Daily Republic: Monday, May 1, 2023

Pasta primavera is primed for its comeback tour B2

Steph Curry scores 50 as Warriors close out Kings B1

House GOP tells Senate to pass own debt limit bill

BloomBerg News

WASHINGTON —

House Republicans challenged the U.S. Senate to pass a debt limit bill of its own and sought to maintain pressure on President Joe Biden to hold talks on spending cuts they’ve linked to an increase in the nation’s borrowing limit.

Big shift in weather is forecast throughout California in May

gerry Díaz

SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

May is set to start off a lot like February, as chances for rain and snow return to parts of the state – along with the risk for isolated thunderstorms. Metaphorically speaking, winter doesn’t seem to be done with California, as weather models hint at more lowpressure systems on the horizon.

The outlook for the first half of the month is riddled with unsettled, winter-like conditions, though weather models also indicate a return of another setup: the May Gray. Long-range weather models are trending toward a pattern where the next few weeks will feel a lot like a hodgepodge of winter weather mixed with the more typical ebb and flow of marine fog, depending on where you are in the state.

What’s on tap for May

California is poised to lock into a weather pattern chock full of troughs of low pressures. These lows often develop around 5,000 feet above ground, carving out a gap in the atmosphere like a knife cutting into a slab of butter. When these lows form off the coast, the gap they leave behind allows moisture and cold air over the Pacific Ocean to rush toward San Francisco and the wider Bay Area.

Weather models are signaling that troughs of low pressure are likely to form just off the coast of California over the next few weeks, meaning that there is a high chance that temperatures will run below average along the shoreline, bays and delta regions of the Bay Area. The signal also means that these cold snaps could stream rounds of moisture into Northern California, allowing for what’s often referred to

as May Gray – the constant flow of fog that develops around this time of year – to kick off right on cue.

But fog isn’t the only type of moisture set to roll in. Depending on the intensity of the low-pressure systems, May’s outlook could also call for the return of drizzle and light showers over the course of the month.

According to the Climate Prediction Center, this is most likely to play out along the immediate coast, with towns and cities along Highway 1 from Mendocino to Point Conception set to have the highest chances of precipitation.

The first week of May is set to see rounds of showers across parts of Northern California, including the Bay Area and Santa Cruz Mountains. The earliest showers will arrive Monday night, with the

Experts cite impacts of incarceration as US life expectancy continues to fall

FreD ClaseN-K elly

KFF HEALTH NEWS

After spending 38 years in the Alabama prison system, one of the most violent and crowded in the nation, Larry Jordan felt lucky to live long enough to regain his freedom.

The decorated Vietnam War veteran had survived prostate cancer and hepatitis C behind bars when a judge granted him early release late last year.

“I never gave up

hope,” said Jordan, 74, who lives in Alabama. “I know a lot of people in prison who did.”

At least 6,182 people died in state and federal prisons in 2020, a 46% jump from the previous year, according to data recently released by researchers from the UCLA Law Behind Bars Data Project.

“During the pandemic, a lot of prison sentences became death sentences,” said Wanda Bertram, a spokesperson for the

Prison Policy Initiative, a nonprofit that conducts research and data analysis on the criminal justice system.

Now, Jordan worries about his longevity. He struggles with pain in his legs and feet caused by a potentially life-threatening vascular blockage, and research suggests prison accelerates the aging process.

Life expectancy fell in the United States in 2021 for the second year in a row, according to

the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That decline is linked to the devastating effect of Covid-19 and a spike in drug overdoses. Some academic experts and activists said the trend also underscores the lasting health consequences of mass incarceration in a nation with roughly 2 million imprisoned or jailed people, one of the highest rates in the developed world.

See Life, Page A7

A Republican-only debt proposal passed by the House last week would cut $4.8 trillion in domestic spending as the price for agreeing to raise the debt ceiling. Biden has insisted the two topics shouldn’t be linked and his administration has warned that a U.S. default would be disastrous for Americans and the economy.

“For all that we hear from our Senate friends, they’ve yet to pass anything,” Rep. Steve Scalise, the House majority leader, said on ABC’s

“This Week” on Sunday. “If they’ve got a better idea, I want to see that bill and tell them to pass it through the Senate.”

The stalemate in Washington risks pushing the Treasury toward a U.S. payments default by an “X date” that may arrive as soon as June.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s success in passing the Republican bill created an opening for the GOP to put the ball in Biden’s court.

“The president has been in hiding for two months,” Scalise said, referring to the last meeting between Biden and McCarthy.

At the same time, Scalise and House Majority Whip Tom Emmer said in Sunday television interviews that Republicans won’t allow the U.S. to default on its debts.

Sen. Chris Coons, a

See GOP, Page A7

What’s up next after dramatic testimony from Trump accuser

molly CraNe-NewmaN

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

NEW YORK — The first trial Donald Trump faces in his hometown got underway in Manhattan last week, when writer E. Jean Carroll accused the former president of raping and sexually assaulting her more than 25 years ago.

A captivated panel of nine New Yorkers – six men and three women who will remain anonymous – heard diametric opening arguments about the alleged assault before Carroll described the incident in her own words during two dramatic days on the witness stand.

Carroll, 79, said Trump raped her on an unoccupied floor of Bergdorf Goodman in the mid-1990s after they bumped into each other in a chance encounter.

“It was a horrible feeling because he curved, he put his hand inside of me and curved his finger. As I’m sitting here today, I can still feel it,” Carroll testified, later adding, “Then he inserted his penis.”

Trump, 76, absent from his civil rape trial as he campaigns for president again, alleges Carroll and her friends made the whole thing up to sell a book and destroy him politically.

The longtime advice columnist’s lawyer, Shawn Crowley, told the jury in her opening argument that the assault occurred after Trump asked Carroll to help pick out lingerie for an unnamed woman.

Crowley said the shopping trip turned dark once they made it to the

See A7

Eric Paul Zamora/Fresno Bee/TNS

Visitors walk along Swinging Bridge viewing Upper Yosemite Fall and the rising Merced River Friday in Yosemte Valley. Park officials expect the Merced River to continue rising due to snow melt.

Solano County author Rosemary Rogers has been dubbed ‘Queen of Historical Romance’

was juiced to be invited to participate in the Local Author’s Showcase on Friday and Saturday at the Vacaville Town Square Library. I know a few other local authors like my brother Kelvin Wade (“Morsels Volumes I and II”), Brad Stanhope (“Not Quite Camelot”), George Martin (“Just Around The Bend: My Journey for 9/11”) and Sabine-Goerke Shrode (“Images of America: Fairfield” and “Solano’s Gold”).

There is a Fairfield author I want to highlight that I just discovered recently when going through microfilm, Rosemary Rogers. She may be the most successful local author ever.

This is what Barnes & Noble. com says about her:

Often dubbed the “Princess of Passion,” author Rosemary Rogers is considered to be one of the founders of the modern historical romance novel. She has written more than 20 novels and sold more than 60 million copies of her books, including “Dark Fires,” “Sweet Savage Love” and “Bride for a Night.”

Rosemary Rogers was born Rosemary Jansz on Dec. 7, 1932, in Panadura, British Ceylon, now Sri Lanka. She was a sheltered child whose well-to-do parents owned several private schools. She started writing epic romantic stories when she was just 8 years old that echoed the styles of many of her favorite authors.

Rogers got married to a famous Sri Lankan rugby player named Summa Navaratnam, had two children, then divorced. She then met and married an American man, Leroy Rogers, and had two more children. Her second marriage ended in 1968. In 1968 and 1969, when she lived in Vacaville on Birch Street, is where her writing started in earnest. While her kids would be in bed, she would stay up all night writing.

Rogers later moved to

CORRECTION POLICY

1126 Dove Way in Fairfield and for three months in 1973 worked at the Daily Republic. She then got a job as a typist for the Solano County Parks Department. All the while she continued to write. Her first book, “Sweet Savage Love,” took her 18 months to write and was completed in 1973. She submitted it to Avon Books unsolicited and four weeks later the publishers wrote back and said they loved it. It was published in 1974. Goodreads.com describes the plot thus: Ginny Brandon is swept from the ballrooms of Paris to the desert sands of Mexico and into the arms of charismatic mercenary Steve Morgan. But this fearless heroine and “hero of all heroes” must first endure countless unforeseen dangers before they can enjoy sensual, exhilarating passion that burns between them.

One online reviewer called it “One of the mothers of all bodice-rippers.”

It was a sensation and with its two follow-ups, “The Wildest Heart” (1974) and “Dark Fires” (1975), sold a combined 10 million copies.

While “Sweet Savage Love” was a landmark in the historical romance genre, Rogers’ dream of having it adapted into a motion picture starring Clint Eastwood did not materialize.

According to a 1975 local newspaper article, Rogers’ writing regimen was to write all night from about 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. and then sleep until noon. She didn’t follow a strict schedule and would sometimes talk into a cassette recorder or jot down notes. Rogers would write all her books out longhand and then type them and enjoyed writing to classical music.

She got inspiration from sitting on the beach and watching the waves and from being present when she was in the quasi-dream state between

It is the Daily Republic’s policy to correct errors in reporting. If you notice an error, please call the Daily Republic at 425-4646 during business hours weekdays and ask to speak to the editor in charge of the section where the error occurred. Corrections will be printed here.

DAILY REPUBLIC

being asleep and fully awake. Rogers not only loved to write books, she also loved to read them. Her private collection was estimated to be over a million. Evidently books were heaped everywhere – on the bed, dressers and floor with a pathway from her bed to the bathroom.

Rogers gave local talks in a creative writing class at Solano College, at an event for the Friends of the Fairfield-Suisun Community Library at the Fairfield Community Center as well as bigger events in other cities.

She was not a fan of public speaking, but enjoyed the question-and-answer sessions and connecting with readers.

A rather astounding fact is that a woman that Rogers befriended, Shirley Busbee, who also worked for Solano County, followed her into the romance novel field. She is now an 81-year-old living legend in the genre with over nine million copies of her own books in print.

Rosemary Rogers’ advice to would-be writers?

“Read a lot and don’t skimp

on research. Research is very important. Don’t be discouraged. Sit down and do it.”

Rosemary Rogers died in Monterey on Nov. 12, 2019, at the age of 86.

Fairfield freelance humor columnist and accidental local historian Tony Wade writes two weekly columns-- “The Last Laugh” on Mondays and “Back in the Day” on Fridays. Wade is also the author of The History Press books “Growing Up In Fairfield, California,” “Lost Restaurants of Fairfield, California,” the upcoming book “Armijo High School: Fairfield, California” and hosts the Channel 26 government access TV show “Local Legends.”

Electric tractors help vineyards fight climate change

The WashingTon PosT

When you visit wineries this year, take a look around the vineyards. If you see a tractor going through the vine rows, listen closely. You may not hear the chug-chug of a diesel engine, but instead the quiet whir of an electric motor. The electric vehicle revolution has reached the vineyard.

Late last year, a company called Monarch Tractor rolled its first vehicles off an assembly line in Livermore. Monarch was founded in 2018 and tested its prototype vehicles at Wente Vineyards in the Livermore Valley. The company attracted more than $170 million in venture capital and won a bunch of awards for coolest ag tech gizmos. Its new MK-V autonomous tractor is now being made available to vineyards, orchards and other farms on the West Coast and Southeastern U.S. There’s a waitlist for the rest of the country, because demand is high.

Like other electric vehicles, electric tractors are about fighting climate change by cutting our carbon footprint. Monarch estimates each of its EV tractors accounts for 14 passenger vehicles taken off the roads, in terms of emissions. Their impact - pardon the pun - may be even greater. Or less, depending on your perspective. Advocates say EV tractors should lead to less herbicide use, increased productivity and improved worker safety.

“This is the missing link in our agricultural systems,” says Carlo Mondavi (of the famous winemaking family), a co-founder and chief farming officer of Monarch Tractor. He’s quick to point out the company is named for

the monarch butterfly, which has become endangered since agricultural pesticide use increased, starting in the 1970s, the company says.

Until now, Mondavi argues, doing right by the environment has been expensive. “To farm organically, you have to make more passes with the tractor to mow or apply sprays that don’t last as long as synthetic chemicals,” Mondavi says. It’s cheaper and easier to use Roundup once to eliminate weeds. But the electric tractors will save on fuel and maintenance costs, they are lighter than most tractors, and the selfdriving capability cuts down on labor costs as well.

“For the first time, what’s best for the planet is best for the bottom line,” Mondavi says. The MK-V has full selfdriving capability, as vine rows are easier than city streets to navigate. Since it is “driver optional,” the MK-V can be programmed to perform vineyard tasks

and monitored remotely by a controller using a smartphone or tablet. It collects crop data that can be used for real-time adjustments to its tasks or long-term planning and yield estimates. Its drive train offers 40 horsepower in continuous action and can increase to 75 horsepower for short-term tasks.

Constellation Brands, the drinks giant whose wine brands include The Prisoner, Robert Mondavi, Mount Veeder Winery and many others, purchased the first six MK-Vs. Among other early adopters was Coastal Vineyard Care Associates, a Santa Barbara County-based firm that manages more than 5,000 acres of premium wine grapes in California’s Central Coast region.

“We’re really excited about these tractors,” says Domenick Buck, the company’s director of coastal support services. “For cutting fuel costs and reducing our carbon footprint and greenhouse-gas emissions, this is

the easiest box to check. We’re moving more toward organic and sustainable farming, and away from using herbicides,” he adds. “These tractors are good at mowing and undervine cultivation.”

Buck was especially keen about the potential increase in productivity at a time of rising costs and competition for labor among businesses. “A normal eight-hour shift runs from 6 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., but these tractors can go 13 to 15 hours on a charge,” he explained. “We just train the tractor to know what it needs to do, and it doesn’t take breaks or lunch.” While he doesn’t expect to be laying off his workers, the tractors help at a time of rising wages and worker shortages.

