Daily Republic: Monday, November 21, 2022

‘We got really lucky’

Why California escaped another destructive fire season in 2022

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Despite months of warnings fueled by extreme heat and drought-desiccated con ditions, California’s deadly fire season ended with remarkably little area burned, with just 362,403 acres scorched in 2022, compared with more than 2.5 million acres the year before.

Standing in a field of dry, brown grass in Napa this week, Gov. Gavin Newsom and several state officials gath ered to mark what they described as “the end of peak wildfire season” in most of California, attributing the year’s rel atively small acreage to massive investments in forest health and resil ience projects and an expansion of the state’s firefighting fleet.

But although the worst of the season may be behind us, experts noted that the remark ably reduced fire

activity is probably less a factor of strategy than good fortune.

“We got really lucky this year,” said Park Williams, an associate professor of geography at the University of Califor nia, Los Angeles. “By the end of June, things were looking like the dice were loaded very strongly toward big fires because things were very dry, and there was a chance of big heat waves in the summer, and indeed we actually did have a really big heat wave this summer in Septem ber. But that coincided with some really welltimed and well-placed rainstorms.”

Indeed, two of the year’s biggest fires – the McKinney fire in Siskiyou County and the Fairview fire in Riv erside County – were left smoldering after the arrival of rainstorms, including the unusual

See Lucky, Page A8

COP27 OKs deal to create historic climate damage fund

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The COP27 climate talks in Egypt, which came close to collapse in the closing stretches, ended with a deal to create a fund to pay poorer countries for the harm caused by climate change.

The agreement on loss and damage is a land mark moment in global climate politics – an acknowledgment that richer nations are responsible to the devel oping world for the harm caused by rising temperatures.

But the fractious summit, which took place against the background of a global energy crisis sparked by Russia’s inva sion of Ukraine, exposed fault lines on how the

world should navi gate the transition away from fossil fuels. And it did little to advance the ambitions of last year’s COP in Glasgow to rein in harmful greenhouse gas emissions, even though governments retained their commitment to try to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

“While progress on loss and damage was encouraging, it is disap pointing that the decision mostly copy and pasted language from Glasgow about curbing emissions, rather than taking any significant new steps,” said Ani Dasgupta, chief executive officer at the World Resources Insti tute. “It is mind-boggling that countries did not

See Fund, Page A8

SuSAn HilAnd SHILAND@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

FAIRFIELD — For those who looked for a head start Sunday on Christmas shopping, they needed to look no further than the annual Rancho Solano Holiday Boutique. Cailin Seva of Fair field brought her daughter, Stella, 3, out for a mommy-daughter shopping experience.

“This is the first time we have been to some thing like this because she was born during the pandemic,” Seva said. “So this is her first Christ mas outing. I wanted her to see the holiday stuff.”

Darlene Dwyer loves to scrapbook and has been doing it for at least 15 years. This year, she brought her own cre ations for her new business, The Urban Bunny. She creates expressive, detailed scrapbooks people can use for lots of differ ent things, like recipes, journaling or keeping memories of trips.

“It started with just scrapbooking,” Dwyer said. “(I) took some classes to learn different techniques.”

The pandemic seems to have been a

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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Authorities said Sunday that a gunman who opened fire at a gay nightclub in Colorado – killing five and injuring 25 – was subdued by “heroic” patrons who hit him with his own gun.

The attacker’s motive isn’t yet clear, but it is being investigated as a hate crime.

The gunman, who was identified by police as Anderson Lee Aldrich, 22, opened fire at Club Q in Colorado Springs, just before mid night Saturday, police said.

He was quickly taken into custody when police arrived a few minutes after receiving a call, authorities said.

“At least two heroic people” confronted the gunman and stopped the shooting, said Col orado Springs Police Chief Adrian Vasquez,

Stella got a Christmas tree ornament during their shopping spree. Darlene Dwyer, along with her daugh

ter Sarah Dwyer, have been longtime shoppers at the event, coming from Vallejo. But this year they came as vendors.

A bountiful Thanksgiving dinner with 20 ingredients B2

Fox helps Kings outgun Pistons to win sixth in a

Susan Hiland/Daily Republic photos

Donna Kimbel of Vacaville shows

customer some cookies from her Flutterfly Teas ’N Treats booth during the annual Rancho Solano Holiday Boutique at the Clubhouse at Rancho Solano in Fairfield, Sunday. A

during the Rancho Solano Holiday Boutique at The Clubhouse at Rancho Solano in Fairfield, Sunday.

A partial list of things for which I am grateful

Iwent to brainyquote.

com to search for a wise saying to start this column about gratitude with. There were some really great ones, but they all kinda sounded like the things you see on those inspira tional posters with like, a picture of a mountain range or something in a cheap frame in your dentist’s waiting room.

I’m not mocking them, just sayin’ I wanted something dif ferent. Then I saw this one:

“Gratitude is a sickness suf fered by dogs.”

Perfect.

Why? Well, first, because it stood out from the rest and second, because it was said by mass murdering dictator Joseph Stalin. Anything that twisted scumsucker believed I am going to be diametrically opposed to and in this case, even more so because . . . wait for it . . . gratitude is cool.

Gratitude is cool™ is my Brainy Quote submission about this particular topic. OK, maybe it isn’t earth-shattering or terri bly original, but in my defense, I just thought it up three seconds ago and it’s still way better than Stalin’s.

Here then is a partial gratitude list:

I am grateful for imagina tion. Instead of flooring my Jeep Renegade and ramming the “maroon” who just decided not to stop at the three-way stop signs on Clay Bank Road and East Tabor Avenue when it was my turn to go recently, I simply honked my horn and glared at her incredulously. But in my imagination, I went all Mad Max The Road Warrior on her little coup and hit it broad side, causing it to spin out into the open ditch next to the inter section where it was caught in the strong current of the water

there and was rapidly swept away until it emptied into a reeking pond of raw sewage 12 miles away. There is no open ditch or stream that leads to an untreated cesspool, but that’s where imagina tion kicks in.

I am grateful elec tion season is over. I never thought I would bring up Joseph Stalin not once, but twice in one of my humor columns, but having free and fair elections is way more desir able than living under the lash of a brutal autocrat. That said, the barrage of commer cials, constant slick mailers I never read in my mailbox and ubiquitous campaign signs is exhausting. The latter is the thing that bugs me most. Years ago I said it would be cool if they had to be made of biode gradable material and equipped with a device that made them all self-destruct the day after Election Day. Another idea would be to collect the signs and allow them to be used as building materials for the unhoused. That way when you saw a makeshift outdoor house, it would serve as a visible reminder for politicians to keep their election year promises to do something about that partic ular problem.

I am grateful for the ability to learn from experience. Last December my wife Beth and I went to Suisun City’s Christ mas on the Waterfront event to sell my first book “Growing Up in Fairfield, California.” We figured it was a good way to be available to folks buying copies for loved ones and we were not wrong. However, it was f-f-f-freeeeezing all freakin’ day. One of the slightly neg ative sides of maintaining a 150 pound weight loss is that I get cold very easily now.

This year we shan’t be there Dec. 3 but will instead offer locals the opportunity to get both of my books and old school Fairfield T-shirts at Joe’s Buffet that same day from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. When this old dog gets cold enough, he can learn new tricks.

I am grateful for the Las Vegas Raiders’ defense. It has taught me it is OK for men to be soft and tender.

I am grateful for prominent local folks who have schools named after them. I went to the Fairfield-Suisun School Dis trict website and went through the ones that were named after people and here they are: Anna Kyle, Cleo Gordon, Dan O. Root II Health & Well ness Academy, David A. Weir Preparatory Academy, K.I. Jones Elementary School, Nelda Munda Elementary School, Sheldon Academy of Innovative Learning, Sullivan Language Immersion Academy, B. Gale Wilson Middle School, Matt Garcia Career & College Academy, Armijo High School, Rodriguez High School, H. Glenn Richardson, Mary Bird Early Childhood Edu cation Center and Sem Yeto High School.

Here’s the thing, though: Of the 15 schools named after people, only one of their web sites – Cleo Gordon – has a link visitors can click to find out even rudimentary information about the school’s namesakes. What’s worse, I did a column on the old Bransford Ele mentary School in June and that’s where I learned the offi cial name of the Adult School that is there now is the Fair field-Suisun Adult School Jan Hannigan Education Center. On the school’s website, however, it just says “Adult School.”

Look, I get it, there are way more important things to parents, students and educators

than who the person was the school was named after, but it is important. There is a reason we don’t have Joe Schmo Academy or Jane Doe Middle School. Having a link that explains who these people were is about, well, education, but even more importantly, respect.

I am grateful for my readers. Now, I write my columns for me. I mean, they have to be the way I want them (minus later changes by the editors) or I wouldn’t share them. That said, if I didn’t have loyal readers, I would not still be doing this. Connecting with so many of you at book signings the past couple of years has been a true humbling blessing.

My favorite connection was earlier this year when a woman said she she saw me in the newspaper and had seen the interview I did with Johnny Colla on Government Access Channel 26. She came up to my

booth in Suisun City and asked, “What are you?”

I thought it was hilarious that she didn’t ask me who I was, but what. I think she assumed I was a local politician or some thing. After chuckling, I didn’t really know how to answer her question. I mean, I could have stuck with the tagline of an acci dental historian or a husband or father or brother or Raiders fan or Scrabble enthusiast and many more. But instead this is what I told her:

“I’m just some guy.”

And I’m grateful to be that. Fairfield freelance humor col umnist and accidental local historian Tony Wade writes two weekly columns: “The Last Laugh” on Mondays and “Back in the Day” on Fridays. Wade is also the author of The History Press books “Growing Up In Fairfield, California” and “Lost Restaurants of Fairfield, California.”

Tony Wade The last laugh

Pixabay

Solano Land Trust offers 3 days of post-holiday activities

SUISUN CITY — The Solano Land Trust will open two of its properties for three days of postThanksgiving activities Friday through Sunday.

The #OptOutside on Black Friday and Walk off that Turkey Hike takes place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday at the Patwino Worrtla Kodoi Dihi Open Space Park.

People who are not into the usual Black Friday overload of consump tion-shopping and sports TV are encouraged to gather up the Thanksgiv ing leftovers for lunch, the family and any out-oftown guests and explore what’s described as a quiet, hidden gem of Solano County with Solano Land Trust docents. Visi tors will explore the hills between Suisun Valley and Green Valley and see sweeping views of Solano County and beyond while they walk through the oak woodlands as the leaves are changing and climb the hills to reach vistas of Solano County they won’t find anywhere else.

Participants will meet at the Ice House at the corner of Rockville and Suisun Valley roads.

A Community Science Volunteer Opportunity is planned from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday at the Patwino Worrtla Kodoi Dihi Open Space Park.

People are invited to join Solano Land Trust Field Technician Stream Tuss this month’s activity. Attendees will help with the important oak miti gation project at Patwino Worrtla Kodoi Dihi Open Space Park by replacing the older cages that blue oak trees have outgrown with new cages. If rain is expected, it is recom mended that participants bring gloves, rain boots, rain pants, a rain jacket, water and/or a warm bev erage, and dress warmly.

The group will meet at the Ice House at the corner of Rockville and Suisun Valley roads.

A nature hike is planned from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Lynch Canyon Open Space.

The hike will take vis

itors westward along Middle Valley Trail to Prairie Ridge. Those who register should expect a moderately paced hike of about 5 miles. Terrain is occasionally uneven and there are several steep climbs. The park is excellent for seeing birds of prey and other wild life and boasts stunning views of Mount Tamal pais and the northern San Francisco Bay.

A bird of prey hike takes place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday at Lynch Canyon Open Space.

Solano Land Trust and Solano County Parks present hikes through out the 2022-2023 winter migration season. Lynch Canyon is home to golden eagles and hawks and is a magnet for migrating and overwintering birds of prey. It provides these birds with more than 1,200 undeveloped acres where they can hunt and rest. Some feathered visi tors come from as far away

as the Arctic Circle. This guided hike will cover between 4 and 6 miles and coats $10 per person. The parking is $6 per vehicle, which goes to support Solano County Parks.

Registration is required for each activity. To regis ter, visit solanolandtrust. org/events and look for the specific event for which you are interested. Once on the specific informa tion page, select the link to register.

Turkey Trot starts Thanksgiving morning

Thanksgiving would not be the same without the annual Solano Turkey Trot.

Before setting the table and eating a holiday dinner, organizers suggest parents take their chil dren for a run the morning of Thanksgiving.

A 10K begins at 8 a.m., a 5K at 8:20 a.m. and a Kids 1 Mile Fun Run at 9:30 a.m. Come in cos tumes to add some flavor for the run. There will be prizes for best and most creative turkey costumes for adults and children.

The trot will begin at Solano Community College, 4000 Suisun Valley Road, in rural Fair

Police don’t think 911 caller, roommates killed Idaho students

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MOSCOW, Idaho — Authorities in the investi gation into the deaths of four University of Idaho students still don’t have a suspect in custody, but they believe that several people are not suspects, including the person who made the first 911 call and the man whom two of the slain women called but who did not answer, Moscow police officials said Sunday.

At a news conference, Chief James Fry also declined to say which victims were on which floors of the three-story rental house where they died. Two of the four stu dents were on the second floor and two on the third, police said.

The news confer ence was the second time authorities addressed the public in person since the four students were fatally stabbed in an off-campus home a week earlier.

Others whom Moscow police Capt. Roger Lanier said are not suspects include the surviving two roommates at the house, a hooded man seen on video with two of the victims and a person who gave them a ride home.

A few new details were released Saturday night.

Police cleared another person while investigating the homicides, and said the 911 call reporting an unconscious person came from inside the residence from the mobile phone of one of the two surviving roommates in the six-bed room rental house.

The four victims in the killings early Nov. 13 were University

of Idaho seniors Madison Mogen, 21, of Coeur d’Alene, and Kaylee Gon calves, 21, of Rathdrum; junior Xana Kernodle, 20, of Post Falls; and fresh man Ethan Chapin, 20, of Mount Vernon, Washington.

Detectives investigated the “third-party driver” who dropped off Mogen and Goncalves just before

field. The cost for the run is $15 to $45.

This year’s Solano Turkey Trot is presented by Medic Ambulance and is organized by Fleet Feet Vacaville. A host of local businesses are sponsors for the event. Proceeds from the trot support Meals on Wheels Solano County and The Salvation Army’s Ray and Joan Kroc Center in Suisun City.

For more information, visit solanoturkeytrot.org.

Vaca veterans plan holiday meal deliveries

The Vacaville veterans groups and auxiliaries will make deliveries Thursday

for the annual Thanksgiv ing meal program.

Veterans organizations in the city are seeking donations to support the annual holiday meal for veterans and their fami lies and also for the annual Christmas meal.

This year’s meal will again be delivered due to the ongoing pandemic.

The menu is turkey and ham and all the trim mings. Those who call in beforehand will have their meal(s) delivered to their home between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.

