Monday, February 22, 2021

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Sunny weather snares NHL’s Lake Tahoe trek B1

Cauliflower bake could change minds B2

MONDAY  |  February 22, 2021  |  $1.00

DAILYREPUBLIC.COM  |  Well said. Well read.

State’s 1-day Covid cases down to 4K

CELEBRATING BLACK HISTORY MONTH

Tribune News Service

Courtesy images taken from video by Tech. Sgt. Traci Keller

Members of an all-Black aircrew from the 9th Air Refueling Squadron at Travis Air Force Base take part in a routine aerial refueling training mission aboard a KC-

10 Extender in honor of Black History Month, Thursday. The flight practiced refueling as well as approaches as part of a three-aircraft formation.

A chance to reflect

With the coronavirus vaccine rollout underway, metrics suggest California may be nearly through the winter Covid-19 surge that ravaged the state early in the year. Daily infection reports continue to drop after seeing tens of thousands of new cases each day at the height of the surge in December and January.

On Tuesday, the California Department of Public Health reported 4,090 new cases of coronavirus across the state, the lowest daily report in several months. The last time California saw such a low report was on Nov. 2, when 4,044 people were confirmed infected with the highly transmissible See Cases, Page A8

Travis aircrew takes part in heritage flight to mark Black History Month

60th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs TR AV IS A IR FORCE BASE — Capt. Christopher Tobiere, 9th Air Refueling Squadron KC-10 Extender instructor pilot, takes a short swig from his canteen and flashes back a grin from the flight deck, his palms sweat-slicked from hours at the controls and eyes heavy from poring over switches and levels. “When I find myself struggling, I always think of how much the Tuskegee Airmen had to go through to get their wings,” he said. Tobiere, the aircraft commander of an all-Black heritage flight that took off Thursday from Travis Air Force Base, knows he hasn’t faced the same adversity that the aviation icons did. Even so, he’s careful to stay conscious of what challenges he negotiates as a Black airman in today’s Air Force. It wasn’t always that way, though, he said. “Believe it or not, I was uncomfortable with Black History Month about 10 years ago,” Tobiere said. “Being the only Black person 99% of the time, I didn’t like the idea of highlighting my struggles. I wanted to stay under the radar and avoid rocking the boat. I let ‘jokes’ slide, even when they made me feel uncomfortable. But as I mature and raise my son, I understand how important it is to highlight Black history in the United States and how it has shaped who we are today.” The heritage flight was a

Broomfield Police Department/TNS

A courtesy photo from the Broomfield Police Department shows aircraft debris in the front yard of a home in Broomfield, Colorado, Saturday.

Members of an all-Black aircrew from the 9th Air Refueling Squadron at Travis Air Force Base fly a KC-10 Extender during a routine aerial refueling training mission in honor of Black History Month, Thursday.

Instead of this flight making people feel uncomfortable, it should give them an opportunity to reflect. — Capt. Christopher Tobiere

routine training mission with a three-aircraft KC-10 formation takeoff, practice refueling and practice approaches. But it was also much more. Acting Secretary of the Air Force John Roth addressed the force Feb. 11, stating, “We have a responsibility to defend the nation for all Americans.” Tobiere said he hopes the heritage flight will become more than

just a celebration, but a catalyst for deeper conversation – something he feels is vital for the Air Force moving forward. “This flight is awesome because like that tough conversation about race, diversity and unconscious bias, it is starting to become the ‘norm,’ ” he said. “Instead of this flight making people feel uncomfortable, it should give them an opportunity to reflect. If nothing else, it’s a fantastic conversation starter, which is the first and most important step in changing the Air Force for the better.” As the flight lands, Tobiere again reflects on the Tuskegee Airmen. What America had they lived in, and perhaps more importantly, what about it, despite the flood of abuse and injustice they’d faced, was worth fighting for, See Reflect, Page A8

Japan, US react to engine failure above Colorado Bloomberg News Japan ordered a halt to all flights of Boeing Co. 777s equipped with the engine that failed Saturday over Denver as U.S. aviation regulators ordered emergency inspections of the model’s fan blades. Japan’s transport ministry on Sunday ordered ANA Holdings Inc. and Japan Airlines Co. to ground Boeing 777 planes they operate following an engine failure that rained debris over a Denver suburb but injured no one. ANA

operates 19 planes and JAL 13 with similar engines that failed on United Airlines plane in Denver. The U.S. carrier involved in Saturday’s incident, United Airlines, said it will voluntarily halt operations of 24 of its planes while the FAA order is carried out. Mea nwh i le, t he U.S. Federal Aviation Administration ordered inspections after examining the hollow fan blade that failed, the agency said in an emailed See Engine, Page A8

Identity makes VP Harris target of online attackers Los Angeles Times Soon after Joe Biden announced last year that he would pick a woman as his running mate, U.S. Rep. Jackie Speier began warning Facebook executives: Female politicians receive the most vile online attacks, and the company’s filters were failing to stop them. “We showed them 20 examples that were disgusting – and they were still up!” said Speier, a California Democrat, whose meetings

included one with Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg. Facebook’s response gave her little comfort. “Keep sending us these horrific examples,” she said executives told her, “and we’ll take them down.” Speier’s concerns that the first female vice president would attract outsize assaults and venomous lies from social media’s ugliest players have now been validated. Research shows that Kamala Harris may be the most targeted American politician on the internet,

one who checks every box for the haters of the fever swamps: She’s a woman, she’s a person of color and she holds power. It’s not just the amount but the type of harassment that makes the Harris slurs stand out. President Joe Biden gets his share of smears, but they tend to focus on his age, often repeating former President Donald Trump’s “Sleepy Joe” moniker; a few call him creepy or worse. Those directed at Harris, however, tend to reference

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sex, violence or misogynistic accusations that she does not deserve her position. “Abuse directed at women is highly personalized, often attacking them based on their appearance and denigrating their intelligence,” said Cecile Guerin, a researcher in London at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, a think tank that seeks to counter extremism, disinformation and polarization. “It is also more likely to imply that they should quit See Harris, Page A8

WEATHER

71 48

Sunny, partly cloudy overnight. Complete five-day forecast on B8.

Alex Wong/Getty Images/TNS

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a virtual roundtable discussion at the South Court Auditorium of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, D.C., Thursday. HOW TO REACH US Breaking news updates at

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