MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. DAY
“The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people.” — MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.
monday | January 18, 2021 | $1.00
dailyrepublic.com | Well said. Well read.
Group launches Solano 30-day service activity Others plan virtual MLK Day celebrations Daily Republic Staff
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FAIRFIELD — The Center for Volunteer & Nonprofit Leadership kicks off its Martin Luther King Jr. Days of Service campaign Monday with “30 Days of Action” through Feb. 18. Melinda Earp, Center for Volunteer & Nonprofit Leadership AmeriCorps VISTA in Marin and Sonoma counties, and Sophia Luna, an AmeriCorps VISTA member, have worked in partnership with AmeriCorps California and California Volunteers to design special Days of Service for 2021. The campaign focuses on food insecurity. “While many see Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a day off, we see it as a ‘day on,’ ” Earp said
in a press release. “MLK Day of Service inspired us to create projects that specifically address these issues.” Earp and Luna have created Operation DREAM, an acronym for Dedicated Readers Excel and Motivate, which operates on Solano, Napa, Sonoma and Marin counties. It’s through Operation Dream that the 30 Days of Action is being coordinated through the Center for Volunteer and Nonprofit Leadership. They are collecting new books and healthy snacks for book bags that will also include resources for local food banks and pantries available within each county. The goal, according to the press release, is to create 500 bags that will
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Volunteers build a new Habitat for Humanity house for veterans in Rio Vista, Jan. 13.
Rio Vista Habitat Veterans Home ready to welcome residents
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Amy Maginnis-Honey
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Wildfire danger in January?
RIO VISTA — Six more Solano County veterans will have a place to call home in less than two weeks. A new 2,500-square-foot Habitat for Humanity home will be dedicated virtually Jan. 28 in Rio Vista. Construction began on it just as a similar home opened for six veterans in Dixon. Plans are being finalized for a second home in Rio Vista that will be located next to the new one and a short jaunt from the Veterans Memorial Building, where members wait with open arms to welcome the new residents. “It’s an amazing, great feeling,” said Jack Batchelor, Solano-Napa Habitat for Humanity’s board president. The former mayor was just a few steps from the front door entrance to the six-bedroom home. This build is different than previous ones. Habitat depends on volunteers for much of its labor. Work was underway when Covid-19 hit, which kept volunteers, some of them in high-risk groups, home. It was members of the trades who took up the tools, volunteering their time to see the project
PG&E says safety blackout is coming Tribune Content Agency SACRAMENTO — At the height of what should be California’s rainy season, PG&E Corp. is warning it might need to shut off power to thousands of customers to reduce the risk of a wildfire. Pacific Gas and Electric Co. said it could impose a “public safety power shutoff” Monday night in portions of Calaveras, Fresno, Kern, Mariposa, Madera, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Tulare and Tuolumne counties.
“Forecasts show high fire-risk conditions arriving Monday evening in the southern portion of PG&E’s service area, with high winds expected to subside by Wednesday morning. Before any restoration begins, PG&E will inspect deenergized lines to ensure they were not damaged by high winds. PG&E will restore power safely and as quickly as possible once the weather all-clear is give,” the utility announced. The National Weather See Wildfire, Page A8
A new Habitat for Humanity house for veterans is under construction in Rio Vista, Jan. 13. become a reality, Batchelor said. The home will be run by the Berkeley Food & Housing Project. That organization will choose the residents, Batchelor said. He also praised the organizations’ staff for their work on the home. Those who qualify can use the U.S. Housing and Urban Development-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing program combined with Housing Choice Voucher rental
Alleged Capitol rioters argue Trump invited them in; they want pardons Tribune Content Agency WASHINGTON — They launched their assault on the U.S. Capitol with impunity, livestreaming their crimes and posing for photos as they breached the building’s perimeter and threatened the democratic process. Now members of the pro-Trump mob are arguing they shouldn’t be held to account. Speaking through defense lawyers or in interviews, the alleged
rioters argued they did nothing illegal. They couldn’t have been trespassing, they say, because they entered the Capitol at the “invitation” of President Trump, following his direct orders. Capitol police also held the doors open for them, they assert, basically ushering them into the building’s hallowed halls. Even so, knowing that time is running out on Trump’s presidency, they are also making a last-minute See Rioters, Page A8
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Win McNamee/Getty Images/TNS file
Jacob Chansley, in horns, and other protesters interact with Capitol Police inside the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., Jan. 6.
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Suisun council to consider new fee to boost public art Amy Maginnis-Honey
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assistance for homeless veterans with case management and clinical services provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs, Batchelor said. American Legion Post 178, Solano County, and the city of Rio Vista are also partners. “Many veterans struggle when living in isolation, but instead thrive on the companionship of
SUISUN CITY — City Council members will consider adding a 1% fee to any new or redeveloped nonresidential project with a value in excess of $250,000 when the building permit is issued – with a maximum payment of $100,000 – to support public art in the community. The proposal asks that 10% of the 1% fee be set aside for future maintenance of the approved art display. An in-lieu option is proposed, allowing the potential developer to petition the City Council
to accept an art piece, reducing or eliminating the 1% fee. Maintenance fees would need to be collected. The City Council will have the prerogative to reduce or eliminate the fee at the discretion of its members. The council held a public hearing in March 2019 on an amendment to Section 2.16 of the Suisun City Code to update the Parks and Recreation Commission to add three more members and change the title of the commission to the Recreation, Parks, Marina and Arts Commission. See Council, Page A8