Daily Republic, Sunday, October 9, 2022

Balanced development tops list of

for

Todd R. H ansen THANSEN@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

FAIRFIELD — The most critical issue facing District 1 in the city can be summed up in one word: development.

All three candidates looking to replace Chuck Timm as the District 1 represen tative on the City Council pointed to the issue when asked by the Daily Republic to “Name two issues critical to District 1, and one for the city, state what you think needs to be done about each, and how you would effect those desired outcomes. What specific qualifications do you bring to those tasks?”

The issue is the singular focus of Nora Dizon.

“My primary goal is to be a champion for residents’ rights by supporting bal anced infrastructure and growth. Our current city policy is to support develop ers and ignore the residents,” said Dizon, who did not address any other issue facing the district or the city in her response.

She took exception to the position of George Kennedy, also a candidate for the seat, with regard to recent action by the city related to the Seeno development agreement and requirements for wid ening Red Top Road, and called out the third candidate, K. Patrice Williams, for staying quiet on the topic.

Todd R. H ansen THANSEN@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

FAIRFIELD — The two candidates seeking to replace Catherine Moy as the District 3 representative on the City Council differ, a bit, on what they view as the top priorities facing the dis trict and the city.

David Verza cited crime and home lessness to his response to the Daily Republic’s question, while Doug Carr noted improving the “attractive ness” of local businesses, along with homelessness.

The question was, “Name two issues critical to District 3, and one for the city, state what you think needs to be done about each, and how you would effect those desired outcomes. What specific qualifications do you bring to those tasks?”

When discussing the attractive ness of businesses in the district, Carr points to the need to spruce up their physical appearance as well as sprucing up promotions to being more people to those businesses. He views the latter as a personal mandate.

“A lot of the businesses in District 3 are great, but

FAIRFIELD — District 5 has an image problem, Councilwoman Doriss Panduro said.

Changing the narrative from “negative to positive” was one of her top two pri orities for the district. The other, and first on her list, was homelessness. Challenger Scott Mulvey listed crime and home lessness when responding to a Daily Republic question on the issues facing the district.

The newspaper asked the can didates to “Name two issues critical to District 5, and one for the city, state what you think needs to be done about each,

and how you would effect those desired outcomes. What spe cific qualifications do you bring to those tasks?”

Jeremy Ferrell did not respond.

“Approximately 90% of the crime in Fairfield happens in Dis trict 5. We hear gunfire almost daily in the neighborhoods around us. There is very little police pres ence except when a crime has

been committed and a 911 call placed. I would advocate for greater police presence such as police on bicycles or motor cycles patrolling North Texas form Travis Boulevard to Air Base Parkway, as well as East Tabor Avenue,” Mulvey wrote in his response.

Panduro does not dispute there are many areas in the district that can be approved, but stated that a starting point must be that the district is viewed as being as important as other parts of the city.

“The residents and business owners who call District 5 home, deserve to feel just as seen and heard as the rest of the city. Now

Todd R. H ansen THANSEN@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

PANDUROMULVEY

Robinson

WILLIAMS

DIZON KENNEDY

Comparison to goldfish attention span seems like a . . .

It’s been several years since Microsoft famously quoted a study that said the attention span of humans had dropped to nine seconds, less than the attention span of a goldfish.

(Side point: I’m not sure how they deter mined the attention span of a goldfish. And even if they did, what is competing for the attention of a goldfish? They don’t even use social media and they don’t have Netflix. Back to the column . . .)

Brad Stanhope Like I was sayin’

for the 100-meter dash is 9.58 seconds, set by Usain Bolt in 2009. That record has stood for 13 years, the longest period without a new record since it stood at 9.95 seconds from 1968 to 1983. So our attention span is going down faster than the world record in the 100.

Back to the column . . .)

That famed data point . . . that our attention span is nine seconds, shorter than a goldfish, has been updated. Unfor tunately, it’s bad news: Our attention span is now reportedly 8.25 seconds. It’s dropping fast.

(Side point: The world record

The fact that our attention span is shrinking (and doing so quickly) is a reason for concern. Real concern, because this isn’t the first drop. In fact, a 2000 study set the period at 12 seconds, meaning it’s dropped by nearly one-third in just 22 years.

(Side point: The greatest ath letes to wear No. 22 are Emmitt Smith, Clayton Kershaw and Clyde Drexler. That’s a surpris

ingly short list for a common number, right? Giants fans, of course, will point out Will Clark was No. 22. Alas, he’s not as great as Kershaw. Back to the column . . .)

When you hear that our attention span is getting shorter, there’s no shortage of things to blame. For instance, the average American looks at their phone 344 times a day.

(Side point: This is pre sumably the mean number for Americans. Remember mean, mode and median from math? Mean is what we usually call “average,” median is the number with an equal number more and less and mode is the number that occurs most fre quently. I think those are correct. If not, take the median of my answers. Get it? Back to the column . . .)

Of course, any study of our

attention span comes with some caveats. First of all, skep tics point out flaws in the study. Also, scientists point out that “attention span” isn’t some thing that can be measured with a single figure, since we pay attention differently to differ ent things. We may focus clearly and for a long time on an impor tant conversation and not keep focus while viewing YouTube.

(Side point: Think of how much Google and YouTube have changed our culture. Here’s some perspective: Google launched as a search engine in 1998. YouTube launched in

purpose was to encourage short bursts of information. Bulleted lists. Quick videos. They had a reason to emphasize humans having a short attention span: It was a marketing ploy!

(Side point: Remember when categories of food did marketing campaigns? “The other white meat” and “Got milk?” Do any food types market themselves anymore? Does the squash industry promote itself as “the other yellow vegetable?” Back to the column . . .)

So next time you hear that humans have a shorter attention span than goldfish, correct the

How fat are the bears of fat bear week?

Welcome to the bear buffet at Brooks River in Katmai National Park, where brown bears bulk up on salmon for the long Alaskan winter and livecams stream their progress to viewers all around the world. In October, when the bears are at their fattest, hun dreds of thousands of people vote in explore. org’s Fat Bear Week tournament to crown a champion.

Bear #747

The biggest of those bears, identification number 747, is one of the largest bears in the world. His weight has been esti mated at 1,400 pounds. In fall, he gets so big that his belly hangs inches from the ground.

He started this season with a ripped ear and a hangdog expression. But after a summer of gorging on salmon, he has ballooned back to magnif icent proportions. He is roughly the size of a sideby-side refrigerator, and would fill nearly a full row of airplane seats.

No. 747 has been a fat bear champion in the past, but he is just one of the many bears at Brooks River who has eaten their way to their biggest, best selves.

These bears are not just getting fluffy. They are getting fat. Katmai bears can gain an additional 50 percent of body weight between midsummer and autumn. By October, large male bears can weigh over 1,000 pounds.

“The big male bears are just balloons at this time of year,” said Mike Fitz, resident naturalist at explore.org and former

Bear #32 “Chunk”

It is hard to imagine the sheer scale of these bears. Chunk, a big male with a scar across his muzzle, is estimated to weigh more than 1,200 pounds – roughly seven times the average American adult.

Chunk still scavenges leftovers from other bears’ salmon, despite measur ing more than 6 and a half feet from nose to rump.

Smaller bears, like females and young adults, cannot pack on the pounds like Chunk because dom inant male bears push them out of the best fishing spots. But young bears can elbow their way into the hierarchy as they grow. No. 151 Walker lost his fishing spots often as a playful young adult. Now, as an assertive 1,000pound adult, he throws his weight around for the best positions on the river and is far less tolerant of other bears.

Bear #151 “Walker”

It is a good thing Walker does not like company: He takes up nearly an entire king-size mattress by himself.

The bears don’t start the year this big. When they come to Brooks River in midsummer, they have run down their fat reserves from the previ ous year. Then sockeye salmon, fat from the ocean, begin their return migration up Brooks River, and the feasting season begins.

At this time of year, a dominant bear in a quality fishing spot can catch up to 30 sockeye salmon in a day. That’s roughly 150 pounds of

The bears bulk up not just to survive, but to reproduce. Mother bears must store enough fat to carry pregnancies to term during hibernation and then nurse their cubs until summer. Male bears need energy for the mating season, which gets underway before the salmon return.

Many salmon popula tions are “hanging on by a thread,” notes Fitz. For the Katmai bears, they are lucky as the Brooks River sockeye population had three straight years of record breaking runs.

“Fat Bear Week is a celebration of success for these bears, and an oppor tunity to consider what they need in their envi ronment,” said Fitz. “If we want bears in Katmai to remain healthy, we have

The

National Park ranger.

The Washington Post graphic

A graphic shows the scale of one of Katmai National Park’s bears.

Courtesy photo

Fat Bear week 2021 nominee, Bear #32 “Chunk.”

Courtesy photo

Fat Bear week 2021 finalist, Bear #151 “Walker.”

Santopadre brings 24 years of service as next Vaca schools superintendent

school district starting 24 years ago.

Great Pumpkin Weigh-in awes visitors at Nut Tree Plaza

SuSan Hiland

VACAVILLE — Cindy Tobeck’s goal Saturday was to squash the compe tition and have the biggest squash in the world at the Great Pumpkin Weigh-Off at Nut Tree Plaza.

The third-grade teacher from Olympia, Washington, is no stranger to competing for the largest of vegeta bles. She brought home second place last year for the biggest squash at 2,030 pounds.

“It was a green squash so they called it Mean Joe Green,” she said.

This year she has grown another enormous green squash from the same seeds, starting back in April. She grew huge

vegetables for 13 years but her biggest passion was showing her horses.

“I thought if I put that much effort into growing squash, what could I do?” she said. “Maybe I will be one of the biggest growers.”

She has succeeded over and over again – for six years – earning herself the Guinness World Record of No. 1 Master Gar dener for growing five giant, amazing vegetables including a 7.19-pound tomato, a 2,030-pound squash, a 1,738-pound pumpkin, a 129-pound long gourd and a 152pound zucchini.

Tobeck’s pumpkin this time around was called the Terre Moto Verde, or Green Earthquake.

She was not alone

in the towering and heavy squash com petition. One of the youngest contestants, Sreeyan Immadisetty, 5, of Roseville, brought his first pumpkin, which weighed in at 705 pounds.

His mother Leela Immadisetty said last year her son, Sankalp, 10, and Sreeyan grew a pumpkin together for the Vacaville Great Pumpkin Weigh-Off.

“He wanted to do his own one this year,” she said.

Sankalp also entered the competition with his own pumpkin this year.

“He has been garden ing since he was 3 years old,” his mother said of her elder son.

The Nut Tree teamed up with the Califor nia Pumpkin Growers Club to make this an offi cial gourds competition. The Nut Tree offered one of the largest purse winning for first place at $9 per pound.

The Great Pumpkin Commonwealth is the official judge of the com petitions. The mission of the organization is to cultivate the hobby of growing giant pump kins throughout the world by establishing stan dards and regulations that ensure the quality of fruit, fairness of com petition, recognition of achievement, fellowship and education for all par ticipating growers and weigh-off sites.

Other categories include Future Farmers, with a first place prize of $300; squash and other veggies with a first place purse of $750; along with Largest Solano County Grown, $500; and New California State Record, $2,000. The California Pumpkin Growers Club is also sponsoring Sac

ramento County’s and Napa County’s Largest Pumpkin categories, with prizes of $500 each.

One of the judges, Ron Root, hopes they get the biggest pumpkin in the world Saturday.

“I don’t think we have it, though,” he said while looking at the pumpkins.

There is some serious money to be made growing giant pumpkins. Root said the winner of one competition brought home $18,000.

Chelsea Hudson from

VACAVILLE — The Vacaville School District Board of Trustees has hired Ed Santopadre as the next superintendent.

Santopadre’s selection was announced in a press release.

Contract negotiations fin ished Thursday.

Santopadre’s tenure will start July 1 – the start of the 2023-24 aca demic year. He will succeed Jane Shamieh, who retires June 30 after eight years as the district’s superintendent.

“The board is confident that Mr. Santo padre is the right person to lead the district into the future, building upon our excellent educational programs,” Board Presi dent John Jansen said in the press release.

Santopadre has a long history with the

He has served for the past two years as the district’s associate superintendent, leading the Educational Ser vices Department. Prior to becoming associate super intendent, he was the assistant superintendent of Educational Ser vices, principal of Vacaville High School for nine years and assis tant principal of Vacaville High School.

Santopadre’s team improved academic out comes for all students, according to the press release. He worked with staff to develop systems such as new grading practices and introduced the AVID program and AP Capstone program.

Santopadre’s com mitment to student

Public safety panel set to review mission

SUISUN CITY — The city Advisory Commit tee on Public Safety and Emergency Management will discuss the mission of the committee when it meets virtually at 6 p.m. Thursday.

The committee also will discuss the acquisi tion of military equipment and command vehicle.

Public access is avail able at https://zoom.us/ join.

is

SANTOPADRE

Courtesy of Vacaville Unified School District Ed Santopadre was recently named Vacaville School District superintendent.

Susan Hiland/Daily Republic photos

Sreeyan Immadisetty, 5, of Roseville, with his mother, Leela Immadisetty, brought his first pumpkin, which weighed

in at 705 pounds, to the Great Pumpkin Weigh-In at the Nut Tree Plaza in Vacaville, Saturday.

It

weigh the pumpkins at the Giant Pumpkin Weigh-in at the Nut Tree Plaza in Vacaville, Saturday.

Keiko ‘Kay’ Lieberman

Keiko ‘Kay’ Lieberman was born in Tokyo, Japan, to Mr. and Mrs. Gunichi Matsue on Dec. 31, 1933. She passed away at her home in Suisun at the young age of 88, on Aug. 19, 2022, with her daughter at her bedside.

Kay met her husband, Stanley Arthur Lieberman, when they were both 19, while he was stationed at Yokota Air Base near Tokyo. After a few years apart, Stanley returned to Japan to marry Kay. They were 24 and were married for 62 years. Kay and Stan raised five chil dren and adored their two grandchildren.

The couple purchased a house near Travis AFB in 1979 after Stan retired from the Air Force. They lived together in Suisun for 40 years.

Kay was employed at Travis Base Exchange as a customer service super visor, retiring in 1997. She enjoyed growing vegeta bles in her backyard with Stan and harvesting per simmons and plums from

the trees they had planted. Stan made the coffee for both of them to enjoy with their break fast, that he also liked to prepare for Kay. They couldn’t resist having a favorite treat to go along with the coffee.

Stan passed away in January 2019 and was given full military honors at the Sacramento Valley National Cemetery. After a service scheduled for Nov. 1, 2022, Kay will join her beloved husband there for eternity.

Kay is survived by daughters, Jennifer (Suisun) and Donna (Vacaville); sons, Mark (Los Angeles) and Jeff (Sacramento); granddaugh ter, Danielle (Denver); and grandson, Julian (Boulder).

Husband, Stanley, and son, David preceded her passing.

The service for Kay will be held at 10:45 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2022, at the Sacramento Valley National Cemetery, 5810 Midway Road, Dixon, California.

Arrangements were made by BryanBraker Funeral Home, 707-425-4697.

Troy Williams

Feb. 27, 1961 — Aug. 11, 2022

Troy Williams died peacefully in his sleep on Aug. 11, 2022, in Fairfield, California, where he lived and worked.

Shoppers find treasures at rural Vaca vintage market

SuSan HilanD SHILAND@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

VACAVILLE — A trea sure trove of antiques, collectibles and neat stuff could be found at the 9th Annual Summitt Vintage Sale this weekend.

Tammi Peltier and wife Chris Peltier of Vacav ille have decided to stop watering their backyard to conserve on water and money. Instead, they are going to transform it into a little oasis with cute pieces that make it a fun place to hang out.

“We have come to this every year. Last year we bought like one thing,” Tammi Peltier said. “This year, we are looking for a lot more for the backyard.”

Peltier liked that they had a blank slate to work with this year.

“We actually have a purpose for the visit here,” she said.

Kristopher Summitt, owner of Summitt Farm, was excited about the weekend and expects to see about 600 to 800 people. He noted they started doing the vintage fair in 2013 because his mother changed the farm

over and they became dealers in antiques.

The Vintage Sale began with six booths and today has grown to 30 spaces.

“We have some of the same vendors we started with. They keep coming each year, but we also have new vendors,” Summitt said.

They have vendors coming from Placerville, Sacramento, Napa and even – at least initially –Southern California.

“Our Southern Califor nia vendor did not make it because of the gas prices,” Summitt said.

Summitt said he loves

seeing people having a good time while shopping.

“The vendors have become like family,” he said.

Marlene Myatt of Lincoln has been a vendor for the past three years. She has a little store called The Vintage Garden where she focuses on selling items for the yard.

“I just love the people that come to this event,” she said. “They are really interested in what we do and are really happy to be here.”

This is the only vendor market she does through out the year.

Myatt is part of the vendor group called Gypsy Chic Pop-Up Market and shared her area with two other sellers.

“This show is a good group of vendors. It has a real team spirit,” she said.

Saturday was the last day for the market, but don’t despair if you missed it: Coming up is Christmas on the Farm from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Nov. 26 and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Nov. 27. It will be a smaller event but still a chance to grab some holiday gifts.

Summitt Farm is located at 7478 N. Merid ian Road in rural Vacaville.

Troy was born in Idaho on Feb. 27, 1961.

Troy was extremely fast as an athlete. He competed in running competitions as an ele mentary student at Anna Kyle Elementary School and Fairview Elementary School. He was also a good basketball player and was on the basketball team. He also attended Sullivan Middle School and Fairfield High School.

years. He drifted from job to job afterward, set tling on an inven tory position prior to working for the Daily Republic. He spent his last eight years at the paper. Troy was a very dependable employee, even showing up early for his shift. His job was everything to him.

Troy will be missed by his family, many friends and acquaintances.

Daily Republic Staff DRNEWS@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

FAIRFIELD — The California Highway Patrol has received a $700,000 statewide grant to promote motorcycle safety.

Motorcyclist killed in head-on crash identified as Benicia man

Daily Republic Staff DRNEWS@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

As he entered high school, he loved to shoot pool as we all hung at the family billiards. Troy also loved to skate, and worked at the rink for a period of time.

Troy had a big heart, always more concerned about others. He was a great conversationalist and was always aware of current world and local issues.

Troy was a cook out at the Truck Stop for many

Troy leaves behind his brother, Tim Williams; son, Joshua; sister, Tami Reichel (Williams), husband, Jim; their children, Eric, Jamie and Alyssa; sister, Tina Lining (Williams), husband, Derrick, their daughter, Desireen.

He was predeceased by his parents, Lola and Larry Williams.

A special thank you to the City Church for their love and support for our brother.

A private celebration of life was held in Hawaii.

Donations may be made to any local organizations that support those in need.

