E-edition The Daily Mail February 16 2021

CMYK

The Daily Mail Copyright 2021, Columbia-Greene Media Volume 229, No. 32

Coxsackie blaze began in chimney

Rain and sleet Considerable Mostly sunny in the a.m. cloudiness and colder

29 17

By Bill Williams Columbia-Greene Media

Complete weather, A2

n SPORTS Bill Williams/Columbia-Greene Media

A Coxsackie house received extensive damage in a fire Saturday night.

Daytona 500 Massive wreck in final lap gives Michael McDowell the win PAGE B1

n REGION

Price $1.50

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2021

TODAY TONIGHT WED

LOW 19

Saving local governments at top of debate in Congress A2

Serving Greene County since 1792

All Rights Reserved

n FORECAST WEATHER FOR HUDSON/CA

HIGH 41

Desperate times

COXSACKIE — A family is homeless after fire believed to have started in a chimney broke out Saturday night at their Coxsackie home, Coxsackie Fire Chief Shawn Burdick said Monday.

The family was able to get out of the home safely before

firefighters arrived, Burdick said. Family members will be staying with friends while repairs are being made, Burdick said.

One firefighter was injured in fighting the blaze. He was taken to Columbia Memorial Health by Coxsackie Ambulance with minor injuries, Burdick said.

Coxsackie Hose Company No. 3 was sent by Greene County 911 to 33 Fairy Court at Sleepy Hollow Lake at about 10 p.m., after security guards reported the home was on fire.

When firefighters arrived, they reported flames were See FIRE A8

COVID vaccinations face obstacles

Black History Month Talk on Underground Railroad at Hudson Library PAGE A6

By Sarah Trafton and Natasha Vaughn

n LOCAL

Columbia-Greene Media Courtesy of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Office

Supplies of COVID-19 vaccination doses remain limited in the Twin Counties.

In addition to a limited supply of COVID-19 vaccines, the Twin Counties have also had technological challenges to overcome in inoculating residents.

GREENE COUNTY

A furor over furry critters

Courtesy of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Office

Annual Squirrel Scramble has animal lovers upset PAGE A5

n INDEX Region Opinion State/Nation Obituaries Sports Classified Comics/Advice

People eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine in the Twin Counties are scrambling to find doses as statewide supplies remain limited.

As Greene County Public Health was preparing for Friday’s vaccination point of distribution. or POD, to inoculate 770 essential workers with their second dose of the vaccine, the state database where all vaccine information is logged was down, Greene County Legislature Chairman Patrick Linger, R-New Baltimore, said Monday.

“As we were about to open our largest second-dose POD for 770 essential workers, New York State Department of Health

decided to do an update to their systems — at 11 a.m. on a Friday morning,” Linger said. “In essence, we ran blind for our schedule and were unable to upload data to the state system as vaccines were dispensed.”

Public Health staff had to enter the data on Saturday instead, Linger said, adding that it must be completed within 24 hours.

“We carried on and accomplished the task at hand using Plan B,” Linger said.

“Plan B exists because we’ve trained for such unforeseen circumstances.”

Plan B, in this case, was to record the information on hard copies of the residents’ original application from their first dose, and log the information Saturday into the state’s database, Linger said.

See COVID A8

Snow, ice bear down on Twin Counties

By Sarah Trafton and Aliya Schneider

A3 A4 A5 A5 B1 B4-5 B7-8

On the web www.HudsonValley360.com Twitter Follow: @CatskillDailyMail Facebook www.facebook.com/ CatskillDailyMail/

Columbia-Greene Media

A winter weather advisory was issued for the Twin Counties and surrounding regions Monday with more snow on the horizon later this week.

The advisory is in effect until 1 p.m.

Tuesday, with snow and sleet accumulations from 2-4 inches and ice accumulations of about one-tenth of an inch, according to the National Weather Service in Albany.

Roads may be slippery and the storm will impact the morning commute Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service. The snow is expected to transition to sleet and freezing rain Tuesday morning.

Columbia and Greene counties are expected to see more sleet than snow, meteorologist Kevin Lipton said Monday.

“The main storm will start toward midnight tonight and continue through Tuesday morning,” Lipton said. “In

File photo

More icy and snowy weather is headed this way.

Columbia and Greene, it will mostly be a mix of sleet and freezing rain, not much

in the way of snow.”

The Twin Counties could see up to

two inches of sleet and a tenth- to a quarter-inch of ice, Lipton said.

“It will definitely be impactful for the morning commute tomorrow,” he said.

“And we will have to watch for the possibility of ice-related power outages.”

Residents should prepare for potential outages, according to a statement from Central Hudson.

“We are closely monitoring the incoming weather system and have a full complement of crews as well as our core contractors ready to respond if power outages occur,” said Ryan Hawthorne, vice president of electric engineering and operations at Central Hudson. “Our customers, too, are also advised to take precautions. Icing can damage trees and cause limbs to break and fall, bringing down power lines and causing outages and hazardous conditions.”

Residents are advised to stay at least 30 feet away from downed power lines See SNOW A8

CMYK

COLUMBIA-GREENE MEDIA

A2 Tuesday, February 16, 2021

Weather FORECAST FOR HUDSON/CATSKILL

TODAY TONIGHT WED

THU

FRI

SAT

Why some state and local governments are desperate for more stimulus aid Alyssa Fowers and Rachel Siegel The Washington Post

Rain and sleet Considerable Mostly sunny Cloudy, snow, Some sleet in Partly sunny in the a.m. cloudiness and colder 1-3”; cold the morning

HIGH 41

29 17

LOW 19

26 24

35 21

30 11

Ottawa 20/1

Montreal 23/8

Massena 22/3

Bancroft 16/-9

Ogdensburg 26/-3

Peterborough 19/-4

Plattsburgh 26/8

Malone Potsdam 23/4 22/1

Kingston 22/2

Watertown 23/0

Rochester 24/10

Utica 34/11

Batavia 22/8

Buffalo 23/6

Albany 34/14

Syracuse 32/14

Catskill 41/19

Binghamton 33/10

Hornell 25/5

Burlington 28/12

Lake Placid 26/1

Hudson 40/20

Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.

SUN AND MOON

ALMANAC Statistics through 1 p.m. yesterday

Temperature

Precipitation

Yesterday as of 1 p.m. 24 hrs. through 1 p.m. yest.

High

0.02”

Low

Today 6:50 a.m.

5:29 p.m.

9:23 a.m.

10:33 p.m.

Sunrise Sunset Moonrise Moonset

Wed. 6:49 a.m.

5:31 p.m.

9:45 a.m.

11:34 p.m.

Moon Phases 22

First

Full

Last

New

Feb 19

Feb 27

Mar 5

Mar 13

17 YEAR TO DATE NORMAL

Forecasts and graphics provided

by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2021

2.65 3.74

CONDITIONS TODAY AccuWeather.com UV Index™ & AccuWeather.com RealFeel Temperature®

0

0

1

1

1

1

1

0

0

0

0

31

33

35

40

41

41

41

43

41

37

33

8 a.m. 9 a.m. 10 a.m. 11 a.m. Noon 1 p.m. 2 p.m. 3 p.m. 4 p.m. 5 p.m. 6 p.m.

The higher the AccuWeather.com UV Index number, the greater the need for eye and skin protection. 0-2 Low; 3-5 Moderate; 6-7 High; 8-10 Very High; 11+ Extreme. The patented AccuWeather.com RealFeel Temperature is an exclusive index of effective temperature based on eight weather factors.

NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY Seattle 47/37

Winnipeg -1/-19

Montreal 23/8

Billings 24/15 Minneapolis 6/-5

San Francisco 59/45

Chicago 20/2

Denver 37/13

Toronto 19/-2 New York 47/23 Detroit 20/-4 Washington 53/26

Kansas City 9/4

Los Angeles 69/51

Chihuahua 71/49 Monterrey 52/38

Houston 34/29

Miami 81/73

ALASKA HAWAII

Anchorage 27/23

-10s

-0s

0s

showers t-storms

Honolulu 83/72

Fairbanks 12/2

10s rain

Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.

Hilo 82/66

Juneau 30/27

20s flurries

30s

40s

snow

50s ice

60s

70s

cold front

80s

90s 100s 110s

warm front stationary front

NATIONAL CITIES City Albuquerque Anchorage Atlanta Atlantic City Baltimore Billings Birmingham Boise Boston Charleston, SC Charleston, WV Charlotte Cheyenne Chicago Cincinnati Cleveland Columbus, OH Dallas Denver Des Moines Detroit Hartford Honolulu Houston Indianapolis Kansas City Knoxville Las Vegas

Today Hi/Lo W 41/23 r 27/23 sn 38/27 pc 52/28 r 50/26 r 24/15 sn 33/20 pc 40/24 sn 43/24 r 61/33 pc 31/15 c 52/27 pc 32/11 c 20/2 sn 21/3 c 20/4 sn 20/3 c 23/20 pc 37/13 sn 2/-6 pc 20/-4 sn 41/20 sh 83/72 pc 34/29 pc 17/0 pc 9/4 pc 32/21 c 63/43 s

Wed. Hi/Lo W 37/19 pc 30/26 sf 53/42 pc 35/32 pc 38/26 pc 24/9 sn 48/40 pc 37/17 pc 30/19 s 57/48 pc 32/29 c 50/39 pc 26/7 sn 20/13 c 23/20 sn 21/16 pc 24/20 sn 27/20 sn 30/15 sn 14/1 c 20/13 pc 29/19 s 82/70 c 40/27 r 21/17 sn 22/7 sn 41/35 pc 58/41 s

City Little Rock Los Angeles Miami Milwaukee Minneapolis Nashville New Orleans New York City Norfolk Oklahoma City Omaha Orlando Philadelphia Phoenix Pittsburgh Portland Portland Providence Raleigh Richmond Sacramento St. Louis Salt Lake City San Francisco Savannah Seattle Tampa Washington, DC

Today Hi/Lo W 19/13 pc 69/51 s 81/73 t 20/5 sn 6/-5 s 22/13 c 39/35 pc 47/23 r 63/32 r 12/9 sn 0/-4 s 71/53 pc 50/23 r 68/45 pc 29/10 sf 34/20 sn 47/36 sh 52/25 r 58/28 pc 59/26 r 62/41 pc 16/6 pc 37/30 sn 59/45 pc 57/34 pc 47/37 pc 65/53 pc 53/26 r

Wed. Hi/Lo W 24/21 sn 70/47 s 83/75 pc 22/17 c 13/4 c 35/31 c 60/44 sh 32/24 s 38/35 pc 21/6 sn 15/0 c 78/67 sh 33/26 pc 66/43 s 24/20 pc 28/11 s 47/35 c 32/22 pc 48/33 pc 43/29 pc 63/38 s 21/13 sn 34/23 sn 62/46 s 56/51 sh 47/36 c 77/69 r 38/30 pc

Weather(W): s-sunny, pc-partly cloudy, c-cloudy, sh-showers, t-thunderstorms, r-rain, sf-snow flurries, sn-snow, i-ice.

Saugerties Senior Housing

Washington Post photo by Katherine Frey.

Montgomery College campus in Rockville, Md., is eerily quiet due to the coronavirus pandemic on Dec. 2, 2020.

vice president of the United States Conference of Mayors.

“When March and April happened we said, ‘if it doesn’t have to do with the pandemic, we’re not spending.’”

State and local governments are large employers, accounting for about 13% of non-farm jobs in February 2020. The public sector jobs also historically take longer to rebound from a recession than private sector ones, even when there isn’t a public health crisis, economists warns.

During the Great Recession, local governments tighten their belts in ways that took much longer to undo, even years after the private sector had fully bounced back. By March 2014, the private sector had regained and surpassed the number of jobs it had in March 2008, according to the Census Bureau.

It took four more years for state and local governments to return to 2008 employment levels, slowing down the pace of the overall recovery.

States that rely on industries most affected by the pandemic are taking some of the hardest hits.

In Alaska, which relies heavily on the oil and gas industries, tax revenue plunged more than 40% between March and December of 2020 compared with the same period the previous year, according to data from the State and Local Finance Initiative at Urban Institute.

Tax revenue in North Dakota fell 11%.

As spending on tourism and travel dried up, Hawaii’s tax revenue fell 17%.

Tourism is Hawaii’s largest industry and employer with visitors spending about $18 billion in 2019. In 2020, that figure fell to an estimated $5 billion, according to Gov. David Ige’s office.

The travel and tourism sectors are not expected to rebound until the pandemic ends and people feel comfortable booking long-awaited vacations. Hawaiian officials say they don’t expect state revenue to bounce back to pre-pandemic levels until 2024.

“Even with the most generous of federal assistance, it is a staggering deficit,” Ige said in a statement.

As tourism vanished, the strain on Hawaii’s budget spilled over into the state’s education department. In January 2020, Hawaii’s state government had 72,300 payroll jobs.

By April, that number fell by 8,600 jobs. All of the cuts occurred in public education, including jobs for after-school programs.

Across all states, cuts to education spending make up almost all of the job losses. On the local level, public education accounted for just over half of job losses.

“When you’re looking at significant spending cuts, oftentimes you have to go where the money is, and in some states the money is in K-12 public education,” said Brian Sigritz, director of state fiscal studies at the National Association of State Budget Officers.

If Congress approves state and local aid, Ige’s office said Hawaii would spend the money

Coast-to-coast winter storm brings freezing temperatures, power outages across US

Atlanta 38/27

El Paso 52/39

WASHINGTON - Facing deep budget shortfalls, state and local governments have shed 1.3 million jobs since the pandemic began last year translating into a loss of more than 1 in 20 government jobs, according to a Washington Post analysis of government data.

While tax revenue grew in some states last year, the majority - at least 26 states - were hit with shortfalls. Revenue declined by 10% or more in five states, including a 43% drop in Alaska and a 10% decline in Florida. The toll was felt in both Republican led states like Texas, which saw a 10% shortfall, and Democratic led ones, like Oregon which weathered a 13% drop.

Rescuing struggling state and local governments has been at the center of Congress’ debate over how to address the economic upheaval caused by the pandemic for months.

Republicans oppose the idea, calling it a “blue state bailout” that would reward poor local financial management. Democrats say that without this help, states and local governments could turn into a drag on an already slow economic recovery, and have set aside $350 billion in aid to state and local governments in the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package making its way through Congress.

The strain has already forced some local officials to cut services, weigh tax increases or find other cost-saving measures to balance their budgets.

As a global pandemic seized the U.S. economy, the city of Dayton, Ohio offered its 1,800 city employees voluntary separation plans. More than 100 took the offer.

To get through this budget cycle, Dayton’s police and fire departments aren’t recruiting new classes in 2021. Funding for capital projects - from roads to new dump trucks - has been slashed. Making matters worse, said Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley, the region was still healing from the 2008-09 financial crisis when the pandemic hit.

“We froze everything last year,” said Whaley, who is also

addressing some of state’s most pressing needs, including public school education, eliminating budget cuts and repaying a $700 million unemployment insurance loan from the U.S. Department of Labor.

“Success can only be achieved when the federal government and states work together,” Ige said. “The pandemic will have lasting impacts, and the State of Hawai i will work with our federal partners for as long as it takes to fully recover.”

Yet federal help may not be necessary for state and local budgets, said Chris Edwards, director of tax policy studies at the Cato Institute. Edwards said he was encouraged by signs the economic recovery could begin to accelerate by the end of 2021, including rising home prices.

Instead of a federal bailout, cities should rely on their state leaders for help, said Edwards, adding states should always be prepared with their own rainy day funds.

“If the federal government over does it with bailouts, I think it’s a disincentive for states to take care of themselves,” Edwards said.

Not all states are under the same amount of strain. South Dakota shed 10% of its government workforce. But tax revenue rose 7% last year.

“South Dakota won’t be raising taxes on our citizens or our businesses. We won’t be borrowing billions of dollars to cover our budget shortfalls.

And we won’t be looking to Congress to send us more stimulus money,” Republican Gov. Kristi Noem said in her annual budget address in December.

In Nebraska, tax revenue rose 1% while the state cut 6% of government jobs.

“It’s time for Congress to draw a line in the sand for states and to send a message that states should take responsibility for getting spending under control and managing their affairs,” Nebraska Republican Gov. Pete Ricketts wrote in an October op-ed. “They should not reward years of mismanagement unrelated to the pandemic with a D.C. bailout, while making states like Nebraska foot the bill.”

By Nelson Oliveira New York Daily News

More than 150 million Americans were under winter weather advisories Monday as snowfall and icy conditions sent temperatures plunging, caused multiple deadly crashes and forced power outages across much of the U.S. The National Weather Service said the storm was expected to bring “frigid arctic air” and “dangerously cold wind chills” from coast to coast through at least Tuesday. The brutal and potentially record-setting weather has led to emergency declarations in at least seven states from the Northwest to the South, including Oregon, Kentucky, Alabama and Mississippi.

In Texas, where most residents are not used to snow emergencies, a disaster declaration was issued over the weekend in anticipation of dangerously low temperatures and messy road conditions. The historic storm forced state officials to implement rotating power outages early Monday, meaning thousands of households and

even traffic lights would lose electricity for short periods of time to prevent a massive blackout.

“Energy conservation is critical,” the Electric Reliability Council of Texas said in a tweet.

“Rotating outages are underway to reduce demand on the electric system. We urge Texans to put safety first during this time.”

As of 8 a.m., nearly 2.4 million customers were without electricity in Texas, according to PowerOutages.us, which tracks data from utilities across the country. Other states experiencing power outages include Oregon, with more than 300,000, as well as Louisiana, North Carolina, Utah and Virginia.

The severe weather also caused hundreds of flight cancellations and numerous accidents over the weekend. Some of the crashes were fatal, killing nine people in Texas on Friday, one person in Kentucky and another in Oklahoma on Sunday, according to CNN. In Houston, more than 134 crashes were reported Sunday across the city, including a 10-car pileup, Police

Chief Art Acevedo said.

State officials urged drivers to avoid traveling Monday given the challenging road conditions and rotating power outages.

“Most roads are certainly not safe for passage and many signals are also not operational due to power outages,” the Texas Department of Transportation tweeted.

In an advisory Monday morning, the National Weather Service said a large swath of 6 to 12 inches of snow was forecast from the Ohio Valley and eastern Great Lakes all the way to northern New England, according to the National Weather Service. From Texas to southern New England, meanwhile, freezing rain appeared to be the main threat, with significant ice accumulation expected to cause “a plethora of problems” in the region, according to the agency.

Officials also said that “this impressive onslaught of wicked wintry weather” was the result of both strong arctic high pressure with sub-freezing temperatures and an active storm track

“escorting waves of precipitation” across the country.

(C)2021 New York Daily News.

Visit at nydailynews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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Tuesday, February 16, 2021 A3

COLUMBIA-GREENE MEDIA • THE DAILY MAIL

CALENDAR EDITOR’S NOTE: Most events and meetings are cancelled due to the virus outbreak. Please call ahead to confirm.

Tuesday, Feb. 16 n Athens Town Board 7 p.m. via Zoom https://us02web.zoom.us/j/8501977334 1?pwd=OW4TDZIZzcvaTRLVVdoMCtXOF poZz09 518-945-1052 n Athens Village Planning Board 6:30 p.m. Village Hall, 2 First St., Athens 518945-1551 n Durham Town Board 7:30 p.m.

Town Hall, 7309 Route 81, East Durham n Greene County Legislature Special County Resources; Special Public Safety; Economic Development & Tourism; Gov. Ops.; Finance; Rep. and Dem. Caucus 6 p.m. via Zoom. Audio/Video instruction available on county website n Hunter Town Board 7 p.m. Town Hall, 5748 Route 23A, Tannersville

Wednesday, Feb. 17 n Catskill Library Board 6:45 p.m. at

either the Catskill Library, 1 Franklin St., Catskill or Palenville Library, 3303 Route 23A, Palenville n Catskill Town Board Committee 6:30 p.m. Town Hall, 439 Main St., Catskill 518-943-2141 n Greene County Legislature public hearing (2020 NYS CDBG program) 6:25 p.m.; regular legislature meeting No. 2 6:30 p.m. via Zoom. Audio/Video instruction available on county website

Thursday, Feb. 18 n Coxsackie Village Planning Board 6

p.m. Village Hall, 119 Mansion St., Coxsackie 518-731-2718

Monday, Feb. 22 n Catskill Village Planning Board 7

p.m. Robert C. Antonelli Senior Center, 15 Academy St., Catskill

Tuesday, Feb. 23 n Catskill Town Planning Board 6:30

p.m. Robert C. Antonelli Senior Center, 15 Academy St., Catskill 518-943-2141

Police data requirement to be revised

By Aliya Schneider Columbia-Greene Media

HUDSON — The resolution requiring the police department to provide gender and race data will be rewritten.

