June 15, 2017

Mayweather coming back Aug. 26 Thursday

June 15, 2017 T: 582-7800 | F: 582-7044 www.arubatoday.com

Page 17

On Edge

A Capitol Hill Police officer walks past an automobile with the driver’s window damaged at the scene of a shooting in Alexandria, Va., Wednesday, June 14, 2017, where House Majority Whip Steve Scalise of La. was shot at a Congressional baseball practice.

(AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

At Press Time:

Rifle-Wielding Attacker Wounds GOP Leader, Killed by Police

By ERICA WERNER CHAD DAY Associated Press ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A rifle-wielding attacker opened fire on Republican lawmakers as they practiced for a charity baseball game Wednesday,

critically wounding House GOP Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana and hitting aides and Capitol police as congressmen and others dove for cover.

The assailant, who had nursed grievances against President Donald Trump

and the GOP, fought a running gun battle with police before he, too, was shot and later died.

Colleagues said Scalise had been fielding balls at second base at a local park in Alexandria, just across the Potomac River

from the nation’s capital, as the Republicans practiced for their annual game with Democrats.

He dragged himself away from the infield leaving a trail of blood before fellow lawmakers could rush to his assistance.

He was listed in critical condition, but his office said that before he underwent surgery for a wound in his hip he was in good spirits and spoke with his wife by telephone.

Continued on page 3

A2 UP

Thursday 15 June 2017

FRONT

Gunman who shot congressman had history of anti-GOP activity

By DON BABWIN JIM SALTER Associated Press BELLEVILLE, Ill. (AP) — The gunman who shot a top GOP congressman and several other people Wednesday at a baseball practice outside the nation’s capital had a long history of lashing out at Republicans and recently frightened a neighbor by firing a rifle into a field behind his Illinois home.

James T. Hodgkinson, 66, wounded House Rep. Steve Scalise before he was fatally shot by police who had been guarding the House majority whip.

In the hours after the attack in Alexandria, Virginia, a picture began to emerge of a shooter with a mostly minor arrest record who worked as a home inspector and despised the Republican Party.

On Facebook, Hodgkinson was a member of a group called “Terminate the Republican Party,” a fact that seemed to take on chilling new meaning in light of an account from South Carolina Rep. Jeff Duncan.

He said he was preparing to leave the baseball field when a man politely asked him whether it was a Democratic or Republican team before quietly walking off.

Until recently, Hodgkinson

In this April 17, 2012, photo, James Hodgkinson of Belleville protests outside of the United States Post Office in Downtown Belleville, Ill. A government official says the suspect in the Virginia shooting that injured Rep. Steve Scalise and several others has been identified Hodgkinson.

(Derik Holtmann/Belleville News-Democrat, via AP)

ran a home-inspection business out of his house in southern Illinois. His Facebook page shows that he was a fan of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who last year made an unsuccessful bid for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Sanders acknowledged Wednesday that Hodgkinson had apparently been among many volunteers on his 2016 campaign.

Authorities believe Hodgkinson had been in the Al-

exandria area since March, living out of a cargo van and not working, FBI agent Tim Slater said.

An online search of newspapers shows that he frequently wrote letters to his local newspaper, the Belleville News-Democrat, which published nearly two dozen of them between 2010 and 2012. Many included complaints about the same theme: income inequality.

Hodgkinson, who spent

most of his life in the community of 42,000 just across the Mississippi River from St. Louis, compared the economic conditions of the time to those that preceded the Great Depression and excoriated Congress for not increasing the number of tax brackets and adopting other tax-reform measures.

On May 14, 2010, he wrote: “I don’t envy the rich; I despise the way they have bought our politicians and

twisted our laws to their benefit.”

Less than a year later, on March 4, 2011, he wrote that Congress should rewrite tax codes to ease the tax burdens of the middle class.

“Let’s get back to the good ol’ days, when our representatives had a backbone and a conscience,” he wrote.

Later that year, in October 2011, he applauded the Occupy Wall Street protesters in New York and Boston, writing that the demonstrators “are tired of our do-nothing Congress doing nothing while our country is going down the tubes.”

Hodgkinson had arrests in his background for a series of minor offenses and at least one more serious matter.

In April 2006, Hodgkinson was charged with misdemeanor battery after he stormed into a neighbor’s house in an attempt to force home a teenage girl who, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, was under guardianship of Hodgkinson and his wife.

Witnesses told deputies that Hodgkinson burst into the home and told his daughter “to get your stuff.

It’s time to come home,” the report said. q

The sad duty now his, Trump calls for unity after shooting

By JONATHAN LEMIRE Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — It was a sadly familiar ritual: an American president addressing the nation at an unsettling time, decrying violence while urging citizens to set aside their differences and pray for the recovery of victims.

But this time, it was President Donald Trump who was called upon to speak words of comfort in such a troubled moment, one fraught with the overtones of gun politics and the heated rhetoric of a nation sharply divided along party lines. Trump’s measured response to Wednesday’s shooting at a congressional baseball practice stood in stark contrast to his inflammatory reactions to some

President Donald Trump speaks in the Diplomatic Room of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, June 14, 2017, about the shooting in Alexandria, Va. where House Majority Whip Steve Scalise of La., and others, where shot during a Congressional baseball practice.

(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

previous acts of violence.

He delivered a brief address from the White House Diplomatic Room in which he denounced the shoot-

ing of a top House Republican and others as a “very, very brutal assault.” He said that “many lives would have been lost without the

heroic action” of Capitol Police officers who took down the gunman.

“We may have our differences, but we do well in times like these to remember that everyone who serves in our nation’s capital is here because, above all, they love our country,” Trump said. “We can all agree that we are blessed to be Americans, that our children deserve to grow up in a nation of safety and peace and that we are strongest when we are unified and when we work together for the common good.” Republican Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana was shot in the early morning fusillade of gunfire, and several other people, including members of Scalise’s security detail, also

were wounded. The gunman was killed.

Trump, whose 71st birthday was Wednesday, was informed of the shooting minutes after it occurred.

The White House press office quickly put out a brief statement noting that Trump was “deeply saddened by the tragedy,” and the president followed up with a tweet: “Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana, a true friend and patriot, was badly injured but will fully recover. Wanting to present the president as a steadying hand and avoid any distractions after the shooting, the White House then quickly canceled a presidential event on apprenticeships at the Labor Department and scuttled any plans for a briefing.

U.S. NEWS A3

Thursday 15 June 2017

At Press Time:

Rifle-wielding attacker wounds GOP leader, killed by police Continued from Front

The shooter was identified as James T. Hodgkinson, a 66-year-old home inspector from Illinois who had several minor run-ins with the law in recent years and belonged to a Facebook group called “Terminate the Republican Party.” He had been living out of his van in the Alexandria area in recent months, the FBI said.

Capitol Police officers who were in Scalise’s security detail wounded the shooter. He later died of his injuries, Trump told the nation from the White House.

“Everyone on that field is a public servant,” Trump said, his tone somber, America’s acrimonious politics set aside for the moment. “Their sacrifice makes democracy possible.”

Lawmakers noted their good fortune in having armed protectors on hand — “Thank God,” they exclaimed over and over — and said otherwise the shooter would have been able to take a huge deadly toll. The events left the capital horrified and stunned, and prompted immediate reflection on the current hostility and

FBI Evidence Response Team members mark evidence at the scene of a multiple shooting in Alexandria, Va., Wednesday, June 14, 2017, involving House Majority Whip Steve Scalise of La., and others during a congressional baseball practice.

(AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

vitriol in American politics.

Lawmakers called for a new dialogue on lowering the partisan temperature, and Trump urged Americans to come together as he assumed the role of national unifier for one of the first times in his presidency.

Proceedings were canceled for the day in the House, and instead Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin and Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California

issued their own calls for unity. “An attack on one of us is an attack on all of us,” Ryan said, to prolonged applause.

Shortly after the shooting, Bernie Sanders, the former candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, said on the Senate floor that the shooter apparently was a volunteer for his campaign last year. Sanders said he denounced the violence “in the strongest

possible terms.”

Scalise, 51, the No. 3 House Republican leader, was first elected in 2008. The popular and gregarious lawmaker is known for his love of baseball and handed out commemorative bats when he secured the job of House whip several years ago.

Texas Rep. Roger Williams said that one of his aides, Zack Barth, was shot but was doing well and ex-

pected to fully recover.

Two Capitol Police officers sustained relatively minor injuries. A former congressional aide was hospitalized.

The shooting occurred at a popular park and baseball complex where Republican lawmakers and others were gathered for a morning practice about 7 a.m. They were in good spirits despite the heat and humidity as they prepared for the annual congressional baseball match that pits Republicans against Democrats.

The popular annual faceoff, which raises money for charity, is scheduled for Thursday evening at Nationals Park across the Potomac River in Washington, and will go forward as planned.

Hodgkinson has been in the area since March, living out of his van, said Washington FBI Special Agent In Charge Tim Slater.

Democratic former Alexandria Mayor Bill Euille said he had spoken often with the man on recent mornings at the nearby YMCA. Hodgkinson’s apparent Facebook page included strong criticism of Republicans and the Trump administration. q

Game on: Tragedy won’t stop annual baseball game

By ANDREW TAYLOR Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The game will go on.

The annual Congressional Baseball Game, which dates to 1909 and is a summertime tradition on Capitol Hill, will be played on Thursday despite Wednesday’s shooting at the GOP squad’s practice in Alexandria, Virginia.

It’s an annual tradition in which aging former Little Leaguers don their spikes and dust off their gloves in a game played for bragging rights and to benefit several charities. It’s also a somewhat rare example of bipartisanship in an increasingly polarized Washington.

House Speaker Paul Ryan,

R-Wis., assured lawmakers assembled at a members’ briefing that the game will be played as scheduled, prompting a standing ovation.

“It will be ‘Play Ball!’ tomorrow night at 7:05,” said Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, the longtime manager of the GOP squad.

Once a relatively cozy affair, played at a minor league ballpark in Maryland, the game has gone big time in recent years and has been played at Nationals Park, just a few blocks from the Capitol.

“We do it for really three reasons. We do it for fellowship amongst ourselves.

We do it for charity,” Barton said. “We raise a lot of

money for three charities.

And we do it because we like to play baseball and try to recapture a little bit of our youth. It’s a positive thing. Of all the things Congress does, this is one of the most benign, positive activities.” Members of Congress practice for months for the event, and typically don the jerseys of a team from back home. The Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call sponsors the game and awards a trophy once a side wins three of five games.

“It’s a good way raise money for charity and for members to get to know each other,” said Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-La., whose election in 2010 upended the competitive balance

of the annual event. Richmond played baseball in college and kicked off his congressional career with a one-hitter in 2011 and has been the game’s dominant player pretty much since then. Last year, however, Democrats lost the game 8-7, ending a seven-game winning streak that mostly coincided with Richmond joining the Democratic side.

Congressional leaders typically attend the event and former President Barack Obama — famous for shunning opportunities to rub shoulders with lawmakers — even went two years ago, watching from the Democratic dugout.

Obama’s appearance

came as he was struggling to win Democratic votes for an unpopular trade-related measure.

To lawmakers, the annual game is one of the better opportunities for lawmakers to get to know each other outside of their partisan roles. “The things that used to bring members together, whether it’s travel that’s frowned upon. If you belong to the gym, they think ‘well, that’s a perk you shouldn’t have,’” said Rep. Mike Doyle of Pennsylvania, the manager of the Democratic team. “All the chances to interact with each other outside our suits, and outside floor debate, are few and far between.”q

A4 U.S.

Thursday 15 June 2017

NEWS

Senate panel meets with special counsel in Russia probe

By JAKE PEARSON MARY CLARE JALONICK Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The special counsel appointed to investigate Russian influence in the 2016 presidential campaign has met with the leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee in an effort to ensure their investigations don’t conflict.

The leaders of the Senate intelligence committee say In a statement issued Wednesday that they “look forward to future engagements” with Robert Mueller.

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr, R-N.C., and Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the panel’s top Democrat, didn’t provide any other details regarding the meeting.

An aide familiar with the meeting said it was

Senate Intelligence Committee Vice Chairman Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., left, and Committee Chairman Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., listen on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, June 13, 2017, as Attorney General Jeff Sessions testified about his role in the firing of FBI Director James Comey and the investigation into contacts between Trump campaign associates and Russia.

(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

held to discuss the investigations, including ways that the parallel inquiries

don’t interfere with one another. The aide spoke on condition of anonym-

ity because the meeting was private.

The meeting comes a

day after lawmakers questioned Justice Department officials about the probe and Mueller’s independence, and after a friend of President Donald Trump said the White House was considering firing Mueller.

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who appointed Mueller last month, testified Tuesday he has seen no evidence of good cause to fire Mueller.

Also Wednesday, Senate Judiciary Chairman Charles Grassley said his panel will investigate the removal of former FBI Director James Comey and “any alleged improper partisan interference in law enforcement investigations.”

Grassley announced the investigation in a letter to California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the panel’s top Democrat. q

Trump labeling House health care bill ‘mean’ frustrates GOP

By ALAN FRAM Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s la-

beling of a House-passed health care bill as “mean” is aggravating some of the conservatives he pressed

to back it, even as Senate attempts to reshape the measure increasingly threaten to spill into July.

“In terms of strategery, I hope he’s just trying to motivate the Senate,” Rep. Dave Brat, R-Va., said

Wednesday, employing a mangled word used by former President George W. Bush. “Because he put all sorts of pressure on us to move the bill we passed.”

Congressional sources said Trump described the House bill as mean at a closed-door White House lunch Tuesday with 15 Republican senators. It was an extraordinary slap at a bill Speaker Paul Ryan, RWis., guided through the House and that Trump himself had championed and praised. At a Rose Garden ceremony minutes after the bill’s 217-213 House passage on May 4, Trump called it “a great plan.”

“To call a bill that he pushed ‘mean’ leaves us scratching our heads,” Brat said.

The president’s criticism also came as Senate Republican leaders’ attempts to write their own health care package have been slowed by disagreements between their party’s conservatives and moderates.

Trump said he wants the Senate version to be “more generous,” the sources said.q

U.S. NEWS A5

Thursday 15 June 2017

Panicked UPS workers flee California gunfire that killed 4

By PAUL ELIAS JOCELYN GECKER Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A UPS employee opened fire at one of the company’s package delivery facilities in San Francisco on Wednesday, killing three co-workers and then himself as officers closed in and workers ran frantically into the streets, police and company officials said.

Fleeing a barrage of gunfire, some workers sought refuge on the roof of the 4-story facility and others ran outside and pounded on the windows of a public bus, witnesses said.

“They were banging on the bus and they were screaming, “Go! Go! Go!’” said Jessica Franklin, 30, who was riding the bus to work when it made a regular stop in front of the UPS facility. “As they got on the bus, they were all ducking.”

Two other United Parcel Service employees were wounded in the shooting that prompted a mas-

sive police response in one of the city’s industrial neighborhoods, about 2 miles from downtown San Francisco, Assistant Police Chief Toney Chaplin told reporters.Officials, UPS employees and witnesses described other scenes of chaos as shots rang out during a morning meeting before drivers were sent on their delivery routes.

