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dailyrepublic.com | Well said. Well read.
Fairfield council puts brakes on retail cannabis permit process
covid-19 pandemic
Action comes as staff, electeds cite concerns with vetting of applicants Glen Faison
gfaison@dailyrepublic.net
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Aaron Rosenblatt/Daily Republic
bertani
A pedestrian wearing a face mask walks along the Suisun City Waterfront, Tuesday.
Solano posts limited test numbers, remains red Glen Faison gfaison@dailyrepublic.net
FAIRFIELD — Only a handful of tests for Covid-19 were given between Monday and Tuesday in Solano County as mass immunizations continue, but the results of those tests were generally positive in nature. Solano County continued progress from over the weekend in its Covid-19 case totals to reaching a point where restrictions on businesses and gatherings can ease further. Updated case totals came as public health officials continued to vaccinate people against the novel coronavirus – to include opening
INSIDE Kroc Center home to Suisun City vaccination clinic. Page A10.
a new mass vaccination clinic Monday in Suisun City. Solano County on Monday began vaccinating anyone 50 or older and those who are 16 or older with underlying health conditions, among others in specified categories. Case totals since Friday show improvement in the areas that determine where Solano County falls on the state’s color-coded Covid-19 monitoring program. Solano County entered the red tier last week.
The county added 64 cases between Friday and Monday for a daily average of 21.33 and added another 43 cases Tuesday. The seven-day testing positivity rate was 5% Tuesday, up from 4.5% Monday, which was down from 5.3% Friday. The less restrictive orange tier requires a seven-day testing positivity rate of 5% or less and fewer than 18 new cases per day for a two-week period. California’s Covid-19 monitoring system designates the purple tier for counties where transmission of the novel coronavirus is considered to be widespread. See Solano, Page A9
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FAIRFIELD — City Council members halted its review of retail cannabis permits Tuesday based on concerns raised about how the company hired to review and score applications ultimately ranked those applications. The City Council was expected to continue a public hearing and then grant preliminary approval for two cannabis retail permits. The public hearing on the retail permits was carried over from the March 2 meeting. There were five finalists for the two retail permits. The five finalists have already made 15-minute presentations to the council. The retail permit applications – 14 in all – were ranked both by city staff and also by the consultant, HdL Companies of Brea, which, among other things, offers cannabis consulting services to cities. No representative of the company spoke during the staff presentation and subsequent council discussion. Council members and city staff shifted the focus of the continued public hearing after an announcement about the concerns with the consultant’s review and scoring process. The council ultimately voted to continue the public hearing to special meetings to start at 6 p.m. April 28 and April 29, and to the regular council meeting at 6 p.m. May 4. Council members opted to interview all 14 applicants, with 15 minutes set aside for each presentation. They also voted to fire HdL
tonnesen
See Council, Page A9
US: Russia boosted Trump, put down Biden in election Tribune Content Agency
Mikhail Metzel/Tass/Abaca Press/TNS file (2018)
Then-President Donald Trump, left, and Russian President Vladimir Putin give a joint news conference following their meeting at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki, Finland, July 16, 2018.
WAS H INGTON — Russian President Vladimir Putin authorized and Russian entities carried out influence operations last year aimed at denigrating then-candidate Joe Biden and boosting former President Donald Trump’s candidacy during the 2020 election, U.S. intelligence agencies said in a report made public Tuesday. However, the report, released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, concluded that no foreign actor attempted to alter any technical aspect of the voting process, such as voter registration, casting of ballots, tabulation or reporting. The report is an unclassified
INDEX Arts B4 | Classifieds B6 | Crossword A8, B4 | Comics A7, B5 Opinion B3 | Sports B1 | TV Daily A7, B5
version of a classified document sent to Trump, top U.S. officials and senior lawmakers on Jan. 7, according to the ODNI. The report reaffirms the conclusion reached by Christopher Krebs, the former head of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency who was fired by Trump after saying that the 2020 election was the “most secure in American history.” “We have no indications that any foreign actor attempted to interfere in the 2020 U.S. elections by altering any technical aspect of the voting process,” the report said. Unlike 2016, “we did not see persistent Russian cyber efforts to gain access to election infrastructure,” the report said. “We have high confidence in
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