Every council member with the exception of 5th Ward Alderman Dominic Merante voted Jan. 19 in favor of a resolution requiring the Hudson Police Department to provide monthly reports with the gender and racial identity of anyone stopped by police, as well as where they were stopped, including drivers and pedestrians. Nationwide racial profiling and the council requesting a 25 mph speed limit in Hudson were among the reasons for the resolution.

Merante called the resolution premature during the January vote. Hudson resident John Kane questioned the council after the vote asking if the police department or Police Chief L. Edward Moore were consulted on the resolution.

They were not, to Common Council President Thomas DePietro’s knowledge, he said.

Moore confirmed he was not included.

Fourth Ward Alderman John Rosenthal called the resolution noncontroversial, saying it is about data collection. When Kane asked who wrote the resolution, DePietro took issue with the relevance of the question.

DePietro turned over the resolution to city attorney Jeffrey Baker, who developed it.

“There were some problems

Contributed photo

The police station on a snowy day.

with the actual resolution and we’re working on an amended version as we speak,” DePietro said.

Moore and the police union were concerned about the resolution and pointed out problems with it, DePietro added.

He hopes to have it revised by the Feb. 16 formal council meeting.

The police department does not oppose reporting data; they just need to figure out how to make it work, Moore said. The department reports racial traffic violation data with a sample of tickets, but not all.

There is race and gender demographic information for

490 of the approximately 1,000 tickets issued in 2020. Of those ticket recipients, 73.5% were Caucasian, 20.2% were Black, 0.4% were Asian or South Pacific and 5.9% were categorized as Other, Moore said.

Moore said he believes the department’s available sampling of ticket data is adequate, but he understands what the council is looking for.

“It’s not easy to do, but I understand what they’re trying to do,” Moore said. “I’m sure we will come up with something that will provide more data for the city council.”

Merante said he doesn’t know who is working on the

revised resolution.

“This is why I think we need committees in this regard, because to rewrite something and then present it on the day you want to vote, I think it’s wrong,” he said. “I think we need to have more conversations about it and who was involved kind of deal and ask some questions.”

Merante was unsure of how resolutions would be formed when the new council structure eliminating council committees and replacing them with ad hoc committees was announced earlier this year.

Committees can be ad hoc or as they were traditionally, but conversations are needed

to form resolutions, Merante said. An ad hoc committee has not been created for the resolution at this time.

“When a resolution gets passed by the council and then two weeks later it has to be rewritten, that’s a waste of time and it’s a waste of money,” Merante said. “Because Jeff (Baker), our attorney, has to write it and that means that not a lot of forethought went into the original resolution... If this is how this new format is going to be, then there needs to be some real thought on how to proceed moving forward with the resolutions.”

Merante plans to reach out to Moore before the resolution is brought to the council.

“I don’t like voting on things that happened that night,” Merante said. “I like research. I like looking at things.”

When the initial resolution was passed, Moore asked DePietro and Baker to clarify definitions in the resolution, Moore said.

“The resolution came out and it was a matter of definition and trying to figure out what policy we could hammer out to get the information that the city council wanted us to capture,” Moore said.

“For example, there are a lot of different gender designations. Do we want to try to get as much information as possible? And secondly, there are also issues regarding race and ethnicity and things like that.”

DePietro said he is waiting to hear from the city attorney.

Wednesday, Feb. 24 n Athens Village Board 6:30 p.m. Vil-

lage Hall, 2 First St., Athens n Catskill Central School District Board of Education 6:30 p.m. CHS Library n Catskill Village Board 7 p.m. Robert C. Antonelli Senior Center, 15 Academy St., Catskill. Max of 15 members of the public can attend in person. Meeting is also available via Zoom email Village Clerk Lisa Cope, lcope@villageofcatskill.net for the Zoom meeting code

Monday, March 1 n Athens Town Board 7 p.m. Town Hall, 2 First St., Athens 518-945-1052

Wednesday, March 10 n Athens Village Board 6:30 p.m. Vil-

lage Hall, 2 First St., Athens n Catskill Village Board 7 p.m. Robert C. Antonelli Senior Center, 15 Academy St., Catskill. Max of 15 members of the public can attend in person. Meeting is also available via Zoom email Village Clerk Lisa Cope, lcope@villageofcatskill.net for the Zoom meeting code

Monday, March 15 n Athens Town Board 7 p.m. Town

Hall, 2 First St., Athens 518-945-1052

Tuesday, March 16 n Athens Village Planning Board 6:30

p.m. Village Hall, 2 First St., Athens 518945-1551

Wednesday, March 24 n Athens Village Board 6:30 p.m. Vil-

lage Hall, 2 First St., Athens

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To Place a Classified Ad 1-800-724-1012 Fax: 315-661-2520 email: classified@registerstar.com or place your classified ad online at: www.registerstar.com or www.thedailymail.net

GREENE COUNTY POLICE BLOTTER Editor’s Note: A charge is not a conviction. All persons listed are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Charges can be amended or dismissed.

STATE POLICE n David M. Gurrieri, 65, of Bridgeport, Connecticut, was arrested at 12:30 p.m. Feb. 10 in Coxsackie and charged with fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon, a class A misdemeanor, and aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, an unclassified misdemeanor. He was issued an appearance ticket. n Niko A. Soto, 26, of New Paltz, was arrested at 10:09 a.m.

Feb. 10 in Cairo and charged with fourth-degree stalking, a class B misdemeanor, and third-degree coercion, a class A misdemeanor. His arrestee status was unknown. n Ralph T. Surrano, 27, of Ravena, was arrested at 1:10 p.m. Feb. 10 in Coxsackie and charged with operation of a motor vehicle while impaired by drugs, an unclassified misdemeanor. He was issued an appearance ticket. n Raul G. Pagan, 30, of Greenville, was arrested at 7:20 a.m. Feb. 11 in Cairo and charged with operation of a motor vehicle while impaired by drugs, an unclassified misdemeanor. He was issued an appearance ticket. n Ellen M. Kinnally, 59, of Tivoli, was arrested at 8:13 p.m.

Feb. 11 in Catskill and charged with operating a motor vehicle with a blood-alcohol content greater than 0.08% and driving while intoxicated, both unclassified misdemeanors. She was released to a third party. n Jason Gavioli, 52, of Freehold, was arrested at 7:04 p.m. Feb. 12 in Greenville and charged with operating a motor vehicle with a blood-alcohol content greater than 0.08% and driving while intoxicated, both with previous convictions and classified as class E felonies. He was issued an appearance ticket.

n Alexander G. Kaoukakis, 39, of Fairfield, Connecticut, was arrested at 10:09 p.m.

Feb. 12 in Hunter and charged with operating a motor vehicle with a blood-alcohol content greater than 0.08% and driving while intoxicated, both unclassified misdemeanors. He was issued an appearance ticket. n Ellen C. Wade, 57, of Acra, was arrested at 7:58 p.m.

Feb. 12 in Catskill and charged with seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a class A misdemeanor, and aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, an unclassified misdemeanor.

She was released on her own recognizance. n Ann J. Colombo, 67, of Durham, was arrested at 8:25 p.m. Feb. 12 in Catskill and charged with fifth-degree criminal possession of narcotics, a class D felony; seventhdegree criminal possession of a controlled substance and manufacturing drug-related paraphernalia, both class A misdemeanors. She was released on her own recognizance. n Jamie R. Garcia, 30, of Ghent, was arrested at 10:53 p.m. Feb. 12 in Durham and charged with second-degree criminal contempt, a class A misdemeanor. She was issued an appearance ticket. n Eric J. Weiss, 38, of Catskill, was arrested at 2:54 a.m. Feb. 14 in Cairo and charged with operating a motor vehicle with a bloodalcohol content greater than 0.08% and driving while intoxicated, both with prior convictions and classified as class E felonies; first-degree aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, a class E felony; and seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a class A misdemeanor. He was issued an appearance ticket. n Stefan Z. Bielski, 42, of Brooklyn, was arrested at 1:59 a.m. Feb. 14 in Hunter and

charged with operating a motor vehicle with a blood-alcohol content greater than 0.08% and driving while intoxicated, both unclassified misdemeanors. He was issued an appearance ticket. n Tanisha L. Loheit, 35, of Hudson, was arrested at 12:50 a.m. Feb. 14 in Hunter and charged with second-degree obstruction of governmental administration, a class A misdemeanor. She was issued an appearance ticket. n Karley M. Audino, 22, of Berne, was arrested at 10:35 p.m. Feb. 13 in Greenville and charged with operating a motor vehicle with a blood-alcohol content greater than 0.08% and driving while intoxicated, both unclassified misdemeanors. She was issued an appearance ticket. n Kyle H. Tonnessen, 27, of Hoboken, New Jersey, was arrested at 8:50 p.m. Feb. 14 in Cairo and charged with operating a motor vehicle with a blood-alcohol content greater than 0.08% and driving while intoxicated, both unclassified misdemeanors. He was issued an appearance ticket. n Cody L. Edwards, 29, of Palenville, was arrested at 10:40 p.m. Feb. 14 in Catskill and charged with operating a motor vehicle with a

blood-alcohol content greater than 0.08% and driving while intoxicated, both unclassified misdemeanors. He was issued an appearance ticket. n Tyquane T. Graves, 31, of Hartford, Connecticut, was arrested at 2:50 a.m. Feb. 15 in Catskill and charged with operating a motor vehicle with a blood-alcohol content greater than 0.08% and driving while intoxicated, both unclassified misdemeanors. He was issued an appearance ticket. n Lynn M. Coleman, 45, of West Coxsackie, was arrested at 7:55 p.m. Feb. 14 in Coxsackie and charged with operating a motor vehicle with a blood-alcohol content greater than 0.08% and driving while intoxicated, both unclassified misdemeanors. She was issued an appearance ticket. n Austin R. Daniel, 34, of Albany, was arrested at 3:54 a.m.

Feb. 13 in Catskill and charged with third-degree criminal possession of narcotics with intent to sell and third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, both class B felonies; fourth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a class C felony; and seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a class A misdemeanor.

He was issued an appearance

ticket. n Aaron P. Zwanziger, 23, of Albany, was arrested at 3:54 a.m. Feb. 13 in Catskill and charged with seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a class A misdemeanor. He was issued an appearance ticket.

GREENE COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE n Jeffrey T. Pascuzzi, 44, of Coxsackie, was arrested at 3:30 p.m. Feb. 6 in Athens and charged with operating a motor vehicle with a blood-alcohol content greater than 0.08% and driving while intoxicated, both unclassified misdemeanors, and unlawful possession of marijuana, a violation. He was issued an appearance ticket. n Jacob M. Reese III, 23, of Catskill, was arrested at 11:25 a.m. Feb. 11 in Catskill and charged with fourthdegree criminal mischief, a class A misdemeanor. He was released on his own recognizance. n Jasmine N. Krom, 24, of Hensonville, was arrested at 9:05 p.m. Feb. 5 in Hensonville and charged with third-degree criminal mischief, a class E felony. She was issued an appearance ticket.

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OUR VIEW

Proposal would unfairly impose costs of inadequate recycling on newspapers

By Rita Cohen and Diane Kennedy ALBANY — New York state’s history is also the history of newspapers and magazines, from the earliest single-page colonial broadsheets of the 1600s to trend-spotting magazines about modern life in the world’s most exciting city.

Publications of all varieties have flourished in New York primarily because its residents and their government have fostered a climate of openness and encouragement. American laws protecting freedom of the press date back to Alexander Hamilton’s influence on New York state government.

New York newspapers and magazines reach every corner of a state that includes dense city neighborhoods, hamlets in forever-wild forests and small family farms set miles apart on dirt roads.

Although publications have added digital editions, publications printed on paper are delivered to tens of thousands of homes that lack broadband internet and homes where readers simply are more comfortable with the familiar format of paper or want to keep their magazines to reference stories on travel, food or projects.

Over the decades, paper production has changed dramatically. Newsprint — the paper on which newspapers is printed — is compostable and biodegradable. And ink used in newspapers and magazines is now made from non-toxic, organic materials such as soy and linseed oil.

Newspapers have shrunk in size to save paper, and both magazines and newspapers have adopted practices that recoup waste material at the printing plant.

Paper is composed of a renewable resource. Newspapers are safe enough to be used as vegetable garden mulch and can be remanufactured into home insulation.

When newspapers and magazines are placed into the recycling stream by consumers, they are readily reincorporated into new products. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s November recycling report shows a recycling rate of 8.5 percent for plastics, 17.2% for aluminum, 18.2% for rubber and leather, 25% for glass and 68.2% for paper.

About 80 percent of U.S. paper mills reincorporate post-consumer paper products into packaging, tissues and printed paper (nearly all newsprint is manufactured in Canada).

The market for recycled paper is expected to increase as North American manufacturers pick up capacity following the exit of China from the market for recyclables.

The recyclability of paper products is hampered by one thing: cross contamination with other materials either through consumer error or post-consumer handling practices. These problems are beyond the control of publishers.

A well-intentioned but misguided piece of legislation in the New York state Senate (S.1185-A), the Extended Producer Responsibility Act, would unfairly impose the costs of inadequate recycling efforts involving higher and growing levels of plastic material upon newspapers and magazines even though our products are highly reusable, recyclable and eco-friendly.

Further, the legislation would require newspapers

and magazines to absorb these new governmentimposed fees at a time when economic conditions and the novel coronavirus pandemic have caused advertising revenues to drop precipitously. The legislation could force publications to save money by eliminating home delivery to rural areas that are expensive to reach and perhaps to cut costs by cutting journalism jobs.

Accurate news of current events is vital to American civic life, and legislation that imposes financial hardship on newspapers and magazines further erodes citizen access to factual and trusted news and information. Furthermore, newspapers are the sole source of local news for many communities throughout the state.

Coverage of town board meetings, food pantry hours and locations, fund drives by volunteer fire departments, classified ads selling used cars and menu specials at local diners is the lifeblood of community newspapers. Yet this legislation discriminates against news and information published on paper as opposed to information that is circulated on social media and other digital formats.

We urge the New York state Legislature to consider the impact of this legislation and find more appropriate ways to reclaim post-consumer waste without disadvantaging the state’s vital news and information sources.

Rita Cohen is senior vice president for legislative and regulatory policy at MPA/ The Association of Magazine Media. Diane Kennedy is president of the New York News Publishers Association.

Senate Republicans voted their fears WASHINGTON — There is, it turns out, a psychological force far more powerful than Stockholm syndrome, the tendency of hostages to identify with their captors.

It is Mar-a-Lago syndrome, the powerful, inescapable hold that Donald Trump continues to exert over Republican lawmakers.

What must it have felt like for Republican senators, victims of the high crime with which Trump was charged, to sit in judgment over the former president in the very scene of the violence that he helped unleash against them?

To watch the harrowing video of their chamber being desecrated, of the mob hunting them down, of the officers entrusted with ensuring their safety being assaulted. To understand how close they came to danger, and how close our democracy came to destruction.

To know that but for Trump, the insurrection would never have happened. But for his relentless, baseless refusal to accept the election results, even after the courts ruled and ruled and ruled against him, even after state after state certified that he had lost.

But for the predicate he laid, even before Election Day, that if he lost it would be because the system was rigged against him. But for the frenzy he whipped up after the election that it was being stolen from him. But for the mob he summoned to Washington on the day the results were to be certified, that he inflamed, and that he then directed to the Capitol.

But for his behavior after the entirely foreseeable violence erupted - not simply his studied silence as the insurrectionists breached the Capitol, although that failure to act was bad enough, but his further inflaming, with tweets assailing the vice president who he knew had been hustled off the Senate floor to flee the rioters.

The evidence presented by the House managers during Trump’s second impeachment trial was more powerful, and more sickening, than could have been anticipated. In the face of all this, all but seven Republican senators grasped for every conceivable escape hatch to avoid holding Trump responsible for the injury he inflicted on our

WASHINGTON POST

RUTH

MARCUS democracy, for his effort to subvert the results of the election that he decisively lost.

They seized on a single soothing phrase in a long, inciting speech, and an even longer, inciting course of conduct, to claim that he had merely advocated peaceful protest. They whatabouted Trump’s inflammatory language and its predictable consequences, citing Democratic lawmakers who had used similar words (“fight”) without comparable consequences.

They claimed that the important free-speech protections that would pose a substantial obstacle to prosecuting Trump for criminal incitement apply to shield him in the context of impeachment. This is a perversion of the First Amendment. It protects Nazis marching in the streets of Skokie, Ill., or Charlottesville, Va. It would protect a president spouting Nazi propaganda from being prosecuted for his statements. It would not shield him from being impeached for them.

And they sought refuge, most of all, in the argument that the Constitution prevents impeachment from beinga pursued against a former president. This proved a tempting constitutional life raft for Republican senators so fearful for their political futures that they would seize on any excuse to avoid a decision on the merits, or lack thereof, of Trump’s behavior.

This is a complex constitutional question, and although the weight of the scholarly assessment comes down on the side of continued jurisdiction over a departed official, there is an entirely plausible argument to the contrary.

I would be more sympathetic to Republican senators’ jurisdictional scruples if it weren’t so obvious that many are acting more out of political cowardice than

constitutional conviction.

It’s what passes for Republican bravery these days that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., delivered an unsparing account of Trump’s irresponsible behavior — after casting his not-guilty vote on the jurisdictional grounds.

Trump, he said, engaged in a “disgraceful dereliction of duty.” The violence “was a foreseeable consequence of the growing crescendo of false statements, conspiracy theories and reckless hyperbole which the defeated president kept shouting into the largest megaphone on planet Earth.”

This would be easier to praise if McConnell hadn’t stayed so silent for so long as Trump spouted his false statements about the election; if he hadn’t made it impossible to hold the trial while Trump was in office; if he had managed to state flatly that he would have voted to convict Trump absent the supposed constitutional bar; and if he endorsed some other measure, like censure, against Trump now.

McConnell’s colleagues know in their hearts that Trump’s behavior was as dangerous as their leader described. They know, in short, better than their votes suggested. Mar-a-Lago syndrome does not mean they identify with their captor but that they cower in fear of him. Out of office, even off Twitter, Trump retains the power to destroy careers.

He can summon his followers, deploy his mailing list and open his campaign checkbook to defeat those who dare defy him.

This is a good moment to pause to praise the Republicans who voted to convict: Sens. Richard Burr (N.C.), Bill Cassidy (La.), Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Mitt Romney (Utah), Ben Sasse (Neb.) and Patrick J. Toomey (Pa.).

This small band — too few — is still more than has ever voted to convict a president of their own party. It offers another measure of Trump’s enduring infamy.

Ruth Marcus’ email address is ruthmarcus@washpost.com.

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Barbara Friss Smith Barbara Friss Smith, 86, of will be reunited again.

Ghent, passed away peacefully Barbara is survived by her with her family by her side, Friday daughters, Maryellen, and Paula February 12, 2021.

(Doug), brothers and sister BobBorn November 8, 1934 in bie, Gary and Kathy, grandchilHudson, NY, she was a lifelong dren, Monique (Pastor Paul), resident of Columbia County in Dennis, Brittany (Justin), and which she took great pride in rem- Sabrina, 9 great grandchildren, iniscing about events and sto4 great great grandchilries. She will be greatly dren, along with many missed by many. Barbacousins, nieces and ra was a life long memnephews. Barbara was ber of the People’s Bible predeceased by her Church in Claverack. husband William Smith, She will be remembered sisters Connie, Dolores, for her caring personaland Elaine. ity and for her compasVisitation hours at the sion as demonstrated Bates & Anderson-Redwhen she welcomed Smith mond & Keeler Funeral people into her home Home are Wednesday as a family care provider for over 19 years through ODHEC. She February 17, from 11:00amwas an active member of the lo- 1:00pm, followed by a funeral sercal family care chapter of ODHEC vice at 1:00pm. Interment will be for over 10 years, serving as vice in Cedar Park Cemetery. In lieu of president. Family and friends will flowers, contributions in memory miss her zest for life, quick wit and of Barbara are encouraged to be hearty laugh, they will take com- made to Capital City Rescue Misfort knowing that she is in heaven sion or St. Jude’s Children’s Rewith her Lord and Savior and they search Hospital.

Joseph Yannone Joseph Yannone, age 95, of Catskill, died Saturday, February 13, 2021 at the Pines in Catskill.

He was born November 2, 1925 in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, the son of the late Joseph and Mabel (Wagenbaugh) Yannone. Joseph served in the United States Army Air Force, and was a veteran of World War II. He was an employee of Holcim Cement Company in Catskill until his retirement at age 85.

Joseph is survived by a daughter, Kathleen Yannone of Athens; a sister, Laura Romak; 6 grandchildren, Zef (Nancy) Yannone, Shana Yannone (Tim), Sabrina Ersken, Kayla Ersken (John), Niki Jo Yannone (Tommy), Shawn

Speenburgh; 8 great-grandchildren, Zaida, Briana, Zefi, Kaden, Nico, Jace, Vincenzo, Tomi Rose; and many nieces, nephews, and cousins.

