Daily Republic: Monday, April 3, 2023

LSU’s women’s basketball team wins national title B1

OPEC+ will cut production by

1 million barrels a day

BloomBerg News

OPEC+ announced a surprise oil production cut that will exceed 1 million barrels a day, abandoning previous assurances that it would hold supply steady to maintain a stable market.

Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times/TNS file (2022)

The predawn glow is reflected in the Sacramento River in Red Bluff. The complex of wetlands along the Sacramento River National Wildlife Refuge has already been promised a full allocation of water from state reservoirs.

Here is where state’s wet start is bringing welcome recovery

James r aiNey LOS ANGELES TIMES

WILLIAMS — Breathing in the rain-scrubbed air and absorbing the splendor of Topanga Creek, as it danced and pooled before her eyes, Rosi Dagit had to smile.

“This is like heaven for a steelhead,” said Dagit, a senior biologist with the Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains. “If I was a steelhead, this is where I would lay my eggs.”

This winter’s strong and persistent rains have revived a creek that, in recent years amid a punishing drought, had been reduced to a series of ponds and puddles. The much-needed water greatly enhances the prospects of reproduction for the endangered southern steelhead. And it has

revived habitat for myriad other species in the Topanga Creek watershed, from a tiny minnow to frogs and newts to the coyotes and mountain lions that roam the canyon.

Humans share in the watery bounty, because the rocks and sediment washing down Topanga Creek replenish an eroding beach and bolster a beloved surfing spot.

Topanga regulars say the newly configured ocean bed has reshaped waves, even slightly increasing the chance they might catch a tasty little “barrel.”

Dagit uses words like “fabulous” and “spectacular” to describe the scenes of rebirth and replenishment along watersheds that feed into Santa Monica Bay. It’s a sentiment of wonder and relief repeated around much of Califor-

nia in recent weeks, as the wettest winter in recent memory has given way to a damp spring.

The precipitation that has all but ended the state’s three-year drought has, without doubt, brought devastation to some areas of the state, resulting in catastrophic flooding, mudslides and snowfall that cost some Californians their homes, their jobs, even their lives. But in many corners of the state that have avoided calamity, superwet 2023 has been a boon.

The state’s largest reservoirs are filled to near capacity. Groundwater has begun to recharge after years of overpumping. Hillsides have exploded with a profusion of California poppies, sky-blue lupine and other wildflowers. Moisture-starved trees, including the

9-year-old girl wanted to save her goat. Then came the search warrant

sam staNtoN THE SACRAMENTO BEE

SACRAMENTO — The 15-page search warrant and affidavit was very specific about the target Shasta County sheriff’s officials were after.

“The location is a single family residence in a rural residential area,” the warrant, signed at 6:33 p.m. on July 8 by Shasta County Superior Court Judge Monique McKee, read. “The prop-

erty has a tan colored residence with a brown composite style roof.”

The document was accompanied by groundlevel and aerial photos of the property, along with a street address in Napa and the notation that the subject of the search warrant had been “stolen or embezzled.”

Officers were permitted to “utilize breaching equipment to force open doorway(s), entry doors, exit doors, and locked

containers in pursuit of their target,” the warrant said, then listed areas that might be searched.

“The residence, including all rooms, attics, basements, and other parts therein, the surrounding grounds and any garages, sheds, storage rooms, and outbuildings of any kind large enough to accommodate a small goat,” the warrant said.

That’s a significant reduction for a market where – despite the recent price fluctuations –supply was looking tight for the latter part of the year. Oil futures weren’t trading when the cut was announced on Sunday, but the inevitable price reaction could add to inflationary pressures across the world, forcing central banks to keep interest rates higher for longer and amplifying the risk of recession.

Saudi Arabia led the cartel by pledging its own 500,000 barrel-a-day supply reduction. Fellow members including Kuwait, the United Arabia Emirates and Algeria fol-

lowed suit, while Russia said the production cut it was implementing from March to June would continue until the end of the 2023.

The initial impact of the cuts, starting next month, will add up to about 1.1 million barrels a day. From July, due to the extension of Russia’s existing supply reduction, there will be about 1.6 million barrels a day less crude on the market than previously expected.

The move could once again flare tensions between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia, a regional partner whose relationship with President Joe Biden’s administration has been tense.

In October last year, when OPEC+ made a surprise production cut of about 2 million barrels day just weeks before the U.S. midterm elections, Biden vowed there

See Barrels, Page A7

Lawyer: Trump will plead ‘not guilty,’ seek to dismiss case

BloomBerg News

Donald Trump, the first former U.S. president to be indicted, will plead not guilty when he appears in a Manhattan state court Tuesday to face criminal charges, his defense lawyer said.

“We will very loudly and proudly say ‘not guilty,’” Trump’s lawyer Joe Tacopina said on an appearance Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg convened the grand jury in January to investigate Trump’s role in hush money payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign. The panel on Thursday voted to indict Trump but the charges remain under seal.

believes Trump faces several misdemeanor charges and signaled a defense the former president is likely to launch, including assailing Bragg’s authority to bring state charges tied to a federal election. He said the payments were previously investigated by the Federal Election Commission and Justice Department which he said concluded there were “no violations.”

“Somehow, a state prosecutor has taken a misdemeanor and tried to cobble together and make it a felony by alleging a violation of federal campaign violations which the FEC said didn’t exist,” he said.

“The team will look at every potential issue that we will be able to challenge, and we will

— NAP A V ALLEY Sandra Ritchey-Butler REALTOR® DRE# 01135124 707.592.6267 • sabutler14@gmail.com

Tacopina said he

INDEX Arts B4 | Business B5 | Classifieds B7 | Comics A5, B3 | Crossword A6, B4 Food B2 | Obituary A3 | Opinion A4 | Sports B1 | TV Daily A5, B3 WEATHER 58 | 35 Sunny and cool. Forecast on B8 WANT TO SUBSCRIBE? Call 707-427-6989.

a 7-month-old white Boer goat with chocolate markings framing its face who is now the subject of a federal civil rights lawsuit naming Shasta sheriff’s officials, Shasta County, the Shasta District Fairand other defendants who are accused of involvement in the apparent slaughter of Cedar for a community barbecue. The details of Cedar’s See Wet, Page A7 Expires 7/1/2023

See A7

Dr. David P. Simon, MD, FACS. Eye Physician & Surgeon, Col. (Ret.), USAF Now Accepting New Patients! 3260 Beard Rd #5 Napa • 707-681-2020 simoneyesmd.com

y y g, ( Services include: • Routine Eye Exams • Comprehensive Ophthalmology • Glaucoma and Macular Degeneration Care • Diabetic Eye Exams • Dry Eye Treatment • Cataract Surgery • LASIK Surgery

The Dirty Martini has a reputation, but it’s tasty B2

The Last Laugh has its Sweet 16 celebration this month!

Welcome to The last Laugh’s Sweet 16 party! If you have brought me no gifts, there are two exits so please use one of them now. Everyone else, thank you and here are 16 random things off the top of my head that shall serve as a celebration column!

First thing: Back in 2007 I was asked to write a column for A2 – the second page of the paper – and I agreed. The hardest part of getting it off the ground was the column’s name. The then-Managing Editor who I shall not name but shall dub Captain Micromanage kept vetoing all of the suggested ones I shot his way. I sent him a list of 30 potential names at one point. I won’t reproduce them all here – just 16 of them in random order.

They are: The Drawing Board, Quibbles & Bits, Parenthetical Musings, What Happens in Fairfield Stays in Fairfield, That Doesn’t Make it Write, Glass House Stone Thrower, Cut Me Some Slack, Hold Your Horses, On a Short Lease, Tastes Like Chicken, Much Ado About Nothing, HalfBaked, Needless to Say, Wingin’ It, Goes Without Sayin’ and The Porpoise Driven Life.

Second thing: I was reading a book last week and it introduced me to a cool new word: adoxography. It means “good writing on a trivial subject.” I was flabbergasted that there was an actual term for what I have been aiming to do

for years now.

It made me think that there really needs to be words or phrases for a few other things like:

“Wherethehelloh” –When you automatically start to blame someone for moving something when you can’t find it –until you do.

“Whoopsiewave” –

Waving at someone you thought was waving at you when they are actually waving at someone behind you.

“Bankstep” – That little awkward half step you do before stopping abruptly when you have been waiting your turn at the bank or the post office and right when it’s your turn the clerk puts up a closed sign and goes on a break.

“Accuseagas” – This is when you sit down or move in a chair and it makes a flatulence sound that someone else notices. You desperately try to reproduce it so they don’t think you are crass enough to just cut loose in public, but the chair never makes that sound again. Third thing: I hate finding out some pertinent info that I could have included in one of my books after they have been published. I recently came across a 1927 ad for Bandana Lou’s, which was a chicken shack and later became Iwama Market on Rockville Road. I had heard of it and mentioned it in my first book “Growing Up in Fairfield, California,” but what the ad showed that I didn’t know was that there was already one near Oakland. So

if you have that book, do me a solid and write that in on page 100, wouldja?

Fourth thing: Is there some federal law that says you can’t have one of those hot air hand dryers that are in public bathrooms in your house? I want one and have never known anyone who has one.

Fifth thing: The original crew of the Starship Enterprise doesn’t get enough credit for a number of things they did. For example:

Lt. Uhura doesn’t get enough credit for inventing earpods.

Dr. McCoy doesn’t get enough credit for setting the Guinness Book World Record for saying “Damn it, Jim!” in a TV series.

Mr. Spock doesn’t get enough credit (along with “The Six Million Dollar Man” Lee Majors or “The Outlaw Jose Wales” Clint Eastwood) for pioneering the art of raising one eyebrow. I have tried it and can only succeed in making one of those faces that my mom warned me to stop doing or it would freeze that way.

Captain Kirk doesn’t get enough credit for normalizing interspecies dating. He dated the rainbow.

Sixth thing: Speaking of Rainbow, the band with that name was started in 1975 by Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore. I recently found out how the group’s drummer, Cozy Powell, died in 1998. In addition to Rainbow and a solo career, he had played with Black Sabbath, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Whitesnake, the

Michael Schenker Group, Fleetwood Mac and others.

Powell was evidently angry about a love-triangle relationship he was in and was going to the house of his (married) girlfriend. Now get this: he was driving in inclement weather, he was not wearing a seat belt, he was going over 100 miles an hour, his blood alcohol level was above the legal limit and he had a slow leak in a tire. Oh and he was talking on his mobile phone to his married girlfriend who called and asked when he was going to be there and she heard him say “Oh sh*t!” followed by a loud crash.

He was ejected from his vehicle in the crash and went through the windshield. I was astounded upon learning the facts of his untimely death. The only thing he didn’t do to increase his odds of being killed was wear a blindfold.

Seventh thing: While I am sticking with the “accidental historian” thing because I like it, more and more people are asking me to help with actual historical stuff. Recently someone was looking into writing a book about bowling alleys and wanted info on the

Fairfield Bowl, which I was able to provide. Also a student at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., is writing an undergraduate thesis about a Chinese American soldier who served in World War II and attended Armijo High School. I was happy to help.

Eighth through Fourteenth thing: In 1980, when I was 16 years old, I bought my first real rock ‘n’ roll record. It was “Get The Knack” and I got it from the Travis Air Force Base Exchange. I loved “My Sharona” and a few others back then, but when I listened to it recently I realized that if I could now pick a first rock album, “Get The Knack” wouldn’t be in my top 200.

Fifteenth thing: I hate when people promise a certain amount of something and then when they can’t think of that many do something shady like write “Eighth through Fourteenth thing.”

Sixteenth thing: Thanks so much to all the faithful readers of this column over the years, especially those whose last name isn’t Wade.

Fairfield freelance humor columnist and accidental local historian Tony Wade writes two weekly columns: “The Last Laugh” on Mondays and “Back in the Day” on Fridays. Wade is also the author of The History Press books “Growing Up In Fairfield, California” and “Lost Restaurants of Fairfield, California” and hosts the Channel 26 government access TV show “Local Legends.”

‘Phantom cat shaver’ is targeting pets in Britain, and no one knows why

The WashingTon PosT

LONDON — Cat owners in England are facing a “weird” and “unsettling” problem: Someone, somewhere, is targeting their pets and randomly shaving off parts of their fur.

Emma Collins first noticed something disturbing when her cat named Goose returned after a day out exploring the streets of the seaside town of Whitstable. Straight down the middle of the rescue tabby’s forehead was a thin, precisely shaven line, leaving her skin exposed.

While the cat seemed otherwise unharmed, Collins described the incident as unnerving. “It was weird . . . it was almost like someone was sending a message - it was unsettling,” she said in an interview Thursday. “If you can shave a cat, what are you going to move onto next?”

At least 80 pets have reportedly had chunks of their fur sliced out since last year, according to an animal charity that is mapping out the attacks to help warn concerned owners. The strange incidents have received

national coverage, with British media dubbing the unknown perpetrator the “phantom cat shaver.”

The vast majority of attacks have been reported in the southern county of Kent, although the organization has also recorded attacks in London and as far north as Aberdeen, Scotland. On social media, concern is growing in local Facebook groups, which are saturated with comments from worried owners and images showing the felines with bald patches. Some cats have been shaved on their legs, others on their backs or stomachs.

Some pet owners online have described their cats being injured - while some who do not appear to be physically harmed by the attacks still appear to be more anxious or afraid of people.

“My cat came back with a missing claw when he was shaved and wouldn’t let anybody touch him for days when he came home,” one user wrote.

In the United Kingdom, it is common to let cats go outside to enjoy the fresh air and roam freely –

about 70 percent of U.K. cats are thought to have access to the outdoors. But the attacks are also leaving people more anxious now, with many owners in Kent now saying they will keep their pets inside.

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), a British charity dedicated to animal welfare, said Thursday that cats were particularly vulnerable because of their tendency to explore neighborhoods.

“We would urge any owners whose cats have been victims of the shaving to book an appointment with their vet. A veterinary examination will determine if that cat has experienced any physical injuries, be it cuts and abrasions from the shaving or other injuries as a result of being held down,” Samantha Watson, scientific officer and cat expert at the RSPCA, said in an emailed statement.

“Cat owners should also consider reporting the incident to the police as shaving a cat could be deemed as criminal damage,” Watson added.

Kent police said people can report matters

cers will liaise with this charity, who are the lead agency for investigating incidents involving cruelty or harm to animals,” the police department said in an email to The Washington Post on Thursday.

It is not clear if the reported incidents break any laws. Under U.K. animal welfare legislation, it is an offense to “cause unnecessary suffering” to commonly domesticated animals.

Natasha McPhee, who runs Kent-based charity

Animals Lost and Found, said Thursday that the

attacks were “cruel and senseless.”

“Not only is the cat being handled by someone they don’t know, they are having to be held by them for a period of time for these shavings to be done,” McPhee said in an email. “This causes unnecessary stress to the cats.”

McPhee speculated that, given the scale of the attacks, more than one person may be to blame.

“In all honesty I can’t imagine all cases are done by one individual,” she said.

Rescue cat owners have described the attacks as particularly upsetting when it leaves their cats even more anxious than before. The owner of George, a rescue cat left with a zigzagged chunk of fur missing, told local media she “was so angry that some nasty human had decided to shave my cat” because he was now “even more skittish towards people.”

Collins considers herself lucky that her tabby, Goose, despite being shaved, isn’t emotionally scarred and is still “super-duper friendly.”

Animals Lost and Found in Kent

A cat that was shaved by an unknown person in the county of Kent in England.

Courtesy photo

Sweet 16 balloons.

Virtual hiring open house set for state department

FAIRFIELD — The California Department of Tax and Fee Administration is hiring statewide.

The department is hosting a virtual Open House on Friday to fill openings in accounting, business administration, business management and finance. There are positions available in all 22 California field offices for tax auditors, business taxes representatives, tax technicians and student assistants. People with degrees in business or accounting are encouraged to apply.

