Daily Republic: Monday, July 31, 2023

Writer shares best popular fantasy football strategies B1

The WashinGTon PosT

At least 40 people were killed in a suspected suicide bomb blast targeting a political convention in northwest Pakistan on Sunday, raising new concerns over the mounting scale of attacks as the country prepares for a general election later this year.

The blast struck a gathering for Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, near the border with Afghanistan, and injured nearly 200 people, according to the provincial information minister, Feroze Jamal Shah Kakakhel.

Colleen DeGuzman

KFF HEALTH NEWS

The Suicide & Crisis Lifeline’s 988 hotline marked its one-year mile stone this month. Mental health experts say the three-digit number made help more accessible than before. The hotline was designed with the idea that people experiencing emotional distress are more comfortable reach ing out for help from trained counselors than from police and other first responders through 911.

Since the federally mandated crisis hotline’s new number launched in July 2022, 988 has received about 4 million calls, chats, and texts, according to a KFF report– up 33% from the previous year. (The hotline previously used a 10-digit number,

800-273-8255, which remains active but is not promoted.) At a July press event, policymakers and mental health experts celebrated the hotline’s first-year successes as well as its additional $1 billion in funding from the Biden administration. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra described 988 as a “godsend” during taped remarks. “It may not be the solution,” he said, “but it lets you touch someone

who can send you on a path to where you will get the help you need.”

Those same advocates recognized the dark reality represented by 988’s high call volume: The nation faces a mental health crisis, and there is still much work to be done.

One year in, it’s also clear that the 988 hotline, a network of more than 200 state and local call centers, faces challenges ahead, including public mistrust and confusion.

It’s also clear the hotline needs federal and state funding intervention to be sustainable. Here’s a status check on where things stand: What worked?

The original 1-800 national mental health crisis hotline has operated since 2005. The huge increase in calls to 988 compared with those to the 1-800 number in just a year is likely linked to the simplicity of the three-digit code, said Adrienne Breidenstine, vice president of policy and communications at Behavioral Health System in Baltimore. “People are remembering it easily,” she told KFF Health News.

According to a survey by NAMI and IPSOS

The WashinGTon PosT TULAROSA, N.M. — A strong rumble woke 13-year-old Lucy Benavidez Garwood in the darkness, shaking the three-room adobe house where she and her family lived and rattling dishes in the kitchen cupboard. Neighbors who gathered that morning agreed it must have been an earthquake.

They learned the truth several weeks later when U.S. forces attacked Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. The atomic bombs dropped on the two cities had been developed in Tularosa’s own backyard – that predawn test blast jolting communities across southern New Mexico, shooting a mushroom cloud 10 miles into the sky, then raining radioac-

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, or JUI, is a right-wing political and religious party led by hard-line cleric Maulana Fazlur Rehman, an ally of the Taliban leadership in neighboring Afghanistan. The party supports electoral politics in Pakistan – and is part of the

ruling coalition – but has taken ultraconservative positions on issues such as women’s rights.

As many as 500 people attended the conference Sunday in the Bajaur district, as JUI prepares for the upcoming election, said Ayaz Khan, a party spokesman. Pakistan’s governing coalition agreed to dissolve Parliament next month, which would trigger a general election before the end of the year.

Militant groups and more extremist parties had hoped to gain momentum in the lead-up to that vote, as Pakistan grapples with high inflation, a faltering economy, and tensions between the government and former prime minister Imran Khan. Similar gatherings like the one held in Bajaur on Sunday have been taking place across the country to mobilize supporters and voters.

See Blast, Page A6

tive ash on thousands of unsuspecting residents.

What happened here in the aftermath, surviving “downwinders” and their relatives say, is a legacy of serious health consequences that have gone unacknowledged for 78 years. Their struggles continue to be pushed aside; the new blockbuster film “Oppenheimer,” which spotlights the scientist

most credited for the bomb, ignores completely the people who lived in the shadow of his test site.

Yet for all their ambivalence about the movie’s fanfare – the northern New Mexico city of Los Alamos, where J. Robert Oppenheimer located the Manhattan Project, just threw a 10-day festival

Paul Ratje/The Washington Post

Lucy Benavidez Garwood remembers being roused from sleep by the force of the world’s first nuclear explosion, the atomic bomb that in 1945 was secretly tested just beyond the southern New Mexico town where her family lived.

Eric Harkleroad/KFF Health News/TNS

An advertisement for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline’s 988 hotline is seen at a subway station in Washington, D.C.

‘It may not be the solution, but it lets you touch someone who can send you on a path to where you will get the help you need.’

— Xavier Becerra, Health and Human Services Secretary

Wade vs. Wade on The People’s Court

Note: This is a work of fiction based on a reallife events.

VOICEOVER: This is the plaintiff, Tony Wade. (Tony Wade enters) He claims the defendant, his oldest brother, owes him big time for all the trauma he put him through as a child, plus money for selling his belongings. He is suing for $5,000.

This is the defendant Orvis T. Wade Jr. (Orvis T. Wade Jr. enters) He says his younger brother needs to stop whining.

What you are about to witness is real. The participants are not actors. They are actual litigants with a case pending in civil court. Both parties have agreed to drop their claims and have their cases settled here, before Judge Marilyn Milian, in our forum: The People's Court.

(Judge Marilyn Milian enters, Douglas the bailiff hands her a card)

DOUGLAS: The People’s Court is now in session. The honorable Judge Marilyn Milian is presiding. The litigants have been sworn, your honor.

JUDGE MARILYN

MILIAN: Thank you, Douglas. Now, since you are both Mr. Wade, to avoid confusion I will call the plaintiff Tony. Is that OK?

TONY: Sure. Can I call you Marilyn?

JUDGE MARILYN

MILIAN: You can call me Judge or your honor. As for the defendant, is it alright if I call you Orvis?

O.T.: I prefer O.T. your honor.

JUDGE MARILYN

MILIAN: O.T. it is. So Tony, you allege that the defendant inflicted emo-

tional damage on you as well as deprived you of the proceeds from items he sold that belonged to you, and you are suing to the tune of the statutory limit of $5,000. Tell me how he inflicted emotional damage.

TONY: Where do I start? When our parents weren’t home and I would be taking a bath, he would pick the lock to the door and threaten to douse me with a pitcher of ice water unless I begged him not to.

O.T.: Objection!

JUDGE MARILYN MILIAN: This isn’t “Law & Order,” it's small claims. I’m going to get his side of the story and then I’ll get yours. Don’t shout out.

O.T.: But your honor I never used ice water, just cold tap water!

JUDGE MARILYN MILIAN: What part of don’t shout out did you not understand? Now, Tony go ahead.

TONY: Thank you. Even if I begged he would still throw the ice water – and it was ice water – on me.

JUDGE MARILYN MILIAN: Is that it? Because I gotta tell ya, I’ve been doin’ this for a long time and that just sounds like the kind of stupid stuff brothers do when their parents aren’t home.

TONY: I’m just getting started, Judge!

JUDGE MARILYN MILIAN: Well, that’s what you led with! I would think that you’d start out with the worst stuff.

TONY: There’s so much, Judge and I didn’t know I had to prioritize them. But worse than the ice water was when he sometimes would wait until I got out of the bathtub, grab me and push me outside com-

pletely naked, lock the doors and laugh at me through the window.

JUDGE MARILYN

MILIAN: Did you do that, O.T.?

O.T.: Your honor, he’s taking it completely out of context.

JUDGE MARILYN

MILIAN: Out of context? What kind of context would make that OK to do?

O.T.: The context is it was the mid-1970s and streaking was very popular at the time. I would never do that in 2023.

JUDGE MARILYN

MILIAN: (exhale and eye roll) What else ya got Tony?

TONY: When we lived at Hamilton Air Force Base he hit me on the back of my head so hard that I saw stars! I was only 12 and he was almost 17 then!

O.T.: Your honor, he did something way worse than hitting me on the back of the head first.

JUDGE MARILYN

MILIAN: What did he do?

OT: He threw one of my minibike magazines across the room.

JUDGE MARILYN

MILIAN: Honest to God, you two deserve each other! What else do you have, Tony?

TONY: How about when he stole my bike and sold it!

JUDGE MARILYN

MILIAN: You stole your brother’s bike?

O.T.: No, not really. I simply took parts from it and ones from my other brothers’ bikes – that were all broken, by the way – and made a working bike that I sold. I think it showed ingenuity and entrepreneurship for an adolescent to do that.

TONY: Ask him how much he got for it, your honor.

JUDGE MARILYN MILIAN: How much?

O.T.: $4.

JUDGE MARILYN MILIAN: Not exactly Jeff Bezos were you?

O.T.: Your honor, in my defense $4 could buy a lot of comic books in those days.

TONY: That leads me to my next item: the defendant also sold a boxful of comic books that didn’t belong to him to Joe Pyle, who lived across the street from us.

JUDGE MARILYN MILIAN: How much did you get for the box of comics?

O.T.: Seventy-five cents.

JUDGE MARILYN MILIAN: What was up with you selling things that didn’t belong to you?

O.T.: Your honor, it was a business opportunity that I couldn’t pass up.

JUDGE MARILYN MILIAN: I get that, but that doesn’t seem like such a great deal. I mean, for Joe it probably was.

O.T.: I was a child then your honor. I now have an MBA, but I didn’t back then.

JUDGE MARILYN MILIAN: Clearly. But my question for you Tony is how do you figure this adds up, first to a lawsuit at all and second to a lawsuit for $5,000? Was Action Comics #1 in that box of comic books? Action Comics #1 was the first appearance of Superman. If anyone is impressed that I know that, it’s just because of my geeky husband John, by the way.

O.T.: They were mostly Archie, Richie Rich, Hot Stuff and some DC superhero ones like Green Arrow and The Flash your honor. Nothing rare.

TONY: Nothing rare? He sold my collection of Plop! magazines!

JUDGE MARILYN

MILIAN: Plop! magazine? Douglas, have you ever heard of Plop! magazine?

(Douglas shakes his head)

TONY: It was called "Plop! The New Magazine of Weird Humor!" and it was a great 1970s humor/horror comic book with art by Mad Magazine artists like Sergio Aragones. It was a classic. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were worth a fortune now.

JUDGE MARILYN

MILIAN: Hold on a second and let me Google it (pulls out phone, scrolls with finger, her face scrunches up). That is some weird stuff there, Tony.

TONY: It was great when you were a preadolescent and hadn’t discovered girls yet.

JUDGE MARILYN

MILIAN: So here’s the thing, though. The most I see them going for are like $60 and that is a mint condition copy of the first issue.

TONY: But they had great sentimental value to me!

JUDGE MARILYN

MILIAN: That’s fine, but you aren’t suing for sentiment, you're suing for dollars, 5,000 of them. Enough already! I’m done!

TONY: But your honor …

JUDGE MARILYN

MILIAN: Stick a fork in me I’m done! Tony, none of the things you have brought up are grounds for a lawsuit. They are grounds for a therapist, however. Case dismissed!

(scene changes to the foyer)

DOUG LLEWELYN: Well, Judge Milian didn’t buy that the plaintiff had a case at all. Here comes the defendant O.T. (O.T. enters the foyer) How did you feel about the judge’s verdict?

O.T.: I feel it was right. All of that stuff happened 40 to 50 years ago. Time for Tony to get over it.

DOUG LLEWELYN: Very well, thank you. (O.T. exits) Here’s comes the plaintiff. (Tony enters the foyer) Tony, the judge didn’t buy your complaints as being enough for a lawsuit.

