Daily Republic: Sunday, March 5, 2023

susan hiland

SHILAND@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

SUISUN CITY — Rebuilding

Together Solano County has given away hundreds of Disaster Safe At Home Kits to veterans and families over the past few months.

The Fairfield-Suisun Veterans Building hosted another giveaway Friday for veterans to take home what the group describes as essential home safety items.

The Disaster Safe At Home Kit includes a first aid kit, hand crank radio/LED flashlight/cellphone charger, a fire extinguisher, plug-in night lights, emergency blanket, glow sticks, emergency

Church food garden helps with healthy living

Trust, newfound chemistry fuels W’s

Fairfield council set to talk about ‘listening tour’

Todd R. h ansen THANSEN@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

FAIRFIELD — The City Council on Tuesday will discuss the “Heart to Heart Listening Tour” proposed by Mayor Catherine Moy and Vice Mayor Pam Bertani.

The district-by-district meet-and-greet has had little input from the rest of the council, which has raised concerns and the frustration level among some council members.

whistle, hand sanitizer, hand soap, face masks, a set of trash bags and disaster backpack with emergency information.

Each kit has a value of $175.

Rebuilding Together Solano County provides free home repair and rehabilitation services for low-income homeowners and community facilities. We do similar work to what Habitat for Humanity does but for people who already own a home,” said Elizabeth Hoffman, executive director for Rebuilding Together Solano County. “Volunteers help seniors who own their own home with maintenance things.”

Rebuilding Together Solano County can assist those who can no longer climb ladders or crawl beneath sinks for upkeep and repair work. It is a local nonprofit organization dedicated to helping low-income veterans, seniors and the disabled.

“This helps them to remain in their own homes,” Hoffman said.

Rebuilding Together Solano County was established in 2009 and boasts more than 12,000 volunteers throughout the county. It has several programs that include veteran home rehabilitation, disaster safe-at-home kits, smoke/CO

The concept is for Moy and Bertani, and presumably at least the council member representing the district in which the meeting is taking place – to hear what those residents have to say.

Moy and Bertani have

tentatively suggested the fourth Saturday of each month, starting March 25 in Councilwoman Doriss Panduro’s District 5, for the gatherings. That would be followed by meetings in District 3 in April, District 2 in May, District 4 in June, District 6 in July and finishing in District 1 in August. That schedule and locations will be two of the topics to be discussed at the council meeting. The council meets at 7 p.m. in the City Hall chamber, 1000 Webster St. The regular meeting follows a closed session at 5 p.m. during which the council will be updated on existing

See Tour, Page A9

Biden closes in on order to restrict US investment in China tech

BloomBeRg

WASHINGTON —

The WashingTon PosT

SODA SPRINGS — To keep out the snow, most of the windows of Andrew Schwartz’s cabin are boarded up with plywood, creating a gloom so persistent that he keeps his house plant alive with a grow light and consumes daily vitamin D from a pillbox in his desk.

Snow falls in such abundance around Schwartz’s home – which doubles as the UC Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Laboratory – that prior residents of his research station have been known to ski directly into a thirdstory window. The drifts bury cars, warp walls and pile up in monstrous mushroom caps on his roof, before sliding off

with startling violence. But even Schwartz, who has chased hailstorms in Australia and tornadoes in Oklahoma, faced weather this week unlike any he has known.

The blizzard that blanketed California’s inland mountains hit Schwartz’s cabin with 70 mph winds and blinding snow that covered up his snowshoe tracks minutes after he

made them. On Tuesday afternoon, as he went to check his instruments, he slipped and plunged into a drift up to his neck.

“That was the first time I’ve ever had a moment like: Am I going to get out of this?” he recalled. “That storm was genuinely the worst one I’ve seen in my life.”

The amount of snow that has fallen on California is rivaling some of the most bountiful years on record. Just in the past two weeks, more than a dozen feet of snow fell in this area, pushing the snowpack in the Central and Southern Sierra Nevada Mountains to roughly twice the amount of a normal

The Biden administration is nearing completion of an executive order that would restrict investments by U.S. companies in parts of the Chinese economy, including advanced technologies that could enhance China’s military and intelligence capabilities, people familiar with the matter said.

The effort is at an advanced stage, with President Joe Biden prepared to request funding

for it in his March 9 fiscal 2024 budget, according to reports to Congress obtained by Bloomberg.

The order would add to the administration’s toolkit to address concern about China’s technological advances, which includes export controls on advanced semiconductors and new guidance on screening Chinese investments in the U.S.

While working on the policies, officials discovered that U.S. investments in China often come with

See China, Page A9

Coke freestyle machines show who creates the real thing

As teenagers, we thought we were being creative. Low-level outlaws.

Same thing today. Give a teenager (or younger) a glass and a Coke freestyle machine – the touchscreen machines that some restaurants have where you can create your personal soda, either by going deep into their flavor archives or by combining flavors – and watch them “break the rules.”

They’ll combine a Monster drink and Coke and Minute Maid and Dr. Pepper and Fanta. They’ll make their own drink. It’s crazy.

Back in the day, it was the same – albeit without the Free-

The WashingTon PosT

Vittoria Hunter and her family have a ritual of breakfast at their local Waffle House in Little Rock every weekend. For about a year, they have requested to sit in the section of their favorite waiter, Devonte Gardner.

“He’s the nicest person ever,” said Hunter, 35.

Her son, Kayzen Hunter, 8, gets a highfive from Gardner when they walk in the door, and the two joke around a lot, she said. Kayzen is always impressed when Gardner remembers his order, which is the same every weekend.

“Devonte always treats everyone with kindness, and he always knows exactly what I want: hash browns with cheese and eggs with cheese,” said Kayzen, who is in second grade.

During a Waffle House visit a few months ago with his grandfather, John Donofrio, Kayzen said he learned a little more information about Gardner’s life.

“Devonte said he wondered if anyone might know where he could buy a cheap car – he’d been having a hard time saving for one,” Kayzen said.

He and his grandfather learned that day that Gardner had been walking several miles a day to and from work and was living in a motel room with his wife and two daughters. About eight months earlier, they had to move out of an apartment that was infested with rats and contaminated with black mold, Gardner said.

Kayzen, upset that his friend had fallen on hard times, went home and told his mom about Gardner’s situation.

“He kept saying, ‘We have to start a GoFundMe and help Devonte get a

CORRECTION POLICY

style machine. When we’d go to the rare restaurant where they let you fill your own soda, you’d go crazy.

Mix Sprite and Coke and Dad’s Root Beer. Add some fruit punch to it. It was crazy, too.

(Admission: I lived in the 1980s and didn’t try cocaine. So this is my version of crazy.) We would call them “kamikazes” or “suicides,” two insensitive phrases. But it was bold! It was brazen! We weren’t playing by their stupid rules! Turns out, we were. At the minimum, we were setting the stage to do field studies for them.

Coca-Cola, which has more than 50,000 such machines,

according to an article on Food Dive’s website, combs through data from those machines every day to determine what flavors people want.

They’re using us to do their scientific research! We’re lab rats for Coke!

Since launching the freestyle machines, Coke has added four new flavors based on the data: Sprite Cherry, Coke with Cherry Vanilla, Coke with Orange Vanilla and (coming this spring!) Sprite with Lymonade.

On one hand, that’s pretty cool. A company giving customers the freedom to select what they want (within the 32-drink flavor profile offered by Coke) and listening to them.

On the other hand, it makes the creative use of those

machines seem much less, well, freestyle-y, right? If I’m being really creative with something and the result is that one of the world’s largest corporations can make another product to make more money, am I really “freestyling?” Or am I an unpaid intern, doing market research?

Back when I was in college, I’d often play basketball with my friends at a church gym. We’d play for hours and then, apropos for the era, we’d go to the local Denny’s. Some people would eat breakfasts (it was often late at night), others would have a soda. As a diabetic, I was limited in my soda choices, but there were two things I liked to drink: Diet soda (Tab was the only available choice at Denny’s then) and milk.

enjoy, but it’s hard to save enough to improve my family’s situation.”

“It can really feel overwhelming sometimes,” he added.

Vittoria Hunter and her husband, Korey Hunter, said they could sympathize with Gardner’s predicament because in 2019 they left a rental house that had been contaminated with black mold.

“Vittoria got really sick from it, and Kayzen got rashes on his arm,” said Korey Hunter, 37, noting that he and his wife have a blended family that also includes three teenagers.

car,’” Hunter recalled. “He didn’t give up on it. He’s a kid with a big heart.”

On Feb. 18, Hunter said she agreed to help Kayzen set up a GoFundMe page, with the goal of raising $5,000 toward new wheels for Gardner.

When a local news station found out, donations began to pour in, and the fund quickly soared to more than $30,000 –enough for a car and to pay for an apartment for Gardner’s family for the next year, she said.

Gardner, 29, said he was stunned when he learned what his young customer had done.

“I started crying – I’d been quietly struggling and didn’t want to ask anybody for anything,” he said, explaining that he uses most of his tips to pay his family’s $60 per day motel bill.

His wife, Aissa Shorter, was recently hired at a local McDonald’s, and they work opposite shifts so they can care for their daughters, Jade, 3, and Amoura, 2, Gardner said.

“We had to give up most of our belongings because

of the mold, but we’re slowly working our way back,” he said.

“I love working at Waffle House because I have an opportunity to make people feel good every day,” Gardner added. “I love the people who come in, especially Kayzen. For this little guy to do this out of the kindness of his heart is really humbling.”

Gardner said he thought people related to his financial challenges because millions of Americans have a hard time paying for housing, transportation and food as the cost of living soared last year and paychecks don’t keep up with inflation.

More than 37 million Americans live in poverty, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, and in recent years, studies have found that about 13 million people are disconnected from federal programs that help with housing, child care, food stamps and nutrition.

“Even when you can work double shifts, it’s hard to get ahead,” Gardner said. “I’m thankful to have a job that I

It is the Daily Republic’s policy to correct errors in reporting. If you notice an error, please call the Daily Republic at 425-4646 during business hours weekdays and ask to speak to the editor in charge of the section where the error occurred. Corrections will be printed here.

“Our water heater leaked, and mold grew in the wall and blew out everywhere through the air conditioner return,” he said. “Everything in the house was ruined.”

Korey Hunter works as an electrician while Vitto-

So I’d order one of each and an extra glass. Then I would combine Tab and milk, 50-50 in the glass and drink it. Daring! Even now it seems hideous, but then it seemed kind of cool and kind of dangerous in a notreally-dangerous way. It was unique. It was mine.

So after reading this – or after Coke examines data from drinks ordered at Denny’s 40 years ago – if you see that Coke is introducing its new Tab With Milk drink, you can thank me.

I’m the unpaid 1980s intern at Coke who created the world’s greatest drink.

Reach Brad Stanhope at bradstanhope@outlook.com.

ria Hunter sells real estate and runs a small business raising Maine coon cats.

“It took a long time, but we’re thankful that we could rebuild our lives,” Korey Hunter said. “It was important to Kayzenand to us – to help Devonte do the same.”

Many of Gardner’s other customers were quick to jump in and help.

“This guy is ALWAYS in a good mood and a hard worker!” one man commented about Gardner on the GoFundMe page. He donated $25.

“I’ve experienced what [Devonte] is experiencing and I love it that he continues to spread joy despite his struggles,” added a woman who donated $20.

People were also touched by Kayzen’s concern for Gardner and his family.

“This is the definition

of community,” one person wrote on the GoFundMe page. “You’ll be a leader, no doubt, Kayzen.”

Kayzen said he was surprised and excited that so many people wanted to help his Waffle House friend.

“Devonte is a positive person who works hard to make everyone happy,” Kayzen said. “Sometimes people just need a little help.”

Gardner said he plans to move his family into a onebedroom apartment later this month and go shopping for a car, thanks to the generosity of Kayzen and the Little Rock community.

“I’m really touched deeply by it all,” he said. “And as far as my little buddy goes, he’s my best friend for life.”

A child learned his favorite waiter was struggling;

Vittoria Hunter courtesy photo Kayzen Hunter, right, with Devonte Gardner at the Waffle House in Little Rock where Gardner has worked for about a year. Kayzen, 8, helped to raise more than $30,000 to buy Gardner a car and pay for an apartment for his family.

City Church food garden comes together to help with healthy living

FAIRFIELD — A dedicated group of about 25 volunteers came out Saturday to continue preparing the ground for the new community garden at City Church.

Sustainable Solano’s Solano Gardens program is partnering with City Church of Fairfield to create a community food forest and garden on the church grounds that will supply food for underserved communities in Fairfield.

They began clearing the plot of land for the garden last week, the Rev. Scott Mulvey said.

“We are planting fruiting trees along the fence so people walking by can just grab some if they want,” Mulvey said. “This area is declared a health desert by the Department of Health.”

The area has no grocery stores that provide healthy choices for customers within an easy walking distance.

“If you don’t have a vehicle or can’t walk it is almost impossible to get healthy food,” he said.

“The only choice for groceries is the liquor store down the street and they don’t have fresh produce.” City Church will provide healthy cooking classes for those staying at the church.

“It will show people how to use foods that are good for you in recipes so they taste good,” Mulvey said.

The program is funded by the Solano Public Health Division to create and support gardens that provide access to fresh produce in communities that have historically experienced limited access to healthy food.

Scott Dodson is a landscape designer working with Sustainable Solano

to create the design for the garden.

“The garden is going to be a place for meditation, beautification and food production,” Dobson said.

The design is done to have central fruiting trees that will have pollinating perennial plants

Job fair sheds light on vacancies in Solano school districts

SuSan HilanD

SHILAND@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

FAIRFIELD — Schools across the area are looking to fill multiple types of position, so the Solano County Office of Education hosted a job fair Saturday for people to seek jobs in a single setting.

“This is targeting the communities in Solano County,” said Mike Minahen, associate superintendent of Human Resources. “The goal for today is to provide an opportunity to recruit locally.”

Nearly all school districts in Solano County came out on a rainy Saturday.

“This is a way to give the schools some extra help

toDD R. H anSen THANSEN@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

FAIRFIELD — The Solano County Legislative Committee will be updated Monday on federal budget issues, state reports and will consider a position on seven bills.

The committee is set to meet at 1:30 p.m. in Conference Room 6003 on the sixth floor of the government center, 675 Texas St., in Fairfield.

The legislation to be reviewed includes a bill by Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, that would require the rules adopted by the California

with recruiting and retaining people,” Minahen said. Nearly all schools across the board have seen a dramatic decrease in new hires. Meanwhile teaching programs have

State University trustees “to require each campus president and either a vice president or vice chancellor to approve all sexual harassment settlements . . . require a report to the Legislature on the number of sexual harassment complaints filed, the length of time taken to complete the investigative process, and the disposition of those cases, as specified, and . . . prohibit retreat rights for any campus president, provost, or other senior administrator who has vio lated any California State University or campus Title

also not seen the interest they did in past years, Minahen said.

“It is much more challenging than before,” he said.

Minahen has been

IX policy.”

Other bills to be considered include one that changes the qualifications to be a county auditor; the California Public Employees’ Retirement System contracts involving trial courts; the state Department of Resources, Recycling and Recovery adding illegally disposed hazardous waste and household hazardous waste

Daily Republic Staff DRNEWS@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

FAIRFIELD — The Solano County Public Health Division has been awarded national accreditation through the Public Health Accreditation Board for its “commitment to excellence in serving the communityandmeeting basic needs.”

“We are so pleased to be recognized by PHAB for achieving national standards that encourage effectiveness and promote continuous quality improvement,” Dr. Bela Matyas, the county Public Health officer, said in a statement.

“This effort was a significant undertaking for Public Health staff, and I am grateful and proud of the work they have put in over the past years to get Solano Public Health national accreditation. This award recognizes the work performed by Solano Public Health employees every day,” Matyas added. The national accreditation program sets standards by which public health departments can “continuously improve the quality of their services and performance,” according to the county statement.

Daily Republic Staff DRNEWS@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

teaching and part of the educational community for 38 years.

“I have been lucky because each job I have held, I loved them,” he said.

One of the reasons he loves working for the Solano County Office of Education is because they take care of their employees.

“The goal is to be supporting of the new employees by having meetings after 30 days and then 90 days to assess where they are and what they need,” he said.

The number of jobs that need to be filled varies from school district to school district, but many are looking at openings

to its responsibilities; a bill that would require the daily fee provided to criminal grand jury members to be equal to 70% of the county median daily income; and one that would establish the Broomrape Control Board within the Department of Food and Agriculture.

The Egyptian broomrape is a parasitic plant that has been an issue

SUISUN CITY — The Interstate 80 westbound truck scale project comes up several times Wednesday on the Solano Transportation Authority agenda.

The board will hear an update on the project, including the acquisition phase and a presentation on technology integration.

Agency directors are scheduled to meet at 6 p.m. in the boardroom at the Solano Transportation Authority office, 423 Main St., in Suisun City.

The board also will consider adding the Canon Road Rail Overcrossing Project and Markeley Lane, in Fairfield, and the Parkway Boulevard extension, in

for Solano County agriculture.

Supervisors John Vasquez and Erin Hannigan sit on the committee. A full agenda is available at https://www. solanocounty.com/ legislation/agendas.asp.

Dixon, to the Regional Transportation Impact Fee Nexus Study.

Other agenda items include consideration of submitting a grant for $500,000 for the Solano Countywide Climate Adaptation Plan for Transportation Infrastructure; legislative updates, including a draft spending priority list; Solano Express service changes; transportation programs in Rio Vista and Benicia; and consideration of adopting five potential cost-saving measures as best pavement management among the local jurisdictions in Solano County.

A complete agenda is available at https://sta.ca.gov/ meetings-agendas/.

HANNIGAN VASQUEZ

MATYAS

Susan Hiland/Daily Republic

The Solano County Office of Education hosted the 2nd Annual Job Fair, Saturday.

Susan Hiland/Daily Republic

About 25 volunteers came out to help prepare the ground for the new garden at City Church in Fairfield, which will be a community garden providing healthy foods for those staying at the church, Saturday.

See Garden, Page A5

See Fair, Page A5

Planning, volunteer recruitment starts for Earth Day cleanups

FAIRFIELD — Eleven sites are targeted as part of Solano County’s annual Earth Day cleanup events, which will coincide with the international observance of Earth Day on April 22.

“It’s important that we continue to examine what waste we are generating every day and to make sure that we are disposing of it properly. That includes making sure (California Redemption Value) beverage containers are always making it into the recycling stream and not in the trash or our local waterways,” Narcisa Untal, senior planner for Integrated Waste Management with Solano County’s Department of Resource Management, said in a statement.

The local locations range from Blue Rock Springs Park in Vallejo to Suisun City’s waterfront to Lake Solano County Park in the coastal range hills.

“Each year, Solano County Earth Day Cleanup volunteers typically remove between 5,000 to 10,000 pounds of trash and recyclables from community parks, trails, roadsides and waterways,” organizers said in a statement.