Daniel Clark Jr. July 21, 1938 — Sept. 23, 2022

Daniel was born in Little Rock, Arkan sas, to Lueberta and Daniel Clark, both now deceased.

He received his education in the Little Rock area and after high school gradu ation joined the United States Air Force.

His service in the Air Force led him to Northern California. After retiring from the Air Force as a Tech Sergeant, he and his family resided in Solano County and surrounding areas until he passed. His work history didn’t end with retire ment from the Air Force, as he went on to become a successful and respected Auto Consultant. The ‘Lincoln’ was his vehicle of preference; he leased and sold more than his share during his career in the Napa-Solano vicinities.

He throughly enjoyed working on cars and was a ‘fixture’ in the Auto Hobby Shop on Travis Air Force Base. He was also an avid bowler, even playing in the Pro-Am league with the likes of Jesse Fortson and Sigurd Jett.

When Daniel transitioned from his home in Rio Vista to Heaven on Sept. 23, 2022, he left to cherish his memo ries, his wife, Joyce; children, Donna, Debra (Paul) and Dawn (Marlon); one loving bonus son, Kevin (and his fiancé Effie); grandchildren, Kendall, and Morgan (Vern); great-grandchil dren, Sarabi, and Jovi; and a host of other extended family and friends.

Private inurnment service will be held at 12:45 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 13, 2022, at the Sacramento Valley National Cemetery.

DEATH NOTICE

Ryland, Bettymae, 93, of Granite Bay, California, died Sept. 30, 2022. Visitation will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, Oct. 14, 2022, at Bryan-Braker Funeral Home, 1850 W. Texas St., Fair field, California. Burial will follow at 1 p.m. at Rockville Ceme tery, 4219 Suisun Valley Road, Fairfield, California.

at Vacaville High School.

He earned a bachelor of arts degree from Saint Mary’s College of Califor nia and a master’s degree in education from Touro University California.

He is a part of numer ous committees/ organizations, including the Vacaville Economic

The goal of the Get Educated and Ride Safe V grant “is to decrease the number of motorcy cle-involved crashes and victims through education and enforcement efforts across California,” the CHP reported.

The announcement of the grant came Friday –one day after a 23-year-old Benicia man was killed when he failed to nego tiate a curve on Lake Herman Road and hit a big rig head-on.

There were 7,078 motorcycle-involved crashes resulting in 354 deaths and 6,400 injuries within CHP jurisdiction from Oct. 1, 2020, to Sept. 30, 2021, an increase of 3% over the previous 12 months, the CHP reported.

“Motorcycle riders are statistically more likely to

BENICIA — The motorcyclist who was killed Thursday in a head-on collision with a big rig has been identified as 23-yearold Blake Webber of Benicia, the Solano County Sheriff-Coro ner’s Office reported.

Webber was trav eling at a high rate of speed on Lake Herman Road and failed to nego tiate a curve in the road, crossed into the west

be injured or killed when involved in a crash,” CHP Commissioner Amanda Ray said in a statement.

“In an effort to ensure every motorist reaches their destination safely, the CHP will continue to use enforcement and non-enforcement strate gies, including education and community engage ment, to target the leading causes of traffic deaths.”

bound lane and hit a Peterbilt big rig, the California Highway Patrol reported.

The incident took place at about 11:15 a.m. and was the second fatal crash in Solano County in as many days.

Two Fairfield res idents – Francisco Rodriguez, 55, and Susanne Johnson, 46 – died Wednes day night when the car they were in left the roadway and crashed into a power pole along Mankas Corner Road

The CHP said it will increase enforcement in areas with a high number of motorcycle-involved crashes, which resulted from speed, improper turns and driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs. It was not clear if Solano County is one of those areas.

The education efforts also include the importance of wearing

Health fair at Family Justice Center annex lawn set for Oct. 15

Daily Republic Staff DRNEWS@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

FAIRFIELD — The Lori Frank Memo rial Health Fair is coming Oct. 15.

“We hope that you join us again this year as we celebrate our great com munity partnerships and healthy living through out Solano County. With so many family friendly activities to choose from, there will be something for everyone,” Solano County District Attorney Krishna Abrams said in a statement.

The District Attorney’s Office, in partnership with the Family Justice Center and Victims Empower

Development Advisory Committee, Vacaville Rotary and Sac-Joaquin Section Budget Advisory Committee. He has a deep-rooted commitment to the success of students and the significant role the district plays in the community, according to the release.

ment Support Team, will host the event from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the annex lawn, 604 Empire St.

near Ledgewood Road, the CHP said.

Mankas Corner Road was closed for about nine hours as PG&E crews made repairs.

Both crashes are under investigation to determine if alcohol or drugs were factors, the CHP said.

Anyone with infor mation on either collision are asked to call 1-800-TELL-CHP (1-800-835-5247) or the CHP Solano Area Office at 707-639-5600.

regulation helmets and to raise driver awareness about sharing the road with motorcyclists.

The grant runs through Sept. 30, 2023, and is funded from a Califor nia Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

ABRAMS

“Everyone is welcome to attend this free family event, established to promote healthy living in Solano County. The event includes more than 60 local vendors and boasts a wide variety of activities for people of all ages, including free flu shots, health screen ings, tasty treats, music, K-9 demonstrations, pumpkin decorating, arts and crafts, local nonprofit service providers, health

“We are really lucky that Jane will be here for the remainder of the ’22-23 school year and they will work together. We will look forward to working with Ed Santopadre as the next superintendent of VUSD,” Jansen said in the press release.

tion, call the Solano Family Justice Center at 707-784-7635.

CHP receives motorcycle safety grant achievement improved the graduation rate from 86.1% to 95.6%. Before serving as an administra tor, he taught and coached

Susan Hiland/Daily Republic Tammi and Chris Peltier look for some decorations for their backyard at the 9th annual summitt Vintage sale in rural Vacaville, saturday.

In brief Coronavirus omicron subvariant

Supervisors off for Indigenous Peoples’ Day

FAIRFIELD — Solano County supervisors will not meet again until Oct. 25.

The board does not meet Tuesday because of the Indigenous Peoples’ Day holiday Monday, Columbus Day, and because there typically is no meeting sched uled for the third Tuesday of a month.

The supervisors recognized the change from Colum bus Day on Sept. 13. Suisun City joined the national movement last year and recognized the holiday as Indigenous Peoples’ Day.

Gov. Gavin Newsom proclaimed the first Indige nous Peoples’ Day for the state of California in 2019. President Joe Biden issued a proclamation last year commemorating Indigenous Peoples’ Day, becoming the first U.S. president to do so.

Solano County Board of Supervisors meetings start at 9 a.m. in the first floor chamber of the government center, 675 Texas St., in Fairfield.

Storage group appeals garbage-related conditions

FAIRFIELD — The applicant for a use permit for an RV storage project on Edison Court has appealed a zoning decision on garbage signing requirements, fearing it will “attract people to dump large objects and excess waste into the trash enclosure.”

Steve Mirabito, of StoragePro at Fairfield LLC, has appealed the decision of the Fairfield zoning admin istrator to the Planning Commission, which meets at 6 p.m. Wednesday in the council chamber at City Hall, 1000 Webster St.

“Additionally, the applicant voiced their opinion that the business is not obligated to provide waste contain ers for their customers to dispose of waste,” the staff report to the commission states.

The project is for a 138-vehicle storage facility and solar carports on about 4.21 acres at 490 Edison Court.

Land trust sets table for Sunday Supper 2022

PLEASANTS VALLEY — The Solano Land Trust will host Sunday Supper 2022 from 4 to 7 p.m. Sunday at Joyful Ranch.

This is a fundraiser to help continue the organi zation’s commitment to land conservation in Solano County. The evening will be filled with uplifting stories, project updates and dessert, live and silent auctions. In addition, guests will have to the opportunity to sponsor “Put a Child on the Land.”

Joyful Ranch has been in owner Ethel Hoskins’ family since 1850. It now operates as a nonprofit with a mission to educate and inspire the public about Pleasants Valley, and to provide a setting for spiri tual renewal. Joyful Ranch is located at 8212 Pleasants Valley Road in rural Vacaville.

Tickets are on sale at solanolandtrust.org/events.

STA board to hear updates on Highway 37 plans

SUISUN CITY — Solano Transportation Authority directors are scheduled to hear a state Department of Transportation report on Highway 37 corridor planning and an Metropolitan Transportation Commission report on the Highway 37 Sears Point to Mare Island Project when they meet Wednesday.

A staff report on Highway 37 is scheduled for later in the meeting, which is scheduled for 6 p.m. in the board room of the STA office, 423 Main St.

Also on the agenda are reports on Solano Express service changes, the Solano Connected Mobility Imple mentation Plan and the 2022 Solano Express Ridership Survey and Analysis Study.

Workforce study report set for SCWA meeting

VACAVILLE — A workforce study report as well as legislative, policy and committee updates will be given when the Solano County Water Agency board meets Thursday.

The meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. in the Ber ryessa Room of the agency office, 810 Vaca Valley Parkway, Suite 203.

Directors also will consider hiring former Putah Creek streamkeeper Rich Marovich on a part-time basis (940 hours) to assist with project development and grant writing for one year.

The board also is scheduled to discuss the general manager’s position in a closed session that will follow the regular meeting.

Welcome mat out for Fire Prevention Week

SUISUN CITY — The city will host an open house from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Oct. 15 at Fire Station 47 to cele brate Fire Prevention Week.

“I’m excited to be here in Suisun City as the new fire chief and pleased to open up our fire station to the com munity for a fun day of getting to know you all better,” new Fire Chief Brad Lopez said in a statement. “We are going to have a lot of fun activities and the opportunity for the community to learn more about what we do, how we protect our city, and how you can protect yourselves from fires.”

The station is located at 621 Pintail Drive.

For more information, call 707-421-7205.

They can also be put out for pig food or mulched back into the ground they came from.

Tribune ConTenT AgenCy

LOS ANGELES —

The omicron subvariant BA.2.75.2 – a newer coronavirus strain some scientists fear could be problematic – has arrived in Los Angeles County.

BA.2.75.2 has been described by Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser for the pandemic, as “one that looks suspi cious – that it might start to evolve as a [trouble some] variant.”

Los Angeles County Public Health Direc tor Barbara Ferrer is also watching it closely.

Three specimens of BA.2.75.2 have been detected in L.A. County.

The strain has been spreading elsewhere, including in parts of Asia and Europe, and Ferrer said what is potentially worrisome is that “it may both evade prior protections” of immu nity, such as from past Covid-19 shots or infec tion, “and not respond to some of our currently available treatments.”

If the body’s immune system doesn’t readily recognize a mutated strain, there is a higher chance of it causing infection. In higher-risk people, especially those who haven’t received a recent booster shot, such infections can lead to severe illness or death.

“I’m worried about BA.2.75.2 the same way

appears in

we’re worried about the proliferation of any new mutations that come along,” Ferrer said.

“It’s highly mutated, it looks very different and therefore is evading some of the protec tions we’ve put in place, both with vaccines and natural immunity.”

At this point, though, Ferrer said it’s a “the oretical worry.” Just because a new strain demonstrates potentially problematic properties doesn’t mean it will out compete other versions.

Still, whenever a new subvariant emerges, “we need to be cautious and [study it] because, obviously, a new strain creates more risk for all of us,” Ferrer said.

Though the pandemic is heading in the right direction – with cases and hospitalizations in a sustained, steady decline – many offi cials and experts believe another uptick is likely over the fall and winter. And while the U.S. is now quite familiar with the omicron subvariant BA.5, which has been dominant for months, other subvariants are starting to account for larger shares of cases.

“You have the creeping up of the variants that are sub lineages, like BA.4.6. We don’t have much of BA.2.75.2 yet, but there are other countries that

do have that. So although we can feel good that we’re going in the right direction, we can’t let our guard down,” Fauci said Tuesday in remarks to the USC Center for Health Journalism.

In L.A. County, BA.5 comprised about 90% of analyzed coronavirus cases in mid-September, down from 93% earlier in the month.

The share of cases attributed to BA.4.6 increased week over week from 3% to 5%.

The share of cases attrib uted to BF.7, also known as BA.5.2.1.7, is 1.4%.

All these strains are members of the sprawl ing omicron family.

Though subvariants beyond BA.5 are increas ing, their growth has

been slow and doesn’t yet signal a major alarm, according to Ferrer.

“While this is no assur ance that, in the weeks ahead, there will not be an acceleration in the proliferation of these strains – because they appear to have mutations that can help them spread easily – there is hope that with increased uptake in the fall boosters, which are well-matched to what is circulating now, and the use of com monsense precautions as we move into coolerweather months, we can blunt the impact of the anticipated increases in transmission that may be associated with these new strains,” she said.

Shawnee, Oklahoma, was stunned to see the large gourds. She and her friend Andraya Dickin son, who is from Healdton, Oklahoma, are in town while their husbands are working lines for PG&E.

“This is really cool,” Dickinson said. “I had no idea they could grow so big.”

She wondered what happened to them after the competition.

Tobeck said there are several things that can happen to giant gourds.

“There are brokers who buy them, or some people buy them to carve them,” she said.

Other competitions keep the gourds for a sea sonal display, which is not happening with the Nut Tree Plaza.

In the end, the firstplace winner was M. Sadiq of Bountiful, Utah, with a pumpkin weigh ing 2,287 pounds, second place went to Cindy Tobeck with 1,997 pounds and third place went to R. Pugh from Eugene, Oregon, whose gourd weighed 1,812.5 pounds.

In brief

1 dead, 3 hurt in shooting near UC Berkeley

BERKELEY — One person was killed and three others were wounded in an early-morning shooting Saturday near the UC Berkeley campus, authorities said.

The shooting occurred after a fight broke out about 1:06 a.m. in the area of Durant and Telegraph avenues, according to a dispatch supervisor with the Berkeley Police Department.

Four people were injured and taken to hospi tals. UC Berkeley police said in a statement around 10:30 a.m. that one of the shooting victims had died.

None of the victims were UC Berkeley students, authorities said.

Authorities did not announce any arrests or release any suspect information.

The attack was the latest multiple-victim shoot ing incident in the East Bay over the last two weeks. Six people were injured Sept. 28 when assailants opened fire inside the entrance to a school complex in East Oakland. Two teen brothers were killed in a shooting at an Oct. 1 birthday party at a house in North Oakland.

Carnival returns to Bass Derby & Festival after Covid hiatus

RIO VISTA — The car nival is back this weekend at the 74th Annual Rio Vista Bass Derby and Fes tival after two years.

Carnival-related activ ities began Thursday with Family Night and included fire truck rides for chil dren – and for those who are children at heart.

Bass Festival Chair man Walt Stanish said there was no Bass Derby in 2020 due to Covid-19 and in 2021, the carnival vendor did not have the personnel needed to participate in the Bass Derby and Festi val. This year the carnival vendor, World Amuse ment, is still having some challenges with staffing, so there aren’t as many rides as in the past.

However, the com munity is glad to have it back. Even man’s (and

woman’s) best friends are getting in on the fun.

Mikayla Cobb and Blaine Dart, both Rio Vista residents brought their two pups, Hallie, an English Cream Golden Retriever, and their Golden Retriever pup Millie to the festival Thursday night to enjoy the fun. The dogs kept their composure, content to watch all the activi ties around them even as fire trucks drove back and forth giving local children rides.

Scott Pereira from Tower Park brought his rescue pup Luna to enjoy some people watching.

Rio Vista residents Whitney Faucher with her children, Michael, 7, and

Cailyn Fernandez, 4, are excited to see the return of the carnival. They were visiting the carni val Saturday.

“We really love the rides,” said Faucher, a Rio Vista native. “The Tilt-a-Whirl is my favor ite. It’s too bad it isn’t here this year.”

Charles Young is oper ating one of the games of skill and has been doing it for seven months. His motivation – also his favorite part of the job – is simple.

“Working the games. I mean, we have so many people – making them smile and have a good time,” Young said. “You know, that’s what it’s all about, having fun and that’s what I like to do – make sure they have a good time.”

Some of the rides include the Zipper – a ride that goes around and

around and upside down; a spinning contraption with 2000 emblazoned on it, a fun house full of mirrors; and the longtime favorite, a Ferris wheel. Games include a softball toss and a ring toss game where you toss a ring around a rubber duck. You can try your luck and win some goodies for the children.

The carnival continues along with the Bass Derby and Festival from noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. Ride tickets and passes are available on site. Parking can be a little daunting, so come early for a good spot.

For more infor mation, visit www. bassfestival.com.

WALK-IN

Jocelyne von Strong/Daily Republic

Charles Young mans his station at the World Amusement carnival at the Rio Vista Bass Derby & Festival, Saturday.

READ MORE Traditions evident at start of Rio Vista Bass Derby & Festival. Page A9.

Beware ‘dark patters’ on consumer websites

NorthBay Health CFO stepping down amid cost-cutting moves

nother website risk has appeared aside from phishing, hackers, general fraud and selling our

A

informa

ing approach, and those who do often do not report it.

Mark Sievers Wealth matters

The Federal Trade Commission released a study this Sep tember on certain website design practices termed as “dark patterns.” These patterns are appear ing more often, and the FTC report has sugges tions for cautionary signs to alert us.

Harry Brignull, a web design specialist, coined the term “dark patterns” in 2010 to describe design practices that trick or manipulate users into making choices they would not otherwise make and that are likely harmful to them.

The FTC report draws on recent enforcement actions and insights for examples. “Dark pat terns often take advantage of consumers’ cogni tive biases to steer their conduct or delay access to information needed to make fully informed deci sions,” the report says.

Consumers are not as aware as they should be of the manipulative design practices on com monly visited websites. Dark patterns aim to trick users, steal their data and get them to make choices they would not other wise make. The problem is becoming increasingly common. Even worse, many consumers do not recognize the mislead

Dark patterns can be found in a variety of indus tries and contexts, including e-com merce, cookie consent banners, children’s apps and subscription sales. The use of dark pat terns is rapidly becoming more common on mobile apps than on websites.

Research shows dark patterns are highly effective at influencing consumer behavior. For example, one study found dark patterns doubled the percentage of con sumers who signed up for a dubious identity theft protection service, as compared to consum ers who were presented with a neutral offer. The use of more than one dark pattern on a website sig nificantly increased the likelihood for luring the victim into a bad and harmful decision.

Princeton University researchers in 2019 ana lyzed and found a total of 1,818 instances of dark patterns among 11,000 shopping websites.

In a related event, state attorneys general sued Google on “dark patterns” claims earlier this year.

The report high lights some specific cases, such as:

Loan-comparison website LendEDU was accused of using a falsebelief dark pattern.

It misled consumers to believe its website objectively ranked loan

See Wealth, Page A8

FAIRFIELD —

NorthBay Health Chief Financial Officer Michele Bouit is stepping down as the health care orga nization continues what it describes as a “budget recovery plan” linked to the pandemic.