Cash donations will be accepted at any time, with checks made payable to

Biden marks 80th birthday

WASHINGTON — Joe Biden turned 80 on Sunday, a milestone for the already-oldest pres ident in U.S. history as some Democrats question his intention to run for reelection in two years.

The president and his family will celebrate at a brunch organized by first lady Jill Biden at the White House.

Biden has said he intends to run for a second term in 2024 and will make a final deci sion early next year. He has brushed off concerns about his age and fitness to handle another campaign and potentially four more years in office.

“I’m in good health,” Biden told MSNBC’s Jonathan Capehart last month. “Everything physically about me is still functioning well. And mentally, too.”

Polls show voters –including those in his own party – have res ervations about the president’s age. A November Reuters/ Ipsos poll found 70% of voters agreed that the statement “too old to work in government” strongly or slightly described Biden. Among Democrats, 59% agreed.

In the same survey, 55% of all respondents said former President Donald Trump is too old for public service. Trump, who entered

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Robinson Kuntz/Daily Republic file (2021)

Runners kick

2021 Thanksgiving Turkey Trot 5k race/walk at Solano Community College, Nov. 25, 2021.

Obituaries

June 1, 1923 — Nov. 10, 2022

Our precious mother, June Louise Price, passed into the loving arms of God on Nov. 10, 2022, at the age of 99.

She died peace fully and in grace surrounded by her four children, Thais O’Shea, Carol Riv endell, Catherine (Tom) Bors and John (Annette) Price. She also leaves behind nine grandchildren; 16 great-grandchil dren; and one greatgreat-grandchild.

She was a lifelong resi dent of Fairfield, California. She graduated from Armijo High School in 1940.

In 1942, she married the love of her life, William (Bill). They were happily married for 74 years before Bill died in 2016 at the age of 94.

Both loved nature and together they built a cabin in Bartlett Canyon where they created many happy family memories.

We are all grateful for her abounding love and affec tion, which she displayed

in things large and small. From the meals she cooked, the clothes she sewed, the books she read to us, the endless hugs and smiles, every thing was done with abiding tenderness and devotion.

June was also a woman of great faith and an active member of Holy Spirit Catholic Church community her entire life. She brightened all our lives and she will be greatly missed.

Friends are invited to say goodbye to June at a Mass at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2022, at Holy Spirit Church, 1070 N. Texas St., Fairfield, California.

The following interment will be private.

In lieu of flowers, please donate in June’s name to Sisters of the Holy Faith, 12322 S. Paramount Blvd., Downey, CA 90242.

Arrangements under the care of Fairfield Funeral Home, 707-425-1041.

Adam Paul Ruffer

Oct. 3, 1978 — Oct. 27, 2022

Adam Paul Ruffer, 44, passed away Oct. 27, 2022. He was born Oct. 3, 1978, in Vallejo, California, to Donna (Williams) Ruffer and the late, James Ruffer.

Adam was a graduate of Fairfield High School, Class of 1997. During high school he was a member of the Scarlet Brigade Marching Band and marched in the Rose Parade in 1994.

Adam served in the U.S. Navy. He was a volunteer fire fighter for Fairfield Fire and Arvada, Colorado Fire depart ments. He was a paramedic and enjoyed shooting, snow boarding and dirt biking.

Left to cherish his memory are his wife of 12 years, Tiffany; children, Dustin, Scarlett, Evan, Jace and Makenna Ruffer; mother, Donna Ruffer; and brother, Ryan Ruffer.

Memories and condolences may be left for the family online at www.mfhcares.com.

the 2024 race on Tuesday, turned 76 in June. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, the No. 2 choice of GOP primary voters in polls, is 44.

Concerns about Biden’s age coincide with a gen erational shift in House Democrats’ top ranks after Republicans retook the chamber. Speaker Nancy Pelosi, 82, announced last week that she will not seek reelection to leadership.

“The hour has come for a new generation to lead the Democratic caucus,” Pelosi said Thursday.

Police

From Page A3

2 a.m. last Sunday and “do not believe he is involved in this crime,” said a Face book post Saturday from Moscow police.

Police also indicated that the victims’ bodies were found on the second and third floors of the sixbedroom home. And they confirmed information from one of Goncalves’ sisters about several phone calls Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves made to a male friend after 2 a.m.

Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, 83, also said he will not seek a leader ship post in the new Congress. Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, 82, did not indicate his plans but said he would back a younger slate of candidates for leadership roles.

New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, seen as Pelosi’s heir apparent, is 52.

Biden would be 82 on Inauguration Day in 2025.

In an interview on “The Willie Moore Jr. Show” that aired Nov. 7, the pres ident was asked what he would say to a 50-year-old version of himself.

“That I’m still 50,” Biden said. “I can’t even say that number 80.”

that the friend, who was sleeping, did not answer.

The two surviv ing roommates were not involved in the crime, according to police. Sat urday’s news release said they had been out in Moscow separately on the night of Nov. 12 and returned home by about 1 a.m. the next day. They then slept late, authorities said.

THE DAILY REPUBLIC DELIVERS. CALL 707-427-6989.

From

VFW Post 7244 and sent or dropped off at the Veterans Hall, 549 Mer chant St., Vacaville, CA 95688. Donations may also be made via PayPal at https://www.facebook. com/vacavillevfw. The tax identifi cation number is 94-2583926.

To request deliveries or make donations, call the veterans hall at 707-447-6354 or go online to www. vacavets.org. It is advisable to call first to make sure donations can be taken.

No additional volunteers are needed at this time.

Small Business Saturday encourages local shopping

The city, American Express and Boss Con have partnered up to cel ebrate Small Business Saturday.

A vendor pop-up market will open from noon to 6 p.m. Saturday in downtown Fairfield.

Small Business Saturday was created in 2010 to encourage people to do their holiday shop ping at locally owned businesses, and those businesses are strongly encourage to participate in the event planned Saturday.

For more information, visit fair field.ca.gov/sbs. To participate in this event as a vendor, fill out the form on the webpage or contact Keisha Mamaril at kmamaril@ fairfield.ca.gov.

Jelly Belly to kick off season with Christmas tree event

Holiday ceremonies kick off Saturday with the 22nd Annual Christmas Tree-Lighting Celebra tion at Jelly Belly Candy Company.

Festivities are scheduled from 5 to 8 p.m. Nov. 26 at the company’s visitors center at 1 Jelly Belly Lane.

The event begins stage-side with live entertainment and a parade, followed by more activities and the arrival of Santa. The highlight of the event is lighting of Jelly Belly’s 30-foot Christmas tree.

Santa and Mrs. Claus will be available for free contactless per sonal photos only due to pandemic health and safety measures. Those who want to have photos taken with Santa and Mrs. Claus must bring their own cameras.

Factory tours will be available

until 7 p.m.

For more information, visit https://www.jellybelly.com.

No government meetings set Thanksgiving week

There will be no government meetings this week due to the Thanksgiving holiday.

Several meetings are can celed, including the Vacaville City Council and the Suisun City Plan ning Commission.

Regular meetings will resume in December.

June Louise Price

Robinson Kuntz/Daily Republic file (2021) Santa waves to the crowd as the Christmas tree is lit during the Jelly Belly annual tree lighting ceremony, Nov. 27, 2021.

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Roker explains why he’s been away from ‘Today’

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Al Roker says he’s “on the way to recovery” after being hospitalized for blood clots.

The “Today” weath erman shared the information Friday in posts on social media, captioning a photo of a bedside floral arrange ment with an NBC News Weather mug.

“So many of you have been thoughtfully asking where I’ve been. Last week I was admit ted to the hospital with a blood clot in my leg which sent some clots into my lungs,” he wrote on Instagram, explain ing why he’s been absent from the show.

Roker typically does the weather daily and co-

hosts the third hour of the morning show along with Sheinelle Jones, Craig Melvin and Dylan Dreyer. Jacob Soboroff has been Roker’s standin in that third hour.

“After some medical whack-a-mole,” Roker continued, “I am so fortu nate to be getting terrific medical care and on the way to recovery. Thanks for all the well wishes and prayers and hope to see you soon. Have a great weekend, everyone.”

Roker’s note made the air Friday morning, with Savannah Guthrie laying it out for viewers.

“He’s in good spirits. We’ve all talked to him,” Guthrie said, and host Hoda Kotb chimed in, “Yeah, he’s in great spirits.”

Zits Jerry Scott

Pearls Before Swine Stephan Pastis

Dilbert Scott Adams

Baby Blues Rick Kirkman and Jerry Scott

Baldo Hector Cantú

Dear Annie: With reference to a recent column in which the reader said she had lost her home to a reverse mortgage, there are two primary ways this can happen, and I want to explain how to avoid this so that it never happens to any other reader.

In a reverse mortgage, the money paid by the lender to the homeowner in reverse does not include the lender making property tax and hazard insur ance payments on the property. Those payments must be made, and kept current, by the reverse mortgagor (the homeowner) from his or her own resources.

Failure to keep the property taxes and hazard insurance payments current can cause the lender to step in and fore close on the reverse mortgage to protect the lender’s interests. This is because the absence of property tax payments opens up the property to a possible separate foreclosure action by the town or city in which the property is located. Also, allowing the hazard insurance

to lapse exposes the lender to the possibility of losing its investment should the property burn down or other wise suffer damage while uninsured.

A major cause of the foreclosure of reverse mortgages is the home owner’s inability to maintain payments in these two areas – hazard insurance and property taxes –particularly once the money being paid in reverse has been exhausted and the elderly homeowner has been left with limited other funds with which to live and pay expenses. As Americans’ life spans increase, seniors are outliving the dis bursement schedules on their reverse mortgages. This results in the inability to maintain property tax and hazard insur ance, leading to foreclosure of reverse mortgaged proper ties. — Attorney at Law

Dear Attorney: I always love hearing from profession als whose expertise can help readers be aware of their obli gations and things to be aware of; in this case, if they take out a reverse mortgage. Everything

Horoscopes

ARIES (March 21-April 19).

You’ll think about the answers that didn’t come, the unre turned call, the email floated out and lost to the digital sea . . . Eventually, no answer can be a beautiful answer, though, or a fitting one. Maybe it’s just the one that got you here.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20). You’ll encounter the small seeds of discord. Make sure they don’t take root. Prevent problems in the future by keeping everything out in the open. Do not bury resentment or it will grow.

GEMINI (May 21-June 21). You may find yourself in an awkward situation, but don’t let that worry you. If you’re doing life right, lots of it will be awkward. In any case, getting out of this is as simple as telling the truth.

CANCER (June 22-July 22). The reasons people do what they do are not that mysterious. They usually choose the best option they have. You’ll kindly point out options that people might not have thought about and appreciate when they do the same for you.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). No one gets truly rich by reaching a certain number of a com modity like dollars or gold. True abundance is a state of mind. One definition of wealth: valuing highly what is already yours.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). Your actions are well known to you, unknown to many –and it’s fine to keep it this way. Operating on a need-to-know

Here’s how to work it: WORD SLEUTH ANSWER

The

by Holiday Mathis

world will know your name. You’ll have fun figuring out how to fit into new situations. You’ll delight in figuring out what to offer and making your work accessible. Your

you say makes perfect sense. Thanks for writing.

Dear Readers: Suicide is never the fault of the person who takes their life. I would like to print a letter that helps make that point very loud and clear.

Dear Annie: In one of your recent columns, a reader men tioned some resources for folks who are in crisis.

“Suicide is indeed painful for the survivors, so please take the time to review these resources rather than going for the easy out. — Resources to Help”

I’d like to think “Resources to Help” was genuinely trying to be helpful, but responding to those contemplating suicide with “rather than going for the easy out” is not helpful at all! This is an appalling attitude to those contemplating ending their life by their own hand because of the pain and suffer ing they are enduring. This is not an “easy out!” It just fur thers the stigma and fuels self-fulfilling prophecies that “no one cares/understands.”

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

of a spontaneous opportunity to connect.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22Jan. 19). It excites you to be around strong personalities. There will be a tendency to gravitate toward the intimidat ing, impressive and charming. It is important for you to get ready and center your self so you don’t get thrown off balance.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20Feb. 18). The good fortune will need to be cultivated. It will take an hour or two. Conver sation, a share of heart and service, cleaning, clearing – all ways to open a path for good luck to rush in.

basis is a smart plan. Who needs to know? Trust your instinct about this today, as it’s right-on.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23).

The situation didn’t seem to involve you, but you paid atten tion anyway and now you’re glad you did. You’ll be ready when it’s time to make a deci sion. Your best guess will be based on firsthand information.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21).

Don’t talk about it, even to yourself, or you might talk yourself right out of it. Just do it and see what happens. Action begets action. Action changes something. Also, action changes everything.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22Dec. 21). The most valuable thing the day has to offer is the chance to build a good relation ship. It will be worthwhile for you to deviate from your orig inal plan to take advantage

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). Dissatisfaction is a key part of the human experience, without which there would be no prog ress. So if you’re not thrilled with the outcome, it might be just the opportunity you need to revise, improve or invent to move things forward.

CELEBRITY PROFILES:

Within weeks of her solar return, Carly Rae Jepsen dropped her sixth studio album of songs created in quarantine. Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone wrote, “‘The Loneliest Time’ is her most emotionally adventur ous music yet” – high praise for the “Call Me Maybe” pop star. Jepsen is a Scorpio born on the cusp with equal parts of each sign in her natal chart, indicat ing magnetic juxtapositions. She’s simultaneously famous and cloaked in mystery.

Write Holiday Mathis at HolidayMathis.com.

SOMETIMES ROBOTS OUTPLAY HUMANS

The theme of today’s deal has appeared in this column a few times, but if it is anything to go by, some repetition would not go amiss. How should the play proceed in three spades after West leads the diamond king? North has a close decision over West’s takeout double. He has 10

Sudoku

Bridge

by Phillip Alder

points, usually worth a limit raise (here, starting with redouble, then supporting spades on round two), but he has nine losers, the number for a single raise, and he has that awful 4-3-3-3 distribution. If you do not mind some memory strain, after one of a major - double, a good idea is to play the single raise as very weak, and a bid in the suit below partner’s (here, two hearts) shows a good three-card raise. That would be North’s response today. Yes, East’s three-diamond advance was aggressive, but it did push North-South out of their depth.

The first trick goes diamond king, two, nine (encouraging), three. West continues with the diamond six (low from three remaining), five, ace, 10. What next?

East must realize that South is now out of diamonds. Given that, East should see that it is time to shift to clubs – but to which one?

At Bridge Base Online, 16 robots playing East faced this problem. Nine led the club four, and four chose the club eight. However, each South just played low, and West had to win with the 10. A moment later, South was claiming.

Only three robots made the right play, leading the club queen.