TONY: They were all true. I guess now I’m not going to go ahead with my lawsuit against another brother Kelvin for hitting me in the head with a comb on Christmas Day of 1974.

DOUG LLEWELYN: The judge suggested therapy, are you going to take her advice?

TONY: No, I’m just gonna go write a column about it.

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," "Lost Restaurants of Fairfield, California," the upcoming book "Armijo High School: Fairfield, California" and hosts the Channel 26 government access TV show "Local Legends."

BRIGHT spot

Tony Wade

The last laugh

National Night Out Celebration at Laurel Creek Park on Tuesday

FAIRFIELD — The Living Waters Worship Center invites the community to a National Night Out Celebration and Back-to-School Giveaway on Tuesday.

The event will be at Laurel Creek Park in Fairfield, starting at 4 p.m.

They will have a wide array of exciting activities and attractions planned for attendees of all ages.

A Back-to-School Giveaway will include school supplies for children.

Museum’s Hot August Nights returns

The Western Railway Museum will host a Hot August Rails event on Saturday. The museum will be celebrating trains and classic automobiles of all kinds. Take a scenic train ride in the countryside and a classic car show like no other.

Guests can also enjoy an exclusive wine-andbeer garden, as well games and activities for the whole family.

The event will occur from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 5848 Highway 12. Purchase tickets at www.wrm.org.

Democratic club hosts chili cook-off

The Northern Solano Democratic Club is hosting a chili cook-off from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at Arlington Park in Vacaville.

Tickets are $20. Come sample chilis and help pick a winner.

The park is located at 505 Foxboro Parkway.

For more information, send email to pres. nsdc@gmail.com.

Government meetings on week’s calendar

A few government meetings will be held this week. They are all open to the public, some are online and in-person. Check the websites for more information.

The meetings will include:

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

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

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.

The Suisun City Council meeting scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Aug. 1 is canceled; the Suisun City Recreation, Parks, Marina and Arts Commission meeting scheduled for 6 p.m. Aug. 2 is canceled; and the Solano County Planning Commission meeting scheduled for 7 p.m. Aug. 3 has been canceled due to lack of items on the agenda.

Trump’s PAC to report legal expenses exceeding $40M

tRibune content agency

Donald Trump’s political action committee spent $40.2 million on legal costs in the first half of 2023 to defend the former president, his advisers and others, according to people with knowledge of crisis for the campaign, the New York Times reported late Saturday.

The disclosure is set to come as Trump, who’s leading polls for the 2024 Republican nomination, braces for yet another indictment, this time in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s probe into the aftermath of the 2020 election and the attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

He’s already been indicted in a federal case

over his handling of classified documents and in New York state court where he faces charges over alleged hush money payments to an adult film star.

Trump was hit Thursday with new obstruction charges in the criminal case over classified

tRibune content agency

LOS ANGELES — California cities have tried arresting drivers and fining spectators in an effort to crack down on illegal street takeovers, and now the city of Santa Rosa is taking a novel approach to curb the problem: Sue organizers for polluting waterways.

Organizers of multiple street takeovers caused a public nuisance, broke numerous traffic laws and violated the state’s Fish and Game Code by polluting public waterways with shredded rubber from car tires that eventually made its way into storm drains, city attorneys allege in a recent complaint filed against 13 people.

The defendants “organized and promoted the sideshows for the purpose of bringing together dozens of individuals to use motor vehicles unlawfully by engaging in exhibitions of speed and reckless driving, including doughnuts, burnouts, and spinning tires,” according to the suit filed July 7.

The lawsuit is the first known instance in California in which public officials have employed the state’s Fish and Game Code to stop street takeovers.

Santa Rosa city and police officials declined to comment on the suit, citing ongoing litigation. In a recent statement, however, Police Chief John Cregan said the department had worked with Sonoma County officials and neighboring law

In brief

Drone attacks hit Moscow towers

Drones hit two office towers in Moscow’s prestigious business district and prompted the temporary closure of one of the city’s international airports during an overnight attack that Russia blamed on Ukraine.

enforcement agencies to address the growing problem to stop the takeovers, also known as sideshows, before they got underway.

The police department also “studied city ordinances around the state” and have impounded more than 100 vehicles involved in street takeovers, officials said.

Now the city has also sued some of the organizers of the events. City officials allege that the 13 men named in the lawsuit are part of a group called “ROSABARZ,” which organized at least four sideshows on July 9 and 10, 2022.

The suit names Jorge Luis Calderon Caballero, Daniel Felix Nunez Serna, Roberto Carrillo, Emiliano Bautista Rodriguez, Manuel Andres Garfia, George Michael Patino Flores, Alexys AguirreSerrano, Joel Vasquez Cortez, Jersain Lezama Meza, Jesus Calderon Avalos, Neri Alberto OreaVasquez, Richard Murillo Robles and Rodrigo Lopez-Tapia.

None of the defendants appeared to have retained attorneys, according to court records.

Many of the social media accounts tied to some of the defendants and listed in court records appeared to have been deleted or removed by Friday. Those that remained did not respond to a request for comment.

The suit filed by the city shows that the street takeovers cited in the records operated much like other events across the state, with social media messages being sent out late at night with the time and location for spectators to show up.

The lawsuit is the first known instance in California in which public officials have employed the state’s Fish and Game Code to stop street takeovers.

The defendants blocked public streets and intersections to keep police from reaching the scene, keeping motorists and other emergency vehicles from reaching the scene.

Organizers used social media, among other means, to get the word out on the street takeover, according to the suit.

The city also accuses organizers and spectators of violent behavior, including throwing bottles at police officers and cars.

The July 2022 sideshows, city officials claim, were organized as a birthday celebration for one of the group’s members. Court documents also show officials obtained texts and social media messages, allegedly showing how organizers of the group reached out to people to show up for the takeover, sending out the time and location

Jose Concepcion Castillo Sr 97 passed away peacefully at his home in Fairfield, CA on July 16, 2023.

Jose was born on August 14, 1925, in San Juan, Texas to Franciso and Crescencia Bocardo Castillo. He married Stella Reyes in 1951 and was married 56 years before her passing on July 24, 2007.

Republicans retake the White House.

“Trump has spent over $60 million on 2 things: falsely attacking DeSantis and paying his own legal fees, not a cent on defeating Biden,” Romeo posted on X, formerly Twitter.

Trump isn’t turning down anyone ensnared in his legal troubles seeking help, particularly those who can’t afford the expense, people close to him said.

Two drones that hit buildings in the Moscow City development were brought down using electronic jamming, while a third was shot down by air defenses in Moscow region, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a Telegram statement Sunday.

Vnukovo airport halted operations for several hours before later resuming work, the state-run Tass news service reported.

— Tribune Content Agency

He is preceded in death by brothers Pedro and Santos; and sisters Rafaela, Amalia, Juana, and Tomasa.

Jose served and retired from the U.S. Air Force as a Technical Sergeant following 24 years of service at Travis AFB, Calif. Among his awards and decorations were the Air Force Longevity Service Award with three bronze oak leaf clusters, Good Conduct Medal with four bronze oak leaf clusters, National Defense Service Medal with 2 Bronze Stars, and the Medal for Humane Airlift (Berlin Airlift).

Following his retirement from the service he was elected as manager of the Travis AFB commissary grocery baggers for 34 consecutive years.

Mr. Castillo and his wife enjoyed traveling in

of the event. Members also sent out false information to social media accounts they suspected were members of law enforcement trying to stop the events.

In the lawsuit, city officials claim that the vehicles that were burning tires and doing doughnuts on the city intersections left behind pieces of tires on the road, which eventually washed down storm drains and into waterways.

City officials allege that not only did the street takeovers cause a public nuisance, but violated the vehicle code in illegal exhibitions of speed, reckless driving and willful misconduct, and violated the Fish and Game code by polluting waterways by leaving behind pieces of tires, which were eventually washed off in storm drains and into waterways.

Cities across the state have sought different ways to stop the street takeovers. Officials deployed more deputies in Compton during the weekend as street takeovers prompted some to call the city the “mecca of street takeovers.” In Alameda County, officials proposed a new law that would fine spectators $1,000 and raise the possibility of three months in county jail.

Santa Rosa is seeking fines of $25,000 per violation from each defendant, as well as punitive damages.

their motor home visiting family and friends in their later years.

Mr. Castillo is survived by his son, Richard Castillo, and his wife Judy of Vacaville, daughter Stella Dyer and her husband Bruce of Surprise, AZ sons Jose of Casa Grande, AZ Frank of Vacaville, Larry and Bruce of Honolulu, and daughter Debbie Miller and her husband Marty of Santa Cruz; eight grandchildren, 18 great-great-grandchildren, and three great-great-

Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times/TNS file (2022)

A car drifts around spectators gathered during a street takeover in East Compton, Aug. 14, 2022.

TRUMP

Should state use bond money to cover its budget deficits?

California’s state budget is under stress from stagnating tax revenues, leading Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislators to make some hard choices about priorities and enticing them to adopt alternative strategies to maintain spending.

The recently adopted 2023-24 budget contains examples of both and as the income/outgo squeeze continues, as a recent Department of Finance projection indicates, the search for new strategies will become more intense.

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 sebastian.onate@mcnaughton. media or drop them off at our office, 1250 Texas St. in Fairfield.

Tax me! The country needs it

Iconsider myself a patriot.

Dan Walters

One of those strategies emulates the federal government’s chronic addiction to borrowing money to cover operating deficits. The 2023-24 budget includes several examples, including directly tapping the state’s special funds for loans and indirectly borrowing from employers by forcing them to repay the state’s $18 billion debt to the federal government for unemployment insurance benefits during the Covid-19 pandemic.

When the Legislature returns to the Capitol in mid-August for the last month of its 2023 session, one of its unfinished chores is to decide how many bond issues to place on the ballot for two 2024 elections.

Gov. Gavin Newsom and various lawmakers have collectively proposed something north of $100 billion in bonds, which is far more than either voters or financial markets are likely to swallow. Newsom has indicated that he wants a $26 billion lid on bond issues, telling reporters at a recent press conference, “A number of legislative leaders have come to – ‘Hey, support this, support my bond, this bond.’ We have to work together on what the priorities are going to look like for November.”

Some of the proposals are for things that have traditionally been financed with borrowed money, such as school construction and water projects. But there’s a disturbing trend in other proposals – using borrowed bond money to operate programs and services that are usually backed by budget appropriations.

It’s disturbing because it violates what should be a bedrock principle of bond financing, which is to use it only for projects with long-term benefits, such as construction.

California has generally adhered to that principle but has deviated occasionally, such as issuing long-term bonds in 2004 to pay off billions of dollars in short-term budget debt which threatened to destroy the state’s credit rating. Another example is two voter-approved bond issues totaling $8.5 billion to finance stem cell research.

One of the bond measures floating around the Capitol this year would borrow $5.2 billion to deal with the state’s epidemic of opioid addiction through treatment and education. It’s being pushed by Assemblyman Reggie JonesSawyer, a Los Angeles Democrat who chairs the Assembly Public Safety Committee.

The committee has blocked bills that would impose harsher penalties on sellers of fentanyl, a particularly deadly opioid, and Jones-Sawyer contends that non-criminal approaches would work better.

The crisis is real but borrowing money that would have to be repaid by taxpayers over decades, with hefty interest payments, to finance short-term services is a slippery slope. Given the likelihood that California will be seeing budget deficits for the foreseeable future, approval of an opioid treatment bond would encourage advocates for other social service and medical services to seek similarly expedient financing.