Bouit’s departure is scheduled Nov. 18, the company reports in a press release. Bouit is stepping down for personal reasons, the company reports.

NorthBay Health’s budget recovery plan announced in July is on track to meet a $100 million goal of implementable savings by the end of 2022, according to the press release. The health care system implemented multiple cost-saving ini tiatives to react to what company representatives describe as “the chang ing health care financial landscape.”

NorthBay Health con tinues to pursue several funding opportunities to reach its goals, the company reports.

“Our team has done an outstanding job ensuring NorthBay Health is finan cially strong, remains independent and, impor tantly, provides Solano County with exceptional health care,” B. Konard Jones, president and CEO of NorthBay Health, said in a press release. “Every member of our team has

taken the nec essary steps to contribute to our year-end goal.”

Bouit “has been instrumen tal in developing and implement ing the budget recovery plan, communicating with financial partners and providing a solid path forward for NorthBay Health to meet its finan cial goals,” according to the press release.

NorthBay Health is pursuing recruitment of an experienced interim CFO. Bouit will assist in the selection of the interim CFO and will spend several weeks inte grating that person into the NorthBay Health system, according to the

press release.

The company last month requested $14.19 million from the county in federal pandemic relief funds, much of that the result of what the company described as additional costs absorbed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“This is a one-time ask, not a save NorthBay ask,” Jones said at the time.

He told county offi cials NorthBay is working through its pandemic recovery plan. Part of that plan included the announcement in July that the company was in the process of eliminat ing 7% of its workforce to bring help balance its budget. The move translates into nearly

190 full-time-equivalent positions based on a workforce of 2,700 as reported by the company formerly known as North Bay Healthcare.

A full-time-equiva lent position may be a single person working full time or multiple people working part time whose combined hours represent one fulltime position.

Company officials at the time said more cuts may be ahead.

NorthBay Health had previously reduced posi tions through retirements and voluntary departures.

The company operates NorthBay Medical Center in Fairfield and NorthBay Vaca Valley Hospital in Vacaville, in addition to a number of specialized and primary care clinics.

Courtesy photo

NorthBay Medical Center in Fairfield.

JONES

Traditions evident at start of Rio Vista Bass Derby & Festival

RIO VISTA — The Rio Vista Bass Derby and Festival has many tra ditions. From the Lions Club pancake breakfast to the live music, there is always something fun for everyone.

One of the events at the Bass Derby and Festival is especially a hit with the children and the young at heart: fire truck rides.

“Fire truck rides have been a long-standing tra dition in Rio Vista that likely dates back 50 years, and the pictures on our Facebook have a picture from as far back as 40 years,” Fire Chief Jeffrey Armstrong said. “It is very unique, and while many communi ties have suspended such events, over fears of liabil ity, we have been able to navigate the concerns and put on a safe event.

“When I first arrived in Rio Vista in 2017, there was an effort to shut this down. Fortunately, I was able to work with the city manager, make some changes and allow it to proceed. Over the years, we have made some safety adjustments, but hope to continue to be able to host this great event, for kids of all ages,” Arm strong said. “The Rio

Vista Fire Department invites the surrounding fire departments, Isleton, Montezuma and River Delta; unfortunately, this year, River Delta was unable to attend. We also invite the Sheriff’s Department.”

The fire truck ride tra dition only happens from 6 to 8 p.m. on the Thurs day evening of the Bass Derby and Festival.

Youngsters and their families line up in front of the Rio Vista Fire House for a ride down Front Street with lights and sirens. There is even

an antique fire truck that offers rides. It’s a 1948 Ward LaFrance.

This year, the Solano County Sheriff’s Office brought its SWAT vehicle to enthrall the families. Agencies participating in the event this year were the Rio Vista Fire Depart ment, Montezuma Fire Protection District, Isleton Fire Department, Solano County Sheriff’s Office and Rio Vista Police Department.

Visit bassfestival.com for more information on Sunday’s activities.

Family sues Vallejo school district over disabled teen’s death

tribune content Agency

Kevon DeLeon wan dered off from school on Sept. 22, 2021; three days later, the 17-year-old boy was dead after having multiple seizures and going into cardiac arrest.

This week, his family filed a lawsuit against the Vallejo City Unified School District alleging its negligence led to the disabled teen’s death.

DeLeon’s father, Alexander DeLeon, and his grandmother and legal guardian, Reau chean DeLeon Watson, said the school did not adhere to his educational plan, failed to have qual ified staff looking after DeLeon and failed to

properly supervise the vulnerable student.

DeLeon was “a happygo-lucky kid” who loved school and was excited to graduate early from Everest Academy in Vallejo that December, Watson said.

He was still decid ing what to do with his life after graduation.

At the public school he attended, faculty and staff were supposed to follow his Individualized Education Program as required by the federal Individuals with Dis abilities Education Act. DeLeon had epilepsy as well as executive func tioning and emotional

See

Page A10

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Mountain lions are eating California wild donkeys; scientists say this a good thing

Tribune ConTenT AgenCy

LOS ANGELES — An apex predator has been quietly hunting interlop ers in Death Valley, and for the first time, the deadly encounter has been captured on camera.

A mountain lion can be seen via nighttime images pouncing onto the back of an in-stride wild donkey.

The cougar easily wins the fight: A photograph taken seven minutes later shows it standing over the dead donkey, eyes glim mering as it stares into a wildlife camera.

“It’s extremely rare to get a predation on camera,” said Erick Lun dgren, the biologist who captured the images. “I guess that just goes to show that (this) predation is really not (that) rare in Death Valley.”

The newly documented cougar-donkey dynamic has been the focus of

Family

From Page A9

issues that meant he needed more supervision than a typical 17-year-old student: For one thing, the school bus picked him up directly from his home and let him out directly in front of the school, the lawsuit said.

Vallejo City Unified School District Commu nications Director Celina Baguiao declined to comment on the lawsuit.

According to the com plaint filed against the district Oct. 6 in Solano County Superior Court, DeLeon took the bus to

little research, but it might illustrate a develop ing relationship between the two animals that could benefit the eco system, according to a recent study.

school one last time and, at some point during the school day, walked off campus.

“Kevon never went nowhere by himself, so he really didn’t have no sense of direction,” said his aunt, Ebonye DeLeon, who was also raising him with her mother and brother.

Watson said that after her grandson left the school, the teen called his father from Benicia Road around noon asking for help: “He was trying to tell his father where he was. I think he was probably on the onset of having a seizure then, because he didn’t recog nize where he was.”

Watson’s grandson was

The feral donkeys, also known as burros, have long been considered invasive and major disruptors of native species and habitats in Death Valley, pillaging wetlands and destroying

found unresponsive later that day – the com plaint said he’d already had multiple seizures, all alone – and an ambu lance transported him to Kaiser Permanente Vallejo Medical Center.

At the hospital, DeLeon had more seizures. He was intubated. He went into cardiac arrest and underwent 19 minutes of CPR, the lawsuit said.

Eventually, his organs began failing, and on Sept. 24, an MRI showed that he had sustained severe brain damage from oxygen depriva tion. On the afternoon of Sept. 25, he died.

According to his Indi vidualized Education

vegetation other animals rely on. But Lundgren is hoping this study could shift how conservation ists and researchers view the donkeys.

“I was interested in the

Program, “He was not supposed to leave that school walking anyplace if I didn’t go get him or his father didn’t go get him,” Watson said. “Had he stayed there and had the seizure at school, they know the procedure: He’s taken to Kaiser emer gency room. He’s treated. Then they call me or his father.” Instead, he walked off, and “nobody stopped him.”

She believes that if someone had prevented him from leaving campus that day, he would still be belting Michael Jackson songs at home.

DeLeon led an active life. On Saturdays, he did gymnastics; at home, he

wild donkeys, not just as a pest . . . but as wildlife,” said Lundgren, the lead researcher of the report published in the Journal of Animal Ecology. “Which is, I think, how you should study them if you want to understand them.”

Not only did the study find the donkeys were the “primary recorded prey” of mountain lions in certain areas of the national park

liked to sing and dance and, to his family’s amuse ment and annoyance, lock himself in their bath room to make TikToks. He befriended a deaf classmate, who was teach ing him to sign. At 17, he was thinking about going to college and maybe becoming some kind of performer. Watson and her grandson would have little arguments about his big dreams.

“The opportunities could have been endless for him,” she said. “I don’t know what Kevon could have done. He could have done anything.” She thought maybe she’d see him get married, or go to college.

but also that the presence of the big cats changed how and when the donkeys fed, roamed and congre gated, and their interaction formed an “emerging eco logical network.”

The increased preda tion “was associated with altered donkey activity patterns and rates, and with reduced herbivory and disturbance-related

See Lions, Page A13

Instead, the family cel ebrated his 18th birthday without him, with bal loons and a blue and green frosted cake. Watson has tried to get DeLeon’s high school diploma from the school. “He earned that diploma, he worked hard for that diploma” – but she said she’s been met with silence.

She said she and her son are now suing over DeLe on’s death because they’re hoping to effect change in Vallejo City Unified School District and in schools across California.

“Nobody should have to go through this,” she said. “And I want somebody to be held accountable and responsible.”

Angel Di Bilio/Getty Images/TNS A wild donkey family near Death Valley National Park.

Erick Lundgren/Los Angeles Times/TNS

A mountain lion stands over its prey, a wild donkey or burro, in Death Valley National Park.

High costs thwart state’s housing push

During its just-closed biennial session, the California Legislature passed –and Gov. Gavin Newsom signed –dozens of bills aimed at relieving the state’s acute shortage of housing.

Newsom capped the effort late last month by signing two somewhat similar bills that make it easier to build housing on unused or underused com mercial properties.

“California has made historic investments and taken unprecedented actions to tackle the state’s housing crisis over the past four years,” Newsom said. “But we recognize there’s more work to do. This package of smart, muchneeded legislation will help us build new homes while rebuilding the middle class.”

The two bills typify the thrust of legis lation and the Newsom administration’s tougher enforcement of state housing quotas on local government – making more land available for housing by reducing the ability of local governments, cities par ticularly, to thwart development through restrictive zoning, convoluted building standards and other practices.

Newsom’s efforts on housing over the past four years won him a lengthy plaudit last week by columnist Binyamin Appel baum of The New York Times, thereby enhancing the governor’s drive to become a national political figure.

The praise is well-deserved, as far as it goes. But making more land available is just one factor in the thorny housing crisis and to date, there’s little evidence that by itself it will result in more construction.

The state says California should be building 180,000 units a year to meet current demand and whittle down the backlog, but at best we’re seeing about 120,000 housing starts and when the housing lost to fire, old age and other reasons is subtracted, the net gain is no more than half of the 180,000 figure.

The major constraints are financial –ever-rising costs of construction and the insufficient private sector investment due, in part, to those costs.

The state’s most pressing housing need is apartments for low- and moderateincome families – projects that not only draw the most local opposition but are becoming prohibitively expensive to build.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported last month that based on documents for the construction of three “afford able” housing projects, the per-unit cost is more than $1 million and approaching $1.2 million for one.

San Francisco is a notoriously difficult place to build housing, which those outra geous numbers reflect. But $1-plus million is common across the Bay Area and state wide, average costs of projects meant to house low- and moderate-income families are well above $500,000 a unit – enough to buy a nice single-family home in many Cal ifornia communities.

Purely private developments cannot pencil out unless owners can charge mar ket-rate rents that are unaffordable to those in lower income brackets, so developers for that segment must rely on packages of private funds, tax credits and money from state and federal governments.

However, projects using even small por tions of public funds are subject to state laws mandating they use union workers, which is one of the big reasons they are so expensive.

The two bills Newsom signed last month to make commercial property available for housing contain boilerplate language man dating union labor. In fact, there are two bills on the same subject because two dif ferent construction union factions could not agree on the precise language and to break the stalemate, legislative leaders finally decided to send both to the governor.

The land Newsom and the Legislature have opened for housing needy families will go largely unused if development costs continue to soar.

CalMatters is a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how Cal ifornia’s state Capitol works and why it matters. For more columns by Dan Walters, go to calmatters.org/commentary.

Letters to the Editor

Letters must be 325 words or less and are subject to editing for length and clarity. All letters must include the author’s name, address and phone number.

Send letters to Letters to the Editor, the Daily Republic, P.O. Box 47, Fairfield, CA 94533, email to gfaison@dailyrepublic.net or drop them off at our office, 1250 Texas St. in downtown Fairfield.

Vote for Moy for mayor

Having lived in Fairfield for nearly 50 years, I have witnessed the progres sion of our small town into the city it is today. I’ll not belabor you with a litany of what we all know Fairfield is experi encing, however, I will state my belief that things are not improving appre ciably. If you happen to agree with me, then you will also agree that a change in leadership and direction is required.

Catherine Moy is the logical choice for the next mayor of Fairfield. She has the experience and lifelong investment in our community that will trans late into solutions. She is a woman of the people, always willing to listen to others and able to identify issues that need addressing.

I ask that you go to her website, www.catmoy.com, and her Facebook page, “Catherine Moy,” to see for your selves. You will find her to be totally involved in our community and knowl edgeable of the challenges we face in Fairfield. Let’s give her the mandate for change.

I urge everyone not only to vote, but to vote for Catherine Moy for mayor.

Mark Corioso Fairfield

New reward offered for information on Ralph Moore death

If you haven’t noticed the new bill board recently redesigned by Western Sign Company in Fairfield yet, please drive by to see it. It has a new pho tograph of Ralph Moore with an aluminum overlay process. It is very bright and outstanding.

Feb. 20, 2023, will be 21 years since

Ralph was viciously attacked and left for dead in his home in Fairfield. He died Feb. 28, 2002, from his injuries at UC Davis Medical Center. The case remains unsolved; the $60,000 reward remains in effect.

Ralph’s son, Chuck Moore, and his friends, built and erected a taller support for the sign, making it more visible and legible to the public. Hope fully someone will see it and come forward with information that will help the Fairfield Police Department and the Solano County District Attorney’s Cold Case Unit solve the case so that Ralph can get the justice he deserves.

If you know anything at all about this case, please call Fairfield Major Crimes Unit at 707-428-7600.

The Moore family, Martha, Terry and Donny Wallar and Chuck and Liz Moore, thank Holly Hobbitt, Kyle Urban and Rudy Urban for all their efforts and fine work throughout the years. Hopefully soon, Ralph’s case will be solved and when that happens, the billboard will certainly have helped to accomplish that.

Our sincere thanks and appreciation.

Martha Moore, The Ralph Moore family

Vacaville

Climate change shock

I had the fortune as an Uber driver of providing a ride to a Stanford climate scientist from Napa to the campus once a week for a year. One of the benefits of being a ride share driver is meeting various experts in their field.

One day several years ago, I read an article about climate change in The Wall Street Journal. It stated if every

country in the world followed the Paris Climate Protocol for reducing carbon emissions until the end of the century (80 years), the economic cost to accom plish this would be $200 trillion and the average reduction in global tempera ture would be one-half (0.5) a degree Fahrenheit. I was shocked that it was so little for so much cost.

The next time I provided a ride to the climate professor and researcher, I handed him the WSJ article in the back seat on the way to Palo Alto. He read it and concluded it was true. He mentioned that 4 degrees would be catastrophic, but one-half a degree was not.

I thought about it for a while and then calculated what the United States was responsible for in this analysis. I search on Google for the approxi mate carbon emissions of the United States today and it was 15%. So, 15% of $200 trillion is $40 trillion and 15% of 0.5 degrees is 0.075 degrees.

In conclusion, all that we can do as a country over the next 80 years is spend $40 trillion to reduce the global temperature seven and one-half hun dredths of a degree. Is it even possible to measure this?

So those who doubt this are science deniers. How did climate change become a religion that is threatening our economy and security? We need to return quickly to energy independence as we continue to pursue alterna tive energies.

I value clean air and clean water. I drove two different hybrid cars for 20 years and now drive a Tesla. I recycle religiously and clean up trash every day after others. No, I am not a climate change denier. I’m a climate change realist.

Larry Ellison Fairfield

Newsom wants to tax oil companies for high gas prices

W hen gas prices rise, it instantly fuels polit ical rhetoric about price gouging and the need to help motorists pay at the pump. It’s as automatic as pushing the starter button and hearing the engine crank up.

As California prices surged in recent days, Gov. Gavin Newsom proclaimed he wanted to retaliate against oil moguls by imposing a windfall profits tax and returning the money to drivers.

“Crude oil prices are down. Oil industry profits are up. Yet gas prices in CA have increased by record amounts. It doesn’t add up,” the gover nor tweeted. “We’re not going to stand by while greedy oil companies fleece Californians.”

It caught the recessed Legisla ture by surprise. But leaders reacted instinctively.

“Californians are still being gouged by oil companies’ indefensible nonstop price increases,” Senate leader Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Lake wood) responded in a joint statement.

They pledged “to take a hard look at any proposal to go after windfall profits that oil companies are raking in by bilking consumers. In fact, we’ll look at every option to end the oil industry profiteering off the backs of hard-work ing Californians.”

UC Berkeley energy econo mist Severin Borenstein put it quite well in a May blog. “Politicians and the media have been obsessed with ‘doing something’ about high gasoline prices,” he wrote.

“On the left, leaders express outrage that oil companies are making so much money and not sharing it with con sumers. . . . Like that’s a thing. Apple is going to lower its iPhone price because it’s making too much money?”

“From politicians on the right, comes the ‘drill, baby, drill’ policy response. . . .

“It’s frustrating when straightfor ward economic analysis takes a back seat to political rhetoric and ideology.”

Borenstein is faculty director of the

UC Berkeley Energy Institute. I asked him about Newsom’s pro posed windfall profits tax.

“It wouldn’t do anything to lower gas prices,” the profes sor said. “It would just recover some of the money. “We should tax oil extrac tion” – tax the goo as it’s pumped from the ground. “We’re the only major oil pro ducing state that doesn’t. The oil industry fights like hell against that.”

The Legislature passed an oil sever ance tax in 2009, but then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed it. The oil industry spent $95 million in 2006 to defeat a severance ballot measure.

That would raise at least $1 billion a year, but it won’t happen in the foresee able future. Democratic lawmakers are skittish about taxes, and Republicans are protective of the oil industry.

In my imagination, I could see Dem ocratic legislators rolling their eyes as Newsom unveiled his tax proposal by posting a few characters on Twitter, rather than spelling out details in a carefully crafted policy paper. They’re thinking, “There he goes again.”

The rhetoric comes easy for this governor. He promised the details in a week or two. They’ll be much tougher. How do you determine what’s a wind fall profit?

And is this an oil industry political ploy? An old-fashioned “October sur prise” designed to hurt the party in power – Democrats – with untenable gas prices as the election nears?

If Democrats think that, Newsom should call the Legislature back into special session immediately to deal with the mischief.

