption. The 2024 EIA forecast is a case in point: Not only is global oil demand heading toward another record, but the rate of growth isn’t moderating.

Javier Blas is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering energy and commodities. A former reporter for Bloomberg News and commodities editor at the Financial Times, he is coauthor of “ The World for Sale: Money, Power and the Traders Who Barter the Earth’s Resources.”

Dan

Karen

Javier Blas

Carole Cook, ‘Sixteen Candles’ actor and Lucille Ball mentee, dies days before turning 99

Los A ngeLes Times

LOS ANGELES —

Actor Carole Cook, known for her work in “Sixteen Candles” and “The Lucy Show,” has died. She was 98.

Cook’s manager, Robert Malcom, told the Los Angeles Times that the actor “went peacefully” and was with her husband, actor Tom Troupe, when she died Wednesday in Beverly Hills. Mark Cocanougher, Cook’s nephew, also announced the news on Facebook.

“Carole departed in peace and comfort having lived a long and wonderful life doing the work that she loved,” Cocanougher wrote. “She made many friends, and

I know they will all miss her spirit, humor, and talent on the stage, and for life in general. And that’s pretty great.” Cook would have turned 99 on Saturday.

From 1963 to 1968, Cook appeared in various roles on “The Lucy Show” opposite Ball. She continued working with the comedy legend in CBS’ “Here’s Lucy.”

During the 1970s, Cook appeared in several television projects, including “Starsky & Hutch,” “Charlie’s Angels,” “Kojak” and “Maude.” With the 1980s came more film roles. In John Hughes’ 1984 film “Sixteen Candles,” she portrayed Grandma Helen opposite Molly Ringwald’s Sam.

Zits Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman

Pearls Before Swine Stephan Pastis

Dilbert Scott Adams

Baby Blues Rick Kirkman and Jerry Scott

Baldo Hector Cantú

Crime logs

FairField

TUESDAY, JAN. 10

1:04 a.m. — Trespassing, 1300 block of HOLIDAY LANE 1:05 a.m. — Trespassing, 300 block of TRAVIS BOULEVARD 3:05 a.m. — Trespassing, 2500 block of MARTIN ROAD 6:01 a.m. — Residential burglary, 3900 block of BUSINESS CENTER DRIVE 8:40 a.m. — Hit-and-run property damage, 2200 block of SANDPIPER DRIVE

12:08 p.m. — Vehicle burglary, 3200 block of RANCHO SOLANO PARKWAY 12:19 p.m. — Hit-and-run property damage, JEFFERSON STREET 1:06 p.m. — Vehicle burglary, 2200 block of SANTA CRUZ DRIVE

2:09 p.m. — Battery, 3300 block of CHERRY HILLS COURT 2:10 p.m. — Forgery, 1000 block of WEBSTER STREET 2:15 p.m. — Drunken driver, 1900 block of GRANDE CIRCLE 2:19 p.m. — Vehicle theft, 1500 block of WEST TEXAS STREET 4:11 p.m. — Hit-and-run property damage, 2400 block of WATERMAN BOULEVARD 4:17 p.m. — Trespassing, 1400 block of HOLIDAY LANE 5:34 p.m. — Commercial burglary, 700 block of KENTUCKY STREET 5 :35 p.m. — Battery, 2900 block of MARKELEY LANE 6:28 p.m. — Fight with a weapon, 3000 block of TRAVIS BOULEVARD 7:53 p.m. — Residential burglary, 600 block of EMERALD HILLS CIRCLE 8:07 p.m. — Assault with a deadly weapon, 1000 block of BROADWAY STREET 9:05 p.m. — Assault with a deadly weapon, 1000 block of BROADWAY STREET WEDNESDAY, JAN. 11 1:24 a.m. — Trespassing, 1900 block of WEST TEXAS STREET 6:05 a.m. — Battery, 1100 block of MISSOURI STREET 7:27 a.m. — Vehicle theft, 1400 block of MATTHEW DRIVE 8:22 a.m. — Indecent exposure, 2700 block of NORTH TEXAS STREET 9:52 a.m. — Hit-and-run property damage, 3000 block of TRAVIS

BOULEVARD 10:16 a.m. — Battery, 600 block of PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE 10:47 a.m. — Vandalism, 2300 block of WHITE DRIVE 11:19 a.m. — Vehicle burglary, 1300 block of HOLIDAY LANE 11:22 a.m. — Vehicle theft, 600 block of KENNEDY COURT 11:24 a.m. — Drunk and disorderly, 1300 block of GATEWAY BOULEVARD 11:31 a.m. — Brandishing a weapon, 300 block of EAST TABOR AVENUE 11:38 a.m. — Vehicle burglary, 900 block of DANIEL STREET 12:19 p.m. — Battery, BALBOA COURT 12:29 p.m. — Vehicle theft, 4300 block of CENTRAL PLACE 1:54 p.m. — Vehicle burglary, 300 block of EAST TABOR AVENUE 1:56 p.m. — Hit-and-run property damage, TRAVIS BOULEVARD 3:09 p.m. — Robbery, 1200 block of TABOR AVENUE 4:48 p.m. — Vehicle burglary, 5100 block of CITADEL DRIVE 7:19 p.m. — Grand theft, 500 block of PARKER ROAD 10:35 p.m. — Assault with a deadly weapon, 1600 block of KIDDER AVENUE

SuiSun City

TUESDAY, JAN. 10 12:13 p.m. — Vandalism, 300 block of SPRING STREET 12:24 p.m. — Fraud, 700 block of CIVIC CENTER BOULEVARD 2:48 p.m. — Vandalism, 1300 block of WORLEY ROAD 3:25 p.m. — Fraud, 800 block of SPOONBILL LANE

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 11 5:20 a.m. — Grand theft, 300 block of SANDY LANE 6:59 a.m. — Vehicle theft, 900 block of HARLEQUIN COURT 9:17 a.m. — Vandalism, 300 block of MARINA CENTER

Day finished fourth in that contest, 22 votes behind Lee. Garcia finished fifth.

From

president and before he became president, including at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement and at his private residence in Wilmington, Delaware.

The White House counsel’s office said Thursday that Biden’s Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, home was also searched but that no classified documents were found.

Presidential records, which include information created by or for the vice president, must be handed off to the National Archives the day a new president is sworn in.

Several presidents have left the White House with a few things that don’t belong to them and the National Archives had to retrieve them. Usually it’s treated as a misunderstanding and the items are returned without fanfare, but mishandling classified documents, which are typically tightly controlled by intelligence agencies, is a different story.

Garland said the Justice Department was first notified on Nov. 4 that classified records found in an office of the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement in Washington had been handed over to the National Archives and Records Administration by the White House and the FBI began investigating Nov. 9.

Garland asked Chicago U.S. Attorney John Lausch, another Trump appointee, to review the situation Nov. 14.

“That office was not authorized for storage of classified documents,” Garland said.

Garland said that on Dec. 20, Biden’s personal counsel informed Lausch that additional documents

were found in the garage of Biden’s Wilmington home. The FBI secured those documents, he said.

Lausch briefed Garland on his findings Jan. 5. Garland said Thursday morning that Biden’s personal lawyer informed the Justice Department that an additional document had been found at the Wilmington property.

A senior Justice Department official said before the announcement that Lausch’s findings showed a special counsel was necessary in accordance with Justice Department regulations.

“This is not a decision he made lightly,” the official said. “The appointment of a special counsel in this matter is required.”

The move mirrors Garland’s decision to appoint special counsel Jack Smith to investigate documents seized from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in Florida in August.

Since news of the documents became public, Republicans have demanded that Garland appoint a special counsel, saying Biden shouldn’t be

treated differently from Trump. Few commented once Garland made the announcement.

House Oversight Committee Chair Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., has also vowed to hold hearings on Biden’s handling of classified documents.

The circumstances of the classified documents held by Biden and Trump differ dramatically. Biden and his team turned the documents over to authorities, while Trump withheld hundreds of classified documents despite a subpoena instructing him to hand them over to the FBI.

The White House has largely characterized it as a mistake.

White House special counsel Richard Sauber said in a written statement that “we are confident that a thorough review will show that these documents were inadvertently misplaced, and the President and his lawyers acted promptly upon discovery of this mistake.”

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at a news conference Thursday that Biden “did

not know the records were there. He was surprised the records were there.”

Biden told reporters Thursday that he and his staff are complying with the Justice Department‘s investigation. He noted that the Wilmington documents were in a locked garage near his Corvette.

“As I said earlier this week, people know I take classified documents and classified material seriously,” Biden said. “I also said we’re cooperating fully, complete with the Justice Department’s review. My lawyers reviewed other places where documents ... from my time as vice president were stored and they finished the review last night. They discovered a small number of documents with classified markings in storage areas and file cabinets in my home and my personal library. ... The Department of Justice was immediately notified and the lawyers arranged for the Department of Justice to take possession of the document. So you’re going to see all of this unfold, I’m confident.”

From

six months.”

The city announced a plan to work with the state Department of Transportation and the California Highway Patrol to help clean up sites that are in the state agencies’ jurisdictions. When that will happen is uncertain.

From

Guynn Jr.; Steve Olry; and Jonathan R. Richardson.

Lee, in a phone interview Wednesday, said he is “insulted’ by not having been appointed and believes he has the support of all the council members except for Hernandez.

“I feel like it (would be) counterproductive, and it was an insult,” Lee said.