Neighbor Raymond Deng said he heard up to eight rapid gunshots.

“They were all in rapid succession,” said Deng, a 30-year-old tech worker who lives across the street from the warehouse. “It was like tat, tat, tat, tat, tat, tat, tat.”

Police arrived in minutes.

Officers found wounded victims and pulled them to safety and then confronted the gunman, who was armed with an “assault pistol,” Chaplin said.

“The suspect put the gun to his head and discharged the weapon,” Chaplin said, adding that police have

UPS workers gather outside a UPS package delivery warehouse where a shooting took place Wednesday, June 14, 2017, in San Francisco. A UPS spokesman says four people were injured in the shooting at the facility and that the shooter was an employee.

(AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

not determined a motive.

Mayor Ed Lee condemned the violence and praised authorities for a “very proactive response.”“It could have been worse,” he said, “lives were saved today.”

It was not immediately

clear how many employees were at the facility, but UPS said the warehouse employs 350 people.

The shooter and all the victims were employees, UPS said in a statement.

UPS driver Marvin Calderon

told KNTV that he recognized the gunman as a fellow employee, but he did not know him personally.

“I just started running out like crazy, like I’ve never run before,” Calderon told the TV station. q

Health chief, 4 others charged with manslaughter in Flint

By DAVID EGGERT Associated Press FLINT, Mich. (AP) — Five people, including the head of Michigan’s health department, were charged Wednesday with involuntary manslaughter in an investigation of Flint’s leadcontaminated water, all blamed in the death of an 85-year-old man who had Legionnaires’ disease.

Nick Lyon is the highestranking member of Republican Gov. Rick Snyder’s administration to be snagged

in a criminal investigation of how the city’s water system became poisoned after officials tapped the Flint River in 2014.

Lyon, 48, the director of the Health and Human Services Department, is accused of failing to alert the majorityblack population about an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in the Flint area, which has been linked by some experts to poor water quality in 2014-15.

An involuntary manslaughter conviction carries up to

15 years in prison.

“The health crisis in Flint has created a trust crisis for Michigan government, exposing a serious lack of confidence in leaders who accept responsibility and solve problems,” said state Attorney General Bill Schuette, who said his probe is moving to the trial phase and signaled that Snyder, who has apologized for his administration’s failures that led to and prolonged the crisis, may not be charged.

“We only file criminal charges when evidence of probable cause of a crime has been established. And we’re not filing charges at this time,” he said.

Lyon also is charged with misconduct in office for allegedly obstructing university researchers who are studying if the surge in cases was linked to the Flint River.

The others charged with involuntary manslaughter were already facing other charges. They are:

Darnell Earley, who was Flint’s emergency manager when the city used the river; Howard Croft, who ran Flint’s public works department; Liane Shekter Smith; and Stephen Busch.

Shekter Smith and Busch were state environmental regulators.Prosecutors also brought charges Wednesday against a sixth person — the state’s chief medical officer, Dr. Eden Wells, 54, who is accused of obstruction of justice and lying to an investigator.q

A6 U.S.

Thursday 15 June 2017

NEWS

Cosby jury reviews accuser’s testimony amid deliberations

By MARYCLAIRE DALE MICHAEL R. SISAK Associated Press NORRISTOWN, Pa. (AP) — With fatigue appearing to set in, jurors in Bill Cosby’s sexual assault trial reviewed portions of his accuser’s testimony Wednesday as they deliberated for a third day over whether the 79-yearold star drugged and molested her at his suburban Philadelphia estate.

Jurors made the request to have portions of Andrea Constand’s testimony read back to them after deliberating parts of three days without reaching a verdict in a case that has already helped demolish Cosby’s nice-guy reputation.

The panel of seven men and five women was set to work late for the third night in a row, asking for testimony about a detective’s interview with Cosby in early 2005, about a year after Constand says the comedian assaulted her.

They ordered strombolis for dinner while a court re-

Bill Cosby gives a thumbs-up as he arrives at his sexual assault trial for another day of jury deliberations at the Montgomery County Courthouse, Wednesday, June 14, 2017, in Norristown, Pa. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

porter raced to transcribe that portion of last week’s testimony.

As deliberations crossed the 24-hour mark, one juror slumped deep into his chair when the panel made a brief appearance in the courtroom. Other jurors

looked weary.

“Can you find 12 people who will agree? That’s the question,” said criminal lawyer Alan J. Tauber, who wasn’t involved in the case.

On Wednesday, the group wanted to hear from both Cosby and his accuser.

Constand testified last week that Cosby gave her pills that left her woozy, helped her to a couch and then violated her while she was passed out, unable to say no or fight his advances.

The 44-year-old Toronto

woman, who spent seven hours on the stand last week, was in the gallery as portions of her testimony were read back to the jury.

The panel also wanted to hear again from Cosby, who didn’t testify at his trial but gave a deposition as part of Constand’s civil suit against him and submitted to a police interview about her accusations.

Pennsylvania detectives spoke to Cosby in his lawyers’ New York City offices a few weeks after Constand went to police in January 2005. Cosby said in the interview that he gave her Benadryl, an over-the-counter cold and allergy medicine, to help her relax. He said she didn’t show any ill effects from the medicine, nor did she object as he groped her.

His lawyers maintain Constand was a willing sexual partner.

Constand denies there was any romance between them and told jurors she had rebuffed his advances before the assault. q

Jury told to keep deliberating case of cop who shot Castile

By STEVE KARNOWSKI Associated Press ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A judge told jurors considering the fate of a Minnesota police officer charged with manslaughter in the death of a black motorist to continue deliberating Wednesday, indicating they may be having problems reaching a verdict.

Jury deliberations began Monday in the manslaughter trial of Officer Jeronimo Yanez, who shot 32-year-

old Philando Castile during a July 6 traffic stop in a St. Paul suburb after Castile informed the officer that he was carrying a gun. Castile had a permit for the firearm.Yanez, attorneys and family members for both Yanez and Castile returned to court Wednesday afternoon, leading to speculation a verdict had been reached. Judge William Leary, without explanation, re-read a portion of the jury instructions to jurors and

told them to resume talks.

The material dealt with jurors carefully considering and re-examining their views and their duty to “deliberate with a view toward reaching agreement.”

The hearing took just a couple of minutes.On Tuesday, jurors requested another look at dashcam video captured by Yanez’s squad car that shows the shooting. The jury also watched a replay of the video that Castile’s girl-

friend, Diamond Reynolds, livestreamed on Facebook beginning seconds after Castile had been shot.

Both videos were played at trial, and no explanation was given for the jury’s request. The jury also requested transcripts of squad car audio and of Yanez’s statement to state investigators the day after the shooting, but the judge denied the request because defense attorneys did not agree.

Defense attorneys contend

the 29-year-old Latino officer saw Castile reach for his weapon, that Yanez was scared for his life and was justified in shooting Castile. Prosecutors insist Yanez never saw a gun and had plenty of options short of shooting Castile, an elementary school cafeteria worker they say was never a threat. Witness testified that the gun was in the pocket of Castile’s shorts when paramedics pulled him from the vehicle.q

U.S. NEWS A7

Thursday 15 June 2017

Chain store closing can be blow, blessing for small business

By JOYCE M. ROSENBERG AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — When big retail chains close stores, it can be a blow or a blessing for small businesses near the shuttered merchants.

Many shoppers gravitate to a smaller store when one of the big players shuts down, says Aric Shlifka, the owner of Kiddles Sports in Lake Forest, Illinois. The demise of the Sports Authority last year has contributed to a 5 percent increase in business for him since then, and he’s noticed more demand for athletic shoes and bicycles in particular.

“I feel mass/chain store closings scare people, and make them realize how many jobs and tax dollars are lost and want to support the local retailers more,” Shlifka says.

As more shoppers shift online, stores have been suffering and chains have been cutting back. Macy’s is closing some stores. Sears Holdings Corp. reportedly plans to close another 66 Sears and Kmart stores, adding to 150 closings in April. Many of the store closings are in big malls, but in smaller strip shopping centers, hundreds have also been shutting down.

Some businesses can see their own sales suffer when a big nearby retailer that has been a shopper magnet disappears. But smaller retail competitors can pick up customers, and sometimes other businesses — ancillary or unrelated to retail — find opportunities in vacant real estate.

The retail remains of a shuttered store mean franchisees of 1-800-GOT-JUNK? often get contracts to empty out the chain stores, loading dump trucks with unwanted mannequins, shelving, racks, showcases and other fixtures and hauling it all away.

Corporate executives at 1-800-GOT-JUNK? are regularly in touch with big chains and often know in advance when stores will be closing, says Scott Perry, an account manager with the franchise. It can take a month in some cases to remove and cart away the

In this Friday, Jun. 9, 2017, photo, 1-800-GOT-JUNK? business owner James Williams gets ready to load a store mannequin into a truck at the business, in Burbank, Calif. Removing the contents of a store is just one part of the job, says Williams. His company also donates usable equipment like vacuum cleaners to charities and takes furniture and fixtures to businesses that will recycle everything that’s usable. Williams estimates that he’s handled about two store closings a year during the nearly 12 years he’s owned the franchise. But there’s also a downside for his business when a store closes...he’s just lost a customer.

(AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

items; franchisees have handled 150 truckloads from a closed Macy’s in Pittsburgh and 120 from a Bon-Ton in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, Perry says.

James Williams, owner of a 1-800-GOT-JUNK franchise in Burbank, California, says that in removing the contents of a store, his company donates usable equipment like vacuum cleaners to charities and takes furniture and fixtures to businesses that will recycle what they can.

But there’s also a downside for his business when a store closes — he’s just lost a customer who regularly needed trucks to haul unwanted fixtures and other items.

“Some of these were clients that we were serving on a weekly or monthly basis,” Williams says. “We see the negative impact on our business immediately after the closing.”

When a department store in a shopping mall or big box store in a strip center closes, nearby retailers can see fewer shoppers and lower sales. Some mall operators have staged events and activities near the shuttered stores to attract more shoppers.

Yogibo, which sells bean bag chairs and other casual furniture, had to work

harder to make itself more visible to shoppers after Sears vacated parts of its stores in malls in Freehold, New Jersey, and Danbury, Connecticut, CEO Eyal Levy says. The retailer had a 10 percent sales slide while the Sears space was vacant, and also has had lower sales since a J.C. Penney store shut in Natick, Massachusetts two years ago.

So it has increased its advertising, offering its chairs to mall operators for events like children’s story hours.

“We had to be more active. We couldn’t rely on mall foot traffic,” Levy says.

On the flip side, when a new tenant moves into the big, empty space, sales at smaller shops pick up as shoppers return to that part of the mall. q

A8

Thursday 15 June 2017

WORLD NEWS

French president, in Morocco, urges dialogue over Qatar

By NADINE ACHOUI-LESAGE Associated Press RABAT, Morocco (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron is urging Qatar and its rival neighbors to talk directly, to defuse their tensions over alleged terrorism financing, and said Wednesday he will step up diplomatic discussions with Gulf leaders in the coming days.

Macron spoke after meeting with Moroccan King Mohammed VI, who is also trying to mediate the escalating Qatar standoff.

Speaking in the Moroccan

capital, Rabat, Macron called for a “clarification of all the links and financing of terrorist groups, whatever it is and wherever it comes from.”Saudi Arabia and other countries recently cut diplomatic ties and blocked travel to Qatar over allegations of Qatari sponsorship of Islamic extremists in the region. Qatar denies the allegations, but its ties to Iran and embrace of various Islamist groups have put the country under intense scrutiny.Stressing the international importance of stability in the Middle East, Macron said

it’s important “that the parties speak again” and find a way to “de-escalate” tensions that have mounted in recent days.

“The king of Morocco shares this concern,” Macron told reporters. Mohammed VI and Macron have spoken to key Gulf players in recent days and Macron said he will invite regional leaders to Paris for further discussions.

Macron also offered support to the king over tensions in Morocco’s northern Rif region, where protests over corruption and bleak living conditions prompted

a violent police crackdown and large-scale arrests.

Macron said he raised the issue but said the king gave him no “reason to fear renewed repression” and said the king instead appears committed to a “long-term response to the deep causes” of the conflict.Macron’s visit is the first by the recently elected French president to a North African country, and aimed to strengthen cooperation on security and other issues with Morocco, considered an important force for stability in an often-volatile region. The two

leaders discussed France’s military operation against Islamic extremists in Africa’s Sahel region.

Macron attended the Ramadan fast-breaking dinner with his wife, Brigitte, at the invitation of the king in his personal residence Earlier Wednesday, Brigitte Macron and Moroccan Princess Lala Salma visited a Picasso exhibit at the Mohammed VI Modern Art Museum in Rabat, a joint project with the Pompidou Centre in Paris, and discussed further art cooperation between the countries.q

EU launches legal action against 3 countries over refugees

By LORNE COOK Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Commission on Wednesday launched legal action against the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland for failing to respect their commitment to take in refugees.

The Commission, which polices EU agreements, sent formal letters of notice to the three states giving them one month to respond to its concerns. They could be taken to Europe’s top court, the European Court of Justice, if the matter is not resolved.

EU countries agreed in September 2015 to relocate 160,000 refugees from Greece and Italy as the two countries struggled to cope with more than a million migrants who entered Europe mostly through their

borders that year.

The Commission said in

a statement that despite “repeated calls for action,

these three countries remain in breach of their le-

gal obligations and have shown disregard for their commitments to Greece, Italy and other member states.”The two-year relocation scheme is a major plank of the EU’s migration policy, and was lauded as a European show of solidarity in 2015.But just three months before it expires this September, fewer than 21,000 people have been relocated.The plan was endorsed by a “qualified majority vote” — roughly a two-thirds majority — with the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia voting against. Finland abstained. Hungary and Slovakia later launched their own legal action over the scheme, refusing to have migrant quotas imposed on them by what they saw as bureaucrats in Brussels.q

people were detained.

The crackdown on protesters appeared to be particularly severe in St. Petersburg, Russia’s former imperial capital, where at least 26 people have been sentenced to five to 14 days in jail, according to OVD-Info, a group that monitors political repression in Russia.

The overwhelming majority of the hundreds of protesters detained in Moscow were eventually released, with the exception of a few opposition leaders.

In St. Petersburg, several courts suspended their reg-

ular operations and were only processing the protesters’ cases in hearings that stretched from late to Tuesday to the early hours of Wednesday, said Andrei Pivovarov, coordinator of the Open Russia civil society organization in St. Petersburg.

Svetlana Ratnikova, a lawyer who defended two protesters in St. Petersburg, said the decisions to fine or to jail a protester appeared to be random.

Pivovarov said the treatment of the protesters appeared to be much harsher than after a similar unsanc-

tioned rally in March when most detainees were let go or were fined, and said she saw it as a scare tactic.

“This time the detainees, even those who were detained for the first time in their lives, were kept at police stations for up to 48 hours waiting for their court hearings,” he told The Associated Press. “It was done to scare the protesters.”

Some protesters posted pictures on social media, showing dozens of people taking a nap in the hall and on chairs at various police stations all over the city.

The detainees also said

they were not provided food or water and had to rely on volunteers to bring it for them.