That includes the Fairfield office located at 2480 Hilborn Road, Suite 200.

“We’re looking for talented individuals to join us. Working at CDTFA, you can make a real difference in the lives of Californians,” Nick Maduros, director of the Tax and Fee Administration, said in a statement. “The revenue we collect funds our schools, libraries, parks, and other vital social services. We invest in our team, offering ongoing professional development, and offer a great work-life balance.”

The event runs from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Potential applicants will meet recruitment specialists to discuss career openings across the state, get insight into day-to-day operations, learn about the state hiring process and receive interview tips.

To register, fill out the form at https://forms. office.com/g/Yc1hbX3Lh2.

The ahead

Registrants will then receive a link to the event.

Jobseekers can also email CDTFA’s Outreach and Recruitment Team at recruitment@cdtfa.ca.gov for information about the open house and career opportunities.

Community Chess Tournament set Saturday in Suisun

SUISUN CITY — The Suisun City Youth Commission will host a community chess quad-style tournament on Saturday at the library.

“Quad-style” means having four players at each table, with each player playing the others in three rounds of competition. It is a nonrated event, said David Knott, who helped organize the tournament and is founder of the local Chess Club.

He said these types of events have been held at the mall recently, but a conflict of activities has the group back in the library, which is located at 601 Pintail Drive.

Space is limited so early registration is encouraged by going to www.suisuncityyouthcommission. org/chess-registration. In person advance registration is from 10 to 11:30 a.m.

on the day of the event.

The first round of competition is at noon, followed by the second round at 1 p.m. and the third round at 2 p.m.

Trophies will be given to each of the quad winners.

State extends comment period for Fire Hazard

FAIRFIELD — The deadline to submit written comments on the proposed Fire Hazard Severity Zones has been pushed back, the state Fire Marshal’s Office announced. The new deadline is Tuesday.

The map with the proposed zones was released in December. A public hearing was held Jan. 17 at the county Events Center in Fairfield. The map shows areas of state responsibility within 56 of the 58 state counties. The last map was finalized in 2007.

The new map shows 31,570 of the 86,971 acres of State Responsibility Areas in Solano County are now placed in very-high hazard areas, representing 36.3% of the State Responsibility Areas. That is 21.5% more than in 2007. The map shows 27,416 acres of the State Responsibility Area (31.5%) is in the high hazard area, down 4.9% from 2007; and 27,987 acres in the moderate hazard area (32.2%), down 16.6%.

Down the road, maps of wildland areas not in the state areas will be developed as well as urban maps related to fire hazard ratings, state fire offi-

cials said at the meeting in Fairfield.

Many of the two dozen people who attended the hearing wanted to see actual land uses and existing topography factored into the final version, rather than the higher overview in the state’s map.

The methodology on how the zones were developed was explained in a video at the meeting. Prior to the meeting, the state issued a statement that indicated the zones are “based on the likelihood different areas will experience wildfire.”

“After years of work to develop a sound scientific basis and methodology with a range of experts and stakeholders, updates to this map bring this valuable tool and statutory requirement current in a way that accurately reflects today’s reality for wildfire hazard throughout the state,” Cal Fire said in a statement.

Written comments may be submitted by mail to the Office of the State Fire Marshal, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, P.O. Box 944246, Sacramento, CA 94244-2460 – attn.: Deputy Chief Scott Witt. The comments may be taken to the Fire Marshal’s Office, again to the attention of Witt, at the California Natural Resources Building, 715 P St., ninth floor, in Sacramento. Comments may can be sent by email to fhszcomments@ fire.ca.gov.

To determine the Fire Hazard Safety Zone for a specific property, go to https://osfm.

Major study argues Florida’s Covid death rate compares to California

John Woolfolk

THE MERCURY NEWS

California officials boast that the state’s extended pandemic lockdowns and health mandates saved tens of thousands of lives from Covid-19, compared to states like Florida that reopened early.

But a major study of all U.S. states’ pandemic performance found that while masks and social distancing drove down infection rates, they didn’t influence death rates, which were driven more by population age, health, poverty, race, education, health care access, vaccination and public trust.

The study argues that while Florida’s death rate per 100,000 was higher than California’s, it would actually be lower than the Golden State’s if all states had the same age and health characteristics of the country as a whole.

“California was dealt an easier hand when it comes to Covid,” said lead author Joseph L. Dieleman, associate professor at the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. “Its population is younger and healthier.”

The Lancet, a British medical journal, called the March 23 study the largest

U.S. state-by-state analysis of Covid-19 impact. The study aimed to answer why the United States, considered the best-prepared to handle a pandemic before Covid-19, saw such disproportionate infection and death from the virus despite its advantages in wealth, education and technology. The study also analyzed why some states fared far worse than others.

Critics of Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s pandemic policies, like Republican Rep. Kevin Kiley of Rocklin, argued the report’s findings showed “Newsom’s lockdowns were a tragic failure on every level.”

Although Florida’s

Russia says war blogger killed in St. Petersburg

BloomBerg neWS

An explosion at a cafe in St. Petersburg, Russia, has killed Vladlen Tatarsky, a military blogger who supported the war in Ukraine. The explosion also injured 25 people, Alexander Beglov, the governor of St. Petersburg, said in a Telegram post. Russia’s Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case to investigate the explosion, according to its website statement.

The improvised explosive device was the size of a bar of soap and was hidden in a statuette presented to Tatarsky, Tass said, citing an unidentified person in law enforcement. The power of the device was the equivalent of more than 200 grams of TNT, Tass reported earlier.

Vladlen Tatarsky is a pseudonym for Maxim Fomin, 40, according to state-run news agency Tass.

older, unhealthier population contributed to its higher number of deaths, Dieleman said that doesn’t give Florida a pass, as the actual numbers are what count in the end.

“In Florida, there was an amazing amount of loss of life,” Dieleman said. “Those are the real lives lost – mothers and grandfathers.”

In announcing the decision to end California’s pandemic state of emergency last October, Newsom’s office called the state’s Covid-19 death rate per 100,000 people “the lowest amongst large states” and said 56,000 more Californians would have died if the state had mirrored Flor-

fire.ca.gov/divisions/ community-wildfire-preparedness-and-mitigation/ wildfire-preparedness/ fire-hazard-severity-zones. An automated hotline also has been established at 916-633-7655.

Suisun talks homelessness on Wednesday

SUISUN CITY — A variety of agencies will join together Wednesday for a free Homelessness Forum at the Joseph Nelson Community Center, 611 Village Drive. The event’s goal is to bring community members, service providers and city leaders together to address homelessness in Suisun City.

Agencies include Shelter Inc., Resource Connect Solano, Changes and New Beginnings.

Doors open at 5:30 p.m. The event runs from 6 to 8 p.m.

Several government meetings on calendar

FAIRFIELD — Upcoming government meetings will be open to the public through several venues including online and inperson. Check the websites for specifics.

The meetings will include:

n Suisun-Solano Water Authority Board Executive Committee, 9 a.m. Monday, Suisun City Hall council chamber, 701 Civic Center Blvd., Suisun City. Info: http://ca-sid.civ-

icplus.com/agendacenter.

n Solano County Board of Supervisors, 9 a.m. Tuesday, County Government Center, 675 Texas St. Info: www.solanocounty. com/depts/bos/meetings/ videos.asp.

n Travis Unified School District Governing Board, 5 p.m. Tuesday for closed session and 5:30 p.m. for open session, Travis Education Center, 2775 De Ronde Drive, Fairfield. Info: https://simbli.eboarcom/sb_meetings/sb_ meetinglisting. aspx?S=36030187.

n Fairfield City Council, 6 p.m. Tuesday, City Council chamber, 1000 Webster St. Info: www.fairfield.ca.gov/government/city-council/citycouncil-meetings.

n Rio Vista City Council, 6 p.m. Tuesday, City Council chamber, City Hall, 1 Main St. Info: www.riovistacity.com/ citycouncil.

n Suisun City Council, 7 p.m. Tuesday, City Council chamber, 701 Civic Center Blvd. Info: www.suisun.com/government/city-council.

n Vacaville Parks and Recreation, 6 p.m. Wednesday, council chamber, 650 Merchant St. Info: www.ci.vacaville. ca.us/government/citycommissions.

n Solano Community College Governing Board, 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Solano Community College Administration Building, Denis Honeychurch Board Room 626, 4000 Suisun Valley Road, Fairfield. Info: www. solano.edu/governing_ board/meetings.php.

ida’s pandemic efforts. The announcement added that “‘lockdown’ states like California did better economically than ‘looser’ states like Florida.”

After reviewing the study, the assessment from the governor’s office was unchanged.

“In California, we followed the facts, science and medicine – in doing so we saved thousands of lives,” said Brandon Richards, Newsom’s deputy communications director. “Our students lost less ground than most other states and the national average, and our economy contracted less and rebounded faster – on our way to becoming the 4th largest economy in the world.”

A Bay Area News Group analysis as the United States marked its millionth Covid-19 death almost a year ago found the Bay Area – with its wealth, high vaccine acceptance and willingness to abide by restrictions – had one of the lowest death rates of any region in the country, helping to drive down California’s overall rate. Newsom and Florida’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis have each touted their pandemic policies.

Fetterman speaks out on depression

Jonathan d. Salant PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE

U.S. Sen. John Fetterman said he was “indifferent” to whether he lived or died before he checked into a Washington-area hospital to be treated for depression.

Fetterman, who was discharged from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, on Friday, said on CBS Sunday Morning that he was agnostic about living at the height of his depression.

“I never had any self harm but I was indifferent,” he said Sunday.

“My message isn’t polit-

ical. I’m just somebody who’s suffering from depression.”

After leaving the hospital, Fetterman returned to Braddock, where he will remain until the U.S. Senate returns from its two-week recess for Easter and Passover during the week of April 17, according to a press release from his office.

Fetterman suffered a stroke during his successful run for the Senate, but said severe depression set in after his victory. That’s not uncommon in stroke victims.

“I had stopped leaving my bed,” he said.

Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images/TNS file

U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pennsylvania, in the Old Senate Chamber for the ceremonial swearing in on Jan. 3, 2023, in Washington, D.C.

Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times/TNS file (2021) At the Covid Testing Today testing site on Broadway in Santa Monica, the wait was at least 45 minutes long, even with an appointment in January 2021.

COMMENTARY

Newsom wins feud with oil industry – or did he?

So, the third time was the charm for Gov. Gavin Newsom’s crusade to punish oil companies for what he described as price-gouging – sort of.

Newsom spent six months vilifying the oil industry after retail gasoline prices surged last year to as much as $2.60 a gallon over the national average, and initially proposed a tax on windfall profits.

However, that didn’t wash with enough Democrats in the Legislature to pass, since new taxes require a twothirds vote. Newsom then exchanged the tax for penalties, but while they would have required only a simple-majority vote, legislators were also cool to deciding what profit margins would be allowed.

Dan Walters

Finally – and almost in desperation – Newsom cut a deal that would dump the whole issue onto the California Energy Commission to gather data about refinery operations, establish a reasonable profit allowance and assess penalties for exceeding it.

“Finally, we’re in a position to look our constituents in the eye and say we now have a better understanding of why you’re being taken advantage of,” Newsom said last week as he signed the bill. “There’s a new sheriff in town in California, where we brought Big Oil to their knees. And I’m proud of this state.”

It was a characteristic bit of hyperbole on Newsom’s part. It will take months, and perhaps years, before the energy commission takes any action to set profit margins, much less enforce them.

“Nothing is going to happen in the short term,” Newsom acknowledged. “Gas prices are not going to drop immediately.”

Industry officials indicated that they would sue if they consider some of the proposed regulations too onerous, which could tie things up indefinitely.

“We need to wait and see what becomes of this,” a spokeswoman for the Western States Petroleum Association said.

Another caveat: The legislation is aimed at regulating “gross gasoline refining margins.” However, the state’s foremost expert on the subject, Severin Borenstein of UC Berkeley’s Energy Institute, told legislators at a hearing for Newsom’s second version of the crackdown that most of the sharp hikes in retail prices occurred as gasoline was being moved from wholesalers to the retail level. Thus, limiting profits on refining might not have a major effect on retail prices.

Finally, the last few passages of the legislation, which got almost no media attention, indicate that the energy commission will not only regulate refinery profits but must strive to ensure the industry’s ability to supply enough fuel over the next few decades for a “reliable, safe, equitable, and affordable transition away from petroleum fuels” to battery-powered vehicles.

That could be the trickiest aspect of the whole issue, and one with the greatest potential impact on the motoring public.

The new law essentially transforms the refining industry into a public utility, much like the suppliers of electricity and natural gas. That means not only attempting to regulate prices but making sure the industry earns enough money to keep it in business for two or three decades, while some Californians continue to drive gasoline- and diesel-powered vehicles.

Newsom has banned the sale of such vehicles after 2035, but that doesn’t mean they will suddenly disappear. Moreover, the technology to replace diesel-fueled trucks that carry freight into and out of the state is still in its infancy, and residents of other states seeking to drive into California will expect that they can fuel their cars.

How will California regulate petroleum fuel prices while simultaneously trying to both eliminate refiners and make sure they continue to produce enough fuel to meet demand indefinitely?

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

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 Fairfield.

The Powell Memo started it

We’re not at the end of political radicalism but you can see it – far off –from here. It began in the 1960s and I predict it will end by 2030. After 70 years, it will die of exhaustion.

Louis Powell was a brilliant corporate attorney in the 1950s and 1960s. He, like almost all adult Americans, was shocked over the raucous, radical 1960s. He reacted and we see the mutation of his reaction today.

“The Sixties” really were earthshaking and culture-changing. A sturdy and confident (maybe too confident) USA endured seven cultural revolutions at the same time.

We were told that America was the most racist country on earth. Cities burned and protests spread while our ugly segregated past was slowly dismantled. Malcolm X and Martin Luther King were assassinated. The police murdered Black Panthers. Businesses and colleges had to adopt affirmative action, a shock.

We were told that we were the world’s premier polluters with Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring,” which began the environmental movement. President Nixon passed the Clean Air and the Clean Water Acts, which shocked conservative businessmen.

We were told that American men were “male chauvinist pigs.” (Strange, I thought. I’m old enough to remember all the women who came home with GIs after “The War,” who remarked on how much freedom they had compared to their back-home sisters.)

Radical women burned their bras. Young women entered many fields that had always been male territory – shock!

ON THE LEFT THE RIGHT STUFF

We were told that we were the world’s greatest warmonger, citing the Vietnam War in which we bombed little Vietnam with B-52s. Draft cards were burned and young men emmigrated to Canada. Even I was offended.

We were told that anyone over 30 couldn’t be trusted.

With the pill we were told that sex was for recreation, not procreation, a big shock.

When Ralph Nader accused American businesses of producing dangerous products, the consumer movement was ignited. Lawsuits blossomed, shocking corporate America.

Seven revolutions all at once. Sometimes I wonder if we’ve yet recovered.

So when attorney Powell wrote the Powell Memo to the national Chamber of Commerce we should see it today as a normal conservative reaction to the radical Sixties. He thought that the USA was rushing toward socialism and loss of freedom.

He was distressed by Nader especially, and also by student radicals, noting Berkeley’s Free Speech Movement and Cornell University’s “takeover” by radical Blacks. He was shocked by fellow lawyers such as attorney William Kunstler, who snarled, “You must learn to fight in the streets, to revolt, to shoot guns; we will learn how to do all the things that property owners fear.”

Conservatives generally shared Powell’s alarm. Economist Milton Friedman said, “It is crystal clear that the foundations of our free society are under wide-ranging and powerful attack.”

Of course, today I would say that free-wheeling capitalists were the free

ones and they needed to exercise some social responsibility.

Powell asked the chamber to lead a counterrevolution before the USA became a socialist nightmare. He advised the chamber to act “over an indefinite period of years” and “in the scale of financing available only through joint effort . . . through national organizations.”

