E edition Register Star January 13 2021

CMYK

Register-Star Copyright 2021, Columbia-Greene Media Volume 237, No. 8

All Rights Reserved

NATIONAL Dems eye social media’s role in riot.

Inside, A2

Serving Columbia and Dutchess counties since 1785

Price $1.50

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2021

11 virus deaths in Twin Counties

nFORECAST WEATHER FOR HUDSON/CA TODAY TONIGHT THU

By Natasha Vaughn Columbia-Greene Media Clouds and sun

Considerable cloudiness

Intervals of clouds and sun

HIGH 39

LOW 28

41 27

Complete weather, A2

n SPORTS

Belichick declines medal from Trump No outsider could have changed his mind about accepting a Presidential Medal of Freedom from Trump PAGE B1

HUDSON — Ten COVID-19 deaths in Greene County and one in Columbia County were reported this week in the Twin Counties amid a rising surge of positive virus cases.

About half of all positive COVID cases in the Twin Counties have been reported in the past month.

The seven-day rolling average of positive COVID tests in Columbia County is 7.3% as of Jan. 10 and the 14-day rolling average is 7.5%, according to the state COVID testing dashboard.

In Greene County, the seven-day rolling average of

“I don’t see it ending anytime soon, but I do expect our daily numbers to start dropping as we get farther away from New Year’s. I think what’s happened is its gotten a pretty good hold in the community we’ll probably still see daily cases in the high twenties and thirties.”

— Jack Mabb, Columbia County Department of Health director

positive COVID tests is 10.6% and the 14-day rolling average is 11.2%.

On Monday and Tuesday, the Greene County Public Health Department announced there had been 11 new COVID-related deaths.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, Greene County has reported 49 deaths from the

virus. On Aug. 31, the Public Health Department reported 19 COVID-related deaths from the beginning of the pandemic in mid-March and there were no virus deaths in September and October in the county.

Three deaths were reported in November and December each.

January has seen 21

COVID-related deaths in Greene County as of Tuesday.

The Columbia County Department of Health announced Monday one more COVID-related death. Monday’s death is the 54th virus death in the county and the fifth since the beginning of the year. During the spring, the county had 38 COVID-related

deaths from the beginning of the pandemic to June 9.

Over the summer, the Department of Health did not report any additional COVIDrelated deaths until Oct. 14.

Columbia County had five COVID deaths in October, four in November, three in December and as of Jan. 11, there have been five virus deaths so far since the beginning of the year.

The Columbia County Department of Health has reported 2,217 positive COVID cases since the beginning of the pandemic. The department has reported 1,087 of See VIRUS A8

Without supply, vaccine opens to 65+, immunocompromised

n LOCAL

DOCCS: Inmate tried to escape Former inmate at Coxsackie Correctional charged with attempted escape.

PAGE A3

n STATE

By Kate Lisa Johnson Newspaper Corp.

ALBANY — Immunocompromised New Yorkers and people aged 65 and older were added to the state’s eligibility to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, said Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who encouraged residents

to expect even longer wait times than first anticipated after U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expanded vaccine prioritization guidelines Tuesday morning.

Distributors will continue to first prioritize vaccines for the state’s 2.1 million health care workers on the

coronavirus pandemic’s front lines, or in group 1A. Eligibility was expanded to New Yorkers in group 1B Monday, including about 1.4 million people aged 75 and older, 870,000 education workers, 207,000 police and firefighters, 100,000 public safety and 100,000 transit workers.

The addition of immunosuppressed New Yorkers and people 65 and older to the second group is an addition of 1.8 million people, or about 7.1 million combined 1A and 1B. The federal government See VACCINE A8

Courtesy of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Office

Gov. Andrew Cuomo, left, and Secretary to the Governor Melissa DeRosa during a COVID-19 briefing in the state Capitol in Albany on Dec. 18.

Cuomo looks to arts, broadband The governor delivered part 2 of the State of the State address in Albany PAGE A3

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

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

Delgado introduced articles of impeachment

By Natasha Vaughn Columbia-Greene Media

HUDSON — U.S. Rep. Antonio Delgado, D-19, cosponsored the article of impeachment against President Donald Trump introduced in Congress on Monday.

Delgado is one of over 200 representatives to call for the president’s impeachment following the failed Jan. 6, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol while Congress was in the process of certifying results from the November election.

“On January 6, the President incited a violent insurrection of the Capitol while Congress sought to uphold its constitutional duty to certify election results,” Delgado said in a statement. “Today, I joined more than 200 of my colleagues in introducing an article of impeachment against

President Trump. Protecting our democracy from ongoing threats requires swift action.”

The resolution was introduced Monday and calls for the impeachment of the president for high crimes and misdemeanors.

Delgado is one of 15 New York representatives to cosponsor the article of impeachment as of Monday.

The article of impeachment states Trump incited an insurrection against the U.S. government and that before the joint session of Congress on Jan. 6, he repeatedly issued false statements calling the election results fraudulent and stating they should not be accepted by the American people or be certified by state or federal officials.

The article goes on to say Trump made these false

File photo

U.S. Rep. Antonio Delgado, D-19

claims to a group of people at The Ellipse, a park south of the White House in Washington D.C., prior to the start of the joint session where he repeated false claims that, “We won this election, and we won it by

a landslide.”

Statements made by the president, such as, “If you don’t fight like hell you’re not going to have a country anymore,” incited people in the crowd to attempt to interfere with the certification of the election results, vandalize the Capitol, injure and kill lawenforcement personnel and menace members of Congress, the vice president and congressional personnel, and engage in other violent, deadly, destructive and seditious acts, according to the article of impeachment.

The resolution also states Trump attempted to subvert and obstruct the election certification during a Jan. 2, phone call where the article states Trump urged the secretary of state of Georgia, Brad Raffensperger, to “find” enough votes

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

to be able to overturn Georgia’s presidential election results and threatened Raffensperger if he did not comply.

The resolution states these actions by Trump endangered U.S. security and its institutions. Trump has “demonstrated that he will remain a threat to national security, democracy and the Constitution if allowed to remain in office and has acted in a manner grossly incompatible with self-governance and the rule of law,” according to the resolution.

Impeachment and removal from office would disqualify Trump from holding office in the future, according to the resolution.

Delgado also supported impeachment of Trump in 2019.

The Senate did not vote to convict in that case. #SupportRealNews

CMYK

COLUMBIA-GREENE MEDIA

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Weather FORECAST FOR HUDSON/CATSKILL

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Rep. Pramila Jayapal tests positive for coronavirus after blasting GOP lawmakers who refused to mask up in lockdown Teo Armus

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Ottawa 32/27

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Rochester 39/33

Utica 36/30

Batavia 41/32

Albany 34/26

Syracuse 39/33

Catskill 39/28

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Hornell 42/31

Burlington 34/29

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Watertown 36/31

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The Washington Post

WASHINGTON - After a mob of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol last week, forcing Rep. Pramila Jayapal, DWash., to take shelter in a crowded committee room, she began preparing for the worst.

Many of the GOP members of Congress hiding out with her were not wearing masks, she said, and had refused to accept them from a colleague. So, soon after Congress affirmed President-elect Joe Biden’s electoral victory later that night, she began to quarantine, fearing she could have contracted the coronavirus.

Her prediction turned to be right. Late Monday night, Jayapal announced that she had tested positive, making her the second Democratic representative to do so this week, after New Jersey Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman.

The two diagnoses come after Brian Monahan, the attending physician to Congress, warned over the weekend that lawmakers may have been exposed to the virus while taking cover from the rioters.

Jayapal, who said she was locked down in a committee room for hours with more than 100 people, placed the blame squarely on some of her GOP colleagues.

“Too many Republicans have refused to take this pandemic and virus seriously, and in doing so, they endanger everyone around them,” Jayapal said, accusing them of”creating a superspreader event on top of a domestic terrorist attack.”

Her statement pointed to a video published by Punchbowl News on Friday, which showed several maskless Republicans in the room with her - including Reps.

Andy Biggs of Arizona, Michael Cloud of Texas, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma and Scott Perry of Pennsylvania - refusing surgical masks from Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, DDel. “I’m not trying to get political here,” Mullin can be heard saying in the video, before telling her: “I’ll come over there and hug you.”

Within two days of the Capitol siege,

Washington Post photo by Salwan Georges

Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., tested positive for the coronavirus, she said late on Monday.

Jayapal told the Cut that she had begun quarantining, convinced that she could have been exposed to the virus in that room.

Several public health experts echoed the congresswoman’s assertion that the locked-in room could have served as a “superspreader event.” The coronavirus is surging in the United States. As of early on Tuesday, more than 22.5 million infections in the United States have been reported, and at least 374,000 people have died, according to data tracked by The Washington Post.

In an email to lawmakers on Sunday, Monahan said that all those”in protective isolation in room located in a large committee hearing space” may have been exposed to someone with the virus. He advised them to seek a coronavirus test and continue to monitor for symptoms while wearing masks.

Coleman, a 75-year-old cancer survivor, said she was isolating at home with “mild, cold-like symptoms” after taking shelter during the riots in a room with lawmakers who had refused to wear masks.

Jayapal did not say if she was experiencing symptoms but noted that she would continue to work “to the best of my ability” while in quarantine.

While Jayapal received her first dose of

a vaccine on Jan. 4, that shot alone is not enough to make her immune to the virus.

Both the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines require a second dose, six weeks after the first, to be fully effective.

Scientists have also made it clear that vaccine protections do not kick in overnight. For that reason, public health officials have recommended that all those who have been vaccinated must continue to practice social distancing and wear masks in public.

With most members of Congress and some of their staff members having received at least one shot, those guidelines were not lost on Jayapal.

In her statement on Monday, she said that any lawmaker who refuses to wear a mask inside the Capitol should be fined and removed from the floor by the sergeant-atarms. (The Committee on House Administration already says it is a “critical necessity” to mask up while indoors at the Capitol.)

“This is not a joke,” she added. “Our lives and our livelihoods are at risk, and anyone who refuses to wear a mask should be fully held accountable for endangering our lives because of their selfish idiocy.”

The Washington Post’s Colby Itkowitz contributed to this report.

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 Winnipeg 33/26

Seattle 50/37 Billings 54/32

Montreal 33/28

Detroit 40/31

Denver 59/30

The Washington Post New York 44/36

Chicago 43/34

San Francisco 62/50

Tony Romm

Toronto 38/31

Minneapolis 38/30

Washington 49/34

Kansas City 54/41

Los Angeles 72/51 Atlanta 52/32

El Paso 58/33

Houston 60/40

Chihuahua 62/33

Miami 78/62

Monterrey 68/36

ALASKA HAWAII

Anchorage 28/22

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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 50/31 s 28/22 sf 52/32 c 49/39 s 50/30 s 54/32 c 48/31 c 48/27 sh 42/30 pc 59/38 pc 47/30 pc 55/32 pc 53/23 pc 43/34 pc 45/31 pc 43/34 pc 44/30 pc 57/41 s 59/30 pc 45/35 pc 40/31 c 39/28 pc 83/69 pc 60/40 s 45/30 pc 54/41 s 47/28 pc 63/45 s

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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

House Democrats look into social media’s role in Capitol riot as part of broad disinformation inquiry

Today Hi/Lo W 55/36 s 72/51 s 78/62 sh 39/32 pc 38/30 i 51/32 pc 56/39 s 44/36 s 51/39 s 53/35 s 52/36 pc 66/49 sh 47/33 s 67/44 s 42/32 pc 36/23 pc 53/38 pc 41/30 pc 55/34 s 53/34 s 64/44 c 53/37 s 47/26 c 62/50 c 60/38 pc 50/37 pc 62/52 pc 49/34 s

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

House Democrats plan to investigate the role Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites played in the deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol as part of a broader look at the rising threat of disinformation online.

The congressional inquiry reflects lingering political dissatisfaction with Silicon Valley and the way it handled President Donald Trump, who weaponized the Web to share falsehoods, fuel conspiracy theories and savage his critics. It took years before Twitter and Facebook banned him last week from using their services.

“There’s no question that our committee is going to investigate and have hearings on the whole issue that we’ve been dealing with, in terms of what they can do on their platforms,” said Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., N.J., the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which focuses on tech issues.

Twitter and Facebook “were letting the president say things that ultimately resulted in incitement of this mob that attacked the Capitol, and I’m glad they’ve taken action now,” Pallone added in an interview. “But this opens up a whole issue of how are they policing the Internet to prevent false information and incitements of violence.”

Democratic lawmakers for years have called on Facebook, Google and Twitter to take a more aggressive approach to a wide array of harmful content

Photo by Amanda Voisard for The Washington Post

Protesters surround the Capitol on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021.

online, including electionyear disinformation and hate speech. All three tech giants in response have invested heavily in hiring thousands of workers and developing fresh artificialintelligence tools to spot and remove more problematic posts, photos and videos before they can go viral. But the tech industry’s efforts have not come fast enough for many policymakers in Washington, who repeatedly have threatened stiff regulation in response.

The assault on the Capitol last Wednesday that forced lawmakers into lockdown and left five dead has injected new energy into calls for reform. Democrats say Facebook and Twitter should have acted sooner to ban Trump, well before his attacks on the 2020 election threatened to incite real-world violence. And some party members in recent days have revived their campaign to rethink Section 230, a decades-old law that spares a wide array of sites and

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services - from newspapers to tech giants - from being held liable for the content their users post.

The new congressional scrutiny comes as Facebook, Twitter and their tech peers continue to face blowback for their sudden decisions to take aim at Trump and some of his most controversial allies ahead of Presidentelect Joe Biden’s inauguration.

Trump’s aides say they expect him to call out Silicon Valley over claims of censorship in the final days of his term. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo appeared to liken the decisions to ban Trump to authoritarianism during a speech late Monday.

In addition to the bans, Facebook on Monday announced a heightened crackdown on election disinformation ahead of Biden’s inauguration. Twitter late Monday said it purged approximately 70,000 accounts associated with the conspiracy theory QAnon. And companies including Amazon, Apple

and Google have set their sites on Parler, an alternative social network on which pro-Trump supporters appeared to glorify the attempted insurrection last week.

The site remains dark online and unavailable on two popular smartphone app stores as a result of the tech industry’s concerns about its lack of robust content moderation practices. Parler denies the charges and has sued Amazon to force its cloud-computing unit to resume hosting the site. (Amazon founder and chief executive Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.)

HL Propane Co. Inc. 518-794-9066 518-794-9066 • 877-794-9066

CMYK

Wednesday, January 13, 2021 A3

COLUMBIA-GREENE MEDIA • REGISTER-STAR

CALENDAR

Stewart’s Shops/ Dake Family Foundation make major donation

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

Wednesday, Jan. 13 n Clermont Planning Board 7:30

p.m. Town Hall, 1795 Route 9, Clermont 518-537-6868 n Columbia County Board of Supervisors Full Board 7:30 p.m. 401 State St., Hudson. 518-828-1527 n Copake Hamlet Revitalization Task Force 7 p.m. Town Hall, 230 Mountain View Road, Copake 518329-1234 n Ghent Zoning Board of Appeals 7 p.m. Town Hall, 2306 Route 66, Ghent 518-392-4644 n Kinderhook Village Board 7:30 p.m. Village Hall, 6 Chatham St., Kinderhook 518-758-9882 n Livingston Free Library Board of Trustees 7 p.m. electronically. Con-

tact the library via email Livingstonlibrary105@ gmail.com. For login instructions, requests must be made by 5 p.m. Jan. 13 n Milan Zoning Board of Appeals 7 p.m. Wilcox Memorial Town Hall, 20 Wilcox Circle, Milan 845-758-5133 n Pine Plains Zoning Commission 5:15 p.m. Planning Board 7:30 p.m.

Town Hall, 3284 Route 199, Pine Plains 518-398-7155 n Red Hook Central School District Board of Education 7 p.m. District Office Conference Room, Mill Road Elementary School, 9 Mill Road, Red Hook 845-758-2241 n Red Hook Zoning Board of Appeals 7 p.m. Town Hall, 7340 South Broadway, Red Hook 845-758-4606 n Valatie Planning Board 7 p.m.

Village Hall, Martin H. Glynn, 3211 Church St., Valatie 518-758-9806

Thursday, Jan. 14 n Austerlitz Zoning Board of Ap-

peals 7 p.m. Town Hall, 812 Route 203, Spencertown 518-392-3260 (as needed) n Chatham Village Board 7 p.m.

Tracy Memorial Hall, 77 Chatham St., Chatham 518-392-5821 n Claverack Town Board 7 p.m.

Town Court Building, Route 217, Mellenville 518-672-7911 n Copake Town Board 7 p.m. Town Hall, 230 Mountain View Road, Copake 518-329-1234 n Gallatin Town Board 6:30 p.m.

Town Hall, 667 Route 7, Gallatin 518398-7519 n Ghent Town Board 7:30 p.m..

Town Hall, 2306 Route 66, Ghent 518392-4644 n Hudson Planning Board 6:30 p.m. City Hall, 520 Warren St., Hudson 518-828-1030 n Kinderhook Town Planning Board Workshop 7 p.m. Town Hall, 3211 Church St., Valatie n Livingston Town Board 7 p.m.

Town Hall, County Route 19, Livingston 518-851-9441 n Milan Recreation Committee 7 p.m. Wilcox Memorial Town Hall, 20 Wilcox Circle, Milan 845-758-5133 n Millerton Village Town Board 7:30 p.m. Village Hall, Dutchess Avenue, Millerton 518-789-4489 n North East Town Board 7:30 p.m.

Town Hall, Maple Avenue, North East 518-789-3778 n Philmont Zoning Board of Appeals 7 p.m. Village Hall, 124 Main St., Philmont 518-672-7032 n Stockport Planning Board 7 p.m.

Town Hall, 2787 Atlantic Ave., Stottville 518-828-9389 n Stuyvesant Town Board 7 p.m.

Town Hall, 5 Sunset Drive, Stuyvesant 518-758-6248

Friday, Jan. 15 n Hudson Historic Preservation

Commission 10 a.m. City Hall, 520 Warren St., Hudson, 518-828-1030

Saturday, Jan. 16 n Germantown History Department 9 a.m.-noon 1767 Parsonage, 52 Maple Ave., Germantown 518-5376687 n Hudson Area Library Board of Trustees 10:15 a.m. via Zoom. To receive the Zoom links to attend, email info@hudsonarealibrary.org or call 518-828-1792 x102

Tuesday, Jan. 19 n Chatham Central School District

Board of Education 6 p.m. High School Library, Chatham 518-392-2400 n Chatham Planning Board 7 p.m.

Town Hall, 488 Route 295, Chatham 518-392-3262 n Columbia County Planning Board 6:30-8:30 p.m. Google Meet Virtual Meeting or the Chamber of the Board of Supervisors on the First Floor of the Columbia County Offices at 401 State St., Hudson (To be determined.) n Copake Land Use Review Committee 7 p.m. Town Hall, 230 Mountain View Road, Copake 518-329-1234

Courtesy of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Office

Gov. Andrew Cuomo delivers his 2021 State of the State Address in the War Room at the state Capitol.

Affordable internet, arts focus of 2nd State of the State

By Kate Lisa Johnson Newspaper Corp.

ALBANY — Low-cost highspeed internet service for all New Yorkers and rejuvenating the arts will be top state priorities through 2021 to rebuild a post-COVID-19 economy, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday in a continuation of this year’s four-part State of the State address.

More people rely on dependable, affordable, high-speed broadband connectivity as an increasing number of Americans are working from home or attending school than ever before because of the coronavirus pandemic. New Yorkers, especially in poor and rural communities, have lacked proper internet access for years.

The emergence of the remote economy is a new reality that will continue to expand, Cuomo said, and requires highspeed internet for all New Yorkers.

“We must embrace it, not deny it,” the governor said Tuesday from the War Room inside the state Capitol. “We must prepare and help guide it. We need to ensure a level playing field. No one can be left behind.

New York must be the first state to develop the infrastructure of the future.”

The governor delivered the second of his four-part 11th State of the State address virtually late Tuesday morning from the War Room inside the state Capitol in Albany. The annual speech is traditionally attended by thousands of people in Convention Center inside the Empire State Plaza, but is virtual this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The state plans to pass a mandate for internet service providers to recognize their public responsibility to offer affordable broadband access and offer service to low-income households for $15 a month. A fund will also be established for families that cannot afford the monthly $15 through a partnership with former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, Rockefeller Foundation Chairman Richard Parsons and Ford Foundation President Darren Walker.

About 98% of New York residences have access to some type of broadband connection.

Basic high-speed internet plans cost upward of $50 per month — an unacceptably high figure that roughly 20% of American families cannot afford, the governor said.

“We now have a different challenge: Affordability,” Cuomo said. “Access is one thing, but access if it’s not affordable is meaningless. For too many families [$50] just isn’t affordable. Without affordable broadband, families are left behind, social injustice is increased,

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

telemedicine is not an option.

Without broadband, you can’t apply for most jobs.”

Many children who relied on remote learning during the pandemic without high-speed broadband access have fallen behind, especially in low-income and Black or Latino communities, creating a deeper educational divide.

The state’s planned efforts to expand broadband service will help bridge the gap, Cuomo said.

New York officials, organizations and performers will work together through 2021 to accelerate the return of the performing arts, including live theater, musicians and Broadway performances, among many others devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Performing arts spaces have largely remained shut since March 2020, as shows usually require large gatherings of people indoors. The state will launch New York Arts Revival, a public-private partnership of pop-up performances and artistic events across the state starting Feb. 4 to help bring back the ailing industries.

More than 150 artists and celebrities are scheduled to perform at state parks and other properties, including Amy Schumer, Chris Rock, Hugh Jackman and Renee Fleming, among others, as well as organizations such as Albany Symphony Orchestra, National Black Theater, Ballet Hispánico and more.

The state Council on the Arts will spearhead efforts. Flexible venues will be used that allow for proper social distancing.

“Cities are, by definition, centers of entertainment, theater and cuisine,” Cuomo said.

“Without that, cities lose much of their appeal. What is a city without social, cultural and creative synergies? ...We must bring culture and arts back to life.”

Fifty-two percent of actors and 27% of musicians were out of work as of September 2020.

The state’s arts and culture industries account for nearly 500,000 jobs, generating roughly $120 billion in economic revenue, the governor said.

The performances will culminate with the opening of Little Island at Pier 55 theme park and the 20th anniversary of New York City’s Tribeca Film Festival in June.

“We must act,” Cuomo said.

“We cannot wait until summer to turn the lights back on for the arts and provide a living wage for artists. We will not let the curtain fall on their careers or the future of our cities.

“The show will go on. The fans will be back and New York will be New York again.”

The state will also continue

piloting large public events with pre-COVID testing beforehand. BioReference Labs, together with the state Health Department, tested about 7,000 fans before Saturday’s Buffalo Bills playoff game, where only about 1.9% tested positive in the days leading up to the event.

The state will also launch a Creative Rebuild initiative in partnership with Andrew W. Mellon Foundation President Elizabeth Alexander to fund dozens of community arts groups who each play a vital role.

The goals for 2021 are ambitious, but not impossible, the governor assured New Yorkers Tuesday.

“None of what I have outlined today will be easy,” Cuomo said. “The reality is, not all businesses will be open. Not all jobs will come back as they were. We will come out stronger on the other side if we will anticipate the changing economy. The remote economy is now real.”

The governor’s State of the State features a multi-part, seven-point speech centered on defeating COVID-19 this year, vaccinating all New Yorkers, addressing the state’s economic crisis, investing in the future by jump-starting the economy with infrastructure projects, a focus on bolstering the state’s green-energy initiatives, understanding the long-term effects of COVID and addressing the state’s and nation’s systemic racism and injustices.

Cuomo is expected to continue with the third part of the speech at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday to discuss the state’s greenenergy plan.

WEST SAND LAKE — After a very challenging year that some would like to forget, Capital Region kids with disabilities have something new to cheer about. According to STRIDE Adaptive Sports, a West Sand Lake-based nonprofit that provides sport and recreation opportunities for children with disabilities — Stewart’s Shops/Dake Family Foundation has made a major financial donation that will help keep STRIDE’s programs running in 2021.

“Nonprofits everywhere are struggling to survive these unprecedented times,” explains Joe Russo, STRIDE’s Chief Operating Officer. “Then, we ran into more bad luck with the 10 year old van we use for transporting equipment, athletes, staff and guests to and from STRIDE events, programs, and competitions. The van had an unexpected series of breakdowns with expensive repairs/replacements needed. When STRIDE realized we can no longer maintain our van affordably, it became daunting to have the major expense of a replacement looming ahead.”

