Daily Republic: Sunday, January 22, 2023

Storm impacts, nuisance ordinance top board agenda

$1.88M in ARPA funding to nonprofits up for review

R. H ansen THANSEN@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

FAIRFIELD — Solano

County Administrator Bill Emlen on Tuesday will give the Board of Supervisors a review of the impacts left by the series of winter storms.

The board has scheduled morning and afternoon sessions.

The storm update leads off the meeting at 9 a.m. in the board chamber on the first floor of the government center, 675 Texas St., in Fairfield.

Also during the morning session is intro-

duction of a nuisance ordinance that is intended “to add administrative penalties and other remedies for the abatement of public nuisances.”

If approved, the existing nuisance provisions stay the same except for the following changes or additions:

n A process to notice and issue administrative penalties for four broad categories of violations: building code violations, event permit violations, short term rental (vacation home rental)

Solano OES seeks public’s help to document stormrelated damage

daily Republic sTaff

DRNEWS@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

FAIRFIELD — The

county is seeking help from the public to identify people and businesses that suffered losses during the recent series of storms that caused localized flooding and related damage.

The Solano County Office if Emergency Services asks those who suffered storm-related damage to fill out a

brief survey at https:// arcg.is/Hiu00.

Solano OES is collecting information to support a request for federal financial assistance.

Personal data will not be collected or stored, Solano OES reports. The survey is not a report for insurance and does not guarantee financial assistance. Residents and businesses should still report damages to their insurance providers.

Todd R. H ansen THANSEN@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

VALLEJO — Solano County Transit, like other transportation agencies in California, must reach a zero-emission target by 2040.

To do that, SolTrans must convert what Pat Carr, the General Services manager for the agency, said will likely be a fleet of 70 to 80 local and commuter buses into zero-emission coaches, likely electric-battery vehicles.

She calls the buses the “cool, sexy” part of the changeover that gets a lot of attention.

“But if you don’t have the infrastructure, you are looking at cool, sexy bricks,” Carr said.

SolTrans hopes to break ground in March on an $11 million infrastructure project, but will likely have to spend triple that to have the infrastructure needed to support vehicles that will meet the 2040 emission target.

The cost of 80 buses, minus the five in the fleet now and four more that have been funded, is another

“And

SolTrans

$71 million at today’s prices, bringing the total new spending to $93 million.

And that all depends on service needs – local and commuter routes – and ridership demand over the next 18 years.

funding,” Carr quickly added.

recently took over some of the Fairfield and Suisun Transit routes, and with that, came nine diesel buses, taking the total

Todd

Roller derby brings friendly competition to fairgrounds A3 Second half of basketball race should be hotly contested

Aaron Rosenblatt/

Bodice- (or maybe tunic-)ripping columnist invents new genre

Her pulse quickened as she heard the voice. The door opened and there he stood, shirt ripped open, showing his muscular chest as his long hair flowed, a gleam in his dark eyes.

“It’s true,” he said, breathlessly. “Romance novels are doing great in the marketplace.”

Stanhope Like I was sayin’

How long had she waited to hear this? As she lay on the bearskin rug, fully aware of his presence in the room, she thought deeply about what he said. Romance novels. Most popular. Maybe she should tell her friend Brad, the silly columnist, about this.

Yeah. Maybe she should, because it’s true. Demand for romance novels continues to rise, in contrast to the rest of the book market. In 2022,

demand for romance novels was 50% higher than in 2021, despite book sales dropping around 7% overall in the year – which largely indicated a return to normal sales after two pandemic-fueled years of extra sales. Other fiction genres are down, but romance novels –long a punchline for pop culture critics – now make up about one-fourth of the entire fiction market.

He looked at the paragraph he had just written. How could he have been so blind? How could he have missed it? What he had desired deeply –the chance to write things that reached a broad audience –was there all along! He put his hands to his face and sighed. Was it over? Had he missed his only chance? As a lonely tear

slid down his cheek, he heard a noise in the distance. Was it possible? No, it couldn’t be. He’d blown his chance. Then he heard it again, closer. Could it be? Could she be coming? Could he get another opportunity?

Why not? In an era of hybrids – cars that are both electric and gas powered; fruits that are a combination of plums and apricots; jobs that combine tasks; NFL quarterbacks who run the ball and pass it – is it possible that a newspaper columnist could find success by merging a weekly collection of goofball thoughts with the genre that is dominating the book world?

It might be worth a try.

“Try?” he asked himself. “Try? I’m not going to try, I’m going to do it. “

He stood up quickly and ripped open his bodice. Then he searched Google for “bodice”

and realized it was an item of clothing traditionally for women and girls, so he decided that it wasn’t a bodice he’d ripped open, it was a tunic. Then he realized that no one rips open their own shirt in a romance novel, so he got a sewing kit and began to stitch it back together, which brought some more doubts. Was this too big a leap to make? Could he transition from nonsense columns to a unique hybrid? He thought of her. He hoped she was still coming or that at least that noise he’d heard four paragraphs ago was not just someone mowing their lawn a few houses down.

Could a new genre be here?

The romance novel/newspaper column? It’s a possibility, but there’s one major problem. The columnist in this case is writing in the first person.

He realized he hadn’t really

thought of what he meant by “her.” Was it Mrs. Brad? It had to be. He is a happily married man. What was he doing? What would she think if she walked in on him stitching up a tunic? Would she ask how he got a tunic? His pulse quickened again.

He sat down and considered the possibilities. Perhaps he should actually read a romance novel before he tried to write like one. And perhaps he should get a paper bag and breathe into it after all these times that his pulse and breathing quickened. Maybe he was hyperventilating.

Yeah. Hyperventilating because he had just discovered a trick to get more readers!

Reach Brad Stanhope at bradstanhope@outlook.com.

The WashingTon PosT

Nobody is quite sure why a snowy owl, usually found in Arctic regions, decided to relocate to sunny Cypress, Calif. Everyone you talk to has a theory. Some speculate that recent storms blew the bird off course; others think perhaps it is an escaped pet.

One thing is for sure: For the last six weeks, the white-winged creature dubbed Snowy has been mesmerizing locals, birders and photographers from sunrise to sunset.

Groups of up to 60, who come together largely through a Facebook group dedicated to tracking the owl, have been gathering in the streets of the town in Orange County to catch a glimpse of the owl. They snap photographs in almost silence, so they do not spook their newest, most-cherished neighbor.

There is the man known as the “Owl Whisperer” who has turned his burgundy Toyota Highlander into what he calls an “Owlmobile,” venturing out in it each day with binoculars and snacks for passengers he picks up that day.

T here’s the professional photographer with more than 20,000 photos of Snowy. Experts are combing through the pellets the owl coughs up, to see if it is getting the food it needs to survive and looking for clues in the indigestible masses made from the bones and fur of its catches.

They know Snowy probably won’t stay forever, but they’re determined to make these moments last.

People plead daily for the owl’s coordinates.

“Anyone know today’s location?” said one of hun-

dreds of posts flooding the Cypress Snowy Owl Facebook Group, which has almost 2,000 members. “I have driven around trying to find her,” wrote another. But that’s a no-no. “We do not talk about the location to protect the bird,” Cypress City Councilwoman Frances Marquez said. This is part of Snowy’s mystique - the owl’s unexpected appearance is helping people “to create new relationships,” she said, as they finally track the owl down.

The yellow-eyed raptor is “one of the coolest and most educational things to happen to Cypress since I was a kid,” said Marquez, who grew up in Cypress in Southern California and describes Snowy as “a gift.”

Roy Rausch, 63, created the Facebook group in early January for fans to share photos and videos of Snowy sightings. Now known by the group as the Owl Whisperer, or Ambassador of the Cypress Snowy Owl, he says one of the “few founding principles” of the thriving online community is that the page is not used to discuss Snowy’s whereabouts.

He’s on the forefront of

the daily quests for Snowy sightings, letting children use his binoculars to view the bird, sometimes setting up his viewing station at a lower level so youngsters can get involved with the birdwatching. His “Owlcam” - Rausch’s cellphone – logs updates for the group.

Rausch first learned that a rare bird had landed in the neighborhood on Dec. 27, thanks to an “Orange County rare bird alert” from “eBird,” a database used to report birds spotted around the world. “I truly did freak out,” he said. He grabbed his camera and was on the scene in just five minutes.

Bird experts have told Rausch that this is the first time in history that a snowy owl has been confirmed in the area. It’s important the owl be respected, despite Snowy’s fame, Rausch said.

“I heard a report of one drone, and that person never did it again,” professional photographer Brett Banditelli said. Another person drove near the owl “with loud music playing in their car” and got enough judgmental looks that they drove off pretty quickly, he added.

Banditelli’s owl por-

traits are fueling the craze. He’s photographed the bird perching on rooftops or chimneys, and bringing successful kills back to the neighborhood to devour as locals watch from below. He snapped it pecking and pulling at the carcasses of prey.

Banditelli said that locals are allowing visitors into their backyards so that they can see the bird, while others are giving out drinks to the crowd. One local even trimmed back some trees on his property so that visitors had a clearer view.

“This is bringing people together,” Banditelli said.

Some in the Facebook group say they are all bound spiritually since Snowy’s visit, appreciating

nature and simply living in the moment. Some are logging her location with the intensity of a private investigator.

“She always returns to the same four streets every morning around 6 a.m. and flies west as early as 4:15 p.m. The usual time she flies off is around 5:15,” Marquez, the councilwoman, said. “Sometimes she flies to another house and sits perched on the highest point of the roof for another hour and other times she flies off directly for the night.”

Experts and birders are trying to understand more about her diet and whether Snowy can thrive in California.

“She is eating coots and rats,” Marquez told The

Washington Post, adding that experts are concerned about the owl consuming rodenticide. Snowy has also been targeted by crows that divebomb as it sits up high. But the raptor is not easily intimidated. “She is not afraid of them,” Marquez said. (The community mostly refers to its new neighbor as a female, but Snowy’s sex is unknown.)

Rausch joked that the bird is becoming more aware of her fame in Cypress. While, so far, Snowy is unfazed by the attention - or crows trying to scare it away - Rausch worries that the bird will get “a little full of itself and want to hang out in a more ritzy neighborhood like Beverly Hills.”

Brad

Brett Banditelli courtesy photo

A snowy owl, dubbed Snowy, has taken up residence in Cypress, despite not being native to Southern California.

SuSan Hiland SHILAND@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

FAIRFIELD — The Matt Garcia Career and College Academy is struggling and it is possible in the future the Fairfield-Suisun School District will shut it down.

After a tour by staff and board members a few weeks ago, issues were revealed that put the question of the school’s continued value in the spotlight.

Sheila McCabe, assistant superintendent of Educational Services, and Kristen Witt, senior director of Secondary Education, gave a summation Thursday night of the positives and negatives facing the school.

The school was dedicated to slain City Councilman Matt Garcia. It opened in October 2010 at 230 Atlantic Ave. Its original mission was to provide a learning environment that supported students with behaviors that could eventually lead to expulsion.

Over the years, the school has changed physical locations several times. It moved in 2012 to 1100 Civic Center Drive.

Students in second through fifth grades were initially educated at H. Glenn Richardson School, in conjunction with special education programs and elementary community day school. The principal stepped down midyear and a new principal was appointed starting in November 2012.

Then in 2015, Matt Garcia school and

The mission of the school changed that year after much input from students, families and staff, McCabe said. A new theme was chosen, which was a career pathway of hospitality.

“It was no longer a school focused on serving the at-risk student,” she said.

The school was redesigned as an option for families who wanted a smaller learning environment with a hospitality career focus.

The principal at the time resigned in August 2015 to accept a promotion in another county. A new principal was appointed in October

Campus, Page A4

Roller derby brings fun, friendly competition to fairgrounds

SuSan Hiland

SHILAND@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

VALLEJO — The Duchess of Death did not put her rollerblades on Saturday for the inaugural Tomato Jam Roller Derby event at the Solano County Fairgrounds. Instead, she calmly covered the merchandise booth, watching other team members roll.

The co-founder of the Carquinez Quad Squad, whose real name is Leslie Crismore, started the first flat track roller derby league in Solano County in 2019, right before the pandemic began.

“I wanted to do this because I wanted to find myself. I wanted to reinvent myself and gain some confidence,” she said.

Crismore started doing roller derby earlier in her

Solano Fire Safe Council meets Monday via Zoom

VACAVILLE

Matthew Setty, the newly hired Solano County wildfire coordinator, will be the guest speaker at Monday’s Solano Fire Safe Council meeting.

The session will be from 6 to 7:30 p.m.

Solano County Agriculture Commissioner Ed King is also scheduled to make a presentation on agriculture passes for farmers and ranchers to get back onto their properties during disas-

ter evacuations, and a Solano County Office of Emergency Services representative will provide an update on evacuation planning and the Community Wildfire Protection Plan.

Additional updates will be provided by Nancy Nelson, of the Solano County Administrator’s Office; Rochelle Sherlock, president of the Green Valley Fire Safe Council; Vacaville Fire Chief Kris Concepcion, representing the City Fire Department Chiefs Association; Suisun Fire Protection District

Chief Alfred Abruzzini, representing the rural Fire District Chiefs Association; Sierra Cecchini, of the Solano Resource Conservation District; Tanya Meyer, of the Yolo County Fire Safe Council; and Shari Gardner, of the Napa Communities Firewise Foundation.

The meeting may be accessed by going to https:// zoom.us/meeting/register/ tJwtdeCoqD4pG9bVm1OPIshP1W60JVCMSmup.

The passcode is 744950. Access is also available by calling 1-669-900-6833.

life, back in 2008, then she became a mom and time slipped by. She realized somewhere along the line, she wasn’t feeling like herself anymore. So she decided to start up again with the roller skates and a flat track, and the next thing she knew Carquinez Quad Squad was born.

The group of about 25 members trained at the fairgrounds in one of the barns where they found a sign leftover from the fair,

which was a bright red tomato that read “FUN.” They thought that was appropriate for what they were doing, so they started taking pictures with the sign and the next thing they knew, it was a mascot and theme they wanted to emphasize.

Their mission is to educate, empower and develop a community of roller derby while providing an opportunity to engage in a volunteer-

driven, competitive and health-focused sport.

“I was never a sports person in high school,” Crismore said. “I didn’t know how therapeutic it was to play a contact sport.”

The teams compete by a series of short scrimmages (jams) in which both teams designate a jammer (who wears a star on the helmet) and four blockers to skate counter-clockwise around

Dover Bridge to Success merged into one school and was renamed Matt Garcia Career and College Academy.

Daily Republic file (2008)

Fairfield City Councilman Matt Garcia listens to Mayor Harry Price speak during a council meeting in 2008. See

Susan Hiland/Daily Republic

Teams attempt to block the starred helmet player from making her way around the flat track at the inaugural

Tomato Jam Roller Derby event at the Solano County Fairgrounds in Vallejo, Saturday.

Todd R. H ansen THANSEN@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

FAIRFIELD — The 2023 federal budget includes nearly $16 million in funding for a half-dozen Solano County projects in addition to the publicized awards of $4 million to Vacaville for the Interstate 505 / Vaca Valley Parkway project and $2 million to the Solano Transit Agency to help with the purchase of four new electric buses.

Reported in the “Barbed Wire,” a publication of the Rural County Representatives of California – of which Solano County is a member – the funds are dollars secured by Rep. John Garamendi, D-Walnut Grove, for his district – part of $37.09 million in all.

Additionally, there is $4.04 million in previously reported funding secured by Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, on other Solano-related projects.

The Garamendi list

of $15.96 million in projects includes $4 million help pay for the Travis Air Force Base and Canon Road safety improvements.

“This federal funding would construct a fourlane arterial roadway at the intersection of Vanden Road that includes a future grade separation to replace the existing two-lane at-grade crossing. The project would also include the installation of complete street improvements consisting of sidewalks, Class II bike lanes, landscaping and streetlights,” the Barbed Wire report states.

“This project will benefit the community by allowing . . . Fairfield, with the Solano Transportation Authority, to improve the at-grade crossing. This will reduce traininvolved accidents and provide safe truck access to 286 acres of planned development in northeast Fairfield to support a proposed 4.6 million square feet of new industrial

the district.

2015. That principal later stepped down and a new principal was appointed in 2017. That principal left two years later.

“Keeping administrative staff has been difficult,” McCabe said.

High school enrollment was low in 2020 and it was a challenge to meet the academic needs of the students given the small numbers, McCabe said.

The board approved another reconfiguration of the school, this time to serve sixth- through eighth-graders. The thought was this would allow for a greater focus on the needs of middle grade students. It also resulted in the elimination of the Career Technical Education focus on hospitality.

A new principal took over but left in December.

The school primarily serves students who live north of Highway 12. Only five students live south of Highway 12.

Success of those attending the school is low compared to the rest of

Chronic absenteeism is very high and the suspension rate is high, the district reports. Englishlearner progress is very high, which is a good thing, but English-language arts scores are low with 17.65% meeting or exceeding state standards compared to the rest of the district, which has 40.42% meeting or exceeding those standards. Math results are very low, according to the state, with 10.41% meeting or exceeding state standards compared to the district, which shows 26.97% meeting or exceeding standards.

Students at Matt Garcia also struggle in science, with 14.03% meeting or exceeding state standards compared to 22.30% across the district.

Some of the advantages of the school include that it provides a middle school option on the north side of Highway 12.

“Students don’t have to cross the highway to get to the school,” McCabe said.