When you have J-x-x or Q-x-x and need three tricks, lead the honor.

by Wayne Gould

11/21/22

Solution to 11/19/22:

Bridge

Remember that budget surplus? Never mind

Six months ago, while proposing a revised state budget, Gov. Gavin Newsom bragged about the state’s having a $97.5 billion surplus that would finance some landmark expan sions of social and educational services. “No other state in American history has ever experienced a surplus as large as this,” Newsom told reporters as he unveiled a 2022-23 fiscal year budget that topped $300 billion and, with a few tweaks, was eagerly adopted by the Legislature.

Never mind.

Last week, the Legisla ture’s budget adviser, Gabe Petek, issued a sobering report on the state’s finances, saying revenues are likely to fall $41 billion short of what Newsom and legislators anticipated, leaving the state with a $25 billion projected deficit for the 2023-24 budget. Moreover, he said, if reces sion hits, as many economists expect, the gap between income and outgo could be much higher.

If it’s just a $25 billion problem – as large as that number might seem – it could be handled relatively easily with some adjust ments, such as throttling back on some of the spending the current budget contains, Petek said.

“It’s not insignificant, but it’s also manage able,” he told reporters. “We don’t think of this as a budget crisis, we just think of it as a notable budget problem.”

However, he cautioned against maintaining spending and using the state’s sizable emer gency reserves to cover the shortfall, because there is a strong chance the current economic slowdown, being dictated by the Federal Reserve System to counter high inflation, could easily morph into a recession.

“Based on historical experience, should a recession occur soon, revenues could be $30 billion to $50 billion below our revenue outlook in the budget window. As such, we suggest the Legislature begin planning the 2023-24 budget without using general purpose reserves,” Petek said in his report.

Newsom’s budget staff did not dispute Petek’s rather gloomy fiscal forecast. Califor nia “is in its best-ever position to manage a downturn, by having built strong reserves and focusing on one-time commitments,” Depart ment of Finance spokesman H.D. Palmer said.

That’s true, as far as it goes. Newsom and the Legislature did commit most of the sup posed surplus to reserves and limited-time spending and in theory the latter could be canceled or scaled back. A multibillion-dol lar cash giveaway, now being processed, is the largest example of such one-time expenditures.

However, one-time appropriations, while not legally required to be long-term com mitments, raise expectations the state will continue to finance what it started. The recip ients of those funds, therefore, will press the Legislature to honor what they consider to be commitments to their particular programs and projects.

Hints that the state’s roaring economy might be slowing down surfaced within weeks of the current budget’s passage last June and Newsom vetoed dozens of bills for addi tional off-budget spending, citing economic uncertainty.

Ever since the budget’s enactment, state revenues have been running well below expectations, with virtually all of the short fall in personal income taxes, which generally account for three-quarters of the state’s general fund revenues.

The vast majority of those taxes come from a relative few high-income taxpayers, whose incomes are intimately sensitive to fluctu ations in the economy, particularly stocks and other capital investments. The stock market has taken a beating from the Federal Reserve’s sharp increases in interest rates and Silicon Valley, source of much of the state’s taxable income, is undergoing a retrenchment with massive layoffs of workers.

Petek’s report is another reminder that Cal ifornia’s budget depends on a very narrow and very volatile tax base and it is, therefore, foolish to make long-term financial com mitments that assume the golden goose will always lay golden eggs.

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

Elections bring good news for Fairfield

The recent election will have huge implications, locally and nationally.

First, locally. A suspected plot concern ing Suisun Valley, Fairfield and Big Developer Money was defeated.

Incumbent Mayor Harry Price, a big recipient of Big Developer Money (BDM) lost to “just barely enough money” council member Cat Moy. That’s something of an earthquake.

Cat and Harry have been involved in a duel ever since he passed over Cat for vice mayor, a position that usually rotates among senior council members. In my view, Cat grew more and more angry as the rest of the council moved in Price’s direction and she finally said, “All or nothing. I run for mayor or I’m gone” – and won.

Cat, too, had talked about “a cabal” on the council having to do with BDM.

BDM won, however, when Dis trict 5’s incumbent council member Doriss Panduro defeated challenger Scott Mulvey. Too bad. Mulvey’s the only person in Fairfield who is actu ally doing something significant about homelessness, the issue of the day.

At the county level, Big Developer Money lost when Chuck Timm lost to Wanda Williams, 40% to 60%.

A mixed bag. But all this is a stra tegic loss for BDM.

How so? Because Big Developer Money flooded in like a firehose for this election, signaling that some thing was up.

First, there was a rumor the mayor, whose endorsements matter when selecting the next mayor, was

ON THE LEFT THE RIGHT STUFF

Batson

grooming Doriss Panduro for mayor, who has two years’ experience. Was Harry passing over council member Pam Bertani with 14 years’ of solid experience? Why? Council member Panduro was a recipient of BDM, too.

Second, Chuck Timm grew a war chest of eye-popping proportions laden with BDM.

I identify a number of other events that make me believe there was some sort of scheme concerning the valley. Recall that last year’s update to the city’s General Plan was somehow hijacked by developer interests. It was stopped at the last minute by citizen protests over the three options offered to them, all featur ing annexation of southern Suisun Valley. Some City Council members seemed genuinely surprised by the proposal to annex land there and promptly asked for “a fourth option.”

There’s been no action since. Soon after, the tight-lipped City Council and the city manager parted ways, cause “unknown.”

Then the showy recent flood of money to favored candidates.

There’s been hints the plot con cerns workforce housing for the valley’s agriculture. But afford able apartments for farmworkers are not controversial. And how’s that done on expensive land without sewer and water?

All this is circumstantial evidence of a possible plot aimed at the valley. But it seems gone now that Timm and Price have been defeated.

Nationwide, we had another earth quake. The dreaded Red Wave, an

anticipated Republican triumph, was reduced to a pink trickle, unusual for an off-cycle election.

The nation seemed to me and many others to be headed to an “authoritarian” or “minority democ racy” after 240 years of majority democracy. And for what? A man of extraordinary deficiencies of charac ter and performance. A wrecker.

But a clearly conservative Supreme Court overturned protection for what most people think is a per sonal decision and then threatened more shocking moves to come. This brought out angry women and a sur prising number of young voters who looked into their futures and didn’t like what they saw. Hoorah! Saved by Republican overreach.

I see three ultimate results of the election. One, the fever swamps brought to us by the Freedom Caucus in the GOP might have broken. Too many people can now see the true nature of the MAGA leader.

Second, the Republicans have taken the House of Representa tives. So we will be treated to another season of show trials, a tired and shabby stunt. This time they will probably attack Hunter Biden, Joe Biden, the FBI and Nancy Pelosi. In the end, nothing illegal will be found.

Finally, the Dems will keep the Senate and the appointment of normal, qualified human beings for the bench will proceed.

Normal times are almost here again.

Jack Batson is a former member of the Fairfield City Council. Reach him by email at jsbatson@prodigy.net.

Newsom’s Clean Energy Act doesn’t add up

California’s Clean Energy, Jobs and Affordabil ity Act of 2022, with a commitment of $54 billion to establish 90% clean energy by 2035 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2045, has these goals:

n Cut air pollution by 60%.

n Reduce state oil consumption by 91%.

n Reduce fossil fuel use in build ings and transportation by 92%.

n Cut refinery pollution by 94%,

Are these goals attainable? No. Here are the data.

Senate Bill 1020 establishes clean electricity targets of 90% by 2035, 95% by 2040 and 100% by 2045. Cal ifornia used 277.7 gigawatt hours (GWH) of electricity in 2021. (One GWH would power 1.15 million Cal ifornia houses annually). Of that total, 35% was non-carbon producing energy, (i.e., nuclear, hydroelec tric, wind and solar), but one-third (11% of the total) of that quantity was imported from neighbor states. Cal ifornia must increase its non-carbon emitting electricity production by 181.8 GWH by 2045.

Gov. Gavin Newsom plans on having 20 gigawatt rated capacity of offshore wind turbines by 2045. This will require 6,667 3 megawatt wind turbines which will produce 52,209 gigawatt hours of electric ity. Assuming California’s energy use will remain constant, California must increase zero carbon-emis sion electricity production by 129,591 GWH, which will require an additional 50 GWH of annual electricity generation, i.e., an

additional 16,667 3-mega watt, or 5,000 10-megawatt wind turbines. Installed cost of land-based wind turbines is approx imately $3.9 million per 3-megawatt wind turbine installed. The cost of an off shore floating base wind turbine (required as water is too deep off California’s coast) is 1.5 times that of a land fixed base wind turbine. (https://www.energy. gov/eere/wind/floating-offshorewind-shot) or $97.502 billion and the expected life span is 25 years.

Scotland’s Seagreen offshore fixed based wind turbine farm cost $3.54 billion for 114 10-mega watt Vesta wind turbines or $31.051 million per off-shore fixed platform wind turbine. With 1.5 times the cost for offshore floating plat form wind turbines, the cost would be $46.579 million per wind turbine, or $232.895 billion for 5,000 10 mega watt wind turbines.

An alternative to offshore floating base wind turbines is Small Modular Nuclear Reactors, or SMRs. SMRs are designed and built at a factory by Nuscale Power and shipped out in modules to be assembled on site as a nuclear power plant.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commis sion has approved Nuscale’s design. Installed cost of Nuscale’s 924 Mega watt 12 module nuclear power plant is $4 to $6 billion. The SMRs can be installed beside a pool of water lined with concrete and steel containment vessel. If the reactor overheats, vents in the tip of the reactor shell open, allowing steam to vent into the con

tainment vessel, which will drain down to cool the reactor and release heat to the pool outside the reactor. This is a passive safety feature, which works automatically, requiring minimal or no human control.

Nuclear reactors have approxi mately a 90% load capacity (amount of time the unit safely operates at full capacity). Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power plant has a 87.25% load capacity. These SMRs have an expected life span of 60 years. Seven 924 SMUs would produce 50 giga watt hours of electricity for 60 years at an estimated cost of approximately $42 billion, versus approximately $233 billion for 25 years for offshore wind turbines.

Newsom’s grand design is ficti tious and not credibly ambitious. The above data omit increased demand for 23 years of population growth. Solar and wind power are dependent upon uncontrollable inputs and do not store energy. They are prohibitively expensive and aesthetically contro versial. However, SMR’s are safe, carbon-free, more powerful and effi cient, occupy a small footprint and last twice as long.

It appears Gavin Newsom has done very little objective, fact-based, as opposed to politically based, research once again.

Dear Gavin: The answer to the question is not blowing in the wind.

Roger Oberbeck is a Navy veteran, electrical engineer, Navy nuclear engineer, author and biotech senior validation engineer. He is a member of the Right Stuff Committee and can be reached at rogeroberbeck@ yahoo.com.

Dan Walters

Jack

Roger Oberbeck

Crime logs FairField

FRIDAY, NOV. 18

1:43 a.m. — Drunken driver, 1800 block of DOVER AVENUE 5:03 a.m. — Vehicle burglary, 4700 block of BUSINESS CENTER DRIVE 7:39 a.m. — Trespassing, 2700 block of NORTH TEXAS STREET 8:27 a.m. — Grand theft, 800 block of WASHINGTON STREET 9:56 a.m. — Trespassing, 1300 block of TRAVIS BOULEVARD 10:36 a.m. — Vehicle theft, 4900 block of PEABODY ROAD 11:21 a.m. — Commercial burglary, 1300 block of WEST TEXAS STREET 11:50 a.m. — Drunken drivier, 1300 block of CROWLEY LANE 12:09 p.m. — Forgery, 2900 block of CANDLEBERRY WAY 1:07 p.m. — Robbery, 1900 block of GRANDE CIRCLE 2:33 p.m. — Battery, 1200 block of TRAVIS BOULEVARD 3:13 p.m. — Vehicle theft, 2100 block of CADENASSO DRIVE 4:11 p.m. — Vehicle burglary, 600 block of PARKER ROAD 5:02 p.m. — Drunken driver, 1600 block of SAN BRUNO STREET 6:10 p.m. — Hit-and-run property damage, LOPES ROAD 7:05 p.m. — Battery, 2000 block of STARLING WAY 7:27 p.m. — Trespassing, 2300 block of PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE 8:22 p.m. — Drunken driver, 1600 block of TRAVION COURT 11:16 p.m. — Hit-and-run property damage, 200 block of EAST BELL AVENUE SATURDAY, NOV. 19 12:46 a.m. — Vehicle theft, 2400 block of CEMENT HILL ROAD 2:51 a.m. — Shots fired, 1900 block of GRANDE CIRCLE 5:15 a.m. — Trespassing, 300 block of EAST TABOR AVENUE 6 a.m. — Trespassing, 1900 block of NORTH TEXAS STREET 6:06 a.m. — Arson, 1300 block of GATEWAY BOULEVARD 7:11 a.m. — Vehicle theft, 400 block of EAST TRAVIS BOULEVARD 8:34 a.m. — Grand theft, 1200 block of DELAWARE STREET

10:13 a.m. — Vandalism, 1900 block of NORTH TEXAS STREET 11:12 a.m. — Vehicle burglary, 3100 block of TRAVIS BOULEVARD 12:13 p.m. — Trespassing, 2000 block of WALTERS ROAD 12:21 p.m. — Forgery, 4200 block of TULANE COURT 2:30 p.m. — Drunken driver, EASTBOUND HIGHWAY 12 2:37 p.m. — Battery, 1300 block of TRAVIS BOULEVARD 3 p.m. — Vandalism, 1900 block of NORTH TEXAS STREET 3:55 p.m. — Fight with a weapon, 200 block of TRAVIS BOULEVARD 3:56 p.m. — Hit-and-run property damage, 1800 block of NORTH TEXAS STREET 5:08 p.m. — Forgery, 1100 block of WALLACE STREET 5:14 p.m. — Trespassing, 1300 block of WEST TEXAS STREET 5:17 p.m. — Fight with a weapon, 2000 block of CADENASSO DRIVE 5:31 p.m. — Grand theft, 1000 block of KENTUCKY STREET 7:41 p.m. — Vehicle burglary, 4900 block of VANDEN ROAD 7:57 p.m. — Trespassing, 2200 block of GATEWAY COURT 8:15 p.m. — Vehicle burglary, 5000 block of BUSINESS CENTER DRIVE 10:51 p.m. — Prowler, 1000 block of SCOTT STREET 11:58 p.m. — Battery, 1100 block of ALASKA AVENUE

SuiSun City

FRIDAY, NOV. 18 3:45 p.m. — Reckless driver, PINTAIL DRIVE / VILLAGE DRIVE 8:28 p.m. — Assault, 700 block of CAPISTRANO DRIVE SATURDAY, NOV. 19 2:32 p.m. — Reckless driver, HIGHWAY 12 / MARINA BOULEVARD 3:35 p.m. — Vehicle theft, 900 block of FRANCISCO DRIVE 5:17 p.m. — Assault, 300 block of CINNAMON WAY 6:08 p.m. — Trespassing, PINTAIL DRIVE 7:20 p.m. — Reckless driver, PINTAIL DRIVE / WIGEON WAY

appearance of a tropi cal storm in the case of the Fairview fire, which helped significantly boost its containment.