Russia adopted tighter restrictions on public gatherings in 2012 in a clear reaction to massive antigovernment protests that shook Russia in 2011 and early 2012.

Alexei Navalny, who called for the Monday rallies that were held in more than 100 cities and towns, himself was detained outside his home before heading to the protest and sentenced to 30 days in jail for staging an unsanctioned rally. q

Tents that being used as a shelter for refugees and migrants stand at a beach outside Souda refugee camp, Chios island, Greece, on Friday, June 9, 2017. About 2000 refugees and other migrants are in Chios and more than 62000 are stuck in Greece.

(AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

Dozens sent to jail for protest in Russia’s St. Petersburg

By IRINA TITOVA Associated Press ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) — Two days after widespread anti-government rallies, protesters in St. Petersburg, Russia’s secondlargest city, are facing a severe crackdown with local courts sending dozens of them to jail.

Tens of thousands took to the streets across Russia’s 11 time zones on Monday to protest government corruption.

Some of the protests, like in Moscow and St. Petersburg, were explicitly banned by authorities and nearly 2,000

WORLD NEWS A9

Thursday 15 June 2017

US deploys mobile missile system to eastern Syria

By PHILIP ISSA SARAH EL DEEB Associated Press BEIRUT (AP) — The U.S. has deployed a truck-mounted missile system into Syria, an official said Wednesday, to a forward operating group of rebels and U.S. military advisers that have repeatedly clashed with government forces.

The deployment raises the stakes in eastern Syria, where Iranian-sponsored pro-government forces have outflanked U.S. advisers and rebels holding the Tanf border crossing to establish their own link to Iraq for the first time in years.

They are now waiting for pro-Iranian forces to link up with them on the Iraqi side of the border, while preparing to march on Islamic State positions to the north, in the Euphrates River Valley.

Shifting the HIMARS missile system into eastern Syria from Jordan will give the U.S. a precise, long-range weapon to protect its advisers and allies in Tanf, and to attack Islamic State militants further downfield. It has a range of 300 kilometers (186 miles).

The deployment also insures that the military can

protect itself from attacks in the area when weather would limit the ability of strike aircraft to reach there in time.

The Pentagon official requested anonymity, to discuss unannounced military movements.

U.S.-backed rebels were advancing north along the Syrian-Iraqi frontier, against IS militants, when pro-government forces cut them off with a flanking maneuver last week.

U.S. special forces operators are embedded with the rebels in an advisory capacity, the Pentagon says, though they have fought alongside their allies in defense battles. They hold two outposts in the desert region.

The U.S. central military command has said it remains committed to reaching and defeating the IS group in its strongholds along the Euphrates, beginning with Boukamal, 220 kilometers (137 miles) northeast of Tanf.

Meanwhile, a U.N. investigative commission for Syria reported that last month’s “de-escalation” agreement has reduced violence in only one of the four zones included in the deal

In this picture taken Friday, Jan. 20, 2017 from the balcony of the Abdul-Hamid Khatib home, people walk through mounds of rubble which used to be high rise apartment buildings in the once rebel-held Ansari neighborhood in the eastern Aleppo, Syria. The U.S. has deployed a truckmounted missile system into Syria, an official said Wednesday, to a forward operating group of rebels and U.S. military advisers that have repeatedly clashed with government forces.

(AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

and has not led to greater humanitarian access to besieged areas across the war-torn country.

Underscoring the ongoing violence, a barrage of airstrikes and artillery shells pummeled different areas of southern Daraa province Wednesday, leaving at least eight people dead, including children, first responders and activists said.

A western diplomat said that the U.S., Russia, and

Jordan were holding closed door-meetings in Amman to halt the fighting between rebels and the government in southern Syria.

The three states are debating the boundaries of a cease-fire line between the government and rebels in what is hoped to be a comprehensive agreement that would delineate the control of border crossings with Jordan, the dip-

lomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media.

In Geneva, the Independent International Commission of Inquiry told the U.N. Human Rights Council that fighting around the central province of Homs, near Damascus and in the southern city of Daraa has continued — despite the deal brokered by Russia, Turkey and Iran in May. q

Qatar pulls all its troops from Djibouti-Eritrea border

By MALAK HARB ELIAS MESERET Associated Press DOHA, Qatar (AP) — Qatar said Wednesday it has pulled all of its troops from the border of Djibouti and Eritrea, east African nations that have a long-running territorial dispute which Doha had helped mediate.

Qatar offered no explanation for the move, though it comes amid a diplomatic dispute with other Arab nations that have cut dip-

lomatic ties and now are trying to isolate Qatar from the rest of the world.

While the dispute hasn’t escalated to a military confrontation, Qatar’s military is dwarfed by neighboring Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, two of its biggest opponents in the crisis.The 450 Qatari troops controlled a mountainous border crossing between Eritrea and Djibouti, said Nasredin Ali, a spokesman for Eritrea’s biggest armed

group, known as the Red Sea Afar Democratic Organization. Eritrean forces moved in after the troops departed, Ali said.

Eritrea’s top diplomat to the African Union, Araya Desta, told The Associated Press the move came after Eritrea cut diplomatic ties to Qatar. However, Desta said his country wanted no confrontation with Djibouti.

“We don’t want to take any of Djibouti’s land,” Araya said. “The last time

we had some skirmishes.

It was unnecessary.”Doha mediated the conflict between the two countries in 2010. Gulf nations have stationed troops in both African countries, using that as a jumping-off point for the ongoing Saudi-led war in Yemen.Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain have accused Qatar of supporting terrorism and severed ties with Doha last week. Qatar denies the allegations, but

its ties to Iran and embrace of various Islamist groups have put the country under intense scrutiny.U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres spoke to Kuwait’s Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khalid Al-Sabah on Wednesday and expressed “full support for Kuwait’s efforts to de-escalate tensions and to promote effective dialogue” to resolve the crisis, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.q

A10 WORLD

Thursday 15 June 2017

NEWS

Death toll rises to 12 in London apartment building inferno

By GREGORY KATZ DANICA KIRKA Associated Press LONDON (AP) — They banged on windows, screamed for help, dropped children from smoky floors in a desperate attempt to save them. Terrified residents of the Grenfell Tower said there was little warning of the inferno that engulfed their highrise apartment building and left 12 people dead — a toll that officials said would almost certainly rise.

The blaze early Wednesday in the 24-story building in west London’s North Kensington district also injured 74 others, 18 of them critically, and left an unknown number missing. A tenants’ group had complained for years about the risk of a fire.

More than 200 firefighters worked through the night and were still finding pockets of fire inside later in the day. A huge plume of smoke wafted across the London skyline and left a burned-out hulk in the working class, multi-ethnic neighborhood.

“In my 29 years of being a firefighter, I have never, ever seen anything of this scale,” Fire Commissioner Dany Cotton said.

Up to 600 people lived in 120 apartments in the Grenfell Tower. After announcing the updated death toll of 12 in the afternoon, Cmdr.

Stuart Cundy said that “we believe this number will sadly increase.”

Crews rescued 65 people, said Steve Apter, the fire brigade’s director of safety and assurance.

Prime Minister Theresa

May’s office said she was “deeply saddened by the tragic loss of life” in the fire.

“My thoughts are with the victims, their families and

gested that terrorism was involved.

“The flames, I have never seen anything like it. It just reminded me of 9/11,” said

someone toss two children out a window on the fifth or sixth floor. Tiago Etienne, 17, said he saw about three children between the ages

A resident in a nearby building watches smoke rise from a building on fire in London, Wednesday, June 14, 2017. A massive fire raced through the 27-story high-rise apartment building in west London early Wednesday, sending at least 30 people to hospitals, emergency officials said.

(AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

all of those who had their homes destroyed,” she said.

“It’s impossible to comprehend the horror of what they’ve been going through.”

London Mayor Sadiq Khan said many questions must be answered about safety for the scores of other apartment blocks around the British capital.

The London Fire Brigade said it received the first reports of the blaze at 12:54 a.m. and the first engines arrived within six minutes.

Survivors told of frantic attempts to escape during the nighttime fire. Some initially feared it was terrorism-related, although authorities have not sug-

Muna Ali, 45. “The fire started on the upper floors. ...

Oh my goodness, it spread so quickly. It had completely spread within half an hour.”

Samira Lamrani said she saw a woman drop a baby from a window on the ninth or 10th floor to people on the sidewalk.

“People were starting to appear at the windows, frantically banging and screaming,” Lamrani told Britain’s Press Association news agency.

When the woman indicated she was going to drop the infant, “a gentleman ran forward and managed to grab the baby,” she added.

Joe Walsh, 58, said he saw

of 4 and 8 being dropped from around the 15th floor.

There was no word on their fate.

Other residents told harrowing tales of their own escapes and frustration at not being able to help neighbors.

Ruks Mamudu, 69, said she ran to safety down one flight of stairs to the ground floor from her apartment wearing only her purple pajamas and bathrobe.

She and her grandson sat outside the building, helplessly watching those trapped on higher floors.

“I sat there watching my house burn down and watching people cry for help who couldn’t come down,” Mamudu said.

Nassima Boutrig, who lives across from the building, said she was awakened by sirens and smoke so thick that it filled her home as well.

“We saw the people screaming,” she said. “A lot of people said, ‘Help! Help!

Help!’ The fire brigade could only help downstairs. ... They couldn’t stop the fire.”

Resident Hamid Wahbi said that as he fled, he asked about a neighbor’s father but was told he was still inside.

“We tried to go back, but it was all black, so I had to come out of the building,” Wahbi added.

There was no immediate word on the cause of the blaze, but the Grenfell Action Group has been warning about the risk of fire at Grenfell Tower since 2013.

Edward Daffarn, who lived on the 16th floor, said the building’s fire alarm didn’t ring. He said residents had complained for years to Kensington and Chelsea Council about the building’s safety, to no avail.

“I’m lucky to be alive. A neighbor’s smoke alarm went off and another neighbor phoned and told me to get out,” Daffarn said. “I consider this mass murder.”

The Action Group expressed concern about the testing and maintenance of firefighting equipment and blocked emergency access to the site. In a Nov. 20 blog, the group predicted that only “a catastrophic event” leading to “serious loss of life” would bring the outside scrutiny needed to make conditions safe for residents. q

WORLD NEWS A11 Rodman’s North Korea trip seen off to low-key start Thursday 15 June 2017

By ERIC TALMADGE Associated Press PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — Dennis Rodman’s visit to North Korea has been uncharacteristically low-key so far. On the agenda? Bowling and a visit to the zoo.

There is no clear sign that the former NBA bad boy will meet leader Kim Jong Un, as he did on previous visits to the isolated country.

Such a meeting, though, typically wouldn’t be announced in advance.

Rodman watched a women’s basketball team practice at a gym Wednesday and visited the birthplace of North Korean founder Kim Il Sung, the grandfather of the current leader.

He refused to answer questions about his trip, saying only, “A little hot, baby, it’s a little hot. But it’s cool, it’s cool.”

Former NBA basketball star Dennis Rodman, second from left, walks through the Koryo hotel lobby as he leaves to visit several sports venues Wednesday, June 14, 2017, in Pyongyang, North Korea.

Rodman’s current trip is his first since Donald Trump became president. He told reporters in Beijing, as he departed for Pyongyang, that he hopes his trip will “open a door” for Trump.

(AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)

What, if anything, substantive Rodman is doing in North Korea remains un-

clear. He has said he is just going to have a good time but has also hinted he is

“trying to open a door” for better relations between Washington and Pyong-

yang.

He is scheduled to meet the sports minister, visit a newly built high-tech science complex and the Pyongyang Zoo, and go bowling before he leaves Saturday.

His four past trips in 2013 and 2014 generated a storm of publicity, most of it unfavorable, and did little in terms of diplomacy.

Critics of engagement with North Korea say Rodman’s visits legitimize the country’s ruling regime.In 2014, Rodman arranged a basketball game with other former NBA players and North Koreans and regaled leader Kim with a rendition of “Happy Birthday.” On the same trip, he suggested an American missionary was at fault for his own imprisonment in North Korea, remarks for which he later apologized. q

Hostages held, 14 killed in attack at Somalia restaurant

By ABDI GULED Associated Press MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Gunmen posing as military forces were holding an unknown number of hostages inside a popular restaurant in Somalia’s capital in an attack that began when a car bomb exploded at the gate, police and a witness said Wednesday night, while the extremist group al-Shabab claimed responsibility. Police said at least 14 people, including foreigners, were dead.

Two of the gunmen were shot dead and 10 hostages were rescued but five other attackers were thought to remain inside, cutting off electricity to complicate security forces’ efforts to end the siege, Capt. Mohamed Hussein said. He said heavy gunfire was heard.

Police said at least 14 people, including a Syrian man, had been killed and several others wounded.

Most of the victims were young men who had been entering the Pizza House when the vehicle exploded, Hussein said.

The gunmen “were dressed in military uniforms. They

forced those fleeing the site to go inside” the restaurant, witness Nur Yasin told The Associated Press.

The blast largely destroyed the restaurant’s facade and sparked a fire.

While al-Shabab claimed to have attacked the neighboring Posh Treats restaurant, which is frequented by the city’s elite and was damaged in the blast, security officials said the Piz-

za House was targeted instead.

Security forces rescued Asian, Ethiopian, Kenyan and other workers at Posh Treats as the attack continued, Hussein said.q

A12 WORLD

Thursday 15 June 2017

NEWS

Brazil’s crisis is stalling economic reforms seen as crucial

By STAN LEHMAN LILIANA MICHELENA Associated Press SAO PAULO (AP) — Work longer hours. Get fewer benefits. Retire years later.

Those are the ingredients of the bitter medicine Brazilians are being asked to swallow as a cure for the country’s moribund, overregulated economy.

It would be a tough sell under any conditions, but it’s even harder because few trust the politicians trying to pour it down their throats.

And a wave of corruption scandals that threaten to topple even the president could water down, if not sink, any cure.

President Michel Temer finds himself in a dilemma: He needs the economic reforms to boost his credibility — and perhaps even to avoid being ousted over a flurry of corruption allegations. But his credibility and that of his allies is so low that few Brazilians trust them to do what’s necessary to expand the job market and get people back to work.

Congress — and action on the reforms — has all but come to a halt in recent weeks after a recording emerged in which Temer apparently endorses the payment of hush money to a former lawmaker imprisoned on money laundering and corruption charges.

He has also been accused of accepting bribes. He denies wrongdoing, but he could soon face formal charges.

The country’s political and business class has been distracted, when not terrified, by a stream of revelations about bribery, kickbacks and general corruption centered on the national oil company, Petrobras, that has led to the jailing

of dozens of the country’s elite. The politicians also face an impending deadline: next year’s October

laws and allow companies to outsource more work and hire temporary workers for longer — potentially

people,” said Joao Cayres, director of the Central Workers Union, which represents over 7 million peo-

A woman looks at job postings in downtown Sao Paulo, Brazil. Some 14 million Brazilians are unemployed, or 13.7 percent of the workforce, up from 10.9 percent at the same period last year.

(AP Photo/Andre Penner)

elections.

“The only thing that appears certain is that the reform agenda has been compromised,” said Silvio Campos Neto, an economist at Tendencias, a Sao Paulo-based consultancy.