The campus is also situated close to the Fairfield Civic Center Library, Fairfield City Hall and other businesses and organi-

Providena G. Cruz

Providena (Dina) passed away peacefully after a short illness at Fairfield Post-Acute Rehab on December 22, 2022, surrounded by her loving family members.

She was born on February 18, 1935, in Barrigada, Guam to her parents, Jesus and Concepcion Gogue.

She was the second daughter of eleven siblings.

She graduated from George Washington High School, Mong Mong, Guam in 1955.

She married the love of her life, Francisco Quitugua Cruz, on December 15, 1955, at the age of 20 and toge ther they had five children.

She was a longstanding parishioner of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church and an active member of the Lay Carmelit e Order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and the Young Ladies Institute #125 organization in the parish. She enjoyed volunteering to visit the sick/homebound and truly enjoyed the company of her family, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and friends.

A rosary will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, January 25, 2023, at Our Lady of Mount Carmel, 2700 Dover Ave., Fairfield, Calif followed by a Funeral Mass at 11:00 a.m. Burial services will be at Fairmont Memorial Park, 1901 Union Ave., Fairfield, California.

Arrangements are under the direction of Bryan-Baker Funeral Home, 1850 W. Texas St., Fairfield, CA 94533.

sites and jobs.”

Other project funding includes:

Federal budget includes $16M in funding for 6 county projects Thompson adds district office to serve Solano, Yolo counties

n $3.39 million for the rehabilitation of Stevenson Bridge, a 298-foot multiple-span rainbow bridge across Putah Creek in Solano and Yolo counties. Specifically, new pilings and a carbon-fiber wrapping system will be installed to provide more than 75 years of life to the bridge.

n $2.82 million toward improved drinking water by improving the water quality and supply from the Quail Canyon Improvement District owned and operated by the Solano Irrigation District. “A new relocated well and associated conveyance facilities will help provide reliable domestic water supply, drought resilience and firefighting capability to the 39 residential lots,” the Barbed Wire report states.

n $2 million for the Highway 128-Intestate 505 crossing in Winters.

n $1 million toward the upgrade of the Electronic Health Record

zations within walking distance for field trip opportunities and community partnerships.

One advantage of the smaller student body is the staff is able to create targeted professional development, which the district credits at least in part for success in the English Learner Progress Indicator scores. The smaller learning environment also seems to help middle grades. The school has a maximum capacity of approximately 370 students. The teaching staff know all students on campus and can create a small, thematic school, similar to the district’s K-8 schools.

On the down side, the school has a small kitchen, cafeteria/multipurpose room, no on-campus

Systems in Solano County. n $750,000 to build 14 new affordable residential units in Vacaville for individuals and families making between 50% and 80% of the Area Median Income levels.

Additionally, Marin Clean Energy will receive $750,000 for clean household energy projects that include Solano County, and $7.86 million will go to the Sacramento River Basin Floodplain Reactivation project to improve habitat and food courses for protected fish and bird species.

Garamendi represents the new 8th Congressional District, which includes Fairfield and Travis Air Force Base, Suisun City, Vallejo and Benicia as well as the surrounding unincorporated areas in central, southern and western Solano County. The district also includes Richmond, San Pablo, Martinez, Pittsburg and Antioch and surrounding communities on the northern shores of the Carquinez Strait across from Solano County.

library, no gymnasium, a small blacktop space and no fields. There are also limited opportunities for collaboration as a group and there is a small teaching staff, which means a limited number of teachers in the same area.

The school is also expensive to run. The district allocated the highest per pupil funding toward the campus during the 2020-21 school year, representing approximately 36.38% more per student than the district average.

The struggles of the Matt Garcia Career and College Academy mean the board is likely to look at possible solutions.

“After touring the school, many issues came to light,” Trustee Craig Wilson said. “The question arose to whether it

Leon Lakin

Leon K. Lakin, 57 of Fairfield passed away at home on Thursday, December 22, 2022.

Leon was born on Monday, April 19,1965 in Fairfield, CA. He attended Anna Kyle, Sullivan and Armijo schools. He lived his entire life in Fairfield.

In March 1984 Leon started working in a metal shop in Vallejo, CA and retired in October 2020 after 36 years. He was just starting to enjoy his retirement years.

Leon was preceded in death by his paternal grandparents, Charles and Evelyn Lakin of Illinois, maternal grandparents Jessie and Virginia Swearengin of Fairfield. Father, Harry L. Lakin of Illinois.

He also lost his beloved pets Ice and Reno.

He is survived by his mother, Janice Lakin of Vacaville, brother Dion Lakin (Lisa) of Vacaville, sister Cheryl Soucie (Tim) of Vacaville, nieces Jessie Lakin and Jennifer Lakin of Dixon, nephews, Derek Soucie (Chrissy) of Dixon, Jared Soucie of Vacaville. Great-niece Maci Soucie of Dixon, maternal aunt Glenda Vollet of Fairfield along with numerous cousins.

Services were held on Thursday, January 12, 2023 at Fairfield Funeral Home. Leon was buried at the Suisun Fairfield Cemetery

Deborah Lee Cruz

Deborah (Debbie) passed away peacefully after a short illness at her home on December 23, 2022, surrounded by her loving family

Debbie was born on April 30, 1965 in Sacramento, CA to parents; Walter Glenn and Karen Glenn. She was the only daughter of 3 children.

She graduated from Benicia High School, Benicia, CA in 1983. She was involved in Job’s Daughters and the Vacaville high school band. She worked as a manager for over a decade at Vacaville Foster Freeze and last worked for FSUSD at Armijo where she appreciated and loved her work family.

She married the love of her life, Francis G. Cruz on April 10, 1999 and together they raised three sons.

She was a devoted wife and mother. She truly enjoyed the company of her family, grandchildren, and friends. She loved going out with Francis and friends while dancing the night away. She was a huge fan of birthdays, holidays, limousines, hotel stays, room service, reality TV and Santa Cruz. She was a hopeless romantic and will be missed by many who loved her!

She leaves behind her loving husband of 23 years, Francis; three sons, Parker (Gabriella) Rike, Cameron and Michael; granddaughters, Aver y and Evelyn; mother, Karen Wolff; stepfather, Robert Wolff; siblings, William (Teresa) Glenn and Tyler (Tiffany) Glenn; brothers-in-law, Paul (Tricia), James (Cindy) and Jesse; sister-in-law, Mary (Joseph) Tydingco

She was preceded in death by her father, Walter Glenn; parents-in-law, Francisco Q. Cruz and Providena G. Cruz; and grandson, Liam Vega-Rike.

A viewing will be held from 10:15 to 11:00 a.m. with a rosary at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, January 26, 2023, at Our Lady of Mount Carmel, 2700 Dover Ave., Fairfield, Calif., followed by a Funeral Mass at 11:00 a.m.

In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the American Cancer Society.

Arrangements are under the direction of Fairfield Funeral Home, 1750 Pennsylvania Avenue, Fairfield, CA 94533.

FAIRFIELD — U.S.

Rep. Mike Thompson is holding an open house for his new district office in Woodland, which will serve Solano and Yolo counties.

The open house is scheduled for 4 to 6 p.m. Monday.

The location is 622 Main St.

Thompson earlier this month named his staff at the Woodland office: Lucy Brazil, Erick J. Fierro and Moises Díaz.

Brazil was born and grew up in Yolo County. She received her bachelor’s degree in political science from The College of Wooster. Brazil worked for a political public relations firm in Sacramento and served as an AmeriCorps member with City Year Washington D.C. She has worked for the past

was worth pouring the resources into it.”

Wilson said he felt the question is whether it should be kept open.

“The building is substandard. Maybe we could use it for something else. But it is not good for a middle school,” Wilson said.

The board made no decision Thursday but will have the staff do more research to answer questions from the board and go forward from there.

Teresa Courtemanche, Matt Garcia’s mother, took to social media Friday to comment of the board’s discussion.

“I woke up this morning to hear that the school

year as the field director for Thompson’s re-election campaign and now serves as district representative and will serve residents of Yolo County.

Fierro enlisted in the Air Force after high school in March 1993 and received associate degrees in aviation maintenance, aviation operations and instruction of military science from the College of the Air Force and a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in organizational leadership from Grand Canyon University.

Fierro is a retired chief master sergeant and recently served as the senior enlisted leader for the 60th Operations Group at Travis Air Force Base. He was the senior adviser to the commander

See Office, Page A5

named after Matt is struggling a lot more than we were aware. We are hoping that a solution can be found that doesn’t include closure of the school,” Courtemanche wrote. “We are hoping that instead of closing it they look for other options.”

“They have changed the school so many times over the years. From a grade school through high school, then just high school, and now a middle school only,” she wrote.

“So many of our young people are struggling and looking for direction. I don’t believe closing the school is the answer. It is mostly about the money, though, I’m sure.”

René e Annette Munn

Renée Annette Munn, age 85 years, of Fairfield, California, passed away on January 12, 2023 from several long-term illnesses. She is survived by her husband, Gerald Edward Munn, with whom she was married for 60 years; her three children, Marilyn Renée Munn-Wagner, Janelle Annette MunnKoelling, and Craig Edward Munn; 11 grandchildren; and 7 great-grandchildren. She is predeceased by her father, Rene Edward Dahm, and her mother, Grace Annette Dahm. Renée attended Sacramento State University where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Elementary School Teaching and her Teaching Credential shortly after wards. She subsequently taught elementary school for over 30 years. Renée lived in various places throughout California and the Southwest, but most recently in Fairfield, where she enjoyed traveling, camping, raising pets, playing games, baking and cooking, and interacting with her children, grandchildren, and their children. Viewing will be held at the Fairfield Funeral Home, 1750 Pennsylvania Ave, Fairfield, CA 94533 on January 24, 2023, at 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. with a funeral service to follow on January 25, 2023, at 1:00 p.m.. Her final resting place will be at the Sacramento Valley National Cemetery, 5810 Midway Rd, Dixon, CA 95620. All are welcome.

Natalie Anna Sheppie

Natalie passed away peacefully on January 8, 2023 surrounded by her family Natalie was a Centenarian and lived an amazing 104 ½ years. She was born in Schenectady, NY in 1918 and lived there for 40 years before moving with family to San Francisco. She was strong and survived two pandemics (the Spanish Flu in 1918 & the Coronavirus in 2020).

Natalie celebrated 60 years of marriage to her beloved husband and had three children, two grandsons and one great granddaughter. She worked at SF Crocker Bank in Operations and retired after 15 years. Natalie was a gifted writer and story-teller and loved journaling. She was known for her love of Christmas… always gathering the family together each year and celebrating the season at her home with lavish holiday décor, food, drink and gifts. Natalie will be remembered for her longevity and fortitude as the strong matriarch of the family…for her amazing strength of character, for her spirituality, for her joy of life, for the many prayers and rosaries and masses she sponsored through the church for the less fortunate …and most of all, for her great influence on family and for her love of family

Natalie is preceded in death by her husband Edward Sr. (passed in 2002), by her parents Anna & Joseph Polejka, sister Clara Califano, half-brother Michael Lesczyck, daughter-in-law Shelly Sheppie, brothers-in-law Ted & George Sheppie, sisters-in-law Alfreda Cichy Sophie Weber, Irene Rock, Virginia Sacco, and niece Diane Masucci.

Natalie is survived by her three children Lindalyn (Dave), Edward Jr., and Mark (Karen), her two grandsons Brian Phillips and Jonathan Sheppie (Jessica), and one great granddaughter Charlotte Helene Sheppie, and many nieces and nephews.

Natalie will be lovingly remembered and greatly missed by her family every day.

A private committal and interment will be held at the Fairmont Memorial Ceme te ry in Fairfield, Ca. A Celebra tion o f Life will be held at a l at er d at e. Visit Br yan Braker website at www.Br yanBraker.com.

GARAMENDI

THOMPSON

HS diplomas available for vets who left school for war

daily Republic Staff DRNEWS@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

FAIRFIELD — U.S. military veterans and Japanese-American citizens who were unable to finish high school due to wartime circumstances can now get their diplomas.

The Solano County Office of Education is again hosting the “Operation Recognition” event, scheduled March 24, and is accepting applications from eligible individuals or from families of someone who is eligible but has died.

“SCOE has been recognizing local veterans and their families with retroactive diplomas for more than a decade now. We are honored each year to acknowledge the sacrifices our fellow Americans have

made and celebrate our living and deceased veterans with the diplomas they were not able to receive,” Solano Superintendent of Schools Lisette Estrella-Henderson said in a statement.

Qualifications include:

n Individuals who served in World War II, Korean War or Vietnam War and were honorably discharged from their military service.

n Japanese-American citizens who left high school due to internment in World War II relocation camps.

n Families may apply for Operation Recognition diplomas on behalf of eligible relatives who are deceased.

Applications are due by March 3 and may be obtained at www.solanocoe.net/oprec or by calling 707-399-4475.

Fairfield-Suisun trustees hear about student testing shortfalls

SuSan Hiland SHILAND@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

FAIRFIELD — Students at many of the schools in the FairfieldSuisun School District are performing poorly when compared to their peers across the state, according to state test results and related assessments from the prior school year.

Sheila McCabe, assistant superintendent for Educational Services, gave a report Thursday on the 2022 State Dashboard, which provides a snapshot of student performance on tests that assess Englishlanguage arts and math proficiency across grade levels. The assessments make up California’s school accountability system.

Changes to the Dashboard came about with the passage of Assembly Bill 130. At the time, California had not yet released the 2022 Dashboard, with state officials initially stating release would come after the Nov. 8 elections. That changed with national test results were release,

Restaurant Week kicks off in Vallejo

daily Republic Staff

DRNEWS@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

VALLEJO — Visit

Vallejo announces that the 5th Annual Vallejo Restaurant Week, described as “a culinary celebration of flavorful proportions,” starts Sunday.

More than 25 participating eateries in Vallejo and Benicia will offer flavors spanning different parts of the globe, with participants offering various food specials and promotions.

“Whether you’re a foodie looking for a new culinary experience or just looking for a great meal at a great price, Vallejo Restaurant Week has something for everyone,” Visit Vallejo stated in a press release. “From classic comfort foods

to fusion flavors, you’ll find it all at participating restaurants.”

Some of the highlights of this year’s Vallejo Restaurant Week include:

n Provisions, 300 Virginia St., is offering a three-course prix-fixe menu for just $32.

n Panama Bay Coffee Co., 289 Mare Island Way, is offering a special promotion where diners can be the first to try their new custom latte art printer.

n Lucca Bar & Grill, 439 First St., Benicia, is offering 1 cent selected bottle of wine per table with a purchase of two meals.

n Sushi Obsession, 5184 Sonoma Blvd., No. 340, is offering daily deals, kicking off with Sushi Nachos for $10.99.

Vallejo Restaurant Week runs Sunday through Jan. 31.

Find the full list of Vallejo Restaurant Week specials at http://www.visit vallejo.com/vrw.

at which point the state released its results.

The Fairfield-Suisun School District’s academic performance in English for third through eighth grades is very low for several elementary schools and also for Fairfield High School, Armijo High School and Sem Yeto High School.

However, the rating for Rodriguez High School is high.

Fairfield-Suisun School District test scores in math are 66.8% below the state average, with 10,475 local students tested.

The report also shows:

n 44.2% of 2,428 students are making progress to mastering English lan-

guage proficiency.

n 35.8% of 14,862 students were chronically absent from school, much of this is due to illness.

n The graduation rate is 88.7% of 1,632 students graduated.

n The suspension rate is high at 4.8% a day out of 21,778 students.

(707) 427-1386

From Page A4

for daily operations of the largest Air Mobility Wing in the Air Force. He has deployed multiple times in support of Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom, Freedom’s Sentinel and Inherent Resolve and has held leadership positions at the squadron, group, wing and headquarters level. Fierro has served as the superintendent of the 380th Expeditionary Operations Group, leading more than 1,200 joint, coalition and total force personnel executing the most diverse mission set in the Air Force. He currently lives in Vacaville and serves as field representative for Solano County.

Díaz completed his undergraduate degree at UC Davis in cultural anthropology and received

officea minor in public health sciences. Prior to joining Thompson’s office, Díaz worked for nonprofits for over a decade serving low-income and/or underinsured residents by connecting them to social and medical-care services through a Federally Qualified Healthcare Center. He also served on an HIV Prevention Planning Council and worked to advise the local health department on its response to HIV prevention needs. Díaz serves as a constituent services representative assisting constituents with casework.

Thompson represents the new 4th Congressional District, which includes all of Napa County and portions of Solano, Sonoma, Contra Costa and Lake counties. He represents northern and eastern Solano County to include Vacaville, Dixon and Rio Vista along with adjacent unincorporated areas.

Transit ridership falters, posing ‘fiscal cliff’

California utopians, including those holding public office, envision a state that by 2045 will have achieved zero net emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.

The largest source of those emissions is transportation – the cars, trucks, buses, airplanes and railroad engines that carry Californians, the goods they need to live and the inputs and outputs of the state’s $3.4 trillion economy.

To that end, the California Air Resources Control Board has issued seemingly countless decrees, including one that would ban the sale of autos with gas- or diesel-powered engines by 2035.

Public transit is central to the state’s hopes of reducing transportation emissions. Officials want more Californians to park their cars – or not buy them in the first place – and use buses and light and heavy rail systems for commutes and other personal trips.

Despite those hopes, transit ridership is going the other way, and transit system operators and advocates are using terms such as “fiscal cliff” and “death spiral” as farebox revenues decline and there is greater demand for taxpayer money to shore up their operations.