The governor would have to work closely with legislative dealers to round up the necessary two-thirds majority vote. That’s not his style. It’s possible but very difficult in an election year. It would require flexing all the governor’s and leaders’ muscles.

Or is it the natural result of too many oil refineries simultaneously being shut down for repairs – a coin cidence, rather than collusion? Only a few people really know that. And they

sit in corporate suites, not the gover nor’s office or Legislature.

If the Legislature doesn’t convene before the Nov. 8 election, it proba bly won’t consider the matter until new members take office in early December. It probably would be at least January before the new Legis lature acted.

Meanwhile, the state is begin ning to send Californians $9.5 billion in so-called rebates inspired by last winter’s gas price hike. You don’t have to be a car owner to benefit.

The reimbursements will range from $200 per individual income taxpayer to $1,050 per family, with lower-income people receiving the most. If your income exceeds $250,000 for an indi vidual or $500,000 for a couple, you get nothing.

This relief package won’t cost oil companies. It’ll cost the state.

Newsom thankfully did take some meaningful action that should lower pump prices – maybe by 50 cents a gallon in a week or two. He asked the California Air Resources Board to allow refineries to begin producing cheaper winter-blend gasoline.

That could make Los Angeles smog gier. But costly summer-blend gas is one reason California’s fuel prices are so much higher than in other states.

Other reasons are very high state taxes, environmental regulations and extra refining costs. California is also isolated: There isn’t a pipeline that brings gas into the state. We import by ship. And our own oil production has fallen over the decades, largely because wells have been pumped out.

It’s probably going to get worse as we move away from gas engines. Less demand will mean fewer refineries and less supply. Higher prices.

But fewer climate-changing green house gas emissions.

It’s going to be a bumpy road for motorists, no matter the merits of an unlikely windfall profits tax.

Political columnist George Skelton has covered government and politics for nearly 60 years and for The Los Angeles Times since 1974.

Dan Walters

George Skelton

being in districts we have the opportunity to shine the light on all the good that does come from the district, but also allows for more focus on the areas that need atten tion,” wrote Panduro, who was elected to a two-year term and is seeking a full four-year term.

She said she believes she is already making a difference by being more visible and active.

“Great things are taking place in the dis

trict such as the coming community center and sport courts at the corner of North Texas and Tabor that will hold a Solano First 5 Center, and the PAL Youth Center at the old skating rink site,” she wrote. “Continuing to focus on the negative is counterproductive and unfair to those who work hard to have a business in the district and those who call it home.”

The common issue between the candidates is homelessness.

“The homeless popula tion is growing in District 5. The shopping area at North Texas and East Tabor Avenue has become

Crime logs

FairField

THURSDAY, OCT. 6

5:53 a.m. — Robbery, 3400 block of NORTH TEXAS STREET

6:12 a.m. — Grand theft, BARCELONA CIRCLE

6:31 a.m. — Drunken driver, 400 block of STONEYBROOK LANE 7:01 a.m. — Vehicle theft, 400 block of GREGORY STREET 7:18 a.m. — Drunken driver, CLAY BANK ROAD

7:59 a.m. — Drunken driver, 1100 block of UNION AVENUE 8 a.m. — Grand theft, 1000 block of WEBSTER STREET 8:19 a.m. — Shooting into a dwelling, 1500 block of HOLIDAY

LANE 8:54 a.m. — Vandalism, 900 block of EAST TRAVIS BOULEVARD

9:32 a.m. — Vehicle burglary, 1200 block of B. GALE WILSON BOULEVARD

10:05 a.m. — Battery, 500 block of PACIFIC AVENUE 10:28 a.m. — Brandishing a weapon, CEMENT HILL ROAD

11:23 a.m. — Indecent exposure, 3300 block of NORTH TEXAS STREET

12:51 p.m. — Forgery, 3100 block of TRAVIS BOULEVARD

2:12 p.m. — Vehicle theft, 2200 block of CORDELIA ROAD

2:17 p.m. — Residential burglary, 1700 block of SYCAMORE DRIVE

3 p.m. — Trespassing, 2000 block of BRISTOL LANE

3:16 p.m. — Hit-and-run property damage, EAST TABOR AVENUE

3:17 p.m. — Battery, 2000 block of PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE

3:25 p.m. — Battery, 1900 block of NORTH TEXAS STREET

3:27 p.m. — Indecent exposure, 3300 block of NORTH TEXAS STREET 3:48 p.m. — Forgery, 600 block of EAST TABOR AVENUE 3:56 p.m. — Battery, 1000 block of WEBSTER STREET

5:12 p.m. — Drunken driver, 1300 block of WEST TEXAS STREET

5:59 p.m. — Vehicle theft, 400 block of GREGORY STREET 6:35 p.m. — Forgery, 1000 block of WEBSTER STREET

6:46 p.m. — Hit-and-run property damage, TRAVIS BOULEVARD 6:55 p.m. — Residential burglary, 900 block of HAYES STREET

7:01 p.m. — Battery, 5000 block of PEABODY ROAD

7:33 p.m. — Forgery, 1400 block of WEST TEXAS STREET 8:30 p.m. — Hit-and-run property damage, 3000 block of DOVER AVENUE 9:10 p.m. — Battery, 2500 block of HILBORN ROAD 9:14 p.m. — Vehicle burglary, 1200 block of B. GALE WILSON BOULEVARD 10:07 p.m. — Battery, 1900 block of NORTH TEXAS STREET 10:44 p.m. — Trespassing, 1600 block of MEADOWLARK DRIVE

FRIDAY, OCT. 7

12:21 a.m. — Battery, 3300 block of NORTH TEXAS STREET 2:57 a.m. — Reckless driver, TEXAS STREET 4:06 a.m. — Trespassing, 1200 block of TABOR AVENUE

6:45 a.m. — Trespassing, DOBE LANE 6:59 a.m. — Hit-and-run property damage, 400 block of SAN JOSE STREET 7:38 a.m. — Vehicle theft, 4600 block of CENTRAL WAY 7:54 a.m. — Forgery, 600 block of PARKER ROAD 8:52 a.m. — Forgery, 2000 block of SAN SALVADOR STREET 9:13 a.m. — Vehicle theft, 500 block of ASBURY LANE

9:42 a.m. — Vehicle theft, 2000 block of PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE 10:04 a.m. — Battery, 1900 block of NORTH TEXAS STREET 10:05 a.m. — Grand theft, 3500 block of NELSON ROAD 10:56 a.m. — Vehicle burglary, 1100 block of WESTERN STREET 10:58 a.m. — Vehicle theft, 2800 block of AUTO MALL PARKWAY 11:16 a.m. — Vehicle theft, 2400 block of CORDELIA ROAD 11:52 a.m. — Battery, 1900 block of GRANDE CIRCLE 11:57 a.m. — Forgery, 1600 block of SAN BRUNO STREET

1:55 p.m. — Drunken driver, 2200 block of NORTH TEXAS STREET

2:29 p.m. — Battery, 2700 block of NORTH TEXAS STREET 3:04 p.m. — Forgery, 400 block of APPLE TREE LANE

4:04 p.m. — Trespassing, 1500 block of WEST TEXAS STREET 5:03 p.m. — Vandalism, 2000 block of FALCON DRIVE 5:26 p.m. — Trespassing, 2100 block of NORTH TEXAS STREET 6:36 p.m. — Commercial burglary, 1300 block of TRAVIS BOULEVARD 7:32 p.m. — Hit-and-run property damage, 1300 block of WASHINGTON STREET 7:52 p.m. — Forgery, 2000 block of CADENASSO DRIVE 8:31 p.m. — Shots fired, 3100 block of POTRERO WAY 9:08 p.m. — Vandalism, 700 block of EAST TRAVIS BOULEVARD 9:12 p.m. — Drunken driver, 2800 block of CARMEL WAY 9:41 p.m. — Robbery, WISCON SIN STREET

10:32 p.m. — Fight with a weapon, 1800 block of INDIANA STREET 10:42 p.m. — Battery, 1900 block of WEST TEXAS STREET 10:47 p.m. — Hit-and-run with injury, AIR BASE PARKWAY 11:09 p.m. — Vehicle theft, 5000 block of RED TOP ROAD 11:35 p.m. — Trespassing, 3000 block of VISTA GRANDE

SuiSun City

THURSDAY, OCT. 6 7:27 a.m. — Reckless driver, EAST TABOR AVENUE / RAILROAD AVENUE 9:12 p.m. — Reckless driver, WORLEY ROAD / THOMAS CIRCLE

FRIDAY, OCT. 7 11:01 a.m. — Vandalism, MARINA BOULEVARD

BUENA VISTA AVENUE 1:12 p.m.

KELLOGG

STREET 4:17

a gathering and littering place making it unsafe to shop. The businesses are also suffering because of the large population gath ered in their parking lots.

I would like to see a nav igation center opened in District 5 to direct those who are stuck in this life style toward help and ser vices available to them,” wrote Mulvey, who is the minister at City Church, which has a success ful homeless program he would use as a model for a citywide program.

Mulvey also has a back ground in business.

“I also believe that Fairfield needs to estab lish a new and effective

District

“The recent vote on modifying Seeno’s requirement to widen Red Top Road is clear evidence of the differ ence in the candidate goals. Kennedy spoke to support the change for Seeno. Williams did not say anything,” Dizon said in her response.

Dizon said she believes the City Council gave Seeno a sweet heart deal that, in her view, could result in the road never being widened, while Kennedy was happy to see what the city staff said was a Dec. 31, 2023, deadline to have the project done or risk losing a devel opment agreement that lowered developer fees and provided other con cessions in exchange for Seeno building a fire station for the city and other projects.

“It probably would surprise people that if you analyze what is hap pening, I am the only candidate seeking to have real affordable housing in District 1. Balanced growth means that we don’t allow developers to create problems like Red Top Road, “ Dizon wrote. “It means that we strive to attract busi ness to our city, not repel them away.”

However, balanced development also was a top priority for the dis trict listed by Kennedy and Williams. They also addressed homelessness in their responses, and touched on protecting Suisun Valley.

Kennedy said the city needs to see the impacts of current developments on traffic before approv ing more projects.

“The first critical issue facing District 1 would be overdevelopment/traffic. What needs to be done

encampment area on the outskirts of town where showers, bathrooms, meals, and mental health services can be offered,” he said in his response.

Panduro framed her response in terms of react ing to the existing issue and prevention.

“The Police Depart ment Community Action Team is off to a great start in building and rebuild ing relationships with our local businesses, they are on the ground every day working with business owners to help them solve issues that they are facing, one being their ability to provide a clean, safe business environment,”

here is take a wait-andsee approach to any new development and not rezone any parcels until after the General Plan update,” Kennedy wrote. “We need to see what is going to happen with NOVA, the apartment complex at Business Center Drive and Suisun Valley Road and how that new traffic affects the Green Valley area along with the 400,000 squarefoot industrial buildings next to NOVA on Busi ness Center Drive.”

Williams listed as needs for the district and city as:

n Preserving Suisun Valley, and our agricul tural lands.

n Any future eco nomic development within Cordelia (Villages) and Green Valley must include increasing road lanes and improving infrastructure. She lives around the corner from Rodriguez High School and experiences the many complaints from her neighbors about sitting in traffic on both Lopes and Red Top roads during area school start and release times.

n Balance between luxury single-family housing and workforce housing. Working fami lies, our adult children and aging parents can’t afford to live here.

n Public transporta tion routes that shortened travel to downtown resources were also a common theme as well as more accessible, senior and workforce housing.

“We need to make sure that the Suisun Valley Specific Plan is incorpo rated into our General Plan to ensure a proper continuity between the county’s plan and the city’s plan. We need to take a regional approach using and working in con junction with (Solano Transportation Author ity) to get additional relief including adding new westbound on-ramps

Panduro wrote. “This type of work needs to con tinue in order for business owners to better under stand their rights and what avenues they have in dealing with various situ ations. These interactions can also assist with con necting those in need of resources to the appropri ate service provider.”

She points to her work on the 2X2 regional homeless effort and the Solano Hispanic Chamber of Commerce as why she understands the issues.

Panduro said pre venting homelessness is a multilayered effort that encapsulates wrap around social services,

to I-80 at Suisun Valley Road and widen the over pass that crosses over to fast food junction,” Kennedy added.

Kennedy went on to list business develop ment in the district as another priority, an issue included in Dizon’s bal anced vision for the district, but not expanded on in her response.

He said there is space in the district on which to develop retail space, and argued the population certainly is more than enough to justify another grocery store and other businesses. He said his experience in the field would help the city.

Williams noted home lessness as a citywide concern, but also address housing separately, too. She called for a county wide housing plan.

“Today, I sit on the board of direc tors for Solano Affordable Housing Foundation, a Fairfieldbased affordable housing development nonprofit. My experience has taught me that there are tax credit funding for developers and other incentives to create accessible and workforce housing. Also, accessible and workforce housing can be quality and beau tifully made, energy efficient and run well . . . . We have a shortage of affordable workforce housing in California, Solano County and Fair field. We need a robust countywide housing plan with a city-by-city renter income driven break down,” Williams wrote.

Kennedy included housing as part of his homeless response, and argued the city is not doing enough. He points to vacancies in the Home less Services Division for almost a year. Filling those positions with social workers to make contact with homeless residents with mental health issues would free up police offi

a continuous program of care “and programs that provide other muchneeded services such as food security, job skills (and) training.”

“Having a diverse mix of housing is impor tant and ensuring that all of our residents have housing that meets their needs according to where they are in life,” she wrote, pointing to city projects that will help with that goal.

The candidates’ full responses can be found on the Daily Republic website, along with the responses of the candi dates for Districts 1 and 3.

cers to deal with crime and public safety matters.

“The lack of very-low and low-income housing poses a significant chal lenge to rehouse families and individuals that are ready to transition out of the shelter system. We need to work with landlords to encour age additional Section 8 housing,” Kennedy said.

“Major concerns to overcome for landlords and tenants are the lack of funds for security deposits and the percep tion that voucher holders will damage units. A Landlord Partnership Program such as Marin County operates, offers security deposits, damage protection, and vacancy loss coverage as well as a customer service hotline and workshops. A LPP offers both reassurance to landlords and tenants while helping to increase the number of avail able Section 8 housing supply,” Kennedy added.

Williams said she does not believe the recently completed point-in-time survey of the homeless population reflects the actual numbers at all.

“We need creative solutions including empty buildings, hotels and warehouse space that can be converted to safe transitional spaces with wrap-around ser vices and job training. Our focus would be to reduce homelessness and stabilize the com munity with short-term transitional housing and build the residents to move on to permanent affordable housing,” Wil liams stated.

She emphasized the need for the city to seek federal and state funds that are available.

The candidates’ full responses can be found on the Daily Republic website, along with the responses of the candi dates for Districts 3 and 5.

just need ‘beautification’ on the outside, with more welcoming/inviting land scaping that matches the greatness inside of the business,” Carr stated in a response dictated to his campaign manager and sent to the DR. Carr was out of the area at the time. Seeking state, federal and private funding to reach those goals is essential, he said in the response.

Carr also touched on the need to clean up the criminal element that is scaring potential cus tomers away.

Verza listed crime as his starting point.

“In fact, the reason that I am running for office is that my car was stolen last year. I’m tired of it. I live in the Woodcreek area and it seems like every day one of my neighbors wakes up to a vehicle that’s been broken into or had the catalytic converter stolen. A week or two ago there was a shooting on Mankas Boulevard right across the corner from KI Jones Elementary School,” Verza wrote. “I

could go on for days about all the horrible things that happen in our district every day, but I think you get the picture. Crime is out of control and dra matic action is needed.”

The common issue between Verza and Carr is homelessness.

“Homelessness is also rampant in District 3. There is a creek in my neighborhood with what used to be a nice little trail running alongside it. I used to walk it several times a week, and many of my neighbors did, too. Well, that creek is full of homeless now and many of us don’t go there for obvious safety reasons,” Verza said.

He noted the issue of homeless residents pan handling, and camping in neighborhoods.

“While some of them are mentally ill, many of these homeless have serious drug addictions . . . . Needless to say, the homeless situation here has reached crisis levels and needs to be addressed,” he added.

Verza supports hiring more police officers for both issues, adding staff and officers for the Fairfield Homeless Inter vention Team specifically for the homeless issue,

and adding foot, cycling and other patrols to increase a presence in troubled areas of the city.

Carr views the home less situation as much as a health problem as anything else, and treat ing individuals is the best approach.

“Blanketing it as one big issue is not the way. Handling it that way will only provide a ‘band-aid’ approach and not solve the problem. . . . We have to solve the ‘person who is homeless,’ not the issue,” the response states.

Carr calls for the development of “one-stop shop” hubs or commu nity-driven service trucks to got out in the com munity to engage with the homeless population, assess their needs and provide “screening for

drug abuse counseling, mental health, clothing, food, assistance filling out applications for jobs, housing, etc.”

Carr spent 20 years in the construction and painting trade and has 19 years of experience as an alcohol and drug coun selor, and is a licensed advanced alcohol drug counselor with the Cal ifornia Consortium of Addiction Programs and Professionals.

Verza notes his Air Force background and eight years as an IT contractor for the Transportation Secu rity Agency.

The candidates’ full responses can be found on the Daily Republic website, along with the responses of the candi dates for Districts 1 and 5.

SpaceX sunset launch completes trio

ORLANDO, Fla. — SpaceX was able to send up a Falcon 9 with a pair of satellites from Cape Canaveral on Saturday at sunset to complete a trio of launches for the Space Coast this week.

Tuesday saw an Atlas V lift off from Cape Canav eral Space Force Station while Wednesday saw the liftoff of the Crew-5 mission on a SpaceX Falcon 9 from Kennedy Space Center sending four passengers to the International Space Station.

SpaceX was in line to make it three launches in three days, but scrubbed the Thursday launch attempt, aborted with 30 seconds left on the countdown clock. But Saturday’s liftoff in clear skies and a setting sun went off without a hitch.

Lions

effects on desert wet lands,” the study found. This limited damage from the donkeys in these areas.

“There’s a prevail ing narrative that wild horses and wild burros are problems . . . at some kind of biological level,” Lundgren said. “And I think that’s really non-scientific.”

However, in areas where the mountain lions were not as active, the study found donkeys con tinued to wreak havoc, the study found.

Although the wild donkeys are not native to North America – they descended from the domesticated African wild ass, which was brought west by pioneers during the Gold Rush – Lund gren notes the region was home to different horse-like species before the last Ice Age that lived alongside prehistoric mountain lions more than 10,000 years ago.

“Mountain lions cooccurred with equids (horse-related species), just like wild donkeys, for several million years,” he said. “So it’s kind of neat that they’re together again and that these new relationships are unfold ing, which in many ways mimic old relationships that were around for mil lions of years.”

For Mairin Balisi, a paleontologist and coauthor of the study, the images of the mountain lion kill were the “return of an extinct interaction.”

