Daily Republic: Monday, January 23, 2023

Travis trustees hear highs, lows of student progress, well-being

susAn HiLAnd SHILAND@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

FAIRFIELD — Trustees of the Travis School district last week received information about how students are faring both academically and socially, along with an update of what the district is doing to help both students and their parents.

Sue Brothers, assistant superintendent of Educational Studies, presented an update Tuesday on the midyear Local Control and Accountability Plan.

Brothers covered student performance and district progress on both school board goals and state-mandated Local Control and Accountability Plan goals in the areas of basic services, family involvement, student social-emotional wellness and academic achievement.

Third- through eighth-graders and 11th-graders last spring tested higher than the state averages in English-language arts and math at 99% for both subjects, Brothers reported. The graduation rate for all students was at 96.7% compared to the state average of 87%.

“Travis School District did very well,” Brothers said.

The dropout rate was low with five dropouts in 2021-22 for a rate of 1.2%. The Solano County dropout rate was 7.8% and state dropout rate was 5.6%.

Travis School District’s high school students did not fare nearly as well in the 15 courses needed for seniors to gain college admission, with 51% meeting the A-G course

requirements.

“It was not a complete disaster,” Brothers said.

The district is working to address several issues to reach these college admission requirements: identify and remove systemic barriers; implement a high school guidance program and increase use of the Naviance College and Career Readiness Curriculum; monitor student progress and encourage students with A-G completion gaps to take or repeat needed coursework; provide academic supports for ninth graders enrolled in A-G courses; and fund AP tests for low-income students, English learners and foster youth.

The staff did a study of the social-emotional health of students and they found the number of students feeling down or anxious fell

Fairfield-Suisun board considers implications of governor’s budget

susAn HiLAnd SHILAND@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

FAIRFIELD — The Fairfield-Suisun School District – along with public schools across the state – is feeling the pinch of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed 2023-24 budget, with the likely end of pandemic-driven one-time funding and no no relief provided as CalPERS retirement rates increase and CalSTRS retirement rates remain high.

The situation is such that schools will likely see most – if not all – spending for recent programs curtailed just to maintain baseline programs.

That was the gist of the message provided Tuesday to trustees of the Fairfield Suisun School District by Laneia Grindle, assistant superintendent of Business Services, who presented

the governor’s budget plan and resulting budget year projections for the district. It looks like the focus for the budget has shifted from pandemicrelated issues to more business-as-usual funding, she said.

“Business as usual comes with a softening economy,” Grindle said. “This means . . . no new

programs and they are looking at maintaining the same programs.”

The governor’s budget is focused on maintaining programs where possible while trimming others, she said. As the Covid-19 pandemic recedes, other crises receive more attention – homelessness, housing and extreme weather. All of these things will affect the

See Fairfield, Page A7

Driver found dead in van linked with mass shooting

Los A ngeLes Times

MONTEREY PARK, Calif. — Authorities have breached a white van in Torrance that they believe is connected to the gunman who opened fire at a ballroom dance studio in Monterey Park on Saturday night, killing 10 people and injuring 10 others.

Just before 1 p.m. Sunday, a SWAT team swarmed the vehicle and smashed its windows in the parking lot of Tokyo Central, a Japanese grocery store near the southwest corner of Hawthorne and Sepulveda boulevards.

At least two bullet holes had been visible in the driver’s-side window in the moments prior to their approach, and the driver appeared to be slumped over the steering wheel. Multiple law enforcement sources told the Los Angeles

Times that the driver had died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna did not immediately confirm whether the individual in the van was the suspected shooter.

“Could it be our suspect? Possibly,” Luna said. “But at this point, if we’re doing our jobs correctly, we’re not only looking at that situation or scenario, but we’re making sure that we’re looking at any and every possibility.”

The Monterey Park shooting, about seven miles east of downtown Los Angeles, occurred on Lunar New Year’s Eve.

Luna said it was too early to tell whether the festival was connected to the shooting.

Some witnesses described a white cargo van, which Luna said

Covid deaths in China top 12,600 in week before Lunar New Year

BLoomBerg news

China said more than 12,600 people died of Covid-related causes in the week leading up to the Lunar New Year holidays, with a a health official saying about 80% of the population was infected with the virus in the current outbreak.

There were 12,658 Covid-linked deaths at hospitals between Jan. 13-19, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement dated Saturday. The country reported 59,938 such deaths between Dec. 8 and Jan. 12.

The center’s chief epidemiologist Wu Zunyou said separately in a Weibo post that 80% of the country’s residents were infected in the current round. While Lunar New Year travel may lead to uptick in cases in some

regions, Wu said there is “very little chance” for large-scale infections or a second round of an outbreak nationwide in the next two to three months.

China had a population of 1.41 billion at the end of 2022, suggesting more than 1.1 billion people had the virus recently in the world’s biggest Covid-19 outbreak.

Wu didn’t elaborate on how the infections were derived.

A sudden dismantling of "Covid-zero" restrictions in December meant hundreds of millions of people headed home for the Lunar New Year holiday for the first time since 2019.

President Xi Jinping singled out Covid-19’s rural spread in a nationwide video address he held before the holiday, saying he’s especially

See

Aaron Rosenblatt/

Students

after

last class

2022-23 academic

year at Vanden High School off Markley Lane in Fairfield, Aug. 11, 2022.

There's no rhyme or reason to this column

Sometimes a bunch of stuff just pops into my head and there doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to it.

Once I thought about that, I did a search on Google for “origin of no rhyme or reason.” Did you know there is actually an official No Rhyme or Reason Day? I didn’t, either. It’s Sept. 1. Anyway, according to the website, that idiom has existed since 1460 in the English language. It was first read in the book, “The Boke of Nurture,” by John Russell, and then later made an appearance in 1590 in the Shakespearean play “Comedy of Errors.”

So today, I offer up some random stuff, but I wanted there to be a rhyme and reason. Thus, here is the rhyme: a sac where spores are made is called a sporange so slap the next person saying nothing rhymes with orange.

Here’s the reason: I couldn't think of anything else.

For the Record: I was in Walmart last week and walked past an endcap with record albums on it. They included Queen’s “A Night at the Opera,” “The Very Best of Electric Light Orchestra,” The Jimi Hendrix Experience's “Smash Hits” and others. Now, as someone with an old-school pedigree, it should have made my heart sing to see such a thing in 2023.

It did not.

You see, I remember what a magical thing it was to walk into a real record store like Eucalyptus Records and Tapes here in Fairfield or Tower Records in Concord or Leopold’s and Rasputin’s in Berkeley. That feeling of bliss coupled with mystery and discovery while you flipped through hundreds of albums is not analogous to finding a tiny greatest hits or “a band at their

most obvious” record section at Walmart.

A lousy few albums at a big-box store is to old-school record stores what a delicious home-cooked Christmas meal is to going to a Chinese restaurant on Dec. 25 where they hack the head off the roasted duck that was smiling at you while workers butcher Christmas carols.

Dream Weaver: I need someone to interpret a weird dream I had recently. I was at a party with a bunch of celebrities. Detective Axel Foley showed up wearing his Detroit Lions varsity letter jacket and after much cajoling, he agreed to sing his big hit “Party All the Time.” On the sofa next to me was the Buck Buck Champion of the world and internationally known theoretical physicist Fat Albert Einstein. Once Axel Foley finished his song to a standing ovation, to my horror, I was being urged to sing. I tried to protest that I was not a singer, which everyone laughed at. Finally Fat Albert Einstein pushed me to the front of the room and I was given a microphone. They all demanded I sing my song “Tie A Yellow Ribbon Around My Heart I Left in San Francisco,” which as far as I know is not a thing. Nonetheless, I had to give it a go.

The music started, I took a deep breathe and at that moment Paul Rudd, also known as AntMan, flew into my mouth and got stuck in my windpipe. I wheezed and screeched the best I could and the gurgling, gasping sounds I was making, amplified by the microphone I continued to hold up to my mouth, sounded like the whimpering, tragic cries of a dying wildebeest. Finally, Ant-Man shot from my throat and I could catch my breath. The entire party applauded wildly. The

YouTube video of my performance was later viewed more than 3 million times and even got a comment from Yoko Ono, who praised my take on her singing style.

Fun Local Fact: Since Class of 1949 grad Noriyuki “Pat” Morita, who played Mr. Miyagi in the Karate Kid movies, went to Armijo, that makes Armijo Miyagi-Do. By default that makes Fairfield High the evil Cobra Kai. I don’t make the rules, I just follow them.

Library’s New System: The Solano County Library updated its system recently and I checked it out when it was up and running and give it a thumbs up. I put a hold on a book and was stunned when it said my hold would be in effect until 2050. If some folks are trying to put a hold on one of my books and it tells them that, don't freak out, I can get you one before that seeming stardate.

Good Partsing: The other night I did some good partsing on Netflix. You know what I’m talking about, right? It’s when you don’t really want to invest the time to watch the complete movie you have seen many times before, just the good parts, so you skim through it. A good partsed viewing of the 1989 Steve Martin flick “Parenthood” is like this: Diarrhea song sing-a-long . . . sex toy flashlight . . . Photomat switchup . . . leaky diaphragm . . . Cowboy Gil . . . roller coaster school play . . . hot rod crash . . . lots of babies. A good partsed viewing of “Jerry Maguire”: Hockey kid flip-off . . . memo . . . fired and taking the fish . . . Show Me Rod Tidwell’s money . . . the human head weighs 8 pounds . . . shoplifted pootie . . . hurt on the field . . . big contract . . . you had me at hello. A good partsed viewing of any Ernest movie: That’s not a thing.

Jumped at Kaiser – in a good

have been fine because I was reading my emergency book. The only thing was, I also had my phone plugged in and was playing instrumental music as I like to do when reading and didn’t realize it had been going on for some time. So when Beth finally came out, I was ready to go, but the Jeep’s battery had other plans. We called roadside assist and I sat there angry at myself and that it was going to take another 45 minutes to an hour for them to come. I opened the hood and almost immediately a guy pulled up next to us and asked if we needed a jump start. But then it got better. A woman walked up and she, too, asked if we needed a jump because she had industrial strength cables. I told her thank you, but the guy had it. She even drove by before leaving to make sure. Having two strangers almost fight over who would help us renewed my belief in the fundamental goodness of most people.

A-Ha Moment: Remem-

videos like the groundbreaking one for that song were ubiquitous back then so of course I heard it a bajillion times. Well, recently I listened to a playlist of 1980s tunes and it was on it. I had no idea the singer was actually singing words when he does that high-pitched part in the chorus. Evidently after he says “I’ll be gone” he says “In a day or two.” I had no idea. I just thought he was making sounds like a yodeler. Or kinda like that sound that 2004 presidential candidate Howard Dean made at the end of the speech that doomed his campaign. Or a dying wildebeest. Or Yoko Ono.

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.”

Tony Wade

The last laugh

Tony Wade/Courtesy photo

The new releases of vinyl records at the Suisun City Walmart.

$4M SCOE grant to support mental health, wellness

Daily Republic Staff DRNEWS@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

FAIRFIELD — Solano County Office of Education has received a $4 million federal grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

The grant's focus is to advance healing and improve social determinants of health among youth and families in communities that have experienced community violence, disproportionate impacts of

the Covid-19 pandemic, and other significant col lective trauma over the past 24 months.

“SCOE is honored and well-positioned to be entrusted with such an important grant that will support building capacity for increased mental health supports in our school communities. Schools across Solano County have seen an increase in student mental health and wellness needs, and we will use this

ESTRELLA-HENDERSON

grant to continue to be a conduit and leader in this work for students and families,” Solano County Superintendent of Schools Lisette Estrella-Henderson said in a press release.

As part of the grant work, the Solano County Office of Education will engage the community to plan and deploy culturally relevant, trauma informed prevention, interven-

tion and "post-vention" strategies that build school and community capacity, expand service access and promote healing and healthy development, according to the press release. The county office will place particular focus on those disproportionately affected in the past two years, including Black, Latino and Latina, LGBTQ students and families who are more likely to experience mental health symptoms and crises.

Prevention activities will be

Toy-Anime-Comic Con returns to the Moose Lodge in Vacaville

Daily Republic Staff DRNEWS@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

VACAVILLE — The Vacaville Toy-AnimeComic Con returns this weekend for more costumed fun.

Guests are encouraged to dress in cosplay costumes.

The event will take place from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, with a 2:30 p.m. costume contest at Loyal Order of the Moose Lodge, 6585 Gibson Canyon Road, in Vacaville. Free parking is available.

Bring a camera and have fun dressing up. This is a kid-friendly event. Those 10 and younger are admitted free.

Tickets are $8 at the door.

Flavor of Scotland at Burns Night

VACAVILLE — Celebrate the Scottish tradition of Burns Night with a California twist.

The event will begin at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the Vacaville Public LibraryTown Square, 1 Town Square Place.

The evening will have music from harpist Sandra Fromm, along with poetry and historical facts about Scotland’s national poet, Robert Burns.