“The survival of this government is uncertain, and this has a negative impact on the resumption of investments.”

Business leaders and top economists argue that reforms are needed to convince investors to start pouring money again into Latin America’s largest economy, which is tentatively emerging from a deep recession.

They’ve been backing Temer’s proposed reforms that would lengthen the legal work day, let agreements negotiated between employees and bosses override some labor

reducing the number of jobs with full benefits.

Temer also wants workers to contribute longer before they receive pension benefits. Many public workers in Brazil now can retire at age 54 with nearly full benefits. The reforms would set a minimum retirement age for the first time in Brazil, at 65 for men and 62 for women.The proposed cuts are one reason Temer’s approval rating is below 10 percent in many polls, giving him no political leverage beyond the doors of congress, where his nervous allies hold a majority.

Unions staged an April 28 general strike that brought much of the country to a halt, and they promise more action.

If Temer doesn’t listen, “we will once again stop Brazil and then maybe Brasilia will hear the voice of the

ple.

Business-minded economists argue that current labor laws discourage hiring.

And the generous benefits for retirees are taking an increasing chunk of the country’s gross domestic product.

“The economy won’t collapse if Congress fails to approve the reforms, but its recovery will be slow and full of uncertainty,” Ricardo Ribeiro, of Sao Paulo’s MCM Consultancy.

Temer, who denies wrongdoing, argues he can still deliver the reforms.

At a meeting of business leaders on May 30, he insisted the economy was “on the right track” and promised to leave “the house in order” for the next president.

Two days later, he got a rare piece of good news: The country’s gross domes-

Venezuela raid leaves 23 detained, buildings in shambles CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelan state security has detained nearly two dozen people allegedly involved in violent acts against officers during an overnight raid that left several apartment buildings in shambles.

Residents at the Los Verdes complex in Caracas say officers fired weapons, destroyed elevators, broke doors and windows and shot to death at least one pet dog.

Witness video showed an armored truck plowing

through a metal yellow gate leading to the building.

Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado says the raid amounts to “state terrorism.”Interior Minister Nestor Reverol says 23 people identified as “ter-

rorists” were detained for their alleged involvement in an attack on a national guard captain and three sergeants.Two months of political upheaval in Venezuela have left nearly 70 dead, thousands detained and hundreds injured.q

tic product expanded by 1 percent in the first quarter of this year as compared to the last quarter of 2016 thanks in part to bumper harvests of soy and corn.

It was the first time GDP had grown after eight consecutive quarters of contraction, ending Brazil’s worst recession in decades. The economy has been dragged down in large part by a slump in global prices for its commodities.

Temer also notched a victory last week when Brazil’s top electoral court voted narrowly to reject allegations of illegal financing in the 2014 presidential campaign. He could have been ousted if it had ruled otherwise.

Risk consultancy Eurasia said Temer’s breaks wouldn’t be enough to get the existing pension reform measure through.

“A stripped-down version of it is likely, although even then close to a toss-up,” wrote Christopher Garman, head of Brazil analysis for the group.

Some 14 million Brazilians are unemployed, or 13.7 percent of the workforce, up from 10.9 percent at the same period last year.

Thousands of public workers are not being paid on time, or at all. Among them are the chorus, orchestra and ballet at the Municipal Theatre of Rio de Janeiro.

They plan to ask theatergoers for donations of canned food and household goods as they enter for the season-opening opera “Carmina Burana.”

Renata Gouveia, a 19-year-veteran ballet dancer at the company, spends her nights making truffles to sell and is designing and selling her own dancewear.

“Out of something terrible, I’m trying to take out the positive, working in things I never saw myself doing,” she said.

Talk that the economy is improving is “a joke,” said Jose Augusto, a 53-yearold handyman who came to the Ministry of Labor in Rio de Janeiro recently looking for work. q

LOCAL A13

Thursday 15 June 2017

6-Course Taste of Art Charity Dinner with Artist Elvis Tromp PALM BEACH - Local artist Elvis Tromp and Hadicurari Restaurant’s Executive Chef Ronald van Hasenbroek have teamed up for an exceptional evening, which has been named `Taste of Art’.

On Saturday, June 17, six wonderful courses, paired with superb wines, will be served to discerning guests. Seated either on the beach or on the porch of stun-

ning, ocean-view Hadicurari, these guests will be treated to live music during dinner and will be presented with a dinner plate by the hand of Elvis Tromp, a selftaught artist, afterwards.

This unique dinner plate depicts Hadicurari, the home of the fishermen of Aruba; starting June 17th.

Executive Chef Ronald van Hasenbroek is greatly looking forward to the charity dinner of which part of the proceeds will go towards SABA, the foundation of homes for Aruba’s elderly. ``It’s going to be a wonderful evening,’’ he predicts.

If you interested in par-

ticipating in this wonderful food and wine pairing event, please call 586-2288 or 594-2774 to make your reservations, or you can email to hadicurari@arubawineanddine.com.q

A14 LOCAL

Thursday 15 June 2017

Cosecha Oranjestad Welcomed Friends of Wisconsin ORANJESTAD - Recently Jan Londowski and partner Ray visited Cosecha Oranjestad. Jan and Ray have been coming to the island for 24 years and this is the first time they visited Cosecha Oranjestad. They were amazed by the local made arts and crafts at Cosecha and really liked the collection of Grace Ashruf.

This collection of small artworks is called ‘Aruban Treasures’. This series is a combination of her former collections ‘Treasure’ and ‘New Horizons’.

In each of these small paintings a hidden Treasure can be discovered.

These pieces are original and are of course one of a Kind.

Artist Grace Ahsruf was also present to meet and greet Jan and Ray and to especially hand delivered the paintings to Jan and Ray together with the Cosecha team. Now in a lovely home in Wisconsin

5 beautiful paintings of Aruba will be hanging in their living room so they can always think about the beautiful

Island of Aruba.

For more information about Cosecha Oranjestad or San Nicolas visit their

website www.arubacosecha.com or Facebook/Aruba Cosecha.q

their

LOCAL A15

Thursday 15 June 2017

Trade via Containers in the Region’s Ports Falls 0.9% in 2016 -ECLAC’s new ports ranking confirms the decline in the region’s foreign trade last year and marks a loss in activity not seen since the crisis of 2009.

SANTIAGO, CHILE - The throughput of containerized cargo in the ports of Latin America and the Caribbean fell 0.9% in 2016, according to data released last week by ECLAC. This regional average continues the negative trend of deceleration that has been observed in the last few years and represents the biggest loss since the 2009 crisis.

The United Nations body unveiled a new edition of its ranking of container port throughput, published in its Maritime and Logistics Profile, which confirms two trends seen in the region in recent years: an overall steepening of the deceleration of foreign trade in container terminals and a

high degree of heterogeneity in this activity’s growth rates within the region.

The deceleration in the regional average of port throughput began several years ago: 6.0% in 2012, 1.3% in 2013, 2.4% in 2014 and 2.5% in 2015.

The deterioration in 2016 was mainly determined by a decline in activity in five countries: Brazil (-4.4%), Panama (-9.1%), Colombia (-3.6%), Argentina (-6.1%) and The Bahamas (-14.3%).

These drops were mitigated by the increases seen in some countries of the region, which contributed to raising the total volume: Mexico (3.2% rise), Chile (4.8%), Peru (8.4%), Ecuador (4.5%), the Dominican Republic (8.3%), Guatemala (8.8%), Costa Rica (7.3%) and Uruguay (9.5%).

The total volume of activity in 2016 reached approximately 47.5 million TEU*.

The first 40 ports in the ranking represent nearly 90% of

A cargo ship docks at the Panama Port Company, in Panama City, Tuesday, June 13, 2017. The throughput of containerized cargo in the ports of Latin America and the Caribbean fell 0.9% in 2016, according to data released last week by ECLAC. (AP Photo/Arnulfo Franco )

operations with this type of cargo in the region. The following 100 ports move the remaining 10% (4.4 million TEU).

Container port traffic on a global level also showed little dynamism in 2016. According to estimates published by Alphaliner, the volumes in the world’s top 100 container ports rose just 1.8% in 2016, to 555.6 million TEU. The data compiled by the

Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) points to great heterogeneity in the performance of port throughput, both at a subregional level and by country. In 2016, the east coast of South America experienced a decline in activity (-3.7%), which was more pronounced than in 2015 (-0.7%) due to the steeper drop recorded in the ports of Brazil and Argen-

tina. Meanwhile, the west coast shows a rebound in container activity (4.5%) when compared with the growth rate seen in 2015 (0.4%), due to the positive evolution of port terminals in Chile (4.8%), Peru (8.4%) and Ecuador (4.5%).

At the same time, Central America went from a positive growth rate in 2015 (3.4%) to a 3.5% decline in total volumes in 2016, mainly due to reduced throughput in Panama (-9.1%).

As in the past, the drivers of growth, deceleration or decline in activity in individual ports vary. For example, the ports of Callao in Peru (8.1%), Guayaquil in Ecuador (6.9%), Caucedo in the Dominican Republic (11.1%), and San Antonio (10.0%) and Lirquén (60.1%) in Chile, showed the highest rises in volume due to the success of their projects and their commercial management. q

A16 LOCAL

Thursday 15 June 2017

Loyal Guests Honored at the Casa del Mar Beach Resort PALM BEACH - Recently the Aruba Tourism Authority had the great pleasure of honoring two very nice couples who are loyal and friendly visitors of Aruba as Distinguished Visitors and Goodwill Ambassadors at the Casa del Mar Beach Resort.

The symbolic honorary titles are presented in the name of the Minister of Tourism as a token of appreciation to guests who visit Aruba for 10-to-19 and 20-to-34 consecutive years.

The honorees were Mr. William and Mrs. Susan Childs, celebrating their 15th consecutive annual visit to Aruba, and Mr. Tim and Mrs. Virginia

Wuennemann, celebrating their 26th consecutive annual visit to Aruba!

These special visitors are loyal members of the Casa del Mar and they love Aruba very much because of the friendly people, fun in the sun, the climate, the beaches and the restaurants.

They say that being on Aruba and staying at the Casa del Mar is like being at their vacation ‘homeaway-from-home.’ The certificate was presented by Ms. Emely Ridderstaat representing the Aruba Tourism Authority together with General Manager Mr. Bob Curtis and Ms. Shahaira Morris from the Casa del Mar.q

SPORTS A17

Thursday 15 June 2017

It’s on!

Mayweather- McGregor fight set

In this May 2, 2015, file photo, Floyd Mayweather Jr. , left, celebrates during his welterweight title fight against Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas; and in this Nov. 9, 2016, file photo, Conor McGregor gestures toward fans while working out at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Associated Press Page 19

A18 SPORTS

Thursday 15 June 2017

Johnson hopes timing is right for another U.S. Open title

By DOUG FERGUSON AP Golf Writer ERIN, Wis. (AP) — Dustin Johnson wrapped up his final day practice round for the U.S. Open just as the sky began to rumble and the horn sounded to stop play at Erin Hills.

The timing couldn’t have been better for the world’s No. 1 player, as it has been the past two weeks.

As much as he hates missing cuts, the Memorial two weeks ago was a good time for Johnson to have a weekend off. It allowed him to spend two days in Wisconsin getting to know the longest course in U.S. Open history, realizing that he would be a late arrival to Erin Hills because of some important family matters.

River Jones Johnson, his second son, was born on Monday.

He finds out Thursday whether his game is in shape for Johnson to become the first back-toback U.S. Open champion in 28 years, but his mood couldn’t be better. About the only thing to fear, outside of the thick fescue that frames the fairways at Erin Hills, is the house where he is staying.

It has a double-spiral staircase.

“I sit down when I go down the stairs now,” Johnson said with a smile. “I slide down on my butt.”

Stairs were the only thing that could stop him earlier this year. A winner of three straight tournaments

at Congressional in 2011, was delighted to feel the soft turf under his feet.

Jason Day is starting to turn his game around, finally.

Along with his power, Day is an expert with the short game, which should come in handy around the greens that feature shaved slopes instead of dense rough.

Johnson, however, is such an intimidating figure that even Curtis Strange is a little nervous.

Strange, who now works for Fox Sports as the on-course analyst, won the 1989 U.S. Open at Oak Hill to become the first player since Ben Hogan (1950-51) to win the U.S. Open in consecutive years. “Move over, Ben,” Strange famously said after his second title.

“I’ve got to tell you, it’s taiDustin Johnson hits from the 13th fairway during the first round of the Memorial golf tournament, lor-made for Dustin Johnson,” Strange said after his Thursday, June 1, 2017, in Dublin, Ohio.

Associated Press first look at the course.

The Masters (three times) — against the strongest for occasional storms on on the USGA in how they and the PGA Championfields of the year — John- Friday and Saturday. The set up the golf course, and ship in stroke play (twice, son slipped in his socks go- greens are soft enough that the meteorologist to give by Tiger Woods) have fewing downstairs to move his Johnson is getting yardag- an accurate forecast of the er back-to-back winners car in the rain on the eve of es to the hole, knowing his wind. There are a few holes than the U.S. Open, but it’s the Masters and bruised his shots won’t bounce away at Erin Hills where if the tees the major that has gone back so badly that he had too far. are all the way back and the longest without a reto withdraw the next day.

“I hope they play it all the the wind shifts into the play- peat winner.

He hasn’t won in four starts way back on every hole,” ers, some won’t be able The closest call for Strange since then, and his game he said. “Why not? It’s go- to reach the fairway or will was in 2005 when defendhasn’t looked as sharp as it ing to be soft. I hope it’s face blind shots. ing champion Retief Goosonce did. He concedes he windy. I hope it’s long, but “It’s nerve-wracking, hon- en had a three-shot lead at lost some momentum. it doesn’t matter.” estly, more than most Open Pinehurst No. 2. He shot 81 Even so, he is the betting Johnson isn’t one to feel sites,” USGA executive di- in the final round. Four-time favorite at the 117th U.S. much pressure — he rector Mike Davis said. champion Jack Nicklaus Open on a course that doesn’t show much, any- Johnson isn’t the only long never went back-to-back. would appear to suit his way — even playing his first hitter whom Erin Hills favors. Neither did Woods. game perfectly, especially major as the No. 1 player in Rory McIlroy, who crushed “You’ve got to be lucky, with more rain Wednesday the world.

U.S. Open scoring records have it be the right time,” afternoon and a forecast If anything, the pressure is on a rain-softened course Strange said. q

Roger Federer comeback halted by Tommy Haas in Stuttgart STUTTGART, Germany (AP) — Roger Federer was beaten on his return from a twomonth break, losing 2-6, 7-6 (8), 6-4 to German veteran Tommy Haas in the second round of the Stuttgart Open on Wednesday.

The 39-year-old Haas, who is playing his last season before retirement, saved nine of the 12 break points he faced and converted two of his three chances to deal the Swiss great just his second defeat of the season.

“I’ve even shocked myself

Roger Federer of Switzerland returns the ball to Germany’s Tommy Haas during their match at the Mercedes Cup tennis tournament in Stuttgart, Germany, Wednesday, June 14, 2017.

Associated Press

a bit,” said Haas, who is ranked 302nd and was given a wild card for the grasscourt tournament. “I’m a bit speechless. It’s hard to find words.”