Earth Day cleanups are coordinated by the Solano Resource Conservation District, with support

from the Solano County Department of Resource Management and help from the Sierra Club Solano Group, Sprouts Farmers Market in Vacaville, the Solano Center for Volunteer and Non-Profit Leadership, 95.3 KUIC, Grizzly Waters Kayaking and the California Coastal Commission.

Anyone, or any group, interested in joining one of the cleanup efforts should visit cleanupsolano.org for details about site locations, contacts and times.

“Trash and recyclables that are not properly disposed of can enter waterways or storm drains that flow into creeks and

rivers before draining into the sea. Solano County residents can help by volunteering at community cleanups, reducing the amount of waste they create, and disposing of their waste properly,” organizers said.

A free digital Recycling Guide is available at recycle.solanocounty. com for tips on properly recycling things like oil, appliances, furniture and electronic waste as well as CRV beverage containers. Resources to learn more about plastic pollution and ways to take action are available at earthday.org/campaign/ end-plastic-pollution.

In brief

Farm Bureau plans seminar to help farmers, ranchers leave land to family

VACAVILLE — A free seminar is set for March 22 about how to transfer “your legacy to your family.”

The “Land is Your Legacy” seminar is scheduled for noon to 2 p.m. at the Nut Tree Airport, 301 Airport Road in Vacaville. Lunch is included.

Register by sending an email to lisa@solanofarmbureau.org.

The event is sponsored by the Farm Bureau and Nationwide.

Arlene Nichols

Arlene Carol Nichols (De Jong) passed away on Friday, February 10, 2023, at the age of 83. Arlene was born to Herman and Catherine De Jong in New Sharon, Iowa and had three younger siblings, Patricia, Marion, and Rose. She earned a degree in teaching from Calvin College in Michigan and, at 5’ 11”, was the center and Captain for the basketball team. Arlene raised three children, Landa, Jon and Bob, has seven grandchildren, Britany, Nickolas, Jacob, Michael, Shelby, Holly and Reagan, and one greatgrandchild, Nickolas Jr.

Cleanup partners include Solano County Parks; the Fairfield-Suisun Sewer District; the Vallejo Watershed Alliance; the Vallejo Flood and Wastewater District; the cities of Benicia, Dixon and Vacaville; the Solano Land Trust; and volunteer site leaders.

The Solano Resource Conservation District coordinates three annual community cleanups on behalf of Solano County, including Earth Day, World Environment Day on June 3 and Coastal Cleanup Day on Sept. 23. Learn more about these cleanups at cleanupsolano.org.

Suisun police investigate shooting

Daily Republic Staff

DRNEWS@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

SUISUN CITY — Someone shot at a vehicle Thursday night in a residential neighborhood, leaving scattered shell casings at the scene but little else, the Suisun City Police Department reports.

Dispatchers were notified of the shooting shortly before 8:50 p.m. near Show Drive and Honker Lane. None of those involved in the shooting were still there when officers arrived. No injuries were reported.

Officers canvassed the scene and collected evidence in what Suisun City police described in a community update Friday as a preliminary and ongoing investigation.

Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call Suisun City Investigations at 707-421-7373.

In brief

Solano water agency directors to hear flow of issue reports

VACAVILLE — Water, legislative, Delta and employee policy issues come before the Solano County Water Agency board when it meets Thursday in the Berryessa Room of its offices.

The board also will consider a $50,000 contract with Ag Innovations for continuing Stakeholder Engagement Support for Putah Creek Water Management.

The Solano County Water Agency office is located at 810 Vaca Valley Parkway, Suite 203, in Vacaville.

The board also is

scheduled to meet in closed session to consider appointment of a new general manager. A complete agenda is available at https://www. scwa2.com/governance/ board-meetings-agendas-minutes/.

Travis school board to consider teachers’ negotiations

FAIRFIELD — Travis School District trustees will give the public a chance Tuesday to comment on the initial proposal for the Travis Unified Teachers’ Association contract for 2023-2024. The board is then scheduled to vote on the proposal.

Negotiations cover

salary and benefits along with elementary preparation/planning, common planning days and adjunct duty.

The district proposes to explore current needs related to elementary preparation and common planning time, and to negotiate necessary amendments, according to a staff report. The district also proposes to explore new and different options relative to adjunct duty time and to negotiate necessary amendments in order to serve the best interests of students and operational needs.

Negotiations will also cover school calendars for

2024-2025 and beyond.

Travis trustees are also scheduled to accept the union’s initial contract proposals, which includes proposals related to teacher prep time, physical education class sizes, and cost-of-living levels and medical benefits.

The meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m. at 2751 De Ronde Drive, Fairfield.

An agenda for the meeting is available at https://simbli. eboardsol utions.com/ SB_Meetings/SB_MeetingListing.aspx?S=36030187.

Arlene was a devout Christian and a provider before all else in life, implementing Jesus’ teachings to love and care for the needs of her children and others before herself. She was an avid lover of words: the Bible, novels, crossword puzzles, scrabble, Latin and Dutch. She was also born with a “Green Thumb”. A service and celebration of life will be held on March 18, 2023 starting at 11:00 am at the Fairfield Christian Reform Church, 300 Marigold Dr., Fairfield, CA 94533.

Margaret Koehler

Margaret Louise (Jones) Koehler passed away from natural causes on February 27, 2023. She was 102. The Solano County Board of Supervisors honored Margaret and others, in their annual “Centenarian Commemoration” earlier this year.

Margaret Louise was born January 12, 1921, in Ballinger, TX to Marie and James “Jim” Jones. Early life was rough, as her mother passed away while Margaret was still a schoolgirl. Her only sibling, a brother, was much older and didn’t really like a baby sister tag along. Margaret became fiercely independent as a result, and quickly expanded her world far beyond her humble beginnings. This included joining nursing exchange programs in the European theater during WWII.

In addition to her nursing degree, Margaret received a Ph.D. in Psycholog y. She worked as a clinical nurse in various hospitals, including VA hospitals in multiple states. In the late 1960’s, Margaret and her family moved to California, where she was a professor of clinical nursing at CSU Long Beach for 30 years.

After retirement, Margaret and husband John, moved to Mill Creek, WA. She was an avid golfer, world traveler and proud grandma. She and John loved living in Washington, but missed their grandsons, so they moved back to California in 2010.

Margaret is survived by her son, Roger Koehler; daughter-inlaw, Karron Koehler; grandsons, Adam Koehler and Grant Koehler; and her daughter, Gretchen Koehler. Her husband John Koehler, preceded her in 2018. Per her wishes, Ms. Koehler’s body was donated to the UC Davis School of Medicine.

Antone Mendez Rivera

Antone Mendez Rivera, 93, passed away at home on February 12, 2023 just three short months following his wife Anna’s passing. He is now reunited with her. Antone was born September 5, 1929 in Honolulu, Hawaii to Helen and Carilario (Paco) Rivera. He grew up with two sisters in Hawaii, and had many fond memories, but most vividly remembered the bombing of Pearl Harbor as a young boy. He joined the Navy, then later the Air Force and during a brief break he met Anna and they married in Arkansas. In 1960 he was stationed at Travis Air Force base where they settled and raised their family; they were married 68 years and raised seven children. He had an industrious career spanning over three decades working as a bus driver and custodian for the Fairfield Suisun Unified School District, as well as head custodian for Solano Community College until his retirement. He was also an entrepreneur; he and his wife Anna for many years had a janitorial side business, opened a Hawaiian shaved ice store called “Aloha Snow”, and also had a locksmith business called “Mr. Keys”. He always kept busy working on his small farm while enjoying his family Antone was a strong patriarch and a very unique person. He could make art out of anything; had strong opinions on just about everything and was not shy about expressing them. He valued hard work and instilled those values in his children. He loved his family deeply and he will be greatly missed. He is survived by his sister Martha Andrews (Robert), his children Leon (Debbie), Tony (Reva), Ramona, John (Tracy), Dolores (Kevin), Mendez (Marcelle), Andre (Karen) and 17 grandchildren (Nicole, Matthew, Thomas, Renee, Clark, Desi, Samantha, Cody, Logan, Jeff, Kyle, Josh, Sydney, Justin, Jenny) and 13 great grandchildren. He is preceded in death by his parents, his wife Anna, sister Helen, grandson Daniel and granddaughter Gracie Ann.

NAVY & AIR FORCE VETERAN

There will be a private burial for his family at the Sacramento Valley National Cemetery

Ina Scally

Ina Rogers Scally of Fairfield, California passed away February 19, 2023 at the age of 90. Ina was born into a family of 4 children on June 10, 1932 in Fairfield, California to Ted and Mildred Rogers, both of Fairfield, California. Her grandparents, pa rents and the 4 children all lived together in their home downto wn on Broadway St reet . She graduated from Armijo High School in Fairfield. She began her career w orking at the Solano County Library in Fairfield. Several years l ate r, she began w orking at the California DMV in Fairfield. She was bi-lingual (a skill she acquired translating for her Spanish grandparents) so one of her duties was to v erbally administe r the DMV te st to the local residents who only spoke Spanish. Ina retired from the DMV after 22 years on June 10, 1986. She had been a department manager at the main office at the time. Even after retirement, people w ould still stop her and ask DMV rel ated questions for years; she w ould happily try to assist or point them in the right direction.

In retirement, Ina was able to travel to some amazing places. She was a member of the Fairfield Senior Center Wednesday group and also

of the Native Daughters of the Golden West. She volunteered at Kaiser ’s clinic in Fairfield for over 20 years. She enjoyed water aerobics at the YMCA in Suisun for years. But her absolute favorite thing to do was to shop. “It’s my exercise,” she would say. She was impeccably dressed and always had that lovely “put together ” look about her!

Ina was the family historian and we all loved to hear the stories of her grandparents’ brave immigration from Spain, the early stories about growing up in Fairfield, and hearing about how ever yone had their turn working in the Valley cutting fruit for school clothes. Those are just a few stories that delighted us all. She was a loving daughter, sister, mother grandmother and aunt. Ina is loved beyond words and will be truly missed by all that knew her. She was proud to be a Fairfield native through and through!

Ina was preceded in death by her parents Ted and Mildred Rogers, husband George Scally, brother Ted Rogers, and son Steve Bullard. She is survived in death by her son Bruce Bullard (wife Lorie), grandson Chuck Bullard, sister Ellie Blossom, brother Bill Rogers (wife Margie), and grandson Ivan Bullard (son of Steve). She is also survived by her nephews and niece, great nephews and nieces, and great-great nephews.

will be held

Aaron Rosenblatt/Daily Republic file (2018)

Aaron Crawford picks up trash along Lower Union Avenue Creek in Suisun City, April 21, 2018.

Courtesy photo

Evidence cones are shown inside a crime scene after a shooting near Snow Drive and Honker Lane in Suisun City, Thursday.

California to alter Covid rules in health care settings: Masks and vaccinations not required

Tribune ConTenT AgenCy

LOS ANGELES — With the Covid-19 state of emergency a thing of the past, California health officials on Friday unveiled plans to relax guidance on masking in high-risk settings and to end vaccination requirements for health care workers.

Among the changes announced by the California Department of Public Health is the end of statewide mask requirements in health care and other indoor high-risk settings – including correctional facilities and emergency and homeless shelters – beginning April 3.

Effective the same day, California will no longer require Covid-19 vaccinations for health care workers, including those in adult and direct care

Fair

From Page A3

settings, correctional facilities and detention centers.

The monthlong delay is meant to allow local health departments and health care facilities time “to develop and implement plans customized to their

working already for the Fairfield-Suisun School District but wanted information on other opportunities.

needs and local conditions to continue to protect Californians through the end of the winter virus season,” according to the Department of Public Health.

In other changes, starting March 13, an

“Everyone needs teachers,” said Ken Whittemore, associate superintendent of Human Resources for Fairfield-Suisun School District.

Supervisors deal with Solano finances, end of Covid pandemic local emergency

individual who tests positive for Covid-19 can exit isolation after five days, provided they feel well, symptoms are improving, and they have been fever-free for 24 hours. The state’s earlier recommendation was to exit isolation upon receiving a negative rapid test on or after the fifth day following the onset of symptoms or the first positive test. For those who couldn’t test, or continued to test positive after Day 5, the state recommended isolating for at least 10 days. We have now reached a point where we can update some of the Covid-19 guidance to continue to balance prevention and adapting to living with Covid-19,” Dr. Tomás Aragón, California’s public health director and state health officer, said in a statement.

year of the job fair.

“Today we want to fill as many positions as possible; getting 10 people would be the goal,” Whittemore said.

FAIRFIELD — The loud slap felt at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic emergency in March 2020 will feel more like a wisp of air brushing by when the Solano County Board of Supervisors considers a proclamation terminating the local emergency.

The proclamation is the first of five consent agenda items, a calendar that is generally considered routine and taken up under a single vote.

However, there are plenty of other issues that will take up the board’s time – much of it financial – when it meets at 9 a.m. Tuesday in the first-floor chamber of the government center, 675 Texas St., in Fairfield.

The supervisors will be presented a midyear budget review, as well as take another shot at distributing the final $6.38 million in federal pandemic relief funding.

The Solano County 5-Year Capital Facilities Improvement Plan for fiscal years 2022-23 to 2026-27 is also on the agenda, as is the 2022 Solano County Annual Comprehensive Financial Report.

A complete agenda for the meeting is available at https://www.solanocounty.com/depts/bos/meetings/ videos.asp.

Trustees to ask county for $5.7M bridge loan to cover Travis School District expenses

FAIRFIELD – Travis School District trustees are scheduled to consider a request Tuesday of the Solano County Board of Supervisors to authorize the county treasurer to transfer approximately $5.7 million in one or more loans to the school district.

The loans would cover what the staff report describes as one or more cash shortages caused by delays in payments from the state.

with in excess of 100 positions available.

Innocbent Onwuazombe has worked for the school district since 2017.

“Paraeducators are in very high need,” Minahen said.

Some people were

Garden

From Page A3

“That will help increase the trees’ production,” Dobson said.

They will dig trenches to place vegetables and wood chips to help collect rainwater and retain it in the ground. This will provide food year round.

Loretta Martin came from the Macedonia Church of God in Christ after she heard what they were doing on the City Church property. She grabbed a rake and has been helping get the

Airport Commission addresses Solano wind power policies

FAIRFIELD — The Solano County Airport Land Use Commission on Thursday will consider wind power policies that would further protect Travis Air Force Base missions.

The commission will review the General Plan changes that address larger wind turbines, and changes to existing turbines and how those may affect Travis radar and other operations.

The commission meets at 7 p.m. in the Board of Supervisors chamber on the first floor of the government center, 675 Texas St., in Fairfield.

The panel also will consider whether the proposed Fairfield Sunset Avenue Apartments project is consistent with the Travis Air Force Base Land Use Compatibility Plan.

The 130-unit apartment

“I came looking for information on on avenues for credentialing,” he said.

ground ready for planting last weekend and Saturday.

“I wanted to get information on the program for our church,” she said. “This is part of the way we can heal the earth.”

Sarah Jones, a family physician, suggested the idea to Mulvey when she came out to assist with the onsite medical clinic.

“I saw the grass and how there were no trees here,” she said. “I thought it would be nice to have trees to sit beneath and meditate. It is an important part of the healing process from addiction.”

Jones said she thought everyone needs beauty in their lives, but to utilize the space for pro-

complex is proposed for 8.71 acres at the corner of Sunset and Tabor avenues. The tallest buildings are approximately 35 feet high.

A complete agenda is available at https://www. solanocounty.com/depts/ rm/boardscommissions/ solano_county_airport_ land_use_commission/ agendas.asp.

Solano Civil Service panel to set 2023 meeting times

FAIRFIELD — The Solano County Civil Service Commission will consider on Wednesday setting a meeting calendar for the rest of 2023.

The commission meets at 6:30 p.m. in the Board of Supervisors chamber on the first floor of the government center, 675 Texas St., in Fairfield. A complete agenda for the meeting is available at https://www.solanocounty. com/depts/bos/meetings/ videos.asp.

0

He credited the superintendent of the Solano County Office of Education with bringing together everyone for the second

viding fresh fruits and vegetables would take it one step further.

“I like to take a holistic approach to healing,” she said. “And looking at

this garden and tending the garden as a community is one way to share part of something positive and beautiful.”

Anyone interested in working for school districts in the area can go to www.edjoin.org to view openings. below them.

The amount is less than or equal to the 85% of fiscal year 2023-24 anticipated property tax revenues for the district, as estimated by the Solano County auditor, according to a staff report.

The money will be used to pay employees and vendors, according to the staff report. The district will repay the advances from money received by the district before any other obligation of the district is met from such revenue. The district will be charged an interest rate equal to the rate the county applies to funds of the district on deposit with the county.

An agenda for the meeting is available at https:// simbli.eboardsolutions.com/SB_Meetings/SB_ MeetingListing.aspx?S=36030187.

Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times/TNS

A nurse checks on patients in the Covid-19 wing at Olive View-UCLA Medical Center in the Sylmar neighborhood of Los Angeles.

Retailers fear highflying U.S. consumers are falling to earth

BLoomBerg

One of the biggest questions for investors over the past year has been when Americans will pull back on spending and trigger a recession. In the fourth quarter, that didn’t happen as retailers and brands exceeded expectations.

But their results and forecasts raised a bunch of red flags for the year ahead.

After the highest inflation in a generation, an increasing group of shoppers – including wealthy ones – are bargain hunting. Savings are dwindling. Consumer debt is piling up. The spending splurge after the height of Covid-19 is over.

As a result, several big retailers tried to pump the brakes during earnings season by issuing sales guidance for this year that disappointed Wall Street. Lowe’s, Best Buy and Target all see the potential for revenue to decline this year.

“There is a sense among retailers that the consumer has been defying gravity for quite some time, and they are expecting the music to stop,” Neil Saunders, managing director at GlobalData, said in an email. But “no one really knows when this will happen or the extent to which it will occur.”

Shoppers are already shifting purchases to cheaper options, a trend that often coincides with a recession. Walmart highlighted big gains from families with incomes above $100,000. Dollar Tree, another discounter, touted a similar benefit.

“The current economic climate is driving more higher-income consumers into value retail,”

Dollar Tree Chief Executive Officer Richard Dreiling said during an earnings call. They are “trading down.”

The savings rate has dropped below 5% for the first time since 2009, when the economy was in recession following the financial crisis. Meanwhile, inflation remains stubbornly high and wage gains aren’t making up for that.

Rising prices not only make paychecks seem

Beware the warning signs of financial scams

Not all financial scams involve stories of kidnappings, romance or unclaimed lottery winnings. Some hustles simply exploit the desire to make money quickly. A big target has been retirement funds, especially for retirees with control over their IRAs.

Mark Sievers

smaller, but they’ve also papered over the fact that a lot of the sales growth in the consumer sector has been from inflation, not shoppers buying more stuff.