Space is limited. Register at https://solanolibrary. com/hours-and-locations/ vacaville-town-square-library.

Kindergarten registration opens

FAIRFIELD — Kindergarten registration for

targeted to the whole community.

The goals of the project are to decrease incidents of community violence and the impact of collective trauma, while increasing the knowledge and capacity of schools and other youth-serving entities, according to the press release.

The grant will also help increase the knowledge and development of mental health interns at both the graduate and paraprofessional level.

week

The ahead

the 2023-24 school year in the Fairfield-Suisun School District opens Monday. Children who turn 5, with birth dates from Sept. 2, 2017, to Sept. 1, 2018, can register for kindergarten classes.

Transitional kindergarten classes are available for children who turn 5 after the kindergarten cut-off date.

To register, visit fsusd. org/register.

Early transitional kindergarten placement for younger children who turn 5 within the school year is available as space allows, and will only be granted after all of the official state “qualified” transitional kindergarten children within the district have been placed. Early eligibility placement requires children to have birth dates between April 3, 2019, and June 7, 2019.

For more information, call 707-399-5000.

Handful of government meetings on calendar

FAIRFIELD — A handful of government meetings that are open to the public will take place this week in the FairfieldSuisun City-Vacaville area. Some will be both online and in-person; others will

only be in-person. Check each agency’s websites for more information.

The scheduled meetings include:

n Fairfield Suisun Sewer District Executive Committee, 4:30 p.m. Monday, executive conference room, 1010 Chadbourne Road, Fairfield. Info: fssd.com.

n Solano County Board of Supervisors, 9 a.m. Tuesday, County Govern-

ment Center, 675 Texas St., Fairfield. Info: www. solanocounty.com/depts/ bos/meetings/videos.asp.

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

n Suisun City Council, 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, City Council chamber, 701 Civic Center Blvd. Info: www.suisun.com/government/city-council.

State water district roiled in bitter infighting about general manager

i an JameS anD DoR any pineDa LOS ANGELES TIMES

LOS ANGELES — For years, the Central Basin Municipal Water District was seen as a poster child for government dysfunction: State auditors slammed the agency for questionable contracting practices, poor leadership and violating the law. Competing lawsuits accused officials of corruption and harassment, while the district’s bond rating plummeted. Then in 2020, as some California lawmakers sought to dissolve the district’s board of directors and place it in receivership, the Com-

merce-based water wholesaler hired a self-described “turnaround specialist” to reform the district, which serves almost 2 million residents in southeast Los Angeles. The troubled district was finally entering a new age, some hoped.

But those hopes have now faded as the district finds itself in yet another major scandal.

General Manager Alejandro “Alex” Rojas – the man who was supposed to rehabilitate the district — now faces charges of money laundering, soliciting a bribe and grand theft embezzlement. The

charges, which were filed in August, stem from his days as superintendent of La Puente’s Bassett Unified School District from 2014 to 2017, and not from his work at the district.

Rojas has denied any wrongdoing.

The charges have stoked bitter infighting among board members and complicated decision making at one of Southern California’s major water wholesalers. Some district residents are concerned about the allegations against Rojas and other officials.

“There’s this pervasive culture

Pro videna G. Cruz

Providena (Dina) passed away peacefully after a short illness at Fairfield Post-Acute Rehab on December 22, 2022, surrounded by her loving family members.

She was born on Februar y 18, 1935, in Barrigada, Guam to her parents, Jesus and Concepcion Gogue.

She was the second daughter of eleven siblings.

She graduated from George Washington High School, Mong Mong, Guam in 1955.

She married the love of her life, Francisco Quitugua Cruz, on December 15, 1955, at the ag e of 20 and to ge ther they had five children.

She was a longstanding parishioner of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church and an active member of the Lay Carmelit e Order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and the Young Ladies Institute #125 organization in the parish. She enjoyed volunteering to visit the sick/homebound and truly enjoyed the company of her family, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and friends.

A rosar y will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Januar y 25, 2023, at Our Lady of Mount Carmel, 2700 Dover Ave., Fairfield, Calif followed by a Funeral Mass at 11:00 a.m. Burial ser vices will be at Fairmont Memorial Park, 1901 Union Ave., Fairfield, California.

Arrangements are under the direction of Br yan-Baker Funeral Home, 1850 W. Texas St., Fairfield, CA 94533.

LAPD ban of ‘thin blue line’ flag latest salvo in culture war

liboR Jany LOS ANGELES TIMES

LOS ANGELES — For some, the “thin blue line” flag is an expression of solidarity with police officers who have lost their lives on the job.

To others, the blackand-white American flag with a single blue stripe is a potent symbol of the ties between right-wing extremism and American law enforcement.

The tension between those irreconcilable interpretations spilled over in the Los Angeles Police Department this month, when Chief Michel Moore ordered the flag, which was widely displayed in station lobbies around the city, to be removed from public view.

Along with banning the flag from station lobbies, Moore said his order includes patches on uniforms and bumper

stickers on police vehicles. Violators could face discipline, a department spokeswoman said Thursday.

In a departmentwide email, Moore said the flag’s original meaning of support for police had been overshadowed when it began appearing at rallies for the Proud Boys and other far-right extremist groups.

“It’s unfortunate that extremist groups have hijacked the use of the ‘Thin Blue Line Flag’ to symbolize their undemocratic, racist, and bigoted views. Flags serve as powerful symbols with specific meanings,” he wrote, adding that officers would still be allowed to display the flag in their personal work spaces, lockers and personal vehicles.

Moore’s decision went

Deborah Lee Cruz

Deborah (Debbie) passed away peacefully after a short illness at her home on December 23, 2022, surrounded by her loving family Debbie was born on April 30, 1965 in Sacramento, CA to parents; Walter Glenn and Karen Glenn. She was the only daughter of 3 children. She graduated from Benicia High School, Benicia, CA in 1983. She was involved in Job’s Daughters and the Vacaville high school band. She worked as a manager for over a decade at Vacaville Foster Freeze and last worked for FSUSD at Armijo where she appreciated and loved her work family

She married the love of her life, Francis G. Cruz on April 10, 1999 and together they raised three sons.

She was a devoted wife and mother She truly enjoyed the company of her family, grandchildren, and friends. She loved going out with Francis and friends while dancing the night away She was a huge fan of birthdays, holidays, limousines, hotel stays, room ser vice, reality TV and Santa Cruz. She was a hopeless romantic and will be missed by many who loved her!

She leaves behind her loving husband of 23 years, Francis; three sons, Parker (Gabriella) Rike, Cameron and Michael; granddaughters, Aver y and Evelyn; mother, Karen Wolff; stepfather, Robert Wolff; siblings, William (Teresa) Glenn and Tyler (Tiffany) Glenn; brothers-in-law, Paul (Tricia), James (Cindy) and Jesse; sister-in-law, Mar y (Joseph) Tydingco

She was preceded in death by her father Walter Glenn; parents-in-law, Francisco Q. Cruz and Providena G. Cruz; and grandson, Liam Vega-Rike.

A viewing will be held from 10:15 to 11:00 a.m. with a rosar y at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, Januar y 26, 2023, at Our Lady of Mount Carmel, 2700 Dover Ave., Fairfield, Calif followed by a Funeral Mass at 11:00 a.m.

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the American Cancer Society

Arrangements are under the direction of Fairfield Funeral Home, 1750 Pennsylvania Avenue, Fairfield, CA 94533.

June Walker Codone

June Walker Codone, age 90, of Pensacola, passed away surrounded by family on Tuesday, January 17, 2023. June was born on June 22, 1932, in Pensacola to the late Robert and Daisy Williams Walker In addition to her parents, June is preceded in death by her husband, George John Codone, Sr

June was a loving mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and homemaker She graduated from Pensacola High School and attended Tennessee Temple University and Pensacola Junior College. She was an active member of Olive Baptist Church, lovingly devoting her time to Sunday School, Vacation Bible School, and Girls in Action. She loved quilting and was a member of the Quilting Club and was also on the Olive Bowling League. She was an avid Scrabble player and loved to spend time with her family and friends.

Those left to cherish her memor y include, her four children, Dianne McGraw (Alex), of New Orleans, L A, Cindy Barrington (Mike), of Pensacola, FL, Louis Codone, of Napa, CA and George Codone, Jr (Susan), of Macon, GA; her five grandchildren, Jennifer Rimes (Tyson), of Huntsville, AL, Mark Hale, Jr. (Mandi), of Huntsville, AL, Erin Codone, of Atlanta, GA, Br ynn and Connor Codone, both of Macon, GA; a great-granddaughter Quinn Rimes, of Huntsville, AL.

A Celebration of Life Ser vice will be held at 9:30 AM on Monday Januar y 23, 2023, at Harper-Morris Memorial Chapel, with Dr Jerr y Passmore, officiating. A committal ser vice will follow at Barrancas National Cemetery

Aaron Rosenblatt/Daily Republic file (2020) Brody Peterson, 11, dresses as Dabi from My Hero Academia during Vaca-Con 2020 at the Ulatis Community Center in Vacaville, March 7, 2020.

State housing shortage triggers cycle of despair

Everyone in California knows, or should know, the state has an immense shortage of housing that persists despite efforts by its politicians to jump-start construction.

State officials say we need to build 180,00 new units of housing each year to meet demand, even though the state’s population has been slowly declining of late.

At best, California is building about half that number, adjusted for losses to old age, fires and other calamities, and construction seems to be slowing due to sharp increases in interest rates.

The economic laws of supply and demand mean the housing shortage results in high home prices and rents. As those costs, particularly rents, filter down to the Californians on the bottom rungs of the economic ladder, they result in California’s having the highest rate of poverty of any state, 13.2%, when the cost of living is included in the calculation.

Poverty dipped a bit during the Covid-19 pandemic, thanks to a series of temporary federal and state support programs. As they phase out, the underlying causes, particularly high housing costs, remain in force.

Continuously, some impoverished Californians run out of options to keep roofs over their heads and tumble into homelessness, giving California the nation’s highest number and the highest relative proportion of unhoused people.

Some newly released data not only underscore this unfortunate cycle, but reveal its contrast with what’s happening elsewhere.

The first data set comes from Matin Real Estate, a broker in Portland, and compares home construction in California to that of other states, expressed as units per 1,000 population.

Nationwide, the firm found, 5.3 units of housing are being built for every 1,000 U.S. residents but individual states range from a high of 11.7 in Utah to a low of 1.27 in Rhode Island. Idaho, Florida and South Carolina round out the top construction states while Connecticut, Illinois and New York are in the bottom ranks with Rhode Island.

California isn’t in the very lowest tier but it’s 13th from the bottom at 3.04 per 1,000. Were California to match the national rate, it would be producing 212,000 units a year –a bit higher than the state’s official goal but also a level that California once achieved.

It’s noteworthy that Florida, a state that California Gov. Gavin Newsom often disparages, is one of the nation’s leaders in home construction at No. 2. Texas, another archrival, is No. 6.

California fares even worse in the second data set, showing the relative impact of rental costs.

Forbes Homes, a website devoted to residential living costs, compared rents to incomes in all 50 states, using data from federal agencies, and found California renters have the nation’s second highest rent burdens – the factor that dominates the state’s very high poverty index.

Hawaii’s renters fare the worst, devoting an average of 42.06% of their incomes to keep themselves housed, while California is No. 2 at 28.47%, followed by New Jersey, Massachusetts and Delaware.

The numbers from both data sets are important indicators of California’s stark socioeconomic division between those who can enjoy California’s matchless scenic and cultural wonders and its powerful economy, now said to be the fourth largest in the world, and those who struggle to survive.

Housing availability and costs are the central factors in that division, whose most disturbing manifestation is the explosion of squalid encampments on the sidewalks of the state’s major cities.

As California politicians declare their commitment to dealing with homelessness, they should also acknowledge it originates in the state’s chronic shortage of housing that shows no signs of abating.

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.

Who’s radical now? The GOP

Let’s talk today about the tragic slide of the GOP into its present disastrous state. The past Republican national heroes, Honest Abe, Teddy, Ike and Reagan are mercifully gone. They don’t have to witness the present calamity.

What would Honest Abe say about the routine bald-faced lies we’re hearing? Now, Fairfield and Suisun City Republicans, I’m not talking about you. But your leaders have been slipping into a sea of lies.

I assume Reagan actually believed tax cuts for the wealthy grow the economy. The theory has now been thoroughly debunked but the GOP continues on with what is now a lie.

I’ve previously written about George W’s disastrous Little Lie, that is, that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and was going to use them against us. Lying to get us into a war marked a new low. It also blew up the Middle East and half of Europe.

I’ve also written about Paul Ryan’s acceptance speech for the vice presidency in 2012. The next day Brent Baird, a fairly honest Fox News commentator, said something like, “Never before has a high political speech contained so much questionable material.” I reflected at the time, “We’re now in the place where the best liar wins elections.”