Joseph was predeceased by his wife, Bernice T. Yannone on May 12, 2018; a son, Joseph A. “JoJo” Yannone; a daughter-inlaw, Phyllis (Gjergji) Yannone; and three siblings, William McCarthy, Dottie Barra and Robert Yannone.

Relatives and friends may call 4 – 6PM Wednesday at Traver & McCurry Funeral Home, 234 Jefferson Heights, Catskill. A graveside funeral service and interment with full military honors will be held 11:00 AM Thursday at the Town of Catskill Cemetery.

Richard H. Cleveland Sr. aka Dick, or Pop Richard H. Cleveland Sr. aka Dick, or Pop, of North Hillsdale passed away Friday the 12th of February of natural causes at his home. He had been battling health issues for several years.

Richard was a devoted and loving husband, father, grandfather (Poppa) and great grandfather, whose love and generosity was unwavering. He has touched the lives of so many with his kind words and warm heart. He served during the Korean war in the United States Navy. Dick owned the Gulf station in Hillsdale for many years, but was a truck driver at heart.

Richard is remembered by his six children, Sharon, Karen,

Richard Jr., Randy, Danny, Carrie and their spouses. As well as sixteen grandchildren and twenty great grandchildren.

He was predeceased by his loving wife of 60 years, Carolyn Cleveland, his grandson Randy Jr., and great granddaughter Faith Cleveland.

At the wishes of Richard there will be no formal services. The family has requested that in lieu of flowers, donations in Richard’s memory may be made to the Copake Community Rescue Squad for all of their dedication and assistance over the years.

To leave a message of condolence for the family please visit www.peckandpeck.net

Anthony “Tony” M. Bucci Anthony “Tony” M. Bucci, son of Dominic and Alice (Smith) Bucci, born on February 18, 1938 passed away peacefully with his family by his side, February 12, 2021 at Columbia Memorial Hospital.

In 1960, he married his high school sweetheart and love of his life, Judith Ann DiCintio.

In addition to his beloved wife, Judy, he is survived by his sister Elena “Buffy” (Bucci) Burdick of Mechanicville, his sons A. Michael Bucci and his wife, Dawn (Sherman) Bucci of Greenport, Robert J. Bucci and his husband, Chris Boneau of New York, New York, grandsons Anthony M. Bucci III and his wife, Kimberly (Daigle) Bucci of Los Angeles, California, Dominic J. Bucci and his wife Elizabeth (Kading) Bucci and their daughter, Elliana Elizabeth Bucci of Greenport, Kristofer J. Bucci of

Ghent, and many nieces, neph- Purchasing Manager in 1994. ews and countless friends.

After his time at IBM, he enBorn and raised in Hudson, he joyed bartending at local bars and grew up in the family restaurant, restaurants. He was the “bartendBucci’s LaBella Napoli on Warren er’s bartender” making people Street. smile with a joke or a funny story.

He attended the HudHe served as volunson City School District teer fireman for 50 plus and graduated in 1956. years in Hudson, was Tony was active in a very active Lifetime football, baseball and Member of the Elk’s basketball and was votClub, and spent sumed Most Popular in his mers coaching Little class.

League baseball in HudAmong his fondest son. memories as a child A devoted family man, Bucci were summers spent his pride was boundless fishing with his family at their cot- for his sons Michael and Robert’s tage on Lake Taghkanic. sporting and performing activiHe was drafted into the Army ties. His proudest moments came in 1956 and served in the National as Michael and Robert grew into Guard until 1958. adulthood and excelled as a presHe began a long and a distin- tigious local CPA and a New York guished career at IBM in 1958 un- marketing executive. til his celebrated retirement as a His passion in retirement was

Squirrel hunt ignites animal rights furor

By Natasha Vaughn Columbia-Greene Media

GERMANTOWN — The state Humane Association is asking a local sporting organization to call off an annual squirrel hunt, but the group that hosts the event defended the hunt as an environmentally safe way to reduce the squirrel population.

The annual Germantown Sportsmen’s Association Squirrel Scramble is scheduled to be held Feb. 27. The Humane Association sent a letter to the Sportsmen’s Association asking them to cancel the event, saying hunting squirrels for sport Courtesy of Tribune News Service is cruel.

“There’s no reason for it, it’s a An animal rights group is asking a local gun club to cancel its contest,” said Dr. Harold Hovel, squirrel-hunting competition later this month. chairman of the New York State Humane Association. “Who- sporting event,” according to comments suggested some ever kills the most squirrels, the Sportsmen’s Association. people hunt squirrels not just whoever kills the biggest weight Since announcing its sev- for sport, but for meat. or the largest squirrel, they get enth annual Squirrel Scramble, “A lot of these targeted aniprizes for it. Basically it’s what some members have received mals like squirrels are wounded they call a fun day out to kill threatening and vulgar phone but not killed,” Hovel said. these unassuming, inoffensive messages and emails from “Then they suffer. So they eicreatures. And they can get people all over the country, ac- ther bleed to death, or they get away with it because New York cording to the Germantown infections and some of them are state allows it to happen.”

Sportsmen’s Association. mothers that have babies in a Hovel said seven states have The messages and letters nest somewhere and the babies outlawed squirrel hunting and have indicated they will be us- die from starvation. There’s New York and several other ing the press, protesting and definitely cruelty involved.” states have looked at legislation legislation to stop the event, acSquirrel hunting is legal in to outlaw the practice, but it has cording to the statement. the state. The season in most not passed elsewhere.

“While the Humane Associa- of New York runs for about six The Germantown sports- tion presents a number of their months from Sept. 1 to Feb. 28. men’s group defended the opinions as facts that are not ac- There is a daily bag limit of six competition. curate, many of their support- squirrels, according to the state “We feel strongly that our ers are using threats and bul- Department of Environmental event is legal, a traditional lying to express themselves,” Conservation. Red squirrels are sporting activity and protects according to the Sportsmen’s not protected and are allowed the environment from over- Association. to be caught at any time withpopulation,” according to a During the Scramble, regis- out limit. statement from the German- tered teams of two hunt squirThe Squirrel Scramble is town Sportsmen’s Association. rels. A cash prize is awarded for open to men, women and “We also feel that this can be a first place to the team with the youth hunters. According to the positive experience for those heaviest set of legal limit squir- Germantown Sportsmen’s Asinvolved.” rels, according to the Sports- sociation statement, the hunt The Germantown Sports- men’s Assocoation. Bonus originated as a youth event for men’s Association is going weight is given for red or black junior members to encourage ahead with plans to hold the squirrels. hunters 12-15 to experiencing event, according to the stateSeveral comments on the hunting and the outdoors while ment.

Germantown Sportsmen’s As- participating with a parent or “A Humane Association sociation website raised the adult. from Kingston has targeted idea that squirrels are considThe event promotes hunter the Germantown Sportsmen’s ered a rodent and that hunting safety and learning state huntAssociation for holding a legal them may be helpful. Other ing rules and regulations. Any

Parler is back online more than a month after tangle with Amazon knocked it offline

By Rachel Lerman The Washington Post

Parler is back online after the social media site popular with supporters of former president Donald Trump was knocked offline last month.

Parler effectively fell off the Internet in January, when Amazon refused to provide technical cloud computing support to the site after the tech giant determined that Parler was not doing enough to moderate and remove incitements of violence.

The site was not fully functional on Monday, and some users reported technical glitches as they tried to log in and refresh feeds. Private messaging was disabled, but the basic outline of the site was live.

“We’re in for a little bit of a bumpy ride for the next day or two, there’s been a ton of backend work we’ve completed over the last couple of weeks,” Parler chief technology officer Alexander Blair posted on the site

Monday morning.

Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.

Parler, which said it had more than 12 million users when it was knocked offline, became especially popular with Trump supporters last year and emerged as a common place to discuss baseless election fraud claims after Trump lost the November 2020 election. The tipping point for many of its partners to pull technical support came after the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, when users on Parler glorified the riot.

Apple and Google removed the app from their app stores, making it nearly impossible for new users to download the app. Then Amazon severed its hosting service from Parler, effectively turning off the lights.

The companies cited Parler’s lax moderation policies against calls for violence.

Parler did not immediately

to follow his grandsons Dominic and Kristofer’s sporting events and Tony’s many musical and theatrical activities.

Affectionately known to his friends and family as “Chooch”, Tony had an uncanny ability to name the singer or the song in just a few notes.

His laughter was profound, his smile was contagious and his friendships were lifelong.

A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated Monday February 15, 2021 from Holy Trinity St. Mary’s Parish in Hudson, NY. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Church of the Holy Trinity, the Sons & Daughters of Italy or another charity of your choice.

Visit batesandanderson.com to leave condolences.

respond to a request for comment about its return or its hosting service.

Parler appeared to be using a Los Angeles-based cloud hosting company called SkySilk to return online. Hackers on Twitter, including the user who orchestrated a large-scale scrape of Parler’s public data as it fell offline, identified SkySilk as the host. John Jackson, founder of hacking group Sakura Samurai, confirmed that the technical footprint points to SkySilk in public records.

SkySilk did not immediately respond to a request for confirmation.

Parler long prided itself on allowing users “free speech” in pretty much any legal form, and regularly railed against big social media sites including Twitter and Facebook for what it characterized as overmoderating what users posted online.

It got an initial boost of highprofile users, including Sen. Ted

Cruz, R-Texas, in summer 2020 after Twitter started labeling Trump’s posts with fact checks.

The social media site was known as a friendly spot for conservative pundits and supporters who were fed up with “censorship” on other social media apps. But after the election, Parler also became a breeding ground for conspiracy theories about the vote and calls for violence in the District of Columbia.

It’s been a bumpy ride for Parler since the Capitol attack.

After it was kicked offline, the site sued Amazon for the decision and launched a static Web page where it posted periodic updates about its efforts to come back online.

Then the board of directors, which includes investor and billionaire Republican megadonor Rebekah Mercer, fired CEO and co-founder John Matze. Matze told Axios that he advocated for Parler to adopt more

automated moderating, which the big social media sites use together with human moderators to enforce their policies.

Parler is now being run by interim CEO Mark Meckler, who co-founded the right-wing Tea Party Patriots political organization.

“We are committed to continuing to fulfill our role as the premier platform for free speech, data sovereignty and civil discourse,” Meckler posted on Parler Monday.

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harvested game that is not kept by the participants is saved for their annual game dinner and offered to local wildlife rehabilitators who use it to feed birds of prey and animals that will be released into the wild so they can maintain their hunting instincts.

“One thing those of us in the humane movement worry about is what is this teaching children,” Hovel said. “It’s teaching them that it’s OK to kill things, that it’s fun to kill things. They are immune to the cruelty of it because that’s never brought up by the people that take part. It’s bad all around for not only wildlife but the rest of us in society.”

A change.org petition was launched Sunday entitled,” STOP the Cruel Squirrel killing contest in Germantown, NY! STOP The Squirrel Scramble!”

As of Monday afternoon, the petition contained 546 signatures.

The Squirrel Scramble is not a unique event and a lot of hunting organizations hold similar events where a number of different animals, such as squirrels, foxes or coyotes are hunted, Hovel said.

He said he has not heard of an organization canceling their hunting event because of a letter asking them to do so.

FUNERAL DIRECTORS Copake, N.Y. (518) 329-2121 Pine Plains, N.Y. (518) 398-7777

VITO LAWRENCE SACCO Sacco-McDonald-Valenti Funeral Home 700 Town Hall Drive Hudson, New York 12534 • 518-828-5000 e-mail: smvfh700@gmail.com

M. GRIMALDI FUNERAL HOME & CREMATION SERVICES 25 Railroad Ave., Chatham, N.Y. (518) 822-8332 Mario A. Grimaldi, Manager

ATTENTION FUNERAL DIRECTORS Obituaries, Death Notices or Funeral Accounts Should Be Submitted Before 2PM Daily For The Next Day’s Paper.

Notices should be emailed to:

obits@columbiagreene media.com

Call Patti to advertise your funeral home: (518) 828-1616 x2413

For

CURRENT OBITUARY LISTINGS be SURE to CHECK our WEBSITE: hudsonvalley360.com

CMYK

COLUMBIA-GREENE MEDIA • THE DAILY MAIL

A6 Tuesday, February 16, 2021

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure

By Karen dePeyster, Tobacco-Free Action For Columbia-Greene Media

It’s an unpleasant truth that smoking still causes a lot of pain and suffering. In human terms, the number of lives lost is a tragedy. In economic terms, the “pound of cure” for treating tobacco-related illness comes at a steep price, measured annually in the billions.

Now, in reports recently released by the Department of Health, there is good news on both fronts. A decade of declining smoking rates is finally translating into substantially fewer deaths caused by tobacco. Ten years ago, 28,000 New Yorkers died annually from smoking; today that number is 21,000. The “pound of cure” costs have gone down too.

Between 2011 and 2017, there was a decline of $2.5 billion annually spent on treatment, from $12.2 billion to $9.7 billion.

Another encouraging indicator is a dramatic drop in the smoking rate for young adults age 18-24, from 21.6% in 2011 to a new low of 8.6% in 2018.

Because it is rare that anyone starts smoking after age 21, this means the pipeline to tobacco dependence is slowly being shut down. In another 10 years, the impact will be reflected in a new set of numbers showing lives spared and dollars saved. Prevention works!

Still, it’s not all a rosy picture. Over 750,000 New Yorkers live with tobacco-related disease, such as cancer, COPD, and cardiovascular disease, all of which can lead to life-altering disability. These underlying conditions, and smoking itself, also compromise the

immune system and make individuals more vulnerable to other serious illness, as the COVID pandemic has so grimly demonstrated. Of the 1.8 million New Yorkers who smoke, disproportionate numbers are people with lower income and education or who have poor mental health.

The overall smoking rate in New York is 12.7%, but among disadvantaged groups the figures are much higher: unemployed adults 24.5%; adults receiving Medicaid 23.5%; adults with frequent mental distress 27.7%; disabled adults 20%. These people cannot be forgotten. As a matter of equity and social justice, everyone deserves the chance to live a smoke-free life.

The Goliath in the room, of course, is the tobacco industry, determined as ever to hang on to every customer by whatever means necessary and to find creative ways to attract new users. On one hand, this means bolstering the appeal of traditional products like menthol cigarettes or inexpensive little cigars, cigarillos, and smokeless tobacco, all available in a variety of kidfriendly sweet and fruit flavors. On the other hand, both Altria, maker of Marlboro, and Reynolds, maker of Camel and Newport, have adapted to the times by getting into the vaping business ahead of FDA regulations on e-cigarettes. Altria has now gone one step further, declaring that its new mission is “designing a smoke-free future.” But don’t expect them to stop selling cigarettes any time soon. The real motive: to quickly concentrate nicotine addicts around new noncigarette, non-combustible

products before competition heats up or more people quit smoking altogether.

In the past 20 years New York has invested in a comprehensive approach to reducing tobacco use, and it has paid off. We have a strong Clean Indoor Air Act, high cigarette taxes, and an effective Tobacco Control Program that works to reduce exposure to secondhand smoke; promotes measures that motivate users to quit and prevent youth from becoming smokers (or vapers); and, sparks change in norms around tobacco use.

The latter is one of the reasons we now take it for granted that smoking is not allowed in bars, restaurants and other public places. The experience, expertise and infrastructure necessary to sustain the downward trend of tobacco use and to meet current and emerging challenges is well established and nationally recognized.

Over 20 years, the total amount of funds dedicated to tobacco control in New York rounds out to a bit over $800 million. Compare that to the $2.5 billion saved every year or the $9.7 billion still spent annually on treating tobacco-related illness. By any measure, there has been a good return on investment. Maybe an ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure.

The Healthcare Consortium is a local charitable organization with a mission of improving access to healthcare and supporting the health and well-being of the residents in our rural community. The agency is located at 325 Columbia St. in Hudson. For more information, visit www.columbiahealthnet.org or call 518-822-8820.

Virtual talk on the history of the Underground Railroad in the Capital Region HUDSON — The Hudson Area Library, as part of its series of local history talks, presents People of Courage, People of Hope, Seekers of Justice — The Underground Railroad Revisited, 6-7:30 p.m. Feb. 25.

Paul and Mary Liz Stewart of the Underground Railroad Education Center, independent researchers and Scholars in Residence at Russell Sage College, share their seminal research on the Underground Railroad movement in upstate New York, specifically the Albany/Troy area. A question and answer period will follow the talk. Visit hudsonarealibrary.org, for Zoom registration link or contact Brenda Shufelt at 518-828-1792 x106 or brenda.shufelt@hudsonarealibrary.org.

The Underground Railroad, often characterized in our historical memory by tunnels, dark of night escapes, coded language and secret hiding places, was far more extensive and complex than these ideas have led us to believe.

In the midst of significant pro-slavery sentiment, New York State was home to many abolitionists working to end the institution of enslavement in our state and nation and it was visited by many who had escaped enslavement and sought a life of freedom. Join with the Stewarts as they share a new interpretation of a very old story and explain the various initiatives in which Underground Railroad Education Center is engaged as it works to connect the public with this local history and its relevance for us today.

Underground Railroad Education Center researches and preserves the local and national history of the Underground Railroad movement, its international connections, and its

BRIEFS We want to hear from you.

To send information to be included in Briefs, email to editorial@thedailymail.net or mail to Attention Briefs; The Daily-Mail, Unit 1, 364 Warren St., Hudson, NY 12534.

ONGOING KINGSTON — We know it’s still chilly outside, but start dreaming. Luscious berries, evergreens, nut trees, and native flowering shrubs, there’s something for everyone in this year’s seedling sale. New this year we are offering edible fruit packs with four blueberries, two blackberries, two red raspberries and two June-bearing Honeoye strawberries! This pack of 10 plants will create wonderful fruit garden. We also have extra June bearing strawberries and blueberry pairs to add to your fruit desires, along with the popular Red Haven peach tree. Since the peach trees are self-fertile, you need only one. Our popular prepacks are back with the all native flowering shrubs, evergreen trees (grow your own Christmas trees) and native nut trees. That’s ten to a pack with five different species in each.

The deadline for orders is March 15. Pick up is 10 a.m.-4 p.m. April 29 and April 30 and 9 a.m.-noon May 1 at the red mini-barn behind the office at 232 Plaza Road in Kingston.

You’ll be able to select your date and time during checkout. For complete details and to order from our online store, visit ulster.cce.cornell. edu/2021SeedlingSale.

FEB. 16 GREENPORT — Sacred Heart/Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Shrine, 442 Fairview Ave., Greenport, will serve a pasta fagioli with sausage meat for pickup lunch and dinner 11:30 a.m.-6 p.m. Feb. 16. Call in orders 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m. day of, 518-828-8775. One quart with bread and butter, $8.

Take out from the Shrine.

ALBANY — Take Control of Your Personal Finances by Joining CCE Albany for Budgeting on a Limited Income via Zoom 6:30-7:30 p.m. Feb. 16. Advanced registration is required at https://cornell. zoom.us/meeting/register/ tJApfu6uqzgrHd2ajpvqLFrg3hSz39IYhSxN or email mkd59@cornell.edu or call/ text 518-598-9937.

Managing personal finances can be stressful, especially if you have recently faced job loss or income fluctuations.

Creating a working budget is crucial in helping you reach future goals. This workshop will provide tips and

strategies to improve your basic budgeting skills. We will discuss how to best set financial goals, track monthly expenses (both fixed and variable) and create a budget that helps maximize all available resources. Join us to take control of your current financial situation and plan for a bright future.

FEB. 18 WINDHAM — Mountain Top Cares Coalition in Windham, is hosting its monthly virtual Narcan Training at 7 p.m. Feb. 18. Help us defeat opioid use disorder by volunteering for training and distribution of Narcan. Register by going to mountaintopcarescoalition.com.

FEB. 19 CATSKILL — Catskill Elks Lodge, 45 North Jefferson Ave., Catskill will host Lenten Fish Fry Fridays Feb. 19 through April 2, take out/ drive thru only. Dinners are fish, shrimp, clams or a combination and includes choice of mac and cheese or fries; cole slaw, sauces and lemon.

The cost is $13-$15. Must pre-order by calling 518-9451179.

FEB. 20 TANNERSVILLE — Mountain Top Arboretum presents Winter Tree ID, a webinar scheduled for 10 a.m. Feb. 20. Admission is free. Sign up at www.mtarboretum.org.

Trees take on a different life in winter. With the leaves gone from the deciduous trees, their forms contrast crisply against the winter landscape.