“I worked for it, and I came close,” said Lee, who said he did not seek endorsements or large donations to run his campaign as is what he feels is the political norm anymore. “I was trying to prove that a grassroots candidate could get it.”

He said the other candidates for appointment did not put in the time or effort to get the public’s support in November. The two exceptions are Berg and Garcia.

Lee finished 29 votes behind Jenalee Dawson for the second council seat. The top vote-getter was Princess Washington.

Berg, who in a two-candidate mayor’s race with Hernandez received more votes than any of the five council candidates on Nov. 8, is not guaranteed a semifinalist slot because he ran for mayor and not the council.

A town hall-style meeting will be held Jan. 17, from which the seven semifinalists will be selected. The council, on Jan. 24, will pare that list down to three, and at the same meeting, will consider an appointment.

The deadline for the council to make an appointment is Feb. 3. If that is not met, a special election will have to be held. The first opportunity for that is in November.

Still lingering out there is the likelihood Hudson also will be stepping down from the council.

“As (to) my possible departure from City Council in some distant future, I have no news on this subject,” Hudson said in an email response to the Daily Republic.

But Abreu said the problem exists right now, and the area needs to be addressed.

The sisters even contacted a person in the CHP they know, and the response – according to Lang – was that Caltrans is aware of the camp, but because of issues with Interstate 80, they may have to wait until the waters push the material out of the area, or at the very least, wait until the water goes down.

Abreu finds it all laughable, and said the water is down and still no work is being done.

Fairfield Councilman Scott Tonnesen, who has been working on the problem since the summer and expressed his own frustration with the situation, finally turned to state Sen. Bill Dodd’s office for some more muscle. Tonnesen said he thinks that resulted in the new plan for state properties.

“These include highway underpasses,

creek crossings, and areas adjacent to state highway on- (and) off-ramps. Over the years, staff from Police and Public Works have coordinated with counterparts at CHP and Caltrans to clear encampments and associated debris in state right of way. However, scheduling these cleanups requires extensive advanced planning and approvals required by the state before work can begin,” the city noted as part of its online Fairfield Weekly.

The priority areas are Green Valley Creek at Interstate 80, near Grobric Court; Ledgewood Creek at the Auto Mall Parkway; I-80 Raleigh Ditch at Highway 12; Air Base Parkway at I-80, all four on- and off-ramp areas of Travis Boulevard at I-80; Caltrans overpass slopes; and east and westbound Manuel Campos Parkway on- and off-ramps to I-80.

“Additionally, local Caltrans and CHP, responsible for areas throughout Solano County, have limited resources and are already stretched thin. These constraints have allowed certain camps to establish and grow, making cleanup efforts more challenging and costly when state resources are available. Once the areas have been cleared, camps are often quickly re-established,” the city stated.

“Police and Public Works staff recently

n PG&E outage map: https://pgealerts.alerts. pge.com/outagecenter/.

met with CHP and Caltrans staff on Dec. 19, and again on Jan. 5, to discuss scheduling future camp cleanups within state jurisdiction and to develop a strategy to keep the camps from reestablishing. Part of the strategy includes FPD and CHP staff coordinating to conduct ongoing inspections of these areas. All parties agreed that Fairfield would

propose priority areas the team should focus on as the group develops the new approach.”

Other residents have complained about finding needles and other drug paraphernalia on their property, also with other health risks.

County officials could not be reached for comment on stormrelated homeless efforts.

From

winds, combined with the ground saturation, could lead to more downed trees.

Mostly the area will see wind speeds up to 25 mph, with gusts of 35 to 40 mph, or slightly higher Saturday.

Other information n Road closures in unincorporated area: https://bit.ly/3jXMyiK.

n Information on flood preparedness: www.solanocounty.com/ stormready.

n Sandbag locations: www.solanocounty. com/sandbags.

n County Office of Emergency Services Facebook page: www. facebook.com/solanooes.

n Sign up for the Alert Solano: www. alertsolano.com.

Courtesy photo

A homeless encampment along Central Way and the 680/Interstate 80 onramp in Fairfield, Thursday.

Robinson Kuntz/Daily Republic

Flooding is seen in an orchard in Suisun Valley, Wednesday.

Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images/TNS

President Joe Biden takes questions from reporters on classified documents as he delivers remarks on the economy and inflation in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, in Washington, D.C, Thursday.

McCarthy

Tribune ConTenT AgenCy

WASHINGTON — House

“We don’t want to put any fiscal problems to our economy and we won’t,” the California Republican said at his first weekly news conference as speaker. “But fiscal problems would be continuing to do business as usual.”

McCarthy said, for example, under former President Donald Trump’s administration Republicans negotiated a two-year budget caps and debt ceiling deal with a Democratic-controlled House.

However, that 2019 deal was actually to prevent budget caps enacted during 2011 negotiations on the debt limit from taking effect. The Trump administration and Democrats agreed to avoid a $125 billion decrease in discretionary spending set to begin in fiscal 2020, with $77.4 billion in offsets, and suspend the debt ceiling through July 2021.

What McCarthy and Republicans are now looking to do is the opposite — negotiate a deal that would cut discretionary spending from the current fiscal year. They’ve already agreed internally to write a budget

Fight

From Page A5

Berkeley is able to house only 23% of its students, the lowest share among the UC system’s 10 campuses, she said. With Berkeley rents averaging $3,300 for a 700-square-foot apartment, the scarcity of campus housing has forced many students to cram into shared spaces, make long commutes from lowercost neighborhoods or endure the constant instability of couch-surfing, living in cars or sleeping on the streets.

She said she was frustrated by what she sees as the misuse of the California Environmental Quality Act to impede housing development and would not give up on the project. “I am deeply committed,” she said. “I think it’s the right thing to do.”

Others expressed outrage. The UC Student Association’s 42-member

resolution that would cap next year’s spending at fiscal 2022 levels and write House appropriations bills to fit under those caps.

“We’ve got to change the way we are spending money wastefully in this country,” McCarthy said.

“And we’re going to make sure that happens.”

McCarthy, asked a follow-up question, said a budget caps deal may not be Republicans’ demand on the debt limit. He said he was just laying out what happened the last time a divided government negotiated on the issue.

The Treasury Department is expected to announce soon that it is running up against the $31.4 trillion statutory debt limit. As of Tuesday, it was just $59 billion away. But Treasury can dip into its tool chest of “extraordinary measures” to stay

board representing 230,000 undergraduate students unanimously passed a resolution Saturday condemning “the anti-student community groups that have historically weaponized CEQA and its legal processes to stall or kill student housing projects.” It called on UC to defend students’ rights to their education and campus housing and urged state legislators and courts to help them “exist in the communities surrounding their campuses.”

The student association has not taken a stand on the People’s Park project specifically but campus officials say the majority of students surveyed by an independent agency last May supported it by a margin of 62% to 27%.

Matt Regan, a senior vice president at the Bay Area Council of more than 330 large employers, said if the tentative ruling is finalized, it would be “potentially disastrous” for the region’s well-being. He said UC Berkeley and Stan-

risk

under the limit, likely buying lawmakers several months of time before they need to act.

McCarthy, however, said he wants to get negotiating with President Joe Biden on the matter before the deadline comes due.

“I had a very good conversation with the president when he called me,” McCarthy said, referring to a congratulatory call Biden placed to him after he was elected speaker. “And I told him I’d like to sit down with him early and work through these challenges.”

Separately, McCarthy was asked during the news conference if Republicans are interested in pursuing an overhaul of mandatory spending, or entitlement, programs this Congress. He answered the question by first noting that discretionary spending increased 30 percent over the past four years Democrats controlled the House, saying, “We’ve got to get our House in order.”

McCarthy went on to pledge not to touch key benefits under some of the biggest mandatory spending programs, but he didn’t rule out any changes to entitlements.

“The one thing I will tell you as Republicans, we will always protect Medicare and Social Security,” he said. “We will protect that for the next generation going forward. But we are going to scrutinize every single dollar spent.”

ford were two of Silicon Valley’s biggest engines of economic growth and innovation but that the California Environmental Quality Act CEQA has been used to block housing projects at both campuses.

The lack of affordable housing is the single biggest barrier to drawing talent to the area needed for businesses to expand, he said – adding that the tentative ruling’s expansive interpretation of the California Environmental Quality Act will make it even more difficult to ease the shortage. Even the threat of litigation, Regan said, will give developers pause as to whether building housing in urban areas such as Berkeley would be worth the costs.

Rigel Robinson, the Berkeley city council member whose district encompasses the campus and People’s Park, said those involved in the litigation did not represent sentiments among city leaders, who have unanimously backed the project

and pledged $14 million for the supportive housing.

“This could have frightening implications for frankly all new housing development in California, particularly affordable housing,” said Robinson, a UC Berkeley graduate student in public affairs who also served as an undergraduate student government leader before graduating in 2018.

State Sen. Scott Wiener, a Democrat, said constant litigation over campus housing projects led him to propose legislation to exempt them from CEQA review under certain conditions. The exemption, which applies to housing projects on land owned by UC, California State University and California Community Colleges, was signed into law last year but does not retroactively apply to People’s Park. UC would have to adopt a new environmental review relying on the exemption, which could further delay the project.

State’s drought has eased significantly due to heavy rains, federal government

Tribune ConTenT AgenCy

SAN JOSE — A series of atmospheric river storms since Christmas has significantly reduced California’s drought, the federal government concluded Thursday.

For the first time in more than two years –since Dec. 1, 2020 – the majority of the state is no longer in a severe drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, a weekly report put out by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Overall, 46% of California’s land area remains in severe drought, the report found, a dramatic improvement over the past month, when it was 85% on Dec. 6.