Haas, a two-time Halle champion who hadn’t beaten his good friend since the 2012 final in Halle, improved to 4-13 against Federer, who hadn’t played since winning the Miami Open in early April.

The 35-year-old Swiss skipped the clay-court season to recuperate from a busy start to the year that

saw him capture his 18th Grand Slam at the Australian Open.

Federer claimed his last grass-court title in 2015 in Halle, where he is an eighttime champion.

Earlier Wednesday, Philipp Kohlschreiber upset the fifth-seeded Steve Johnson of the United States 7-6 (3), 5-7, 7-6 (6), while the sixthseeded Mischa Zverev, another German, defeated qualifier Yannick Hanfmann 7-6 (1), 6-2 to secure his place in the quarterfinals.q

SPORTS A19

Thursday 15 June 2017

Mayweather coming back to fight UFC star McGregor Aug. 26

By TIM DAHLBERG AP Boxing Writer LAS VEGAS (AP) — Floyd Mayweather Jr. will come out of retirement to meet UFC star Conor McGregor in an Aug. 26 boxing match that will feature two of the top-selling fighters in the world.

The two fighters both announced the fight Wednesday, after months of speculation about whether Mayweather would be lured back to the ring at the age of 40 to face a mixed martial arts fighter who has never had a pro boxing fight.

Oddsmakers immediately made Mayweather a big 11-1 favorite in a fight that will take place in a boxing ring and be governed by boxing rules. It will take place at 154 pounds.

“It’s official,” Mayweather said on Instagram next to a video poster of both fighters.

“THE FIGHT IS ON,” McGregor tweeted several minutes earlier, posting a picture of himself next to one of Mayweather’s father, Floyd Sr. Mayweather, who retired in September 2015 after winning all 49 of his pro fights, will face the Irish UFC superstar at the T-Mobile arena on the Las Vegas Strip. He had tweeted a picture of himself sparring in recent days to show he was already getting ready for the bout.

“This is really an unprecedented event,” said Stephen Espinoza, who heads Showtime Sports, which will

In this Nov. 11, 2016, file photo, Conor McGregor stands on a scale during the weigh-in event for his fight against Eddie Alvarez in UFC 205 mixed martial arts at Madison Square Garden in New York; and in this Sept. 12, 2014, file photo, Floyd Mayweather Jr. poses on the scale during a weigh in for a fight against Marcos Maidana in Las Vegas.

Associated Press

handle the pay-per-view.

“Really we haven’t seen anything in modern history that resembles it, it’s impossible to predict how many sales this will do.”

Espinoza said the fight came together quickly after McGregor and the UFC reached agreement last month on their end of the deal and Mayweather’s team pushed for the fight in recent days.

“All parties were motivated and reasonable and thrilled we could get everything done,” he said. “The sky’s the limit on this.”

McGregor, the wildly popular UFC star, is 21-3 in UFC fights, and is coming off a win in November against Eddie Alvarez in which he became the promotion’s first two-division champion.

Though he hasn’t boxed professionally, McGregor did box while growing up and is known for his striking expertise in UFC. “The impossible deal is now

happening,” UFC chief Dana White said on ESPN. The two fighters are expected to do a press tour shortly before going into final training for the fight. The cost of tickets and the price of the pay-per-view has not been decided, though the pay-per-view is expected to be at or near the $99.95 charged for Mayweather’s 2015 fight with Manny Pacquiao that drew a record 4.4 million pay-per-view buys.

Mayweather will come off a two-year retirement in a bout that McGregor has been pushing for nearly that long.

It finally came together and Nevada boxing officials on Wednesday approved the date for a Mayweather Promotions bout.

Mayweather last fought in September 2015, beating Andre Berto and then announcing his retirement. His fight before that, a decision win over Pacquiao, was the

richest in boxing history and reportedly made him more than $200 million.

Though oddsmakers make Mayweather a big favorite, the thought of the fight has excited many in the MMA world. It has also intrigued some in boxing, though most dismiss McGregor’s chances under boxing rules against one of the greatest defensive fighters in history.

Oddsmaker Nick Bogdanovich, who set the 11-1 line at the William Hill chain of sports books, said the odds would be even more lopsided if it wasn’t for the deluge of small bets expected to come in from UFC fans on their fighter.

“Realistically if we were just putting up a number and didn’t have to take bets on it, Floyd would be 1001,” Bogdanovich said. “But this will be a very, very big betting fight for sure, one of the biggest ever.”

Adding to McGregor’s challenge, the fighters will

be using 10-ounce boxing gloves instead of the smaller UFC gloves and he will not be allowed to use the leg kicks or takedowns that are used in mixed martial arts.

Even if the actual bout may not shape up as a great matchup, the run-up to the fight will. Both fighters are noted for their ability to sell their fights, and both have exchanged in trash talking and more to promote their bouts.

“As with every Mayweather and McGregor fight part of the appeal is the spectacle and outsize personalities who are participating in it,” Espinoza said.

The pay-per-view revenue for the event would likely gross tens of millions of dollars. It comes less than a month before Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez meet in a highly anticipated fight Sept. 16 that could rival it for pay-perview buys.q

Seattle’s Bennett continues to support Kaepernick’s efforts

By TIM BOOTH AP Sports Writer RENTON, Washington (AP) — Outspoken Seattle Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett has been a supporter of Colin Kaepernick this offseason in his attempt to land a job in the NFL. Bennett’s support wasn’t enough for his team to sign Kaepernick. But the fact the Seahawks brought Kaepernick in for a visit was worthy of acknowledgement con-

sidering the silence he’s received from the rest of the NFL, Bennett said.

“I don’t know what the factors were in (why) the Seahawks didn’t sign him,” Bennett said. “I know the Seahawks were the only team to step up and give him an opportunity to do a (visit).

“If you look at the way the Seahawks move, if you look at the way our team moves, if you look at the people that work in the

building this organization is built around community.

I’m not surprised that the Seahawks were one to look at Kaepernick and give him an opportunity even to try out.”

Bennett was in full support of his franchise on Wednesday during the second day of Seattle’s minicamp, from his praise for considering Kaepernick to coach Pete Carroll’s reasoning why the Seahawks didn’t sign the quarterback.

“If he feels that this is not the right situation because we have a starting quarterback, then that’s his choice,” Bennett said. “I think he’s able to have that choice because he’s shown that he’s of a winning pedigree. He wants to make sure he doesn’t have that competition behind his quarterback, I think it’s justifiable.”

Bennett skipped Seattle’s OTAs earlier in the offseason, working out on his own

and spending time with his family, but didn’t want to risk any fines for missing the mandatory minicamp.

Bennett also said Wednesday he’s been in contact with Kaepernick through the offseason in an attempt to help the former San Francisco quarterback with some of his initiatives.

Never one to hold back an opinion, Bennett said there is no logical explanation for why Kaepernick doesn’t have a job at this point. q

A20 SPORTS

Thursday 15 June 2017

AL Capsules

Kershaw wins, Bellinger hits 2HRs as Dodgers top Indians

CLEVELAND (AP) — Clayton Kershaw extended his unbeaten string and rookie Cody Bellinger hit two home runs, including a tiebreaking shot in the eighth inning off Andrew Miller that lifted the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 7-5 victory over the Cleveland Indians in Major League Baseball on Tuesday.

Kershaw (9-2) allowed two runs in seven innings and has not lost in his last eight starts. The left-hander gave up a run in the third on Michael Brantley’s single and a leadoff homer to Roberto Perez in the fifth that tied the game.

The three-time Cy Young Award winner yielded six hits, struck out four and walked two while throwing 101 pitches. He is 5-0 with a 1.94 ERA since his most recent defeat on May 1.

Bellinger led off the eighth with a towering drive into the right-field seats off Miller (3-1). The home run was the first Cleveland’s dominant left-hander has allowed in 33 innings this season.

TWINS 20, MARINERS 7 MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Eddie Rosario hit three home runs and drove in five runs and the Twins set a team record with 28 hits while batting around in two different innings of a victory over the Mariners.

Max Kepler and Brian Dozier also went deep, Eduardo Escobar had five hits and two RBIs and Jason Castro had four hits and four RBIs for the Twins, who are in first place in the AL Central di-

Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw winds up during the first inning of the team’s baseball game against the Cleveland Indians, Tuesday, June 13, 2017, in Cleveland.

Associated Press

vision despite an American League-worst 13-19 record at Target Field.

The 28 hits are the most in a game since the Rangers had 29 in a 30-3 win over the Orioles on Aug. 22, 2007.

Christian Bergman (3-4) gave up nine runs and 10 hits in 2 1-3 innings for the Mariners. Jarrod Dyson had a homer, a double and an RBI. Ben Gamel had two doubles and an RBI. ANGELS 3, YANKEES 2, 11 INNINGS ANAHEIM, California (AP) — Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia exited early with a

strained left hamstring, and Eric Young Jr. rallied Los Angeles to an 11-inning victory that ended New York’s six-game winning streak.

Yankees manager Joe Girardi said he anticipates Sabathia is headed to the disabled list, a disappointing blow for the AL East leaders with the big lefthander pitching his best ball in years.

Sabathia left after four innings and said he will have an MRI on Wednesday.

Young tied the score at 2 with a solo homer off Tyler Clippard in the eighth and drove home the win-

ning run with a sharp infield single off the leg of reliever Ben Heller with two outs in the 11th.

Young has three homers in 15 MLB games this season, equaling his total from the previous four years combined.

WHITE SOX 6, ORIOLES 1 CHICAGO (AP) — Matt Davidson hit his first career grand slam, Derek Holland scattered eight hits over six innings and the White Sox beat the Orioles.

Jose Abreu went 3 for 4 and Avisail Garcia had a two-run double as Chicago won its second straight after dropping nine of 11.

Davidson leads the White Sox with 12 homers in 163 at-bats.

Manny Machado had an RBI-single for the Orioles.

Holland (5-6) faced trouble in every inning, but managed to give up just one run. The left-hander had lost his three previous starts, allowing 15 earned runs in 13 innings (10.38 ERA) during that span.

Baltimore starter Alec Asher (2-5) allowed six runs and six hits in five-plus innings following a fast start.

RAYS 8, BLUE JAYS 1 TORONTO (AP) — Rookie Jacob Faria dazzled again and Logan Morrison hit his 18th home run of the season to help the Rays beat the Blue Jays.

Six days after his big-league debut, Faria (2-0) became the third Rays pitcher alltime to win his first two career games, joining Jeremy Hellickson and Joe Kenne-

dy. The victory was Tampa Bay’s sixth in its last seven games.

The 23-year-old right-hander held the Blue Jays to six hits in 6 1/3 innings, striking out eight and giving up one run. He was called up on Monday to replace Matt Andriese, who went on the disabled list with a hip complaint.

Corey Dickerson went 4 for 5 with a homer — his 15th of the season.

Marco Estrada (4-5) had his shortest outing of the season, lasting just 3 1/3 innings after giving up 12 hits and being charged with six runs in his sixth straight loss to Tampa.

DIAMONDBACKS 7, TIGERS 6 DETROIT (AP) — David Peralta homered to left center in the ninth inning off Detroit closer Justin Wilson, lifting the Diamondbacks to a win over the Tigers.

Arizona reliever Archie Bradley (2-1) pitched a scoreless eighth to pick up the win. Zack Greinke, who was staked to a 6-0 lead in the third, went 5 2/3 innings and allowed five runs, all unearned, and five hits.

Fernando Rodney pitched a scoreless ninth for his 17th save.

Wilson (2-2) took the loss after allowing the homer to Peralta on the first pitch in the ninth. Starter Buck Farmer went 2 1/3 innings and allowed six runs on nine hits.

He was 2-0 and had gone 13 straight scoreless innings before Tuesday.q

WNBA Capsules:Dantas leads Dream over Storm SEATTLE, Washington (AP) — Damiris Dantas had a career-high 22 points, Bria Holmes scored nine of her 15 points in overtime and the Atlanta Dream beat the Seattle Storm 91-86 on Tuesday.

Holmes grabbed an offensive rebound, was fouled with 6.6 seconds left and hit 1 of 2 free throws to extend the lead to 87-84. Atlanta elected to foul with 5.5 seconds left and Noelle Quinn

made two free throws to pull to 87-86. But Seattle was called for a clear-path foul and Atlanta made four straight free throws to seal it. Tiffany Hayes added 14 points for Atlanta (5-4), and Layshia Clarendon fouled out with 3:04 left in the fourth quarter with nine points, eight rebounds and six assists.

Seattle trailed by nine points with four minutes to go in regulation but the

Storm closed on a 12-3 run.

Seattle had the final possession of regulation but Jewell Loyd’s contested 3-pointer didn’t hit the rim.

Loyd hit 14 of 16 free throws and scored 27 points for Seattle (5-5). Breanna Stewart added 16 points as all five Storm starters finished in double figures.

SPARKS 97, WINGS 87 LOS ANGELES (AP) — Chelsea Gray scored 24 points, Nneka Ogwumike added

21 and the Sparks beat the Wings.

Gray and Ogwumike combined to make 10 of 11 shots in the first half for 24 points.

They finished 15 of 18 from the field as the Sparks shot 57 percent.

Candace Parker had 17 points, seven rebounds and five assists for Los Angeles (6-3), which avenged a 9690 loss at Dallas last Friday.

Los Angeles raced out to a 23-6 lead as Dallas went

scoreless for nearly five minutes in the first quarter.

The Wings were just 4-of-17 shooting in the quarter.

Dallas rookie Allisha Gray hit back-to-back 3-pointers in the second quarter to pull to 36-28 and Kayla Thornton made the Wings’ fifth 3 of the second to get within five points, but Seattle closed on an 8-0 run.

Skylar Diggins-Smith scored 28 points for Dallas (4-7), which has lost five of six.q

SPORTS A21

Thursday 15 June 2017

NL Capsules

Zimmerman homers twice in return as Nats beat Braves 10-5

WASHINGTON (AP) — Ryan Zimmerman hit his 18th and 19th home runs of the season in his return from back soreness, and the Nationals scored five sixth-inning runs against R.A. Dickey to defeat the Braves.

Zimmerman went 3 for 4 and drove in three runs to help Washington end a four-game slide after sitting out the last three.

Daniel Murphy homered, doubled and had three hits and two RBIs as the NL-East leading Nationals scored eight runs against a second Braves starter in as many nights.

Unlike Monday, Washington’s bullpen held firm Tuesday with four relievers combining for 3 1/3 scoreless innings. Trevor Gott (10) worked out of the sixth for his first victory as a National.

Dickey (4-5) went five-plus innings while allowing his most runs since April 24, 2015.

MARLINS 8, ATHLETICS 1 MIAMI (AP) — Giancarlo Stanton returned to the Marlins’ starting lineup after recovering from a bruised wrist and hit a two-run homer to help beat the Athletics.

Stanton missed only one start after being hit on the right wrist by a fastball Saturday. His 17th homer of the year put Miami ahead 4-1 in the fifth inning.

Marcell Ozuna hit his 16th homer and had two singles, hiking his average to .332. Tyler Moore added three hits, including a tworun double.