STRIDE Founder/ CEO, Mary Ellen Whitney, explains that as she searched frantically for funding, Stewart’s Shops/ Dake Family Foundation came up as a natural fit.

“Stewart’s is known to be philanthropic and very generous within the local community, supporting

kids’ recreation. They include STRIDE every year in the Holiday Match campaign; they donate breakfast sandwiches for our veterans event, and they even donate ice cream to support our various fundraisers. We knew it would be asking a lot, but we also knew the foundation might be able to help since they support the adaptive lifestyle for children with disabilities. To our delight, they agreed to buy a new lightly-used van so we can continue our programs and operations this year.

I would like to personally thank Amy Potter of Stewart’s and Susan Dake of the Dake Family Foundation for stepping up and coming to our rescue!”

“During these difficult times, nonprofits need our help more than ever with increased strains on staffing, resources, and budgets during the pandemic. Without a van for STRIDE Adaptive Sports, it would be near impossible for them to function, providing essential recreation for individuals with disabilities”, said Amy Potter, Stewart’s Corporate Contributions Director.

STRIDE Adaptive Sports plans on conducting 18 different sports and recreation programs for individuals with disabilities this year. More information on the programs and how to participate can be obtained by visiting https:// www.stride.org or contacting Megan Evans, Program Director, mevans@stride. org, 518-598-1279.

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OUR VIEW

Automatic registration will encourage voting Efforts to reform the state’s election process took another step forward recently.

Late last month, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo signed the New York Automatic Voter Registration Act of 2020. This mandates that certain state agencies create an automatic voter registration system.

“This modernized system will expedite voter registration and create a straightforward process for New Yorkers applying for services at designated agencies to also register to vote,” according to a news release issued Tuesday by the governor’s office.

“The law will help increase voter turnout while reducing administrative barriers to processing voter registration applications.”

The bill passed both the state Assembly (A8280C) and Senate (S8806) in July.

Cuomo proposed this reform measure in the State of the State addresses he delivered in 2019 and 2020.

“The right to vote is one of, if not the most, sacred pillars of our democracy and for too long, bureaucratic red tape has made it unnecessarily difficult for New Yorkers to exercise this right,” Cuomo said in the news release.

“From instituting early voting to making necessary reforms to the absentee ballot process, New York has already made elections more accessible. But we are far from finished. With this

new law on the books, we are taking this work a step further and not only instituting automatic voter registration but creating a single uniform platform for registering online.”

Seeing that they will automatically be registered to vote, this law should result in higher participation in the electoral process.

“The new law designates the Department of Motor Vehicles and other state agencies that interact directly with New York residents to work with the State Board of Elections to integrate agency and voter registration applications,” according to the news release. “This new, single application will serve as both an application for services and a voter registration application. Only eligible voters may register, and applications will be transmitted to the State Board of Elections with the signature and consent of the applicant. Applicants will also be given the opportunity to choose a political party. Pursuant to changes agreed to by the Legislature, the DMV will come online in 2023, followed by the Department of Health, Department of Labor and the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance in 2024. The State University of New York will come online in 2025. This system will remove yet another barrier to voter participation by making it easy for

New Yorkers to register to vote.”

This is good news for New York residents. They should take advantage of this opportunity to make sure they are registered and carry out their civic duty.

This follows other positive changes made to the state’s election process. But officials need to do more to modernize this system.

New York should allow open primaries. It’s good that the duration between changing a political party and being able to vote in a primary was shortened, but maintaining a closed primary process makes no sense.

The only requirement for joining a political party is the voter’s decision to do so.

What does it matter if people change their party a few months before a primary or on that day? Particularly in areas with smaller populations, this should invite more people to become involved.

Legislators also should allow all people on parole to regain their voting rights.

They have served their time in prison, so continuing to deny them the franchise is wrong. It’s time to restore this right to those no longer being incarcerated.

These measures will improve the process even further. We look forward to ongoing discussions about needed reforms.

ANOTHER VIEW

U.S. Capitol Police showed what real patriotism looks like The Washington Post

They stood at attention and saluted U.S. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick on Sunday - scores of law enforcement officers paying respects to one of their own as his funeral cortège made its way past the building he died defending. He succumbed last week to injuries sustained in the Capitol at the hands of a mob summoned

by President Donald Trump.

Another Capitol Police officer, Howie Liebengood, died by his own hand, at home, a few days later.

There is no sugarcoating the criminal brutality both confronted; Officer Sicknick was pummeled by a rioter wielding a fire extinguisher, according to witnesses.

And there is no overstating their courage and heroism. Both were among an outmanned, overstretched, underprepared force that was swarmed, abused and, in some cases, beaten by a bloody-minded rabble numbering in the thousands.

Crowd control is part of the job police are sworn to perform, but few apparently expected, or could have imagined, the scale of lawlessness and villainy they faced Wednesday, or the failings of leadership that left them so exposed.

On Sunday, Trump ordered flags lowered to half-staff to honor Sicknick and Liebengood - though he issued no personal statement offering condolence to

The Register-Star welcomes letters to the editor. All letters must contain a full name, full address and a daytime telephone number. Names will be published, but phone numbers will not be divulged.

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either.

Both were good men and good officers, admired, liked and possessed of a sense of duty. Sicknick, 42, who joined the force in 2008, dreamed of becoming a police officer since he was a boy in New Jersey. Soon after graduating from high school, he enlisted in the National Guard, serving in Saudi Arabia and Kyrgyzstan as he planned a career in law enforcement, his family said. Liebengood, 51, was a professional racecar driver before joining the Capitol Police in 2005, having grown up in the Washington area as the son of a former Senate sergeant-at-arms, lobbyist and Capitol Hill staffer.

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On January 6th, 2021, a mob stormed the capital of the United States. Call it a riot, an insurrection, an attempted coup d’etat, whatever, their actions were knowingly instigated by President of the United States, Donald J. Trump and his henchmen, his co-conspirators.

How did we get here?

If the election of Barack Obama seemed to indicate that we were making progress toward the goal of a single, relatively coherent, homogenous nation, of a fairer, more just society, the campaign and election of Donald Trump seemed to demonstrate just the opposite. We went from Obama’s, “there are no red states, no blue states, just the United States” to Trump’s there are only red states and blue states.

If Obama thought we were first and foremost all Americans, Trump seemed to think that maybe that wasn’t quite true.

At best, Trump rewrote Orwell: All Americans are equal but some are more equal than others (and maybe the others shouldn’t even be Americans, never mind equality).

On the other hand, Joe Biden campaigned giving frequent voice to Obama’s thesis, that he would be a president for all Americans, and won. Even while doing that, his actual campaign seemed to be implying something else. The Biden campaign was pure identity politics. The Democratic Party was the party of the minorities, the people of color, each element having a specific claim on the party and its candidate. It included every minority except Whites, except, maybe, working and middle-class Whites in the Midwest.

In the 2020 post-election period, we’ve watched the public jockeying for position and influence of this or that specific minority. Black, Latino, Asian, Gay, Women, and Native American (not to mention those in the extreme Left of the Democratic Party who assert they had no responsibility for the party’s down ballot losses despite all evidence to the contrary). Apparently, just about the worst candidate for a Democratic cabinet position might be a White man (except if you are the man who Obama nominated for the Supreme Court and was stiffed by Mitch McConnell, a special minority all its own).

Indeed, we’ve been watching hyper-awareness of differences between groups play out for years. We once thought of America as a great melting pot, that the assimilation of various groups would result in a singular American whole. Over time that vision seems to have eroded. The countries where peoples’ forebearers (or they themselves) came from seemingly became more important than the fact that they were Americans. What divided us— as hyphenates: as Afro-Americans, as Italian-Americans, as Hispanic-Americans—seemed to become more important than what we have in common as Americans, that we are all Americans.

The idea of microaggressions, of minor insults or rebukes of others, of not-to-bethought-of, much less spoken thoughts, seemed so sensitive a subject in colleges, that it increasingly put students and teachers in verbal straitjackets.

There were lists of things you should not think, much less say.

Increasingly, the academic Left sounded like old style Leninist and Stalinist requirements to toe the party line with no divergence to be tolerated.

SEND LETTERS:

MICHAEL

SALTZ When Trump went on and on about political correctness, there’s little doubt in my mind that many were bothered by the Left’s stifling of speech, of its attempts to enforce groupthink. Is it any wonder that many Trump supporters were ripe for a rebellion against this?

Not bothering with the niceties of shunning microaggressions, and so-called trigger words, is it any wonder that Trump and many of his most ardent followers returned to the outright major aggressions of earlier times the “n” word, the “k” word, the “s” word. Overt expressions of racial hostility have ramped up considerably over the past four years, as has anti-Semitism, and anti-immigrant fervor.

In his own way, Trump required something similar to political correctness in his administration and party. He, too, required Republicans to follow the party line, in his case, to demonstrate fealty and loyalty to him personally rather than to the Constitution. To do otherwise was to invite being castigated via Twitter and primaried. Stalin had a simpler penalty: he’d just have you shot or sent to Siberia. The more we’ve heard of what Trump’s political appointees were doing in cabinet departments to career professionals, the more it sounded like the way Russian and Chinese Communists enforced the politically correct dictates of their leaders.

Jane Austen wrote, “Manners is what holds a society together. At bottom, propriety is concern for other people. When that goes out the window, the gates of hell are shortly opened and ignorance is King.” Trump tore open the gates.

Trump’s cabinet was just the opposite of Biden’s cabinet nominees. It’s mostly made up of its own special interests, in particular White male multimillionaires and billionaires.

Interestingly, many if not most of them, made their money by investing and managing money not by the actual making of anything. I find it hard to imagine what Wilbur Ross, Trump’s Commerce Secretary, thinks he has in common with Deb Haaland, Biden’s nominee for Interior Secretary (and vice versa).

Trump’s campaign in 2016 and even more explicitly in 2020 engaged in identity politics as much as the Democrats.

His campaign, with a coalition that included large doses of White evangelical Christians and White workers who had been displaced by economic policies that had long been championed by Republicans, alongside some of the fringiest of White Americans White supremacists, White nationalists, White militia groups, antiSemites, and neo-Nazis explicitly promoted fear of Blacks and other inhabitants of urban America, along with the specter of rampant socialism. On January 6th, they coalesced in a mob flying the Trump banner.

If you want to know why Trump won his first election and came close to winning his second, go back to the Democratic coalition and then look back even further to the idea of affirmative action. Is there anyone who lives in this country

unaware that Blacks were, at one time, deliberately kept out of colleges, out of advancing in their careers, not because they weren’t smart enough or ambitious enough but because they were Black? Apparently, the only way to ensure that they got the education or jobs they deserved by merit was to deliberately recruit, hire and promote them. Thus, affirmative action, a phrase first used by Jack Kennedy in an Executive Order in 1961.

Put simply, affirmative action meant, for example, that if you were a college and had 100 open places in your freshman class and there were two equally meritorious students, one White and one Black, the Black should be given preference. In other words, there was a winner and a loser. It may have been a win-win situation for the other 99 freshmen (whether they knew it or not) as it might be for the society as a whole. But for the White student who lost out, it was a win-lose solution and the White was the loser. Thus, the idea that Blacks were being given advantages that Whites weren’t. Since, in general, Blacks were considered to be the lowest rung of society, their interests were being advanced over the interests of those who perceived themselves to be above the lowest rung—all Whites, no matter how poor, how uneducated, how impoverished they were. No matter how successful this policy has been—today we frequently see Blacks (literally since many are on TV) in positions of responsibility and respect that they rarely had 60 years ago—there is still plenty of resentment. It is a clear echo in the objection to the larger implications of Black Lives Matter. It’s no surprise that some politicians seek to capitalize on that resentment and Trump has been the clear promoter and master of White grievance.

But the more I think about this election and the elections of the past 40 or 50 years, the more I think another long-held belief of mine is holding true.

We’re forever treading on a balance beam. We do not live in a pure free market capitalist society. Nor do we live in a pure socialist society. We live, rather, in a society that is a combination of both. We’ve never decided on a specific formula that defines the exact proper mix of capitalist and socialist policies.

Perhaps that’s because there is nothing, no economic system, no kind of social organization, that is perfect, one in which everybody always wins and no one ever loses. We, instead, live on a balance beam constantly teetering toward one side or the other, sometimes moving towards more recognizably socialist policies, sometimes moving towards more free market policies.

On January 6th, 2021, we came too close to falling off the beam. The attempt by Trump and his most ardent followers to break America failed. But no matter what you think of Trump or Biden, of Democrats or Republicans, they and we are all in some degree responsible for the mess we’re in. Isn’t that always the case?

So, what does the New Year hold in store for us. I have some thoughts about that, which I’ll explore in a future column or two. In the meantime, I await January 21st, the real start of this year’s New Year.

Michael Saltz is an award-winning, long-time, now-retired Senior Producer for what is now called “PBS NewsHour.” He is a resident of Hillsdale.

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Daniel (Danny) Patrick Legg “Dan the Man” Daniel (Danny) Patrick Legg “Dan the Man” Born April 25, 1994, passed January 9, 2021, at the age of 26. Dan is best known for his huge smile and heart of gold that would always light up the room. Dan grew up on Hunter Mtn as an avid snowboarder. Dan competed in the USASA National Championships 2009 – 2012 in Colorado. Dan graduated from Hunter Tannersville Central School in 2012. Dan went on to compete in the USASA National X Games in Aspen Colorado. After, Dan went on to school at the Schenectady Modern Welding School to follow his love and passion for welding. Upon graduating he moved to Burlington Vermont to start his welding career at the Blodgett Oven Company. Dan then moved to Lake Tahoe to further his career at Big Water Welding. Dan continued to do everything he loved from hiking, snowboarding, snowmobiling, dirt biking and skateboarding. Dans biggest love was for his loyal canine Rufio along with his fam-

ily.

Dan is survived by Mother Catherine Legg, Brother Derek Legg, Sister in Law Deana Legg, Stepfather Mark Rubinger, Father Dwane Legg, Stepmother Lori Legg, Sister Julia Legg, Grandmother Margaret Graham, Grandparents Julia and Perry Legg, Aunt Gail and Uncle Charlie Higgins, Aunt Lisa and Uncle John Mattice and Uncle Timothy Legg Sr along with numerous Cousins, and an unimageable amount of friends throughout the Country. Dan is also predeceased by his Grandfather Robert Graham, Aunt Mary Graham and Cousin Timothy Legg Jr. Services will be held Tuesday, January 12th from 2PM-4PM and 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.. Mass, Wednesday January 13th at 11 a.m. both will be held at the Aston-Basagic Funeral Home. Burial will follow at the Evergreen Cemetery. In lieu of flowers the family request donations to be made in his honor to Greene County Sherriff’s Office K9 Unit and USASA Catskill Mountain Series.

Robert M. Moshimer Robert M. Moshimer born May 10, 1951 in Pittsfield, MA to the late Henry A. and Minnie E. Hatfield Moshimer, died in Houston, Tx. on January 7, 2021.

Robert grew up in Canaan, NY and attended Chatham Central High School. He served in the U.S. Army in the Viet Nam War. After returning to Canaan he worked at General Electric in Pittsfield. He later moved to Vermont beginning his career as an Electric Lineman with IBEW42. His career took him all over the U.S. and he made many friends along the way. After retiring he enjoyed hunting, fishing and flying RC airplanes with Rutland hCounty RC Fliers and riding his Harley. He often visited Canaan to visit family and friends.

Four years ago he bought an RV camper and spent winters in Livingston, TX. While in Tex-

as he made many friends and joined American Legion Post 402 and the Legion Riders.

He is survived by his brother Brent (Linda) Moshimer of New Lebanon, nephew Brent (Demetria) Moshimer Jr., niece Becky, and great nephew Lane Moshimer, all of Stephentown.

He is also survived by many cousins including Bob’s sidekick Bill Moshimer.

He was predeceased by his brothers Ricky, Brian and Roger.

There will be no calling hours and he will be buried in the family plot at the Canaan Cemetery. A celebration of Robert’s life will be held in the spring. In lieu of flowers donations in his name may be made to the American Legion Post 404, 6330 190 West, Livingston, Tx 77351. Condolences may be conveyed at frenchblasl.com.

Kathleen (Kelly) Lippert Smeriglio Kathleen (Kelly) Lippert lumbanus Catholic Church, Smeriglio, age 90 years, of serving on the Building ComCairo, N.Y, passed away mittee for the School and peacefully on January 7, 2021 Church, active in Boy Scouts at Montgomery Nursing Home. and Girl Scouts, Cornell Home She was born on January Extension (Toddville Branch), 16, 1930, in Staten Island, N.Y. Assumption Mothers Club, to the late James Walter and and Altar and Rosary SociWinifred (Tighe) Kelly. Survi- ety. She was employed as vors include her sons Rob- an administrative assistant ert Jr., John (Lorrie), Timothy at Westchester County Opand Michael Lippert, daughter erations, Probation Dept and Barbara Lippert, six Community College grandchildren-James, for many years. When John, Danny, Stacey, she retired in 1986, Michael and Sarah. she made her home Great-grandchildren on Sunside Rd in East include James, Madi, Durham.

Johnny, Brodie, BritShe was a commutany, Ashley, Erik, nicant of The Our Lady Gavin, Keely, and of Knock Shrine in East Alyssa, as well as Durham, N.Y., where numerous cousins, she married Richard Smeriglio nieces and nephews.

Smeriglio on March 4, Besides her parents, she is 2000. While living in Greene predeceased by her husband County, she was a member Robert F. Lippert in 1987, of the Clematis Garden Club husband Richard A. Smeri- and served as an ombudsman glio 2015, son James in 1975, for the elderly. She enjoyed daughter Kathleen in 2013 and swimming, camping, travelbrother Walter “Skeet” Kelly. ing, reading, gardening, local Kathleen grew up in historic politics, and proud of starting VanCortlandtville, attended libraries in both Assumption Peekskill schools, Westches- and St. Columbanus parishes. ter Community College and With her late husband Robert, SUNY Purchase. She married they visited many countries.

Robert F. Lippert September Relatives and friends will 22, 1951. They were the first be invited to attend a service couple to be married in the in the Spring (due to the COnew St. Columbanus Parish in VID-19 pandemic) at RichCortlandt Manor. They raised ards Funeral Home, 29 Bross their 7 children at the home Street, Cairo, N.Y. 12413, after they built on School Street in which interment will take place Cortlandt Manor. in the family plot at the Cairo In Westchester, she was an Cemetery, Cairo, N.Y. The officer and active member of Date will be announced on the the Democratic Party, serving Richards website. on the Committee on VacanIn lieu of flowers, donations cies and representing North- may be made to Hospice of ern Westchester. Kathleen Orange and Sullivan Counties: was an active member of the www.hospiceoforange.com Ancient Order of Hibernians Condolences may be made at Division 10 for over 20 years, www.richardsfuneralhomeinc. a Charter member of St. Co- net.

Henry Rivenburg Jr. Henry Rivenburg Jr., 78, of Claverack, passed away January 1, 2021 in Hudson. Born October 12, 1942 in Hudson, he is the son of Henry M. and Margaret (Rousseau) Rivenburg.

Henry was a master diesel mechanic for Red Star TNT in Glenmont. Henry served in the United States Army Honorably from 1961 to 1967 stationed in Kentucky and Germany. He loved watching television, racing at Lebanon Valley, and socializing with his friends at Bob’s Restaurant. Henry especially loved teasing and joking around with his grandchildren. His rough exterior definitely camouflaged his soft and kind interior.

Left to cherish Henry’s memory are his children, Randy Rivenburg, Scott Rivenburg, and Amanda Weaver, eight grandchildren, Tyler, Zoey, Scott Jr.,

Joseph A. Salvatore

Logan, Ryan, Emily, Arianna, and Baileigh, two brothers Michael and Fred, along with his former wife and friend Sandi Rivenburg, sister in law Deborah Wilde, former mother in law Edith Knott, and several nieces and nephews.

In addition to his parents, Henry was predeceased by a brother Richard, and father in law Harry Knott.

Henry’s family wishes to thank the nurses on the Telemetry Floor at CMH for their heartfelt care and compassion during this most difficult time.

A Memorial Service honoring Henry’s life will be Sunday January 17, 2012 from 3:00-5:00pm at the Stockport American Legion.

Interment will be in the Gerald B.H. Solomon National Cemetery in Schuylerville.

HUDSON- Joseph A. Sal- of Albany; brother of Michael vatore, 63, passed away sud- (Lori) Salvatore of Valatie, Eidenly on Saturday, January 9, leen (Mike Cross) Salvatore of 2021 at Albany Medical Center Hudson and the late Felix SalHospital. vatore. He is also survived by Born and educated in Hud- several nieces and nephews. son, he was the son of the late Due to COVID-19 there will Joseph and Delores be no services at this (Mataska) Salvatore. time. A celebration Joe worked as a of Joe’s life is being NYS Corrections Offiplanned for Spring cer for 25 years, retir2021. Interment will ing in 2007. He was a be in West Ghent life member of StockCemetery. Those who port Fire Co. #1 and a wish may send contrimember of ALI, Adult butions to Stockport Learning Institute at Fire Co. #1, PO Box Columbia-Greene Salvatore 158 Columbiaville, NY Community College.

Joe was the husband of 12050 or Healthcare ConsorSherry (Potts) Salvatore; father tium Transportation 610 State of Aleena Salvatore of Hud- St. Hudson, NY 12534. Online son, Joseph and Charles Sal- condolences may be offered vatore both of Camden, SC; at danielkeenanfuneralhome. step-father of George Cotich com

Richard E. Vigilo Richard E. Vigilo, age 83 years, formerly of Scarsdale, N.Y., presently of Cairo, N.Y. since the 1960’s, passed away on January 10, 2021, at Columbia Memorial Hospital, Hudson, N.Y. Richard was born on April 24, 1937, in Mount Vernon, New York, and is the son of the late Richard R. and Martha M. (Perone) Vigilo.

Besides his parents, Richard is predeceased by several aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins, and dear friends and neighbors of the community, of whom he loved. Richard especially has missed his former business partner Vincent J. Valenti, who passed away on December 20, 1992, who was a N.Y.S. Licensed Funeral Director and Vice President of Richards Funeral Home of the Mid-Hudson Valley, Inc. and President of Richards Ambulance Service, of whom Richard shared many happy memories with and enjoyed caring for those in the community alongside one another.

Survivors include Richard’s Staff of Richards Funeral Home of the Mid-Hudson Valley, Inc., of whom Richard considered his family, and many friends and neighbors of the community.

Richard also leaves behind his January 18, 1960- January 31, beloved toy poodle Fame, whom 1966. he enjoyed immensely for over Richard was a member of The ten years.

Sacred Heart Church, Cairo, N.Y. Richard attended Edgemont for many years.

High School in Scarsdale, N.Y., Richard held several memand Bronxville High School, berships in many organizations Bronxville, N.Y. attended Temple including the following. Richard University and Eckles College of held the position of Past PresiMortuary Science, Redent of The Cairo Rotary naud’s School of EmClub, Cairo, N.Y., The balming in N.Y. C., N.Y. Knights of Columbus Richard was one of Lady of Knock Council the Owners of Richin East Durham, N.Y., ards Funeral Home of Loyal Order of Moose the Mid-Hudson Valin Hudson, N.Y., The ley, Inc. located both in N.Y.S. Funeral DirecCairo, N.Y., and Athens, tors Association, The N.Y. and also the W. C. Sons and Daughters of Brady’s Sons, Inc. FuItaly, Honorary member Vigilo neral Home, Inc. located of The Cairo Hose Co., in Coxsackie, N.Y., Former Own- Cairo, N.Y. and also The Round er of the Valenti and Richards Fu- Top Volunteer Fire Company, neral Home located in Hudson, Round Top, N.Y , Past President N.Y., Former Vice President of of The Columbia Greene Ambulance Service, owner and Funeral Directors Association, operator of Richards Ambulette member of The N.Y.S. AssociaService, and the Greene County tion of Coroners and Medical ExCar Service, also Richard was aminers since 2006 to present, Chief Greene County Coroner also Richard was a member of since 1998 serving the commu- The Capital District Funeral Dinity with dignity and compassion rectors Association. at all times.