“Fossil ecosystems are useful for providing base lines of conservation,” said Balisi, a curator at the Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology in Claremont.

She said this evolv ing relationship in Death Valley has the potential to be a natural experiment in how the two species can benefit each other and the surrounding habitat. She likens the interaction to the successful reintro duction of the gray wolf in Yellowstone National Park, which had a positive effect on the food chain.

But currently, Death Valley officials remain committed to their zero burro goal in the park, given how a consensus of prior research shows the animals “denude vegeta tion at springs (sometimes completely), foul water with their excrement and prevent native wildlife, such as native bighorn sheep, from using springs,” Death Valley spokesperson Abby Wines said.

“Mountain lion pre dation is not sufficient to control the burro pop ulation in the park,” Wines said.

There are an estimated 4,000 feral burros on parkland today, a drastic increase from about 400 in 2005, she said. National park leaders have worked in recent years to humanely remove the burros from the park.

Kate Schoenecker, a research wildlife biologist for the U.S. Geo logical Survey at Fort Collins Science Center who studies wild burros, said it’s unlikely Death Valley will be able to elim inate the animals, given their protected status on

nearby Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service land.

She didn’t question the park’s efforts to remove the donkeys through trap ping efforts, but said she was excited the new study gave a more in-depth look at the understudied burros. Specifically, she pointed out how the research documented the donkeys’ “predator-risk avoidance behavior,” which can pos itively affect ecosystems.

“This is really cool because it’s never been studied for burros,” said Schoenecker, who noted the difficulty in drawing too many conclusions from the recent study given its small sample size and limited data.

“I think there’s a lot we still don’t know,” Schoenecker said. “We’re just still learning about basic demographic rates of burros.”

Lundgren and Balisi agree there should be more research on the wild donkeys and their broader effects on the ecosystem.

“Ecologically important predator-prey interactions can emerge rapidly in novel ecosystems,” Lun dgren said, noting he is concerned that total removal of the burros could have unintended consequences for the larger food chain and how continued threats to mountain lions could stunt this potentially beneficial relationship.

New abortion bans put on hold by courts in Arizona and Ohio

Tribune ConTenT AgenCy

Abortion bans in Arizona and Ohio were temporarily put on hold by judges, allowing pro cedures in the states to continue while the nonprofit Planned Par enthood challenges the new restrictions in court.

An Arizona appeals court on Friday put on hold the state’s strict ban on abortion, an 1864 law that took effect after Roe v. Wade was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in June.

The unanimous ruling by a three-judge panel means a more recent ban on abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy will be enforced instead while the case proceeds. Planned Parenthood argued the conflicting state laws made access to abortion unclear.

“The balance of hard ships weigh strongly in favor of granting the stay, given the acute need of healthcare providers, prosecuting agencies, and the public for legal clarity as to the application of our criminal laws,” the court wrote. “Notably, in the underlying litigation both parties sought some form of such clarification from the court.”

The appeals court set a hearing for Oct. 11 before Presiding Judge Peter Eckerstrom “to deter mine whether this matter should be accel erated and to set a briefing schedule.”

In Ohio, a judge with the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas

on Friday said it will grant a request by abor tion providers for a preliminary injunc tion against Senate Bill 23, which bans abor tion at about six weeks of pregnancy in the state. The court had previ ously issued a temporary restraining order against the law on Sept. 14. The new ruling means abor tion up to 22 weeks will continue to be legal during the litigation.

“We are thrilled with this second major victory and relieved that patients in Ohio can continue to access abortion as we work to fight this unjust and dangerous ban in court,” Planned Par enthood Federation of

America and the Ameri can Civil Liberties Union said in a joint state ment. “We’ve already had a glimpse of the harm caused by Senate Bill 23 when it was in effect this summer, and we can’t go back.”

Steve Irwin, press sec retary for Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, said in an email: “We will wait and review the judge’s actual written order and consult with the Gover nor’s administration as far next steps.”

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnov ich didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. Both attorneys general are Republicans.

Win McNamee/Getty Images/TNS

Students and parents from the Wickenberg Christian Academy, in Wickenberg, Arizona, pray in front of the U.S. Supreme Court Building in Washington, D.C., May 3.

Russia races to reopen Crimea bridge damaged in fiery blast

Tribune ConTenT AgenCy

President Vladimir Putin’s flagship bridge to Crimea was severely damaged in a blast that hit a fuel train and caused the partial collapse of the only road link running from the Russian main land to the Black Sea peninsula that Moscow annexed in 2014.

Local authorities raced on Saturday to reopen one lane of the Kerch Strait Bridge to automobile traffic with full secu rity checks. Rail service resumed after the first stage of repairs, Rus sia’s state-run Tass news service reported.

The bridge is criti cal for the Kremlin to resupply its forces in Crimea and in the south ern Kherson region of Ukraine, where Russian troops are facing a Ukrainian counteroffen sive. Cargo trains have resumed crossings, with passenger trains to follow, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin said on Tele gram Saturday.

Putin has called for a criminal investigation into the incident, and some Russian hard-lin ers were quick to urge Moscow to escalate its offensive in Ukraine. He signed a decree to strengthen bridge security with measures to be coordinated by the Federal Security Service, or FSB.

A truck explosion on the span’s roadway caused seven fuel tanks on a freight train to ignite as it crossed the span early Saturday, Russia’s National Antiterrorism

Committee said, accord ing to Tass. Two sections of the road bridge fell into the waters below. Three deaths were reported.

Russian officials were quick to blame Ukraine; there’s been no official claim of responsibility, but Ukraine’s national postal service quickly announced a new stamp taking note of the bridge explosion. The regis tered owner of the truck was said to be from the Russian region of Krasnodar, and his resi dence was being searched on Saturday.

Video of the scene showed the train on fire and a section of the road bridge collapsed into the sea. Surveillance footage showed the moment of impact, with some vehi cles apparently caught in the blast.

Retired Australian army general and mili tary strategist Mick Ryan said reinforced concrete bridges like the Kerch are the hardest to damage. It

would “take a lot of ‘bang’ (explosives) and a good demolition design,” he said on Twitter.

Putin ordered the bridge built after annex ing Crimea from Ukraine, calling the link to Russia a “historical mission” when construction began in 2016. The blast took place a day after the Russian leader’s 70th birthday, with Moscow’s forces in retreat across parts of southern Ukraine.

Hours after the explo sion, Russia’s defense ministry named yet another new commander for all its forces in Ukraine, General Sergey Surovikin, who until now had led the troops’ Southern branch.

Putin opened the 12-mile bridge in 2018 by driving a truck at the head of a column of vehicles along it. Construction costs were about $3.7 billion.

Local Russian officials in Crimea quickly pointed the finger at Ukraine,

following a series of unex plained blasts in recent weeks at military installa tions on the peninsula.

Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, called the damage to the bridge “the begin ning,” without indicating involvement from Kyiv’s side. He later hinted without evidence that the operation had been part of an internal Russian power struggle.

Authorities on the peninsula are prepar ing to expand ferry services to Russia. Flights to and from Crimea were suspended when Putin invaded Ukraine in February.

Closing all or part of the bridge “presents the Russians with a signifi cant problem,” Ryan said. While Moscow can resup ply Crimea by boat and through occupied south ern Ukrainian areas, “it makes holding Melitopol even more important.”

North Korea adds to barrage with 2 ballistic missiles

Tribune ConTenT AgenCy

North Korea fired two suspected ballistic mis siles early Sunday, adding to one of its biggest twoweek barrages under Kim Jong Un that has ratch eted up tension to levels not seen in years.

The suspected ballis tic missiles were detected shortly before 2 a.m. local time and flew toward waters east of its coast, Yonhap said, citing South Korea’s military. Japan’s coast guard earlier said at least the first missile appeared to have already landed.

The launch comes after North Korea shot off 10 ballistic missiles over the past two weeks that included firing its first missile over Japan in five years. The series of tests hearkened back to the autumn of 2017 when Kim’s regime unleashed its largest barrage of long-range rockets and detonated a nuclear bomb, which prompted fresh United Nations sanctions as punishment.

North Korea often times its weapons tests to political events, and the latest launch came after the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier group made a U-turn after the missile flew over Japan. The carrier group went back to waters off the Korean Peninsula, where its vessels held missile defense exercises with naval forces from Japan and South Korea on Thursday.

Pyongyang on Saturday criticized the presence of the carrier group as

“extremely worrisome,” saying that its armed forces are taking a serious approach toward its deployment.

North Korea has bris tled for decades at joint military exercises, calling them a prelude to an invasion. Its latest prov ocations have been the strongest reaction under Kim to the U.S. bring ing nuclear assets into the region.

The carrier group had previously been in the same area in late Sep tember at around the time U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris visited Japan and South Korea.

During her visit, which took her to the Demilita rized Zone that divides the two Koreas, Harris warned North Korea against raising tensions and called on Kim to return to stalled nuclear disarmament talks.

Unlike with previous launches, his regime has mostly refrained from trumpeting the missiles along with the usual cre ative vitriol directed at the U.S. and its allies.

Kim Jong Un himself has been out of the public eye for nearly a month, his longest absence in a year.

North Korea on Monday has one of the biggest days on its polit ical calendar when it celebrates the anniver sary of the foundation of its ruling Workers’ Party.

If Kim doesn’t show up at festivities, speculation is certain to mount about the health of the 38-year-old leader, who’s overweight and a heavy smoker.

AFP/Getty Images/TNS

A firefighting helicopter pours water on the carriages of a train on fire on the Kerch bridge that links Crimea to Russia, after a truck exploded, near Kerch, Saturday.

Be sure to visit for future events

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Noon Sunday Jazz Sunday

Brunch Marina Lounge, 700 Main St., Suite 106. www.marinal oungesuisun.com.

6 p.m. Wednesday Hot Mic

Wednesdays

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7 p.m. Thursday Karaoke

Thursdays & Open Mic

Marina Lounge, 700 Main St., Suite 106. www.marina loungesuisun.com.

I Vacaville

9 p.m. Friday

Dueling Pianos: Jason & Lindsay Makse Restaurant, 555 Main St. dueling pianovacaville.com/ events.

8 p.m. Friday Tower of Power Vacaville Performing Arts Theatre, 1010 Ulatis Drive.  https://vpat.net.

8 p.m. Saturday

Trigger Warning Comedy Journey Downtown, 308 Main St. www. journeydowntown venue.com.

9 p.m. Saturday Dueling Pianos: Jason & Lindsay Makse Restaurant, 555 Main St. dueling pianovacaville.com/ events.

I Benicia

2:30 p.m. Sunday David Bustamante

The Rellik, 726 First St. www.therellik tavern.com.

5:30 p.m. Thursday Bray The Rellik, 726 First St. www.therellik tavern.com.

5 p.m. Friday Thirsty

The Rellik, 726 First St. www.therellik tavern.com.

9 p.m. Friday

The Humdinger Band

The Rellik, 726 First St. www.therellik tavern.com.

5 p.m. Saturday

The Tune Riders

The Rellik, 726 First St. www.therellik tavern.com.

8:30 p.m. Saturday Crayzed The Rellik, 726 First St. www.therellik tavern.com.

I Vallejo

1 p.m. Sunday Sweet Marie / Suspects of Soul

Vino Godfather Winery, 1005 Walnut Ave. www.vino godfather.com.

5:30 p.m. Wednesday Andy Santana Empress Lounge, 330 Virginia St. https://empress theatre.org.

6 p.m. Friday

Silent Disco

Vino Godfather Winery, 1005 Walnut Ave. www.vino godfather.com.

1 p.m. Saturday Soul’d Out

Vino Godfather Winery, 1005 Walnut Ave. www.vino godfather.com.

‘Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile’

AIMS TO DELIGHT LITTLE ONES WITH BIG SONGS, SMALL DRAMA

M Ark Meszoros

THE NEWS-HERALD, WILLOUGHBY, OHIO

yle, Lyle, Crocodile” is not here to stress out your kids.

Landing in theaters this week, the movie – about a friendly croc, voiced by pop star Shawn Mendes, who can sing (but not talk) and stemming from the 1965 children’s book by Bernard Waber – has very low stakes.

Well, OK, deep into the affair, its creators do pull the plot-device lever that’s all but obligatory in stories involving folks hiding a potentially dangerous creature where it really doesn’t belong.

However, until the story’s name sake animal is snatched from its loving family – and not long after – the vibes are warm and fuzzy, er, scaly.

Directed by Will Speck and Josh Gordon (“Blades of Glory,” “Office Christmas Party”), from a screenplay by Will Davies (“Flushed Away,” “Puss in Boots”), “Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile” begins by introducing us to strug gling magician Hector P. Valenti (Javier Bardem). Looking for a way to reinvent his stage show, he finds it in the back of a pet store in a baby croc singing in its cage.

Back at Valenti’s New York City brownstone, he soon gets the shy, ever-growing Lyle to become comfortable enough around him to sing. Before you know it, the two

are ready for their all-important debut before an audience.

Or so Hector thinks.

Turns out Lyle has debili tating stage fright, leading to financial ruin for Hector, which includes the loss of home. (Well, kinda sorta.)

A year and a half later, the Primm family is moving into the Manhattan property because father Joseph (Scott McNairy) has taken a job teaching math at a city school. His young son, Josh (Winslow Fegley), is upset about the move – and he has the crime stats to back up his thisis-a-mistake case. But Josh’s loving stepmother, Katie (Con stance Wu), is planning to devote more time to him, setting aside her promising career as a cook book author.

Down in the dumps after his first day at school, Josh discovers an initially frightened Lyle, whom Hector had left in the attic, and soon they are great chums.

The time with Lyle, which – kinda disgustingly –includes dumpster diving – gives Lyle newfound happiness and confidence.

A movie less concerned with giving very young children a happy-and-shiny show may have made this the movie’s core arc, with Josh slowly learning how to be happy with who he is. But nah. Soon, in fact, Lyle frightens, then

fixes the adults in the home, not that Katie or Joseph are in all that much need of repair.

If you peg Hector as the villain of this tale, you’d be wrong. Sure, he has his faults, but his reap pearance offers only a bit in the way of conflict.

MOVIE Review

That comes mostly from the Primms’ noise-hating neigh bor, the appropriately named Mr. Grumps (Grett Gelman of “Stranger Things”). He knows something strange is going on in the Primm home and he’s not bashful about making life difficult for those around him. (He cares only for his Persian cat, Loretta, who suffers from irritable bowel syndrome but engages in dining with Lyle and company.)

We have lots of little gripes with the storytelling in “Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile” – missed oppor tunities are everywhere – but Speck, Gordon and Davies know their audience. Their main concern, probably appropriately, is to get young viewers from one catchy song to another.

The poppy tunes largely are the creation mainly of the “La La Land,” “Dear Evan Hanen” and “The Greatest Showman” tandem of Benj Pasek and Justin Paul,” with the Bardem-Mendes-

How CBS turned ‘Fire Country’ into a soap opera with pyrotechnics

‘F ire Country,” which premiered Friday on CBS, is a soap opera with pyrotechnics, set among firefighters in a fictional Northern California hamlet where trees outnumber people – for now. With the state predicted to face a fourth year of drought, and fires burning hotter and faster with acceler ating climate change, and the question raised not for the first time of whether people should be rebuilding towns that burned to nothing or should have been living there in the first place, it’s an odd thing to watch. Of course, firefighters always win in the end – or perhaps it’s more accurate to say the fires always lose – but the end is sometimes long in coming, with acres, structures and even lives lost.

There are other fire house shows on the air now – “Chicago Fire,” “Station 19” – and, like, “Fire Country,” they are essentially ensem

ble relationship dramas set in a burning frame. The twist here is the rural setting and bringing in Cal Fire’s inmate firefighter program, around since World War II, in which, for a little pay and time off their sentence, eligible convicts live in “fire camps” and supplement the pros, clearing brush to keep wildfires from advancing.

More to the point, “Fire Country” sets up the ancient

story of a returning prodi gal. Here it is Bode Donovan (Max Thieriot), a name that AI could not have created better, who once held up someone at gunpoint but is clearly a good guy now. (All of the convicts seem to be well-behaved, but apart from Bode’s comical new friend Freddy, played by W. Tre Davis, none has a name or

performed “Take a Look at Us Now” an early reminder of their songwriting gift. However, they recruited others for help crafting songs including “Top of the World” (Joriah Kwame) and “Rip Up the Recipe” (Emily Gardner Xu Hall and Mark Sonnenblick), which is sung by Mendes and Wu.

“Heartbeat,” an original number penned by Mendes that, according to the movie’s produc tion notes, never found a home on one of his albums, plays over the closing credits.

The originals are mixed in with some classics, and all help gently nudge the narrative forward.

McNairy (“Halt and Catch Fire,” “Argo”), Wu (“Crazy Rich Asians,” “The Terminal List”) and Fegley (“8-Bit Christmas”) give by-the-numbers perfor mances, but Bardem (“Being the Ricardos,” “No Country for Old Men”) – who has more of a col orfully written character than they do – sinks his teeth into the over-the-top Hector. And Gelman – who’s played enough vil lains in his career that his niece correctly guessed he’d be doing so in “Lyle” when he told her of his

Dead & Company kick off final tour at Forum, finish up at Oracle Park

Tribune ConTenT AgenCy

Dead & Company has announced the dates for its final concert tour.

The group, featuring Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, John Mayer, Bob Weir, Oteil Burbridge and Jeff Chimenti, is set to kick off the trek May 19-20 at the Kia Forum in Inglewood. The tour closes with a two-night stand, July 14-15, at Oracle Park in San Francisco, the band’s hometown.

Dead & Company will also visit venues including Wrigley Field in Chicago, the Gorge in George, Washington, and Fenway Park in Boston.

The complete tour itinerary is listed below.

As per usual, the popular jam band will be performing two sets of music drawn from the Grate ful Dead’s immense catalog at each concert.

Tickets go on sale to the general public at 10 a.m. Oct. 14 via dead andcompany.com. There is also an artist presale happening from noon

roberT LLoyd

Bettina Strauss/CBS/TNS

Jordan Calloway in “Fire Country.”

Courtesy of Sony Pictures/TNS

Lyle is a crocodile who can’t talk but who can sing – voiced by Shawn Mendes – in “Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile.”

‘L

Which new vampire show is right for you this spooky season?

RobeRt LLoyd

Vampires are back, though given the immortality, can they ever really go away?

Last month saw the debut of Peacock’s “Vampire Academy”; “What We Do in the Shadows” continues to be one of the best and funniest shows on television. And in the first days of October, three additional vampire series, in much different flavors, have crawled from their coffins onto the small screen.

“Anne Rice’s Interview With the Vampire” began Sunday on AMC; “Reginald the Vampire” premiered Wednesday on Syfy; and “Let the Right One In” arrives Sunday on AMC.