The Monarch can’t do everything. California’s record-setting rainy winter kept vineyard work at a standstill for weeks, as even a lighter EV tractor can get stuck in mud. Also, the MK-V may not be suitable for all terrain or tasks.

“We have some vineyards with very steep slopes that require special tractors with treads and higher horsepower,” Buck says. “And if we’re going to be doing heavy ripping . . . I’d use diesel, but for spraying, harvest and hauling grapes back to the winery, the electric is ideal.”

For Mondavi, years of drought, wildfires and this winter’s rains highlight the urgency of climate change. Supply chain issues and inflation due to the pandemic and the war in Ukraine increase the economic pressure on farmers. Electric tractors such as the Monarch may be able to help on both fronts.

Tony Wade Back in the day

Stavro Victor/Wente Vineyards

A Monarch MK-V “driver optional” electric tractor works at Wente Vineyards in Livermore.

There is still time to register for Loop the Lagoon run/walk event

VACAVILLE — Registration is open for the 20th annual Loop the Lagoon Run/Walk, scheduled for Saturday at Lagoon Valley Park.

Funds raised support the Vacaville Public Education Foundation.

"The Loop the Lagoon Run/Walk is a familyfriendly event that offers something for everyone," organizers said in a statement. "The 5K, 10K and 10K Tower Challenge courses will take runners and walkers through rolling hills, scenic paths, and beautiful views of the surrounding hills and lagoon.

"The 2-mile walk offers a leisurely stroll, and the half-mile and 1-mile kids’ races kick off with a mascot parade and end with cheering crowds waiting to give medals to every young participant. Families can enjoy the kids’ expo featuring crafts, activities, snacks, raffle prizes and a petting zoo."

There will be refreshments and music as well.

Since its inception in 2003, the foundation has raised and donated more than $4 million to Vacaville Unified School District student enrichment programs. This event, for the second year, supports VUSD students in foster care or who are experiencing unstable housing.

Last year, $8,000 was raised. The goal this year is to break $10,000.

Kaiser Permanente is the presenting sponsor. The Solano County Office of Education is sponsoring the Kids’ Races and Expo. McDonald’s, Luxe Home with Haven Home Lending and InShape are bronze sponsors supporting the fundraiser.

The start times for the events are: 5K &10K Tower Challenge, 8 a.m.; 2 Mile Untimed walk, 8:15, a.m.; Half-mile Kids Fun Run, 9, a.m.; and 1-mile Kids Fun Run, 9:15 a.m.

Early-bird registration is available until Saturday. To register or learn more about the event, go to www.loopthelagoon.com.

Learn about searching for common surnames at Saturday meeting

VACAVILLE — The Solano County Genealogical Society will host a virtual Speaker Series presentation on "Shaking Out the Smiths: Researching a Common Surname.”

The event will begin at 11 a.m. Saturday on Zoom.

The guest speaker will be Nancy Calhoun. She will include examples of research from her own Smith family, which begins in Oklahoma, goes to Texas and finally to Tennessee. Common surnames are a typical cause of the dreaded “brick walls” in genealogy. The presentation chronicles Calhoun’s 40 years of research and concludes with a surprise ending.

She began with a semester-long class in Kansas while in the Teacher Corps and graduate school in Kansas. With a teaching background and 20 years in newspaper work, she often used her research skills.

Calhoun was the department head of Genealogy and Local History at Muskogee Public Library in Muskogee, Oklahoma, for 13 years. She then worked for the Oklahoma Historical Society Research Library. She has attended several national conferences, in addition to area educational opportunities. She was the recipient of the librarian scholarship to attend IGHR and the Richard S. Lackey Memorial Scholarship for the 2017 session of Genealog-

week The ahead

ical Institute on Federal Records. Her writings have placed in the annual contests held by the International Association of Family History Writers and Editors. Calhoun is also a member of several genealogical societies. She is a board member of the Oklahoma Genealogical Society and Gen-Fed Alumni. She is currently doing Zoom presentations for Texas, Oklahoma and California societies.

Guests are welcome to attend this free event. If interested, send an email to the society at scgs@ scgsca.org no later than 4 p.m. May 5 and request an invitation.

More information on events can be found on the society’s website at www.scgsca.org and Facebook page.

Boating safety course on Saturday

FAIRFIELD — The U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary is hosting a full-day “Boat America” that will meet the state law for motor boat operators 50 or younger to get their California Boater Cards.

The course will cover an introduction to boating, boating law, safety equipment, safe boating, navigation, boating problems, trailering, storing and protecting your boat, hunting and fishing, and water skiing and river boating.

The course will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Saturday in the maintenance building at Brannan Island State Park, 17645 Highway 160 in Rio Vista. Registration deadline is Wednesday.

For more details, call Margie Balch, Public Education coordinator, at 925-768-1608.

For more information about the Coast Guard Auxiliary, go to www. cgaux.org.

Volunteers needed to clean up Hanns Park

VALLEJO — Wildfire Community Preparedness Day is this weekend.

This is a day to roll up your sleeves and do some real cleanup work to make a difference at Hanns Park where volunteers will be clearing fire-prone vegetation.

The event will take place from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday at the Hanns Park, 198 Skyline Drive in Vallejo.

The public is invited to attend and volunteer with family and friends to learn about wildfire preparedness and help remove

fire-prone invasive species from local parks. Register in advance. Event details provided with registration. Volunteers must be 10 and older.

“We are thrilled to join the Vallejo Watershed Alliance, the Greater Vallejo Recreation District, and CVNL to help protect Vallejo’s hidden gem, Hanns Park, from threats of wildfire,” Jennifer Kaiser Nelson, public information officer at Vallejo Flood & Wastewater District, said in a press release.

The Hanns Park Wildfire Community Preparation Event is part of the Climate Impact Wildfire Prevention Project whose mission is to engage community members in Days of Service wildfire prevention events where they will remove fireprone vegetation and help make communities more firesafe. Learn more at volunteernow.org/ climate-impact-project.

To register go to https:// rb.gy/zyvgf.

Public hearings on new Suisun apartment complexes Tuesday

SUISUN CITY — The city will host two public hearings at the Tuesday city council meeting.

The first involves annexing the Lawler Mixed Use project.

The City Council has adopted a resolution of intention to annex territory to Community Facilities District and to authorize the levy of special taxes.

The project is the 73 units in a four-story apartment complex west of Lawler Parkway between McCoy Creek Way and Anderson Drive.

The second is about annexing the Marina Village apartments for the same purpose. It is a new affordable housing community on Village Drive and may begin leasing units this summer.

The 159 affordable rental units restricted to households earning between 30% and 70% of area median income. It will consist of 39 one-bedroom, 55 two-bedroom, 50 three-bedroom, and 16 four-bedroom units. Both are under construction.

The meeting gets underway at 6:30 p.m. at the council chamber, 701 Civic Center Blvd.

Unity of the Valley annual tea set Saturday

VACAVILLE — The Women of Unity will host a sit-down tea in May.

The event will take place from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Unity of the Valley Spiritual Center, 350 N. Orchard Ave. in Vacaville.

The hour will include a variety of hot teas, sand-

wiches and sweets. The event will also include live music, a drawing for gift baskets and a craft boutique.

This is a fundraiser for Unity of the Valley Spiritual Center and a portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Solano SPCA.

Tickets are $30. For more information, call 707-44-0521 or visit unityvacaville.org.

Cache Slough topic of online meeting Thursday

FAIRFIELD — The California Department of Water Resources and the state Department of Fish and Wildlife are hosting an online meeting to provide input on the Cache Slough Public Access Recreation Action Plan.

The meeting is set for 2 to 3:30 p.m. Thursday.

The agencies, along with Solano County, will "present key content to be included in the Draft Action Plan, including analysis of current recreation opportunities; criteria developed to evaluate and prioritize opportunities; and recommendations for identifying future opportunities," the agencies stated.

"The Recreation Action Plan will help guide future county and state investments in feasible recreation facilities within the Cache Slough region that are safe, inclusive and respect local land uses and landowners," the agencies stated.

Participants must register at https://kearnswest.zoom.us/meeting/ register/tZ0udumspjwiEtGx9O0MahBHvF2uvABCNPPT#/ registration.

For more information, go to www.solanocounty. com/depts/rm/delta_ and_water_programs/ cache_slough_recreation.asp.

Inspirational-Reversal Art Inspired by Poems reading Saturday

FAIRFIELD — Fairfield Poet Laureate Suzanne Bruce will host “Inspirational-Reversal Art Inspired by Poems” on Saturday.

The event will take place from 10 a.m. to noon at the Dunnell Nature and Education Center, 3351 Hilborn Road in Fairfield.

Poets will read poems, and artists will create an art piece inspired by one of the poems. The group will meet back up in July to share these creative collaborations.

Send only the title of your poem (39 lines or See Week, Page A8

Correspondents’ dinner takes on Carlson, Lemon

chRiSti caRR aS

LOS ANGELES TIMES

Soon after getting fired almost simultaneously by their respective cable TV networks, Tucker Carlson and Don Lemon were the targets of many a joke at this year’s White House Correspondents’ Association dinner.

While emceeing Saturday’s event at the Washington Hilton hotel, comedian and “Daily Show” correspondent Roy Wood Jr. addressed the dual terminations of Carlson, formerly of Fox News, and Lemon, who used to work for CNN. Both media personalities were ousted by their employers last Monday.

Tackling Carlson’s firing first, Wood jokingly compared the situation at Fox News to the departure of “Daily Show” host Trevor Noah – who recently decided to leave the Comedy Central show after seven years.

“The untouchable Tucker Carlson is out of a job,” Wood said Saturday to cheers from the audience.

“Some people celebrate. But to Tucker’s staff, I want you to know that I know what you’re feeling. I work at ‘The Daily Show,’ so I too have been blindsided by the sudden departure of the host of a fake news program.”

Wood followed the “Daily Show” quip with a string of references to some of the buzziest and juiciest shows on TV, including “Vanderpump Rules,” “BMF,” “Power” and “Succession.”

“Tucker got caught up ... like that dude from ‘Vanderpump Rules,’” Wood continued, referring to a cheating scandal on the reality program.

“I don’t know what ‘Vanderpump Rules’ is about. ... My friends told me it’s like ‘BMF’ but for white people – or ‘Succession.’ No, ‘Succession’ is ‘Power’ for white people. No, Tucker Carlson is ‘Power’ for white people. No, that’s white power. You know what, never mind. ... We got to get Tucker back on the air,

Medina Bulatao Martinez

Medina Bulatao Martinez was called home to Heaven on April 4, 2023; she was 72.

Medina was born to Tomas Bulatao on June 1, 1950, in asinan, Philippines. She was the child, eldest daughter of 6 children, including Alfonso (✝), Salvador Victor, Victoria, and Carmen. Medina graduated from Luzon College in Dagupan City, Philippines, with a Bachelor of Science in Commerce. After graduation, she would work at FACOMA, where she would meet the love of her life, David. After David enlisted in the United States Navy the two were married on March 31, 1977. Together they would embark on their greatest adventure across the seas and worldwide while raising a family Medina devoted her life to her family She was a proud militar y spouse, a dedicated mother of three, and the foundation of her family Medina valued education and knowledge. She believed it was something that could never be taken away from you. She continued to learn about the world around her by reading. She loved to read the newspaper She was a long-time subscriber to the local newspaper, The Daily Republic, for almost 30 years. She would read every section from beginning to end. Her favorite gameshow was Jeopardy! Medina also valued seeking

Mr. President. Because right now there’s millions of Americans that don’t even know why they hate you.”

Before Carlson got canned, former “Tucker Carlson Tonight” producer Abby Grossberg in a lawsuit accused the conservative pundit and others at Fox News of fostering a sexist, misogynistic and abusive work environment. The network has called Grossberg’s allegations “baseless.”

“Tucker Carlson is the first host to get fired from Fox News for something that’s only partially about how he treats women,” Wood quipped. “That’s progress. He shattered the a-- ceiling.”

“Speaking of a--,” Wood added, “Don Lemon is out of a job.”

Less than two hours after Fox News announced it had “agreed to part ways” with its top-rated star, Lemon disclosed via Twitter that he had been bounced by CNN.

When Lemon accused management in his tweet of not having the “decency” to inform him of their decision directly or give him “any indication” that he was on the chopping block, CNN pushed back by saying that Lemon “was offered an opportunity to meet with management but instead released a statement on Twitter.”

“My dog Don Lemon released a statement saying he got fired from CNN, and CNN released a statement saying that they offered Don a meeting,” Wood said.

“They had to part ways because Don Lemon can’t even accurately report a story about Don Lemon.”

Lemon got the ax at CNN shortly after he apologized for a sexist, ageist remark he made about politician Nikki Haley being past her “prime.” The “CNN This Morning” anchor was also recently accused in Variety of exhibiting misogynistic behavior in the workplace – a report

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happiness. You could often find her at her “playground” or Cache Creek where she would meet up with her friends and family, who are lovingly known as her “classmates,” to enjoy food, collect free giveaways, and tr y her luck on the machines!

Also known as Mom; Atsi Med; Auntie Medy; Grandma Medy; and Lola, Medina was an incredible woman. She would do anything for her family; she was always happy to see you and always smiling. Her outlook on life was inspiring. Each day she tried to live her best life, however she wanted. Even when she faced challenges in her health, she did so with great optimism, a smile on her face, and laughter to go around. She will be greatly missed.

Medina is sur vived by her loving husband of 46 years, David; her children, Maribel (Marvin) Deyro, Melody (Chad) French; and Davis Mark Martinez; and her four grandchildren, Kiralynn, Analise, Cadence, and Maddox. She is preceded in death by her parents, Tomas and Mercedes Bulatao, brother Alfonso Bulatao, and grandson, Xavier Deyro.