Then came Donald Trump with his 30,000 lies and misrepresentations, not to mention his Big Lie.

Today we’re dealing with the Trumpification of the Republican

ON THE LEFT THE RIGHT STUFF

Party. A full majority of the House Republicans are election deniers, knowing full well it’s impossible to steal 7 million votes over seven states. But GOP members of Congress destructively soldier on with the Big Lie.

Of the infamous Gang of 20 Freedom Caucus members who held out against Kevin McCarthy for Speaker, 18 are deniers.

Rep. Steve Scalise recently claimed some Democratic states allow a newborn baby to be killed – murdered – if the mother permits. No Republican stood up to the lie. Is there no bottom?

Rep. Elise Stefanik claims, “We passed the most transparent rules package in history.” But McCarthy won’t release the three-page list of concessions he granted to Freedom Caucus members to secure his election to the speakership. They’re secret.

The Republican House just passed a resolution against attacks on “prolife facilities, groups and churches.” Huh? Did they mean to say, “attacks on abortion clinics and practioners?” Probably not.

Speaking of the new House’s first week, did you all enjoy their attempt to cut off funding for the modernization of the IRS by hiring 87,000 new personnel, including 6,500 agents slated to investigate tax returns over $400,000? But in the Republican telling, “87,000 agents” will investigate incomes down to $75,000.

Finally, you knew I would have to mention Rep. George Santos. His story is so lurid I’m guessing you know it.

Did you know many in the GOP knew he was lying about his faux heroic story? None of them spoke up.

You couldn’t have missed that the House GOP gutted the Ethics Committee that McCarthy insisted will investigate Santos [someday, maybe]. Again, no bottom.

When Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner committed his tawdry acts, Speaker Nancy Pelosi hauled him into her office and he quit within days. That’s ethics.

All this underscores the widespread observation that the GOP is no longer interested in governance, why we normally elect people to office. Their only interest now is “owning the libs.”

Recall, they had no platform for the 2020 election, a first. Their premier issue in 2022 was inflation, but without suggesting any remedies. That issue is now forgotten in favor of a firehose of inflammatory lies and the formation of a committee to perform show trials led by Rep. Jim “The Jackal” Jordan. The GOP has now become a party of revenge politics.

Everyone knows that absolutely no legislation will be passed for the next two years. And we’ve become used to it. Government nihilism no longer outrages, but it should. Everyone should be alarmed at the brazen act to abolish government by pure obstructionism.

Pressing national problems could be dealt with through bipartisanship, but they won’t be. Clearly, one party prevents it.

Jack Batson is a former member of the Fairfield City Council. Reach him by email at jsbatson@prodigy.net.

Courage the foundation for all virtue

Last week I wrote about civil and martial courage.

I believe we are seeing a reawakening of civil courage in our House of Representatives. We have elected men and women to the 118th Congress to start reorienting the “Peoples House” toward its constitutionally required duty.

President Abraham Lincoln said: “The people of the U.S. are the rightful masters Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow those who would pervert the Constitution.”

So, I had some ideas about how the new House of Representatives should start out with committee assignments. Let’s have a look at the various committee members for the last Congress and dive a bit into the current Congress. Let’s look at each member’s performance regardless of political party or identified as progressive or conservative. What did they say and do for the salary they got from “We the People?” We elect them: They work for us, not the other way around. It’s past time everyone in public office remembers this.

So, let’s take three:

First, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), former chairman of the Intelligence Committee who claimed, for years (2019-22), he had absolute proof President Donald Trump colluded with Russia. We now know, thanks to Elon Musk, FBI whistleblowers and others,

this was a bold-faced lie. He, his staff and other members fraudulently put forward deliberate lies causing extreme disruption, disrepute and expenditure of public funds through distraction of a duly elected and innocent president. Additionally, he caused others to defend against false allegations. He asked for censorship of American citizens. So, this man is not only a character assassin but a thief and a traitor, too.

Second, Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) who, as a member of the Intelligence Committee, had a clandestine relationship with an accused Chinese Communists spy, Christine Fang, for five years. She helped him staff his local and DC offices. He, too, colluded with Schiff to further lies about Trump.

Third, newly elected Rep. George Santos (R-NY). This man fabricated and or embellished his background and frankly God only knows what else. How can he be trusted with the people’s business? He is a disgrace. He should resign now.

All three of these people lack integrity, which is defined as being honest and showing a consistent and uncompromising adherence to strong moral and ethical principles and values.

Messer’s Schiff and Swalwell are licensed attorneys. Perhaps the California Bar should take a long look at these two as they are a bit short of the stated five codes of integrity.

I have a question for every citizen

who voted for anyone in the House of Representatives. If someone can go to prison for lying under oath to Congress, shouldn’t members of Congress go to prison for lying to the people while on the job? Seems reasonable, doesn’t it? But, oh well, there I go with common sense.

The 117th House of Representatives controlled by Democrats inspired colossal fiscal irresponsibility, the socalled “Bill for the People,” cranked out $1.73 trillion for all sorts of things, much of which we neither need nor want. One line I find truly revelatory of who they are is they say they put people before politics, but apparently just not the American people who pay the bill. There is $410 million in this bill for border security for Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, Tunisia and Oman but not one dime for our border security.

I would say they should be ashamed but I would be wasting my breath. Our members of Congress must have a sense of honor, discipline, dignity integrity to do the right thing and yes, courage above all else to feel shame. Obviously, far too many in the 117th Congress and some in the 118th Congress – representing both parties –lack the integrity needed to do this hard public service.

Jim McCully is a former chairman of the Solano County Republican Central Committee and former regional vice chairman of the California Republican Party.

Dan Walters

Jack Batson

Jim McCully

(707) 427-1386

Netflix gives ‘Cobra Kai’ a 6th and final season

Tribune ConTenT AgenCy

“Cobra Kai,” the surprisingly sturdy continuation of “The Karate Kid” story, will get a sixth and final season on Netflix.

The show originally began as a YouTube premium scripted show, but when YouTube stopped investing in such programming Netflix picked it up for Season 3. And it became a much bigger hit on the huge streaming platform.

Season 5 debuted in September and spent six weeks in the Nielsen streaming top 10.

The trio of men who brought Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) and his universe back ― Josh Heard, Jon Hurwitz

and Hayden Schlossberg ― released a farewell letter today.

“Reacquainting the world with ‘The Karate Kid’ universe has been our humble honor,” they wrote, noting that it has “enabled us to play sensei, expanding the original storylines and birthing a new generation of underdogs. We’ve never once taken this opportunity for granted.”

They are thrilled to end the show “on our terms, leaving the Valley in the time and place we’ve always imagined . . . While this may be a bittersweet day for the fandom, the Miyagiverse has never been stronger... As we all know, Cobra Kai Never Dies.”

Zits Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman

Pearls Before Swine Stephan Pastis

Dilbert Scott Adams

Baby Blues Rick Kirkman and Jerry Scott

Baldo Hector Cantú

Man wants to keep fighting for family

Dear Annie: I am at an impasse. On the one hand, I want to keep fighting for my three-person family of 18 years, but on the other hand, I wonder if staying is doing more harm than good for our daughter of 17. After a Christmas argument, her mom left and returned so late that all hopes for a Christmas dinner dwindled.

My daughter was sad this morning. Her mom was still angry but is calmer now. It’s tough to know what’s right, but staying seems like what my gut tells me to do. “Debbie” and I are not married but have been a family since she was pregnant. She had a tough childhood and gets angry a lot. There’s no reason to not be happy, so I will keep trying. — Family Man

Dear Family Man: I am sorry that you and your daughter are going through this. It sounds like your wife has lots of unresolved anger and a difficult time allowing herself to experience the joys of being together and peaceful on Christmas.

Needless to say, you would benefit tremendously from working with a professional counselor, or a couples counselor for both of you, to get at the root of the blowups. Continue to reassure your daughter how much you love her, and when your wife is calm, tell her how sad her daughter was after she left. As far as doing more harm than good, a 17-year-old wants to know that she is loved and safe, even if one parent is acting like a child.

Dear Annie: I just wanted to follow up on your recent columns about the European/ continental style of eating questions. The other part of the European versus the American/Canadian way of eating involves our use of the knife. On this side of the Atlantic, we typically use our right hand to hold our forks and switch to our left only when cutting something, such as meat, when we will hold a knife in our right hand. Europeans eat with the fork in the left hand and use their knife with the right and

Horoscopes

ARIES (March 21-April 19). You did what was logical and a little of what seemed magical, too. Trust that you’re absorbing the lessons of your journey and don’t overthink it. Give things a chance to marinate. Come back to it in three days.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20). It will feel good to give in a way that’s specific to an individual or to the problem at hand. Your happiness will have to do with helping another person out in a way that others wouldn’t have thought to.

GEMINI (May 21-June 21). You want your life to be exciting because you take the risks that serve purposes that are meaningful to you. Random thrills, however, hold no interest. Your next moves will be carefully considered and expertly calculated.

CANCER (June 22-July 22). What the other person is doing is a function of their own wants, needs and processes. You’ll be as successful as you are objective. Detach and stand back so you can see where your own needs overlap.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). You have luminous qualities, and it would take more energy to hide them than it does to let them shine. Like the sun, you’ll burn off energy while churning to your depths for new sources of fuel.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). You’re likely to keep thinking about something in the same way over and over unless and until you air your thoughts.

by Holiday Mathis

Today’s birthday

Illuminated connections are a theme for you this year as you come together in bright moments with special people, fascinating subjects of interest, scenes and scenery that positively lights you up. More highlights: a valuable found item, being chosen for an important job and giving a gift you’ve dreamed of giving. Gemini and Scorpio adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 7, 14, 31, 30 and 1.

Different people can give you different ways to think about this. Self-expression is key to gaining better perspective.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). A lasting contentment may be better than a trophy in your hand, but you can’t help it –you still want that victory. This won’t be easy, and that’s part of the reason it appeals so strongly to you.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). You’ll be relaxed and in control. Maybe you’d like people to take a particular action or behave in a certain way, but you won’t need to explain or persuade them to do this; you’ll model it instead.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). You’re not the same person you were when you were in that long-ago situation. That was a version of you, and many updates have happened since then. Others

do not switch back and forth like we do.

As someone with a variety of transplanted friends/family, I’ve learned to do both, and I have to admit that while a bit more difficult, the European way does force me to slow down and hence appreciate my meal more! — Having Fun With

Both Ways

Dear Having Fun: Thank you for your letter. Anything that helps slow down the pace at which people eat seems like a pleasant way to eat.

Dear Annie: I just read your letters about “blah” marriages. All you have to do is ask yourself, “Am I better with or without him/her?

Short term? long term?” If the answer is “with,” then the next question is, “How can I make things even better?” —

Simple Question

Dear Simple: These questions can help to simplify complicated situations. Thank you for the suggestion.

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

will need to adjust to accommodate the way things are now.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22Jan. 19). You might be surprised by what your competitors are doing nowadays. Seeing what’s out there could make you feel like you’ve been settling for less than the market dictates.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20Feb. 18). You’re not trying to figure out what went wrong so you can blame someone. You just want to know so you can avoid the same outcome in the future. You’ll pinpoint possible corrective actions and decide the best way to proceed.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). Typically, it’s better to discuss ideas than to trade complaints about minutiae. However, sometimes a complaint can be the first step to thinking along inventive lines. You’ll keep an open mind to what people gripe about.

CELEBRITY PROFILES: “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” star Mariska Hargitay began her time in the spotlight when she was crowned Miss Beverly Hills and continued to star in movies, television and the occasional music video (see Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood”).

Though Detective Olivia Benson is often in serious straits, Hargitay is a typical jovial Aquarius, known to lighten up the set with her sense of humor. Her moon is Libra, the sign of social grace.

Write Holiday Mathis at HolidayMathis.com.

Word Sleuth

Bridge

by Phillip Alder

Claden in the French newspaper Nice-Matin. When North raised to three no-trump over West’s double, evidently he had a long, solid club suit and was hoping to steal a game. With a strong hand, he would have redoubled. West should lead a top spade. On seeing the dummy, it is obvious to switch to a low diamond. East wins with the ace and returns the diamond 10. After South covers with the queen, the defense takes the first five tricks, two spades and three diamonds, for down one. However, if West is feeling particularly avaricious and potentially suicidal, he returns a low diamond at trick four. When partner wins with the eight and has another spade to play, the contract goes down three.

THE FIRST BLOW SHOULD BE TELLING

If you are forced to fight someone, it is usually advantageous to strike the first blow. However, it may be even more important to know where to strike that first blow. The icing on the cake is to know why you are striking there.

Today’s deal was reported by Lucien

Sudoku

Bridge

One cool customer – or cucumber, according to choice – made an incredible opening lead: He selected the spade jack. Now, of course, declarer could have put up dummy’s queen, run the club suit and finished with nine or 10 tricks. Not unnaturally, however, he played low from the dummy. To make matters worse, after West had cashed five spade tricks and led a low diamond to East’s ace, South didn’t cover the diamond 10 return. So a third diamond play allowed the defenders to cash five tricks in that suit too. Down six: 600 points to East-West!