All have literary, or “lit erary,” antecedents. “Let the Right One In” comes from the novel by John Ajvide Lindqvist; “Reginald the Vampire” descends from Johnny B. Tru ant’s series of “Fat Vampire” novels; and “Anne Rice’s Inter view With the Vampire” adapts, um, Anne Rice’s “Interview With the Vampire.”

I can’t speak of how true “Reginald” is to the page, but the other two make substan tial changes and additions to the source material in order to make stories into series, and in the Rice show, to trans form its cursed protagonist from a 17th-century slaveholding plantation owner to a 20th-century person of color.

(Seems smart.)

What accounts for the vam pire’s undying popularity? Unlike many other famous monsters of filmland, they have agency and intelligence. They are usually hot and sexy, often cultured and well-read. They have their chal lenges – sunlight, stakes, endless years to fill – but when the sun goes down, they get around; they can mix with people, take in a show, run a business, whatever. As characters, they have myriad possibilities, “vampire” being a category and not, like Franken stein or King Kong, an individual; and unlike many monsters, they are not particularly pitiable. Or, rather, they are romantic, their particular brand of social apart ness catnip to moody adolescents.

In the 125 years since Bram Stoker published “Dracula,” and the century since direc tor F.W. Murnau ripped him off for “Nosferatu,” bloodsuck ing stories have encompassed tragedy, comedy, the arty and the exploitive, straight horror and soft porn, teen romance and cartoons. The undead come in all ages, shapes, sizes, colors, sexes and genders. They are better and worse people, with vampires who are basically heroic pitted against those who are merely sociopaths. By and large, they are killers, which is not a likable trait, although some concentrate on “deserv ing” victims – mortals, as each of these new shows will remind you, can be really terrible people – and others get by on animal blood, though even that can lead to some nasty scenes.

My favorite among these shows is “Reginald the Vampire,” which feels like a kind of tonal companion piece

personality or more than a line or two of dia logue.) Bode also is a bit of an artist, which might become relevant later but for the moment tele graphs a sensitive nature. Unluckily for him, he finds himself sent to a “fire camp” in his old hometown, where there are people he wants to avoid and history he wants to bury.

Often one feels the need to see several epi sodes of a series to write about it, but sometimes its purpose is so clear, the assignment so obviously executed as intended, that one feels safe in imagin ing a whole season from a single hour. This is meatand-potatoes small-town drama, driven by a large

Oct. 12 to 10 p.m. Oct. 13. Advance registration for the presale is available

the band’s website.

joins the family. There is also tap dancing and a scene, which I take to be an homage to “Back to the Future,” in which Lestat, sharing a piano bench with Jelly Roll Morton, “improvised the melody for what would later become ‘The Wolverine Blues.’”

Michele K. Short/AMC/TNS

sam reid, left, as Lestat de Lioncourt, and Jacob Anderson, as Louis de Pointe du Lac, in AMC’s T v adaptation of “interview with the vampire.”

to Syfy’s great “Resident Alien,” with its winning combination of comedy, suspense, likable char acters and real feeling.

Created by Harley Peyton, whose TV career goes back to the origi nal “Twin Peaks,” it focuses on Reginald (Jacob Batalon), who mans the counter at the Slushy Slack, where he is abused by manager Todd (Aren Buchholz) and harbors a shy crush on coworker Sarah (Emily Haine). He develops a friendship with a cus tomer, Maurice (Mandela Van Peebles), who encourages him to ask Sarah out, and who we already know is a vampire. In an emergency, to save Reginald’s life, he makes him a vampire too.

The bad, but also good, news is that vampirism enhances only one’s natural abilities, so that while Reginald will never be super strong or superfast, he does become super smart and develops a mental power that no other vampire in history has ever possessed.

There is the suggestion that his life will be better now that he’s dead, and “Reginald” keeps it light – vampires don’t have to kill their victims, for one thing, and Reginald is no less sweet than he was when alive.

Darker skullduggery is at work among other creatures of the night. Maurice, a bit of a rebel, is temperamentally at odds with his snobbish, rule-bound kin, especially Angela (Savan nah Basley), the regional director of the Midwest Chapter of the Vampire Council of America.

They know each other from the 1970s, when he was still mortal and they were working for social justice. “This isn’t my first revolution,” she told him then, but she now adopts the attitude that “perfection is what keeps our nation safe,” while Reginald, who as the book series’ title indicates is over weight, is “defective, grotesque and an insult to our purity.” This puts a target on Reginald’s back.

Adapted by Rolin Jones and the first product of a deal that encompasses 18 Rice novels – no surprise that AMC has already renewed it for a second season – “Anne Rice’s Interview With the Vampire” proposes a sort of sequel to/ retelling of “Interview With the Vampire” that keeps the main characters substantially the same while customizing the details and the context.

Eric Bogosian plays Daniel Malloy, the present-day older version of the nameless “boy” who in San Francisco 49 years earlier had recorded the life and post-life story of Louis de Pointe du Lac (Jacob Anderson). Here,

he’s more adversarial – you don’t waste Eric Bogosian on nods of agreement – a former drug addict-turned-successful journalist-turned Parkinson’s patient. As the series begins, he receives an invitation from Louis, bringing him to a min imalist penthouse in Dubai to “revisit the project boyish youth prevented us from finishing.”

As in Rice’s novel, Louis becomes the immortal com panion of vampire Lestat de Lioncourt (Sam Reid), a longhaired Frenchman who has fetched up in New Orleans. (The words with which Louis describes his transforma tion come straight from Rice: “The blood came as a dull roar at first, and then a pounding, like the pounding of a drum, growing louder and louder as if some enormous creature were coming through a dark and alien forest . . . ”)

Eventually, they will be joined by Claudia (Bailey Bass), more of a tween than the novel’s 5-yearold girl, who, unlike Louis – who has qualms about killing harmless strangers – takes to vampirism like a bat to a bat cave. Most everything else in the episodes out for review is new, or reimagined, and Jones builds in the idea that Louis’ original narrative – which the character dismisses as “a fever dream told to an idiot” – might be unreliable.

The story now begins in 1910; Louis, who administers the family trust – “capital accrued from plantations of sugar and the blood of men who looked like my great grandfather but did not have his standing” – also runs a string of brothels, and as a Black man of economic importance, he mixes with patronizing white businessmen and politicians who find him useful as long as he knows his place. (Louis will “Yassuh, suh” them.)

The new casting allows for lessons in the history of race relations and adds a new wrinkle in the couple’s power dynam ics, while homoerotic subtext is made explicit text: “You could be a lot of things in New Orleans, but an openly gay Negro man was not one of them.”

More of a historical roman tic melodrama than a profound tragedy – not a sin and more likely to draw viewers back –it’s well-made with some fine performances and evocative locations. (One reason to set your story in the early 20th century in the French Quarter is that it survives.) There is as much domestic drama as there is vampire business, and the series has a welcome comic edge, especially once Claudia

around town or go back to Florida to train and who also happens to be the daughter of Manny (Kevin Alejandro), who runs the convict fire camp. There is also a dead person named Riley who is important to some of them.

Powerful Feelings and the occasional conflagra tion. (Just how occasional only additional episodes will tell.)

The principal charac ters, who will prove to be connected in sometimes “surprising” ways – rev elations are spaced throughout the hardworking pilot – include, besides Bode, division chief Sharon (Diane Farr), who is married to fire chief Vince (Billy Burke), in whose station we find best friends Eve (Jules Latimer) and Jake (Jordan Calloway), who is dating Gabriela (Stepha nie Arcila), a 14th-place Olympic diver who is deciding whether to stick

A sprinkling of technical references –“Caterpillar D6N,” “10s and 18s” – tends to stand out as research rather than create a lived-in world, but that matters no more here than stray facts about the oil busi ness or cattle ranching did in “Dallas.” The milieu offers oppor tunities for heroic action – Bode, described in press materials as “seeking redemption,” being the most imme diately heroic among them – but it’s a setting more than a subject.

“Fire Country” is too much of a piece with other shows of its ilk to feel new and excit

What “Let the Right One In,” created by Andrew Hinderaker, preserves from its book and film iterations is the friendship between a picked-on 12-yearold boy and the forever-12 girl who moves in next door. Every thing else in this New York City-set version – and there is much else, involving detectives, scientists and drug dealers – is addition and revision.

Here the boy is Isaiah (Ian Foreman), who likes to do magic tricks, which makes only a negative impression on his peer group. His parents are sep arated; mother Naomi (Anika Noni Rose) is a police detec tive, busy investigating “a wave of brutal slayings” that have gripped the city, as a power ful new high has arrived on the street; father Frank (Ato Essan doh) is in Narcotics Anonymous and hoping to return home.

Moving in next door is Mark (Demián Bichir), whom Isaiah and Naomi encounter toting a large case, inside of which, you have already guessed, is Eleanor (Madison Taylor Baez), his daughter.

He’s on a decade-old, singleminded, morally compromised, quixotic quest to find a cure for Eleanor’s vampirism, which the series envisions as a virus, with the idea that whoever/what ever infected her might hold the key to a cure. This doesn’t make perfect medical sense, nor does Mark’s charging into dangerous situations without much to go on, but it’s a fantasy, after all.

Meanwhile, dying scien tist Arthur (Željko Ivanek) has put in a call to estranged sci entist daughter Claire (Grace Gummer), who arrives at the family mansion-cum-laboratory to find that her brother, Peter (Jacob Buster), whom she had believed was dead, has been a vampire all these years.

Like Mark, perhaps the series’ most tragic figure, Arthur has been trying to cure his child – with science – and wants Claire to take over when he goes. These apparently par allel storylines, which account for nearly all the series’ violent and otherwise over-the-top scenes, will wrap around each other eventually.

Notwithstanding the mayhem and creepiness, which are exactly what some will come for, the adults’ plot lines can feel kind of pedestrian and under cooked, especially given how much screen time they occupy. But in that they might let Eleanor be a normal child again, you allow them. (She’s chrono logically something like 22, but as a character, she’s very much 12, if a bold 12.) Still, the show is most interesting when the kids are at the center; each has what the other needs. Foreman and Baez are genuine and touching, and it’s easy to invest in their story, with fingers crossed for a good outcome. Horror without hope is just horror, and you can have it.

ing, but that ilk – the prime-time, locationbased action-soap – has made hay for decades. Such shows don’t need to be brilliant as long as they’re kind of fun, with a modicum of attractive characters and enough unanswered questions to keep people coming back. (In any case, I’m not about to warn you away on the basis of a single, pretty good episode.) And some of the fire scenes are exciting, though in this (literal) climate, it is odd to watch things burn for the sake of a televi sion show, even when one recognizes that special effects account for much of what we’re seeing and some professionally con trolled burns for the rest. I mean, I’d be surprised to learn that the production team went about willynilly setting things on fire – that is not a series I could ever endorse.

Tour dates: May 19, Los Angeles, Kia Forum May 20, Los Angeles, Kia Forum May 23, Phoenix, Ak-Chin Pavilion May 26, Dallas, Dos Equis Pavilion May 28, Atlanta, Lakewood Amphitheatre May 30, Charlotte, North Carolina, PNC Music Pavilion June 1, Raleigh, North Car olina, Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek June 3, Bristow, Virginia, Jiffy Lube Live June 5, Burgettstown, Pennsylvania, The Pavilion at Star Lake June 7, St. Louis, Holly wood Casino Amphitheater June 9, Chicago, Wrigley Field June 10, Chicago, Wrigley Field June 13, Cincinnati, River bend Music Center June 15, Philadelphia, Citizen’s Bank Park June 17, Saratoga Springs, New York, Saratoga Perform ing Arts Center June 18, Saratoga Springs, New York, Saratoga Perform ing Arts Center

June 21, New York, Citi Field June 22, New York, Citi Field June 25, Boston, Fenway Park June 27, Noblesville, Indiana, Ruoff Music Center July 1, Boulder, Colorado, Folsom Field July 2, Boulder, Colorado, Folsom Field July 3, Boulder, Colorado, Folsom Field July 7, George, Washing ton, The Gorge July 8, George, Washing ton, The Gorge July 14, San Francisco, Oracle Park July 15, San Francisco, Oracle Park casting – is pretty fun as the lightweight baddie.

Lyle

The most impressive onscreen work, though, is turned in by Ben Palacios, whose movements and expressions were used as a reference for the digitally created Lyle, Palacios even wore a “spe cially designed crocodile helmet” with a sensor to track the movement and angle of his head at all times, the notes state, and watching Lyle move is one of the joys of “Lyle.”

“Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile” surely won’t do much for grown-ups, and kids of a certain age may not want much to do with it either, but the little ones are going to eat it up the way Lyle scarfs down discarded delights. Take them to the theater – and then prepare to have this one be a regular feature of your living room down the line.

FBI: Pastor was part of Jan. 6 - then preached about it

Pastor Bill Dunfee stood before his congregants in late December 2020 and told them that they were victims of a great injustice, federal pros ecutors say.

“The Government, the tyrants, the socialists, the Marx ists, the progressives, the RINOs, they fear you. And they should,” he allegedly said Dec. 27, 2020, during his Sunday sermon, using an acronym for a dispar aging phrase about politicians considered “Republicans in name only.” “Our problem is we haven’t given them reason to fear us.”

But Dunfee, who started the New Beginnings Minis tries church in Warsaw, Ohio, in 2001, had an idea about how they could change that: by going to the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, a recently filed FBI affi davit states.

“It’s not over . . . are you ready?” he allegedly said of the 2020 presidential elec tion results.

Federal officials said Wednes day that Dunfee, 57, made good on his promise 10 days later and nearly 300 miles away. They’re

accusing him of traveling from his home in Frazeysburg, Ohio, to Washington, D.C., where he allegedly instigated rioters, pushed barricades into offi cers and praised those who stormed the Capitol as they left the building.

Dunfee has been charged with several felonies and misde meanors, including committing violence on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol, interfering with a law enforcement officer during a civil disorder, and obstruction of an official proceeding.

On Wednesday, Dunfee was arrested in Ohio, made his first court appearance and was freed upon the promise that he would attend future court hearings. Neither Dunfee nor the church he leads immediately responded to a request for comment. Federal court records do not list an attorney for him.

Dunfee is one of more than 870 people arrested in con nection to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, including roughly 265 charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, according to the U.S. Attor ney’s Office for the District of Columbia.

Five hours before rioters

broke into the Capitol, Dunfee was a few hundred feet away on its east plaza, the FBI affida vit states. Around 9:20 a.m. on Jan. 6, Dunfee allegedly stood in a raised flower bed and used a bullhorn to goad supporters of President Donald Trump.

“This election has been stolen right out from underneath of our noses and it is time for the Amer ican people to rise up,” he said, according to the FBI. “Rise up. Rise up. Today is the day . . . that these elected officials realize that we are no longer playing games, that we are not sheeple.”

Dunfee told protesters not to destroy any property but said elected officials “need to fear us,” the affidavit states.

At 1:05 p.m., while Dunfee was allegedly on the Capitol’s east plaza, Congress met inside the building in a joint session to certify Joe Biden’s electoral win. Around the same time, Trump concluded a more than hour-long speech a mile and a half away, on the White House Ellipse.

Dunfee was already outside the Capitol, according to federal officials. Still holding a bullhorn at 1:14 p.m., he gave the crowd a play-by-play of the proceedings happening inside the building.

“They just objected to Arizona,” he allegedly said, referring to Republicans’ challenge to the certification of that state’s 11 electoral votes, which were eventually awarded to Biden.

Less than 15 minutes later, Dunfee allegedly informed the crowd that “Donald Trump is leading. President Trump is leading the crowd.” Dunfee exhorted those around him to “fight for Trump” and “hold the line,” according to the affidavit.

“The crowd then began to chant, ‘Fight for Trump,’” it states.

Around 1:35, Dunfee alleg edly aimed his bullhorn at Capitol police. “Mister police officers, we want you to under stand something,” he said, according to the affidavit. “We want you to understand some thing. We want Donald Trump and if Donald Trump is not coming, we are taking our house. We are taking our house.”

At 1:44, Dunfee pushed a metal barricade against officers trying to hold the swell of pro testers back, the affidavit states.

About eight minutes later, he encouraged people not to get violent, destroy things or do any thing that would send them to

jail, court records state.

Just before 2 p.m., Dunfee again pushed a metal barricade into Capitol Police officers, the FBI affidavit states. Once those barricades were breached some 20 minutes later, he is accused of advancing on the Capitol with his hands in the air.

Around 2:07, Dunfee, nearing the Capitol’s east entrance, alleg edly told members of the mob to raise their arms as he walked toward a group of police officers blocking them from entering the building. About 15 minutes later, he is accused of pushing through members of the mob to approach the doors once more before he eventually walked away.

Dunfee stayed outside, even as others went in, waiting for his compatriots to reemerge, the affidavit states.

At 2:47 p.m., as rioters exited, one stated that they had achieved their goal of stop ping Congress from certifying Biden’s electoral victory. “We did it. We shut ‘em all down. We did our job,” the rioter said.

“Hallelujah,” Dunfee alleg edly responded. “Mission accomplished.”

ROCKVILLE PRESBYTERIAN FELLOWSHIP

A New View of Christianity

Episcopal

Alexander Pastor

your grandparents’ sermons”

Service

Suisun Valley

Vacaville

NON-

The

Friend’s nervous verbal tick now getting on my nerves

Dear Annie: My friend says, “you know what I’m saying,” after nearly every sentence in conversations. She used to not do this very annoying habit, but it has become routine when she talks. It has become a kind of pause, a nervous talking habit or something. It drives me to distraction, to the point where I no longer want to talk to her. She will use that expres sion at least 20 times in a short conversation.

Should I bring this up? I don’t want to make her uncom fortable, but it’s ruining our

relationship. Along with that, she is constantly doing things while on the phone, such as cleaning dishes and yard work. I have asked her to please stop all that and sit and talk, but to no avail. What should I do? — You Know What I’m Sayin’?

Dear You Know: Yes, I do know what you are saying. But my guess is that your friend is clueless.

People use that phrase when they want some sort of contact or acknowledgement that you agree with them and under stand what they are saying. All you can do is tell her how you

Horoscopes

by Holiday Mathis

Today’s birthday

Your solar return features an exciting investment. It so happens that pretty packages are also filled with goodness; beauty and integrity are an all-in-one deal this year. You’ll be surrounded by people whose gifts complement your own. You’ll be oft impressed and enveloped by tastefulness, intelligence and heart. Cancer and Scorpio adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 4, 42, 10, 1 and 18.

ARIES (March 21-April 19). A helpful team is a luxury you’ve enjoyed at times, but it’s not something you expect, nor is it what you need most. Space and peace are the essentials that allow you to imagine, organize and execute your next move.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20). Though you’re always communicating, you’re not always aware of what message you’re delivering. The confusion is under standable, especially since so much is imparted without words. You say it with action and lifestyle.