Richard will be always be reRichard served his country membered for his sincerity, for proudly in The United States Ar- his being there for others and for my National Guard, serving from his service and dedication to the

community that he loved. Even though his profession was a serious one, often one would find Richard sharing a joke and smile with others.

Relatives and friends are invited to attend walk through visitation at The Community Life Church, 20 West Main Street, Catskill, N.Y. 12414, on Sunday, January 17, 2021, from 1:00 P.M. – 8:00 P.M. Social distancing, masks and current protocols due to the current pandemic will be in place for the protection of everyone.

Private Mass of the Christian Burial will be celebrated at The Sacred Heart Church, Cairo, N.Y. Private interment with United States Army Military Honors to follow at St. Patrick’s Cemetery, Catskill, N.Y. Since Richard loved children and animals with all of his heart contributions in Richard’s memory may be made The St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN, 38105, or to Animal Kind, 721Warren Street, Hudson, N.Y. 12534. Condolences may be made at www.richardsfuneralhomeinc.net. and also at www. wcbradyssonsinc.net.

Assemblymembers call for impeachment

By Sarah Trafton Columbia-Greene Media

ALBANY — Following the attempted insurrection at the U.S. Capitol last week that left five people dead, over 75 members of the state Assembly are calling for President Donald Trump to be removed from office.

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, D-83, and Assemblywoman Patricia Fahy, D-109, released a letter Tuesday, signed by 75 other Assemblymembers,including Assemblywoman Didi Barrett, D-106, requesting that Congress remove the president prior to President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration Jan. 20.

Assemblymen Chris Tague, R-102, and Jake Ashby, R-107, did not sign the letter.

“The deadly, violent acts of domestic terrorism we witnessed last week at the U.S. Capitol were an assault on our democracy incited by President Trump and his allies. He must be held responsible,” Heastie said in a statement.

“I stand with my Assembly Majority colleagues in urging Congress to take immediate action to impeach and remove the president from office. We must set the precedent that attempting to overturn the will of the American people cannot and will not be tolerated, nor will threats against the New York State Capitol and the hard working New Yorkers who come to work here every day.”

Fahy agreed the President’s role in inciting violence last week should have consequences.

“Words matter, and actions have consequences,” Fahy said in a statement. “The President of the United States spoke and acted to purposely undermine our democracy in one of the most shocking displays of political violence ever witnessed at the U.S. Capitol. Having spent a number of years on Capitol Hill as congressional staff, I remain deeply unsettled by last Wednesday’s violence. The

sitting President must be removed from office, and prevented from holding public office ever again. I thank Speaker Heastie for his support and leadership here at the New York State Capitol and I thank each of my colleagues for their support in signing this letter, and sending a message to our delegation.”

Tague opted to focus on matters more close to home, he said in a statement.

“With only nine days left until the inauguration of our next president, I am firmly focused on getting to work in Albany to make sure the voices of my constituents are heard and to do the work they elected me to do,” Tague said.

“Given we are in the midst of State of the State and are now addressing what has been a too-slow distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, with families throughout the state continuing to struggle to make ends meet, my focus is entirely on helping the people of our state get through the hard times we’re in.”

Barrett denounced the violence at the Capitol last week.

“The violence we saw in Washington, D.C., was not only an attack on the U.S. Capitol buildings, but an assault on the democratic process and the rule of law we hold so dear,” Barrett said. “This violence is wholly unacceptable and an affront to the very notion of patriotism.”

Ashby called the events at the Capitol unacceptable.

“The violence and rioting at the U.S. Capitol is unacceptable. We as a nation must be working toward unity and not sow further division,” Ashby said.

Ashby was among dozens of officials in Columbia County to sign a letter last week denouncing the violence; however, he did not join other Assembly members in signing Tuesday’s letter.

The assemblymembers’ letter calling for the president’s removal states the president’s allegations of election fraud

were unfounded.

“President Trump has repeatedly attempted to undermine our democracy by calling into question the results of a free and fair election this past November that has withstood more than 60 court challenges, repeatedly validating that there was no widespread abuse or fraud,” according to the letter. “Simply put, words have consequences — and the President’s repeated efforts to undermine the truth and rally supporters to his personal and authoritarian cause culminated in Wednesday’s direct attack on our Republic. To secure the future of democracy in the United States action must be taken to prevent a sitting President from subverting democracy.”

Describing the president as a threat to national security, the assemblymembers urged Trump to resign.

“For the sake of a free and democratic United States, President Trump must resign,” according to the letter.

“If not, we the undersigned Members of the New York State Assembly urge Congress to act swiftly to remove him.”

The state officials expressed doubt that the 25th Amendment will be invoked.

“Recognizing it is unlikely that Vice President [Mike] Pence or the Cabinet will take steps to invoke the 25th Amendment, we urge and support congressional action to promptly pursue articles of impeachment,” according to the letter. “We do not make this recommendation lightly but believe the egregious and unprecedented actions of the sitting President warrant these steps. Moreover, it is necessary to establish a precedent and prevent any future occurrences.”

More unrest is expected in the coming week, according to the letter.

“Yesterday, the Federal Bureau of Investigation warned of potential armed protests at the U.S. Capitol and all 50 states, including the New York

State Capitol in Albany from Jan. 16 though Jan. 20,” according to the letter.

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

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COLUMBIA-GREENE MEDIA • REGISTER-STAR

A6 Wednesday, January 13, 2021

Bank of Greene County Staying resolute with COVID while planning post- announces recent promotions COVID resolutions

By Dr. Gladys I. Cruz For Columbia-Greene Media

The start of a new calendar year is a time to reflect and look ahead — and an opportunity to make a promise to change or improve oneself.

Have you done it yet?

According to the Statistic Brain Research Institute, about half of the country makes a New Year’s resolution in any given year — and nearly half of them give up within a month. While weight loss or fitness may be what first comes to mind, many resolutions relate to self-improvement or education.

This year is an opportune time to think about the importance of courtesy, respect, and empathy after a long, difficult, and contentious year. We have different opinions, experiences, and backgrounds, but our community and country are better for it.

As I look ahead to the next 12 months, I am hopeful for a New Year that is safer, heathier, and more interactive than 2020. We need to continue to be mindful of the COVID-19 protocols and patient as we await vaccinations.

While COVID-19 has undoubtedly taken a toll on public health, the economy, and our everyday lives, remember 2021 is full of promise. Let us make and fulfill resolutions like never in our lives. Considering these what-ifs can make us sad, but they can also provide us with something to look forward to at a time when we really need it.

Some New Year’s

resolutions may be simple while others may be quite profound. Some may be shortterm, while others may be longer-term items that help lift us out of the temporary bubbles we have created. A resolution may touch different senses, from the smells of a cookout with neighbors to the sights and sounds of a playground or stadium filled with people again.

A resolution may be…

- hugging a friend or loved one again — just think how good and how long that first hug with others will be.

- returning to a daily routine, like meeting friends or going out for coffee.

- petting a neighbor’s dog while on a walk or moving towards them to say hello rather than away to observe physical distance — something that speaks to spontaneity of life before COVID-19.

- taking a much-needed vacation or planning a family reunion.

- attending concerts, plays, sporting events, dinners, fundraisers, and other gatherings without worry or needing to adhere to COVID-19 protocols.

- enjoying simple face-toface communications and getting a true sense of the human connection through full facial expressions or body language.

- traditional items like healthier eating, exercising, getting organized or tackling a home improvement project.

- keeping an eye on you or your loved one’s health, both physically and mentally.

- doing something that you have put off — and not waiting anymore because life is too short and precious.

In our schools, we are resolute to return to operations, activities and interactions that truly bring people together again. COVID-19 has impacted every part of our operations, from instruction and transportation to activities involving large groups or the public. Schools were not designed for COVID-19, but our students, staff and families have done a wonderful job of following the protocols to stay safe and to keep our buildings open.

As I write this, I feel nostalgic for life’s little moments prior to COVID-19 — we took so much for granted — and I look forward to reclaiming them in the months ahead. It is therapeutic to make a list of all the things you want to do when the pandemic is controlled and truly over. What is on your post-COVID bucket list? It is essential for us to follow-through on these hopes, dreams, and aspirations.

Please continue to do your part to limit the spread of COVID-19 and spread a sense of optimism and hope in our lives post pandemic. We need them both. Have a happy and safe 2021.

Dr. Gladys I. Cruz is the district superintendent of Questar III, the Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) serving school districts in Rensselaer, Columbia and Greene counties.

Philmont Public Library announces upcoming programs PHILMONT — The Philmont Public Library will be hosting its annual Soup Sale the second and fourth Wednesday of each month beginning Jan. 13 and continuing through March. Homemade soups will be available for pre-order only. Soups will be announced

the week prior so you are able to order your favorites. Prepackaged orders can be picked up between 3:30 and 5:30 pm..

The Philmont Public Library and Claverack Free Library are hosting a two part virtual program, 2021: Better Skills, Better Job, Better Year! Session 1

will be at 5 p.m. Jan. 14, Creating Your Best Resume. Session 2 at 5 p.m. Jan. 21, Preparing for an interview and learning how and where to get continued help in finding local jobs.

For information, call 518-6725010 or philmontlibrary.com.

BRIEFS We want to hear from you.

To send information to be included in Briefs, email to editorial@registerstar.com; mail to Register-Star, Atten: Community News, One Hudson City Centre, Suite 202, Hudson, NY 12534. For information and questions, please call 518-8281616 ext. 2490. We would like to have the information at least two weeks in advance.

ONGOING KINDERHOOK — The Kinderhook Sportsmen’s Club,.

376 Fowler Lake Road, Ghent, hosts trap shooting beginning at 9 a.m. Sundays. Open to the public. For information, kinderhooksportsman@gmail. com.

JAN. 13 STOCKBRIDGE — Berkshire Botanical Garden, 5 West Stockbridge Road, Stockbridge, Mass., presents the online program Organic Vegetable Gardening 4-5 p.m.

Jan. 13. Led by Maria Zordan, co-owner and operator of MX Morningstar Farm, this online course will include discussion of seed selection, seeding schedules, bed preparation and successful planting practice. Students will complete a vegetable garden design to be implemented at their own homes. There will also be an optional farm visit in early March. The cost for 3 classes is non-members, $65; members, $50. For information and to sign up, call 413-298-3926.

JAN. 14 HUDSON — Is decluttering and getting organized a

perennial resolution of yours?

Then you’ll want to attend this Cornell Cooperative Extension of Columbia Greene Counties program to provide you with the momentum and tools to tackle it for good. This free program, which takes place 6:30-7:30 p.m. Jan. 14 via Zoom, will help you get ready to clear the clutter, identify what to do with the clutter, how to organize what’s left and ways to keep clutter to a minimum. This program is being presented by Theresa Mayhew, Family and Consumer Science Resource Educator, and is being co-sponsored by the D.R. Evarts Library in Athens. Pre-registration is requested by visiting www. ccecolumbiagreene.org/ events/2020/05/14/declutterget-organized-webinar. Cornell Cooperative Extension is an employer and educator recognized for valuing AA/ EEO, Protected Veterans, and Individuals with Disabilities and provides equal program and employment opportunities.

CHATHAM — A Health Care Navigator will be available 1-4 p.m. Jan. 14 at the Chatham Public Library, 11 Woodbridge Ave., Chatham.

Navigators assist individuals, families, small businesses and small business employees in Columbia and Greene counties with shopping for, comparing, and enrolling in quality affordable health insurance, including Medicaid and Child Health Plus, through New

York State of Health: The Official Health Plan Marketplace.

Navigators can also assist with applying for financial assistance to help pay for coverage.

Navigator services are free of charge. These in-person appointments will be conducted inside the Library with proper social distance, wearing of masks is required. For more information, or to make an appointment, call 518-822-9600.

CASTLETON — The Rensselaer-Columbia-Greene Counties Board of Cooperative Educational Services will meet at 6 p.m. Jan. 14. It will be held virtually only for ALL participants via Zoom videoconference. The link can be found at https://www.questar.org/ about/board-of-education/ meeting-agendas-minutes/.

JAN. 15 STUYVESANT — Stuyvesant Fire Company No. 1, 194 County Road 26A, Stuyvesant, will serve take out only pizza, wings and subs 4:30-7 p.m.

Jan. 15. Menu includes 18 inch cheese pizza, $11; toppings extra. 12 chicken wings, $10; meatball or pepperoni sub, $6.

For information and to order for take out, call 518-758-6713.

JAN. 16 HUDSON — The Board of Trustees of the Hudson Area Library will meet at 10:15 a.m.

Jan. 16 via Zoom. To receive the Zoom links to attend, email info@hudsonarealibrary.org or call 518-828-1792 x102. All are welcome.

CATSKILL — Donald Gibson, President & CEO of the Bank of Greene County, announces employee promotions across the bank. He said, “Due to the continued growth and success of the Bank, it is my pleasure to announce we have promoted several dedicated employees to positions of increased responsibility within various departments. It is particularly rewarding when all of the employees promoted are from within our company, and have grown with us over the years.”

Robert Agostinoni has been promoted to Vice President of Commercial Lending and Business Development.

Agostinoni has worked for the bank for more than 15 years, in positions of increased responsibility in both residential and commercial lending. Agostinoni has a Bachelor’s degree from the State University of New York at Oneonta and a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the College of St. Rose. He serves on the Board of the Greene County Chamber of Commerce, and lives in Cairo.

Brian Stickles has been promoted to Vice President of Commercial Lending and Business Development. He began his career with the bank more than 14 years ago, and has held a variety of positions of increasing responsibility in the Bank’s Commercial Lending Department.

Stickles has an Associate’s degree in Business Administration from Columbia-Greene Community College, a Bachelor’s degree in Applied Economics and Management from Cornell University, and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from the College of Saint Rose. He is a resident of Germantown, and serves on the boards of Columbia Economic Development Corporation and the Columbia County Chamber of Commerce.

Allen Austin IV has been promoted to Vice President, Director of Corporate Cash Management & Administration. Austin has been with the bank for more than six years, and has led the Bank’s Corporate Cash Management program for several years. He is a graduate of Babson College in Boston, Mass. with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management. He earned his Master’s degree and an Executive Certificate in Leadership from the Graduate School of Banking at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Austin was honored by the New York State Assembly as the 2009 Greene County Citizen of the Year. He is very involved in the local

Contributed photo

Pictured from the left top to bottom are Brian Stickles, Don Gibson, Stacey Sawicki, Nick Frantjeskos, Cheryl Rothkranz, Rob Agostinoni, Marny Joyce, Kaleigh Borneman, Joe Szepessy, Allen Austin. Bob Gibson is not pictured.

community, and is a board member of the Greene County Economic Development Corporation and Catskill Educational Foundation. He lives in Catskill.

Nicholas Frantjeskos has been promoted to Assistant Vice President of BSA & Operational Support. Frantjeskos has worked at the bank for more than 10 years, where he began his career in the Branch Network. He has held a variety of positions of increased responsibility, both in the Branches and back office. He holds a Bachelor of Science from the State University of New York at Albany and a Master’s of Business Administration from Utica College, concentrating in Economic Crime and Fraud Management. He also has a certificate of Law and Banking through American Bankers Association and is a certified IRA Specialist.

Frantjeskos lives in Greenville.

Robert Gibson has been promoted to Senior Advisor, Municipal Banking Officer.

Gibson works with the bank’s Municipal Team and was previously with JPMorgan Chase for 35 years. As a Vice President at JPMorgan Chase, he was responsible for municipal efforts with local governments and school districts in Northeastern New York.

He holds a Bachelor’s degree from the State University of New York at Oswego. He lives in Clifton Park and has served on both the planning board and zoning boards for the Town of Clifton Park.

Cheryl Rothkranz has been promoted to Credit Manager & Officer. She started with the Bank more than four years ago as a credit analyst before being promoted to Credit Manager. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Economics from State University of New York at Cortland and a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Marist College. Rothkranz is a board member and treasurer for the East Hudson Women’s Soccer League.

Joseph Szepessy has been promoted to Portfolio

Manager and Business Development Specialist. Szepessy has worked for the Bank more than four years, and has held positions of increasing responsibilities in the Commercial Lending department.

He is a graduate of the State University of New York Polytechnic Institute and holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the College of Saint Rose. Szepessy serves on the finance committee for Greene Land Trust and lives in Athens.

Marny Joyce has been promoted to Senior Commercial Loan Originator. Joyce joined the bank more than 10 years ago, working in Operations and Customer Service before holding positions of increased responsibility in the Lending department. She attended Houghton College and the Management School in Madison, WI. Joyce lives in Catskill.

Stacey Sawicki has been promoted to Senior Commercial Loan Originator.

Sawicki has worked for the bank more than five years in the Lending department. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from Binghamton University. Sawicki lives in Athens and is a dance teacher and Administrator at Creative Studio of Dance in Coxsackie, and a member of the Greene County Capital District YMCA. Kaleigh Borneman has been promoted to Assistant Branch Manager. Borneman joined the bank two years ago as a teller, and has held positions of increased responsibility within the Branch network. She is currently attending the Leadership Development Institute Program with the Ulster County Chamber of Commerce Foundation. Borneman is a graduate of Red Hook High School and lives in Red Hook.

Headquartered in Catskill, the Bank of Greene County is the only locally based bank with offices in Greene, Albany, Columbia and Ulster counties. Proudly serving the Hudson Valley for more than 130 years.

Red Cross teams with NFL to urge blood and plasma donation POUGHKEEPSIE — The American Red Cross and the National Football League are teaming up this January, during National Blood Donor Month, to urge individuals — especially those who have recovered from COVID-19 — to give blood and to help tackle the national convalescent plasma shortage.

During this critical time, the Red Cross and NFL are thrilled to offer all those who come to donate an opportunity to receive a special thank you this month.

Those who come to donate blood or platelets this January will be automatically entered to win two tickets to next year’s Super Bowl LVI in Los Angeles.

In addition, those who come to give through Jan. 20 will also be automatically entered to win the Big Game at Home package for an awesome viewing experience safely at home, with a 65-inch television and a $500 gift card to put toward food and fun.

Individuals can schedule an appointment to give blood with the American Red Cross by visiting RedCrossBlood.org, using

the Red Cross Blood Donor App, calling 1-800-RED-CROSS or activating the Blood Scheduling Skill for Amazon Alexa.

As COVID-19 cases have risen across the U.S., so has the need for convalescent plasma — leading to a shortage of this potentially lifesaving blood product. Like “special teams” units on the field, COVID-19 survivors have a unique ability to make a game-changing difference in the lives of COVID-19 patients. Individuals who have recovered from COVID-19 may have antibodies in their plasma that could provide a patient’s immune system the boost it needs to beat the virus.

There are two ways COVID-19 survivors can help — through a convalescent plasma donation or by simply giving whole blood.

Plasma from whole blood donations that test positive for COVID-19 antibodies may be used to help COVID-19 patients. Health emergencies don’t pause for holidays, game days or a pandemic — blood is needed every two seconds in the U.S. to help patients battling injury and

illness.

To protect the health and safety of Red Cross staff and donors, individuals who do not feel well or who believe they may be ill with COVID-19 should postpone their donation.

Upcoming blood donation opportunities through Jan. 31:

COLUMBIA COUNTY Hudson Elks Lodge No. 787, 201 Harry Howard Ave., Hudson, 1-6 p.m. Jan. 14.

Palatine Park and Youth Activity Building, Palatine Park Road, Germantown, 8:30 a.m.12:30 p.m. Jan. 16.

New Lebanon FirehouseCommunity Room, 523 Route 20, New Lebanon, 8 a.m.-1 p.m.

Jan. 23.

GREENE COUNTY St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church, 80 Mansion St., Coxsackie, noon-5 p.m. Jan. 22.

Town of Ashland Ambulance, 12094 Route 23, Ashland, 1-6 p.m. Jan. 27.

Resurrection Lutheran Church, 186 Main St., Cairo, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Jan. 30.

CMYK

Senior Living

www.HudsonValley360.com

Wednesday, January 13, 2021 A7

COLUMBIA-GREENE MEDIA

Did my wife get a ‘notch Senior Menu baby’ benefit increase?

By AMAC Certified Social Security Advisor Russell Gloor, Association of Mature American Citizens

SOCIAL SECURITY MATTERS

For Columbia-Greene Media

Dear Rusty: I was born in May of 1930, and my wife was born in April 1931. My wife claims she received an increase in her Social Security benefit due to the “Notch Baby” provision. Is she correct about this?

Signed: Inquisitive Husband Dear Inquisitive: Allow me to clarify for you what your wife is referring to, and you can use your own judgement on how to present the information to her.

So-called “notch babies” are those Social Security recipients who were born between the years 1917 and 1921.

Folks born in those years were affected by a Social Security issue which had to do with how Cost of Living Adjustments (COLAs) were computed.

Here’s what happened: In 1972, when the Social Security Administration switched to automatic COLA increases based on the Consumer Price Index, they made an error in the automatic COLA computation formula which wasn’t discovered for several years. During those several years they awarded COLA increases using the incorrect formula which paid COLA at a higher level than appropriate. After discovering the error, and in an attempt to

RUSSELL

GLOOR fix the issue, in the mid-1970s, Congress decided that those born before 1917 would be allowed to stay on the incorrect (more generous) formula, but COLA for those born after 1917 would use a corrected formula. However, that didn’t sit well with SS beneficiaries born after 1917 because they were receiving less COLA than their counterparts born before 1917. So, in an attempt to mollify those Social Security beneficiaries born after 1917, Congress created a special “notch” formula for those born between 1917 and 1921.

And those who were born between those dates were called “notch babies.”

The new “notch baby” formula was not quite as generous as the incorrect formula being enjoyed by those born before 1917, but yet a bit more generous than the corrected COLA formula which applied to anyone born after 1921 (and still exists today). Thus, “notch babies” do enjoy a slightly

better COLA formula than other Social Security beneficiaries born after 1921.

Over the years, various attempts have been made to extend the notch baby end-year definition from 1921 to, for example, those born before 1927. And even as recently as 2019, a Congressional bill called the “Notch Fairness Act” attempted to provide restitution by extending the end date of the “notch” to 1926.

But none of those attempts in Congress have ever succeeded in changing the definition of “notch babies” beyond the original 1970s Congressional definition to apply only to those born between 1917 and 1921. So, anyone born after 1921, including your wife, has COLA computed using the corrected formula, not the “notch baby” formula.

This article is intended for information purposes only and does not represent legal or financial guidance. It presents the opinions and interpretations of the AMAC Foundation’s staff, trained and accredited by the National Social Security Association (NSSA). NSSA and the AMAC Foundation and its staff are not affiliated with or endorsed by the Social Security Administration or any other governmental entity. To submit a question, visit our website (amacfoundation.org/programs/socialsecurity-advisory) or email us at ssadvisor@amacfoundation.org.

New York State Office for the Aging reminds older New Yorkers to get their flu shot ALBANY — The New York State Office for the Aging (NYSOFA) is reminding older adults and caregivers about the importance of getting their flu vaccination as soon as possible. Flu season is already underway — and can last as late as May. The flu shot is an essential preventive care service that should not be delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Staying healthy is more critical than ever, particularly for older adults, who are at greater risk for the flu and COVID-19,” said NYSOFA Acting Director Greg Olsen. “Our immune systems are more easily compromised as we age, and older adults, especially those with chronic health conditions, have an increased risk of becoming seriously ill. In addition to following all safety and social distancing guidelines to reduce the spread of COVID, getting a flu shot is vital to protect the health and wellbeing of older adults and caregivers.”

Flu symptoms include fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, headache, chills, and fatigue.

Some people may have vomiting and diarrhea. People

infected with the flu may also have respiratory symptoms without a fever. The flu can cause mild to severe illness.

Older adults, people with certain chronic medical conditions, young children, and pregnant women are among those who are at highest risk of serious flu complications, possibly requiring hospitalization and sometimes resulting in death.

Getting a flu shot is particularly important for those at increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19, which can mimic flu symptoms.

While the flu vaccine does not specifically protect against COVID-19, it is highly recommended to maintain overall health and protect against other respiratory illnesses.

Understanding the risks and impact of the COVID-19 virus is critical for all New Yorkers to protect themselves and their loved ones.

With COVID cases continuing to increase across the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends the following: Practice good health and safety habits, including wearing a mask in public, practicing

social distancing by keeping at least six (6) feet of distance between yourself and others, even when outdoors; avoiding close contact such as shaking hands or hugging; washing hands often or using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol when soap and water are not available; and avoiding unnecessary contact with surfaces that are often touched, such as doorknobs and handrails.