California has no shortage of debt now. The state treasurer’s office says that as of July 1, the state was on the hook for $121 billion in principal and interest on bonds it already has issued. That doesn’t count the $18 billion owed to the feds for unemployment insurance, the $82 billion in unfunded liabilities for state employee health care or at least that much in unfunded liabilities for state worker pension obligations.

There is good debt and there is bad debt.

In winnowing through the competing bond proposals for placement on the 2024 ballot, Newsom and legislators should remember the difference.

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.

I’m proud to be an American. I want my country to be strong - economically, politically, militarily, and morally. So tax me more!

But we are running deficit after deficit. Let’s stop it. I’m willing to pay more in taxes if that will stop this madness. But there’s one caveat. I’ll get to it later.

After decades of deficits we now have a total $32 trillion debt. The interest rate on that debt was a trifle when interest rates were low, but with increasing interest rates we will face some unpleasant decisions someday soon. So let’s run some surpluses and begin to solve one of our problems. I’ll pay more to do that.

How have we come to such a pass? I don’t usually write controversial things but let me answer that question directly. It’s a Republican creation. Shocked? Let me prove it.

First, let’s admit that we must run deficits in an emergency. The two presidents with the largest deficits by far (as a percent of the economy at that time) were Presidents Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt. They had solid reasons for their spending – two world wars.

Taxes were always raised to pay off those debts.

Today, we refuse to raise taxes. Something happened between then and now. What?

Ronald Reagan. Ronnie got us here. When he was elected we were enduring “stagflation” from the 1970s, and Ronnie solved that nightmare. Good!

How? His Fed Chairman, Paul Volker, raised interest rates radically, almost stopping the economy, and wrung inflationary expectations our of our minds. For the next 40 years, interest rates went down

and the economy grew rapidly. Good.

And famously, he lowered taxes, especially on the rich. Bad! Reagan hollered against deficits in speeches for eight years but ran big deficits every year. It was a sight to behold. He was so smooth, no one seemed to notice.

And by the way, those deficits weren’t the cause of the great economy he presided over. Many economists found that it was the low interest rates that really did it. His deficits made him the No. 3 largest borrower in our history.

His successor, George H.W. Bush ran deficits. He ranked No. 6 on the deficit parade.

Now let’s go back in time to John Maynard Keynes, an English economist of the 1930s. The old-time economists all believed that recessions and depressions come and the government should tighten its belt like we folks do in that emergency. Keynes said no. Make up all the lost demand and lost tax income by borrowing and stimulate the economy back to normal. Then when the economy heats up again, slow it down by raising taxes and paying off the debt. Brilliant. Who resisted? Republicans of course. Who took the advice? Bill Clinton.

H.W.’s successor, Bill Clinton, a Democrat, was a model financial president. He inherited a sharp recession in 1992 – an emergency –and deficit-spent us back to normal. Then, when the economy rebounded, he raised taxes and ran four years of surplus, paying back the debts he had incurred. His last years in office were dubbed “the Goldilocks economy,” not too hot and not too cold. Perfect.

But the GOP was now hooked on Reagan’s tax cuts and trickle-

down economics. So George W. Bush inherited Clinton’s surplus and promptly lowered taxes and plunged us back to deficit land. Bush had the No. 4 largest deficits. The belief that debts were bad and should be paid off with taxes was as dead as the dodo. Bush’s libertarian Fed chairman caused the catastrophic bank/debt meltdown of 2008. Barak Obama inherited the mess.

Obama tried to get an appropriately sized stimulus deficit to pull us out of the Great Recession but the GOP and their Old Time Economic Religion blocked him. But at least he kept government programs fully funded so we wouldn’t fall into another Great Depression. He wears the mantel of No. 5 largest deficit president.

But he was justified – he was fighting a genuine emergency. Because he couldn’t really stimulate the economy properly we pulled out of the Great Recession slowly over the next ten years, a totally unnecessary piece of torture for millions. Thanks, Republicans.

Then President Trump. He passed a big unfunded tax cut mostly for himself and the rich. There was no emergency. It was just a government handout.

President Biden has actually taken steps to reduce deficits. He’s raised taxes on corporations and wealthy individuals. I’m encouraged.

And now, my caveat. I’ll pay higher taxes after the wealthy pay their fair share. After all this Republican indulgence, they now pay lower rates that their office secretaries. It’s a disgraceful situation; one made by the GOP.

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

Why are politicians targeting our children?

While California continues to face serious issues with rising crime, homelessness, increasing fentanyl deaths, and failing schools, our legislators continue to pursue their sociopolitical agenda. One focus of this legislative session seems to be our children, more specifically, LGBTQ+ and transgender legislation aimed at children, parents and schools. See several examples below. There are more.

AB 665 by Assemblywoman Wendy Carrillo, D-Los Angeles, and Assemblyman Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, allows random adults to place children 12-plus into a residential shelter, based on child’s wishes alone, no parental knowledge or consent necessary, and no allegation of any danger whatsoever to the child. This bill basically emancipates minors at the age of 12. REALLY? What could possibly go wrong? And what are possible future ramifications for emancipating minors at ages 12 and older – normalize consensual sex with a minor; grant voting rights to minors 12 and older?

AB 957 by Assemblywoman Lori Wilson, D-Suisun City (our Assembly member), and Wiener creates a litmus test for parenting in the state of California by codifying into law that failing to affirm a child’s chosen gender identity, regardless of their age, will be considered detrimental to the health, safety and welfare of the child. Consequently, a parent who does not affirm their child’s chosen gender identity will

be regarded as engaging in actions tantamount to child abuse. In a child custody case, the affirming parent will be given preference, and the non-affirming parent will be considered less qualified to parent. Without clarification, gender affirmation can include both social and medical affirmations.

AB 223 by Assemblyman Chris Ward, D-San Diego, permits an adult (could be one parent, friend of minor, or court-appointed guardian) to seal public records of a minor when changing their name and sex identifier. Effectively, this creates a new identity that may or may not be shared with parents. This is another bill that would make it easier for random adults to “legally erase children” and make it more difficult for law enforcement to locate trafficked children whose names and sexual identities have been changed to conceal their true identities.

SB14 by state Sen. Shannon Grove, R-Bakersfield, would make child trafficking a “serious crime” with serious consequences. Who could possibly vote against that one? The bill passed the Senate with a unanimous floor vote. But on July 11, it was voted down in the Assembly Public Safety Committee, a committee of eight members, two Republicans and six Democrats. All six Democrats abstained from voting and both Republicans voted aye. The unified action by Democrats, abstaining from voting, stopped the bill in committee where it would have died.

Word spread throughout the

rest of the country, that Democrats were once again protecting criminals, this time pedophiles. This set off alarm bells for Gavin Newsom and his presidential ambitions. Before long, assembly phones were ringing, Democrats fell in line, and SB14 was quickly returned to the Public Safety Committee for an emergency re-vote the same day.

On the re-vote in the Public Safety Committee, the measure passed, moving it forward, but two members still abstained. Assemblywoman Mia Bonta, D-Oakland, wife of our attorney general, and Assemblyman Issac Bryan, D-Culver City, could not bring themselves to call child traffickers “criminals.” That is unconscionable!

Ask yourself why.

Maybe they really are after our children.

“We the People” cannot afford to remain uninformed and sit quietly by until the governor signs these bills into law. We need to let our representatives know where we stand on these critical issues and hold them accountable. Make sure they represent you, or vote them out.

Now is the time to learn more about pending legislation at https:// leginfo.legislature.ca.gov. Share your thoughts with your representatives with calls, emails, letters and, most effective, repeated personal visits to their office. Look up https://find yourrep.legislature.ca.gov. Add their phone number to your cell phone contact list and stay in touch.

Colleen Britton is a contributing member of the Right Stuff Committee. She can be reached at vacatpp@gmail.com.

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Yeoh marries former racing exec Todt after 19-year engagement

Tribune ConTenT AgenCy

Nineteen years after saying “yes,” Michelle Yeoh has finally said “I do”: The history-making Oscar winner has wed longtime fiance Jean Todt.

The “Everything Everywhere All at Once” star, 60, wed the former Ferrari and Peugeot racing director, 77, in Geneva on Thursday, according to former Formula 1 driver Felipe Massa, who shared the couple’s wedding program on Instagram. The program recapped the high-profile pair’s love story and revealed a few details about their big day.

“We met in Shanghai on 4th June 2004,” the program said. “On 26th July 2004, J.T proposed to marry M.Y and

she said YES! Today after 6992 days on 27th July 2023 in Geneva, surrounded by loving family and friends, we are so happy to celebrate this special moment together!”

It appears that Yeoh’s Oscar statuette also made it to the festivities, with Massa and others posing alongside the gilded trophy in his photos. The pictorial recap also showed the “Crazy Rich Asians” and “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” actor adorned in a few wedding looks, including a sheer blouse and tasseled cream skirt, as well as a champagne-hued bodice gown.

“Happy marriage #JeanTodt & #michelle yeoh love you so much,” Massa captioned the post.

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

Weather

5-day forecast for Fairfield-Suisun City

Bomb

From Page One

to celebrate its place in history – locals also have hope that the Hollywood glow may elevate their long quest to be added to a federal program that compensates people sickened by presumed exposure to radiation from aboveground nuclear tests.

“They were counting on us to be unsophisticated and uneducated and unable to stick up for ourselves,” said Tina Cordova, a Tularosa native who for 18 years has led the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium, which she co-founded after being diagnosed with thyroid cancer. “We’re not those people anymore.”

California Lottery | Sunday

Blast

From Page One

But the deadly blast was a grim reminder of the recent resurgence of violence across Pakistan, which for years battled militants in its restive border regions.

Terrorist attacks have skyrocketed since peace talks between the government and the Pakistani Taliban – known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP – collapsed in November. Earlier this year, a suicide bomber detonated his explosives at a mosque inside a police compound in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, killing at least 95 people, in one of the deadliest attacks ever on Pakistan’s security forces.

Before that, the TTP had largely been cowed by a harsh military crack-

988

From Page One

conducted in June, 63% of Americans had heard of 988, and those ages 18 to 29 were most aware. Additionally, the survey found that LGBTQ+ people were twice as likely to be familiar with 988 as people who don’t identify as LGBTQ+.

The 988 hotline provides 24/7 support for people in suicidal crisis or other kinds of emotional distress, Breidenstine said. “They can be calling if they really just had a bad day,” she said. “We also get some calls from people experiencing postpartum depression.” Callers are directed to a menu of options to choose which kind of service would best help them, including a veterans’ line.

As it launched, mental health experts worried about the hotline’s ability to keep up with demand. But it appears to be growing into its position.

The Trinity site, about 60 miles northwest of tiny Tularosa, was chosen in part for its supposed isolation. Nearly half a million people lived within a 150-mile radius, though. Manhattan Project leaders knew a nuclear test would put them at risk, but with the nation at war, secrecy was the priority. Evacuation plans were never acted upon. The military concocted a cover story: The boom was an explosion of an ammunitions magazine. “I feel like we weren’t valued,” said Garwood, now 91, with a family tree scarred by cancers. “Like they didn’t value our lives or our culture.”

“We … are still paying the price,” he added. According to a new study, the fallout floated to 46 states, Mexico and Canada within 10 days. In 28 of 33 New Mexico counties, it estimates the accumulation of radioac tive material was higher than required under the federal compensa tion program.