“Intense precipitation in California the past few weeks – particularly late December and early January – has significantly reduced drought intensity in California,” wrote Richard Tinker, a meteorologist with the NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland.

The last time California had no land area at all in severe drought was nearly three years ago, on March 10, 2020, after a disappointing winter rain and snow season that year began a three-year arid stretch.

Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a drought emergency the following spring, on April 12, 2021 for Mendocino and Sonoma counties, where reservoirs had fallen to parched levels and water shortages were emerging. He expanded it to 41 counties the following month, and statewide by October, 2021, urging

California residents to cut water use 15%.

While Newsom has not ordered mandatory city-by-city water conservation targets with fines for cities that fail to meet them, as former Gov. Jerry Brown did during the 2012-17 drought, last year Newsom did require all major water providers in the state to impose their “stage 2” drought rules, which limited the number of days people could water lawns and set other restrictions that varied by community.

When Newsom made the first drought declaration nearly two years ago, 85% of California was in severe drought, according to the Drought Monitor – almost double the level now.

Since late December, the weather, and California’s drought outlook, has shifted dramatically.

California has been hammered by six atmospheric river storms since Christmas. They have caused flooding in coastal areas and the Sacramento Valley, and sent the Sierra snowpack to 226% of its historic average.

Every week, the Drought Monitor report uses soil moisture, rainfall totals, snow, reservoir levels and other factors to rank parts of the United States in drought severity on a scale of 1 to 4, with 1 being moderate drought, 2 being severe drought, 3 being extreme drought and 4 being exceptional drought.

In recent weeks, coastal areas and the Sierra Nevada have received so much precipitation that they have improved to the lowest drought category, moderate drought. That includes most of the Bay Area, which was in severe drought just a month ago.

Speaker Kevin McCarthy wants to negotiate spending cuts in exchange for lifting the debt ceiling, but he said Thursday that Republicans wouldn’t risk the government not being able to pay its bills.

Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

U.S. Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., speaks at a news conference in Statuary Hall of the U.S. Capitol Building, in Washington, D.C, Thursday.

Warriors searching for answers after 41 underwhelming games

Shayna ruBin

THE MERCURY NEWS

SAN FRANCISCO — It’s easy for Warriors executives, coaches and players to hide at Chase Center. Plenty of secret corridors and curtains connect and obscure the back rooms of the team’s locker room and practice facility.

Yet, a large group of grimfaced Warriors executives met for a powwow in plain sight following the team’s embarrassing loss to a Phoenix Suns team playing without any of its star players on Tuesday night. In a room next to the team’s locker room, majority owner Joe Lacob, his sons and executives Kirk and Kent Lacob along with general manager Bob Myers and vice president of basketball operations Mike Dunleavy Jr. were among those circled up.

One can only wonder what the brain trust was discussing after a loss like that to complete an underwhelming first half of a title defense season. The Warriors’ brass certainly has decisions to make after reaching the midway point a game under .500, sitting as the eighth seed in a mediocre Western Conference.

The same team that imposed its will and championship DNA to an NBA title last season doesn’t have an identity. That chip on their shoulder comes and goes. They are (mostly) a winning team at home and a mess on the road. Their momentum is herky-jerky at a point where they need to go, go, go.

“We’ve been talking about it for a long time,” Steph Curry said on Tuesday following his anticipated return to the court after missing 11 games with a shoulder injury..

“And eventually, you’ve got to do it.

Or time runs out.”

There are concrete problems with solutions that could boost them into the Western Conference’s top echelon. Decisions the team’s brass will need to address now.

The most obvious issue that the front office can address is the Warriors’ thin frontcourt. The trade deadline is Feb. 9; do they take a leap and trade for another big who can set a good screen, move the ball and perhaps stretch the floor or apply pressure at the rim?

James Wiseman is injured and is still developing into a player who can defend at an NBA level or assert himself offensively with consistency. JaMychal Green, who is also out, hasn’t shown he can fill the Otto Porter Jr. mold as the team had hoped.

Seahawks-49ers matchup features two very prominent rookie starters

Jerry mcDonalD BAY AREA NEWS GROUP

When the NFL Wild Card Weekend kicks off Saturday, two of the central figures will be rookies.

It’s not a stretch to suggest the game will turn on which one has the better day when the 49ers (13-4) host the Seattle Seahawks (8-8) at Levi’s Stadium.

Neither 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy nor Seattle running back Kenneth Walker III was a first-round draft pick. Purdy, of course, was the final selection in the seventh round, No. 262 overall. Walker didn’t

have to wait nearly as long, with Seattle taking the Michigan State back in the second round at No. 41.

Both have generated some buzz for NFL

Offensive Rookie of the Year. Although Purdy was the ProFootballTalk. com choice for Offensive Rookie of the Year, he likely won’t get more than

also-ran notice for the official Associated Press award given that he’s made (and won) just five starts and played a major role in another win.

Purdy is brushing aside all talk of individual honors with a playoff game coming up.

“I don’t try to get wrapped up in any of that kind of stuff,” Purdy said Wednesday. “I’ve got to win. As good as a team as we have, I’ve got to come in and do my job and let everything else fall into place. Whoever wins it, great. I’m just trying to be where my feet are at.”

Heading into the finale, Walker told reporters

UC Davis gets scare in skies after a bird strike

The SacramenTo Bee

Jim Les is in a profession that travels, so he’s experienced his share of bumpy flights and whiteknuckle experiences.

But this one was different. This one, for several tense moments Tuesday night, felt and sounded ominous, when about the only thing passengers on Southwest Flight 1096 could hear besides the crunching engine sounds was their own pounding heartbeats.

“I don’t want to minimize it,” Les, the UC Davis men’s basketball coach, said Wednesday morning by phone, “but for a few moments there when we hit the bird, the plane labored.

Right away, there was a sense that there was something wrong, a loud noise, and you’re looking around – ‘What was that? What are the issues? What if this thing goes down? Are your affairs in order? You ready for this?’ There’s no question that for a moment, it all crosses your mind.”

UCD players and staff and other passengers were on their way to Hollywood Burbank Airport to play Wednesday night against Cal State North-

ridge in a Big West Conference contest. The coaches sat in the front of that flight and players were scattered about, the taller ones placed by the exits for extra legroom. Shortly after the Boeing 737-700 departed Sacramento International Airport at 5:47 p.m., a bird struck the left engine. For nearly 10 minutes, passengers sat silently. The pilot then assured passengers that the engine was still functioning – with a “horrendous noise” as Aggies radio voice Scott Marsh described – and that the plane would make an emergency return to Sacramento.

But not immediately.

The twin-jet aircraft made a circle north to Yuba City for some 45 minutes to burn off fuel, the engine still laboring with sounds. The plane landed without incident at 6:19 p.m. The flight was greeted on a crowded runway with first responders – police, fire trucks and ambulances – all ready to take on a disaster.

Applause and deep sighs filled the aircraft. Within an hour, passengers boarded another

Vacaville boys net big victory against Armijo

scored 15 points, Larry Lewis had 12 and Nathan Schnell scored eight.

Vacaville High School's boys basketball team had a strong start and maintained the edge throughout the night to post a 67-53 win over Armijo in Monticello Empire League action Thursday night.

Rodriguez defeated Will C. Wood 67-54 and Vanden played against Fairfield, also Thursday, but no score was available at press time.

Information on both games will appear in Saturday's print edition of the Daily Republic.

Gavin Hamill paced the Bulldogs with 24 points. Jake Knight

Trevor Morris led Armijo with 24 pints. Marcel Longmire scored 11, while Kaiba Washington and Demari Combs added nine apiece. Morris went for 23 points in the MEL opener Tuesday, a 78-53 loss to Rodriguez.

Vacaville went up 20-12 after the first quarter and made it 37-31 at halftime. The Bulldogs held a 19-15 edge in the third quarter for a 56-46 lead and upped it four points higher with an 11-7 edge in the final period.

Vacaville improved its overall record to 14-5. Armijo is now 2-10.

Vanden’s girls basketball team rolls against Will C. Wood

Daily r epuBlic STaff

DRNEWS@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

VACAVILLE — The Vanden High School girls basketball team had a slow start but progressively picked up speed Wednesday night in a 66-33 win over host Will C. Wood to open the Monticello Empire League season.

Kalyn Harris and Gabby Wright had 16 points apiece to lead the Vikings. Alyssa Jackson added 10.

Vanden led 13-11 after the first quarter and progressively built up its lead to the com-

manding finish.

Vanden improved to 10-7 overall. Wood fell to 6-5.

The Vikings play Friday at Fairfield. Wood plays at Rodriguez.

Rodriguez girls power past Armijo

FAIRFIELD — Mia Marquez scored 18 points, 15 coming in the second half, as the Rodriguez High School girls basketball team opened the Monticello Empire League season Wednes-

day night with a 49-31 win over visiting Armijo.

Samantha Morris had 10 points and pulled down eight rebounds. Luna Perez and Roniya Vaughn had eight points apiece.

Rodriguez trailed 28-27 after three quarters before the Lady Mustangs went on a 22-3 run in the final quarter to take over the game.

Rodriguez improved to 4-13 overall, while Armijo fell to 1-13. Armijo did not make individual statistics available.

Vacaville boys and girls basketball teams win

FAIRFIELD — The Vacaville High School boys and girls basketball teams picked up a pair of wins over Fairfield in Monticello Empire League openers this week.