Get your annual flu shot.

Everyone six months of age and older, particularly those at greater risk, should get an annual flu vaccine. High-dose flu shots are also available for adults age 65 and older.

Get pneumococcal vaccines. People 65 years and older should also be up to date with the pneumococcal vaccination to protect against other respiratory illnesses such as pneumonia, meningitis, and bloodstream infections.

Seek medical advice quickly if you develop COVID or flu symptoms. People with COVID-19 have reported a wide range of symptoms from mild to severe illness, many which mimic flu symptoms.

HealthCare Navigator at the Chatham Public Library CHATHAM — A Health Care Navigator will be available 1-4 p.m. Jan. 14 at the Chatham Public Library, 11 Woodbridge Ave., Chatham. Navigators assist individuals, families, small businesses and small business employees in Columbia and Greene counties with

shopping for, comparing, and enrolling in quality affordable health insurance, including Medicaid and Child Health Plus, through New York State of Health: The Official Health Plan Marketplace. Navigators can also assist with applying for financial assistance to help

pay for coverage. Navigator services are free of charge.

These in-person appointments will be conducted inside the Library with proper social distance, wearing of masks is required. For more information, or to make an appointment, call 518-822-9600.

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

#SupportRealNews

HUDSON — The Columbia County Office for the Aging announces the menu for seniors. Participants are encouraged to attend any senior nutrition center. For information, call the local senior center or go to www.columbiacountyny.com/depts/ofa/ meals.html.

Canaan Area Senior Community Center, Canaan Town Hall, 1647 County Route 5, Canaan. 518-781-3144 ext. 3.

Copake Area Senior Community Center, Copake Town Hall, 230 Mountain View Road, Copake. 518-567-7881.

Greenport Community Center, 500 Town Hall Drive, Hudson. 518-610-0710.

Hudson Senior Community Center, 51 North Fifth St., Hudson. 518-610-0698.

Livingston Area Senior Community Center, Elizaville Firehouse, 1575 County Road 19, Elizaville. 518-828-7538.

Philmont Area Senior Community Center, Albert L. Tripp Center, 93 Main St., Philmont. 518-672-7134.

Stuyvesant Area Senior Community Center, St. Joseph’s Parish Hall, 1820 Route 9, Stuyvesant. 518-7510267.

Valatie Senior Center, 3302

Williams St., Valatie. 518-5677881.

Due to concerns over the Coronavirus, all Columbia County congregate meal sites will be closed. For information and updates, go to the website of the Office for the Aging. This is the menu for Meals on Wheels.

JAN. 13 THROUGH JAN. 20 WEDNESDAY: Potato crusted fish, rice pilaf, Monaco mixed vegetables, 12 grain bread, milk, lemon velvet supreme.

THURSDAY: Chili con carne, green beans, cornbread, milk, pineapple chunks.

FRIDAY: Macaroni and cheese, stewed tomatoes, spinach, 12 grain bread, milk, applesauce.

MONDAY: closed.

TUESDAY: Vegetarian western omelet, baked sweet potato, green beans, 12 grain bread, milk, birthday cake.

WEDNESDAY: Lemon chicken piccatta over spinach rice pilaf, brussels sprouts, 12 grain bread, milk, chocolate pudding.

JAN. 20 THROUGH JAN. 27 WEDNESDAY: Lemon chicken piccatta over spinach

rice pilaf, brussels sprouts, 12 grain bread, milk, chocolate pudding.

THURSDAY: Eggplant Parmesan over linguini, Tuscan mixed vegetables, tossed salad, Italian bread, milk, ambrosia.

FRIDAY: Salisbury steak with gravy, seasoned mashed potatoes, butternut squash, 12 grain bread, milk, monster cookie.

MONDAY: Fish Florentine, rice pilaf, carrots, 12 grain bread, milk, tropical fruit.

TUESDAY: Hot dogs with sauerkraut, homemade baked beans, broccoli, hot dog roll, milk, peaches.

WEDNESDAY: Stuffed cabbage, mashed potatoes, green beans, 12 grain bread, milk, baked coconut custard.

JAN. 27 THROUGH JAN. 29 WEDNESDAY: Stuffed cabbage, mashed potatoes, green beans, 12 grain bread, milk, baked coconut custard.

THURSDAY: Baked chicken with gravy, seasoned mashed potatoes, brussels sprouts, stuffing, milk, applesauce raisin cookies.

FRIDAY: Shepherd’s pie, old fashioned mixed vegetables, 12 grain bread, milk, mandarin oranges.

Alzheimer’s Association virtual programs for January and February ALBANY — The Alzheimer’s Association of Northeastern New York announces virtual programs in January and February. Registration is required. Participants will receive a video conference link to access and can sign in as a guest to enter the virtual program. RSVP at alz.org/ CRF, via the 24/7 helpline at 800-272-3900 or by calling Sierra Snoddy at 518-675-7214.

Programs are supported in part by a grant from the state Department of Health.

Facilitating Storytelling for Caregivers: presented with

SUNY Oswego 10 a.m. Jan. 14. Register at RecollectionProject.net.

Effective Communication Strategies 3 p.m. Jan. 20.

Meaningful Engagement, Activities at Home 2:30 p.m.

Jan. 21.

1:1 Conversation: Coffee with a Consultant 3:30 p.m.

Jan. 21.

Know the 10 Warning Signs 6:30 p.m. Jan. 25.

Managing Difficult Behaviors 4 p.m. Jan. 26.

COVID Tips for Caregivers 11 a.m. Jan. 28.

Hard Conversations:

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Feb. 23.

Airport’s COVID-19 testing program embraced by air travelers ALBANY — Air travelers have quickly embraced Albany International Airport’s program that makes low-cost and expedient COVID-19 testing available to passengers traveling through the Airport.

Albany International Airport began offering COVID-19 testing kits to qualified departing and arriving travelers in December. The testing is being conducted through the SUNY Upstate Medical University in cooperation with Quadrant Biosciences.

“The SUNY-Quadrant Bioscience test has been rated the Number 1 test in the world for identifying the COVID-19 virus and I am extremely pleased with the initial response of Albany travelers that have elected to take advantage of our testing program,” said Phil Calderone, CEO of the Albany International Airport.

“COVID testing is an essential measure that will help restore confidence in air travel which is critical to the nation’s economy.”

Qualified travelers may obtain the self-administered COVID-19 test 7 a.m.-5 p.m.

daily at the Airport’s Information Desk located on the first level of the terminal.

To obtain the test, travelers will be required to present a valid government photo ID and proof of travel.

To qualify to obtain a test, as an arriving passenger, an individual must have traveled into Albany International Airport and completed the required four-day waiting period. Departing passengers may complete the test prior to their departure. The fee for the selfadministered test is $35 and can be paid via cash or credit card.

Testing Instructions n Qualified travelers must first register for the test by scanning a QR code, or go to the web link, and setup your profile. You will need to have your health insurance provider information available. n When viewing the Student/Employer section of your profile, please enter the word “Unknown”. n Once your profile is completed, click on “Add a COVID-19 test.” You must have a test kit in order to proceed at this point. n You will be prompted

to answer some questions and enter some information found on your test kit. Once that is completed, you may proceed with the self-administered test at the Airport testing location found in the baggage claim area. n All tests must be administered only at the designated Albany International Airport testing location. n To administer the test follow the instructions on the back of your test kit. Be careful not to spill the fluid that is inside the tube and be sure to tighten the cap on your sample tube once the test is completed. n Once you have completed the self-administered test, deposit your sample in the designated area. n You should receive an email to create another account to review your results once they are available.

The completed test kits will then be sent to the SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse where the test kit will be evaluated. The test will be completed within 4872 hours. Travelers should receive an email with instructions on how to access their results.

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CMYK

COLUMBIA-GREENE MEDIA • REGISTER-STAR

A8 Wednesday, January 13, 2021

Virus From A1

those cases between Dec. 11 and Jan. 11, with about 49% of all of the county’s positive COVID cases occurring in the past month. Over the past week, from Jan. 4 to Jan. 11, the Department of Health has reported 443 new positive cases, or about 19.9% of all positive COVID cases since the beginning of the pandemic.

The Greene County Public Health Department has

Vaccine From A1

continues to send about 300,000 dosages of Pfizer and Moderna’s approved COVID-19 vaccines to New York each week.

At the current rate, vaccinating the second group will take more than 23 weeks, or about six months.

“This is another major change in a very short period of time,” Cuomo said Tuesday morning on a conference call with reporters. “It seems change is constant with the CDC. To tell you the truth, I’m looking forward to the incoming administration to get a hold of this. This federal policy is making it extraordinarily difficult.”

The CDC did not define who or what conditions will be included for immunocompromised patients. Health experts classify immunosuppressed conditions differently, but they can include cancer patients and chronic diseases such as heart conditions, sickle cell anemia, asthma and diabetes, or pregnancy and smoking, among others.

“Immunocompromised is a category that can be defined a number of ways,” Cuomo said.

“That has to be defined.”

The state first opened eligibility Monday with the ability to schedule an appointment to get a vaccine for New Yorkers ages 75 years and older, who have the highest COVID-19 mortality rate. Scheduling was

reported 1,757 positive COVID cases since the beginning of the pandemic. Between Dec. 11 and Jan. 11, the department reported 903 new positive cases, with about 51.3% of all cases reported in the past month.

Over the past week, from Jan. 4 to Jan. 11. the Public Health Department has reported 258 new COVID cases, or about 14.6% of all positive cases in the county were reported over the past week.

There are currently 312 active positive cases of COVID-19 in Columbia County, according to the Department

immediately expanded Tuesday to New Yorkers over 65.

“There are hundreds of thousands of nurses and doctors who still haven’t been vaccinated,” Cuomo said. “So the policy and the intelligence of the federal system eludes me, but we will do the best we can.”

To check your eligibility and reserve an appointment to be vaccinated, visit am-i-eligible. covid19vaccine.health.ny.gov Many people reported difficulty in using the site on its first day Monday, including freezing or other technical issues as the webpage was overwhelmed with visitors.

The federal government stockpiles second dosages of the vaccine under the assumption states would give away the second injections to other eligible Americans looking to get an initial shot, and then not have another to complete the first patients’ vaccinations against COVID-19.

“That debate goes on,” the governor said of the federal government holding second vaccine dosages. “They have not yet said what they’re doing, if anything, and we still only get 300,000 dosages per week.”

State Health Department Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker and Secretary to the Governor Melissa DeRosa did not receive an update from federal officials about additional vaccine supply.

“They have not given us any additional information ... We have not heard what amount we’re going to get an increase on dosages,” DeRosa said, adding of the federal COVID-19

of Health, and 27 county residents are hospitalized because of COVID-19, including one person in the intensive care unit. There are 421 county residents in mandatory quarantine.

The Greene County Public Health Department reports 358 active cases in Greene County, 27 people hospitalized due to the virus and 437 people in quarantine.

Amid the rising surge of positive cases, Columbia County once again renewed its declared state of emergency Monday. The previous order

had been set to expire Jan. 13.

An announcement from the Columbia County Board of Supervisors states the new declared state of emergency will last until Feb. 11 unless it is rescinded or otherwise modified.

“I don’t see it ending anytime soon,” Columbia County Department of Health Director Jack Mabb said, “but I do expect our daily numbers to start dropping as we get farther away from New Year’s.

I think what’s happened is it’s gotten a pretty good hold in the community. We’ll

Contributed photo

Dr. Michael Stephens receives a COVID-19 vaccination at Oswego Health in Central Square, Oswego County at the end of December.

response last spring, “In a lot of ways, dealing with the federal government right now is like déjà vu. ...the information is not accurate or timely. They’re expecting people on the ground to make massive policy and operational changes on a dime. They’re feeling political pressure and, at the same time, little guidance or information to implement it.”

Zucker was on the phone with CDC officials Tuesday morning.

“I haven’t heard anything new,” he said.

Regardless of vaccine supply issues, the state will accept the federal guidance, the governor said.

“I don’t want New Yorkers to think we are not doing everything we can to not make them eligible for the vaccine,” Cuomo said. “I want to keep people in New York as calm as we can keep people in these anxious times.”

Cuomo expressed hope

the federal government will ramp up vaccine supply after President-elect Joe Biden takes office Jan. 20. Increasing production is at the top of the new administration’s priority list, the governor said, with the potential approval of OxfordAstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine or Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose immunization.

Patients require two injections of drugmakers Pfizer and Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccines at least 21 days apart.

Federal and state officials continue to debate if the additional dosages should be immediately released to states.

“Those are all decisions they have to make,” Cuomo said of federal officials.

The state opened thousands of distribution sites this week, including pharmacies, county health departments, doctors’ offices and federally qualified health centers to speed up vaccine rollout.

“The entire distribution

probably still see daily cases in the high 20s and 30s.”

The COVID-19 vaccine is rolling out slower than originally anticipated because of the limited quantities that are being given to county Health Department, Mabb said.

The county initially requested 500 weekly doses of the vaccine and has been allotted 300 each week, Mabb said. The governor announced Monday the state would be holding vaccine clinics at State University of new York campuses around the state.

“The Health Department is

ready and we are vaccinating people,” Mabb said. “I think to some degree, the manner in which this came out from Albany made local health departments look ill prepared.

We’re not ill-prepared, we’re poorly equipped in that we don’t have the vaccine. Give us the vaccine and we can get to a lot of people in a short amount of time. People in [group] 1B need to be patient because unless we get more of the vaccine, it’s going to take us a long time to get through this category.”

system is open, but at the end of the day, you only have 300,000 [weekly] dosages for a population of 7 million on the other side,” the governor said.

“Patience. We need patience at an impatient time in history.

This compounds the request for patience.”

Vaccinating high-risk hospital and medical workers first is a top priority to prevent doctors and nurses in contact with virus-positive people from spreading the disease to hundreds of other patients and overwhelming state hospitals.

“The staff is getting sick from COVID — that’s why continued prioritization for the hospital staff is key,” Cuomo said.

The state has 12 reported cases of the B117 variant of the novel coronavirus first discovered in the United Kingdom last month. The variant is allegedly 70% more transmissible.

Eighty B117 cases have been discovered in the nation to date. Three state cases of the variant were found in Saratoga County, with the first confirmed case tied to an outbreak at a jewelry store in Saratoga Springs last week.

“The UK strain is the X factor,” Cuomo said. “The federal government, the CDC, says the reason they’re moving up the population to 65+ is they’re afraid of the UK strain. ...So we have 12 in New York and we have 80 in the country, and that is what is panicking the federal officials, with good reason, because this is a much higher rate of infection.”

The statewide COVID-19

infection rate was 7.6% without hot spots Tuesday — about flat after fluctuations between 6.7% and near 8% for much of last week.

Hospitalizations increased 291 virus patients to 8,926 New Yorkers, but are tapering off after the end of the 37-day holiday season and heightened social gatherings, which started with Thanksgiving on Nov. 26.

Two weeks ago, or just before New Year’s Eve, state hospitals admitted an average of 165 patients per day, with a reduced 111 per day last week.

About 48 patients per day have entered state hospitals this week so far, Cuomo said, indicating a flattening.

About 0.07% of the Mohawk Valley’s and Finger Lakes’ populations are hospitalized with COVID-19. The state reported 0.05% hospitalized of the Capital Region’s population, with 0.04% hospitalized to date in the North Country.

The state reported 164 New Yorkers died from coronavirus complications Monday, slightly down, but also about flat from last week.

“May they rest in peace and may their families have peace,” the governor said.

The Finger Lakes, Capital Region and Long Island each have a seven-day average COVID infection rate of about 9%, with the state’s highest 9.5% in the Mohawk Valley.

Western New York and the North Country each have an average 7.6% positive, with an average 5.9% in New York City.

Trump blasts ‘ridiculous’ impeachment, says remarks before deadly Capitol riot ‘appropriate’

By Chris Megerian Los Angeles Times

WASHINGTON — Facing an unprecedented second impeachment, President Trump on Tuesday emerged from the White House for the first time since provoking a mob attack on the U.S. Capitol six days ago and blamed the push to remove him from office for causing “tremendous anger” in the country.

With the Democratic-led House of Representatives planning to impeach Trump as early as Wednesday, he

condemned the effort, saying, “It’s really a continuation of the greatest witch hunt in the history of politics. It’s ridiculous. It’s absolutely ridiculous.”

Even before the president’s remarks defending his speech to the crowd and dismissing Congress’ bid to hold him accountable, at least some Republicans were expected to support the effort. His statements will likely anger others. Lawmakers have prepared a single article of impeachment,

accusing the president of inciting an insurrection.

Trump has remained out of public view since last week’s violence that resulted in five deaths, releasing only a few prerecorded videos.

But after being banned from Twitter, he appeared eager to defend himself, speaking to reporters while leaving the White House and then again minutes later before boarding Air Force One for a trip to Alamo, Texas, along the border with Mexico.

He insisted that “we want

Pompeo cancels final trip abroad amid tumultuous transition John Hudson The Washington Post

WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo canceled his final trip abroad as the nation’s top diplomat on Tuesday, citing the need to ensure a “smooth and orderly transition process” over the next eight days.

Pompeo had planned to travel to Brussels for meetings with Belgian officials and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, but his spokeswoman, Morgan Ortagus, said the department is canceling “all planned travel this week” as President-elect Joe Biden prepares to name the career officials who will lead the department until a new Cabinet is confirmed.

The abrupt cancellation Pompeo phoned Stoltenberg about the decision about noon

on Tuesday while some of his aides were already on the ground in Belgium - comes at a perilous time in U.S. politics.

Some of the officials Pompeo planned to meet with have issued public statements of concern about the violence at the Capitol after a rally hosted by President Donald Trump; Pompeo has tried to castigate those impugning the health of America’s democracy as committing “slander.”

Pompeo, who often boasts of America’s status in the world when traveling abroad, would be arriving in Brussels amid turmoil at home, including FBI warnings of armed protests in all 50 states, thousands of National Guard troops preparing to deploy to the nation’s capital, a fresh impeachment push against the president by House

Democrats and record deaths and infections in the United States related to the novel coronavirus.

The State Department said Pompeo’s trip was designed to “to reaffirm the deep and enduring partnership between the United States and Belgium and the unwavering U.S. support for NATO.” Besides Stoltenberg, he was also set to meet Belgium’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister.

Pompeo reportedly planned to stop in Luxembourg on Thursday, but the meeting fell through after the country’s foreign minister called Trump a “political pyromaniac” and a “criminal” after the Capitol riot.

The Washington Post’s Karen DeYoung contributed to this report.

no violence” even as Washington braces for more unrest before President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration Jan. 20. The president has been feeding his supporters a constant stream of misinformation about voter fraud, and law enforcement officials have warned that there could be more clashes.

The FBI warned Monday of armed pro-Trump protests planned for all 50 state capitols in coming days.

Trump also argued there was nothing wrong with his

speech at a rally outside the White House on Wednesday, when he urged his supporters to march on the Capitol, where the House and the Senate were ceremonially counting the electoral votes to formalize Biden’s victory.

“They’ve analyzed my speech and my words and my final paragraph, my final sentence and everybody just thought it was totally appropriate,” he said.

The president ended his speech last week to the proTrump crowd by urging it

to march down Pennsylvania Avenue from the area near the White House to the Capitol. “We’re going to try and give our Republicans -the weak ones, because the strong ones don’t need any of our help -- we’re going to try and give them the kind of pride and boldness that they need to take back our country,” he said then.

(C)2021 Los Angeles Times. Visit at latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Pizza Party

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Enter for your chance to win an office pizza party from Scali’s Pizza & Pasta for you and your coworkers. Every Tuesday Bill Williams will be delivering pizza to one lucky business in Columbia/Greene County.

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Sports

SECTION

NFL Playoffs

COLUMBIA-GREENE MEDIA

Eight big questions for the divisional round of the NFL playoffs. Sports, B2

& Classifieds

Wednesday, January 13, 2021 B1

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

Sounds like Francisco Lindor is here to stay

Belichick declines Medal of Freedom offer from Trump

Bradford William Davis New York Daily News

No need to keep pinching yourself until your skin cracks.

Last Friday was not a dream, and Francisco Lindor is a New York Met. But, the new franchise player is only in New York because his former team in Cleveland knew they would rather trade him before he reaches free agency after the 2021 season, instead of paying him like the superstar he’s been since the moment he put on a uniform.

This means that when the Mets obtained Lindor and all his talents, they immediately put themselves on the clock.

Lindor’s comments, however, should put any real fear of him leaving to bed. Everything Lindor said about his first few days with a new team indicates he’s not looking for rentals in Queens.

He’s ready to own.

Lindor spoke often in future tense about his time with the Mets during Monday’s intro presser, latching on to the promise of an organization fully committed, thanks to new management. to paying whatever cost is needed to win. “So it’s it that can only bring excitement to a player knowing that I’mma be there,” said Lindor, “And if there’s something missing, we’re gonna go get it, and we’re going to find a way to do it.”

“I just want to add a little bit to the great puzzle they have,” added Lindor. “Not here to put the puzzle together. I just want to put my piece and hopefully, that’s good enough to help us continue to grow and eventually win.”

But right now, he’s the biggest piece of the Mets’ puzzle for overcoming the Braves, Dodgers and Padres in a topheavy National League. And Lindor believes that if there’s a need, he’s in an organization that will continue to plug in holes.

“The resources that Steve had mentioned — he wants to go after it,” said Lindor of Steve Cohen, the former hedge fund manager that became Major League Baseball’s wealthiest owner the day he signed the dotted line.

That word, resources, was repeated throughout the day.

The Cohen-era Mets have so See FRANCISCO B5

B

Sally Jenkins The Washington Post

Bill Belichick has always been admirably contrarian, a stubborn individualist who refuses to be pressured by external opinion or the crowd. No outsider, therefore, could have changed his mind

about accepting a Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Trump a week after the storming of the U.S. Capitol.

The change could only have come from within, from something he saw with his own retinas and judged with his own conscience.

Coaches always go to the tape. And the tape, that hideous tape, does not lie.

Had Belichick stood by his acceptance, he would have risked handing a propaganda victory to militia terrorists, white See BELICHICK B5

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

U.S. President Donald Trump, center, listens to New England Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick deliver remarks during an event celebrating the team’s Super Bowl win on the South Lawn at the White House April 19, 2017 in Washington, DC.

After all the disruption in college football, it was all domination for Alabama Barry Svrluga The Washington Post

Almost everything about this college football season seemed disjointed and uneven, so much so that there was a temptation to declare participants in the College Football Playoff illegitimate. The coronavirus crippled the country, so it made sense that it would nearly cripple a sport that tried to play through it.

What was never, for one minute, uneven and disjointed: DeVonta Smith and the Rolex that is the Alabama offense. That’s easy and obvious to say following Monday night’s masterpiece, a 52-24 decision that left Ohio State some combination of smeared across the turf and blinking at the blur that just sailed by.

But that victory in the College Football Playoff’s national championship game at Hard Rock Stadium outside Miami was a single frame in a season-long movie that’s worth watching - over and

Kyle Robertson/USA TODAY

Alabama Crimson Tide wide receiver DeVonta Smith (6) catches a 42-yard touchdown behind Ohio State Buckeyes linebacker Tuf Borland (32) during the second quarter of the College Football Playoff National Championship at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla. on Monday.

over again. The pandemic defined nearly everything about

this season - what conferences started when, which games were

canceled, moments when it was fair to wonder whether any of it was worth it, and at what cost.

Through all that, appreciate Alabama.

“We set this as a goal to potentially be the greatest team to ever play,” said Mac Jones, the quarterback. “I think we made a valid statement.”

That’s heady stuff, and there’s a recency bias given what we just witnessed. But parse through Alabama’s schedule and its roster.

On offense, who has been better?

Jones might be on to something.

Smith is the highlight, the wisp of a wide receiver and Heisman winner who the Buckeyes found so confounding to cover they ran everyone from elite cornerbacks to, um, lumbering middle linebackers at him, all to no avail.

Whatever ink is spilled praising him isn’t enough, and the only shame is that the numbers he rang See FOOTBALL B5

Alabama football dynasty collects another title with rout of Ohio State Chuck Culpepper The Washington Post

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — As a jalopy of a college football season in a pandemic managed to lumber to a finish Monday night, it also managed to showcase a player so dazzling and precise he looks like he never spent a moment lumbering, not even in practice no, especially not in practice.