Transit usage cratered when the Covid-19 pandemic hit the state three years ago and millions of workers either lost their jobs or shifted to working at home. Ridership picked up a bit when pandemic closures eased and employment finally returned to pre-pandemic levels. However, the California Transit Association says that as of the third quarter of 2022, overall ridership was averaging just two-thirds of what it had been prior to the pandemic.

“Some agencies have returned to prepandemic ridership levels and above, while others continue to struggle with ridership counts that are one-third of previous totals,” the organization says in a new “strategic plan” it unveiled in December.

The plan “comes at a moment when our industry faces serious existential threats –slow ridership recovery, a fiscal cliff, and a widening workforce gap,” Karen King, who chairs the organization’s executive committee, said.

The plan makes obtaining more financial support, particularly from the state, its highest priority, citing not only declines in ridership and operational revenue, but the state’s mandate that it get rid of its hydrocarbon-fueled buses and replace them with battery-powered vehicles. The cost of zero-emission buses and the infrastructure to operate them is tabbed at more than $11.6 billion.

Three weeks after the plan was released, Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed a new budget for the 2023-24 fiscal year with spending reductions to close what he said was a $22.5 billion deficit, thanks to a projected decline in revenues.

Transit officials and their supporters didn’t like the budget’s treatment of transit, particularly a $2 billion reduction in transit infrastructure. The industry’s top legislative advocate, Scott Wiener, a Democratic state senator from San Francisco, pledged to seek restoration of the funds and more money to cover transit’s revenue declines.

Wiener said, “We must not let our public transportation systems go over the impending fiscal cliff and enter a death spiral – where budget shortfalls lead to service cuts that lead to ridership drops that lead to further budget shortfalls and service cuts. The state must serve as a financial back-stop against this fiscal cliff to ensure our transit systems survive.”

The transit dilemma typifies the conflicts and tradeoffs that permeate the state’s hopes for achieving carbon neutrality 22 years hence. As a recent CalMatters analysis of the state’s ambitious but tortured plans to rid itself of hydrocarbon-fueled cars underscores, it’s one thing to declare such a goal on paper, but it’s quite another to make it reality when the precise steps needed are complicated, time-consuming and expensive.

CalMatters is a public interest journalism venture committed to explaining how California’s state Capitol works and why it matters. For more stories by Dan Walters, go to Commentary.

A little prince is a little much

Feeling a little underserved?

Marginalized? Trivialized? Maybe pasteurized? Well, solace awaits. Grab a quart of warm milk and cozy up by the fire with the culture of victimhood’s latest best seller. It starts out with “Once upon a time, there was an OK looking prince . . .”

Page after page allows you to drool over the latest accusations that have harried the royal palace of a not too far away kingdom. Marvel at how a petulant prince could promulgate his problems to such an extent that he misconstrues, mangles and then totally overuses a beloved adage such as “Mums the word.” Gloat as his crusty companion adoringly enables his wish to air out his wash, voice his vexations, publish his persecutions and continually remind everyone of their perceived slights. Cheer on this scrappy duo as they crusade to bring truth, justice and law and order to

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR CALMATTERS COMMENTARY

somewhere sooner or later.

Perched on their multimillion-dollar chicken ranch, he’s oblivious to the irony the opulent setting behind him brings to his tale of woe and blithely continues to prattle the patter he has honed to such perfection.

The bottom line and the moral (if there are any evident) of this fable is that if you’re not happy, blame someone else, skirt the high road and promote the “highness.”

Bill Ferguson Vacaville

School program hurts future academic scores

The Fairfield-Suisun School District board meeting Thursday included a salute to Students of the Month, nominees for Teacher of the Year, and the winner – an hour of praise and deserved applause.

The important business came next, a recap of the district’s academic performance reported in the 2022 Cal-

ifornia School Dashboard. Results were shown as barcodes similar to signal strength on cellphones. Recall, our November Tax Watcher column reported the actual numbers showing that our district scored lower than the state averages in every category. I don’t know if trustees had read the state’s report, but that’s where the real impact would be apparent.

Trustees showed no reaction to the presentation and asked just one question, which was unrelated to the academic scores.

The district has been spending time and money indoctrinating staff and teachers with a program called Healing Centered Engagement – a reframing of Critical Race Theory –instead of focusing on teaching our children the basics that will make them responsible, inquisitive adults.

If those harmful ideas are carried into classrooms, future academic scores will be just as poor.

I wonder if board members will connect the dots.

John Takeuchi Fairfield

To reel in oil industry, state should examine maintenance practices – not tax profits

Retail gasoline prices last year shot to record highs in California – a spike partly related to crude oil prices – but to a level unique to the Golden State. Responding to widespread outrage, Gov. Gavin Newsom called for a special session of the California Legislature to consider imposing an excess profits tax on refiners.

Although founded on fairness principles, Newsom’s proposed tax will do little to address the underlying root causes of the price spikes. State elected officials instead need to shift their focus and understand the incentives for refiners to maintain their facilities and store finished products. To accelerate effective policymaking, the Legislature must facilitate research and lift the legal barriers to accessing the state’s industry data.

In general, refinery shutdowns are necessary to conduct maintenance and to address unexpected safety and quality problems. These outages largely do not impact prices since refineries typically store significant amounts of gasoline to cover potential shortages. Outside of California, many refineries produce common gasoline grades, so lost production at a single refinery rarely affects overall prices.

But in California, refineries are required to produce specially formulated gasoline grades and switch between summer and winter formulations. Since few refineries produce the state’s formulation, routine and unscheduled shutdowns can cause

shortages that other refineries cannot make up. Additionally, refineries are reluctant to store substantial quantities of the current formulation when the seasonal changeover is near. These shortages cause our gasoline price spikes. The role of these factors – and the lack of scrutiny – demonstrate that policymakers must pay close attention to refiner maintenance practices to attenuate spikes in gasoline prices.

When gasoline prices increase, producing refiners collect windfall profits. This means refiners have a strong incentive to produce during price spikes.

These incentives are strongest for refiners that operate only one refinery producing California grades. If they experience an outage, they miss out on the windfall.

But if a refiner operates two or more sites, periodic price spikes alter their incentives for maintenance. When one of their refineries goes offline, the windfall profits they obtain at other refineries offset their lost profits. The windfall profits can be so great the refiner may make more money overall despite a shutdown.

Multirefinery operators thus have an incentive to schedule more routine maintenance. And depending on repair costs, the windfall profits earned reduce their incentives to better maintain their equipment. If repair costs are not too high relative to maintenance costs, they will do less maintenance, and unscheduled down-

Assemblywoman Lori Wilson (11th District) 1021 O St. Suite 5150 Sacramento, CA 94249-0011 916-319-2011 1261 Travis Blvd., Suite 110 Fairfield, CA 94533 707-399-3011

time will increase.

These observations are founded on well-accepted managerial economic theory that researchers have proven in many other industries. Still, knowing that these predictions actually characterize maintenance decisions made by California refiners would be helpful to public policymakers. In particular, policymakers ought to know whether maintenance outcomes vary by how many refineries refiners operate.

To this end, I asked the California Energy Commission to allow me to examine the production data that all California gasoline refiners report monthly. Unfortunately, current law only allows the commission and its employees to examine the data. This restriction prevents academic researchers (or members of the public) from producing work that could help the Legislature and the energy commission better regulate gasoline markets.

In the meantime, agency employees should study their data to determine whether maintenance outcomes vary by how many sites a refiner operates. If they do – as I expect they will find – the commission should strengthen the incentives to keep refineries up and operating safely and, in turn, keep prices lower at the pump.

Larry Harris is a professor and the Fred V. Keenan Chair in Finance at the USC Marshall School of Business. He was chief economist of the Securities and Exchange Commission from 2002-04.

State Sen. Bill Dodd (3rd District) State Capitol Room 5114 Sacramento, CA 95814 916-651-4003

Vacaville District Office: 555 Mason St., Suite 275 Vacaville, CA 95688 707-454-3808

Fairfield City Hall 1000 Webster St. Fairfield, CA 94533 707-428-7400

Suisun City Hall 701 Civic Center Drive Suisun City, CA 94585 707-421-7300

Vacaville City Hall 650 Merchant St. Vacaville, CA 95688 707-449-5100

A

Foy McNaughton President / CEO / Publisher

Burt McNaughton

Faison

Dan Walters

Larry Harris

You’re a cyberattack or identify theft victim. Now what?

Cybersecurity threats range from attacks against countries, like Russia’s malicious cyberattacks against Ukraine, to disruptions of businesses, like ransomware, to attacks on individuals. The industry to deter and recover from such cyberthreats has become, unfortunately, a rapidly growing area of expertise.

Cyber fraud, which includes scams, identity theft and hacking, are increasing as a problem for all of us. This will be the first in a series of columns that will hopefully help you protect yourself or recover from any such cyberattacks and encroachments.

Attacks against individuals are usually related to financial matters. The best approach is to prevent such attacks, but you also need a checklist to respond. Quick and decisive action is crucial to safeguard your finances. Here are some general items:

Identity theft

n Place a fraud alert or credit freeze on your accounts, banks, credit cards, etc.

n Contact any vendor, bank or institution directly involved.

n Contact the FTC and file an Identity Theft Affidavit and create an Identity Theft Report. Reports can be filed by calling 877-438-4338 or going to IdentityTheft.gov.

With these documents in hand, contact local law enforcement and file a police report.

n For Social Security matters, contact the Social Security Administration at 800-269-0271 and the IRS at 800-829-0433.

n For theft or fraud via mail, fraudulent changeof-address forms, contact the Postal Inspection Service, the law enforcement and security branch of the postal service.

Your computer has been hacked

n Do not shut down or restart the device, since this risks further complication to be unable to restart the device.

n Immediately disconnect the device from the internet to protect your information and prevent any more malware being loaded.

n Unplug any external drives connected to the device, especially if the external drive contains backup data.

n Note the websites you were logged into when the event occurred, as a cyberattacker is probably able to see the screen. Log into those sites from a separate computer and monitor them for any suspicious activity. Change your login credentials.

n Check your other online accounts, reset passwords, and enable multifactor authentication.

n Run a malware removal tool if you have one. If not, get one of the many available on the internet.

Ransomware

n Usually, this situation means you have no access to your computer and any storage or backups on the computer.

n If you have good backups of all your data that are not on that actual machine (at a cloud storage site) you may choose to not pay the ransom. If so, get some guidance from a computer technology consultant and then wipe the affected computer and restore the data.

n Without good backups, you need to decide how valuable the data are and whether to pay the ransom. Paying does not guarantee data recovery. The attackers are bad guys, and they will not play fair.

n Once the machine restored, you absolutely must install a good antimalware tool.

Compromised password

n Possible indications include receiving unsolicited multifactor authentication (MFA) requests or account logins you did not do.

n Refuse to confirm

Solano unemployment rate drops below 4% in December

toDD R. H anSen THANSEN@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

FAIRFIELD — The Solano County unemployment rate dropped from 4.3% in November to 3.8% in December despite losing 200 local jobs behind seasonal declines in the farming sector.

However, the Labor Market Division of the state Employment Development Department reported Friday that there were 1,700 more Solano residents who were working – from 191,400 in November to 193,100 in December – primarily outside the county.

Solano County’s civilian workforce climbed by 700 to 200,700, the EDD reported. There were 7,700 residents seeking unemployment benefits, down from 8,600.

Farming jobs went from 1,700 to 1,400 jobs, while non-farming jobs – supported by 300 new private education and health

services jobs – created 100 positions, the Labor Market Division of the state Employment Development Department reported.

Leisure and Hospitality added 200 jobs, and retail added 100 jobs. Construction lost 200 jobs to the season, and there were 100 fewer state

government jobs reported. The state unemployment rate also dipped, going from 4% in November to 3.7% in December, while the national rate went from 3.4% to 3.3%, the EDD reported.

Solano ranked 26th among the 58 counties in the state, and had the highest unemployment

among the nine Bay Area counties. Napa County was next highest at 3%, the EDD reported.

The lowest unemployment rate in the state was recorded in San Mateo County at 1.9%; the highest in Imperial County at 14.8%.

EDC Speaker Series returns in virtual format

Daily Republic Staff DRNEWS@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

FAIRFIELD — The Solano Economic Development Center Speaker Series returns Jan. 31 with a webinar that will focus on policy and advocacy

exploring the legislation agenda for economic development.

Panelists include Micah Weinberg, Gurbax Sahota, Daniel Carrigg and Tracy Rhine.

Weinberg is the CEO

of California Forward, a nonprofit organization that leads a movement to make the economy and government of California work for everyone in all of the state’s regions. He previously served as

president of the Bay Area Council Economic Institute, the leading think tank focused on the most critical economic and policy issues facing the Silicon Valley and San

Fill in the

cells using numbers 1 to 9. Each number can appear only once in each row, column and 3x3 block. Use logic and process of elimination to solve the puzzle. The difficulty level ranges from Bronze (easiest) to Silver to Gold (hardest).

Edited by Patti Varol and Joyce Nichols Lewis

Mark Sievers Wealth matters

Aaron Rosenblatt/Daily Republic

A worker prunes vines at a vineyard along Abernathy Road in Fairfield, Friday.

any MFA requests. Immediately log in to the site and change the password. If offered, force all current sessions to sign out immediately.

n Always be alert for abnormal activity or sign-ins.

n Do not use the same password for multiple accounts. Utilize a password manager to maintain a list of unique and complex passwords. This tool (https://haveibeenpwned.com/) can help identify if account credentials have been affected by a previous compromise.

Be watchful

Prevention is always preferable to curing. Numerous websites have lists of suggestions for best everyday practices. Here are a few.

n Long passwords; different passwords; never share passwords and certainly not by email.

n For security questions,

use the question but an answer that does not actually relate to the question.

n Keep the firewall on always.

n Look at the website address that should start with https: – if not, do not use it.

n Look at the email address from the sender to see whether it makes sense or is a spoof.

n Wipe all data off an old computer or cellphone before trading them in.

n The SEC publishes regular bulletins on new and ongoing scams along with resources for combatting and reporting them.

n Some offline storage may be essential. Keep all financial documents, personal records and valuable items in secure locations at home or in safe deposit boxes.

This is just a start. More later. Be careful.

Mark Sievers, president of Epsilon Financial Group, is a certified financial planner with a master’s in business administration from UC Berkeley. Contact him at mark@wealth matters.com.

Francisco regions, and was a senior research fellow at New America.

Sahota is president and CEO of the California Association of Local Economic Development – the state’s largest economic development association – and is the executive director of the California Academy for Economic Development. She also holds a senior position with the California Economic Development Authority. Through her various positions she collaborates with 800 economic development member peers throughout the state to support the start, growth and sustainability of private enterprise in California. She believes in the importance and need to collaborate and create meaningful partnerships in order to accomplish the goal of creating healthy, wealthy communities. She turns this

belief into action by leading multiple organizations aligned with the goal of helping businesses thrive in order to create economic opportunity for California’s residents.

Carrigg is senior policy advisor of Renne Public Policy Group. He is a political consultant with an extensive network of professional contacts and broad experience in legislative analysis, policy development, strategy and advocacy on issues affecting local government agencies developed over his 30-year career in Sacramento. He also serves as an adviser for California Association of Local Economic Development. He has served as deputy executive director and legislative director for the California League of Cities, where he oversaw the organization’s lobbying and policy development activities for many years. Prior roles include serving as senior consultant to the Assembly Committee on Housing and Community Development, as well as serving as a legislative representative on public works, real estate and contract-

ing for the state Department of General Services.

Rhine is senior policy advocate of Rural County Representatives of California. She joined the organization in 1026 as a legislative advocate and new represents RCRC on a variety of issues that include telecommunications, insurance, land use, and housing finance. She previously served as chief deputy director of the California Department of Consumer Affairs, and prior to that worked in the Legislature both as a member consultant with the Speaker’s Office of Member Services and as a committee consultant with the Assembly Committee on Business and Professions. She began her career as a graduate research assistant with the Governor’s Office for Innovation in Government.

The webinar takes place from noon to 1:30 p.m.

To register, visit https:// us02web.zoom.us/webinar/ register/WN_E_mMhp7oS Xe37NJKOj4NFw.