Home Depot has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of the pandemic because increased time at home led Americans to spend more on sprucing up their houses. It has boosted revenue by $47 billion, a 43% gain, since Covid-19 hit the U.S. in early 2020. But in the fourth quarter, which ran through January, the chain’s sales gained just 0.3% – its worst quarterly performance in almost a decade. That came as transactions fell by 24 million, or 6%. Its results were saved by inflation as the average purchase rose by 5.8%.

Home Depot CEO Ted Decker explained during its earnings call that the company had come into last year expecting that rising prices would reduce purchases by roughly the same percentage. But its customers proved to be more resilient in their willingness to pay more – until now.

“What we are seeing now is some more sensitivity,” Decker told analysts.

In the fourth quarter, there was almost “an exact one-for-one offset.”

The company expects that trend to continue this year, he said.

In consumer staples, charging more for goods

has also been driving sales growth. In Procter & Gamble’s most recent quarter, volume fell 6% – double the rate of the previous three months. But charging 10% more boosted organic sales. Like Home Depot, the maker of Tide has been pleasantly surprised by how willing consumers have been to pay more.

The reaction to price increases has been “much more benign than we would’ve expected,” P&G Chief Financial Officer Andre Schulten said in a recent interview.

But this won’t last, according to Rod Little, CEO of Edgewell Personal Care, a P&G competitor that owns brands such as Schick.

“The consumer’s ability to withstand another round of price escalation is going to be challenged,” he said.

In response, some consumer brands are increasing advertising spending in an attempt to boost demand. Retailers have already dramatically pulled back on ordering.

“The pullback that we’ve seen from wholesale customers in terms of their orders has far exceeded any pullback in consumer demand,” Steven Madden CEO Ed Rosenfeld recently said.

One benefit to shoppers last year was that several parts of the consumer sector, especially apparel and home goods, had a glut of inventory because they misread demand

and there was a lot of discounting. But those days are gone and inflation persists, according to Jessica Ramirez, senior research analyst at Jane Hali & Associates.

At Macy’s, results in the fourth quarter exceeded analysts’ estimates, but the company also raised concerns about the health of the U.S. consumer.

“Credit-card balances continue to rise,” Macy’s CEO Jeff Gennette said in an interview. “You’re starting to see some elements of bad debt creep up.”

While spending on giftgiving and occasion-based products is expected to remain strong, “this consumer is under pressure,” Gennette said.

Despite cracks forming in consumer spending, the unemployment rate is the lowest in half a century. And while the Federal Reserve’s push to curb inflation could weaken the labor market this year, economists don’t see the rate rising above 5% – still a healthy level by historical standards.

“We’re always looking at employment levels, as well as wage levels; both of those things remain very strong,” Abercrombie & Fitch Chief Financial Officer Scott Lipesky said on a call with analysts. But “we don’t know what the Fed is going to do here in the U.S. and how that’s going to ripple through the economy.”

California police banking on phonehacking tool to solve cold case murder

Los A ngeLes Times

LOS ANGELES — For years, a locked cellphone belonging to the suspect in a Pasadena, California, homicide sat in an evidence room as investigators sought a way to get around the device’s security measures.

Police might have finally caught a break.

Israeli mobile forensics firm Cellebrite has released a software update with a “Lock Bypass” feature that could allow police to access the suspect’s locked Samsung g550t phone and retrieve any evidence about the December 2015 slaying, according to a recently filed search warrant application.

As smartphones have become ubiquitous, law enforcement agencies across the U.S. have recognized their potential usefulness in criminal investigations – a vast trove of personal information about whom the users communicate with, where they shop and where they travel.

But police departments’ attempts to access phones

have often put them at odds with companies such as Apple and Samsung, which market their devices’ builtin security and privacy to digital-savvy users. It’s not clear from the warrant in the Pasadena case if investigators were able to bypass the phone’s passcode lock using the Cellebrite program or what, if any, data they extracted. But in an affidavit supporting the warrant, a Pasadena homicide detective wrote that he learned about the update in mid-January from a computer forensic examiner assigned to the Verdugo Regional Crime Laboratory.

“In January 2023, the Cellebrite program successfully bypassed the lock on a Samsung cellular telephone, for an unrelated investigation, with the new software update,” said the warrant, which seeks records from a month before the incident through Nov. 18, 2015, the date of the suspect’s arrest.

“This search warrant seeks permission to search and seize records that may be found on [the suspect’s] cellular telephone in what-

ever form they are found as it relates to this homicide investigation.”

The simmering debate over cellphone privacy first spilled into the mainstream in 2016 after a mass shooting in San Bernardino.

At the time, Apple was resisting the FBI’s demands that it help unlock the iPhone 5C belonging to the shooter, Syed Rizwan Farook, setting off a contentious legal battle that was closely watched by privacy rights advocates and civil libertarians.

Federal authorities eventually found another method for unlocking the phone, without Apple’s help. Farook and his 27-yearold wife and accomplice, Tashfeen Malik, were both killed in a gun battle with police after the shooting. Phone infiltration technology has advanced at such lightning speed in the years since that today thousands of local police agencies have acquired the tools or have access to them through state and federal agencies, said Riana Pfefferkorn, a research scholar for Stanford’s Center for Internet and Society.

The numbers on elder fraud are significant and rising. The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center reported for 2021 more than 92,000 victims over the age 60 with total losses of $1.7 billion. That is a 74% increase over the amount stolen in 2020.

The best defense is to spot a scam and avoid it. Here are some warning signs.

Cold calling is the first warning sign. You should be skeptical about any unsolicited contact. Simply ask yourself why they are sharing the extremely good deal with you. Probably not altruism. Be polite and hang up the phone.

If you are seeking investment ideas, do not wait for the next cold call or the next email. You should choose the financial professionals you want to work with, not the other way around.

Guaranteed profit is another red flag. The pitch often promises the sensational return with absolute certainty.

Do not be vulnerable to greed. Remember that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission does not allow any legitimate investment offer to promise or guarantee any profit at all. So, a guarantee to double your money is a lie.

Nobody has ever shown the ability to predict the future. Lucky guesses occasionally but not consistently. If it sounds too good to be true, it is too good to be true.

Time pressure is another warning. The scammer offers an amazing opportunity, but says time is limited, you must decide quickly or lose the chance. The point of this fast-paced pitch is to deprive the victim of time to think, analyze and determine the true details. It is

A 2020 study by the nonprofit Upturn found that at least 2,000 law

simply better to lose the chance than to be scammed. Again, ask yourself why they would share it with you. Beware of any requests to change internet platforms. This is an almost certain sign of a scam. Moving from a legitimate platform, like Facebook, to some “hangout” site indicates danger. Scammers prefer this remote site where they think they have a reduced chance of being caught. Such sites make it harder to document illegal statements.

Any attempt to change the venue of the financial transactions is a warning sign. This is especially true for cryptocurrency transactions. First there are a few small amounts to create confidence.

Then the large transaction happens on a different site, which is entirely fraudulent. That site shows the money growing at an astounding rate, but the entire site is fake. When the victim tries to withdraw any money, then “poof,” the money disappears along with the scammer.

Retirees are special targets because they have accumulated money over their lifetime. But anyone can be the target. You do not have to be of a certain age to fall victim to these crimes. All assets, whether for a child’s education, new house or retirement, those assets are just simply at risk because these criminals are so good at what they do.

Be attentive to the warning signs. Ask questions because the scammers do not want prolonged contact. Look at resources on websites from the SEC, FBI, AARP or the Fraud Watch Network Helpline at 877-908-3360, among others.

Mark Sievers, president of Epsilon Financial Group, is a certified financial planner with a master’s in business administration from UC Berkeley. Contact him at mark@ wealthmatters.com.

County’s Largest Full Service Truck Shop

We service all makes and models of RV motorhome, 5th Wheel and Trailer Chassis, brakes, lights, engine, HVAC, transmission, steering, axles, bearings, suspension, tires etc. We also repair and service all trucks from a pick up truck to a Class 8 Big Rig. Our team of Technician’s have over 150 years combined repair and diagnostic experience. We treat your vehicle like it is ours. There is no job too big or small, we invite them all.

Give us a call to schedule an appointment or just stop by we always have coffee brewed and popcorn popped. We look forward to meeting you and providing you with excellent customer service.

427-1386

Mon.-Fri., 7:30AM-5:30PM Sat., 7:30AM-4:00PM 1245 Illinois St., Fairfield, CA

Dustin Chambers/Bloomberg

A shopper at the check-out counter of a record shop in Atlanta, Georgia, Feb. 14, 2023.

LA County entertains reform

Just about everything about California has changed since it became a state 173 years ago – beginning with the fact that when admitted to the Union in 1850, it had fewer than 100,000 residents but today counts nearly 40 million.

During the first half-century of California’s existence, its leaders tinkered constantly with the structure of its governance. County boundaries were altered, new counties were created, state government agencies were rearranged and the state capital shifted several times before landing in Sacramento.

Letters to the Editor

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

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

GOP splitting their party over clean energy

The Republican effort to demonize clean energy across red-voting America has reached a reckoning.

Dan Walters

Given the immense growth and economic and social change that California has experienced, particularly in the years following World War II, common sense would dictate that we should occasionally review how we govern ourselves and make obviously needed structural changes.

However, there’s been very little restructuring since the 20th century began. For instance, the last change in counties happened in 1907 when Imperial County was formed out of the eastern reaches of what was then San Diego County. The size of the Legislature – 80 members of the Assembly and 40 senators – was fixed within a few years of California becoming a state.

During this century’s first decade, with California seemingly facing a crisis of governance, there was an effort mounted to call a constitutional convention to fix its ills. However, those calling for reform were unable to agree on what areas of governance should be addressed and the effort collapsed.

Subsequently, Democrats achieved virtually complete control of state and local governments and we have been experimenting with one-party dominance, whether for good or ill.

Last week, structural reform popped up anew in an unlikely place – the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. All of California’s 58 counties, except for the city and county of San Francisco, are governed by five-member boards of supervisors, which have both legislative and administrative powers.

It’s been that way for many decades and works reasonably well for smaller counties. However, a system that is tolerable in Alpine County, which has just over 1,200 residents, is ludicrous in Los Angeles, which has 10 million. It invests too much authority in too few hands and fails to reflect the county’s incredible economic, cultural and ethnic diversity – a distilled version of California as a whole.

That became very evident a couple of years ago when a commission assigned to redraw the county’s five supervisorial districts after the 2020 census found it almost impossible to fairly represent so many communities of interest.

Last week, the five women who serve on the Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to begin exploring structural change, possibly including an expansion of the board’s membership.

“Having more seats at the table means that more and different voices can be part of the conversation,” Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, a co-sponsor of the motion, said. Expansion, she said, would mean “each district will have greater access to their supervisor.”

Daniel Mayeda, a co-chair of the redistricting commission, lauded the action. “I’m glad that the county is looking at this,” Mayeda said. “I’m hoping there’s some momentum.” The commission had urged board expansion in its report.

Making the board larger and more representative is not the only reform to be explored. The study will include making county government procedures more accessible.

Expanding boards of supervisors, particularly of large counties, would be a major step in governance reform. But it should go further, such as exploring having an elected county executive – in effect a county mayor – to increase accountability. It would make as much sense as having an elected governor for the state and elected mayors in cities.

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

The next six months will determine the success or failure of President Joe Biden’s combined climate and reindustrialization initiative, the Inflation Reduction Act. It will also reveal whether the GOP can hold its coalition together in the face of a clean-energy dilemma and whether Democrats can use the economic boon that the Inflation Reduction Act provides to split Republicans around pocketbook issues.

When Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act, his mood was celebratory. The legislation will “take the most aggressive action ever – ever, ever, ever – in confronting the climate crisis,” he said, and “save working families thousands of dollars” with $370 billion in rebates for efficient and electric appliances, rooftop solar and a $7,500 tax credit to buy new or used electric cars.

No Republican members of the House or Senate joined Biden’s ceremony; a right-wing counteroffensive had already begun. A week after the signing, Texas and Florida joined West Virginia in boycotting banks that appeared to favor renewablepower projects over coal, oil and gas.

The Texas Public Policy Foundation quickly lined up Republican officials in other states to blackball financial institutions over alleged bias for renewables.

These bank bans – which have cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars in higher loan fees – are merely the most visible sign of a well-funded campaign by the national GOP to gin up conservative opposition by portraying clean energy as un-American. With most of the clean-energy rebates and tax credits going to projects outside urban areas in conservative counties and states, the Inflation Reduction Act could fall flat on its face if rural communities are mobilized against clean energy.

Local bans on wind and solar projects form the core of the right’s strategy, and conservative rural

SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON POST

President Joe Biden has pledged to oppose any and all cuts to restore the critically underfunded Social Security system to solvency. This makes for good politics for Biden and congressional Democrats. But it is bad for the Americans who will depend on the nation’s retirement and disability program in the future.

With most Democrats opposing benefit reductions and Republicans opposing any tax increases, policymakers are at an impasse. Waiting to act until 2035, when the system’s trust fund is projected to run dry, will only make the solution more painful.

Biden himself should know this –because he was directly involved with one bipartisan compromise that kept Social Security solvent for decades and another that failed to pass.

The successful compromise was reached in 1983, when Social Security was mere months away from insolvency. For two years, Republicans and Democrats had been engaged in heated rhetoric over what to do about it. The main players in this drama were a who’s who of the era: They included noted economist Alan Greenspan, appointed by President Ronald Reagan to head a commission on the retirement program; House Speaker Thomas P. “Tip” O’Neill Jr. (D-Mass.); Rep. Dan Rostenkowski (D-Ill.), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee; and Sens. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-N.Y.) and Bob Dole (R-Kan.), who eventually led the bipartisan compromise. They fought for their positions and then negotiated a plan that served the country’s interests.

communities – even in blue states – offer an ideal stage for the campaign. Even before the Inflation Reduction Act, the coal industry succeeded in killing wind projects in two rural North Dakota counties.

By November, the conservative drive had blocked renewable projects in Ohio and Michigan. The zoning commission in Piatt County, Illinois, after months of hearings, unanimously rejected a proposed wind development.

Even some Republican governors, usually gung ho for the jobs and tax base brought by new factories and power plants, waded in. Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin shocked his state when he canceled Virginia’s bid for a new, $3.5 billion battery plant in an impoverished rural area, calling it a “communist front” because of Ford’s Chinese partner. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott blamed renewable energy for his state’s woefully unreliable electric grid, which is overwhelmingly powered by coal and gas.

Republican members of Congress have joined the chorus. Rep. Kathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington state, chair of the House Energy Committee, called wind and solar deployment part of Biden’s “pro[Chinese Communist Party] energy agenda,” even though the bulk of Inflation Reduction Act funding is limited to replacing Chinese products with U.S. manufacturing. Senate freshman J.D. Vance of Ohio accused the Inflation Reduction Act energy incentives of driving up inflation. Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa warned of “Biden blackouts that would make it impossible to run fans and air conditioners on even the hottest days of the summer” thanks to “the Democrats’ push towards renewables.”

In the absence of any Democratic countercampaign aimed at rural sensibilities, support for wind and solar among Republicans has taken a steep downturn in the past two years, declining by about 10 points – though still exceeding 60%, Pew reports. That majority, though thinning, illustrates the potential to create a major split in the GOP between die-hard “go down with fossil fuels” factions in major

coal and oil states and “bring on the jobs” advocates in states like Georgia, Florida, South Carolina and Indiana.

Republican governors of Ohio, Tennessee and Georgia embraced new battery plants announced for their states. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina welcomed a new plant to his state, boasting, “South Carolina is going to become the Detroit of batteries.” He also promised Senate hearings to encourage building more U.S. battery plants. Even Florida’s Ron DeSantis vetoed a bill designed to discourage rooftop solar in his state.

Once the economic benefits start rolling in, communities that start out in opposition become converts. In Nebraska and North Dakota, residents have rallied to the defense of threatened wind projects. Democrats should take special note of the Texas Land and Liberty Coalition. Bringing together “ranchers, landowners and farmers” to support clean energy, the coalition boasts pro-renewables speeches by Republican former Texas governor and energy secretary Rick Perry.

Economic benefits converted the Texas coalition’s field secretary, Sam Davis, from a wind energy opponent to the holder of leases on seven wind turbines on his family’s Pecan Spring Ranch. “Renewable-energy projects are the saving grace for many rural communities. They are all we have left in the tool kit,” Davis testified to the Texas legislature in September.

With the Inflation Reduction Act at their backs, Democrats should be laser-focused on educating rural communities on those economic benefits to prevent Republicans from defining renewable energy as only a climatefixing mission of liberal-leaning urban America. If Democrats can copy their messaging from organizations like the Land and Liberty Coalition, Republicans would have a hard time preventing a clean-energy fissure in their party, speeding America’s future to cleaner, cheaper and safer energy. Carl Pope is a former chairman of the Sierra Club and the co-author, with Michael R. Bloomberg, of “Climate of Hope.”

The reforms they settled on reduced benefits in three important ways. First, the “normal retirement age” at which full benefits could be received was gradually increased from 65 to 67. This provision did not restrict the age at which benefits could be claimed, but imposed an effective 13% benefit cut on anyone claiming benefits before the normal age. Second, the reforms made Social Security benefits subject to income taxes, a de facto means test on retirees with incomes above $25,000. And third, cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) for retirement benefits were delayed.

Together, these benefits reductions accounted for more than two-thirds of the reforms’ improvement to Social Security’s finances. Tax increases, which included an increase in the rate paid by self-employed workers and the more rapid implementation of a payroll tax rate increase already scheduled to take place, generated most of the rest of the improvement.

Twenty-six Senate Democrats voted to support the agreement, including Biden. In April 1983, Reagan signed it into law. And Social Security remained solvent for decades.

In 2012, the Obama-Biden administration proposed a budget for the next fiscal year that would have reduced Social Security COLAs as part of a “grand bargain” with congressional Republicans to reduce budget deficits in general. The proposal would have adopted a new measure of inflation to calculate COLAs, the “chain-weighted” consumer price index, which the Bureau of Labor Statistics considered to be an improved measure of the cost of living but would result generally in lower COLAs, including for seniors already taking their Social Security benefits.

As vice president, Biden was the administration’s point man in the bipartisan budget talks, which eventually broke down when Republicans backed away from tax-rate increases. But it’s important for Democrats to note that the Obama-Biden administration had been ready to accept reducing Social Security benefits for current retirees as part of a compromise.

Congressional Republicans, for their part, need to banish any illusions that a bipartisan deal would not include tax increases, most likely on higher income Americans. Republicans don’t have to like raising taxes any more than Democrats like reducing the growth of benefits. But accepting policies you don’t like is the price of a bipartisan fix – the only possible solution to Social Security insolvency.

Social Security’s financing hasn’t gotten any better since 2012. In fact, the Congressional Budget Office predicted last year that over the next 75 years, the system will be underfunded by 27% – more than double the shortfall the agency predicted 10 years earlier. Perhaps worse, both political parties’ willingness to engage on fiscal issues has only declined as past concerns over deficits and debt are being ignored.