The Vacaville girls net a 45-39 win over Fairfield at home Tuesday night. Brynlie Headrick had 20 points for the Bulldogs and Rylie Johnson added 10. No individual statistics were made available for the Fairfield girls.

The Vacaville girls are now 9-5 overall. Fairfield girls are 5-11.

Vacaville won the boys game 62-45. Individual statistics were not made available for either team. Vacaville is now 13-5. Fairfield fell to 3-15.

Vanden boys open league with win over Will C. Wood

VACAVILLE — Tyler Thompson went for 25 points and Elijah Lewis added 15 as the Vanden

Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group/TNS (2022)

Draymond Green (23) speaks to Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr during a the Chase Center in San Francisco, Oct. 14, 2022. Kerr has played Green excessive minutes as the Warriors have struggled.

Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group/TNS file (2022)

See

Warriors, Page B6 See 49ers, Page

VACAVILLE —

CALENDAR

Friday’s TV sports

Basketball College Men

Virginia Commonwealth vs. Dayton, ESPN2, 6 p.m.

NBA

Golden State at San Antonio, NBCSBA (Fairfield and Suisun City) and ESPN, 4:30 p.m.

Denver at L.A. Clippers, ESPN, 7 p.m.

Houston at Sacramento, NBCSCA (Vacaville and Rio Vista), 7 p.m.

Golf

PGA

Sony Open, GOLF, 4 p.m.

Hockey NHL

Edmonton vs. San Jose, NBCSCA, 7:30 p.m.

Saturday’s TV sports

Basketball College Men

Kentucky vs. Tennessee, ESPN, 9 a.m.

West Virginia vs. Oklahoma, ESPN2, 9 a.m.

Wisconsin vs. Indiana, 5, 13, 10 a.m.

Kansas State vs. TCU, ESPN2, 11 a.m.

North Carolina vs. Louisville, ESPN, 11 a.m.

LSU vs. Alabama, ESPN, 1 p.m.

Virginia vs. Florida State, ESPN2, 1 p.m.

Arizona vs. Oregon, ESPN, 3 p.m.

Oklahoma State vs. Baylor, ESPN2, 3 p.m.

Colorado vs. UCLA, 2, 40, 5 p.m.

Texas Tech vs. Texas, ESPN, 5 p.m.

Portland vs. Gonzaga, ESPN2, 7 p.m.

NBA Milwaukee at Miami, 7, 10, 10 a.m.

Football

NFL Playoffs

Seattle at San Francisco, 2, 40, 1:30 p.m.

L.A. Chargers at Jacksonville, 3, 5:15 p.m.

Golf PGA

Sony Open, 3, 1 p.m.

Sony Open, GOLF, 3 p.m.

Sharks prepare for offensive force McDavid, Oilers

Curtis Pashelka BAY AREA NEWS GROUP

SAN JOSE — A San Jose Sharks team that has had all kinds of issues keeping the puck out of their own net this season now has to contend with the greatest single offensive force in the NHL.

The Sharks (13-22-8) host Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers on Friday at SAP Center as they begin a threegame homestand that also features games against playoff hopefuls New Jersey on Monday and Dallas next Wednesday.

With 79 points in 43 games, McDavid is on pace for the greatest individual offensive season the NHL has seen since Mario Lemieux had 161 points in just 70 games with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1995-1996. He is already believed to be a lock for the Hart Trophy as the NHL player adjudged to be the most valuable to his team.

Since that season by Lemieux, only three players have had seasons of 125 points or more – Jaromir Jagr (127 in 1998-1999), Joe Thornton (125 in 2005-2006), and Nikita Kucherov (128 in 2018-2019).

McDavid has 12 goals and 30 points in 23 career regular-season games against the Sharks, who, before Thursday, were the third-worst team

in the NHL in allowing 5-on-5 goals.

With their 4-3 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday, the Sharks have now allowed an average of 2.60 goals per game during 5-on-5 play, a figure that ranks ahead of only Anaheim (2.83) and Columbus (2.68).

Against the Kings, all four goals the Sharks allowed came at even strength, including two in the third period.

Nick Bonino and Tomas Hertl both scored in the loss, which marked the eighth time in the last 11 games that the Sharks have allowed four or more goals.

The Sharks are now 5-6-8 in one-goal games and 2-7-6 against Pacific Division opponents.

“We’re there every game, and just can’t get wins,” Bonino said. “It’s frustrating for everyone.”

Kane not able

Oilers winger and former Shark Evander Kane won’t play Friday but he is nearing a return from a frightening injury on Nov. 11, when he had his wrist accidentally cut by the skate blade of Tampa Bay Lightning forward Pat Maroon.

The laceration on Kane’s left wrist went to the bone and required surgery after he was rushed to a hospital in Tampa. Kane’s initial recovery time was listed at three-to-four months.

Scoreboard

HOCKEY NHL

Carolina

New Jersey

Rangers

Washington

Pittsburgh

6 48 133 121 N.Y. Islanders 42 22 17 3 47 130 116 Philadelphia 42 17 18 7 41 119 136 Columbus 41 12 27 2 26 105 164 Atlantic Division GP W L OT Pts GF GA Boston 41 32 5 4 68 156 91 Toronto 43 26 10 7 59 144 113 Tampa Bay 40 26 13 1 53 144 119 Detroit 40 18 15 7 43 125 135 Buffalo 40 20 18 2 42 154 139 Florida 42 19 19 4 42 138 145 Ottawa 40 18 19 3 39 120 127 Montreal 42 17 22 3 37 113 159 Western Conference Central Division GP W L OT Pts GF GA Dallas 43 25 11 7 57 147 113 Winnipeg 42 27 14 1 55 141 112 Minnesota 40 22 14 4 48 129 116 St. Louis 43 21 19 3 45 137 155 Nashville 41 19 16 6 44 115 121 Colorado 40 20 17 3 43 118 118 Arizona 40 13 22 5 31 110 149 Chicago 40 11 25 4 26 89 146 Pacific Division GP W L OT Pts GF GA Vegas 42 27 13 2 56 140 120 Los Angeles 45 25 14 6 56 152 152 Seattle 41 25 12 4 54 150 125 Calgary 43 20 14 9 49 133 128 Edmonton 43 22 18 3 47 153 145 Vancouver 41 17 21 3 37 142 163

Minnesota

1 Calgary 4, St. Louis 1 Chicago 3, Colorado 2 Ottawa at Arizona, (N) Florida at Vegas, (N) Friday’s Games Winnipeg at Pittsburgh, 4 p.m. New Jersey at Anaheim, 7 p.m. Edmonton at SAN JOSE, 7:30 p.m. Saturday’s Games Calgary at Dallas, 11 a.m. Ottawa at Colorado, 4 p.m. Columbus at Detroit, 4 p.m. Montreal at N.Y. Islanders, 4 p.m. Philadelphia at Washington, 4 p.m. Pittsburgh at Carolina, 4 p.m. Toronto at Boston, 4 p.m. Vancouver at Florida, 4 p.m. Arizona at Minnesota, 5 p.m. Buffalo at Nashville, 5 p.m. Seattle at Chicago, 5 p.m. Tampa Bay at St. Louis, 5 p.m. Edmonton at Vegas, 7 p.m. New Jersey at L.A. Kings, 7:30 p.m. Sunday’s Games Montreal at N.Y. Rangers, 2 p.m. Vancouver at Carolina, 2 p.m. Arizona at Winnipeg, 4 p.m.

BASKETBALL

NBA

EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division W L Pct GB Boston 31 12 721 Brooklyn 27 14 659 3 Philadelphia 25 16 610 5 New York 23 19 548 7½ Toronto 18 23 439 12 Central Division W L Pct GB Milwaukee 27 15 643 Cleveland 26 16 619 1 Indiana 23 19 548 4 Chicago 19 23 452 8 Detroit 12 33 267 16½ Southeast Division W L Pct GB Miami 23 20 535 Atlanta 19 22 463 3 Washington 18 24 429 4½ Orlando 16 26 381 6½ Charlotte 11 31 262 11½ WESTERN CONFERENCE Northwest Division W L Pct GB Denver 28 13 683 Utah 21 23 477 8½ Minnesota 20 22 476 8½ Portland 19 21 475 8½ Oklahoma City 19 23 452 9½ Pacific Division W L Pct GB SACRAMENTO 22 18 550 L.A. Clippers 22 21 512 1½ Phoenix 21 22 488 2½ GOLDEN STATE 20 21 488 2½ L.A. Lakers 19 22 463 3½ Southwest Division W L Pct GB Memphis 28 13 683 New Orleans 25 17 595 3½ Dallas 23 19 548 5½ San Antonio 13 29 310 15½ Houston 10 31 244 18 Wednesday’s

at SACRAMENTO, 7 p.m. New Orleans at Detroit, 4 p.m. Atlanta at Indiana, 4 p.m. N.Y. Knicks at Washington, 4 p.m. Oklahoma City at Chicago, 5 p.m. Phoenix at Minnesota, 5 p.m. Orlando at Utah, 6 p.m. Denver at L.A. Clippers, 7 p.m. Saturday’s Games Milwaukee at Miami, 10 a.m. Boston at Charlotte, 4 p.m. Memphis at Indiana, 4 p.m. Atlanta at Toronto, 4:30 p.m. Cleveland at Minnesota, 5 p.m. Philadelphia at Utah, 6 p.m. Dallas at Portland, 7 p.m.

at San Antonio, 4:30 p.m.

