Solano Public Health sees signs Covid surge leveling A3
King looks to bring glory days back to Mustangs B1
friday | August 13, 2021 | $1.00
dailyrepublic.com | Well said. Well read.
Biden sending troops back to Afghanistan US evacuating Americans as Taliban surges Los Angeles Times
Robinson Kuntz/Daily Republic file (2020)
Guns were on display at the Dixon Gun Show on Feb. 15, 2020, a scene that could go away if pending legislation banning gun shows on state property passes. The Solano
County Fair Board on Monday voted to ban gun shows at the fairgrounds in Vallejo, which is owned by the county and would not have been affected by the bill.
Spering disagrees with Fair Board gun show decision; accepts criticism Todd R. Hansen
thansen@dailyrepublic.net
FAIRFIELD — Solano County Supervisor Jim Spering disagrees with the county Fair Board’s decision to ban gun shows at the fairgrounds, but accepted criticism leveled against him and board Chairman John Vasquez for not appointing representatives to the panel. “I think it’s unfortunate; I think it’s typical of what’s going on,” Spering said of the Fair Board’s 4-1 vote, with Director Lee Williams dissenting, to stop allowing gun shows after the contract with Code of the West Productions ends at the end of the year. “They just punished the lawabiding gun owners . . . and it’s unfortunate,” Spering said. The supervisor did accept criticism about not appoint-
ing members to the Fair Board, which left him and his 3rd District unrepresented when the gun show issue was considered. “I think it is a valid criticism, and I will accept that criticism. It’s been a low priority for me,” said Spering, who added Spering that the Board of Supervisors and the Fair Board need to have more communication moving forward. He said the higher priority concerning the fairgrounds, for him, has been implementing Solano360, the multimillion-dollar redevelopment of the fairgrounds property, which will likely shrink considerably the role of the Solano County Fair Association. Spering and Supervisor Erin Hannigan sit on the
Solano360 Implementation Committee along with two Vallejo council members. Industrial Realty Group LLC/Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. has been given exclusive negotiation rights as the master developer for the project. “I think to be fair, the Board (of Supervisors) should be working closer with the Fair Board,” Spering said. Vasquez, who represents the 4th District, did not return messages left for him with his staff, and failed to answer his cellphone. The Fair Board, at full capacity, would have three members from each Board of Supervisors district. There are two members from Hannigan’s 1st District: board Chairman Manuel Angel and See Guns, Page A8
Sheriff announces arrests in connection to death investigation in rural Dixon Matt Miller
mmiller@dailyrepublic.com
DIXON — The Solano County Sheriff’s Office has arrested three people in connection with the death of an Oakland man whose body was found early Tuesday in unincorporated Dixon in a ditch just off of West Dixon Avenue. Mynard Alfranko Simpson, 34, was
Simpson
Jones
arrested at 3 a.m. Wednesday after a search warrant went out on his
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See Arrests, Page A8
Los Angeles Times The U.S. population has become increasingly diverse, powered by growth among Latinos, Asian and multiracial Americans, while the white populace registered historic declines, the U.S. Census Bureau said Thursday. The release of detailed data from the 2020 census paves the way for a frenzied rush to redraw congressional and legislative districts and shape the political landscape for the next decade. “Our analysis of the 2020 census results show that the U.S. population is much more multiracial and more racially and ethnically diverse than what we have measured in the past,” said Nich-
olas Jones, director of race and ethnic research and outreach for the Census Bureau’s population division. White people make up 57.8% of the total population, the largest racial or ethnic group in the nation, but its overall number, as well as its share of the populace, shrank. Latinos make up 18.7% of the country’s population, the second most prevalent group overall; in California, Latinos were the largest ethnic group, making up 39.4% of the state’s residents. The findings, which had been delayed because of the pandemic, show the national population increasing by 7.4% over the last decade – See Census, Page A8
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vehicle and residency. Simpson was booked into Solano County pail at
See Taliban, Page A8
2020 census data shows declining white population, slow growth
INDEX Arts B4 | Classifieds B6 | Comics A7, B5 | Crossword A6, B4 Obituaries A4 | Opinion B3 | Sports B1 | TV Daily A7, B5
Parade coming this weekend. Look for the insert in the Daily Republic.
CLIPPER CARGO
Samosa
4:49 a.m. on suspicion of murder with no bail set. He is set to be arraigned at 1:30 p.m. Friday in Solano County Superior Court in Fairfield. Nicole Noel Samosa, 38, and Amani Dawnvaloy Jones, 22, were booked into jail in concurrence with Simpson on suspicion of being accessories to a crime.
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration, struggling to contain the rapid collapse of much of Afghanistan to Taliban forces, on Thursday announced it was pulling many U.S. Embassy personnel out of Kabul and urged American citizens – for the second time in a week – to leave the country immediately. Several thousand U.S. troops will be dispatched to the Kabul airport to help with what is shaping up as a military-run partial evacuation. It was a significant escalation in a violently deteriorating situation. The urgent moves came as the Islamist Taliban conquered Afghanistan’s third-largest city and two additional provincial capitals in its quest to topple the U.S.-backed government; Afghan ref-
ugees flooded Kabul, many sleeping in the streets, and talks to reach a political solution were going nowhere. State Department spokesman Ned Price said the administration has decided to reduce its “civilian footprint” in Afghanistan to a “core diplomatic presence” in face of the “grave” violence spreading across the country, and that many employees will be relocated to the fortified Kabul airport for safety. The moves are also likely to dismay an already desperate Afghan population. Many say they fear imprisonment, torture, repression and execution at the hands of the Taliban, who ruled brutally in the 1990s. The group says it has modernized, but there is little evidence to support
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