Visitation and viewing will be at Skyview Memorial Lawn, 200 Rollingwood Dr Vallejo,

Brian Cahn/ZUMA Press Wire/TNS file (2022)

Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson speaks at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest 2022 in Phoenix.

CALMATTERS COMMENTARY

State Democrats at odds over budget deficit

California’s tax revenues continue to fall short of expectations, its deficit continues to grow and with the June 15 deadline for enacting a new budget, there’s a three-way split among the Capitol’s top Democrats.

In January, Gov. Gavin Newsom declared that the state had a $22.5 billion deficit, just months after bragging about a nearly $100 billion surplus. However, revenues – particularly personal income taxes – have grown even softer since then.

When Newsom unveils a revised 2023-24 budget later this month, he’s expected to declare a wider income/outgo gap.

The problem is exacerbated by two factors: the spending expectations that were raised by last year’s phantom surplus and the lack of revenue clarity because the deadline for filing income tax returns, originally April 18, was extended by six months due to winter storms.

The current budget, passed when surplus projections were soaring, contains dozens of appropriations to create new projects or services, or to expand existing ones, particularly in social welfare and health care fields. The cornucopia of cash pleased advocates for those services, but they were disappointed in January when Newsom proposed to claw back many allocations to close the newly discovered deficit.

Since then, budget stakeholders have been pressing the Legislature not only to resist Newsom’s cuts but increase spending even more. Some of the heaviest pressure is coming from hospitals and mass transit systems, both of which say they face financial collapse if they don’t get billions of dollars from the state.

Last week, state Senate leaders issued their budget plan, entitled “Protect Our Progress,” that, they said, would close the state’s deficit while maintaining last year’s new spending – principally by borrowing money from the state’s stash of uncommitted cash and raising corporate income taxes by more than $7 billion.

“We are, in effect, getting our biggest corporations closer to pay their fair share,” said Sen. Nancy Skinner, an East Bay Democrat who chairs the Senate budget committee. Spending advocates immediately issued statements of praise for the Senate’s budget framework.

“Senate Democrats’ plan acknowledges that California’s projected budget shortfall will never be solved by putting more burden on those who are struggling, but by asking California corporations to chip in more of their vast wealth – created by working people – to create a stronger economy and deliver on our state’s shared commitment to equity,” Tia Orr of the Service Employees International Union said in one of many supportive statements.

However, business groups denounced the proposed corporate tax increase. “Now is not the time to test California’s ability to withstand the impact of an economic downturn or a recession by placing our economic success at risk,” said Jennifer Barrera, president of the California Chamber of Commerce.

More importantly, Newsom immediately rejected the tax increase. “Governor Newsom cannot support the new tax increases and massive ongoing spending proposed by the Senate today,” spokesperson Anthony York said in a statement. “It would be irresponsible to jeopardize the progress we’ve all made together over the last decade to protect the most vulnerable while putting our state on sound fiscal footing.”

Significantly, the Senate’s plan didn’t have an endorsement from Assembly leaders. In January, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, a Democrat from Lakewood, said he would prefer to tap the state’s “rainy day” reserves if the deficit widened.

“That’s what it’s there for,” Rendon told POLITICO.

So what’s it going to be? Deeper spending cuts? New taxes? Dipping into the reserves?

Whatever they do, Newsom and legislators will be shooting in the dark. They missed badly last year when the supposed surplus turned to dust, and the state’s fiscal picture is even cloudier this year.

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.

Letters to the Editor

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

Send letters to Letters to the Editor, the Daily Republic, P.O. Box 47, Fairfield, CA 94533, email to sebastian.onate@mcnaugh ton.media or drop them off at our office, 1250 Texas St. in downtown Fairfield.

THE RIGHT STUFF

The US is a nation in rapid decline

Several reasons caused the Founding Fathers to name this country the United States. Primarily it was to emphasize the uniqueness of its government. It was the first world attempt to establish a second level of sovereignty for the states that is superior to the national level of government, which was an authorized sovereignty only with limited specified enumerated powers. Laws with direct citizen impact were better developed at state and local levels, such as was seen with Covid mandates when some states refused and benefited from ignoring nationally imposed mandates. Surprisingly, California was smarter than usual and successfully applied Covid mandates differentially to counties with differing conditions. Founders knew that citizens with direct contact with governing officials are more content. For example, parents can get immediate results from their local school board but cannot expect success with a distant representative. In the past days of country schools, nothing was imposed by “higher” authority.

In 1932, Supreme Court Justice Brandeis identified states as laboratories of democracy stating, “A single courageous state may, if its citizens choose, serve as a laboratory; and try novel social and economic experiments without risk to the rest of the country. States would in time pick the best practices by imitating other states.”

However, this has not always led to marked improvement in governance

COMMENTARY

as 1, citizens and legislators do not research and fail to recognize core reasons why or why not changes worked; and 2, the Constitution’s 17th amendment requires direct election of senators. This did not fix corruption; it opened the floodgates to special interest groups and senators were no longer beholden to states. As feared by John Q. Adams, the direct election of senators ushered in the “tyranny of the masses,” a weakness to majority rule whereby the majority of an electorate pursues exclusively its own objectives and not the good of the nation.

Twenty years after Brandeis, President Roosevelt was desperate to provide welfare benefits to the nation. Thirty-five states had already established welfare programs, but President Roosevelt convinced the Supreme Court to ignore the Enumeration of Powers law and approve welfare in the name of the Social Security Act. The act was actuarially sound when implemented but congressional tinkering has since produced an unsustainable program.

The Enumeration of Powers has never been amended so it remains law but is largely totally ignored, resulting in a bloated government that is drowning under its own weight with a massive deficit. This was predicted by Scottish professor Alexander F. Tytler. “A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury …

the average age of the world’s greatest civilizations has been 200 years. … nations have progressed from bondage to spiritual faith to great courage; to liberty; to abundance; to selfishness; to apathy; to dependence; (and) back into bondage.”

Analysis of a list of cities with prevailing poverty and high crime revealed those cities each had retained Democrat party governments for up to 50 years. This raises two obvious questions. Why do the voters reelect the failing politicians and why do politicians continue to bankrupt the budget? Tytler answered both – voters like “free” money and politicians like being reelected. America technically changed from a republic to a democracy in 1913. The real effect of that change began to accelerate in 1937 and has been at warp speed since 1965. This calculates, by Tytler’s 200-year equation, to the death of America by 2113-2137 unless Americans awaken. On Tytler’s scale from liberty to abundance to selfishness to apathy to dependence to bondage, America has digressed to apathy or dependence. Are Americans ready to reverse digression, abandon the selfish reliance on handouts and vote for government officials to restore the principles of the Founding Fathers?

Earl Heal is a retired Air Force officer, Vacaville resident and member of The Right Stuff committee formerly of the Solano County Republican Central Committee. Reach him at healearl niki2@gmail.com.

Ukraine is running out of ammo; so is the US

James stavridis BLOOMBERG OPINION

As the war in Ukraine rages and with Kyiv’s forces likely to begin a major offensive any day now, both sides in the conflict are facing shortages of ammunition, electronic components, precision-guided weapons and even cement. While the West has a vastly larger overall capability to deliver the necessities of combat, snarls in the global commercial supply chain are beginning to manifest.

The real “spring offensive” may not be tanks and armor, but upscaled weapons production in the factories of Ukraine’s democratic supporters. What should they be doing collectively to make sure the Ukrainians get what they need to turn back Russia’s illegal and immoral invasion? And what will be the impact on broader global supply chains?

As the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s military commander over a decade ago, I would often look deep into logistics and supply chains as I contemplated our combat operations in Afghanistan, the Balkans, Libya and counterpiracy. We felt comfortable that the overall Western defense industrial base – which supports over $1.2 trillion in collective military budgets for the 31 NATO nations – could handle those conflicts with relative ease.

But what made me nervous a decade ago was the possibility of great power conflict in Europe –notably a potential flare-up with the Russian federation. While the democratic allies enjoy an overwhelming capability and inventory advantage (Russia’s total defense budget is under $70 billion, one-tenth of NATO’s at best), the Russians have a competent industrial base, lots of raw materials, and can draw on conscript labor to man the machines in their foundries and factories.

While NATO is more than a year out of Afghanistan, the huge needs of Ukraine are driving challenges in supplying material to combat operations at a level I did not anticipate.

The need for electronic components in particular – to build precisionguided weapons, sophisticated drones,

anti-ship cruise missiles, and socalled smart artillery rounds – is soaring. Despite the sluggish global economy, civilian firms are competing with the Western militaries for the crucial semiconductor chips, particularly the high-end ones produced largely in Taiwan.

Western car manufacturers and heavy equipment producers, from Caterpillar to General Motors, are feeling the pinch. Cement, in high demand in the United States for the infrastructure projects just beginning to come online from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, is getting scarce as Ukrainian war needs rise for reconstruction.

A number of analyses and war simulations are trying to project where the critical pain points will occur. Guns, missiles and ammunition – especially howitzer shells – are of most concern. Notable among the stockpiles running low are the 155-mm gun rounds that have emerged as the key offensive punch for the Ukrainians. Several analysts believe that Ukraine is burning through a year’s worth of U.S. prewar production monthly.

While the Department of Defense will continue to protect its own war reserves, the excess armament levels – stockpiled for contingencies beyond basic needs of the U.S. war plans – are very low. And it is not just howitzer rounds: The high-performance HIMARS rockets are in short supply as well, for example.

The defense industrial base is stepping up production, taking a page out of the U.S. industrial complex at the start of World War II. As the Yale Historian Paul Kennedy outlines in his brilliant book, “Engineers of Victory,” about the technology, organization, and war production that turned the tide in the war, the allies eventually outproduced the axis.

While we are far from the total mobilization of the early 1940s, both the big defense primes and many smaller producers of hightech systems (notably drones) are rapidly innovating and producing what the Ukrainians will need in the months ahead. But as new orders have increased, another problem has emerged: a severe shortage of skilled munitions workers.

When President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave his memorable “arsenal of democracy speech” in 1940, the U.S. economy was about to move to a full war footing. Clearly, we are not going to do that today. So, the challenge will be to continue to produce both guns and butter in the face of Russian aggression.

Congress and the Pentagon have the tools to do so, primarily money. U.S. military support to Ukraine is significant (over $40 billion) but only a small fraction of the $850 billion defense budget. America’s European partners (and Asian allies like Japan and South Korea) will be providing nearly equal amounts of assistance, although their support will be focused more on humanitarian needs and economic reconstruction.

Both sides of the Atlantic will be providing selected combat systems (especially tanks and ground armor) and artillery rounds. Governments in the West will have to guarantee the contractual production, so the defense firms are not left holding the bag if the war abruptly concludes (which does not, admittedly, appear to be on the horizon).

While there will be some pinching in specific global commercial supply chains (e.g., electronics, construction materials, some minerals), the overall capacity to outproduce the tottering Russian economy is clear. Assuming China continues to wisely decline to throw Putin a war material lifeline, Russia will fall further and further behind Western production abilities. This classic “American way of war,” which succeeded in both World War II and ultimately in the Cold War, keeps the odds in favor of the Ukrainians.

James Stavridis is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. A retired U.S. Navy admiral, former supreme allied commander of NATO, and dean emeritus of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, he is vice chairman of global affairs at the Carlyle Group. He is on the boards of American Water Works, Fortinet, PreVeil, NFP, Ankura Consulting Group, Michael Baker and Neuberger Berman, and has advised Shield Capital, a firm that invests in the cybersecurity sector.

Dan Walters

Earl Heal

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Rihanna has ‘Smurfs’ on the brain for her next movie: ‘Hope this gives me cool points’

Los A ngeLes Times

Rihanna, who is several months pregnant with her second child, is putting in the work, work, work for her next Hollywood project.

The “Lift Me Up” singer announced Thursday at CinemaCon that she will star in Paramount and Nickelodeon’s upcoming “Smurfs” film, The Times has confirmed. The singer will be pulling triple duty as she stars as “blue badass” Smurfette, writes and performs original music for the film, and serves as a producer.

“I get to show up in my PJs in my third trimester,” she said, according to the Hollywood Reporter. “I hope this gives me cool points with my kids one day.”

“Smurfs” previously got the movie treatment with several films from Sony Pictures Animation. Pop star Katy Perry lent her voice to Smurfette in “The Smurfs” and “The Smurfs 2.” Rihanna’s CinemaCon appearance comes two months after she made her music comeback during the Super Bowl LVII halftime show in February.

The Super Bowl performance also served as a sort of baby announcment, with confirmation soon following that the Grammy winner and Fenty Beauty founder is expecting a second child with boyfriend ASAP Rocky. The couple welcomed their first child, a baby boy, in May 2022.

Pickles Brian Crane

Zits Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman

Pearls Before Swine Stephan Pastis

Candorville Darrin

Baby Blues Rick Kirkman and Jerry Scott

Baldo Hector Cantú

My adult son feels bad about being excluded from family Easter plans

Dear Annie: My spouse and I live close to many members of our extended family. We were out of town for Easter. My adult son saw on Facebook that the rest of the family had gathered to celebrate, but he had not been invited. This has happened more than once. My son feels pretty bad about it and wonders why he wasn’t included.

I don’t know if we should just ignore this or say something. What do you think? — Sad for Son

Annie Lane

Dear Sad for Son: It’s really difficult to be excluded, especially if it’s family. Lots of times, rejection is just God’s protection. Now that he knows how hurtful and exclusionary his family can be, he can plan ahead, perhaps with friends, and have Easter with them. Or perhaps you and your husband could take him with you.

If you think that this was simply an oversight, where the family member who organized the Easter celebration just assumed your son was not in town, it would be worth asking them and letting them know how hurt your son was.