Somehow, with the football kingdom of Alabama claiming a sixth national championship in the past 12 seasons by 52-24 over Ohio State, and with Coach Nick Saban claiming a record seventh within the same lifetime, one player shone. Somehow, with Alabamian excellence stretching as usual from the players to the coordinators to probably the water staff and surely back to the coach, one slender marvel of a 175-pound player radiated.

Wide receiver DeVonta Smith did not act alone in the Alabama symphony at Hard Rock Stadium in the College Football Playoff national championship game before a scattered 14,926, but he did epitomize a mastery of detail and standard that helps mark the Saban era. The first receiver to win the Heisman Douglas DeFelice/USA TODAY Trophy in 29 years did run his clever, pin- Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban is dunked with Gatorade after defeating the Ohio point routes and flash his frightening speed State Buckeyes in the 2021 College Football Playoff National Championship Game at Hard Rock as the Crimson Tide proved confounding to Stadium on Monday. the Ohio State defense and to anyone trying or that side, turning up on this side of the might be three of him. to keep stats.

Smith kept lining up on this side of the line field or that side. It began to look like there By the end of the first quarter, he had

caught five passes for 78 yards.

By halftime, he had caught 12 for 215, the numbers ringing like machines in Vegas.

By the end, even while missing almost the entire second half and going to the locker room and returning with a bandage on his right hand, he had the 12 for 215 on his way to the record books and the NFL. As offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian called his last mad, maddening designs before making off for the coaching job at Texas, and as quarterback Mac Jones ended a season of dreams with 36-for-45 passing for 464 yards and five touchdowns, and as running back Najee Harris continued to look merely formidable, Smith caught three touchdowns by halftime.

He caught a five-yarder that he carted inside the left pylon after a nifty plot in which he edged toward the backfield early in the play, then floated quickly out to the left to field Jones’s flip. That gave Alabama a 14-7 lead.

He caught another five-yarder that he carted inside the right pylon after a presnap bit of candy during which he motioned right, then motioned left behind the offensive line, then motioned back right to catch the quick pass.

That gave Alabama a 28-17 lead, and that’s not to be confused with the beauty just before See ALABAMA B5

CMYK

COLUMBIA-GREENE MEDIA

B2 Wednesday, January 13, 2021 37-82 6-14 91.

Pro basketball

Memphis Cleveland

NBA Eastern Conference Atlantic W L Pct Boston 7 3 .700 Philadelphia 7 4 .636 Brooklyn 5 6 .455 New York 5 6 .455 Toronto 2 7 .222 Central W L Pct Indiana 6 3 .667 Milwaukee 7 4 .636 Cleveland 5 6 .455 Chicago 4 7 .364 Detroit 2 8 .200 Southeast W L Pct Orlando 6 5 .545 Charlotte 6 5 .545 Miami 4 4 .500 Atlanta 5 5 .500 Washington 3 8 .273 Western Conference Northwest W L Pct Utah 6 4 .600 Portland 5 4 .556 Oklahoma City 5 4 .556 Denver 5 5 .500 Minnesota 3 7 .300 Pacific W L Pct L.A. Lakers 8 3 .727 L.A. Clippers 7 4 .636 Phoenix 7 4 .636 Golden State 6 4 .600 Sacramento 4 6 .400 Southwest W L Pct Dallas 5 4 .556 San Antonio 5 5 .500 New Orleans 4 5 .444 Memphis 4 6 .400 Houston 3 5 .375 Sunday’s games Utah 96, Detroit 86 L.A. Clippers 130, Chicago 127 Oklahoma City 129, Brooklyn 116 Denver 114, New York 89 L.A. Lakers 120, Houston 102 Minnesota 96, San Antonio 88 Golden State 106, Toronto 105 Miami at Boston, PPD Monday’s games Charlotte 109, New York 88 Memphis 101, Cleveland 91 Milwaukee 121, Orlando 99 Washington 128, Phoenix 107 Atlanta 112, Philadelphia 94 New Orleans at Dallas, PPD Toronto at Portland, 10 p.m.

Indiana at Sacramento, 10 p.m.

Tuesday’s games Miami at Philadelphia, 7 p.m.

Denver at Brooklyn, 7:30 p.m.

Utah at Cleveland, 7:30 p.m.

L.A. Lakers at Houston, 8 p.m.

San Antonio at Oklahoma City, 8 p.m.

Boston at Chicago, PPD Indiana at Golden State, 10:30 p.m.

Wednesday’s games Dallas at Charlotte, 7 p.m.

Milwaukee at Detroit, 7 p.m.

Utah at Washington, 7 p.m.

Orlando at Boston, 7:30 p.m.

Brooklyn at New York, 7:30 p.m.

Memphis at Minnesota, 8 p.m.

L.A. Lakers at Oklahoma City, 8 p.m.

Atlanta at Phoenix, 9 p.m.

New Orleans at L.A. Clippers, 10 p.m.

Portland at Sacramento, 10 p.m.

(Monday’s games)

GB — .5 2.5 2.5 4.5 GB — — 2.0 3.0 4.5 GB — — .5 .5 3.0 GB — .5 .5 1.0 3.0 GB — 1.0 1.0 1.5 3.5 GB — .5 1.0 1.5 1.5

3-Point Goals—Memphis 5-20 (Brooks 2-8, Ty.Jones 1-1, Melton 1-2, G.Allen 1-4, Bane 0-1, Frazier 0-1, Valanciunas 0-1, Clarke 0-2), Cleveland 11-26 (Nance Jr 3-3, Osman 3-7, Okoro 2-3, Da.Dotson 2-7, Ferrell 1-4, McGee 0-1, Wade 0-1). Fouled Out—Drummond, Valanciunas.

Rebounds—Memphis 47 (Brooks, Valanciunas 7), Cleveland 49 (Drummond 14). Assists— Memphis 32 (Anderson 9), Cleveland 20 (Da. Dotson 6). Total Fouls—Memphis 17 (Valanciunas 5), Cleveland 21 (Drummond 6). A—1,944.

(Sunday’s games)

Nuggets 114, Knicks 89 DENVER (114) G.Harris 6-10 0-0 14, Jokic 9-15 3-3 22, J.Murray 4-9 0-0 9, Barton 2-7 1-2 5, Millsap 3-9 2-3 10, Jm.Green 4-5 0-0 10, Mo.Morris 5-10 0-0 12, Dozier 4-6 1-2 12, Campazzo 2-5 0-0 5, Hartenstein 3-3 2-2 8, Bol 1-1 0-0 3, Nnaji 0-0 0-0 0, Hampton 1-1 0-0 2, Cancar 0-0 0-0 0, M.Howard 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 45-84 9-12 114.

NEW YORK (89) Randle 11-16 5-6 29, M.Robinson 5-5 1-2 11, Barrett 4-13 1-3 9, Payton 4-10 4-5 12, Bullock 3-8 0-0 7, Rivers 2-6 0-0 6, Knox II 2-6 1-1 6, Quickley 0-4 4-4 4, Noel 0-2 1-2 1, Smith Jr 1-3 2-2 4, Pinson 0-1 0-0 0, Brazdeikis 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 32-74 19-25 89.

Denver New York

New York Charlotte

25 25 18 20 — 88 31 26 25 27 —109

3-Point Goals—New York 9-37 (Knox II 5-12, Rivers 3-9, Payton 1-3, Randle 0-2, Barrett 0-5, Quickley 0-6), Charlotte 13-32 (Ml.Bridges 2-2, Hayward 2-2, Rozier 2-5, Washington 2-5, La.Ball 2-6, Graham 2-8, Ca.Martin 1-2, Co.Martin 0-2).

Rebounds—New York 58 (M.Robinson 11), Charlotte 44 (La.Ball 14). Assists—New York 20 (Barrett, Randle 5), Charlotte 28 (Graham, La.Ball 7). Total Fouls—New York 23 (Rivers 5), Charlotte 13 (Biyombo 3). A—NA.

Bucks 121, Magic 99 MILWAUKEE (121) Middleton 9-17 0-1 20, Jr.Holiday 3-10 5-5 11, B.Lopez 2-6 1-1 6, G.Antetokounmpo 8-16 4-7 22, DiVincenzo 4-7 0-0 9, Portis 9-13 0-0 20, Augustin 2-6 3-3 8, Connaughton 3-4 0-0 7, Forbes 4-7 3-3 14, T.Antetokounmpo 1-2 0-0 2, Wilson 1-2 0-0 2, Merrill 0-0 0-0 0, Nwora 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 46-91 1620 121.

ORLANDO (99) A.Gordon 8-14 2-3 21, Vucevic 11-25 2-2 28, Bacon 5-10 1-2 11, Co.Anthony 4-13 3-3 12, Ennis III 1-3 0-0 3, Bone 3-6 0-0 8, Ross 2-6 0-0 4, Clark 1-4 0-0 2, Birch 1-3 0-0 2, Bamba 3-7 2-3 8, Mane 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 39-91 10-13 99.

Milwaukee Orlando

25 38 23 35 —121 23 31 28 17 — 99

3-Point Goals—Milwaukee 13-35 (Forbes 3-4, Portis 2-3, G.Antetokounmpo 2-4, Middleton 2-6, Connaughton 1-2, Augustin 1-3, DiVincenzo 1-3, B.Lopez 1-4, Nwora 0-1, Wilson 0-1, Jr.Holiday 0-4), Orlando 11-31 (Vucevic 4-10, A.Gordon 3-4, Bone 2-4, Ennis III 1-2, Co.Anthony 1-4, Bamba 0-2, Ross 0-2, Clark 0-3). Rebounds—Milwaukee 53 (Middleton 10), Orlando 51 (Vucevic 13). Assists—Milwaukee 25 (G.Antetokounmpo, Augustin 4), Orlando 24 (A.Gordon 8). Total Fouls— Milwaukee 17 (G.Antetokounmpo 5), Orlando 13 (Bamba 4). A—3,248.

Hawks 112, 76ers 94 PHILADELPHIA (94) Mathias 6-15 0-0 14, Maxey 7-14 1-1 15, Da.Green 0-9 2-2 2, Embiid 8-17 7-8 24, Scott 1-7 0-0 2, D.Howard 3-8 0-0 7, Joe 6-9 2-2 18, Reed 3-7 0-0 6, T.Bradley 3-6 0-0 6. Totals 37-92 12-13 94.

ATLANTA (112) Capela 4-12 4-6 12, Tr.Young 9-19 5-6 26, J.Collins 4-7 0-0 12, Reddish 3-8 3-3 10, Hunter 4-8 6-7 15, Huerter 3-9 1-1 8, Goodwin 5-12 2-2 15, S.Hill 3-8 0-0 9, Fernando 1-4 0-2 2, Knight 1-7 0-0 3, Snell 0-3 0-0 0, Mays 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 37-99 21-27 112.

Philadelphia Atlanta

32 18 15 29 — 94 28 37 32 15 —112

3-Point Goals—Philadelphia 8-36 (Joe 4-7, Mathias 2-8, D.Howard 1-3, Embiid 1-4, Maxey 0-1, Reed 0-1, Scott 0-5, Da.Green 0-7), Atlanta 17-44 (J.Collins 4-7, Goodwin 3-7, S.Hill 3-7, Tr.Young 3-7, Hunter 1-2, Knight 1-3, Huerter 1-4, Reddish 1-4, Fernando 0-1, Snell 0-2). Rebounds—Philadelphia 51 (Embiid, D.Howard 11), Atlanta 73 (Capela 11). Assists—Philadelphia 20 (Maxey, Joe, Mathias 4), Atlanta 20 (Tr. Young 8). Total Fouls—Philadelphia 17 (Joe 5), Atlanta 13 (Fernando 3). A—NA.

Wizards 128, Suns 107 PHOENIX (107) Paul 5-10 4-4 14, Booker 11-21 10-10 33, Crowder 1-5 0-0 2, Ayton 4-10 0-0 8, Mk.Bridges 6-9 1-1 14, Saric 4-8 4-4 13, C.Johnson 2-7 0-2 5, Carter 3-8 0-0 6, Galloway 0-3 2-2 2, D.Jones 2-3 2-5 6, Nader 0-0 2-2 2, Alexander 0-0 0-0 0, Moore 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 39-87 25-30 107.

WASHINGTON (128) Beal 12-22 8-9 34, Hachimura 4-9 2-3 10, R.Lopez 5-6 1-5 11, Neto 7-13 0-1 16, Avdija 3-6 0-0 6, Bertans 6-10 0-0 18, Wagner 3-5 2-2 9, I.Smith 3-8 0-4 6, Mathews 3-9 2-2 11, Bonga 1-1 0-0 3, Gill 1-2 2-2 4, Winston 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 48-92 17-28 128.

Phoenix Washington

15 27 36 29 —107 29 39 36 24 —128

3-Point Goals—Phoenix 4-27 (Booker 1-3, Mk.Bridges 1-4, Saric 1-4, C.Johnson 1-6, D.Jones 0-1, Paul 0-1, Galloway 0-2, Carter 0-3, Crowder 0-3), Washington 15-34 (Bertans 6-9, Mathews 3-6, Neto 2-6, Beal 2-7, Bonga 1-1, Wagner 1-1, Gill 0-1, Hachimura 0-1, I.Smith 0-1, Winston 0-1). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds— Phoenix 48 (Ayton, Saric, Crowder 6), Washington 60 (R.Lopez 11). Assists—Phoenix 21 (Paul 11), Washington 29 (Beal 9). Total Fouls—Phoenix 22 (Booker 4), Washington 23 (Beal, Bonga, Mathews, Avdija 3). A—NA.

Thunder 129, Nets 116 OKLAHOMA CITY (129) Gilgeous-Alexander 11-16 7-8 31, Bazley 2-6 0-0 5, G.Hill 6-12 0-0 14, Horford 9-17 1-1 22, Dort 4-6 3-3 13, Diallo 10-14 4-4 25, Roby 5-7 1-1 13, Maledon 1-7 0-0 3, Pokusevski 1-4 0-0 3, K.Williams 0-1 0-0 0, M.Brown 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 49-90 16-17 129.

BROOKLYN (116) Durant 11-21 12-15 36, LeVert 8-17 3-3 21, J.Allen 6-7 3-3 15, Jo.Harris 4-12 0-0 10, Je.Green 2-8 0-0 4, Prince 5-7 0-0 11, Luwawu-Cabarrot 4-6 1-2 12, Shamet 1-5 1-1 3, Jordan 2-2 0-0 4, B.Brown 0-0 0-0 0, Kurucs 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 43-85 20-24 116.

Oklahoma City Brooklyn

29 28 37 35 —129 41 22 18 35 —116

3-Point Goals—Oklahoma City 15-39 (Horford 3-7, Dort 2-3, Gilgeous-Alexander 2-4, Roby 2-4, G.Hill 2-6, Pokusevski 1-3, Bazley 1-4, Diallo 1-4, Maledon 1-4), Brooklyn 10-34 (LuwawuCabarrot 3-5, Jo.Harris 2-6, LeVert 2-6, Durant 2-7, Prince 1-2, Je.Green 0-4, Shamet 0-4). Rebounds—Oklahoma City 39 (Gilgeous-Alexander, Horford 6), Brooklyn 49 (Durant 11). Assists—Oklahoma City 24 (Gilgeous-Alexander 7), Brooklyn 23 (LeVert 6). Total Fouls—Oklahoma City 22 (Diallo, Horford 4), Brooklyn 18 (J.Allen, Luwawu-Cabarrot, Jo.Harris 3). A—NA.

College football FBS BOWLS CHEDULE Monday College Football Championship Miami Gardens, Fla. Alabama 52, Ohio State 24

CFP TITLE GAME

Alabama 52, Ohio State 24 Ohio State Alabama

7 10 7 0 — 24 7 28 10 7 — 52

First Quarter ALA—Nj.Harris 1 yard rush (Reichard kick), 8:07.

OSU—Teague III 8 yard rush (Seibert kick), 4:55.

Second Quarter ALA—Do.Smith 5 yard pass from Mc.Jones (Reichard kick), 14:53.

OSU—Teague III 4 yard rush (Seibert kick), 11:43.

ALA—Nj.Harris 26 yard pass from Mc.Jones (Reichard kick), 9:00.

OSU—Seibert 23 yard field goal, 5:21.

ALA—Do.Smith 5 yard pass from Mc.Jones (Reichard kick), 3:19.

ALA—Do.Smith 42 yard pass from Mc.Jones (Reichard kick), 1:48.

Third Quarter ALA—Reichard 20 yard field goal, 7:47.

OSU—G.Wilson 20 yard pass from Ju.Fields (Seibert kick), 6:45.

ALA—Sl.Bolden 5 yard pass from Mc.Jones (Reichard kick), 2:52.

Fourth Quarter ALA—Nj.Harris 1 yard rush (Reichard kick), 13:15.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING-OSU, Ju.Fields 6-67, Teague III 15-65, M.Crowley 6-14, Sermon 1-2. ALA, Nj.Harris 2279, B.Robinson Jr. 10-69, Mc.Jones 4-11.

PASSING-OSU, Ju.Fields 17-33-0-194. ALA, Mc.Jones 36-45-0-464.

RECEIVING-OSU, Olave 8-69, G.Wilson 3-50, Smith-Njigba 2-20, Ruckert 1-36, Jo.Williams 1-14, M.Crowley 1-4, Teague III 1-1. ALA, Do.Smith 12-215, Metchie III 8-81, Nj.Harris 7-79, Waddle 3-34, Sl.Bolden 3-16, J.Billingsley 2-27, X.Williams 1-12.

NCAA NATIONAL CHAMPIONS College Football Championship Monday — Alabama 52, Ohio State 24 Jan, 13, 2020 — LSU 42, Clemson 25 Jan. 7, 2019 — Clemson 44, Alabama 16 Jan. 8, 2018 — Alabama 26, Georgia 23, OT Jan. 9, 2017 — Clemson 35, Alabama 31 Jan. 11, 2016 — Alabama 45, Clemson 40 Jan. 12, 2015 — Ohio State 42, Oregon 20 BCS National Championship Jan. 6, 2014 — Florida St. 34, Auburn 31 Jan. 7, 2013 — Alabama 42, Notre Dame 14 Jan. 9, 2012 — Alabama 21, LSU 0 Jan. 10, 2011 — Auburn 22, Oregon 19 Jan. 7, 2010 — Alabama 37, Texas 21 Jan. 8, 2009 — Florida 24, Oklahoma 14 Jan. 7, 2008 — LSU 38, Ohio State 24 Jan. 8, 2007 — Florida 41, Ohio State 14 BCS Championship Jan. 4, 2006 Rose Bowl — Texas 41, Southern Cal-x 38 Jan. 1, 2005 Orange Bowl — USC-x 55, Oklahoma 19 Jan. 4, 2004 Sugar Bowl — LSU 21, Oklahoma 14 Jan. 3, 2003 Fiesta Bowl — Ohio St. 31, Miami 24, 2 OT Jan. 3, 2002 Rose Bowl — Miami 37, Nebraska 14 Jan. 3, 2001 Orange Bowl — Oklahoma 13, Florida St. 2 Jan. 4, 2000 Sugar Bowl — Florida St. 46, Virginia Tech 29 Jan. 4, 1999 Fiesta Bowl — Tennessee 23, Florida St. 16 x-participation vacated Monday, Jan. 11 College Football Championship Miami Gardens, Fla.

Pro football NFL PLAYOFFS Wild Card Round Saturday, Jan. 9 Buffalo 27, Indianapolis 24 Los Angeles Rams 30, Seattle 20 Tampa Bay 31, Washington 23 Sunday Baltimore 20, Tennessee 13 New Orleans 21, Chicago 9 Cleveland 48 Pittsburgh 37 Divisional Round Saturday Los Angeles Rams at Green Bay, 4:35 p.m.

Baltimore at Buffalo, 8:15 p.m.

Sunday, Jan. 17 Cleveland at Kansas City, 3:05 p.m.

Tampa Bay at New Orleans, 6:40 p.m.

Grizzlies 101, Cavaliers 91 MEMPHIS (101) Brooks 6-15 7-8 21, Ty.Jones 5-9 2-2 13, Anderson 2-5 4-6 8, Valanciunas 6-10 0-0 12, Clarke 7-13 1-2 15, Bane 4-5 1-1 9, Melton 3-7 1-2 8, G.Allen 3-6 0-0 7, Tillman 4-5 0-0 8, Frazier 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 40-78 16-21 101.

CLEVELAND (91) Okoro 5-11 0-0 12, Nance Jr 5-7 0-0 13, Da.Dotson 6-14 0-0 14, Drummond 8-16 3-9 19, Osman 5-13 1-1 14, Ferrell 4-9 0-2 9, McGee 2-7 2-2 6, Wade 0-3 0-0 0, Stevens 2-2 0-0 4. Totals

28 31 23 32 —114 21 17 26 25 — 89

3-Point Goals—Denver 15-35 (Dozier 3-4, Jm.Green 2-2, G.Harris 2-4, Mo.Morris 2-5, Millsap 2-6, Bol 1-1, Campazzo 1-2, Jokic 1-3, J.Murray 1-4, Barton 0-2, M.Howard 0-2), New York 6-21 (Rivers 2-4, Randle 2-5, Bullock 1-1, Knox II 1-3, Payton 0-1, Pinson 0-1, Smith Jr 0-1, Quickley 0-2, Barrett 0-3).

Fouled Out—Hartenstein. Rebounds—Denver 48 (Jokic 10), New York 42 (Randle 10). Assists— Denver 23 (Jokic 5), New York 19 (Randle, Payton 5). Total Fouls—Denver 25 (Hartenstein 6), New York 15 (Payton 4). A—NA.

Hornets 109, Knicks 88 NEW YORK (88) Rivers 5-12 0-0 13, Barrett 5-18 1-2 11, M.Robinson 5-5 2-4 12, Payton 7-14 0-2 15, Randle 2-9 7-8 11, Knox II 7-17 0-0 19, Quickley 1-10 1-1 3, Noel 2-2 0-0 4. Totals 34-87 11-17 88.

CHARLOTTE (109) Graham 7-15 3-4 19, Hayward 11-17 10-10 34, Rozier 4-8 2-3 12, Washington 4-11 3-4 13, Biyombo 1-2 0-0 2, La.Ball 3-13 0-0 8, Ml.Bridges 5-6 1-1 13, Ca.Martin 2-3 0-0 5, Co.Martin 1-3 1-1 3, Jl.McDaniels 0-0 0-0 0, Carey Jr 0-0 0-0 0, Richards 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 38-78 20-23 109.

24 23 30 24 —101 27 19 25 20 — 91

Conference Championships Sunday, Jan. 24 AFC TBD NFC TBD Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 7 At Tampa, Fla. TBD, 6:30 p.m.

Eight big questions for the divisional round of the NFL playoffs John Clayton The Washington Post

The age difference among quarterbacks in the divisional round of the NFL playoffs is remarkable. NFC quarterbacks average 36.8 years old. Tom Brady is 43. Drew Brees is 41. Aaron Rodgers is 37. Jared Goff is 26. They have been to a combined 12 Super Bowls. Their combined records in the playoffs are 53-30.

In the AFC, it’s a different story.

Patrick Mahomes and Baker Mayfield are 25. Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson are 24. Mayfield, Jackson and Allen earned their first playoff victories this past weekend. Even Mahomes, the defending Super Bowl MVP, will be starting only his sixth playoff game this weekend.

Those eight quarterbacks are at the center of many of our key questions for the divisional round, which begins Saturday afternoon at Green Bay: • Can Jared Goff or John Wolford generate any offense at frigid Lambeau Field?

Wolford started over Goff in Saturday’s first-round win at Seattle because Goff was just 12 days removed from surgery on his throwing thumb. Then Wolford suffered a stinger in his neck and Goff had to enter the game, struggling to throw at first but improving as the game progressed.

It’s unclear whether Wolford can return for Saturday’s game at Green Bay. If not, whether the Rams can pull off the upset could depend on Goff’s ability to grip and throw the ball in cold weather. The Rams’ defense has been great, but they’ll almost certainly need the offense to play better than it has over the past few weeks to hang with the high-powered Packers.

• How will Aaron Rodgers fare against the best defense in football?

Rodgers’s first challenge will be getting the ball to Davante Adams, who is one of the NFL’s best wide receivers but is likely to see a lot of man-to-man coverage from Jalen Ramsey, the best cover cornerback in football. In one-onone situations against Seattle star DK Metcalf on Saturday, Ramsey held him to four catches and no big plays.