That program – the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act of 1990 – has paid out more than $2.5 billion to people who lived downwind of dozens of aboveground explosions conducted starting in the 1950s at the Nevada Test Site, as well as uranium industry workers and “on-site participants” at the Trinity test. New Mexico civilians have never been eligible.

New Mexico Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D) and Sen. Mike Crapo (R) of Idaho have pressed for years to expand RECA to include people who lived in their and other states during test periods. On Thursday, the Senate took up the amendment for the first time and passed it. Approval by the House remains uncertain, with some members contending the cost is too high. The program will expire next May without further action.

Paul Ratje/The Washington Post

Evarista Baca, Lucy Benavidez Garwood’s grandmother, died of breast cancer just three years after the world’s first nuclear detonation.

“The Durans. The Chavezes. I mean, you go down the road, and I could tell you this one, this one, this one,” said Garwood’s daughter, Doris Walters, 68. She became active with the downwinders consortium after her own breast cancer diagnosis. “You knock on the door, they would say, ‘Yes, cancer affected me or my family.’ ”

The group has collected about 1,000 family health histories from people in the area and found new supporters along the way.

Garwood and Walters decided to see the movie on its opening weekend in nearby Alamogordo, where the drone of jets from Holloman Air Force Base is everyday background noise. The older woman found herself overcome by memories of an era infused with a sense of patriotism and fears for her father, who was serving in Europe. Her daughter kept thinking about the multiple meanings of the word “trinity.”

down that routed its fighters and quashed its influence. But the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan two years ago gave a boost to the flagging movement, providing TTP leaders with political support and a crucial safe haven.

The TTP pledges allegiance to the Taliban in Afghanistan but remains a separate group. And on Sunday, both the Taliban in Afghanistan and the TTP condemned the suicide bombing. “Such crimes cannot be justified in any way,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on Twitter, which was recently renamed “X.”

Officials on Sunday said it was unclear who was behind the attack, and no group immediately claimed responsibility. But Bajaur is a former TTP stronghold, and a regional branch of the Islamic State group operates nearby.

“Despite a huge increase of demand on the system, it’s been holding up, and it’s been holding up exceptionally well,” Hannah Wesolowski, chief advocacy officer at the National Alliance on Mental Illness, told KFF Health News. It now takes an average of 35 seconds for someone reaching out to 988 – by calling or texting – to reach a counselor, according to data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. A year ago, that average was one minute and 20 seconds.

Wesolowski said one of the biggest surprises with the launch was the frequency of text-message traffic. In November 2022, the Federal Communications Commission voted to require 988 to be texting-friendly.

In May, according to SAMHSA, 988 received about 71,000 texts nationwide with a 99% response rate, compared with 8,300 texts in May 2022 with an 82% response rate. This month, HHS

The July 16, 1945, blast was more massive than Oppenheimer and his fellow scientists expected, equivalent to nearly 25,000 tons of TNT, according to recent estimates. Witnesses said the plutonium ash fell for days, on areas where people grew their own food, drank rainwater collected in cisterns and cooled off in irrigation canals that made the arid region fertile.

Jimmy Villavicencio was 4 years old when the bomb detonated near his home in Oscura, a railroad camp to the east. He was outside helping his mother and a neighbor do laundry in the cool before sunrise.

“I looked over to a big old cloud, what my mother called a tsunami,” Villavicencio, another cancer survivor, recalled several days ago. His mother frantically removed the wet clothes from the line and hung the pillowcases in the windows to protect their home from the incoming dust. “We heard like a gush of wind, and right behind it came the dirt, and I mean dirt.”

The debris caked the pillowcases. A powder coated their car. Long after the seeming storm had settled, “snowflakes kept falling,” he said. Weeks later, a neighbor’s chickens began dying.

announced the addition of Spanish text and chat services to 988.

Challenges ahead

More than half of Americans have heard of 988, but only a small fraction understand how the hotline operates. According to NAMI’s survey, only 17% of people who responded said they were “very/somewhat familiar” with the hotline.

Most people think that by calling 988, like 911, emergency services will automatically head their way, the survey found. Currently, 988 does not use geolocation, meaning call centers don’t automatically receive information about callers’ locations.

Vibrant Emotional Health, which operates the hotline, is working to incorporate geo-routing into the system, which would help identify callers’ regions – but not exact locations – making it possible to connect them to local counseling groups and other mental health services.

“This is a historic victory,” Luján said in an interview after the vote, which he attributed in part to the success of “Oppenheimer” and its scenes in New Mexico. “Any time there’s more stories being told, more information being shared, it educates all of us.”

Proving that radiation caused the cancers that have afflicted New Mexico’s downwinders is extremely difficult. A major study published in 2020 by the National Cancer Institute concluded that Trinity fallout may contribute to as many as 1,000 cancers by 2034, most in people who lived very near the test. There is “no evidence to suggest” cases among subsequent generations were related, the study noted.

But RECA does not require claimants to establish causation, only to show that they or a relative had a qualifying disease after working or living in certain locations during specific time frames.

“Why is our suffering different?” asks Bernice Gutierrez, who was born eight days after the test. She lived in Carrizozo, directly east of the Trinity site. She, her eldest son and daughter and 20 other family members have battled cancer, she said. “What has made us different than the other people given compensation?”

To many here, scientific proof is unnecessary. They say the evidence is clear in their family albums, at town gatherings and funerals.

But incorporating georouting into the hotline isn’t without controversy. When it launched, people responded on social media with warnings that calling 988 brought a heightened risk for police involvement and involuntary treatment at psychiatric hospitals.

“Based on the trauma that so many people in the mental health community have long experienced when they’ve been in crisis, those assumptions are very understandable,” Wesolowski said.

Fewer than 2% of calls end up involving law enforcement, she said, and most are de-escalated over the phone.

“The vast majority of people think that an inperson response is going to happen whenever you call – and that’s just simply not true,” Wesolowski said.

Another challenge mental health advocates face is informing older adults about 988, especially veterans, who are at higher risk of having suicidal ideations. Ameri-

Edna Kay Hinkle is one. Her father grew up on a ranch 27 miles from the Trinity site and was 14 when the explosion woke him as he slept on the front porch. A few years later, he, his brother and their wives – all young newlyweds – walked around the site. The gate was wide open. “They picked up all this melted sand, all this glass, took it home and had it in the kitchen floor by the door,” Hinkle said.

A decade ago, she was selling vegetables at the Tularosa farmer’s market when a consortium leader approached and asked her to make a list of everyone she knew who were sick or had died of cancer. Hinkle, who had recently learned she had breast cancer, figured the effort wouldn’t go anywhere.

Then she started her list, and “it dawned on me,” she said. All four of the newlyweds who’d explored the site had cancer. So did 25 other relatives from her grandparents’ generation on. A cousin had been born with no eyes and later suffered ovarian cancer.

Though Tularosa has grown some in the ensuing years, its population remains only a couple thousand. Adobe houses line its still and sunbaked streets. Pecan and pistachio orchards grow just outside of town.

Hinkle never considered leaving; she raises horses, cattle and vegetables she thought were the cleanest she could eat until she began wondering whether they were affected by contaminated soil. She has no plans to sit through “Oppenheimer.” Any glorification of the bomb, she said, “ticks me off.”

cans ages 50 to 64 had the lowest awareness rate of 988 – at 11% – among all age groups, according to NAMI’s survey.

This is a telling sign of how older generations are less willing to discuss and admit to mental health struggles, Wesolowski said. “Young people are just more willing to be open about that, so I think that breaking down that stigma across all age groups is absolutely vital, and we have a lot of work to do in that space.”

Is 988 sustainable?

Since the hotline launched, it has been dependent on federal grants and annual appropriations. A gush of funding flowed when 988 launched, “but those annual appropriations are something you have to keep going back for year after year, so the sustainability aspect is a little more fraught,” Wesolowski said.

This is where Congress and state legislatures come in.

“Every day, I get someone on my prayer list that is suffering from cancer, and I think of the father, son, and holy spirit,” Walters said.

The downwinders are trying to seize the moment. In Santa Fe, Cordova attended an “Oppenheimer” screening with others from the consortium and participated in a panel discussion on the broader legacy of the Manhattan Project.

“To say that this is an emotionally charged issue in which the government has failed to serve its own citizens, and whose protection is its moral imperative, is an understatement,” Archbishop John C. Wester told the audience.

Well into the film, Cordova began sobbing as the test bomb was detonated in an apocalyptic inferno. She was thinking of her father, grandmothers and greatgrandfathers, who she said all succumbed to cancer, and what others have shared about the actual event, when “they thought they were experiencing the end of the world.”

She wished the movie included even a few words at the end about how local communities were forever changed by what took place. But emails she received over the weekend, from people who had just gone to “Oppenheimer,” lifted her spirits.

“Whether the [filmmakers] acknowledge us or not, what’s going to happen is people are going to watch the movie, they’re going to be affected, and they’re going to go home and Google search,” Cordova said. “And they’re going to find us.”

Mental health leaders hope to push legislation that allows 988 to be funded the same way 911 is nationwide. The Wireless Communications and Public Safety Act of 1999 mandated 911 to be the country’s universal emergency number, and ever since, users have automatically been charged – an average of about a dollar a month – on their monthly phone bills to fund it. Six states have imposed a similar tax for 988, and two states – Delaware and Oregon – have bills for this tax on their governor’s desks.

It’s under the FCC’s power to levy a nationwide tax, but the federal agency hasn’t done so yet.

KFF Health News, formerly known as Kaiser Health News, is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs of KFF – the independent source for health policy research, polling and journalism.

FANTASY FOOTBALL

SF Giants walk off Red Sox again

ribune ConTenT AgenCy SAN FRANCISCO —

A Casey Schmitt hitby-pitch and a perfect Brandon Crawford bunt helped load the bases in the bottom of the 11th inning during Sunday’s game against the Red Sox.

All the Giants needed was for Joc Pederson to put the ball in play and allow the runner to score.

And with one clean swing on a 3-0 count, Pederson pulled a single into right field. For the second consecutive game in a row, San Francisco walked off the Red Sox, this time winning 4-3 and improving its record to 58-48.

shoddy fielding at third base by Boston’s AllStar Rafael Devers, with a mishandled ball giving the Giants runners on the corner with no outs and the top of the order due up.

Vikings

Drafting a running back early?

Hall of Fame careers.

Run of the mill

As you study for your fantasy football draft this summer, (you are studying, right?), it’s prudent to have a plan of attack. Let’s take a look at a popular strategy for your upcoming selection festivities.

Zero RB draft

The “Zero RB” philosophy is to wait until the fifth or sixth rounds to draft a running back, loading up on premium wide receivers, tight ends and even a stud quarterback instead. In the later rounds, running backs with high upside are drafted. This is a sound approach because times have changed.

Not your father’s fantasy football

Gone are the days of sure-fire running backs like Barry Sanders, Priest Holmes, LaDainian Tomlinson, Eric Dickerson, Marcus Allen, Marshall Faulk and Thurman Thomas. Owners would move heaven and earth to acquire as many running backs as they could in the Rounds 1-2-3. Stacking up on quality RBs was a foolproof plan to fantasy victories. Conversely, according to my colleague Frankie P, receivers were “a dime a dozen.” Jerry Rice and Cris Carter consistently scored 14-17 TDs per season. But for every Rice and Carter you had Michael Irvin and Andre Reed, who averaged just 5 TDs per season in their

Over the past few years, running backs in fantasy no longer score as many fantasy points as the wide receiver/ tight end positions. Fiftyfive running backs have run for over 1,000 yards in a season since 2019.