Dear Annie: I moved away from my abusive family as soon as I was old enough. To save money, I moved in with a person who was in similar circumstances.

Although “Cindy” is quite a bit older than me, we thought that being roommates made sense because of our similar backgrounds.

Cindy and I got along well at first. However, it’s been close to a year now, and things have started popping up. Cindy is a bible-thumping believer, as was I (due to our backgrounds). However, my views have changed since I’m on my own, and Cindy’s have not.

Another problem is that Cindy is sometimes oblivious to other people’s needs and feelings. Once, she was a half-hour late to something we needed to do together, and she only gave me 10 minutes advance notice that we would be so late. I had made plans for the time after we were supposed to be finished, and she made me miss them.

I have already started looking for a new apartment. But then Cindy dropped a bombshell. She has applied for

Horoscopes

ARIES (March 21-April 19).

Ideally, you live in a way to offer continual evidence that the world is better because you’re in it. If you aren’t improving things, you’ll be learning ways or watching for the opportunity to do so.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20).

While you wouldn’t dream of giving up on what you really want, you also realize that humans do not always want what is in their best interest. You are wise to keep an open mind in determining which pursuits are worthy.

GEMINI (May 21-June 21).

Since you never know what another person has experienced or is dealing with right now, you err on the side of tenderness. With a kind word, dark moments can be stirred in such a way to bring in the light.

CANCER (June 22-July 22).

How can you tell you’re choosing the right thing to work on?

If it has the potential for significant and meaningful impact, it’s worth doing. Is it also easy?

Do it right away. Is it difficult? Do it little by little.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22).

When you believe in something, your conviction is often enough to pull you forward. But if something shakes the belief, momentum dies. This is part of the reason you are so driven to know the truth, which is, by definition, unchanging.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22).

You run toward the challenge because you know that no matter how far into the

by Holiday Mathis

Today’s birthday

Since you’ll live in the world you know is possible, new lifestyles involve expanding the known possibilities. The year unleashes your wild creativity, and you’ll jump from an old paradigm to a new one inspired by your imagination. More highlights include heaps of love, the admiration of children or students and three significant financial bonuses. Libra and Pisces adore you.

endeavor you get, it’s better to have the experience than not. Setbacks are inevitable, but you have the strength and resilience to keep going.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23).

Keep at it. Tenacity will bring the result. That said, the art is in making it look easy. Today’s aim will be best accomplished without sweat. If people think you’re trying too hard, you’ll be less influential.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21).

You’ve a gift for knowing when to blend in and how to assert yourself when it’s your turn. Your work weaves in with that of others and patterns emerge. It will seem you were always headed toward unmistakable beauty.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22Dec. 21). You’re in a mood to skip the plan and get right into action, but run this through

a job with the same company where I work. She says “we could share rides together.” She can’t manage money and can’t afford a decent car, so the one she has is constantly breaking down. I immediately told her that while I could ride with her occasionally, I would not be doing that all the time, as I look forward to the half-hour drive by myself every day. But I can’t stand the thought of seeing her 24/7! I’m too polite, so how do I tell her that? — Roommate Trouble

Dear Roommate Trouble: Cindy might be quite a bit older than you, but she is acting like a child. Start by telling Cindy the things you like about her, and then calmly outline the things that are really bothering you about this roommate situation, just as you did in your letter. It’s good that you told her you don’t want to carpool, but you should also tell her that you have started looking for a new apartment. Set the boundaries that you need, and the rest is up to Cindy. You’ve put up with too much abuse in your life already. Send your questions for Annie Lane to dearannie@ creators.com.

your head a few times before you launch. It will keep you from forgetting anything essential to your success.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22Jan. 19). In the movies, big changes happen in an instant. Reality more often involves small changes that, over time, create a new circumstance. You continue with little acts of grace and watch a better world slowly take shape.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20Feb. 18). Reciprocal relationships thrive. Even so, the currency reciprocated may not be the same for each person. For instance, Person A may give undivided attention to Person B, who offers in return the sense of purpose that comes from being needed.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). You won’t have to worry about networking or outreach because doing what you love will draw the like-minded to you. Your enthusiasm has magnetism. Revel in what you find exciting about the endeavor and share your enjoyment.

CELEBRITY PROFILES: Whether he’s shining from the silver screen or the stadium stage, Tim McGraw brings his earthy Taurus energy to the enterprise. Star power never came in such a down-to-earth package. As a devoted family man and father, McGraw is simultaneously dazzling and relatable.

Write Holiday Mathis at HolidayMathis.com.

Crossword by Phillip Alder

Bridge

scheduled to have his 96th birthday on Sept. 5. He won 13 of those 16 gold medals. Forquet, who died on Jan. 27 at the age of 97, played on 15 of those teams.

Many women considered Forquet the most handsome bridge player ever. He was much less flamboyant than Belladonna or Garozzo, but he almost never made a mistake. He wrote “Bridge With The Blue Team,” which features many great plays by the team.

Here is one example. How did Forquet play in six spades after West led the heart three?

North’s opening bid showed 17 points or more. One spade indicated an ace and a king or three kings. After three natural bids, there were three control-bids and a four no-trump that was not asking.

THE MOST HANDSOME OF THEM ALL

The Italian Blue Team won 16 world championships from 1957 to 1975. The team had three superstars in Giorgio Belladonna, Pietro Forquet and Benito Garozzo. Belladonna, who died in 1995, played on every team. The last surviving member, Garozzo, is

When the dummy came down, Forquet saw that six hearts was theoretically preferable, but West’s lead was surely a singleton, so that slam was doomed.

Forquet won with his ace and returned his second heart, West discarding a diamond. Declarer ruffed a heart with the spade 10, and West pitched a club. South cashed the spade queen, played a spade to the king and ruffed another heart with his last trump. West had no riposte. Only a diamond lead would have been lethal.

COPYRIGHT: 2023, UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE

Sudoku by Wayne Gould

5/1/23

box. Solution, tips and computer program at www.sudoku.com

by

Difficulty level: BRONZE

Solution to 4/29/23:

THE MOST HANDSOME OF THEM ALL

Bridge

Word Sleuth

Daily Cryptoquotes

Dear Annie

Weather

From Page One

bulk on Tuesday. Up to a third of an inch of rain is expected across most of the Bay Area while a half an inch to an inch is forecast in the hillsides.

The Santa Cruz Mountains are likely to be in the bull’s-eye for most of Tuesday’s showers, with totals exceeding an inch across the summits near Ben Lomond.

At this point, the rain outlook doesn’t indicate heavy downpours in May. Instead, weather models suggest there will be a heightened possibility of light showers scattered throughout the month across the Bay Area’s shoreline.

What about the Sierra?

Communities downstream of the Sierra Nevada have been experiencing some of the most pronounced flooding from snowmelt in recent memory, with places in Kings and Kern counties and parks like Yosemite National Park remaining closed to the public— it opened Sunday — out of concerns for more flooding. It’s not looking like there’s an immediate end in sight for these flood concerns.

Snow showers are forecast to fall at the summits surrounding Lake Tahoe starting Sunday, with more widespread showers at lower elevations closer to Interstate 80 by Monday. The highest elevations of the Tahoe region can expect between 5 to 8 inches of snow, while a little accumulation is expected in the valleys below 6,000 feet –up to half an inch of snow. The Central and Southern Sierra’s summits are also expected to have fewer accumulations – only 1 to 4 inches above 6,000 feet and trace amounts in the valleys. The setup for the first week of May won’t lead to major changes to the depth of the wider snowpack across the Sierra Nevada.

The snowpack as of Friday was still running 219% above average in the Northern Sierra, 253%

in the Central Sierra and 336% in the Southern Sierra, even after April’s heat wave. Snow showers on Monday and the cooler air won’t do much to slow down the ongoing snowmelt that’s under way, especially in the rivers and streams around Yosemite in the Central Sierra and the Tulare Basin on the foothills of the Southern Sierra. The Climate Prediction Center is calling for cooler than average temperatures for most of the Sierra Nevada, but longer days and shorter nights will inevitably lead to warming soils and the melting of the snow closest to the ground.

In other words, there is still plenty of snow left to melt away in the coming months.

The heightened chances for May precipitation includes the risk for isolated thunderstorms. Like the cold low-pressure systems that clogged the skies of California with thunderstorms during winter, May’s systems could reel in convective showers to parts of the state, including the Sierra foothills. These thunderstorms aren’t likely to bring major risks for wildfire starts, since most would be isolated and wet.

Cold low-pressure systems are likely to continue rolling into California through mid-May, bringing light snow to the mountains. But by then the days will be another 10 to 20 minutes longer, leading to more sunlight that will chip away at the snowpack. Albedo — how reflective a surface is — in the Sierra has already gone down as increasing sunlight melts snow, exposing darker soils and fields. This will lead to a feedback loop where the ground warms and melts more snow, exposing greater areas with darker soils that absorb more sunlight and warmth and so on.

In other words, flooding concerns in the Central Valley’s rivers and lake beds won’t be going away in May.

A Senate report last year found the U.S. Department of Justice failed to identifymore than 900 deaths in prisons and local jails in fiscal year 2021. The report said the DOJ’s poor data collection and reporting undermined transparency and congressional oversight of deaths in custody.

Thousands of people like Jordan are released from prisons and jails every year with conditions such as cancer, heart disease and infectious diseases they developed while incarcerated. The issue hits hard in Alabama, Louisiana and other Southeastern states, which have some of the highest incarceration rates in the nation.

A major reason the U.S. trails other developed countries in life expectancy is because it has more people behind bars and keeps them there far longer, said Chris Wildeman, a Duke University sociology professor who has researched the link between criminal justice and life expectancy.

“It’s a health strain on the population,” Wildeman said. “The worse the prison conditions, the more likely it is incarceration can be tied to excess mortality.”

Mass incarceration has a ripple effect across society.

Incarcerated people may be more susceptible than the general population to infectious diseases such as covid and HIV that can spread to loved ones and other community members once they are released. The federal government has also failed to collect or release enough information about deaths in custody that could be used to identify disease patterns and prevent fatalities and illness inside and outside of institutions, researchers said.

Over a 40-year span starting in the 1980s, the number of people in the nation’s prisons and jails more than quadrupled, fueled by tough-on-crime policies and the war on drugs.

Federal lawmakers and states such as Alabama have passed reforms in recent years

Trump

From Page One

dressing rooms in the sixth-floor lingerie department.

GOP

From Page One

Democrat from Delaware who’s a co-chair of Biden’s 2024 reelection campaign, cited the president’s previous offers to discuss “annual spending, the appropriations process” with Republicans. Negotiations on “the mix of revenue increases and spending cuts that make sense going forward” are on the table, he said on “This Week.”

Republicans “are demanding hostage negotiations where they will crash the full faith and credit” of the U.S., Coons said.

The risky impasse has prompted calls by Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin for Biden to meet with McCarthy for talks and is leading some Democrats to look to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell for possible Republican help in the Senate to raise the borrowing limit.

McConnell could suspend the impasse by getting the Senate to a point where the U.S. continues paying its bills while Congress negotiates, Sen. Chris Van Hollen said on “Fox News Sunday.”

“What you’ve got to do is not threaten the detonation of the economy,” the Maryland Democrat said.

amid bipartisan agreement that prison costs have grown too high and that some people could be released without posing a risk to public safety.

The changes have come too late and not gone far enough to curb the worst effects on health, some researchers and activists for reform said.

Still, no one has proven that incarceration alone shortens life expectancy. But research from the early 2000s did show the death rate for people leaving prison was 3.5 times higher than for the rest of the population in the first few years after release. Experts found deaths from drug use, violence and lapses in access to health care were especially high in the first two weeks after release.

Another study found that currently or formerly incarcerated Black people suffered a 65% higher mortality rate than their non-Black peers. Black people also make up a disproportionately high percentage of state prison populations.

The enactment in 2000 of the Death in Custody Reporting Act, and its reauthorization in 2014, required the DOJ to collect information about deaths in state and local jails and prisons.

The information is supposed to include details on the time and location of a death, demographic data on the deceased, the agency involved and the manner of death.

But a recent report

from the Government Accountability Office found that 70% of the records the DOJ received were missing at least one required data point. Federal officials also lacked a plan to take corrective action against states that didn’t meet reporting requirements, the GAO found.

The deficiency in data means the federal government can’t definitively say how many people have died in prisons and jails since the Covid-19 pandemic began, researchers said.

“Without data, we are operating in the dark,” said Andrea Armstrong, a professor at the Loyola University New Orleans College of Law, who has testified before Congress on the issue.

Armstrong said federal and state officials need the data to identify institutions failing to provide proper health care, nutritious food or other services that can save lives.

The DOJ did not make officials available for interviews to answer questions about the GAO report.

In a written statement, agency officials said they were working with law enforcement and state officials to overcome barriers to full and accurate reporting.

“The Justice Department recognizes the profound importance of reducing deaths in custody,” the statement said. “Complete and accurate data are essential for drawing meaningful con-

clusions about factors that may contribute to unnecessary or premature deaths, and promising practices and policies that can reduce the number of deaths.”

Department officials said the agency is committed to enhancing its implementation of the Death in Custody Reporting Act and that it has ramped up its efforts to improve the quality and quantity of data that it collects.

The DOJ has accused Alabama, where Jordan was incarcerated, of failing to adequately protect incarcerated people from violence, sexual abuse and excessive force by prison staff, and of holding prisoners in unsanitary and unsafe conditions.

Jordan served 38 years of a 40-year sentence for reckless murder stemming from a car accident, which his lawyer argued in his petition for early release was one of the longest sentences in Alabama history for the crime. A jury had found him guilty of being drunk while driving a vehicle that crashed with another, killing a man. If he were convicted today instead, he would be eligible to receive a sentence as short as 13 years behind bars, because he has no prior felony history, wrote Alabama Circuit Judge Stephen Wallace, who reviewed Jordan’s petition for early release.