Conservative America responded. Thus was born the Heritage Foundation, the Cato Institute and the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), and a much more activist Chamber of Commerce (including Fairfield-Suisun’s), to name just the headliners.

Caught in the headlights of all this were universities and colleges which were, admittedly, pretty radical in those days. The result? Decreased state funding of state higher education, with many talented students shut out and many others borrowing to attend, falling into the clutches of the big banks.

Powell added that conservatives “should evaluate social science textbooks.” Today see this carried out by Republican operatives like Florida’s Ron DeSantis or Texas’ Greg Abbott.

Sandra Day O’Connor reflected on Powell for “a model of human kindness, decency, exemplary behavior and integrity, there will never be a better man.”

What had been a thoughtful reaction has been warped today to present a threat to our whole democratic “experiment.”

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

Jan. 6: Democrat lies and deception

Lying is knowingly presenting false information as truth. Repeating a known liar’s statement without verification is poor judgment but does not define the speaker as a liar, albeit not trustworthy.

Furthermore, it is unwise to believe either a proven liar or those who unknowingly spread lies. There are blatant examples of lying by our current politicians casting doubt on much of what they say. For example, the Mueller Special Council, armed with Hillary Clinton-supporting attorneys, spent $30 million and two years without finding evidence of Russian-Trump collusion. Many had spun intricate lies, some knowingly. Both impeachments of Trump ended with no evidence to convict — more lies.

The Jan. 6 select committee was irresponsible and audacious. Democrat subterfuge was apparent when they claimed President Trump’s speech incited the alleged “insurrection.” Compare the president’s word style with the invitation the Rev. Martin Luther King presented when he also gathered a crowd of 100,000 to fight for civil rights. Of course, the Democrat version of President Trump’s invitation to walk to the Capitol always omitted his admonition of “peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard.” That’s not incitement of an insurrection.

The congressional resolution, which empowered the committee stipulated that it investigate:

n The activities, interaction and command and control of the various involved government agencies,

n Factors that motivated and may have organized the mob,

n Causes of the attack and lessons learned,

n Dissemination of intelligence both before, during and after the attack, and

n Submit a final report of the facts and circumstances.

Speaker Pelosi’s first irresponsible step was to unilaterally reject two Republican nominees for the Select Committee, contrary to long-standing congressional policy of bipartisan representation. She replaced two named conservative members with two RINOS (Republicans in name only), heavily biasing its proceedings. Another irresponsible move was to withhold thousands of hours of video, thereby preventing an accurate balanced view of events and impairing adequate defense of arrested citizens. Pathetically, the committee never viewed film tapes of the afternoon activities.

To convince the public of unbiased transparency, a professional media group was hired to present several prime-time television briefings, which had progressively fewer viewers. Furthermore, the briefings did not adhere to the congressional resolutions’ mandate.

The Democrats did allow release of selected video to emphasize violence of the few troublemakers. Unwittingly, it also illustrated the distinct shortage of Capitol Police to maintain security without comment to explain the deficiency. Suspiciously, media film presented two real troublemakers who were inciting people to enter the Capitol. One was wearing a MAGA cap he admitted was to deceive observers.

That film quickly disappeared. Neither man has yet been prosecuted. Intelligence reports alerting the possible threat of public rioting were available during a Jan. 4 meeting of the president and senior officials including the military chiefs. President Trump announced his intent to seek activation of the national guard, but no immediate response was taken as the threat was not considered sufficient. Ironic that the man who was impeached was the one who called for the guard in advance.

As mob activity increased, the Capitol Police chief repeatedly requested activation of guard reinforcements to the House Sergeant-of-Arms who did nothing. That is failure of adequate planning, intelligence and command and control.

More than 100 people have been held in jail for two years with no trial, many probably only charged for trespassing.

Prosecutors must share with the accused and their defense all knowledge relative to the prosecution and defense. They did not. Such culpability violations are a criminal offense and can lead to lawyer disbarment. Will any lawyers be disciplined for this widespread offense? Probably not.

In sum, politicians lied frequently about events before, during and after Jan. 6, fanning the flames of a deceitful narrative. Jan. 6 was not an insurrection and Democrats rigged the committee.

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

Earl Heal

Jack Batson

We ser vice 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 ser vice 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 ser vice

(707) 427-1386

‘Rattled with guilt,’ assistant director David Halls convicted for role in ‘Rust’ shooting

Los A ngeLes Times

“Rust” assistant director David Halls was convicted Friday of one count of negligent use of a deadly weapon for his role in the accidental shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the low-budget western.

With Halls’ plea, New Mexico prosecutors have secured one conviction in the criminal cases stemming from Alec Baldwin’s Oct. 21, 2021, shooting of Hutchins on the movie set near Santa Fe, N.M. The film’s director, Joel Souza, was wounded.

Friday’s virtual court hearing also marked the first appearance by the new special prosecutor. Kari T. Morrissey, an Albuquerque litiga-

tor who stepped into the sprawling criminal proceedings on Wednesday, replaced 1st Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies. In late January, CarmackAltwies brought criminal charges against Halls, Baldwin and armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed. The latter two have been charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter, and have entered not-guilty pleas. Soon after the fatal shooting, Halls’ Albuquerque-based attorney, Lisa Torraco, began negotiations with prosecutors in hopes of a light sentence for her client. Torraco has maintained that, despite Halls’ role as on-set safety coordinator, he was not responsible for the actions of others.

Pickles Brian Crane

Zits Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman

Pearls Before Swine Stephan Pastis

Candorville Darrin Bell

Baby Blues Rick Kirkman and Jerry Scott

Baldo Hector Cantú

Columns&Games

Dear Annie: I have a friend who is very social and always finding ways to bring people together, which is wonderful. She also tends to throw quite extravagant birthday parties for her kids, often including things like renting out a venue, going to an amusement park, etc. My kids are often invited.

This is all great except for the fact that after we have RSVP’d, we often get a text or email that says, “As usual, I went overboard, and this party cost much more than we had planned, so if you could pitch in or pay for your kid’s ticket (up to $100 in past years), that would be appreciated. No worries if you can’t!”

We can afford to pitch in, and I always do, but I can’t help but feel a bit annoyed since it seems like others may then be put on the spot and feel obliged to pay. It also just seems like, if she’s going to throw a party, she should pay within her means. At the same time, she is showing our kids a fun time, and they always have a blast. What do you think? —

ARIES (March 21-April 19).

You’ve already thought enough about the problem, and now your mind is going in circles about it. Interrupt this spiral to nowhere by reconnecting with your body. The breakthrough will be physical.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20).

The fear of success is not a fear of getting your desire but a fear of the pressures that will come along with it. How will you sustain your status? Will others be envious? Address those questions and lose your fear.

GEMINI (May 21-June 21).

The world won’t exactly sync to your timing, but take a breath, lean back and try to feel how the beat is landing, and you’ll soon click right into it. Today, it will be easier to follow a rhythm than to set one.

CANCER (June 22-July 22).

Approval is a weird thing.

Sometimes it’s given when you don’t need it, and other times you feel you desperately need it and it doesn’t come. Don’t read too much into that. People approve or don’t for their own reasons.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). You won’t have to address, forgive or avenge the bad behavior of others. All you need to do is ignore it. Leave it alone and let it resolve itself. What you neglect will eventually diminish and disappear.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22).

Take everything a little slower than you need to. Pause to get the response. Listening well requires you to leave plenty

Daily Cryptoquotes

Kid Parties Dear Kid: The party sounds fun for your kids, but she shouldn’t have parties that she can’t afford without asking for help from the guests – unless she consults the other parents first and asks for input about having an extraordinary birthday party. If you are close to your friend, you might want to get together with her over coffee and tell her of your concerns about some of the parents who cannot comfortably pay for their own kids. She really would be better off paying for her party for her kids, even if she has to scale it down a bit.

Dear Annie: My husband and I have been married for 19 years. He is 66, and I’m 59, and it’s the third marriage for both of us. We both still work full time.

When we are at home, or when we’re out and it’s just the two of us, he treats me perfectly. However, when we’re out with company – usually mine – or his grown-up children, he just totally disconnects from me and almost stonewalls

Today’s birthday

Welcome to your year of improved leisure. Life will often bring you your favorite company, mood and activities. Because you pride yourself in working hard and getting results, you’ll need to adjust to the gorgeous, relaxed vibe that sets in. More highlights: Developments at work have you helming a key project. You’ll be strengthened by different kinds of exercise. A cash win delights! Virgo and Scorpio adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 12, 2, 25, 30 and 16.

of space before and after what you say, not only to avoid interruption but to allow thorough processing.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23).

You leave the comfort of knowing things. The things you want to know include where to land, who to talk to, how to behave, what to do... and all is revealed in the thing right before you.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21).

It’s only after the struggle, the sacrifice, the early mornings and late nights, and the investment of time, money and energy that you’ll see results. Any result coming before you put the work in can’t be trusted.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22Dec. 21). Let go of pride or the need to put on a front. The truth of the matter is, you’ve

me. It is as if he is treating me like a total stranger he’s just walked past in the street. There is no eye contact, and sometimes he becomes hypervigilant.

This behavior is causing me deep distress and is very confusing, I have spoken to him about it, and he says it’s unintentional. He says that he cannot see that he’s doing anything wrong. The last time I brought it up, he said, “Oh, no, not this again.”

I am so confused and don’t know how to deal with this. Please help. — A Very Confused Wife Dear Confused Wife: You have a right to be confused. Continue to talk to him about it. Maybe before you are going to get together with his children, have a code word for when he is doing it so that you can help him see it as it happens. Let him know that it is unacceptable for him to be so dismissive of your feelings. If he is still flippant about how you feel, it might be time to seek the help of a professional counselor. Send your questions for Annie Lane to dearannie@ creators.com.

lost something. Everyone you know has also lost something. Hearts will communicate quietly through this shared sense of loss.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22Jan. 19). Fear can be a sign that you should run away, but more likely, it’s a sign that you should run toward. The opportunity for personal growth is abundant when you go toward what you’re afraid of.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20Feb. 18). Your experience of events will be different from another person’s, and both are valid. It could also be argued that it’s not how things really are. In the mirrored world of the mind, there are many illusions.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). Every solution creates new problems, so don’t be in too much of a rush to fix things. Pace yourself and take pictures. There’s something about this scene you’ll miss one day.

CELEBRITY PROFILES:

At the age of 26, Jane Goodall made a discovery that changed the definition of a human: Chimpanzees use tools. This and many other observations paved the way for a more accurate and less anthropocentric view of the natural world.

Three Aries luminaries speak to the iconic primatologist and avid conservationist’s fiery drive. Mercury in empathetic Pisces is an apt placement for interspecies understanding. Write Holiday Mathis at HolidayMathis.com.

Crossword by Phillip Alder

Bridge

Generally, the doubler has a void and is hoping to get a ruff. However, employing the Lightner double is hazardous. Maybe the opponents will run from the slam you might have defeated to another slam –perhaps six no-trump – that is impregnable. Or, if your partner finds the wrong lead, the information you have given the declarer will allow him to get home – as in today’s deal. West should have led a club, the first suit bid by the dummy, but he woodenly selected the spade king. In normal circumstances, South might have hoped to bring in the club suit, but East’s double had made it clear he was void in that suit. Instead, South played to establish dummy’s fifth spade, which needed four entries: three for ruffs and one to reach the new winner.

HANDLE WITH CARE THE TWO-EDGED SWORD

If the opponents voluntarily bid to a slam, normally they will either make the contract or finish down one, so doubling for penalties doesn’t make sense. Back in 1929, Theodore Lightner proposed using the double of a freely bid slam to ask for an unusual lead.

After winning with dummy’s spade ace, South ruffed a spade in his hand. He returned to dummy with a heart and ruffed another spade. To get back to the dummy for a third time, declarer trumped his own heart ace! The spade four was ruffed with the diamond jack, and trumps were drawn. Finally, South played a club to dummy’s ace and discarded his club 10 on the spade seven. To make matters worse for West, he had led the only suit that wouldn’t defeat the slam.

COPYRIGHT: 2023, UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE

Sudoku by Wayne Gould

by

4/3/23

Difficulty level:

Solution to 4/1/23:

and computer program at www.sudoku.com

My friend plans extravagant parties for her kids, then asks others to help pay for it

Horoscopes by Holiday Mathis

Word Sleuth

Annie Lane Dear Annie

state’s signature pines and mighty oaks, appear on the rebound.

And the air in Southern California doesn’t just feel cleaner, it is cleaner: The first 86 days of the year have produced less pollution than any time since fine particulate monitoring began in 1999, said the South Coast Air Quality Management District.

“I just had a sense of relief — absolute relief and joy — that all the trees in this state would be watered,” said Janet Cobb, executive officer of the California Wildlife Foundation/California Oaks. “Especially in rural areas, where the water table has been so depleted, they have finally had a big drink!”

And where oaks are happy, so is other wildlife. Research has found that more than two-thirds of California’s drinking water supply is stored in oak woodlands. And nearly three dozen vertebrate species rely on oak habitats, many feeding on acorns dropped by the trees.

A late-March walk in the hills east of Berkeley revealed oaks, only recently a steely gray, have turned sharply green; even the lichen covering their bark appeared refreshed in the morning mist.

Cobb rhapsodized about the “clearing of the air” and the acidic smell of damp oaks. “It makes a wonderful fragrance. It’s something you can’t replicate,” said Cobb, whose organization focuses on preserving oak woodlands. “They make a significant contribution to our way of being. It’s soul-enriching.”

The southern steelhead trout that Dagit has worked for decades to bolster is not the only fish benefiting from this year’s repeated rains. The runoff has delivered a massive load of plants and other nutrients to creeks, rivers and lakes. It has also eased the watery treks to and from spawning grounds.

In Lake County, just north of the San Francisco Bay Area, water had been so sparse in mammoth Clear Lake that the population of hitch – an elongated, silvery minnow that once served as a primary food source for the Pomo tribe, as well as area fish and wildlife – had dwindled to dangerously low levels.

Tributaries into what is the largest natural lake in California ran so dry last summer that state Fish and Wildlife officials rescued several hundred hitch that became stranded in ponds above the lake. An annual summer survey of Clear Lake, which normally records hundreds of hitch, netted just four adults and two juveniles last summer, said Luis Santana, a fisheries biologist with the Pomo tribe’s Robinson Rancheria. But following the rains, hitch can again be seen spawning in Clear Lake creeks.

“These storms do bring water to the lake and to the creeks, and that is a very good thing,” Santana said.

The path for spawning salmon also will be eased by the surfeit of water.

“When we’re in drought, it makes it very difficult for fish to move upstream and also for juvenile salmon trying to get back to the ocean,” said Ted Grantham, a freshwater ecologist and hydrologist with the University of California, Berkeley’s Department of

“All this water should smooth their way.”

High rivers have also created more overflows into natural and humanmade floodplains. The water soaks up nutrients, enriching the waterways.

“That creates perfect conditions for a lot of wildlife, including for fish growth,” Grantham said. “Salmon can get fat before moving out to the ocean and that means they are much healthier and have a better chance for survival.”

“I do feel a sense of relief,” he added. “These ecosystems are adaptive and attuned to these sort of events. They have regenerative properties.”

Migratory geese, ducks and other birds who ply the Pacific Flyway between Canada and points south are sharing in the reprieve. The drought had substantially reduced wetland acres along the flyway in recent years. Biologists and hunters reported thin and malnourished birds along the crucial northsouth migratory route.

But already this year, the complex of wetlands along the Sacramento River National Wildlife Refuge has been promised a full allocation of water from state reservoirs. And 100,000 acres of surrounding farmland are expected to resume rice cultivation, adding immensely to the forage for migrating birds.