FOOTBALL

NFL

Wild Card Round Saturday’s Games Seattle at SAN FRANCISCO, 1:30 p.m. L.A. Chargers at Jacksonville 5:15 p.m. Sunday’s Games Miami at Buffalo, 10 a.m. N.Y. Giants at Minnesota, 1:30 p.m. Baltimore at Cincinnati, 5:15 p.m. Monday’s Game Dallas at Tampa Bay, 5:15 p.m.

Giants make the tough decision to move on from Brandon Belt

evan WebeCk BAY AREA NEWS GROUP

SAN FRANCISCO — When Brandon Belt signed with the Toronto Blue Jays this week, it ended his time with the only organization he’s ever known and ensured the Giants will have a different first baseman on Opening Day for only the second time since 2011.

It will likely be LaMonte Wade Jr. who emerges from the dugout and jogs to first base before the bottom of the first inning on Opening Day, March 30 at Yankee Stadium, president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi said Thursday over Zoom.

The Giants remained in touch with Belt – Zaidi said he even visited him in recent weeks – but ultimately it came down to a “timing and fit issue,” Zaidi said. The Giants committed this offseason to getting younger and more athletic. Belt,

like Evan Longoria, didn’t fit into those plans.

“As the offseason progressed and we started filling out our roster, we obviously added a couple outfielders, and that moved Joc (Pederson) and LaMonte Wade more into the first base/DH mix,” Zaidi said. “We knew we would be faced with some challenging decisions on players that we’re fond of . . . We really wish Brandon the best. But we’re looking forward to what LaMonte and other guys in that mix can do for us.”

Belt, who turns 35 in April, signed a one-year, $9.2 million deal with Toronto. He underwent surgery on his knee late last season, and Zaidi said the Giants kept tabs on his rehab. During a recent visit, Zaidi said Belt looked to be in great shape.

Between Wade, Pederson, Wilmer Flores, J.D. Davis and David Villar, there wasn’t room for Belt on the roster, Zaidi said.

While Zaidi said the Giants could still add a veteran to the first-base mix, he said Wade was, “in particular, someone we’re really high on,” despite a down year in 2022. The Giants believe he will benefit from the new restrictions on infield shifts and a fresh start after multiple stints on the injured list last season.

In addition to Wade, the Giants felt the need to carve out opportunities for young players such as Villar and Joey Bart, Zaidi said. Of Villar, who has hit 56 home runs the past two seasons between Double-A, Triple-A and the majors, Zaidi said, “if you’re not going to give a guy an opportunity after what he’s gone the last couple years … not sure he’s gone anything more to earn that opportunity.”

The Giants had been rumored to be interested in adding a catcher, but Zaidi said it’s “unlikely” they bring in anyone else at that position.

From Page B1

High School boys basketball team opened play Wednesday in the Monticello Empire League with a 65-52 win at Will C. Wood.

Wood jumped out early for a 23-15 lead in the first quarter. Then Vanden came out and outscored the Wildcats 25-10 and 13-7 in the second and third periods, respectively. Both teams scored 12 apiece in the final period.

“We just came out and flat and weren’t prepared to play over there,” Vanden head coach Micheal Holloway said by telephone. “We were able to pick it up on the defensive side of the ball.”

The game was originally scheduled for Tuesday at Vanden. It was moved to Wednesday at Wood due to work by PG&E on a nearby power pole that shut off power to Vanden’s James L.Boyd Gymnasium.

Isaac Dixon led the Wildcat with 14 points. Julian Martinez and Jayden Hamilton-Holland added 13 points apiece. Josiah Chavez contributed nine. Dixon also had 13 rebounds and Noah Bergman pulled down nine.

Vanden is now 11-5 overall. Wood is 10-8.

“We got off to a fast start but couldn’t overcome a bad second quarter,” Wood head coach Mark Wudel said in an email.

assists and two steals. Joe Gould had 11 points, three steals, two rebounds and two assists. Gianni Miles added 11 points, two rebounds and two assists. Jakobe Billups also had 11 points, two steals and one assist.

Trevor Morse led Armijo with 23 points and 12 rebounds.

Rodriguez led 20-17 after the first quarter, 41-22 at halftime and 58-36 after three periods.

Rodriguez improved to 8-9 overall. Armijo is now 2-9.

Balanced Vacaville Christian’s boys roll

VACAVILLE — Four players hit double-figure scoring as the Vacaville Christian High School boys basketball team earned a 61-42 win Tuesday at Golden Sierra.

Brian Laxamana led the Falcons with 18 points. Thomas Lane scored 16 points, while Dominic Ruff and Garrett Kuch had 11 apiece. Kuch filled up the boxscore with 10 rebounds and six assists as well.

Vacaville Christian, winners of five straight games, improved to 12-3 overall and 2-0 in the Sierra Delta League. The Falcons host Rio Vista at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

Soccer

match. Junior Santiago Alvarez was able to score 10 minutes later to give Armijo a 2-0 lead at halftime.

Rodriguez scored on a penalty kick in the second half to cut into the lead. But Armijo senior Abraham Perez Ascencio came back with another goal for the Royals and the final 3-1 edge.

“I was very proud of the boys tonight and what they brought to the field,” Armijo head coach Megan Flores said in an email. “They really stepped up their play and learned a lot from all of those preseason games.”

Armijo improved to 4-7 overall. Rodriguez is now 2-4.

Rodriguez did not provide individual statistics for the match.

Armijo’s junior varsity team earned a 2-0 victory. Valentin Vera scored a one-on-one goal in the second half. Ricardo Brambila scrambled for a loose ball and scored the second goal.

Jeremiah Tam and Mauricio Galindo keyed the defensive play for Armijo’s junior varsity. Forward Luis Garcia Carreon also had a couple of scoring chances. Isaac Aguirre helped set up Brambila’s goal when he was fouled.

No Rodriguez JV individual statistics were made available.

also outscored the 49ers 17-8 in the first quarter, 18-10 in the second and 23-11 in the third. Yuba outscored Solano 25-15 in the final period to close the gap a bit.

Solano upped its record to 9-8 overall and 4-1 in the Bay Valley Conference.

Genesis Ernie-Hamilton led Solano with 14 points. Theresa McCarver had 13 points and eight rebounds. Julia Wright also had 10 rebounds.

Janae Blue Horse led Yuba with a gamehigh 41 points.

Solano will host Contra Costa at 3 p.m. Saturday.

Solano men can’t slow down Yuba

ROCKVILLE — The Solano Community College men’s basketball team lost Tuesday night at Yuba, 77-45.

The Falcons trailed 42-32 at halftime. The 49ers upped the lead with a 35-13 advantage in the second half. Solano fell to 1-4 in the Bay Valley Conference and 3-13 overall.

RJ Smith led Yuba with 19 points. No individual statistics for Solano were made available.

The Falcons return to action with a 1 p.m. home game Saturday against Contra Costa.

Middle School

Rodriguez boys

win against Armijo

FAIRFIELD — Balanced scoring and controlled defense helped the Rodriguez High School boys basketball team to a 78-53 win Tuesday night over visiting Armijo in the Monticello Empire League opener.

Jerel Victor led the Mustangs with 17 points, four rebounds, three

Armijo High’s boys edges out Rodriguez

FAIRFIELD — The Armijo High School boys soccer team scored on a penalty kick and added a pair of successful shots on goal in a 3-1 win Tuesday night at Brownlee Field over Rodriguez in the Monticello Empire League opener for both schools.

Senior captain Diego Torres put a penalty kick into the back of the net five minutes into the

College Solano’s women’s basketball tops Yuba

ROCKVILLE — Solano Community College’s women’s basketball team dominated the battle on the boards and held a points advantage in the first three quarters in winning Tuesday night at Yuba, 73-54.

Solano had a sizable 52-26 advantage in rebounds. The Falcons

Grange boys win against PSA

FAIRFIELD — The Grange Middle School boys basketball team won its season opener Wednesday over the Public Safety Academy, 31-11.

Jayden Gordon scored 10 points to go with six rebounds and three blocked shots. Jeremiah Sebastian had seven points and three assists.

No individual statistics were made available from Public Safety Academy.

David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG file

The Kings’ Rasmus Kupari, right, and the Edmonton Oilers’ Connor McDavid jostle their way down the ice in this file photo.

No business between neighbors

Annie Lane is off this week. The following column was originally published in 2020

Dear Annie: My spouse and I are in our 70s, with numerous health issues. We decided we needed to sell our large home and move to something easier to maintain. We made the mistake of hiring the younger brother (“Jim”) of our best friend and neighbor “Jane.” Both assured us this business relationship would have no impact on our friendship. After four months with no activity and a flare-up of health concerns, we asked Jim to terminate our selling contract. (We called Jane to let her know of our decision.) Jim had said he would end the selling contract that day, but then sent a text saying he couldn’t. We contacted his boss, who said it wouldn’t be a problem -- and ended the contract. Now, Jane is no longer speaking to us. We have called and written, seeking a chance to talk with her further. Last night, we received a vile letter in the mail from her, saying we were never her friend if we could do such an awful thing.

Ironically, we now feel we must sell and will put the house on the market again as soon as our health and stamina permit. But we are grieving the loss of this dear friend. Please let your readers know the dangers of doing business with friends – or

their relatives. – Mourning in Madison Dear Mourning in Madison: Working with friends can be risky business indeed. That being said, you might want to examine the terminated contract to ensure there are no clauses that would prevent you from listing it with another real estate agent within a certain time frame. I’d hate for this sticky situation to become even messier.