GEMINI (May 21-June 21). People talking about their dreams can bring up mixed feelings, especially if you feel responsible for an outcome or are afraid of getting roped into the plan. You listen anyway – an act of kindness with positive repercussions.

CANCER (June 22-July 22). The body, mind and soul are interconnected. Fitness in one area will influence the others. When one modality feels tired, the others carry some of the load. The system is stronger than any individual part of it.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). When things happen unpredictably, it gives you a chance to change up your footing and try new moves. You’ll surprise yourself with reflexes you didn’t know you had. You’re learning to rely on yourself, and this gives you confidence.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). You may feel trepidation over the big swing you’re about to take. When you think about it, this is not such a stretch from what you have already accomplished; it’s just that you’re striving in a different direction than you’ve been.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). The same experiences that might be considered painful could also be liberating. Reality is multifaceted. You’ll see not only what is but also what could be. You’ll find gains everywhere you look for them.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). The responsible thing isn’t always the appeal ing thing, but usually, you can change this with a different mental framing of the matter. And if not, try the Mary Poppins way: with a spoonful of sugar.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). Emotional tension isn’t inherently neg ative or positive; it is what you make it. Remember that you have a choice about if and how to react to it, though it doesn’t always feel this way.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). New things become sacred, or maybe you’re just now understanding the signifi cance they’ve always had. Humor and amusement might be on the list, as they represent something personal and spe cific you share with another.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). The market price may have nothing to do with the actual value of the thing. The reason there’s no universal pricing system is that there’s no universal currency. Most cur rencies that matter aren’t financial.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). Making it a goal to be genuinely happy is a sure way not to achieve that elusive state. Happiness will be a byproduct of other conditions, such as that of being useful to others or engaged in the application of one’s talents.

CELEBRITY PROFILES: The Straw berry Fields memorial in New York City’s Central Park will fill with flowers and pilgrims today as fans will flock to honor the birth of John Lennon. True to his Libran ideals, the legendary rocker and poet imagined a harmonious world without boundaries. Lennon was born under the Aquarius moon, the sign of humanity, unity and dreamers.

feel and remind her to stop. You should do this in a loving way each time she relies on the phrase. You’re right; it is like a nervous tick.

When she does the dishes and other things while speaking with you, it is understandable that you don’t like it because you don’t feel that your conver sation is important to her. Since she has not responded back to this, next time she starts doing other things, just remind her of your conversation and say you have to get off the phone if she doesn’t stop.

However, while telling her of your feelings, try not to be super critical of your friend. If you

suspect that you get annoyed very easily, you might want to examine that.

Dear Annie: I just fin ished reading the letter in your column about the grand son being hazed in his private school. The school’s coach and principal basically did nothing.

I agree with your advice that it is great that the young man is seeing a counselor, but I would go one step further. The private school can be made to pay for his counseling or even medica tion, if needed.

I am sure a letter from a lawyer would help. The family might consider a lawsuit.

The family might never know

how many students they will help by making this school and administration accountable. This situation was handled so wrong on so many levels.

I love your column, and you help me do my exercise bike as I read it! — A Retired School teacher from Arkansas

Dear Teacher: Thank you for your kind words. I always love hearing from professionals, and I’m glad we agree that the school really dropped the ball. You make a wonderful sugges tion that the school pay for the victim’s counseling.

Send your questions for Annie Lane to dearannie@ creators.com.

How to approach SIDS Awareness Month

K aela a had FOR THE DAILY REPUBLIC

When we think of October, we don’t tend to think of public health observances. However, during October, one of the more prominent public health observances is Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, or SIDS, Awareness Month, meant to bring awareness to parents and caregivers on how to prevent SIDS.

What is sudden infant death syn drome? As defined by the International Childbirth Education Association, SIDS is “the sudden death of an infant less than 1 year old that cannot be explained after a thorough investiga tion that includes a complete autopsy, examination of the death scene, and a review of the medical history.”

Approximately 1,389 infant deaths were the result of SIDS in 2020, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Despite SIDS cases being on the decline for the past few decades, it is still the No. 1 cause of unexplained infant death and continues to remain a public health concern. Since there are no cures or treatments for SIDS

and only knowledge of the risk factors, all the health recommendations surrounding the syndrome involve pre ventive care.

The CDC’s and American Academy of Pediatrics’ general recommen dations for proactive care are to breast-feed your baby since breastfeeding can reduce the risk of SIDS by 50%. The CDC and the academy also recommend having skin-to-skin contact care with your baby for at least an hour after birth. It is also strongly advised to not smoke during pregnancy or after pregnancy. Most impor tant, it is highly advised to not smoke around your baby. Additionally, you should make sure your baby is receiv ing regular check-ups with your health care provider to check that everything is going well.

A lot of the other means of preven tion for SIDS involve constructing a safe sleep environment for the infant.

For example, the American Academy of Pediatrics states that babies should be placed on their back whenever they are laid to sleep on a firm, flat sleep surface. Ideally, you should also keep your baby’s sleep area in the same room where you sleep until your baby is at least 6 months old.

Babies are still encouraged to partake in tummy time, if it is in 30-minute intervals or less, and there is a parent or adult supervising them.

In addition to recommendations for parents, health care professionals have their own set of recommenda tions when it comes to helping prevent SIDS, as well as providing support to families who have lost infants to SIDS. Health care professionals should be sure to instruct parents after birth the importance of preventing SIDS and the steps they can take to reduce the risks, as previously mentioned. In the case of a child dying of SIDS, health care pro fessionals should also receive proper training on how to handle grieving parents with respect and compassion for their loss.

In terms of what you can do for SIDS Awareness Month – if you are not a parent or health care provider – you can educate yourself on SIDS and the ways you can prevent it and share it with any parents you may know. More information on SIDS and how you can help prevent it can be found by visiting www.cdc.gov/sids.

Annie Lane Dear Annie

Kaela Ahad is a college intern from Solano Public Health Administration.

Zoo Monkey/Unsplash

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that babies be placed on their back for naps and at night on a firm, flat mattress covered with a fitted sheet to help reduce the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

49ers hope for long, successful road trip

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It’s more than Nick Bosa vs. his ol’ college rival, Baker Mayfield.

More than the 49ers’ No. 1-ranked defense vs. the Pan thers’ last-ranked offense.

More than cornerback Emmanuel Moseley vs. his favorite team (“I was a diehard fan”) growing up in nearby Greensboro.

And more than Jimmy Garoppolo vs. a franchise that shunned him in favor of May field, who came at a discount

On

rate for perhaps good reason.

This is about the 49ers start ing a win streak as they return to Bank of America Stadium for the first time since 2016.

“Guys know it’s time to go and get this thing rolling,” running back Jeff Wilson Jr. said.

The 49ers (2-2) are coming

off a Monday night win over the reigning Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams, but they’re keeping their hubris in check as they embark on a 10-day road trip, which will take them to a third annual layover in West Virginia before next Sunday’s game at Atlanta.

A clear message echoed throughout 49ers HQ this past week: The Panthers are better than their 1-3 record suggests.

Kyle Shanahan went so far as to say Carolina should be 4-0. His players bought into that sales pitch.

“People obviously look at

their record, see 1-3 and say, ‘Oh, they’re down, or not very good, or they don’t have the players’ That’s not the case,” Wilson added. “It comes down to a couple plays or a turnover or just a mishap.”

Bosa added: “They have a very stout defense. They’ve had some big mistakes on offense that have been the difference in games. If they figure those out, they could be dangerous.”

Here are some ways the 49ers can be more danger ous and come away with more success on the road:

Second-half scoring

The 49ers have one offensive touchdown in 18 possessions after halftime this season.

“We have to come out and put more of an emphasis on it and get more points on the board,” Wilson said.

Center Jake Brendel isn’t blaming the coaching, saying: “Halftime adjustments are key, and (run-game coordinator) Chris Foerster and the rest of the offensive staff do a great job of letting us know exactly what they’re seeing that we can’t see

Rodriguez holds Fairfield scoreless with big home win

Nick Decicco SPECIAL TO THE DAILY REPUBLIC

FAIRFIELD — Rodri guez High walked away from Friday night’s tilt against visiting Fairfield with a 33-0 victory, but at so many turns, it felt like it could have gone another way.

Somber end to spirited football victory by Vacaville over Vanden

FAIRFIELD — A hard-fought high school football game between two of the top teams in the Monti cello Empire League ended with both teams huddled in prayer for a fellow injured athlete.

Vacaville and Vanden circled together in unity as Viking Marcel lus Chandler was being tended to near the Bulldogs’ sideline. Chan dler was hurt on a tackle after running back a kickoff return. He was on the field at George A. Gammon Field for some time before being taken on a stretcher to an ambulance.

There was no word on the extent of the injury.

The game was called with 1:35 to play. Vacaville came away with a 28-13 victory and took a big first step to another possible MEL championship. But there was no

celebration after the win.

“It’s the toughest part of this sport,” Vacaville head coach Mike Papadopoulos said of the injury. “As you can see, we have a lot of love and respect for each other.”

Vacaville improved to 2-0 and 4-3 overall. Vanden had its 12-game win streak snapped, fell to 1-1 in the MEL and is now 6-1 overall.

Vacaville running back Cris tian Diosdado piled up 155 yards on 32 carries and was a force to bring down. Quarterback Alex Barkley balanced it out with a couple of big throws.

“I can’t be more proud of that young man,” Papadopoulos said of Diosdado. “And what a story our quarterback has become the last couple of weeks. He made some big throws. We got off to a fast start and they responded.”

Vacaville scored a pair of touch downs in the first half off of Vanden miscues. The Bulldogs had a short

field after a fumble recovery in the first quarter. Eric Gladney went 1 yard on a direct snap and run. A partially deflected punt by Vacaville in the second quarter again ended in a short field and Barkley hit Noa Siaosi in the corner of the end zone with a 25-yard scoring strike.

Vanden picked up a little momentum just before halftime with a 56-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Tre Dimes to Simeon Wydermyer to make it 13-7 Vacaville at the half.

After a scoreless third quarter, Vacaville struck first when Barkley hit Brady Mott with a deep sideline rout for 50 yards and a score and a 21-7 lead.

Elijah Fisherman capped a nineplay Vanden drive with 6:32 left in the game when he plunged over for a score from 3 yards out to make it 21-13. But Vacaville

Will C. Wood, Vacaville Christian come up with key league triumphs

FAIRFIELD — The high school football teams at Will C. Wood and Vacaville Christian came away big winners Friday night, while Rio Vista suf fered a tough loss.

Wood enjoyed a 38-6 win at home over Armijo. Vacaville Chris tian made the long trek to Golden Sierra and earned a 43-7 triumph. Rio Vista, meanwhile, lost an offensive shootout 48-42 to Esparto.

In Vacaville, Darrius Hickenbottom caught a pair of touchdown passes from quarterback Mason Sayre. Zaire Fortune also was on the receiving end of a Sayre pass.

Manny Delatorre rushed for a touchdown. Randy Chalmers had a

short touchdown run and Carson Sacca made a 32-yard field goal and converted all his pointafter kicks.

Linebackers Donni ell Butler and Jarren Ford keyed the defense. Wood improved to 2-0 in the Monticello Empire League and 5-2 overall.

“I felt like the first half was the best foot ball we’ve played all year,” Wood head coach Jacob Wright said.

“That’s a good thing this time of year.”

Armijo (0-2 MEL, 3-4 overall) scored one time late in the fourth quarter. Kimani Dokes hit Elijah Thompson with a touchdown pass, according to statistics provided by Wood.

Armijo plays Friday night at Rodriguez. Wood will host Vanden on Thursday.

In Garden Valley, Vacaville Christian had a garden party on offense. Kai Nunley rushed 15 times for 107 yards and two touch downs. Wesley Krier rushed four times for 54 yards and also caught a 22-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Brendan Jackson.

Jackson finished with 134 yards passing on

just three completed throws but two went for touchdowns. Deshawn Seymour had a 70-yard TD reception and inter cepted a pass on defense and raced 63 yards for a touchdown. Krier also had a 23-yard pick six for a score.

“We really focused on composure and playing in a hostile environment,” Vacaville Christian head coach Manny Tarango said. “We stuck together, played with a lot of good sportsmanship, and played a complete game.”

Vacaville Chris tian, now 2-0 in the Sierra Delta League and 2-5 overall, hosts Rio Vista next Saturday night.

At Esparto, the Spar tans scored 42 of their 48 points in the first half.

Few moments encap sulate the feeling like one early in the fourth quarter when Fairfield, pinned to its own 1-yard line after a goal line stop of the Mustangs (1-1 Monticello Empire League, 4-3 overall), suf fered what could have been a safety or a fumble recovered for a Rodri guez touchdown, but an inadvertent early whistle from the referees nulli fied the play.

The game saw numer ous reversals of fortune due to the defenses. The two teams combined for eight turnovers, includ ing stretches in the first and fourth quarter when the two squads handed possession back and forth three times in short succession.

Despite the final tally, the aggressive play meant both head coaches were praising their defenses after the game.

“We’ll take a zero any day of the week,” said Myles King, Rodri guez head coach. “The defense did an excellent job today.”

While the sea son’s offensive woes continued for the Falcons (0-2 MEL, 0-7 overall), marking their fourth shutout in their past five games, head coach Alex Hubbard was effu sive about a defense

that caused three turn overs and had the goal-line stop.

“We did what we could,” Hubbard said. “We showed up. We made plays. We got hands on balls in the air. We stopped the run when we could. We adjusted and fixed it and they lis tened. But we’ve got to get the offense better, somehow, some way.” Hubbard praised the play of Donte Williams and Jeff Carr on defense.

Rodriguez notched three interceptions and a pair of fumble recoveries on defense, including one of each for senior defensive tackle Malik Dawson.

On the offensive side of the ball, the Mus tangs scored less than three minutes into the game and never looked back. Keylen Highbaugh caught an over-the-shoul der pass from Dylan Burke en route to a 56-yard touchdown that put the host team up 7-0. Rodriguez went up 14-0 later in the first when Bentley Williams scored on a 7-yard run.

The Mustangs carried a 21-0 lead into the half after Damaynie Nelson squirted through the line on a 1-yard TD tote in the second quarter.

Highbaugh turned a toss from Kenen Jones in the third quarter into a 25-yard touchdown catch. Andreas Garcia rounded out the scoring for Rodriguez with a 4-yard blast through the line for a score in the fourth.

Rodriguez won the junior varsity game 26-8.

Qualifying begins Sunday for pro tennis at Solano

ROCKVILLE — The Taube-Haase Pro Tennis Championship begins Sunday with qualifying rounds at Solano Commu nity College.

This is an Association of Tennis Profession als Challenger 80 event with $53,120 in prize money and valuable ATP points up for grabs. The main draw will feature a 32-man bracket for singles and a 16-team doubles tournament.

There are 12 matches Sunday beginning at 10 a.m. on Solano's hard

courts. Nine qualifiers and wild card selections will join a strong field of 23 for the main draw that begins Monday.

Admission is free for the qualifying rounds Sunday and Monday with an admission price the rest of the week for the main draw.

The qualifying tour nament features an acceptance list of 17 players from through out the world who could participate.

Tickets for the tournament may be purchased on the tournament website, fairfieldprotennis.com.

Aaron Rosenblatt/Daily Republic

Vacaville High School’s Eric Gladney rushes the ball for a touchdown during the football game against Vanden at George A. Gammon Field in Fairfield, Friday. The Bulldogs went on to a 28-13 win over the Vikings.

Better effort, but same result as Sharks fall again to Predators

By Curtis Pashelka BAY AREA NEWS GROUP

The Sharks made things more competitive in the second game of the NHL’s Global Series in the Czech Republic but still couldn’t keep up with Nino Niederreiter and the Nashville Predators.

Niederreiter scored twice, including the go-ahead goal midway through the second period as the Preda tors handed the Sharks a 3-2 loss Saturday to sweep the two-game series at O2 Arena in Prague.

Luke Kunin scored his first goal with the Sharks on the power play in the first period and Logan Couture added an even-strength goal at the 4:45 mark of the second period to give San Jose a 2-1 lead.

But longtime Sharks nemesis Filip Forsberg scored a wraparound goal at the 6:29 mark of the second period to tie the game, and Niederre iter gave the Predators the lead moments after he came out of the penalty box.

Joining an odd-man rush after serving a boarding penalty, Nie derreiter took a nifty pass from Eeli Tolvanen past a sprawled-out Sharks defenseman and beat goalie Kaapo Kahkonen

at the 12:13 mark of the second period for his third goal of the season.

The Sharks outshot the Predators 15-3 in the third period but couldn’t get the equalizer, as San Jose fell to 0-2-0 to start the season for the second time in five seasons.

Niederreiter also scored Friday in the Predators’ 4-1 win, as the Sharks have now lost six straight games to the Predators since the end of the 2019-2020 season. Niederreiter signed a two-year, $8 million deal with the Predators as a free agent in July.

The Sharks had an

opportunity to tie the game early in the third period but could not capitalize with Jeremy Lauzon serving an inter ference penalty, and are now 1 for 7 with the man advantage in two games. San Jose is also 7 for 7 on the penalty kill.

The Sharks’ next two games are in San Jose, as they host Brent Burns and the Carolina Hur ricanes on Friday and the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday. Before the game with the Black hawks, the Sharks will honor Doug Wilson, the team’s captain from 1991 to 1993 and general manager from 2003 until

earlier this year.

As part of the cere mony, a banner will be unveiled at SAP Center, detailing Wilson’s contri butions to the team.

Along with playing Kahkonen, Sharks coach David Quinn made other lineup changes, insert ing Jaycob Megna for Scott Harrington on defense, and winger Evgeny Svechnikov for Noah Gregor.

Also, Oskar Lindb lom was moved from the second line to the third line, and Steven Lorentz was promoted from the fourth line to the second line with Couture and Kevin Labanc.

Solano College women’s volleyball dominates match with Napa Valley

for a meet that featured some strong finishes on the 1.5-mile course.

ROCKVILLE — The Solano College women’s volleyball team rolled to a 25-8, 25-16, 25-5 win Friday night over Napa.

Kelsey Wall had 11 kills on zero errors, plus two blocks. Sammy Brown added 11 kills, 25 digs and three aces. Rachel Lin chipped in eight kills and eight digs. Hannah Del Rio added seven kills and two blocks.

Crystal Carroll served 12-for-13 and added 11 digs. Eryka Ferrer served 9-for-9 with two aces and chipped in five digs. Dani Rydjord led with 21 assists, serving 17-for-18 with an ace. Layla Morales added nine assists and six digs.

“Everyone contributed to this win,” Solano head coach Darla Williams said in an email. “All 12 players got plenty of playing time. We have a strong defensive group, they work hard on their serving and offense so we don’t lose any strides with substitutes.”