That is outclassed by the 116 wideouts and tight ends who received over 1,000 yards in that same span. Want more proof?

Last year 37 RBs were among the top 100 in fantasy points of RBs/ WRs/TEs. That’s a far cry from the 63 WRs/ TEs in that group. And only four RBs made the top 10. Knowing this, what position should you draft first?

It’s better to receive

The riskiest position in fantasy drafts is also the hardest to predict.

Last season the RB bandwagons were full of early-round picks Zeke Elliott, A.J. Dillon, Elijah Mitchell, D’Andre Swift, Cam Akers and David Montgomery. They were drafted by Round 5, averaged 156 points on the year, and none finished in the top 20 for RBs. Conversely, less heralded WRs taken after Round 6 blew them away: DeVonta Smith, Christian Kirk, Brandon Aiyuk, Amari Cooper, Mike Williams and Tyler Lockett averaged 240 points on the year, and all were in the WR top 20.

Sore cruisers

Running backs are also most likely to have

a season-altering injury.

Just ask Jonathan Taylor, J.K. Dobbins, Joe Mixon, Javonte Williams and Breece Hall. All were drafted in the first four rounds last season, and all missed significant time to injuries. But there was fantasy gold for those owners with patience. Six of the top 20 RBs from last year’s drafts were taken in Round 7 or later: Rhamondre Stevenson (Rd 7), Tony Pollard (Rd 8), Miles Sanders (Rd 8), Jamaal Williams (Rd 11), Kenneth Walker III (Rd 12) and Jerick McKinnon (undrafted).

The QB tush push

There are other reasons to wait on drafting running backs. The dreaded RBBC (running back by committee) is alive and well with almost every NFL team. It’s painful to watch your starting RB matriculate down the field to the 5-yard line only to see a second-string RB enter the game and get the short yardage TD. Quarterback TD runs have become commonplace too, with QBs scoring a staggering 80 TDs on the ground last year. Don’t you love those 6-3 QBs leaning forward at the 1-yard line while 350pound linemen push their tushies into the end zone?

Catch a rising star

This year, Christian McCaffrey and Austin Ekeler deserve to be drafted in the top five picks. But I wouldn’t bat an eye if WRs Justin Jefferson or Ja’Marr Chase

were taken before them. And I would hesitate on the next tier of RBs. Derrick Henry has been run into the ground, Josh Jacobs has a rebuilding team in Vegas, and Saquon Barkley has been unhappy with his contract. Plugger Najee Harris has underwhelmed, and Jonathan Taylor has a new offense with a rookie QB. Give me Tyreek Hill, Davante Adams, Garrett Wilson, Travis Kelce, Cooper Kupp, CeeDee Lamb, Stefon Diggs, Jaylen Waddle, A.J. Brown and Amon-Ra St. Brown over any of those RBs.

Zero to hero

In summary, wide receivers (and some tight ends) score more points than running backs, are less likely to get injured, and are more plentiful. It’s understandable why the Zero RB plan could be a smart way to go in your 2023 fantasy draft.

Festivus for the rest of us

If Zero RB is unappealing to you, try the “George Costanza Do the Opposite” strategy. While your colleagues are going Zero RB, do the opposite and stack your team with RBs. Draft Ekeler, Nick Chubb, Tony Pollard and QB Justin Herbert in the first four rounds. Then take the best WR/ TEs on the board with your next eight picks. This will show feats of strength to your fellow owners. Then you can move on to the airing of grievances. Worlds are colliding, Jerry!

ESPN, 4 p.m.

Soccer International Friendly

AC Milan vs. Barcelona, ESPN, 8 p.m.

Women’s World Cup China vs. England, 2, 40, 4 a.m.

It wasn’t the first time San Francisco had scored a run with the bases loaded.

The Giants loaded the bases in the second inning without getting the ball out of the infield. Boston starter Brennan Bernardino plunked Michael Conforto and Luis Matos before giving up a bunt single to catcher Blake Sabol.

Casey Schmitt’s hardstruck grounder to third drove in his 25th RBI of the season to give the Giants an early 1-0 lead.

Faced with righthanded reliever John Schreiber in the third inning, manager Gabe Kapler took out the righthanded Austin Slater and replaced him with Mike Yastrzemski.

When Yastrzemski had to leave the game in the fifth inning with left hamstring tightness, future walk-off hero Pederson took his spot in the outfield.

Manager Gabe Kapler also went with an opener approach for the second consecutive game, allowing Scott Alexander to get five outs on 16 pitches before bringing in Ross Stripling for what he called a “featured role.” San Francisco is now 14-4 when employing an opener.

The Giants were the beneficiaries of some

Wilmer Flores, who entered the day batting .394 in July, poked a ball into right field to give the Giants a two-run lead. Stripling cruised along until the seventh, throwing 4 1-3 innings with three strikeouts and no walks. Adam Duvall’s solo home run for Boston ended his day with no outs in the inning, and Taylor Rogers replaced him. Rogers surrendered a Jarren Duran double before giving up a homer to San Francisco’s longtime nemesis Justin Turner, who launched home run No. 16 against the Giants to give the Sox a 3-2 lead.

The Giants’ anemic offense, which had scored fewer than four runs in nine of the last 10 games, somehow cobbled together a Conforto single and and a Matos double to put runners in scoring position.

Catcher Patrick Bailey’s ground ball tied the game, but Schmitt was called out on strikes to leave the game tied at three apiece at the end of the eighth inning. Neither team scored in the ninth or 10th inning.

In his first day back with the major league team, RHP Tristan Beck got the ball in the tenth inning. The Stanford alum worked around the ghost runner on second and a walk to leave the inning with the score still tied. Beck wouldn’t need to go out again as Pederson gave San Francisco its second straight walk off win against the visitors from Boston.

The Giants will continue its ninegame homestand on Monday with a 6:45 p.m. game against the Diamondbacks.

NASCAR CUP SERIES Buescher dominates race at Richmond

Tribune ConTenT AgenCy

Make that 12 winners this year.

Chris Buescher, the driver of the 17 car for the consistently plucky RFK Racing team, dominated the NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway on Sunday. The win delivered his third career Cup win and his first at Richmond – and it also intensified an already scalding hot playoff run.

After a big celebratory burnout, the Prosper, Texas, native smiled and winked to the NBC Sports camera post-race.

that means 12 slots of the 16-car playoff field are taken.

As far as the race itself? There wasn’t much to write home about. There were only three cautions for 21 laps. Brad Keselowski, Buescher’s boss and teammate, ran a race-best 102 laps from the lead but couldn’t pass Buescher once the 17 made his pass on pit road. (Buescher led 88 laps.)

7:10 p.m.

Arizona vs. San Francisco, NBCSBA, 6:45 p.m.

Basketball

WNBA

Connecticut vs. Minnesota,

Haiti vs. Denmark, FS1, 4 a.m.

Argentina vs. Sweden , 2, 40, 12 a.m. (Wednesday).

South Africa vs. Italy, FS1, 12 a.m. (Wednesday).

“Guess you don’t have to ask me about points anymore,” he said.

Guess not.

In the NASCAR Cup Series, if you win a regular-season race, you’re in the playoffs. With Buescher’s triumph Sunday,

For a bulk of Stage 3, Buescher ran six seconds ahead of the rest of the field. The race’s lone caution-for-cause came with 10 laps to go, when Suarez spun out. That prompted a restart with four laps to go. Buescher elected to take the inside lane and lined up beside Virginia native and short-track goliath Denny Hamlin.

Anthony Souffle/Minneapolis Star Tribune/TNS

wide receiver Justin Jefferson led the NFL in catches (128) and yards (1,809).

Columns&Games

My daughter-in-law constantly belittles my son in front of everyone

Dear Annie: I am struggling with how to handle my relationship with my daughter-inlaw. Married for five years, with two children, we spend time with them every few weeks, usually to babysit the kids.

My problem involves the verbal abuse my son suffers at her hands, and to witness it and keep quiet about it is becoming unbearable for me. His wife berates and belittles him in front of anyone and everyone. She makes comments to me about him almost constantly. To give you an example, she blamed my son on her cavities she had at her last dental appointment! It would be almost comical, except for the fact that this is our son she is abusing.

Do I have any right as a parent of an adult child to say anything? And if so, to who?

We love our grandchildren and spending time with them and don’t want to jeopardize that relationship. — Concerned Mother

ARIES (March 21-April 19).

At first it seems like the day is a heap of actionable items with your name on them. But once you sort problems into the categories “mine” and “theirs,” you’ll find that you don’t have as much to worry about as you thought.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20).

You’ll feel compelled to take on a mystery. You may not know quite where you’re going with the project, and that’s what makes it so fun. You’ll stick with the work until it tells you what it wants to be.

GEMINI (May 21-June 21).

Awkward realness is better than smooth fakeness. Be wary of nonspecific or robotic interactions. You’re unique and will appreciate attention that speaks to your distinctive qualities, or at least seems based on the moment instead of on a script.

CANCER (June 22-July 22). You’ll be reminded that it’s within your power to decide what things mean. Society’s definition may fit, but all things being equal, you’d rather put your own spin on it. Perspective is a custom job.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22).

Life is about living, not about judging. You’re living just the way you like it, with so many interesting things going on in your life that the only business you have the time to mind is your own.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22).

You are persuasive without meaning to be. Knowing that people will notice and copy what you do, you’re careful to choose actions that, if exponen-

Dear Concerned Mother: I’m not sure what you mean by the “right” to say something. But yes, you should say something.

Tell your daughter-in-law at the time of an insult that she should stop.

But more importantly, you should talk to your son about his overall mental health. Is he happy in his relationship? Does he seem depressed? Being with an emotionally abusive partner can be exhausting and isolating. So just keep checking in on him and making sure that he is OK. The fact that you said her behavior would be comical except that it’s your son, leads me to question if you might also find a little bit of meanness in humor.

Dear Annie: I just read a letter from “Sad Mama,” who says her son wanted nine people to stay in a four-person vacation home. I can say that her concern about the septic system is valid. I work as an inspector who checks these

Holiday Mathis

Today’s birthday

Your cosmic birthday gift is fierce commitment, both from you to what you care about and from other people toward you. More highlights: You’ll win all the votes. A large group carries on a project you started while you head to the next exciting adventure. Small changes in your routine consistently executed over months bring your dream to you. Taurus and Capricorn adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 13, 37, 16, 3 and 8.

tially multiplied, would have a positive impact on the world.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23).

When one person plays many roles in your life, it puts both of you in a precarious position. Be like a director casting a whole company of players on the stage of your life. The more the merrier.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21).

Either your creativity takes a turn toward the romantic or your romance gets creative, but the result is the same: love is art. Each interaction is unique and you’re fully there for the experience.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22Dec. 21). Because you’re an open-minded, curious, lifelong learner, most days you add to your knowledge and skills without even trying to. Now a more concentrated effort will be fortunate. A special training will have a lucrative end.

systems daily. Overuse of these systems can cause expensive repairs, or even replacement of the entire unit, depending upon state codes.

Her son should be thankful the family has any kind of vacation home. One of the problems of our world is everyone wants more. Be happy with what you’ve got! — The Septic Lady

Dear Septic Lady: I always love hearing from experts in their field. Thank you for your insight.