Evergreens now shine in the winter sun. Without leaves we must look closely at distinguishing factors such as buds and bark. Join Executive Director Marc Wolf and Horticulturist Ryan Moore for an indepth look at Winter Tree Identification. For information, call 518-589-3903.

FEB. 25 CATSKILL — The 19th Annual CHS March for Peace and Justice will be held Feb. 25. The march will step off at 5:15 p.m. on the steps of the Second Baptist Church on Main Street in Catskill and proceed to the Greene County Court House and then to the steps of the Catskill Middle School. Because of the pandemic, the entire event will take place outdoors. Social distancing will be practiced and masks are required.

All are welcome. For information, call 518-943-2590,

MARCH 2 ALBANY — New NYS Laws for Asset Protection, Medicaid Planning and Long-term

Care 1 p.m. March 2 via Zoom.

Join us for a Zoom training with Former NYS Assemblywoman and Asset Protection Attorney, Ann-Margaret Carrozza, and Director of Outreach at NYSARC Trust Services, Sarah Szewczyk, to learn how to prepare for changing NYS laws in order to protect assets and income for Medicaid planning and long-term care purposes. The virtual host is Shaker Place, the Capital District’s premier rehabilitation and nursing center.

Visit www.shakerplace.org to learn about the newly renovated facility located in Albany. Call 518-869-2231 or email info@shakerplace.org for further information. You must register to receive the Zoom Meeting ID and callin details: https://us02web. zoom.us/meeting/register/ tZYqfu6qpjkvG9DZfRiFc2JopEatQ22FC4B5

MARCH 6 SELKIRK — Bethlehem Grange 137, 24 Bridge St., Selkirk, will hold a take out only corned beef and cabbage dinner 3:30-6 p.m. March 6. Cost is $13. Orders must be made

by March 3 by calling 518421-1384.

MARCH 11 EAST BERNE — Helderberg Christian School, 96 Main St., East Berne, will hold a Brooks’ Barbecue fundraiser 4-6:30 p.m. March 11, drive thru/take out only. COVID guidelines apply. Chicken dinner, $13 preordered or $14 day of event. Call by March 9 to preorder, 518-499-5416.

MARCH 12 SOUTH BETHLEHEM — The South Bethlehem United Methodist Church, 67 Willowbrook Ave, South Bethlehem, will host a take out only by reservation corned beef and cabbage dinner 3:306:30 p.m. March 12. Dinner includes dessert. The cost is $12. Call/text Emily Shutter at 518-813-0661 or Cathleen McCullough at 518-2658684. Visit South Bethlehem United Methodist Church on Facebook and leave a message with your reservation.

MARCH 13 CAIRO — Round Top Volunteer Fire Dept. Ladies Auxiliary second annual corned beef and cabbage dinner, take out only, 3-6 p.m. March 13 at the Round Top Firehouse, 1507 Hearts Content Road, Cairo. Menu includes corned beef, cabbage, red potatoes, carrots, rye bread, soda bread and dessert. Cost is $15. Snow date is March 20.

1st National Bank of Scotia president and CEO assumes leadership role

Contributed photo

From The Underground Railroad by William Still, Porter and Coates, 1872.

legacy for today’s social justice issues, thereby empowering people of all ages to be agents of change toward an equitable and just society.

The Hudson Area Library History Room houses a special collection that pertains to the history of the City of Hudson, Greenport and Stockport; as well as Columbia County and New York State. The History Room also hosts the Local History Speaker Series at the library, offering free monthly talks on diverse topics related to the history of Hudson, Greenport, Stockport, and Columbia County.

The History Room is by

appointment only at this time but online research requests for information on local history are available at https:// hudsonarealibrary.org/history-room/. This is a free service to the public. To inquire about an appointment email brenda. shufelt@hudsonarealibrary. org or call 518-828-1792 x106.

The Hudson Area Library is located at 51 North Fifth St., Hudson. The mission of the library is to enrich the quality of life by providing free and equal access to programs, services and resources, and by creating opportunities for all members of our community to connect, create, learn and grow.

SCOTIA — John Buhrmaster, president and CEO of 1st National Bank of Scotia, is assuming a leadership role as vice chair on the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) Community Bank Advisory Council (CBAC). He will transition to committee chair in October.

Buhrmaster, who joined the nation’s premier consumer rule-making entity last fall, has a two year term advising Bureau leadership and staff on how the CFPB can further its mission of protecting consumers, while at the same time developing rules that enable community banks under $10 million in assets to continue their effective delivery of banking

John Buhrmaster

services to consumers.

A fourth generation community banker, Buhrmaster brings more than three decades of experience in the financial services industry, collections and non-profit

organizations to the board.

He is the former chairman of the Independent Community Bankers of America, a national trade group representing the interests 5,000 community banks, and past chairman of the Independent Bankers Association of New York State.

The Scotia native, who holds an undergraduate degree in management information systems and marketing from Syracuse University, has served as president and CEO of 1st National Bank of Scotia since 2005. The independently owned and operated bank has branches in Albany, Saratoga and Schenectady counties and assets of $500 million.

CMYK

Health & Fitness

www.HudsonValley360.com

Tuesday, February 16, 2021 A7

COLUMBIA-GREENE MEDIA

Love and addiction

By Kimberly Haley BS, LPN For Columbia-Greene Media

Addiction is a disease. This disease not only impacts the person struggling with addiction but the entire family and all friends. For those who looking from the outside, the can see how addiction can and has taken over a person’s life which is so dishearting.

Drugs and relationships are compeling forces. They both increase a chemical called dopamine in the brain (Aspenridge/article).

Addiction can create a whole environment built on mistrust and resentment.

Many who have questioned themselves about while in a relationship with an addict, find it difficult to have it be sustainable long term. Did you know both LOVE and DRUGS produce similar effects in the brain, which a chemical called, “Dopamine” (Apsenridge/article).

A person’s addiction can threaten a partner’s both physical and mental health.

But the hardest part of the relationship for the sober partner is that it forces us to make a choice, whether to stay or to leave. Addiction is hard and leaving someone you love is even harder. It is not easy to just make a “quick” decision…because everyone’s circumstances are different.

But one must put aside the thought of love and do what is best for both especially if it is affecting our physical or mental health. So, the question is “what can I do?” Relationship with an Addict | Substance Abuse Education.

Take for example. Alcohol abuse. With alcohol abuse we must remember not only how it affects us but our children

and others in the household.

There is a high risk for PTSD due to possible traumatizing factors that could take place.

If violence does take place, seek help. Hotline numbers for Domestic Violence and shelters for temporary placement.

Here is the list of local HOTLINES in Greene/Columbia Counties Greene County Hotline-518-943-9205; Columbia County Hot line-518-822-0849; So, do not get “addicted” to trying to fix someone. But do not enable as well. Get the support and help that all need through family Ala-non and Ala-teen support groups in your area.

St. Mary’s Church 80 Mansion St. Coxsackie, Tuesday at 7:30PM/Ala-non; 6368 Mill St. Rhinebeck, Monday at 7:30PM/Ala-teen Ages 12-15.

Online live chats are available due to COVID on ala-non.org.

It is Heartbreaking. Addiction is not a disease of character, personality, spirit, or circumstance. It can happen to anyone. It is a human condition with human consequences, and being that we are all human, we are all vulnerable.

Addicts can come from any life and from any family. It is likely that in our lifetime, if we do not love someone with an addiction, we will know someone who does, so this is an important conversation to have, for all of us. Often, the best way to respond to an addict have the breathtaking capacity to drown those who love them with guilt, grief, self-doubt and of course, resistance. Loving an addict in any capacity can be one of the loneliest places in the world.

It is easy to feel judged for withdrawing support for the addict, but eventually, this becomes the only possible response. Unless someone has been beside you, fighting the fight, being with their heartbroken and their will tested, it is not for them to judge. The more we can talk openly about addiction, the more we can lift the shame, guilt, grief and unyielding self-doubt that often stands in the way of being able to respond to an addict in a way that supports their healing, rather than their addiction. It is by talking that we give each other permission to feel what we feel, love who we love, and be who we are, with the vulnerabilities, frayed edges, courage, and wisdom that are all a part of being human (K. Young, 2020).

Consider an Intervention When considering an intervention, you might want to consider 1. Establishing a Plan 2. Decide on an Ultimatum 3. Meeting with the Family beforehand 4. Hire an Intervention Facilitator 5. Keep your Cool 6. Stick to the Ultimatum Referrences Relationship with an Addict | Substance Abuse Education www.aspenridgerecoverycenters.com › recovery-blog 06/24/2020.

Young, Karen. “When Someone You Love has an Addiction” Heysigmond, 2020.

Kimberly Haley BS, LPN, is the Prevention Counselor-Coxsackie/ Athens Middle and High School and works with Twin County Recovery Services Inc. She can be reached at kimberlyh@twincountyrecoveryservices.org.

Statewide advocates call on elected leaders to support the state’s most vulnerable New Yorkers ALBANY — Advocates from across New York State joined forces on Feb. 9 to amplify their voices on behalf of one of the most vulnerable populations. The Association for Community Living (ACL) held a Virtual Mental Health Housing Forum and were joined by leaders across the state to call for support of mental health housing in the Empire State.

The forum can be seen in full at https://aclnys.org/education-and-events/mentalhealth-housing-forum/ The Forum’s featured speakers included the New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH) Commissioner, Dr. Ann Marie Sullivan, Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther, Senator Samra Brouk, and ACL Executive Director Sebrina Barrett. Others who spoke were advocates, residents, housing staff, and family members who all shared perspectives on why mental house housing is more vital than ever before to providing a path to recovery for individuals with severe mental illness.

In the State of the State Address last month, Governor Cuomo included the conversion of vacant commercial property into affordable and supportive housing, and his proposed budget includes $250 million for new supportive housing; advocates agree that mental health housing is healthcare, and needed more now than ever before. By creating new supportive housing, Governor Cuomo is keeping

his commitment to house some of New York’s most vulnerable populations. However, it is imperative that the supportive housing currently in operation see increased funding as well, if not first.

Before the pandemic, and before the state’s fiscal crisis materialized — which was just one year ago — mental health housing faced a $180 million shortfall. This is because the funding model that was created decades ago, has not kept pace with inflation.

For example, employee health insurance premiums have risen 740% since 1984. The monthly premium rose from $183 in 1999 to more than $600 a month, or $7,000 a year. Current reimbursement rates for all fringe costs aren’t enough to cover just health insurance, let alone workers’ comp, federal payroll taxes, and unemployment benefits.

“Mental health housing is not only the right thing to do; it is fiscally smart,” said Sebrina Barrett, Executive Director of the Association for Community Living. “It is much less expensive than hospitals, prisons, jails, and homeless shelters. We have the ability to save lives, while saving the state money.”

“Adequate funding for supportive and mental health housing will help our neighbors and community members succeed,” said Senator Samra Brouk, New York State Senate Chair of the Committee on Mental Health. “These

facilities are essential for recovery, and they provide vital, stable services for people in need of support. However, the staff providing that direct care need to make a living wage so that they can support their own families, too. Staff can’t focus on their jobs if they’re worried about putting food on the table.”

“Mental Health housing programs have been dealing with funding issues for many years,” said Aileen Gunther, Assembly Chair of the Committee on Mental Health. “It’s unacceptable and it needs to change. Direct-care staff in these programs have put their own lives at risk to ensure residential programs remained open throughout this pandemic. We need to do everything we can at a state level to ensure they receive a living wage.”

“I think we all recognize that this past year has proven to be a strain on everyone,” said Barrett. “The direct care staff and organizations that provide housing and support services have been instrumental in ensuring recovery from mental illness, and have enabled recovery to remain possible as the pandemic has changed all of our lives.”

ACL is a statewide membership organization of not-forprofit agencies that provide housing and rehabilitation services to about 40,000 people diagnosed with serious and persistent mental illness.

REPORTERS, EDITORS AND PHOTOGRAPHERS CREATE REAL NEWS. JOURNALISM YOU CAN TRUST.

CMH welcomes Family Physician Dr. Lanre Adedokun CATSKILL — Columbia Memorial Health (CMH) welcomes to the CMH family of health care providers family care physician Dr. Lanre Adedokun. Dr. Adedokun is now accepting new patients at the Jefferson Heights Family Care Center, located at CMH’s Greene Medical Arts Building in Catskill.

Ronald Pope, DO, Vice President of Medical Services, Care Centers said: “Dr. Adedokun is joining a team of skilled and experienced providers at Jefferson Heights Family Care who can meet the primary care health needs of the entire family. His years of experience and his expertise in establishing and maintaining positive health

Dr. Lanre Adedokun

outcomes for his patients will be a tremendous asset to our team, and most importantly, to our community.”

Dr. Adedokun received

his Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Illinois College of Medicine, and completed his residency at the Mount Sinai Health System. He specializes in disease prevention, chronic care management, adolescent health and other areas of care, as well as providing care to underserved populations.

In addition, Dr, Adedokun has a passion for physical fitness and is a National Strength and Conditioning Association certified personal trainer. He has received numerous awards and acknowledgements for his commitment to high quality care and good health.

WIC encourages healthy lifestyles year-round HUDSON — The WIC Program of Catholic Charities of Columbia and Greene Counties encourages healthy lifestyles by providing nutritious foods and promoting physical activity. During these cold days of winter, it’s tempting to turn into a couch potato. WIC encourages you to suit up and head outdoors. There’s no reason to stop being physically active when the temperature drops.

Getting fresh air and sunshine can improve your mood and help boost

vitamin D. According to the Centers for Disease Control, getting exercise can also help boost your immunity during the cold and flu season.

When going outside, it’s best for both adults and children to dress to stay warm and dry. Dress in layers to trap heat and provide insulation. Top your layers with something that’s waterproof. Since daylight hours are short in winter, try to change your workout to the middle of the day, rather than the dark hours of morning or evening.

Some winter activities to do outdoors are: brisk walking, jogging, ice skating, sledding, snowshoeing and skiing.

WIC continues to offer its services remotely. Hours remain the same, but appointments are done over the phone rather than in person. If you are pregnant, or have an infant or children up to age 5, reside in New York state, and meet income guidelines, then you could be eligible for WIC. The phone numbers to call are 518-8289668 or 518-943-9082.

Dr. Todd Doyle elected New York Oncology Hematology practice president ALBANY – New York Oncology Hematology (NYOH) recently announced that its board of directors elected Dr. Todd Doyle to serve as the next practice president. Dr. Doyle, a radiation oncologist at NYOH, has served on the practice’s board of directors for 10 years and currently serves as the chairperson of the U.S. Oncology Radiation Executive Committee and is a member of the National Policy Board’s Executive Committee.

As practice president, Dr. Doyle will lead NYOH in strategy, operations, finance, and clinical practice decisions.

“Serving as NYOH’s next practice president is truly an honor. As a practice, we’ve proven our resilience in overcoming obstacles, including a global pandemic, rising to the occasion to continue to provide the consistent quality care our patients deserve and expect. Our success is attributed to effective leadership, which I will whole-heartedly strive to maintain as I serve as practice president,” said Dr. Todd Doyle, incoming NYOH practice president.

Dr. Todd Doyle

Dr. Doyle replaces Dr. Ira Zackon, who served as NYOH president for five years and recently stepped down as practice president to relocate outside the Capital Region.

Dr. Zackon will continue to see patients via telehealth appointments and serve in a consulting capacity to the board of directors.

Dr. Ira Zackon, outgoing practice president, said, “Stepping down as practice president is bittersweet. It has been a privilege and rewarding experience to be the physician leader these last five years and working closely with our practice administration and leadership in an

always changing health care environment, let alone a pandemic over this past year. We have grown our physicians and specialists, our holistic provider care teams, and our cancer research, always staying on the leading edge of cancer therapies in the service of our patients. Now, I pass the torch to my successor, Dr. Doyle, who undoubtedly, under his leadership, will continue to lead and grow our mission of excellence in cancer care for our region.”

“I’m excited to welcome Dr. Doyle as the next practice president and look forward to working with him to continue to advance the practice to continue to be one of the leading cancer care providers in the Capital Region,” said Sabrina Mosseau, executive director of NYOH. In addition to electing Dr. Doyle as the board of director and practice president, the board of directors welcomes Dr. Arsyl De Jesus as vice president, Dr. Karen Tedesco as treasurer and Dr. Makenzi Evangelist as secretary as its 2021 slate of officers.

#SupportRealNews “Journalism keeps you planted in the earth.” - Ray Bradbury

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CMYK

COLUMBIA-GREENE MEDIA • THE DAILY MAIL

A8 Tuesday, February 16, 2021

Five companies fought a house fire Saturday night in Coxsackie.

Fire trucks lined Fairy Court in Coxsackie on Saturday night at the scene of a house fire that caused extensive damage.

had not spread any further.

The home received extensive

damage to the roof, ceiling and second floor, Burdick

said.

The Greene County Fire

Investigation Team was called to search for a cause

of the fire. Investigators said the fire started in the chimney before spreading to the roof, according to Burdick.

Central Hudson Gas and Electric disconnected power to the home. The Coxsackie code enforcement officer was requested to the scene.

Fire companies that assisted in fighting the fire were: Athens, New Baltimore, Earlton and Medway-Grapeville.

Greenville and Coeymans were placed on standby.

Also assisting at the scene were Coxsackie Ambulance, Greene County Paramedics and Coxsackie Ladies Auxiliary.

and heavy winds across the entire state for the next two days,” Cuomo said. “Travel conditions could become extremely dangerous, and I’ve directed our emergency response personnel to get out ahead of this storm and help our local partners.

New Yorkers should pay close attention to local weather forecasts and avoid all unnecessary travel.”

Temperatures will have a brief uptick after the storm finishes Tuesday, rising into the mid or upper 30s, Lipton said.

Temperatures will fall into the teens Tuesday night and remain in the lower to mid 20s on Wednesday, as the next storm system rears its head.

“There is another storm system for Thursday into Friday,”

Lipton said. “It looks like another possibility for perhaps a significant snowfall or wintery mix again.”

It is too early to predict accumulations for Thursday’s storm, Lipton said.

People walking on Warren Street in Hudson on Monday ranged from excited to unbothered about the upcoming snow predictions.

Jonah Schachter and Ben Schachter, of Woodstock, are expecting a snow day Tuesday.

Jonah is 7 years old and in second grade.

“Whatever I want,” he said of how he plans to spend his snow day.

Baking chocolate chip cookies, eating candy and playing Nintendo are among his plans

for the day.

“I’m going to do what he wants to do,” Ben Schachter, who is at least three times the size of his snow day buddy, said.

“He’s the boss.”

Kathy Rogers-Carroll, of New Paltz, bought micro-spikes for her shoes because there has been so much snow, she said while waiting in line for Breadfolks, 322 Warren St., in freezing temperatures before the snowfall began.

“We’ve been getting plenty of opportunities to get outside and try to get out of our houses,” she said.

Ann Rento, of Albany, doesn’t see the storm as much to write home about.

“We’re so used to this, so it’s not a big deal,” she said. “I grew

up in Albany, so bring it on!”

Dan Travers, also of Albany, is not fazed by the storm predictions.

“I think it’s winter in upstate New York,” he said. “It’s just another snowstorm, right?”

Robert Tomlinson of Catskill shopped for necessities Monday to prepare for the storm.

“I just completed shopping for two to three days,” he said. “I have all of my equipment ready and clean and on the porch or near the porch. It’s all about how to stay safe, us staying home warm and comfortable and having enough supplies in the house.”

Eric Delage, also of Catskill, is taking a more spontaneous approach to the winter weather.

“I didn’t watch the weather,”

he said. “I’m just going to kind of wing it.”

Delage said his children will likely play on the snowbanks or go sleigh riding on West Bridge Street.

Richard Wagoner, of Athens, said his household is prepared.

“Personally, I’m not doing anything because I have no need to,” he said. “My partner has all of that under control.”

The village of Catskill declared a snow emergency, which will begin at 8 p.m. Monday night.

Vehicles should be on the odd side of the street at 8 p.m.

Water Street will have normal parking regulations.

Fire From A1

shooting through the roof and requested mutual-aid assistance from neighboring fire companies, Burdick said.

Interior firefighters went to work and were able to make a good stop of the fire, Burdick said.

Temperatures were in the low 20s at the time of the blaze, making it difficult for firefighters to bring the flames under control.

The fire was reported to be out at 11:10 p.m. Firefighters then began checking the rest of the house to make sure it

Snow From A1

and assume that all downed lines are live. To prepare for the storm, people should charge electronic devices, have flashlights ready and have plenty of water and food that does not need to be cooked or refrigerated on hand.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo directed state agencies to mobilize emergency response assets Monday in anticipation of the storm.