Biden has an opportunity to be a president who – like Reagan – saves Social Security. His decades of experience on Capitol Hill, including previous efforts on Social Security reforms, are what is needed to get Democrats and Republicans in Congress to put aside their differences and make the difficult decisions needed to protect this important program for current and future retirees.

A ndrew G. BiGGs And JAmes C. CAprettA

Andrew G. Biggs and James C. Capretta are senior fellows at the American Enterprise Institute.

Biden once helped cut Social Security; now, he can save it

Carl Pope

Crime logs

FairField

THURSDAY, MARCH 2

2:51 a.m. — Reckless driver, WESTBOUND AIR BASE PARKWAY

4:16 a.m. — Hit-and-run property damage, 2400 block of ORCHID STREET

8:52 a.m. — Forgery, 1400 block of MARIPOSA WAY

8:54 a.m. — Forgery, 1100 block of TABOR AVENUE

8:54 a.m. — Vandalism, 2200 block of GATEWAY COURT

11:49 a.m. — Forgery, 400 block of UNION AVENUE

11:55 a.m. — Trespassing, 100 block of EAST ALASKA AVENUE

2:23 p.m. — Vehicle theft, 5000 block of PEABODY ROAD

3:46 p.m. — Battery, 3300 block of NORTH TEXAS STREET

3:56 p.m. — Forgery, 1700 block of YORK STREET

4:42 p.m. — Trespassing, 300 block of CHADBOURNE ROAD

4:43 p.m. — Reckless driver, PEABODY ROAD

5:37 p.m. — Drunken driver, NORTH GATE ROAD

6:30 p.m. — Hit-and-run property damage, SUISUN VALLEY ROAD

7:53 p.m. — Hit-and-run property damage, 1300 block of HOLIDAY

LANE

8:24 p.m. — Robbery, 800 block of EAST TRAVIS BOULEVARD

9:14 p.m. — Fight with a weapon, 2100 block of NORTH TEXAS STREET

11:38 p.m. — Trespassing, 600 block of PARKER ROAD

FRIDAY, MARCH 3

9:12 a.m. — Vandalism, 1400

block of CANTERBURY DRIVE

10:27 a.m. — Forgery, 1400

block of WEST TEXAS STREET

11:05 a.m. — Sexual assault, 400 block of EL RANCHO COURT

12:41 p.m. — Trespassing, 1400 block of HOLIDAY LANE

2:27 p.m. — Battery, 2500 block of NORTH TEXAS STREET

outside litigation regarding opioids, and anticipated litigation.

Also on the regular agenda are the city’s proposed state and federal legislative platforms, and a public hearing on a proposal to ban “storage or parking of vehicles on public streets.” The section specifies recreational vehicles, boats, trailers, commercial and oversized vehicles, but can also apply to passenger cars and trucks. There are exceptions when the vehicle is there overnight for use, but

2:33 p.m. — Forgery, 2100 block of COX LANE 3:46 p.m. — Forgery, 1800 block of HOLSTEINER DRIVE

4:51 p.m. — Trespassing, 2100 block of NORTH TEXAS STREET

9:20 p.m. — Grand theft, 1400 block of WOOLNER AVENUE 10:41 p.m. — Battery, 1900 block of WEST TEXAS STREET

p.m. — Reckless driver, EASTBOUND AIR BASE PARKWAY

p.m. — Battery, 1900 block of NORTH TEXAS STREET

MARCH 2

3:33 a.m. — Assault, 300 block of WALTERS ROAD 9:41 a.m. — Fraud, 800 block of ALMOND STREET 10:34 a.m. — Vehicle theft, KEEL DRIVE

2:11 p.m. — Vehicle theft, 100 block of MARINA CENTER

7:42 p.m. — Hit-and-run no injury, RAILROAD AVENUE / WORLEY ROAD 8:47 p.m. — Shooting into a dwelling, 400 block of HONKER LANE FRIDAY, MARCH 3

3:44 p.m. — Fraud, RODONDO AVENUE

6:44 p.m. — Vandalism, 1000 block of CAMELLIA COURT

8:35 p.m.

not for more than 72 hours.

The Police Department reported receiving 4,852 calls for service related to abandoned vehicles in 2022. Another 650 were reported to the Code Enforcement division and the city’s My Fairfield CA App.

A public hearing is also scheduled to address changes to the city-sponsored special events, primarily to clarify the application process and permit requirements, and other additions.

A complete agenda for the meeting is available at https://www. fairfield.ca.gov/gov ernment/city-council/ city-council-meetings/cur rent-city-council-agendas.

tribute them to veterans.

“We have hired about 10,000 veterans over the last three years,” McCarthy said. “We plan on hiring more this year.”

alarm installation, garden boxes and food pantry.

The disaster kit giveaway and related activities Friday came together help from Bank of America, Home Depot, Phillips 66, Travis Air Force Base and others.

Gioia McCarthy, president of Bank of America San Francisco and East Bay, ran a booth with information for veterans on how to better manage money and set a budget.

“We are helping to teach about better money habits,” McCarthy said.

Bank of American staff were also were filling bags with food and helping dis-

year. The whiteout shut down national parks and interstates, buried neighborhoods, collapsed roofs, stranded motorists, trapped residents and knocked out power to thousands in mountain communities throughout the state.

For a parched populace coming out of three consecutive years of extreme drought – the flakes have also felt miraculous.

“We could not be more fortunate to have had this kind of precipitation after three very punishing years,” Karla Nemeth, the director of California’s Department of Water Resources, told a briefing Friday after the latest snow survey in the state.

Just last fall, California’s biggest reservoirs had dropped to dangerously low levels. A record number of wells in the Central Valley had run dry. Farmers were fallowing hundreds of thousands of acres. Residents in the Los Angeles area were being told to stop watering lawns. State officials were projecting dry La Nina conditions would persist; California was headed for a fourth year of drought.

“And then, after Christmas, something interesting happened,” Michael Anderson, the state climatologist, said during the briefing. “We began a rather amazing set of atmospheric rivers.”

A parade of nine drenching storms marched in off the Pacific, swamping the state. After a dry spell in February, another deluge of precipitation has fallen over the past week. This time, it came in the form of an unusually cold storm moving south from the Gulf of Alaska, dropping snow even at low altitudes and down toward the Mexican border. Flurries dusted the Hollywood sign.

Anderson and other climate scientists attribute these wild oscillations in extreme wet and dry periods to the warming climate. A warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture – sucking up more during dry periods and deluging during wet ones – while also breaking down typical jet stream patterns, allowing cold air to move further south than normal.

are at 96 percent of average levels.

But the extraordinary snowpack has been predominantly in the central and southern parts of the Sierra Nevada mountains, less in the north, where some of the state’s largest reservoirs remain far below capacity. The state’s groundwater supplies, drawn down during the past dry decade, will also not recover quickly, water authorities said.

“It takes more than a single wet year to really recover a lot of those groundwater basins that have been critically overdrafted for so many years,” said Sean de Guzman, manager of the snow surveys and water supply forecast unit at the California Department of Water Resources.

On Friday morning, de Guzman and his colleagues trudged across a snowy field south of Lake Tahoe and plunged a hollow metal pole into the depths, part of the monthly snow surveys that take place across the state. They found snows more than 9 feet deep, or 177 percent of average for that date.

The state’s record snowpack came in the winter of 1982-83. The snows this year have nearly matched those heights from four decades ago.

“With the next few storms here, throughout this month, we could actually surpass that,” de Guzman said.

The blizzard conditions have made it difficult in some areas to even assess what’s out there. A team hired to measure snow depths in Sequoia National Park had to be evacuated by a Navy helicopter on Thursday, as they were marooned in a cabin near Mount Whitney.

towns such as Truckee and Soda Springs, near Lake Tahoe, and residents are still digging themselves out. Up and down the roads, snowplows push through the drifts and blowers send roostertails of snow arcing high into the air. The giant berms they create turn streets into mazes.

Whole neighborhoods remain nearly submerged. There are drifts that loom like undiscovered Mayan ruins, still draped in jungles of white. On one street, the red top of a stop sign is all that’s visible above the sea of snow. On another, someone has spray painted “car” on the side of a white mound so the plows know what’s underneath.

In the Serene Lakes neighborhood in Soda Springs, one of those plows struck a buried propane tank, igniting a fireball that damaged three houses, breaking windows and scorching facades.

“It broke our window. It just melted the blinds,” said one of the homeowners, who gave her name only as Kristy, as she dealt with the telephone repairman and surveyed the damage. She lives in San Francisco but couldn’t get up to her vacation home for days after the explosion because of the closed highways.

“It seems like people are just, like, a little in a daze,” she added. “It’s just been so much snow.”

Some of her neighbors battled those cold, heavy blankets draped over their homes, scraping and shoveling clear their doors and windows, decks and driveways. Many of the ski chalets are second homes – and people have not yet bothered to return.

stranded at home amid the drifts. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) declared a state of emergency on Wednesday for 13 counties. In Lake Arrowhead, in Southern California’s San Bernardino County, the California National Guard was called in to help extract stranded residents.

This year’s snowpack, in addition to its size, has other attributes encouraging for the state’s water supply. It is a cold snowpack, water managers say, which could help it persist into the spring before turning to runoff. More storms are on the way for the Sierras, although some are expected to be warmer – which has raised concerns that rainon-snow events could lead to flooding.

“A lot of this warm storm will basically melt that low- to mid-elevation snow,” de Guzman said. “We should see an increased amount in runoff but nothing that the reservoirs shouldn’t be able to capture.”

California still faces looming cuts to its share of Colorado River water, which supplies cities as well as major farming regions in Southern California. Snows are above average in the Colorado River basin as well, but not to the extent of California, and the giant reservoirs on that system are still critically low.

Bank of America also donated $25,000 to the organization.

Outside the building, Phillips 66 employees were pounding away on garden boxes, which they were giving away as prizes. The refinery in Rodeo donated another $20,000 to Rebuilding Together in Solano County.

“We want to give back to those who served our country and are always looking for opportunities to do that,” said Aimee Henry, director of communications for Phillips 66.

Even after all this rain and snow, state authorities have yet to declare the drought officially dead. But the water supply –and projections for once the snow starts melting in the spring – have dramatically improved. The Federal Drought Monitor on Thursday reported that the percentage of California experiencing at least moderate drought conditions had fallen from 84.6 percent to 49.1 percent in the past week. Major reservoirs across the state

“Some of these people that were extracted, they’ve been measuring snow for 30, 40 years,” de Guzman said. “And they’re seeing some of the most epic conditions they’ve ever seen up there.”

Yosemite National Park has been buried so deep it’s been closed for the past week. Interstate 80 – running through the Donner Pass – also shut down for multiple days as snowplows worked to clear the route.

The accumulation reached remarkable heights in mountain ski

Theresa Laster and her sweater-clad chihuahua, Angel, navigated the snowy streets on foot. She and her husband, both musicians and year-round residents, had ridden out the storms but hadn’t been able to make it to the nearest store, more than three miles away.

“We’re running low on supplies,” she said. “Yesterday we ran out of milk. I said, ‘Go get some milk,’ to my husband. He said, ‘The roads aren’t even plowed.’ ‘Well, walk.’”

In other parts of the state, emergency crews have rescued residents and delivered food and medicine to others

Understanding the complicated connections between the flakes that fall and how they could translate into water that sustains millions is key to the work of Schwartz, the lead scientist and manager of the Central Sierra Snow Laboratory. While big snow years in the recent past have been followed by brutal dry spellsand the trend is toward less snow in California’s mountains as the atmosphere warms – this is still an optimistic moment.

“People need a reason to celebrate,” Schwartz said as he stood on an instrument tower that was 30 feet above the ground but only about 15 feet off the snow. “And with how much snow we’ve had, it’s an amazing winter and even if it doesn’t solve all of our issues, it’s dramatically reduced our short-term drought, and if temperatures keep cool, it might help with our longterm drought as well.”

intangible benefits such as managerial and technical expertise that can help Chinese firms grow quickly, the people said. The restrictions are meant to capture investments in projects that have clear national-security applications, including artificial intelligence and codebreaking technologies.

U.S. companies currently face no U.S. government restrictions on investing in China’s tech sector. Some have invested in Chinese companies that are developing cutting-edge supercomputing capabilities and other technologies that can be used in military applications.

The administration is working with allies and partners to develop the

program and submitted two reports to Congress on Friday outlining what it would cost to set up a so-called outbound investment program with the Treasury Department.

The broad outlines of the program, which targets certain kinds of sensitive “dual-use” technologies that can be used in both commercial and military applications, are included in the brief reports to Congress seen by Bloomberg.

While the reports don’t mention specific technologies or countries, certain kinds of advanced semiconductors, quantum computing and artificial intelligence are expected to fall within the scope of the program.

It’s “a good first step to ensure U.S. investment does not fuel the Chinese Communist Party’s capabilities and create dangerous dependencies,” Rep. Rosa DeLauro,

the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said in a statement.

The program would be implemented and administered by the Department of the Treasury in coordination with the Department of Commerce, which maintains extensive lists of individuals and firms that are barred from receiving certain kinds of sensitive U.S. exports.

Broader scope

But the new program is broader in scope. Investments that would be subject to it “are of a nature that they are not presently captured by export controls, sanctions or other related authorities,” according to the reports to Congress.

Actions may include prohibiting the investments and/or seeking more information about

other investments to inform future actions, one of the reports said.

“Work is ongoing to ensure clear definitions and scoping as necessary to facilitate swift implementation and achieve the objective of preventing U.S. capital and expertise from being exploited in ways that threaten U.S. national security while not placing an undue burden on U.S. investors and businesses,” the report said. “Work is also ongoing to engage with international partners and allies on the topic.”

A final version of the program is expected “in the near future” and will include an opportunity for public comment, one of the reports said. Biden’s 2024 presidential budget request will recommend additional resources for the program, which is estimated to cost $10 million to administer in the 2023 fiscal year.

He broke off their engagement in 1963

Sixty years later, they tied the knot

The WashingTon PosT

About a year ago, Pris cilla Matheny got a Facebook friend request from Ed Sneckenberger – her first love, and former fiance. Without hesitation, Matheny, 83, hit “delete.”

“Who does he think he is?” Matheny recalled thinking to herself. “I don’t want anything to do with him.”

Sixty years prior, Sneckenberger called off their engagement in a letter to her. She hadn’t spoken to him since.

“He broke my heart,” said Matheny, who met Sneckenberger in 1959 at a local church in Hager stown, Md., where they both grew up and where she still lives today.

Sneckenberger, now 85, proposed to Matheny three years after they met – and she enthusiastically said yes.

Shortly after, though, he reneged on his proposal. At the time, he was a student at West Virginia University – which is a few hours away from Hagerstown, where Matheny was working as a secretary. The couple committed to a long-distance relationship. Although they visited each other frequently, Sneckenberger soon realized that he was not ready for marriage.

“Everything seemed

financially troublesome,” he said, explaining that he had worked for several years to save up for college, and could barely afford to cover tuition. He was afraid to start a life with someone else, he said, and “I didn’t think I had many choices.”

Matheny, meanwhile, was crushed. With vivid clarity, she remembers tearing open the letter, assuming it would be another sweet note from her betrothed. But after reading it alone in her bedroom, she turned into a puddle of tears, she said.

She burned the letter, sold her engagement ring and resolved to move on. Four months later, she met her soon-to-be husband, Wally Matheny, who was a widower with two young children when they met. They went on to have a son and a daughter together, followed by four grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

All the while, Matheny refrained from thinking about her first love, “maybe because it hurt so bad,” she said. In any case, “I was happy with my family and busy with

Have Social Security questions? Ask Rusty What’s the best way to start receiving survivor benefit?

my children.” Sneckenberger, on the other hand, took longer to find love again. Following the breakup, “I was very hurt myself,” he said, explaining that he focused on academics rather than romance. He completed his bachelor’s degree and went on to earn a master’s and doctorate in mechanical engineering through a NASA program at West Virginia University –where he eventually taught for 36 years.

He did get married in 1968, to Scottie Hansbrough, who was an academic, too. She also taught at the university, and they had three children and five grandchildren.

“I was very blessed with my married life for 53 years,” Sneckenberger said.

When his wife died in October 2021, he leaned on his two sisters for emotional support. They had nightly three-way phone calls. During one of them, his younger sister spontaneously said: “Remember Priscilla? She was a special lady.”

“I got to thinking about that,” Sneckenberger said. “I sent that letter to her, and I probably hurt her feelings more than I ever knew or wanted.”

He felt a sudden urge to find his long-ago love

See Knot, Page A11

Dear Rusty: When one becomes a widow/ widower, what is the most efficient way to start receiving the deceased’s monthly Social Security. Signed: Still Grieving Dear Still Grieving: There is really only one way to start receiving surviving spouse benefits – you must contact Social Security directly to apply. You can call 1-800-772-1213 or call your local Social Security field office (find the number at www.ssa. gov/locator) to make an appointment to apply for your survivor benefits. These appointments are normally conducted over the phone, so a per-

sonal visit to the Social Security office isn’t usually necessary. The larger question to consider is when you should claim the survivor benefit. Like most other Social Security benefits, your age when you claim determines how much your survivor benefit will be. And a survivor benefit isn’t payable in all cases. Consider these points: n If the surviving

Brian Green/The Washington Post file (2022) Ed Sneckenberger and Priscilla Matheny on their wedding day, Dec. 7, at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Hagerstown, Md.

and apologize for the way things ended six decades ago. Tracking her down, he learned, would not be easy.

“I didn’t know how to find her. I didn’t know her married name,” Sneckenberger said.

Still, he was adamant about apologizing, and tried several avenues to find her. Eventually, he ended up on the Facebook page for St. Mark’s Lutheran Church – which is where they first met. He noticed that someone by the name of Priscilla Matheny was repeatedly engaging with posts, and “I wondered if that was the Priscilla Troxell that I knew.”

After a quick search online, Sneckenberger confirmed that the person commenting on the Facebook page was her. He excitedly sent her a friend request. She swiftly rejected it.

“It made me very

Gloor

From Page A10

spouse is already receiving their own Social Security retirement benefit and that is more than the deceased spouse was receiving, the surviving spouse continues to receive only their own higher benefit but will get a one-time lump sum death benefit of $255.

n If the surviving spouse’s own benefit is less than the deceased was receiving, the surviving spouse’s benefit will be based on the higher amount.

n If the surviving spouse has reached their full retirement age (FRA), the survivor’s benefit will be 100% of the amount the deceased was receiving. If the widow(er) has not yet reached their FRA when

angry,” said Matheny, whose husband died in 1986. After she denied his request, “he sent me two messages on Messenger, and I just ignored him.”

Sneckenberger was undeterred. He decided to call the church’s administrative assistant and ask her to contact Matheny on his behalf and help arrange for them to meet.

“Tell him I don’t want to see him,” Matheny firmly instructed the administrative assistant.

When that plan failed, Sneckenberger continued to send messages on Facebook. Finally, Matheny answered.

“I thought the only way I’m going to get rid of this guy is to meet with him and find out what he wants,” Matheny said.