Crime logs

FairField

THURSDAY, JAN. 19

6:05 a.m. — Vehicle burglary, 2000 block of CLAY BANK ROAD

7:26 a.m. — Vehicle theft, 100 block of TABOR AVENUE 8:18 a.m. — Hit-and-run with injury, 1900 block of NORTH TEXAS STREET 8:32 a.m. — Hit-and-run property damage, 800 block of FIRST STREET 10:48 a.m. — Trespassing, 2000 block of CADENASSO DRIVE

12:04 p.m. — Vehicle theft, 1400 block of NORTH TEXAS STREET 12:40 p.m. — Battery, 2500 block of MARTIN ROAD 1:01 p.m. — Reckless driver, MANUEL CAMPOS PARKWAY 1:58 p.m. — Forgery, 5000 block of BICKFORD CIRCLE 2:09 p.m. — Trespassing, 1400 block of HOLIDAY LANE 2:58 p.m. — Vehicle theft, 3000 block of NORTH TEXAS STREET 3:28 p.m. — Trespassing, 3300 block of NORTH TEXAS STREET 3:35 p.m. — Vehicle theft, 1200 block of VIENNA COURT 4:13 p.m. — Forgery, 1600 block of CREEKSIDE COURT 4:39 p.m. — Reckless driver, COTTONWOOD DRIVE 5 p.m. — Hit-and-run property damage, 800 block of EAST TRAVIS BOULEVARD 11:30 p.m. — Drunken driver, 800 block of TEXAS STREET 11:54 p.m. — Drunken driver, EASTBOUND AIR BASE PARKWAY

FRIDAY, JAN. 20 3:25 a.m. — Vehicle burglary, 2000 block of NOTTINGHAM DRIVE 6:20 a.m. — Vandalism, 3300 block of NORTH TEXAS STREET 10:25 a.m. — Residential burglary, 2700 block of NORTH TEXAS STREET 10:33 a.m. — Vehicle theft, 200 block of SANTA CRUZ DRIVE 12:38 p.m. — Vehicle theft, 4300 block of CORDELIA ROAD 1:24 p.m. — Fight with a

weapon, 2300 block of BOBWHITE COURT 1:50 p.m. — Sexual assault, 2000 block of WINSTON DRIVE 1:57 p.m. — Forgery, 2000 block of NORTH TEXAS STREET 2:28 p.m. — Reckless driver, 3300 block of NORTH TEXAS STREET 2:37 p.m. — Trespassing, 1200 block of GULF DRIVE 3:39 p.m. — Vehicle theft, 1400 block of WEST TEXAS STREET 3:41 p.m. — Forgery, 5100 block of BICKFORD CIRCLE 5:21 p.m. — Reckless driver, VANDEN ROAD 5:46 p.m. — Vandalism, 1000 block of BROADWAY STREET 5:58 p.m. — Reckless driver, WESTBOUND INTERSTATE 80 7:24 p.m. — Grand theft, 1500 block of TRAVIS BOULEVARD 9:31 p.m. — Shots fired, 1800 block of EAST TABOR AVENUE 11:35 p.m. — Drunken driver, 600 block of AIR BASE PARKWAY

SuiSun City

THURSDAY, JAN. 19 4:24 a.m. — Vehicle theft, 600 block of CRANE DRIVE 6:17 p.m. — Fraud, 1400 block of PROSPECT WAY 10:01 p.m. — Hit-and-run no injury, WALTERS ROAD/ BELLA VISTA DRIVE FRIDAY, JAN. 20 5:53 a.m. — Vehicle burglary, 500 block of HACIENDA LANE 10:34 a.m. — Assault, 400 block of WHISPERING BAY LANE 7:02 p.m. — Vehicle theft, 500 block of MARINA CENTER 7:18 p.m. — Vehicle theft, 100 block of SUNSET AVENUE

Violent protests break out in Atlanta over fatal shooting of activist

The WAshingTon PosT

ATLANTA — A protest broke down into momentary chaos and multiple arrests in downtown Atlanta on Saturday as a group of about 100 demonstrators marched to demonstrate against the police after an environmental activist was killed earlier this week.

The activist, a “forest defender” who goes by the name Tortuguita, was killed Wednesday as authorities disbanded a group of protesters who gathered around the site of a planned public safety training center that the opposition calls “Cop City.”

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said Tortuguita was killed after shooting a state trooper in the abdomen, causing nonfatal injuries, but others have called for an independent investigation into the killing, according to the Associated Press. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said that the incident was not recorded on body cameras, the AP reported.

Some of the protesters who marched on Saturday carried banners that read, “You Can’t Kill us

All, “Justice for Tortuguita” and “Trees give life, police take it.”

As demonstrators made their way up Peachtree Street, in the heart of Atlanta’s commercial and entertainment district, some in the group, clad in all black, began smashing windows and detonating fireworks, targeting Wells Fargo Bank, Chase Bank and another building that reportedly houses the Atlanta Police Foundation offices.

An Atlanta police car appeared to have been set on fire in front of the city’s Hooters restaurant, which was packed with people watching the Kansas City Chiefs-Jacksonville Jaguars NFL playoff game. Tourists and NFL football fans hurried indoors, as police descended on the scene and tackled several demonstrators.

Six people were arrested and explosive devices were covered, Atlanta’s police chief, Darin Schierbaum, said in a news conference, but no one was injured. He emphasized that those who caused property damage were a small subset of other peaceful demonstrators.

DOJ officials find more classified documents at Biden’s home

Tribune ConTenT AgenC

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department found six items containing clas sified information during a Friday search of Presi dent Joe Biden’s home in Wilmington, Delaware, his personal lawyers said on Saturday.

The search, conducted by FBI agents and which lasted more than 12 hours, also turned up notes from Biden’s time in the Senate and vice presidency. They mark the latest clas sified documents found in Biden’s possession, a matter that poses polit ical and legal risk for the president.

Last week, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the appointment of a special counsel to investigate the discovery of the classified documents at a think tank office Biden used after serving as vice president, as well as in two areas of his house in Wilmington.

Garland had previously appointed a special counsel to investigate the discovery of classified documents at the home of former President Donald Trump, and questions about whether he or his associates deliberately misled government officials seeking their return.

Neither Biden nor first lady Jill Biden were present during the Friday search, Richard Sauber, special counsel to the president, said in a separate statement.

“As detailed in the statement released by the President’s personal attorney, the President and his team are working

Station

From Page One

fleet to 54 for local and commuter service. The diesels are fairly new and will be rotated out in 10 to 12 years, Carr said.

There are nine diesels, 21 dieselhybrids, five electric and 19 compressed natural gas-powered buses. SolTrans will be adding two more compressed gas buses soon to take the number to 56. Over the next 18 months, SolTrans will replace 11 of the diesel-hybrids with electric buses, with 14 more down the road.

The commuter fleet is made up of 19 compressed

Storm

From Page One

violations, and all other County Code violations.

The administrative penalty amounts will range from $100 to $1,500 for the first violation, $200 to $3,000 for the second violation, and $500 to $2,500 for the third and any subsequent violations, depending on the violation category.

The time period between issuance of a first violation and issuance of a second or third violation varies from one to three years based on the violation category. Categories, administrative penalty amounts, and the time period allowed to issue a second and third violation are consistent with state law.

n A process to record a notice of pendency certifying that a property is a public nuisance. This notice will serve to advise any people looking at a deed that a public nuisance exists on the subject property.

n Allowance for the director of Resource Management to include agreed-upon penalties in a Consent Order. As cur-

swiftly to ensure DOJ and the Special Counsel have what they need to conduct a thorough review,” Sauber said.

Biden is spending this chilly winter weekend at his beach home in Rehoboth. Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declined to tell reporters this week if he was avoiding the Wilmington property because of the investigation.

The discovery of a fourth batch of documents exacerbates an embarrassing political misstep for the president ahead of an expected 2024 reelection campaign. The White House has sought to draw a distinction with Trump, who has already announced a third presidential bid, by

natural gas buses, with two more coming, plus one electric, with four more coming.

Most of SolTrans’ current fleet for local service is comprised of diesel-hybrids (21). There are four electric buses used in Vallejo and Benicia service, and one compressed gas.

“The plan is that our whole fleet will be lowemission or no-emission (by 2040),” Carr said. “And one of the things I’m looking at is the technology.”

She said, “the range (of the electric buses) has to increase so the battery efficiency has to improve.” She expects it will.

In the meantime, between SolTrans and the Solano Transportation

rently allowed per Chapter 10, the Consent Order would also include the corrective action that must be taken, an agreedupon timeframe for compliance, and amounts for cost recovery.

n The right of a person to request a hearing regarding a notice of proposed penalties, which may also include a request for a hardship waiver from such penalties.

n A process to collect penalties, including placing a lien on a property for unpaid penalties.

n A process for the board to hold a special assessment hearing and to lien a property for unpaid costs associated with abatement of violations. This process would be similar to that already used by the board to implement garbage service liens and would provide a mechanism to recover unpaid costs for staff time or other direct abatement expenses, other than penalties, once a property is sold.

“It is anticipated that violations of zoning regulations would follow a two-step process . . . . First, a violation and abatement plan would be established per the zoning administrator, with appeal to the Planning Commission and

emphasizing Biden’s cooperation with investigators.

But the discoveries have turned attention away from a wave of momentum that Biden had been riding as 2022 ended with legislative victories and a better-than-expected Democrat midterm performance.

A Quinnipiac University poll conducted between Jan. 11 through Jan 15 revealed that some two-thirds of Americans say that they are following the developments either very closely or somewhat closely. Sixty-percent think that Biden acted inappropriately in the way that he handled the documents. Although only 37% think he should face criminal charges, accord-

Authority, they are looking to install seven induction charging locations: two in downtown Vallejo, two in Fairfield, one in Suisun City, one in Walnut Creek and one at the El Cerrito del Norte BART station. Each could cost as much as $1 million, Carr said.

That takes the spending to $100 million.

There is one induction location in use at the Curtola Park and Ride in Vallejo. The bus parks over the charging plate, and as passengers get on and off the bus, it is charged and adds some distance capacity.

But electric buses are not the only zero-emission option. Hydrogen-powered coaches are an alternative, but are more expensive. However, they

then to the Board of Supervisors. After a violation has been estab lished, or upheld if appealed, then the penalty amount would be affirmed by the hearing officer,” the staff report to the board states.

“Appeals of any staff level determinations would go to an independent hearing officer who would deny, modify or uphold any abatement order and proposed penalty amount.”

The supervisors also will review the 2022 Annual Report and consider final approval of about $1.88 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act dollars as “bridge funding” for nonprofits.

The applicants and funding requests are for Planned Parenthood Northern California ($350,000); Children’s Network of Solano County ($350,000); Seneca Family of Agencies ($350,000); National Alliance on Mental Illness of Solano County ($350,000); Victor Community Support Services Inc. ($326,308); Shelter Solano Inc ($136,846) and Faith Food Fridays ($136,846).

The afternoon session

ing to the poll.

On Thursday, Biden criticized questions over the issue, saying that the American people didn’t understand the controversy.

“I have no regrets,” Biden told White House reporters during a trip to California. “I am following what the lawyers have told me they want me to do – that’s exactly what we’re doing. There’s no there there.”

The White House has declined to answer many questions on the matter, including why Biden didn’t immediately publicly disclose the discovery of the documents in November. CBS News broke the news two months after the first papers were found.

do have greater range capacity and take less time to charge.

Still, it’s an option and Carr has an idea: Build a hydrogen fueling center along Interstate 80 to not only service hydrogenpowered commuter buses, but also school buses and a trucking industry that will eventually have to convert as well.

The most common way to produce hydrogen is through a process called steam-methane reforming, during which hydrogen is produced by using high-temperature steam with a methane source, such as natural gas.

Hydrogen can also be developed from another critical resource: water.

is at 2 p.m. and includes a rezoning petition for 5.2 acres located at 7181 Shelton Lane, just north of Vacaville. The Planning Commission has recommended the change from Rural Residential, minimum 5-acre lots, to Rural Residential, minimum 2.5-acre lots.

A public hearing on an appeal of the Planning Commission’s approval of a use permit for Cingular Wireless to add 15 antennas and other associated equipment on an existing 111-foot tower, and a 296-squarefoot lease area, within an existing compound on Gates Canyon Road also is scheduled.

The afternoon session follows a closed session during which the supervisors will be updated on potential litigation and conduct a performance evaluation of Emlen, who was appointed as top administrator in March.

Recognition of former Supervisor Jim Spering and former Assessor-Recorder Marc Tonnesen are scheduled as part of the board’s consent agenda.

EMLEN

Yuri Gripas/Abaca Press/TNS

President Joe Biden welcomes bipartisan mayors attending the Conference of Mayors Winter Meeting to the White House in Washington, D.C., Friday. The Justice Department found six items containing classified information during a Friday search of Biden’s home in Wilmington, Delaware, his personal lawyers said Saturday.

Company recognizes Cordelia Hills teacher

FAIRFIELD — Michelle Wilcox, a teacher at Cordelia Hills Elementary School, was honored recently for the fifth time as an Elite 100 teacher.

IXL Learning, an education company that provides K-12 students with online personalized learning technology, announced the selections in a press release.

“(Wilcox) was honored as an Elite 100 teacher following her efforts in helping students succeed academically and using IXL to engage learners on a deeper level with dayto-day instruction,” the statement said.

Wilcox is one of four California teachers recognized, including one from Fremont.

The full list is available at www.ixl.com/ resources/elite-100.

Suisun Waterfront BID to review budget

SUISUN CITY — Jim Bermudez, director of Development Services for the city, has been invited to speak at Monday’s meeting of the Historic Waterfront Business Improvement District board.

Financial and budget reports also are scheduled to be presented, along with consideration of a Mother’s Day Event contract.

The board also is scheduled to discuss plans for the Art, Wine & Music event and Cinco de Mayo.

The directors meet, via Zoom, at 5 p.m.

Access is available by going to https://zoom.us/ join. The Webinar ID is 898 9566 5686. Access is also available by calling 707-438-1720.

Library council set to consider goals

FAIRFIELD — The Solano County Library Advisory Council will discuss its goals when it meets at 6:30 p.m. Monday in the Becker-Balmer room at the Fairfield Civic Center Library.

The council also is scheduled to select its new board officers.

The library is located at 1150 Kentucky St. in Fairfield.

Sheriff to welcome new deputies

FAIRFIELD — Solano County Sheriff Tom Ferrara will issue the oath of office to new deputies and conduct a recognition ceremony on Thursday.

The event is set to begin at 2 p.m. in the Board of Supervisors chamber on the first floor of the government center, 675 Texas St., in Fairfield.

Children of all ages enjoy festive Vacaville tea party

SuSan HilanD SHILAND@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

VACAVILLE — Girls dressed in their Sunday best – some even wearing tiaras – came out Saturday to the annual Sugar ‘N Spice Tea Party.

For some it was a return to a traditional family afternoon event after a hiatus because of the pandemic. For others it was a first chance to have a real tea party.

Melanie Navarro, 11, of Vacaville, has been coming to the tea party with her teddy bear since she was a baby. Her godmother, Marg Albacete, was one of the first members on The Saturday Club of Vacaville planning committee for the event.

“I started bringing my daughter until she was 16,” Albacete said. “Then I brought my nieces for several years. I am going to keep bringing them to the event as long as

they want to.”

Albacete even came with her sister for many years.

Melanie liked the little sandwiches and desserts.

“But I really like seeing

little kids being happy with their bears,” she said.

The tea party helps raise money for cultural arts scholarships and to help promote manners for young women.

“We haven’t been here since 2020 and I have missed everyone,” said Monica Espinosa, president of The Saturday Club of Vacaville.

The Saturday Club,

Fairfield offers free program to help dress up vacant storefront windows

Daily Republic Staff DRNEWS@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

FAIRFIELD — The city this month launched a program to provide free window art on vacant buildings downtown to help business owners meet current aesthetic requirements.

Downtown property owners are required to notify the city of commercial vacancies, submit a plan for window installations and install approved installations. The property owners have 30 days to implement their preferred action plan.

Window installations will be provided and installed by the city for free, or property owners can elect to design and install window installations themselves.

The Vibrant Vacancy Program’s purpose is to transform vacant commercial storefront windows in downtown Fairfield into “vibrant, attractive spaces for owners and the public,” the city reports.

Poorly maintained storefront windows can draw quality-of-life issues such as trespassing, squatting, trash,

debris and graffiti. This can result in costly maintenance that can be better managed through costeffective methods such as art and branding, the city reports.

Pedestrians can be encouraged to patronize areas with good upkeep, the city reports. The program also aims to help the owners of vacant storefronts attract prospective tenants.

A Vibrant Vacancy Ordinance was adopted by the City Council and placed into effect Sept. 6. It is part of the city’s Heart of Fairfield

plan to revitalizes the downtown district.

The free installation program, among other things, allows business owners to showcase the work of local artists.

Applicants can notify the city of vacancies and begin the application process by submitting an application online or contacting Jennifer Rice, real estate specialist, at jrice@fairfield.ca.gov or 707-428-7727.

To learn more or to apply online, visit https://www.fairfield. ca.gov/vibrant.

Project starts to make it safer to walk to and from Grange Middle School

Daily Republic Staff DRNEWS@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

FAIRFIELD — Work has started on a city-sponsored project designed to make it safer for children to walk to and from Grange Middle School.

City Council members in October approved plans and specifications for the work and awarded a $3.23 million contract to FBD Vanguard Construction Inc. of Livermore for the Grange Middle School Safe Routes to School and Pavement Preservation Project. The money come from the city’s Capital Streets Fund.

The project is located on East Tabor Avenue between Dover Avenue and Clay Bank Road, and on Sunset Avenue between East Tabor Avenue and Sunset Court. The work includes installing concrete curb extensions, ADA-accessible curb ramps, rapid flashing beacons at crosswalks, traffic signal modifications, pavement rehabilitation and traffic striping.

Work began Monday and is anticipated to be completed in late April. Work will occur from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday

through Friday when school is in session, and 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. when school is out on break from Feb. 20-24 and from April 7-14.

Drivers are advised to expect delays due to closed sidewalks redirecting pedestrian access.

Parking will be prohibited during construction at locations adjacent to the work, the city reports. Work locations will be posted with “No Parking” signs on barricades a minimum of 72 hours prior to the start of work. Vehicles parked within the work locations

prior to the start of work may be towed. Noise levels may be increased at times. Access to residences and/or businesses will be maintained at all times.

Grange Middle School is located at 1975 Blossom Ave.

The project has the added benefit of making it safer for people to walk to and from nearby Tabor Park.

For more information about the project, contact Phil Layoso, assistant engineer, at playoso@ fairfield.ca.gov or 707-428-7485.

which was created in 1909 by Katherine Saxton Steiger, has been a staple of Vacaville ever since. The tea party was previously held around Christmas, but it was changed to January in 2000 because everyone was getting so busy in December.

The pandemic stopped it completely for two years.