Dear Annie: I’m in my late 30s. Is it rude to ignore a much older boomer friend who constantly texts me asking dumb, ridiculous questions? This person has always been out of touch, but lately they’ve been extra annoying for some reason. Every time I answer, it just extends the conversation, so when can I cut them off? And how? — A Ghost

Dear Ghost: If you don’t want to hear from your friend, then simply stop replying to his questions. Send your questions for Annie Lane to dearannie@ creators.com.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22Jan. 19). You’re holding on to something unnecessarily. Drop it and move on. This might be about forgiveness. Everyone has learned their lesson and it won’t come up again. Lighter, brighter and more playful times are ahead.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20Feb. 18). There’s much going on in the world that you can’t do anything about, and listening to it will only drain your energy. Pay attention to your inner broadcast. This is the program that will inspire your brilliant ideas.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20).

The small task and the large task are equally difficult, so take on the one that will make the biggest positive difference to your mood. Your intuition will nudge you toward a challenge that’s just the right size.

CELEBRITY PROFILES:

A new “Harry Potter” series is in the works, and this one will be a streaming TV show with an entirely new cast. J.K. Rowling will be an executive producer on the adaptation and is reportedly looking forward to the depth of detail that the long form allows. This speaks to the Virgo energy in her natal chart with her moon, Mercury, Venus, Uranus and Pluto all in the sign of details. Rowling gave Harry Potter the same birthday as hers and has been known to release books on that day, too, taking advantage of the luck that comes with a solar return.

Write Holiday Mathis at HolidayMathis.com.

Crossword by Phillip Alder

Bridge

been dealt or, in this case, given by the computer that generated the deals. In three no-trump, declarer had seven top tricks: two spades, two hearts, one diamond and two clubs. Assuming clubs were not 0=5, even if he lost one club trick, he would still finish with nine.

CAN YOU SPOT THE RUDE RUED RUSE?

Shakespeare wrote, “Out, damned spot!” That is poor advice for a bridge player. Sometimes the success of a contract will depend on holding a crucial spot card. More often, though, it hinges on the efficacy with which the player uses the spot cards that he has

South ducked the opening lead, won the heart continuation on the board, played a club to his ace and led a second club. When West discarded a diamond, South felt uncomfortable. He ducked the club to East, took the heart return and gave up another club trick. East shifted to a diamond. Declarer had to finesse, but West produced the king, and South conceded down two. Unlucky, true, but South over<00AD>looked the potential power of his club eight. He must win the first trick in hand since here he requires dummy’s heart ace as a later entry. Then declarer should lead a club to dummy’s king. If no critical spot card appears, South plays for a 3-2 club split. If East discards on the second round of clubs, declarer puts up his ace and leads back toward dummy’s jack. However, if West plays the club nine or 10 at trick two, South continues with a low club and cheaply covers East’s card. This safety play guarantees four club tricks and the contract.

COPYRIGHT: 2023, UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE

Sudoku by Wayne Gould

7/31/23

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

by

Difficulty level: BRONZE

Solution for 7/29/23:

Horoscopes by

Annie Lane Dear Annie

Zach Galifianakis stars in “The Beanie Bubble.”

Galifianakis shines in ‘The Beanie Bubble’

M ark Meszoros

THE NEWS-HERALD, WILLOUGHBY, OHIO

If only because it is the feature debut of co-directors Kristin Gore and Damian Kulash Jr. (lead singer of the band OK Go), it’s surprising how consistently engaging and entertaining “The Beanie Bubble” proves to be.

Already given a limited theatrical release, the comedy-drama built around the wild Beanie Baby craze of the 1990s from Imagine Entertainment debuts this week on Apple TV+.

Penned by Gore (“Saturday Night Live,” “Futurama”), it is based loosely on Zac Bissonnette’s book “The Great Beanie Baby Bubble: Mass Delusion and the Dark Side of Cute,” with significant liberties taken for narrative purposes.

“There are parts of the truth you just can’t make up,” reads text that greets the viewer in the film’s opening seconds. “The rest, we did.”

Of all the fine choices made by Gore and Kulash – high school sweethearts who’ve been married since 2016 – none is finer than the casting of Zach Galifianakis as Ty Warren, the toy salesman largely responsible for creating the little understuffed animals that would become speculative investments for many.

According to the movie’s production notes, the couple saw the film as a vehicle for the hilarious “Hangover” star even before developing it. However, Galifianakis’ Ty is nothing like some over-the-top characters the actor has played in that 2009 hit and other movie and TV projects; he is complex – at times funny and charming and at others greedy and duplicitous and still at others weak and immature.

This portrait of the eventual billionaire is told over two timelines – one beginning in 1983 and another starting 10 years later – and primarily from the points of view of

Daily Cryptoquotes

Review

three women. Although based partially on women from Warren’s past, Elizabeth Banks’ Robbie Jones, Sarah Snook’s Sheila Harper and Geraldine Viswanathan’s Maya Kumar have been invented for “The Beanie Bubble.”

Ty first befriends Robbie, who’s frustrated with both her job and marriage, and convinces her to start a business with him. The son of a toy salesman, Ty wants them to sell stuffed Himalayan cats – his innovation being that they stuff them only so much, causing them to feel softer and making them easy to pose.

Eventually, as success comes, a romance blossoms. In the later timeline, Ty Inc. is doing well, and the company hires college student Maya as a receptionist.

Meanwhile, Ty is hours late for an appointment at his house with Sheila, a lighting designer. When she reads him the riot act, he is immediately smitten and puts the full-court press to convince the mother of two young girls to go out with him.

Ty really takes to the girls, and he values their opinions on his products. In fact, the idea for Beanie Babies comes when one is disappointed one of his stuffed animals is too large to fit in her backpack, making it impractical for show and tell at school.

“Before we knew it,” Sheila says in narration, “we were a family – a funny, weird, happy family.”

Ty never enters into a romantic relationship with Maya, but she becomes indispensable to him at the company – or so it would seem,

at least. Among her ideas are creating scarcity to make certain Beanie Babies objects of incredible desire and to create a company website at a time most businesses had yet to do so.

As the popularity of Beanie Babies grows and grows, Maya closely monitors trends, using eBay and other new online resources, and she grasps what is happening with the craze and where it’s all heading far better than Ty. (That he detests Beanie collectors – because they’re making money off his creations, not appreciating that they’re fueling his overall business – is both hilarious and, in its way, tragic.)

“The Beanie Bubble” keeps you invested as it runs along its parallel tracks, even as they draw closer to their inevitable conclusions. Perhaps it’s all a little predictable, but that’s understandable given what we remember about the time when Beanie Babies were all the rage – and then weren’t.

In the hands of Galifianakis (“Due Date,” “Between Two Ferns”), Ty is a compelling figure even when we are meant to loathe him. The strange businessman radiates a unique energy that powers “The Beanie Bubble.”

That said, Banks (“The Hunger Games,” “Love & Mercy”), Snook (“Succession,” “Predestination”) and Viswanathan (“Blockers,” “The Broken Hearts Gallery”) each brings qualities to her character that help make the firm work. You root for all three of them but especially Maya –increasingly underappreciated by Ty – thanks largely to the earnestness Viswanathan infuses in her.

“The Beanie Bubble” feels oddly relevant in the time of cryptocurrencies and NFT, which, admittedly, is an idea the film explicitly offers the viewer. At the end of the day, though, it’s simply a rather sound investment of about two hours.

Word Sleuth

Crossword by Phillip Alder

Bridge

four hearts, but three no-trump would have been impregnable.

Declarer won the diamond lead with his ace, played a trump to the dummy and led the spade two: jack, king, ace. Accurately, West returned a trump. Declarer won in hand and played the spade six. Guided by his partner’s jack at trick three, West put up the spade queen so that he could gain the lead to play his last trump, stopping the spade ruff in the South hand. Now declarer had to hope for a 3-3 club split, but he didn’t get it and finished down one.

DO NOT BE RASH WITH YOUR RICHES

Francis Bacon wrote: “Riches are a good handmaid, but the worst mistress.” An interesting notion, and perhaps he had a deal like today’s in mind. How should South play in four hearts after West leads the diamond king? It was natural for South to choose

South needed the spade king for his opening bid, but he didn’t need it to make his contract. If he had had two low spades, he would have counted these 10 tricks: five hearts, one diamond, three clubs and a spade ruff in his hand. At trick two, declarer should lead a spade from hand. Whatever the defenders do, they cannot stop South from obtaining one spade ruff in his hand as the contractfulfilling trick.

Whenever you can take a ruff in the hand with shorter trumps, it is almost certain to be the right play. The transfer bid seemed to have done its job, protecting South’s spade king, but notice that if North were the declarer and East had led the spade jack, North would have been pushed into the winning line.

COPYRIGHT: 2023, UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE

Sudoku by Wayne Gould

8/1/23

Difficulty level:

Yesterday’s solution:

through

DO NOT BE RASH WITH YOUR RICHES

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

Francis Bacon wrote: “Riches are a good handmaid, but the worst mistress.” An interesting notion, and perhaps he had a

SuSan Hiland SHILAND@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

FAIRFIELD — The weekend is filled with sequels for movie-goers.

Take a deep breath for the plunge back into shark-infested waters with sequel to “Meg” as explorers try to fight off the giant monster and evil humans.

For the younger crowd it is time for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to come out of hiding and win the hearts of people above ground.

Opening nationwide are:

“Meg 2: The Trench,” in which a research team goes on an exploratory dive into the deepest depths of the ocean. Their voyage spirals into chaos when a malevolent mining operation threatens their mission and forces them into a highstakes battle for survival. Pitted against colossal Megs and relentless environmental plunderers, the heroes must outrun, outsmart and outswim their merciless predators in a pulse-pounding race against time. The film is rated PG-13.

“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem,” in which the turtle brothers set out to win the hearts of New Yorkers and be accepted as normal teenagers through heroic acts. Their new friend, April O’Neil, helps them take on a mysterious crime syndicate, but they soon get in over their heads when an army of mutants is unleashed upon them. The film is rated PG.

“Short Comings,” in which a struggling filmmaker, living in Berkeley with his girlfriend, Miko, finds himself at loose ends when she leaves for an internship in New York. The film is rated R.

Opening in limited release are:

“Bobcat Moretti,” in which a man who struggles with obesity and multiple sclerosis is rocked by personal loss. He decides to start boxing, which is the same sport his late father once practiced to help him cope. With the help of dedicated trainers at the gym, Bobby embarks on a transformative journey to regain his health and

self-confidence, shedding 154 pounds. Along the way, he discovers the strength to overcome his past and move forward with a new sense of purpose. The film is rated PG-13.

“Brother,” a film adapted from David Chariandy’s award-winning novel of the same name, in which brothers Francis and Michael face questions of masculinity, family, race and identity during the pulsing beats of Toronto’s early hip-hop scene. The film is not rated.

“Mob Land,” in which a southern town struggles with the ravages of addiction. A local sheriff (John Travolta) tries to maintain the peace when desperate family man Shelby (Shiloh Fernandez) robs a pill mill with his reckless brother-inlaw, Trey (Kevin Dillon). But the supposedly easy score takes a violent turn, alerting the New Orleans mafia’s revenge-seeking enforcer Clayton Minor (Stephen Dorff), who then threatens Shelby’s wife (Ashley Benson) and her daughter. The film is rated R.

“The Collective,” in which a group of righteous assassins called The Collective take aim at a highly sophisticated human trafficking ring backed by a network of untouchable billionaires. With their backs against the wall, The Collective has no choice but to put their most important mission in the hands of rookie assassin Sam Alexander. The film is not rated.