Sneckenberger drove from his home in Morgantown, W.Va., to Hagerstown to celebrate Easter, and on April 16 at about 11 a.m., he met Matheny at a Panera Bread restaurant. He started the conversation by apologizing profusely. Matheny said that after all

they claim their survivor benefit, the amount will be reduced (by 4.75% for each full year earlier than FRA).

n A survivor benefit reaches maximum at the survivor’s FRA. If the surviving spouse hasn’t yet reached FRA, they have the option to delay claiming their survivor benefit until it reaches maximum at their FRA. There is one exception to this: if the surviving spouse was already receiving only a spousal benefit from the deceased (and not their own Social Security retirement benefit), the survivor benefit will be automatically awarded regardless of the survivor’s age.

n If the surviving spouse hasn’t yet claimed their own Social Security retirement benefit, they have the option to claim only their survivor benefit

these decades, she could accept his olive branch. They spent two hours chatting, and it felt “kind of like old times,” Matheny said.

Sneckenberger was smitten from the moment he saw her.

“It was just too much for my mind and my heart to handle that she was as beautiful as she was,” he said. “She’s every bit as beautiful now as she was then.”

Following their coffee date, Sneckenberger grew eager to revive their romance.

“The flame of young love blew up in me,” he said. “I became obsessed with this lady and the opportunity to do what I didn’t do 60 years before.”

Sneckenberger asked Matheny to meet him at the Easter Sunday service the following day, but she decided to stay home.

Although she enjoyed catching up with him, “I just felt that things weren’t going to go well,” if they continued seeing each other. He wholeheartedly disagreed.

first and permit their personal SS retirement benefit to grow (up to age 70). That would be prudent if the survivor’s own SS retirement benefit at age 70 will be higher than their maximum survivor benefit at their full retirement age.

n If you haven’t yet reached your full retirement age and are still working, Social Security has an earnings test which limits how much you can earn before some benefits are taken away. The limit for 2023 is $21,240 and if that is exceeded, they will take away benefits equal to $1 for every $2 you are over the limit. The earnings test goes away when you reach your FRA.

So, as you can see, there are several things to consider as you decide when to claim your Social Security benefits

Following the service –which Matheny watched on her tablet in her living room – Sneckenberger showed up outside her home.

“I wasn’t going to leave Hagerstown without a chance to say hi to her again,” he said. “We spent the afternoon, and the flames just grew and grew and grew.”

“It was like we had picked up from our engagement day,” Matheny echoed.

In some ways, they had.

Sneckenberger asked her to marry him again that afternoon. While Matheny initially declined his proposal, in the months that followed, he did everything he could to win back her trust. He called daily and visited nearly every weekend.

After a few months of dating, “he wore me down,” Matheny joked.

“I could never have believed I would have lived this piece of my life,” Sneckenberger said. “To have her forgive me openly and willingly, it’s an

as a widow or widower. I hope the above information helps you make an informed choice.

Russell “Rusty” Gloor is the national Social Security adviser at the Association of Mature American Citizens Foundation, the nonprofit arm of the Association of Mature American Citizens. His book “What’s So Hard About Social Security?” may be ordered on either Amazon or Apple eBooks. For more about the Association of Mature American Citizens, visit https:// amac.us/. This column is intended for information purposes only and does not represent legal or financial guidance. To submit a question, visit amacfoundation.org/ programs/social-securityadvisory or send an email to ssadvisor@amac foundation.org.

incredible story.” They tied the knot on Dec. 7 at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church – which holds a special place in both of their hearts, as it was part of their initial connection, and subsequent rekindling.

“It made my finding Priscilla possible,” said Sneckenberger, who moved to Hagerstown to live with his bride. “The church was a real important part of our reconnection.”

They decided to keep the ceremony small, with only the two of them and their

pastor, Ron Schlak, who officiated the marriage.

“Their excitement was contagious,” Schlak said.

“Everybody has challenges and trials every day, but look what can happen. Someone can walk into your life and make it all new again.”

So far, the newlyweds have been loving married life. Their revived relationship, they both said, has been an unexpected gift.

“We want our flame to burn and grow for the rest of our lives,” Sneckenberger said.

Solano Land Trust Event:

Book signing, reading and Q&A with Rue Mapp author of Nature Swagger and founder and CEO of Outdoor Afro

Date: Saturday, March 18, 2023

Time: 2:00 PM

Location: Rush Ranch 3521 Grizzly Island Rd., Suisun City

Rue Mapp candidly documents her personal experiences while pioneering and shifting a new visual representation of Black people in the outdoors. Use this QR code to save your spot

Be sure to visit for future events

This week Solano College students share voices

Student voices are more than a part of our community – they are a necessity. It is through poetry that we get to know one another by conveying feelings and views, empathy and understanding. This creative writing process is crucial to learning and educational growth. It is so very important students feel they can share their thoughts – and know we will listen.

What a joy to feature these creative

tavern.com

5 p.m. Thursday Jim Funk

The Rellik, 726 First St. www.therellik tavern.com

9 p.m. Thursday

DJ Jerry Ross

The Rellik, 726 First St. www.therellik tavern.com

4:30 p.m. Friday Thirsty

The Rellik, 726 First St. www.therellik tavern.com

8:30 p.m. Friday

The Fabulous Cruise Tones

The Rellik, 726 First St. www.therellik tavern.com

4:30

and to encourage them to continue academically and artistically. Through an event I called “From Pen to Purpose,” which occurred Thursday, Solano Community College English professor Michael J. Wyly and I coordinated to arrange for Solano College students to read aloud their poetry. It was held at the Solano College Library’s Quinton Duval Reading Area and was both in person as well as on a Zoom link.

voices

Creative writing students who participated were Danielle Jones, Xiomar Gonzalez, Samantha Roach, Carina Davis, AJ Tobias, Izaiah Siluis, Scott Cohen and Audrey Duremdes.

A reception was held after the reading where audience members met the students and asked questions, as well as found out about the many writing courses available through

See Bruce, Page B3

Six Flags to launch

VALLEJO — Six Flags Discovery this week announced the addition of a new walkthrough experience that transports guests to a lush tropical environment including encounters with exotic animals: The Rainforest Trail.

Set among water features and plant life designed to represent the ecosystem of a rainforest, The Rainforest Trail features more than 500 free-flying butterflies from around the world, colorful fish, a sloth and more. This new animal attraction leads a new wave of updates to the park’s animal offerings in 2023, including an enhanced Shark Experience.

“We are excited to continue the park’s 37-year legacy of providing educational and thrilling wildlife adventures for our guests,” General Manager Kirk Smith said in a press release. “The Rainforest Trail, new Shark Experience and other recent animal additions solidifies our commitment to

Historian’s YouTube channel presents unconventional look at Black history

FAIRFIELD — Local Black history historian Charles A. Taylor has launched a YouTube channel highlighting people and events not commonly thought of in discussions of Black history. The site features videos on Blacks in Greek mythology; Black nobility in 16th and 17th century Europe; Blacks in Scandinavian history and characters in some of Shakespeare’s plays, among other topics.

“We have a history and a culture that extends past the history that we have been taught,” Taylor, a 22-yearold college student and avid researcher on the topic, said in a press release. “We have a history that goes back thousands of years, and one that is all over the world; that’s what I have designed the channel to show.”

The site’s multiplepart series on Black Greek mythology features stories on Odysseus, the lead character in Homer’s Odyssey; Epaphus, the son of Zeus; and the

Saturday Club of

See Trail, Page B3 Daily

Trojan war solider Memnon. The 40-minute episode on the exploits of Memnon is the most popular on the site, having gotten more than 24,000 views and hundreds of comments. A five-part series on Black Vikings has gotten more than 11,000 views and several hundred comments.

Taylor has done extensive research for all of the videos on the channel, titled “Black is History,” and invites viewers to follow along as he narrates and displays his sources as

See History, Page B3

“Ticket holders will be treated to a live flower arrangement demonstration given by Caryn Mikich, owner of Stems Florist in downtown

. . . . She will share her tips and tricks for arranging beautiful bouquets, creating centerpieces and more. Her creations will be auctioned off to the highest

Suzanne Bruce Poetry connection

Photos courtesy of Six Flags Discovery Kingdom

Six Flags Discovery Kingdom is launching The Rainforest Trail this spring.

A sloth is part of The Rainforest Trail at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom.

From Page B1

Solano College.

Here are poems from three of the participants. All the poems read during the event will be hanging throughout March at The Coffee Bar, 740 Texas St. in downtown Fairfield.

Enjoy these engaging and creative expressions. I praise all the young writers for their courage in sharing their views.

I’m afraid of my brain, it hurts me too well

There is something mesmerizing about how dreams can turn into nightmares easily. Because it’s just as easy to reverse. My ingenuity of shifting myself from the darkness into peace has saved me. Some say it’s troublesome, damaging. Meanwhile, I’ve found my Shangri-La. Wouldn’t it be lavish to live in a world of delusion? Where your voice isn’t your own, and your body is a marionette. Your lungs will never deprive oxygen, your heart won’t lose its pattern. All because of the gift of anesthesia. There are no muscles to pull, veins to slit, or tears that’ll dry and crack your lovely skin. Your blood tastes like wine. Your pain is only euphoria. And the fanciest of it all? The inevitable Nirvana. There’s comfort in watching a strange clone. There’s a home in not knowing who you are anymore.

— Izaiah Washington

Izaiah Washington is a first-generation college student, writer, musician, mentor and spiritualist. Through his art, he’s able to use his voice for both his passions and his community.

Conversation with stars

in a day, roughly. The boisterous laugh that puts stereo systems to shame, or the smile brighter than LED headlights, you always complained about those.

52. The seconds I count on the clock that pass in between thoughts of you, less than a minute. Because of those 1,440 minutes in a day, you manage to fill every single one of them, and I find that bittersweet.

Samantha

–

Samantha Roach is in her final semester at Solano College and will be transferring to the University of California, Davis to pursue her bachelor’s degree in English with a minor in Education.

Early ‘Gone With the Wind’ movie script reveals a much harsher depiction of slavery

Tribune ConTenT AgenCy

Roach

ATLANTA — A recently discovered early script version of the 1939 film “Gone With the Wind” showed a much harsher depiction of slavery than what ultimately made it onscreen.

ret Mitchell’s book of the same name has courted no shortage of controversy over the past 80-plus years since its release, especially its often stereotypical portrayal of Black people.

make similar threats and even slaps Prissy in the final version, this particular line didn’t make the cut.

684.

The number of moons I’ve watched rise into the sky since you’ve left. The number of sunrises and sunsets, that have blessed the Earth with the colors that you took with you, How kind of you to give them back.

329. The number of days ticked off my calendar since your last birthday. The start of your first full year communicating through the stars. I am not adept in the knowledge of constellations, but I always know when you’re saying hi, Or I love you, or I miss you.

165.

How many times I think of you

Trail

From Page B1

delivering the most unique and innovative experiences for our guests. From world-class rollercoasters to breathtaking animal presentations, we have it all.”

The enhanced Shark Experience will allow guests to discover stateof-the-art audio and visual enhancements and interactive education opportunities to compliment the existing walkthrough underwater tunnel and floor-to-ceiling viewing windows. The 300,000-gallon exhibit hosts a variety of shark species, other fish and stingrays from around the world.

Other animal additions in 2023 include some animal interac-

History

From Page B1

part of the clips.

“The site is meant to be an educational tool for audiences, especially Black audiences, who want to know more about the full breadth of Black history,” Taylor said in the press release. “I welcome naysayers and detractors; I’ve done the research; I show the facts and I list my sources,” he added. “Viewers can make up their own minds and are encouraged to do their own research.”

Taylor started research for the site months ago and begin posting videos

Infancy uncertain future and beauty. In my view, pushing confinements of personal expression. holding insatiable dread fearful of negligent joy. frozen in the stagnation of Normalcy, perceivable as clear and cognizant, yet rooted in the dim unworked, silt of imagination. an abrupt end to such bravery, frozen in time. intriguing yet repetitive, like it always has the exact change. open yet closed, like it doesn’t cry or giggle. speaking yet dead. like it’s alien. the parent, the makers, peer over cradle’s edge. In disgust. an eternal shortcoming so lacking, it might as well be a Nothing, more than anything at all.

– Scott Cohen

Scott Cohen is a lifelong Fairfield/ Suisun City resident, growing up on a small farm just outside of Suisun’s city limits. He is a second-year Solano College student, majoring in English with the intent to transfer in the fall of 2024.

Suzanne Bruce is Fairfield’s poet laureate. For consideration, poems must be sent to Bruce at fairfieldpoetlaureate@gmail.com by the 20th of the month prior to publication. Be sure to include a short introduction about yourself, such as if you are a student, where and why you enjoy writing poetry.

n Sharks in the Dark: Sleep overnight in the park’s Shark Experience among the shadows of these creatures of the deep.

n Backstage Safari: Go behind the scenes and learn how the park’s animal care specialists care for the animals at Six Flags.

n Merlin’s Fins & Friends: Come face-toface with the park’s bottlenose dolphins.

n Paint N’ Create: Create work of art with a dolphin or penguin.

n Cain’s Lion Encounter: Discover the personalities of the park’s lion pride.

tion programs:

n Dolphin Discovery: Swim alongside these ocean creatures.

n Wildlife Adventure Tour: A private tour around the park with meetings with the park’s animals.

last June. The channel has since gotten more than 1,100 subscribers and hundreds of viewers each day. It currently displays 20 videos, some as long as two hours in length, and Taylor is working on several more.

To view the channel, comment and subscribe, visit Black Is History on YouTube. Taylor also has a website by the same name. For more information, visit www.blackishistory.com

Taylor is working on a bachelor’s degree through Sonoma State University and plans to be a teacher. He was born in Vallejo, grew up in Fairfield and graduated from Buckingham Magnet Charter High School in Vacaville.

Historian David Vincent Kimel, who is completing his Ph.D. at Yale University and considers himself a “Gone With the Wind” obsessive, purchased the script for $15,000 after finding it on an online bookstore site three years ago.

The script shows how “Gone With the Wind” producer David Selznick negotiated differing opinions among his writers over how characters treated the slaves, the use of particular racial slurs or any reference to the Ku Klux Klan.

In an essay in The Ankler, Kimel said the 301-page script was authenticated by Bonhams, the previous owner and one of the most prestigious auction houses in the world.

“I knew immediately the screenplay was an amazing find since, according to the auction at which it originally sold, Selznick had ordered all shooting scripts destroyed,” Kimel wrote.

A casting director Fred Schuessler had kept this script, defying Selznick’s requests to destroy all of them.

The Oscar-winning film based on Marga-

In Kimel’s conclusion, “If not for Selznick’s choices to err on the side of white pacification, he could have altered

Kimel said the script revealed cut scenes that made “references to beatings, threats to throw ‘Mammy’ out of the plantation for not working hard enough, and other depictions of physical and emotional violence.”

He describes the script as “a mosaic that actually represented the perspectives of numerous screenwriters, many of whom held contradictory perspectives on slavery emblematic of the contemporary debate of that day.”

the course of one of the most celebrated – and disgraced – movies ever made.”

Kimel wrote that the script is full of scenes that were cut from the film, some “known to me by legend and research, but most of them were never described anywhere else before.”

For instance, Scarlett O’Hara in this version of the script threatened the enslaved Prissy with a whipping.

“I’ll sell you down the river. You’ll never see your mother again or anybody you know and I’ll sell you for a field hand too,” the script reads, according to Ankler.

Although Scarlett does

Ultimately, he said the movie played more into the “promulgation of the mythology of the Lost Cause, an interpretation of the Civil War that romanticizes the struggle as a war of Northern aggression that desecrated Southern honor and culture.”

The film, which ended up running nearly four hours, didn’t just lose scenes showcasing the brutality of slavery but others that had nothing to do with slavery, including historical images flattering to the Confederacy, emotional war-related moments, some comedic scenes and a deeper look into Clark Gable’s Rhett Butler such as his suicidal thoughts.

n Sal’s Slither & Scales: Burrow into the world of reptiles.

Six Flags Discovery Kingdom is located at 1001 Fairgrounds Drive. For more information, visit https://www.sixflags.com/ discoverykingdom

Club

From Page B1

bidder,” the club said in a statement.

Lunch from Pietro’s No. 2 will be served.

Tickets are $35 per person and seating is limited. All ages are welcome. Reservations must be made by calling Pat Dennis at 707-4550646. Street parking will be available on the blocks surrounding the event. A free public parking lot is located two blocks away on the corner of Main and Cernon streets in front of Maximum Fitness.

Courtesy

Hulton Archive/Getty Images/TNS Clark Gable, left, as Rhett Butler and Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O’Hara in “Gone With the Wind.”

Bishop: Slew of child sexual abuse lawsuits could bankrupt the Diocese of Sacramento

Tribune ConTenT AgenCy

Hundreds of recently filed sexual abuse lawsuits could lead to the bankruptcy of the Catholic Diocese of Sacramento, the diocese’s bishop said this week in a letter to the congregation.

The diocese’s financial predicament stems from a law signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2019 that temporarily lifted the statute of limitations regarding child sexual abuse lawsuits. The law extended the age at which victims could file civil lawsuits over abuse to 40. It had been 26.

The law also opened a three-year window in which victims of any age could file lawsuits. The window closed on Dec. 31, 2022.

More than 200 lawsuits alleging child sexual abuse were filed against the diocese as a result of the law, 80% of which stem

from abuse that occurred in the 1980s or earlier.

By late 2022, more than 2,000 lawsuits had been filed against the Catholic Church statewide.

“To learn of this staggering number of claims is truly heartbreaking,” Bishop Jaime Soto wrote. “These claims repre-

sent real people whose lives have been damaged by the sins of individuals whom they had been taught to trust.”

Soto said he was committed to resolving all claims fairly but acknowledged the issues that might arise.

“Given the number

of claims that have been presented . . . resolving them may overwhelm the diocese’s finances available to satisfy such claims,” he wrote.

“This financial challenge is unlike anything we have faced before. I must consider what options are available to us, should the

diocese become insolvent.”

The lawsuits filed against the Diocese of Sacramento and other dioceses in Northern California are being overseen by a judge in Alameda County, and the claims process is still in its early stages, Soto said.

But the Diocese of Sacramento is responsible for paying claims from a fund earmarked for that purpose, and Soto anticipates that it would be required to sell off some of its assets.

“Very little insurance coverage remains to cover abuse that occurred in past decades,” the diocese said on its website, and financial help from the Vatican “is not an option.”

“There are no Vatican funds available to us in this situation,” the diocese said.

One option, Soto said, would be for the diocese to file Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which would allow

it to operate while attempting to pay out the rest of lawsuits.

“Importantly, in the context of a diocesan bankruptcy, victims of clergy sexual abuse would be represented in a bankruptcy proceeding, and a fund would be established to be distributed as fairly as possible,” Soto said.

Without that, Soto said, the first cases that go to trial and result in damages could financially devastate the diocese, leaving the remaining plaintiffs with nothing.