“Donald Trump slammed Ms. Carroll against a wall. He pressed his lips against her. She struggled to break free but couldn’t. Trump was almost twice her size.”

Carroll, one of 26 women to accuse Trump of assault, told two friends in the aftermath.

Lisa Birnbach urged her to report it, and Carol Martin convinced her to stay silent.

“The evidence will show that it was a different world for women, especially single women who were trying to make successful careers in the public spotlight,” Crowley said.

“([She) blamed herself for what happened. She thought she should have known that Donald Trump could be violent toward women.”

In searing testimony, Carroll described how her trauma destroyed her ability to forge a romantic connection or be sexually intimate with someone ever again.

Jurors heard of how she lost her job at Elle after coming forward in 2019, when Trump called her a liar from the White House, infamously denying the assault because she was not his “type.”

Carroll thought Trump would claim the encounter was consensual.

“It means that besides me being a liar and a woman out to sell books and an operative of the Democratic Party and a woman who accuses all sorts of other men for rape, I’m too ugly to attack, too ugly to rape,” Carroll testified.

In his opening, Trump’s lawyer Joe Tacopina said his client shouldn’t be held liable for sexual battery or defamation, charging that “calling her a liar was the truth.”

“(You” are going to hear from E. Jean Carroll that during this colossal battle her tights never ripped. She never let go of her purse that she was holding as she was getting violently raped. She held onto her purse. That hand could have been used for something else, but instead she held on to her purse. And she never screamed, not once, never screamed,” Tacopina told the jury.

During his aggressive cross-examination, Carroll turned the tables

on Tacopina. “(One) of the reasons (women) don’t come forward is because they are always asked, ‘Why didn’t you scream?’ Some women scream. Some women don’t. It keeps women silent,” Carroll said.

A steadfast Carroll said if she was lying, she would have said she “screamed my head off.”

“I didn’t,” Carroll testified. “When I came forward, I told the truth. I said I didn’t scream. We could probably come up with more reasons I didn’t scream, but I did not scream. I did not scream.”

Tacopina interrogated Carroll on her memories. During the yearslong litigation, she has acknowledged not remembering which year it happened, only that it occurred between 1994 and 1996.

Jurors will hear from a clinical psychologist about how it’s common for victims of sexual violence to experience fragmented traumatic memories,

wherein they recall visceral details about the attack but forget broader details like the time and location. Although Trump has been missing in action from his trial, his presence has been felt through his online attacks against Carroll and her lawyers. His Truth Social missives drew an admonishment from Judge Lewis Kaplan. Trump doubled down Friday, blasting a news release accusing Carroll of sexually harassing Roger Ailes. The late longtime Fox News CEO died in 2017 in disgraceamid a flood of sexual misconduct allegations from female anchors at the network.

The stunning allegations presented so far against Trump are just the beginning. The second week of the trial is expected to include testimony from two other women, Natasha Stoynoff and Jessica Leeds, who were among the first to levy accusations when he ran for president in 2016.

Whether or not Trump testifies, jurors will hear him talking about sexual assault in the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape.

“You will hear from two other women ... who will testify that Donald Trump assaulted them in very much the same way he assaulted Ms. Carroll because that is his MO,” Crowley said Tuesday.

“You are going to hear Donald Trump say that in his own words.”

Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Daily News/TNS

E. Jean Carroll arrives at the Southern District of New York Court on Pearl Street before start of her civil rape case against former President Donald Trump Wednesday in New York City.

Charity Rachelle/KFF Health News/TNS

Larry Jordan served 38 years in an Alabama prison for reckless murder stemming from a car accident. If he were convicted of the same crime today, he’d be eligible to receive a sentence as short as 13 years. A major reason the U.S. trails other developed countries in life expectancy, experts say, is because it has more people behind bars and keeps them there far longer.

Yuri Gripas/Abaca Press/TNS file

U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., right, and Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La.

Tentative calm returns to Sudanese cities as the cease-fire gets extended

Tribune ConTenT AgenCy

KHARTOUM, Sudan — Streets in some Sudanese cities returned to relative calm on Sunday as a shaky cease-fire helped scale back a conflict that has left hundreds dead in the past two weeks.

Police have been deployed to maintain order in Khartoum and Omdurman, eyewitnesses reported, although there are continued reports of looting and sporadic gunfire, according to a dpa journalist in Khartoum.

Clashes continued over the weekend despite the calling of a 72-hour ceasefire on Thursday, with both sides accusing the other of violating the agreement.

Sudan’s paramilitary group, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), said it would extend its “humanitarian truce” for another 72 hours from midnight.

The group’s spokesman said it was responding to international and local calls “to open humanitarian corridors” and allow civilians to “reach safe areas.”

According to the World Health Organiza-

Dinner

From Page A3

he dismissed as “15-yearold gossip.”

“Letting Don go was the wrong move,” Wood said.

“Don was fine when y’all was letting him drink. You shouldn’t have cut off his liquor,” he added, referring to CNN’s recent move to scale back the booze during its New Year’s eve coverage. “You don’t fire your host after the first couple of scandals. The scandals got to stack

tion, the latest numbers of casualties reported by the Sudanese Ministry of Health were 528 dead and 4,620 injured since fighting broke out on April 15, although the real toll is expected to be much higher.

Many humanitarian actors have had to halt operations.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said on Sunday it had sent a plane of medical supplies to Port Sudan and a second plane with emergency personnel would follow.

Sudan’s de facto pres-

up. You gotta get ratings. Yes, Don Lemon was a diva and he said a couple of women are raggedy in the face – but that’s a promotion at Fox News!”

The president also had some Lemon material up his sleeve.

“They say I’m over the hill,” President Joe Biden said. “Don Lemon would say that’s a man in his prime.”

Both Biden and Wood had plenty to say about the recent legal battle between Fox News and Dominion Voting Systems. Earlier in April, Fox News agreed

ident, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, has been locked in conflict with his deputy Mohammed Hamdan Daglo with the help of the country’s military since April 15. Daglo is the leader of the influential RSF.

The two generals took over the leadership of the country of about 46 million through two military coups in 2019 and 2021. Thousands of people are still fleeing the country, state workers have been given indefinite leave, and governments from across the world have launched evacuation

to settle Dominion’s defamation case against the network for a hefty sum of $787.5 million.

“Y’all look good ... look like everybody got a little piece of that settlement money from Fox News,” Wood said. “And that’s all I have to say about that. Because I’m not going to have Dominion on my ass. I love Dominion. Matter of fact, let me just say right now: My favorite voting machine is Dominion voting machines. When I go to the polls, I make sure it is a Dominion machine that I use. If your elec-

missions to airlift their citizens to safety.

British officials, after officially ending their Sudanese evacuation mission, announced another flight to take people from the conflict-hit country on Monday after flying out 2,122 people.

Dutch officials said they had completed their evacuation of at least 160 Dutch nationals from the country on Saturday evening, while Irish officials said they have now transported a total of 209 citizens out of Sudan.

The U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) has warned that the ongoing violence could plunge the entire region of East Africa into a humanitarian crisis.

“A third of the country’s population was starving even before the fighting broke out, now there is a shortage of everything and food prices are skyrocketing,” Martin Frick, the director of the WFP in Germany, told dpa.

Similar price increases are also occurring in neighboring Chad and South Sudan. Both countries have taken in thousands of refugees.

tion needs the truth, put Dominion in your booth.”

Biden got in on the fun too.

“It’s great the cable news networks are here tonight: MSNBC owned by NBCUniversal, Fox News owned by Dominion Voting Systems,” Biden said. “Last year, your favorite Fox News reporters were able to attend because they were fully vaccinated and boosted. This year, with that $787 million settlement, they’re here because they couldn’t say no to a free meal.”

From Page A3

less) and your name to Bruce at fairfieldpoetlaureate@gmail.com. Bring two copies of your poem to the event.

Inaugural Cinco de Mayo event Saturday at Waterfront

SUISUN CITY — The Suisun City Business Improvement District, the Chelu Car Club and the VFW are hosting the first-ever Cinco de Mayo Celebration. The event will occur Saturday at the waterfront. Vendor space is available for $75.

For more information or to sign up, call 707-694-8828, send an email to tlspmarketingfirm@gmail.com or go to www.suisunwaterfront. com/events.

Kids Day at Pena Adobe set Saturday

VACAVILLE — The Peña Adobe Historical Society will host Kid’s Day at the Adobe at the Peña Adobe Park on Saturday.

The event will run from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 4966 Pena Adobe Road in Vacaville’s rural southwest section, just off Interstate 80 to the left of Lagoon Valley Regional Park entrance. Come see the historic Peña Adobe, one of the oldest structures in Solano County. Dating back to 1842, it was once the home of the Juan Felipe Peña family, who with the Vacas, settled in Vacaville more than 180 years ago. Meet Peña family member descendants. Stop in the adjacent Mowers-Goheen Museum and see local artifacts that include Peña family children’s toys and a woolly

Weekmammoth bone. Government meetings on week's calendar

FAIRFIELD — Several government meetings will be held this week. They will include:

n Suisun-Solano Water Authority Board Executive Committee, 9 a.m. Monday, Suisun City Hall council chamber, 701 Civic Center Blvd., Suisun City. Info: http:// ca-sid.civicplus.com/ agendacenter.

n Solano County Board of Supervisors, 9 a.m. Tuesday, County Government Center, 675 Texas St. Info: www.solanocounty.com/depts/bos/ meetings/videos.asp.

n Fairfield City Council, 6 p.m. Tuesday, City Council chamber, 1000 Webster St. Info: www.fairfield.ca.gov/ government/city-council/city-council-meetings.

n Rio Vista City Council, 6 p.m. Tuesday, City Council chamber, City Hall, 1 Main St. Info: www.riovistacity. com/citycouncil.

n Suisun City Council, 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, City Council chamber, 701 Civic Center Blvd. Info: www.suisun.com/government/city-council.

n Vacaville Parks and Recreation, 6 p.m. Wednesday, council chamber, 650 Merchant St. Info: www.ci.vacaville.ca.us/government/ city-commissions.

n Solano Community College Governing Board, 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Solano Community College Administration Building, Denis Honeychurch Board Room 626, 4000 Suisun Valley Road, Fairfield. Info: www. solano.edu/governing_ board/meetings.php.

AFP via Getty Images/TNS Smoke billows over residential buildings Sunday in Khartoum, Sudan as deadly clashes between rival generals’ forces have entered their third week.

Curry’s record-breaking 50 points helps Warriors close out the Kings

JaSon a ndErSon THE SACRAMENTO BEE

SACRAMENTO — Stephen

Curry finished with 50 points, eight rebounds and six assists for the Warriors, who will advance to play the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference semifinals. Curry made 20 of 38 field-goal attempts and 7 of 18 from 3-point range, producing the first 50-point playoff game of his career and the most points ever scored in a Game 7.

“Steph was elite,” Kings coach Mike Brown said. “He did what he was supposed to do. He put those guys on his back and said, ‘I’m going to make sure we’re not losing tonight.”

A sellout crowd of 18,253 chanted “SAC-RA-MENTO” to the bitter end as the final seconds rolled off the clock. The Kings bowed out of the playoffs after pushing the War-

riors to seven games in their first postseason appearance since 2006.

“We just had a lot of fun this whole year with the city, the fans, the arena, and especially at home, we definitely had a chance to do something special, and to not get it done stings right now,” Kings center Domantas Sabonis said. “We accomplished a lot. This is just the first step moving forward. There’s a lot more to come and we have to use that as motivation.”

Sabonis had 22 points, eight rebounds and seven assists for the Kings. De’Aaron Fox had 16 points and six assists with five turnovers. Malik Monk and Terence Davis came off the bench to score 14 points apiece.

Andrew Wiggins had 17 points and seven rebounds for Golden State. Warriors center Kevon Looney finished with 11 points and

21 rebounds, his third 20-rebound game of the series. Kings guard Kevin Huerter drilled a 3-pointer behind a screen from Sabonis on Sacramento’s opening possession. That seemed like a good sign for Huerter, who shot 16% from 3-point range over the first five games before coming alive in Game 6.

The Kings led by five 90 seconds into the game, but they found themselves trailing 18-12 after going 5 of 13 from the field and 1 of 5 from 3-point range over the first six minutes. Sacramento went to a three-guard lineup late in the first quarter with Fox, Monk, Davis, Trey Lyles and Sabonis.

Davis immediately knocked down two 3-pointers to tie the game. Fox and Lyles followed with 3s of their own to give the Kings a

See Warriors, Page B8

Warriors-Lakers preview: LeBron vs. Steph for a fifth time in careers

It’s the Bay versus LA, LeBron versus Steph and so, so much more.

For the first time in 32 years, the Golden State Warriors will take on the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA playoffs, start ing on Tuesday night at Chase Center.

Thanks to Stephen Curry setting an NBA Game 7 record with 50 points, the Warriors beat the Kings, 120-100, to win their first-round series on Sunday afternoon. That sets up the matchup with the Lakers, who clinched their second-round spot by eviscerating the Grizzlies, 125-85, in Game 6 on Friday night.

It sets up the fifth postseason series between the Warriors and their dynastic trio of Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green against LeBron James, who was their

49ers don’t address needs on offensive line in draft B8

Mexico City was ‘electric.’

Is it a viable for

expansion?

Evan WEbEck BAY AREA NEWS GROUP

MEXICO CITY —

Major League Baseball’s first regular-season foray into North America’s largest market has been a rousing success, with sold-out crowds, passionate fans and rave reviews from players (yes, even the pitchers). So, with commissioner Rob Manfred already outspoken about expansion, why not Mexico City?