“Til Death Do Us Part,” in which a runaway bride must fight for survival against her vengeful former fiancé and his seven deadly groomsmen. The film is not rated.

For information on Edwards Cinemas in Fairfield, visit www.reg movies.com/theatres/ regal-edwards-fairfieldimax. For Vacaville showtimes, visit www. brendentheatres.com. For Vallejo

check www.cinemark. com/theatres/ca-vallejo.

Mutant turtles come out of sewer, monsters abound in the deep

tachmentconflictswiththeinformation specificallysetforthinthisdocument,this documentsupersedesthedatareferenced intheattachment. Bytypingmyname,I,theundersigned, certifythatIamsigningthisdocumentas thepersonwhosesignatureisrequired,or asagentoftheperson(s)whosesignature wouldberequiredwhohasauthorizedme tosignthisdocumentonhis/herbehalf,or inbothcapacities.Ifurthercert ifythatI havecompletedallrequiredfields,andthat theinformationinthisdocumentistrueand correctandincompliancewiththeapplicablechapterofMinnesotaStatutes.IunderstandthatbysigningthisdocumentI amsubjecttothepenaltiesofperjuryas setforthinSection609.48asifIhad signedthisdocumentunderoath.

SIGNEDBY:Lovell-Lonale:Stewart,AuthorizedRepresentative MAILINGADDRESS:NoneProvided EMAILFOROFFICIALNOTICES:stewartlove ll52@gmail.com WorkItem1399945800020

T.S.No.112110-CAAPN:0162-183-020NOTICEOFTRUSTEE SSALEIMPORTANT NOTICETOPROPERTYOWNER:YOUAREINDEFAULTUNDERADEEDOF TRUST,DATED9/6/2019.UNLESSYOUTAKEACTIONTOPROTECTYOURPROPERTY,ITMAYBESOLDATAPUBLICSALE.IFYOUNEEDANEXPLANATIONOF THENATUREOFTHEPROCEEDINGAGAINSTYOU,YOUSHOULDCONTACTA LAWYEROn8/23/2023at9:00AM,CLEARRECONCORP,asdulyappointedtrustee underandpursuanttoDeedofTrustrecorded9/16/2019asInstrumentNo. 201900063463ofOfficialRecordsintheofficeoftheCountyRecorderofSolanoCounty, StateofCALIFORNIAexecutedby:JOSEPHC.TYDINGCO,AMARRIEDMANWILL SELLATPUBLICAUCTIONTOHIGHESTBIDDERFORCASH,CASHIER SCHECK DRAWNONASTATEORNATIONALBANK,ACHECKDRAWNBYASTATEORFEDERALCREDITUNION,ORACHECKDRAWNBYASTATEORFEDERALSAVINGS ANDLOANASSOCIATION,SAVINGSASSOCIATION,ORSAVINGSBANKSPECIFIEDINSECTION5102OFTHEFINANCIALCODEANDAUTHORIZEDT ODO BUSINESSINTHISSTATE;attheSantaClaraSt.EntranceoftheVallejoCityHall,555 SantaClaraStreet,Vallejo,CA94590allright,titleandinterestconveyedtoandnow heldbyitundersaidDeedofTrustinthepropertysituatedinsaidCountyandStatedescribedas:MOREFULLYDESCRIBEDONSAIDDEEDOFTRUSTThestreetaddress andothercommondesignation,ifany,oftherealpropertydescribedaboveispurported tobe:231DAHLIAST,FAIRFIELD,CA94533-1515Theunder signedTrusteedisclaims anyliabilityforanyincorrectnessofthestreetaddressandothercommondesignation,if any,shownherein.Saidsalewillbeheld,butwithoutcovenantorwarranty,expressor implied,regardingtitle,possession,condition,orencumbrances,includingfees,charges andexpensesoftheTrusteeandofthetrustscreatedbysaidDeedofTrust,topaythe remainingprincipalsumsofthenote(s)securedbysaidDeedofTrust.Thetotalamount ofthe unpaidbalanceoftheobligationsecuredbythepropertytobesoldandreasonableestimatedcosts,expensesandadvancesatthetimeoftheinitialpublicationofthe NoticeofSaleis:$211,454.86IftheTrusteeisunabletoconveytitleforanyreason,the successfulbidder'ssoleandexclusiveremedyshallbethereturnofmoniespaidtothe Trustee,andthesuccessfulbiddershallhavenofurtherrecourse.Thebeneficiaryunder saidDeedofTrustheretoforeexecutedanddeliveredtotheundersignedawrittenDeclarationofDefaultandDemandforSale,andawrittenNoticeofDefaultandElectionto Sell.TheundersignedoritspredecessorcausedsaidNoticeofDefaultandElectionto Selltoberecordedinthecountywheretherealpropertyislocated.NOTICETOPOTENTIALBIDDERS:Ifyouareconsideringbiddingonthispropertylien,youshouldunderstandthattherearerisksinvolvedinbiddingatatrusteeauction.Youwillbebidding ona lien,notonthepropertyitself.Placingthehighestbidatatrusteeauctiondoesnotautomaticallyentitleyoutofreeandclearownershipoftheproperty.Youshouldalsobe awarethatthelienbeingauctionedoffmaybeajuniorlien.Ifyouarethehighestbidder attheauction,youareormayberesponsibleforpayingoffallliensseniortothelienbeingauctionedoff,beforeyoucanreceivecleartitletotheproperty.Youareencouraged toinvestigatetheexistence,priority,andsizeofoutstandingliensthatmayexistonthis propertybycontactingthecountyrecorder'sofficeoratitleinsurancecompany,eitherof whichmaychargeyouafeeforthisinformation.Ifyouconsulteitheroftheseresources, youshouldbeawarethatthesamelendermayholdmorethanonemortgageordeedof trustontheproperty.NOTICETOPROPERTYOWNER:Thesaledateshownonthisnoticeofsalemaybepostponedoneormoretimesbythemortgagee,benefici ary,trustee, oracourt,pursuanttoSection2924goftheCaliforniaCivilCode.Thelawrequiresthat informationabouttrusteesalepostponementsbemadeavailabletoyouandtothepublic, asacourtesytothosenotpresentatthesale.Ifyouwishtolearnwhetheryoursaledate hasbeenpostponed,and,ifapplicable,therescheduledtimeanddateforthesaleofthis property,youmaycall(800)280-2832orvisitthisInternetWebsite WWW.AUCTION.COM,usingthefilenumbe rassignedtothiscase112110-CA.Informationaboutpostponementsthatareveryshortindurationorthatoccurcloseintimetothe scheduledsalemaynotimmediatelybereflectedinthetelephoneinformationoronthe InternetWebsite.Thebestwaytoverifypostponementinformationistoattendthe scheduledsale.NOTICETOTENANT:EffectiveJanuary1,2021,youmayhavearight topurchasethispropertyafterthetrusteeauctionpursuanttoSection2924moftheCaliforniaCivilCode.Ifyouarean“eligibletenantbuyer,”youcanpurchasethepropertyif youmatchthelastandhighestbidplacedatthetrusteeauction.Ifyouarean“eligible bidder,”youmaybeabletopurchasethepropertyifyouexceedthelastandhighestbid placedatthetrusteeauction.Therearethreestepstoexercisingthisrightofpurchase. First,48hoursafterthedateofthetrusteesale,youcancall(855)313-3319,orvisitthis internetwebsitewww.clearreco ncorp.com,usingthefilenumberassignedtothiscase 112110-CAtofindthedateonwhichthetrustee ssalewasheld,theamountofthelast andhighestbid,andtheaddressofthetrustee.Second,youmustsendawrittennotice ofintenttoplaceabidsothatthetrusteereceivesitnomorethan15daysafterthetrustee ssale.Third,youmustsubmitabidsothatthetrusteereceivesitnomorethan45 daysafterthetrustee ssale.Ifyouthinkyoumayqualifyasan“eligibletena ntbuyer”or “eligiblebidder,”youshouldconsidercontactinganattorneyorappropriaterealestate professionalimmediatelyforadviceregardingthispotentialrighttopurchase.FOR SALESINFORMATION:(800)280-2832CLEARRECONCORP8880RioSanDiego Drive,Suite725SanDiego,California92108

DR#00064804

Published:July31August7,14,2023

FAIRFIELD-SUISUNUNIFIEDSCHOOLDISTRICT NOTICEINVITINGPROPOSALS

RFPNo.2188-25–DISTRICTINTRUSIONMONITORINGSERVICES NOTICEISHEREBYGIVENthattheGOVERNINGBOARDOFTHEFAIRFIELDSUISUNUNIFIEDSCHOOLDISTRICT,OFTHECOUNTYOFSOLANO,STATEOF CALIFORNIA,hereinafterreferredto astheDISTRICTwillreceiveupto,butnotlaterthan2:00pm,localtime,onSeptember 7,2023,sealedproposalsfortheawardofacontractfor:

REQUESTFORPROPOSALRFP#2188-25 DISTRICTINTRUSIONMONITORINGSERVICES

SealedproposalsmustbereceivedattheofficeofthePurchasingDepartment,located onthe3rdfloorat2490HilbornRoad,Fairfield,CA94534,onorbefore2:00p.m.local time,onSeptember7,2023.ProposalsmaybemailedviaU.S.mailordeliveredFedEx UPS,orothercouriertotheaboveaddress.Itisthesoleresponsibilityofthebidderto seethathisproposalisreceivedinpropertimeattheaddressanddepartmentnoted herein.NoPublicOpening–Proposalswillnotbeopenedpublicly.Anyclaimbyabidder oferrorinitsproposalmustbemadeincompliancewithsection5100etseq.ofthePublicContractCode.Anyproposalthatissubmittedafterthistimeshallbenon-responsive andreturnedtothebidder.

AmandatoryPr e-BidConferencewillbeheldonAugust10,2023,at10:00a.m.at2490 HilbornRoad,ConferenceRoom#102,Fairfield,CAforthepurposeofacquaintingall prospectivebidderswiththeRFP/biddocumentsandidentifythedistrictsitelocations Eachproposalmustconformandbefullyresponsivetothisinvitation,thescopeofserviceandotherdocumentscomprisingthepertinentcontractdocuments. EachproposalshallbemadeoutonaProposalFormincludedinthecontractdocuments. RFPpacketswillbeavailableonAugust2,2023,fromtheFairfield-SuisunUnifiedSchool District,PurchasingWebsiteathttps://www.fsusd.org/page/warehouse-and-purchasing AllRequestforInformationmustbesubmittedinwritingtoMelissaIriarteviaemailto melissair@fsusd.org

Noproposal/bidmaybewithdrawnforaperiodofsixty(60)daysafterthedatesetforthe openingforbidsexceptasprovidedpursuanttoPublicContractCode. TheDistrictreservestherighttorejectanyandallproposal/bidsandtowaiveanyinformalitiesorirregularitiesinthebidding.

MelissaIriarte,Director,Purchasing,Warehouse,&Contracts DR#000 64960

Published:July31August7,2023

NOTICETOBIDDERS/INVITATIONTOBID

1.Noticeisherebygiventhatthegoverningboard(“Board”)oftheFAIRFIELD-SUISUN UNIFIEDSCHOOLDISTRICT(“District”)willreceivesealedbidstoconstructthefollowingproject: BID24F-119PRODUCTIONLIGHTINGSYSTEMSFORFAIRFIELDHIGHPERFORMINGARTSCENTER

2.Contractorsmustsubmitsealedbidsonorbefore1:00p.m.,August30,2023attheofficeoftheFacilities&ConstructionDepartment,locatedat2490HilbornRoad,Fairfield, CaliforniaatorafterwhichtimetheDistrictwillopenthebidsandpubliclyreadthem aloud,inconferenceroom#102at2490HilbornRoad,Fairfield,CA94533.Anyclaimby aBidderoferrorinitsbidmustbemadeincompliancewithPublicContractCode§5100, etseq.Anybidthatissubmittedafterthistimeshallbenon-responsiveandreturnedto theBidder.TheDistrictisnotresponsibleforBidsthatarereceivedafterthedeadline notedabove.