The additional water will allow birds to spread out along the flyway, reducing the spread of avian influenza and cholera, said Craig Isola, deputy project leader in the wildlife refuge complex. More vegetation along the wetlands means better nesting for mallards, northern harrier hawks and other species.

“We are able to put more fresh, oxygenated water through the wetlands and that just means a healthier ecosystem, all around,” said Isola, pointing out a bald eagle preening atop a cottonwood tree.

For farmers in the Sacramento Valley, the Central Valley’s largely rural northern half, the wait for sufficient crop water seemed endless. In Glenn and Colusa counties, standard cultivation of about 100,000 acres of rice fell to just 1,000 acres last year.

“I never thought we would see a day where we had essentially zero rice,” said Fritz Durst, a sixthgeneration grain farmer in the valley. “We got a little bit of water, but it wasn’t a reliable enough source to make an investment in the crop.”

Fellow farmer Don Bransford concurred: “It wasn’t a fire, like you had up in Paradise, or it wasn’t a flood. It was an invisible disaster, and the only real visual was bare ground.”

When the first storms of 2023 inundated other parts of the state, the Sacramento Valley got much less moisture. Shasta Lake, the state’s largest reservoir, remained well below capacity. “We thought, ‘Oh no, not again,’” said Lewis Bair, general manager of an irrigation and flood control district serving Colusa and Yolo counties.

Then, as one storm piled on another, “luckily, everything changed,” Bair said.

Jerry Cleek, a nut farmer whose family has been in the region since the 1860s, said: “The ground is getting saturated, the reservoirs are filling up and in terms of the water, we haven’t had any damage to speak of. It’s a good feeling.”

Goat

From Page One

short life are spelled out in the lawsuit, originally filed in August and amended in March, as well as court documents, emails and other records obtained by The Sacramento Bee through California Public Records Act requests.

The records show the lengths to which officials went to retrieve the goat, turning to law enforcement rather than using a civil court action to decide the matter, say attorneys Ryan Gordon and Vanessa Shakib, who co-founded the non-profit Advancing Law for Animals law firm. They are representing Jessica Long, whose daughter raised Cedar.

“Looking at this case, what we see is county and fair officials improperly used their authority and connections to transform a purely civil dispute into a sham criminal matter,” Shakib said.

Cedar had been purchased in April 2022 by Long for her 9-year-old daughter, who fed and cared for the goat every day, eventually bonding with the animal.

“She loved him as a family pet,” the lawsuit says.

The family entered Cedar into the Shasta District Fair’s junior livestock auction on June 24, 2022, the suit says, an event in which animals entered for auction are part of a “terminal sale” in which they are sold off to be used as meat – “no exceptions,” a fair brochure says.

But before bidding began the Long family changed their minds and tried to back out before Cedar was auctioned off, something fair officials said was not allowed.

Fair officials declined comment when the lawsuit was filed and did not respond to a request for comment Friday. Officials with the California Department of Food and Agriculture, which oversees county fair and exposition districts, also declined to comment, citing pending litigation.

The goat was sold on June 25 to a representative of state Sen. Brian Dahle for $902, with $63.14 going to the fair and $838.86 meant to go to Cedar’s owner, who by then was sobbing in the goat’s pen and telling her mother that she did not want her pet goat slaughtered, the lawsuit says.

That night, the last day of the fair, as Long’s daughter was saying goodbye to Cedar, Long decided to act.

“It was heartbreaking . . . .,” Long wrote in a June 27 email to the Shasta District Fair. “The barn was mostly empty and at the last minute I decided to break the rules and take the goat that night and deal with the consequences later,” her email read.

“I knew when I took it that my next steps were to make it right with the buyer and the fairgrounds.”

Long wrote that she had communicated with Dahle’s office, which did

Barrels

From Page One

would be “consequences” for Saudi Arabia. But the administration did not follow through after and the White House has recently praised several Saudi initiatives, including its decision to supply Ukraine with $400 million in energy and financial assistance.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A recently as Friday, delegates from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies had been indicating privately that there was no intention to change their production limits.

not object to the goat being saved from slaughter.

“I will pay you back for the goat and any other expenses I caused,” Long wrote. “I would like to ask for your support in finding a solution.”

But the solution offered by the fair and the California Department of Food and Agriculture was simply for Long to return Cedar.

“As a mother I am not unsympathetic regarding your daughter and her love for her animal,” Shasta District Fair Chief Executive Officer Melanie Silva emailed Long the next day. “Having said that please understand the fair industry is set up to teach our youth responsibility and for the future generations of ranchers and farmers to learn the process and effort it takes to raise quality meat.

“Making an exception for you will only teach out youth that they do not have to abide by the rules that are set up for all participants.”

Silva added that CDFA had informed her that “for the good of all we have to stick to the State Rules.”

“Unfortunately, this is out of my hands . . . .,” she wrote, adding, “You will need to bring the goat back to the Shasta District Fair immediately.”

Silva sent another email the next day to a CDFA official, informing him that an organizer of the community barbecue “has contacted her lawyers regarding the theft of the goat donated to the bbq.”

By then, the livestock manager at the Shasta District Fair had begun texting Long on her cell phone warning of serious consequences if she did not turn over Cedar, according to copies of the texts provided by Long’s attorney.

“We need to make arrangements to get goat back today,” a June 28 text from B.J. Mcfarlane read. “If not law enforcement is going to be brought in on this.”

“The fair has instructed me to contact you to get the goat to the fairgrounds by 10 am Wednesday June 29,” another text read. “If this does not happen they will be forced to contact authorities.”

Mcfarlane did not respond to a request for comment, but the lawsuit says he also had called Long the day after the goat was taken and threatened to have her charged with a felony count of grand theft if she did not return Cedar.

“The live stock manager has been in contact with me and is

Oil fell to a 15-month low last month due to the turmoil caused by the banking crisis, but prices had recovered as the situation showed signs of stabilizing. Brent crude, the international benchmark, closed just below $80 a barrel on Friday, up 14% from its March trough.

All fourteen traders and analysts polled last week by Bloomberg predicted no change. They were taking their lead from Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, who had said last month that the current OPEC+ production targets are “here to stay for the rest of the year, period.”

threatening to have me arrested for a felony of stealing livestock unless I return the goat for slaughter immediately,” Long wrote in her email to the fair CEO.

Silva also raised the notion of contacting law enforcement, writing in a June 29 email to CDFA, “Should we involve CHP next?”

Written records released by CDFA to The Bee do not reflect how law enforcement came to be involved, but two weeks after the goat was taken Shasta sheriff’s Detective Jeremy Ashbee filed a search warrant affidavit seeking permission to seize it.

The search warrant targeted the Bleating Hearts Farm and Sanctuary, a non-profit rescue group in Napa, and included the detailed description of the property and the goat.

By then, Shasta County sheriff’s Lt. Jerry Fernandez and Detective Jacob Duncan were already on their way to the sanctuary, having stopped in Arbuckle at a truck stop to purchase $95.64 in gas at 6 p.m., according to records released to The Bee by Shasta sheriff’s officials.

That gas purchase was $32.50 more than the fair district would have received as its share of the auction proceeds for Cedar, money the lawsuit says Long offered to repay to the fair.

Public records do not describe what happened once they arrived at Bleating Hearts, and the operators of the sanctuary did not respond to a request for comment.

But the lawsuit filed by Long says the goat was never at Bleating Hearts.

Officials may have believed Cedar was there because of an Instagram post on the Bleating Hearts account urging people to call or email the Shasta District Fair to “pardon” to goat from slaughter.

“HE IS DUE TO BE KILLED TOMORROW,” THE POST READ. “HIS FAMILY IS WILLING TO DO ANYTHING TO KEEP HIM SAFE FOR THEIR DAUGHTER.”

The fair’s CEO, Silva, made an apparent reference to that post in her email to Long demanding return of the goat, writing that “in this era of social media this has been a negative experience for the fairgrounds as this has been all over Facebook and Instagram, not the best way to teach our youth the value of responsibility.”

Instead of Bleating Hearts, Cedar was being

Trump

From Page One

challenge,” Tacopina said the defense “very much anticipates a motion to dismiss because there’s no law that fits this.” He said, however, he would not seek an immediate dismissal at the arraignment on Tuesday because “that would be showmanship and nothing more.”

Former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to federal charges tied to the payments in 2018. The Justice Department had a standing policy that a sitting president couldn’t be charged.

kept at an unnamed Sonoma County farm Long had emailed seeking help.

“It was a farm to donate my daughter’s goat to where he would clear land for fire prevention,” Long wrote in her email to the fair. “The farmer has contracts with CalFire, elementary schools, and other important agencies.

“This resonated strongly with us as a beautiful solution since we moved here shortly before the Carr Fire and almost lost our home to it.”

The lawsuit says that after Fernandez and Duncan discovered the goat was not at Bleating Hearts, they made their way to the Sonoma County farm to take Cedar into custody even though they “had no warrant to search and seize Cedar at the Sonoma Farm.”

The sheriff’s office declined to comment on the lawsuit, but in a court filing Thursday denied most of the claims and said no warrant was needed at the Sonoma farm.

“Defendants assert that no warrant was necessary to retrieve Cedar at the Sonoma Farm as they had consent from the property owner to retrieve the goat,” the filing says.

The two deputies and Cedar then drove more than 200 miles back to Shasta County, stopping again in Arbuckle for another $94.95 in gas, records show.

From there, the goat was delivered to unnamed individuals at the fair “for slaughter/destruction” even though the warrant required them to hold the goat for a court hearing to determine its lawful owner, the lawsuit says.

What precisely happened to Cedar – and whether he ended up on plates at the community barbecue – remains unclear, Long’s attorneys say.

“At this time we don’t have that specific information and we can only speculate,” Shakib said. “While it hasn’t been confirmed as a factual matter, we believe the goat Cedar has been killed.”

Despite that, Cedar’s memory lives on in the form of an online petition “to let the Shasta Fair Association and the Shasta County Sheriff’s deputies reportedly involved in this case know that you denounce the cruel slaughter of Cedar and that you’d like to see a more compassionate response in any similar situations.”

By late March, the petition reported collecting 35,796 signatures. The lawsuit, which asks for actual, general and punitive damages, also seeks an order preventing Mcfarlane, Silva or others from discriminating against the girl’s “free expression or viewpoint with respect to livestock in future livestock activities.”

And it asks that Long’s daughter have the ability to participate in future auctions at the fair, but with a clear understanding of her rights to “disaffirm any contract or obligation to sell any livestock she owns through such an auction.”

Tacopina defended Trump’s trashing of New York state judge Juan Merchan, who will preside over the case. While Trump claimed Merchan “HATES ME” on his Truth Social platform, Tacopina said there are no plans to seek Merchan’s removal from the case.

Trump will deliver remarks on Tuesday evening after returning to his home at Mar-a-Lago in Florida, according to a statement from his campaign.

Lanny Davis, a lawyer for Cohen said on CNN Sunday that his client and former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker both provided the Manhattan grand jury with evidence.

Lezlie Sterling/Sacramento Bee/TNS

Jessica Long’s daughter holds a photo of Cedar, the goat she raised that was auctioned in the Shasta County Fair before her family had a change of heart and took him back.

Colorado a testing ground for gun reform in West

The Denver PosT DENVER — Colorado lawmakers’ latest suite of gun reform bills bolster the state’s position at the vanguard of the national firearm debate, advocates and critics say, while marking it as a proving ground for how step-bystep reforms can coexist within the West’s distinct regional identity.

As Colorado has turned deeper shades of blue over the past five years, it’s simultaneously become a regional and national leader in reforming its gun laws, lawmakers and activists said. The grip that Democrats have on state government has signaled to national gun reform groups, like Everytown for Gun Safety and Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, that they can pass legislation here.

In a libertarian, otherwise conservative region, Colorado’s changing political culture and success in advancing gun reform is either proof of concept for like-minded legislators or a warning to wary neighbors.

Amid growing Capitol protests by students affected directly by gun violence, the Colorado House and Senate are poised to pass bills to raise the age limit to purchase firearms; institute a waiting period; make it easier to sue gun manufacturers; and expand the state’s red-flag law.

A more sweeping (and controversial, even among some Democrats) bill – to ban the sale or transfer of assault weapons – has been introduced but, a month later, is still awaiting its first committee hearing.

The bills aren’t passing in a vacuum. Last year, Rhode Island and Delaware passed age-limit laws, according to an analysis by the National Conference of State Legislatures. Delaware passed

an assault weapons ban, too. While Colorado lawmakers are contemplating legislation addressing “ghost guns,” four states last year passed laws regulating them.

In all, roughly 1,400 bills that mentioned the word gun or firearm were introduced in American legislatures last year, according to the NCSL.

“Colorado is in a position to really be an example, at least for this half of the country, the middle part of the country, of where some of our boundaries can be and thinking about who we are in our past,” said Denver Democratic Rep. Jennifer Bacon, who also serves as the assistant majority leader in the House. “In a lot of ways, we have pulled from more densely urban states, and in a lot of ways, we’re still having conversations as if we’re ranchers. Both conversations are happening now in a way that may not be had in Massachusetts or California.”

Colorado, she said, is still a Western state, with a distinct rural identity alongside growing urban centers, flush with (often more progressive)

out-of-state transplants. But Democratic legislators here are showing that those two identities can exist, she said, while passing gun reform.

Broadly, Republicans agree, said Republican Rep. Matt Soper: Colorado is the “regional hegemon,” and he, like Bacon, hopes other states take a lesson from it.

“So goes Colorado, so goes the rest of the Rocky Mountain states eventually,” said Soper, who in March apologized to fellow lawmakers for threatening a new civil war over gun control. “Wyoming and New Mexico and Utah, Nebraska — although they’re not really Rocky Mountain – they ought to be looking to Colorado because if you’re concerned about what we’re doing, you ought to take preventative steps to make it more difficult for that to happen.

“Amend your state’s constitution, do whatever it takes because Rep. Bacon is not wrong,” he continued. “Colorado is a deliberate testing ground for an entire region of the United States. That’s why I’m concerned.”

States are already responding, Soper said: New Mexico lawmakers defeated a waiting-period bill there after seeing Colorado Republicans (unsuccessfully) filibuster a similar bill here in early March, he said.

Daniel Fenlason, executive director of the Colorado State Shooting Association, likewise sees Colorado’s shift on gun laws as a move away from the West’s typical values. He, like other gun-rights organizations, has pledged to sue should the bills become law. The shooting association is the state’s National Rifle Association affiliate.

“The West was built and based on self-independence, self-reliance,” Fenlason said. “That’s the core of the Second Amendment. You can defend yourself, you can defend your freedom, you can defend your family and your country. . . . This legislation is removing that self-reliance.”

He sees Colorado’s step-by-step additions and reforms to gun laws as a systematic reining in of fundamental rights to self-defense. For a while,

Colorado seemed to be following other states with reputations for restricting gun rights, like California, Illinois and New York. Now, “you’re starting to see us get on the edge of that radical position,” he said.

While Colorado’s gun reform laws have been pushed by Democrats, it hasn’t been universally supported by the near super-majority caucus.

Sen. Nick Hinrichsen, a Democrat, split his votes on the four bills touted by Democratic leadership. He voted yes to expand who can file a red-flag petition and to open gun manufacturers to liability lawsuits. He did not support raising the age for gun ownership to 21 or a three-day waiting period to take possession of a firearm.

He supports raising the age to own semi-automatic rifles but felt the proposal was otherwise too broad if it swept up bolt-action hunting rifles. Federal law already limits handgun ownership. Hinrichsen said he wasn’t convinced that the three-day waiting period would be effective.

“When we’re putting a burden on somebody acquiring a firearm, I want to be careful that it has a public safety return on that. I think it was done in good faith, and I appreciate the concern my colleagues are trying to address,” Hinrichsen said. “Colorado is taking the right approach. I think we’re going in the right direction overall. Obviously, I don’t agree with everything, but I think we’re having some really serious and deliberative conversations around it. I think we’re moving the right way.”