Dear Annie: Concerning the letter from “Parents at a Crossroads,” whose son has mental health issues and is unemployed: Please advise the parents to encourage him to explore vocational rehabilitation services that are available for persons with disabilities. Each state has an organization under the U.S. Department of Education, which can provide evaluations and assistance in locating and maintaining employment to persons with disabilities. A variety of services can be provided at no cost to him including interview training, resume preparation, job-seeking assistance, job coaching and follow-ups after securing employment.

The names of the organizations vary by state but should not be difficult to locate. Typically, they are called Vocational Rehabilitation or something similar. I am a certified vocational evaluator. I evaluate persons with disabilities to make recommendations to such agencies concerning potential

Horoscopes

ARIES (March 21-April 19).

On a planet hurling through a universe where anything can happen, security is, at best, a feeling based on an opinion about the odds. Nevertheless, feeling safe is an essential human need. You’ll be someone’s security today.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20).

The heart wants what it wants. You may crave and work for the love of someone who’s nature is to interact with you in ways you do not prefer. “Love is an exploding cigar we willingly smoke.” Lynda Barry GEMINI (May 21-June 21).

In a sense, your work is an act of gratitude. You’re happy such an endeavor even exists in the world. You’ll enjoy the way your mind and bod meet the challenge and you’ll fall into an enviable state of flow.

CANCER (June 22-July 22).

Don’t pursue happiness today because it’s inside you; all you have to do is protect it. Keep moving. If you hang out in one place too long, others will steal the focus that ideally should flow to what’s going well and what you want.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). You’ve chased the wrong person or job before and now you know what qualities to avoid. You’re still learning exactly what fits best. You feel most vital when you keep showing up to new scenarios

by Holiday Mathis

Today’s birthday

You don’t have to accomplish anything to earn the right to feel splendid. Just being you is extraordinary enough. And though you will achieve much, it’s because you thrive on challenge and take social responsibility seriously. Highlights include: an unexpected promotion, a battle won and a connection that sizzles on multiple levels.

with hopeful intent.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22).

You see many reasons to be proud of friends, loved ones, colleagues – and of yourself. Expressing this is tricky because wherever there’s pride, status dynamics come into play. You’ll find the tone that conveys care and support.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23).

You’ll have interesting and productive conversations. You like getting information and strategizing in this way, but what you like even more is when the goal isn’t to learn everything you can, but rather to play.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21).

You don’t feel like you’re thriving unless others are too. You’ll make sure people are OK because you know just what

training or services that may be of assistance to help secure employment, identify and recommend types of positions and evaluate possible supports or accommodations that would be helpful. — Debra M.

Dear Debra M: Thank you for sharing your expertise and offering potential resources at the federal and state level.

Dear Annie: I love your column! Often, it seems writers of advice columns overlook a suggestion which would assist many writers. The letter from “Parents at a Crossroads” prompted me to write. He seems a fine candidate for applying for Social Security Disability benefits. As you can imagine, it requires significant medical documentation. And often takes many appeals and more paperwork, but it’s a great benefit for people struggling with medical issues that prevent them from holding down a job.

A look at the ssa.gov website would assist such readers about these benefits. One of the best aspects of this benefit is the access to Medicare benefits after two years on SSDI roles, regardless of age. — PNW Reader

Dear PNW Reader: Thank you for raising another important potential resource for this family. Readers can visit https://www.ssa.gov/ benefits/disability for more information.

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

to look out for. The quiet, stoically suffering types often go untended, but you’re too intuitive to let it happen.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). Learning to deal with exceptionally intelligent if somewhat volatile types can be worthwhile. The high stakes are exciting. You’ll crack the code on their moods. Mostly, the flavor you get depends on how you treat them.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). Your good fortune is pursuing you. It’s safe to stop checking in on it and let it unfold in peace. Shift the focus on other goals having to do with getting ready for your moment to shine.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). You know selfless love when you see it and you’re also savvy to the ways people use one another. You sometimes choose to ignore things that are hard to see, but not today. Today you’re dealing head-on with how things are.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). More than any physical or intellectual traits, you appreciate the one who hustles alongside you. The clear thinkers who put muscle and money behind their ideas will be your valued crew.

Write Holiday Mathis at HolidayMathis.com.

THE DEFENSE WAS FARSIGHTED

Bridge can be such a frustrating game. You follow a line of defense that seems sure to succeed, when suddenly your solid-looking house of cards collapses.

Today’s deal arose during a Bridge Federation of Asia and Middle East Championships held in Mauritius,

Sudoku

THE DEFENSE WAS FARSIGHTED

Bridge can be such a frustrating game. You follow a line of defense that seems sure to succeed, when suddenly your solid-looking house of cards collapses.

by Phillip Alder

which is an interesting island in the Indian Ocean. Only one player found the winning defense.

Cover the East and South hands. Defending against five diamonds, you (West) lead the spade ace: seven, nine, two. How would you continue?

East’s response of one no-trump showed -- in theory -- a strong spade raise. This misled two players. West bid a hopeless game, and South decided to take an each-way bet. Five diamonds might make, or it could prove to be a cheap sacrifice.

After cashing the spade ace, the natural reaction was to switch to the ace and another trump, trying to stop spade ruffs in the dummy, but this play caused South no pain. He won trick three in hand, finessed the club jack, cashed the club ace, ruffed a club, returned to dummy with a spade ruff and discarded his two major-suit losers on dummy’s club winners.

K.P. Baskaran from Sri Lanka found the killing defense. At trick two, he led a second spade, allowing dummy to ruff. Declarer played a trump to his hand, but Baskaran won with the ace and played a third spade. The trick had to be ruffed, but now declarer was stranded in the dummy. He had to lose a heart or a club for down one.

Brilliant!

by Wayne Gould

Bridge

Word Sleuth

Annie Lane Dear Annie

Coachella 2023 festival lineup: 6 big takeaways

Peter Larsen THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

ANAHEIM — The lineup for the 2023 edition of the Coach ella Valley Music and Arts Festival arrived Tuesday, and with headliners Bad Bunny, Blackpink and Frank Ocean at the top of the bill it’s clear the global drift of Coachella in recent years is here to stay.

Puerto Rican rapper-singer Bad Bunny, whose “Un Verano Sin Ti” held No. 1 on the Bill board charts for 13 weeks and was the top-selling album of 2022, becomes the first Latin artist to headline at Coachella when he plays both Fridays in April.

K-pop girl group Blackpink, who in 2019 packed the Sahara Tent at Coachella when they became the first K-pop act to play the festival, now return as the first K-pop headliners. They play Saturdays both weekends.

Long Beach singer-rapper Frank Ocean is the sole homegrown artist to headline this year, but he’s a bit of a unicorn too, having not played live since 2017, though he was originally booked to headline Coachella for the pandemic-delayed 2020 edition. He’ll finish up Sundays.

Based on headliners alone Coachella 2023 has a different look than other large festivals this year. Bonnaroo also announced its lineup on Tuesday with Kendrick Lamar, Foo Fighters and Odesza as headliners for the Tennessee festival. BottleRock in Napa dropped its lineup Monday with Red Hot Chili Peppers, Lizzo and Post Malone its topbilled artists.

And Coachella hasn’t just booked Bad Bunny and Blackpink – the lineup is packed with eclectic acts from around the globe from top to bottom.

We’ll take a deeper dive before the festival opens on April 14 at the Empire Polo Field in Indio, but now we’ll take our first pass at running the lineup through our ought-to-be-patented InstantLineupAnalyzer and see what six themes for 2023 the music machine kicks out.

1. It’s a big world: K-pop and Latin music get the headliners here and the headlines all year long of late, but Coachella 2023 features artists from beyond those two admittedly huge genres, booking acts from six of the seven continents. (Better luck next year, Antarctica!)

Nigerian singer Burna Boy, who first played Coachella in 2019, returns as the third-billed artist on Friday, the same day the South African DJ Uncle Waffles performs. France’s Christine and the Queens is another returnee while Belgian electropop singer Angèle provides another chance to test

your lingering high school French comprehension.

Spanish flamenco-pop singer Rosalía also played 2019 and returns this year as the secondbilled performer on Saturday.

Hong Kong’s Jackson Wang, a standout at 2022’s Head In The Clouds, plays Sunday. And, of course, the EDM acts represent countries from Germany (Boris Brejcha) to Brazil (Mochakk), Italy (Tale of Us) to England (Nia Archives).

2. Rock (if you look for it): The days of indie rock guitar bands at Coachella are no more, but if you poke around the lineup you can still find some of that loud electric music. Hardcore and punk are one of the larger categories this year with acts such as Sleaford Mods, Soul Glo, Knocked Loose and Scowl on the bill.

But there’s softer rock, too, here and there. Phoebe Bridgers returns to the desert with the sad-girls super group Boygenius which also includes Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus. Weyes Blood, Ethel Cain, and Snail Mail also perform in a similar vibe.

And Wet Leg, one of four acts on the bill who are currently Grammy nominees for best new artist – the others are Tobe Nwigwe, Domi and JD Beck, and Latto – are a particularly charming rock band and must-see.

3. Lady rappers: As always, rap has a strong presence at Coachella, though this year what stands out most is how many of the rap artists are women. Sure, there are male performers such as Pusha T and Rae Sremmurd performing this year, but the woman are on top with artists including Latto, Flo Milli, Noname, GloRilla, Ashnikko, and Doechii to name just a few.