3.TheProjectconsistsofprovidingproductionlightingfixtures,cable,andaccessoriesas furtherdefinedinthecontractdocumentsfortheFairfieldHighSchoolPerformingArts Center.ThebuildingwasdesignedbyLionakisArchitectsandTheShalleckCollaborative,Inc.andiscurrentlyunderconstructionwithXLConstruction.

4.AllbidsshallbeontheformprovidedbytheDistrict.EachbidmustconformandberesponsivetoallpertinentContractDocuments,including,butnotlimitedto,theInstructionstoBidders.

5.TobidonthisProject,theBidderisrequiredtopossessoneormoreofthefollowing StateofCaliforniaContractorLicenses: A(GeneralEngineering)orB(GeneralBuilding)and/or C-61/D-48(Theater&SchoolEquipment,StageEquipment) TheBidder'slicense(s)mustbeactiveandingoodstandingatthetimeofthebidopeningandmustremainsothroughoutthetermoftheContract.

6.AssecurityforitsBid,eachBiddershallprovidewithitsBidform abidbondissuedbyanadmittedsuretyinsurerontheformprovidedbytheDistrict, cash,or acashier'scheckoracertifiedcheck,drawntotheorderoftheFAIRFIELD-SUISUN UNIFIEDSCHOOLDISTRICT, intheamountoftenpercent(10%)ofthetotalbidprice.ThisbidsecurityshallbeaguaranteethattheBiddershall,withinseven(7)calendardaysafterthedateoftheNoticeof Award,enterintoacontractwiththeDistrictfortheperformanceoftheservicesasstipulatedinthebid.

7.ThesuccessfulBiddershallberequiredtofurnisha100%PerformanceBondanda 100%PaymentBondifitisawardedthecontractfortheProject.

8.ThesuccessfulBiddermaysubstitutesecuritiesforanymonieswithheldbytheDistrict toensureperformanceundertheContract,inaccordancewiththeprovisionsofPublic ContractCode§22300.

9.ThesuccessfulBidderanditssubcontractorsshallpayallworkersontheProjectnot lessthanthegeneralprevailingrateofperdiemwagesandthegeneralprevailingratefor holidayandovertimeworkasdeterminedbytheDirectoroftheDepartmentofIndustrial Relations,StateofCalifornia,forthetypeofworkperformedandthelocalityinwhichthe workistobeperformedwithintheboundariesoftheDistrict,pursuanttoLaborCode§ 1770etseq.PrevailingwageratesareonfilewiththeDistrictandareavailabletoanyinterestedpartyonrequestor atwww.dir.ca.gov/oprl/statistics_and_databases.html.BiddersandBidders subcontractorsshallcomplywiththeregistrationandqualificationrequirementspursuanttoLaborCode§§1725.5&1771.1

10.ContractDocumentscanbedownloadedfromtheFairfield-SuisunUnifiedSchoolDistrictWebsiteatFSUSD.org/facilities-bids

11.TheDistrict sBoardreservestherighttorejectanyandallbidsand/orwaiveanyirregularityinanybidreceived.IftheDistrictawardstheContract,thesecurityofunsuccessfulBidder(s)shallbereturnedwithinsixty(60)daysfromthetimetheawardismade. Unlessotherwiserequiredbylaw,noBiddermaywithdrawitsbidforninety(90)days afterthedateofthebidopening.

12.TheDistrictshallawardtheContract,ifitawardsitatall,tothelowestresponsiveresponsibleBidderbasedon:Thebasebidamountonly.

DR#00064934

Published:July31August7,2023

NoticeofSelfStorageSale PleasetakenoticeCentralSelfStorageEastTravis837E.TravisBlvd.,Fairfield, CA94533intendstoholdanauctionofthe goodsstoredinaself-servicestorageunit bythefollowingpersons.Thesalewilloccurasanonlineauctionviawww.storagetreasures.comon8/16/2023at12:00 PM.Unlessstatedotherwisethedescriptionofthecontentsarehouseholdgoods

andfurnishings: RobertHadowanetz KennethOneal AngelVegas NicoleDionne Allpropertyisbeingstoredattheabove self-storagefacility.Thissalemaybewithdrawnatanytimewithoutnotice.Certain termsandconditionsapply.Seemanager fordetails. 7/31,8/7/23 CNS-3721838# THEDAILYREPUBLIC DR#00064803 PublishedJuly31August7,2023

NOTICETOBIDDERS/INVITATIONTOBID

1.Noticeisherebygiventhatthegoverningboard(“Board”)oftheFAIRFIELD-SUISUN UNIFIEDSCHOOLDISTRICT(“District”)willreceivesealedbidstoconstructthefollowingproject: BID24F-108FAIRFIELDHIGHSCHOOLSCENESHOP

2.Contractorsmustsubmitsealedbidsonorbefore2:00p.m.,August30,2023attheofficeoftheFacilities&ConstructionDepartment,locatedat2490HilbornRoad,Fairfield, CaliforniaatorafterwhichtimetheDistrictwillopenthebidsandpubliclyreadthem aloud,inconferenceroom#102at2490HilbornRoad,Fairfield,CA94533.Anyclaimby aBidderoferrorinitsbidmustbemadeincompliancewithPublicContractCode§5100, etseq.Anybidthatissubmittedafterthistimeshallbenon-responsiveandreturnedto theBidder.TheDistrictisnotresponsibleforBidsthatarereceivedafterthedeadline notedabove.

3.TheProjectconsistsof:

RenovationofExistingWoodShop,Office,ProjectRoom,FinishRoom,andStorage Rooms.Mechanical,Electrical,FireProtection,FireAlarm,andTechnologyworkforthe renovatedareaandfornewOwner-Providedandinstalledequipment.Existinglighting andHVACgenerallytoremainwithminormodifications.Newexterioroverheadroll-up door.Minorstructuralmodificationsasrequired.Removalofexistingunder-slabdust evacuationductworkandinstallationofnewoverheaddustevacu ationductwork.

4.AllbidsshallbeontheformprovidedbytheDistrict.EachbidmustconformandberesponsivetoallpertinentContractDocuments,including,butnotlimitedto,theInstructionstoBidders.

5.TobidonthisProject,theBidderisrequiredtopossessoneormoreofthefollowing StateofCaliforniaContractorLicenses: A(GeneralEngineering)orB(GeneralBuilding) TheBidder'slicense(s)mustbeactiveandingoodstandingatthetimeofthebidopeningandmustremainsothroughoutthetermoftheContract.

6.AssecurityforitsBid,eachBiddershallprovidewithitsBidform abidbondissuedbyanadmittedsuretyinsurerontheformprovidedbytheDistrict, cash,or acashier'scheckoracertifiedcheck,drawntotheorderoftheFAIRFIELD-SUISUN UNIFIEDSCHOOLDISTRICT, intheamountoftenpercent(10%)ofthetotalbidprice.ThisbidsecurityshallbeaguaranteethattheBiddershall,withinseven(7)calendardaysafterthedateoftheNoticeof Award,enterintoacontractwiththeDistrictfortheperformanceoftheservicesasstipulatedinthebid.

7.ThesuccessfulBiddershallberequiredtofurnisha100%PerformanceBondanda 100%PaymentBondifitisawardedthecontractfortheProject.

8.ThesuccessfulBiddermaysubstitutesecuritiesforanymonieswithheldbytheDistrict toensureperformanceundertheContract,inaccordancewiththeprovisionsofPublic ContractCode§22300.

9.ThesuccessfulBidderanditssubcontractorsshallpayallworkersontheProjectnot lessthanthegeneralprevailingrateofperdiemwagesandthegeneralprevailingratefor holidayandovertimeworkasdeterminedbytheDirectoroftheDepartmentofIndustrial Relations,StateofCalifornia,forthetypeofworkperformedandthelocalityinwhichthe workistobeperformedwithintheboundariesoftheDistrict,pursuanttoLaborCode§ 1770etseq.PrevailingwageratesareonfilewiththeDistrictandareavailabletoanyinterestedpartyonrequestoratwww.dir.ca.gov/oprl/statistics_and_databases.html.BiddersandBidders subcontractorsshallcomplywiththeregistrationandqualificationrequirementspursuanttoLaborCode§§1725.5&1771.1

10.Amandatorypre-bidconferenceandsitevisitwillbeheldonAugust8,2023at11:00 a.m.atFairfieldHighSchool,205E.AtlanticAve.,Fairfield,California,forthepurposeof acquaintingbidderswiththebiddocumentsandtheworksite.Pleasemeetinfrontofthe schooloffice.Failuretoattendortardinesswillrenderbidineligible.

11.ContractDocumentscanbedownloadedfromtheFairfield-SuisunUnifiedSchoolDistrictWebsiteatFSUSD.org/facilities-bids

12.TheDistrict sBoardreservestherighttorejectanyandallbidsand/orwaiveanyirregularityinanybidreceived.IftheDistrictawardstheContract,thesecurityofunsuccessfulBidder(s)shallbereturnedwithinsixty(60)daysfromthetimetheawardismade. Unlessotherwiserequiredbylaw,noBiddermaywithdrawitsbidforninety(90)days afterthedateofthebidopening.

13.TheDistrictshallawardtheContract,ifitawardsitatall,tothelowestresponsiveresponsibleBidderbasedon:Thebasebidamountonly. DR#00064917

Published:July31August7,2023

AMENDED NOTICE OF PETITION TO ADMINISTER ESTATE OF: GERALDINE LEBRANE CASE NUMBER: PR23-00137

Toallheirs,beneficiaries,creditors,contingentcreditors,andpersonswhomay otherwisebeinterestedinthewillorestate,orboth,of: Geraldine Lebrane APetitionforProbatehasbeenfiledby: Wendell Edwards and Gwendolyn D. Broussard intheSuperiorCourtofCalifornia,County of: Solano

ThePetitionforProbaterequeststhat: Gwendolyn D. Brou ssard beappointedaspersonalrepresentative toadministertheestateofthedecedent. ThepetitionrequestsauthoritytoadministertheestateundertheIndependentAdministrationofEstatesAct.(Thisauthority willallowthepersonalrepresentativeto takemanyactionswithoutobtainingcourt approval.Beforetakingcertainveryimportantactions,however,thepersonal representativewillberequiredtogivenoticetointerestedpersonsunlessthey hav ewaivednoticeorconsentedtothe proposedaction.)Theindependentadministrationauthoritywillbegrantedunless aninterestedpersonfilesanobjectionto thepetitionandshowsgoodcausewhy thecourtshouldnotgranttheauthority.

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

DATE: SEPT. 1, 2023; TIME: 8:30 AM; DEPT.: 4 SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF SOLANO COUNTY SOLANO COUNTY 600 Union Avenue Fairfield.94533

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

Petitioner:GwendolynD.Broussard 370SilkOakDrive, SuisunCity,CA94585 415-724-8036 DR#00064946 Published:July31August4,7,2023