COPYRIGHT: 2023, UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE

by Wayne Gould

Difficulty

THE FIRST BLOW SHOULD BE TELLING

Fill in the grid so that every row, every column and every 3x3 grid contains the digits 1 through 9, with no repeats. That means that no number is repeated in any row, column or box. Solution, tips and computer program at www.sudoku.com

Coast guard plane scours islands looking for migrants

DaviD GooDhue anD Jacqueline charles MIAMI HERALD

CAY SAL BANK, Bahamas — High above a remote uninhabited Bahamian island, a U..S. Coast Guard air crew on patrol watches as a man and small child fish from a white-sand beach. A twin-outboard engine cabin cruiser is anchored in a cove just a few feet from shore.

Using cameras mounted on the C-144 Ocean Sentry, pilots and radar operators watch from about 1,500 feet as the two stand on the sand, rod and reel in hand, waiting for a fish to bite. Then the man and child notice the plane circling above. They drop their fishing gear and run toward trees.

“It’s very peculiar,” Lt. Spencer Zwenger says as he pilots the plane and watches what’s happening on the beach below.

The pilot positions the plane — a twin-engine turbo prop that the Coast Guard uses for search and rescue and law enforcement patrols – at a different angle, and the cameras catch more people hiding beneath a tropical tree canopy.

“Oh, there’s more than two people,” Lt. Cmdr. Joshua Mitcheltree says from the right seat of the cockpit, after spotting the others gathered in the tree line.

The people below are likely migrants that, for unknown reasons, stopped at Cay Sal Bank, an arrowshaped atoll located about 30 miles from the northern coast of Cuba, on their way to South Florida. The Coast Guard crew above was on a routine patrol mission on Jan. 14.

The boat, a factory-built pleasure craft and not a makeshift migrant vessel, also indicates to the crew that the people are not on their own, but taken to the island by paid smugglers.

“It’s a nice boat in this graveyard of boats,”

Zwenger says, noticing a growing number of smashed migrant vessels that have been gathering on Cay Sal and other isolated Bahamian islands – reminders of the ongoing exodus of Cubans and Haitians on the way to the Florida Keys and South Florida.

Lt. Cmdr. Derrick Ferguson with the Royal Bahamas Defense Force said the Cay Sal Bank area just off the north coast of Cuba is a traditional “transshipment point” for people leaving Cuba for the United States. It includes Cay Sal Bank, Elbow Cay and a group of small islands called the Anguilla Cays.

But there has been a “significant uptick” in migrants arriving there over the past three to four months – coinciding with the increase in landings in the Florida Keys, MiamiDade and Broward.

“Sometimes, between navigational errors, sea conditions or mechanical issues, they will be left marooned on one of those cays inside Cay Sal Bank,” Ferguson said.

As the area becomes more of a zone for scrutinizing Coast Guard and Royal Bahamas Defense Force patrols, Cuban migrants are increasingly using routes far to the east and north of the traditional maritime path to South Florida, a trend that concerns Ferguson.

“Which means they are taking longer journeys at greater risk, which could increase the incidence of tragedy and loss of life at sea,” he said.

The increase in migrants from Haiti and Cuba – two countries with deepening economic and social crises — has escalated so much since the holidays that Gov. Ron DeSantis activated the Florida National Guard. He ordered the agency and other state law enforcement agencies to the Keys to help patrol the waters

should be considered “a van of interest.”

An advisory from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department identified the suspect as an adult Asian man, about 5 foot, 10 inches and weighing 150 pounds. An image showed the man in a black leather jacket, beanie and glasses.

The mass shooting, one of California’s worst in recent memory, happened around 10:22 p.m. in the 100 block of West Garvey Avenue at Star Dance Studio.

“When officers arrived on scene, they observed numerous individuals, patrons . . . pouring out of the location, screaming. The officers made entry to the location and located additional victims,” sheriff’s Capt. Andrew Meyer told reporters Sunday morning.

Firefighters pronounced 10 people dead at the scene, including five men and five women, Luna said. At least 10 others were taken to numerous hospitals, and their conditions range from stable to critical.

About 20 minutes after the shooting, a “male Asian suspect” with a firearm walked into another dance hall in the neighboring suburb of Alhambra, Luna said. “Some individuals wrestled the firearm from him, and that individual took off,” he said.

Law enforcement were on scene Sunday morning in Alhambra at the Lai Lai Ballroom & Studio in the 100 block of South Garfield Avenue, about two miles north of the Monterey Park shooting. It was not clear whether the police activity at that site was the incident referenced by authorities. A handmade sign affixed to the front doors said, “Closed, in observance to Star Dance Tragedy” in red marker.

Officials are still working to determine whether there is a connection between the two incidents.

Wong Wei, who lives near the scene of the shooting, had four friends who were at Star Dance Studio on Saturday night, including

Fairfield

From Page One

district’s students and educators, she said.

Grindle said the governor’s budget is “precariously balanced” and a change in the economic forecast could require more difficult decisions at the May budget revision. The governor’s revenue forecast assumes slower economic growth, but not a recession, which comes with what Grindle characterized as “elevated risks.”

Most economists believe a mild recession will occur in 2023 or 2024.

The state’s revenue outlook is substantially different than those of the prior two years.

The governor’s budget forecasts General Fund revenues that are $29.5 billion lower than those of the 2022-23 enacted budget. There is an estimated gap of $22.5 billion in the state’s General Fund for the 2023-24 fiscal year.

Through funding delays, reduction and pullbacks, fund shifts, trigger reductions and borrowing, Newsom was able to keep the state’s significant reserves intact.

his sister. He had been invited to go with them but decided not to. Wei said one of his friends was injured in the shooting and was lying on the ground with blood on her face.

The gunman was holding a “long” gun and appeared to be firing indiscriminately, Wei was told. The “boss” of the studio, referred to as Ma, had also been shot and was on the floor.

“She said, ‘Certainly, he was dead. He wasn’t moving,’ ” Wei said. He wasn’t sure about the condition of his friend Sunday morning or whether she had been hospitalized.

Seung Won Choi, who owns a seafood barbecue restaurant on Garvey Avenue across from where the shooting happened, said three people rushed into his restaurant and told him to lock the door.

They said there was a man with a semi-automatic gun in the area. The shooter, they said, had multiple rounds of ammunition, so that once his ammunition ran out he reloaded, Choi said.

The shooting occurred near the site where tens of thousands had gathered Saturday for the start of a two-day Lunar New Year festival, one of the largest holiday events in the region.

Earlier in the day, crowds were enjoying skewers and shopping for

Chinese food and jewelry. Saturday’s New Year festival hours were scheduled from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Monterey Park’s two-day Lunar New Year festival had been scheduled to conclude Sunday. But the day’s events are canceled “out of an abundance of caution and in reverence for the victims,” Monterey Park Police Chief Scott Wiese said.

The motive for the shooting remained under investigation, officials said, including as a possible hate crime or domestic violence incident.

“Everything is on the table,” Luna said. “Who walks into a dance hall and guns down 20 people?”

Hate crimes against Asian Americans in California increased 177.5% in 2021, according to the California Department of Justice.

Winn Liaw, 57, said she lives about two blocks from the studio and was in bed shortly before 11 p.m. on Saturday when she heard what sounded like firecrackers. She assumed they were part of a Lunar New Year celebration until she heard helicopters starting to circle over her neighborhood.

She woke up early Sunday to check out the set up for the Lunar New Year celebration that had been planned for later in the day when she learned about the shooting.

the actual anticipated percentage increase is 4.9%, not 8.13%,” Grindle said. The governor does not include any new funding toward the California State Teachers’ Retirement System relief for local education agencies, according to Grindle’s report. The CalSTRS employer contribution rate of 19.10% in 2023-24 is based on the best information available to date from CalSTRS and looks to be locked in for at least four years.

also is true for proposed spending for K-12 schools and community colleges.

“Maintaining the purchasing power of the Local Control Funding Formula takes center stage with the cost-of-living adjustment,” she said.

Transitional kindergarten and expanded learning is still a focus for the budget. The budget furthers what Grindle described in her report as “educational equity to address persistent learning and achievement gaps.”

plan from $3.5 billion to $1.5 billion.

The statutory COLA is coming in at $4.7 billion. This affects other educational programs funded outside of the Local Control Funding Formula, which includes a significant portion of a school district’s funding.

A similar situation is developing with the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, according to the report.

The CalPERS employer contribution rate for 2023-24 would increase under the governor’s budget from the current rate of 25.37% to 27%.

From Page One

concerned about efforts to battle Covid-19 in the countryside. Health experts are worried the virus could ravage the vulnerable in villages with sparse health care infrastructure, creating worse outcomes than the outbreaks that have already

strained hospitals, overwhelmed crematoriums and crippled the nation’s megacities.

There were 471,739 Covid-related patients in hospitals nationwide on Jan. 19, including 51,683 in critical condition. The data release on Saturday came after the World Health Organization urged China to give more information.

Proposition 98 funding are much leaner in the current governor’s budget, Grindle said. This

Travis

From Page One

from 41% to 29% over the past year.

“Keep in mind lots of kids are still feeling bad,” Brothers said. “They are dealing with a lot of anxiety – especially seniors when they are looking at the future.”

The district has expanded staffing and programs to help reach out to students who seem to be struggling or ask for assistance, she said. District staff will work to have elementary school teachers introduce Common Sense Media’s Digital Citizenship lessons to address the issues of digital media content, which seems to

Newsom surprised K-12 with a “sweep” of funding for the arts, music, instructional materials and discretionary block grant, with projected allocations cut by half in the latest budget

be creating a lot of stress and anxiety for students, she said.

The secondary schools have started a program called Ripple Effects and other social-emotional learning lessons during extended class periods, according to the report from Brothers. These lessons cover different areas of personal development depending on the age groups: topic like controlling yourself, learning to self-manage emotions, and being aware of others are just a few things this program covers.

Brothers also covered absenteeism during the 2021-23 school year. Chronic absenteeism, which is missing 10% or more of school days

Projected 2023-24 Local Control Funding Formula total revenue for the district is $244.3 million, more than that found in the district’s first interim 2022-23 Local Control Funding Formula total revenue of $232.9 million. But a larger potential funding increase is not expected to materialize.

“Due to (the district’s) projected declining enrollment and Average Daily Attendance rates,

(18 days in a 180-day school year) was at 23.3% in 2021-22. The latest survey was 19% in 2022-23, which was calculated with numbers through December.

The district continues to experience absences due to Covid-19, the flu and other ailments, Brothers said.

“Students can make up coursework online or by pen/pencil,” she said.

The district is working to improve family involvement as part of the Local Control and Accountability Plan by introducing new programs like Morning Math sessions, which are math sessions with parents in the mornings.

The Parent University

Money the schools will not see again include funds tied to one-time and ongoing new categorical programs since nearly all projected revenue is needed to maintain current programs, Grindle reported. There is also no relief provided as CalPERS rates increase and CalSTRS rates remain high.

“This is the first since May 2020, not a single K-12 proposal appears tied to the Covid-19 pandemic,” she said.

has implemented several programs over the past year, including Launchpad, Aeries Family Portal, Tutor.com and ParentSquare.

Travis School District has also introduced Suicide Prevention 101, Parent Project, a Parent’s Guide to the Northwest Evaluation Association Measures of Academic Progress assessments, Internet Safety, and the Parent Toolkit: Fentanyl Information guide to give parents information on ways to help their children and teens.

Finally, the 2022 State Dashboard has been updated but is still not complete and is missing several metrics that were there previously.

Courtesy photo file (2022)

More than 1,000 eighth-grade students from schools across Fairfield-Suisun School District took part in the “Inspire: Dreams Start Now!” career fair hosted by the school district in partnership with The Salvation Army Kroc Center and the Fairfield-Suisun Chamber of Commerce, Oct. 4, 2022.

Raul Roa/Los Angeles Times/TNS Police at the scene of a shooting at Monterey Park, Saturday night.

David Goodhue/Miami Herald/TNS

U.S. Coast Guard pilots Lt. Spencer Zwenger and Lt. Cmdr. Joshua Mitcheltree prepare their C-144 Ocean Sentry plane for a patrol over the Florida Straits, Saturday.

viral in right-wing media circles as critics lambasted him for what they called his kowtowing to progressive ideals. During one of her regular appearances on Fox News, former reality star and Olympic decathlete Caitlyn Jenner accused Moore of “going woke on us big time” and predicted that the move would deal a blow to officer morale.

Sal LaBarbera, a former LAPD homicide detective who has amassed a large following on Twitter, posted that the department was making national headlines “for the most embarrassing reason.”

“Calling Chief Michael Moore weak for caving to the communist Mayor. Grow a spine, support the troops and law and order,” read his tweet, which used the hashtag #BackTheBlue.