“Precipitation was coming right at the time when it was most needed,” Williams said. “Stuff was getting so dried out by these heat waves, and then at kind of like peak dryness, sud denly the skies opened up and soaked everything down, and it happened repeatedly.”

But although acreage this year was relatively small, 2022’s fire season was also far deadlier than last year’s, with nine fatalities, all civilians, compared with three fire fighter deaths in 2021. Some of the deadliest fires, including the McK inney and Fairview fires, burned with significant speed fueled by dried vegetation, allowing little time for people to escape.

Fires this year were also destructive: By the end of its 10-day run in September, the Mill fire in Siskiyou County had leveled the entire neigh borhood of Lincoln Heights in Weed. The McKinney and Oak fires in Mariposa County each destroyed nearly 200 structures, while the Coastal fire in Orange County in May claimed at least 20 homes.

Still, some on-theground efforts appear to be working. The state has responded to 7,329 fires this year –about 200 more than this time last year – despite far fewer acres burning, indicating that crews were either extinguishing blazes more quickly or halting them before they grew too large.

The biggest blaze of the year, the 77,000-acre Mosquito fire in Placer and El Dorado coun ties, was much smaller than the biggest fire of 2021, the 963,000-acre

Dixie fire.

Officials said several factors helped contrib ute to the overall tamer season, including a $2.8billion investment in wildfire resilience proj ects over the last two years for forest manage ment work, prescribed burns and commu nity outreach.

“This past year, really, the tremendous amount of combined proactive efforts that were put forth by state and local and tribal and federal agencies here in Cali fornia really did result in less damaging, less destructive fire impacts,” California Office of Emer gency Services Director Mark Ghilarducci said during the news con ference. “While some of this obviously is a result of weather, maybe a bit of luck, that sus tained investment . . . clearly made a difference this year.”

Joe Tyler, director of the California Depart ment of Forestry and Fire Protection, said the agency completed more than 100,000 acres of fuels reduction each year since 2019, includ ing about 20,000 acres in the last two months alone. That work was supple mented by local, federal, tribal and private part ners, he said.

California also made significant investments in aerial support, including about a dozen new Fire hawk helicopters that can carry more water than previous Cal Fire fleets and fly night mis sions, officials said. Six private fixed-wing air crafts hired on short-term contracts also flew more than 2,700 hours on fire fighting missions across the state this year.

“We are mindful that we are not out of the woods, so we’re not here with any signs of ‘mission accomplished’ in any way, shape or form,” Newsom said, “but we are here to highlight the work that has been done this year.”

The governor added

that the state brought on an additional 1,350 fire fighting personnel, which allowed for peak staffing as early as June.

Williams cautioned that officials “need to be really careful about taking credit for the luck that weather brings, because next year the dice are once again loaded for a really big fire season, and (they) have not treated all of the forests in California in one year.”

He added that other states under different management had similar luck this year, includ ing Nevada and Arizona, which also avoided extreme fire seasons despite high heat and other conditions priming them for fire.

But Scott Stephens, a professor of fire science at the University of Cali fornia, Berkeley, said he gives Cal Fire and other state agencies credit for some of their programs.

“Some of the wild fires that started this year ran into some of their fuel treated areas, and they were able to make a stand in some of those areas more effectively,” he said. “That wasn’t the majority of fires by any means, but some . . . actu ally reached these areas, and the proactive work I think is paying off in those regards.”

However, Stephens also noted that the state did not see any major dry lightning events this year, such as those that helped fuel hundreds of simultaneous fires in 2020 and 2021, and ben efited from some rain. He said it’s important to stay vigilant, even in the face of improvements.

“There are really just two fire issues in the state that are para mount,” he said. “One is getting people that live in fire-prone areas better prepared for the inevi tability of fire, and the second one is getting our ecosystem better pre pared for fire, climate change, bark beetles and drought. . . . If we don’t

get both those things done in really significant levels, we’re never going to get out of this problem.”

Officials this week remained optimistic about the outlook, and highlighted investments in new technology aimed at helping to detect and respond to fires sooner, including advanced air craft known as FIRIS, or the Fire Integrated Real Time Intelligence System, and the estab lishment of a wildfire threat intelligence infor mation sharing center co-managed by Cal Fire and Cal OES.

The state this year also established a Community Wildfire Preparedness and Mitigation Division to help communities better prepare for fires, Ghilar ducci said. Investments in mitigation resources and home hardening included $100 million in com munity infrastructure grants and $25 million in outreach to high-vulnera bility communities.

Newsom noted that the state next year will receive seven new C-130 firefighting air craft from the federal government as part of a 20-year memoran dum of understanding for shared stewardship of California’s forest and rangelands. About 57% of California’s forestland is federally owned.

Yet he also acknowl edged that his four years as governor have been marked by climate vola tility. Although 2022 and 2019 were relatively tame fire years, 2020 marked the state’s worst fire season on record, when more than 4 million acres burned.

“I don’t expect any thing except extremes: extreme heat, extreme drought, extreme weather, extreme polar ends. The norm has been that sort of whipsaw back and forth,” he said. “I think we’re prone to over state everything we did right in a year like this, but I don’t want to under state either the fact that this has been a flywheel.”

will try organizing events for a year.”

Her energy needed an outlet and the next thing she knew the years had flown by.

time of change for many people in different ways.

Donna Kimbel of Vacav ille lost her job during the pandemic.

“It was because of Covid,” she said. “So this is a new gig for me.”

Kimbel went from working with children in day care to hanging out in her kitchen creating homemade cookies, teas and jams. She brought all her goodies out for sale Sunday and dressed up as a butterfly, which goes with the name of her business: Flutterfly Teas ’N Treats.

“I miss the kids but I wouldn’t trade this new gig for anything in the world,” Kimbel said.

Brenda Mossa is the executive director, orga nizer and all-around go-to person for the annual event, which happens each year the Sunday before Thanksgiving. She has been pulling this together for 15 years with vendors from across California.

“I started this think ing I was retired but I wanted to do something,” Mossa said. “I thought I

“When we started we had half the vendors we do today, which is 76 vendors,” she said. “Some people have two spaces, though.”

One thing that makes Mossa’s holiday bou tique different is the canned food donations for the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano and the toy drive for Toys for Tots program as the “entrance fee.”

Mossa also has door prizes, which get called every half-hour through out the day.

“It is one of those things that people look forward to. As they come in they sign up and then as they leave they check to see if they won,” she said.

Mossa expected at least 1,000 people to drop in throughout the day. She recognized many new shows were coming out this year but still was pleased with the turnout of visitors.

“For many people this is a holiday tradition,” Mossa said. “So people just keep coming.”

adding: “We owe them a great debt of thanks.”

One of the people in the bar took a handgun from the shooter and hit him with it, Colo rado Springs Mayor John Suthers said in an inter view with CNN.

Suthers called it an “incredible act of heroism.”

Of the 25 people injured, 19 have gunshot wounds, Suthers said. None of those are “deemed truly critical,” the mayor said.

Two firearms, includ ing a “long rifle,” were found at the scene, according to Vasquez.

“My heart breaks for the family and friends of

those lost, injured and traumatized in this hor rific shooting,” said Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, who became the first openly gay man in the United States to be elected governor in 2018. He called the shooting “sickening.”

On Sunday after noon, groups of friends and couples walked up to the entrance of the club’s parking lot, placing flowers near a sign that read, “Love over hate.”

Emily Paduch, 26, who identifies as bisex ual, lives just down the street and said the club had been a sanctuary for local LGBTQ people and others. “It was like the one safe spot for every one. It didn’t matter who you were,” Paduch said through tears.

Bucky Baldwin, 57, and his wife, Lisa, 58,

of oil-rich nations and major emitters.”

brought flowers to show their respects. Baldwin works in the music indus try and the couple have many gay friends, they said. Hatred toward LGBTQ people must be confronted, they said.

“There has to be a tolerance movement. There’s an intolerance that has festered,” he said. “People just have to be more accepting.”

“How do you stop hate through generations?” Lisa Baldwin wondered.

The attack was over within minutes.

Police received numer ous 911 calls starting at 11:56 p.m., and an officer arrived at midnight. The suspect was detained at 12:02 a.m., police said.

The suspect was being treated at a hospi tal, police said, adding that officers did not shoot at him.

In a statement, Club Q termed the shooting a hate attack.

“Club Q is devastated by the senseless attack on our community,” the club posted on its Facebook page. It said its prayers were with victims and families, adding: “We thank the quick reactions of heroic customers that subdued the gunman and ended this hate attack.”

The attack was the sixth mass killing in the U.S. this month and comes seven months after the deaths of 21 in a school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.

There have been 523 mass killings in the U.S. since 2006 result ing in 2,727 deaths as of Nov. 19, according to the Associated Press/USA Today database on mass killings in the U.S.

muster the courage to call for phasing down fossil fuels, which are the biggest driver of climate change.”

Final agreement came after 9 a.m. local time fol lowing a marathon final session that went through the night. The closing day started with a threat from the European Union to walk out if the text didn’t strengthen ambi tion to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and in the end there was no blanket pledge to phase down all fossil fuels and no target to see global emissions fall by 2025.

German Foreign Minis ter Annalena Baerbock complained about stone walling from “an alliance

Still, the agreement on loss and damage is a breakthrough, even if it’s not clear how a fund will be financed or structured. It came after a flurry of last-minute negotiations over how to address the increasing toll climate change is exacting from developing nations that have contributed little of the emissions driving the phenomenon. The issue took on new urgency following monsoon flood ing this summer in Pakistanthatleftmorethan 1,700 dead and caused at least $30 billion in losses.

Just getting the issue on the formal negotiat ing agenda was seen as a milestone. Even then, it appeared unlikely that COP27 talks would result in a new loss and damage fund.

“We have struggled

for 30 years on this path and today, in Sharm ElSheikh, this journey has achieved its first positive milestone,” said Pakistan Climate Minister Sherry Rehman. “The establish ment of a fund is not about dispensing charity. It is clearly a down-payment on the longer investment in our joint futures.”

Looking ahead, COP President Sameh Shoukry pledged to work out what a loss-anddamage fund will look like over the next year before handing the pres idency over to the UAE.

The Sharm El-Sheikh agreement calls for a committee with represen tatives from 24 countries to lay out which countries and financial institutions should contribute, and where the money should go. The committee will have two co-chairs, one from a developed country

and one from a develop ing country.

At the same time, the global energy squeeze is unlikely to make the task of reducing fossil fuel emissions any easier and Baerbock’s comments highlight one of the core tensions in the global climate debate after Saudi Arabia and others resisted language calling for a broad phase out of fossil fuels.

“It is more than frus trating to see overdue steps on mitigation and the phase-out of fossil energies being stone walled by a number of large emitters and oil pro ducers,” said Baerbock.

“The world is losing valu able time to move towards 1.5 degrees” Celsius, she said, referring to the Paris Agreement’s goal of limit ing rising temperatures.

Susan Hiland/Daily Republic

holiday shopping during the Rancho Solano Holiday Boutique at The Clubhouse at Rancho Solano

Fairfield, Sunday.

Klay Thompson catches fire for 41 points

Warriors get first road win against Houston Rockets

TrIbune ConTenT agenCy

A handful of reasons are to blame for the War riors’ slow start this year. Klay Thompson’s inconsistent shooting. Lackluster defense. A second unit that bleeds leads, headed by Jordan Poole’s erratic play. A 0-8 road record heading

into Sunday’s game in Houston.

Thompson looks to be taking significant steps out of his rut.

The Warriors claimed their first road win, 127120, against a Rockets team sitting in last place in the Western Confer ence. Thompson scored

41 points with 10 3-point ers. Steph Curry took over in the second half, finish ing with 33 points and 15 assists.

Thompson scored 20 points on 7-of-9 shoot ing, 5-of-6 from 3, in the first quarter and looked far more settled into the game flow than in previous games. While Thompson had been hunting for and rushing into his shots pre viously, he was pickier in his shot selection and

sought out the extra pass. It paid off, leading Golden State to a 12-point lead at the end of the first quarter.

But the second unit struggles came back to bite in the second quarter. The Rockets rattled off 13 unanswered points within the first two minutes, interrupted by a high-flying Jonathan Kuminga put-back dunk.

Down by as many as nine late in the second quarter, Curry – who

went scoreless in the first quarter – took over to secure a five-point lead to start the fourth quarter.

Head coach Steve Kerr opted for defense to start the fourth quarter, putting in Draymond Green and Moses Moody, (getting his first minutes of the game) with Curry and Thomp son resting.

Thompson hit several key 3-pointers to help the Warriors expand their lead in the fourth quarter,

including a 3 with just over 3 minutes to give the Warriors a 118-112 lead. It was his ninth three of the game. But the Rockets were relentless, pun ishing the Warriors on second chance points in the second half to stay within reach.

Thompson’s 10th 3-pointer and Curry’s rainbow 3 with the final minutes winding down iced the Warriors’ first road win.

Fox helps Kings outgun Pistons to win sixth in a row

TrIbune ConTenT agenCy

The Kings on Sunday won their sixth game in a row for the first time since the 2004-05 season, finishing off their six-game home stand undefeated with a 137-129 victory over the lowly Detroit Pistons.

Host Qatar revels in World Cup opener, THEN SUFFERS A DEFLATING LOSS

The WashIngTon PosT

AL KHOR, Qatar – The 22nd World Cup hatched Sunday in a setting that once would have seemed far-fetched: in a small city amid the vast sands along the Persian Gulf coast 45 minutes north of Doha, at a stadium with two rows of camels posing dutifully beneath riders outside and after an opening ceremony that managed to include Morgan Freeman, Jung Kook and an adorable floating cartoon figure in a thawb.

That made it all a bit jarring when the first match suffered swaths of empty seats through a drowsy second half, as though large portions of the 67,372 had fled to concessions to make a run on the nonalcoholic beer.

In between the fanfare and the fan flight, host Qatar took a 2-0 manhandling from Ecuador and its masterful 33-year-old mainstay Enner Valencia, who scored both goals, with the whole matter lop sided enough that the Ecuadoran goalkeeper seemed so untroubled that someone should have gotten him a chair, a little cafe table and a nonalcoholic beer.

Qatar became the first World Cup host to lose an opening match and, even as so many fans capit ulated early, they told of an experience far better than nonal coholic beer.

They had streamed into the stadium shortly before sunset for this World Cup deemed laughable even 12 years ago when the tiny country bid for it, and few seemed to have any illusions about the nation’s odds of beating Ecuador. Qatar’s national team was “much better than it used to be,” was all Abdullah al-Fakhro, a 31-year-old electrical engineer, allowed. But for him and others, the team’s pros pects were beside the point.

“It feels amazing,” al-Fakhro said, standing among the crowd, which included friends who attended together after imagining the moment for years, and families with children born long after Qatar won the right to host the tourna ment. He was proud, he said: “We can show people our culture.”