The atmosphere, with a cacophony of noisemakers, crowd karaokes that put “Sweet Caroline” at Fenway Park to shame and alternating chants of “Let’s go Giants!” and “Let’s go Padres!”, has been second to none, and not even a pair of losses to the Padres – dropping Sunday’s finale, 6-4 – could spoil the Giants’ perception of the trip.

“I think it’s great,” infielder J.D. Davis said. “It’s a little bit of a launchpad and everything. Obviously the pitchers probably don’t like it as much. It’s fun. The atmosphere is great.

I think it’s electric. It’s just a great place to play. I have nothing bad (to say) about it.”

However, launchpad is putting it lightly, as there’s been no bigger story this weekend than the onslaught of offense, mostly via home runs — 11 on Saturday and four more Sunday – meeting little resistance from the thin air, 7,350 feet above sea level. MLB has played exhibitions here before but never games that count in the stat column, which can have financial repercussions for pitchers.

Asked after his start Saturday if the environment was viable for pitchers, Sean Manaea said, “Yeah, I mean if the average ERA is 6.00.

“If guys get paid like that, then why not. It would be a very interesting dynamic here.”

While reliever John Brebbia has maybe had the most fulfilling cultural experience of anyone, visiting the famed archeology museum, taking in a

See Expansion, Page B8

main foil with the Cleveland Cavaliers and now is a Lakers star.

In the previous four, which all occurred in the NBA Finals from 20152018, the Warriors won three times and the Cavs won once. After 2018, James went to the Lakers, and both teams have

won one NBA title since (Lakers in 2020, Warriors last year), but have not faced off in the playoffs.

Both the defending champion Warriors and the Lakers underachieved for most of the season, but each team got hot down the stretch of the regular season and carried that

into the playoffs. For the Lakers, James and fellow superstar Anthony Davis have stepped up in the playoffs. James averaged 22.2 points and 11.2 rebounds per game in the first round, and Davis added 20.8 points and 13.7 rebounds.

Los Angeles was also getting key contributions from some unlikely places, as former two-way player Austin Reeves averaged 16.7 points per game and two midseason trade pickups were also in double-digit points per game — Rui Hachimura at 14.5 and former Warrior D’Angelo Russell at 16.7.

The one area that could be key in the series is the Warriors’ propensity for fouling, as they committed the third-most fouls per game in the NBA regular season. The Lakers averaged more than

See Lakers, Page B8

Carpenter helps Padres fashion sweep of Giants

k

Just one blast this time.

And a bloop.

A day after the Padres and Giants muscled 26 runs across the plate in the first-ever game in Mexico’s capital, Sunday was a slow buildup to a bloop double by Matt Carpenter in the eighth inning that lifted the Padres to a 6-4 victory and a sweep of the historic two-game series.

With runners on the corners and two outs in a game the Padres had just tied, Carpenter skied the eighth pitch he saw

from Camilo Doval high into shallow center field. As Xander Bogaerts ran home and Jake Cronenworth sprinted around from first, the ball fell to Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu’s artificial turf in front of a diving Mike Yastrzemski.

Carpenter’s two-run double made a day of struggle for the Padres’ offense moot.

The Giants hit three solo home runs to help build a 4-0 lead in the fourth inning.

The teams combined for 11 home runs and 26 runs in all on

See Giants, Page B8

A’s end ugly month of April with walk-off win against Reds

curtiS PaShElka

THE MERCURY NEWS

OAKLAND — The ugliest April in the history of the Athletics franchise had a most pleasant ending Sunday.

Esteury Ruiz singled to center in the bottom of the ninth to score Jace Peterson from third base as the A’s beat the Cincinnati Reds,

5-4, snapping a five-game losing streak before a Little League player-fueled crowd of 18,271 at the Coliseum.

A’s reliever Zach Jackson got out of a jam in the top of the ninth, stranding Reds runners on second and third base by retiring three straight batters.

In the bottom half, Oakland had runners on first and third before

the heroics by Ruiz, who collected his first career walk-off hit.

The A’s win snapped a ninegame home losing streak and allowed them to finish April with a 6-23 record.

The A’s had already set a major league record for most losses in April, as they dropped to 5-23 overall with a 3-2 loss to the Reds on Saturday, eclips-

ing a mark set by the Baltimore Orioles, who went 1-22 in 1988.

The A’s coughed up a two-run lead in the sixth inning shortly after starter Ken Waldichuk.

With the A’s leading 3-1, Waldichuk was taken out by manager Mark Kotsay after he allowed singles to Nick Senzel and Henry Ramos. Domingo Acevedo entered, but his throw-

ing error to first base allowed Ramos to score. Two batters later, a single by Kevin Newman scored TJ Friedl and Senzel, and the A’s trailed 4-3. The A’s tied the game 4-4 in the eighth, as a deep sacrifice fly to right by Brent Rooker scored Peterson from third base.

Jesus Aguilar and Rooker homered for Oakland.

Meg McLaughlin / The San Diego Union-Tribune/TNS Padres third baseman Manny Machado, wearing a sombrero, and designated hitter Nelson Cruz (32), celebrate Machado’s home run against the Giants Saturday in Mexico City.

Hector Amezcua/Sacramento Bee/TNS

Warriors guard Stephen Curry celebrates as his team takes a commanding lead and Sacramento Kings guard

Kevin Huerter stands nearby during Game 7 of the firstround NBA playoff series at Golden 1 Center on Sunday.

David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG

Lakers forward LeBron James celebrates after scoring a key basket late in overtime of Game 4 of their first-round playoff series against the Memphis Grizzlies at Crypto. com Arena, Monday.

Pasta primavera is primed for its comeback tour

G. Daniela Galarza

THE WASHINGTON POST

It may have fallen out of vogue in the past few decades, but like bike shorts, bodysuits and other 1990s trends, it’s time to bring pasta primavera back.

The dish, which has many variations, combines pasta with gently cooked and fresh vegetables in a sauce rich with cream and sharp cheese. Because it’s a pasta dish named after the Italian word for springtime, I long assumed it was an old recipe from Florence or Emilia-Romagna.

In fact, it’s probably a North American invention, though its precise origins are disputed.

According to Peter Elliot, coauthor of “Sirio: The Story of My Life and Le Cirque,” the dish was first made by New York restaurateur Sirio Maccioni or his wife, Egidiana, in 1975 when they were vacationing at a Nova Scotia estate. In “The United States of Arugula,” author David Kamp considers the possibility that it was invented by one of Le Cirque’s chefs, Jean Vergnes. Amanda Hesser writes in “The Essential New York Times Cookbook” that though he claimed it as his own, “Vergnes apparently hated the dish so much that he forced his cooks to prepare it in a hall outside the kitchen.”

Also often cited as its inventor is the artist Edward Giobbi, who loved to cook so much that he wrote a number of cookbooks beginning in the early 1970s. The chef Jacques Pépin, who knew Giobbi back then, says Giobbi made it for Maccioni, who later put it on his restaurant’s menu. Regardless of who made it first, by the time the recipe landed in the premiere issue of “Food & Wine” magazine in 1978, it was well on its way to becoming an icon of the 1980s and 1990s.

Like so many trends, its popularity led to ubiquity. After every major publication and so many cookbooks published their own variations on the original, diners began to tire of the dish. Critics noted that despite its Italian name, pasta primavera wasn’t found on restaurant menus in Italy.

In 2002, writing for The Post, Stephanie Witt Sedgwick reported that Italians might sometimes describe a recipe as “alla primavera,” but when they did, it was unlikely that they were referring to a pasta dish.

Hesser, writing for the New York Times in 2009, made the argument that, from an ingredient and technique standpoint, the dish was as French as it was Italian. She called it “an absurdity of 1980s so-called seasonal cooking. Meant to be an expression of spring, the mad jumble of vegetables over pasta was mostly an expression of the death match between French and Italian cuisine (cream versus olive oil, sauce versus pasta).”

It’s a fair point: The recipe

Le Cirque’s founder cites as

closest to the one that was served at the restaurant includes a number of summer vegetables – broccoli, zucchini, green beans and tomatoes – in addition to spring asparagus and peas. Enriching a sauce with cream and butter is more common in French cuisine than it is in Italian. The recipe for pasta primavera that ran in the Times instructs the cook to blanch each green vegetable separately in salted water – a decidedly French level of fussiness.

Yet, in 2011, Barbara Damrosch unearthed a recipe in Italian culinary instructor and historian Giuliano Bugialli’s “Bugialli on Pasta” that could be seen as a precursor to modern pasta primavera.

“His Pasta Alle Erbe, which he translates as ‘Spaghetti With Spring Vegetables,’ is taken from a Renaissance Florentine cookbook and it features asparagus, scallions, peas, Swiss chard, and artichokes,” Damrosch wrote. “In Florence, Swiss chard could easily winter over and come up in spring.

Artichokes would do the same, their tasty buds edible until their purple flowers open in June. He adds lemon juice, pancetta, chicken broth and olive oil. No cheese.” And apparently no cream, either. Its origin may be beside the

point. When made well, with fresh ingredients and not too much fuss, pasta primavera is delicious. Full of vegetables and coated with a barely there gloss of cream and parmesan sauce, this somewhat seasonal pasta dish is just as good today as it was when it was all the rage. In my interpretation, mushrooms are sauteed in a skillet along with spring onions or scallions. A pinch of red pepper flakes adds a little spark. In a large pot, boil the pasta in salted water, and when it’s about halfway done, add the green vegetables: broccoli, snap peas, asparagus, frozen green peas. These will be bright green and tender when the pasta is al dente. Reserve some of the pasta water and then drain everything into a colander. Stir some cream and parmesan into the mushroom mixture, warming until the cheese melts, and then toss everything together with a couple of handfuls of cherry tomatoes. I like mine extra saucy, so I’d add another splash of cream. Serve warm, topped with lots of cracked black pepper and fresh basil.

PASTA PRIMAVERA

Full of vegetables and coated with a barely-there gloss of cream and parmesan sauce, this somewhat seasonal pasta dish is just as good today as it was when it was all the rage

Rey Lopez/The Washington Post photos

ABOVE: Pasta primavera returns like the spring it’s named for.

LEFT: The popular pasta dish has many interpretations – this one aims toward keeping the vegetables bright and crisp-tender.

in the 1980s. Save time by cooking the green vegetables with the pasta. Not into broccoli or peas? Substitute other vegetables, such as artichoke hearts, chard or baby spinach. The sauce can be made with heavy cream or half-and-half, but don’t skimp on the parmesan. If you’re grating the cheese, use the small holes on a box grater rather than a Microplane for best results. If you’d rather use fresh spring peas, cook them for a full minute before draining.

Active time: 35 minutes.

Total time: 45 minutes.

4 to 6 servings

Storage Note: Refrigerate for up to 4 days.

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup (3 ounces) sliced cremini mushrooms

Fine salt

2 spring onions or 4 scallions, thinly sliced

Pinch crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

1 pound fettuccine

½ small head broccoli (2 to 3 ounces), cut into small florets

1 cup (3 to 4 ounces) chopped snap peas or snow peas

4 to 6 stalks asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces

1 cup (4 ounces) frozen green peas (see headnote)

2 3 cups heavy cream or half-and-half, plus more as needed

½ cups (2 ounces) grated parmesan cheese, plus more as needed (see headnote)

12 cherry tomatoes, halved (or quartered, if large)

Handful fresh basil leaves, torn, for serving

Freshly cracked black pepper, for serving

Bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil.

Meanwhile, in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat, heat the olive oil until it shimmers. Add the

mushrooms and a pinch of salt and saute, stirring occasionally, until pale brown, about 5 minutes. Add the spring onions or scallions and cook, stirring occasionally, until warmed through, about 1 minute. Stir in the crushed red pepper flakes, if using, and remove the pan from the heat.

Add the fettuccine to the boiling water and cook approximately halfway, until malleable but still quite firm, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the broccoli, snap or snow peas, and asparagus. Cook until the fettuccine is al dente – or done to your liking –and the vegetables are bright green and tender, 4 to 6 minutes. Stir in the frozen peas, and let them cook for 20 seconds. Reserve ¼ cup of pasta water. Drain the pasta and vegetables, but do not shake them to dry further. Immediately transfer them back to the pot. Return the skillet with the mushrooms and spring onions to medium heat. Stir in the cream or half-and-half, followed by the cheese, letting it melt. Add the mushroom and cream mixture to the pasta and vegetables, along with the cherry tomatoes and reserved pasta water, and cook, stirring, until the sauce just barely coats everything. Taste, and season with more salt, if desired. If you like the pasta saucier, add more cream and/or cheese. Divide among 4 plates or shallow bowls, top with basil and black pepper, and serve.

Nutritional information per serving (1 1/3 cups, based on 6) |

Calories: 491; Total Fat: 18 g; Saturated Fat: 9 g; Cholesterol: 45 mg; Sodium: 236 mg; Carbohydrates: 65 g; Dietary Fiber: 5 g; Sugar: 6 g; Protein: 17 g.

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

Frittata With Leeks, Kale and Parsley From Washington Post staff writer G. Daniela Galarza.

Turn winter carrots and oranges into a fresh spring salad

When your cooking revolves around seasonal ingredients, pulling a dish together in early spring can feel like a TV show challenge where you get a box of the same produce you’ve been using all winter and have to turn it into something fresh, bright and new.

That’s because while the season pops with color and growth, there is not much that’s close to being ready for harvest. For the time being, more root vegetables it is.

Happily, it seems I won this competition round by spinning good old carrots and the last

of the winter citrus into this vibrant salad.

Slicing the carrots into rounds, steaming them until they are crisp-tender and then shocking them in ice water to stop the cooking, softens the vegetable just enough while locking in its brilliant hue and fresh flavor. The carrots are then tossed with juicy orange

segments and red onion in a lemon vinaigrette, which is seasoned with ground coriander and lightly sweetened with honey.