The Marlins’ Ichiro Suzuki had a pinch-hit single in the eighth for his 364th interleague hit, tying Derek Jeter’s MLB record.

Jose Urena (5-2) won his fourth consecutive decision by allowing one run in six-plus innings. The righthander, who leads the Marlins in wins, retired 14 straight batters before tiring in the seventh.

CARDINALS 6, BREWERS 0, Game 1; BREWERS 8, CARDINALS 5, Game 2 ST. LOUIS (AP) — Keon Broxton and Travis Shaw each hit solo home runs and combined for five RBI to help the Brewers beat the Cardinals and split their day-night doubleheader.

The Cardinals won the opener 6-0 behind Jose Martinez’s two home runs.

In the nightcap, Shaw’s eighth inning single against Trevor Rosenthal (1-3) broke a 5-5 tie. Shaw, who was reinstated from a family medical emergency before the doubleheader, went 2-for5 in the second game and drove in two runs.

Brewers right-hander Jimmy Nelson went 5 2/3 innings, but is still winless in 11 career games (10 starts) against the Cardinals. He gave up nine hits, two walks and struck out four.

Jared Hughes (2-1) got the decision after giving up a game-tying homer to Matt Carpenter. Corey Knebel earned his ninth saves in 12 opportunities.

PIRATES 5, ROCKIES 2 PITTSBURGH (AP) — John Jaso hit a pinch-hit tworun homer off Colorado’s

Washington Nationals’ Ryan Zimmerman rounds second as he heads home after hitting a two-run home run during the sixth inning of the team’s baseball game against the Atlanta Braves at Nationals Park, Tuesday, June 13, 2017, in Washington. The Nationals won 10-5.

Adam Ottavino in the seventh inning to break a tie and Andrew McCutchen homered twice as the Pirates pulled away from the Rockies.

Jaso sent the second pitch he saw from Ottavino (01) just over the fence in center field for his second pinch-hit homer of the season and fifth of his career.

Gerrit Cole (4-6) broke out of a funk to allow just one run in seven strong innings.

The Pirates have won a season-high four straight following a four-game losing streak that dropped them to last in the NL Central.

Tony Wolters had two hits and an RBI for Colorado.

Trevor Story drove in a run and scored for the Rockies.

The NL West-leading Rockies have dropped three consecutive games for the first time this season.

CUBS 14, METS 3 NEW YORK (AP) — Anthony Rizzo began the game with a long home run after a surprising move to the leadoff spot, rookie Ian Happ hit his first career grand slam and the Cubs trounced the Mets.

Backed by a season-best seven-run second inning, the World Series champs ended a nine-game skid on the road and moved back to .500 through 64 games.

The Cubs had lost five of six overall.

Jon Lester (4-4) earned his 150th win and matched a season high with 10 strikeouts. He allowed a run and five hits over seven innings.

PADRES 6, REDS 2 SAN DIEGO (AP) — Clayton Richard carried a shutout into the ninth inning, Franchy Cordero homered twice and the Padres beat the slumping Reds.

One out from going the distance, Richard was removed after pinch-hitter Tucker Barnhart’s two-run double. The left-hander allowed eight hits while striking out six and walking two.

Brandon Maurer got the final out for his 11th save, handing Cincinnati its fifth straight loss.q

A22

Thursday 15 June 2017

SPORTS

AP Analysis: Rio de Janeiro Olympics cost $13.1 billion

By RENATA BRITO and STEPHEN WADE Associated Press RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — An analysis by The Associated Press shows that the cost of putting on last year’s Rio de Janeiro Olympics was $13.1 billion, paid for with a mix of public and private money.

Officials of Brazil’s Public Authority for Olympic Legacy said at a news conference Wednesday, the cost for “sports-related venues” was 7.23 billion reals ($2.06 billion). In addition, the Rio organizing committee previously said the cost of running the Games at 9 billion reals ($2.8 billion).

The Olympic legacy body did not account for other Olympic-related costs. But the AP obtained them in emailed statements from city, state and federal agencies.

Those costs were 26.385 billion reals ($8.2 billion) for, among other things, a subway line, a doping laboratory, a renovated port and cleanup of polluted Guanabara Bay. The doping laboratory was paid for by the federal government and cost 163.7 million reals ($50 million).

A delay-plagued subway line project that was built

In this July 4, 2016 file photo, the Olympic Park of the 2016 Olympics is seen from the air, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. An analysis by The Associated Press shows that the cost of putting on last year’s Rio de Janeiro Olympic was $13.1 billion.

Associated Press

to connect fans to Olympic Park had a price tag of 9.7 billion reals ($2.98 billion).

According to a state auditor’s report cited in August, the railway was overbilled by 25 percent.

Another legacy project, the renovation of Porto Maravilha, a run-down historic area in Rio, cost the city 10 billion reals ($4.2 billion).

“Should a country with such inequality as Brazil

have hosted such an event with this level of investment,” federal prosecutor Leandro Mitidieri said. He said it would be difficult to use the Olympic venues in a way that would generate enough income to cover maintenance expenses.

“It is a challenge and we can see the difficulties,” he said. “We recognize the difficulties.”

Officials presented the re-

port at the Olympic Park in suburban Barra da Tijuca, which now consists of mostly vacant venues. Last month a federal prosecutor said many of the venues were “white elephants” that were built with “no planning.”

The Rio Olympics, which opened 10 months ago, were plagued by countless financial and organizational problems, and were

hosted as Brazil sank into its deepest recession since the 1930s.

The state of Rio de Janeiro has been months late paying teachers, hospital workers, and pensions. The state also reported recordbreaking crime in 2016 in almost all categories from homicides to robbery.

The problems around the Rio Games — and the aftermath — have called into question the wisdom of cities building new venues every few years to accommodate an event that lasts just over two weeks.

Paulo Marcio, the head of the Public Authority for Olympic Legacy, talked vaguely about plans to use the venues. The Olympic Park has staged mainly small national or local events. He did not offer any cost or income figures with most of the Olympic arenas now being operated

by Brazil’s federal government. A plan to auction off the venues to private operators failed when only one bidder was reported to be interested.

“I think that in a short period of time I will be able to deliver this legacy, and we have already been successful,” he said.

Hein Verbruggen, former cycling head, dies at 75

By RAF CASERT AP Sports Writer BRUSSELS (AP) — Hein Verbruggen, the former president of the International Cycling Union who oversaw the worldwide spread of a sport often tainted by doping, has died. He was 75.

The UCI and the International Olympic Committee both reacted to the news on Wednesday, underscoring the Dutchman’s clout within both organizations.

The IOC flew its flag at half staff and Dutch King Willem-Alexander, a former IOC member, called him “a man with a big heart for the Olympic movement,

for cycling and those close to him.”

Dutch cycling association spokesman Kevin Leenheers confirmed the death, saying Verbruggen died on Tuesday night.

Critics said Verbruggen was too close to those involved in doping. He was often confronted for his relationship with Lance Armstrong, the American rider who was the face of cycling with his seven Tour de France victories before he came to embody the abuse of performance-enhancing drugs.

Time and again Verbruggen faced accusers saying he was colluding with

dopers instead of countering them. Just as often, he fought back to save his tarnished reputation. He proclaimed his innocence until his death. Verbruggen was a consummate businessman all his life, yet he was never able to shake the doping scandals during his reign. The reason for his opposition to doping was simple, he said.

“I want to get rid of doping because it prevents me from selling the sport,” Verbruggen said in an interview with The Associated Press three decades ago, as he was making his way up the ladder in the cycling world.

In this April 3, 2008 file photo, Hein Verbruggen, the then coordination commission chairman of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee, listens during a news conference in Beijing.

As a sales manager at Mars food, he got into cycling and found a sport which was totally antiquated when others like tennis were developing with the times and becoming successful professional enterprises.

When cycling still centered mainly on France, Belgium

and Italy for major races, Verbruggen was already dreaming about the world at large, driven by such ideas as World Cup rankings to get a more global appeal.

“Protect in Europe what we have, and then afterwards comes America,” he said.

TECHNOLOGY A23

Thursday 15 June 2017

Drones carrying defibrillators could aid heart emergencies

By LINDSEY TANNER AP Medical Writer CHICAGO (AP) — It sounds futuristic: drones carrying heart defibrillators swooping in to help bystanders revive people stricken by cardiac arrest.

Researchers tested the idea and found drones arrived at the scene of 18 cardiac arrests within about 5 minutes of launch. That was almost 17 minutes faster on average than ambulances — a big deal for a condition where minutes mean life or death.

Drone-delivered devices weren’t used on patients in the preliminary study, but the results are “pretty remarkable” and proof that the idea is worth exploring, said Dr. Clyde Yancy, a former American Heart Association president who was not involved in the study.

Cardiac arrest is a leading cause of death worldwide, killing more than 6 million people each year. Most happen at home or in other nonmedical settings and most gy chief at Northwestern University’s medical school in Chicago.

The researchers reached the same conclusion after analyzing cardiac arrest data in Sweden, focusing on towns near Stockholm that don’t have enough emergepatients don’t survive.

“Ninety percent of people who collapse outside of a hospital don’t make it. This is a crisis and it’s time we do something different to address it,” said Yancy, cardioloncy medical resources to

serve summer vacationers. The analysis found an emergency response time of almost 30 minutes and a survival rate of zero, said lead author Andreas Claesson, a researcher at the Center for Resuscitation Science at Karolinska Institute in Stockholm.

To see if care could be improved, Claesson’s team turned to drones.

Drones are increasingly being tested or used in a variety of settings, including to deliver retail goods to consumers in remote areas, search for lost hikers and help police monitor traffic or crowds.

Using them to speed medical care seemed like a logical next step, Claesson said.

The study was done last October and was published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

More than 350,000 Americans had a cardiac arrest in a nonmedical setting last year, the American Heart Association says. The condition is often confused with heart attacks but they’re different.

Heart attacks occur when a clot or other blockage stops blood flow to the heart. Cardiac arrest occurs when electrical impulses controlling the heart’s rhythmic pumping action suddenly malfunction.

The heartbeat becomes very irregular or stops, preventing blood from reaching vital organs.

Death can occur within minutes without treatment to restore a normal heartbeat, ideally CPR

This Friday, Sept. 6, 2013, file photo shows a drone at a testing site in Lincoln, Neb. An experimental study in Sweden suggests drones equipped with heart defibrillators could help with response times for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.

and use of a defibrillator.

The researchers used a small heart defibrillator weighing less than two pounds, featuring an electronic voice that gives instructions on how to use the device.

It was attached to a small drone equipped with four small propeller-like rotors, a global positioning device and camera.

They launched the drone from a fire station within about 6 miles (10 kilometers) from homes where people had previous cardiac arrests.

In the study’s video footage simulating a rescue, a drone soars over residential rooftops and

then lands gently in a backyard. A man dashes out of the house, grabs the defibrillator and carries it inside.

There were no crashes or other mishaps during the study, Claesson said.

He plans a follow-up study to test drone-delivered defibrillators for bystanders to use in real-life cardiac arrests.

The test results show “a great potential for saving lives,” he said.q

A24 BUSINESS

Thursday 15 June 2017

Stock indexes slip following weak sales data

By MARLEY JAY AP Markets Writer NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks dipped Wednesday as investors worried about weak retail sales and oil prices sank. The Federal Reserve raised interest rates for the third time in six months.

The Commerce Department said retail spending

but there is sort of a failure to bounce in this economy.”

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index slid 2.43 points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,437.92. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 46.09 points, or 0.2 percent, to a record 21,374.56. Home Depot and Goldman Sachs contributed most of the blue-

seller GameStop gave up 35 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $21.55 and department store chain Kohl’s dropped 38 cents, or 1 percent, to $37.66.

In a separate report, the Labor Department said consumer prices slipped, partly because of lower energy prices. That’s one reason there has been little

Trader Eric Schumacher works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Wednesday, June 14, 2017. U.S. stocks dipped Wednesday as investors worried about weak retail sales and oil prices sank.

(AP Photo/Richard Drew)

decreased in May, which surprised experts. Investors reacted by buying traditionally safe assets like government bonds and highdividend companies while selling stocks from other industries that depend more on economic growth.

Bond yields hit their lowest level of 2017. Oil prices also hit an annual low after the government’s weekly report on oil stockpiles.

In the last few weeks Wall Street has been disappointed by several economic reports. That did not appear to change the Fed’s thinking even though higher interest rates tend to slow down economic growth. For years investors have been hoping growth will hit a faster pace.

“This economy has always been something of a healthy tortoise,” said David Kelly, chief global strategist at JPMorgan Asset Management. “I think growth will pick up a bit,

chip index’s gain. After a late tumble in technology stocks, the Nasdaq composite lost 25.48 points, or 0.4 percent, to 6,194.89.

Small-company stocks fell more than the rest of the market. The Russell 2000 index sank 8.41 points, or 0.6 percent, to 1,417.57. That suggests investors are worried about the economy, which could have an outsize effect on smaller, domestically-focused companies.

The Federal Reserve raised interest rates for the third time since December, something investors widely expected based on the Fed’s recent statements.

Fed leaders suggested they still expect to raise rates again later in the year.

The Commerce Department said people spent less money at gas stations, department stores and electronics retailers last month. Video game

inflation in the economy lately, a continued concern for Federal Reserve policymakers.

Bond prices jumped. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to 2.13 percent from 2.21 percent.

Earlier, the 10-year note hit its lowest level since November.

Among big dividend payers, cereal maker General Mills rose 58 cents, or 1 percent, to $58.64 and PepsiCo advanced $1.05 to $117.37. American Water Works rose $1.14, or 1.4 percent, to $81.32.

Oil futures plunged after the U.S. government said oil supplies shrank only slightly last week while gasoline stockpiles grew.

Benchmark U.S. crude fell $1.73, or 3.7 percent, to settle at $44.73 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, shed $1.72, or 3.5 percent, to close at $47 a barrel in London.q

Fed raises key rate and unveils plans to reduce bond holdings

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve has raised its key interest rate for the third time in six months, providing its latest vote of confidence in a slow-growing but durable economy. The Fed also announced plans to start gradually paring its bond holdings later this year, which could cause long-term rates to rise.

The increase in the Fed’s short-term rate by a quarter-point to a still-low range of 1 percent to 1.25 percent could lead to higher borrowing costs for consumers and businesses and slightly better returns for savers.

The Fed foresees one additional rate hike this year but gave no hint of when that might occur.

The overarching message the Fed sent Wednesday was an upbeat one: It believes the U.S. economy is on firm footing as it enters its ninth year of recovery from the Great Recession, with little risk of a recession.

Though the economy is growing only sluggishly and though inflation remains chronically below the Fed’s 2 percent target, it foresees improvement in both measures over time.

And the most important pillar of the economy — the job market — remains solid if slowing, with employment at a 16-year-low of 4.3 percent — even below the level the Fed associates with full employment.

The Fed’s decision to raise rates, announced in a statement after its latest policy meeting, was approved 8-1, with Neel Kashkari, head of the Fed’s Minneapolis regional bank, dissenting in favor of holding rates unchanged.