“A dream come true,” Sara Althawadi said as she joined her sister to watch the match.

“We waited for 12 years,” said Mohammed Salah, 19, a law student who attended with his friend Abdulrahman Abdul lah, also 19.

After the match, Mohammed Hany Al-Raeesi, 19, had trouble hiding his disappointment. “Prob ably the pressure overtook them,” he said of the Qatari team. But then he smiled. “It was a wonder ful experience,” he said. “Once in a lifetime.”

The pressure did seem to over take, ransack and swarm them. It grew possible to feel sorry even for a team that has built itself steadily into relevance, into an

unbeaten 2019 Asian Cup title and an unbeaten tour of

Sacramento got 33 points from De’Aaron Fox while all five start ers scored in the double digits. The Kings over came a sluggish second quarter, a seven-point second-half deficit and some hot 3-point shooting from Detroit to improve to 9-6 and light the beam atop Golden 1 Center.

Domantas Sabonis, dealing with foul trouble and hits to the face throughout the game, spurred the comeback in the fourth quarter with a pair of offen sive rebounds leading to baskets, a defen sive stop against rookie Jaden Ivey, and an assist to Kevin Huerter, who made it a four-point

game with 1:29 remain ing with a 3 from the corner.

Sabonis finished with 15 points, 13 rebounds and sevens assists while Huerter added 24, five and five. Har rison Barnes, who had a key dunk during the comeback sequence, had 27 points and nine rebounds.

Ivey scored 24 and Bojan Bogdanovic had 21 for the Pistons (3-15), who lost their seventh in a row.

Fox, who has been one of the NBA’s best clutch scorers this season, was given “MVP” chants during free throws inside the final minute. Coming into the game, his 42 points in clutch situations trailed only Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell (47) for the top mark in the NBA.

The Kings allowed Detroit to shoot 53% from the floor and 52% from distance. The

49ers vs. Cardinals: 5 keys to winning in Mexico City

Cam Inman BAY AREA NEWS GROUP

AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. –

“Since the draw took place [and put Ecuador opposite Qatar in Group A],” Valencia said, “I remember I was in a training camp with my club [Fenerbahce in Turkey], and I’ve dreamt about this opening match so many times.”

Having dreamt of the match, he had a dream of a match, his name quickly ratcheting up the wager ing standings for the Golden Boot, which goes to the World Cup’s top scorer. “It’s just about moments,” he said, and did he ever hoard some moments already.

At a mere three minutes, he seemed to score on a point-blank header from teammate Pervis Estupiñán’s bicycle kick amid goalkeeper Saad Al Sheeb’s bur geoning nightmare as he drifted

The 49ers are gambling that, after a chilly week here, their lungs are ready for the 7,218foot summit that is Estadio Azteca, site of Monday night’s game in Mexico City against the Arizona Cardinals.

High-altitude accli mation is not all they encountered.

Tests in mental for titude arose thanks to unexpected, bone-chill ing weather and snow showers, the opposite of what awaits when they fly today south of the border.

“It’s been an interest ing trip,” defensive end Nick Bosa said Friday. “It’s definitely testing our fortitude and our ability to stay positive.”

Altitude. Fortitude. Even attitudes came into play as the 49ers’ prepared for a possible

third straight win, in a much southern latitude.

A month removed from the team’s West Virginia layover, Jimmy Garoppolo agreed this was a peculiar trip, saying: “Nick worded it pretty well.” Garop polo added that the altitude indeed tested teammates, that “guys were sucking air a little bit. But it’s good for us. We’re going to play in that Monday.”

They’ll play in a pro49ers crowd, projected as much as 82 percent in their favor, which would be about 71,500 of the 87,523 capacity, per Vivid Seats’ fan fore cast. Say hello, or hola, to Levi’s Sur.

“I’ve heard there’s a lot of Mexican 49ers fans, so it should be pretty good,” Bosa added. “The stadium looks really cool. It should be loud and fun.” Here are five ways

Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post photos

Ecuador beat Qatar to open World Cup play Sunday.

Asian quali fying, even though it qualified for this World Cup as host. Now they looked blinded by the lights, such that soon a visitor was telling of his particular dream.

Enner Valencia scored both of Ecuador’s goals in Sunday’s win.

A bountiful

Thanksgiving dinner with just 20 ingredients

INGREDIENT AND SHOPPING LIST

Many home cooks will have at least half of the ingredients for this meal already in their pantry. And while I realize most people might just incorporate one or two of the recipes into their meals this holiday, I’ve listed approximate total amounts for ingredients you’ll likely need to purchase or want to make sure you have enough of.

❍ One 15-pound turkey – OR –one large (2 ½ – to 3-pound) head of cauliflower – Or you could get both!

❍

4 ½ pounds (about 9 medium) sweet potatoes ❍ 2 heads garlic ❍ 2 pounds green beans ❍ 1 pound fresh or frozen cranberries ❍ 3 or more oranges: You’ll only need three if you remember to save the orange you zest from the pie to cut into segments for the green beans. But also, you could always use any extras to decorate the turkey platter or simply save them for eating later.

❍

1 quart chicken or turkey stock: You probably won’t need all of it, but having extra stock on Thanksgiving is never a bad thing. Also, buy unsalted or low-sodium stock if you can.

❍

1 pound sliced almonds: This leaves extra in case you accidentally burn a batch when trying to toast them. ❍ 2 large eggs ❍

1 pound unsalted butter: Though it would never hurt to buy more because you can never have too much butter. ❍

Extra-virgin olive oil ❍ All-purpose flour

brown sugar

sage

thyme

WASHINGTON POST

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays because it’s primarily about food. But its rising cost will make this year’s meal particularly fraught for those struggling financially. With that in mind, I took on a challenge: coming up with a budgetfriendly Thanksgiving meal that’s still celebratory and full of flavor. While it’s easy to find affordable recipes for individ ual dishes, what can really make the meal costly is purchasing many different ingredients for each recipe. That’s why I developed this entire meal – turkey and gravy (or cauliflower as a vegetarian alternative), sides, cranberry sauce and pie – from only 20 ingredients total. (And yes, that includes everything, even oil, salt and pepper.)

The key: A number of ingre dients show up in multiple places in these recipes. For example, there’s orange in the cranberry sauce, green beans and pie; sweet potatoes make for both a savory side dish and a sweet dessert (they’re even pre pared the same way for added convenience); and almonds are used as a garnish for the green beans and cauliflower and form

the crust for the pie. Though some ingredients repeat, the menu is not one-note; each dish contributes to a symphony of textures and flavors, and the result is a delicious meal bountiful enough to feed six to eight people that shouldn’t break the bank.

TURKEY WITH ROASTED GARLIC GRAVY

Active time: 40 minutes

Total time: 3 hours, 15 minutes 12 to 15 servings

Though I’m an advocate of dry-brin ing and spatchcocking your turkey if you have the time and refrigera tor space, it is by no means necessary. This recipe for garlic-and-herb roasted turkey proves that you don’t need to be too fussy and that all you need is a handful of pantry items to end up with a tasty bird on your Thanksgiving table.

But what really makes this simple turkey stand out is the roasted garlic gravy served alongside it. Roast ing mellows the garlic’s bite, brings out some sweetness (similar to what happens when you caramel ize onions) and, perhaps most impor tantly here, adds depth of flavor to the otherwise straightforward gravy.

The basic method is simple: Trim the top of the head of garlic, through the tops of the cloves, drizzle with olive oil, wrap in foil and roast on a rimmed baking sheet in a moderate oven until very soft. It only takes about 45 minutes, but in this recipe I let the garlic roast the entire time the turkey is in the oven for sim plicity’s sake and to coax out as much

flavor as possible. Then squeeze the cloves into a simple gravy – don’t forget to use the pan drippings from the turkey – and transform it from good to great.

Storage: Refrigerate leftover gravy and turkey separately for up to 3 days. Bring leftover gravy to a rolling boil before serving.

For the turkey and garlic:

¼ cup plus 1 teaspoon extravirgin olive oil, divided 1 tablespoon plus ½ teaspoon fine salt

2 teaspoons garlic powder

2 teaspoons dried thyme

2 teaspoons dried rubbed sage

2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

One (15-pound) turkey, neck and giblets removed and reserved for another use 1 head garlic 1 cup water, plus more as needed

For the gravy:

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter

½ cup all-purpose flour

1 cup strained, defatted turkey drippings (may substitute 1 cup of stock) 1 teaspoon dried rubbed sage

½ teaspoon fine salt, plus more to taste

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste

2 cups no-salt-added or reduced-sodium chicken or turkey stock, plus more as needed (see above)

Make the turkey and roast the garlic: In a small bowl, whisk together ¼ cup of the oil, the salt, garlic powder,

thyme, sage and pepper until com bined. Place a rack on a large, rimmed baking sheet. Pat the turkey dry with towels, transfer it to the prepared baking sheet and tuck in the wing tips, if desired.

Rub the turkey all over with the oiland-spice mixture, making sure to get some in the cavity of the bird. Position the turkey breast side up on the baking sheet and let the turkey sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. Mean while, position a rack in the lower third of the oven (remove the upper racks) and preheat to 350 degrees.

Trim the top of the head of garlic, through the tops of the cloves. Place in a square of foil, drizzle with the remain ing 1 teaspoon of olive oil and wrap the garlic in the foil. Place the garlic in a corner of the baking sheet with the turkey.

Transfer the turkey to the oven, pour the water in the baking sheet, being careful not to pour it directly on the turkey or spill it, and roast the turkey for about 2 hours 30 minutes, adding more water to the pan if it ever gets dry, until an instant-read ther mometer inserted into the thickest part of thigh away from the bone registers 165 degrees and the skin is crisp and nicely browned. (If it begins to look too dark, you can partially tent the bird with foil.) Let the turkey rest for about 30 minutes before carving. Set aside the roasted garlic; strain the juices from the baking sheet through a fine mesh strainer and reserve for the gravy.

Make the gravy: While the turkey is resting, in a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter until it starts to foam. Whisk in the flour to form a smooth paste and cook, whisk ing occasionally, until it turns the color of toffee, 17 to 20 minutes. Squeeze in the roasted garlic cloves and add the turkey drippings, sage, salt and pepper, and whisk until smooth. Add the chicken or turkey stock, increase the heat to medium-high, bring it to a simmer and cook, stirring regularly until thickened, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat, taste, and season with more salt and pepper, as desired.

Carve the turkey and serve with the warm gravy on the side.

Nutrition information per serving (about 8 ounces turkey and a scant ¼ cup of gravy), based on 15 | Calories: 548; Total Fat: 32 g; Saturated Fat: 11 g; Cholesterol: 201 mg; Sodium: 859 mg; Carbohydrates: 5 g; Dietary Fiber: 0 g; Sugar: 0 g; Protein: 57 g

This analysis is an estimate based on available ingredients and this prepa ration. It should not substitute for a dietitian’s or nutritionist’s advice.

A Aron HutcHerson THE

Recipe from staff writer Aaron Hutcherson.

Scott Suchman/The Washington Post photos

WHOLE ROASTED CAULIFLOWER WITH ALMOND BROWN BUTTER

Active time: 15 minutes

Total time: 1 hour 45 minutes

6 servings

Whole roasted cauliflower makes a great vegetarian main course. Here, it gets rubbed all over with a mixture of olive oil and spices before it goes in the oven and is cooked until tender all the way through. Almond brown butter gets poured over the top just before serving, adding crunch and a touch of decadence to the humble vegetable and making it suitable as the centerpiece of Thanksgiving or any special meal.

When making brown butter, it’s best to use a light-colored pan, such as stain less steel, so you can more clearly see the color of the dairy. Sliced almonds are added to the butter partway through browning to toast the nuts for extra crunch and flavor. Once the butter is browned, it’s important to imme diately pour it from the skillet so it doesn’t continue cooking and burn.

Storage: Refrigerate left overs for up to 4 days.

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon dried sage

½ teaspoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon fine salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

One large (2 ½ - to 3-pound) head cauliflower

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

¼ cup sliced almonds

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 400 degrees.

In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, thyme, sage, garlic powder, salt and pepper to combine. Trim all the leaves from the base of the cauliflower. Trim the thick part of the stalk as much as needed so the cauliflower can sit flat.

Place the cauliflower bottom side up in a medium cast-iron skillet, Dutch oven or another similarly sized dish. Brush the bottom with some of the olive oil mixture. Flip the cauliflower right side up and brush with the remaining olive oil mixture until the cauliflower is evenly coated.

Cover tightly with aluminum foil or a lid and roast for 30 minutes. Uncover, baste with the oil from the pan, and con tinue roasting for 1 hour more, basting every 20 to 30 minutes, if desired, until a knife can be inserted into the cauli flower with little to no resistance and the cauliflower is nicely browned. Trans fer to a platter for serving.

Place a medium, preferably stainless steel (so you can easily see the color of the butter), skillet over medium heat. Add the butter and cook, stirring and swirling the skillet regularly, until the butter turns a light golden brown, about 3 minutes. Add the almonds, reduce the heat to low, and continue to cook, stir ring and swirling the skillet regularly, until the almonds are toasted and the butter is nicely browned, 2 to 3 minutes more. Pour the almond brown butter over the cauliflower, then carve it into thick wedges or slices, and serve warm.

Nutrition information per serving | Calories: 168; Total Fat: 13 g; Saturated Fat: 3 g; Cholesterol: 5 mg; Sodium: 254 mg; Carbohydrates: 11 g; Dietary Fiber: 4 g; Sugar: 4 g; Protein: 5 g

This analysis is an estimate based on available ingredients and this prepara tion. It should not substitute for a dieti tian’s or nutritionist’s advice.

Recipe from staff writer Aaron Hutcherson.

SWEET POTATO PUREE WITH ROASTED GARLIC

Active time: 10 minutes

Total time: 3 hours 6 to 8 servings (makes about 4 cups)

If you’re looking for an alternative to traditional mashed potatoes, this sweet potato puree is it. The addi tion of roasted garlic makes for an unexpected and lovely flavor com bination, adding savory depth to balance the sweetness of the tubers.

Start by roasting sweet potatoes and a head of garlic in a low-to-moder ate oven for a couple of hours. Slowroasting helps bring out more of the potatoes’ natural sweetness and pro duces a creamier texture (though you could roast them at a higher temper ature if you are short on time or want them to cook while you are baking other things.) At the same time, the garlic becomes mellow and deeply savory.

Then add the flesh of the sweet potatoes and the cloves from the entire head of garlic – garlic lovers, this one’s for you – to a food processor along with butter, salt and pepper and puree until smooth. The result is a savory and sweet side dish that’s simple and full of intrigue.

Make Ahead: The sweet potatoes and garlic can be roasted up to 1 day in advance.

Storage: Refrigerate leftovers for up to 4 days.