Republican opposition to the bills often hinged on Second Amendment rights and the ability of Coloradans to defend themselves and their property.

“We’ve worked diligently to make sure that people who desire to be

secure in and of themselves and have the ability to be secure,” Senate Minority Leader Paul Lundeen said.

The Senate held hourslong debates over the slew of gun bills that have moved through the Capitol. In the House, Republicans launched days of filibusters over the proposals. Democrats, who expanded their majorities in November, invoked House rules to end debate after two days of it.

Other states have taken the opposite track of Colorado: Alabama, Georgia, Ohio and Indiana all passed laws in 2022 making it easier to carry firearms, according to NCSL, and Wyoming passed a law that undercuts federal gun regulations (a similar Colorado bill was swiftly killed by Democrats in February).

Democratic state Sen. Tom Sullivan, whose son died in the 2012 Aurora theater massacre, said these rollbacks happen when states move on from tragedies and stop hearing the voices of those affected. He cited what’s happening with Florida’s gun laws. On one hand, it passed a red flag law following the 2018 massacre at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. This year, its legislature passed a bill to allow permitless concealed carry.

“This is what happens generally when you have time after a major tragedy,” Sullivan said. “The people who were involved aren’t in the forefront of your thought anymore, and you can revert back to what you always thought in the past.”

Every Friday in the Senate, Sullivan pays tribute to his son, in part to remind his colleagues of the cost of gun violence. And every session he serves, he pledges to continue to focus on laws he hopes will prevent more gun violence.

Chet Strange/Getty Images/TNS file (2021)

Tactical police units respond to the scene of a King Soopers grocery store after a shooting on March 22, 2021, in Boulder, Colorado.

Yankees stifle Giants again in series finale

evan Webeck BAY AREA NEWS GROUP

NEW YORK — Ross

Stripling once likened his over-the-top pitching motion to the “Iron Mike” machines that serve batting practice in cages across the country. Making his Giants debut in their series finale against the Yankees, that comparison landed a little too literally, as Stripling more or less served the same purpose for Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and

Kyle Higashioka.

The trio of Yankees tagged Stripling for three home runs, including a mammoth blast from Stanton that cleared the batter’s eye in center field, while the Giants’ new right-hander otherwise struggled to locate in a 6-0 loss, the second time the Giants were shut out in three games as they dropped their seasonopening series.

It was an uncharacteristic introduction to the San Francisco fanbase for

Stripling, who allowed four runs on six hits, walked two batters and hit another, and struck out three over five rocky innings. He was one of two free-agent starters the Giants signed this winter, inking a two-year, $25 million deal.

While setting careerbests in innings (134⅓) and ERA (3.01) with Toronto in 2022, Stripling surrendered only 12 home runs and issued only a few more walks (20), two qualities that made him attractive to the Giants. Kapler

likened his ability to locate his pitches to Arizona’s Merrill Kelly, who gave the Giants fits last season, and he lived up the billing in spring training, issuing only one free pass in 23 Cactus League innings.

Before he had recorded three outs, Stripling had already exceeded his number of spring walks and was a tenth of the way to his total from the previous season. He added a hit batsman to his line in the fifth, plunking Anthony Rizzo before picking him

LSU, Kim Mulkey beat Iowa for Tigers’ first women’s hoop title

lia assiM akopoulos

THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS

The women’s Final Four was highlighted by dominant performances all weekend from the nation’s best players. Forty-one points from Caitlin Clark in the semifinals and Angel Reese’s record-setting double-double against Virginia Tech.

But both coaches in Sunday’s national championship said it would come down to those stars’ supporting casts.

They were right.

LSU graduate transfer guard

Jasmine Carson carried her team to its first national championship in program history in a 102-85 win over No. 2 Iowa (31-7), setting a record for most points by an individual team in a championship

game. LSU (34-2) became third three-seed ever to win the title and first since 1997.

Carson, the team’s sixth woman, had scored just 11 points in the tournament entering Sunday’s contest. On the game’s biggest stage in the most important game of her career, she scored 22 points, just four shy of her career high.

“I’ve been working hard my whole life,” Carson said in the postgame press conference. “I just let it all out. I didn’t have nothing to lose. This was the last game of my college career, and I ended it the right way.”

LSU found itself in a tight game with Iowa early, but with three of its starters getting charged with two fouls by the first few moments of the second quarter, head coach Kim

Mulkey had to turn to her bench to deliver while starters Angel Reese, Alexis Morris and Kateri Poole took a seat in the second.

Enter Carson, a West Virginia transfer, who started hot, hitting her first seven shots and five from three. She led a monster quarter in which LSU broke out to a 17-point lead at halftime. The Tigers shot an unbelievable 75% from 3-point range in the first half.

Iowa star guard Clark started the game hot with 14 points in the first quarter, including four made 3s. She was charged with her third foul midway through the second and was subbed out as a result.

The referees called a tournament-record 37 fouls in the contest.

“It’s very frustrating because

Aztecs need to slow down UConn’s bigs to win national championship

ryan Finley THE SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE

A handful of times during San Diego State’s now-historic basketball season, Nathan Mensah grabbed his remote control, searched for a game on TV and found . . . UConn.

The Aztecs’ senior forward watched as the Huskies beat Oregon by 24. As they battled Big East foe Seton Hall. As they started 14-0 in the Big East Conference, bludgeoning and blasting every opponent between Nov. 7 and New Year’s Eve.

Mensah focused on the Huskies’ frontcourt. “I see a big do great,”

he said, “and I like to think, ‘What would I do if i played that person?”

Monday night, Mensah and the Aztecs will find out.

Slow down the NCAA Tournament’s most dom inant team – deny and defend and front and try not to foul – and Mensah and the Aztecs can capture the national championship.

It will be the biggest challenge of their charmed season.

The Huskies are led by junior forward Adama Sanogo, a 6-9 forward from Mali who is coming off a 21-point, 10-rebound performance in Satur-

off first base.

In a seven-batter span between the third and fourth innings, Stripling matched a career-high in home run pitches.

Leading off the third, Judge swung at the second pitch he saw – a hanging slider left over the middle of the plate – and sent a line drive zipping (114 mph off the bat) into the left-field seats for his second home run of the series. Stanton followed two batters later, after Brandon Crawford wasn’t able to corral

a hard-hit grounder by Rizzo, with a gargantuan two-run shot, a blast that left the bat at 118 mph and traveled 485 feet.

Higashioka led off the fourth with a towering fly ball that LaMonte Wade Jr. could only watch fly into the first rows of seats beyond the left-field wall. With Joey Bart placed on the injured list before the game, it was the Giants’ first chance to see Rule 5 pick Blake Sabol behind the plate.

Trout, Ohtani hit bombs as Angels rough up A’s again

Jerry McDonalD BAY AREA NEWS GROUP

OAKLAND — There were youth baseball and softball players from 25 organizations throughout Northern California that went home from the Coliseum with a story to tell Sunday.

They probably already knew the names of Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani. As for Ken Waldichuk, he’ll be lost in the tale of the time they watched two of the biggest stars in Major League Baseball flex their muscles on consecutive pitches in the fifth inning during a 6-0 loss by the Athletics against the Los Angeles Angelsbefore a crowd of 14,638.

Trout and Ohtani hit tape-measure blasts in the fifth inning as the Angels took two of three from the A’s on the opening series of the season. With Taylor Wardaboard with a single, Trout hammered a 1-1 pitch from Waldichuk off the camera bank in dead center field, a distance mea-

sured at 434 feet and with an exit velocity of 111.9 miles per hour.

On the very next pitch, Ohtani crushed one 447 feet to right center at a speed of 110.8, a tad farther than Trout’s homer. It was the first home runs of the season for the two men permanently linked not only as teammates but combatants for the final out of this year’s World Baseball Classic.

It was Ohtani who struck out Trout for the final out of Japan’s 3-2 win in the WBC over the United States on March 22 in Miami.

Rookie catcher Logan O’Hoppe also homered for the Angels, a threerun shot to left center with two out in the fourth off Waldichuk.

The A’s finished with just five hits, struck out nine times and had little to hang their hat on other than a pure-hustle double by Ramon Laureano in the fifth inning.

The A’s won 2-1 on Opening Night, followed

Ace prospect opening season with River Cats

Joe DaviDson THE SACRAMENTO BEE

WEST SACRA -

MENTO — The first home game in Sacramento River Cats history was a wet one, in 2000, when the return of Triple-A baseball in the region was a deluge of a good time.

Media Day for the River Cats last week was also a wet one, but the forecast calls for clear skies ahead as Sacramento prepares for its 23rd season in West Sacramento. The River Cats home opener is Tuesday, another season of promise for a franchise that has run out of outfield wall space to hang up the championship banners, including the 2019 Triple-A championship.

The team ace is Kyle Harrison, a flamethrower who rates as the top left-handed pitching prospect in all of Minor

League Baseball. He is the top prospect for the parent-club San Francisco Giants.

The third baseman is Casey Schmitt, deemed an exceptional defensive player. The roster is dotted with players who are pleased to be here — what a way to make a living, right? — but are anxious to mov to the Bay Area. Specifically, to be called up by Giants. But that roster is full, and the waiting game is part of the minor league experience.

And this: There’s a good vibe brewing with River Cats President and Chief Operating Officer Chip Maxson and his staff, a club that was purchased by the Kings in August with a commitment to affordable entertainment and a class facility.

Here are a few reasons the River Cats are worth

Monday, April 3, 2023

SECTION B Matt Miller . Sports Editor . 707.427.6995

Smiley N. Pool/Dallas Morning News/TNS

LSU guard Jasmine Carson (2) celebrates with forward Angel Reese (10) along with head coach Kim Mulkey, guard Flau’jae Johnson (4) and guard Last-Tear Poa (13)

after hitting a shot at the buzzer to end the first half of the NCAA Women’s Final Four Championship basketball game against Iowa in Dallas, Sunday.

K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune/TNS file San Diego State’s Nathan Mensah celebrates with Jaedon LeDee after beating Alabama in a Sweet 16 game in the NCAA Tournament in Louisville, KY.

See A’s, Page B8

See LSU, Page B8

The DIRTY MARTINI has a reputation, but it cleans up nice

M. Carrie a llan THE WASHINGTON POST

Adecade into writing about cocktails, more than that into drinking them, I usually can’t remember the first time I tried a specific drink. There are exceptions: I remember my first taste of Negroni, a bolt of crimson bitterness across my brain, requiring a second investigatory sip and then an order of another.

And I remember the first time I encountered the dirty martini. Mostly because I thought it would be the last.

In the early 2000s, I had weaned myself off the sweet fuzzy navels I’d enjoyed in college and was trying to appreciate IPAs, mostly to better navigate my first-real-job happy hours. Almost everyone drank beer, and I was trying to blend in and hold my own among the funny, flirty gang. I’d reached adulthood; my palate still needed to graduate.

One evening, into one of these happy hours strode another colleague: a raven-haired, curvy, slightlyolder-than-me woman who waved the waiter off when he began reciting the beers on tap.

She asked for a dirty martini. “And I mean filthy,” she purred, to his delight. In my memory, she winked at our male colleagues as she said it. My recollection of their response – eyeballs telescoping out to knock over their pint glasses, a horn bellowing ahOOOOO-gah! – is probably also somewhat exaggerated.

Marinating in my inadequacy in the face of this sophisticated, “adult” drink order, I had time before the drink arrived to imagine just how sexy this “dirty” martini would look. The Jessica Rabbit of drinks? A lacy garter in cocktail form?

What the waiter presented was murky with brine. A skewer of toadish olives slouched against the side of the glass, blue cheese innards oozing grease across the surface of the drink. It reminded me of nothing so much as the swampy vat of froglike critters that Jabba the Hutt kept nearby for snacking. Envious as I was of this woman’s confidence, I had serious doubts about her judgment.

I went on to spend a good decade happily avoiding the dirty martini. If I found myself inexplicably in the mood for

a pile of liquid salt glop, I’d order nachos.

When I got into cocktails, it was the crisp, clean martini I came to, de rigueur amongst cocktail cognoscenti: Gin (of course), a generous splash of vermouth, a dash of orange bitters, lemon peel. This is still my martini – ice cold, crystal clear, juniper-clean on the palate, lemon-oil aromatics as you raise it to your face. Perfection.

But dirty martinis didn’t care. They went on their merry way, glugged down in vast quantities outside the cocktail-snob bubble. “The protests of the Martini purist did little to discourage orders for the drink,” wrote cocktail writer Robert Simonson in his book, “The Martini Cocktail.” “Eventually, some bartenders tried an if-you-can’t-beat-’em-join-’em approach, electing to improve the unavoidable cocktail rather than banish it.”

I’ve kept an eye on bars and restaurants that have de-viled the dirty martini – not so much cleaning it up as dialing it in, keeping the salt and acid that drinkers love while tuning it to their particular frequencies. Fresher, brighter olives that haven’t been marinating in the sneeze-collection tray on the bar. Savory herbs and spices from various culinary traditions. Different wines, different savory ingredients infused into the spirit or added to the brine, or acid powders that add salinity and tartness without that swampy murk.

“People used to order dirty martinis sort of sheepishly, and now I feel like they’re more emboldened,” said Alexandra Bookless Turner, bar director at Albi in Washington, D.C.

“It has had a little resurgence. People love to eat bar olives and a salty, savory flavor when you’re drinking. It makes sense that the drink is popular.”

Albi, which draws on culinary traditions of the Levant – the multi-country region around the eastern Mediterranean – serves a variation called the Za’atartini, in which vodka is first infused with the herb za’atar, combined with a blend of vermouths, and fat-washed with olive oil.

It’s topped with a few drops of olive oil infused with a za’atar spice blend, which adds both nutty and herbal aromas and a creamier texture, and served with olives on the side.

At Bonnie’s, a Cantonese-American restaurant in Brooklyn, the MSG martini

is the No. 1 drink. “I knew I had to have a martini on the menu,” says Calvin Eng, chefowner. The restaurant’s head bartender, Channing Centeno, “knew that MSG was a big deal for me because it gets a bad rap. … It’s all over our menu, we talk about it, we’re proud to use it.”

Centeno replaced the classic vermouth with Shaoxing rice wine, and then “we take our olive brine and jack that up with MSG and whisk that together until it’s fully dissolved, and that’s our dirty brine. It’s superpacked with umami,” Eng says.

At Fiorella, Marc Vetri’s pasta restaurant in Philadelphia, the Dirty Pasta Water Martini has become a staple – the brine is made with a mixture that’s equal parts olive brine and the salty, starchy water leftover from the pasta pot. The brine adds both flavor and a thicker body to the drink. Customers can opt for gin or vodka, but “you taste the pasta more with vodka,” says Kyle O’Neill, the general manager. “We were going to call it the pasta ‘wooder’ martini, because that’s how you say ‘water’ in Philadelphia, but we decided not to be so tongue-in-cheek.”

Infusing parmesan rinds and thyme into a local Vancouver gin with sea kelp among its botanicals gave L’Abbatoir’s Martini Reggiano “these beautiful creamy, nutty flavors and textures,” says former bar manager Dave Bulters.

When I ran across a mention of that drink a couple years ago, I was intrigued enough that I found I could suppress the involuntary gag reflex I still experienced thinking of those blue cheese oil trails. Maybe that one Jabba-punchbowl didn’t represent the whole category. Maybe I should Jedimind-trick my way back to exploring the dirty martini.

I started wading in, splashing in the shallow end – a Castelvetrano olive here, a briny sherry there, and oh, what about preserved lemon? –getting more comfortable with the savory side of this cocktail. Certain drinks become more than the sum of their parts. Drinks are loaded with signifiers. You drink them because your parents did or because they didn’t. You drink them because you like how they look or how someone else looks when she orders one. Drinks speak to us and for us. Never once, in book nor film, have I seen a hardboiled detective order a pumpkin spice latte, nor a

kindly grandmother comfort someone with a shot of rye in a dirty glass. One need look no further than the peculiar anxiety some men still seem to have about ordering pink drinks or cocktails in coupes to know: Sometimes a cigar is more than a cigar.