Rodgers also will have to deal with a defensive line that produces a ton of pressure - especially now that it appears star tackle Aaron Donald (ribs) should be able to play. But the lesser-known players on the Los Angeles defense are great, too, and the unit has the speed at linebacker to stop outside running plays and is exceptional when shifting to a twodeep zone that limits deep throwing opportunities. Rodgers is the likely league MVP, but he won’t have it easy in this one.

• Can the Bills contain the Ravens’ running attack?

Stopping the run isn’t a strength of the Bills. They ranked 17th in rushing yards allowed at 119.6 per game and 26th in yards per carry with 4.6. The Ravens are perhaps the best running team in the NFL, and they rushed for 236 yards in their 20-13 first-round victory over Tennessee.

Fueling the victory was Jackson, who led Baltimore back from a 10-point deficit to earn his first playoff win and did a lot of his damage on the ground. He had 16 carries, compared with 19 for his backs, finishing with 136 yards. The key play was his 48-yard touchdown run in the second quarter that tilted the momentum in the Ravens’ favor. The Bills have to find a way to contain Jackson, who was mostly efficient with his passing in Sunday’s win

Wire photo

The Bills’ defense celebrates another turnover this season.

as well.

• Can Josh Allen afford any big mistakes against a good Ravens defense?

Allen, who was the NFL’s hottest quarterback entering the playoffs, earned his first playoff win Saturday as Buffalo held off the Indianapolis Colts. For the most part, he was excellent, throwing for 324 yards and two touchdowns against a good defense. But he nearly committed the type of huge mistake that he has often been guilty of in his young pro career: In the fourth quarter, he fumbled after trying to get out of a sack. The play resulted in a 23-yard loss after one of his linemen recovered the loose ball, but it came close to being a catastrophic turnover.

The Ravens’ defense will cause problems for Allen. It is good at stopping the run, which will put pressure on Allen to make challenging throws to get the Bills down the field. Their coverage is also good, and Marcus Peters has a knack for making key interceptions. Allen will need to rely heavily on wide receiver Stefon Diggs, who had six catches for 128 yards and a touchdown in Saturday’s victory.

• Can Baker Mayfield keep this up?

Cleveland’s offense, for most of the season, was based on the ballcontrol, power-running attack led by backs Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt. It took pressure off Mayfield, who was also able to benefit from lots of favorable play-action throws.

But for the past month, Mayfield has played like a Pro Bowl pick, including making several key plays to ice Sunday night’s win in Pittsburgh. The Browns will want to control the clock Sunday against Kansas City’s explosive offense, but any upset chances are tied to Mayfield keeping up his recent hot streak and making difficult throws to match the Chiefs’ scoring total.

• Can the Browns’ defense withstand a Patrick Mahomes comeback?

Cleveland’s defense should get a boost with the expected returns of cornerbacks Denzel Ward and Kevin Johnson for the divisional round. But the Browns will nonetheless have a hard time slowing Mahomes and the high-powered Chiefs attack.

Given the Browns’ formula as a run-first team, their chances of

beating Kansas City are rooted in building a lead and draining the clock to limit Mahomes’s opportunities. That would require staving off any late-game comeback efforts by the Chiefs, who made up big deficits in both AFC playoff games last season before doing the same in their Super Bowl victory over the San Francisco 49ers.

Mahomes’s poise after his team gets behind is remarkable, so Cleveland’s defense had better be up to the task.

• Do the Saints have the book on Tom Brady?

New Orleans and Tampa Bay will meet for the third time Sunday, and the Saints won both regular season meetings comfortably. But Brady has gotten more and more comfortable in Coach Bruce Arians’s offense as the season has gone on, particularly throwing the deep ball, and Antonio Brown has gotten more involved as the third wide receiver.

Still, the Bucs’ record against teams with winning records - 2-4 - is concerning. So is Brady’s stat line from the two games against the Saints: 23 for 36 for 239 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions in a season-opening 34-20 loss; then 22 for 38 with no touchdowns and three picks in a 38-3 loss in November. The Saints’ defense is one of the best in the league, and Brady will have to do a much better job of attacking it in his third attempt.

• Can Drew Brees and the Saints’ offense avoid another slow start?

The first half of the Saints’ firstround win over Chicago was ugly.

After an opening-drive touchdown, the Saints’ next four possessions netted just 82 yards and five first downs, leading to only a 7-3 advantage against an overmatched Bears team.

This New Orleans team, in what is likely Brees’s final season, is built to win with defense and an efficient but less-than-explosive offense. The Saints have the edge on the Bucs, but they must get off to a good start to avoid having to play from behind.

AROUND THE NFL • We knew Doug Pederson was on the hot seat, but things appeared okay after no change was made last week. Instead, owner Jeffrey Lurie announced Monday that Pederson was out, making him the seventh NFL coach fired this season.

Clearly, Pederson is the one taking the heat for Philadelphia’s disappointing 4-11-1 season, and it appears Lurie’s vision for the team next year didn’t match Pederson’s. Quarterback Carson Wentz, who struggled mightily before being benched for Jalen Hurts, also appeared to have problems with Pederson, and it’s unclear what role that played in the decision.

We’ll see what happens to some of the other coaching searches now that Pederson is on the market. He figures to be near the top of the list for several teams.

• You can understand why Deshaun Watson wants out of Houston, but it’s going to be tough for a trade to come together. The star quarterback has a no-trade clause in his contract. The Texans would have to get more than two first-round draft picks (or maybe three) to get value for him, and his departure would add another year or two of rebuilding for the franchise. He’s one of the six best quarterbacks in the game; Houston won’t let him go easily.

• It has to drive Jets fans crazy to see Mayfield, Allen and Jackson in the divisional round. Mayfield went No. 1 to Cleveland, but New York traded up three spots to take Sam Darnold third, passing up Allen and Jackson in the process.

Three years later, the Jets went 2-14 while the Browns, Bills and Ravens are competing for a spot in the AFC title game.

• Russell Wilson had his worst game of the season in the 3020 playoff loss to the Rams. He completed 11 of 27 passes for 174 yards and two touchdowns, and he had a pick-six on a short pass to the sideline.

Coach Pete Carroll seemed to believe a lot of the problem was with the running game. He felt too many passes were called in the latter part of the season and in the playoff game, in contrast to his preferred formula of winning the turnover battle and using a balanced attack. Running back Chris Carson is a free agent, and it’s uncertain whether he’ll be back.

• Mitchell Trubisky believes he will be back with the Bears, but there’s no guarantee. The Bears didn’t pick up their fifth-year option on him, so he’s a free agent.

He’ll have to accept a smaller deal to return and acknowledge the Bears will seek more quarterback help to compete with or replace him.

Cowboys hire Dan Quinn as defensive coordinator Field Level Media

The Dallas Cowboys agreed to terms with ex-Atlanta Falcons head coach Dan Quinn to become their next defensive coordinator, the club announced Monday night.

Multiple media outlets reported that Quinn received a three-year contract, but the Cowboys did not reveal any details of the deal.

Quinn will succeed Mike Nolan, who was fired last week.

The Cowboys gave up 473 points this season, the most in franchise history. Dallas also finished No. 31 in run defense, No. 23 in total defense, and No. 28 in points allowed per

game.

Quinn went 43-42 in five-plus seasons with the Falcons. He was dismissed after an 0-5 start to the 2020 campaign that included a 4039 loss to the Cowboys in Week 2.

He took the Falcons to the Super Bowl after the 2016 season, but Atlanta blew a 28-3 lead against the New England Patriots to miss a chance for the franchise’s first championship.

Before taking the Falcons’ head coaching job, Quinn served as the Seahawks’ defensive coordinator in 2013 and 2014, helping Seattle reach the Super Bowl in each season. His defenses allowed the fewest yards and fewest points in each of those years.

He previously served as an assistant coach for William & Mary, VMU, Hofstra and Florida at the collegiate level and for the San Francisco 49ers, Miami Dolphins, New York Jets and Seattle (in an earlier stint) in the NFL. According to multiple media reports, the Cowboys had virtual interviews for the defensive coordinator job with Falcons secondary coach/passing game coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. and Carolina Panthers defensive passing game coordinator/secondary coach Jason Simmons. Both Whiit and Simmons worked on current Dallas head coach Mike McCarthy’s previous staffs with the Green Bay Packers.

CMYK

Wednesday, January 13, 2021 B3

COLUMBIA-GREENE MEDIA

Ravens are happy to follow Lamar Jackson’s lead Jonas Shaffer The Baltimore Sun

On the play that ended all the talk, Lamar Jackson had an audience. The Ravens quarterback was in the open field, high-stepping like Deion Sanders, one strut closer to a breakthrough afternoon in Nashville, and no one seemed more interested in what came next than the guys on the sideline.

Cornerback Marcus Peters, who’d ended the Tennessee Titans’ final drive with an interception, was stalking the 33-yard run like a lion, his smack talk spitting out like a machine gun. Defensive end Jihad Ward and outside linebacker Pernell McPhee, who’d helped anchor a herculean run defense, crouched in excitement, as if they might leap back onto the field themselves. When Jackson finally got down with about 100 seconds left in a 20-13 win, springing backward with one final can’t-touch-this move, defensive coordinator Don “Wink” Martindale pumped his fist. The game was theirs.

It was one they had to have. The days before their AFC wild-card-round game had offered a preview of an uncomfortable offseason -- a chorus of questions about Jackson’s big-game chops, about the run defense’s Derrick Henry Problem, about coach John Harbaugh’s playoff record.

The Ravens had won 35 regular-season games and two AFC North titles, had watched Jackson earn an NFL Most Valuable Player Award, and for what?

This, they knew, was a day to change the narrative. And in a fast-moving, hard-charging, momentum-swinging rematch of one of the Ravens’ most painful losses in franchise history -- almost exactly a year to the day it happened -- they emerged with what Harbaugh called “maybe the best win I’ve ever been associated with.”

“It feels good,” said Jackson, who’d acknowledged the pressure of entering the playoffs with an 0-2 record, even if he never owned up to feeling it. “I knew we had the capability of doing that.

But it’s always going to be naysayers, no matter what. So it’s just one game at a time. I appreciate the win. Hard-fought team victory. They played great as well. ... But I’m grateful for the win.”

The fifth-seeded Ravens don’t know yet where it will take them. If the third-seeded Steelers beat the sixth-seeded Cleveland Browns for this third time this season Sunday night, the Ravens would head to top-seeded Kansas City for yet another rematch with the defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs. With a Browns upset, the Ravens would go back to Buffalo for the second straight year, where the second-seeded Bills await.

The Ravens had long expected to get back to the divisional round, where Tennessee ended their record-breaking campaign last year. But in a season fraught with unexpected developments, from the sport’s worst coronavirus outbreak to Jackson’s hobbled heroism in Cleveland, it was

Christopher Hanewinckel/USA TODAY

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson (8) is tackled by the Tennessee Titans during the second quarter in a AFC Wild Card playoff game at Nissan Stadium on Sunday.

only fitting that the Ravens took an off-the-beaten path to survival. Where others saw deja vu, the team found renewal.

The Ravens hadn’t won a playoff game since 2014. They hadn’t come back from a doubledigit deficit since 2016. They hadn’t beaten Tennessee as 10-point favorites almost a year ago or as touchdown favorites in Week 11. Facing a 10-0 first-quarter deficit and a roaring crowd of 14,000-plus, the Ravens scored 20 of the next 23 points, shut down the NFL’s top running back and turned the Titans’ midfield logo into a farewell photo op.

“It’s no fun losing that first round,” said cornerback Marlon Humphrey, who celebrated Peters’ pick with a slide just inside the 50-yard line.

“You get so hot to get in the playoffs and then you lose the first one, it’s never very fun. But just from the start of the week, guys just had a different approach: ‘We’re not going home this week.’ ...

“It seemed special just because it was the Titans. They had our number a couple of times, and I felt like we owed them one. I felt like they knew that as well, and it turned out in our favor.”

The Ravens opened the game as if they were staging a re-creation of their Jan. 11, 2020, loss in Baltimore. On a run-run-pass first drive, they gained 5 yards and punted. On their second drive, Jackson missed wide receiver Miles Boykin badly on a deep shot, and cornerback Malcolm Butler came up with Tennessee’s fourth interception in its past nine quarters against the Ravens.

It was only the first quarter, and the game was already slipping away. Pro Bowl wide receiver A.J. Brown, whose try-to-stop-me touchdown

in Week 11 had marked a low point in the Ravens’ midseason swoon, was giving Humphrey trouble. A 10-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Tannehill (18-for-26 for 165 yards) gave the AFC South champions a 7-0 lead. Four minutes later, a 45-yard field goal by Stephen Gostkowski pushed it to 10.

The Ravens needed Jackson to bring them back. In their stunning divisional-round playoff loss, he’d piled up over 500 yards of total offense but scored just one touchdown, the bad (three turnovers) outweighing the good. In a team-wide videoconference Saturday night, Humphrey said Jackson had spoken up, a rarity for the lead-byexample star. At that moment, Humphrey said, he knew the Ravens were in good hands. He knew they were going to win.

As Jackson dropped back on third-and-9 late in the second quarter, trailing 10-3, it didn’t look good. But then Jackson saw a crease up the middle and took off. His next 48 yards amounted to “the best run I’ve ever seen by a quarterback,” Harbaugh said, even better than Jackson’s iconic touchdown against the Cincinnati Bengals last season.

Jackson slipped by the linemen trying to contain him, then the safety trying to trip him, and finally the cornerbacks trying to track him down.

His celebration was punctuated with Jackson, or maybe a teammate, wondering aloud: “The expletive3/8 y’all talking about?”

“I wasn’t really worried about the criticism3/8,” said Jackson, who rushed 16 times for 136 yards and finished 17-for-24 for 179 passing yards against a normally porous Tennessee

defense. “It’s just my third year in the league. I don’t really care what people say.”

His teammates did, and so they followed their leader, right down to their own redemptive arcs.

A Ravens offensive line that had given up four first-half sacks and struggled against atypical Titans fronts cleared a path for running back J.K. Dobbins on a go-ahead third-quarter touchdown run.

Wide receiver Marquise “Hollywood” Brown, who just over two months ago had tweeted out his frustrations with his role on offense, finished with seven catches on nine targets for 109 yards, both game highs.

Justin Tucker, who’d missed a 52-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter, ending a streak of 48 consecutive makes in the fourth quarter or overtime, came back the next drive to nail a 51-yarder that extended the Ravens’ lead to 2013.

But no effort was more impressive, more defining, than that of the Ravens’ run defense. Defensive coordinator Don “Wink” Martindale had called Henry, the NFL’s first 2,000-yard rusher since 2012, “the greatest challenge every play.”

In the Ravens’ two losses to Tennessee, they’d watched Henry run through, around and over them, a trail of broken dreams in his wake.

But on Sunday, they had a plan, they had the personnel, and they had a goal: Hold Henry to 90 yards. With defensive end Calais Campbell and defensive tackle Brandon Williams finally ready, with their edge defenders funneling everything inside, the Ravens held Henry to 18 carries for 40 yards -- and no first downs. His longest run went for 8 yards.

“He’s the hardest running back I’ve ever had to tackle,” defensive end Derek Wolfe said. “He’ll run you over. I’ve got a ton of respect for him. So for us to accomplish that kind of goal against a back like that, who just got 2,000 yards rushing, that’s a testament to show you what kinds of guys we have up front, what kinds of guys we have on this defense, and what kinds of guys we have on this team.”

It’s a team determined to do as much as it can, for as long as it can, and to do it together. When Peters wanted to celebrate his late pick, the defense assembled en masse on the Titans logo, some scuffing up the playing surface, a small act of revenge coming almost a year after Tennessee had first chosen the Ravens logo for a pregame huddle.

When the Ravens’ offensive line sprung Jackson for his breakaway run in the fourth quarter, there was the defense, just yards away on the sideline, hyping him up. And when Jackson finally took a knee, racing off the field, unwilling to shake hands with the “disrespectful” Titans or watch the clock hit zero, he looked back. It must have seemed like the whole team was behind him.

Blame Jeffrey Lurie and Howie Roseman for the Eagles’ laughable mess Marcus Hayes The Philadelphia Inquirer

Doug Pederson beat the deadliest disease the world has seen in 100 years, but he couldn’t survive Howie Roseman.

Five months and just four wins after he battled COVID-19, Pederson lost a power struggle with general manager Howie Roseman, whose bidding owner Jeffrey Lurie does. Since his August illness, Pederson has lost 11 games and coached the Eagles into a strange and confusing tie; indicated the season would be “over” if he benched franchise quarterback Carson Wentz, which he did (it wasn’t); alienated Wentz; lobbied for more power in building Roseman’s roster; and, finally, clumsily tanked the season finale against Washington, the NFL’s most embarrassing team, while ensuring the Giants -- a marquee franchise -- did not reach the postseason.

So, yeah, he’s been busy.

That said, Pederson’s undoing was not entirely of his own doing. Not even close.

The problems go much deeper; actually, they go much higher. All the way to Lurie, and his pocket-protector minions. Their reputation as a meddlesome bunch always was overblown. Until now.

Because now, after years of prodding and nudging and nagging his head coach, Lurie reportedly made Pederson grovel. Lurie required Pederson to submit a list of candidates to fill key vacancies such as the coordinator positions, and examined Pederson’s reviews of his current assistants.

Lurie refused to confirm these reports in a press conference Monday. The coaching staff review was a shallow and hypocritical exercise, since Pederson didn’t actively recruit and hire most of his assistants. Lurie and Roseman did.

Lurie said he fired Pederson

because Pederson’s “vision” centered on winning in 2021, whereas Lurie foresees a “real transition period” that apparently will involve a lot of losing, and he has a “real confidence” that Roseman will properly rebuild the team with the existing “great infrastructure.”

Seriously. He said that.

Great infrastructure.

Lurie continually acknowledged that the team was badly built; that too many underqualified picks were drafted to fill a need and too many nostalgic acquisitions and retentions crippled the roster. In the same breath Lurie indicated that the Eagles’ biggest draft misses -- JJ Arcega-Whiteside in 2019 and Jalen Reagor in 2020 over Pro Bowl receivers D.K. Metcalf and Justin Jefferson -- might still pan out, since they’re young. Roseman, the chief architect of this disastrous infrastructure, used the same argument last week.

This indicates that they believe Pederson and his coaches did not properly develop the receivers.

Faced with this sort of circular illogic, Pederson never had a chance.

Worst, Lurie made Pederson whinge and beg for this awful job. Beware, coaching candidates. Who will work for such a man? It was foolish. Lurie needs Pederson more than Pederson needs Lurie.

Lurie has an old team that just went 4-11-1 and didn’t contend in the NFC East, the worst division in NFL history.

They lost mainly because they stayed hurt; the team used 14 offensive line combinations in 16 games, an NFL record.

That was a circumstance Pederson could not control but a four-year trend that Roseman, who hires the medical staff, is responsible for fixing. Lurie’s Birds are in salary-cap hell thanks to Roseman, whom he loves and protects like a son.

The team lacks a No. 1 receiver. Wentz, in his fifth season, was the NFL’s worst quarterback, and is just beginning a four-year, $128 million contract, and said he wanted to be traded -- a demand that might change now that Pederson is gone. Lurie declined to say that Wentz’s dissatisfaction influenced his decision, but he insisted that Wentz remains a key component of the Eagles’ future. Wentz’s backup, rookie Jalen Hurts, is a long-term project.

“I think it would be a very, very attractive job,” Lurie said, citing the franchise’s postseason participation and its fan base, while calling his QBs “interesting assets” who are both “options.”

Lurie doesn’t wear glasses, but if he did, their lenses would be rose-colored.

Pederson? He’s facing a job market filled with lesser candidates with 16% of its positions open, not counting the Eagles’. His LinkedIn profile shines; Lurie himself said he expects Pederson to be hired within a week. When Pederson interviews for any of those five vacancies he can point to his 3-year-old Super Bowl ring; his statue outside of Lincoln Financial Field; and his ironclad, two-word explanation for everything that has gone wrong since Super Bowl LII: Howie and Jeff.

It’s amazing to be reviewing Pederson’s termination and not Roseman’s. This is the luxury of favor.

In 2017, 2019, and 2020, Roseman spent precious firstor second-round draft picks on players certain to see no significant playing time that season: cornerback Sidney Jones, left tackle Andre Dillard, and Hurts, and ignored the linebacker position. The Eagles’ greatest issues right now: cornerback, linebacker, offensive line depth, and quarterback.

As such, one of the topics of discussion at the Florida summit had to have been Pederson’s recent power play. Pederson indicated after Game 15 that he wanted more input on the team’s roster.

That’s understandable. In the past two years, Pederson has seen Roseman and Lurie draft JJ Arcega-Whiteside over DK Metcalf and Jalen Reagor over Justin Jefferson. Pederson has seen Amari Cooper land in Dallas, Stefon Diggs in Buffalo, DeAndre Hopkins in Arizona, and even Antonio Brown in Tampa Bay, where he collected 45 catches for 438 yards and four touchdowns in eight games as the Eagles faded from contention.

Meanwhile, 34-year-old DeSean Jackson and 30-yearold Alshon Jeffery combined for 20 catches, 351 yards, and two touchdowns, and were fully available for two of their 32 possible games (16 apiece).

This is not a solely Doug Pederson problem; but, unlike Roseman, Pederson does not enjoy the luxury of Lurie’s favor.

He didn’t even enjoy a normal coach’s loyalty.

Let’s review how many of Pederson’s 13 top assistants in 2021 were actually Pederson’s assistants. Answer: almost none.

When hired in 2016, Pederson inherited running backs coach Duce Staley, special teams coach Dave Fipp, offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland, tight ends coach Justin Peelle, and quarterbacks coach Press Taylor. Roseman and Lurie courted and hired defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, who acted essentially as a cohead coach and filled out his own staff, with the exception of safeties coach Tim Hauck, Pederson’s former teammate.

Roseman and Lurie foisted alleged quarterback whisperer Rich Scangarello on Pederson after Pederson was forced to

fire Mike Groh a year ago after Groh’s indifferent two-year tenure as offensive coordinator.

That leaves Hauck; receivers coach Aaron Moorehead, whom Pederson hired at the recommendation of former offensive coordinator Frank Reich; and senior offensive consultant Marty Mornhinweg, who won’t return. Three of 13, or 23%. Which means he didn’t hire 77% of his staff.

League sources no longer with the team have, in the past two years, spoken of instances of overt and subtle insubordination directed at Pederson by the coaches he didn’t hire -coaches emboldened by their relationships with Roseman and Lurie. How is Pederson supposed to run a team filled with men who owe him nothing?

Yes, Pederson signed off on every job slot. Further, he leaned heavily on the coaching of Staley and Stoutland, who are elite position coaches, and he has grown especially fond of Taylor, whom he wanted to retain but whom Lurie (and Roseman) considered culpable in Wentz’s regression.

But Pederson is, at the root, an offensive coaching nerd addicted to teaching the game, not an elite administrator. Consider this a deficiency if you like. Pederson’s pliability made him an attractive hire for Lurie in 2016, but after three playoff trips and a title, Pederson has earned the power to pick his coaches.

After all, Pederson’s rideor-die hire in 2016 was Reich -- the man who identified FCS (I-AA) quarterback Carson Wentz as a plug-and-play option before leaving to lead the Colts to the playoffs two of the last three seasons. Reich brought quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo, under whose iron hand Wentz was forged into a Pro Bowl starter in 18

months, before he left for a coordinator job. Pederson promoted Groh, the former receivers coach, and Taylor, DeFilippo’s assistant. Things did not go great.

But when Lurie remade Pederson’s staff this time last year, disaster ensued.

The day after the 2019 season ended, Pederson said Groh and receivers coach Carson Walch would return, based on the strong performance of Wentz and his patchwork receiving corps during their four-win run to the division title. This happened despite Wentz’s imperfect relationship with Groh, whom he reportedly bullied upon occasion. The next day, after Pederson met with Lurie, both coaches were fired.

Roseman pursued Scangarello, a Kyle Shanahan protege ... and Wentz regressed so badly that he got benched for the rest of the season in the third quarter of Game 12.

Scangarello left with Mornhinweg.

The Eagles’ offense fell from 14th in 2019 to 24th in 2020.

Does that mean Groh would have continued Wentz’s development? Does it mean the 2020 game plans would have been less predictable than they were in Groh’s absence?