Moore’s decree also forced a public fissure between him and the powerful Los Angeles Police Protective League, which represents rank-and-file officers. While the union has not taken an official position on Moore’s on-going efforts to win another five-year term as chief, it has been supportive of his reappointment behind the scenes.

Jamie McBride, an outspoken union officer, posted a photo of the flag

hanging from the side of a house on his Instagram account, with the caption “Shame on you Chief Moore! We bleed BLUE!”

Inside the department, some said they saw Moore’s move as the chief taking sides in a clash over policing that has ratcheted up in recent years following the police killings of George Floyd and other Black people, according to officers who spoke with The Times on the condition that their identities be kept secret so that they could speak freely. Others felt the angry reaction to the ban was overblown.

But even those who didn’t feel strongly about the flag said it created the perception of kowtowing to progressive activists. They likened the ban to Moore’s decision to kneel alongside protesters at huge protests following Floyd’s murder. Some officers began circulating a years-old photo of Moore holding the flag while marching beside former L.A. County Sheriff Jim McDonnell.

The decision has also given rise to rumors in law enforcement circles that Mayor Karen Bass’ office was planning to remove tributes to fallen officers from all police stations, too. A spokesman for Bass said Thursday that there was no truth to the rumors.

The term “thin blue line” came into fashion in the 1950s, when Los Angeles Police Chief Bill Parker frequently referenced it in speeches.

in southeast L.A. politics where, in my view, profit-driven and special-interest folks take advantage; they see these cities and these agencies as a way to help their businesses and to serve themselves,” said Juan Munoz-Guevara, 25, of Lynwood.

“In some of these southeast cities, people are working paycheck to paycheck, just trying to make ends meet, and with these smaller agencies, you trust that the people elected to them are going to be doing right, and running the agency right,” he said. “And these people understand that and use that.”

At a recent board meeting, accusations of lying, mismanagement and alleged crimes flew as two members voiced concerns about Rojas remaining in his position even as he faces corruption charges.

Board members

Leticia Vasquez and Martha Camacho-Rodriguez slammed Rojas

and other board members, saying the water district lacked adequate financial controls or transparency, and said they feared public money may be at risk.

“I’m concerned that Alex Rojas also serves as the primary person on the district’s finances, the treasurer. He should not be acting as the general manager and the treasurer,” Vasquez said. She called for Rojas to be placed on administrative leave.

Camacho-Rodriguez called for a forensic audit to be performed on the district’s finances.

“I can’t believe that anything at our agency at this time is clean, not

while he’s had two years of handling our books,” Camacho-Rodriguez said.

Rojas, who holds a doctorate of education from the University of Southern California, insisted that the agency’s management and finances are in order and that proper procedures are being followed. He also said that improvements in the district’s bond ratings during his tenure have “saved the taxpayers a lot of money.”

Prosecutors allege that in 2015 and 2016 – when Rojas served as Bassett Unified‘s superintendent – he schemed to divert more than $1.4 million in public money by approving invoices for work that

was never done. He was charged along with Luis Rojas, the CEO of Del Terra, a company that was hired to oversee construction projects for the school district. The two men aren’t related.

“Illegally diverting voter-approved bond money from schools not only deprives our children of already scarce resources but also diminishes the public’s trust in and support for our educational institutions,” Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon said when announcing the charges.

The pair are scheduled to be arraigned on March 15.

News of the corruption charges troubled Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, a Democrat who co-authored the bill that would have placed the district in receivership more than 10 years ago.

“I am deeply concerned by the allegations facing the general manager of Central Basin,” he said in a prepared statement.

“This is just the latest in a long line of issues facing Central Basin Water District and threatening their credibility.”

Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times/TNS file (2022)

Small memorials, including a “thin blue line” flag, remain days after dozens of Los Angeles County Sheriff recruits on a training run were struck by a man driving an SUV in 2022.

Bradley Bermont/Los Angeles Daily News/TNS file (2019) Alejandro Rojas, then El Rancho’s assistant superintendent of business, gives a presentation in front of the Board of Education on July 23, 2019, in Pico Rivera.

49ers book date in NFL title tilt after shaking off the Cowboys

CaM inM an BAY AREA NEWS GROUP

SANTA CLARA — The 49ers booked a spot in the NFC Championship Game for the third time in four seasons Sunday, even if it took them a while to secure that reservation.

Christian McCaffrey scored a go-ahead 2-yard touchdown run to open the fourth quarter, and the 49ers held on to oust the Dallas Cowboys 19-12 in a tedious divisional-round playoff game before a spirited crowd of 71,888 at Levi’s Stadium.

The No. 2 seed 49ers will play for a Super Bowl berth next Sunday at the top-seeded Philadelphia Eagles, who advanced with a 38-7 win Saturday over the New York Giants.

The Eagles (15-3) last appeared on that stage five seasons ago en

route to the franchise’s first Super Bowl triumph. The 49ers (15-4) won the NFC crown three seasons ago at home against the Green Bay Packers, but then came last season’s loss in which they blew a 10-point fourth-quarter lead to the eventual Super Bowl-champion Los Angeles Rams.

Rookie Brock Purdy, in his seventh win since relieving an injured Jimmy Garoppolo, delivered clutch completions down the stretch. He finished 18-of-29 for 214 yards with no turnovers. Purdy is just the fifth rookie quarterback in NFL history to win a divisionalround game, and just the third rookie QB to produce a pair of playoff wins, having downed the Seattle Seahawks in last weekend’s wild-card round.

This 12th straight win wasn’t exactly secured with fourth-quar-

ter domination. But the 49ers did enough when it counted most. They widened their lead to 19-14 with 3:04 remaining, when Robbie Gould made his fourth field goal in four tries to cap a 7-minute scoring drive.

The Cowboys (13-6) had time to answer, as was the case last year when they hosted the 49ers in the wild-card round and killed the final seconds without a scoring shot, in a 23-17 Niners win.

After each team traded possessions, the Cowboys’ last shot started at their 6-yard line with 45 seconds to go. Six snaps later from the 24-yard line, Dallas set up for a trick play full of laterals, the 49ers called timeout to review their strategy, and, soon enough, Dallas was done. Prescott, after taking a shotgun snap from running back Ezekiel

Cincinnati plows through Buffalo with AFC playoff win in the snow

Tribune ConTenT agenCy

CINCINNATI,

Ohio —

The snow-globe setting was the picturesque backdrop Buffalo fans hoped it would be.

But the Bengals shook things up at Highmark Stadium with a blistering start and booked a return trip to the AFC Championship Game with a 27-10 victory on Sunday.

The Bengals basically put the game away by forcing the Bills to settle for a field goal on a 14-play, 7:18 drive to open the second half; then they turned around and put together a lengthy drive of their own that ended with a 1-yard score

from Joe Mixon.

Mixon was initially ruled short of the goal line, but officials overturned that call after a challenge by the Bengals.

Those two drives shortened the game considerably and left the Bills with little margin for error, especially since they had little success getting the ball down field.

The Bills’ best chance at an explosive play came on a third and 2 with 11 seconds to go in the third. Josh Allen had a wide open Gabe Davis down the sidelines, but Bengals corner Cam Taylor-Britt made up

Giants, others will soon be adjusting to end of shifts

John Shea SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

SAN FRANCISCO —

The San Francisco Giants could have afforded to keep Tommy La Stella on their payroll. At the same time, they could not have afforded to keep him on their roster.

Money wasn’t the problem. The Giants are loaded. Even after eating La Stella’s contract, they won’t come close to the luxury tax threshold. It was a bad contract, and the Giants moved on.

The problem was that La Stella wouldn’t have been a fit because the Giants no longer would have been able to hide him on the roster or on the field.

Training camps open next month – the Oakland Athletics’ first workout with pitchers and catchers is Feb. 15, the Giants’ is Feb. 16 –and teams must adjust to a series of new rules, including the elimination of the defensive shift.

No longer can teams stack all their infield-

ers on the right side of the diamond against lefthanded batters. Going forward, two infielders must be on the left side of second base and two on the right, all within the outer boundary of the infield when the pitch is thrown.

Without the shift ban, a second baseman who was defensively challenged could have been hidden among a sea of defenders. Now that that’s no longer the case, teams are going to prefer athletic second basemen with range and arm strength because they will need to be cover more ground.

La Stella had surgeries to both Achilles tendons before last season, and couldn’t move well enough to play the position. Any position, really, but especially second base. When you’re a defensive liability and post a.282 on-base percentage, you’re going to get replaced –even when you’re owed $11.5 million.

Warriors fans still waiting to see Durant at Chase Center

M adeline K enney BAY AREA NEWS GROUP

SAN FRANCISCO — Kevin Durant wandered around an unfinished Chase Center after a 2018 practice and pondered what the future might hold in the Warriors’ new home.

“My imagination is going wild right now with possibilities,” he told reporters then.

Durant said he could “see a lot of points being scored here.”

In the three years Chase Center has been open, though, Durant, who signed with the Brooklyn Nets the following season, has scored only 20 points on the Warriors’ turf – and that number won’t be increasing anytime soon.

The Nets made their annual trip to San Fran-

cisco Sunday, but for the third time in four seasons, Durant wasn’t in the lineup.

Durant has been sidelined since early January with a sprained ligament in his right knee. He isn’t expected to return to game action until next month. That leaves Bay Area-based fans having to wait yet another season to see Durant play while donning an opposing team’s uniform after he helped win two titles with the Warriors.

Durant missed all of the 2019-20 season rehabbing an Achilles injury.

The Nets didn’t play that season in San Francisco anyway because they were scheduled to play at Golden State one day after the NBA shut down after Rudy Gobert tested positive for Covid-19.

US soccer opportunity knocks for German-born Gressel

Julian Gressel needed to share the news with family in Germany. More than nine years since moving stateside, four since marrying his Providence College sweetheart and two months after completing the naturalization process, he was going to report to the U.S. men’s national soccer team.

“I had a really cool conversation with my grandpa [Emil], who was a huge, huge soccer fan and a huge fan of mine,” Gressel said Saturday. “I could really hear how proud he was in his voice and how excited he was for

me to have this opportunity that I’ve worked hard for.”

He was among 24 players invited to an MLS-heavy training camp - the first U.S. gathering since the World Cup in Qatar - for friendlies in greater Los Angeles against Serbia on Wednesday and Colombia on Saturday.

Gressel is far from the first dual national to join the U.S. squad; there have been many with European and Latin American roots and some with connections to three or more nations. Gressel’s case is different because his ties were not from lineage that came to light through internet sleuthing or

required him to choose a team.

His situation has been in the open for years: He’s a Germanborn attacker and wing back who was chosen eighth in the 2017 MLS draft, won the rookie of the year award and has been among the league’s assist leaders over six seasons with Atlanta, D.C. United and, since last summer, Vancouver.

The problem was that he wasn’t American. Not good enough to represent Germany, Gressel would have to wait for U.S. eligibility until the threeyear naturalization process through marriage ended. He and Casey (Brown) Gressel, a Mas-

sachusetts native, were married in early 2019. The pandemic extended the wait, but after clearing all hurdles, he participated in a ceremony in Virginia. (The trade to a Canadian team didn’t affect his status.)

“It’s been definitely a long journey - a journey that I’ve enjoyed ever since I first stepped foot into the U.S. [and] fell in love with the country,” said Gressel, who was an exchange student in Florida for part of high school. “That is why it’s really exciting to be able to represent the U.S. on the field.”

Gressel’s age adds another wrinkle. Newcomers to a

national team are typically in their early or mid-20s. He turned 29 last month. The next World Cup, staged in 2026 in the United States, Mexico and Canada, will come when he is 32.

The annual U.S. winter camp takes place when in-season European-based regulars are unavailable. Fifteen call-ups this month are 24 or younger. It’s also useful for players with little or no international experience to make an impression when roster heavyweights such as Christian Pulisic, Tyler Adams and Weston McKennie

John Kuntz/cleveland.com/TNS

Buffalo Bills safety Dean Marlowe upends Cincinnati Bengals tight end Hayden Hurst after a reception in the AFC division playoff game, Sunday.

See AFC, Page B8

STeven goff WASHINGTON POST

Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group/TNS

Dallas Cowboys’ Micah Parsons (11) gets a hand on the ball as San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (13)

throws a pass in the second quarter at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Sunday.

How to use Korean rice cakes (tteok), a chewy, versatile delight

A Aron HutcHerson THE WASHINGTON POST

Korean rice cakes, frequently Romanized as tteok (though you might find variations in spelling), are a staple ingredient in the country’s cuisine. Typically made by steaming and then pounding a simple dough of rice flour, salt and water before rolling into cylinders, rice cakes have a delightfully bouncy, chewy texture. Here’s what you need to know about tteok and how to use them.

Growing up in Korea, cookbook author Emily Kim, better known as Maangchi, would take rice soaked at home to her local mill to be turned into rice cakes. Now based in New York City, “sometimes you can find it in a Korean grocery store freshly made,” Maangchi said, but you’re more likely to find prepared rice cakes that have been refrigerated or frozen. (Or if you’re looking for a project, you can even make them at home.)

