Daily Republic: Wednesday, April 20, 2022

Page 1

Home testing could represent another 50% in Covid cases A3

NASCAR to continue dirt racing experiment at Bristol B1

WEDNESDAY | April 20, 2022 | $1.00

DAILYREPUBLIC.COM | Well said. Well read.

FAIRFIELD

Council shifts $16.7 million in ARPA dollars to general fund Todd R. Hansen

THANSEN@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

FAIRFIELD — The City Council on Tuesday reallocated $12.5 million in federal pandemic relief funds that had previously been earmarked for other uses. A total of $16.7 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds, including $4.2 million that had not been allocated, will be placed in the city general fund under the ARPA guidelines for replacing revenue losses due to the Covid-19 pandemic. “Staff has reviewed the (final ARPA use guidelines rule) and has determined that not all aspects of the previously appropriated ARPA 2021 Funds meet the strict eligibility requirements of the final rule . . . . The projects that do not meet the eligibility requirements are the Fairfield Navigation Center ($1.5 million), Police Activities League Center ($1 million) and broadband See Fund, Page A8

City explores affordable housing policies, fee options Todd R. Hansen

THANSEN@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

FAIRFIELD — The City Council asked its administrative staff to bring back “a menu” of policies, strategies and fee options that could help get more affordable housing built in the city, and by doing so, put it in a better position to reap some of the billions in federal and state funds going toward housing. But the council was not quite ready to endorse any specific option. Jonathan Luong, a management analyst with the city, laid out some of those options Tuesday, starting with development of an inclusionary housing policy, which would require a percentage of units in new housing developments to go toward low- and very low-income housing needs. The city could offer builders the option of building those units, or paying a fee to the city’s affordable housing Trust Fund, which would then be used toward the development of those housing needs. See Housing, Page A8

UKRAINE | RUSSIA CRISIS

Russia intensifies its assault with fresh strikes on eastern Ukraine Tribune Content Agency KRAMATORSK, Ukraine — Determined to seize control of Ukraine’s industrial heartland, Russia on Tuesday intensified its assaults across the country’s east while keeping up the bombardment of Ukrainian forces in the besieged southern port of Mariupol. Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said that in 24 hours, Russian forces had launched strikes against more than 1,200 Ukrainian military facilities and targeted more than 1,200 troop concentrations, details that could not be independently verified. Ukraine says Russia has begun its longexpected all-out assault on the east – and Moscow’s top diplomat confirmed Tuesday that the struggle had entered its next stage. Western military officials and analysts warned that the current Russian attacks may be setting the battlefield for a larger and potentially far See Russia, Page A8 INDEX Arts B4 | Classifieds B6 | Comics A7, B5 Crossword A6, B4 | Obituary A4 Opinion B3 | Sports B1

Robinson Kuntz/Daily Republic file (2017)

A customer picks up cherry tomatoes at the Fairfield Tomato Festival, Aug. 19, 2017.

Fairfield adds ‘twist of fusion’ to Tomato & Vine event Todd R. Hansen

THANSEN@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

FAIRFIELD — The City Council is not willing to sacrifice years of branding and goodwill by peeling away tomatoes from the festival that has helped put Fairfield on the tourism map. Instead, as Councilwoman Pam Bertani suggested, the city should just add a “twist of fusion” to the event. “I love Tomato & Vine,” said Bertani, who was the strongest voice against changing the name of the event to the staff-proposed “Fairfield Fusion Festival.” She, however, had plenty of support across the dais. Vice Mayor Rick Vaccaro called the tomato branding “critical’ to the event’s success. Juanita Johnson, with the city Parks & Recreation Department, said the change was suggested because tomatoes are no longer the

commodity they used to be in the county, and the city had to go out of the county to get enough tomatoes and tomato varieties for the festival. The staff believed the city’s diversity of commercial images and its diversity of population are the real strengths of Fairfield. So the council suggested modifying the festival to feature the diversity in sounds, foods, wines and cultures, but keep the festival name. “Tomato & Vine with a twist of fusion,” is how Bertani put it. The festival also is being moved to Sept. 9-11 because August features such high temperatures. The issue first arose at the April 5 council meeting when the special events calendar for the year came to the council for approval. Bertani objected to the loss of the Tomato Festival by title then as well. The action required, however, was just to accept the extended list of city-sponsored special events that will be exempt from city permitting

requirements, which was done on a unanimous vote. In other action, the council: • Agreed to annex Brio Studios property, located south of Putah South Canal and west of North Texas Street, into Community Facilities District No. 2012­ 2 for public safety services, open space operations and park maintenance, and to levy the special district fees to cover the costs of those services. It also accepted the results of the special annexation election for the property, which will be used for a three­ -story mixed­ -use building containing 15 apartments and two office suites. n Accepted the Canon Station Planning Area No. 4 subdivision improvements and the landscape improvements as complete. n Approved an agreement for implementation of the Solano Stormwater Alliance. The action See Event, Page A8

Sutter says nurses union putting politics ahead of members, patients Todd R. Hansen

THANSEN@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

VALLEJO — Sutter Health released a statement Monday morning stating that the CNA leadership is putting politics “above patients and the nurses they represent.” “By moving forward with today’s costly and disruptive strike, union leadership has made it clear they are willing to put politics above patients and the nurses they represent – despite the intervention of federal mediators and our willingness to bargain in good faith while under threat of a strike,” a Sutter spokesperson said in a statement. “Our attention is on providing safe, high-quality care to the patients and communities we’re honored to serve. We are confident in our ability to manage this disruption. We are hopeful CNA shares our desire to reach an agreement and enable our nurses to turn their

focus back to the patients the union has asked them to walk away from,” the statement added. The California Nurses Association could not be reached for comment. A message was left at its Oakland office. More than 8,000 nurses and other health care workers walked off the job Monday for a one-day strike at 15 Northern California Sutter Health facilities, including at Sutter Solano Medical Center in Vallejo. Picketers were expected at those centers from 7 to 11 a.m. and from 2 to 6 p.m., according to a CNA press statement. A host of comments attributed to CNA members indicate the membership is unhappy with Sutter Health transparency and the lack of involving nurses in the development and implementation of critical policies – much of it related

WEATHER 66 | 50 Mostly sunny, then chance of showers. Five-day forecast on B10.

See Sutter, Page A8

Aaron Rosenblatt/Daily Republic

From left, Jeff Dalton, Ariana Abdon and her mother, Lalaine Abdon, picket at Sutter Solano Medical Center in Vallejo, Monday.

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