“We are in this situation because of grievous sins committed by individual priests . . . and a smaller number of the laity in the diocese,” the diocese said on its website. “It is these evil acts that brought us to this place – not the victims of sexual abuse seeking justice.”

Dreamstime/TNS

The inside of Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament in Sacramento. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Sacramento will release a list this week naming priests and deacons determined to have been credibly accused of sexual abuse of minors.

I’m happy for my buddy’s success but it’s making me feel bad

Dear Annie: I called a buddy of mine the other day. This is one of my best friends from college. I am trying to call my friends more. We text every day but rarely get the chance to actually hear each other’s voices. As we are getting caught up, we start talking about work. We both run our own businesses and often compare notes. He travels a lot for his work. I do not. He tells me that his company recently purchased a private jet. He downplayed it as much as pos sible, saying they co-owned it

Annie Lane

Dear Annie

justify it (I could not).

and that it was only an eight-seater.

I am happy for my friend. He has three kids. He took a big risk, and it worked. He married his college sweetheart. I love this guy with all my heart.

But when we hung up, I felt bad about myself. I felt as though I was lesser than because I did not have a private jet (I can hear your readers rolling their eyes right now).

I even looked up how much his jet cost ($2 mil) and started

Horoscopes

by Holiday Mathis

Today’s birthday

You get to experiment with being you. The year opens on a fresh scene and is an opportunity to present yourself in the way you wish to be seen. You will develop your talent into the stratosphere. More highlights: You’ll stumble onto an interesting secret. You’ll obtain a certificate that bumps up your earning potential. You’ll enjoy an exhilarating relationship, and promises will be exchanged. Taurus and Scorpio adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 8, 14, 3, 33 and 16.

ARIES (March 21-April 19). Many of your friends share your interests and back ground or have experiences similar to yours. Your creativity thrives when you are around people who are very different from you. To search for and work for common ground is a creative act in and of itself.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20). To work past a certain point is a waste. Determine that point. Have you done all you can do? You'll test it. You want to make sure you're not missing some sign showing you to the next level. Your vigilance is a testament to your character.

GEMINI (May 21-June 21). Have the conversation. This is the perfect day for it. There's no reason to wait any longer. What evolves will cause change, but change is going to happen no matter what. Change is the only constant.

CANCER (June 22-July 22). Gravity is the same force whether it's keeping a person on the earth or making the apple fall from the tree. You'll see other forces in your life from a neutral place – not for you or against you, just a fact to work with and apply how you will.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). You'll be adept at matching problems with their solutions. The right solution is just one part of it. How you apply the solution is also important. You've a gift for being consistent and will create ease in your life when you do the same thing the same way repeatedly.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). You're trusting life more today, and maybe it's because you realize there is so much that's for you. You don't have to push or make things happen. You'll relax and let it come to you. Life will bring you interesting treats, dropping them right at your feet.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). You've never packed your bags, arrived at your destination and wish you packed more. Packing less makes for a lighter journey, and saying less – to yourself and to others – makes for lighter emotions.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). It's not always easy for people to ask for help. You'll extend your awareness and tune into what people aren't saying. You'll pick up on subtle clues. Perhaps you can't read minds, but you'll do the next best thing – sensitize yourself to what's going on around you. Your educated guesses are pretty spot on.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). There may be unrest within a group. Hold an intention of harmony, fun and togetherness. This will be enough to inspire peace. Your neutral, easygoing attitude will set a tone that others will follow.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). The body basics will matter, like getting enough sleep, stretching before action and staying hydrated. Pay attention to your body and it will tell you how hard to push, which parts to baby and how to take care.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). You've been planning long enough. It's now time to jump in. It doesn't need to be a beautiful dive, either. This is about getting into the mess and figuring out what you know and what you don't know. This feeling you have of being entirely unprepared, rest assured everyone who has ever had the taste of success has had this feeling.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). You think you can help people, and you're right about it. Start with you. When you make your own life easier, you take some of the stress out of the world. Eventually, you will ease the way for many.

CELEBRITY PROFILES: Eva Mendes is the co-owner of sponge company Skura, featuring an emblem that fades when it's time to change the sponge. Mendes is a Pisces with a passion for domestic elegance who confesses she'd rather be home with children and her husband Ryan Gosling than walking the red carpets of Hollywood. Mendes was born when the moon was in Leo, the sign that rules children and the entertainment business. Write Holiday Mathis at HolidayMathis.com.

Anyway, I am legitimately happy for my buddy, but private jets aside, why does his “success” make me feel bad? —

Begrudgingly Grounded

Dear Begrudgingly Grounded: First off, I want to thank you for your letter. You did one of the most difficult things by admitting to having an uncomfortable feeling that every human being has experienced and asked how to work on it. Kudos to the strength in being vulnerable. Of course it is natural to have mixed feelings when a colleague is more

Jealousy is a natural emotion. In this case, it comes from a lack mentality. The best way is to remind yourself that you can have all the abundance you want to create.

Remind yourself that comparison is the thief of joy. So catch yourself and let it go. The best way to do that is to take a step back and look at your life –the big picture. I’m sure you have lots to feel grateful about. The more we appreciate what we have, the more we get what we want out of life.

Dear Annie: This is for the woman who signed herself “Feeling Trapped.” Please

who write in that they are in an abusive situation: National Domestic Violence Hotline 800-799-7233. They help every race, sexual orientation and religion with resources such as shelters, protect orders, legal aid, counseling and so much more. Thank you! — DV Survivor and Advocate

Dear Survivor: Thank you for sharing the hotline. We can’t print their number often enough.

Send your questions for Annie Lane to dearannie@

Got 11 minutes?

A daily brisk walk could lower risk for early death

The WashingTon PosT

Walking for at least 11 minutes every day could lower your risk of premature death by almost 25%, according to the largest study to date of physical activity, disease risk and mortality.

Published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, the ambitious study analyzed health data for more than 30 million people, looking for correlations between how much people move and how long and well they live.

Its findings show that even small amounts of exercise contribute to substantial improvements in longevity and can lower risks of developing or dying of heart disease and many types of cancer.

“The investigators looked extensively at the available evidence and provided encouraging findings,” said I-Min Lee, a professor of epidemiology at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health who was not involved in the new study.

Perhaps most inspiring, the study’s statistical analysis suggests that 1 in 10 of all early deaths might be averted if each of us got up and moved even a little more than many of us currently do.

150 minutes vs.

75 minutes a week

For years, governmental health agencies in the United States, Canada, Europe and other nations have recommended that anyone capable of exercising should exercise moderately for at least 150 minutes a week for optimal health. (Moderate exercise means a brisk walk or similar exertions that raise your heart rate and breathing enough that conversation becomes difficult.)

In practical terms, these guidelines promote walking briskly for half-anhour five times a week.

But most of us don’t, according to the latest federal statistics, which

show only about 47% of American adults exercise enough. That sobering statistic prompted some researchers to begin looking into the effects of smaller amounts of exercise. Most of the resulting research, though, involved relatively small numbers of people, making broad conclusions about the best doses of exercise elusive.

So, for the new study, researchers at the University of Cambridge, Queen’s University Belfast, and other institutions decided to aggregate data from as many relevant past studies as possible, creating a far larger pool of participants and potentially more-convincing results.

They wound up with 196 studies, covering more than 30 million people, making this by many measures and a hefty margin, “the largest” study of how exercise contributes to longevity, said Leandro Garcia. Garcia is a public health and complexity researcher at Queen’s University Belfast who led the new study.

Big gains from moving just a little more

What the aggregated data showed was that 150 minutes of moderate weekly activity should remain our exercise lodestar. People who managed that much exertion were about 31% less likely to die prematurely than inactive people.

But since two-thirds of the 30 million-plus participants did not exercise that much, the researchers also looked at the impacts of less movement. Bracingly, the impacts were big. Men and women who accumulated only 75 minutes a week of moderate exercise, or about 11 minutes a day, were 23% less likely to die prematurely from any cause than people who moved less.

Those 11 daily minutes of exercise also dropped people’s risks for heart disease by 17% and for cancer of any kind by 7%. For certain cancers, including myeloid leukemia, myeloma and some stomach cancers, the risk

fell by as much as 26%.

Perhaps most compelling, the scientists also used statistical modeling to estimate that 16%, or 1 in 6, of all premature deaths would not happen if almost everyone exercised for 150 minutes a week, meeting the current guidelines.

Even if everyone walked just 11 minutes a day, 1 in 10 early deaths might be averted, they concluded.

“It was already known that doing some physical activity was better than doing none,” Garcia said. “However, because of the extensiveness of our study, we were able to establish this association more precisely.”

The study, in fact, tells us that “the biggest bang for the buck comes when someone moves from doing nothing to doing even half the recommended levels” of exercise, Lee said.

Despite its size and rigor, though, the study has meaningful limitations. It shows correlations between more movement, longer lives and less disease, but not whether exercise directly causes those gains. Other factors, such as genetics and income, probably play large roles. The aggregated studies also relied on people’s memories and reports about how much they exercise, which can be unreliable.

But even with those drawbacks, the findings provide a helpful nudge, Garcia said. “Adding physical activity into your daily routine does not need to be daunting,” he said. “Small and gradual changes are a great starting point and will bring a range of health benefits.”

Park a little farther from your office, he said. Take the stairs. Dance around the living room with your kids.

Ideally, aim for about 11 minutes a day of moderate movement to start, he said, and if you find that amount “manageable,” then “try stepping it up gradually to the full recommended amount” of 150 minutes a week. But under any circumstances, he said, “doing some physical activity is better for your health than doing none.”

Adobe Stock

Small amounts of exercise contribute to substantial improvements in longevity.

Report: 49ers’ Gould says he’ll be kicking elsewhere in 2023

Tribune ConTenT AgenCy

The 49ers could be looking hard at place kickers in free agency and the NFL Draft.

Robbie Gould, who arrived in 2017 the same year coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch took over, plans on playing somewhere else in 2023 according to a report by ESPN’s Adam Schefter and confirmed by NBC Sports Bay Area.

In six seasons with the 49ers, Gould con-

verted 161 of 184 field goal attempts (87.5 percent) and 379 out of 383 extra point attempts (99 percent).

More impressively, Gould, 40, has never missed a place kick in 16 postseason games with the Chicago Bears, New York Giants (one season) and 49ers going 29-for-29 on field goal attempts and 39-for-39 on extra points.

On the day the 49ers cleaned out their lockers following a 31-7 championship game loss to the Philadelphia Eagles,

Gould gave mixed signals as to his intentions. He said it would be “awesome” to if the 49ers brought him back for a seventh season while also noting that “unique” opportunities awaited himself elsewhere entering his 19th season.

Either way, it was clear Gould was not contemplating retirement. He has tested free agency twice in his career, signing with the Giants in 2016 and the 49ers in 2017.

“I was 35-of-40 (on field goal attempts) with two blocks. I kicked off at

40 years old, which I want to say is unheard of, but usually doesn’t happen that often. I still have some pop left.”

The 49ers could in theory place a franchise tag on Gould at a price of $5.39 million for the season. They used that tactic in 2019, with Gould refusing to sign the tender and asking for a trade. He was eventually signed to a contract which was renegotiated the following season.

The 49ers paid Gould

Trust and newfound chemistry fuels Warriors’ defensive turnaround

ConTenT AgenCy

Tribune

SAN FRANCISCO

A bad Draymond Green game typically spells trouble for the Warriors’ defense.

Having played six games over the last nine days – winning five in a row at home – Green’s tank was running on empty against the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday night. He fouled out late in the fourth quarter with one assist, four turnovers and five rebounds.

A game like that from Green earlier this year would have Golden State spiraling into ugly loss territory. He’s preached about the team’s lack of

defensive identity and grit as the prognosis for the Warriors’ unimpressive season thus far, and Green’s efforts taped together any defensive cohesion Golden State had this year. But Green’s stinker went practically unnoticed. His teammates – without Andrew W iggins and Steph Curry – had the defense under control. They held the Pelicans to 99 points in their win, capping off a five-game homestand in which they recorded a 102.8 defensive rating. A far cry from their 114.9 rating over the first 64 games this season.

The coaching staff

employing more complicated, playoff-level d efensive schemes instilled a grit this team has lacked all year. Trust, the players say, is at the root of the turnaround.

“It’s chemistry,” Jonathan Kuminga said. “It has always been there. It was just a matter of time to build that chemistry together. Lot of guys come in and out, lot of people haven’t played with each other. It’s coming back around and hopefully we will keep doing the same thing.”

Kuminga’s perimeter defense has revelation on his own. He had four steals and a block in Friday’s win while locking down

Vanden boys make a deep playoff run again in playoffs

Vikings played Whitney in regional semifinals late Saturday night

M ATT Miller MMILLER@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

FAIRFIELD —

Micheal Holloway’s Vanden High School boys basketball team has delivered a threeyear run reminiscent of the late, great Jim Boyd, whose name now adorns the gymnasium.

The No. 5 seed Vikings were scheduled to play in the Northern California Division II semifinals at home Saturday night against No. 9 Whitney of Rocklin. The game finished after the Daily Republic’s print deadline. Results will be made available in Monday’s print newspaper.

6-foot-8 wing Brandon Ingram to 17 points. With Wiggins out for personal reasons and Gary Payton II injured until further notice, the Warriors were in desperate need of some disruptive perimeter defense. The 20-year-old has delivered.

“I haven’t been in this league too long,” Kuminga said. “Being around the greatest player in this league, people don’t like players getting physical with them. I feel like I do that. I just try to get in your head and take advantage . . . A lot of people don’t like that and that’s all we had

Imperfect diamond: Myths of MLB geometry revealed by new larger bases

Tribune ConTenT AgenCy

Baseball fans have called a ball field a diamond for the simple reason the layout of the infield appears dia mond-shaped. Upon further review, it’s not quite a diamond at all.

Major League Baseball’s rules for the 2023 season have brought renewed attention to the configuration of the field. Grounds crews at all 30 ballparks are prepar ing their playing surfaces to adhere to MLB’s changes.

“It’s a tight window when you’re putting in a whole new field,” said Clay Wood, the A’s head groundskeeper.

There are intricacies and peculiarities in a field alignment that many fans might not realize. For instance, the configuration of the bases doesn’t form a perfect square – there aren’t four 90-degree angles – and it’s not exactly 90 feet

between bases. If that sounds like a form of blasphemy to fans, well, hear me out.

For starters, second base is out of line. It’s not where it would appear to belong. It’s not lined up as a 90-degree angle with first and third base. In fact, under MLB’s new alignment, it will be 9 inches off-line toward center field.

How could that be?

It’s in the rule book, for starters. It has been for more than a century. The back side of the corner bases intersect at second base through the middle of the bag. Now that the bases are much larger – 18 inches square, up from 15 – this oddity is more pronounced and apparent.

There is no symmetry to that. There never was. Last season, with the 15-inch bases, second base was 7 1/2 inches off line toward center field.

“The Orioles were in town, and Rick Dempsey, one of their coaches, told me second base doesn’t line up with first base and third base, and I said, ‘It doesn’t have to,’ “ Wood said. “He didn’t even know it. He was a catcher who threw to second his whole life.

“I know a lot of coaches and

Vanden won its quarterfinal game Thursday night 74-60 over Bellarmine Collegiate Prep of San Jose at Boyd Gymnasium. The Vikings did so with the late Daniel Hughes’ birthday coming the same day.

Daniel Dejon Hughes, 17, was a junior at Vanden High when he was shot on Easter Sunday in 2021 and died 14 days later on April 18, 2021. He continues to be remembered and honored by

teammates and classmates alike.

“We played well,” Holloway said. “The kids were very focused and played with heavy hearts because it was Daniel’s birthday.”

Sterling McClanahan led Vanden with 27 points. Justiz Wilson scored 11 and Jayden Robinson had 10. The Vikings got a big boost from the return of their top scorer, Tyler Thompson, who had been out for an extended time with a knee injury. He had four points but played some solid minutes.

“It was exciting seeing him back on the court,” Holloway said of Thompson. “He was like a kid in a candy story with his opportunity to get back out there.”

Vanden led 16-14 at the end of the first quarter and made it 36-21 at halftime with a 20-7 run. The Vikings struggled in the third quarter and were outscored 19-9, cutting the lead to five, 45-40, heading into the final period. The teams cut loose for a big finish with Vanden holding

Fairfield baseball picks up first win of season, defeats Napa

DAily r epubliC STAff DRNEWS@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

FAIRFIELD — Pat

O’Reilly pitched sixplus strong innings and Joey Mason delivered four hits Friday as the Fairfield High School baseball team beat visiting Napa 7-1.

O’Reilly allowed just three hits and one earned run in 6 2/3 innings and struck out eight batters. Mason went 4-for-4 at the plate and drove in two runs. Donovan Luu and Amari Bryant also had hits for the Falcons.

Christian Rambeau and Luu drove in runs.

Fairfield did all its scoring late with three runs in the fourth and two runs in both the fifth and sixth innings for the win. The Falcons improved to 1-2.

Fairfield lost Thursday at De Anza, 4-1. Trustin Mitchell, Luu, Anthony Baldwin,

Rambeau and Devin Knox all had hits. Zack O’Reilly pitched 3 2/3 innings of strong relief, allowing only five hits and one earned run to go with four strikeouts. Fairfield hosts Pioneer of Woodland at 3:30 p.m. Monday.

Fairfield softball opens season with decisive wins over Buckingham, Esparto

FAIRFIELD — Kailee Cox went 4-for-4 with a double and an RBI as the Fairfield High School softball team rolled to a 14-6 win Friday over Buckingham Charter in Vacaville. Lyla Torrez had a single and a double to go with three RBIs. Nikki

Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group

Golden State Warriors’ Dante DiVincenzo reacts after making a 3-point shot late in the fourth quarter, his only points of the game, in a 108-99 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans at Chase Center in San Francisco, Friday.

See Vanden, Page B8

W’s, Page B7

See Gould, Page B7

Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group file San Francisco 49ers’ Daniel Brunskill (60) and Ross Dwelley (82) defend as Robbie Gould (9) kicks a field goal at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, January 22, 2023.

Robert Gauthier /Los Angeles Times file

A fan looks on during the pregame ceremony at Dodger Stadium in 2020.

a $4 million salary in 2022 with a prorated bonus number of more than $1.5 million for a cap number of $5,509,313 according to overthecap.com. They currently have just under $6 million under the cap. Included in the 49ers’ offsseason plans is a contract renegotiation for Nick Bosa which would make him the NFL’s highest paid defensive player but lower his current cap number of $17.859 million as well as bringing back several free agents. Money can also be created under the cap by renegotiating current deals to established players.

The deadline for teams to use the franchise tag is Tuesday.

W’s

From Page B6

to go out there and do today. It starts with Klay (Thompson) coming in and being physical.”

Kuminga takes pride in his physicality and individual prowess, but understands he’s most useful as a cog in a defensive machine. That chemistry on defense seemed to have clicked after the AllStar break because the players – veteran, young and new – trust each other to make the correct rotations and communicate.