“This massive weather system is making its way across the country and ready to deliver a one-two punch of snow, ice

Bill Williams/Columbia-Greene Media Bill Williams/Columbia-Greene Media

COVID From A1

Greene County Public Health completed its 10th vaccination POD on Thursday at the Coxsackie Senior Center, administering 100 Moderna vaccines to eligible residents. Firefighters, law enforcement, corrections officers, teachers, child care providers, public transit workers, people living or working in homeless shelters, restaurant workers, taxi drivers and seniors over 65 are eligible for the vaccine under Phase 1B. People with comorbidities were also eligible beginning Monday.

Nine hundred second doses were administered by Public Health last week. The Moderna vaccine is administered in two doses, 28 days apart.

About 1,500 residents have been fully vaccinated by Public Health.

People will receive their second dose at the same time and location as their first dose. To view the schedule, visit https://www. greenegovernment.com/greenecounty-site-locations-for-seconddoses-of-the-covid-19-vaccine? fbclid=IwAR0ta3hWm1vYK1NN ARjrIOtDBXGUEae-ghUNFxy_ iVW1i0bNdejhUb5xgWY?CB=9006 The flow of vaccines from the state remains slow, Linger said.

“We’re been getting allotments in the 100-200 range,” he said. “I don’t know what we will wind up with this week. We’re also eligible for the comorbidity group and we’re supposed to receive some [vaccines] allocated specific for that population. It’s very slow rolling out and we’re given directives by the state on how to use them. Unfortunately that’s the path they chose instead of the Emergency Operations Center plans. We’re getting there, but it’s very slow.” The number of active virus cases in the county dipped below 100 last week for the first time in months. The most recent COVID-related death was reported Feb. 8, bringing the total to 63. The county had 80 active cases Friday, all but four of which were in the general population. More than 200 people were quarantined and 12 were hospitalized.

To sign up for Greene County’s vaccine notification system, visit https://www.greenegovernment. com/covid-sign-up The system is designed to expedite the process of getting a vaccine for Greene County residents, but is not a mechanism to schedule an appointment.

A phone number option will be added to the notification system Tuesday for residents without internet access, Linger said.

COLUMBIA COUNTY

The Columbia County Department of Health has given 2,319 first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine and 1,204 county residents have received their second dose.

“We get our allocation on Sundays,” Columbia County Department of Health Director Jack Mabb said Monday. “This week we’re getting 100 for 1Bs and we’re getting 100 doses for people with comorbidities.”

The county has been receiving 100 doses weekly for specific categories of eligible people in the 1B category for the past several weeks. Two weeks ago the county held a POD for publicfacing grocery store employees and last week the county targeted teachers and school employees.

This week the county will likely vaccinate more teachers and staff who are at higher risk for potential exposure to COVID with the 100 doses given to the county and designated for group 1B, Mabb said.

Expanding New York state’s eligibility list to include people with comorbidities significantly increases the number of people that are eligible, Mabb said.

“Law enforcement is a finite number,” Mabb said. “Teachers and firefighters are the biggest groups of people we have in the essential workers category, but the number of people with comorbidities is huge. It rivals the number of people who are

over 65.”

Eligible comorbidities include conditions such as cancer, kidney disease, diabetes, pregnancy, intellectual and developmental disabilities, heart conditions, liver disease and severe obesity, among others.

“We’ve been informed that as far as the comorbidities go that we need to open it up. We can’t just target one group of people like with the 1B category,” Mabb said. “We will likely open a public link so people can register for the comorbidities POD.” People must have a physician’s note confirming they have an eligible condition in order to receive the vaccine at this time, Mabb said.

“Put it in capital letters in the paper — you will not get a shot if you do not have aletter from your doctor,” Mabb emphasized.

Columbia County has been reporting decreased numbers of new COVID cases over the past several weeks, with the lowest numbers reported since before Thanksgiving, Mabb said. The Department of Health reported 10 new cases Sunday, eight Saturday and 24 Friday.

“I think we’re going to stabilize around these numbers,” Mabb said.

“We may see a little spike from Super Bowl parties, but I don’t think things are going to jump really high.”

Vaccination sites: SUNY Albany To register for an appointment,

visit https://am-i-eligible.covid19vaccine.health.ny.gov or call the state’s vaccination hotline at 1-833697-4829.

The following pharmacies are authorized to vaccinate residents over 65. All vaccinations require an appointment and are subject to availability of the vaccine.

Kelly’s Pharmacy — Greenville https://kellyspharmacyinc.com/covid19-vaccine?fbclid=IwAR3hy46BNYk73ksVQIjXNivVh_nKrXBL4HBXp-j_mynjL-1aFYprYrxV2c Wellness Rx — Tannersville 518-589-9500 Hannaford — Cairo, Delmar, Albany, Troy https://www.hannaford.com/ pharmacy/covid-19-vaccine ShopRite — Hudson https://vaccines.shoprite.com/ n CVS — Valatie, Colonie, Kingston https://www.cvs.com/immunizations/covid-19-vaccine Price Chopper — Schenectady, Latham https://www.pricechopper.com/ covidvaccine/ n Walgreens — Visit the website and enter your zip code for nearest location https://www.walgreens.com/ findcare/vaccination/covid-19/location-screening

With Mardi Gras canceled, New Orleans residents are making their homes into floats Cathy Free The Washington Post

Megan Boudreaux was feeling down three months ago after she learned that New Orleans wasn’t going to issue Mardi Gras parade permits for 2021 because of the pandemic.

The annual holiday wouldn’t be the same, she said, without the elaborate floats made months in advance of Fat Tuesday’s 50-plus parades.

“I decided, ‘Well, OK then, I’m going to decorate my house instead, pull some beads out of the attic and throw them at the neighbors,” said Boudreaux, 38, who works as an insurance agent in New Orleans.

She posted her idea on Twitter, thinking that she might inspire a few of her friends to do the same for this year’s Mardi Gras on Feb. 16.

“Last year, I made a bunch of origami flowers that kiddo and I passed out to people while we wandered around the French Quarter,” Boudreaux wrote on Nov. 17. “Tempted to continue the theme, turn the whole house into a flower float and pass out flowers to the neighbors while I drink all day.”

A few hours later, she posted

an update: “It’s decided. We’re doing this. Turn your house into a float and throw all the beads from your attic at your neighbors walking by. #mardigras2021.”

Boudreaux also posted her plans on her Facebook page.

Two days later she had 1,000 new followers.

“Everyone loved the idea and wanted to jump in to make their own house floats,” she said. “A shop owner decided to call her theme Yardi Gras, and it just exploded from there.”

Boudreaux became the Mardi Gras house float coordinator overnight, she said.

More than 3,000 homes are now decked out for the parade-at-home holiday, and local hip-hop and rap legend Big Freedia has signed on as grand marshal.

Boudreaux has a webpage, Krewe of House Floats, where people can keep up with it all and donate to the Greater New Orleans Foundation to help restaurant and hotel employees affected by the pandemic.

With Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s recent announcement that all bars will be closed for Mardi Gras weekend, people in New Orleans are relieved to have

an outlet for their celebratory spirit, she said.

“A lot of blood, sweat and tears has gone into this. New Orleans doesn’t know how to do anything halfway,” noted Boudreaux, who lives in the city’s Algiers Point neighborhood near the French Quarter with her husband, Allen, and 6-year-old daughter, Adela.

Last year, the city’s Mardi Gras parades became coronavirus superspreader events when 1.5 million people showed up to party and made the city an early hot spot, Boudreaux said.

“Two weeks after Mardi Gras, we were all in lockdown,” she said.

There’s an online map so people can drive by the house floats, which “helps us to keep our traditions going but makes sure it’s safe,” she said.

Boudreaux spent weeks with a glue gun and paint brush to deck out her own house to resemble a ship she christened the USS House Float. Other themes include life-size dinosaurs, a tribute to “Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek and a home decorated with a festive squid and octopus.

Zac Hobbs and his wife, Gail Gainey, are the creators of the squid display, which they

titled “Mystic Moai and the Escape From Kraken Coven.”

“My wife is a biologist who loves squid, and I love tiki stuff, so we decided to tie them in together,” said Hobbs, 43, who works as a graphic designer - a perfect occupation, it turns out, for creating a Yardi Gras house float.

“It took us a month and a half to get it done, and we’ve been fighting windstorms and rain and had to rebuild a few things,” he said. “Our squid is now wearing a ‘Karate Kid’ headband because his head blew off in the wind.”

In the Bayou St. John neighborhood, speech pathologist Victoria Gilberti decided to make a monarch butterfly theme, while Meghan Davis, a military contractor in the Old Aurora community, went with a Queen of Hearts motif.

Davis, who supplemented her income as a Mardi Gras body painter before the pandemic, decided to use her talents to paint a giant deck of cards this year.

“It’s been really uplifting to see how many people are cheering us on,” Davis, 35, said. “Next year, I hope to be back to body painting, but this is a great way to celebrate without pouring our energy

into the usual parades and marathon drinking.”

Fred and Kristina Teran decided to make a giant yellow rubber duck for their front porch to replicate one of the floats they had helped build for a past parade. Their theme this year is: “It’s Mardi Gras Time and We Don’t Give a Duck!”

“We were mourning the ability to embrace who we are when we heard about Krewe of House Floats and got to work,” said Fred Teran, 49, a doctor who works with covid-19 patients.

Many of the house floats have musical themes to tie in with the traditional Mardi Gras arts scene.

The St. Roch neighborhood decided on the theme “Roch and Roll,” and resident Tara Jill Ciccarone quickly went to work on her “Remember Rock and Roll Radio?” display.

Using her picket fence as a canvas, she scoured her house for whatever she could find to create gold records as float “wheels,” then crafted some boomboxes out of plastic foam. She finished up her house float with a few mannequins and twinkling lights.

“I was getting depressed about everything being shut

down for the pandemic, so this has been a wonderful thing to be involved in,” Ciccarone, 45, said. “It’s all so organic and spontaneous - just like the spirit of New Orleans.”

Nicki Gilbert settled on a “Purple Rain” theme in honor of Prince, her favorite pop star.

Her house was already painted purple, so she simply added some life-size cutouts, silver doves, shiny purple and gold trim and a bubble machine.

“It really pops in the evening when the music is blaring,” said Gilbert, 40, who works for an online concert venue.

“They can take our Mardi Gras parade away, but they can’t keep Mardi Gras from beating in our hearts,” she said.

In a normal year, Terri Bird and Kessinger Valente said they would dress up as Elvis and Priscilla Presley and join the crew of the Rolling Elvi on a parade route. Not to be deterred in the era of covid, they gave their house an Elvi theme instead.

“We usually have a crew of about 150 Elvi and a Priscilla float with around 30 Priscillas,” said Bird, 57, who works as a waitress in the French Quarter.

CMYK

Sports

SECTION

Sports Teaser

COLUMBIA-GREENE MEDIA

Damian Lillard’s 34 points lead Trail Blazers past Mavs. Sports, B2

& Classifieds

B Tuesday, February 16, 2021 B1

Tim Martin, Sports Editor: 1-800-400-4496 / sports@registerstar.com or tmartin@registerstar.com

Berkshire Swim League wraps up season with Individuals

Tim Martin

Columbia-Greene Media

The Berkshire League held its annual end of the year meet called Individuals on Friday, a non-scoring meet that is intended for the swimmers to be able to compete in their favorite races.

Usually, the league consists of four Massachusetts teams, three New York teams and one team from Vermont. This year, due to COVID restrictions only the three

New York teams (New Lebanon/Berlin, Taconic Hills & Hudson) and one Massachusetts team (Wahconah) were able to compete.

The meet was held virtually at each team’s pools. It’s been a short and strange season this year, but the athletes made the most of it and ended the year on a good note.

Here are a few See SWIM B5

Mark J. Rebilas/USA TODAY

NASCAR Cup Series driver Michael McDowell (34) celebrates winning the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.

Daytona 500: Massive wreck in final lap gives Michael McDowell the win Alex Andrejev The Charlotte Observer

On Sunday, Michael McDowell had never won a Cup race in his 13 years in the series. In the early hours of Monday morning, after rain and fog stalled green flag racing for nearly six hours, that changed when McDowell shoved the car in front of him then passed the finish line in first.

McDowell won the Daytona 500 as the previous race leaders, Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski crashed in a fiery heap around him. NASCAR reviewed the finish, but determined that McDowell had crossed the finish line before the caution. Keselowski and Logano both exited their cars after the accident, as well as Kyle Busch, who was caught up in the crash.

Chase Elliott finished in second and Austin Dillon finished in third.

Three-time Daytona 500 winner Hamlin led 98 laps of the 200-lap race, and swept both stages. But it wasn’t a former Daytona winner who conquered this year’s race. It was a driver who had never won in Cup before winning on NASCAR’s biggest stage.

EARLY AGGRESSION HAS BIG CONSEQUENCES: “The Big One” came early during

David Richard/USA TODAY

Cleveland Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor (12) reacts after popping out against the New York Yankees in the third inning at Progressive Field on Sept. 29, 2020.

Mark J. Rebilas/USA TODAY

NASCAR Cup Series drivers Brad Keselowski (2), Kyle Busch (18), Joey Logano (22), Brad Keselowski (2) and Austin Cindric (33) wreck during the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.

the superspeedway event that never fails to deliver massive crashes. After 15 laps, Kyle Busch gave Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Christopher Bell a shove riding in the top-four in the inside lane. Bell shot forward attempting to give Stewart-Haas Racing driver Aric Almirola a bump, but it was too much.

Almirola, who was running

in second, turned to the outside lane and into pole-sitter and Hendrick driver Alex Bowman. Both went nearly nosefirst into the outside wall, collecting 14 cars in their wake.

“That was really disappointing and not ideal at all,” Bell said on FOX. “I had zero intention of causing any wreck. I was very content riding where I was. I was just trying to make

sure that our line was staying forward.”

Kevin Harvick, in first, avoided the wreck, as did Bell and Busch. Austin Dillon, Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson, Joey Logano and Ryan Preece also narrowly missed the cars crashing around them.

The day ended early for other possible top finishers, See DAYTONA B5

Meet the new and improved NL East, baseball’s nastiest division Barry Svrluga The Washington Post

For practical purposes, the current constitution of the National League East began in 2012 - the year the Washington Nationals ended a run of six straight losing seasons and won the franchise’s first division title. From that point forward, the Nationals haven’t entered a year

without the intention and ability to contend. Over those nine years, the Nats have won the division four times, same as the Atlanta Braves.

Each has another wild-card appearance - the route the Nats took to the 2019 World Series championship.

But as one top baseball See BASEBALL B5

Baseball, the Bronx and Bernie Williams: My grandmother’s love of the game Kristie Ackert New York Daily News

NEW YORK — Last September, towards the end of the season, my phone dinged right before the first pitch of a game at Yankee Stadium.

It was from my Aunt Kate. She was relaying a message from my grandmother: “Granny isn’t happy with the lineup. She says they should shake it up.”

At 94 years old, Granny had not lost her sharp mind or her willingness to express her opinion whether it was about a new hairstyle or especially the Yankees.

I will probably miss that about her the most.

Elizabeth “Marie” Karsten Marshall, my tough and beloved maternal grandmother, died Monday morning. I will miss our many adventures and spending time with her. I will also miss our talks about baseball.

That shared interest was surprising to most other members of our family, none of whom were huge fans of the game. There are countless stories about how baseball threads through the generations, but ours was a little different.

Granny and I came to it together later in life.

As a young girl, I remember summer nights when my grandfather would put on the Yankees game. Granny and I would wait until a few innings in, Poppy would be stretched out and snoring in his recliner. We’d quickly change the

Jim McIsaac/Getty Images

Bernie Williams of the New York Yankees prior to the start of Game 1 of the American League Division Series against the Detroit Tigers on October 3, 2006 at Yankee Stadium.

channel and watch whatever else we could find on the TV.

When I was young, my grandmother worked full-time as a nurse in a psychiatric center and

I had moved too far away to see her enough. After I moved back to the New York area to start my career, I was able to get back that time with her — and we spent much of it sharing our newfound interest in baseball.

In her 70s, widowed for the second time, my grandmother found the game.

Learning to live alone for the first time in her life, like many senior citizens, she sought comfort in the familiarity of the nightly games every summer night. She liked the pace, followed the stories and she was passionate about the people.

Once I started covering games occasionally, it was another thing for Granny and I to talk about aside from family drama and the latest news.

We dove in.

I took her to her first playoff game at the old Stadium in 2003, getting there early so she could visit Monument Park for the first time.

We sat in the third tier, had a beer and a hot dog and watched seven innings before heading home. I still have the thank you note she sent me from that day. When I took over the Mets beat in 2013, she found out where SNY was on her cable service and would watch their games out of loyalty to me. She even made a trip in her See WILLIAMS B5

CMYK

COLUMBIA-GREENE MEDIA • REGISTER-STAR

B2 Tuesday, February 16, 2021

NBA roundup: Damian Lillard leads Trail Blazers past Mavs Field Level Media

Damian Lillard scored 34 points, dished 11 assists, and made the decisive 3-pointer as the Portland Trail Blazers weathered 44 points from Luka Doncic to beat the host Dallas Mavericks 121-118 on Sunday.

Dorian Finney-Smith (14 points) knocked down a 3-pointer on one of Doncic’s nine assists with 49.5 seconds remaining, forcing a tie at 116.

His basket set the stage for Lillard’s go-ahead 3-pointer, a top-of-the-key step-back in isolation with Finney-Smith defending with 32.8 seconds left.

The loss snapped a four-game winning streak for the Mavericks, while extending the Trail Blazers’ own streak to four games. The win kicks off a swing of three consecutive road games, and six of seven away from home for Portland.

Gary Trent Jr. scored 17 points for the Blazers and Robert Covington added 15 along with four steals. Porzingis scored 18 points for Dallas and matched Kanter’s game-high with eight rebounds.

Nuggets 122, Lakers 105 Nikola Jokic had 23 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists, Jamal Murray scored 25, and host Denver ended Los Angeles’ seven-game winning streak.

Zeke Nnaji had 16 points, Facundo Campazzo scored 15 and Monte Morris and Paul Millsap had 10 each for the Nuggets.

LeBron James had 22 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists for Los Angeles, which lost forward Anthony Davis when he aggravated a right Achilles injury. Davis left with 2:39 left in the second quarter after he bumped legs with Jokic. He left with tendonosis of the right Achilles, and ESPN reported he had an MRI done Monday.

Thunder 114, Bucks 109 Justin Jackson had a season-high 22 points to lead host Oklahoma City over Milwaukee.

Jackson hit all four of his 3-point attempts, helping Oklahoma City snap a three-game losing streak. Darius Bazley assisted on the final Jackson 3-pointer for the 32nd assist by the Thunder. Al Horford scored 20 points and led the Thunder with nine assists.

Giannis Antetokounmpo led the Bucks with 24 points while Khris Middleton added 23 and Bobby Portis 21 as Milwaukee dropped its third consecutive game.

Wizards 104, Celtics 91

Jerome Miron/USA TODAY

Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard (0) drives to the basket past Dallas Mavericks center Willie Cauley-Stein (33) during the second half at the American Airlines Center on Sunday.

Bradley Beal poured in a game-high 35 points and Washington held Jayson Tatum to a seasonlow six points in an easy win over visiting Boston.

Russell Westbrook chipped in with 13 points and a game-high 11 assists, missing a triple-double by one rebound, as the Wizards ended a twogame losing streak that had opened a five-game homestand.

Kemba Walker and Jaylen Brown recorded 25 points apiece for the Celtics, who lost for the fourth time in their past five games. Tatum shot just 3-for-14 overall and 0-for-2 on 3-pointers in 23 minutes en route to his lowest point total since last July 31.

Suns 109, Magic 90 Devin Booker followed up on a 36-point performance on Saturday with a game-high 27-points one day later, helping Phoenix ease away from injury-plagued and road-weary Orlando.

Mikal Bridges chipped in with 21 points while Deandre Ayton put up a 10-point, 13-rebound

double-double in his head-to-head matchup with Nikola Vucevic as the Suns won their sixth straight.

Vucevic had 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Magic, who were coming off a hard-fought split at Golden State and Sacramento on Thursday and Friday, respectively, despite suiting up no more than 10 players in either.

Spurs 122, Hornets 110 Dejounte Murray scored 26 points and collected 12 rebounds and was at his best in the pivotal fourth quarter to help lead visiting San Antonio to a win against Charlotte.

Derrick White posted a season-high 25 points for the Spurs, who have won five of their past six games, including the first two on their sevengame annual Rodeo Road Trip. Keldon Johnson added 18 points for San Antonio.

The Hornets’ Terry Rozier led all scorers with 33 points. Malik Monk poured in 23 off the bench while LaMelo Ball added 17 points, 12 rebounds

and eight assists. Rozier, who had 41 points in the Hornets’ win over Minnesota on Friday, has averaged 36.0 points over his past three games.