Organizers this year played a video of past tea parties so people can see themselves over the years.

“We try to keep everything the same each year, otherwise the kids wonder why it changed,” Espinosa said.

The club had the biggest sale of tickets this year with 109 people purchasing them. Along with the tickets was a prize drawing and silent auction.

The club raises money for scholarships in the arts to go to deserving

North Bay SBDCs launch Inclusivity Project

Daily Republic Staff DRNEWS@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

FAIRFIELD — The Solano-Napa Small Business Development Center has joined SBDCs in Sonoma and Marin counties to launch a new Inclusivity Project, a program to serve Black and African American businesses in their counties.

During the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic, it was reported that 41% of Black and African American businesses closed their doors throughout the United States, the agencies report Friday in a joint press release.

“The SBDCs are committed to helping build back Black and African American businesses in the North Bay and across the region,” the agencies state in the press release.

The Inclusivity Project is a collaboration between the North Bay SBDC centers, the North Bay Black Chamber and the Solano County Black Chamber of Commerce “with a goal of creating meaningful change within the Black business community.”

The project is being funded by Wells Fargo Bank and is open to all new

Susan Hiland/Daily Republic Lilly Oaks, 4, and Madison Mena, 7, both of Vacaville, get ready for the Sugar ’N Spice Tea Party at The Saturday Club of Vacaville, Saturday.

Housing Element goes before planners

FAIRFIELD — The city Planning Commission is scheduled to review and possibly recommend the City Council adopt the 2023-31 Housing Element when it meets Wednesday.

Also on the agenda is consideration of a tentative subdivision map for 346 townhomes on 25.8 acres located off Peabody Road. Republic Urban Properties and Peter Lin are the applicants.

The commission meets at 6 p.m. in the council chamber at City Hall, 1000 Webster St.

A full agenda is available on the city’s website.

Aldrin gets married on 93rd birthday

Buzz spent 93 minutes walking on the surface of the moon, and has now traveled 93 times around the sun.

The second man on the moon celebrated his birthday Friday, the oldest of the four living moonwalkers. Aldrin, who landed with Neil Armstrong to become one of only 12 people ever to walk on the lunar surface, was born on a Monday, on Jan. 20, 1930.

Aldrin, who regularly posts to social media, gave thanks for the sundry well wishes made during the day.

Late Friday he posted news that he and longtime partner Dr. Anca Faur had been married in a small ceremony in Los Angeles, saying they were “as excited as eloping teenagers.”

White House chief of staff Klain to depart

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s chief of staff, Ron Klain, is preparing to leave his post in the coming weeks, a high-profile departure as the White House faces two years of a divided Congress and prepares for an expected reelection bid, people familiar with the matter said.

— Staff, wire reports

Derby

a track. The jammer scores points by lapping members of the opposing team.

“She has to go around twice before they start keeping score,” Crismore said. “Then it goes for two minutes.”

The teams attempt to hinder the opposing jammer while assisting their own jammer.

“The Tomato Jam is a play on words, by the way,” Crismore said.

Basically, the two teams knock each other around on roller skates, trying to dislodge each other. Sometimes people fall but the key is to get up fast, otherwise you could get hurt.

There are no hard feelings at the end of the

Project

From Page A10

and existing Black and African American entrepreneurs. The program offers no cost, in-depth business training and expert one-to-one advising to help members realize their business potential, prepare for sustainable business ownership and create generational wealth.

“The North Bay SBDCs are appreciative to be a strategic partner to provide leadership, mentorship and financial resources while creating meaningful community engagement and stakeholder thinking,” the agencies state in the press release.

Each SBDC center has dedicated Black and African American advisers that have years of experience helping businesses achieve their goals. Margaret Jackson is the lead business Inclusivity Project adviser and instructor.

“We are a team of likeminded small business professional experts desiring to achieve a common goal: to restore the 41% loss in this nation by supporting our next generation of aspiring Black and African American business owners and entrepreneurs,” Jackson said in the press release. “I’m honored to be part of this project and work alongside these talented business owners to achieve their goals.”

For more information on this project, go to https://www.theinclusivityproject.com or sign up through the Solano-Napa SBDC website at https:// www.solanonapasbdc.org.

skirmish; a few knocks don’t get taken as personal assaults.

“It’s all in fun. Afterward we go out for a drink,” Crismore said.

“We started wearing masks during practice and the games,” Lady Blaze, aka Heather Cobb, said. “It was difficult in the beginning but we practiced with

students. They have given thousands of dollars over the years to seniors who wanted to go to college and major in the artistic fields. Potential applicants fill out the paperwork and then bring in their art or show their talents off in an interview.

“This is our biggest fundraiser,” Espinosa said.

Entertainment included ballerina Sophia Price, followed by singers Leah Benaga, who also played the piano, and Vivian McLaughlin. Pictures were taken of each table so people who wanted additional photos were able to purchase them.

Barbara Tatum of Vacaville came with her granddaughter for their first official tea party.

“I have lived here for years and I never heard of it,” Tatum said.

But when Tatum told her granddaughter they were going, the news was met with excitement.

“She couldn’t stop talking about it,” Tatum said, “and I am pretty excited, too.”

it on and that helped.”

Cobb has been with the team since the beginning in 2019. The pandemic didn’t stop them from practicing, it just meant more safety measures, which meant no indoor games for two years.

“The derby is all about the fun,” she said.

The Carquinez Quad Squad will start up a roller derby boot camp in March for anyone 18 or old. The six-week camp gets players ready to compete by teaching the basics in a class twice a week.

“This is for anyone as long as they are over 18 years old,” Crismore said. “We have a lot of team members who are in their 40s. So age doesn’t matter.”

For more information, go to www. carquinezquadsquad.org.

The day concluded with a teddy bear parade where each child brought their favorite bear and walked with it.

For more information on The Saturday Club of Vacaville, visit https:// saturdayclubvacaville. com.

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

From

Susan Hiland/Daily Republic Teams compete in skirmishes during the inaugural Tomato Jam Roller Derby at the Solano County Fairgrounds, Saturday.

ABOVE: Kaori Tatum, 5, of Vacaville, reaches for a cookie at the Sugar ‘N Spice Tea Party at The Saturday Club of Vacaville, Saturday.

LEFT: Sophia Price dances during the Sugar ‘N Spice Tea Party.

Susan Hiland/Daily Republic photos

Can we prevent flood deaths?

Flooding is an overflow of water onto dry land. Floods are the most common natural disaster in the United States. In 2021, 146 deaths occurred in the United States due to flash floods and river floods.

The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 caused 246 deaths, inundating 27,000 square miles. Hurricane Katrina caused 1,392 overall fatalities in 2005, with flooding causing much of the mortality. The YangtzeHuai River Flood of 1931 killed close to 4 million people in China, topping the historical mortality list for floods.

Flash flooding may occur with little warning. Floods can disrupt electrical power, disrupt transportation, damage buildings, create mudslides and lead to death by drowning, hypother-

The WashingTon PosT

The prevailing wisdom for treating obesity in kids used to be “wait and see.” New guidelines released last week turn that advice on its head, recommending early and aggressive treatment to prevent complications such as diabetes and liver disease, which have become far more common in children.

Back in 2007, when the American Academy of Pediatrics first addressed the condition, the medical community did not recognize obesity as a disease, and the treatment options for children were mostly limited to counseling about diet, nutrition and exercise. Today, doctors recognize the issue as urgent because of the potential of damaging, lifelong health consequences. We also have highly

mia, traumatic injury and other mishaps.

Strategies for surviving a flood are outlined in many online locations. Consider a few examples: Plan: Arrange a meeting spot where your family could assemble in case of separation.

Planning how to communicate, if cell service goes down, is critical. Text communications are reportedly somewhat more reliable.

Assemble an emergency kit: In addition to first aid supplies, you will want to have 3 gallons of water for each person in your family to drink. Food, medications, dry clothing, waterproof clothing, cash, identification documents (driver’s licenses and passports), pet supplies, personal hygiene items, would be obvious items for inclusion.

Prepare: Clear your storm

gutters, keep your insurance policies current, and follow official recommendations about evacuation. Don’t be the last person to consider evacuating if the area around your residence is threatened. Added sources of information include FEMA’s Flood Map Service Center and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Once the emergency is upon us, the website ready.gov suggests survival strategies: Find safe shelter: In looking for a safe place, resist the temptation to walk, swim or drive through flood waters. A cubic yard of water weighs about a ton. Only 6 inches of moving water can knock a person down, and 1 foot of moving water can sweep a vehicle away. A useful mantra is, “Turn around! Don’t drown!”

Survive rising water levels: Bridges can be swept away with no warning. If trapped in a car

surrounded by moving water, getting on the roof is advisable. Within a structure, going to the highest level makes sense, but exercise caution in entering a closed attic, as the potential for being trapped by rising waters is obvious. If you end up on a roof, signal for help.

Remain safe as flood waters recede: Do not rush to return home. Wait for the all-clear from local police and firefighters. Exercise caution about the possibility of downed power lines. Do not touch electrical equipment in a wet environment. Use proper face coverings or masks, as well as gloves, to avoid exposure to dust or debris. Worsening of asthma or chronic lung conditions may occur.

In tropical nations, which flood regularly during monsoon season, encounters with venomous snakes are a common cause of human injury, or death. Even in California, with a more temperate climate, it is necessary to be alert to the possibility of wildlife entry into living quar-

effective and safe (albeit sometimes costly) pharmaceutical and surgical interventions that were not available before.

“The greater harm is in delaying,” said Matt Haemer, an obesity specialist at Children’s Hospital Colorado.

Here are the three most important takeaways from the new guidelines, according to doctors who specialize in childhood obesity.

1. Obesity is a chronic medical condition, not primarily a consequence of lifestyle choices.

T he guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics recognize that the disease is driven by all sorts of social and environmental factors, as well as family genetics.

2. Medications are a tool that can be used in children 12 and older in a safe manner. Bariatric

surgery can also be considered for severe obesity in children 13 and older.

There are now two main groups of drugs available for weight loss. The newest ones, such as Wegovy by Novo Nordisk, are weekly injections designed to treat diabetes that have been shown to be remarkably effective for weight loss. But doctors say it can be challenging to get insurance coverage and the shots can cost upward of $1,000 a month out of pocket. The older group of drugs, which include appetite-suppressants phentermine/topiramate, can cost $25 to $30 a month for generic versions of the pills. They can still make a difference in many patients, but weight loss has been shown to be less significant than with the newer drugs, and some patients experience high blood pressure

on those medications.

Mary Savoye, associate director for pediatric obesity at Yale New Haven Children’s Hospital, said she expects behavioral therapy will remain at the core of treatment plans at most centers, and be used along with medication and surgery. The “Bright Bodies Program” she and her colleagues pioneered –which involves exercise classes, nutrition education and parent counseling – was cited in the new AAP guidelines as being the basis of the recommendation for 26 hours of intensive behavioral therapy a year.

Many children see results in six months to a year from the new medications, Savoye said, but that does not mean they are cured. She said while there’s no consensus on how long patients should remain on the drugs, “we

ters that are flooded. Do not wade in floodwater, to avoid exposure to the risk of electrocution, snakes, animals or other hazards.

The possibility of carbon monoxide poisoning is a sobering reality. If you use a generator or gasoline-powered machinery of any kind, do not do so indoors. Rather, use wellventilated outdoor areas away from windows into adjacent structures.

California’s drought was cited as evidence of climate change, by analysts. Flooding was also viewed as a reflection of climate instability. One wonders what weather events might escape such apocalyptic discussion, in support of a cause. Preparing for disasters requires optimism. We can do it.

Scott T. Anderson, MD (st anderson@ucdavis.edu) is medical director of Para Ti Global. This column is informational and does not constitute medical advice.

are thinking it’s for their lifetime.” She said treatment should continue to include nutrition and behavioral modification as well.

3. More must be done to ensure access to treatments for all children who need them.

The number of pediatric obesity specialty centers in the United States is growing but they are still mostly limited to large metropolitan areas. These practices typically bring a wide range of specialists - which can include pediatricians, endocrinologists, hepatologists, surgeons, social workers, psychologists, fitness experts and nutritionists - under one roof to create a multipronged plan for a child suffering from obesity.

Some of these centers see thousands of patients each year so it can take a while to get an appointment.

Scott Anderson Ask Dr. Scott

Be sure to visit for future events

This week

THINGS TO DO

I Suisun City

Noon Sunday Jazz Sunday Brunch

Marina Lounge, 700 Main St., Suite 106. www. marinaloungesuisun.com.

7 p.m. Wednesday

Cultural Exchange

Wednesdayz

Marina Lounge, 700 Main St., Suite 106. www. marinaloungesuisun.com.

7 p.m. Thursday

Karaoke

Marina Lounge, 700 Main St., Suite 106. www. marinaloungesuisun.com.

6 p.m. Friday

Fish Fry & Game Night

Marina Lounge, 700 Main St., Suite 106. www. marinaloungesuisun.com.

7 p.m. Saturday

Salsa Saturday Marina Lounge, 700 Main St., Suite 106. www. marinaloungesuisun.com.

I Vacaville

8 p.m. Thursday

The Marshall Tucker Band Vacaville Performing Arts Theatre, 1010 Ulatis Drive. https://vpat.net.

9 p.m. Friday

Dueling Pianos: Jason & TBD Makse Restaurant, 555 Main St. duelingpiano vacaville.com/events.

3 p.m. Saturday

Leon Patillo & Machaira Journey Downtown, 308 Main St. www.journey downtownvenue.com.

9 p.m. Saturday

Dueling Pianos: Jason & TBD Makse Restaurant, 555 Main St. duelingpiano vacaville.com/events.

I Benicia

6 p.m. Sunday Poker Night

The Rellik, 726 First St.  www.therelliktavern.com.

7 p.m. Tuesday Open Mic Night

The Rellik, 726 First St.  www.therelliktavern.com.

7 p.m. Wednesday

Karaoke

The Rellik, 726 First St.  www.therelliktavern.com.

5 p.m. Thursday

Syria The Rellik, 726 First St.  www.therelliktavern.com.

9 p.m. Thursday

DJ Jerry Ross

The Rellik, 726 First St.  www.therelliktavern.com.

4:30 p.m. Friday

Chad and Bruce Duo

The Rellik, 726 First St.  www.therelliktavern.com.

9 p.m. Friday

Goth Night

The Rellik, 726 First St.  www.therelliktavern.com.

4:30 p.m. Saturday

Tune Riders

The Rellik, 726 First St.  www.therelliktavern.com.

8:30 p.m. Saturday

Crossman Connection

The Rellik, 726 First St.  www.therelliktavern.com.

I Vallejo

5:30 p.m. Wednesday

Andy Santana

Empress Theatre, 330 Virginia St. www. empresstheatre.org.

1 p.m. Saturday

LJ Bryant

Vino Godfather Winery, 1005 Walnut Ave. www. vinogodfather.com.

6 p.m. Saturday The Best Intentions

Empress Theatre, 330 Virginia St. www. empresstheatre.org.

‘My Prosthetic Life’

Rio Vista author shares struggles of being a thalidomide baby

SuSan HilanD SHILAND@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

Uniquely challenging might be one way to describe Laura Kendall’s life.

She was born with a left arm that was stunted from exposure in utero to the medication thalidomide and on her left side, everything is a little less developed than on the right side.

According to the National Library of Medicine, Thalidomide was a widely used drug in the late 1950s and early 1960s for the treatment of nausea in pregnant women. It became apparent in the 1960s that thalidomide treatment resulted in severe birth defects in thousands of children.

Though the use of thalidomide was banned in most countries at that time, thalidomide proved to be a useful treatment for leprosy and later, multiple myeloma.

Growing up in Fairfield, Kendall remembers going to the market with her mother, being in the shopping cart and people would stare at her prosthetic arm.

“I remember this clearly because I would pull it behind my back to hide it,” she said. “I was doing something about the staring.”

She said she was probably around 3 years old.

Kendall got her first prosthetic when she was just 8 months old. It was large, bulky and had a strap wrapped around her back. A version of that strap situation has been on nearly every one of her prosthetic arms.

It wore cysts into her underarms.

“Kids could be cruel,” she remembers in elementary school. “One boy started calling me Captain Hook. People just thought that was so clever. So I kicked him.”

The principal called them both into the office and after an explanation, she was dismissed but her tormentor was being paddled in the office as she left.

Kendall had a group of girlfriends to support her through David Weir Elementary, Sullivan Academy and Fairfield High School.

“High school was actually pretty good,” she said. “I wasn’t popular or unpopular.”

Still, feelings of being a square peg trying to fit a round hole persisted. The idea of studying for college so she could gain skills to work seemed like a silly idea.

How could she do anything with her arm the way it was?

Ag & Art Earth Day comes to Vacaville in April

Daily Republic Staff DRNEWS@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

NAPA — Lucky Penny Productions continues its 2022-23 season with “Disney’s The Descendants: The Musical” live on stage, Friday through Feb. 12 at the Lucky Penny Community Arts Center in Napa.

The story is set in the kingdom of Auradon where all of Disney’s beloved heroes and royalty are living happily ever after, safe from the terrifying villains and troublesome sidekicks they have banished to the magicfree Isle of the Lost.

But everything changes when Ben, the benevolent teenage son of Belle and King Adam (The Beast), offers a chance for redemption. Soon Mal, Evie, Jay and Carlos – the troublemaking offspring of Maleficent, the Evil Queen, Cruella De Vil and Jafar – are welcomed to Auradon Prep to attend school with the children of

their parents’ sworn enemies.