1 whole head garlic

1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil 3 pounds (about 6 medium)

sweet potatoes

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for serving 1 teaspoon fine salt, plus more to taste

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste Position a rack in the middle of the

oven and preheat to 300 degrees. Line a large, rimmed baking sheet with parch ment paper or a silicone baking mat.

Trim the top off the head of garlic, through the rounded tops of the cloves, place in a square of aluminum foil, drizzle with the olive oil and wrap the garlic in the foil.

Arrange the sweet potatoes and garlic on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 2 hours 30 minutes to 3 hours, or until the flesh of the sweet potatoes is very soft and can be easily pierced with a fork. Let sit on the counter until cool enough to handle, 20 to 30 minutes.

Scoop the sweet potato into the bowl of a food processor. Squeeze in the roasted garlic, discarding the spent heads. Add the butter, salt and pepper, and process until smooth and the butter is fully incorporated. (If you don’t have a food processor, use a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment or a hand mixer instead.) Taste, and season with more salt and/or pepper, as desired.

Transfer to a serving dish, top with more butter, as desired, and serve warm or at room temperature.

Nutrition information per serving (½ cup), based on 8 | Calories: 208; Total Fat: 7 g; Saturated Fat: 4 g; Cholesterol: 15 mg; Sodium: 390 mg; Carbohydrates: 36 g; Dietary Fiber: 5 g; Sugar: 7 g; Protein: 3 g

This analysis is an estimate based on available ingredients and this prepara tion. It should not substitute for a dieti tian’s or nutritionist’s advice.

Recipe from staff writer Aaron Hutcherson.

GREEN BEANS WITH ORANGES AND ALMONDS

25 minutes

6 to 8 servings (makes about 7 cups)

This Thanksgiving, make these green beans with orange segments and toasted almonds as a lighter, brighter alternative to the classic green bean casserole. It’s also easy, festive and full of flavor and texture.

Start by toasting sliced almonds in a dry skillet to give them extra flavor and crunch before setting them to the side to save as a garnish. Next, saute fresh green beans and season them dried thyme, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Sauteing this many green beans in a skillet is hard to do evenly, but in this instance that’s a good thing.

Some will get soft and charred in spots, while others will become crisp-ten der, resulting in a variety of textures.

At the very end of cooking, toss in the orange segments. The citrus will warm ever so slightly from the residual heat as it adds color and a hint of acidity and sweetness, perking up the entire dish.

Storage: Refrigerate leftovers

for up to 4 days.

NOTE: To segment (supreme) an orange, slice off the bottom and the top of the fruit. Stand the orange on a cutting board with one of the cut sides down. Use a serrated or paring knife to cut the peel and the pith away from the fruit in strips, top to bottom. Then, holding the fruit in your hand, cut the segments away from the membrane. (The idea is to remove all of the membrane and white pith.)

½ cup sliced almonds

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 2 pounds fresh green beans, rinsed and trimmed ½ teaspoon fine salt, plus more to taste

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

½ teaspoon garlic powder ½ teaspoon dried thyme

2 navel oranges, cut into segments (supremed; see NOTE)

Place the almonds in a cold, dry 12-inch, or larger, skillet set over medium heat and toast, tossing fre quently, until browned in spots and fra grant, about 5 minutes. Transfer the almonds to a small bowl to stop them from toasting further.

Add the oil to the skillet, increase the heat to medium-high and heat the oil until shimmering. Add the green beans, salt, pepper, garlic powder and thyme and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned in spots, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from the heat, add the orange segments and toss to combine. Taste, and season with more salt, if needed.

Transfer the mixture to a serving dish, sprinkle with the toasted almonds and serve warm or at room temperature.

NOTE: To segment (supreme) an orange, slice off the bottom and the top of the fruit. Stand the orange on a cutting board with one of the cut sides down. Use a serrated or paring knife to cut the peel and the pith away from the fruit in strips, top to bottom. Then, holding the fruit in your hand, cut the segments away from the membrane. (The idea is to remove all of the mem brane and white pith.)

Nutrition information per serving (1 scant cup), based on 8 | Calories: 116; Total Fat: 7 g; Saturated Fat: 1 g; Choles terol: 0 mg; Sodium: 155 mg; Carbohy drates: 14 g; Dietary Fiber: 5 g; Sugar: 7 g; Protein: 4 g

This analysis is an estimate based on available ingredients and this prepara tion. It should not substitute for a dieti tian’s or nutritionist’s advice.

Recipe from staff writer Aaron Hutcherson.

8 servings (makes about 2 cups)

In the world of cranberry sauce, there are two camps: canned and home made. While I love the former (jellied, please), homemade cranberry sauce is almost as easy as opening a can. All you really need are fruit and sugar, and you’re good to go. This recipe uses brown sugar for a bit of depth compared to white, and includes orange and carda mom for citrus flavor and fragrance.

1 pound (454 grams) fresh or frozen cranberries ¾ cup (165 grams) packed light brown sugar

Finely grated zest and juice of 1 navel orange (1 tablespoon zest plus ¼ cup/60 milliliters juice) ½ teaspoon ground cardamom ⅛ teaspoon fine salt

In a medium saucepan over high heat, combine the cranberries, sugar, orange zest and juice, cardamom and salt and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to maintain a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally and adjusting the heat as needed, until the berries burst and the sauce thickens, 12 to 15 minutes.

Remove from the heat and let cool. Serve at room temperature or refriger ate until needed.

Nutrition information per serving (¼ cup) | Calories: 97; Total Fat: 0 g; Satu rated Fat: 0 g; Cholesterol: 0 mg; Sodium: 38 mg; Carbohydrates: 26 g; Dietary Fiber: 3 g; Sugar: 21 g; Protein: 0 g

This analysis is an estimate based on available ingredients and this prepara tion. It should not substitute for a dieti tian’s or nutritionist’s advice.

SWEET POTATO PIE WITH ALMOND CRUST

Active time: 20 minutes | Total time: 4 hours, 30 minutes 8 to 10 servings (makes one 9-inch pie)

This sweet potato pie with an almond crust makes for a low-effort, impres sive dessert. Brown sugar adds depth and sweetness, and the filling is fla vored with orange zest, cardamom and cinnamon. The almond crust doesn’t require a rolling pin and happens to be gluten-free, but you could use a regular pie crust, if you wish.

Make Ahead: The sweet potatoes can be roasted up to 1 day in advance. The pie can be baked up to 1 day in advance; remove from the refriger ator 30 minutes before serving.

Storage Notes: Refrigerate left overs for up to 4 days.

For the roasted sweet potato filling: 1 ½ pounds (about 3 medium) sweet potatoes 8 tablespoons (1 stick/113 grams) unsalted butter, at

room temperature

½ cup (110 grams) packed light brown sugar

1 tablespoon finely grated orange zest (from 1 orange)

½ teaspoon ground cardamom

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon fine salt

1 large whole egg plus 1 large egg yolk

For the almond crust: 4 tablespoons (½ stick/56 grams) unsalted butter, melted, plus more for greasing

3 ⅓ cups (325 grams) sliced almonds

3 tablespoons packed light brown sugar

½ teaspoon fine salt

1 large egg white, lightly whisked

Roast the sweet potatoes: Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 300 degrees. Line a large, rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Arrange the sweet potatoes on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 2 hours 30 minutes to 3 hours, or until the flesh of the sweet potatoes is very soft and can be easily pierced with a fork. Let sit on the counter until cool enough to handle, 20 to 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the almond crust: Lightly grease a 9-inch pie plate with butter. In the bowl of a food processor, combine the almonds, sugar and salt and pulse until finely ground. Add the melted butter and the egg white, and pulse until uniformly combined. (Alter natively, finely chop the almonds by hand and mix the crust in a medium bowl.) Press the crust evenly into the base and up the sides of the prepared pie plate and set aside. Wipe out the food processor.

Make the filling and bake the pie: Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees. Scoop out the flesh of the sweet potatoes into the bowl of a food processor (you should have about 2 cups), add the butter, sugar, orange zest, cardamom, cinnamon and salt, and process until smooth and thor oughly combined. Add the egg and egg yolk and process until thoroughly com bined. (Alternatively, use a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment or a hand mixer and a large bowl to mix the pie filling until thoroughly combined.)

Pour the filling into the prepared pie shell and bake for about 1 hour 15 minutes, or until the filling is matte. (If any part of the pie starts to darken too quickly, tent it with foil.)

Transfer to a wire rack and let cool for at least 30 minutes before serving warm or at room temperature; or let cool completely, cover loosely with alu minum foil and refrigerate until ready to serve.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: SWEET POTATO PIE WITH ALMOND CRUST; SWEET POTATO PUREE WITH ROASTED GARLIC; CRANBERRY SAUCE WITH CARDAMOM AND BROWN SUGAR; GREEN BEANS WITH ORANGES AND ALMONDS; WHOLE ROASTED CAULIFLOWER WITH ALMOND BROWN BUTTER.

Scott Suchman/The Washington Post photos

Crypto’s future is in the regulated banking system

Edward H arrison BLOOMBERG NEWS

After hitting all-time highs in 2021, cryptocurrency prices haven’t found a definitive floor. And the appeal of crypto’s promise to reinvent money has also reached its limit in a very niche audience. To attract a bigger, more mainstream user base, the new technology’s advocates will have to completely overhaul how they promote it.

Imagine your cousin, your dentist or someone else you know who is the least likely to experiment with money or technology. I think about my mother. She’s never going to use a Bitcoin wallet at Coin base or open a savings account in USDC, a digital stablecoin pegged to the dollar. She’ll never want a nonfungible token for a digital collectible on Tom Brady’s Autograph network. But she might be willing to verify her identity at her mortgage lender’s website if it allowed her to speed up the process for buying a house. And if that digital identifica tion process was powered by the blockchain technology that underlies crypto, she wouldn’t even have to know.

Most people are like her: They have no interest in any new technology unless it can help them do things more quickly, more cheaply and more safely. That’s why iTunes was a winner. That’s why Amazon. com is a juggernaut. That’s why Netflix gained so many adher ents. And that’s why payment apps such as Zelle and Venmo have mass appeal.

The trouble with crypto so far – in addition to its volatil ity, the scams and the failures of untested intermediaries – is that a lot of the problems it claims to solve have already been solved. We can already send digital payments or set up online savings accounts. And we can do it with the same currency we use to pay our taxes and make cash transactions. So why do we really need cryptocurrency?

Creating trust

Let’s go back to where it all started: our need to trust money. It’s why the financial industry is rife with such terms as trust, security, custodian,

guaranty. Nonetheless, every so often there’s a calamitous break of trust in which bankrupt cies proliferate, investors are wiped out and millions lose their jobs and homes.

One example was the Great Depression, when people dis covered the banks to which they’d entrusted their money weren’t as secure as they’d hoped. In the aftermath, the power of the government and a new regulatory struc ture were placed behind the banks to help restore trust. In the US that meant the cre ation of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the Securi ties and Exchange Commission and a new housing authority to help support an increase in home loans.

Then the 2008 financial crisis showed how inadequate those safeguards were. Big financial institutions and their regulators seemed unpre pared for the collapse of home prices and the effect that had on financial markets and the broader economy. Suddenly people didn’t trust banks or the government.

Enter crypto. Bitcoin was born in a white paper pub lished on Oct. 31, 2008, just weeks after Lehman Brothers went bankrupt and the gov ernment and Federal Reserve started rescuing banks. The paper declared that digital com merce was overly dependent on trust in financial institutions. The idea was to create “an elec tronic payment system based on cryptographic proof instead of trust.” Effectively, trustless ness. Instead of relying on the bankers who repossessed your home while paying themselves massive bonuses, people could opt into a secure, decentralized network called the blockchain. Crypto, the enthusiasts said, would rival the existing cen tralized financial system in due course.

Almost 15 years later, this new money has lost much of its utopian appeal. It turns out that, for most people, this new finan cial system does require placing your trust in an institution –maybe a wallet provider or a token exchange or a decentral ized finance (DeFi) lender. And too many of them have turned out to be frauds or vulnerable to hacks. Today even some of the

most passionate crypto advo cates are saying the market needs government regula tion to regain trust and bring in the established financial institutions that were once the enemies of crypto.

If crypto doesn’t provide a more trustworthy alternative to traditional finance, then what’s it for? So far, its primary users seem to be people fearful of using their own government’s currency because of political or economic risk or because they want to evade law enforcement. Oth erwise, its main use has been specula tion – gambling on the value of the currencies themselves or digital assets, such as NFTs, purchased with the currencies.

How to rebuild crypto

residential mortgages in the US.

But real estate transac tions and mortgage lending are notorious for the amount and complexity of the paper work required. Keeping track of the necessary information and processing it efficiently can be challenging. Facilitating

The trouble with crypto so far – in addition to its volatility, the scams and the failures of untested intermediaries – is that a lot of the problems it claims to solve have already been solved. We can already send digital payments or set up online savings accounts. And we can do it with the same currency we use to pay our taxes and make cash transactions. So why do we really need cryptocurrency?

I have an idea, though. When we talk about financial transac tions, we’re really talking about two different things.

There’s money, a medium of exchange that allows us to buy or sell goods and services more efficiently than bartering. But to make such a medium trust worthy, it needs to be a reliable store of value over time. Other wise you risk exchanging your valuable good or service for a token that quickly sinks in pur chasing power. Indeed, it’s the inter-temporal nature of some transactions that requires the most trust.

So when we talk about money, the second thing we’re also talking about is debt – that is, transactions that are intertemporal from the start. At the end of the first quarter of 2022, total credit to the private non financial sector was more than $37 trillion in the US.

And few types of debt are more mainstream than mort gages. Back in 1920s America, buying a house might require paying half the value up front and borrowing the other half for five years. Before the US gov ernment stepped in, lenders didn’t trust buyers enough to make a 30-year loan with only 10% or 20% upfront, as is common today. Now there are more than $10 trillion worth of

those types of transactions – by putting essential information about properties, owners and loans on an immutable digital ledger – could make crypto indispensable.

For the loan originators, after an upfront investment in the technology, a digital record could lead to considerable savings in time and labor. Some of those savings could be passed on to the borrowers. For the mortgage applicant, automated verification of identity, income, bank account statements and the like would speed up a stress ful but unavoidable process.

If established and regulated financial-services compa nies moved their home lending documentation on to such an ecosystem, eventually they might move myriad other services, too.

We’ve already seen some well-known companies invest ing in blockchain technology. Hedera Hashgraph has buy-in from some of the biggest names in technology and banking, including Boeing, Deutsche Telekom, Google, LG and Nomura. And even though JPM organ Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon has called crypto currencies “decentralized Ponzi schemes,” he’s investing the bank’s money in a digital ledger called Onyx coin systems, which JPMorgan’s website describes as seeking “to help address the complex challenges of cross border payments, sim

plify clients’ liquidity funding needs and offer next generation corporate treasury services.” Could this augur a new future for crypto’s underlying technol ogy? A highly regulated system made up of established compa nies transacting through a more secure digital database?