Pistons 123, Pelicans 112 Mason Plumlee notched his first triple-double in the 557th game of his career, Josh Jackson scored a team-high 21 points and host Detroit downed New Orleans.

Plumlee had 17 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists as the Pistons won back-to-back games for the first time since January of last season. Svi Mykhailiuk supplied 18 points and Delon Wright contributed 17 points, seven rebounds and six assists. The Pistons rested starting forward Blake Griffin.

Zion Williamson, coming off a career-high 36-point outing, had 26 points and eight rebounds for New Orleans. Brandon Ingram also scored 26 with seven assists and Steven Adams added 13 points and 12 rebounds, but the Pelicans lost their third straight.

Clippers 128, Cavaliers 111 Lou Williams had season highs with 30 points and 10 assists, and short-handed Los Angeles won its third consecutive contest in pounding visiting Cleveland.

Serge Ibaka added 21 points on 9-of-14 shooting with nine rebounds and six assists for the Clippers, who played without Kawhi Leonard (lower leg contusion) and Paul George (foot).

George missed his fifth consecutive game.

Collin Sexton scored 22 points and Darius Garland and Cedi Osman each scored 20 for the Cavaliers, who lost their seventh in a row. Jarrett Allen collected 15 points and 10 rebounds.

Grizzlies 124, Kings 110 Jonas Valanciunas scored 25 points on 11-of14 shooting and collected 13 rebounds to help Memphis cruise to a victory over host Sacramento.

Dillon Brooks scored 22 points and Kyle Anderson added 17 to go with a season-best four steals as the Grizzlies won for just the second time in the past seven games. Ja Morant contributed 16 points and 10 assists.

De’Aaron Fox recorded 23 points and nine assists for the Kings after missing one game due to a knee injury. Tyrese Haliburton scored 22 points, Cory Joseph matched his season best of 16 points and Richaun Holmes had 13 for Sacramento, which lost its third consecutive game.

Why have the NBA and Adam Silver reversed course on COVID-19 and national anthem protests?

DeAntae Prince and Jamal Collier Chicago Tribune

CHICAGO — NBA Commissioner Adam Silver charted a history of taking the moral high ground, creating separation from predecessor David Stern and other sports leagues.

Silver banned Donald Sterling, supported player protests and suspended the 2019-20 season in the early stages of COVID-19. Those actions placed the NBA on a high perch, but cracks in the facade have started to show in 2021 as a series of decisions in February casts doubt on Silver’s leadership.

After executing a successful playoff bubble in Florida last season, the NBA has backtracked on its safety-first approach. The NBA and NBPA decided to place the All-Star Game in Atlanta despite player concerns at the top of the league. LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo publicly questioned the choice and expressed “zero interest in participating.”

Silver followed that strategic misstep with a moral one, answering Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban’s decision to stop playing the national anthem before games with an iron fist. The NBA, which often receives praise for simply allowing events to play out, issued a statement almost immediately demanding all teams play the anthem they continue welcoming fans back into arenas.

The Chicago Tribune’s DeAntae Prince and Jamal Collier discuss the NBA’s recent shift.

• DeAntae Prince: Even with all the details laid bare, it’s still hard to understand this heel turn Silver has taken in recent

weeks. The NBA took a strong stance on safety early in the pandemic, pledging to listen to doctors and protect players at all costs.

They appeared to be making good on that statement. The bubble was a marvel, and stories about the level of testing there were impressive. Because of the NBA’s transparency and candor, the bubble provided some of my only guilt-free sports viewing of 2020. Now we’ve watched the league abandon the standard it set even as COVID-19 numbers continue to rise. The 2020-21 season feels so much muddier, and the AllStar Game rollout is no exception.

Jamal, the wildest thing about this is the league’s decision to land on Atlanta of all places for All-Star weekend. I feel as if there would be a lot less uproar if Silver and the NBPA actually ran the topic past players and picked a city with real restrictions. We saw what happened when the Super Bowl descended on Tampa, Fla., so to pretend like this decision doesn’t create a potential superspreader event is just tone-deaf. But I’ll get off my high horse and ask: Where do you stand on this All-Star Game plan?

• Jamal Collier: I mean, a week ago a fan sitting courtside in Atlanta yelled in the face of the biggest star in the league, so sure, let’s return there for an AllStar Game. Of course, this is stupid and not needed — I’m not sure anyone actually is champing at the bit to watch an actual All-Star Game. Can we get a week without postponed games first??? But if there’s one thing this pandemic has taught us, money drives everything, and this piece in the Athletic this

Wire photo

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver talks during events at NBA All-Star weekend on February 15, 2020, at the United Center in Chicago.

week did a good job of explaining the financial stakes for all parties involved, including the league, networks and players.

I know people have been clamoring for the return of the bubble, but you’ll be hardpressed to find many players, coaches or staff who spent the entire time in Orlando, Fla., who have a desire to do that again for an extended period. Once the NFL and MLB got through a season despite all their COVID19-related issues, I’m not sure it was realistic for the NBA to play on some moral high ground this season.

Now, do they have to play an All-Star Game? No. The optics of this are bad, and the risk is totally unnecessary, but it does sound as if the players are going to head into some kind of bubble environment with stringent testing for those few days. My question is, why make your players give up their week off to go through this for another week of protocols and testing? Also, what about the

non-All-Star players who are presumably going back home for the week and traveling around the country? It just all seems shortsighted.

• Prince: Totally agree, and that approach seems to be a theme here. It was definitely the case when the NBA surprised us again this week by cracking down on the national anthem, issuing a mandate for all teams to play it before games. Mind you, the Mavericks had played 13 games without standing for the national anthem and no one missed it. Our colleague Kevin Williams wrote a great column about how odd it is to stand, hand over heart, and listen to the anthem every day before doing your job. It’s hard not to agree when placed in those terms. I mean, we didn’t stand in our living rooms and play the anthem before writing this post.

The sad thing about this is how the NBA seemingly has thrown caution to the wind. The league always had done a good job of straddling that line under

Silver. Now, even after having the privilege of learning from the NFL’s mistakes in handling Colin Kaepernick, it appears the NBA hasn’t heeded obvious warnings.

Cuban didn’t draw a line in the sand on this. He consulted with the league and listened to the community, as so many others pledge to do. He shouldn’t be dragged through the mud for trying to undo an outdated and unnecessary tradition. What were your feelings here?

• Collier: Honestly, I can’t believe we’re still talking about this song, man. It has been five years since Kaepernick began kneeling to protest police brutality. Five years. And yet, I feel as if I’ve been stuck in national anthem discourse ever since.

Forced displays of jingoism are bad and not necessary before sporting events. Choosing not to play the national anthem but also not really doing anything to better the conditions for Black people also don’t do much for me.

• Prince: And that brings us to Silver. I don’t think we have to pretend that any league commissioner is overly progressive.

At the end of the day, they work for 30 billionaire sports owners and represent their interests, not the players’ or general public’s. The moves Silver is making shouldn’t surprise me but yet they do.

He always has been careful about what he said in public.

Even when players wore “I can’t breathe” shirts years back, he said he would prefer for players to follow the dress-code rule.

But ultimately, even if he didn’t jump out there and lobby for protest, he never made it punitive. Does he just feel as if he gave a lot of leash and this move

is taking it too far? Is it because the move came from an owner instead of a player?

It’s hard to know what made this a step too far. But as I’ve learned over the last five years, a lot of people hold that flag dear in ways I never will as a Black man in America. We understand who puts money in the NBA’s coffers — and so does Silver.

• Collier: I’m actually fascinated by what is next for Silver now that the honeymoon period has worn off. The feeling of a “heel turn” dates even further than these last few weeks, probably starting around the NBA’s handling of the China-Daryl Morey situation, so I’m excited to see everyone judge him as a commissioner with a little more scrutiny and honesty. Don’t forget it was kind of glossed over that one of the reasons for the bubble was that owners would have ripped up the CBA and locked out the players had they not continued the season and um ... that seemed bad.

Silver has been lauded during his time as a commissioner, sometimes rightfully so. However, in retrospect, as ESPN’s Harry Lyles Jr. so expertly put it, he got a lot of credit for sinking some putts that were on the edge of the cup anyway (Sterling especially).

The NBA has done a wonderful job of creating the illusion of being “the progressive league” just because it doesn’t operate in the same openly tyrannical and draconian ways the NFL treats its players. But you’re right, DP, everything has been laid bare recently, and the NBA has taken every opportunity to show where they stand.

Nets’ Kevin Durant (hamstring) to miss next two games Field Level Media

It continues to remain difficult for Kevin Durant to get into a groove with his new-look Brooklyn Nets.

The Nets announced Sunday that Durant will miss “at least” the next two games due to a left hamstring strain.

The team characterized the injury as “mild” but said in a statement that Durant will miss

both Monday’s game at Sacramento and Tuesday’s game at Phoenix while undergoing treatment.

Durant came off a week-long break on Saturday, and played 33 minutes in the Nets’ road win at the Golden State Warriors. Durant was placed in the NBA’s health and safety protocol on Feb. 5 after close contact with a team employee who tested positive for COVID-19.

Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving give the Nets a trio of stars that few teams in the NBA can rival, but the group has been limited so far this season. The trio, assembled after Harden was acquired via trade in mid-January, have logged just seven games together.

According to ESPN, the Nets have used 17 different starting lineups this season, the most in the NBA.

Durant has missed nine of the Nets’ 28 games this season, and Brooklyn is 2-3 without Durant since trading for Harden last month. Durant is averaging 29 points, 7.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game this season after missing all of 2019-20 due to recovery from a torn Achilles suffered in Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals.

CMYK

Tuesday, February 16, 2021 B3

COLUMBIA-GREENE MEDIA

Philadelphia referees have dominated NBA officiating for decades — Here’s why Frank Fitzpatrick The Philadelphia Inquirer

PHILADELPHIA — NBA players and coaches occasionally murmured about the league’s unusually large collection of Philadelphia-area referees, but none as loudly as Red Auerbach, the longtime Boston Celtics coach and executive.

“Every league meeting, he’d rant and rave about all the refs from Philly,” said Ed Rush, once the NBA’s supervisor of officials. “We’d say, ‘Red, some of these guys are from Trenton or Western Pennsylvania.’ And he’d say, ‘That doesn’t matter. They went through Philadelphia.’ He was probably the loudest voice in the league and he was always on his soapbox about that.”

That discontent exploded one night following a Celtics loss, when Auerbach, upset by Jake O’Donnell’s officiating, tried to kick down the door to Boston Garden’s referee room.

“He was shouting, ‘Yo, Philadelphia Jake, you blankety-blank, come out here!’ “ recalled O’Donnell, a Delaware Countian who was an American League umpire before moving to the NBA. “He was a loudmouth and he hated referees, especially Philadelphia referees.”

Throughout its 75-year existence, the NBA’s rules and records, its uniforms and arenas, players and equipment have undergone continuous evolution. But one tradition that has endured is the quantity and quality of referees from this area.

These Philadelphia officials, past and present, wear their brotherhood like a badge of pride. Each offseason they gather for a dinner, actually a cocktail-fueled homage to common roots and shared experiences.

Many who have attended would be on any objective list of the best-ever referees -- Rush, O’Donnell, Earl Strom, Joe Crawford, Joe Gushue, Jack Madden, John Vanak, and Steve Javie. Not far behind that elite group in reputation are several others who earned their blackand-white stripes here -- Duke Callahan, Mark Wunderlich, Ed Malloy, Leroy Alexander, Ed Middleton, and Billy Oakes.

Maybe the best way to judge this group’s historic impact is its over-representation in the NBA Finals, an event restricted to the toprated officials. For 59 consecutive seasons, from 1961 through 2019, at least one Philly ref, and usually more, worked the championship series.

Many are retired or deceased now but, though much more geographically diverse, the active referee roster still includes several from this area -- Malloy, Aaron Smith, Mark Lindsey, Central High grad Tom Washington and Millersville University product Ashley Moyer-Gleich. And while Crawford, Callahan, and Wunderlich stepped aside during the last decade, they continue the work as NBA administrators who advise, train, and rate the 5,000 officials trying to access the sport’s premier stage.

Even two of history’s most notable nonPhiladelphia referees, Mendy Rudolph and Sid Borgia, had local ties. Rudolph, though raised in Wilkes-Barre, was born here. Borgia, a New Yorker, had a summer home in Wildwood.

This connection between a city and a profession runs so deep that it continues to prompt questions like Auerbach’s: How did it begin? How has it been sustained? And why are Philly referees so often better than their peers?

Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

Referee Joe Crawford (17) officiates during Game Four of the 2015 NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers at Quicken Loans Arena on June 11, 2015 in Cleveland, Ohio.

There are no simple answers, said the officials themselves. Certainly the quality of basketball here helps develop quality refs. But just as important are geography, personal connections, word-of-mouth and, maybe most importantly, that feisty Philly attitude.

“One thing these guys all had that really made them successful was a little edge,” said Rush, 79, who at 24 went from coaching football at Marple-Newtown High to officiating in the NBA and is now retired in California.

“And that’s a Philly thing. You would know Joe Gushue was running the game. You’d know without question that Joe Crawford was running the game. The game’s not going to run them. So if you’re running the league, you want to make sure you put someone out there you can trust, someone who will take care of all the junk.”

Crawford, 69, who left active refereeing in 2016 and lives in Newtown Square, said he’s been asked “a million times” how Philadelphia has produced so many top-flight officials.

“I tell them it’s the basketball,” Crawford said. “I was working twice a week in the Baker League even when I was in the NBA. They were pro players and they didn’t care that I was in the NBA. They were coming after me and I had to deal with that. When there are really good players like there are in Philly, you get better as a ref. You also learn to work games in tough neighborhoods. That’s where intestinal fortitude comes in.”

Intestinal fortitude is mandatory.

O’Donnell, 84 and retired in Florida, suggested that as a young referee he preferred working games in tough Philadelphia neighborhoods. It steeled him for all those nights when NBA coaches and players cursed him and 20,000 angry fans screamed for his head.

“I was an orphan. I grew up in three homes, ran away from the last one at 15, so I was tough anyway,” said O’Donnell, who eventually settled in Clifton Heights. “I wasn’t afraid to go anywhere. I liked working in the city because they were tougher and that made me tougher.”

Philly refs aren’t carbon copies, but they do share plenty of demographic similarities.

Most were Catholic and white. Many were athletes themselves. Madden, Strom, and Javie umpired. And most honed their craft in the old Eastern League, where Rudolph’s father was the commissioner, or in peculiarly Philadelphia-area hoops institutions like the Baker League, the annual Gold Medal Tournament, or Margate and Wildwood summer leagues.

Not all grew up in Philadelphia or its surrounding counties. Madden was from Trenton, Vanak the Coal Regions. But they refined their skills here and joined the Philly fraternity.

The begetting in this tight-knit community is no less prolific than that in the Bible. Before the league broadened its search for referees and stiffened its vetting process, the Philadelphia crew uncovered a lot of referees without leaving home.

Vacationing in Wildwood, Borgia spotted Gushue officiating an ocean-side game.

Gushue mentored O’Donnell, who served the same role for Crawford, who then helped Wunderlich and three fellow Cardinal O’Hara grads in Malloy, Callahan, and the now-disgraced Tim Donaghy. Wunderlich and Crawford have guided Smith and Lindsey.

Smith, a graduate of West Chester East High and West Chester University, straddled both the old and new ways of getting the job. He made it through the NBA’s rigid auditioning, but also got a personal assist from his local predecessors.

“Aaron went through the system, but he lives up the street from Mark Wunderlich and he watches tape with Mark,” said Crawford.

“He’s been over my house watching tape.

Mark Lindsey the same thing. See that advantage?”

That generation-to-generation nurturing produces peer pressure, Crawford said.

Younger Philly refs want to live up to their predecessors’ high standards.

“I wanted to impress those guys,” said Crawford. “It wasn’t important for me to get accolades from players and coaches, but I wanted Joe Gushue to say, ‘Joe, you’re a really good ref.’ “

That pressure intensified as the number of Philly referees expanded.

“When I was first hired in 19863/8 there were only 30 referees and probably 9 or 10 were from the Philly area,” said Javie.

Rush, who still operates clinics for aspiring refs, said that for a long time the league, realizing it was top-heavy with Philadelphia and New York officials, tried unsuccessfully to widen its search.

“We were looking for guys with innertoughness,” said Rush. “The officials on the West Coast and even the Midwest didn’t have the same background. They didn’t have the Baker League. They didn’t have these outdoor leagues in Philly or New York, all those training grounds. They’d ask, ‘Where do I get games like these?’ And I’d say, ‘Well, you’ve got to come to Philly or New York.’ “ Crawford insisted there was no favoritism at work in the way this whistle-blowing society developed. But it’s clear that geographic convenience played a part. The league offices were in New York, and most of the referees, as well as those hiring them, were from there or Philadelphia.

By the 1978 Seattle-Washington NBA Finals, Philadelphia officials were ascendant. Of the 14 referee slots in that seven-game series, nine went to six locals -- Rush, O’Donnell, Gushue, Vanak, Madden, and Strom.

“We sort of dominated the league,” said O’Donnell.

The trend likely started with Jocko Collins.

A colorful Philadelphian who also scouted for the Phillies, he was a part-time ref in the NBA’s early years and in 1954 became its first supervisor of officials. Three years later he spotted Strom working a college game at the Palestra.

That opened the pipeline. Gushue arrived in 1961, Vanak in ‘62, Madden in ‘65, Rush in ‘66, O’Donnell in ‘67.

“One guy helped the next,” said Crawford.

“Jake O’Donnell, who was a major league umpire, did a favor for my father Shag, also an MLB ump3/8. He came to see me work a CYO game at Mother of Good Counsel. All my father had to do was pick up the phone and Jake came to watch me, to give me directions. That guy in St. Louis wasn’t getting that because there wasn’t anybody out there.”

For his part, Crawford has been a prodigious scout. He found Wunderlich, a LansdowneAldan High grad, officiating at Havertown’s Bailey Park. Through his O’Hara connections, he helped identify Callahan and Malloy.

“When people ask me how come there are so many Philly refs, I tell them it’s a pride thing,” said Javie, 66, now a Catholic deacon in Bucks County. “You want guys from the area to succeed. Joey Crawford has done a tremendous job with that. There are stories of young kids knocking on Joey’s door and asking him to watch a video of them working. Joey never refused.”

Because of COVID-19, the Philly refs postponed their dinner this offseason. The last was at the Union League, where chef Marty Hamman, like Crawford, Malloy, and Callahan, an O’Hara grad, prepared four gourmet courses.

“It’s been a wonderful tradition,” said Javie, who plans the affairs. “It’s one reason the referees from the Philly area are such a tight-knit group. It’s really a great bunch of guys that have bonded through the years. I’m proud to be a part of it.”

Harlem Globetrotters faced racial tension, brought basketball thrills Matt Kempner The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

ATLANTA — The Harlem Globetrotters was a bit of an overstatement in its earliest days.

The team didn’t cover the world. Its Black players traveled to tiny, predominantly white towns in Iowa, the Dakotas and elsewhere in the Midwest. And the Globetrotters, now based in Peachtree Corners, Ga., weren’t from Harlem.

But issues of race were often tangled up in its more than 90-year basketball history, for good and ill.

Before countless halfcourt shots, basketballs spinning on fingers, shenanigans involving buckets of confetti, referees enduring gags that involved their pants being yanked down, even before Black players danced on court with white women when such things would have been considered risky in the outside world, the Globetrotters were focused on great basketball.

Twice in the late 1940s they beat the best team in what was then an all-white NBA, with two future Hall of Famers opposing them.

“The fact that the Trotters

could beat them in regular basketball showed the quality of basketball that Black players were playing, or capable of playing, had they been given more opportunities,” said Ron Thomas, who authored the book “They Cleared the Lane: The NBA’s Black Pioneers” and is director of Morehouse College’s journalism and sports program.

In 1950, the NBA let in its first Black players, including Globetrotter Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton, who became the first to sign an NBA contract.

The Globetrotters launched in the 1920s, an all-Black team from Chicago, started by Tommy Brookins, a Black basketball player and jazz singer, according to Ben Green, who wrote the book “Spinning the Globe: The Rise, Fall and Return to Greatness of the Harlem Globetrotters.”

Abe Saperstein, a white booking agent, soon took over the business. The Globetrotters rumbled into 150 Midwest towns a year to take on the best local teams they could find.

“A lot of times it was the first interaction that a lot of white people ever had with Black athletes and maybe

Taylor Hill/Getty Images

Harlem Globetrotter legend Fred “Curly” Neal visits the SiriusXM Studio in New York on February 13, 2012.

with African Americans in general,” Green said.

The team dominated white opponents. So the Globetrotters added gags and ballhandling tricks in the middle of games. The shift gave players a breather and limited the margins of their victories, increasing the odds that they might be booked for return visits.