The four Villain Kids have a difficult choice: Should they follow in their parents’ wicked footsteps or learn to be good?

Based on the popular Disney Channel Original Movies, “Disney’s Descen-

VACAVILLE — The first Ag & Art Earth Day celebration will be held April 22 in Andrews Park in Vacaville.

“The event is an opportunity to celebrate Earth Day with talks from local farmers and eco-conscious organizations, booths featuring local art, an art tent for kids, artisan and craft booths, live music from local musicians, food trucks and eco-conscious businesses,” organizers said in a statement.

The event is being put on by Ag & Art Magazine in cooperation with Ag & Art Film Festival and Uptown Fox Events from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

A drawing to raise money for the Pleasants Valley Agriculture Association is part of the activities.

Arts and crafts vendors, with a preference for handmade items or Earthconscious products, are being sought. For more information, visit www.uptownfox. com, send an email to brooke@uptown fox.com or call 917-586-4064.

For more information about the event, visit http://agandartmagazine. com or send an email to agandartevents @gmail.com.

Courtesy photo

Author Kendall shares struggles of being a Thalidomide baby in her new book.

Daily Republic Staff DRNEWS@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

dants: The Musical” is a new musical comedy featuring the beloved characters and hit songs from the films.

“This is a show that Disney fans will love,” Lucky Penny Artistic Director Taylor Bartolucci said

Courtesy photo

The cast of “Disney’s The Descendants: The Musical” is shown in rehearsal at Lucky Penny Community Arts Center in Napa. The show opens Friday.

Kendall dreamed about being a writer to share stories. But she couldn’t type with just one good arm.

A friend suggested she try the Department of Rehabilitation and see if she could get into a program at the community college in Vallejo.

“My friend knew someone with similar issues and they learned to type at the business school,” Kendall said.

Kendall didn’t have a lot of confidence it would succeed, but she ended up graduating and went to work for Bank of America in San Francisco.

“I have done a lot of secretary jobs, and accounting because I knew how to type,” she said.

Success has been an ongoing struggle. As Kendall was dealing with her own deep-seated feelings of inadequacy, she medicated with drinking.

“I was running, running,” she said. “Just so many feelings I didn’t want to deal with.”

At one point she tried asking her mother about taking the drug while pregnant and her mother

told her that wasn’t the cause of her birth defects.

Kendall over the past year has been working on her sobriety, and once sober, found inside of her that book she always wanted to write. So, at 65 years old, she decided to write her story and share her struggles with the world.

“I want to make a difference in people’s lives,” Kendall said. “I want to help them. I want to make them laugh.”

The book, “My Prosthetic Life, A Memoir,” is different in that it begins with her eulogy.

The eulogy is a wish for how she hopes people remember her and the lessons she has learned along the way – at least so far: Her life’s not over yet,

being a thalidomide

she emphasizes.

Kendall’s third husband John and daughter Michelle were supportive of her efforts creating something that was once again uniquely her own.

Being disabled doesn’t stop her from dreaming of future successes. For example, she started learning to play the guitar.

“I want to play ‘In My Life, by The Beatles,’ ” she said. “I always liked the songs that weren’t played much on the radio.”

She is also working on the second volume of her life story because there is still more to tell.

Her book may be purchased on Amazon and online at Barnes and Noble Booksellers. Search for the book’s title and Kendall’s name.

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in a press release. “We know our audiences will be multigenerational with young ones fascinated by the story and their parents enjoying the nostalgia for the Disney classics in a new format.”

The cast features Emma Sutherland as Mal, Pilar Gonzales as Evie, Alex Corey as Carlos, No’Eau Kahalekulu as Jay, Sam Schneider as Ben, Atticus

LuckyFisher as Chad, Sheccid Donatt as Audrey, Trey Reeves as Doug, Harper Hughes as Jane, Andrea Dennison-Laufer as Malificent, Brad Fisher as The Beast/Jafar, Larissa Kelloway as Belle/Grimhilde, Staci Arriaga as Cruella De Vil, Leslie Sexton as Fairy Godmother, Scott Slagle as Maurice/Guard and Jeff Bristow as Royal Page/Ensemble.

The ensemble includes Tuolumne Bunter, Vincent Christianson, Alana Collins, Paxton Fisher, Evelyn Goodwin, Mallory

Higgins and Zakiya Ruff. Kirstin Pieschke is the director, with music direction by Craig Burdette and Sherrill Peterson. Choreography is by Staci Arriaga, scenic design is by Kirstin Pieschke and Barry Martin, costumes are by Ashley Hammons, lighting is by April George and properties are by Bartolucci.

Tickets are on sale at www.luckypenny napa.com. Contact Lucky Penny at 707-266-6305 or by email at info@lucky pennynapa.com.

Courtesy photo

Author Kendall shares struggles of

baby in her new book.

After court ruling, can jails show Christian television?

The WashingTon PosT

A Virginia jail broadcasts Christian services on televisions throughout the facility every Sunday. Six years ago, a man detained at the facility sued, saying the practice violated his rights as a Sunni Muslim. But an appellate court says it cannot rule on whether showing the programs is constitutional, because the U.S. Supreme Court has changed the way it interprets government establishment of religion.

Middle River Regional Jail in Staunton, Va., on Sundays plays on televisions in every common area a video donated by a local Mennonite Christian group, according to the court record. David Nighthorse Firewalker-Fields complained in 2017, saying he should not be forced to listen to Christian services; he was told that he could avoid the broadcast by staying in his cell. He lost at district court in 2019 and appealed.

Judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit say that until last year, they would have applied the “Lemon test,” based on a 1971 decision that said the First Amendment prohibited government’s subsidizing of parochial schools. (The lead plaintiff in that case was Alton Lemon, a civil rights activist.) They would have looked at whether the policy had secular goals and effects and whether it would lead to government “entanglement” with religion or appear to be endorsement of one belief system.

“But . . . the Supreme Court upended that approach” with its ruling in favor of a high school football coach who led postgame prayers on the field, a three-judge panel said this week. “In its place,” the judges said, “courts should use an analysis that focuses on history, tradition, and original meaning.”

The unanimous deci-

sion was written by Judge Julius N. Richardson, nominated by President Donald Trump, and joined by Chief Judge Roger L. Gregory, first nominated by President Bill Clinton, and Judge Rossie Alston, nominated by Trump to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. (District judges occasionally sit on appellate panels.)

The relevant Supreme Court decision from last year in the case from Washington state was joined by all six justices nominated by Republican presidents and was opposed by the three nominated by Democratic presidents. It was one of several recent decisions in which the Supreme Court decreed that laws must be evaluated within the “original meaning and history” of the Constitution. In dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote that there was no “meaningful explanation” of this “history-and-tradition test.”

Richardson said that the new test was “unsettled” but that the Supreme Court had given “some guidance” in past decisions upholding legislative prayers, display of a cross on government land and Sunday closing laws.

Lawyers for Firewalker-Fields asserted in a court filing that the jail policy was unconstitutional under the new standard – that the Constitution’s authors were concerned about “coercive attendance at religious exercises” imposed by the British, similar to broadcasting a Christian service throughout a jail.

The jail argued that there was no such coercion, because there was “no evidence to demonstrate [Firewalker-Fields] lost any tangible benefit by choosing to remain in his cell during the service.”

The appellate court declined to weigh in, saying the historical analysis should be attempted first by the district court

that first heard the case.

The author of a book about religion in American public life said it is impossible to say what the Constitution’s framers had in mind when they wrote the First Amendment, because it was a compromise between those who wanted strict separation of church and state and those who wanted to protect state endorsement of Protestant Christianity.

“What they agreed on was language that was itself ambiguous,” David Sehat said. “From a historical perspective, there’s no real way of saying who was right. They disagreed before and after the amendment.”

This particular question would be impossible to place in an 18th-century context, Sehat said - there were no penitentiaries at the time the First Amendment was drafted.

“Historians are pretty skeptical of this move to history and tradition, because the courts and

judges and lawyers in general are bad historians and they have a very narrow view,” he said.

In its 2022 decision on football game prayers, the Supreme Court said it had “long ago abandoned Lemon.” The court had already paved the way for state funding of religious schools in another 2022 case involving a Maine voucher program. But the test was applied in the 4th Circuit as recently as 2020, when a district judge used it to reject a challenge to a high school reading curriculum.

The Lemon test is now “finally dead,” Richardson wrote. “. . . It is now clear that Lemon and its ilk are not good law.”

Firewalker-Fields was transferred from the jail to prison after only a few months. But the fight over the constitutionality of the Christian broadcasts - and of religion in government generally – will continue in the lower federal court.

863-0581 4177 Suisun Valley Rd Fairfield

Growing impatient with friend’s ingratitude

Dear Annie: I am struggling with what to do about one of my very best friends who is basically family to me at this point. Throughout our friendship, I have noticed that she does not say “thank you” very often. This includes when a gift is given to her or even when a customer purchases something in person from her small business.

Annie Lane Dear Annie

When I have sent her stuff in the past, oftentimes I would have to reach out to see if she even received it. When she got married, she did not send thank-you notes to any of her guests. She did not have the best upbringing, and I always

wondered if her parents never taught her the importance of saying “thank you.”

When I was a kid, my mom always made me send thank-you notes when I received birthday gifts or Christmas gifts. This year, I sent her young daughter a gift card for Christmas.

When I didn’t hear from her a couple weeks after I mailed it, I reached out to be sure that they had received it. She told me they did and told me what they purchased with it, but she still never even said “thank you.”

This time has really rubbed me the wrong way, as I don’t understand how someone doesn’t say

Horoscopes

by Holiday Mathis

Today’s birthday

You make plans to seek awe, and it comes to you from the realm of art, nature, technology, sports and interpersonal experience. It’s as though the more awe you feel, the more awesome experiences you attract. More highlights include a project that earns big and a design change that helps your life run better. Taurus and Sagittarius adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 9, 14, 28, 32 and 39.

ARIES (March 21-April 19). It’s liberating to live with less, but it also takes courage to minimize. You have to trust that you’ll have enough and know yourself so well that you can tell what you’ll really use and what you won’t.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20). The first idea you have is probably not going to be the best you can come up with on the topic. It just has to be good enough to keep you revisiting. Amazing solutions are the result of many thought processes.

GEMINI (May 21-June 21). You’ve a flair for demonstration. You’ll have no trouble capturing and holding people’s attention. You’ll communicate your vision and be understood on multiple levels.

CANCER (June 22-July 22). You will play with expectations -- your own and other people’s. On some level, this is a way of making sure not to want too many things or the wrong things. And you’re keeping people from expecting the wrong things from you, too.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). You don’t need a rescue, but there are those who want to be there for you anyway, and they’ll show up ready to do whatever it takes to help you out. Be choosy about what assistance you accept.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). You will be busy fulfilling requirements of the world. Instead of longing for the free days to do what you want, plan and structure your life so this can really happen. Speak for your own time or others will take it up.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). For your contributions you’ll be compensated in many ways that matter, though it’s the financial way that allows you to keep going. Money can’t buy happiness directly, but today you’ll find its application rather universal.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). Many useful creations started in someone’s garage. Do you have the luxury of using such a space? If so, think of what you might start there. If not, think of what arrangement you could make to have the space to create.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). Anyone can wish for a better life, but you prefer to work for it instead. Today’s big question -- where to start? Don’t skip the research stage. Talk to people and read up. Following a method will save you many hours.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). You’re on someone’s mind. Is it a coincidence or is it actually possible that the energy they send you through the ether is somehow reaching and lifting you? Bottom line: You’re lighter and brighter.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). The line between indulging and overindulging is so precarious now that you’re better off doing neither. Your cravings are a cry for more self-care. Stop pushing yourself. Take it easy. Rest and recharge.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). You are ready to pay for what you use, need and enjoy. But it hurts to pay for what you don’t need. There are those who feel entitled to make a cash grab wherever they can. You’re richer when you stay far away from them.

CELEBRITY PROFILES: Like a true Aquarius, Guy Fieri stands out as an original, marching to his own drum in the world of television cooking shows or in the restaurant industry. At age 10, he opened a pretzel cart and never looked back. The restauranteur, author and Food Network star was born when Mercury was also in the gregarious, people-loving sign of Aquarius. Natal moon in Scorpio brings the spice, or in his case, “donkey sauce.”

Write Holiday Mathis at HolidayMathis.com.

“thank you” at that point. It makes me wonder if I should even send anything to them anymore at all. What advice do you have for me in how to handle this? Do I say something to her? If so, how? Do I stop sending things, or do I just let it go? If this ever gets published, parents, please teach your kids the importance of saying “thank you,” whether it be through a card, text message or phone call. No matter if it’s something large or small, someone took the time to think of you, so you can take the time to acknowledge that. -- Thank You Goes a Long Way Dear Thank You: Try not to judge your friend too harshly. You say that this time rubs

FOR YOUR HEALTH

you the wrong way, and you don’t understand how someone cannot say “thank you,” but you acknowledge that you had a wonderful mom who taught you the importance of saying “thank you” for a gift, and your friend did not. She was dealt a different hand in childhood and was never made aware of the importance of saying “thank you.”

You said that your friend is like family to you, so treat her as such. Be a friend and tell her exactly how important saying “thank you” is to you. My guess is that she is not doing this intentionally at all. When we know better, we do better. What a wonderful friend you could be to her by pointing out a great habit that your mom pointed

out to you all those years ago. Hopefully, she can pass that advice along to her daughters and they will break the cycle of ingratitude and pick up a wonderful habit -- all because you passed on your mother’s good teachings.

So as not to offend her after you tell her about the importance of thank-you notes, is there is anything that you do that bothers her? Think of something she might have mentioned, and tell her you are working to improve. That way, you are both acting like mature adults trying to better yourselves.

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

Make meaningful, measurable changes in new year

Supria Gill FOR THE DAILY REPUBLIC

The clock struck midnight, the ball dropped, and suddenly it was a new year with opportunity for change. People around the world made New Year’s resolutions. However, the word “resolution” implies we should be focused more on the outcome than the process.

Data show that up to 80% of New Year’s resolutions fail by February, often because the goal was too big or too vague. When making changes, it’s important to view them as habits we want to form and making them manageable enough to increase repetition. Consider intentions and values; focus on the type of person you want to be and how this aligns with who you are, rather than focusing on results. This will help to maintain motivation when obstacles arise.

Creating SMART goals can help. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound. If you say “I want to exercise more this year,” then say to yourself, “I am going to exercise by walking for 15 minutes a day, five times a week, for the next month.” Shift the goal from being vague to something that is very specific, achievable and more focused on process. It has the potential to be highly attainable.

Let’s take another common resolution – eating healthier. Think about ways you could break that down. It could mean you are buying groceries or having groceries delivered once per week and making home-cooked meals twice per week. If you’re someone who’s really busy, what is a goal that is smaller that you could start with that you can continue to build on? If you start too big, saying, “I am going to make a home-cooked meal every day for every meal,” it’s likely it won’t

be attainable. If we start smaller, like committing to cooking dinner at home on Thursday nights, we can increase our sense of self-efficacy and incrementally increase habits. Combine cooking with doing something pleasurable (e.g., listening to a podcast or catching up with a friend on the phone). This is known as temptation bundling, which has been shown to increase habit formation.

Another example: Rather than saying you want to spend less time on your devices, be specific by saying you will leave your phone in another part of your home while you are eating dinner or exercising. Put the phone on “do not disturb” during times you don’t want to be interrupted or use an app that controls the amount of time you spend online or on social media. Consider deleting certain apps from your phone or enlist a friend to hold you accountable.

Tying your new habit to other routines is also effective. For example,

a minute of meditation with your morning coffee, or listing three things you’re grateful for while brushing your teeth at night. You could combine stretching or doing pushups while watching a television show in the evening.

When you slip up, pay attention to how and why, then get back on track. Let go of the shame and blame. Learn from this experience. If you regret buying a doughnut on the way to work, maybe you need to find a different route to avoid the temptation. Build a contingency plan moving forward and you’ll be more successful.

Give yourself grace! Strive for intention, not perfection. Let who you want to be guide you.

Supria Gill, Ph.D., is a behavioral medicine psychologist and assistant regional director of Mental Health Training at Kaiser Permanente in Napa Solano, a partner of Solano Public Health.

TikTok manifests ‘Lucky Girl Syndrome’

The WaShinGTon poST

Every generation has its own form of optimism and self-belief.

Boomers had “the power of positive thinking,” from the book written by Methodist minister Norman Vincent Peale. Gen X had “The Secret,” the best-selling book about manifestation touted by Oprah Winfrey. Millennials dutifully constructed their vision boards.

And now Gen Z has “Lucky Girl Syndrome.”

Lucky Girl Syndrome is essentially the belief that affirmative mantras and a positive mind-set in life will bend everyday events in your favor.

On TikTok, people are crediting Lucky Girl Syndrome as the reason they’ve won sports bets, become firsttime home buyers and gotten a raise. Astrologists are tying Lucky Girl Syndrome to birth charts, and others are sharing the positive mantras they tell themselves to have a lucky day.

TikTok videos tagged with #LuckyGirlSyndrome have been watched a collective 149.6 million times.

The recent surge in popularity of Lucky Girl Syndrome can be traced to

Laura Galebe, a 22-year-old creator who in December posted a TikTok about her charmed life, with the caption “Let’s talk about The ‘Lucky girl’ Syndrome.”

“There’s literally no better way to explain it than it feels like the odds are completely in my favor,” Galebe told her audience as she applied her makeup, adding, “I’m constantly saying great things are always happening to me unexpectedly.”

