Daily Republic: Sunday, January 9, 2022

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Staffing issues put pressure on schools to stay open A3

Travel the world with Steve Cozad’s photographs B1

sunday  |  January 9, 2022  |  $1.50

dailyrepublic.com  |  Well said. Well read.

Anti-vaxxers slammed in Europe as omicron rages Tribune Content Agency

Susan Hiland/Daily Republic

Yajairo Rubio, owner of Moon Azteca Dance Group and Lunitas Kitchen, dances to draw in people at the

Multicultural Meet N Eat event at Multi-Tech Auto in Fairfield, Saturday.

Food vendors join forces, provide diverse fare for an outdoor fiesta Susan Hiland

shiland@dailyrepublic.net

FAIRFIELD — Ballet Folkorico Moon Azteca owner Yajairo Rubio is working hard to keep her dance company growing during the pandemic. It has not been easy. The Vallejo resident opened Lunitas Kitchen to keep the nonprofit afloat over the past year after they lost the studio where they had been practicing. She was one of about 12 vendors to come out Saturday for a celebration of Solano County’s multicultural roots with a Meet N Eat event hosted at MultiTech Auto on North Texas Street. “This is a business built to bring in money for my dance group,” she said. “Twenty-five percent of the sales go to the dance group.” Rubio dreams of sharing her love of traditional Mexican culture through dance. “I share with my dancers a little education about Mexico,” she said. “Things about the Azteca culture because that is part of who we are

and our heritage.” Rubio works to combine Mexican traditions with American ones. “Because it is about reaching out to the community and hopefully making changes people can remember,” she said. The afternoon event was truly multicultural with food from the Philippines as well as Mexico and even some American barbecue being shared with visitors. Zabrina Cordada is the coordinator behind NorCal Kababayan Community Group, a private Facebook group with 39,000 members who help connect local Filipino food vendors with events and created a way to order from vendors through Facebook. “It is a way to help the Filipino community,” Cordada said. “The pandemic has been hard for vendors to go out and do events.” The event Saturday was a way to share food and ideas with the community. Myrtle Dawana coordinated with Roxanna Daman of Diversity RD to create these events across

the Bay Area in hopes of bringing people together to talk about what community means and what changes would be good for the future growth of the communities. “We decided to get organized and provide these community events to help bring the community together,” Dawana said. She grew up in Fairfield but didn’t see in the City Council or other government bodies a reflection of herself or her Latino community. “I didn’t feel like I could participate,” she said. “I know that isn’t true but that is how it felt.” Dawana said she hopes that by getting out and allowing people from various communities to talk and share ideas, they will be able to find solutions to homelessness and other issues that face the local communities. Daman, of Diversity RD, liked the idea of using food to look at bigger issues in a way that supports diversity and unity. “People have been struggling See Vendors, Page A12

Fairfield soldier Gebers earns Angels of the Battlefield Award Amy Maginnis-Honey

Gebers attended K.I. Jones and Sullivan schools before going to Justin-Siena for her high school years. After finishing at Sonoma State, she enlisted in the Army to get her master’s degree in nursing. Since then she has served in Germany and Texas, and now calls Hawaii home. Her military career started out as a medic

amaginnis@dailyrepublic.net

FAIRFIELD — Army Staff Sgt. Margot C. Gebers still ponders all the attention she got for what feels was “just doing her job.” Gebers, who grew up in Fairfield, is the recipient of an Angels of the Battlefield Award, which honors military medical personnel and first responders for their life-saving medical treatment and trauma care of service members, partner forces and civilians at home and abroad. The Armed Services YMCA works with the military services to select an honoree from each branch. Gebers was cited for “demonstrated strength and leadership serving

Courtesy photo

SSG Margot Gebers, United States Army, accompanied by VADM William French, USN, Ret., COL Deydre Teyhen, 20th Chief, U.S. Army Medical Specialist Corps, and VADM John Bird, USN, Ret. on the front lines of the pandemic to keep soldiers safe and healthy.” She completed predeployment health assessments for 1,500 soldiers in two weeks, conducted pre-

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See Europe, Page A12

US weighing technology restrictions for Putin, Russia Tribune Content Agency WASHINGTON — The Biden administration and U.S. allies are discussing possible export controls on Russia, including curbs on sensitive technology and electronics, to be imposed if President Vladimir Putin seizes more of Ukraine, a person familiar with the discussions said. While no decisions have been made, the trade restrictions could apply to exports from the U.S. to Russia and possibly to some foreign-made products, according to the person. Also being considered are measures to deprive Russia of microelectronics made with or based on U.S. software or technology, the person said. PresiAs dent Joe Biden’s

administration steps up its rhetoric against the Kremlin ahead of a series of talks involving Russia next week, the scenarios would seek to leverage U.S. dominance in technology to hit Russia’s military, civilian sectors and technological ambitions. The impact could range from aircraft avionics and machine tools to smartphones, games consoles, tablets and televisions, the person said. Under some actions, Russia could face export controls as stringent as those for Cuba, Iran, North Korea and Syria, according to the person. Separately, a senior U.S. official said Saturday that the Biden administration will hold off on making firm commitments during talks See Russia, Page A12

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flight Covid-19 tests, and managedandadministered Covid-19 vaccinations for more than 17,500 soldiers and counting, achieving a 40% vaccination rate for active-duty members in just four months.

INDEX  Obituaries A4  | Opinion A8  | Columns A9  | Living A10 Diversions B1  | Religion B4  | Business B5  | Sports B6 Classifieds B8  | Military B10  | Crossword B12  | Comics B13  | Weather B14 WEATHER  53 | 40  Sunny. Five-day forecast on B14.

See Gebers, Page A12

From Boris Johnson to Emmanuel Macron, Europe’s leaders are increasingly going after anti-vaxxers as the battle against the fast-spreading omicron variant deepens the region’s pandemic fatigue. Amid a seemingly unstoppable surge in infections, officials are focusing restrictions on unvaccinated people rather than resorting to widespread clampdowns. The strong overall uptake in inoculations has emboldened leaders to go more aggressively after holdouts, prodding them in various ways to roll up their sleeves. French President Macron took the rhetoric to a new level this week when he said his government’s strategy was to “p--- off” those

who have refused shots. In the U.K., Johnson accused anti-vaxxers of spreading “nonsense.” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who supports making shots compulsory, has labeled the anti-vax movement “a tiny minority of reckless extremists.” With the pandemic entering its third year and about 70% of Europe fully vaccinated, the leaders are betting they have popular support for this approach. Across the continent, the policy of coercion is becoming l’ordre du jour, with many governments trying to make life difficult for those refusing a vaccine and brushing aside concerns about civic freedoms. Macron, who faces a difficult re-election campaign this spring,

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