The announcement that the Fed plans to begin paring its balance sheet later this year — “provided that the economy evolves broadly as anticipated” — involves its enormous portfolio of Treasury and mortgage bonds. The Fed began buying the bonds after the Great Recession to try to depress long-term loan rates. That effort result-

ed in a five-fold increase in its portfolio to $4.5 trillion.

On Wednesday, the Fed said it would eventually allow a small amount of bonds to mature without being replaced — an amount that would gradually rise as markets adjusted to the process. This process could put upward pressure on long-term borrowing rates.

The Fed would start with monthly reductions in Treasury holdings of no more than $6 billion and $4 billion in mortgage bonds. Those figures would rise in increments over a year until they reached $30 billion a month in Treasurys and $20 billion in mortgage bonds.

“With the Fed stating its intentions to start reducing the size of the balance sheet this year, it is offering a clear vote of confidence for the economy,” said Curt Long, chief economist of the National Association of Federally Insured Credit Unions.

The Fed also issued updated economic forecasts that showed it foresees one additional rate increase this year to follow Wednesday’s increase and an earlier rate hike in March.

The rate forecast, based on individual projections from each member, envisions three more rate hikes in 2018 and three more in 2019. By then, the Fed’s forecast would put its key policy rate at 3 percent.

That’s the level the Fed believes is a neutral rate — neither stimulating growth nor restraining it.

But the Fed’s forecasts are only predictions and are frequently revised as its assessments evolve. Some economists suggested that even though the Fed foresees one more rate hike this year, the persistently low inflation may lead it to leave rates alone until 2018. Some also note that political paralysis in Washington has raised doubts about whether Congress will increase the nation’s borrowing limit and pass a new budget. That possibility, too, could lead the Fed to wait.q

BUSINESS A25

Thursday 15 June 2017

GM extends summer shutdown at 2 car plants as demand falls

By TOM KRISHER AP Auto Writer DETROIT (AP) — General Motors is extending the normal two-week summer shutdown for at least two U.S. car factories because of slumping sedan sales.

Union officials say the Lordstown, Ohio, plant near Cleveland and the Fairfax plant in Kansas City, Kansas, will close for as many as five weeks in June and July. The company confirmed that some car factories would be shut down longer than usual but would not give details. Lordstown makes the Chevrolet Cruze compact sedan, while Fairfax builds the Chevrolet Malibu midsize car.

The additional shutdowns come as all automakers struggle to deal with a shrinking U.S. market that is dramatically shifting away from cars toward trucks and SUVs of all sizes. Some are continuing to produce cars and selling them to rental car companies or

In this Monday, Jan. 28, 2013 photo, cars move along an assembly line at the General Motors Fairfax plant in Kansas City, Kan. General Motors is extending the normal two-week summer shutdown at two U.S. car factories because of slumping demand. Union officials say the Lordstown, Ohio, plant near Cleveland and the Fairfax plant in Kansas City, Kan., will close for as long as five weeks in June and July 2017.

(AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)

offering big discounts to individual buyers while others are cutting production.

Through May, U.S. car sales were down 11 percent while truck and SUV sales

rose nearly 5 percent, according to Autodata Corp.

Also, overall demand for

vehicles is slowing after seven years of growth. Total U.S. sales are down 2 percent through May and many analysts are predicting that full-year sales will slow to 17.2 million, compared with last year’s record of 17.5 million.

Robert Morales, president of a United Auto Workers union local at the Lordstown factory, says the plant will stop production for the last two weeks in June and another three weeks in July. “It’s just to align with market demand, that’s all,” he said Wednesday.The Lordstown plant has about 3,000 hourly and salaried workers. Last year GM suspended the third shift at the plant indefinitely as demand dropped.

The Fairfax plant has about 3,500 workers.

It was unclear whether other GM plants will see extended summer shutdowns, which normally happen over the July 4 holiday as factories switch to the next model year.q

Foxconn, assembler of iPhones, eyes Wisconsin for plant

By SCOTT BAUER Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Taiwanese company that assembles Apple’s iPhones and other electronics is considering building a plant in Wisconsin that could employ thousands of people and give Gov. Scott Walker a huge political boost as he prepares to run for re-election.

A person with direct knowledge of the negotiations who was not authorized to speak publicly confirmed to The Associated Press on Wednesday that the state is in talks with Foxconn. At

least one other upper Midwest state, Michigan, is also pursuing the plant.

President Donald Trump alluded to negotiations with an unspecified company during a visit to Milwaukee on Tuesday, saying Walker might get “a very happy surprise very soon.” Trump said “we were negotiating with a major, major incredible manufacturer of phones and computers and televisions.”

Foxconn assembles smartphones and other devices for Apple, Sony, Blackberry and other brands — mostly in China, where its plants

employ about 1 million people. It has been the subject of complaints for years about its labor practices and worker suicides at plants in China that manufacture Apple products.

Walker’s administration deferred comment to the state’s chief economic development agency.

Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation spokesman Mark Maley said the agency doesn’t comment on pending or potential opportunities.

“It would be great for Wisconsin for a lot of reasons,” said Tom Still, president of

the Wisconsin Technology Council, who noted that Wisconsin is already home to similar electronic manufacturers.

“I am assuming Foxconn was attracted by the fact there’s already a skilled workforce here and there’s a foundation to produce more such workers through the tech colleges and the other parts of the education system,” Still said.

Foxconn, founded in 1974, announced in January that it was considering investing $7 billion in a U.S. factory to produce display panels that would create as many

as 50,000 jobs. The company was purchased last year of Japan’s Sharp Corp.

Walker made a brief, previously unannounced trip to Japan the weekend of June 2 to pursue an undisclosed economic development opportunity. That same weekend, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder was also in Japan.

Snyder has been increasing pressure on Michigan lawmakers to approve tax incentives for large-scale business expansions in the state as it tries to convince Foxconn to locate in his state.q

A26 COMICS

Thursday 15 June 2017

Mutts

Conceptis Sudoku

6 Chix

Blondie

Mother Goose & Grimm

Baby Blues

Zits

Yesterday’s puzzle answer

Sudoku is a number-placing puzzle based on a 9x9 grid with several given numbers. The object is to place the numbers 1 to 9 in the empty squares so that each row, each column and each 3x3 box contains the same number only once. The difficulty level of the Conceptis Sudoku increases from Monday to Sunday.

CLASSIFIED A27

Thursday 15 June 2017

Edmunds: For Father’s Day, take Dad car-shopping

Chevrolet Corvettes are displayed in the showroom at Quirk Auto Dealers in Manchester, N.H. You can use Father’s Day to explore the cars Dad might want to buy, or you can go for the big surprise of a gift on wheels.

(AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

By MATT JONES RON MONTOYA (EDMUNDS) Forget the cologne. For this Father’s Day, help Dad get what he really wants: a new car.

There are two approaches to Father’s Day car shopping. The first is to plan a fun, no-pressure morning of back-to-back test drives that let Dad check out the cars that appeal to him. Cap it with brunch or lunch and a discussion of which car he liked best.The second route is to surprise him with a car. This is riskier, though, as you’ll see later in this article.

THE FATHER’S DAY TEST DRIVE The goal isn’t necessarily to buy the car on Father’s Day. Sundays are busy at car dealerships, and you’d be smart to save the actual purchase for a weekday. To make the day a success, you’ll want to line up a few things first: DO ONLINE RESEARCH: Dad and his car-buying assistants should research the makes and models that best suit him. Narrow the list to about three cars.

CHECK OUT THE DEALS: See if there are lease specials, special financing or bonus cash offers on the cars that make the final list.

SCHEDULE BACK-TO-BACK TEST-DRIVE APPOINTMENTS: Call the dealerships ahead of time to make sure the vehicles Dad wants to drive are in stock. He’ll want to test the car in the trim level and with the options he’s after. Make appointments for the drives to ensure the vehicles will be ready when you arrive.

The first should be as early in the morning as possible

because it will get busier at dealerships as the day goes on.

By having two or three test-drive appointments on Dad’s schedule, you have a built-in reason to leave a dealership that may be eager to talk price before you’re ready. Plan at least a half-hour for each drive.

DO A FIT TEST: Is this vehicle going to do carpool duty and team hauling? If so, Dad and his shopping assistants should check out the cargo area with seating positions the way he’d want them during his daily driving. Will everybody fit?

Is there room to carry sports and school gear? What about the dog?

CHECK THE CAR SEATS: Are there little ones in the family? Be certain that the cars Dad is considering can accommodate car seats. Bring them along to confirm an easy fit. When

checking out a vehicle’s rear seats, be sure to check the LATCH attachments and positions.

BRING ALONG THE RESEARCH: Whether they’re in your phone or notes, have these handy. And just in case you do buy that day, a few quick phone calls to get price quotes from nearby dealerships will help with negotiations.

Remind Dad and any copurchasers to bring driver’s licenses, proof of insurance and an approved car loan from a bank or credit union.

Having a preapproved loan is a good idea.

DEBRIEF: Over lunch or brunch, Dad can share his impressions and narrow the field. During the week, the buying team can get competitive price quotes on the car that Dad’s chosen and wrap up the deal.

THE SURPRISE APPROACH To be honest, it’s probably too late to have the perfect car in Dad’s driveway

by Father’s Day. You don’t want to rush a car purchase. But you can start planning now for next year.

Buying a car as a gift is tricky, even with lots of time to plan. In most cases, you can’t return a new car that you’ve just bought. With that in mind: MAKE SURE YOU CHOOSE THE RIGHT CAR: Find a clever way to figure out the features Dad would want in a new car. q

A28 SCIENCE

Thursday 15 June 2017

Sweet sizzlin’ beans! Fancy names may boost healthy dining

BY LINDSEY TANNER AP MEDICAL WRITER CHICAGO (AP) -- Researchers tried a big serving of food psychology and a dollop of trickery to get diners to eat their vegetables. And it worked.

Veggies given names like “zesty ginger-turmeric sweet potatoes” and “twisted citrus-glazed carrots” were more popular than those prepared exactly the same way but with plainer, more healthful-sounding labels. Diners more often said “no thanks” when the food had labels like “low-fat,” ‘’reduced-sodium” or “sugar-free.”

More diners chose the fancy-named items, and selected larger portions of them too in the experiment last fall at a Stanford University cafeteria.

“While it may seem like a good idea to emphasize

the healthiness of vegetables, doing so may actually backfire,” said lead author Bradley Turnwald, a graduate student in psychology.

Other research has shown that people tend to think of healthful sounding food

as less tasty, so the aim was to make it sound as good as more indulgent, fattening fare.

Researchers from Stanford’s psychology department tested the idea as a way to improve eating

U.S. physicists win Spanish prize for work in gravity waves MADRID (AP) -- Astrophysicists whose work led to the ground-breaking detection of cosmic gravitational waves first predicted by Einstein have been awarded Spain’s Princess of Asturias 2017 scientific research.

Prize organizers said Wednesday the award

went to American physicians Rainer Weiss, Kip Thorne and Barry Barish and to the LIGO Scientific Collaboration group of international astrophysicists.

Physicists used LIGO instruments in 2015 to detect a gravitational wave generated by two black

holes colliding 1.3 billion light-years from Earth. The discovery was seen as a eureka-type moment in observing the universe.

Weiss, Thorne and late physician Ronald Drever founded LIGO - Laser Interferometer GravitationalWave Observatory .q

habits and make a dent in the growing obesity epidemic .

“This novel, low-cost intervention could easily be implemented in cafeterias, restaurants, and consumer products to increase selection of healthier options,” they said.

The results were published Monday JAMA Internal Medicine.

The study was done over 46 days last fall. Lunchtime vegetable offerings were given different labels on different days.

For example, on one day diners could choose “dynamite chili and tangy lime-seasoned beets.”

On other days the same item was labeled “light-

er-choice beets with no added sugar,” ‘’high antioxidant beets,” or simply “beets.”

Almost one-third of the nearly 28,000 diners chose a vegetable offering during the study.

The tasty-sounding offering was the most popular, selected by about 220 diners on average on days it was offered, compared with about 175 diners who chose the simple-label vegetable. The healthysounding labels were the least popular.

Diners also served themselves bigger portions of the tasty-sounding vegetables than of the other choices.

Turnwald emphasized that “there was no deception” - all labels accurately described the vegetables, although diners weren’t told that the different-sounding choices were the exact same item.

The results illustrate “the interesting advantage to indulgent labeling,” he said.

Dr. Stephen Cook, a University of Rochester childhood obesity researcher, called the study encouraging and said some high school cafeterias have also tried different labels to influence healthy eating.

“It shouldn’t be a surprise to us because marketing people have been doing this for years,” Cook said.q

PEOPLE & ARTS A29

Grammys switching to online voting, changes top album rule

By MESFIN FEKADU AP Music Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The Grammys Awards are transitioning to online voting and have updated rules for its top category, album of the year.

The Recording Academy announced new changes Wednesday, including its official switch to online voting for its 13,000 members.

Voting for the 2018 Grammy Awards will take place in the fall and will include songs and albums released between Oct. 1, 2016, and Sept. 30, 2017.

Bill Freimuth, the academy’s senior vice president of awards, said the academy expects to attract younger voters and touring musicians who are away from home during voting season.

“It is something that has been long-desired, longtalked about and long-investigated,” he said of online voting, which comes a year after the Latin Grammys made the switch.

Freimuth said there were concerns about security issues, but added they have “done everything we can to make sure the integrity of the system will be preserved.”Another major change is the addition of songwriters to the nominees for album of the year, which was previously reserved for artists, producers and engineers. However, all participants in the album, including featured artists, songwriters, producers and engineers, must now be credited with at least 33 percent or more playing time on the album to be eligible for nomination. Prior to the new rule, all participants on an album would earn a nomination for album of the year even if they worked on one song.The album of the year rule change would mainly affect pop, rap and contemporary R&B albums where producers typically vary throughout the project, as opposed to country and rock albums, where fewer producers are present.Beyonce’s “Lemonade,” Drake’s “Views” and

Justin Bieber’s “Purpose” — all nominees this year for album of the year — each had at least 20 producers credited. Adele’s “25,” which won the top prize in February, had 11 producers. The fifth nominee was country singer Sturgill Simpson, who produced his album by himself.

“Does participation on a single track on a 12- or 15-track album really signify that they really worked on the album? When it was put that way most people were saying, ‘No, not really,’” Freimuth said.

If the new rule had been implemented at this year’s show, Bruno Mars and Ryan Tedder wouldn’t have earned Grammys for their production work on Adele’s album, for example. Freimuth added that songwriters and producers who work on a big hit on an album could earn a nomination for record or song of the year for their song.

The new changes were approved last month by the Recording Academy’s board of trustees. Other changes include nomination review committees added to the rap, contemporary instrumental and New Age genres. The committees serve as an additional layer of checks and balances, and for rap, could prevent wins like Macklemore & Ryan Lewis in 2014 over Kendrick Lamar, which were highly criticized. It could also allow rising acts to earn nominations over veteran performers like Eminem and Kanye West, who consistently earn nominations.

“We form these committees only when we hear from ... those genre communities (when) they feel like something’s wrong, or that our nominations could be better,” said Freimuth.

“For rap, what they were finding was that ‘legacy’ artists, almost no matter what they released, they would get a nomination because of their name recognition and fan base.”