4. Familiar faces: If you’ve gone to Coachella for years, or maybe just in years past, a lot of these names might seem unfamiliar. Relax, we’ve got a few acts that will fit you like a pair of fluffy slippers and a cuppa tea on a cold and rainy day.

Icelandic singer-song-

writer Björk is the second-bill act on Sunday, performing right before Frank Ocean. New Wave legends Blondie play on Friday, and alt-rockers the Breeders appear on Saturday. Classic electronic rockers are represented via the Chemical Brothers, Underworld, and Sasha and Digweed.

5. Local heroes: Southern California-based musicians are also scattered across the bill. Orange County’s the Garden made the second line on Friday. Santa Barbara-bred reggae rock band Rebelution plays Saturday. Los Angeles’ teen punk rockers the Linda Lindas also play Saturday.

Others include Palm Springs’ Danny Lux, who recently headlined Viva! Pomona, and Sudan Archives, the performing name of violinist-singer Brittney Parks, whose “Home Maker” was one of President Barack Obama’s 25 favorite songs of 2022. (Maybe keep an eye out for Barry on the festival field. He also included tracks by Bad Bunny, Rosalia, Ethel Cain and Burna Boy in his Top 25.)

6. Desert delights: You never know what unexpected surprises will turn out to be the best moments of the fest. Still, there are intriguing names here and there that might be well worth your time to check out this year.

House music producer Eric Prydz is presenting HOLO on Saturday, an innovative, visually spectacular show that features 3D holographic images. EDM star Calvin Harris returns for the first time since 2014; his name is floating separate from the rest of the lineup on Sunday, suggesting that he might play a post-headlining show after Frank Ocean, and given his star-studded collaborations that could be a very big deal.

Marc Rebillet isn’t a wellknown name, though the chronically online know him better as Loop Daddy for the viral videos of him mixing improvised R&B/dance music, often in his boxer briefs, from his bedroom, hotel room, wherever. His Saturday set should be a fun one.

Actor Idris Elba returns this year to DJ and make the fans’ knees go weak. Hopefully they’ll put him on a bigger stage this time. Last time, the Zuma tent was a packed madhouse for the star’s turn behind the decks.

And Los Bitchos, who have an unfortunately early set on Sunday, might be the perfect band for Coachella 2023. Four women based in London but originally from Uruguay, Australia, Sweden and England, playing mostly instrumental psychedelic-cumbia-surf rock? Doesn’t get more global than that.

EVERY CARD IS WRONG, BUT SO WHAT?

One of the club’s younger members took a Campari and orange to the Senior Life Master. Thank you, my boy (said the SLM). Now let me tell you an interesting story. A few years ago, Madeline Cooper was dating two men simultaneously: Wilberforce Williams and Xavier Hollander.

Sudoku

Bridge

EVERY CARD IS WRONG, BUT SO WHAT?

One of the club’s younger members took a Campari and orange to the Senior Life Master. Thank you, my boy (said the SLM). Now let me tell you an interesting story.

by Phillip Alder

Both had proposed to her, but she couldn’t decide who to make her partner in the game of life. Both were handsome and wealthy; each seemed perfect.

At her wit’s end, suddenly she had a spark of inspiration. She would hold a bridge competition. The first one to solve a problem that the other muffed would be her choice.

It required only one deal. This was it. (The SLM showed the man today’s diagram.) Madeline asked them to play in four hearts, despite their protestations that South should have raised to three no-trump.

West attacked in diamonds, South ruffing the third round.

Both the suitors immediately took the spade finesse. It lost and back came the club four.

Wilberforce put in the jack, but West covered with the queen.

“That finesse is wrong as well,” he complained. “This is hardly a fair test.”

As you can see, he could no longer make the contract.

Xavier did better. He won the club return with his ace, played a spade to the ace, ruffed a spade, drew two rounds of trumps ending in the dummy and ruffed another spade. He pulled West’s last trump, played a club to dummy’s king and discarded his club loser on the established spade seven.

“My husband!” cooed Madeline.

COPYRIGHT: 2023, UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE

by Wayne Gould

Bridge

Watchara Phomicinda/The PressEnterprise/SCNG/The Orange County Register/TNS

Long Beach singer-rapper Frank Ocean will headline Sunday evenings at the 2023 Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival April 16 and 23.

Emma (Autumn Reeser) has a change of plans in “The Wedding Veil Inspiration.”

Los A ngeLes

Times

Marin Alsop, a world-renowned con ductor name-checked in “Tár,” is speaking out against the 2022 film and its antagonistic pro tagonist portrayed by Cate Blanchett.

In a recent interview with British newspaper the Times, Alsop denounced the prestige drama’s depiction of Lydia Tár – a fictional, abusive, narcissistic maestro who bullies her students and exploits her employees.

Alsop – a real-life maestro, principal conductor of the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra and esteemed MacArthur fellow from New York – is mentioned in the first half-hour of director Todd Field’s musical epic, according to the Times. However, she was not involved in the making of “Tár” and was “shocked” when she finally heard about the movie in late August.

Though Lydia Tár does not actually exist, the Times points out that Blanchett’s character has some key similarities to Alsop (beyond their shared profession): Like Alsop, Tár teaches at a major American music conservatory, runs a conducting fellowship for young women in the industry and studied under conductor-composer Leonard Bernstein. She too is a lesbian who shares a child with her longtime partner – an instrumentalist.

“So many superficial aspects of Tár seemed to align with my own personal life,” Alsop told the Times. “But once I saw it I was no longer concerned, I was offended: I was offended as a woman, I was offended as a conductor, I was offended as a lesbian.”

Because “Tár” attributes the stereotype of an overbearing, pretentious virtuoso to a female character, Alsop continued, she worries that the film is “slightly dangerous because people may get confused about what’s real and what’s not.”

In recent months, Blanchett has garnered widespread critical acclaim for her powerful turn as Tár. On Tuesday, she won the Golden Globe for lead actress in a drama, and on Wednesday, she scored a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for her per-

formance. She’s expected to pick up an Oscar nomination too.

“To have an opportunity to portray a woman in that role and to make her an abuser – for me that was heartbreaking,” Alsop told the Times.

“All women and all feminists should be bothered by that kind of depiction because it’s not really about women conductors, is it? It’s about women as leaders in our society. People ask, ‘Can we trust them? Can they function in that role?’ It’s the same questions whether it’s about a CEO or an NBA coach or the head of a police department.”

Alsop added that there “are so many ... actual, documented men” Lydia Tár emulates with her problematic and cruel behavior, yet the awardsseason darling “instead ... puts a woman in the role but gives her all the attributes of those men.”

“That feels antiw oman,” Alsop continued. “To assume that women will either behave identically to men or become hysterical, crazy, insane is to perpetuate something we’ve already seen on film so many times before.”

Reflecting generally on the lack of opportunities and recognition for female conductors, Alsop said she does not believe women will ever be able to navigate the conducting world without barriers, and opportunities for them “will always need to be created.”

“I’m an eternal optimist, otherwise I couldn’t have stayed in this field. But I’m also a realist. I’ve seen progress and then regression many, many times,” Alsop said.

“I’m hopeful that the progress we’ve made now is substantive and quantitative enough that it can’t be reversed, because I think there are those who would like to reverse it.

.

. . So I’m both a realist and an optimist, and I say, let’s link arms and just keep on walking.”

This real-life conductor is mentioned in ‘Tár,’ and she’s not a fan

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

QB Derek Carr says goodbye to Raiders fans, addresses benching

Vincent Bonsignore LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

LAS VEGAS — For the first time since he was benched by the Raiders with two games remaining in the regular season, Derek Carr addressed his past, present and future.

In an early-morning post on Instagram, the quarterback thanked Raiders fans, including the Oakland and Las Vegas factions, and made it clear that while his time with the Raiders is over, he still wants to play football.

Here is the post: “Raider Nation it breaks my heart I didn’t get an opportunity to say goodbye in person. We certainly have been on a roller coaster in our 9 years together. From the bottom

of my heart, I am so grateful and appreciative of the years of support you gave to my family and me. We had our share of both heartbreaking moments and thrilling game-winning drives, and it always felt like you were there next to me.

“It’s especially hard to say goodbye because I can honestly say that I gave you everything I had, every single day, in season, and in the off season. It certainly wasn’t perfect, but I hope that I was able to leave you with more than a few great memories as Raider fans.

“Thank you to the city of Oakland for taking us in. Thank you to the city of Las Vegas for allowing us to proudly call you home. Thank you to the organization, my teammates, all my coaches, staff, and everyone that helped me these last 9 years in

those 2 buildings.

“Thanks to all of Raider Nation that supported, encouraged, pushed, and uplifted me at different times along this journey. Raider Nation truly is special.

“I once said that if I’m not a Raider I would rather be at home and I meant that, but I never envisioned it ending this way. That fire burning inside of me to win a championship still rages. A fire no man can extinguish; only God. So I look forward to a new city and a new team who, no matter the circumstance, will get everything I have. Winning a championship is what l’ve alwavs wanted and what I will continue to work towards.

God bless you all and with love, DC4”

49ers

roughly the same thing.

“I feel like I’m hitting a stride, but I’m just staying focused on the team and not individual accolades,” Walker said.

Walker stands with wide receivers Garrett Wilson of the New York Jets and Chris Olave of New Orleans in a race without a clear-cut favorite. The AP award is voted on by a panel of 50 sports media members and concluded Tuesday, with selectors ranking three candidates in a weighted system. The winner won’t be announced until NFL Honors Night the weekend of the Super Bowl.