Even early on, the clowning sparked controversy. The owner of the New York Rens, another powerhouse Black team, accused the Globetrotters of being Uncle Toms who were performing minstrel shows full of demeaning racial stereotypes, Green said.

Nonetheless, the Globetrotters became the stronger and better known team. In

a 1953 column, an Atlanta Constitution sports editor described the Globetrotters as “the most watched athletic team in the world.”

Saperstein tried to keep the near-monopoly he had on the nation’s best Black players and initially fought NBA plans to integrate, Green said. Later, future Hall of Famers Reece “Goose” Tatum and Marques Haynes complained Saperstein underpaid them.

Still, the Globetrotters managed to land talented athletes, including future NBA star Wilt Chamberlain.

Players such as Meadowlark Lemon and Curly Neal gained worldwide fame.

Later, the team was regularly featured on ABC’s popular Wide World of Sports and Saturday morning cartoons.

It also toured overseas.

For much of the team’s history, though, players were confronted with the same racism as other Black people.

Mannie Jackson, who played for the Globetrotters in the early 1960s, recalled them being blocked from Southern hotels and restaurants. Often, they played in segregated arenas.

“Black, young men would go around the world to

represent a country that didn’t care about them except as entertainment,” said Jackson. Nonetheless, he added, the Globetrotters “have been one of the greatest ambassadors of the possibilities of this country.”

Jackson later become a Honeywell executive and, in 1993, bought and rebuilt the Globetrotters as it teetered on financial collapse.

The team is owned now by Gwinnett County-based Herschend Enterprises, which operates properties such as Dollywood, Callaway Gardens and Stone Mountain Park, with its giant carving of Confederate figures.

Before being sidelined by the pandemic, the Globetrotters played about 450 games annually, relying on 30 players spread over multiple teams. The team, which included some players of different races, said it was drawing more than 2 million fans a year.

Globetrotters coach “Sweet Lou” Dunbar recalled growing up in segregated Louisiana and watching the team.

“You have to give homage to those guys for all the sacrifices they went through,” he said.

CMYK

COLUMBIA-GREENE MEDIA

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Tuesday, February 16, 2021 B5

COLUMBIA-GREENE MEDIA

Real Estate 209

Houses for Sale Columbia Co.

52 BLOCK Street, Philmont, NY. Financing available with the hold of a mortgage $700.00 monthly if interested please call 518567-8097.

mile from Hudson. Private bed & bathroom, W/D. Requesting $1,100/mo.

Must be clean, non-smoker, credit score of 650 plus.

Proof of income References. No pets. Call or text (518)965-3563.

Employment 415

Rentals 332

CALL 911 IN CASE OF EMERGENCY

Baseball From B1

operations executive from outside the division said recently, “The Nats should be happy they won their World Series when they did.”

The NL East is changing, in ways both obvious and subtle.

The end result: At a time when it’s reasonable to question the commitment to winning for maybe a third of baseball organizations, there is no such franchise in the Nats’ division. Not the Braves, who have won the last three NL East crowns. Not the New York Mets, who have a new owner and new swagger.

Not the Philadelphia Phillies, who spent more than $143 million to bring back their catcher and their shortstop this offseason. And not even the Miami Marlins, a playoff team in 2020 with a trailblazing general manager and a CEO who’s used to winning rings.

There’s not a pushover among them. Every single one of those teams would expect and hope to be buyers, not sellers, at the trade deadline.

Daytona From B1

including Ryan Blaney and Ryan Newman. Newman led the final lap of last year’s Daytona 500 before his accident.

Blaney finished second last year behind three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin.

Hamlin avoided the crash running in the back of the pack. He started 25th and was racing in the bottom-20 when

Williams From B1

late 80s to Citi Field for a Subway Series game.

Her heart, however, belonged in the Bronx.

She liked Derek Jeter and felt Alex Rodrgiuez was always “trying to take attention

Swim From B1

highlights from the meet: Taconic Hills: Daisy Plaza was less than a second off of the school record in the 100 backstroke and Lily Russo dropped 18 seconds off of her 500 Freestyle time.

Hudson: Tessa Goldstien and Emma Hanley both dropped more than three seconds off their 100 free times.

Eighth grader Autumn Hopkins dropped seven seconds on the 100 breaststroke after dropping seven seconds in the 500 Freestyle.

Wahconah: Jacob Kunzmann qualified for Western Mass. Sectionals in the 100 Backstroke with a 1:03.38.

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Work!

There’s not another division in baseball that can say that.

Not the NL Central, where the bottom-dwelling Pittsburgh Pirates peddled their incumbent first baseman, Josh Bell, to Washington for distant prospects. Not the NL West, where the Colorado Rockies dealt their franchise third baseman, Nolan Arenado, to St. Louis for players who could help in the future but not now.

And not any of the American League divisions. Boston and Baltimore are in major rebuilds; Cleveland traded its franchise shortstop, Francisco Lindor, as well as starting pitcher Carlos Carrasco to the Mets; and until it agreed to a two-year deal with reliever Ken Giles, Seattle’s most significant offseason addition was acquiring reliever Rafael Montero in a trade with Texas. Who? Exactly. That’s not remotely enough to push the Mariners into contention with Houston.

This is not a column about tanking in baseball. Pitchers and catchers haven’t even reported yet. There’s time for that.

But it’s also reasonable for anyone in the NL East to look around and think, “We’ve got to

play these teams 76 times. Why aren’t any of them rebuilding?”

Consider the five times since 2012 the Nationals have made the playoffs. Every year, there was at least one division opponent against which they dominated, going at least 13-6 - which is a nearly 111-win pace.

The year they won the World Series, they went 15-4 against the 105-loss Marlins and 14-5 against the mediocre Phillies.

They were 20 games over .500 against those two teams and four games over .500 against the rest of their schedule. That’s how postseason berths are secured: by finding the weaklings and beating them up.

When there are no obvious weaklings - and in modern MLB, that means no teams that aren’t trying - it’s that much harder to get to 90 or 95 wins.

The landscape in the NL East is fascinating in general, but the most interesting team in baseball might be the Mets.

New owner Steve Cohen immediately removes the team from the pall cast by the Wilpon family and any financial limitations brought on by the Bernie Madoff scandal. Their trade for Lindor - the 27-year-old

energizer who was the best player on the 2016 pennantwinning Cleveland team - was the offseason’s most statementmaking transaction. It says that under Cohen, the Mets can and will be bold and brazen. Indeed, most in baseball expect New York to make a significant effort to sign Lindor to a long-term extension before he becomes a free agent at the end of this season - exactly the move the Dodgers made after acquiring outfielder Mookie Betts from the Red Sox last offseason.

How’d that work out?

This offseason shows that the Mets - who also signed free agent catcher James McCann - could even try to model the Dodgers, who have used financial strength and creativity to win eight consecutive division titles. Plus, as one rival executive said, pulling out an English Premier League analogy, they have a little of that Manchester City energy - where the Yankees are Manchester United, of course.

Yes, the Mets tied for last with the Nats in the pandemicshortened 2020 season, and no, they won’t have right-hander Noah Syndergaard for at least

the first couple months of 2021.

Even so, Baseball Prospectus’s PECOTA projections - which should be used as the starting point for speculation and debate, not as gospel - have the Mets running away with the division, winning 10 more games than the runner-up Nats.

But what about the Braves?

They have the reigning NL MVP in first baseman Freddie Freeman, the mesmerizing Ronald Acuña Jr. roaming the outfield and lefty Max Fried fronting a rotation. Plus, when the rest of the division was improving, Atlanta kept pace, signing veteran right-hander Charlie Morton - a key piece of Tampa Bay’s pennant-winning operation - and, more importantly, making the bold stroke to bring back outfielder Marcell Ozuna on a fouryear, $65-million deal. Freeman is due to be a free agent after this season. It’d be shocking if the Braves allow him to wander away from the team he has pushed to those three straight division titles.

Here’s something that stunned me: Since winning five straight NL East crowns from 2007 to 2011, the Phillies have appeared in zero postseason

games. Owner John Middleton is desperately trying to change that, and he brought in Dave Dombrowski - an architect of pennant winners in Miami, Detroit and Boston - to make sure he does. The Phillies’ most significant moves were to keep last year’s team intact, re-signing catcher J.T. Realmuto to a fiveyear, $115.5-million deal and bringing back shortstop Didi Gregorius for two years and $28 million. According to Spotrac, no team in the NL East has a higher payroll than the Phillies who have the cash but now just need to translate it to wins.

And finally, to the Marlins.

Since 2012, no team in baseball has more losses. But CEO Derek Jeter, entering his fourth full season, has helped Miami transform what had been a barren farm system into the best in the division, and made the groundbreaking hire of Kim Ng as general manager this offseason. The Fish aren’t likely to win a first division title this year, but they’re not the easy out they once were. They reached the playoffs and swept the Cubs in two games in a miniseries.

the chaos ensued. Drivers making their debuts with new teams, Daniel Suarez and Erik Jones, also exited the race, as well as David Ragan.

HAMLIN STILL DOMINATES SUPERSPEEDWAYS: Hamlin missed “The Big One,” racing at the back of the pack.

After the rain relay, Hamlin led 40 laps after the restart before strategic pitting with his Toyota teammates took him from the lead. He sailed to a first stage win to open the season.

In the second stage, Hamlin also controlled the race,

battling with his 23XI team’s driver Bubba Wallace, as well as his 2020 rival Kevin Harvick, coming down to the final laps in the stage.

Although Hamlin led laps in the last stage and it looked like he could race to a confident third consecutive Daytona 500 win, a late pit stop caused his downfall. Hamlin led a pack of Toyotas to pit with under 30 laps to go, but the teammates got broken up coming off pit road, losing momentum and speed. Hamlin was shuffled back, without enough time to

catch up without a caution.

The caution came too late for Hamlin, but it was just early enough for McDowell to officially clinch the win.

SMALL TEAMS SPLIT BETWEEN HEARTBREAK, SUCCESS: While single-car teams with new drivers like Richard Petty Motorsports and Trackhouse were knocked out of the running early due to wrecks, it was a strong debut for the Hamlin and Michael Jordan owned team, 23XI. Wallace was racing in the top-five throughout the race and led a

single lap, making him the first Black driver to lead a lap in the Daytona 500.

That was after Wallace started at the rear of the race for his car failing pre-race technical inspection multiple times. But Wallace began reporting vibration in his No. 23 Toyota late in the race and had to make a green flag pit stop.

The driver said his goal was two wins this season, which seemed ambitious for a team that was fully formed only a few short months ago. But after a Speedweeks that saw him

post fast practice and qualifying times, and a Daytona 500 in which he races at the front of the pack, that seems entirely possible, even probable.

It was also a strong debut for the Spire Motorsports cars of Jamie McMurray, a former full-time driver who returned to the race for a one-off 500 showing, and Corey LaJoie, who made a transition to the team this year. McMurray and LaJoie finished in eighth and ninth, respectively.

away,” from her beloved Yankees captain. She thought Curtis Granderson was the most graceful outfielder she ever saw, “when he runs, it’s like a deer,” she said. She cheered for Brett Gardner, because “he just works so hard.” And she loved watching CC Sabathia pitch, especially when he jawed at the opposing batter.

But none of them held a

candle to Bernie Williams.

The former Yankee outfielder turned my septuagenarian grandmother into a school girl. My cousin, aunt and I found that out by surprise on the morning of Thanksgiving 2003. We had lucked into seats at the start of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. My grandmother watched quietly as the bands and the balloons

took off marching down the route, but when the float with Bernie Williams pulled up to the starting line that day, she suddenly jumped up and started yelling.

“BERNIE!, HI BERNIE!,” my white-haired grandmother screamed, waving her hands at the float and her favorite Yankee. “Beeeeerrrrrnnnieeee.”

My cousin, aunt and I could not speak. We were all laughing too hard, watching Granny yell like a teeny-bopper.

This last year has been tough for everyone, but particularly on the senior citizens. My grandmother lived at home with my aunt, but was isolated by the coronavirus pandemic. I visited every few weeks, sitting in the

opposite corner of her garage with the doors and windows open. That’s certainly not how I want to remember our time together.

Instead, I will think of her when I am at the ballpark, think of her calling to grumble about the lineup or that day at the parade shouting her lungs out at Bernie Williams.

seconds).

Alex Sotek and Allison Slater placed first in all four of their events and Chloe Meyers placed first in three of her four events. Liam Buckenroth dropped 13 seconds in his 500 Freestyle and hit a New York Sectional time. Matt Kluck also hit a qualifying time in the 50 Freestyle.

Results

(NL/B), :58.52*; Clare Howard (TH), 1:02.24*; Emma Avenia (TH), 1:02.25*; Rilynn Jones (NL/B), 1:11.38; Tessa Goldstien (H), 1:11.60; Emma Hanley (H), 1:12.97.

200IM: Chloe Meyers (NL/B), 3:02.11; Carol Kirsimagi (NL/B), 3:10.95; Sheffield Drewry (W), 3:34.34; Paxton Strout (W), 4:14.44.

50 Freestyle: Alex Sotek (NL/B), :26.17*; Emma Avenia (TH), :28.09*; Clare Howard (TH), :28.19*; Lauren Madsen (TH), :28.91*; Daisy Plaza (TH), :29.57*; Sarah Kunzmann (W), :31.08.

500 Freestyle: Lily Russo (TH), 7:12.92; Sarah Curti (W), 7:15.62; Kiley Danforth (NL/B), 8:21.19; Autumn Hopkins (H), 8:26.94; Abby Cobb (W), 906.62.

200 Freestyle Relay: NL/B (Chloe Meyers, Rilynn Jones, Allison Slater, Alex Sotek), 1:53.78; TH (Clare Howard, Lauren Madsen, Lily Russo, Emma Avenia), 1:59.06; Wahconah (Sarah Kunzmann, Sarah Curti, Alex Bills, Abby Cobb), 2:16.50; NL/B (Carol Kirsimagi, Sasha Truax, Mikayla

Corsey, Mia Thompson), 2:18.49; NL/B (Elizabeth Hunt, Ava Noel, Maddy York, Jaezsa Bartolotta), 2:36.43.

100 Backstroke: Daisy Plaza (TH) 1:09.71*; Sarah Kunzmann (W), 1:19.95; Carol Kirsimagi (NL/B), 1:25.76; Kiley Danforth (NL/B), 1:40.87.

100 Breaststroke: Allison Slater (NL/B), 1:20.05*; Elizabeth Hunt (NL/B), 1:31.69; Alex Bills (W), 1:37.26; Abby Seyerlein (NL/B), 1:39.42; Imogen Drake (TH), 1:39.46; Mia Thompson (NL/B), 1:45.35; Autumn Hopkins (H), 1:45.87; Maddy York (NL/B), 1:56.60.

400 Freestyle Relay: NL/B (Rilynn Jones, Chloe Meyers, Alex Sotek, Allison Slater), 4:17.84; NL/B (Ava Noel, Kiley Danforth, Mikayla Corsey, Abby Seyerlein), 5:27.42; Wahconah (Paxton Strout, Abby Cobb, Sheffield Drewry, Karyssa Charon), 6:02.36.

Wahconah (Xavier Wellington, Zach Archambault, Jacob Kunzmann, Aiden Aldrich), 2:15.71; Wahconah Liam Looney, Callum Prett, Evan Strout, Brock Prett), 3:06.75.

100 Butterfly: Evan Strout (W), 1:35.97 100 Freestyle: Neil Howard III (TH), :56.93*; Braydan McMillan (NL/B), 1:05.37; Josh Sena (TH), 1:05.51; Winter Exley (NL/B), 1:05.51; Xavier Wellington (W), 1:10.73; Evan Strout (W), 1:19.71; Brock Prett (W), 1:41.72.

200 IM: Jacob Kunzmann (W), 2:21.28; Zach Archambault (W), 2:43.69; Chris Russell (TH), 2:55.33.

200 Freestyle: Brock Prett (W), 3:58.07.

50 Freestyle: Neil Howard III (TH), :23.63*; Matt Kluck (NL/B), :26.30*; Winter Exley (NL/B), :27:47; Josh Sena (TH), :28.91; Braydan McMillan (NL/B), :29.06; Riley Schwartz (NL/B), :29.53.

500 Freestyle: Liam Buckenroth (NL/B), 6:15.13*; Logan Fink (TH), 7:13.05; Callum Prett (W), 8:40.37.

200 Freestyle Relay: TH

(Tyler Mulrein, Chris Russell, Josh Sena, Neil Howard III), 1:54.15; Wahconah (Zach Archambault, Liam Looney, Jacob Kunzmann, Xavier Wellington), 1:54.62; NL/B (Winter Exley, Braydan McMillan, Riley Schwartz, Carlton Truax), 2:00.69.

100 Backstroke: Jacob Kunzmann (W), 1:03.38; Liam Buckenroth (NL/B), 1:20.84; Xavier Wellington (W), 1:36.50.

100 Breaststroke: Zach Archambault (W), 1:20.34; Matt Kluck (NL/B), 1:21.13; Chris Russell (TH), 1:25.36; Jasper Jarzombek (TH), 1:28.16; Carlton Truax (NL/B), 1:38.94; Tyler Mulrein (TH), 1:38.95; Liam Looney (W), 1:48.95; Aiden Aldrich (W), 1:59.19; Callum Prett (W), 2:01.37.

400 Freestyle Relay: NL/B (Riley Schwartz, Braydan McMillan, Winter Exley, Matt Kluck), 4:23.96; TH (Logan Fink, Tyler Mulrein, Jasper Jarzombek, Chris Russell), 5:15.53; Wahconah (Evan Strout, Brock Prett, Aiden Aldrich, Callum Prett), 5:57.85. * — NYS Section II Qualifying Time

GIRLS 200 Medley Relay: TH (Daisy Plaza, Imogen Drake, Lauren Madsen, Sydney Kiernan), 2:23.70; Wahconah (Sarah Kunzmann, Alex Bills, Sarah Curti, Sheffield Drewry), 2:30.78; NL/B (Carol Kirsimagi, Elizabeth Hunt, Mikayla Corsey, Chloe Meyers), 2:32.16; NL/B Sasha Truax, Abby Seyerlein, Mia Thompson, Kiley Danforth), 2:45.99.

100 Butterfly: Allison Slater (NL/B), 1:08.93*; Lauren Madsen (TH), 1:16.32*; Sarah Curti (W), 1:28.10; Sheffield Drewry (W), 1:40.97.

200 Freestyle: Lily Russo (TH), 2:39.82; Abby Seyerlein (NL/B), 2:48.96; Abby Cobb (W), 3:09.17.

100 Freestyle: Alex Sotek

BOYS 200 Medley Relay: NL/B (Riley Schwartz, Matt Kluck, Liam Buckenroth, Winter Exely), 2:12.64; TH (Logan Fink, Jasper Jarzombek, Neil Howard III, Josh Sena), 2:15.00;

CMYK

COLUMBIA-GREENE MEDIA

B6 Tuesday, February 16, 2021

‘Got back to my roots’: Nia Dennis and the groundbreaking genius of BlackExcellence Thuc Nhi Nguyen Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES — Nia Dennis placed her hands on her hips as she sashayed onto the floor. Her shoulders were relaxed. Her chin was held high above a glamorously decorated blue leotard with jewels covering her collarbone like layers of diamond necklaces.

After weeks of planning and practicing, the UCLA senior gymnast was finally ready to unveil her latest floor creation. She was nervous and excited. But with a medley of songs from influential Black artists ready to blare over the speakers, she was also proud.

Years ago, there were moments when Dennis, then a promising Olympic hopeful, wished she wasn’t Black. She wished her hair didn’t stick up. She wished the white chalk she used at practice didn’t show up on her skin as much.

She wished she fit in.

Standing on the floor with her hand over her heart waiting for the music to begin, Dennis was ready to stand out more than ever.

“I got back to my roots,” Dennis said. “I know who I am as a woman and a Black woman at that.”

That woman celebrated Black culture in a 90-second floor routine that took over social media with more than 10 million views in the first weekend. Her score of 9.95 clinched UCLA’s season-opening win on Jan. 23 against Arizona State as she whipped her black ponytail through sassy dance breaks then refocused for effortless full-twisting front flips and soaring double backflips. Her teammates and coaches served as the ideal, socially distant backup dancers.

Stars like Missy Elliott, Simone Biles and Janet Jackson gave her shoutouts on Twitter.

Seeing Michelle Obama’s tweet floored her the most.

“Now that’s what I call fierce,” the former First Lady wrote on Twitter. “You’re a star!”

With her second viral floor routine in as many years, Dennis made another appearance on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” and did interviews via Zoom on “The Today Show” and NBC. When retired NBA star Dwyane Wade introduced himself before asking a question on TNT’s “Inside the NBA,” Dennis sheepishly covered her face in disbelief.