But sometimes “filthy” just means a lot of brine. Now that I’ve been around the block a few times, I drink what I drink because I like it, be it an IPA, a fuzzy navel or a dialed-in dirty martini. I know that if I ever tried to pull off flirtation-bydrink-order, I would never stick the landing. But in my refrigerator now is a parmesan-infused dry vermouth mixed with Four Pillars olive leaf gin, and lemme tell you, it’s not half bad.

RENTAL TUX (A DIRTY MARTINI)

This is a dirtied riff on a super-dry early martini variation called the Tuxedo. The original Tuxedo can have some savory notes from the sherry, but the Rental Tux has gotten all schmutzed up, thanks to caperberries (subbing for olives) and a few drops of toasted sesame oil, which enhances the nutty tones in the wine. If you’re not afraid of a little texture in your drink, skip the double-straining – the seeds inside the caperberries are delicious and fun to crush with your teeth.

Total time: 5 mins

Serves 1

2 caperberries, divided

3 to 4 drops toasted sesame oil, plus more for topping

Ice

2 ounces London dry gin

1 ounce fino or manzanilla sherry

Make a slit at the base of one of the caperberries, wedge it onto the rim of a Nick and Nora glass, then place the glass in the freezer.

Drop the other caperberry at the bottom of a cocktail shaker and crush it with a muddler, so that it’s torn open and the inner seeds are well exposed. Add the toasted sesame oil. Fill the shaker halfway with ice. Add the gin and sherry and shake hard to chill, about 15 seconds.

Double-strain into the chilled glass. Top with a few more drops of the sesame oil, if you like and serve. You can drop the caperberry garnish into the drink to make it a little saltier as you sip, and finish it off at the end.

From Spirits columnist M. Carrie Allan.

DIRTY LEMON MARTINI

This salty-sweet martini marries preserved lemon, a pickled, saltytart fermented citrus often used in Moroccan cuisine, with a citrus-forward gin (try Tanqueray No. 10, Citadelle’s Jardin D’Été or Malfy Con Limone). Note that the vermouth is

blanc, not the standard dry, which makes for a slightly sweeter note that balances out the saltiness of the preserved lemon. If you like it drier, stick to dry vermouth; if you like a dirtier martini, add more lemon brine.

Total time: 5 mins

Where to buy: Preserved lemon can be found at well-stocked supermarkets and online.

Serves 1

1 thin slice preserved lemon, for garnish

Ice

Dash of orange bitters

2 ounces gin

1 ounce bianco or blanc vermouth (such as Dolin)

1 to 2 teaspoons preserved lemon brine, to taste

1 strip fresh lemon peel

Thread the preserved lemon slice with a cocktail pick and set in a cocktail coupe or martini glass; transfer to the freezer.

Add ice to a mixing glass, followed by the bitters, gin, vermouth and lemon brine. Stir to dilute and chill, about 10 seconds.

Strain the drink into the chilled cocktail glass. Express the strip of fresh lemon peel over the surface of the drink, then discard the peel and serve.

From Spirits columnist M. Carrie Allan.

PASTA WATER MARTINI

A hit cocktail at Fiorella, Marc

Vetri’s pasta restaurant in Philadelphia, this dirty-martini riff utilizes olive juice along with an ingredient the restaurant has plenty of –the salty, silky water left over from cooking its pasta. Customers pick gin or vodka for the base; the pasta flavor is more noticeable with neutral vodka. Fiorella uses whole, unpitted Castelvetrano and Galleta olives; we won’t tell if you use pitted ones, but make sure they’re good olives.

Total time: 5 mins, not counting the cooking of pasta

Make ahead: You’ll want to have the pasta water cooled and preferably chilled before making the drink. Pasta water can be refrigerated for up to 48 hours; shake before using.

Serves 1

3 olives, for garnish (see headnote)

Ice 2 ounces vodka or gin

½ ounce pasta water

½ ounce olive brine

Chill a Nick and Nora glass or a small coupe in the freezer. Spear the olives on a cocktail pick. Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add the vodka or gin, pasta water, and olive brine and shake to chill, 10 seconds.

Double-strain into the chilled glass, garnish with the olives and serve. From Fiorella restaurant in Philadelphia.

Scott Suchman/The Washington Post

Rental Tux (a dirty martini), the setup for a Pasta Water Martini, and a Dirty Lemon Martini.

Young people resume traditions at home while their lives evolve on “Return to Amish.”

Mario saves the day on big screen

SuSan Hiland SHILAND@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

FAIRFIELD — The classic kids video game Super Mario Bros. comes to life on the big screen this weekend.

Also showing local is a film about Michael Jordan and his relationship with Nike to create the famous sneaker brand, Air Jordan.

Other films coming to local theaters include a story about an aging painter in a local town and a story about a man who lands a plane after the pilot dies.

Opening nationwide are:

“Super Mario Bros: The Movie,” in which Mario (Chris Pratt) must rescue the Princess Peach (Anya TaylorJoy) from Donkey Kong (Seth Rogen). The film is rated PG.

“Air,” a film based on the true story of Michael Jordan and his partnership with Nike to create the Air Jordan brand. This moving story follows the career-defining gamble of an unconventional team with everything on the line, the uncompromising vision of a mother who knows the worth of her son’s immense talent, and the basketball phenom who would become the greatest of all time. The film is rated R.

“Paint,” in which painter Carl Nargle has been hosting his own painting show on Vermont public television for decades. His art captivates, and has attracted the attention of many women over the years, especially those who work at the station. But Carl is in a rut, and the station isn’t pulling in ratings. When a new painter is hired to revitalize the channel, Carl’s own fears regarding his talents as a painter are brought to the forefront. The film is rated PG-13.

“On a Wing and a Prayer,” in which a small-town pilot dies unexpectedly while flying a plane, forcing passenger Doug White to land the plane safely in order to save his entire family. The film is rated PG.

Opening in limited release are:

“Fist of the Condor,” in which 16th-century Incans conceal a sacred

manual containing the secrets behind their deadly fighting technique. But after centuries of careful safeguarding, the manual is again at risk of falling into the wrong hands, leaving its rightful guardian to battle the world’s greatest assassins to protect the ancient secrets within. The film is not rated.

“Colonials,” in which during a mission from Mars, a space colonist’s ship is attacked by a Moon-based civilization and crash lands on Earth. Having lost his memory, he joins forces with a resistance to save the galaxy from human extinction. The film is not rated.

“How to Blow Up a Pipeline,” in which a crew of young environmental activists execute a daring mission to sabotage an oil pipeline in this taut and timely thriller that is part highstakes heist, part radical exploration of the climate crisis. The film is rated R.

“R.M.N.,” a foreign film about Matthias, who returns to his native multi-ethnic mountain village in Transylvania where he finds his son and the village under the shadow of a strange irrational fear and unsettlement. When two foreign workers are hired in town, deep-rooted impulses and resentments emerge, conflicts and emotions erupt and the veneer of peace in the community is shattered. The film is not rated.

“Ride On,” in which a washed-up stuntman (Jackie Chan) can barely make ends meet, let alone take care of his beloved stunt horse, Red Hare. The film is not rated.

For information on Edwards Cinemas in Fairfield, visit www. regmovies.com/ theatres/regal-edwardsfairfield-imax. For Vacaville showtimes, visit www.brenden theatres.com. For Vallejo showtimes, check www. cinemark.com/theatres/ ca-vallejo. More information about upcoming films is available at

Pickles Brian Crane

Zits Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman

Pearls Before Swine Stephan Pastis

Candorville Darrin Bell

Baby Blues Rick Kirkman and Jerry Scott

Baldo Hector Cantú and Carlos Castellanos

Sonaiya K elley LOS ANGELES TIMES

New York City, once heralded as the “city of dreams,” where grit alone was enough to make it, is now a place like any other major American city, increasingly made from steel and glass –and also prohibitively expensive. That changing landscape and the dwindling opportunities therein, whether euphemized as “luxury development,” “slum clearance” or “vintage micro-units,” served as a catalyst for filmmaker A.V. Rockwell when writing her feature directorial debut, “A Thousand and One,” in theaters Friday, as a “heartbreak letter” to New York.

“I really wanted to talk about how New York City changed [when it began to] prioritize commerce over its communities and its residents,” she said. “Seeing firsthand the impact of gentrification on the Black communities of New York, it felt like we were getting erased and pushed out of the city altogether.”

“A Thousand and One,” winner of the U.S. dramatic competition grand jury prize at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, stars Teyana Taylor as Inez, a young mother who kidnaps her son from the foster care system. What ensues is a wrenching and claustrophobic portrait of struggle and systemic poverty set in the 1990s and early 2000s.

“The title is a play on words and really talks about the individual versus the group; in this case, New York City,” said Rockwell. “New York is an ever-changing, ever-evolving city, but I’ve seen it lose a lot of its vitality. It became less of a city that was accessible to everyone regardless of their background and a lot more like everywhere else. It’s not really a city where you come to access the American dream anymore.

“I always saw this movie as bigger than gentrification,” she added. “I’m talking about the way a city changed at the turn of the century. That version of New York that you see: that mom-and-pop, super dense, vibrant, colorful city. . . . New York became the mecca under that grid when it was a place that was designed for people to experience. Now we’re changing to a city that is way more gray, way more chain stores. It’s like, is it really worth it? Is it worth it to lose all of these icons that make this a specific place?”

“It’s not accessible [anymore],” agreed Taylor. “They romanticize the ‘new’ New York, but if we’re getting kicked out of it, there ain’t nothing cute about it. Y’all are dressing it up to get us out to put the other people in. There’s nothing beautiful about what’s going on. It’s almost like your

childhood is being taken away from you, like history is being erased out of the textbooks.”

Taylor, whom a certain subset of millennials will remember for her splashy debut on MTV’s “My Super Sweet 16” as the precocious princess of Harlem, was a nobrainer for the role of Inez. The multi-hyphenate’s “raw” audition tape “immediately stood out for me,” Rockwell said.

“I was drawn to the role before I even read the whole script,” said Taylor, who was initially sent only the film’s synopsis and a couple of scenes.

“It was going to be a challenging role for any actress, but I was really looking for a sense of truthfulness,” said Rockwell. “Somebody who I felt [could] know and understand this woman. I also loved the fact that she’s also a mom. She knew how to relate to [Inez] as both a woman and a mother.”

In the tradition of Spike Lee, Martin Scorsese and Woody Allen, Rockwell is a New York filmmaker telling a story about New York. The familiar beats are there, like the authentic accents and lovingly crafted B-roll of the city. But unlike her predecessors, Rockwell has chosen to tap into the Black female perspective, a demographic that is not often reflected or addressed directly enough in film.

“I haven’t seen our experience as women, especially inner-city women, really recognized in a nuanced way onscreen,” she said. “I wanted to speak to the coming-of-age experiences of inner-city Black women who I think are often misunderstood or made to feel invisible in society and within our own communities. I really wanted to use Inez’s journey to present the question of, ‘Who is fighting for us, in the midst of us trying to fight for everybody else?’ Throughout her journey you see how much she devotes herself to everyone else, but she’s just never fully enough. That was a really key component for me. Black women really want to feel

truly and fully loved and not just needed.”

“I really wanted to showcase not only how society relates to us, but how we relate to ourselves and do it with honesty,” she added. That meant imbuing the story with issues endemic to the Black community, particularly colorism. “Even though I think this story has the ability to reflect all women’s stories in certain ways, colorism is very specific to the Black woman’s experience and certainly to my experience growing up in New York.”

“Especially in the early 2000s, that was the era of a certain type of girl that people wanted or that you may have seen in all of the music videos versus the girls that were in the videos in the ‘90s,” said Taylor. “So a lot of the emotions I put onto Inez were real emotions from real triggers.”

“There’s also issues of classism within our community,” said Rockwell. “And respectability politics. I hate how that correctiveness comes out when more educated or more privileged Black women turn their noses up at women like Inez in the world. They almost make it seem like they don’t deserve certain experiences in life because of where they come from.”

“’You’re not worthy of this because you don’t have that,’” said Taylor. “Why do we have to trauma bond? Why do you only feel me because you went through the same thing? How about just feel me because you’re another Black woman and you know that none of us are protected? We’re all still one at the end of the day.”

“Don’t be a mirror of society,” said Rockwell. “Because that’s what society does to Black people in general. Instead of trying to fix the core issues that impact our experience, they choose [to silence us]. We don’t need to be doing that to each other because everybody else is already doing enough of that.”

Crossword by Phillip Alder

Bridge

West’s three-club cue-bid promised a long major two-suiter. South’s five clubs was an each-way bet. Perhaps it would make; perhaps it would be a good sacrifice.

After a spade to his king, declarer seemed to have no problems. He could discard his diamond loser on dummy’s spade ace, and with the heart ace marked in the West hand, there appeared to be only two losers: one heart and one club. However, South was worried, especially after the (debatable) double, that East held all three trumps. So, the reporter explained, declarer wanted to play a trump from dummy toward his hand. South led a heart. West went in with the ace and switched to his singleton diamond. Declarer won in hand, played a heart to dummy’s king and led a club to his jack. Disaster! West won with the king and played a heart, East overruffing the dummy to defeat the contract.

THE PROVERBIAL SORE THUMB

It is curiously difficult to edit your own work. Slip-ups sneak through unspotted. In contrast, when a good editor reads someone else’s copy, errors are as conspicuous as a bikini-clad woman in a mid-East bazaar. Take today’s deal, for example. South’s opening bid showed six or more clubs and 12-16 high-card points.

The writer missed that at trick two, South should have led the club jack from his hand. If East had all of the trumps, declarer could have gotten into the dummy and picked up East’s remaining honor before any risk of a heart overruff. When trumps proved to be 2-1, South would have simply drawn the last trump when he regained the lead.

COPYRIGHT: 2023, UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE

Sudoku by Wayne Gould

woman in a mid-East bazaar. Bridge

© 2023 B4 Monday, April 3, 2023 — DAILY REPUBLIC

Enterprises Dist. by creators.com 4/4/23

Fill in the grid so that every row, every column and every 3x3 grid contains the digits

1 through 9, with no repeats. That means that no number is repeated in any row, column or box. Solution, tips and computer program at www.sudoku.com

Janric

Difficulty level: SILVER

Teyana Taylor stars as Inez de la Paz in writer/director A.V. Rockwell’s “A

Thousand

and One.”

The snack bag of the future won’t be made from plastic

BloomBerg

Florencio Cuétara is the kind of person who crosses the street to tell people to pick up their litter. One day, Cuétara, an avid diver, was swimming in the Mediterranean when he came across a plastic cookie bag. “This bag hits me in the face as I’m swimming. And I’m cursing whoever put it in there, as if it’s somebody else’s fault,” Cuétara says. “Then I realized that the bag was one of my bags – with my last name on it.”

Cuétara’s family business is Switzerland-based snack company Cuétara Foods, which makes 25 brands of cookies, biscuits and crackers sold all over the world. For Florencio, who was CEO for the Americas at the time, that moment was a turning point. “I was like, I want to blame everybody else for this,” he says. “But I’m not an innocent party here. I’m part of the problem.’”

Most bags for potato chips and other crispy snacks are made with three layers of polymer materials: a moisture barrier on the inside (usually biaxially oriented polypropylene), low-density polyethylene in the middle and an outer layer of thermoplastic resin. From an environmental standpoint, polymers – like all plastics –have two marks against them: They’re made from petroleum, and they’ll never decompose.