Possibly. Probably, even. Groh wasn’t great, but he got better every month. And he was better than whatever the Eagles had this season.

Pederson was pressured by the front office to surrender some play-calling during games, so Scangarello ran the 2-minute offense. Taylor called plays, too.

Swoop, the mascot, apparently was in charge of overtime.

Now, they’re all gone.

Maybe next season Lurie will call the plays.

If Howie lets him.

CMYK

COLUMBIA-GREENE MEDIA

B4 Wednesday, January 13, 2021 Register-Star

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SSNY has been designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. The post office address to which the SSNY shall mail a copy of any process against the LLC served upon him/her is Panayotis Kambeseles, Esq., PO Box 839, Windham, NY 12496.

BRITTCOTALENT LLC Articles of Org. filed NY Sec. of State (SSNY) 10/21/2020.

Office in Columbia Co. SSNY design. Agent of LLC upon whom process may be served.

SSNY shall mail copy of process to the LLC 82A Douglas Rd Chappaqua, NY 10514. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Section 206 Climax Projects LLC. Filed 11/12/20. Office: Greene Co. SSNY desig. as agent for process & shall mail to: 1067 County Rte 26, Climax, NY 12042. Purpose: General.

COLUMBIA ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION NOTICE OF MEETING Please take notice that there will be a meeting of the Columbia Economic Development Corporation Loan Committee held on January 20, 2021 at 9:30am, to consider all matters presented to the Committee for consideration..

Due to public health and safety concerns related to COVID-19, the meeting will not take place in-person.

In accordance with the Governor’s Executive Order 202.1, meeting will be held via Zoom.

The public will have an opportunity to hear the meeting live and provide comments. Comments can also be provided via email before and during the meeting to mtucker @columbiaedc.com.

Please check the meeting agenda posted on the CEDC’s website www.coIumbiaedc.com for further instructions to access the virtual meeting and for updated information.

Dated: January 13, 2021 Sarah Sterling Secretary Columbia Economic Development Corporation

COLUMBIA ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION NOTICE OF MEETING Please take notice that there will be a meeting of the Columbia Economic Development Corporation Governance and Nominating Committee held on January 20, 2021 at 8:30am for the purpose of discussing any matters that may be presented to the Committee for consideration.

This meeting will not be open to the public due to COVID-19, but they may attend and participate in the meeting via Zoom. Meeting details can be found at www.columbiaedc.com Dated: January 13, 2021 Sarah Sterling Secretary Columbia Economic Development Corporation

FirstGenLiving LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 10/20/20. Office: Greene County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to the LLC, 13 Shipley Rd, Freehold, NY 14201. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of Catskillers NYC LLC. Art. of Org. filed Sec’y of State (SSNY) 9/10/20. Office location: Greene Co. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to: c/o Catskillers NYC LLC, 34 Boy Scout Road, East Jewett, NY 12424. Purpose: any lawful activities.

of Limited Liability Company Arts. of Org. of Eleven Kinderhook, LLC (“LLC�) filed with Dept. of State of NY on December 11, 2020. Office location: Columbia County. New York Registered Agent, LLC is the designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: New York Registered Agent, LLC, 90 State Street, Suite 700, Office 40, Albany, New York 12207. LLC does not have a specific date of dissolution. Purpose: All legal purposes. Filer: Lavelle & Finn, LLP, 29 British American Bl., Latham, NY 12110.

MELLENVILLE FIRE DISTRICT ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING JANUARY 7th, 2021 PUBLIC NOTICE Secretarty Tim Teaney called the 2021 organizational meeting of the Mellenville Fire District @ 7:00 PM on the above date. The following business was voted on and approved at the organizational meeting. Nomination of Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, Official Newspaper, Official Depository Banks, Chairman of Committees and Date, Time and Location of the Monthly Meetings.

The following nominations were voted on and approved. Chairman-Terry Guntert, ViceChairman-David Gambacorta, Secretary-Tim Teaney, Treasurer-Rose Knox, Official Newspaper-Columbia Greene Media, Official Depository Banks-Bank of Greene County and Key Bank, Chairman of Building and GroundsDavid Gambacorta, Chairman of Trucks and Equipment-William Stockman, Bylaw and Procedure Chair-Terry Guntert, Purchasing- Robbie Speed and James Brady. Location, Date and Time of Official Monthly Meetings-Mellenville Fire House, 1st Thursday of each month at 7:00 PM. Robbie Speed was relected to serve a five year term on the Board of Fire Commissioners beginning on January 1st, 2021.

TimTeaney/Secretary Sealed bids will be received as set forth in Instructions to Bidders ( h t t p s : / / w w w. d o t . n y. g o v / b i d s - a n d - l e t tings/construction-contractors/important-info) until 10:30 A.M. on Thursday, February 04, 2021 at the NYSDOT, Office of Contract Management, 50 Wolf Rd, 1st Floor, Suite 1CM, Albany, NY 12232 and will be publicly opened and read. Maps, Plans and Specifications may be seen at Electronic documents and Amendments which are posted to www.dot.ny.gov/doing-business/opportunities/const-notices.

The New York State Department of Transportation, in accordance with the Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 78 Stat. 252, 42 U.S.C. 2000d to 2000d-4 and Title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, Department of Transportation, Subtitle A, Office the Secretary, Part 21, Nondiscrimination in Federally-assisted programs of the Department of Transportation and Title 23 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 200, Title IV Program and Related Statutes, as amended, issued pursuant to such Act, hereby notifies all who respond to a written Department solicitation, request for proposal or invitation for bid that it will affirmatively insure that in any contract entered into pursuant to this advertisement, disadvantaged business enterprises will be afforded full opportunity to submit bids in response to this invitation and will not be discriminated against on the grounds of race, color, national origin, sex, age, disability/handicap and income status in consideration for an award.

BIDDERS SHOULD BE ADVISED THAT AWARD OF THESE CONTRACTS MAY BE CONTINGENT UPON THE PASSAGE OF A BUDGET APPROPRIATION BILL BY THE LEGISLATURE AND GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. Please call (518)457-2124 if a reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the letting.

Notice is hereby given of the annual meeting of the Athens Rural Cemetery Association to be held on January 18, 2021 at 3:30 PM in the boardroom of the Association building on Olivett Lane, Athens, NY for the purpose of any business that may be legally brought up at this meeting.

John W Gotebiowski, Sec/Treas Notice of Formation of a NY Limited Liability Company.

Name: Graham & Associates Tax Services, LLC. Articles of Organization filing date with Secretary of State (SSNY) was October 10, 2020. Office location: Columbia County. SSNY has been designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and SSNY shall mail copy of Process to 22 Millbrook Rd. Hudson, NY 12534. Purpose is to engage in any and all business activities permitted under NYS laws.

NOTICE OF RECEIPT OF TAX ROLL AND WARRANT TAKE NOTICE, that I, Susan A. Haag, the undersigned and Collector of Taxes for the Town of Austerlitz, County of Columbia and State of New York, have duly received the tax roll and warrant for the collection of taxes within the Town of Austerlitz for the year of 2021, and that my hours for the purpose of receiving the taxes listed on said roll for the month of January, 2021, are as follows: Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m., at the Austerlitz Town Hall located at 816 Route 203, Spencertown, New York.

TAKE FURTHER NOTICE, that taxes may be paid on or before February 1, 2021, without charge or interest.

On all taxes received after that date, one percent will be added for the first month and an additional one percent will be added each month or portion thereof until paid or until the return of unpaid taxes to the Columbia County Treasurer pursuant to law.

TAKE FURTHER NOTICE, that pursuant to the provisions of law, the tax roll of the Town of Austerlitz will be returned to the Columbia County Treasurer on the first day of April, 2021.

Dated: 2021

January

1,

Susan A. Haag Town lector

Clerk/Tax

Col-

PUBLIC NOTICE

Region 01: New York State Department of Transportation

NOTICE OF FORMATION OF A

50 Wolf Rd, Albany, NY, 12232

LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY (LLC)

D264434, PIN 181112, FA Proj , Albany, Greene, Rensselaer, Schenectady Cos., Pavement Corrective Maintenance at Various Locations., Bid Deposit: 5% of Bid (~ $375,000.00), Goals: DBE: 6.00% Region 08: New York State Department of Transportation 4 Burnett Blvd., Poughkeepsie, NY, 12603 D264412, PIN 881363, FA Proj Z240-8813633, Columbia, Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Ulster, Westchester Cos., Bridge Washing/Deck Sealing NOTICE of formation of limited liability company (LLC).

Name: O’Connell Realty, LLC. Articles of Organization filed with Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 12/16/2020. NY office location: Columbia County. SSNY has been designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. The address to which the SSNY shall mail a copy of any process against the LLC served upon him/her is 269 Lincoln Blvd, Hudson, NY 12534.

Notice of Formation of RAPPFORD FOODS, LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 01/05/21. Office location: Greene County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC, 174 Hicks St., Brooklyn, NY 11201. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

The name of the LLC is TheBrink Consulting, LLC. Articles of Organization filed with Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on October 23, 2020. New York office location: 21 Woodhill Road, Village of Chatham, County of Columbia and the State of New York.

SSNY has been designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. The post office address to which the SSNY shall mail a copy of any process against the LLC served upon him/her is: P.O. Box 11, Chatham, New York 12037.

Purpose/Character of business: Any lawful business purpose permitted under the New York Limited Liability Company Law. This notification is made pursuant to Section 206 of the Limited Liability Company Law. Section of Law - 206 Gab-Con LLC. Filed 1/25/19. Office: Greene Co. SSNY desig. as agent for process & shall mail to: David A Nuite, 495 County Rt 403, Greenville, NY 12083.

Purpose: General.

PUBLIC NOTICE LIVINGSTON DISTRICT

FIRE

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, that the regular monthly meetings of the Board of Fire Commissioners of the Livingston Fire District of the Town of Livingston, County of Columbia, New York, will be held on the third Wednesday of each month at 7:00 PM, at the District Office, except for the month of October, which will be held the third Tuesday, at 7:00 PM. The Year End Meeting will be held Dec. 27, 2021 at 7:00 p.m. The public Hearing will be held Oct. 19, 2021 at 6:30 p.m. The district office is located at 2855 Route 9, Livingston, New York. Bank of Greene County has been selected as the official bank of the Livingston Fire District.

William Young has been selected as the official lawyer for the Livingston Fire District.

Star The Register Newspaper has been selected as the official newspaper for the Livingston Fire District.

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CMYK

Wednesday, January 13, 2021 B5

COLUMBIA-GREENE MEDIA

Francisco From B1

much, and Lindor’s old team didn’t -- or at least, didn’t use them. He said of the failed extension talks with Cleveland: “They didn’t come up with the number. I don’t know.

The resources, maybe they didn’t have them?”

He added: “We gave it our best effort from both sides, they gave me their best. I gave them my absolute best.

And we were honest with each other and nothing happened.”

Lindor was gracious. Back in October, Lindor insisted that Cleveland had the ability

Belichick From B1

supremacists, cop killers, avowed would-be assassins, the neckbearded scum who chased a Capitol Police officer up those Capitol stairs.

The opposite of patriots traitors.

Belichick’s attendance at the White House ceremony in this climate and context could never have been banal.

There was no way to somehow separate himself from the article of impeachment against Trump for “incitement of insurrection,” or from the oath-profaning bizarros who beat officers with their pikes and flagsticks, injuring more than 58 of them.

To have accepted a medal from Trump under these circumstances would have been to normalize if not tacitly affirm them, to suggest that what happened wasn’t so bad that it prevents a trip to Washington to pick up a ribbon.

Belichick, son of a veteran and Naval Academy instructor, is a famous nonconformist, but he is also an institutionalist. That’s indisputable. It is why he

Alabama From B1

that, 44 yards to Smith from Jones up the right sideline.

And he caught a 42-yard touchdown on which he lined up left of Jones, then wound up lost to the Buckeyes on the deep right hash mark, blazing behind linebacker Tuf Borland to take a flawless throw from Jones.

That gave Alabama a 35-17 halftime lead.

If the college football viewer in 2020-21 had to cope with sudden cancellations and postponements here and there and over there and over

Football From B1

up - 12 catches for 215 yards and three touchdowns in the first half - didn’t become more preposterous because he suffered a hand injury in the third quarter.

“Heaven knows what he’d have done if he’d have played the whole game,” said Nick Saban, the coach who won his seventh national title.

So add it up. Even as the Tide downshifted in the fourth quarter - by which time Smith wore a heavy bandage on his dislocated finger and a T-shirt on his back, the game in the bag they rang up 621 yards. They have Jones at quarterback, and he was a Heisman finalist who looked like one in throwing for 464 yards and five touchdowns. They have Najee Harris at running back, and he was a Heisman finalist who looked like one in grinding for 79 yards on the ground and catching seven passes for 79 yards, scoring three times overall.

to extend him. “It’s a billiondollar team,” said Lindor, clearly pained over another early playoff exit and the declining investment in the big league team. He repeated the words “of course” four times before moving on. When asked about the revenue dips resulting from the coronavirus pandemic, Lindor reminded everyone about the massive TV deal MLB had signed.

But now, Lindor speaks confidently about a contract extension, which he mentioned never being opposed to back in Cleveland. “Hopefully my agent, my team and the Mets will be able to come to an agreement,” Lindor replied via translator Alan Suriel to a Spanish-language

question. “If the number is right and everything is what we think is appropriate, hopefully we can get a longterm deal done.”

The newest Met is already envisioning his new life in New York. “There’s unlimited amount of resources over there,” -- there’s that word again -- “Everything’s at the tip of your fingers.”

Lindor shared everything from short term plans, like how he’ll “probably eat some pizza” as soon as he touches down in Queens, to the long term goal of raising his baby daughter in the big city.

Mets fans shouldn’t have Jason Miller/Getty Images to worry about jinxing it, and Shortstop Francisco Lindor of the Cleveland Indians throws out DJ LeMahieu of the New York should probably plan ac- Yankees during the first inning of Game Two of the American League Wild Card Series at Progressive Field on Sept. 300 in Cleveland, Ohio. cordingly.

apparently concluded that, like it or not, fairly or not, intentionally or not, he would be perceived by his fellow citizens and more importantly his players as giving a patina of harmlessness to insurrectionist thugs who did such violence in the Capitol halls, flailing with their sticks as they demanded executions and inquisitions. He is no ordinary sports figure, not some long-retired golfer or college coach. He is the active coach of a revered NFL team named the “Patriots.”

And the winningest man in a game the president has relentlessly used for political cover and convenient distraction.

“Above all I am an American citizen with great reverence for our nation’s values, freedom and democracy,” Belichick wrote in a statement Monday night announcing he would decline to accept the medal.

There is still a lot to learn about the surge of violence that overwhelmed the Capitol on Wednesday, and Trump’s culpability could be argued endlessly. But what we do know is this: The mob acted in the name of Trump and with his explicit encouragement. Among them were people who erected a gallows

and noose on the Mall. A packer of molotov cocktails.

Men who talked of hanging Vice President Mike Pence and shooting Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, one of whom allegedly threatened to put a bullet into the head of that “c---.” An anti-Semite in a “Camp Auschwitz” shirt.

All of them whipped up by two days of Trump rallies, during which one woman actually said into a microphone, “Hitler was right on one thing. . .”

Belichick usually holds his own thoughts so closely that it’s impossible to know his convictions. An exception came during the 2016 election, when he was enough of a Trump supporter that he wrote him an admiring letter and wasn’t embarrassed to have it publicized. On Monday, he acknowledged he was “flattered” by the offer of the medal when Trump first extended it last week.

But Belichick has also been demonstrably supportive of his players during the NFL’s spring and summer of protests over racial injustice, and he made a point to say in his Monday night statement, “One of the most rewarding things in my professional career took place in 2020 when, through the great leadership

within our team, conversations about social justice, equality and human rights moved to the forefront and become actions.”

Belichick has never gone in for hollow gestures, or specious patriotism, either.

Asked once why he didn’t wear the NFL’s “Salute to Service” mock camo and patchwork with which the league has fundraised for and aligned itself with military causes, he replied, “I don’t think what sweatshirt I wear is that important,” and added that he doesn’t care about “whatever the theme of the week is.”

Instead, he has spent part of an offseason narrating a World War II documentary about D-Day, made regular visits to Walter Reed and talked meaningfully about Veterans Day as a day that makes all other American holidays even possible. He was reared on the Naval Academy campus, and to this day he supports veterans’ causes through his favorite restaurant, Mission BBQ, where the national anthem is sung every noonday, and which ships ribs to troops overseas by the ton.

Among other things, Belichick is said to be a serious student of military

history. He knows, then, that those howlers of superstition and spite who beat their way into the Capitol were not patriots or revolutionaries, wronged and ill-used by authority. They’re an ageold American type, all right, just not that one. You’ve met the type over and over again in the darkest American periods: They’re the Know Nothings who persecuted Catholic immigrants, the fire-eaters who called slavery a positive good for society, the George Wallacers who venomously railed that the only four-letter words hippies didn’t use were work and soap, the redbaiters who chased their fellow citizens for invisible moral crimes.

Belichick clearly also knows that history sometimes presents inflection points for ordinarily apolitical people, who can be defined as much by what they won’t condemn as what they do.

Trump has habitually used athletes to cloak himself in their aura and claim a piece of their popularity and sway. He put Belichick in a profoundly unfair position and undoubtedly meant to use him as much as honor him. It’s unfortunate because Belichick deserves high honor from a president.

But Belichick clearly saw he could not claim this one without ruining himself, defacing his place in the game’s history and destroying his standing with players he respects and even loves - yes, loves.

As inscrutable and calculating as Belichick can be, anyone who observes him at all closely can’t fail to miss his affection for his longtime team leaders, men such as Devin McCourty and Matthew Slater who have spearheaded the Patriots’ social justice initiatives. An affection that caused Belichick to do what he so seldom does: explain himself.

“Continuing those efforts while remaining true to the people, team and country I love outweigh the benefits of any individual award,” Belichick said.

This is not a time for honors. It’s a time for duty. And when accepting a ribbon round the neck signals a casual tolerance, if not outright endorsement, of those violent blast-furnace fanatics, the only duty is to refuse.

Belichick did his duty. It’s his finest moment as a leader.

there, too, and had to cope with sudden lineup changes because of positive coronavirus tests and tracing, at least the sight of some of the most artful passing and catching yet played in college made itself available. It made itself so gleaming Monday night that by halftime, Smith already had surpassed the record for receptions in a championship game in the sevenyear College Football Playoff concept, ahead of Hunter Renfrow’s 10 for Clemson in 2017, a mighty effort that did require four quarters.

So the game ratified Smith’s Heisman Trophy, and it upheld the Alabama offense as a starship that hovered over all its games, and it

furthered a season in which Alabama fans felt barely a palpitation. During 13 wins, the Crimson Tide trailed in just two games - against Mississippi in the first half (before winning, 63-48), and against Georgia in the first half (and at halftime - before winning, 41-24). Other than that, it stayed ahead, or tied.

The people who followed and cared will live just as long as if they had not.

Beyond that, the events of Monday night also exemplified a misshapen season in which depth charts kept getting jostled moments before kickoffs. That happened to Ohio State (7-1), which had to type out a 13-strong list of unavailable players,

including two starters along the defensive line, nose tackle Tommy Togiai and end Tyreke Smith. Not only had those players helped cook up the pressure that inconvenienced quarterback Trevor Lawrence in Ohio State’s 49-28 win over Clemson in the Sugar Bowl of Jan. 1 but full strength remains a good policy when coping with an award-winning Alabama offensive line and the SmithHarris-Jones (and others) beast it protects. On the plus side, defensive end Zach Harrison did return, having missed the New Orleans frolics in the Clemson backfield.

And on the other side of that, it seemed hard to imagine anyone pressuring Jones

much anyway, given the way he let go of the football with such accurate haste. Often he threw pop passes along the line, and often those went to Smith, including the lid-lifter on the second play. That one went quickly out to the left, where Smith caught it and made a breathtaking passage around three Ohio State defenders in the last little prism of space available on the left side of the field, stopping 22 yards later.

Ohio State’s offense did OK but could not keep up. It got help early in the second quarter on a fantastic defensive play by blitzing Buckeye Baron Browning, who hugged Jones briefly, popped out the ball, and hopped onto

it himself at the Alabama 19 to set up a touchdown. Running back Trey Sermon, with 524 rushing yards in his previous two games, exited after one carry for 2 yards with an injury, but previous starter Master Teague returned and performed credibly.

Quarterback Justin Fields, so smashing with six touchdown passes in the Sugar Bowl, passed for 194 yards and rushed for 67 while operating with a heartless margin of error. Any stall of any possession seemed lethal given the opposition ready to take the football and dazzle.

“The offense was dynamic,” Saban said. “And that’s what made the difference.”

Put aside the pandemic.

That all makes for the best offense college football has seen since . . . since . . . well, since LSU last year.

Yes, some of this is a generational development, the imprint of an era. College offenses now spread defenses as if they’re the last spoonful of peanut butter at the bottom of the jar, yet somehow has to be enough to cover an entire slice. Saban is a defensive coach by trade, but even he understood that the path to his sixth title in Tuscaloosa wasn’t by putting eight men in the box on defense. It’s taking the nation’s most talented offensive players - and then creating mismatches with defenses.

“I think ball has changed,” Saban said. “It’s a little more wide-open, a little more spread. This team has adapted, and we’ve changed with it.”

Last year, that change was represented by LSU’s Joe Burrow at quarterback, Clyde Edwards-Helaire as a doeverything back and Justin

Jefferson as a 111-catch receiver. In winning the national title, the Tigers ran up 568.9 yards and 48.4 points per game. Those are stunning, record-setting numbers. They seemed an offense for a generation.

The answer, from 2020 Alabama: 541.6 yards and 48.5 points per game, the latter an SEC record. It’s worth pointing out, too, that LSU had on its schedule Northwestern State and Utah State, nonconference pushovers that are the kind of staple appetizers - and stat-padders that make up a typical college football schedule.

Yet 2020 Alabama had no such cupcake, because in the midst of the pandemic, the SEC decided to play only the SEC. Therefore, the entirety of Alabama’s nonconference schedule: Notre Dame and Ohio State, both in the CFP. Neither could stay within two scores - which merely puts them in a club with 12 of the Tide’s 13 opponents.

The Tide’s average margin of victory against that slate: 29 points.

“I think we’re the best team to ever play,” Jones

said. “There’s no other team that will ever play an SEC schedule like that again.”

Need more evidence of total offensive domination?

Take this last quantification: Alabama played 52 quarters this season. It scored in 50 of them.

“We had a mission,” Smith said. “Everybody wanted to end things the right way.

We just all came to work every day and put in the work, and we go the result that we wanted.”

So among the teams that played 12 games and the teams that played eight, there was no comparison, in 2020, to Alabama. Turn, then, to history. Maybe the 2001 Miami Hurricanes. Yes, they won the national title. But get a load of this roster.

The running backs: Clinton Portis, Willis McGahee, Frank Gore and Najeh Davenport. The top wide receiver: Andre Johnson. The tight end: Jeremy Shockey.

Bryant McKinnie protected the quarterback. The defense was led by Ed Reed at safety and Jonathan Vilma at linebacker. That’s not a college team. That’s either a Pro

Bowl roster or Mel Kiper’s Big Board.

They haven’t taken an NFL snap, but couldn’t this Alabama team nearly match that group? Saban has coached two Crimson Tide running backs who won the Heisman - Mark Ingram and Derrick Henry. It’s possible Harris is better than either was in Tuscaloosa.

Since Julio Jones was selected sixth overall in the 2011 NFL draft, Alabama has had five wide receivers who were first-round picks - including Henry Ruggs II and Jerry Jeudy just last year.

As a college player, Smith tops them all - more catches made, more yards gained, more jaws to the floor. And had Jaylen Waddle not suffered an ankle injury in late October, defenses couldn’t have focused on Smith - and whiffed anyway - but would have had to further spread their resources, because Waddle could still go in the first round.

Throw in Alex Leatherwood as a first-round tackle, Christian Barmore as a defensive lineman who manhandled the Buckeyes, and

Patrick Surtain II as a cornerback who scares people away from throwing at him, and it’s not hard to envision a time in the future when you look at that list and say, “Wait, they were all on the same college team?”

For Saban, that’s really what this was about: the team. In November, Saban tested positive for the coronavirus and missed the Tide’s rivalry game against Auburn.