As a finishing touch, the salad gets a sprinkle of mint leaves for a salad that brings a new perspective to ingredients you likely already have in your kitchen.

CARROT AND ORANGE SALAD

Active time: 30 minutes

6 servings

Storage Note: Refrigerate for up to 2 days.

2 pounds medium carrots (about 12), scrubbed, trimmed and cut into ½-inch thick rounds

2 navel or blood oranges

¼ cups finely diced red onion

¼ cups fresh lemon juice (from 1 to 2 lemons)

¼ cups extra-virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon honey

1 teaspoon ground coriander

½ teaspoons fine salt

¼ teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint leaves

Bring a pot of water fitted with a steamer basket to a boil. Prepare a bowl of ice water.

Add the carrots to the steamer and cook until firm-tender, 5 to 6 minutes. Transfer to the ice bath and let cool completely, about 2 minutes. Drain and pat dry, then transfer to a large bowl.

Cut the top and bottom off each orange. Stand an orange on its end on a cutting board and, following the curve of the fruit, cut away the skin and pith. Then, working over a bowl to catch the juices, cut each orange section out of its pith. Repeat with the remaining orange. Cut each orange segment into 3 to

4 pieces and transfer them to the bowl with the carrots. Drink the orange juice or reserve for another use. Add the onion to the bowl with the carrots and orange pieces. In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, honey, coriander, salt and pepper. Drizzle the dressing over the ingredients in the bowl and toss to coat. Right before serving, toss in the mint leaves.

Nutrition information per serving (about 2⁄3 cup) |

Calories: 174; Total Fat: 10 g; Saturated Fat: 1 g; Sodium: 303 mg; Carbohydrates: 23 g; Dietary Fiber: 6 g; Sugar: 13 g; Protein: 2 g. This analysis is an estimate based on available ingredients and this preparation. It should not substitute for a dietitian’s or nutritionist’s advice.

From cookbook author and registered dietitian nutritionist Ellie Krieger.

Ellie Krieger Nourish

Tom McCorkle/The Washington Post

Carrot and orange salad makes a sunny springtime dish.

GOP’s debt ceiling proposal bundles every bad policy idea into 1 noxious package

The idea of impos ing work requirements on Medicaid recipi ents has a long and distinguished history. Distinguished, that is, by pointlessness and failure.

Health care experts and economists have long argued that work requirements achieve nothing but threatening thousands of people with the loss of their health benefits, don’t increase employment, are expensive to administer and are utterly unnecessary.

They’re correct on all counts. So of course House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has made the idea a centerpiece of his package of conditions for increasing the federal debt ceiling by $1.5 trillion through next March.

McCarthy dubbed the package, unveiled April 19, the Limit, Save, Grow Act of 2023 and said it would, among other things, “lift Americans out of poverty.”

One can only assume that this is some sort of a gag. The GOP proposal would gut Medicaid and food stamp eligibility for millions of Americans, including 21 million Medicaid enrollees alone, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. It would turn the clock back on efforts to wean the U.S. from fossil fuels and prepare for the next inevitable pandemic.

It would increase the burden on people struggling with student debt and throttle an untold number of nondefense programs such as anti-pollution enforcement and consumer protection. It would roll back tax enforcement, giving the green light to tax evasion by the rich.

It is, in short, a one-stop shop for every chuckleheaded idea that Republicans have cooked up to undermine the public interest over the decades.

For a marker on how bad it is, consider that the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, which carries forward the fiscal campaign against ordinary Americans originally funded by the late private equity billionaire Peter G. Peterson, labels it “a reasonable proposal” and “a serious package of savings.”

It’s also dead on arrival.

There’s no way that the Biden White House or the Senate

Democratic majority would contemplate passing the thing.

At 320 pages, McCarthy’s bill is too long to cover in exhaustive detail, so let’s focus on a few of its more cynical and egregious provisions.

But first, let’s dispense with the lie at the heart of the debt ceiling fight, which is that the ceiling is a rational and effective check on federal spending. In fact, it’s the most infantile feature of federal fiscal policy. McCarthy repeated this lie in introducing his bill: “If you gave your child a credit card and they kept maxing out the limit, you wouldn’t blindly raise the limit,” he said. “You’d change their behavior.”

With these words, McCarthy told on himself. The “behavior” at hand is Congress’ willingness to pass spending bills and cut federal revenues through tax cuts.

Congress is the child with the credit card; refusing to raise the debt ceiling to accommodate its own spending is tantamount to refusing to pay the bill when it comes due. In the household context, that refusal will land a person in Bankruptcy Court; when Congress refuses to pay its bills by refusing to raise the debt limit, the consequences could be a sharp rise in interest rates on debt and a crashed economy.

Now to the particulars. In general terms, the act rolls back nondefense spending to the level of fiscal 2022 and allows it to grow by no more than 1% a year. That’s not a “limit,” but a formula for increasingly draconian cuts in nondefense programs, because the annual increases won’t accommodate inflation or population growth.

By some estimates, that would result in a real reduction of as much as 58% in affected programs over 10 years; the Congressional Budget Office has estimated that under current law and projected inflation rates, the budget for those programs would naturally rise by about 26% in that time frame. Obviously, the reduction in services would be severe.

Under the guise of deficit reduction, the Republican bill takes aim at Biden administration initiatives that the GOP was unable to defeat on the floors of Congress or by making a credible appeal to voters.

It would rescind President Biden’s plan to give student loan borrowers relief of up to $20,000 on their debt and expand income-driven payment plans, which limit repayments to a percentage of borrowers’ income, cap interest rates at 5% and forgive outstanding balances after one or two decades of payments. McCarthy slanders this program as “a giveaway for the wealthy.” The truth is that the Congressional Budget Office estimates that 95% of borrowers eligible for debt relief have incomes of $125,000 or less and twothirds were recipients of federal Pell Grants, which go to low-income students.

McCarthy must think that mischaracterizing the program will allow him to look like a working-class hero by canceling it. He’s wrong. It only makes him look like a liar.

The real giveaway to the wealthy in McCarthy’s plan is his repeal of Biden’s augmented budget for the Internal Revenue Service. The Inflation Reduction Act, which Biden signed in August, allocated $80 billion in new funding for the IRS over 10 years.

McCarthy repeated the canard that the money would pay for an “army of 87,000 IRS agents.” Not so. The new hires –87,000 over 10 years – include customer service representatives and technicians, as well as enforcement agents. As the Wall Street Journal observed, they would help make up for an estimated 50,000 retirements expected over that period.

Some of the money would indeed pay for better pursuit of tax cheats. McCarthy’s proposal to repeal the budget increase even led the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget to a moment of clarity: It estimated that the repeal would worsen the federal deficit by $100 billion over a decade.

Through the Limit, Save, Grow Act, the House GOP would march blindly into a future likely to bite Americans where they live if it remains unaddressed. The act would claw back unspent Covid-19 relief funds, which are estimated to come to only about $100 billion.

McCarthy cited Biden’s agreement that the pandemic emergency is over. But if he thinks that humanity is, there-

fore, immunized against the next dangerous microbe, Mother Nature undoubtedly has a few surprises in store for him. Whatever funds are lying fallow should be used to prepare for the next challenge to public health, not to make the GOP’s wealthy patrons richer.

The act also pretends that global warming doesn’t exist. So it would repeal the Inflation Reduction Act’s incentives for renewable energy, including electric vehicle manufacturing,

The GOP proposal would gut Medicaid and food stamp eligibility for millions of Americans, including 21 million Medicaid enrollees alone, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. It would turn the clock back on efforts to wean the U.S. from fossil fuels and prepare for the next inevitable pandemic.

wind, solar and nuclear energy production credits, reportedly at the insistence of the most extreme right-wing members of McCarthy’s precarious House majority.

What’s notably missing from a measure advertised as a deficit reduction proposal is any hint of increasing federal revenues, say by repealing the 2017 Republican tax cuts, which heavily favored the wealthy and blew a hole in the budget estimated at $1.5 trillion over a decade. That’s the clearest indication that Biden was correct when he ridiculed the proposal Tuesday in a speech launching his campaign for reelection. He called it “the same old trickle-down dressed up in MAGA clothing.”

That brings us back to where we started, with work requirements for Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, or food stamps).

The record shows that these requirements are disastrous for beneficiaries, which may be the goal, since their underlying motivation is punitive. They became especially popular under Trump, whose Health and Human Services Department gleefully approved work requirements for Medicaid despite clear evidence that they were illegal.

How did that work out?

In Arkansas, the only state

that was able to implement work requirements before a federal judge blocked them, 18,000 enrollees lost their coverage over the two years the rules were in effect.

A study team from Harvard’s School of Public Health found that among the disenrolled, 50% reported “serious problems paying off medical debt,” 56% delayed care because of its cost and 64% delayed taking medications because of their cost.

“We found no evidence that the policy succeeded in its stated goal of promoting work,” the researchers wrote, “and instead found substantial evidence of harm to health care coverage and access.” The failure to increase employment wasn’t surprising: More than 95% of the target population was already working or was exempt. But the process to establish that their working hours met the rules was so complicated that thousands lost their coverage because of confusion.

As for SNAP, research indicates that work requirements reduce participation in the program by more than half. The rules fall disproportionately on homeless people and those unable to work for reasons that have nothing to do with laziness, despite the impression among Republicans and conservatives that those who seek government assistance are just layabouts and malingerers.

Nevertheless, McCarthy’s proposal would raise the exemption threshold for the work requirements to those age 56, from the current 50.

So let’s see the Limit, Save, Grow Act for what it is: not a deficit reduction proposal but an attempt to take the U.S. economy as a hostage to a right-wing effort to undo almost every initiative crafted over the last two years to make life better and healthier for ordinary Americans.

The feckless speaker accuses Biden and the Democrats of “playing partisan political games” by refusing to negotiate with him over the debt ceiling. But there’s nothing in his plan except partisan political games. Unfortunately, the future of the U.S. economy hangs in the balance.

is a columnist for the Los Angeles Times.

Michael Hiltzik

Michael Hiltzik

Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images file

Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., speaks following the passage of the “The Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act,” by the House, April 20.

‘Oppenheimer’ wows, Vin Diesel goes off script

What you missed at CinemaCon 2023

Los A ngeLes Times

Last week, the movie theater industry had its biggest pep rally, known as CinemaCon. The annual gathering of exhibitors from around the world in Las Vegas was their chance to worship at the altar of the big screen.

And worship, they did.

Recovering since the confab was canceled in 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic, this year’s attendance returned to pre-pandemic levels with 3,348 fully registered del egates. Each of the major studios, including Sony Pic tures, Warner Bros. and Disney took the opportunity to show off the highlights of their upcoming film slates.

Here’s what you missed.

Hollywood falls back in love with theaters

An unmissable theme was that the presenting studios were once again expressing their full commitment to theatrical experience. While many prepandemic CinemaCons were overshadowed by media companies’ efforts to shrink the exclusive time their movies are in theaters, that was not the case this year. In fact, studios promised to increase the number of movies they are releasing theatrically.

Sony Pictures’ Tom Rothman, chairman and CEO of its Motion Picture Group, declared that it was “the only studio dedicated entirely to theatrical.” (Unlike most rivals, Sony doesn’t own a mass-market streaming service.) Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav said the company was not interested in direct-to-streaming movies. “We believe in full windowing of the motion pictures,” he said.

Michael Kustermann, president of dine-in theater chain Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, said the mood this year was very optimistic.

“Last year felt like a little bit like still holding breath,” Kustermann said in an interview. “This year we came into it with more proof points, more commitments from studios publicly saying there’s more titles coming out and we are committed to windows again. That is imbuing this optimism that we are certainly feeling.”

Apple and Sony present epic ‘Napoleon’

During its Monday evening presentation, Sony Pictures showed a few minutes of Ridley Scott’s upcoming epic “Napo-

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leon,” a historical drama about the rise of the French emperor. Joaquin Phoenix stars in the title role.

The studios shared a long battle scene, which echoes some of Scott’s goriest “Gladiator” moments. In the extended war scene, the Frenchman shows off his military acumen on the battlefield, tempting the rival army onto snowy ice before beginning an assault. It is dramatic and unflinching.

The film heralds Apple’s foray into exhibition by working with Sony to distribute it worldwide with a “robust theatrical window,” as Rothman put it. It will open right in the heart of awards season on Nov. 22.

Apple is releasing another awards hopeful, Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon,” which distributor Paramount Global showed off to exhibitors on Thursday. The director was interviewed by lead actor Leonardo DiCaprio at the conference during an event where the director was presented with the CinemaCon “Legend of Cinema” Award. The film will be released Oct. 20 in theaters.

All hail Christopher Nolan

Nolan is dedicated to film –both the visual experience and the physical medium. The director has been steadfast in insisting his films are released in theaters long before streaming platforms. The applause that greeted the director as he walked onstage on Wednesday during Universal Pictures’ presentation was among the biggest of the week. (Though Jack Black might have had him beat as he hit some high notes while touting “Kung Fu Panda 4.”)

Nolan introduced a montage

from his upcoming film “Oppenheimer,” featuring Cillian Murphy in the title role as the famed Manhattan Project leader alongside Robert Downey Jr. and Emily Blunt. Nolan’s films are often shrouded in secrecy, so anticipation was high to see what was in store.

The feature is based on the Pulitzer prize-winning biography by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin about the “father” of the atomic bomb. Murphy and Downey gave electric performances in the tense montage of scenes that mix black-and-white and color segments.

The movie opens July 21.

Vin Diesel goes off script

In one of the most entertaining and puzzling moments of the week, actor Vin Diesel went off script during Universal Pictures’ high-octane presentation.

Diesel walked onto the stage solo, molded in a white leather ensemble emblazoned with an X on its back, as his co-stars in the upcoming sequel “Fast X” exited stage right. While most presenters at the show have been closely following a teleprompter, that was not the case for the gravelly voiced car heist hero. He described the assembled theater operators as “soldiers on the front line”. “I like this room better than the Oscars,” he said.