Not only do these ini tiatives lack the Wild West appeal of crypto’s early years, but they’re also the opposite of the totally anonymous and decen tralized networks that crypto enthusiasts hoped to create. Ethereum’s website describes DeFi as “an alternative to a system that’s opaque, tightly con trolled and held together by decades-old infra structure and processes.”

But Ethereum’s exam ples for DeFi’s current use cases – helping people take out loans without using any per sonal identification and enabling crypto-savvy Argentines to escape inflation – seem unlikely to scale up to the mainstream.

When I started thinking about crypto and trust, I was optimistic about the chances for a reboot of the crypto space. But as I thought more about how existing crypto platforms are organized, it seemed almost impossible to transform the culture of DeFi and NFTs into something that can truly replace existing banks and money. But the idea of moving some of our financial system to a distributed ledger might still work.

We could end up with a hybrid of three different systems of trust: trust in estab lished brands and institutions, trust in regulatory protec tions and the trust created by a supposedly immutable and unhackable digital ledger. All of these have been shown to be imperfect by the Great Depres sion, the 2008 great financial crisis and the crypto meltdown. Maybe the combination will be less imperfect. There’s some value in that. But it’s not the future of money.

Edward Harrison, who writes about bonds and currencies for Bloomberg’s Markets Live blog, is based in Washington. This column doesn’t necessar ily reflect the opinions of Bloom berg LP and its owners.

Razvan Nitoi/Dreamstime/TNS

Cryptocurrency payments, unlike credit and debit cards, do not come with legal protections.

Niecy NashBetts stars as the oldest recruit in FBI history in “The Rookie: Feds.”

Love, family focus of this weekend’s films

SuSan Hiland SHILAND@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

FAIRFIELD — The Thanksgiving holiday weekend will open with movies about family, new loves and hard sacrifices.

Opening nationwide are:

“Bones and All,” which tells the tale of first love between Maren, a young woman learn ing how to survive on the margins of society, and Lee, an intense and dis enfranchised drifter, who travel the roads of Ronald Reagan’s America. But despite their best efforts, all roads lead back to their terrifying pasts and to a final stand that will deter mine whether their love can survive their other ness. The film is rated R.

“Devotion,” an aerial war epic based on the bestselling book of the same name. The film tells the harrowing true story of two elite U.S. Navy fighter pilots during the Korean War. Their heroic sacrifices would ultimately make them the Navy’s most celebrated wingmen. The film is rated PG-13.

“Strange World,” a film about the legend ary Clades family who are all explorers. In this animated adven ture, the family finds themselves facing dif ferences in their family that threaten the success of the mission. The film is rated PG.

Opening in limited release are:

“Leonor Will Never Die,” a film about an aging actress, Leonor Reyes, who was hot and popular in the Fili pino film industry during the glory days but who

now struggles with old age, mounting bills and the untimely death of her son. While revisit ing an unfinished script about a fearless protag onist trying to avenge his brother’s murder, Leonor is struck on the head by a falling tele vision set and knocked into a coma. As she lay unconscious in the hos pital, fantasy and reality begin to blur when Leonor finds herself awake inside her script, becoming the hero of her own story. The film is not rated.

“Most Guys are Losers,” in which bar owner Mark Berzins has watched plenty of rela tionships burn bright and fizzle out. When his daughter Sandy brings home a new boyfriend, he sees clearly this is not going to work. He is determined to investi gate the new boyfriend and prove once and for all he is right – the guy is not the “one.” As he starts digging, he soon realizes there is a lot more going on and he might not actu ally be right. The film is not rated.

For information on Edwards Cinemas in Fairfield, visit www.reg movies.com/theatres/ regal-edwards-fairfieldimax. For Vacaville showtimes, visit www. brendentheatres.com. For Vallejo showtimes, check www.cinemark. com/theatres/ca-vallejo. More information about upcoming films is avail able at www.movie insider.com.

Zits Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman

Pearls Before Swine

Stephan Pastis

Dilbert Scott Adams

Baby Blues Rick Kirkman and Jerry Scott

Baldo Hector Cantú and Carlos Castellanos

Yannis Drakoulidis/Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures

Taylor Russell, left, as Maren and Timothée Chalamet as Lee in “Bones and All,” directed by Luca Guadagnino, a Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures film.

‘Fleishman Is in Trouble’ spends too much time with the wrong people

Sonia R ao THE WASHINGTON POST

You need not be divorced –or married, even – to recognize the sense of upheaval that can accompany the dissolution of a marriage. Most people marry with the intent for it to last, and then all of a sudden the unluckier sort find themselves signing papers legally extricating their lives from the people with whom they hoped they would be entwined for good. They might be depressed about it. Or maybe they sigh in relief.

Hollywood would suggest the most interesting, authentic stories fall somewhere in between.

The new FX limited series “Fleishman Is in Trouble,” which airs the first two of eight episodes on Thursday, picks up after a divorce between the Fleishmans, Toby (Jesse Eisenberg) and Rachel (Claire Danes), a well-to-do couple in their early 40s on the Upper East Side. One day, Rachel, an overworked talent agent, simply disappears. She never returns from a retreat to pick up the couple’s two young chil dren, leaving Toby to care for them while working as a liver specialist at a Manhattan hos pital. From Toby’s perspective, which dominates at least the first few episodes, this is classic Rachel. Of course she would be this selfish.

“Fleishman,” adapted from a novel written by series creator Taffy Brodesser-Akner, initially operates as a mystery: Where is Rachel, and is this the sort of behavior that led to the end of their marriage?

Viewers ponder the questions as Brodesser-Akner slowly upends whatever assumptions they may have formed. It isn’t novel to suggest there are two sides to every story, nor does “Fleishman” add much to that

Streaming

conversation. The intrigue lies in how it reveals simple truths about relationships blossom ing, evolving and sometimes deteriorating – an exercise in perspective that winds up less effective in television form.

The book is written and the series narrated from the view point of Toby’s college friend Libby Epstein (Lizzy Caplan), who stopped seeing Toby when he married Rachel over a decade ago and only hears from him when he reaches out to rekindle his friendship with Libby and their pal Seth Morris (Adam Brody) after the Fleish mans split up. Libby is just as dissatisfied these days, a former men’s magazine writer who feels stifled by her life in the New York City suburbs with her husband, Adam (Josh Radnor), and their kids.

Libby narrates the series as though she resides in every one’s head; this style, paired with the early focus on Toby, sets viewers up to empathize with him, at least somewhat. We are meant to roll our eyes with him at the shallow friends to whom Rachel clings, to feel his frustration as the sudden child-care issues put strain on his performance at work. When Libby switches to Rachel’s per spective partway through, it seems as though we are meant to be surprised by the revela tion that Toby wasn’t entirely fair to his ex-wife.

The reveal lands with a whimper, given that viewers are well aware by this point that Toby is unpleasant. It’s not that “Fleishman” doesn’t understand this; multiple char

acters comment on what a jerk he can be, and an early montage of his post-divorce sexual activity suggests that his dating app activity is at least a little bit gross. But by spend ing as much time as it does illustrating how a sympathetic figure can still be flawed, the series gets stuck in its own trap.

The structural issue is true of the novel as well – this is a loyal adaptation, with Brodesser-Akner writing all but one episode – though the author’s engaging prose keeps even a skeptical reader moti vated. The series is forced to condense that writing into Libby’s animated narration, narrowly avoiding an overre liance on it. Though Caplan commits to the task with impeccable comedic timing, her character’s insights don’t do much to temper the smug ness Eisenberg is so great at exuding, but which the series deploys too often.

That “Fleishman” is frontloaded with Toby becomes even more unfortunate upon reaching the standout episode exploring Rachel’s side. Even while playing a woman unsure of herself, Danes has a com manding presence, one that immediately draws viewers in. She doesn’t need Libby’s voiceovers to help convey Rachel’s deep insecurities and anguish, though a single line of narra tion just about sums it up: “Yes, she was a terrible person, but bad things happen to terrible people, too.”

Such is the moral of “Fleish man,” a narrow slice of the misery we, as human beings, inflict upon ourselves and our loved ones. It remains ambig uous which Fleishman the title is referring to; from the look of things, Rachel is in just as much trouble as Toby, or as anyone who has ever stuck a little too hard to their own point of view.

IF GIVEN A CHANCE, TRY TO CAPITALIZE

Quite often, you will be the declarer in what appears to be a hopeless contract. However, stay alert. If a defender errs, make him pay. How should South play in four spades after West strangely leads his trump? (Yes, South was very strong for a weak two-bid.)

Sudoku

Bridge

IF GIVEN A CHANCE, TRY TO CAPITALIZE

Fill in the grid so that every row, every column and every 3x3 grid contains the digits 1 through 9, with no repeats. That means that no number is repeated in any row, column or box. Solution, tips and computer program at www.sudoku.com

Quite often, you will be the declarer in what appears to be a hopeless contract. However, stay alert. If a defender errs, make him pay. How should South play in four

by Phillip Alder

If the deal looks familiar, don’t worry. It is identical – monozygotic! –to yesterday’s. Three spades went down after diamond king, diamond to the ace, and club queen shift. When East switched to a low club, declarer played low from his hand and lost only two tricks in each minor.

At five tables, North-South climbed to four spades. Twice, West led the diamond king and continued with a low diamond. Each East shifted to the club four to defeat the contract. Note that this was the correct defense against four spades, giving declarer a guess if he had the club king and club jack.

At two tables, West led his trump. A singleton trump lead is almost never right. One South drew three rounds before switching to the heart jack. However, West correctly covered with the heart queen, blocking the suit and leaving declarer with just nine tricks.

The other declarer drew only two rounds before playing the heart jack. It was covered and won on the board. Then a heart to the nine was followed by a trump to the queen and two top hearts.

At the last table, West led the diamond king and shifted to the club jack(!) at trick two. South won with his king and then handled the majors correctly to bring home an overtrick and a top!

by Wayne Gould

Bridge

‘Fleishman Is in Trouble’ Premiered Thursday on Hulu with Episodes 1 and 2. New episodes will stream weekly.

Linda Kallerus/FX

Jesse Eisenberg as Toby Fleishman, and Lizzy Caplan as Libby Epstein in “Fleishman Is in Trouble.”

T.S.No.20-00549-HP-CATitleNo.200142165-CA-VOIA.P.N.0176-123-110NOTICE

OFTRUSTEE SSALE.YOUAREINDEFAULTUNDERADEEDOFTRUSTDATED 12/10/2018.UNLESSYOUTAKEACTIONTOPROTECTYOURPROPERTY,ITMAY BESOLDATAPUBLICSALE.IFYOUNEEDANEXPLANATIONOFTHENATUREOF THEPROCEEDINGAGAINSTYOU,YOUSHOULDCONTACTALAWYER.Apublic auctionsaletothehighestbidderforcash,(cashier scheck(s)mustbemadepayableto NationalDefaultServicingCorporation), drawnonastateornationalbank,acheckdrawn byastateorfederalcreditunion,oracheckdrawnbyastateorfederalsavingsandloan association,savingsassociation,orsavingsbankspecifiedinSection5102oftheFinancialCodeandauthorizedtodobusinessinthisstate;willbeheldbythedulyappointed trusteeasshownbelow,ofallright,title,andinterestconveyedtoandnowheldbythe trusteeinthehereinafterdescribedpropertyunderandpursuanttoaDeedof Trustdescribedbelow.Thesalewillbemadeinan“asis”condition,butwithoutcovenantorwarranty,expressedorimplied,regardingtitle,possession,orencumbrances,topaytheremainingprincipalsumofthenote(s)securedbytheDeedofTrust,withinterestandlate chargesthereon,asprovidedinthenote(s),advances,underthetermsoftheDeedof Trust,interestthereon,fees,chargesandexpensesoftheTrusteeforthetotalamount(at thetimeoftheinitial publicationoftheNoticeofSale)reasonablyestimatedtobeset forthbelow.Theamountmaybegreateronthedayofsale.Trustor:CothellPalmoreSr, singlemanDulyAppointedTrustee:NationalDefaultServicingCorporationRecorded 12/11/2018asInstrumentNo.201800083321(orBook,Page)andre-recorded 05/24/2022asInstrumentNo.202200036711(orBook,Page)oftheOfficialRecordsof SolanoCounty,CA.DateofSale:12/28/2022at9:00AMPlaceofSale:SantaCl ara StreetEntrancetoVallejoCityHall,555SantaClaraStreet,Vallejo,CA.94590Estimatedamountofunpaidbalanceandothercharges:$402,830.71StreetAddressorother commondesignationofrealproperty:335BrocktonPlRioVista,CA94571A.P.N.:0176123-110TheundersignedTrusteedisclaimsanyliabilityforanyincorrectnessofthe streetaddressorothercommondesignation,ifany,shownabove.Ifnostreetaddressor othercommondesignationisshown,d irectionstothelocationofthepropertymaybeobtainedbysendingawrittenrequesttothebeneficiarywithin10daysofthedateoffirst publicationofthisNoticeofSale.IftheTrusteeisunabletoconveytitleforanyreason, thesuccessfulbidder ssoleandexclusiveremedyshallbethereturnofmoniespaidto theTrustee,andthesuccessfulbiddershallhavenofurtherrecourse.Therequirements of CaliforniaCivilCodeSection2923.5(b)/2923.55(c)werefulfill edwhentheNoticeofDefaultwasrecorded.NOTICETOPOTENTIALBIDDERS:Ifyouareconsideringbidding onthispropertylien,youshouldunderstandthattherearerisksinvolvedinbiddingata trusteeauction.Youwillbebiddingonalien,notonthepropertyitself.Placingthe highestbidatatrusteeauctiondoesnotautomaticallyentitleyoutofreeandclearownershipoftheproperty.Youshouldalsobeawarethatthelienbeingauctionedoffmaybea juniorlien.Ifyou arethehighestbidderattheauction,youareormayberesponsiblefor payingoffallliensseniortothelienbeingauctionedoff,beforeyoucanreceivecleartitle totheproperty.Youareencouragedtoinvestigatetheexistence,priority,andsizeofoutstandingliensthatmayexistonthispropertybycontactingthecountyrecorder sofficeor atitleinsurancecompany,eitherofwhichmaychargeyouafeeforthisinformation.If youconsulteitheroftheseresources, youshouldbeawarethatthesamelendermay holdmorethanonemortgageordeedoftrustontheproperty.NOTICETOPROPERTY OWNER:Thesaledateshownonthisnoticeofsalemaybepostponedoneormore timesbythemortgagee,beneficiary,trustee,oracourt,pursuanttoSection2924gofthe CaliforniaCivilCode.Thelawrequiresthatinformationabouttrusteesalepostponementsbemadeavailabletoyouandtothepublic,asacourtesytothosenotpresentat thesale.Ifyouwi shtolearnwhetheryoursaledatehasbeenpostponed,and,ifapplicable,therescheduledtimeanddateforthesaleofthisproperty,youmaycallorvisitthis InternetWebsitewww.ndscorp.com/sales,usingthefilenumberassignedtothiscase 20-00549-HP-CA.Informationaboutpostponementsthatareveryshortindurationorthat occurcloseintimetothescheduledsalemaynotimmediatelybereflectedinthetelephoneinformationorontheInternetWebsite.Thebestwaytoverifypostponementinformationistoattendthescheduledsale.NOTICETOTENANT*:Youmayhavearight topurchasethispropertyafterthetrusteeauctionpursuanttoSection2924moftheCaliforniaCivilCode.Ifyouarean“eligibletenantbuyer,”youcanpurchasethepropertyif youmatchthelastandhighestbidplacedatthetrusteeauction.Ifyouarean“eligible bidder,”youmaybeabletopurchasethepropertyifyouexceedthelastandhighestbid placedatthetrusteeauction.Therearethreestepstoexercisingthisrightofpurchase. First,48hoursafterthedateofthetrusteesale,youcancall888-264-4010,orvisitthis internetwebsitewww.ndscorp.com,usingthefilenumberassignedtothiscase2000549-HP-CAtofindthedateonwhichthetrustee ssalewasheld,theamountofthelast andhighestbid,andtheaddressofthetrustee.Second,youmustsendawrittennotice ofintenttoplaceabidsothatthetrusteereceivesitnomorethan15daysafterthetrusteeʼssale.Third,youmustsubmitabidsothatthetrusteereceivesitnomorethan45 daysafterthetrusteeʼssale.Ifyouthinkyoumayqualifyasan“eligibletenantbuyer”or “eligiblebidder,”youshouldconsidercontactinganattorneyorappropriaterealestate

the 49ers can win and have more fun than their 2005 visit, when they lost to the Cardinals 31-14 in the NFL’s first regular-season interna tional game:

5. Kittle vs. Baker

One of the NFC West’s best matchups features 49ers tight end George Kittle and Cardinals safety Budda Baker. Both have made big-time plays, and Kittle has come away injured from a couple of interactions.