Awards are nothing new to Walker, who won both the Doak Walker Award as the nation’s top running back and the Walter Camp Award as the national player of the year after his junior year at Michigan State. After transferring from Wake Forest, Walker gained 1,636 yards with the Spartans before coming out for the draft.

Purdy has already made a couple All-Rookie teams at quarterback (PFF, Pro Football Journal) over Pittsburgh’s Kenny Pickett, having completed 67.1 percent of his passes (114 of 170) for 1,374 yards and 13 touchdowns with four interceptions. He’s been the picture of poise since taking over after Jimmy Garoppolo broke his foot on Dec. 4

“That’s why this draft stuff is an inexact science, Seattle defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt told reporters. “He doesn’t get fazed or rattled, is cool and collected in the pocket, he can rely on the run game and the players around him and has executed at a high level since he’s been in there.”

Dallas Cowboys are comfortable, confident for matchup with Bucs

clarence e. Hill Jr FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM

DALLAS — Mike McCarthy regretted his words as soon as they left his mouth.

And he would later try to walk them back.

But in the age of the internet and social media to go along with the platform as being coach of the Dallas Cowboys there are no take backs or do overs.

His words will live on forever.

So here we are one year later revisiting the seen of the crime because as we all know if you don’t learn from history you are doomed to repeat it.

And as the Cowboys head into Monday’s wildcard playoff game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the latter simply can’t happen

It’s still mind-boggling that not only did it happen the first time but that the Cowboys coach admitted it publicly.

In explaining the slow

start in last January’s shocking 23-17 home loss to San Francisco 49ers in the wildcard playoffs, McCarthy said the Cowboys were nervous and he sensed it during the pregame prayer.

“I thought we were nervous to start the game. I felt it in the locker room at the team prayer,” McCarthy curiously admitted in the seasonending press conference the following day.

He tried to walk it back as angst.

“Let me take the word ‘nervous’ back,” he qualified. “It was a little angst. I think just like anything, they’re excited, they had a great week. I just think it was the first time we were doing this as a whole.”

Too late.

The damage was already done.

So fast forward year as the Cowboys prepare to play their first playoff game since then.

The natural question heading into the Tampa

Jonathan Kuminga, yet another injured option, has been evolving as a strong point-ofattack defender and a potential threat at the rim. At age 20, is Kuminga enough? At the halfway point of the season, maybe the front office feels an outside addition provides some security. A heavy luxury tax burden limits the Warriors’ options; they’d likely need to part ways with former No. 2 overall pick Wiseman in a trade for Jakob Poeltl or Jae Crowder.

There has to be some urgency to explore trade options – or maybe buyout options down the line – because a thin frontcourt comes at a cost. Head coach Steve Kerr raised work-

Bay game is what has been done to ensure they won’t be nervous this time.

“I think like anything in life: experience is a good thing,” McCarthy said. “We know how to prepare to beat a team. We know how to go on the road and win. So we understand what’s in front of us. So I think just like anything whether we had angst going into our first playoff game last year or not, we have that experience. And

I think just like anything we just got to make sure our information during the course of the week and what we’re pulling in, how we’re applying it, how we’re evaluating it, cleaning it up – because at the end of the day it’s all about giving those players what they need to win the game on Monday night.”

Much of that falls to McCarthy.

It’s his job to get his team ready and prepared so they wont be nervous heading to a game.

And if he senses it,

load concerns about Draymond Green and Kevon Looney, both of whom have needed to play maximum minutes with injuries ripping the depth to shreds.

Looney hasn’t missed a game all year, and the team’s success in any playoff run will depend on him and Green staying healthy. News of Green’s aching back recently should raise concerns after he missed more than a month late last season with a back injury.

“Typical time of the season where you call them the dog days, halfway through, not through the All-Star break yet,” Green told this news organization earlier this week. “Do you feel great? No. Not physically or mentally. That’s just the space you’re in at that point in the season. No one feels great.”

Green began this season with a unique motivation as a

he damn sure can’t let his team walk out of the locker room without addressing it.

The contrast between the Cowboys and 49ers before the game last year was stark.

San Francisco walked on the field with swag, led by a player holding a boom box and rest of the team bopping their head to the beat.

The sheepish Cowboys walked out on eggshells, at home no less.

It’s little wonder they gave up a touchdown on the opening drive and fell behind 13-0, which proved to be too much for them to overcome when the clock ran out on their potential last-second comeback.

McCarthy pointed out that one way to give yourself a better chance for playoff success is to repeatedly get there which allows you to be more comfortable and confident.

The Cowboys followed last seasons 12-5 mark with an identical record.

problem child who pundits proclaimed needed to be traded after video leaked of him punching teammate Jordan Poole in the preseason. He proved again himself as an irreplaceable defender and playmaker. Now he’s playing 31 minutes per game, nearly half the time and most effectively at center, with a concerning workload already. Green says he’s doing what he can to stave off an extended absence, focusing more on his core strength this season to prevent another bad back injury. But the Warriors could insulate their title hopes from imploding if Green misses time.

Adding some depth to the frontcourt could also help the Warriors’ defensive identity crisis. After a dismal 1-5 East Coast road trip, Green said the team’s mental fragility was the biggest reason for its lack of

Walker closed with a rush to finish with 1,050 yards and nine touchdowns and joined Curt Warner as the only two rookie running backs to gain 1,000 yards in Seattle history.

He has 100-plus yards in his last three games –

the last two of which the Seahawks had to win to stay in the postseason race. Walker had 78 carries for 354 yards over the last three games, and Seattle coach Pete Carroll would like nothing better than to load Walker up with another 25-plus on Saturday.

Arriving as a lateral-cut runner along the lines of Le’Veon Bell, Walker has flourished since heeding a directive from Carroll at halftime of a Week 16 loss to Kansas City. With 16 yards on nine carries in the first half against the Chiefs, Carroll challenged Walker to cut less and be more aggressive. He had 91 yards on 17 carries in the second half and more than 100 yards in each of the last two games.

Not a major factor in either regular-season game against the 49ers, Walker carried four times for 10 yards in Week 2 and 12 times for 47 yards in Week 15 after sitting out a week with an ankle injury.

The 49ers’ top-ranked defense includes giving up just 77.7 yards per game and 3.4 yards per carry on the ground, the best figures in the league.

The Seahawks’ path to victory, along with winning the turnover battle, would entail winning in two areas that the 49ers consider their strength – running the ball and stopping the run.

Stopping the run would be forcing Purdy to to pass more frequently. He’s thrown more than 30 passes only twice, going 25 of 37 for 210 yards off the bench against Miami and 22 of 35 for 284 yards in an overtime win against the Raiders.

Purdy started the second game against Seattle on a Thursday night with an oblique strain that almost prevented him from playing. After having barely thrown the ball on a short week, he was 17 of 26 for 217 yards and two touchdowns the night the 49ers wrapped up the NFC West.

“I had the whole rib thing going on,” Purdy said. “I feel a lot better. I’m excited about that, but I was definitely hurting for that game.”

From Page B1

plane, which made it to Burbank without incident, Les said.

Les praised the pilots and Southwest staff. He said the scary experience may bond an already close UCD team even more.

Several UCD players are relatively new to flying.

Junior guard Kane Milling, a native of Nantes, France, is the team’s most experienced flier. Les said he could hear Milling assuring teammates as the team was burning off fuel that all would be well.

Les let his players sleep in Wednesday before an early afternoon shootaround at Northridge. Later, UCD defeated the Matadors 62-54.

“We’re glad to be safe

consistent ball pressure. That manifests in a lack of grit on defense that gave them that extra oomph last season.

Another area of concern has been playmaking, but Andre Iguodala could be the extra point forward the Warriors need. In his second game back on Tuesday, he played the adult in the room, his best role, that prompted 13 Phoenix turnovers in the fourth quarter to buoy the Warriors’ comeback attempt. He briefly took over the role Green had to shoulder when the second unit was floundering earlier this year, relieving the turnover-prone Poole from some playmaking duties.

If he can stay healthy, 38-year-old Iguodala could be a front court depth savior with IQ that makes his integration back onto the roster seamless.

The Warriors’ issues aren’t

Davisand sound,” Les said. “For all the bad publicity Southwest has received with (weather-related flight delays during the holidays), the crew was really good, really solid, and they handled the issue without panic, kept everyone calm and reassured everybody that we’d be OK.”

Les added, “We have some guys who are not great fliers to begin with, and they were a little rattled, understandably so. The aftermath was that everyone was on edge, but nothing over the top. There was a sense of relief, and the applause from everyone when we did land, it was real. The appreciation was real. The ability to take a deep breath was a positive.”

Sacramento sits beneath the giant bird migratory route known as the Pacific Flyway.

just defensive – though they thrive off the transition offense their defense creates. Poole hasn’t taken the next step after signing his lucrative contract. Moses Moody’s development has taken an alarming turn.

The executives who circled up Tuesday night have every reason to be concerned. With a historically large payroll and a title to defend, a sub-.500 record at the halfway mark warrants action.

But around the corner in the team locker room, the mood remained as it has all year. The veterans know they have to set the tone, but these ups and downs are just part of a familiar ride. They still think they’ll win a title.

“All the team that’s won championships here, we’ve been on since 2015,” Green said. “I 100 percent believe that. It hasn’t been proven yet that we can’t.”

Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune/TNS file (2022)

Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy watches from the sidelines during action against the Chicago Bears at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, Oct. 30, 2022.

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