Today, according to the U.N. Environment Program, humans produce about 400 million tons of plastic waste every year. Half of that is single-use plastic, like potato chip bags, that ends up in landfills or in waterways, where it breaks down into microplastics that are consumed by aquatic life, and eventually by people. At the behest of consumers and under the shadow of potential regulation, snack companies big and small are now looking for a way to break that cycle with alternative packaging materials. The only question is who will succeed.

nnn

Florencio Cuétara swam into his cookie bag in 2015, setting off a four-year quest to find a different packaging material

that didn’t rely on fossil fuels.

In 2019, Cuétara and Dr. Russ Petrie, an orthopedic surgeon in California, founded Okeanos, which uses calcium carbonate to create bags for snacks, rice, coffee and salt, as well as wraps for flowers.

Calcium carbonate (CaCO3), a mineral naturally found in stone or rocks, has been used as a filler in packaging before, but only in small percentages.

Cuétara and Petrie developed a technology they called “Made from Stone” that is up to 70% calcium carbonate; the rest is made of resin. The company’s bags are both flexible and light – they float on water – and the technology is now used by manufacturers in 15 countries including Brazil, India, Canada, the Philippines and the U.S. “We were called crazy a number of times,” Cuétara says.

For Sean Mason and Mark Green, co-founders of British crisps company Two Farmers, it took five years to find a packaging material that would both biodegrade and keep their chips crunchy. “Obviously the singleuse plastic that’s in crisp packets is blighting the landscape and the seas,” Mason says.

Mason also saw a need for consistency. Two Farmers sources all of its potatoes from Green’s farm in Herefordshire, where cover-cropping (planting a crop like clovers or alfalfa after the cash crop) is used to nourish the soil. The farm also has an anaerobic digester that converts farm waste into bio-methane – which in turn produces more than enough electricity to run the entire operation. “Our difference was sustainable farming, so we thought we should see that through to the crisp bag,” Mason says.

When it came to identifying an alternative material, though, Mason and Green were stumped. First, they considered cardboard boxes. “We suddenly realized that we would still have to put a plastic bag inside to keep it fresh,” Mason says. “So we were effectively just over-packaging; packaging for packaging’s sake.” Next they looked at tins – “too expensive and probably too much waste

for a small 40-gram packet.”

Finally, at a packaging trade show they came across eucalyptus cellulose films in their raw state, and started talking to the producers about their potential for crisps bags. The duo found a laminator, which helped them figure out how to add plant-based glues and inks for printing. After producing the film, they sent it off to TŪV Austria – a third-party

Frito-Lay North America began its own foray into alternative packaging over a decade ago, with the 2009 debut of a 100% compostable bag for SunChips. Made from 90% polylactic acid, the bag was notoriously noisy when opened or handled – up to 95 decibels, by some accounts – and FritoLay discontinued it in 2010.

Frito-Lay has made quieter headway since, and the company

Most bags for potato chips and other crispy snacks are made with three layers of polymer materials: a moisture barrier on the inside (usually biaxially oriented polypropylene), low-density polyethylene in the middle and an outer layer of thermoplastic resin. From an environmental standpoint, polymers – like all plastics – have two marks against them: They’re made from petroleum, and they’ll never decompose.

certifier that verifies whether packaging is compostable – to have it tested for compostability and eco-toxicity. Following some trial and error, their material passed muster, and in 2019 Two Farmers officially launched its gourmet potato chips in 100% compostable packaging made from eucalyptus cellulose. Mason, who credits David Attenborough’s Blue Planet II with helping put single-use plastics on Brits’ radar, says his company’s bags take 30 to 36 weeks to decompose in home composting systems, or 11 weeks in an industrial composter.

The eucalyptus film is much more expensive than plastic – over 10 times the cost, to be exact – and each packet retails for $1.40. But quality hasn’t been an issue: Last year, Two Farmers’ Woodland Mushroom & Wild Garlic and Herefordshire Sausage & Mustard flavors won the Great British Food award in the Savoury Snacks category.

nnn

There are thousands of companies making snacks all over the world, but any progress on plastic packaging will have to involve a few big ones. In the world of U.S. potato chips, for example, Frito-Lay, a division of PepsiCo, has a whopping 60% of the market share, according to data analytics firm IRI Worldwide.

has a goal of making all of its packaging 100% recyclable, compostable, biodegradable or reusable by 2025. In 2021, it debuted a bag made of 85% polylactic acid – typically composed of cornstarch – for two of its Off the Eaten Path veggie chips. (The rest is made of aluminum coatings, inks and adhesives.)

The Off the Eaten Path bag is industrially compostable, which means it can be put into city compost systems. The bags can also be sent back via a free shipping label to New Jersey-based TerraCycle, which partners with Frito-Lay on the venture. (Though questions have been raised about the effectiveness of TerraCycle’s plastics recycling program, which involves thirdparty facilities.)

“We’re going through a test and learn phase [with Off the Eaten Path] as we work towards our ultimate goal of designing 100% of our packaging to be either recyclable, compostable, biodegradable or reusable,” says David Allen, vice president and chief sustainability officer for PepsiCo Foods North America.

Also in the U.S., Salem, Oregon-based Kettle Foods, which makes the popular Kettle Chips brand, will debut a Made from Stone bag this spring, starting with its sea salt flavor.

nnn Companies that aren’t moving toward plastic-free

packaging yet may be forced to in the future, as regulators start to step in. Last year, the European Union proposed new rules that would require companies selling products in E.U. countries to make their packaging easier to reuse, recycle or compost. The rules would also limit unnecessary empty space in packaging, part of an overall goal to reduce packaging waste by 5% by 2030, compared with 2018 levels. If effective, the E.U. could set a standard for other nations to follow.

But the hurdles remain enormous, and snack bags are just one piece of a much bigger problem. Most developing countries don’t have recycling or composting facilities, and in the nations that do, those systems are often broken or dysfunctional.

The Environmental Protection Agency estimates a U.S. plastic recycling rate of just below 9%, while Beyond Plastics, a project out of Bennington College, pegs it at an even bleaker 5% to 6%. In the E.U., almost 38% of plastic was recycled in 2020, and regulations imposed in 2021 halted the sale of the 10 most common plastics to wash up on European beaches, including bottle caps and straws. But addressing plastic packaging writ large will require changes at every part of its life cycle: from raw materials to duration of use to the nature of disposal. “Even with recycling, you increase emissions,” says Cuétara at Okeanos. “And remember: You can only recycle a number of times.”

Those hurdles are part of why Cuétara says Made from Stone bags are catching on: Packaging manufacturers can keep using their existing equipment, and calcium carbonate is naturally abundant with relatively stable pricing.

“If somebody came to my potato chip company and said, ‘I want you to change everything and get rid of your suppliers and it’s going to cost you more,’ the answer would be, ‘Thank you, but we have no interest,’ ” he says. “I have to tell you, there’s been almost no calls of, ‘We don’t want to do it.’ It’s an impossible thing to say no to.”

Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg file

Bags of PepsiCo Inc. brand Lay’s potato chips for sale at a grocery store in Bagdad, Kentucky, April 9, 2021.

How many Bay Area concrete buildings could fall during a deadly earthquake?

John Woolfolk THE MERCURY NEWS

SAN JOSE — The scenes of tilted, crumbled and collapsed concrete buildings after powerful earthquakes jolted Turkey and Syria last month are sobering. In Turkey alone, the shaking wrecked some 185,000 buildings, and the death toll in both countries has topped 48,000 people.

Could the Bay Area’s concrete buildings suffer a similar fate when The Big One strikes?

Fortunately, experts say California wouldn’t see the level of devastation like that in Turkey and Syria. But there is a danger, and experts say some buildings erected before 1980 using inflexible or “nonductile” concrete construction will fall. The trick is figuring out which ones – and what to do about them – before it’s too late.

“I don’t think there’s any question there’s risk,” said Terrence Paret, a senior principal with the engineering firm Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates in San Francisco. “If the San Andreas fault went off here and the shaking was as intense as what they saw in Turkey – some of which was extraordinary –there’s no question some buildings are going to collapse. But I don’t think it’s plausible they’re all going to collapse.”

California’s 6.6 magnitude Sylmar earthquake in 1971 exposed the vulnerabilities of nonductile concrete construction. The roof collapsed and two buildings were destroyed at the San Fernando Veterans Administration Hospital, where 49 people died. At Olive View Hospital, three wings of the main building pulled away and toppled.

Code revisions make concrete structures erected after the 1970s sturdier. But there’s no solid inventory of poten-

tially unsafe concrete buildings constructed before then.

The Concrete Coalition, a project of researchers, engineers, industry and government officials, reported in 2011 that an estimated 16,000-17,000 concrete buildings in California’s 23 most quake-prone counties predate modern seismic construction codes that came into effect by 1980. Those include 3,200 in San Francisco, 1,300 in Oakland and 363 in San Jose. The coalition’s reports in 2013 on buildings surveyed in large Bay Area cities listed many wellknown landmarks, including San Francisco’s Grace Cathedral and Oakland’s Holy Names University as potential concerns.

But that doesn’t mean those listed are dangerous. David Bonowitz, a San Francisco structural engineer and co-author of the 2011 report, said it was an attempt to develop a “rough estimate” based on the age of the buildings of how many concrete buildings might need more

seismic work.

San Francisco has just begun working on assessing the problem and is preparing a retrofitting ordinance. But identifying vulnerable concrete buildings is difficult and not just a matter of their age, said San Francisco Chief Resilience Officer Brian Strong.

“Just because it’s a concrete building doesn’t mean it’s vulnerable,” Strong said, adding that determining that can involve drilling into columns to see how they were constructed. “It can be fairly invasive. That’s the big challenge, and that’s the reason so few cities in California are doing this work.”

Holy Names in December said it will close its 65-year-old campus in May, citing $49 million in debt on the property, declining enrollment and deferred maintenance and compliance upgrade costs that could top $200 million. Spokesman Sam Singer said that while the school currently meets seismic regulations, any changes to the campus and its facilities would require expensive upgrades.

Two of 10 buildings at

San Jose’s O’Connor Hospital, now owned by Santa Clara County, are listed in the most vulnerable seismic category. They were granted extensions on seismic work, but that is on pace to be completed this summer.

“There are thousands of concrete buildings in California that would not meet our current standards for new buildings,” said Bonowitz, “but that does not mean they are like those that collapsed in Turkey.”

Engineers blame the multitude of nonductile concrete building failures in Turkey and Syria more on a combination of flawed structure designs, poorer quality concrete mixes, and inadequate regulation and code enforcement.

But after the Turkey and Syria quakes, the Structural Engineers Association of California said “despite our global leadership on seismic safety” and commendable work in Los Angeles, Santa Monica, San Francisco, Berkeley, Oakland and San Jose to identify vulnerable structures, “these measures are not enough.”

“California cities are

The Salinas Californian has no reporters left on its staff

James R ainey

LOS ANGELES TIMES

SALINAS — When brown water overflowed the banks of the Salinas River in January, flooding thousands of acres and throwing an untold number of farmworkers out of jobs, the leading newspaper in this agricultural mecca did not cover the story.

Candidates in the November race for mayor also went absent from the pages of the 152-year-old news outlet. Ditto non-coverage of a police staffing shortage so serious that the police chief said the department might not have enough cops to respond to all complaints of theft, fraud, vandalism, prowling and prostitution.

The Salinas Californian missed those stories, understandably, because it employed only one journalist until December. That’s when the paper’s last reporter quit to take a job in TV. The departure marked the latest and perhaps final step in a slowmotion unwinding of what used to be the principal local news source in this city of 163,000.

Owned by the largest newspaper publisher in the nation, Gannett, the venerable Californian now carries stories from the chain’s USA Today flagship and its other California papers. The only original content from Salinas comes in the form of paid obituaries, making death virtually the only sign of life at an institution once considered a must-read by many Salinans.

The lack of local reporting has drawn complaints from the mayor, a county supervisor and everyday citizens who say the public life of their community has been diminished by the lack of a dependable source of local news.

“As a subscriber, seems like they are all gone & all local news has vanished from its pages! The end of an era??” Monterey County Supervisor Luis Alejo recently wrote on Twitter, adding in another tweet: “Hoping they were hiring others soon instead of giving up on serving our community.”

Trish Triumpho Sullivan, owner of Salinas’ Downtown Book & Sound, said the newspaper’s retreat feels especially ironic in the hometown of John Steinbeck, the Nobel Prize-winning novelist who once worked as a war correspondent.

“He understood the power of a story to create positive change,” said Sullivan, who has lived in Salinas for more than 40 years. “Without a local paper in our city, we’ve lost the power to tell the stories of people in our city and the city itself. We’ve lost the power of storytelling.”

An editor who previously helped oversee the Salinas paper from another Gannett newsroom 300 miles north referred questions to the company’s corporate office in McLean, Va.

“The Californian has deep roots in Monterey County and the greater Monterey Bay area,” Lisa Strattan, senior director of the company’s Center for Community Journalism, said in a statement. “And we remain committed to providing resources to our newsroom while relying on our USA Today Network to ensure continued coverage.”

The company’s corporate PR office acknowledged “staffing challenges in certain newsrooms” but pledged that Gannett is “developing strategies to support these markets, including communities such as Salinas.” None of the 57 reporting jobs recently listed on the

chain’s online hiring board were for work in Salinas.

The emptying of the Californian’s newsroom epitomizes the ongoing struggles for the American newspaper industry, a shift felt acutely at small-town papers. Newspaper revenue nationally plummeted 52% from 2002 to 2020, with much of the income from advertising shifting to Internet giants such as Google and Facebook. In the dozen years after 2008, newspaper newsroom employment fell 57%.

Gannett’s downsizing accelerated after the company’s 2019 merger with GateHouse Media to form a company that owns roughly one-fifth of all daily newspapers in America. Gannett employed 11,200 people at the end of 2022, regulatory filings showed, a 47% decline from three years prior.

It took years of layoffs and dispirited resignations for the Salinas Californian staff to finally tick down to zero. The Californian’s newsroom buzzed with about 35 journalists in 1999 – and not just hard news reporters but writers specializing in sports and features and a separate opinion department, a former editor recalled. The paper staffed the major beats and looked after the public’s business, from the City Council and local schools to crime and downtown development.

When President Clinton made an election-season stop in 1996, for instance, his campaign did not pick up the $50,000 in overtime for Salinas police and sheriff’s deputies. The paper dogged the White House until the president’s reelection campaign coughed up the money, recalled then-editor Catharine Hamm, adding: “That was such sweet justice.”

plagued with thousands of buildings at risk of collapse,” the association said, calling on public officials to “identify and retrofit our existing vulnerable buildings.”

California has greatly improved building methods over more than a century of experience with earthquakes. The state’s first seismic building law followed the collapse of unreinforced brick-andmortar schools in the 1933 magnitude 6.4 Long Beach earthquake.

The magnitude

6.7 Northridge and 6.9 Loma Prieta earthquakes exposed the dangers of wood-frame “soft-story” construction, often seen in apartments, where large ground-level openings for garages and windows leave too little support for upper floors.

Because unreinforced masonry and wood-frame soft-story construction are more widespread and prone to failure in the United States and easier to identify and retrofit, public officials have focused their attention there. But with those retrofitting programs now well underway, more attention is turning to nonductile concrete.

Concrete, a mixture of sandy aggregate and cement, is the most widely used building material, dating back thousands of years, and is considered the toughest. The Romans built their empire with it, perfecting a recipe so durable many impressive works like the Pantheon, which dates back to around 126 A.D., still stand.

Modern concrete relies on steel reinforcement for strength, and the extent of that reinforcement and how it is used affects the structure’s earthquake resilience.

Southern California cities have been more aggressive than their Northern California coun-

terparts in pursuing nonductile concrete retrofits. Los Angeles adopted a program in 2015 calling for retrofits over a 25-year time frame. Santa Monica and West Hollywood have also adopted requirements, and Los Angeles County, Beverly Hills, Burbank and Long Beach are exploring programs.

