More in-home testing means underreported case data A3
Buccaneers release wide receiver Antonio Brown B1
FRIDAY | January 7, 2022 | $1.00
DAILYREPUBLIC.COM | Well said. Well read.
Biden tears into Trump, blaming him directly for Jan. 6 violence Tribune Content Agency
Aaron Rosenblatt/Daily Republic photos
Rep. John Garamendi speaks during a press conference near Interstate 505 at Vaca Valley Parkway in Vacaville
where $16 million in infrastructure improvements are planned to aid the area in the coming years, Thursday.
Improving roadways Leaders tout infrastructure bill, future of I-505 corridor project
President Joe Biden blamed Donald Trump directly for the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol a year ago, saying the former president turned to violence to try to overturn the election he lost. “For the first time in our history, a president not just lost an election, he tried to prevent the peaceful transfer of power as a violent mob breached the Capitol,” Biden said in a speech Thursday in the building’s Statuary Hall, commemorating the first anniversary of the insurrection.
The president on Thursday morning will also call on lawmakers to pass voting rights legislation intended to rebut changes sought by Trump loyalists in state governments across the nation that would limit access to absentee voting and strengthen identification requirements. Biden said that after Trump “rallied the mob to attack” the Capitol, he sat “in the private dining room off the Oval office in the White House, watching it all on television and doing nothing for hours as police were assaulted, See Biden, Page A9
Matt Miller
MMILLER@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET
VACAVILLE — Reps. John Garamendi and Mike Thompson held a joint press conference Thursday just off of Interstate 505 at the Vaca Valley Parkway, where $16 million in infrastructure improvements are planned to aid the area in the coming years. The Interstate 505/Vaca Valley Parkway Corridor MultiModal Improvements Project is in place to ease the movement of goods from industrial and manufacturing centers, improve safety and promote environmental sustainability, according to project officials. The area has increasingly become a busy center for housing, biotech, manufacturing and agriculture. Crashes and long traffic congestion has become the norm on the overpass. The access has also been poor for the everincreasing number of trucks trying to make turns onto the parkway. The press conference featured both of Solano County’s congressional representatives, members of the Solano County Board of
Drew Angerer/Getty Images/TNS
President Joe Biden wipes his eyes as Vice President Kamala Harris delivers remarks on the one year anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, during a ceremony in Statuary Hall at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., Thursday. Rep. Mike Thompson, second from left, and local elected officials watch as Rep. John Garamendi, far left, speaks during a press conference near Interstate 505 at Vaca Valley Parkway in Vacaville. Supervisors, Vacaville city leaders and the officials with the Solano Transportation Authority. The project’s intent is to also accelerate commercial and industrial development, accommodate job growth and housing productions, and to provide alternative transportation access for Vacaville residents. Some $10 million is ear-
marked from local government, $2 million from Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement funds, and the final $4 million from the federal “Infrastructure and Jobs Act.” “This interchange is critical,” said Garamendi, D-Walnut Grove. “It’s a critical piece of the See Leaders, Page A9
Omicron stresses schools across the state as they fight to stay open Tribune Content Agency
Judge tosses DA’s lawsuit against county on ‘Brown Act violation’ Todd R. Hansen
THANSEN@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET
FAIRFIELD — Solano County Superior Court Judge Christine Carringer has dismissed a lawsuit against the county in which District Attorney Krishna Abrams claimed the Board of Supervisors had violated state open meeting laws when it shifted financial oversight for the Family Justice Center from her control to the county administrator’s office. Abrams claimed the county failed to properly notice the issue prior to discussing and taking action during the budget hearing in June.
The county denied that position, arguing that the budget hearing is held specifically to address all budgetary issues. The oversight is specifically for the $721,000 in general fund contributions the county gives to the Family Justice Center. However, the issue of whether there was an actual violation of the Ralph M. Brown Act was never settled in court. Instead, Carringer ruled that the issue became moot when the Board of Supervisors on Dec. 14 affirmed its previous decision and that the December agenda had clearly indicated the issue was up for
SUNDAY
Parade coming this weekend. Look for the insert in the DR.
consideration. It served, in essence, as a “cure and correct” of the previous vote. But County Counsel Bernadette Curry, while agreeing with the ABRAMS spirit of the court decision, said the later action was not a formal “cure and correct” as defined for open meeting procedures. She still holds the county did not violate the Brown Act. Paul Sequeira, the chief deputy district attorney, said the office is ready to move forward. “We are on board with assisting the county in any way we can on
the transitioning of the Family Justice Center,” Sequeira said. That transition comes in the wake of, first, a critical grand jury report, and, second, an independent review of the center by the Alliance of Hope International. Casey Gwinn, the president and co-founder of the group, told the board that the Solano County center does not come close to meeting the alliance’s standards of what a family justice center is, nor does it comply with the state’s See Lawsuit, Page A9
INDEX Arts B4 | Classifieds B6 | Comics A7, B5 | Crossword A6, B4 Obituaries A4 | Opinion B3 | Sports B1 | TV Daily A7, B5 WEATHER 54 | 41 Showers. Five-day forecast on B10.
LOS ANGELES — As students return from winter break, schools across California are struggling to stay open amid severe staffing shortages, high student absences and increased infection rates as the omicron variant surge continues to sweep through the region. The San Gabriel school system has shut down a middle school and high school for Thursday and Friday. The Redondo Beach district is handing out rapid-results tests to families as fast as it can.
Montebello Unified is scrambling to find tests and faces a critical shortage of substitute teachers to fill in for sick staff. Los Angeles Unified, the nation’s second-largest school system, is having its second, closed-session emergency Board of Education meeting of the week as it prepares for opening on Monday. Similar problems have emerged across the state. In San Diego County, Helix Charter High in La Mesa is closing temporarily and switching to online learning for the See Schools, Page A9
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