That’s allowed head coach Steve Kerr and his coaching staff to turn away from a more vanilla defense and deploy more specialize and varying defensive looks at opponents.

All these third-quarter flurries to overcome double-digit deficits lately happen because of defense.

The turning point began on Tuesday with an aggressive box-andone defense that took the ball out of Portland’s star scorer Damian Lillard’s hands. Donte DiVincenzo hounded him, keeping Lillard out of his his bag of tricks to get to the line and limit him to 2-of-7 shooting from 3 with just five free-throw attempts. Just the kind of perimeter defense the Warriors crave.

“(Donte) has got incredible experience and he’s just going to be incredibly important for us going down the stretch,” Thompson said.

Their win against the Los Angeles Clip-

CALENDAR

Assuming the 49ers don’t go that route, Gould is free to sign with another team when the free agency negotiating period begins on March 13. Other veteran kickers expected to be available in free agency include Green Bay’s Mason Crosby, Arizona’s Matt Prater and the New York Giants’ Greg Zuerlein. There will be plenty of opportunities to select a kicker in the draft. The 49ers don’t pick until No. 99, but have three picks in the third, three in the fifth, one in the sixth and three in the seventh. Christopher Dunn of North Carolina State, winner of the Lou Groza Award as the nation’ top kicker, is considered the top prospect in the draft.

Gould’s family lives in the Chicago area in the offseason.

pers was sparked by a defensive scheme in which Green sagged off Russell Westbrook, daring him to shoot wide open from 3 while denying him a seam to the rim and passing lanes. Westbrook shot 0-for-5 from 3 and the mucked lanes and defensive focus clogged the Clippers’ offense.

“It wasn’t just sagging off of Russ,” Green said on Thursday. “Everyone was locked in on their coverage. If there was a top lock with Paul George, Donte was in the top lock. Klay was all over Kawhi. (Jonathan Kuminga) came in and he was all over both when he guarded each of those guys. It was a total team effort.”

They’re making the right adjustments, too.

“We can put a box-andone on Kawhi Leonard, but they can go into timeout and make that adjustment,” DiVincenzo tells this news organization. Now, collective trust has them feeling comfortable countering opposing teams’ counters. Throwing the kitchen sink to get a win.

Payton and Wiggins’ returns to the rotation should add another dynamic to a defense rounding into form. But can the Warriors take this undermanned, new-look defense on the road for three games against the Lakers, Thunder and Grizzlies next? They’re 7-23 in road games in large part because of their inability to find that inner grit on the road.

It’s been exciting to see our team, I think, turn a corner,” Kerr said. “But we still need to go out and win on the road.”

Sunday’s TV sports

players probably never knew it’s not a perfect square. They probably know now.”

By definition, a diamond (or rhombus), in geometric terms, has four equal sides with opposite angles identical. Neither is the case with MLB’s infield configuration, which does not have four equal sides if only because of the positioning of second base, and the angles at home and second aren’t the same.

It’s 90 feet from the back point of the plate to the back of first but 90 feet and 9 inches from the back of first to the back of second. That would mean the distance between the bases (the two closest points) is much shorter than 90 feet – just 87 feet between home and first and 87 feet, 9 inches between first and second.

So if a ballfield isn’t a diamond, what is it?

We solicited Kim Seashore, San Francisco State associate mathematics professor, to discuss. After some calculation and analysis, she said baseball plays on a convex kite. We’re talking in the geometric sense, not what your kid flies in the sky.

“You could say it’s a kite since a kite has two pairs of adjacent equal-length sides,” said Seashore, who taught geometry at various Bay Area schools before moving to S.F. State. “The lengths from home to first and from home to third are equal, and the lengths from first to second and from third to second are equal.”

And if the angles at the three bases aren’t right angles, what are they? Seashore did the math.

“The line from the corner of first on the base line to the far corner of second is 90.5 degrees,” she said, “and the same from the far corner of third base along the baseline to second base. All this means is that if you connect those two lines, they make an 89-degree angle. They don’t quite line up with the sides of second base.”

Many people might have thought the infield was perfectly symmetrical, and we are here

to dispel the myth. We queried UC Santa Cruz physics professor emeritus Zack Schlesinger, and he also maintained it’s a convex kite.

We also reached out to Morgan Sword, MLB executive vice president of baseball operations, to ask why the league didn’t align second base with the other bags as part of all the rules introduced this season, including a pitch clock, pickoff limitations and a shift ban. After all, by moving in second 9 inches, it would further narrow the distance between bases and benefit baserunners, which is what MLB wants as part of its goal to create more action.

Sword said it was a consideration, but the decision was to leave second base alone for now – because plenty of changes were occurring this season already – and could be moved at a later time.

MLB experimented with moving in second and forming a perfect square in the second half of the 2022 minor-league season, but the results were negligible, according to Sword, who said, “We will wait and see how this year goes.”

Explaining that moving in second also could benefit the defense, Wood said, “The throw would be shorter to first on double plays and shorter to second from the catcher. We all know how close these calls can be, anyway.”

Giants head groundskeeper Greg Elliott noted, “It would have slid the base up dramatically. It would have been a different throw to the base for the infielders.”

The new bases are 44% larger in area, increasing from 225 square inches to 324 square inches, a significant jump, considering bases had been the same size for 146 years.

John Thorn, the official historian of MLB, shed light on the evolution of the field, saying that before 1857, it was measured by paces – 42 paces from home to second and 42 from first to third. Thorn said 75-foot basepaths were the norm into the mid-1850s, based on a classical pace equating to 2 1/2 feet. By 1857, 90-foot basepaths became standard. In 1877, the last time base sizes were changed, they were formalized to

15 inches, up from 12. In 1875, the plate was moved into fair territory (it had been in foul ground) with two of its sides forming part of the foul lines. The corner bases partially were in foul territory, too – each was centered at 90 feet in line with second, so half of the base was foul, half fair – before entirely moving into fair territory in 1887 to help umpires make fair-foul calls.

Through it all, the location of second base didn’t budge, the one constant.

“The original distances were measured from the center of first base to the center of second base and third base,” Thorn said. “As home plate began to move, and first and third bases were moved into fair territory, the location of the center of second base became less relevant, yet its placement was unchanged.”

Thorn pointed out that home plate originally was round, which probably is why it’s called a plate. Or dish. It became a 1-foot square in 1868, matching the other bases, and rotated in 1874 so that one point of the square faced the pitcher, which widened the plate to 17 inches, a blessing for pitchers. By 1900, the front corners were filled to resemble today’s irregular pentagon, making the edges of the strike zone more visible.

Though the front side widely is perceived as 17 inches, Thorn said that’s not quite the case. Because the sides along the base lines are 12 inches – the leftover dimensions of the original square plate – and the parallel sides are 8.5 inches, the Pythagorean theorem shows the front side is 16.97 inches.

“But who’s counting?”

Thorn said.

When Elliott and Wood began putting the Giants’ and A’s fields together this year, there were some adjustments to make. Because first and third base now are 3 inches closer to the plate and extend 3 inches farther from the foul line, the bags’ anchors must be repositioned. The second-base anchor can stay put; it still works with the bigger bags.

Another regulation includes standardizing where the outfield grass

begins, a 95-foot radius from the middle of the pitching rubber. This was deemed necessary with the elimination of the shifts and all four infielders forced to be positioned on the infield dirt.

“We grew our outfield out to 96 feet (last season) because guys liked playing back to the grass,” Elliott said. “Now that they’re regulating it, we made it 95 feet.”

Wood has some catching up to do. A supercross event at the Coliseum on Feb. 18 turned the field into a dirt track with dirt mounds and jumps, a nightmare for any baseball grounds crew this close to the season. The event had been scheduled for January but was pushed back because of stormy weather. It’ll be Elliott’s turn to deal with the dirty mess next winter when Oracle Park hosts a similar event.

Wood and Elliott were both certain their fields would be ready for the two-game exhibition Bay Bridge Series between the A’s and Giants, March 26 at the Coliseum and March 27 at Oracle Park, bigger bases and all.

“I was kind of blown away at how much the bases stood out,” Wood said, reflecting on his first exposure to them taking in a Triple-A game in Salt Lake City last summer. “They’re much bigger than what you’re used to seeing. Fans will notice the difference.”

For those who insist on still calling it a diamond, even with second base pushed back 9 inches, Seashore will give you a pass despite providing many pages of information to show otherwise.

After all, she’s a traditionalist herself. One of her sons, Benjamin, pitches for Whitman College in Washington, and another, Nathan, also has played plenty of ball. She’s a former Little League umpire.

“It probably is still close enough to call it a rhombus,” Seashore said, “since 9 inches on 90-ish feet is less than 1%.”

“Diamond” inevitably is going to remain easier for most of us, even if now, more than ever, it’s not precisely true. Because let’s face it, “Let’s go to the convex kite and play some ball!” isn’t likely to catch on.

Formula One season preview: More races, new lineups and Las Vegas

The WashingTon PosT

The 2023 Formula One season opens Sunday at the Bahrain Grand Prix, where the sport will embark on its longest season to date, with a schedule that features three domestic races as the circuit continues to foster its growth in the United States.

With 23 races scheduled across five continents over the next eight months, this year’s calendar features more races than any other, up from 22 last year, augmented by the new Las Vegas Grand Prix in November and the return in October of the Qatar Grand Prix, which did not take place in 2022 because of preparations in that country for the World Cup.

Last year’s calendar was also meant to have 23 races, but the

Local

From Page B6

O’Reilly homered, while Autumn Carabajal and Evangelia Degros-Perreira each doubled. No individual statistics were made available for Buckingham.

Fairfield won Thursday at Esparto, 17-3. Amaya Mendoza was 3-for-3 with a double and an RBI. Cox had three hits and drove in three runs. Talia Falekaono doubled twice, singled and drove in four runs. O’Reilly homered and doubled. Falekaono and Adriana Gutierrez combined in the circle to pitch five innings. They allowed just three hits, one earned run and

Vanden

From Page B6

a 29-20 edge in the final period for the victory.

McClanahan got off to a hot start by scoring 11 of the team’s 16 points in the first quarter. He had 15 points at halftime. It was the second straight year the Vikings had reached the NorCal semfinals. A 42-41 loss to Elk Grove in the semifinals ended the season last year. The Thundering Herd went on to win the state championship.

There were no postseason playoffs in 2021 because

Russian Grand Prix was canceled after the country’s invasion of Ukraine and remains off the schedule. The Chinese Grand Prix, which has not been held since 2019 because of coronavirus restrictions, also remains off the docket. The three U.S. races are scheduled to be held in Miami (May 7), Austin (Oct. 22) and Las Vegas (Nov. 18), before the season ends with the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Nov. 26.

On the track, Sebastian Vettel’s retirement at the end of last season highlights the major changes across the grid. Looking to extend his storied career, Fernando Alonso left Alpine to join Lance Stroll at Aston Martin, and Alpine tapped Pierre Gasly from AlphaTauri to fill the gap. Nyck de Vries, a former Formula E champion and Mercedes reserve,

had 12 strikeouts. Fairfield is 2-0 and will play at 3:30 p.m. Monday in Pittsburg.

Vanden softball

held to one hit in 1-0 loss

to Dixon in season opener

FAIRFIELD — The Vanden High School softball team was held to one hit Friday in its season-opening Friday, a 7-0 loss to Dixon.

Kiah Silva collected the only hit for the Vikings.

The Rams were able to score three runs in the first inning and four in the fourth for the victory. No individual statistics were made available for Dixon.

Vanden is back in action at 3:30 p.m. Monday at

of the Covid-19 pandemic. Vanden reached the quarterfinals of NorCals in 2020 playing in Division I. The Vikings fell to Archbishop Riordan of San Jose in the quarterfinals 76-62.

The Vikings entered Saturday’s semifinals as the highest surviving seed.

No. 1 Clayton Valley, No.

2 Brandon, No. 3 Sacramento and No. 4 Moreau Catholic had all been bounced in earlier rounds.

Saturday night’s winner will play the winner of No. 6 San Joaquin Memorial and No. 7 Weston Ranch in the NorCal Regional Finals on Tuesday. The state final will be back at the Golden 1 Center at 4 p.m. March 11.

Janric Classic Sudoku

joined AlphaTauri. (Stroll injured his wrist in a bicycle accident during training late last month. Reserve driver Felipe Drugovich replaced him during preseason testing, but Stroll is expected to race in Bahrain.)

Elsewhere, Oscar Piastri’s contract saga concluded with him taking a seat at McLaren, where he replaced Daniel Ricciardo, who rejoined Red Bull as its third driver (a role focused on testing cars that differs from reserve drivers). Haas F1 replaced Mick Schumacher with veteran Nico Hulkenberg. And Williams Racing made Florida native Logan Sargeant the first American driver on the grid since 2015 when it assigned him to replace Nicholas Latifi.

The top three teams in 2022, Red Bull (Max Verstappen and

American Canyon.

Rodriguez High’s boys tennis team shuts out Vanden 9-0

FAIRFIELD — The Rodriguez High School boys tennis team only gave up 12 games and won all its matches in straight sets Thursday at Vanden as the Mustangs shut out the Vikings 9-0.

Rodriguez had singles wins from Evan Wadsworth, Danton Hsueh, Josh Williams, Theo Keyser, Brandon Wei and Justin Wei. The Mustangs also got doubles victories from the teams of Ian Huey-Paul Lee, Andre Perriard-Patrick Reilly and Drake Bennett-Conner Mckemie.

Sergio Pérez), Ferrari (Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz) and Mercedes (Lewis Hamilton and George Russell) did not make changes to their lineups.

Verstappen coasted to a second straight drivers’ title last season after he earned his first in the controversial finale of the 2021 campaign. Hamilton, the second-place casualty of that 2021 dispute, finished sixth last year behind Verstappen, Leclerc, Perez, Russell and Sainz. As Mercedes struggled, Hamilton, a seven-time champion, ended the season without a win for the first time in his career. Elsewhere on the track, Ferrari’s early-season resurgence gave way to Red Bull’s dominance during the first year of redefined aerodynamic regulations.

Rodriguez is now 2-0 in the Monticello Empire League and Vanden is 0-2. Rodriguez will play Tuesday at Will C. Wood. Vanden will be at Armijo.

Vanden baseball secures 7-3 win at home against Del Campo

FAIRFIELD — Bryce Alcantara had a double and single and drove in four runs Friday to help lead the Vanden High School baseball team to a 7-3 win over visiting Del Campo. Jack Tranchina doubled and drove in two runs. Aidan Robles also singled. Alex Mausart, Trevor More, Chris Marley and DJ Anderson all pitched

By Pam Amick Klawitter

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff suggested his team has solved the issues that contributed to its struggles last season, but he acknowledged it is taking a cautious approach as it looks to reclaim the constructors’ crown it held for eight straight seasons before last year.

“We are changing some of the architecture and the layout of the car that should point us in the right direction. But as it is with these new regulations, sometimes you uncover one problem and then you realize there was another underneath,” he said on the Beyond The Grid podcast. “So we have to be humble and not feel a sense of entitlement that we are going to get back into this championship and win straight from the get-go. So I’m really looking forward to it.”

for the Vikings and combined to allow just three hits and two earned runs to go with seven strikeouts.

Vanden scored four runs in the first inning and added three more in the fifth. Del Campo did its scoring with one run in the second inning and two in the third.

Vanden improved to 2-0. The Vikings will play at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday at Pioneer of Woodland.

Kilgore powers

Rodriguez softball to opening-day victory over American Canyon

FAIRFIELD — Katelyn Kilgore delivered a two-run double in the bottom of the seventh inning with two outs Thurs-

day, lifting the Rodriguez High School softball team to a 9-7 win over visiting American Canyon in the season opener. The bases were loaded when Kilgore delivered the game-winner. She finished the game with three doubles and three RBIs. Brooklyn Denina earned the win in the circle after two-plus innings of relief with two strikeouts, three hits allowed and just one earned run.

Kayla Lee, Hailey Permenter, Ellie Steiger and Jade Babas had two hits apiece. Permenter had two doubles and drove in three runs. Sofia Coleman pitched into the fifth inning. Rodriguez will travel Tuesday to Granada High School in Livermore.

3/5/23

Fill in the blank cells using numbers 1 to 9. Each number can appear only once in each row, column and 3x3 block. Use logic and process of elimination to solve the puzzle. The difficulty level ranges from Bronze (easiest) to Silver to Gold (hardest).

©

Difficulty level: BRONZE

Solution to 3/5/23:

(PERSONS) IS

AS

THE

DOING

LOCATEDAT740MerchantSt,Vacaville CA95688Solano.Mailingaddress436 IdoraAve,VallejoCA94591.IS(ARE) HEREBYREGISTEREDBYTHEFOLLOWINGOWNER(S)#1ThiTraMy Nguyen436IdoraAveVallejo,94591#2 HoangDonPham277ArrowheadWay Hayward,94544.THISBUSINESSIS CONDUCTEDBY: aGeneralPartnership Theregistrantcommencedtotransact bus inessunderthefictitiousbusiness nameornameslistedaboveon 03/01/2023. Ideclarethatallinformationinthisstatementistrueandcorrect(Aregistrantwho declaresastrueinformationwhichheor sheknowstobefalseisguiltyofacrime.)