In the Bay Area, only San Francisco has been working on a similar retrofit program. Strong said that with 95% of unreinforced masonry and 90% of wood-frame soft-story retrofitting addressed, “the next step was to address these concrete buildings.”

The city assembled a working group last fall and expects to have recommendations before the board of supervisors by the end of the year.

San Jose is “concentrating on a soft-story retrofit program that we plan to bring to our City Council this June with a recommendation that it be a mandatory program, and that it include exploring incentives and funding mechanisms,” said Cheryl Wessling, an information officer with the city’s planning and building department.

Oakland’s seismic retrofit efforts also are focused on soft-story buildings, predominantly those with multiple dwelling units, spokeswoman Jean Walsh said.

Bonowitz, a structural safety consultant for several cities, said he expects San Francisco’s nascent concrete building retrofit program will prompt others to follow.

“I, and my colleagues, would of course like things to move faster,” Bonowitz said. “But as long as every community is making a good faith effort to reduce earthquake risk and plan for post-earthquake recovery at the community scale, I’ll take it.”

With advertising, production and other operations included, the newspaper employed about 120 people. But when the Great Recession hit, ad sales swooned and the staff shrank by about a third. By 2016, the paper had gone from six days a week in print to three. The following year, it moved out of its historic downtown building, graced to this day by a mural of Steinbeck superimposed over the Californian’s front pages.

Still, with a handful of reporters and a photographer, the Californian managed to write about challenges such as housing and homelessness. Reporter Kate Cimini chronicled the rising cost of death, most poignantly with the story of a onetime Salinas activist, terminally ill, who had to raise money to pay for her own impending funeral.

The newspaper also could inspire, in one instance with news of a local 14-year-old who became the second-youngest player to sign a professional contract with Major League Soccer; in another, with the story of a Zapoteco farmworker who at the age of 58 earned a college degree from Cal State Monterey Bay.

Still, by last year, the Californian’s staff had been gutted. As reporters left for other papers or got out of the business altogether,

there was no move to replace them. By then, the paper’s print circulation – 11,000 on Saturdays a decade ago – had slipped to about 2,500.

Salinas is not the first city where Gannett has let a newsroom wither. The weekly Mt. Shasta News has no full-time local reporters, relying on freelancers and a Gannett daily in Redding, one of the chain’s editors said. Axios reported in January that the St. Cloud Times in Minnesota, after 93 years in publication, had lost its last reporter.

Journalists inside Gannett have seethed as the company devoted money to other priorities, including compensation for CEO Mike Reed of nearly $8 million and a plan to buy back up to $100 million of the company’s stock.

“The journalists at these papers are at their wit’s end,” said Jon Schleuss, president of the NewsGuild, a unit of the Communications Workers of America. “The way that you run and grow a news business is you employ local journalists who cover stories that the community cares about.”

The erosion of the Californian’s local staff also sapped its sister publication, El Sol, a Spanish-language outlet.

Ozan Kose/AFP/Getty Images/TNS file

A man rides his motorcycle in a destroyed neighborhood among the rubble of collapsed buildings in Hatay, on March 7, one month after an earthquake struck southeastern Turkey.

Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times/TNS

The decline of Salinas’ historic newspaper worries residents, who say the public life of their community has been diminished by the lack of a dependable source of local news.

Disclaimer: Fair Housing is the Law! T h e m i s s i o n o f t h e D e p a r t m e n t o f F a i r E m p l o y m e n t a n d H o u s i n g i s t o p r ot e c t t h e p e o p l e o f C a l i f o r n i a f r o m u nl a w f u d i s c r i m i n ation in employment h o u s i n g a n d p u b l i c a c c o m m o d a t i o n s T h e D a i l y R e p u b l i c w i l l n o t k n o w n g y accept any ad which is in violation of the F e d e r a l F a i r H o u sing Act and the Calif o r n i a F a i r E m p l o ym e n t a n d H o u s i n g A c t w h i c h b a n d i sc r i m i n a t i o n b a s e d o n r a c e c o l o r n at i o n a l o r i g i n s e x r e l i g i o n s e x u a l o r i -

age disabi l i t y f a m i l i a l s t a t u s a n d m a r i t a l s t a t u s D e s c r i b e t h e P r o pe r t y N o t t h e T e n a n t

SELL YOUR STUFF Daily

com

d s A d s a r e p u bl i s h e d f o r 3 c o n s e cu t i v e d a y s i n t h e D a i l y R e p u b l i c 1 time in Friday s Tailwind

CALENDAR

Monday’s TV sports

Baseball

MLB

• San Francisco at Chicago White Sox, NBCSBA, 1:10 p.m.

• Cleveland at Oakland, NBCSCA, 6:40 p.m.

Basketball

NCAA Men’s Tournament

• Championship Game, 5, 13, 6 p.m.

Soccer EPL

• Everton vs. Tottenham, USA, Noon.

Tuesday’s TV sports

Baseball MLB

• Philadelphia at N.Y. Yankees, TBS, 4:05 p.m.

• Cleveland at Oakland, NBCSCA+, 6:40 p.m.

Basketball NBA

• New Orleans vs. Sacramento, NBCSCA, 5 p.m.

• Philadelphia at Boston, TNT, 5 p.m.

• Golden State vs. Oklahoma City, NBCSBA, 7 p.m.

Hockey NHL

• Nashville at Vegas, ESPN, 5 p.m.

• San Jose vs. Colorado, NBCSCA, 7:30 p.m.

Soccer CONCACAF

• Philadelphia Union vs. Atlas, FS1, 5 p.m.

• Club Leon vs. Violette, FS1, 7 p.m.

DFB Pokal

• Bayern Munich vs. Freiburg, ESPN2, 11:45 a.m.

EPL

• Leeds vs. Nottingham, USA, 11:45 a.m.

Cats

From Page B1

a peek this season:

Prime prospect

Harrison is the Giants’ top prospect, a powerfully built 6-foot-2 De La Salle High School of Concord graduate who throws gas with a fastball in the upper 90s and a low 80s slider. A 2020 third-round pick by the Giants, Harrison has been the most prolific strikeout artist in the minors with 343 K’s in 211.1 innings. And he’s 21 years old, the youngest on the River Cats and among the youngest in all of the Pacific Coast League.

Harrison showed glimpses of what he can do during Spring Training with the Giants, but that club has plenty of starting arms, so he will start the season in TripleA, where he’ll get plenty of innings with the aim to gain experience and to work on consistency, with River Cats manager Dave Brundage reminding that “there’s no rush.”

“He has electric stuff, and he has all the tools,” Brundage said. “He’s got such a high ceiling, but we need to tone down the expectations, because there’s going to be some ups and downs, some bumps, some peaks and valleys. He wants to prove to the Giants that he’s ready.”

Hot corner Schmitt is California to the core. He is a San Diego native who played at San Diego State and was drafted by the Giants in the second round of the 2020 MLB draft. Schmitt showed so much promise in Spring Training at third base (he can also play shortstop) and at the plate that Giants players, coaches and training staff tabbed him as the top newcomer to the organization with the Barney Nugent

Oakland A’s pitcher Ken Waldichuk (64) delivers a pitch against the Los Angeles Angels during the sixth inning at the Oakland Coliseum, Sunday.

A’s

From Page B1

by a 13-1 loss Saturday and then the series-ending shutout. They are hitting .178 (16-for-90) and have scored in just three of 27 innings to open the season.

A’s manager Mark Kotsay did something he almost never does in using the same position player lineup in back-toback games while facing their second-left hander in two days.

Tyler Anderson (1-0) worked the first six innings before giving way to Andrew Wantz for two innings and Carlos Estevez to finish up the shutout.

“Offense is momentum and we haven’t been able to put it together and string hits together,” Kotsay said. “We haven’t had a big inning yet this year.”

If there is such a thing as a “wow” index for an impressive homer, it exists only in the minds of those on the outside.

“Two home runs is two home runs,” Kotsay said. “It doesn’t matter how far they go or if they just

creep over the wall. It’s a momentum change in the game by any measure and we weren’t able to bounce back from it.”

True enough, O’Hoppe’s three-run shot barely made it over the 362 foot sign in left center and broke open a scoreless game in the fourth against Waldichuck, who pitched three scoreless innings after a rough spring.

The inning began with a swinging bunt to the right side by Hunter Renfroe. Catcher Shea Langeliers attempted to field the ball and throw from his knees, but the ball hit Renfroe in the back of his helmet, enabling him to reach second.

Waldichuk retired Brandon Drury, but walked Luis Rengifo and struck out Gio Urshela. He was nearly out of the jam, except O’Hoppe hit a 1-1 pitch to left center for his first major league home run and a 3-0 lead.

The fifth inning was the final gut punch. Ward’s single was followed by Trout’s two-run shot, and on the very next pitch, Ohtani delivered his blast.

“I wouldn’t say they

were center-cut, but they were definitely mistakes,” Waldichuk said. “I don’t know if either was exactly in the zone, but definitely not where I intended to put them.”

Aledmys Diaz, the veteran infielder signed in the offseason, didn’t see the Trout-Ohtani blasts as being more demoralizing than any other home runs.

“I mean, they’ve been doing it for six years,” Diaz said. “That’s nothing new. They’ve got a great team and it’s going to be tough for every team to face those two guys and the rest of the lineup.”

At game’s end, while the Athletics were commiserating in a quiet clubhouse, fans were invited on the field to run the bases — a procession of hundreds stepping on home plate one after the other. It was something that happened only three times for the A’s in their first three games.

“We’ll need to make adjustments as a team,” Diaz said. “We’ve got to be more patient and have a better plan. It’s a long season. The most important thing is to stay positive and keep working.”

I didn’t even feel like I could talk to them,” Bluder said of the refs. “They wouldn’t listen. That’s what’s frustrating. It felt like a conversation couldn’t be had.”

In addition to Carson, Last-Tear Poa and DeSoto alum Sa’Myah Smith delivered key minutes off the bench in the second quarter. LSU’s bench outscored Iowa’s 30 to 8.

“This wasn’t about me,” Reese said. “This was all about the supporting cast. Everybody has played a role all season. They stepped up.”

The starters for both sides re-entered at the start of the third, and LSU cooled off slightly. Iowa was able to cut the LSU lead to eight after a 15-2 run in which Clark hit two 3s and tied the national championship game record for most made 3-pointers at six. She broke the record later in the quarter, passing Stanford’s Katy Steding, who set the record in 1990.

Clark finished with a game-high 30 points. Her fellow guard Gabbie Marshall, who was scoreless in the semifinal against South Carolina, shot 3-for-5 for 12 points. Center Monika Czinano added 13 points, six rebounds, three assists, three steals and a block despite fouling out with 6:25 remaining, and Kate Martin had 13 as well.

Award. Scouts see San Francisco’s third-best prospect as a potential Gold Glove Award winner. Said Giants manager Gape Kapler earlier this spring, “He’s kicked some ass in this camp.”

Roaring Ramos

Outfielder Heliot

Ramos has shown power at the plate, but he’ll be the first to admit that he wants to — and needs to — cut down on his strikeouts. The Giants first-round draft pick in 2017 out of his native Puerto Rico, Ramos is as gregarious as he is fun to watch.

Ramos has been a mainstay with the River Cats, and he made his Major Leaguedebut with the Giants last season. He has played 162 games with Sacramento since making his River Cats debut in July of 2021. He belted 11 home runs a year ago. And he has a motto: “Fans can expect 100% of effort out of me all the time.”

Voice of reason

Zack Bayrouty is the new radio/streaming voice of the River Cats, and he’s as likable as he is informative and entertaining to listen to. Bayrouty takes over for longtime voice Johnny Doskow, now part of the Oakland A’s broadcast crew. Bayrouty is a native of Worcester, Massachusetts, who is no stranger to the sport or the region. He called games for the SingleA Stockton Ports for 14 seasons and was the radio voice of the Triple-A Reno Aces the last three seasons.

The venue and vibe

Aztecs

From Page B1

day’s national semifinal win over Miami. Fellow forward Alex Karaban is a rugged 6-8, 210-pounder who had eight points and nine boards against the Hurricanes.

And there’s this: UConn brings a 7-foot-2 guy off the bench.

Freshman Donovan Clingan is averaging 6.2 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.0 blocks in the NCAA Tournament despite playing only 13 minutes per contest.

“Their bigs,” SDSU forward Aguek Arop said, “are a problem.” San Diego State has battled tough post players all year, from Arizona’s Oumar Ballo in the Maui Invitational to Nevada’s Will Baker and New Mexico’s Morris Udeze in Mountain West play. Just over a week ago, SDSU matched up against Alabama’s 7-foot Charles Bediako and Creighton’s Ryan Kalkbrenner, who goes 7-1 and 260 pounds. Beat both of them.

But UConn is different. Sanogo averages a team-

high 17.2 points and 7.6 rebounds per game while shooting 60 percent from the field. Clingan averages 7.0 points and 5.7 rebounds off the bench. His 69 blocked shots are five more than Mensah’s 64 – and Mensah has played 287 more minutes this season. (Extrapolate Clingan’s averages to 40 minutes a game, and he becomes a 21-point, 17-rebound, 5.4-block-agame player). Karaban posted a plus-minus ratio of 24 against Miami, tops on the team.

San Diego State will counter with a rugged frontline of their own.

Mensah leads a deep, physical forward group that includes fellow starter Keshad Johnson (6-7, 225) and both Jaedon LeDee(6-9, 240) and Arop (6-7, 225) off the bench. The Aztecs are a bear to contend with on both ends of the court. Their season received a jolt when coach Brian Dutcher implemented a forward-fueled offensive wrinkle that Arizona used when the teams played in November.

While much of basketball has been taken over analytics and a quest for position-less players,

UConn and San Diego State are throwbacks, coastal cousins who share some of the same DNA.

“I love college basketball because the center is still valued,” Dutcher said. “And (with) the pro basketball game, it used to be if you were a great center (in college), you’d be in the NBA. Now they don’t value a true center (in the NBA); they want a guy that can step out and shoot 3s and drive it and be a playmaker from the high points. And their metrics say it does no good to throw the ball inside.

“I think college basketball has got it right. I think to throw the ball inside is to create issues in that low post is winning basketball. So (the Huskies) have the capability of doing that, and so do we.”

Mensah and the Aztecs watched a little more of UConn on TV Sunday morning. This time, it was gamefilm of the one team keeping San Diego State from college hoops history. Before traveling to NRG Arena for practice, the Aztecs witnessed as a team what Mensah saw all season long.

Their strategy to stop UConn? Stop the bigs.

As Iowa chipped away at the lead, it was LSU’s post players that offered the biggest contributions to keep the game out of reach. Forward LaDazhia Williams and Reese combined for 35 points and 15 rebounds. Five LSU players scored in double figures. Alexis Morris scored 15 of her 21 in the final 10 minutes. She also played a key role in limiting Clark, who was coming off back-to-back 41-point games.

Carson was held to one point in the second half, but she broke a title game record for 3-point percentage at 83.3%, passing Tennessee’s Abby Conklin, who shot 80% from deep in 1996.

“She gave us a huge spark off the bench,” Morris said. “She was the game changer tonight.”

Sunday’s championship lived up to the hype that surrounded this weekend’s tournament in Dallas, as a sellout crowd of 19,482 packed American Airlines Center and set an attendance record for the whole weekend.

“In my five years here, I’ve seen the game grow in a way I never thought it could,” Clark said. “This is the game we love, and seeing it get the recognition it deserves is super rewarding. It’s about time women’s basketball gets this kind of viewership, and it can only go up.”

A night full of records culminated with Mulkey securing her sixth championship as a player or coach and fourth as a head coach, now placing her in sole possession of third place for most championships by a women’s head coach.

Paul Kitagaki Jr./Sacramento Bee/TNS Sacramento River Cats manager Dave Brundage talks about the season during media day at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento Wednesday.

Shae Hammond/Bay Area News Group/TNS