Alabama had a three-week gap between games because the virus disrupted programs throughout the SEC. Yet in January, when the most unusual of seasons still left the most Alabama of goals within sight, his players made history.

“I think there’s quite a bit to write about when it comes to the legacy of a team,” he said.

Keep writing about, keep reading about, keep appreciating this Alabama offense.

It might be a generation - or a year - until we see another like it.

CMYK

COLUMBIA-GREENE MEDIA

B6 Wednesday, January 13, 2021

Kim Ng broke down a barrier - and may help open a door for a female GM in the NFL Mark Maske The Washington Post

When Dawn Aponte came to the NFL in 1991, it was by “total happenstance,” as she recalls. A work colleague was the wife of the New York Jets’ chief financial officer. The team’s accounts payable person was going on paternity leave. The Jets needed a temporary replacement and didn’t have interns at the time.

“I was actually just brought in for the summer,” Aponte said. “I thought I would be there for one summer. They asked me back the next summer. And then when I was in college, they created a position. I was in accounting at the time. So it wasn’t a football-focused role.”

Three decades later, Aponte is a seasoned veteran of NFL front offices. She had stints with the Jets, Cleveland Browns and Miami Dolphins and is now a powerful executive in the league office, as the NFL’s chief football administrative officer. She can look around the league and see that the ranks of women in teams’ front offices has grown, from a dearth when she got her start to considerably more now.

The bar has been raised in professional sports, and the issue is whether the NFL can keep pace in providing proper advancement opportunities to those women in front office roles. The breakthrough came in Major League Baseball in mid-November when the Miami Marlins hired Kim Ng as their general manager.

While the NFL is not as far along in the process toward having a team hire a woman as its GM, some in and around the sport say the foundation is being constructed.

“Her résumé speaks for itself,” Aponte said of Ng in a recent phone interview. “Kim is someone who really exhibits all of the qualities and characteristics of someone who has committed her career to working her way up and really earning the trust and respect with her peers throughout the industry. The fact that she was named general manager was really no surprise to me, and that’s a great story for someone who kind of came up and did it the way she did. I really respect that. In terms of in the NFL, that’s absolutely a possibility at some point - some point in the hopefully near future.”

Amy Trask, the former chief executive officer of the Oakland Raiders who is now an NFL analyst for CBS, said teams have made “a start” toward having a woman hired as a general manager, but it remains unclear whether that will happen in the foreseeable future.

“I suppose that depends in part on how one defines ‘foreseeable,’ “ Trask wrote in an email. “As a general rule (and yes, we have seen exceptions), one doesn’t become a senior

Michigan, Clemson, Louisville ascend in Top 25 poll Field Level Media

Michigan, Clemson and Louisville are moving up the ladder in the Associated Press Top 25 men’s college basketball poll released Monday.

The Wolverines (10-0) ascended three spots to No. 7, the Tigers (9-1) climbed seven spots to No. 12 and the Cardinals (8-1) returned to the poll at No. 16 after defeating Virginia Tech.

No. 1 Gonzaga (12-0) received 63 of 64 first-place votes from a national media panel in the poll and No. 2 Baylor (11-0) had the other one. No. 3 Villanova (8-1), No. 4 Texas (10-1), No. 5 Iowa (11-2) and No. 6 Kansas (10-2) remained in their respective slots for the second straight week.

No. 8 Creighton (10-2), No. 9 Wisconsin (10-2) and No. 10 Tennessee (9-1) each slipped one spot in the new poll while Houston (10-1) stayed at No. 11.

West Virginia (9-4) moved up one spot to No. 13, while Illinois (9-4) dipped two spots to No. 14. Texas Tech (10-3) advanced three spots to No. 15 and Virginia (7-2) and Duke (5-2) moved up to Nos. 18 and 19, respectively.

Virginia Tech (9-2), Ohio State (9-3), Oregon (9-2), Minnesota (10-4), Saint Louis (7-1) and UConn (6-1) rounded out the poll. For the Huskies, it marked the first time that they’ve appeared in the poll since reaching No. 18 in 2016-17.

Rutgers, Michigan State and Florida State dropped from the poll.

Wire photo

In this photo provided by the Miami Marlins, new Miami Marlins general manager Kim Ng poses for a photo at Marlins Park stadium before being introduced during a virtual news conference on Nov. 16, 2020 in Miami.

executive without working one’s way into that role (whether with one employer or multiple employers). In that regard, it is exciting to see that several teams have created ‘pipelines’ for women to learn and perhaps progress within their organizations. I don’t know and I can’t forecast how long it may take for a woman or women to progress to a general manager role, but that the pipeline now exists at several teams is a start.”

The firing and hiring cycle for NFL coaches and GMs is underway. Seven NFL teams could hire new general managers this offseason, if the Washington Football Team chooses to add a GM to its front office mix. The Houston Texans became the first of those teams to make a GM choice by hiring New England Patriots executive Nick Caserio last week.

No women are being mentioned prominently as top candidates for any of the available GM jobs this offseason. But those within the sport say there are women in the GM pipeline. That group includes Jacqueline Davidson, the director of football research for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers; Kelly Kleine, a college scout and manager of player personnel for the Minnesota Vikings; Melanie Marohl, the Green Bay Packers’ director of football administration and player finance; and Catherine Raiche, the football operations and player personnel

coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles who formerly was an assistant GM for the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League.

“We certainly have a handful of female candidates that are in poised position to become a general manager,” said Samantha Rapoport, the NFL’s senior director of diversity, equity and inclusion.

Rapoport and other league officials created the Women’s Careers in Football Forum, which was launched several years ago and is designed to inspire and connect qualified women to football operations jobs in the NFL, CFL and college football.

“The idea behind that program was to build a pipeline with as many qualified, high-potential female candidates as possible in football operations positions, to ensure that the pipeline has a diverse set of folks that could eventually ascend to that GM position,” Rapoport said in a phone interview. “We’ve seen a lot of good results emerge out of that program. Several candidates that are on the GM track and want to become a general manager one day have graduated from that program.”

Davidson entered the NFL as a legal intern with the league office’s NFL management council in 2004. She joined the Jets in 2007 and spent 11 seasons there working in football administration.

“My personal experience has been more welcoming than not,” Davidson said. “Starting off at the Jets definitely helped because Dawn Aponte had already been there. So they kind of already knew what a woman in that role looked like. I don’t think that I probably experienced some things that other people did. But for the most part, it was welcoming.”

About 10 years ago, Rex Ryan was the Jets’ coach and said to Davidson that she could be a general manager someday.

“We had just gone through something internally that we were dealing with,” Davidson said. “And he had mentioned it to a friend of mine, who said it to me. And then Rex said it to me himself. I think, at the time, I had thought about it. But had I seriously thought about it?

I don’t know. I can’t say that. He said it, and it kind of affirmed for me that other people were thinking it, too.”

Davidson hopes to prove Ryan, at some point, to have been prophetic.

“I think that anyone, male or female, that’s in this type of position, or these positions, aspires to be a general manager,” she said. “I’m no different in that respect.”

The NFL bolstered its diversity measures in recent months, while facing intense scrutiny and significant criticism, after only one minority candidate was hired leaguewide as a head coach last offseason. That was Ron Rivera by Washington. The league currently has only three minority head coaches - Rivera, Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin and Miami’s Brian Flores - after Anthony Lynn was fired by the Los Angeles Chargers. There are two minority general managers, the Dolphins’ Chris Grier and Cleveland’s Andrew Berry.

League leaders say they’re hopeful of better results during the hiring cycle this offseason.

And providing opportunities for women, they say, is an integral part of their overall diversity effort.

“We are making progress,” Aponte said. “I’ve seen it made in recent years. And I’m very hopeful that we’re going to continue to see that as we move forward. I definitely see it in the league office itself. I just hope that there’s greater progress, particularly on the football side.”

Aponte said she does not rule out returning to a team setting from the league office and seeking a GM job herself. But whether it’s her or someone else, she’s optimistic that the NFL will follow MLB’s lead.

“It’s a matter of just someone being in a position to take advantage of an opportunity that may present itself,” Aponte said. “I’m not sure when that will be or who that will be.”

A beloved coach, mentor and ambassador, Dee Rowe was UConn’s guiding light Mike Anthony Hartford Courant

Dee Rowe could captivate anyone with his words and recollections alone but the way he really sucked people into conversation was to wrap his hand around their forearm as he spoke and listened.

It was so gentle, so powerful.

It was genuine, too, the way he could remind someone of their worth just by being curious and engaging. Rowe’s personality traits — his care for and interest in others — are among the greatest gifts ever bestowed upon the UConn athletics community, right there with the Hall of Fame coaches he helped hire and the awesome buildings he helped construct.

Thousands of hearts were fractured Sunday as word spread that UConn’s brightest light had been extinguished. Rowe, the former men’s basketball coach and the university’s top ambassador until his final breath, died at home in Storrs. He was 91, worn down by numerous illnesses, including Alzheimer’s disease and eventually COVID-19.

At UConn. In an athletic department’s vision. Through a fascination, bordering on disbelief, with the transformation of a campus full of fields into a campus full of facilities where championship teams actually play.

Rowe was such a presence. He was everywhere, engaging with passersby and random students the same way he would with Bob Cousy, a dear friend. He was a fan at so many games, a sounding board to so many coaches, so regal in the same settings he’d spend hours telling one self-deprecating story after another. He was so versatile and involved, even as he slowed down in recent years.

The pandemic changed everything that hadn’t changed already, though. keeping Row off campus, out of his routines, away from the people he loved to talk to and

listen to. So few forearms to grab in recent months, and that’s the sad twist to his final days. Rowe will be honored at UConn and elsewhere in many ways — not properly, of course, until it is possible for thousands to gather. And they will, eventually.

“He had a love affair with the game of basketball, with his family and with a lot of friends,” Don said. “I think the pandemic3/8 really adversely affected him, or accelerated the dementia or Alzheimer’s because he was no longer able to go interact with people.

He was ready to go. He really was.

We knew it was coming. He’s at peace. That’s the way I feel.”

“He was a great person, a great mentor,” said former baseball coach Andy Baylock, with whom Rowe spent much of his leisure time in recent years, sipping coffee, pulling apart sweet pastries.

“This will be hard. I’ll miss him.”

“He was ours,” said Tim Tolokan, who has worked in the athletics department since 1980. “Best friend is an understatement. I traveled a lot of miles with him.”

Many people did, literally and figuratively.

Scores of players were on those buses throughout the Northeast in the Yankee Conference days with Rowe as coach in 1969-76. Many colleagues saw the country with Rowe during fundraising efforts or trips for competitions. Most of the travel for anyone in Rowe’s orbit was through the power of imagination and conversation, though.

So while voices were gathered for a collection of remembrances Sunday, it was as if the people Rowe touched were picking up where he left off, telling stories that should be turned into a book.

Rowe, during a talk on the shores of Mirror Lake in May of 1985, convinced Jim Calhoun that leaving Northeastern for UConn was a challenge to embrace. A year earlier, Rowe spoke to Geno

Auriemma, then an assistant at Virginia, about taking over the women’s program.

In the late-1980s, he stood with Harry Gampel on the balcony of Gampel’s high-rise condominium overlooking South Beach, Miami, finalizing fundraising for a basketball arena. Rowe raised $7.5 million alone for project, an absurd figure particularly at the time.

Rowe had all sorts of jobs before and after attending Middlebury College in Vermont, and before settling into a career as coach and athletic director at Worcester Academy in 1955. He drove a Coca-Cola truck and feared getting fired on day one because the brakes failed and he nearly crashed. He didn’t make it unscathed through his first day working the scoreboard at Holy Cross football games.

“He put up first-and-a hundredand-10,” Don Rowe said. “He said, ‘The next thing I know, I was in the stands, yelling ‘Cigahs, bahs and butts!’”

“Madison Square Garden in 1988, we’re playing Ohio State in the NIT,” Tolokan said. “Well to Dee Rowe, Ohio State — they won national championships in the ‘60s with Jerry Lucas. And here it’s ‘88, Jim Calhoun3/8 is in his second year and we beat Ohio State in the championship. There’s an old piano down Dee and I are leaning against, waiting for Jim to finish talking to the team, and he looks at me -- he always called me ‘Timely’ — and he said, ‘Timely, James just beat Ohio State with these guys.’

It wasn’t a knock on Spider Ursery or Jeff King or Phil Gamble; it was Dee loving UConn and knowing from a basketball sense what Ohio State was and that UConn had never won anything.”

Rowe was so vibrant, charasmatic, even through battles with various forms of cancer numerous times over the years. Dementia and Alzheimer’s slowed him, but

even last year he had that signature smirk and twinkle while attending basketball games at Gampel and the XL Center.

“He’s fortunate,” Don said. “His mother had Alzheimer’s3/8, his brother had it. But I honestly think because he took care of himself and was so engaged and working, he was fortunate that it didn’t really show up until, like, now. He would always say to me, ‘I’ve still got a job. Can you believe that?’ It kept him engaged.”

Short-term memory loss, ironically, was always a reminder for Rowe to make fun of himself. He was hilarious. He never lost his passion for a university and its people. Rowe was UConn, its guiding light, anyway. Everybody in their lifetime should find a fraction of the joy Rowe found with every stroll across campus.

Rowe was devastated by the death of his wife, Ginny, in July of 2018. The seven children helped a lot. An assisted living facility was considered, Don said, but Dee always wanted to be home, “Because that’s where Mom is.” There are pictures all over the house of Ginny. The family hired four caregivers to assist Rowe around the clock. He lived only a few minutes from campus.

“He had, over the next two years, joy,” Don said. “He went to games, they had events for him, but he still was sad. He really was. He missed her.”

Rowe attended one men’s basketball game and one women’s game last month, his final events.

Former players still visited, sitting socially distanced in the driveway.

They called, too, and Rowe would usually say, ‘I love you,’ before hanging up. So many people Rowe loved remained active participants in his life, the best they could.

But nothing has been the same since March 2020.

And nothing at UConn will be the same from here.

CMYK

COLUMBIA-GREENE MEDIA

Busy mom fights to prevent frustrations from exploding Dear Abby, I’m a 24-year-old woman who has been married for four years. My husband, “Jerry,” and I have two young boys. Jerry is military. I stay at home with the kids and work part time online DEAR ABBY on an associate degree. We struggle financially, but our basic needs are met and, overall, I’m happy with my life.

My problem is I’m finding myself struggling to control a very strong temper. The kids or my husband may be getting on my nerves, or I’m late turning in an assignment, or I’m unable to get housework done — these frustrations build up inside and make me want to throw a fit, scream or throw things, essentially NOT be the cool, responsible adult I typically am.

I know this is incredibly immature, and I realize I’m well off in the grand scheme of things, but this anger still brews. I have never had a problem controlling my temper before. Can you help?

Fired Up In Florida

JEANNE PHILLIPS

The quarantines and lockdowns may be part of the cause of your near meltdowns. Many people are stressed and spread thin, and the isolation isn’t helping.

Because you are constantly with your children, it’s important that you manage your emotions before venting them on your little ones, which can be destructive. When an adult yells or acts out in front of a small child, the child will often shut down out of fear that violence may follow. This is why it’s so important for you to find appropriate ways to express your emotions. My booklet “The Anger in All of Us and How To Deal With It” offers suggestions for directing angry feelings in a healthy way. It can be ordered by sending your name and address, plus a check or money order for $8 (U.S. funds) to Dear Abby Anger Booklet, P.O. Box 447, Mount Morris, IL 61054-0447.

Shipping and handling are included in the price.

Sometimes when people are frustrated, they lose

their temper with those presently around them.

In situations like this, it’s important to evaluate the source of what might really be irritating you rather than misdirect your anger at a blameless target. The ability to control your emotions is crucial so your children won’t grow up thinking that exploding is normal. There are healthy ways of dealing with frustration.

Among them: leaving the room, going for a walk or, better yet, a short run, or saying to yourself, “Please, Lord, don’t let me lose my temper!” before opening your mouth.

Dear Abby, I went out of town on a business trip with two co-workers (both females), and the trip was a success. We got along great and accomplished all of the goals we set for ourselves.

During the few outings we had off company time, however, there were moments when we all wanted to link up and do everything together but our stomachs disagreed. If I wanted to go to breakfast at 8 a.m., someone would want to go at 11 a.m., or another co-worker wouldn’t want to go at all. Another example is, we would plan dinners (after touring the city all day) at a certain time, but it was so late my stomach would growl loudly.

I understand that flexibility is key, but my metabolism works overtime compared to theirs. How do I go about venturing off on my own for food without coming across as rude or looking like I’m not a team player?

Hungry Man In New York

WITH BOB JONES ©2020 Tribune Content Agency, LLC

TRICKY PLAY Neither vulnerable, North deals NORTH ♠Q843 ♥ K864 ♦ AK ♣ 10 9 5 EAST ♠ J 10 7 ♥ Q7 ♦ 10 8 4 3 ♣KQ63 SOUTH ♠AK652 ♥ A93 ♦ 97 ♣J74 EAST Pass Pass

SOUTH 1♠ 4♠

Garfield

Dark Side of the Horse ing up far too much of your time. What comes next? A friend has an idea!

ARIES (March 21-April 19) — Your luck is likely to improve somewhat today, though someone else may be the beneficiary. Your gains will be made on another day.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20) — The road ahead is long, but you know how to navigate the twists and turns. Someone else can learn from you as you prepare for the journey.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20) — Troubles you’d put behind you some time ago are likely to resurface today, but not in the way you may have feared; you can avoid reliving them.

CANCER (June 21-July 22) — You’ll be able to pick up the pace today without risking any of the good work that lies ahead. You’re in the groove and ready for more.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22) — Physical or emotional ills needn’t hold you back today. You can move forward even while dealing with personal situations that are not ideal.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) — Things are likely to make more sense when you’ve had a chance to reflect on them — and that won’t be until after dark, most likely.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) — Someone comes to you with a special request, perhaps — and you’re in a position to grant it, provided you aren’t going to lose any sleep over it.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) — The difference between “seems” and “is” may be a mystery to you today, until someone unearths proof of something that is a sure thing.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) — You are moving closer to someone who has been only a peripheral part of your life in the past. Things take on a whole new meaning.

COPYRIGHT 2021 UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE, INC.

Goren bridge

The bidding:

Classic Peanuts

Zits

By Stella Wilder Born today, you are the kind of person who can get things done, surely — and often things that no one else is able to do. Much depends, however, upon how you begin: Make a strong start and you can make your dreams come true, but dilly-dally, delay and vacillate and you are sure to disappoint yourself and those around you who are depending on you.

You are quite adept at making plans and seeing them through — but sometimes you will want to let others take an idea and run with it.

You are a born administrator, and though you don’t enjoy the busywork that such a role requires, you do enjoy occupying the chair at the head of any table, making the decisions and guiding others to success.

Also born on this date are: Orlando Bloom, actor; Patrick Dempsey, actor; Trace Adkins, country singer; Julia Louis-Dreyfus, actress; Charles Nelson Reilly, actor; Robert Stack, actor; Penelope Ann Miller, actress; Sophie Tucker, vaudeville star.

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.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 14 CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) — You’ll have a little more energy today than you did yesterday perhaps, but you may not know until late in the day what to do with it.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) — You can thwart someone who wishes to derail you today — though long-term effects may not be seen right away. Someone lends you a hand.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20) — It may be time for you to step away from a job that has been tak-

NORTH 1♣ 2♠

Pearls Before Swine

Explain it to your co-workers as you have to me.

If your body is signaling that you must eat something NOW, you need to do it — if only enough to take the edge off your hunger. To do that isn’t rude. Taking care of yourself is important, and it doesn’t mean you aren’t a team player. Perhaps you should carry something with you to tide you over from meal to meal.

Horoscope

WEST ♠9 ♥ J 10 5 2 ♦ QJ652 ♣A82

Pickles

WEST Pass All pass

Opening lead: Queen of ♦ Normal aggressive bidding saw North-South arrive in a game contract with almost no chance of success. The duplicated diamond doubletons were the reason. Had South held one more

diamond and one fewer heart or one fewer club, the contract would have been an easy one.

South was resourceful, however, and he found a play that gave him a small chance.

South won the opening diamond lead with dummy’s king and drew trumps in three rounds ending in dummy. A 3-3 split in hearts would give him another trick but ducking a heart would almost surely see the defense shift to clubs. Instead of ducking a heart, declarer tried the effect of cashing the ace of diamonds and leading dummy’s 10 of clubs. West won this with his ace and imagined that he had a problem.

West couldn’t be sure what was going on in the club suit and felt it was important to shift to a heart.

West led the jack of hearts and South set a trap for him by smoothly ducking in both hands, playing the nine from his hand. West felt he was on to something and he continued with a low heart. South played low from dummy and captured East’s queen with his ace. A low heart to dummy’s eight was followed by the king of hearts to discard a club. Making four!

Never give up!

(Bob Jones welcomes readers’ responses sent in care of this newspaper or to Tribune Content Agency, LLC., 16650 Westgrove Dr., Suite 175, Addison, TX 75001.

E-mail: tcaeditors@tribpub.com)

Nancy

Daily Maze

Wednesday, January 13, 2021 B7

CMYK

COLUMBIA-GREENE MEDIA

B8 Wednesday, January 13, 2021 Close to Home

Free Range THAT SCRAMBLED WORD GAME

Level 1

2

3

Unscramble these Jumbles, one letter to each square, to form four ordinary words.

4

CRAGI TAFIH

SYWILE TWUITO 1/13/21

Solution to Tuesday’s 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

©2021 Tribune Content Agency, LLC All Rights Reserved.

Yesterday’s

sudoku.org.uk

Heart of the City

Dilbert

B.C.

For Better or For Worse

Wizard of Id

Crossword Puzzle

DOWN 1 West of Hollywood 2 Mature, as fruit 3 Disagreeable

Andy Capp

Bound & Gagged

1/13/21

Created by Jacqueline E. Mathews

4 Hairstyling goop 5 Alter to make fit 6 Get-up-and-go 7 Poe’s monogram 8 Haughty 9 Clothing 10 Picnic spoiler 11 As easy as falling off __ 12 Affleck & Stiller 14 __ on; has confidence in 19 Get through to 22 Put on an __; pretend 25 Faucet problem 27 Price to be paid 28 Word in many bowling alley names 29 Cuckoo 30 Resident of the Confederate States 31 In poor __; tacky 33 Women’s nicknames 34 Parking area 36 Door openers 38 Teriyaki marinade ingredient 39 Relax for a spell

Tuesday’s Puzzle Solved

Non Sequitur

©2021 Tribune Content Agency, LLC All Rights Reserved.

41 Items in an umpire’s pouch 42 Places for women’s wallets 44 Dried grape 45 Soft drink 47 Persnickety 48 Upper limbs 49 Shipbuilder’s wood

1/13/21

50 Hailed vehicle 53 “__ Las Vegas”; Elvis movie 54 __ like; appear to be 56 Horned animal 57 Shade tree 59 Big __; 18-wheeler

Now arrange the circled letters to form the surprise answer, as suggested by the above cartoon.

THE

© 2021 The Mepham Group. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency. All rights reserved.

ACROSS 1 Snug as a bug in __ 5 Jungle animals 9 Many a Middle Easterner 13 Small restaurant 15 Actor/singer __ Martin 16 Fable 17 Waldorf salad ingredient 18 Divide and distribute 20 Singer Tillis 21 Distance across the pool 23 Human __; people 24 Official command 26 Happy Hour place 27 Red wine 29 Most friendly 32 Fertile area in a desert 33 Five of the same suit 35 Acorn dropper 37 Button alternative 38 Laziness 39 Hoax 40 Morning hour 41 Rain accessories 42 Trivial; insignificant 43 Goes off course 45 Shoves 46 Jolson & Roker 47 Special talent 48 Leader of the Huns 51 Pkg. delivery service 52 Mobile vacation homes, for short 55 Comforts; gives confidence to 58 One of the Muppets 60 Long skirt 61 Coolidge & others 62 Straining utensil 63 Dermatologist’s focus 64 TV show award 65 Tiny weight

Get the free JUST JUMBLE app • Follow us on Twitter @PlayJumble

By David L. Hoyt and Jeff Knurek

Rubes

(Answers tomorrow) Jumbles: EXERT MOLDY NIBBLE INJURE Answer: The fishing boat owner wanted more customers, so he put up a billboard to — REEL ’EM IN