“Flavor-wise, it is very much like rice,” chef and cookbook author Hooni Kim said, calling it a blank canvas. However, “the good ones have a touch of nutty, popcorn-y, very, very savory flavor,” which might be a result of other ingredients used in addition to the base recipe, such as toasted sesame oil used to keep the tteok from sticking while they’re being rolled or a coating of toasted soybean powder. But instead of rice cakes’ flavor, texture is their prized feature. “When cooked correctly, it’s soft, pillowy, chewy, starchy,” Kim said. “Very fun to chew.”

Tteok come in a variety of shapes and sizes and can be composed of different ingredients. The first thing to note is that while most rice cakes that I’ve encountered are just made from rice flour, they can contain other grains, including wheat flour, so it’s important to check for gluten-free labeling if you have a dietary restriction.

“The way you make these rice cakes are pretty much the same formula, except the size and the shape is going to be different based on what you want to use it for,” Kim said.

Kim says he believes the original form was garaetteok, which are about an inch in diameter and can be up to 12 inches long. This shape seems to be less commonly available, perhaps sold only at Korean grocery stores. If you are able to find them, Maangchi suggests placing them under the broiler until slightly scorched, then dipping them in rice syrup or honey.

One of the most common shapes is called tteokguktteok, which roughly translates to “rice cake soup rice cake” according to Kim. This shape is made by thinly slicing garaetteok, usually on the bias, to get oval-shaped coins. These sliced rice cakes, as you can probably infer from the name, are typically used for soup – tteokguk is “the traditional Korean dish for Lunar

New Year,” Kim said - but you can also use them in sautes and stir-fries.

The other common shape are thinner cylinders roughly two inches long and about a half-inch thick. These rice cakes are most popularly used in tteokbokki – the Korean street food of rice cakes cooked in a spicy gochujang-based sauce – and sometimes called tteokbokki-tteok.

Rice cakes can be found fresh, refrigerated or frozen from Korean, international and other specialty grocery stores - and even online. (Rice cakes will last for three to four months in the freezer.) When shopping for rice cakes, Maangchi suggests avoiding packages with powder on the surface of the cakes. “Don’t buy those because it means they are a little old and dried out, and will crack when you cook them,” she wrote on her website.

When it comes time to cook tteok, the biggest point of consideration is whether they need to be soaked and for how long.

Maangchi and Kim agree that fresh rice cakes do not need to be soaked before using in recipes. For refrigerated or frozen rice cakes, Maangchi suggests a “very short” soaking time because “I don’t know how long the rice cakes were in the freezer or refrigerator.” For her, a quick soak as short as 10 minutes helps speed up the cook time. “Otherwise the rice cakes are dried very hard and you have to cook them a long time to make them smooth,” she said. In addition, soaking removes any excess starch on the surface of the rice cakes, which Maangchi likes to do so that it doesn’t thicken her dish too much.

Kim, on the other hand, soaks vacuum-packed rice cakes overnight and does the same with ones he gets from a rice cake shop if they’ve been sitting around for a while. “When they get really old, it takes a lot longer to hydrate to make soft,” he said. “The drier, not-so-fresh rice cakes, you’re going to have to boil it for a

good maybe five, 10 minutes before they soften up.”

However, some of the recipes I found online and in cookbooks made no mention of soaking rice cakes before using them. In my (admittedly very limited) experience, I didn’t find any noticeable difference when I did a quick soak versus using them straight from the package. But this may come down to specifics with different manufacturers and producers.

“We have two different places where we get it. We definitely know one place is better than the other, and the rice cakes hold in the soup better and become softer faster,” Kim said. “When they’re out, we have to use somebody else’s rice cakes. And those we don’t even imagine cooking without soaking overnight in water.”

Kim notes how there can be a huge difference in the texture, flavor and ease of cooking of tteok from brand to brand or store to store. “The not-so-well-made rice cakes, they disintegrate really fast after they soften. The really good ones keep their shape and stay soft.” So once you find rice cakes that you like, it’s a good idea to stick with them if you can. (I found that the ones by Ourhome, with the large red stripe down the middle of the package, disintegrated once softened.)

When it comes to cooking with rice cakes, they’re “very versatile,” Kim said. His favorite way to enjoy them is tteokguk – “It’s good any time of the year,” he said -–but he also eats them with any sort of leftover stew or chili. “It could replace rice in most dishes, whether it be Asian or not. Noodle dishes, as well.”

As such, Maangchi likes to use tteok as the starch to round out her meals. One point of caution is that “you don’t want to put it in anything very mild in flavor, because that would just dilute that flavor even more,” Kim said.

As an easy introduction, you could just boil them until they float and toss with your favor-

ite pasta sauce. Another simple idea is to add them to your favorite soup or instant ramen. If using them in a saute or stir fry, “even without any kind of liquid, if you cook it in really [hot] oil, it will get soft and crispy,” Kim said.

If you’ve never tried rice cakes, this is your sign to add them to your pantry inventory to discover the wonder that they are. And soon, you won’t be able to live without them. For Kim, “I feel safe always having some in my freezer.”

KOREAN RICE CAKES (TTEOK) WITH SPICY SAUSAGE AND KIMCHI 30 minutes

4 servings (makes about 6 cups) I was introduced to Korean rice cakes, a.k.a. tteok, at Momofuku Ssam Bar in New York around 2013. I worked in the restaurant group’s corporate office at the time, and the best perk of the job was getting to eat a lot of great food. Of all the dishes I enjoyed during my tenure there, the one that I think about most often was Ssam Bar’s spicy pork sausage and rice cakes. I fell in love with the bouncy chew of tteok, a texture I hadn’t really encountered before, and loved the layers of spice in the dish and how it was packed with flavor. This recipe is an homage to that.

The restaurant’s recipe is included in the “Momofuku” cookbook by David Chang and Peter Meehan. “Ma po tofu was their point of departure,” Chang and Meehan wrote of the restaurant’s employees who created the dish, Tien Ho and Tim Maslow. “They melded it with a dish from the first late-night menu - rice cakes with a kinda-sortabut-not-really Asian pork Bolognese sauce. The result isn’t Sichuan or Korean or Bolognese or anything, but it is very Momofuku. And banging.”

If you know anything about restaurant cooking, you know that the dishes can be pretty involved. (Letting restaurants prepare complex dishes that I don’t want to make at home is one of the main reasons I love dining out.) In keeping with my cooking ethos of simplicity being paramount, I stripped the original recipe down to its essence and added my own interpretation to create the one that I’m sharing with you here. My version starts with cooking hot Italian sausage until it has surrendered its flavorful fat. Onion and

garlic are then sauteed in the rendered pork fat. Next, kimchi, gochujang, toasted sesame oil and a little granulated sugar are added to form a quick, deeply flavorful sauce. Lastly, rice cakes are simmered directly in the sauce until tender and chewy, for a one-pot meal. Serve with packaged fried shallots - which aren’t exactly easy to find but worth hunting down - and sliced scallions to sprinkle on top for an extra jolt of flavor.

The result is a quick, comforting meal that tantalizes the taste buds.

Storage Notes: Refrigerate leftovers for up to 3 days.

Where to Buy: Kimchi and gochujang can be found in many wellstocked supermarkets or in Asian markets. Frozen and refrigerated Korean rice cakes (tteok) and packaged fried shallots can be found in Asian markets or online.

Generous 1 pound refrigerated cylindrical Korean rice cakes (tteok; see NOTE)

1 pound fresh hot Italian sausage, loose or casings removed if necessary

1 medium yellow onion (7 ounces), diced

¼ teaspoon fine salt

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup (7 ounces) Napa cabbage kimchi

1 cup water

2 tablespoons gochujang

2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil

2 teaspoons granulated sugar Packaged fried shallots, for serving (optional)

Sliced scallions, for serving (optional)

In a large bowl, add the rice cakes and enough water to cover by 1 inch and soak for 10 to 15 minutes, then drain. (This step is optional.)

In a large nonstick saute pan or skillet over medium-high heat, add the sausage and cook, breaking the meat apart with a wooden spoon, until no longer pink, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer to a bowl or plate, leaving the fat in the skillet.

Add the onion and salt and cook, stirring regularly, until the onions start to soften and brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring regularly, until fragrant, 30 to 60 seconds.

Add the kimchi, water, gochujang, sesame oil and sugar, stir to combine, and bring to a simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Add the rice cakes, stir to combine and cook until the sauce thickens and the rice cakes are tender and heated through but still chewy, 3 to 6 minutes (see NOTE). Remove from the heat, spoon into bowls, sprinkle with fried shallots and/or scallions, if using, and serve hot.

NOTE: Rice cakes may be sold in packages noting grams. You’ll need about 500 grams. Break apart any rice cakes that are stuck together before adding to the pan. Sliced rice cakes are also available, but this recipe has not been tested using them. If using frozen rice cakes, add 1 to 2 minutes to the cook time.

Nutrition information per serving (1 ½ cups) | Calories: 605; Total Fat: 25 g; Saturated Fat: 11 g; Cholesterol: 61 mg; Sodium: 1039 mg; Carbohydrates: 72 g; Dietary Fiber: 15 g; Sugar: 8 g; Protein: 16 g

This analysis is an estimate based on available ingredients and this preparation. It should not substitute for a dietitian’s or nutritionist’s advice.

There’s never been a better time to try plant-based eggs

BloomBerg

At the end of 2022, something strange happened in the U.S. egg market: On a per-unit basis, consumer prices for plant-based eggs fell below those for chicken eggs. While the phenomenon is likely temporary, it is undeniable evidence that at least one corner of the plant-based food market can be cost-competitive.

And consumers seem to have noticed - plant-based egg sales rose over the same period.

Average U.S. prices for chicken-laid eggs, which industry experts refer to

as “shell eggs,” rose 51% last year, according to data firm IRI, with an average per-unit price of $4.17. (A unit can refer to a carton of six, 12 or 18 eggs.) In the same 52-week period, perunit prices for plant-based eggs averaged $4.43.

But in the final 12 weeks of the year, things shifted. Shell egg prices were up 81% compared with that same period in 2021, for an average per-unit price of $5.24. Prices for plantbased eggs, meanwhile, dropped a bit – averaging $4.42. That made plant-based eggs “almost $1 dollar cheaper on a

unit basis,” says John Crawford, IRI’s vice president of client insights for dairy, who described the increase in the price of chicken eggs as “ridiculously high.” The number of shell eggs sold by unit fell during the fourth quarter of 2022 compared with a year earlier, while sales of liquid plant-based eggs by unit went up.

That’s good news for environmental experts. The food system is responsible for roughly a third of global emissions, thanks in large part to the land it takes to raise and feed animals for meat and dairy

products, and requires a ton of water. But where two of the biggest players in the plant-based food world – Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods – have struggled to gain market share against traditional meat, the vegan egg market is having more luck.

Much of that has to do with chaos in the rest of the egg world. The skyrocketing price of shell eggs is attributable to the double whammy of inflation and an avian flu that is impacting millions of egg-laying birds, says Crawford.

For now, the market for plant-based eggs remains

minuscule – $30 million in the U.S., where vegan eggs make up roughly 8.5% of all liquid egg sales, but only 0.13% of total egg sales. Some 99% of sales in the liquid plant-based egg category are of a single brand: Just Egg, made by California-based startup Eat Just.

“We’ve invested a lot of time and energy in making our products better, expanding distribution in retail and food service and working to introduce millions of new people to the idea that an egg can come from a plant,” says Eat Just Chief Executive

Officer Josh Tetrick. “All of it is driving growth and it’s being amplified at this moment in time.”

Eat Just uses mung beans as the base for Just Egg, which has been available in the U.S. since 2019. The consumer cost for one 12-oz. Just Egg container, equivalent to about eight real eggs, was nearing $8 as recently as late 2019, more than 1.5 times the price tag at the end of 2022.

Eat Just says sales of Just Egg products at grocery stores, natural food stores and mass retailers grew 17% over the 52-week period ending Dec. 3, 2022.

Recipe from staff writer Aaron Hutcherson.

Scott Suchman/The Washington Post

Korean rice cakes (tteok) with spicy sausage and kimchi.

Kathy Fang manages a popular San Francisco eatery on “Chef Dynasty: House of Fang.”

Vacation time turns into a nightmare

FAIRFIELD — Vacations turn into terrible nightmares at the theater this coming weekend. A deadly virus is unleashed on an unsuspecting population for a group on friends in one movie. In another film, a tragic accident in a foreign land turns a couples retreat into a terrifying disaster.

Opening nationwide are:

"Fear," a film in which a vacation turns into a nightmare for a group of people who must face a contagion. The film is rated R.