“What’s your message?” the three-time NBA champion said.

Inspired by the Black Lives Matter protests that unfolded last summer, Dennis wanted to add her piece to the social justice conversation.

Instead of leading chants at marches or holding a sign, the 21-year-old communicated with tumbling passes as sentences and dance moves as punctuation. The message was still perfectly clear.

Celebrate Black excellence.

BJ Das was the mastermind behind Dennis’ routine, but UCLA’s volunteer assistant coach and choreographer can thank Dennis’ father Casey for one critical element.

With Dennis and Das hoping to add step dancing into the routine, Casey, who pledged Phi Beta Sigma at Ohio State, put on his UCLA sweatshirt and boots and sent short clips for inspiration. The intricate dancing Dennis performs during Missy Elliott’s “Pass That Dutch” when she claps her hands and taps her chest while rocking forward and backward was taken from one of Casey’s videos.

Seeing the personal touch in the final product was “exhilarating” for Casey.

Casey, a pharmacist, pledged the historically Black fraternity while searching for a place to fit in at the large university. The Sigmas, along

Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times

UCLA’s Nia Dennis competes on the floor during competition against BYU on Feb. 10 at Pauley Pavillion.

with being known for their signature “Sigma Nutcracker” step, were noted for social activities, community service and preparing its members for entering life after college.

To Dennis, Greek life is a “form of unity in the Black community.” To Casey, it was a “support structure of like-minded people.” It allowed him to grow into the man he is today, Casey added.

His daughter, who started gymnastics at 4 years old, struggled to find the same place to express herself.

Gymnastics was her main social circle. Almost everyone she spent time with there was white. They made comments about her hair, asking to touch it. They pointed out how chalky Dennis looked at practice when the white powder gymnasts use to prepare their hands and feet to grip the equipment contrasted with her dark skin.

The statements weren’t meant with malice, but Dennis just wanted to stop being the topic of every conversation.

“A bunch of comments like that would always kill my confidence in who I wanted to be,” she said. “I’m not even going to pretend like I didn’t go through this phase when I was younger: I did used to want to be white.”

Dennis was sometimes dejected when she came home from practice, but her mother Deetra never missed an opportunity to tell her daughter she was beautiful. At the time Dennis thought Deetra was just saying what moms were supposed to say. Only after believing the words herself did Dennis realize the importance of having her mother’s influence.

“Not hearing those words has a bigger impact than hearing those words because you don’t even think that way if you don’t hear them3/8,” Dennis said. “To have her feeding those words into my ear, I was slowly, but surely believing them.”

Although she can’t speak during her routine, Dennis wants Black girls and women to feel those inspirational words when she performs.

“I aspire to inspire,” Dennis said.

Before she became a two-time viral sensation, Dennis was just trying to inspire those close to her, none more important than her younger sister. Mya, 11, brags to all of her friends that her older sister is so famous.

Mya is Dennis’ “why.”

“I don’t ever want her to be ashamed of the

color of her skin or want to wish it was lighter or want to wish it was different,” Dennis said.

“I want her to always love the skin that she’s in and to be confident.”

Dennis soars above her teammates’ heads in her first tumbling pass, tucking her knees toward her chest into a tight ball as she flips twice in the air. Her legs can power her more than eight feet in the air. They helped her win junior national titles on vault and floor in 2014. They were also sometimes the target of criticism.

With her muscular legs, Dennis was accused of not having “clean” lines in her gymnastics during her elite career, as if the curves of her muscles distracted from the perfect split of a leap or a straight handstand on the bar.

Like how NFL scouts have used stereotypes to evaluate players -- white players are more often described as cerebral and hard-working while Black players tend to be described more on their physical attributes -- gymnasts of color often fight against similar barriers.

“It seems that Black gymnasts are usually known for more power rather than grace,” said former UCLA gymnast JaNay Honest, who is Black. “Gymnastics is a subjective sport and there’s also this body type, which we’ve been trying to change the culture of it. You gotta be 90 pounds and thin and tiny ... but obviously a lot of females are just not like that and specifically with Black women.”

A Pac-12 Networks reporter, Honest was on the broadcast for Dennis’ viral routine this year. At a meet in 2019, she interviewed former UCLA gymnast Kim Hamilton Anthony, who was the first African American gymnast to receive a full scholarship to compete at UCLA. The six-time All-American and four-time national champion said she was told “gymnastics was a white girl sport.” People told her to give up.

“I’m so glad to know there are other athletes who look like me who can see my tape and I was able to go before them and pioneer in the sport,” Anthony said during the interview.

In 2012, 73% of Division I female gymnasts were white, according to data from the NCAA, 7% were Black and 20% were “other.” In 2019, the percentage of white gymnasts fell to 65% while Black representation grew to 9%. Other races made the largest jump to 26%.

Before Dennis’ popular routines, several Black gymnasts gained notoriety with unique

floor routines. Louisiana State’s Lloimincia Hall (2014) and UCLA gymnasts Sophina DeJesus (2017) and Hallie Mossett (2018) earned millions of views.

Yet for every viral sensation in college gymnastics, there are still Black gymnasts facing discrimination within their own teams.

Black gymnasts from several schools including Alabama, Florida and UC Davis spoke to ESPN in 2020 about the racism they faced in the sport in the midst of the country’s racial reckoning following the George Floyd protests.

White gymnasts used the N-word despite pleas from Black teammates to stop. One Alabama coach referred to a group of Black gymnasts standing together at practice as “the back of the bus.” The Black gymnasts were asked to overlook the incident as “a joke.”

Watching the protests unfold this summer was emotional for Dennis. She was frustrated, upset and angry to see the continued prevalence of racism, and especially police brutality.

“I was honestly scared for my life,” Dennis said.

After UCLA’s season was canceled last year because of the pandemic, Dennis used the down time to undergo shoulder surgery to correct a torn labrum she was competing on for five years. While recovering, she couldn’t partake in marches or protests.

She would speak out on her own time.

Lyrics are not allowed in floor routines, but Dennis still wanted to say something with her musical selection.

The original list of possibilities for Dennis’ routine included around 85 songs, said Das, who helped choreograph all of UCLA’s routines this year. With help from music producer Jack Rayner, who was working in Australia at the time, the final mix included eight. It’s still more than Das would normally use, but Dennis fought to keep each one.

They all have meaning.

“We didn’t really settle,” Das said. “We wanted to do it right and we wanted her voice to be heard.”

When the music starts, Dennis drops to a knee and raises a fist, two simple gestures made iconic in the fight against racial injustice by Colin Kaepernick and Olympians Tommie Smith and John Carlos. Kendrick Lamar’s “Humble” leads the mix. Dennis, who calls the routine “The Culture,” picked the song because Lamar has long advocated through music.

Each artist included had a significant impact on Black culture, Dennis said, whether it was through music or dance. She hits popular dance moves like Soulja Boy’s “Crank That” and the woah. The Columbus, Ohio, native heel-toes to Tupac Shakur’s “California Love” and flashes four fingers on each hand, paying homage to UCLA’s “fours up” slogan.

The senior didn’t want to leave without honoring the place that helped shape her.

“UCLA gymnastics is probably the best place to come,” Dennis said. “I’m not trying to sound any type of way, but we celebrate each other’s individuality and our differences and our cultures 100 percent and this is honestly the best place I could have gone to find myself.”

Dennis said she has grown “light years” during her four years at UCLA. In the process, she’s embodied different characters on the floor from the Queen of the Nile during her sophomore year to a majorette leading a band as a junior. But this final piece stands out because Dennis is not playing a character.

It seems fitting she will leave UCLA performing simply as herself.

“I just know that I have to stay true to myself,” Dennis said. “That’s always going to get me farther than anything else.”

Met’ Lugo to undergo elbow surgery, won’t throw for six weeks Deesha Thosar New York Daily News

NEW YORK — New owner, same injury problems.

Reliever Seth Lugo will undergo surgery on a loose body in his right elbow, the team announced Saturday morning. His surgery will take place on Tuesday, and Lugo is expected to be sidelined from any baseball activity for six weeks before transitioning to a throwing program, causing him to miss opening day.

A bone spur broke off Lugo’s elbow while he was going through his normal throwing progression at some point during the offseason, according to the team. It resulted in inflammation that wouldn’t

subside.

Lugo, 31, recently informed the Mets’ medical staff of his injury and they ordered an MRI on Friday, which revealed the loose body. Dr. David Altchek will perform the surgery on Tuesday.

This is a huge hit to the Mets bullpen, where Lugo was expected to pitch again after a brief stint in the rotation last year. If he is able to begin throwing again six weeks from his surgery, that will put him back on the field at the end of March — just before opening day against the Nationals.

It’s unclear how long it will then take Lugo to build up to regular form after missing

Jim McIsaac/Getty Images

Seth Lugo of the New York Mets pitches against the Tampa Bay Rays at Citi Field in New York on September 22, 2020.

the entirety of spring training. He could miss up to a month or more of the regular season.

Lugo became a consistent, reliable threat in the Mets’ relief corps, with his talent taking centerstage over the

past few years. He has a 2.53 ERA and 0.954 WHIP over 188 2/3 innings as a relief pitcher since his major league debut in 2016. A lack of starting pitch depth forced Lugo to stretch out more than halfway through 2020 s 60-game season. He struggled to deliver the same results as a starter, posting a 6.15 ERA over seven starts and 26 1/3 innings to end the year.

New Mets owner Steve Cohen, team president Sandy Alderson and his brass worked hard to shore up both starting pitching and bullpen depth this offseason with the hope of avoiding a similar situation as last year.

Particularly, their acquisitions of Joey Lucchesi and

THE PUBLIC NEEDS THE TRUTH; NOT SOCIAL MEDIA HEADLINES & FAKE NEWS.

Jordan Yamamoto would have allowed Lugo to re-join the bullpen, where his results have been best. The club’s deals with relievers Trevor May and Aaron Loup fortified the bullpen. Though the depth helps a situation like Lugo’s, where he’ll be forced to miss at least the beginning of the 2021 season, his loss will be punctuated despite the additions of May and Loup.

Pitchers and catchers are scheduled to report to Port St. Lucie, Fla., on Wednesday, while position players will report the following Monday.

The Mets now hope, as their team trickles into camp, that the injuries are limited or at least manageable.

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CMYK

Tuesday, February 16, 2021 B7

COLUMBIA-GREENE MEDIA

Surprise revelation of twins’ paternity is family bombshell Dear Abby, My son’s new wife — who has a daughter — insisted that his two children are not biologically his. After a DNA test, it turns out she was right. They aren’t. My son, my husband and I are heartbroken. His twins are 10, and they don’t understand what’s going on.

DEAR ABBY My husband and I are trying to gently remain in their lives with phone calls and limited visits. My son’s wife refuses to visit with us until we stop communicating with the children, promise never to talk about them and display no pictures in our home. She’s trying to convince our son to stop seeing us, as well. What to do?

Disappointed In Texas

JEANNE PHILLIPS

Those children, regardless of who their birth father is, were raised believing you and your husband are their grandparents. If you love them, do not knuckle under to your son’s new wife.

She does not have the right to dictate who you (or your son, for that matter) see and communicate with. She also does not have the right to order you to remove any object from your home.

If your son opts to turn his back on those children, that’s a decision only he can make. If he also chooses to turn his back on you, then you raised a milquetoast instead of a man.

Dear Abby, I’m a married man, and I love my wife. We’re not living together at the moment due to unfortunate circumstances.

Being far away from her, I get extremely lonely. I have a co-worker who became a good

friend, and I have feelings for her. I have told her how I feel, and we have hung out a few times — nothing sexual. Now she’s moving away, and I feel heartbroken. How should I deal? I’m fighting back tears for someone I’m not even with.

What do I do?

Heartbroken In The East

Pickles

Pearls Before Swine

A relationship does not have to be sexual to be meaningful, and your co-worker was filling a space in your life that was empty.

Not knowing the unfortunate circumstances that caused the separation between you and your wife, I can only advise you to start looking for a way to mend fences or change those circumstances so you can live together again. If that’s not possible, start giving serious thought to how you plan to live the rest of your life, because this way isn’t working.

Classic Peanuts

Dear Abby, The other day I was on a video conference call with our boss and two colleagues. When “Joan” came on the call, “something” was hanging from one of her nostrils. I scratched my nose and mustache a few times, trying to alert her of what was happening, to no avail. She didn’t react. No one else said anything.

What would the correct protocol have been?

Should I have left it alone or was I right to try to let her know? Should I have privately texted her?

Please advise.

Telecommuting Woes If the person with the leaky nose had been you, wouldn’t you have wanted to know? Yes, you should have texted her.

Garfield

Horoscope

By Stella Wilder Born today, you are not always operating on the same wavelength as those around you, and as a result, you are likely to be party to a great deal of conflict — in both work and play — as you follow your own instincts and satisfy your own desires without giving a thought to what others may want, need or appreciate. It is quite common for you to encounter serious threats to your well-being almost on a daily basis.

You can be quite emotional, but you do your best to control yourself when you are feeling wound up — or when you are put on the defensive for some reason. You know that it is a mistake to make lasting decisions when you are navigating an emotional maelstrom, and yet there are times when it is impossible to do what you know should be done.

Also born on this date are: Ice-T, actor and rapper; Vera-Ellen, dancer; John McEnroe, tennis player and commentator; Sonny Bono, singer and politician; Levar Burton, actor; Hugh Beaumont, actor; William Katt, actor; James Ingram, singer; Margaux Hemingway, model and actress.

To see what is in store for you tomorrow, find your birthday and read the corresponding paragraph. Let your birthday star be your daily guide.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 17 AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) — One trip may have to be canceled today while another is being planned. You’re not going to know what’s really possible for another few days.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) — It’s a good day to revisit old and familiar issues whether or not they have been resolved. You may discover something left undone.

ARIES (March 21-April 19) — Think not so

much of financial gain today; focus on the emotional gains you will score by staying the course.

Your dedication will say a lot!

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) — Certain priorities may be challenged by someone who was, but no longer is, in charge. This is a sign of an important difference in leadership.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) — You know very well who has been making things difficult for you lately, and today is the day to call him or her to the table. Don’t waffle!

CANCER (June 21-July 22) — It’s time for you to make very clear your expectations with regard to another’s participation in your affairs. Is it a true partnership?

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) — What goes on just outside of your circle of influence may bother you more today than it has in the past. It may be time to change your focus.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) — Pay attention to what another does behind your back today. He or she is pursuing goals in a way that throws a wrench into the works.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) — You’re nowhere so comfortable as at home right now — and today you’ll want to spend more time under your own roof. You are justified!

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) — Someone you know has left a mess, and it’s up to you to clean it up. This is not acceptable, but now is not the time to make an issue of it.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) — Your reaction to another’s exercise of free speech may take you by surprise today. Is your thinking more in line than you supposed?

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) — You’ll be weighing all manner of expectations today, and you can surely come up with a better-than-usual explanation for your actions.

Zits Dark Side of the Horse

Daily Maze

COPYRIGHT 2021 UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE, INC.

Goren bridge WITH BOB JONES

What call would you make?

©2020 Tribune Content Agency, LLC

WEEKLY BRIDGE QUIZ ANSWERS Q 1 - Neither vulnerable, as South, you hold:

A - You have a minimum for an overcall, but a terrific dummy for spades. Bid 3S.

♠Q653♥A752♦J764♣6

Q 4 - Both vulnerable, as South, you hold:

NORTH EAST 1♣ 1♥ 2♦ 2♠ *Negative

SOUTH Dbl* ?

WEST 1♠

♠KJ8754♥AK63♦85♣A

With the opponents passing, you open 1S and partner responds 1NT. What is your rebid?

What call would you make?

A - You have pretty good defense against two spades, but you also have a pretty good hand for partner. We like bidding 3D. Q 2 - North-South vulnerable, as South, you hold: ♠ K J 10 8 6 4 ♥ A K 3 ♦ 10 7 ♣ K J

With the opponents passing, you open 1S and partner responds 1NT. What is your rebid?

Q 3 - East-West vulnerable, as South, you hold: ♠ A Q J 9 ♥ Q 10 8 7 5 3 ♦ 10 7 ♣ 5 EAST 1♦ 3♦

SOUTH 1♥ ?

WEST 2♣

NORTH 2♠

Q 5 - North-South vulnerable, as South, you hold: ♠ 4 ♥ A J 10 2 ♦ A Q 10 8 6 3 ♣ J 5 NORTH 1♠ 2NT

EAST Pass Pass

SOUTH 2♦ ?

WEST Pass

What call would you make?

A - Forget about hearts. Partner would have bid 2H with four of them. Bid 3NT. Q 6 - East-West vulnerable, as South, you hold: ♠A985♥J86♦AKQ42♣8

Right-hand opponent opens 1C. What call would you make?

A - Double is OK, but we prefer to bid 1D now and double later, for take-out, if they compete to 2C or 3C.

Columbia-Greene

MEDIA

A - Close between 2S and 3S. We would bid 3S with the same values and a singleton in the hand, but settle for 2S with this semi-balanced hand.

A - Do not even think about rebidding spades – not yet at least. Bid 2H.

Sponsor Comics 518-828-1616

CMYK

COLUMBIA-GREENE MEDIA

B8 Tuesday, February 16, 2021 Close to Home

Free Range

THAT SCRAMBLED WORD GAME

Level 1

2

3

4

CNIEM TMSPO LYOCIP MELRIB 2/16/21

Solution to to Saturday’s Monday’s puzzle Solution puzzle

Complete the grid so each row, column and 3-by-3 box (in bold borders) contains every digit, 1 to 9.

For strategies on how to solve Sudoku, visit

Get Fuzzyy

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Yesterday’s Saturday’s

sudoku.org.uk © 2021 The Mepham Group. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency. All rights reserved.

Heart of the City

Dilbert

B.C.

For Better or For Worse

Wizard of Id

Crossword Puzzle

ACROSS 1 __ than pleased; unhappy 5 __ Michelle Gellar 10 Shine 14 Hawaiian island 15 “The __ Is Right” 16 __ about; speak highly of 17 Seize suddenly 18 On a leash 20 Tree subject to disease 21 Ponder 22 Thirst quenchers 23 Build 25 Ron DeSantis or Andrew Cuomo: abbr.

26 Sully; besmirch 28 Awful experience 31 Precise 32 TV’s Mandel 34 Curtsy 36 __ A Sketch; drawing toy 37 Obama’s VP 38 Adhesive 39 Prefix for trial or school 40 Pieces of bamboo 41 Honking birds 42 Fesses up 44 __ wire; cattle fence material 45 __ flash; instantly 46 Gadget 47 Part of every wk.

50 Word attached to ball or board 51 Ike’s monogram 54 Terrible 57 Lancelot & Galahad 58 In addition 59 Flask filler 60 Pile 61 Within reach 62 One of Santa’s reindeer 63 Uneasy DOWN 1 Theater box 2 British noble 3 Embarrassed 4 Long sandwich 5 Evergreen tree 6 “Give it __!”; cry to a windbag

Andy Capp

Bound & Gagged

Created by Jacqueline E. Mathews

7 Heed one’s alarm clock 8 Part of a play 9 Feminine pronoun 10 Mourn 11 Walkway 12 “Somewhere __ the rainbow…”

13 Gets hitched 19 Home 21 Become liquid 24 Well-to-do 25 Big smile 26 Opposite of shallow 27 Actor in a crowd scene 28 Is indebted to 29 Healthy & strong 30 __ up; botch 32 Rushes 33 Unusual 35 Dandelion or cocklebur 37 __-carotene; pigment in carrots 38 Bit of bacteria 40 Dishwasher cycle 41 Long look

2/16/21

Saturday’s PuzzleSolved Solved Monday’s Puzzle

Non Sequitur

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Reserved.

All

43 Looking glass 44 Actress Jacqueline 46 First aid kit item 47 Other __; besides 48 Bagel center 49 __ Major; Big Dipper’s constellation

2/15/21 2/16/21

50 Sound of an explosion 52 Tow along behind 53 Happen to see 55 “Chicago Fire” network 56 Scooby-__; cartoon dog 57 “Murder, __ Wrote”

Rubes

Get the free JUST JUMBLE app • Follow us on Twitter @PlayJumble

By David L. Hoyt and Jeff Knurek

Unscramble these Jumbles, one letter to each square, to form four ordinary words.

Now arrange the circled letters to form the surprise answer, as suggested by the above cartoon.

(Answerstomorrow) tomorrow) (Answers Jumbles: MINUS GIANT THINK SPRAIN KITTEN Jumbles: BOSSY KERNEL UNSAID Eric store Gugler’s Officefailed redesign was of Answer: The run 1933 by theOval baboons because Answer: underway and thingsBUSINESS were — TAKING SHAPE all the — MONKEY