Daily Republic: Wednesday, January 26, 2022

Page 1

Solano reports 4,000-plus new Covid-19 cases A3

Vanden grad Martinez plays key role for Chico State B1

WEDNESDAY | January 26, 2022 | $1.00

DAILYREPUBLIC.COM | Well said. Well read.

Fewer in-person voters, higher costs motivate supes to reduce polling places Todd R. Hansen

THANSEN@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

FAIRFIELD — Solano County is trimming the number of polling locations for the three 2022 elections. The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted to operate 70 polling locations for the special election to fill the vacant 11th Assembly District seat on April 5, and 70 polling locations for the June 7 primary. The county typically operates 97 to 105 polling places, the Registrar of Voters Office reported. “In Solano County, ROV has observed a steady decrease in voters who are choosing to vote inperson at a precinct on Election Day and a steady increase in vote-by-mail ballot submittals,” the staff report to the board states. “Since 2008, inperson voting for elections has dropped from 70% to 10% of the total turnout of an election. In the November 2020 general election, there were 258,850 registered voters, 23,366 votes were cast in-person, and 185,636 ballots were cast by mail or to an official vote-by-mail drop-off location.” At the same time, the number of polling locations in the county has not changed, with a cost of about $11,000 per site. John Gardner, the assistant registrar of voters, See Voters, Page A8

Aaron Rosenblatt/Daily Republic file (2021)

Volunteers BJ Troutman, center, and Debra Talley assist a voter at the Government Center in Fairfield, Sept. 14, 2021.

Frazier’s decision to abdicate could cost Solano nearly $600,000 Todd R. Hansen

THANSEN@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

FAIRFIELD — Solano County supervisors on Tuesday approved $766,000 in additional funds to cover the cost of the $1.46 million special election that is needed after Jim Frazier left his Assembly office early. The actual cost to the county, with fewer polling locations also approved by the board, will be $590,000 in general fund dollars, plus the $625,000 in state funding left over from the recall election. That also reduces the total cost to about $1.28 million. Traditionally, there are 53 polling places located within the 11th Assembly District boundaries. That number was reduced to 37. Supervisor Jim Spering was not happy with the costs or with Frazier. “I think it is irresponsible for SPERING a member of the Assembly to just drop out,” Spering said. While giving some allowance for medical issues, he also speculated the reason was politically motivated. Spering suggested Frazier made the decision to leave office a year early so his hand-picked See Solano, Page A8

Aaron Rosenblatt/Daily Republic

Solano County supervisors were told Tuesday during a presentation by the San Francisco Bay Conservation and

Solano joins as yet unfunded ‘regional approach’ to threat from

rising sea levels Todd R. Hansen

THANSEN@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

FAIRFIELD — Solano County residents will not have to live in a bay-fronted city to be affected by the rising sea level. River cities such as Rio Vista, the Delta areas, and even inland centers also will feel the effects, Solano County supervisors were told Tuesday during a presentation on the Bay Adapt regional response plan by the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission. “It is not a theory anymore,” said board Chairman John Vasquez, who represents the county on the BCDC, along with Supervisor Jim Spering. “And we will all be affected because we have one foot in the Delta and one foot in the ocean.” Supervisor Erin Hannigan

The report shows that by 2040, 28,000 ‘socially vulnerable residents’ will be at risk from flooding; and ‘13,000 existing housing units and 70,000 new units’ also face the risk. specifically noted that four of Solano’s cities front a coastal bay, and Vasquez quickly added that tidal surges will affect the river and the Delta. “We have ferries, we have ship building, we have boating activities that happen right next to our downtowns,” Hannigan said. Perhaps the centerpiece to all of that is Highway 37. The state Department of Transportation reported that by 2040 the entire

highway could be underwater. The Suisun harbor also was noted by an area resident, especially if the historical dredging program is diminished in any way. The board on Tuesday adopted a resolution supporting the Bay Conservation and Development Commission vision. “The Solano County Board of Supervisors supports the Bay Adapt Joint Platform, a regional strategy for a rising Bay, including the guiding principles, actions, and tasks contained within; and . . . “The Solano County Board of Supervisors looks forward to supporting the implementation of Bay Adapt to ensure that it serves Solano County and the Bay Area as a whole in achieving resilient and equitable adaptation to sea level rise,” the See Levels, Page A8

Russia moves troops, US sends weapons as fear of war mounts in Ukraine The Washington Post MOSCOW — President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin traded provocations Tuesday, with the Kremlin broadcasting a new round of military exercises within striking distance of Ukraine and Washington rushing a fresh shipment of weapons to Kyiv while suggesting thousands of U.S. troops could be deployed soon to shore up allies’ defenses in Eastern Europe. Officials on both sides accused the other of bringing Europe closer to a full-blown war – an outcome Biden said would have “enormous consequences worldwide.” “This would be the largest . . . invasion since World War II,” the president told reporters in Washington. “It would change the world.” At Boryspil International Airport outside Kyiv,

INDEX Arts B6 | Business A9 | Classifieds B7 | Comics B3, B5 | Crossword B4, B6 Obituaries A4 | Opinion A7 | Sports B1 | TV Daily B3, B5 WEATHER 63 | 38 Sunny. Five-day forecast on B10.

Development Commission that Suisun Harbor was noted as an area that will feel the effects of rising sea levels.

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Ukrainian forces unloaded some 300 javelin missiles, shoulder-launched multipurpose assault weapons and bunker-busters that had come from the United States. Standing beside the weapons in the freezing night air, the top U.S. diplomat in Ukraine, Kristina Kvien, warned Moscow that Ukrainian troops are “well equipped and they’re ready.” “Russian soldiers sent to Ukraine at the behest of the Kremlin will face fierce resistance,” she said. “The losses to Russia

will be heavy.” U.S. officials in Washington said they are coordinating with crudeoil and gas suppliers across Asia, North Africa and the Middle East in the event Moscow cuts off fuel shipments to wary European allies and such supplies need to be found elsewhere. One U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity under terms set by the White House, said that if Putin takes such measures, the lost gas revenues would hurt Russia

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more than anyone else. “This is a one-dimensional economy, and that means it needs oil and gas revenues at least as much as Europe needs its energy supply,” the official said. The Pentagon, meanwhile, indicated Tuesday that the 8,500 U.S. military personnel who a day earlier were put on “prepare to deploy orders” may be only a starting point, saying U.S. commanders could reposition some of the 64,000 troops See Ukraine, Page A8

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