"Infinity Pool," in which a couple, James (Alexander Skarsgård) and Em (Cleopatra Coleman), are enjoying a perfect vacation of pristine beaches in a luxury resort. But guided by the seductive and mysterious Gabi (Mia Goth), they venture outside the resort grounds and find themselves in a culture filled with violence, hedonism and untold horror. A tragic accident leaves them facing a zero-tolerance policy for crime: either you’ll be executed, or, if you’re rich enough to afford it, you can watch yourself die instead. The film is rated R.

"Left Behind: Rise of Antichrist," in which the only light after the world falls into chaos is a charming new leader who rises to the head of the United Nations, but does he bring hope for a better future? Or is it the end of the world? The film is rated PG-13.

Opening in limited release are:

"Aurora: A Love Story," in which Kenny and Giselle are set to marry on a beach in Puerto Rico. When Giselle disappears on the day of the ceremony, it sets off a crazy chain of events unearthing secrets, lies and betrayal that threaten to destroy the fairytale love story. This film is not rated.

"Billie Eilish Live at the O2," a documentary that features the neverbefore-seen extended cut version of this compelling concert film and takes viewers on a visually captivating journey

from beginning to end, to the heart of Eilish’s record-breaking sold-out “Happier Than Ever, The World Tour.” It features the full-length concert performance as well as intimate and unforgettable moments between Billie and her audience.

In just over 95 minutes, the concert film features 27 songs, including hits and fan-favorites “bad guy,” “Therefore I Am,” “bury a friend,” “my future,” “Happier Than Ever,” “everything i wanted,” “Your Power” and many more. This film is not rated.

"Close," in which Léo and Rémi, two 13-yearold best friends, find their seemingly unbreakable bond suddenly, tragically torn apart. The film is rated PG-13.

"Maybe I Do," in which Michelle (Emma Roberts) and Allen (Luke Bracey) have reached the point in their relationship where they are considering next steps. They decide to invite their parents to finally meet and to offer some understanding of why marriage works. Turns out, the parents already know one another quite well, which leads to some differing opinions about the value of marriage. The film is rated PG-13.

"Remember This," a one man show in which David Strathairn portrays Jan Karski in this genre-defying true story of a reluctant World War II hero and Holocaust witness. After surviving the devastation of the Blitzkrieg, Karski swears allegiance to the Polish Underground and risks his life to carry the first eyewitness reports of war-torn Poland to the western world, and ultimately, the Oval Office. Escaping a Gestapo prison, bearing witness to the despair of the Warsaw ghetto and confronted by the inhumanity of a death camp, Karski endures unspeakable mental anguish and physical torture to stand tall in the halls of power and speak the truth. This film is not rated.

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

Oscars nominations 2023: Final predictions for the top categories

Oscar nominations arrive bright and early Tuesday morning and, judging from the conversations I’ve had with film academy members, there are going to be a lot of surprises when the slate is revealed. There’s no best picture front-runner and loyalties are splintered in a dozen different directions. Someone even put “Don’t Worry Darling” at the top of their ballot. Welcome to the Victory Project? Probably not, but points for originality!

One producer voter told me he had trouble finding 10 movies to put on his best picture ballot, a reflection either on his lack of enthusiasm for this year’s field or perhaps the fact that he has watched “Top Gun: Maverick” 13 times and didn’t bother with other contenders. Another told me she could have put any one of 20 movies on her best picture ballot – and any one of five in the top slot. “No sequels, though,” she sniffed. “The Oscars should be about original ideas.”

Of course, the Oscars should be a lot of things – recognizing excellence in every field of filmmaking, glitz and glamour, remaining in your seat even after a comedian insults your wife with a lame joke – but they usually fall short. I took that into account when putting together these nominations predictions for all 23 categories to be announced Jan. 24. And you should certainly remember it before you let anything the academy does enrage you. Forget it, Jake. It’s the Oscars.

Picture

“All Quiet on the Western Front”

“Avatar: The Way of Water”

“The Banshees of Inisherin”

“Elvis”

“Everything Everywhere All at Once”

“The Fabelmans”

“Tár”

“Top Gun: Maverick”

“Triangle of Sadness”

“The Whale”

Possible snub: “Triangle of Sadness”

Possible surprise: Too many to mention

Some people are a little freaked out that “Avatar: The Way of Water” missed the cut with the Producers Guild, but that probably had more to do with its late-breaking arrival than any resistance to space whales or petty jealousies relating to filmmaker James Cameron amassing another mountain of money. It’s a (pretty) sure bet to be nominated, right alongside the other locks: “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” “The Banshees of

Inisherin,” “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Elvis,” “Tár” and “The Fabelmans.”

After that, you could make a case for any of 10 contenders to fill the remaining three spots. Keeping my expectations low, I’m going to go with the three movies that took the greatest pains to bludgeon audiences with their themes – “All Quiet on the Western Front” (war is hell!), “The Whale” (empathy is essential!) and “Triangle of Sadness” (vomiting is hilarious!). In this case, I’m with my producer friend. I’d rather watch “Top Gun: Maverick” another dozen times than sit through these three films again. Here’s hoping that voters prove me wrong and nominate “Aftersun,” “Women Talking” and “RRR” instead.

Director

James Cameron, “Avatar: The Way of Water” Todd Field, “Tár” Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, aka Daniels, “Everything Everywhere All at Once” Martin McDonagh, “The Banshees of Inisherin”

Steven Spielberg, “The Fabelmans”

Possible snub: Cameron

Possible surprise: Baz Luhrmann, “Elvis” Directors branch voters have rewarded an international filmmaker four straight years, making it tempting to pick German director Edward Berger for the visceral onslaught he brought to “All Quiet on the Western Front.” Or maybe there’s a path for “RRR’s” S.S. Rajamouli, a master of exuberant spectacle. Or perhaps voters will finally honor the brand name of exuberant spectacle, Luhrmann. Women have won the past two years. Are they really going to be shut out in 2023? (Asking for Sarah Polley, Charlotte Wells and Gina Prince-Bythewood, among others.) All that said ... I’m sticking with Cameron, the director who moved the digital realm of the art form forward.

Actress

Cate Blanchett, “Tár”

Viola Davis, “The Woman King”

Danielle Deadwyler, “Till” Michelle Williams,

“The Fabelmans”

Michelle Yeoh, “Everything Everywhere All at Once”

Possible snub: Williams

Possible surprise: Ana de Armas, “Blonde”

Four hours before nominations voting closed on Tuesday, Amy Adams led a virtual conversation with Andrea Riseborough to support her searing turn as an addict in “To Leslie,” a movie that premiered in March at South by Southwest and grossed $27,000 in its brief theatrical run. The word “amazing” was used at least a dozen times – and not without justification. Adams’ support followed a similar event moderated by Kate Winslet, who gushed: “You should be up for everything. You should be winning everything. Andrea Riseborough, I think this is the greatest female performance on screen I have ever seen in my life.” Unfortunately, not many other voters have seen it, making the grassroots campaign for Riseborough a bittersweet affair.

This is a category packed with powerhouse performances, leaving many wondering if Williams’ SAG Awards snub will be repeated at the Oscars. As much as De Armas deserves some reward for gutting her way through Andrew Dominik’s wretched Marilyn Monroe biopic, I think Williams will earn her fifth Oscar nomination for giving “The Fabelmans” its heart and soul.

Actor

Austin Butler, “Elvis” Colin Farrell, “The Banshees of Inisherin” Brendan Fraser, “The Whale” Tom Hanks, “A Man Called Otto” Bill Nighy, “Living”

Possible snub: Hanks

Possible surprise: Paul Mescal, “Aftersun” Butler, Farrell, Fraser and Nighy will earn nominations –all coming in as first-timers. Looking at the other contenders, it’s easier laying out why they won’t be nominated than making a case for their inclusion. Mescal: Too young, plus the movie is more filmmakerdriven. Does Tom Cruise really warrant a nod for playing “Tom Cruise” in “Top Gun: Maverick”? No. He’ll get his reward as a producer of the film.

Hugh Jackman in “The Son”? Dear God, not for that horrible, manipulative movie. So ... I’m going to go a little nuts and predict ... Hanks for an elevated Hallmark movie that made a theater full of academy members cry back in December. That might be just enough in this field. (Unless it’s Adam Sandler for “Hustle.” Who doesn’t love the Sandman?!?)

Bridge

by Phillip Alder

who is to say who would have won?

In bridge, you are working to make your opponents’ results worse. But, as it is a partnership game, you should also be striving to help your partner play better. Today’s deal is easy for someone who has his partner’s best interests at heart, but it is hard for the rote player.

Against three spades, West led the diamond 10. How should East have planned the defense?

East won the first trick with the diamond king, cashed the diamond ace and led the diamond three, which West ruffed. Back came the club queen. Gratefully, declarer won, drew trumps and claimed, one of dummy’s hearts being discarded on the diamond queen.

“I led my higher diamond spot,” wailed East. “Why didn’t you return a heart?”

TRY TO FACILITATE PARTNER’S DEFENSE

People like to compare the greats of any game, but it is meaningless. Who was the better tennis player, Margaret Court or Martina Navratilova? At their peaks, each was the best. They played well enough to beat their toughest opponents. However, maybe they could have played even better if necessary. If they had been playing at the same time,

Sudoku

Bridge

“To me,” replied West, “it looked as though South was hiding the diamond two. You had an easy way to ask me to return a heart.”

“How was that? Drop the diamond three on the floor and then, as I pick it up, say, ‘High diamond coming, partner’?”

“Very droll, but no. Just win trick one with the diamond ace, an unnecessarily high card. When you continue with the king and three, I will know that you want a heart switch.”

COPYRIGHT: 2023, UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE

by Wayne Gould

TRY TO FACILITATE PARTNER’S DEFENSE

People like to compare the greats of any game, but it is meaningless. Who was the better tennis player, Margaret Court or Martina Navratilova? At their peaks, each was the best. They played well enough to beat their toughest

Reiner Bajo/Netflix/TNS Felix Kammerer in “All Quiet on the Western Front.”

Groups opposed to California’s recent rooftop solar decision seek a rehearing

Tribune ConTenT AgenCy

A trio of environmental groups wants the California Public Utilities Commission to upend last month’s decision that overhauled the rules affecting the 1.6 million Californians who have installed rooftop solar on their homes and businesses.

The Protect Our Communities Foundation, based in San Diego, joined the Environmental Working Group and the Center for Biological Diversity in filing an application for a rehearing and a reversal of the Dec. 15 ruling by the commission.

“They made a mistake,” said Bill Powers, an engineer and board member of the Protect Our Communities Foundation. “This was the wrong decision.”

At issue is what’s colloquially called NEM 3.0 – the third iteration of Net Energy Metering rules in California that determine the size of the credits customers receive on their utility bills when their rooftop solar systems generate more energy than they consume.

Passed with all five commissioners voting in favor, the complicated 260-page decision will include $900 million in upfront incentives for customers to pair solar with battery storage systems, with $630 million set aside for low-income customers. The commission estimates the updated rules will save average residential customers with solarplus-storage at least $136 a month on their utility bills.

One of the key provisions alters the way rooftop solar owners are compensated for the excess electricity their systems

send back to the grid.

Instead of being credited at the retail rate of electricity, customers will get paid at the “actual avoided cost.” That figure is lower than the retail rate during the daylight hours when solar energy is abundant and cheap, but it’s higher during the evening hours – when solar production ramps down to practically zero when the sun goes down and California’s electric grid is under the most stress.

The California Solar & Storage Association – which vehemently opposed the rules changes – has estimated the average compensation rate would drop from 30 cents per kilowatt to 8 cents,

a reduction of 75 percent.

NEM 3.0 rules are scheduled to go into effect in mid-April and will affect new solar customers.

The request for a rehearing zeroes in on a state law that became part of the Public Utilities Code. A section of the code instructs the commission to ensure “that customer-sited renewable distributed generation continues to grow sustainably and include specific alternatives designed for growth among residential customers in disadvantaged communities.”

The filing by the Protect Our Communities Foundation, the EWG and the Center for Biological Diversity argues NEM 3.0 as

written “fails to comply” with that mandate.

Installing rooftop solar can run into the tens of thousands of dollars and the groups say the new rules will extend the system’s payback period, discouraging customers from investing in solar, and decrease the savings customers receive on their utility bills.

Therefore, they say, the decision “will devastate solar adoption rates and thus (fails) to ensure the continued sustainable growth of distributed generation.”

On the day the new rules were adopted, CPUC commissioner John Reynolds predicted

the changes will not undermine solar’s growth in California. When the rules were last updated in 2016, Reynolds said, there was a decline in the number of solar systems connected to the utility grid but the numbers rebounded and reached record highs in 2022.

“All of this is to say there will be some measure of decrease after this decision that is absolutely to be expected,” Reynolds said, “but it will not signal the death of the industry or the rooftop solar market.”

The commission also received one other application for a rehearing – from Michael E. Boyd, president of Californians for Renewable Energy, a nonprofit in Santa Cruz County.