The rock, R&B and country genres are other genres that have nomination re-

Thursday 15 June 2017

Stay thirsty: ‘Most interesting man’ now pitching tequila

view committees.

The Grammy Awards have 83 categories. Nominees will be announced Nov. 28, and the 60th awards show will take place at Madison Square Garden in New York on Jan. 28, 2018.q

In this 2017 photo provided by Davos Brands, actor Jonathan Goldsmith poses with a bottle of Astral Tequila.

This Dec. 9, 2008 file photo shows a Grammy Award statue.

Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — “The Most Interesting Man in the World” is giving up beer for tequila.

Actor Jonathan Goldsmith appeared as the sophisticated, eccentric and worldly pitchman for Dos Equis beer for nearly a decade.

He’s now promoting Astral Tequila.

In a new ad, the 78-yearold Goldsmith nods at his Dos Equis days by raising a glass of tequila and saying, “I told you I don’t always drink beer. ”Dos Equis announced Goldsmith’s departure from the long-running ad campaign last year. It has continued the campaign with a younger actor.q

A30

Thursday 15 June 2017

PEOPLE/ARTS

In ‘47 Meters Down,’ Moore and Holt embrace uncharted waters

In this June 2, 2017 photo, Mandy Moore, left, and Claire Holt pose for a portrait at the “47 Meters Down” junket at the Montage Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif.

Associated Press

By JOSEPH LONGO Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — Mandy Moore spent six weeks at the bottom of a London pool trapped inside a steel cage, hyperventilating and screaming while filming the underwater thriller “47 Meters Down .”

It wasn’t all called for in the script.

Countless “what ifs” played out in her mind: What if her air suddenly cut out? What if her scuba equipment wasn’t properly attached?

“It hadn’t really been done before, so no one really knew the ramifications of spending that much time underwater,” Moore, 33, said.

In total, Moore said she and her co-star Claire Holt spent 95 percent of production underwater for “47 Meters Down,” which arrives in theaters Friday more than two years after it was shot.

Moore and Holt, 29, play sisters who try escaping their everyday problems by going on a Mexican vacation.

They party, they argue and they go shark diving in a rickety cage.

The cable suddenly breaks loose, sending them plummeting 154 feet to the ocean floor.

In reality the actresses only descended 20 feet down to reach the bottom of that London pool.

But as Moore will tell you, that’s still 20 feet underwater.

“It wasn’t lost on us that we’re breathing underwater and that is not normal,” Moore said.

Much like their characters, Moore and Holt were running out of air the moment they dived in.

Director Johannes Roberts said it sped up shooting. They had a fixed amount of time until each air tank emp-

tied and production stopped.

Unlike their characters, Moore and Holt were not dealing with actual sharks or darkness in the deep ocean.

However, communication was an issue for all.

In the film, the sisters were too deep for radio frequencies, leaving them unsure if help was on the way.

On set, Roberts directed on dry land, only audible to Moore and Holt through underwater speakers.

They couldn’t even communicate with the underwater crew who wore special scuba diving masks different than their costume versions.

So Moore and Holt looked to one another for guidance to both finesse their performances and remain calm.

Holt said they didn’t have to try too hard to act frightened — the strenuous production did that for them.

“We knew our characters more, what facial expressions worked and what didn’t,” she said.

Unease wasn’t just reserved for the actresses.

It became something of a theme for the film offscreen as well.

Before the film’s theatrical release, a bigger competitor emerged in the Blake Lively shark thriller “The Shallows.”

“47 Meters Down” headed for different territory, opting for a straight to video release.

Roberts learned about the changes, including a new title, “In the Deep,” from a horror film website. He and “47 Meters Down” co-writer Ernest Riera were already working on a new script in Spain, and Roberts told his creative partner he never wanted to speak of the film again.

The underwater produc-

tion, lengthy editing and the video release had all took their toll on the director.

“It’s a brutal job,” Roberts said.

“How you deal with it, is badly.”

However things changed again.

“The Shallows” did better than expected at the box office, earning over $55 million, according to comScore.

A new distributor, Entertainment Studios, stepped in and set the film for a wide release.

“It showed there’s a market for it,” Roberts said, an admitted shark movie aficionado.

Moore and Holt said they haven’t seen “The Shallows,” though Holt said she read the script.

She noted they’re distinct films, and “47 Meters Down” is not just a shark movie, she said.

“It’s about being trapped underwater, running out of air with nowhere to go.

You can’t go up; you’ll get the bends,” Holt said.

“You don’t know where you are.

You don’t know if anyone is coming for you.”

The film’s unconventional journey to theaters has coincided with a career resurgence for Moore, who stars in the hit NBC series “This is Us.” Holt is part of “The Vampire Diaries” franchise on the CW, most recently appearing in the spinoff “The Originals.”

They’re proud of the hard work shooting “47 Meters Down,” especially those days spent underwater.

As for the film’s distribution woes and delayed premiere, that’s the last thing on their minds.

“As actors, it’s really important for us just to appreciate the experience,” Moore said.

“That’s the only thing we’re in control of.”q

PEOPLE/ARTS

A31

Thursday 15 June 2017

Pulitzer Prize winner Tracy K. Smith is new U.S. poet laureate

By HILLEL ITALIE AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Tracy K. Smith, the country’s new poet laureate, would like to start a conversation.

“A poem asks you to let go many of your assumptions, move away from your own certainties and to listen,” says Smith, 45, a Pulitzer Prize winner whose appointment to a oneyear term was announced Wednesday by the Library of Congress.

Smith, who succeeds Juan Felipe Herrera, won the Pulitzer in 2012 for her poetry collection “Life on Mars” and was a National Book Award finalist for nonfiction three years later for her memoir “Ordinary Light.”

She has been praised for her command of language and emotions, for a vision that encompasses everything from space exploration to the death of her father, and her gift for both social commentary and personal reflection.

“Smith shows herself to be a poet of extraordinary range and ambition,” poet Joel Brouwer, reviewing “Life on Mars,” wrote in The New York Times in 2011. “As

all the best poetry does, ‘Life on Mars’ first sends us out into the magnificent chill of the imagination and then returns us to ourselves, both changed and consoled.”

Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden said in a statement that Smith “shows us through these poems how to think and feel our way through these big ideas. It’s wonderful that her poetry can be so big and sprawling in its themes, and at the same time laser-focused in its words.”

The laureate’s responsibilities are few, allowing appointees to establish individual projects and priorities, such as the workshops for women organized

by Maxine Kumin. The job’s official title is the lofty “Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry,” with a more grounded stipend of $35,000. The laureate “serves as the nation’s official lightning rod for the poetic impulse of Americans,” according to the library, and “seeks to raise the national consciousness to a greater appreciation of the reading and writing of poetry.”

Other previous laureates

In this April 16, 2012 file photo, Pulitzer Prize winning poet Tracy K. Smith poses outside her apartment in New York. Smith is the country’s new poet laureate.

include Robert Pinsky, Rita Dove and Natasha Trethewey.Smith’s goals at this point are to use poetry as a bridge for people of different backgrounds and viewpoints. She accepts the job at a uniquely divided moment, serving during the administration of Donald Trump, a reliable villain at poetry readings. Poets laureate have little interaction with the president and have rarely been drawn into political conflict. An exception happened in 2003, during the adminis-

tration of George W. Bush.

Poet laureate Billy Collins stated he was opposed to war in Iraq and defended anti-war poets who led the White House to cancel a planned symposium with first lady Laura Bush.

“If political protest is urgent, I don’t think it needs to wait for an appropriate scene and setting and should be as disruptive as it wants to be,” Collins said at the time.

In April, Smith contributed to a “Resistance” series organized by the liberal

publication Mother Jones, which asked “authors and creative types to name books that bring solace or understanding in this age of rancor.” Smith’s suggestions included “The Collected Poems of Lucille Clifton” and Solmaz Sharif’s “Look,” praised by Smith for calling “attention to the ways that official language has been employed in ways designed to deaden it (and us) of human feeling.”

During her recent interview, Smith said she didn’t see her new job as a “platform” for her own politics and called the laureate’s job “beautifully remote from any kind of political obligation.” She said any resistance will be to “prefabricated language,” the kind absorbed through advertising or “clickbait on the internet.”

“That resistance really resonates with me,” she says.

“I feel like books I highlighted (in the “Resistance” series) were a way of saying, ‘Let’s look at what language is doing, what it enables us to get away with, but also how it invites to explore what might be needed.’”q

Seth Meyers’ ‘Closer Look’ segments are ‘Late Night’ staple

By ALICIA RANCILIO Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — From “covfefe” to Sean Spicer’s press briefings, the Trump administration has provided a steady stream of material for late-night shows.

NBC’s “Late Night with Seth Meyers” now devotes up to 12 minutes of airtime three to four days a week with a segment called “A Closer Look.”During these segments, Meyers and his writers take an element of news and do a deep dive.

On Monday it was President Donald Trump’s efforts to discredit former FBI Director James Comey while also trying to bolster his own reputation. He asked Cabinet members to give him compliments in an onair round table.

“Is there anything creepi-

er than Trump making his staff go around the room and praise him? Even Kim Jong Un is like, ‘Dude, have some self-respect,’” joked Meyers in “A Closer Look” segment.Meyers says his interest in current events and politics stems from his childhood.“My parents are very much into reading newspapers, watching the news every night,” he says. “I grew up in New Hampshire, so presidential politics were on our front door every four years for six months.”“Late Night” head writer Alex Baze says people are paying attention to politics.“You can do your best work when the audience has a lot of information,” he said. “When you have to explain the whole story and then make a joke, it really loses steam

along the way.”

Sal Gentile, designated writer for “A Closer Look,” says it’s “a lot of rapid-fire joke writing.”

“First you’re processing news and on top of that you’ve got to write jokes,” he says. “It requires speed and discipline.”

The “Closer Look” segment appears three or four times a week, and “Late Night” producer and showrunner Mike Shoemaker says it’s “the thing that excites us.”

“If you asked me a few years ago, ‘Do you think you’ll have 12-minute segments that will even go on YouTube much less get a million views by the next day,’ I’d be very surprised. ... People accept it at every length and sometimes even the longer ones do better,” he says. “We

This May 3, 2017 photo released by NBC shows Seth Meyers at his desk during a taping of, “Late Night with Seth Meyers,” in New York.

Associated Press

learned to let the segment run and figure out the rest.”

Meyers says there are no rules about “A Closer Look.”

“I think one of the great advantages we have over real journalists who wonderfully have higher standards than we do is, when you’re dealing with an administration that often doesn’t have a lot of respect for integrity, comedy shows like ours are kind of better

suited to call them out,” he said.He says the main goal of the segments is to entertain, but it’s cathartic for him as well. “It’s the best feeling to have a day where there are things in the news that are frustrating to you and stressful, but if you can go out and tell jokes, it is the best feeling.

I’m very lucky. I feel very fortunate to tell jokes now more than ever.”q

A32 FEATURE

Thursday 15 June 2017

Vintage typewriters gain fans amid ‘digital burnout’

By RUSSELL CONTRERAS, Associated Press ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Typewriter enthusiasts gather at an Albuquerque restaurant to experiment with vintage Smith Coronas. Fans in Boston kneel in a city square and type stories about their lives during a pro-immigration demonstration. A documentary on typewriters featuring Tom Hanks and musician John Mayer is set for release this summer.

In the age of smartphones, social media and hacking fears, vintage typewriters that once gathered dust in attics and basements are attracting a new generation of fans across the U.S. From public “type-ins” at bars to street poets selling personalized, typewritten poems on the spot, typewriters have emerged as popular items with aficio-

In this April 23, 2017 photo, vintage typewriters are on display at a “type-in” in Albuquerque, N.M. “Type-ins” are social gatherings in public places where typewriter fans test different vintage machines.

Associated Press

In this April 23, 2017 photo, Andrea Kittle, of Albuquerque, N.M., tries out a vintage Smith Corona electric typewriter at a “typein” in Albuquerque Associated Press

nados hunting for them in thrift stores, online auction sites and antique shops.

Some buy antique Underwoods to add to a growing collection. Others search for a midcentury Royal Quiet De Luxe — like a model author Ernest Hemingway used — to work on that simmering novel.

The rescued machines often need servicing, and fans are forced to seek out the few remaining typewriter repair shops.

“I haven’t seen business like this in years,” said John

Lewis, a typewriter repairman who has operated out of his Albuquerque shop for four decades. “There’s definitely a new interest, and it’s keeping me very busy.”

Renewed interest began around 10 years ago when small pockets of typewriter enthusiasts came together online, said Richard Polt, a Xavier University philosophy professor and author of “The Typewriter Revolution: A Typist’s Companion for the 21st Century.” Since then, the base of fans has dramatically grown, and various public events have

been organized around the typewriter.

“It’s beyond the phase where this is just a fad,” Polt said.

It’s almost impossible to gauge recent typewriter sales. Almost all of the original manufacturers are out of business or have been bought out and become different companies. The Moonachie, New Jerseybased Swintec appears to be one of the world’s last typewriter makers, selling translucent electronic machines largely to jails and prisons.

But operators of thrift stores

and estate sales say typewriters are some of the quickest items to go.

“That’s part of the fun: the hunt,” said Joe Van Cleave, an Albuquerque resident who owns more than a dozen typewriters and runs a popular YouTube channel on restoring the machines. “Sometimes, like a little luck, you might find something from the 1920s in great condition.”

Doug Nichol, director of the upcoming documentary “California Typewriter,” said the interest stems from “digital burnout” and peo-

In this Jan. 9, 2017, photo, John Lewis, a typewriter repairman, works at his shop in Albuquerque, N.M., in front of his collection of vintage typewriters.

Associated Press

ple wanting a connection to the past. That interest seems to transcend age, he said.

“Kids who grew up knowing only mobile phones and the computer are excited to see a letter typed with your own hand,” said Nichol, who owns 85 typewriters.

“It’s a one-on-one interaction that doesn’t get interrupted by Twitter alerts.”

In his film, set for release in August, Nichol interviews Hanks, who said he uses a typewriter almost every day to send memos and letters.

“I hate getting email thankyous from folks,” Hanks says in the film. “Now, if they take 70 seconds to type me out something on a piece of paper and send to me, well, I’ll keep that forever.

I’ll just delete that email.”

Hanks owns about 270 typewriters but often gives them away to people who show an interest.

One way the typewriter craze is growing is through organized “type-ins” — meet-ups in public places where typewriter fans try different vintage machines.

Such events have been held in Phoenix, Philadelphia, Seattle, Los Angeles and Cincinnati.

During a recent type-in at Albuquerque soul food restaurant Nexus Brewery, around three dozen fans took turns clicking the keys of an Italian-made 1964 Olivetti Lettera 32 and a 1947 Royal KMM, among others.

Rich Boucher spent most of his time on a 1960s-era Hermes 3000 crafting poetry.

“I haven’t used a typewriter in forever,” he said.

“This is a real refreshing way to spend a summer afternoon.”

After finishing his work, Boucher grabbed his phone and sent a Facebook status update about the experience. He then started looking online for a Hermes 3000.

“That’s the typewriter I want,” he said. “I’m going to find one.”q