In an interview, Galebe said she attributes her success these past two years, from her job as a content creator to her life in New York City, to the power of positive thought.

For her Gen Z audience, she has distilled her advice into the simplest of terms.

“Just try to be as delusional as possible and believe that the things you want can come to you,” Galebe said. “And then come back and tell me if it didn’t change your life.”

Lucky Girl Syndrome, at its essence, is based on what’s called the law of attraction, a philosophy that claims the energy from our thoughts attract and determine whatever we experience in life. The concept dates at least to the 1800s, said Chris Chabris,

a cognitive scientist with the Geisinger Health system and the co-author of “The Invisible Gorilla: How Our Intuitions Deceive Us.”

“It’s kind of like a supermeme that every 15 or 20 years, as far as I can tell, sort of changes into something else,” Chabris said.

The notion has been debunked as pseudoscience, although there are some explanations as to why people often think the effect of a positive mind-set is real.

nnn Carol Dweck, a Stanford University professor, for instance, has found that how students perceive their own abilities can influence their motivation and achievement. Those who have a “growth” mind-set, which is a belief that intelligence can be developed, outperform those who believe their intelligence is fixed, according to Dweck.

Practicing optimism by reframing your thoughts around a more positive mind-set has been shown to build resilience and lead to better health. And mantras, which are phrases repeated to oneself to elicit calm or confidence, have been shown to improve well-being. “Selftalk” has been shown to reduce fatigue during exer-

cise, which in turn can lead to better performance.

Some people believe in the power of manifestation because it’s consistent with whatever positive experiences they notice each day, Chabris said.

“What’s at the root of it is a psychological bias called ‘illusory correlation’ where we see things as related when, in fact, they were merely coincidences or chance occurrences,” Chabris said. “Repeating a mantra or an affirmation and having something good happen to us later that day is a perfect example of that.”

The affirmations we tell ourselves can be a useful tool to interpret life in “a more positive light” and it’s useful “for certain people in certain situations,” said Mark Manson, the author of a bestselling self-help book.

“Maybe it makes you feel better today, but in the long run I don’t think it’s doing anybody any favors,” he said. Manson has called the law of attraction a “candied up version” of confirmation bias. “There’s a fine line between using it as a tool and adopting it as an identity or a fundamental, almost religious, belief in how the universe functions.”

Pexels

SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound goals.

49ers, Cowboys renew old playoff rivalry

SANTA CLARA — Standing guard inside Levi’s Stadium’s northwest gate are statues of Dwight Clark and Joe Montana, re-enacting “The Catch” from the defining moment in 49ers history.

That iconic play launched a Super Bowl-winning dynasty from the 1981 season into the mid-90s. What made Clark’s game-winning, NFC-clinching touchdown even sweeter is that it came against the Dallas Cowboys, a playoff rival

On TV

dating from the 1970s and up to this Sunday.

Yes, the Cowboys are in the 49ers’ way again during another Super Bowl pursuit. They’ll cap the NFL’s divisional-round playoffs Sunday at Levi’s Stadium.

A year ago, the 49ers ousted the host Cowboys in the wildcard round. Both franchises are

still seeking their first Lombardi Trophy since the mid-1990s (1994 season for the 49ers, 1995 for the Cowboys). Those droughts cooled a rivalry that will seem red hot once this game kicks off at 3:30 p.m.

“Last year was my first time getting a taste of it. I didn’t fully understand it,” wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk said of the 49ersCowboys rivalry. “Now this year, getting a second time at it, and getting to hear about the rich history between these teams and the fans, it makes it super fun.”

The No. 2-seed 49ers (14-4) are riding an 11-game win

streak, and they’ve won 13 of their past 14 home games. The No. 5 Cowboys (13-5) saunter in on a short, frequent-flyer week, having advanced Monday night with a 31-14 win at No. 4 Tampa Bay. Winner advances to next Sunday’s NFC Championship Game, which could be at home if the No. 1 Philadelphia Eagles (14-3) lose Saturday to the No. 6 New York Giants (10-7-1). Otherwise, the Eagles host their first conference final since the 2004 season. But first comes the ninth edition in the 49ers-Cowboys playoff rivalry.

“When I was a rookie, John Lynch and coach (Kyle) Shanahan made it a big deal for our class to really learn the history of the 49ers,” tight end George Kittle said. “So we watched those games, Cowboys vs. Niners, and learned a lot about the history. And being a Niner for six years, you feel that history and you get to meet all the players that played in those games and you can feel it, whether it’s their hatred or their love for those games, those rivalries.”

Here are some ways the 49ers

Solano men, women pick up pair of hoop wins over Napa

M aTT Miller MMILLER@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

ROCKVILLE —

The Solano Community College men’s and women’s basketball teams came away with wins Friday night at home against Napa Valley that proved to be significant for different reasons.

The Solano men earned just their second win of the Bay Valley Conference season and did so without top scorer Jonathon Cobbs. The Falcons grabbed a nice first half lead and held on down the stretch for a 64-59 victory.

Second half of boys basketball race should be hotly contested

M aTT Miller MMILLER@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

FAIRFIELD — The beauty of the Monticello Empire League is the proximity of the six individual campuses. There is no school more than 15 miles away from another.

Raucous gymnasiums were the norm for Vanden High School's boys basketball team this past week. Not only did the Vikings play St. John Bosco in an MLK Day showcase Monday in Southern California, the road gyms in the MEL were packed

Tuesday at Vacaville and again Thursday at Rodriguez.

Vanden came away with a 1-2 record for the week. The Vikings lost at St. John Bosco 70-54, then the next day lost by a point, 60-59, to Vacaville. Micheal Holloway's team rebounded Thursday with a 66-50 win over Rodriguez.

The second half will be challenging for all teams, even the defending MEL champion Vikings.

"It's been kind of a

weird year," Holloway said. "Everybody is going to give us their best shot. You can't expect to run away with an easy win over anybody. You have to remember, these are still high school kids with heavy workloads."

Vacaville had a lowscoring 47-35 win Friday over Wood. Armijo lost by three points to Fairfield and by three points to Wood in a pair of tough league losses. Fairfield gave Vanden all it could handle the week before the Vikings came out a 65-56 winner.

"All these kids know each other," Rodriguez head coach Jaquree Sankey said. "They've played in youth leagues. They've played together in middle school. Friday's game (against Vanden) had an electric atmosphere with a packed-out crowd. We turned out the lights and had spotlight introductions."

The first half of the MEL season comes to a close Tuesday night, so expect the games to remain tight as the second

Chiefs get heroic performance from Mahomes in playoff win over Jaguars

Herbie Teope THE KANSAS CITY STAR

KANSAS CITY —

Patrick Mahomes was battered and bruised, barely able to put weight on his right ankle amid drizzly and at times snowy conditions over the final two quarters of Saturday’s NFL Divisional Round playoff game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

But even a limited Mahomes made sure the Chiefs wouldn’t lose, hitting the plays he needed in guiding his team to a 27-20 victory.

The Chiefs’ All-Pro quarterback iced the game midway through the fourth quarter with a 6-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling.

The victory earned the Chiefs a spot in the AFC Championship Game for the fifth straight season.

Mahomes suffered a

right-ankle injury in the first quarter and gave way to Chad Henne in the second quarter. Mahomes then re-entered the game with his ankle heavily taped, leading the Chiefs to a field goal late in the third quarter.

Mahomes completed 22 of 30 passes for 195 yards and two touch-

downs. Henne, during his mid-game relief stint, completed 5 of 7 passes for 23 yards and a touchdown.

With the offense sputtering in the second half, the Chiefs needed their defense to step up. It did, holding the Jaguars to 349 yards of total offense.

KC’s pass defense in particular limited quar-

terback Trevor Lawrence to 217 yards passing with one touchdown and an interception.

The Chiefs’ defense also accounted for two turnovers in the final period. Cornerback L’Jarius Sneed forced a fumble, which linebacker Nick Bolton recovered, and rookie cornerback Jaylen Watson picked off Lawrence.

The Chiefs’ defense perhaps set the tone early, forcing the Jaguars into a three-and-out on Jacksonville’s first possession.

The Chiefs were efficient on their first possession, with Mahomes completing 6 of 8 passes for 57 yards, including an 8-yard touchdown pass to tight end Travis Kelce. The Chiefs mixed it up well, with four runs during the 12-play, 83-yard drive. Kelce was heavily involved, hauling in four passes for 35 yards.

The Solano woman remain in the hunt for a BVC title after Friday’s 66-52 victory. Defense and a big 15-5 edge in the second courter decided the game.

In the men’s game, Solano jumped out to a 34-22 lead at halftime. But Napa Valley held the edge the second half, 37-30, to close the gap.

Dwayne Crosse and Isaiah Randle scored 15 points apiece to pace Solano. Jacob Ebert had 14 points and seven rebounds. Jacques Jones added 10 points and eight rebounds.

“That was one of our best rebounding games, offensively and defensively,” Ebert said. “It was also a game of runs. We just happened to

have ours the first half. They had their’s in the second half.”

Raekwon Bell led Napa with 22 points and 16 rebounds. Chris Thompson added 15 points.

“I think we just started to show more poise and focus in that final stretch,” Solano head coach John Nagle said. “This was a great win for us without Cobbs. The last time we played them he went for 30 points.”

The Falcons had a strong game at the free throw line, hitting 10 of 12 (83%). The Solano men improved to 2-6 in the BVC and 4-15 overall. The Falcons will play Tuesday at Alameda.

In the women’s game, Solano went up 33-18 at halftime after holding Napa to those five points in the second quarter. Napa had a slight edge in the second half at 34-33.

Julia Wright led the Falcons with 16 points and nine rebounds. Dominique Eaglin scored 15 points and had eight rebounds. Jaslyn Woods contributed a doubledouble with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

“We feed off each other’s energy,” Wright said. “One of the best aspects of our team

Vanden High’s girls roll to win over Rodriguez

Daily r epublic STaff

DRNEWS@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

FAIRFIELD — The Vanden High School girls basketball team scored the first 19 points in the third quarter Friday night en route to a 77-37 win over visiting Rodriguez.

Alyssa Jackson led the Vikings with 16 points. Jakayla Gilmore had 13 points and Calonni Holloway added 12. Kalyn Harris and Maalia Cherry had nine points apiece.

Vanden improved to 15-7 overall and 4-0 in the Monticello Empire League. The Vikings will play Wednesday at Armijo.

Mia Marquez had 14 points and Samantha Morris had 13 for Rodriguez. The Mustangs fell to 6-15 overall and 2-2 in the MEL. Rodriguez will host Vacaville on Wednesday.

Boys Basketball Fairfield High’s boys edge out Armijo

FAIRFIELD — Amari Bryant hit a pair of free throws in the final seconds to help ice a 60-57 win for the Fairfield High School boys basketball team Thursday night over Armijo.

Fairfield trailed 48-43 after three quarters but finished strong with a 17-9 edge in the final period. Johnnie Jones led the Falcons with 23 points and Nicko Ignacio had 18.

Trevor Morris led Armijo with 20 points and nine rebounds.

Kaiba Washington finished with 13 points and five rebounds. Kymanni Barker also had 14 points.

Fairfield improved to 4-17 overall and 1-3 in

at

Aaron Rosenblatt/Daily Republic

Vanden High School’s Tyler Thompson, left, drives to the basket against Jerel Victor of Rodriguez during the boys

basketball game at Rodriguez High School in Fairfield, Thursday. Vanden won the game 66-50.

Tammy Ljungblad/Kansas City Star/TNS

Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce celebrated a win over Jacksonville in the Divisional Round of the playoffs in Kansas City, Saturday.

Sunday’s TV sports

Basketball

College Men

• Butler at Connecticut, 2, 40, 9 a.m.

• Michigan State at Indiana, 5, 13, 9 a.m.

• Memphis at Cincinnati, ESPN2, 10 a.m.

• Temple at Houston, ESPN, Noon.

College Women

• North Carolina State vs. Louisville, 7, 10, 10 a.m.

• Arkansas at South Carolina, ESPN2, Noon.

• Texas at Baylor, ESPN2, 2 p.m.

NBA

Brooklyn at Golden State, NBCSBA (Fairfield and Suisun City), 5:30 p.m.

Football

NFL Playoffs

Cincinnati at Buffalo, 5, 13, Noon.

Dallas at San Francisco, 2, 40, 3:30 p.m.

Golf PGA

The American Express Championship, GOLF, Noon.

Hockey NHL

San Jose at Boston, NBCSCA, 4 p.m.

Soccer

EPL

Manchester City at Wolverhampton, USA, 6 a.m.

Arsenal at Manchester United, 3, 8:30 a.m.

Tennis Australian Open, ESPN2, 4 p.m.

Former A’s great captain Sal Bando dies

Laurence MiedeM a BAY AREA NEWS GROUP

Sal Bando, the mustachioed third baseman and captain on the “Swingin’ A’s” teams that won three straight World Series titles from 1972-1974 has died after a battle with cancer. He was 78.

Bando’s family released a statement Saturday morning that the member of the A’s and Brewers’ Halls of Fame died overnight at his home in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin: “It is with a heavy heart, the Bando family is sad to announce the passing of its beloved husband and father, Sal, who last night lost his battle with cancer that began over five years ago. Sandy, Sal’s wife of 54 years, and sons Sal Jr., Sonny and Stef, send their love to family, friends and fans who mourn the loss of a humble and faithful man.”

“Captain Sal” spent the first 11 of his 16 years as a player with the A’s before joining the Milwaukee Brewers as a free agent after the 1976 season. He later joined the Brewers front office and served as Milwaukee’s general manager from 1992-99.

Bando was drafted by the A’s in the sixth round out of Arizona State in 1965, when they played in Kansas City, and made his major league debut a year later. Along with Reggie Jackson and Catfish Hunter, Bando was one of the first stars of the

franchise’s Oakland era when the Green and Gold arrived in 1968.

An Oakland fan favorite during the 1970s, Bando was introduced to a new generation in 2006 when he made a cameo on an episode of “The Simpsons.” He played himself as a member of the 1974 Oakland A’s, the squad Homer labeled the “best team ever.” Bando is the driver of a convertible filled with A’s players who pull up in front of the Simpson’s home and exclaims. “Look! That guy remembers us!” Then Bando and the crew drive off after he gives Homer a “’74 A’s thank you honk.”

Although his 33 WAR from 1969-73 was the best in baseball, he was somewhat overshadowed even on his own team by future Hall of Famers Jackson, Hunter and Rollie Fingers. But Bando was also the unquestioned leader on a team that fought each other – and then-owner Charles Finley – but rarely missed a beat on the field.

Then A’s manager Hank Bauer named Bando the A’s team captain before the start of the 1969 season. Bando was just 25.

“I was a leader by example not by talking,” Bando said in an article in the Brewers’ 1978 scorecard magazine. “You don’t tell a (Reggie) Jackson, a (Jim) Hunter, or a (Joe) Rudi what to do. You lead by example, by giving 100 percent, by giving a continuous effort”

BASKETBALL

L Pct GB Denver 33 13 717 Minnesota 24 24 500 10 Utah 24 25 490 10½ Oklahoma City 22 24 478 11 Portland 21 24 467 11½ Pacific Division W L Pct GB SACRAMENTO 26 18 591

From Page B7

the Monticello Empire League. Armijo fell to 2-13 overall and 0-4 in the MEL.

Fairfield will be home Tuesday night for Will C. Wood and Armijo will be at Vanden.

Fairfield won the junior varsity game 56-50. Khammani Martin had 12 points for the Falcons. Willie Nickson and Kimani Dokes had 18 points apiece for Armijo.

Vanden High’s boys defeat Rodriguez

FAIRFIELD — Vanden High School’s boys basketball team held host Rodriguez under 10 points in each of the second and third quarters but had to survive a late comeback by the Mustangs in a 66-50 win Thursday night.

The Vikings held a 22-7 edge in the second quarter and a 14-4 advantage in the third. That made the score 50-23 after three quarters. But Rodriguez closed the game on a 27-16 run to make it closer.

Sterling McClanahan led Vanden with 22 points. Edric Dennis had 15 points and 11 rebounds.

LocalTyler Thompson also had 14 points. Vanden improved to 13-8 overall and 3-1 in the Monticello Empire League.

Joe Gould had 14 points for Rodriguez. Gianni Miles scored 12 points. Jerel Victor also had 11 points. Rodriguez fell to 11-10 overall and 3-1 in the MEL.

Vanden will host Armijo Tuesday night. Rodriguez will play at Vacaville as the first half of the league season comes to a close.

Vacaville’s boys top Will C. Wood

VACAVILLE — Vacaville High School’s boys basketball team made a first-half advantage hold up Thursday night in a 47-35 win at Will C. Wood.

The Bulldogs outscored the Wildcats 13-6 in the first quarter and 12-9 in the second for a 25-15 lead at halftime. Vacaville had a slight 22-20 edge in the second half.

Nate Schnell and Jayden Galeano had 10 points apiece for Vacaville and Gavin Hamill added seven. Vacaville improved to 16-5 overall and 4-0 in the MEL heading into a Tuesday night home game against Rodriguez.

Isiah Dixon led Wood with 10 points. Noah Bishop and Nigel Rogers added six points apiece. Wood is now 11-10 overall and 1-3 in the MEL going into Tuesday’s game

at Fairfield.

“We had a poor shooting first quarter and got behind,” Wood head coach Mark Wudel said. “We had too many turnovers that resulted in easy baskets for them.”