As for what happens next, CPUC spokeswoman Terrie Prosper said in an email to the Union-Tribune that while the commission will issue a formal decision regarding the applications for a rehearing, “there is no specific timeline” as to when that decision will be issued.

Powers of the Protect Our Communities Foundation said he is not optimistic that the commission will reverse its decision but cited a procedural requirement called “exhaustion of administrative remedies” that mandates that challengers pursue all available administrative avenues and raise all issues before bringing a lawsuit against a public agency.

“So if we don’t file the application for a rehearing, there is no possibility of taking this to an appellate court,” Powers said.

US can slow inflation without unemployment spike, Fed study says

bloomberg

The U.S. and other industrialized countries may be able to bring inflation down without triggering the huge jumps in unemployment that economists may have predicted before the pandemic, according to new research from the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

If correct, that might improve the chances for a soft landing of the

U.S. economy as the Fed raises interest rates to cool price pressures.

The research examines the Phillips curve – a measure of the inverse relationship between inflation and unemployment – for 29 countries in the seven years before Covid-19 and the six quarters of pandemic recovery for which there is data, beginning in January 2021.

The authors found that in each country, includ-

ing the U.S., the curve steepened, meaning that a decline in inflation is leading to a smaller increase in unemployment than it did before the public health crisis.

While the authors caution that their analysis is limited – there is only a year and a half’s worth of recovery data to examine – their conclusions bolster hopes that Fed rate hikes can curb high inflation without

causing millions of Americans to lose their jobs.

And if the researchers’ findings hold true over time, they could indicate a broader shift in the economy after years of tightly managed inflation operating largely independently from the share of Americans out of work.

“What drives our results is that declines in unemployment rates are associated with larger increases in inflation rates

during the recovery from the pandemic than during the pre-pandemic period,” authors Bart Hobijn, Russell Miles, James Royal and Jing Zhang wrote in the paper.

Before the pandemic, the Phillips curve had been flattening for over a decade. The last time the U.S. saw a strong relationship between unemployment and inflation was the 1960s, when declines in the former

tended to be associated with increases in the latter.

But the trend line became fuzzier in the 1970s, and in the years leading up to the pandemic, inflation had remained consistently subdued even as the unemployment rate plummeted to 50-year lows – in other words, a flat curve.

Hayne Palmour IV/The San Diego Union-Tribune/TNS

The California Public Utilities Commission in December 2022 made the first changes since 2016 to incentives for rooftop solar customers in California.

CALENDAR

Monday’s TV sports

Basketball College Men

Duke at Virginia Tech, ESPN, 4 p.m. Kansas at Baylor, ESPN, 6 p.m. College Women Iowa at Ohio State, ESPN2, 4 p.m. NBA Memphis at Sacramento, NBCSCA (Vacaville and Rio Vista), 7 p.m. soccer

EpL Fulham at Tottenham, USA, Noon. tennis

Australian Open, ESPN, 6 p.m.

Tuesday’s TV sports

Basketball College Men

LSU at Arkansas, ESPN2, 4 p.m.

Ohio State at Illinois, ESPN, 4 p.m. North Carolina at Syracuse, ESPN, 6 p.m. NBA Boston at Miami, TNT, 4:30 p.m. L.A. Clippers at L.A. Lakers, TNT, 7 p.m. Hockey

NHL San Jose at Detroit, NBCSCA, 4 p.m. tennis Australian Open, ESPN2, 6 p.m.

From Page A3

Two weeks after the Giants released La Stella, the Mariners signed him — they’ll pay the league minimum with the Giants picking up the rest – to get at-bats as a designated hitter against right-handed pitchers. More than anyone else on the Giants, Joc Pederson already owns that role, and the team’s signings of corner outfielders Mitch Haniger and Michael Conforto will limit Pederson’s outfield reps.

Subtracting La Stella from the infield picture, however, does not mean the Giants’ second-base issue is resolved. It’s a work in progress, like their other infield positions except perhaps shortstop, where Brandon Crawford will try to perform like it’s 2021, not 2022. One possible benefit of the shift ban is it might mean seeing more of Crawford’s diving stops up the middle and other athletic exploits.

La Stella started just twice at second in the 47 games in which his name was in the opening lineup, so he wasn’t the main reason Giants second basemen ranked at or near the bottom among the 30 teams in various defensive metrics. They started eight men at second, mostly Thairo Estrada (88 starts, -12 defensive runs saved) and Wilmer Flores (50 starts, -9 defensive runs saved).

The hope is that Flores, who got exposed at second by hard liners and grounders hit to the right side, sticks to the corner spots and that Estrada shows enough improvement in the field that management feels more comfortable with his getting the most reps in the era of life after the shift.

For now, Estrada is the only man on the roster equipped to back up Crawford at short, though Farhan Zaidi is searching for a defensive-minded middle infielder to serve in a utility role. Estrada’s bat is another concern — he hits lefties well but posted a mere.674 OPS against right-handers.

GiantsA nicer development would have been Carlos Correa at short and Crawford at second with Estrada in a utility role, but we know how that turned out with Correa’s roundabout offseason journey that brought him back to the Twins. The Giants’ infield up the middle hasn’t changed, while the departures of Evan Longoria and Brandon Belt leave behind uncertainty at the corners.

Opening up the right side of the field might lead to more hits, more baserunners, more action and (owners hope) more fans.

MLB’s overall batting average last season fell to.243 (for lefties, just.236), the game’s lowest mark since 1968, the year offense was so weak it led to the decision to lower the mound by 10 inches. The rule change should help the Giants’ regular lefthanded hitters, such as Pederson, Crawford, Conforto, Mike Yastrzemski and LaMonte Wade Jr.

The game should be more aesthetically pleasing, but don’t think teams won’t try to outsmart each other with shenanigans such as turning the left fielder into a rover and playing him in short right field, overloading the pull side like the old days but leaving a two-man outfield. Or putting the shortstop in motion on the pitch so that he is on the right side once the batter makes contact.

But would the Giants really want to rotate Conforto, coming off shoulder surgery, around the diamond and make him throw from different arm slots? Or put Crawford, at age 36, in motion like a tight end? Likely not.

Other rule changes include a pitch clock, pickoff limit and bigger bases, but it’s the shift ban that will affect how the Giants align their infield as they try to get more overall production from their second basemen. Athleticism will be prioritized, and that’s a worthy goal. What it means for the team’s net offense remains to be seen.

scheduled Feb 25.

From Page A3

are unavailable because of club commitments.

This camp features just five World Cup members - all from MLS teams preparing for season openers

Gressel was summoned from Vancouver’s camp in Spain last week.

“Opportunities for a lot of guys that haven’t [played international games] yet,” FC Dallas’s Paxton Pomykal said of the team and chances for players.

Scoreboard

BASKETBALL NBA

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Atlantic Division

W L Pct GB Boston 35 12 .745 Philadelphia 30 16 .652 4½ Brooklyn 28 17 .622 6 New York 25 23 .521 10½ Toronto 21 27 .438 14½ Central Division W L Pct GB Milwaukee 29 17 .630 Cleveland 29 19 .604 1 Indiana 23 25 .479 7 Chicago 21 24 .467 7½ Detroit 12 36 .250 18 Southeast Division W L Pct GB Miami 26 22 .542 Atlanta 24 23 .511 1½ Washington 20 26 .435 5 Orlando 17 29 .370 8 Charlotte 13 34 .277 12½

WESTERN CONFERENCE Northwest Division W L Pct GB Denver 33 13 .717 Minnesota 24 24 .500 10 Utah 24 25 .490 10½ Oklahoma City 22 24 .478 11 Portland 21 24 .467 11½ Pacific Division W L Pct GB SACRAMENTO 26 19 .578 L.A. CLippers 25 24 .510 3 GOLDEN STATE 23 23 .500 3½ Phoenix 23 24 .489 4 L.A. Lakers 21 25 .457 5½ Southwest Division W L Pct GB Memphis 31 14 .689 New Orleans 26 21 .553 6 Dallas 25 23 .521 7½

49ers

From Page A3

Elliott, delivered an 8-yard completion to KaVontae Turpin – and Jimmie Warddecked him immediately to end the game.

Not until late in the third quarter Sunday did the 49ers truly make their move, sparked by George Kittle’s 30-yard, juggling catch to midfield. Back-toback holding penalties by the Cowboys sent the 49ers to the 10-yard line, and after Kyle Juszczyk closed the quarter with an 8-yard run, McCaffrey opened the fourth with his 2-yard touchdown run up the middle, courtesy of great blocking, for a 16-9 lead.

Dallas responded with a 44-yard kick return by Turpin, but they could only pull within 16-12 on Brett

Maher’s 43-yard field goal with 11:03 remaining.

Maher was set up as the Cowboys’ potential scapegoat, when a blocked point-after kick in the second quarter marked his sixth miss in seven attempts, including four shanks in Monday’s wildcard win and one miss in the regular-season finale.

Maher did pull the Cowboys even at 9-9 when he made a 25-yard field goal in the third quarter. The Cowboys were poised to take the lead, however, after they had recovered Ray-Ray McCloud’s fumbled punt return at the 21-yard line and then got to first-and-goal. It was McCloud’s third fumble this season but the first he’s lost. He fumbled 13 times in his four seasons prior to joining the 49ers this season.

McCloud, after fum-

bling away that punt return, ripped off a 53-yard kick return to the Cowboys’ 47-yard line that could have resparked the 49ers. Instead, they failed to get a first down and punted.

To summarize the 49ers’ 9-6 halftime lead, they had nine points because of their kicker, Gould, and the Cowboys had only six points because of their kicker, Maher, whose point-after kick got blocked by Samson Ebukam.

Gould’s 50-yard field goal as the half expired improved him to 28-of-28 on field-goal attempts in 15 playoff games. He made 26- and 47-yard attempts earlier in the half.

Deommodore Lenoir and Fred Warner intercepted first-half passes by Dak Prescott, who threw an NFL-high 15 in the regular season but none in a five-

Tuesday’s Games SAN JOSE at Detroit, 4 p.m. Boston at Montreal, 4 p.m. Florida at Pittsburgh, 4 p.m. L.A. Kings at Philadelphia, 4 p.m. Minnesota at Tampa Bay, 4 p.m. Vegas at New Jersey, 4:30 p.m. Buffalo at St. Louis, 5 p.m. Winnipeg at Nashville, 5 p.m. Anaheim at Arizona, 6 p.m. Washington at Colorado, 6 p.m. Chicago at Vancouver, 7 p.m.

FOOTBALL

NFL

Division Playoffs Saturday’s Games

Kansas City 27, Jacksonville 20 Philadelphia 38, N.Y. Giants 7 Sunday’s Games Dallas at SAN FRANCISCO, 3:30 p.m. Cincinnati 27, Buffalo 10

AFC/NFC Championships Sunday’s Games Cincinnati at Kansas City, 3:30 p.m.

SAN FRANCISCO at Philadelphia, Noon. Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 12

AFC champion vs. NFC champion, 3:30 p.m.

touchdown performance in Monday’s wild-card win at Tampa Bay.

Lenoir’s interception, on an underthrown pass to Michael Gallup, came on their second series, and the 49ers converted that into Gould’s first field goal.

Warner’s interception came in the red zone off a deflection by Jimmie Ward on a pass intended to CeeDee Lamb, with 1:15 left until halftime.

The 49ers’ offense lurched down the field as precious seconds expired, but Purdy threw the ball away to keep one second left for Gould’s 50-yard kick.

The Cowboys’ biggest development of the first half was neither Prescott’s generosity nor Maher’s misery, but rather the loss of Pro Bowl running back Tony Pollard to a lower-leg injury. He never returned.

AFCFrom Page A3

ground and knocked the ball out late to force the incompletion.

Taylor-Britt also would come up with an interception of Allen late in the game to close out the victory.

Bengals kicker Evan McPherson made it a three-possession game with a 20-yard field goal with 11:22 left in the fourth quarter.

It was an anti-climatic finish thanks to the way Cincinnati just ripped Buffalo’s secondary apart in the early going.

Benglas quarterback Joe Burrow went nearly the entire quarter without throwing an incompletion as the Bengals took a 14-0 lead. They put up 10 first downs and 160 yards in the quarter while the Bills didn’t have a single first down and managed only eight yards.

The Bengals first touchdown couldn’t have been any easier with Burrow hitting a wideopen Ja’Marr Chase for a 28-yard score just six plays into the game.

According to Next Gen Stats, Chase had 8.3 yards of separation on the play, the most wide open he’s been on any of his 25 career touchdowns, including the playoffs, thanks to a miscommunication.

Burrow made it 14-0 with 3:47 to go in the first quarter with a 15-yard touchdown to Hayden Hurst.

Hurst also had plenty of space in the back corner of the end zone on the play and Burrow dropped a soft toss into his arms for the score. Burrow was 9-for-9 during that stretch with 105 yards and completions to six different targets.

Cincinnati’s hot start left Buffalo facing a double-digit deficit for only the second time this season.