/s/ThiTraMyNguyen INACCORDANCEWITHSUBDIVISION (a)OFSECTION17920AFICTITIOUS NAMESTATEMENTGENERALLYEXPIRESATTHEENDOFFIVEYEARS FROMTHEDATEONWHICHITWAS FILEDINTHEOFFICEOFTHECOUNTY CLERK,EXCEPTASPROVIDE DIN SUBDIVISION(b)OFSECTION17920, WHEREITEXPIRES40DAYSAFTER ANYCHANGEINTHEFACTSSET FORTHINTHESTATEMENTPURSUANTTOSECTION17913OTHERTHAN ACHANGEINTHERESIDENCEADDRESSOFAREGISTEREDOWNER. ANEWFICTITIOUSBUSINESSNAME STATEMENTMUSTBEFILEDBEFORE THEEXPIRATIONFebruary29,2028. THEFILINGOFTHISSTATEMENT DOESNOTOFITSELFAUTHORIZE THEUSEINTHISSTATEOFAFICTITIOUSBUSINESSNAMEINVIOLATION OFTHERIGHTSOFANOTHERUNDER FEDERAL,STATEORCOMMONLAW (SEESECTION14411ETSEQ.,BUSINESSANDPROFESSIONSCODE). FiledintheOfficeoftheCountyClerkof SolanoCounty,StateofCaliforniaon: March1,2023 NewASSIGNEDFILENO.2023000373

BUSINESS

PERSON (PERSONS) IS

DOING BUSINESS AS LUCKY #784 LOCATEDAT1979PeabodyRoadVacaville,CA95687.MailingaddressPO Box4278Modesto.IS(ARE)HEREBY REGISTEREDBYTHEFOLLOWING OWNER(S)SaveMartSupermarketsLLC CAModesto95350.THISBUSINESSIS CONDUCTEDBY: aLimitedLiabilityCompany Theregistrantcommencedtotransact businessunderthefictitiousbusiness nameornameslistedaboveon 09/2 4/2007. Ideclarethatallinformationinthisstatementistrueandcorrect(Aregistrantwho declaresastrueinformationwhichheor sheknowstobefalseisguiltyofacrime.) /s/SadiaAli,CFO INACCORDANCEWITHSUBDIVISION (a)OFSECTION17920AFICTITIOUS NAMESTATEMENTGENERALLYEXPIRESATTHEENDOFFIVEYEARS FROMTHEDATEONWHICHITWAS FILEDINTHEOFFICEOFTHECOUNTY CLERK,EXCEPTASPROVIDEDIN SUBDIVISION(b)OFSECTION17920, WHEREITEXPIRES40DAYSAFTER ANYC HANGEINTHEFACTSSET FORTHINTHESTATEMENTPURSUANTTOSECTION17913OTHERTHAN ACHANGEINTHERESIDENCEADDRESSOFAREGISTEREDOWNER. ANEWFICTITIOUSBUSINESSNAME STATEMENTMUSTBEFILEDBEFORE THEEXPIRATIONFebruary14,2028. THEFILINGOFTHISSTATEMENT DOESNOTOFITSELFAUTHORIZE THEUSEINTHISSTATEOFAFICTITIOUSBUSINESSNAMEINVIOLATION OFTHERIGHTSOFANOTHERUNDER FEDERAL,STATEORCOMMONLAW (SEESECTION14411ETSEQ.,BUSINESSANDPROFESSIONSCODE) FiledintheOfficeoftheCountyClerkof SolanoCounty,StateofCaliforniaon: February15,2023 NewASSIGNEDFILENO.2023000285 CHARLESLOMELI,SolanoCountyClerk DR#00061524 Published:Feb.26March5,12,19,2023

PUBLIC NOTICES

Toallheirs,beneficiaries,creditors,contingentcreditors,andpersonswhomay otherwisebeinterestedinthewillorestate,orboth,of: Gloria M. Howe APetitionforProbatehasbeenfiledby: Gerri G. Severdia intheSuperiorCourtofCalifornia,County of: Solano

ThePetitionforProbaterequeststhat:

Gerri G. Severdia beappointedaspersonalrepresentative toadm inistertheestateofthedecedent.

ThepetitionrequestsauthoritytoadministertheestateundertheIndependentAdministrationofEstatesAct.(Thisauthority willallowthepersonalrepresentativeto takemanyactionswithoutobtainingcourt approval.Beforetakingcertainveryimportantactions,however,thepersonal representativewillberequiredtogivenoticetointerestedpersonsunlessthey havewaivednoticeorconsentedtothe proposedaction.) Theindependentadministrationauthoritywillbegrantedunless aninterestedpersonfilesanobjectionto thepetitionandshowsgoodcausewhy thecourtshouldnotgranttheauthority.

A hearing on the petition will be held in this court as follows:

DATE: MAY 1, 2023 TIME: 8:30 am DEPT.: 4 SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, County of Solano 600 Union Avenue 600 Union Avenue Fairfield, CA 94533 Hall of Justice

If you object tothegrantingofthepetition,youshouldappearatthehearingand stateyourobjectionsorfilewrittenobjectionswiththecourtbeforethehearing. Yourappearancemaybeinpersonorby yourattorney. If you are a creditor or a contingent creditor of the decedent, youmustfileyourclaimwiththecourtand mailacopytothepersonalrepresentative appointedbythecourtwithinthe later of either(1)four months fromthedateof firstissuanceofletterstoageneralpersonalrepresentative,asdefinedinsection58(b)oftheCaliforniaProbateCode, or(2) 60 days fromthedateofmailingor personaldeliverytoyouofanoticeunder section9052oftheCaliforniaProbate Code. Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may wantto consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law. You may examine the file kept by the court.Ifyouareapersoninterestedinthe estate,youmayfilewiththecourtaRequestforSpecialNotice(formDE-154)of thefilingofaninventoryandappraisalof estateassetsorofanypetitionoraccount asprovidedinProbateCodesection 1250.ARequestforSpecialNoticeformis availablefromthecourtclerk.

AttorneyforPetitioner:

G.RichardGregoryIII

21800OxnardStreet,Suite840 WoodlandHills,CA91367

(818)348-1112

DR#00061552

Published:March1,5,8,2023

AUCTIONNOTICE:ASDEFINEDBY:The CaliforniaSelfStorageFacilitiesAct Chapter10CommencingwithSection 21700,Division8oftheCaliforniaBusinessandProfessionsCode,AIRPORT ROADSELFSTORAGE–1604Airport Rd,RioVista,CA94571willconductan AuctiononMarch17th2023at10:45AM AUCTIONEER:AWardAuctionJeffVercelli#MS324-27-4.AgentforOwner:Diede PropertyManagement.Unitsbeingsold: ClaudiaDees,TaylorGomes,EdwardHarris,ElviaMandujano,ElwonMartin,Evan Polk,NarizaLaquindanum,KathleenPoulitan,WilliamRehlaender.Itemsbeingsold: Furniture,tools,andmisc.tubs,bagsand boxes.Thisadwillpublish2-26-2023&35-2023.InaccordancewiththeCalifornia SelfServiceStorageAct,shouldbidsfall shortagentspredeterminedfairmarket valueonagivenStorageunit,agentshall havetherighttohaltthesaleofsaidstorageunit. DR#00061517 Published:Feb.26March5,2023

Homero A Rodriguez Jr filedapetitionwiththiscourtforadecree changingnamesasfollows:

a. Homero Francisco Valdez

a. Homero Francisco Rodriguez-Valdez THECOURTORDERSthatallpersonsinterestedinthismattershallappearbefore thiscourtatthehearingindicatedbelowto showcause,ifany,whythepetitionfor changeofnameshouldnotbegranted. Anypersonobjectingtothename changesdescribedabovemustfileawrittenobjectionthatincludesthereasonsfor theobjectionatleasttwocourtdaysbeforethematterisscheduledtobeheard andmustappearatthehearingtoshow causewhythepetitionshouldnotbegranted.Ifnowrittenobjectionistimelyfiled, thecourtmaygrantthepetitionwithouta hearing.

NOTICE OF HEARING

Date: March 29, 2023; Time: 8:30 am; Dept: 12; Rm: I The address of the court is: SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF Old Solano Courthouse 580 Texas St, Fairfield, CA, 94533

AcopyofthisOrdertoShowCauseshall bepublishedatleastonceeachweekfor foursuccessiveweekspriortothedate setforhearingonthepetitioninthefollowingnewspaperofgeneralcirculation,printedinthiscounty:DailyRepublic

Pleasefileproofofnewspaperpublication atleast5businessdaysbeforehearing (newspaperdoesnotfilew/court)zoom ok.zoominvitewillbeemailed1-2days beforehearing

Date:JAN24,2023 /s/ChristineA.Carringer JudgeoftheSuperiorCourt

FILED:JAN252023

DR#00061408

Published:Feb.19,26March5,12,2023

NoticeofPublicAUCTIONasdefinedby theCaliforniaSelfStorageFacilitiesAct BusinessandProfessionsCodesections 21700-21716.Locationofauctioned items:FourSeasonsSelfStorageLLC

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT THE FOLLOWING PERSON (PERSONS) IS (ARE) DOING BUSINESS AS HENSHAUL JUNK REMOVAL LOCATEDAT355PortsmouthAve,Vacaville,CA.95687Solano.Mailingaddress355PortsmouthAve,Vacaville,CA. 95687.IS(ARE)HEREBYREGISTERED BYTHEFOLLOWINGOWNER(S)David PortsmouthAveVacaville,95687.THIS BUSINESSISCONDUCTEDBY: anIndividual

Theregistrantcommencedtotransact businessunderthefictitiousbusiness name ornameslistedaboveonN/A. Ideclarethatallinformationinthisstatementistrueandcorrect(Aregistrantwho declaresastrueinformationwhichheor sheknowstobefalseisguiltyofacrime.) /s/DavidHenshaul INACCORDANCEWITHSUBDIVISION (a)OFSECTION17920AFICTITIOUS NAMESTATEMENTGENERALLYEXPIRESATTHEENDOFFIVEYEARS FROMTHEDATEONWHICHITWAS FILEDINTHEOFFICEOFTHECOUNTY CLERK,EXCEPTASPROVIDEDIN SUBDIVISION(b)OFSECTION17920, WHEREITEXPIRES40DAYSAFTER ANYCHANGEINTHEFACTSSET FORTHINTHESTATEMENTPURSUANTTOSECTION17913OTHERTHAN ACHANGEINTHERESIDENCEADDRESSOFAREGISTEREDOWNER. ANEWFICTITIOUSBUSINESSNAME STATEMENTMUSTBEFILEDBEFORE THEEXPIRATIONFebruary14,2028. THEFILINGOFTHISSTATEMENT DOESNOTOFITSELFAUTHORIZE THEUSEINTHISSTATEOFAFICTITIOUSBUSINESSNAMEINVIOLATION OFTHERIGHTSOFANOTHERUNDER FEDERAL,STATEORCOMMONLAW (SEESECTION14411ETSEQ.,BUSINESSANDPROFESSIONSCODE). FiledintheOfficeoftheCountyClerkof SolanoCounty,StateofCaliforniaon: February15,2023 NewASSIGNEDFILENO.2023000292 CHARLESLOMELI,SolanoCountyClerk DR#00061412 Published:Feb.19,26March5,12,2023

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT THE FOLLOWING PERSON (PERSONS) IS (ARE) DOING BUSINESS AS LUCKY #783 LOCATEDAT777E.MonteVistaAvenueVacaville,CA95688.Mailingaddress POBox4278Modesto.IS(ARE) HEREBYREGISTEREDBYTHEFOLLOWINGOWNER(S)SaveMartSupermarketsLLCCAModesto95350.THIS BUSINESSISCONDUCTEDBY: aLimitedLiabilityCompany Theregistrantcommencedtotransact businessunderthefictitiousbusiness nameornameslistedabo veon 09/26/2007. Ideclarethatallinformationinthisstatementistrueandcorrect(Aregistrantwho declaresastrueinformationwhichheor sheknowstobefalseisguiltyofacrime.) /s/SadiaAli,CFO INACCORDANCEWITHSUBDIVISION (a)OFSECTION17920AFICTITIOUS NAMESTATEMENTGENERALLYEXPIRESATTHEENDOFFIVEYEARS FROMTHEDATEONWHICHITWAS FILEDINTHEOFFICEOFTHECOUNTY CLERK,EXCEPTASPROVIDEDIN SUBDIVISION(b)OFSECTION17920, WHEREITEXPIRES40DAYSAFTER ANYCHANGEINTHEFACTSSET FORTHINTHESTATEMENTPURSUANTTOSECTION17913OTHERTHAN ACHANGEINTHERESIDENCEADDRESSOFAREGISTEREDOWNER. ANEWFICTITIOUSBUSINESSNAME STATEMENTMUSTBEFILEDBEFORE THEEXPIRATIONFebruary14,2028. THEFILINGOFTHISSTATEMENT DOESNOTOFITSELFAUTHORIZE THEUSEINTHISSTATEOFAFICTITIOUSBUSINESSNAMEINVIOLATION OFTHERIGHTSOFANOTHERUNDER FEDERAL,STATEORCOMMONLAW (SEESECTION14411ETSEQ.,BUSINESSANDPROFESSIONSCODE). FiledintheOfficeoftheCountyClerkof SolanoCounty,StateofCaliforniaon: February15,2023 NewASSIGNEDFILENO.2023000286 CHARLESLOMELI,SolanoCountyClerk DR#00061523 Published:Feb.26March5,12,19,2023

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT THE FOLLOWING PERSON (PERSONS) IS (ARE) DOING BUSINESS AS NUTRITHERAPY LOCATEDAT755BridleRidgeCourt, FairfieldCA94534Solano.Mailingaddress755BridleRidgeCourt,FairfieldCA 94534.IS(ARE)HEREBYREGISTERED BYTHEFOLLOWINGOWNER(S)KimberlySanders755BridleRidgeCourt Fairfield,94534.THISBUSINESSIS CONDUCTEDBY: anIndividual Theregistrantcommencedtotransact businessunderthefictitiousbus iness nameornameslistedaboveon 01/18/2023. Ideclarethatallinformationinthisstatementistrueandcorrect(Aregistrantwho declaresastrueinformationwhichheor sheknowstobefalseisguiltyofacrime.) /s/KimberlySanders INACCORDANCEWITHSUBDIVISION (a)OFSECTION17920AFICTITIOUS NAMESTATEMENTGENERALLYEXPIRESATTHEENDOFFIVEYEARS FROMTHEDATEONWHICHITWAS FILEDINTHEOFFICEOFTHECOUNTY CLERK,EXCEPTASPROVIDEDIN SUBDIVISION(b)OFSECTION17920, WHEREITEXPIRES40DAYSAFTER ANYCHANGEINTHEFACTSSET FORTHINTHESTATEMENTPURSUANTTOSECTION17913OTHERTHAN ACHANGEINTHERESIDENCEADDRESSOFAREGISTEREDOWNER. ANEWFICTITIOUSBUSINESSNAME STATEMENTMUSTBEFILEDBEFORE THEEXPIRATIONFebruary29,2028. THEFILINGOFTHISSTATEMENT DOESNOTOFITSELFAUTHORIZE THEUSEINTHISSTATEOFAFICTITIOUSBUSINESSNAMEINVIOLATION OFTHERIGHTSOFANOTHERUNDER FEDERAL,STATEORCOMMONLAW (SEESECTION14411ETSEQ.,BUSINESSANDPROFESSIONSCODE). FiledintheOfficeoftheCountyClerkof SolanoCounty,StateofCaliforniaon: March1,2023 NewASSIGNEDFILENO.2023000371 CHARLESLOMELI,SolanoCountyClerk DR#00061779 Published:March5,12,19,26,2023

OPEN HOUSE

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT

THE FOLLOWING PERSON (PERSONS) IS (ARE) DOING BUSINESS AS LEARNING2UNDERSTAND LOCATEDAT2142VineyardHillsCourt, VacavilleCA95688Solano.MailingaddressP.O.Box957,VacavilleCA95696. IS(ARE)HEREBYREGISTEREDBY THEFOLLOWINGOWNER(S) Learning2understandLLCCA.THIS BUSINESSISCONDUCTEDBY: aLimitedLiabilityCompany Theregistrantcommencedtotransact businessunderthefictitiousbusiness nameornameslistedaboveonN/A. Ideclarethatallinformationinthisstatementistrueandcorrect(Aregistrantwho declaresastrueinformationwhichheor sheknowstobefalseisguiltyofacrime.) /s/JuliaMcGeeChiefofOperations INACCORDANCEWITHSUBDIVISION (a)OFSECTION17920AFICTITIOUS NAMESTATEMENTGENERALLYEXPIRESATTHEENDOFFIVEYEARS FROMTHEDATEONWHICHITWAS FILEDINTHEOFFICEOFTHECOUNTY CLERK,EXCEPTASPROVIDEDIN SUBDIVISION(b)OFSECTION17920, WHEREITEXPIRES40DAYSAFTER ANYCHANGEINTHEFACTSSET FORTHINTHESTATEMENTPURSUANTTOSECTION17913OTHERTHAN ACHANGEINTHERESIDENCEADDRESSOFAREGISTEREDOWNER. ANEWFICTITIOUSBUSINESSNAME STATEMENTMUSTBEFILEDBEFORE THEEXPIRATIONFebruary29,2028. THEFILINGOFTHISSTATEMENT DOESNOTOFITSELFAUTHORIZE THEUSEINTHISSTATEOFAFICTITIOUSBUSINESSNAMEINVIOLATION OFTHERIGHTSOFANOTHERUNDER FEDERAL,STATEORCOMMONLAW (SEESECTION14411ETSEQ., BUSINESSANDPROFESSIONSCODE). FiledintheOfficeoftheCountyClerkof SolanoCounty,StateofCaliforniaon: March1,2023 NewASSIGNEDFILENO.2023000381 CHARLESLOMELI,SolanoCountyClerk DR#00061784 Published:March5,12,19,26,2023

FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT THE FOLLOWING PERSON (PERSONS) IS (ARE) DOING BUSINESS AS SQUARE DOCUMENT SERVICES LOCATEDAT198FlemingAveVallejo, CA94590.Mailingaddress198Fleming AveVallejo,CA94590.IS(ARE) HEREBYREGISTEREDBYTHEFOLLOWINGOWNER(S)RenzoValle198 FlemingAveVallejo94590THISBUSINESSISCONDUCTEDBY: anIndividual Theregistrantcommencedtotransact businessunderthefictitiousbusiness nameornameslistedaboveonN/A. Ideclarethatallinformationinthisstatementistrueandcorrect(Aregistrantwho declaresastrueinformationwhichheor sheknowstobefalseisguiltyofacrime.) /s/RenzoValle INACCORDANCEWITHSUBDIVISION (a)OFSECTION17920AFICTITIOUS NAMESTATEMENTGENERALLYEXPIRESATTHEENDOFFIVEYEARS FROMTHEDATEONWHICHITWAS FILEDINTHEOFFICEOFTHECOUNTY CLERK,EXCEPTASPROVIDEDIN SUBDIVISION(b)OFSECTION17920, WHEREITEXPIRES40DAYSAFTER ANYCH ANGEINTHEFACTSSET FORTHINTHESTATEMENTPURSUANTTOSECTION17913OTHERTHAN ACHANGEINTHERESIDENCEADDRESSOFAREGISTEREDOWNER. ANEWFICTITIOUSBUSINESSNAME STATEMENTMUSTBEFILEDBEFORE THEEXPIRATIONFebruary29,2028. THEFILINGOFTHISSTATEMENT DOESNOTOFITSELFAUTHORIZE THEUSEINTHISSTATEOFAFICTITIOUSBUSINESSNAMEINVIOLATION OFTHERIGHTSOFANOTHERUNDER FEDERAL,STATEORCOMMONLAW (SEESECTION14411ETSEQ.,BUSINESSANDPROFESSIONSCODE). FiledintheOfficeoftheCountyClerkof SolanoCounty,StateofCaliforniaon: March1,2023 NewASSIGNEDFILENO.2023000378 CHARLESLOMELI,SolanoCountyClerk DR#00061782 Published:March5,12,19,26,2023

OPEN HOUSE

1st flr. Lots of upgrades! Vinyl plank flrs & plantation shutters thruout most of home. Beautiful..too much to list! $1,099,900

Sylvia Cole & Renee Neuman REALTOR® DRE#01386900 & 01231287 707-330-8923 or 249-2702

Pam Sigel & Jessie Kelly REALTORS® DRE#01251907 or 02201727

OPEN HOUSE

Monique Kenner & Associate REALTOR® DRE#01475803 (707) 297-9266