Solano remains unbeaten in Bay Valley Conference action at 4-0. The Falcons are 15-6 overall.

Solano will host Los Medanos at 6 p.m. Wednesday.

Jeffrey Hazard of B. Gale Wilson set a course record to win the boys race in a time of 8 minutes, 57 seconds. The previous record holder was Joseph Ortega, who set the mark of 9:05 in 2018 while at B. Gale Wilson. Ortega is now a senior at Vacaville High School.

B. Gale Wilson grabbed the top four spots with Sebastian Ortega (9:39) second, Arden Mulhall (10:08) third and Joshua Tenty (10:55) fourth. Arshdeep Raina (11:19) of Public Safety was fifth, fol lowed by B. Gale Wilson’s Jacobeon Hazard (11:39) in sixth, Public Safety’s Gavin Ohyama (11:55) seventh, B. Gale Wil son’s Dhani King (11:57) eighth and Crystal’s duo of Hunter Moraida (11:58) in ninth and Xeo O’Bryan (11:59) 10th.

Statistics

Temperature High/Low Average

year

Barometric pressure Humidity

Precipitation

Last 24 hours

Normal October rainfall Season-to-date

Normal seasonal rainfall

MiddleSchool Runners compete at B. Gale Wilson

FAIRFIELD — Middle school cross country runners from Crystal, Public Safety Academy and Sheldon joined host B. Gale Wilson on Thursday

The top three girls were Leilani Douglas (12:55) of B. Gale Wilson in first, Abigail Word (13:08) of Public Safety second and Journey Burgess (14:02) of Crystal third. The rest of the top eight had Kameron McCarter (14:32) of B. Gale Wilson fourth, Evan geline Pace (15:23) of Public Safety fifth, Aniya Odom (16:52) of Crystal sixth, Aaliyah Collins (18:28) of Sheldon seventh and Izzy Avila (19:12) of Crystal eighth.

The runners have three more weeks of competition before the championship meet Nov. 3. All middle schools and K-8 schools are encouraged to have teams to compete in these races.

Draymond Green admits ‘I was wrong’ about altercation with Jordan Poole

By M aDeline k enney BAY AREA NEWS GROUP

SAN FRANCISCO —

Draymond Green called the release of the video of him punching Jordan Poole at a recent practice a “huge embarrassment.”

Speaking for the first time since news broke about the incident, Green took ownership for his actions and apolo gized to Poole, his family and the team.

“I was wrong for my actions that took place on Wednesday and for that, I have apologized to my team. I have apologized to Jordan,” Green said.

Green said he’s step ping away from the team for a few days to work on himself and give Poole and the team space.

He also said ongoing contract negotiations “had absolutely nothing to do with anything.”

“I don’t count other people’s pockets,” Green said.

Green said he has a “really good personal relationship” with Poole. He took him under his wing, advocated for him and encouraged him to have a voice.

“I’m disappointed that this is something I created that we have to go through,” Green said.

“And like I said, for that reason, I’ll do all that I have to do to make it right. But this won’t affect winning. Winners win.”

The Warriors launched

an investigation Friday into how footage showing Green punching Poole in the face this week at a closed-door practice made its way into the hands of TMZ.

The video, viewed more than 32 million times on Twitter in the first 24 hours, shows Green and Poole talking before Green walks over to Poole and bumps him in the chest. Poole responded by pushing Green away, followed by Green taking a swing at Poole.

Warriors general manager Bob Myers, coach Steve Kerr and star guard Steph Curry spoke Thursday about the inci dent after news broke Wednesday night of poten tial discipline for Green.

Myers said “every body’s fine” and Green apologized to Poole and the team Thursday morning before leaving the facility before prac tice. Myers noted the team would handle any disci pline internally and he did not anticipate Green to miss any games, though that was before the video was released. The War riors returned to Chase Center for practice Sat urday after they were off Friday.

The Warriors home opener is sched uled for Tuesday, Oct. 18 in San Fran cisco against the Lakers where they will celebrate their most recent NBA championship.

Martin

CALENDAR

Sunday’s TV sports

Baseball

• MLB, Wild Card Playoffs, TBA, If Necessary, Time and Channel TBA

• MLB, Wild Card Playoffs, TBA, If Necessary, Time and Channel TBA

Basketball

• NBA Preseason, L.A. Lakers vs. Golden State, NBCSBA (Fairfield), 5:30 p.m.

• NBA Preseason, Sacramento vs. Portland, NBCSCA (Vacaville, Rio Vista), 6 p.m.

Football

• NFL, Seattle vs. New Orleans, 2, 40, 10 a.m.

• NFL, San Francisco vs. Carolina, 5, 13, 1 p.m.

• NFL, Dallas vs. L.A. Rams, 2, 40, 1:25 p.m.

• NFL, Cincinnati vs. Baltimore, 3, 5:15 p.m.

Golf

• DP World, Open de Espana, Final Round, GOLF, 4 a.m.

• Champs, Furyk & Friends, Final Round, GOLF, 11 a.m.

• PGA, Shriners Children’sOpen Final Round, GOLF, 2 p.m.

Horse Racing

• Breeders’ Cup Series, CNBC, 2 p.m.

Motor Sports

• NASCAR, Bank of America ROVAL 400, Cup Series, 3, 11 a.m.

Soccer

• EPL, Crystal Palace vs. Leeds, USA, 6 a.m.

• EPL, West Ham vs. Fulham, CNBC, 6 a.m.

• EPL, Liverpool vs. Arsenal, USA, 8:30 a.m.

• EPL, Everton vs. Manchester United, USA, 11 a.m.

• College Women, Indiana vs. Rutgers, ESPN2, Noon.

• MLS, Teams TBA, ESPN2, 2 p.m.

NASCAR looks for answers in Next Gen car

By A lex Zietlow THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — NASCAR officials met with Cup Series drivers for a “tense” and “candid” driver-initiated meeting at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Sat urday morning, with the goal of making the Next Gen car safer.

The meeting, which lasted more than an hour, included NASCAR President Steve Phelps, who told drivers that changes to the car will be implemented for next year.

Among those changes include adjustments to the rear bumper structure, as well as adjustments to the car’s rear clip center section.

“It was good conver sation, I think,” Kyle Larson told reporters after Cup qualifying on Saturday. “Everybody getting to voice their frustrations and stuff, and I think NASCAR knew the frustrations and concerns before we ever had the meeting, but I think it was wellreceived and good for them to listen to.”

The meeting hap

Somber

struck again on its next series as Gladney scored again on another direct snap and run.

Vanden had hoped to finally get the best of Vacaville for the first time, but by the end, it paled in com parison to the hurt they were feeling for their teammate.

“No one wants to see someone go down, espe cially someone you’ve grown up with,” Van den’s Devin Martin said. “I’ve got no words for it. I’ve known him since my freshman year. It was a

Games

Esparto held a 42-30 lead at the half before Rio Vista closed the gap.

Matthew Bodle had two touchdown passes

pened a week after drivers – particularly veterans Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick –called out NASCAR for the toll the Next Gen car takes out on the driver, particularly when a collision occurs from the rear.

Kurt Busch, who wrecked at Pocono in July, is still out of racing with a brain injury. (He was wearing a headset on pit road on Saturday.) And Alex Bowman will miss his second straight race with a concussion.

Both drivers had contact to their rear bumpers after getting loose and knocking into the wall.

“The frustrating part is that it took way too long to have that meeting,” Joey Logano said. “That meeting should’ve happened Monday after Kurt’s crash, not waiting until Alex had his crash. And at least hear us out. I’m not saying they weren’t working on it after Kurt’s crash, but the commu nication in person is so important.”

Christopher Bell told reporters that there wasn’t a ton of data presented.

scary sight. We now have to work hard for our brother and the guy next to us and go back to the drawing board and get it back together.”

Barkley finished with 99 yards passing for Vacaville. Dimes threw for 126 yards for Vanden. There were also hard defensive hits all around for a game that was worthy of a champi onship showdown.

Both teams now have a short week. Because of a shortage of officials throughout the Sac-Joa quin Section, both teams will play Thursday night. Vacaville will be at Fair field and Vanden heads to Will C. Wood.

to Isaiah Turner and another to Tony Bellante.

Marco Carrillo rushed for a pair of touchdowns.

Rio Vista is 1-1 in SDL games and 3-4 overall heading into their next game at Vacav ille Christian.

Scoreboard

BASEBALL MLB Playoffs

FOOTBALL

49ers

on the field, and if there are any unscouted looks.”

The 49ers’ only secondhalf touchdown, excluding Talanoa Hufanga’s inter ception return Monday night, was Jimmy Garop polo’s fourth-quarter run in the home opener. The rest of their posses sions produced five punts, four turnovers, two field goals, two failed field-goal attempts, two fourth-down failures and one regret table safety.

“I don’t think there’s a common thread,” Sha nahan said, “just because I think it’s been different each game.”

One common thread that’s helped: the 49ers’ defense has yet to allow a first-half touchdown.

Blindside protection

Garoppolo only got hit once against the Rams, and the 49ers will be lucky if they can replicate that protection. The biggest task falls on Jaylon Moore, their third-string left tackle who will fill in for the injured Trent Williams and Colton McKivitz.

Moore bombed in a relief cameo Sept. 25 in Denver, then he rebounded somewhat against the Rams as Garoppolo unloaded his passes in an average of 2.44 seconds.

“That Denver game, unfortunately for us, he didn’t play real well and got our quarterback hit a couple times and whatever happened, hap pened,” Foerster said of Moore. “But that was good; it shook him up a little bit too. He refo cused last week and it’s one game. He has to start stringing some together for us. Now we need him.”

Lurking across the way is Panthers edge rusher Brian Burns, who has a team-high five sacks. Burns was a 2019 firstround pick; fellow starters Derrick Brown and Yetur Gross-Matos were 2020 first- and secondround selections.

Moore’s backup is veteran Blake Hance, while Daniel Brunskill could rotate in at right guard but otherwise is the top backup across the interior.

Wilson’s workload

Wilson “feels good, sur

pringly” after emerging as the 49ers’ leading rusher once Elijah Mitchell exited with a knee sprain in the season opener. Of Wilson’s 57 carries, two stood out: a career-long 37-yard run to set up the 49ers’ only touchdown in Denver, and a 32-yard touchdown burst for a 7-3 lead in Monday night’s 24-9 win over the Rams.

“In this league, every body is good, so you rarely see space like that,” Wilson said. “Every opportunity you get, you have to soak it in while it’s there. When you get out there and run into open space, there’s no greater feeling.”

Wilson had 18 of the team’s 22 carries last game and 12 of 19 in Denver. The 49ers, however, hope to spell him with Jordan Mason or vet erans Tevin Coleman or Marlon Mack.

Samuel, of course, could go big in his home coming, having grown up 80 miles east of Charlotte in Inman, S.C.

Foerster praised Wilson as a “workhorse,” but one who must proceed with caution, adding: “He is a physical hard nose, tough running back, and if you give him too much, it’s eventually going to be wear and tear and we’ll be down to the next back.”

Stopping McCaffrey

Back in 2017, with the 49ers’ top draft pick, general manager John Lynch used it on a fellow Stanford man. That would be defensive tackle Solomon Thomas at No. 3 overall, rather than

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running back Christian McCaffrey, who went No. 8 to Carolina.

“Christian, he still has juice, man, he still has a lot of juice,” defensive coor dinator DeMeco Ryans said of the 26-year-old rusher and 2019 All-Pro. “He’s a big-time play maker for them.”

Injuries limited McCaf frey to 10 games over the previous two seasons combined. He was bat tling a thigh issue last week before ending his two-game streak of 100yard rushing efforts. Last Sunday, in a 26-16 loss to Arizona that opened Carolina’s three-game homestand, McCaffrey ran for just 27 yards (eight carries), but Mayfield found him for 81 receiving yards (nine catches).

The 49ers are allow ing a league-low 2.9 yards per run, and maintain ing that standard is a top priority against the explo sive McCaffrey.

“Teams have the run fitted up and he can find any small little crease and make them pay,” Ryans said. “And then Christian, still, he’s great in the pass game as well, whether it’s picking up protections as a blocker and also getting out in the screen game.”

McCaffrey’s 138 receiving yards are tied for the team lead with D.J. Moore. Laviska Shenault (hamstring) is out.

Pestering Mayfield

Bosa obviously would love to pad his league-leading total of six sacks by corralling Mayfield, similar to a two-sack showcase in

2019 when Mayfield and the Browns lost to the then-rookie Bosa.

Thing is, Bosa is again surrounded by an elite defense, albeit a wounded one on the line’s interior without Arik Armstead (foot) and possibly Javon Kinlaw (knee). Samson Ebukam, Charles Omenihu and Drake Jackson are closing well from the edge, too.

Defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans was com pelled to often send an extra pass rusher at the Rams’ Matthew Stafford in Monday night’s win. A four-man pass rush may suffice against May field, who ranks 31st in completion percentage (54.1) and 30th in passer rating (75.0).

Mayfield has had a league-high 11 passes batted down in this roughstart transition to the Panthers, who traded for him from the Browns three months ago.

“You don’t go from unrecruited out of high school to the Heisman Trophy to the first pick in the draft without having self-confidence,” Panthers coach Matt Rhule said of Mayfield. “Baker’s been through a lot as a player. I have no concerns about his resiliency.”

One stat to back that up and alert the 49ers: Mayfield is the NFL’s third-highest-rated passer in the fourth quarter of games, which is when the 49ers’ leads have crum bled in losses this season at Chicago and Denver.

Rhule’s Panthers have lost 10 of their past 11. That is how Shanahan’s 49ers tenure started.

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Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group/TNS 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa (97) sacks Rams starting quarterback Matthew Stafford in the first quarter at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Monday.

As daylight

A s the days grow shorter, it becomes harder to see pedestrians while driving to and from work or school.

Last month was Pedestrian Safety Month, but the challenge of protecting ourselves and others from traumatic mishaps transcends time. Lately, I have adopted a schedule of driving to Stockton, Clovis (near Fresno), Glendale and Los Angeles to examine injured workers as a qualified medical eval uator. I find myself both a driver, on the way to these locales, and a pedes trian, when I arrive and decide to walk outside my hotel. It is a scary world for walkers.

The Governors Highway Safety Asso ciation estimates that 7,485 pedestrians died in 2021 due to vehicular trauma. We are at a fourdecade high in that sad statistic, which is increas ing 12% annually. In other words, about 20 people a day perish due to vehic ular trauma.

According to news releases on this subject, both drivers and pedes trians can take steps to alleviate this tragic ongoing cycle of death and mayhem. For drivers, the most important thing is to not speed, slow down at intersections, be prepared to stop for both marked and unmarked intersec tions and to avoid blocking crosswalks while waiting to make right-hand turns. Obviously, avoid ing impaired driving is also important. Although we think of alcohol use in this respect, smoking

shorter,

pedestrian safety

marijuana or taking sedating pain medications can also result in impairment.

Our population is also aging, with higher rates of dementia and arthritis, impair ing judgment and neuromuscular coordination.

Technological advances may help us get past these problems, at least to some extent. When driving up and down the state, I rely on assisted driving technology to stay in my lane and avoid rearending others. No amount of technology, however, can overcome bad human judgment. Drivers rou tinely tailgate, speed and rush through lights that are turning red.

As a pedestrian, we can avoid jaywalking, rely on signalized cross walks and keep an eye out for approaching vehi cles. Do not text or talk on the phone while cross ing a street. Light colors, reflective material and use of flashlights makes sense. We all recognize that certain intersections, often with high traffic volume or high vehicular speed, place pedestri ans at risk.

On an anecdotal level, I tried to instill in my nowadult children the idea that while waiting for a crossing light to turn green, it is best to stand back a couple of feet from the curb. It is not unusual for vehicles to jump curbs and put pedestri ans at risk. When I wait for a light, I try to keep an eye out for surrounding hazards. Being alert is key to accident prevention.

In closing, I find

myself wondering about the Halloween tradi tion of sending children door-to-door to “trick or treat.” I recall doing this as a child, and the tradi tion also allows parents to meet each other as the contemporary practice typically involves adults escorting their younger children. In other words, the Halloween tradition instills a sense of com munity. Moreover, life has inherent risks and we cannot live in a bubble.

Recognizing these points, will trick-or-treat ing live on forever? Do we want our kids wander ing around dark roads, wearing masks that may obstruct their vision, darting around passing vehicles? I favor Hal loween parties, haunted

houses and other ways to get into the spirit of the season.

The recent uptick in crime informs my attitude about Halloween. I do not like to see older trick-ortreaters showing up at my front door. If a teenager is approaching military induction age, maybe it is time to consider retiring the candy bag. I used to escort our children with a flashlight. Driving home, before Halloween kicks off, also requires caution.

Scott T. Anderson, M.D. (standerson@ucdavis. edu), is a clinical pro fessor at the Univer sity of California Davis Medical School. This column is informational and does not constitute medical advice.

Expert offers perspective on new experimental Alzheimer’s disease drug

Tribune ConTenT AgenCy

According to drug makers Eisai and Biogen, a Phase 3 clini cal study on a potential new Alzheimer’s disease drug shows promise.

The study findings show that the drug, lec anemab, reduced clinical decline of people with Alzheimer’s disease by 27% compared with a placebo after 18 months of treatment.

“This is very good news for Alzheimer’s disease patients and their families,” says Dr. Ronald Petersen, a neu rologist and director of Mayo Clinic’s Alzheim er’s Disease Research Center. “While this is not a cure for the disease, it represents a step in the right direction by slowing cog nitive decline.”

A monoclonal anti body, lecanemab shows promise in removing amyloid plaques from the brain. Plaques are one of the defining features of Alzheimer’s disease.

Dr. Petersen adds: “These data suggest that we can intervene on the amyloid process and slow it down. Now, we need to move earlier in the disease process to treat people who are amyloid positive but clin ically normal.”

The study included 1,795 participants with early Alzheimer’s disease

Los Angeles Times Sunday

SAY IT AGAIN By Katie Hale

in Japan, the U.S., Europe and China.

The drugmaker has requested accelerated approval from the Food and Drug Administra tion. The study results will be presented at the Clinical Trials on Alzheimer’s Congress in November and is expected to be pub lished in a peer-reviewed medical journal.

Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive neuro logical disorder affecting about 6 million people in the U.S and more than 55 million people worldwide. This number is projected to rise to 139 million globally by 2050. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia.

Brain changes asso ciated with Alzheimer’s disease can lead to growing trouble with: n Memory n Thinking and rea soning n Making judgments and decisions n Planning and per forming familiar tasks n Changes in person ality and behavior

There is no cure for Alzheimer’s disease. Medication may tempo rarily improve or slow progression of symptoms.

On average, people with Alzheimer’s live between three to 11 years after diagnosis, though some may survive for more than 20 years.

Scott

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