Boys Soccer Armijo’s boys scores 4 first-half goals

FAIRFIELD — Armijo High School’s boys soccer team scored four firsthalf goals and earned a 4-0 shutout win Thursday night over Vanden at Brownlee Field.

Diego Torres dribbled through the defense and scored a goal for Armijo four minutes into the game. Dawson Le scored a pair of goals in the half. Davis Hernandez also had a score. One of Le’s goals came on an assist from Torres with two minutes remaining in the half.

Armijo improved to 3-1-0 in MEL matches and 6-8 overall. The Royals close out the first half of the season Tuesday at home against Fairfield.

Vanden fell to 0-4 in MEL and 0-9-1 overall. The Vikings will play Tuesday at Rodriguez. No individual statistics were made available for Vanden.

Artemio Perez scored a hat trick with three goals as the Armijo junior varsity team earned a 3-0 win. Isaac Aguirre had an

assist in the match. Goalkeeper Benjamin Tooley had the shutout.

Armijo improved to 2-1-1 in MEL matches.

Verdugo, Vacaville race past Rodriguez

VACAVILLE — Alex Verdugo notched a hat trick with three goals Thursday night as the Vacaville High School boys soccer team defeated visiting Rodriguez 6-0.

Verdugo also had an assist as the Bulldogs improved to 4-0 in the Monticello Empire League and 9-2 overall. Nathan Beltran scored two goals and Tyler Collins added one. Freddy Brenes had a pair of assists and Jareth Adame added one.

Vacaville head coach Tony Bussard said the defense was led by Elijah Cline, Edwin Castaneda and Diego Peralta. Max Gaeleano also had a strong game and goalkeeper Colby Moore posted the “clean sheet” with the shutout.

Rodriguez fell to 0-3-1 in MEL matches and 2-6-1 overall. No individual statistics were made available from Rodriguez.

Vacaville will play Tuesday at Will C. Wood. Rodriguez will host Vanden.

Vacaville won the junior varsity match 6-1 over Rodriguez and also improved 4-0 in league.

(a)OFSECTION17920AFICTITIOUS

PIRESATTHEENDOFFIVEYEARS FROMTHEDATEONWHICHITWAS FILEDINTHEOFFICEOFTHECOUNTY C LERK,EXCEPTASPROVIDEDIN SUBDIVISION(b)OFSECTION17920, WHEREITEXPIRES40DAYSAFTER ANYCHANGEINTHEFACTSSET FORTHINTHESTATEMENTPURSUANTTOSECTION17913OTHERTHAN ACHANGEINTHERESIDENCEADDRESSOFAREGISTEREDOWNER. ANEWFICTITIOUSBUSINESSNAME STATEMENTMUSTBEFILEDBEFORE THEEXPIRATIONJanuary17,2028. THEFILINGOFTHISSTATEMENT DOESNOTOFITSELFAUTHORIZE THEUSEINTHISSTATEOFAFICTITIOUSBUSINESSNAMEINVIOLATION OFTHERIGHTSOFANOTHER UNDER FEDERAL,STATEORCOMMONLAW (SEESECTION14411ETSEQ.,BUSINESSANDPROFESSIONSCODE). FiledintheOfficeoftheCountyClerkof SolanoCounty,StateofCaliforniaon: January18,2023 NewASSIGNEDFILENO.2023000087 CHARLESLOMELI,SolanoCountyClerk DR#00060819 Published:Jan.22,29Feb.5,12,2023

Toallheirs,beneficiaries,creditors,contingentcreditors,andpersonswhomay otherwisebeinterestedinthewillorestate,orboth,of: Ronda Gomes

APetitionforProbatehasbeenfiledby: Morgan Jeanice Gomes Thorton intheSuperiorCourtofCalifornia,County of:Solano

ThePetitionforProbaterequeststhat: Morgan Jeanice Gomes Thorton beappointedaspersonalrep resentative toadministertheestateofthedecedent. Thepetitionrequeststhedecedent'swill andcodicils,ifany,beadmittedtoprobate.Thewillandanycodicilsareavailableforexaminationinthefilekeptbythe court.

ThepetitionrequestsauthoritytoadministertheestateundertheIndependentAdministrationofEstatesAct.(Thisauthority willallowthepersonalrepresentativeto takemanyactionswithoutobtainingcourt approval.Beforetakingcer tainveryimportantactions,however,thepersonal representativewillberequiredtogivenoticetointerestedpersonsunlessthey havewaivednoticeorconsentedtothe proposedaction.)Theindependentadministrationauthoritywillbegrantedunless aninterestedpersonfilesanobjectionto thepetitionandshowsgoodcausewhy thecourtshouldnotgranttheauthority.

A hearing on the petition will be held in this court as follows:

DATE: MARCH 3, 2023 TIME: 8:30am DEPT. 4

SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, County of Solano 600 Union Avenue Fairfield 94553 Old Solano Courthouse

If you object tothegrantingofthepetition,youshouldappearatthehearingand stateyourobjectionsorfilewrittenobjectionswiththecourtbeforethehearing. Yourappearancemaybeinpersonorby yourattorney. If you are a creditor or a contingent creditor of the decedent, youmustfileyourclaimwiththecourtand mailacopytothepersonalrepresentative appointedbythecourtwithinthe later of either(1)four months fromthedateof firstissuanceofletterstoageneralpersonalrepresentative,asdefinedinsection58(b)oftheCaliforniaProbateCode, or(2) 60 days fromthedateofmailingor personaldeliverytoyouofanoticeunder section9052oftheCaliforniaProbate Code. Other California statutes and legal authority may affect your rights as a creditor. You may wantto consult with an attorney knowledgeable in California law. You may examine the file kept by the court.Ifyouareapersoninterestedinthe estate,youmayfilewiththecourtaRequestforSpecialNotice(formDE-154)of thefilingofaninventoryandappraisalof estateassetsorofanypetitionoraccount asprovidedinProbateCodesection 1250.ARequestforSpecialNoticeformis availablefromthecourtclerk.

AttorneyforPetitioner: SashaD.Collins@VictoriumLegal,Inc. 2043AndersonRoad,SuiteC, Davis,CA95616 (530)601-3311 DR#00060657 Published:January15,18,22,2023

can advance to their third NFC Championship Game in four seasons:

Block for Brock

The Cowboys pose the most intimidating defensive front that Brock Purdy will have faced since replacing an injured Jimmy Garoppolo six games ago, on Dec. 4. Dallas’ star attraction, no pun intended, is Micah Parsons, an NFL Defensive Player of the Year candidate most of the season.

“Everyone knows about (Demarcus) Lawrence and Parsons, but there’s not one bad (lineman) there,” Shanahan said. “The way that they stunt, the way they can create one-on-ones, there’s a reason they’re No. 1 in getting to the quarterback with sacks and pressures, and it does jump off the tape.”

Purdy’s shown the desired tendencies to elude pocket pressure, more often rolling out to his left and creating an off-schedule play, including for touchdowns. Since replacing Jimmy G, he’s thrown 16 touchdown passes and just three interceptions, with no fumbles on 12 sacks.

Offensive tackles Trent Williams and Mike McGlinchey have overcome injury issues during the season and must be sturdy bookends, against Parsons (vs. Williams) and Lawrence (vs. McGlinchey). The Cowboys also showed an ability to attack up the middle Monday night against Tom Brady.

Only four rookie quarterbacks have won a divisional playoff game: Shaun King (1999 Bucs), Ben Roethlisberger (2004 Steelers), Joe Flacco (2008 Ravens), Mark Sanchez (2009 Jets). None scored more than 20 points. The 49ers are averaging 35 points per game with Purdy.

Better pass defense

Dak Prescott is coming off a 305-yard, five-touchdown masterpiece that reflected the massive contract (four years, $160 million) he signed in March 2021. He’s coming in hot against a pass defense that’s been susceptible to a big play or two, especially early in games.

The 49ers’ pass rush, led by Nick Bosa, must make Prescott revert to the quarterback who threw an NFL-high 15 interceptions in the regular season, even while missing five games to a thumb injury. Charles Omenihu, a Dallas-area native, had two sacks in last Saturday’s wild-card win over the Seahawks, and he had 1 ½ sacks of Prescott in last year’s playoff win at Dallas. Jordan Willis and Arik Armstead also have

made key sacks in recent weeks. Dallas’ line, meanwhile, could be shuffling after left tackle Jason Peters’ hip injury Monday.

The 49ers limited Prescott to 23-of-43 passing for 254 yards with a touchdown and an interception in last year’s wild-card game, which Prescott ended with a scramble and slide. He has familiar targets in CeeDee Lamb, Michael Gallup and tight end Dalton Schultz, but there is a noticeable exception: Amari Cooper, who was dealt in June to the Cleveland Browns.

“It kind of helps them by trading Amari Cooper, just because you had so many people you had to get the ball to,” 49ers defensive back Jimmie Ward said. “You’ve got to justify that money (Cooper was getting). By getting rid of Amari Cooper, you don’t have to give him a certain amount of targets.

“They’re still going to force the ball to CeeDee, but he’s on a rookie contract, and they want to pay him anyway,” Ward added. “They’re going to get the ball to the tight end, and he’s been doing a great job.”

Ground game

The Cowboys have a 1-2 rushing punch in veteran Ezekiel Elliott and Pro Bowler Tony Pollard.

“Obviously they’re trying to push Zeke out for the new kid, Pollard. He’s explosive. He has a burst,” Ward said. “But at the same time, I still like Zeke, because he can run both inside and outside.”

To keep Pollard from turning the corner, the 49ers’ defensive ends will have to set the edge and pin him (and Elliott) in to funnel any rushing lanes into the 1-2 linebacker punch of Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw.

The 49ers’ rushing attack counters with Christian McCaffrey, who’s deservedly getting the majority of carries. He’s run for 100-plus yards in four of the past six games, not to mention his receiving exploits.

With Deebo Samuel, Elijah Mitchell and Jordan Mason also healthy,

the 49ers are stocked to ground and pound – if they don’t have to play catch-up through the air.

“For me, it’s just always been about the ball and executing my assignment at a high level,” McCaffrey said. “You kind of let those natural emotions take place on game day and obviously there’s a lot of history between the two teams and I’m happy to be a part of it.”

Kick-me sign

The NFL has never seen a point-after-kick disaster as bad as Monday night’s, when Cowboys kicker Brett Maher missed his first four tries. Somehow, that didn’t get him immediately fired. Dallas did bring in Tristan Vizcaino as an option, however.

Maher has never kicked in Levi’s Stadium, which 49ers counterpart Robbie Gould says is one of the trickiest places to kick because of the stadium’s wind that swirls in around the suite tower’s edges. Vizcaino made all of his kicks in the 49ers’ 2020 finale while filling in for Gould on the Covid list.

Gould, with six years of experience here, has mastered the Levi’s Stadium jet stream, but not as much as he’s perfected the art of playoff kicking (25of-25 field-goal attempts, 38-of-38 point-after kicks).

The 49ers’ specialteams units must be on high alert against Cowboys returner KaVontae Turpin, a Pro Bowler. Tricks also might be in store from special-teams coordinator John Fassel, who faced the 49ers twice a year when leading the Rams’ units from 201219. Last meeting, the Cowboys converted a fakepunt pass, then kept their punt unit on the field and wasted time trying to dupe the 49ers on the next snap.

Coaching showdown

This time of year, the NFL’s coaching carousel spins, in terms of the hiring and firing process.

Shanahan and Cowboys’ counterpart Mike McCarthy are safe, with McCarthy earning kudos from finicky owner Jerry

Jones after the Cowboys earned their first road playoff win since 1993 at Candlestick Park.

Shanahan’s stock is soaring with this stockpile of offensive options. “He does a great job and all the coaches do a great job of helping you understand why the play is being called,” McCaffrey said. “That helps the intent of each guy on the field knowing exactly where to be, when to be there and why. To be a good coach you’ve got to be a great teacher, and these guys are all some of the best I’ve been around.”

This isn’t so much Shanahan vs. McCarthy (vs. referee Bill Vinovich, who worked the 2019 Niners’ Super Bowl loss to Kansas City). The game within the game exists at all levels of the coaching hierarchy.

Shanahan will match wits against Dan Quinn, the Cowboys’ defensive coordinator. Quinn was the Atlanta Falcons’ head coach when Shanahan was his offensive coordinator in 2015-16. They know each other’s tendencies, though Quinn may have never seen Shanahan with this much of a high-scoring offensive arsenal, not even with their 2016 Falcons team that infamously lost in the Super Bowl to Brady and the New England Patriots.

On the flip side, 49ers defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans must square off against Cowboys offensive coordinator Kellen Moore. Ryans, as long anticipated, is attracting head-coaching interest frommultipleteams,including the Denver Broncos, the Houston Texans, the Indianapolis Colts and the Arizona Cardinals.

The longer the 49ers stay alive in the playoffs, the tougher it might become for Ryans to land a gig, if owners are impatient in their quest to get started on a rebuild.

Patience. The 49ers’ and the Cowboys’ fan bases have had theirs tested while they each await a sixth Lombardi Trophy to celebrate. At stake in this game is a chance to keep alive that dream for one more week.

MEL

From Page B10

half begins Thursday.

Vacaville remains unbeaten at 4-0 after wins in Week 2 over Vanden (60-59) and city rival Will C. Wood (47-35). Vanden and Rodriguez are close behind at 3-1. Rodriguez defeated Fairfield (65-56) Tuesday.

Tuesday's games feature Rodriguez at Vacaville, Armijo at Vanden and Will C. Wood at Fairfield. Thursday's games have Armijo at Rodriguez, Fairfield at Vacaville and Wood at Vanden.

Notables:

n Nathan Schnell had 26 points for Vacaville Tuesday night in the win over Vanden.

n Johnnie Jones scored 23 points for Fairfield in its win over Armijo.

n Gianni Miles went for 21 points for Rodriguez in the Mustangs' win over Fairfield.

n Trevor Morris had 20 points and nine rebounds for Armijo against Fairfield.

n Sterling McClanahan had 22 points for Vanden in its win over Rodriguez.

Girls basketball

Vanden has the upper hand in the girls race with a 4-0 start. The Vikings defeated Fairfield (84-26) Wednesday and followed it up with a win Friday over Rodriguez (77-37). Will C. Wood is in second with a 3-1 record. The Wildcats defeated Armijo (65-21) and Vacaville (61-45).

The first half of the league season ends Tuesday with Fairfield at Wood. Vacaville will be at Rodriguez on Wednesday and Vanden at Armijo. Rodriguez plays Armijo on Friday, Vacaville is at Fairfield and Wood plays at Vanden.

Notables:

n Amani Boxdale scored a game-high 22 points for Fairfield in a loss to Rodriguez.

n Brynlie Headrick had 21 points for Vacaville in the win over Wood.

Boys soccer

Defending champion Vacaville is off to a 4-0 start, beating Armijo (2-1) Tuesday and then rolling over Rodriguez (6-0). Armijo and Will C. Wood are right behind at 3-1. Armijo blanked Vanden (4-0) Thursday night. Wood topped Rodri-

Solano

From Page B10

is defense and we take pride in that. Our offense struggles at times but we work hard to move the ball around.”

Solano head coach Matt Borchert liked the shotmaking of his team and the attention on defense.

“The defense keeps getting better,” Borchert

guez (2-0) and Fairfield (2-1) this week. The first half of the season closes out Tuesday night with Fairfield at Armijo, Vacaville at Wood and Vanden at Rodriguez. The second half begins Thursday with Armijo at Rodriguez, Fairfield at Vacaville and Wood at Vanden.

Notables: n Anthony Verdugo notched a hat trick with three goals in Thursday win over Rodriguez.

Girls soccer

The standings are sketchy with few teams reporting scores to the Daily Republic or to Maxpreps.com. Vanden is off to a 3-1 start. The Vikings defeated Fairfield (6-1) and Armijo (5-0) this week. Vacaville and Rodriguez each were 3-0 through Tuesday and played each other Friday night. No score was reported as of the Daily Republic's press time Saturday.

Armijo is at Fairfield on Wednesday, Rodriguez plays at Vanden and Wood is at Vacaville. Rodriguez plays at Armijo on Friday, Vacaville is at Fairfield and Vanden is at Wood.

Wrestling

The third and final week of the regular season will be held Wednesday night. Vacaville will be at Will C. Wood for the annual city duel. Vacaville is in pursuit of its 56th league title. Fairfield, Armijo, Rodriguez and Vanden will all be at Vanden for four duels not featuring the rivalry matchups.

The Section Dual Tournament is scheduled Jan. 28 at Lincoln of Stockton. The MEL Championship will be held Feb. 4 at Vacaville to begin the monthlong postseason push to the Feb. 23-25 state championship in Bakersfield. Look for Vacaville to dominate at each level.

In football news

Armijo High School defensive line standout Jericho Johnson tweeted this week that he has received a scholarship offer from the University of Michigan. Johnson has more than a dozen offers and the junior has said he would make a decision after the 2023 football season. He also got a re-offer from the University of Colorado, which is now under the leadership of new head coach Deion Sanders.

said. “We’ll be all right as long as we don’t continue to make turnovers. Our defense is some of the tops in the state. They are continuing to excel.”

The Solano women upped their record to 12-8 overall and 7-1 in the BVC. The Falcons own a six-game winning streak. Solano will host Mission at 5:30 p.m. Monday in a nonconference game before facing Laney in a conference game Wednesday night in Oakland.

Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group/TNS file

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (13) connects with Christian McCaffrey (23) on a 3-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter of the NFC wild-card playoff game, Saturday, Jan. 14, at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.