“He’s the first that’s always there to tackle me if I have the football,” Kittle said. “. . . He’s one of my favorite guys to go against because his effort on tape.”

Nor does Kittle, unless injured. He got hurt in a 2019 Halloween win at Arizona, but he also beat Baker for a touch down that game. In the 2020 opener, Baker’s low hit on a jumping Kittle resulted in a knee inury that sidelined the 49ers’ star the next two games.

Baker was called one of the NFL’s best players by 49ers defensive coordi nator DeMeco Ryans. But Baker is battling an ankle injury, one of many health issues crippling the Cardi nals this season.

Kittle had just one catch – albeit a spark plug – in last Sunday’s win over the Los Angeles Chargers. “I tell Jimmy on the sidelines all the time, I always tell him, I’m open, I’ve got one-on-one cov erage, I’m available, just throw me the ball if you need me,” Kittle said.

4. Receivers galore

If this turns into a passoriented shootout, the 49ers’ defense will have its hands full. The Cardi nals could have DeAndre Hopkins (hamstring; questionable) and Mar quise Brown (short-term

injured reserve) together for the first time this season, not to overlook the presence of A.J. Green and Rondale Moore, the latter of whom has averaged eight catches for 85 yards the past three games.

Hopkins, after starting the season on a six-game suspension for a perfor mance-enhancing drug violation, isn’t shy about demanding the ball, as HBO’s “Hard Knocks” documented in a recent sideline exchange he had with Kyler Murray.

Hopkins caught 14 of 16 targets for 151 yards in a 2020-opening win at the 49ers.

The 49ers’ second ary will have their lungs tested the most against that corps, and starting cornerback Charvarius Ward missed practices this week while excused for a family matter.

Is the 49ers’ receiv ing corps better? Brandon Aiyuk is enjoying the best stretch of his 2 ½-season career. Deebo Samuel is healthy. Jauan Jennings is a third-down menace. And Christian McCaffrey is at the ready from the slot or backfield, as is Kittle (see: above item vs. Baker).

3. Wild-card Murray

The 49ers expect Murray to return from a hamstring injury that kept him out of the Cardi nals’ last game, a win over the Los Angeles Rams in which Colt McCoy won in his place. Murray is listed as questionable.

What do they actu ally expect from Murray? Speed. Elusiveness. Or, simply, the mobil ity they’ve struggled to contain with their aggres sive pass rush.

Perhaps just as haz ardous to the defense’s health is how they’ll attack Murray on the run. Dre Greenlaw got ejected before halftime last Sunday for his hel met-to-helmet hit on Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert. Murray’s 5-foot-10 frame isn’t easy to nab, but Nick Bosa is the 49ers’ best shot at cap

turing him and adding to a 9 ½-sack total that is the NFL’s second-best.

Murray doesn’t have to run to beat the 49ers, and that hamstring issue could force him to play more from the pocket. He had seven carries for 1 yards in last Octo ber’s 17-10 win over the 49ers, in Trey Lance’s first career start as the Niners’ quarterback.

2. Seeking seven

Scoring two touch downs in five trips inside their opponents’ 20-yard line had critics panning the 49ers’ redzone offense. It was the third time this season they posted a 2-of-5 con version rate.

The 49ers have no excuse in terms of avail able offensive talent to score big against a team allowing the NFL’s third-most points per game (25.8).

Not capitalizing on such goal-line opportuni ties has sparked critics to overanalyze everything from Shanahan’s (conser vative) play call to All-Pro left tackle Trent Wil liams’ stance, which may or may not tip off a run or pass play, which may mean nothing or every thing. The Cardinals are allowing touchdowns on 67.5-percent of red-zone drives, the NFL’s fifthmost generous mark.

The 49ers have had 12 players score touch downs this season, the most coming from Brandon Aiyuk (four), Deebo Samuel (three) and Chris tian McCaffrey(three).

“When you’re on a team with a lot of differ ent weapons, that kind of naturally happens, which is a good thing,” McCaffrey said.

McCaffrey isn’t balking at a potential platoon with 2021 rushing leader Elijah Mitchell, even if last Sunday’s debut of that tandem isn’t assured longterm viability.

“Basically I see who’s in the huddle, but it doesn’t change anything, honestly,” Garoppolo

said. “. . . They get after it and they challenge each other, which makes for a good group.”

1. Use the crowd

The 49ers, seeking to go 4-0 in NFC West action, should have overwhelm ing crowd support. That also was the 2005 scouting report, until the Cardinals mounted an early lead and swayed fans to their side.

Emotions will run wild amid the pageantry of the NFL’s return to Mexico for the first time since 2019. The 49ers already have endured a mindbender of a week, courtesy of Colorado’s early, win ter-like chill and snowfall.

“Oh (expletive), did you see yesterday,” Trent Williams said of Thurs day’s 20-degree practice amid light snow. “That was a tough one. Everybody had to show a little mental toughness yesterday, every coach, every player, even you (reporters).”

If the 49ers win, it was worth it. If they lose, fingers will point to whoever concluded it was a good idea to go on a week-long business trip for altitude adjust ment – something pitched to Shanahan from the 49ers’ health and perfor mance staff, which wasn’t available for comment this past week.

Awaiting the 49ers back at Levi’s Stadium is a three-game homes tand of Sunday matinées against the New Orleans Saints, the Miami Dol phins and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

This isn’t a goodwill tour for the 49ers. They fly in Sunday, fly out after Monday night’s game. They’re not taking for granted Mexicans’ vast support, and they’ve got grander plans for where this season is headed, all due respect to the NFL’s fifth and final International Series game this season.

“We want to make sure we go out and make them proud of us,” said line backer Fred Warner, who has Mexican heritage in his family.

CALENDAR

Monday’s TV sports

Basketball College Men

• Maui Invitational, Texas Tech vs. Creighton, ESPN2, 11:30 a.m.

• Empire Classic, Syracuse vs. Richmond, ESPN2, 4 p.m.

• Maui Invitational, Ohio State vs. San Diego State, ESPN2, 6 p.m.

• Maui Invitational, Cincinnati vs. Arizona, ESPN2, 8:30 p.m. NBA

• Golden State vs. New Orleans, NBCSBA (Fairfield and Suisun City), 5 p.m.

Football

NFL

• San Francisco vs. Arizona, 7, 10, ESPN, 5 p.m.

Hockey NHL

• Ottawa vs. San Jose, NBCSCA, 7:30 p.m.

Soccer World Cup

• England vs. Iran, FS1, 5 a.m.

• Senegal vs. Netherlands, 2, 40, 8 a.m.

• United States vs. Wales, 2, 40, 11 a.m.

Tuesday’s TV sports

Basketball College Men

• Maui Invitational, Consolation, ESPN2, 11:30 a.m.

• Empire Classic, Consolation, ESPN2, 4 p.m.

• Maui Invitational, Semifinal, ESPN, 5 p.m.

• Empire Classic, Championship, ESPN2, 6:30 p.m.

• Maui Invitational, Semifinal, ESPN, 7:30 p.m.

G League

• Santa Cruz vs. Salt Lake, NBCSBA, 6 p.m.

NBA

• Brooklyn vs. Philadelphia, TNT, 4:30 p.m.

• Sacramento vs. Memphis, NBCSCA (Vacaville and Rio Vista), 5 p.m.

• L.A. Lakers vs. Phoenix, TNT, 7 p.m.

Soccer World Cup

• Argentina vs. Saudi Arabia, FS1, 2 a.m.

• Denmark vs. Tunisia, FS1, 5 a.m.

• Mexico vs. Poland, 2, 40, 8 a.m.

• France vs. Australia, 2, 40, 11 a.m.

p.m.

From Page B1

well outside the goal. Then the Ecuadorans went into the corner for a madly giddy early pileup, but then the stadium went to VAR review, and then the referee relayed the decision: offside, appar ently by a knee, a shin and a foot.

It lifted the audi ence, which then got set down again.

A beautiful through ball from Michael Estrada found its way to Valencia, streaming between two defenders as he headed again for the goal, the Qatari resistance more than lacking. Al Sheeb had little recourse but to reach and grab Valencia’s shin, leading to a penalty kick of an exquisite cold ness, bunted into the right corner in the 16th minute as Al Sheeb sprawled the other way.

“Obviously this is not what we were hoping . .

.” began Félix Sánchez, the Qatar manager from Spain who has been in the budding Qatar program since 2006, helming it since 2017.

Things worsened as Qatar’s passing looked aimless and its defense looked feckless. Moisés Caicedo, 21 and a pillar of the hopeful youth that dots the Ecuador squad, went off on a run through spacious open prairie, found the right side of the box, lost possession briefly, got it back, turned around and saw it go back to Ángelo Preciado. Pre ciado, from outside the top right corner, directed a gorgeous cross that led to Valencia’s gor geous header.

Thirty-one minutes into the World Cup, team captain Valencia had a brace, and Qatar had a deflation. Valencia’s alltime-leading Ecuador goal total of 35 had jumped to 37, and he had had quite some kinetic first half: one goal disallowed, two goals scored and one topple that left him down until

.

the FIFA stretcher came (and then left) even as he returned after halftime and felt some “discom fort” in his knee and ankle.

Later, Sánchez listed some of the follies all had seen: “We let them reach the final third very easily.

. . Too many turnovers from our side. . . . Great teams, they don’t give you time to think, and we have to be faster. . . . We didn’t manage to build up [possession].”

He credited Ecuador but said, “We did not play at our best level.”

“Maybe the responsi bility, the nervousness, took the best of us,” Sánchez said. “We didn’t start well – terrible start, actually. . . . And this determined the rest of the game.”

The rest of the game was played.

Fewer noticed.

Sánchez said he didn’t notice that fewer noticed; he had been too busy.

Qatar would get near the goal with any hope only twice, once when ace scorer Almoez Ali missed

on a point-blank header to close the first half and once when substitute Mohammed Muntari hit the roof on 86 minutes.

Otherwise, a World Cup had begun, an unusual one saddled with global discussion about Qatar’s human rights record, including its treatment of migrant workers. All the excellencies and some heads of state and David Beckham turned up, and fireworks shot up outside the stadium.

Then they played soccer, a match that had seemed pivotal for both, with Qatar struggling against World Cup-bound teams (six straight losses) and Ecuador, which qual ified fourth in South America, struggling to score. Soon enough, Sánchez was saying his team needs to “let go and be more competitive; we can do it” for coming matches against the Neth erlands and Senegal, while Ecuador had stopped struggling to score.

Kings

From Page B1

Pistons had 54 points in the paint while Sac ramento struggled to protect the rim. But the Kings made up for it by scoring 62 points in the paint, continuing to attack the Pistons perim eter defense with drives to the lane.

The game included the return of failed former No. 2 draft pick Marvin Bagley III, who was greeted with hearty boos from Kings fans starting with opening introductions and continu ing every time he touched the ball. The Kings traded away Bagley last Febru ary after four tumultuous seasons for a package including reserve forward Trey Lyles.

Bagley started 0-3 in his first four minutes. His first bucket was a putback dunk early in the second quarter. Bagley got into foul trouble early, getting his third at the 7:20 mark in the second quarter on a moving screen. He was quickly subbed out. He later scored while getting fouled by Kings guard Monk and drew “Bagley sucks” chants from Kings fans.

Bagley was then called for his fifth foul with 5:17 left in the third. He returned for a few fourth-quarter minutes and finished with 15 points and six rebounds. Bagley had missed time earlier this season with a knee injury.

“He’s battling back

NFL

Sunday’s Games Atlanta 27, Chicago 24 Baltimore 13, Carolina 3 Buffalo 31, Cleveland 23 Washington 23, Houston 10 Philadelphia 17, Indianapolis 16 New England 10, N.Y. Jets 3 New England 10, L.A. Rams 20 Detroit 31, N.Y. Giants 18 Las Vegas 22, Denver 16 Dallas 40, Minnesota 3 Cincinnati 33, Pittsburgh 30 Kansas City at L.A. Chargers, n Monday’s Game SAN FRANCISCO at Arizona, 5:15 p.m.

from his knee sprain that kept him out for I don’t know how many games, so he’s getting off to a slower start,” Pistons coach Dwayne Caseysaid pregame. “But (we) love Marvin. He fits perfectly into our timeline with our younger guys. He’s just 23 years old.”

Monk was ejected midway through the fourth quarter after bumping Pistons guard Killian Hayes following an emotional and-1 layup. Monk’s first techni cal came in the first half after an and-1 basket for Bagley.

Rookie Keegan Murray, who missed Thursday’s game with a back injury, momentarily went to the locker room in the fourth quarter after it appeared his injury flared up. But he returned to the game to replace Monk following his ejection. He finished with 13 points.

Sara Nevis/snevis@sacbee.com Sacramento Kings guard De’Aaron Fox (5) makes the layup with Detroit Pistons forward Isaiah Livers (12) on defense during the first quarter in the NBA basketball game at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, Sunday.