Diesel even mocked the script rolling across the prompter that Universal had put together for the actor to read about the movie. The crowd loved it.

The ramble culminated with an unexpected reveal for fans of the franchise. “Fast X,” which is due out May 19, is the first of two parts. The second is due out in 2025, he said.

Word Sleuth

Bridge

by Phillip Alder

combination. But the lure of overtricks often trifles with our memory, inducing us to misplay it – as happened to South in today’s deal. North is right to respond three no-trump. True, occasionally five (or six) diamonds will be better, but much more often giving the opponents extra information with a slower auction will improve their defense.

After winning trick one with dummy’s spade queen, declarer played a club to his ace and led a diamond to dummy’s queen. East knew enough to duck this. Now South conceded a club trick. West won with the jack and returned a spade. Declarer tried a diamond to the king, but East took the trick and played another spade. The contract was dead.

DO NOT FORGET THIS COMBINATION

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. Francois de la Rochefoucauld wondered, “Why is it that our memory is good enough to retain the least triviality that happens to us, but not good enough to recollect how often we have told it to the same person?”

We learn how to play a certain suit

With six top tricks, South needed only three diamond tricks, not five. He could afford to lose two diamond tricks, and if you must lose a couple of tricks in a suit, it is usually right to concede the first immediately.

Try the effect of leading a low diamond from the dummy at trick two. Probably East will win with the nine and return a spade. Declarer plays a diamond to the queen and collects an easy overtrick. Even if East tries the Merrimac Coup, switching to the heart king at trick three, South can avoid the shell by playing low from both hands.

COPYRIGHT: 2023, UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE

Sudoku by Wayne Gould

Bridge

5/2/23

Fill in the grid so that every row, every column and every 3x3 grid contains the digits

1 through 9, with no repeats. That means that no number is repeated in any row, column or box. Solution, tips and computer program at www.sudoku.com

Stop me if you’ve heard this one

before. Francois de la Rochefoucauld wondered, “Why is it that our memory is good enough to retain the least triviality that happens to us, but not

© 2023 Janric Enterprises Dist. by creators.com

Difficulty level: SILVER

Yesterday’s solution:

Kevin Winter/Getty Images for CinemaCon/TNS

Martin Scorsese, left, and Leonardo DiCaprio speak during “A Conversation with Martin Scorsese” and Legend of Cinema Award Presentation during CinemaCon in Las Vegas, Thursday.

‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ returns with new troubles

SuSan Hiland SHILAND@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET

FAIRFIELD —

The much anticipated next “Guardians of the Galaxy” film is coming out this week.

The band of thieves and misfits find themselves making a life on a new planet, until Rocket’s past comes crashing down on their happy home. Also in local movie theaters is “Love Again,” a tale of love in the digital age.

Opening nationwide are:

“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” in which the beloved band of misfits is settling into life on Knowhere. But it isn’t long before their lives are upended by the echoes of Rocket’s turbulent past.

Peter Quill, still reeling from the loss of Gamora, must rally his team around him on a dangerous mission to save Rocket’s life. If he doesn’t succeed, it could mean the end of the Guardians as we know them. The film is rated PG-13.

“Love Again,” in which Mira Ray, dealing with the loss of her fiancé, sends a series of romantic texts to his old cellphone number … not realizing the number was reassigned to Rob Burn. A journalist, Rob is captivated by the honesty in the confessional texts. When he’s assigned to write a profile of megastar Celine Dion (playing herself in her first film role), he enlists her help in figuring out how to meet Mira in person, so he can win her heart. The film is rated PG.

Opening in limited release are:

“Double Life,” in which a grieving widow learns from her late husband’s mistress that his death was no accident. The two women will form an unlikely alliance to uncover the truth behind his murder and unmask the man they both loved. The film is rated R.

“Johnny and Clyde,” in which Johnny (Avan Jogia) and Clyde (Ajani Russell) are two serial killers madly in love and on an endless crime spree. They set their sights on robbing a casino owned by the crime boss Alana (Megan Fox) and guarded by her demonic warrior. The film is not rated.

“One Ranger,” in which a Texas ranger (Thomas Jane) tracks a bank robber (Dean Jagger) across the desert, only to discover he’s an international terrorist set on detonating a bomb in the heart of London. When the lawman’s partner is killed, he is drawn into partnership with a British intelligence agent (Dominique Tipper) and her boss (John Malkovich) to bring the outlaw to justice. The film is rated R. “Unrest,” in which new technologies are transforming a 19th-century watchmaking town in Switzerland. Josephine, a young factory worker, produces the unrest wheel, swinging in the heart of the mechanical watch. Exposed to new ways of organizing money, time and labor, she gets involved with the local movement of the anarchist watchmakers, where she meets Russian traveler Pyotr Kropotkin. The film is not rated.

“What’s Love Got To Do With It?” in which documentary filmmaker Zoe (Lily James), swiping right to find Mr. Right, has only delivered bad dates and funny anecdotes, much to her opinionated mother Cath’s (Emma Thompson) dismay. For her childhood friend and neighbor Kazim (Shazad Latif), the answer is to follow his parents’ example and opt for an assisted marriage with a bright and beautiful bride from Pakistan. As Zoe films his hopeful journey from London to Lahore to marry a stranger chosen by his parents, she begins to wonder if she might have something to learn from a different approach to finding love. The film is rated PG-13.

For information on Edwards Cinemas in Fairfield, visit www. regmovies.com/ theatres/regal-edwardsfairfield-imax. For Vacaville showtimes, visit www.brendentheatres.com. For Vallejo showtimes, check www. cinemark.com/theatres/ ca-vallejo. More

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Monday’s TV sports

49ers don’t address O-line in draft

Eric Branch SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

The six college prospects the San Francisco 49ers selected Saturday during the final four rounds of the NFL draft were predictably thrilled.

Georgia defensive end Robert Beal, a fifthround pick, was a 49ers fan growing up.

“This is a like a dream come true,” he said.

Tuesday’s TV sports

p.m.

• San Francisco vs. Houston, NBCSBA, 5:10 p.m.

• Seattle vs. Oakland, NBCSCA, 6:40 p.m.

Basketball

NBA Playoffs

• Miami vs. N.Y. Knicks, TNT, 4:30 p.m.

• L.A. Lakers vs. Golden State, TNT, 7 p.m.

Golf • PGA Professionals Championship, GOLF, 1 p.m.

Soccer EPL

• Arsenal vs.Chelsea, USA, Noon.

CONCACAF

• Philadelphia Union vs. Los Angeles FC, FS1, 7 p.m.

Warriors

From Page B1

31-30 lead at the end of the first quarter. Sacramento started the second quarter with a fourguard small-ball lineup, putting Fox, Monk, Davis, Huerter and Lyles on the floor together.

The Kings gave the Warriors trouble with Lyles as a small-ball center in their 118-99 victory in Game 6, but this was the first time they went to a four-guard look. When the Warriors took a timeout to discuss what they were seeing, the Kings countered by subbing Sabonis back into the game in a traditional lineup with Lyles at power forward.

Sacramento went up 47-42 on a basket by Sabonis with 6:01 to play in the half. Golden State tied the game following a 3-pointer and a floater from Curry, but the Kings reclaimed the lead on another 3-pointer by Davis.

The pace of the game seemed to be taking a toll on Looney, who averaged 14.2 rebounds over the first six games of the series with two 20-rebound performances. Looney labored up and down the floor and later grimaced while reaching for his left foot during a deadball situation.

The game was tied following a basket by Wiggins with 3:34 remaining, but baskets by Fox and Sabonis gave them a 58-56 lead at the halftime break. The Kings made good on their promise to push the pace, firing up 50 shots in the first half after taking 99 in Game 6.

The Warriors took a 59-58 lead on a 3-pointer by Curry at the start of the second half. They went up 69-62 on a layup by Curry at the 7:50 mark in the third quarter, prompting the Kings to call a timeout to stop a 13-4 run.

Kings rookie Keegan Murray got a basket coming out of the timeout,

Lakers

From Page B1

26 free-throw attempts per game in the regular season, most in the NBA.

Conversely, the Warriors also had the fewest called fouls on their opponents and the fewest free-throw attempts per game in the NBA. The Lakers had the fewest fouls called on them and their opponents averaged the fewest free throws per game of any team

And Oklahoma tight end Brayden Willis, a seventh-rounder, couldn’t wait to learn from his new All-Pro position mate, George Kittle, on a Super Bowl contender.

“I like winning,” Willis said, “and the Niners do a lot of that.”

However, the happiest member of the 49ers’ roster might not have

been one of their new additions: Somewhere on Saturday right tackle Colton McKivitz was surely smiling broadly.

The biggest upset of the 49ers’ draft? Not one of their nine selections was used on an offensive lineman who could compete with the largely unproven McKivitz for one of the few positions not occupied by a 2022 starter on their loaded roster.

The 49ers’ decision to not address the position made McKivitz, a 2020 fifth-round pick with two career starts at tackle, the overwhelming favorite to assume the spot manned the past five seasons by Mike McGlinchey, who signed with the Broncos last month.

“You can win with Colton,” head coach Kyle

Expansion

From Page B1

lucha libre wrestling match, logging many miles on foot and even venturing to some pre-approved local restaurants, he cackled at the idea of a full-time team in CDMX.

Shanahan said.

General manager John Lynch termed McKivitz “sneaky talented” and agreed when asked if the 49ers’ draft was a vote of confidence in his ability to flourish as a first-stringer.

However, it was also a reflection on the 49ers’ unique situation. They were the only team that didn’t have a pick in the first two rounds. And they didn’t make their first selection until pick No. 87, the latest they’d started a draft in franchise history.

Six offensive tackles were selected before the 49ers made their first pick. And they didn’t view the remaining players at the position as legitimate competition for McKivitz once they finally got on the clock and selected Penn State safety Ji’Ayir

to each foul pole and from 400 to 410 in center field. Outfielder Mitch Haniger suggested 430 feet to center and an additional 20 feet in the corners, though even those fences wouldn’t have held in either of his two mammoth blasts this weekend, including a 460-foot solo shot Sunday (one of nine total to travel 440-plus feet).

Brown in the third round. The 49ers used their two other third-round picks on Michigan kicker Jake Moody (No. 99) and Alabama tight end Cameron Latu (No. 101).

“You look at the draft to add depth and if there’s someone there and you feel like they can beat out your starter, that’s a good pick,” Shanahan said.

The 49ers’ plan to start McKivitz appears precarious, particularly after a season filled with quarterback attrition. They are hoping to avoid a repeat of last year when their top two QBs, Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo, suffered season-ending injuries before Brock Purdy and Josh Johnson were injured in their NFC Championship Game loss to the Eagles.

urday, and Brebbia said he’s toned down his usual workout routine to not exhaust himself before he enters the game.

There are also no shortage of domestic markets that could be good fits, such as Las Vegas, Nashville and Charlotte.

but the Kings couldn’t keep Golden State off the glass.

The Warriors grabbed 13 offensive rebounds over the first eight minutes of the third period after finishing the first half with two. They had three offensive rebounds on one possession, which ended with Looney scoring on a putback to give Golden State a 73-64 lead.

“They came out in the third quarter and they were just more aggressive,” Sabonis said. “They were shooting 3s. They were getting long rebounds. They were grabbing all those 50-50 balls and that gave them a ton of more possessions, and against a team like that, that’s tough.”

The crowd grew restless when a corner 3-pointer from Jordan Poole put the Warriors up by 12, but the Kings cut the deficit in half on a series of driving layups by Fox, Monk and Murray. They got within five on two free throws by Fox a moment later, but a four-point play by Thompson with 1.4 seconds remaining put the Warriors up 91-81.

“They came out of the half and they responded like champions,” Fox said. “They got to every loose ball. They got every 50-50 ball. They got a lot of offensive rebounds. They did everything that you need to do to win a game in the third quarter and I feel like that’s really where we lost it.”

The Kings got a number of stops early in the fourth quarter, but they couldn’t buy a basket, going scoreless over the first 3:30. The Warriors took a 95-81 lead on a layup by Curry. They went up by 17 on a 3-pointer by Curry and extended the lead to 21 on a floater, again by Curry.

“He’s one of the greatest players ever,” Fox said. “He makes tough shots. He gets in the lane. He’s able to finish. He did everything for them tonight, and once he got it going, it was tough to slow him down.”

in the NBA.

While there’s no recent playoff history between these two teams, they did meet in the NBA’s play-in tournament in 2021, which the Lakers won, 103-100, despite Curry scoring 37 points on 6-of-9 shooting from 3-point range. That Warriors team, which was still missing Klay Thompson, would lose in the next play-in game to the Grizzlies and miss the playoffs.

It’ll be the first postseason matchup between the Lakers and Warriors since 1991.

“From what we’ve seen so far, it’s so drastically different than a typical regular season baseball game,” Brebbia said. “But the city’s great. And the fans are awesome. … God forbid someone is going through arbitration or going to become a free agent and they have to pitch here. Arbitration doesn’t give a (expletive) where you play, so there’s not a lot of equity if you happen to be stuck here – not stuck here, again, it’s a cool place – but having to play here versus a place like San Francisco, they are not comparable whatsoever. So there would have to be some type of pretty extreme buffer or system to figure out how to equate the two.”

Manager Gabe Kapler said this weekend’s venue, Estadio Alfredo Harp Helú, home to the Mexican League’s Red Devils, who have made baseball work here for more than 80 years, was comparable to a top-notch Triple-A ballpark. With a capacity of just over 20,000, MLB would almost certainly require a brand-new venue with more seating in line with the rest of the league, especially in a market of more than 20 million potential fans.

A new ballpark would also allow for more appropriate dimensions, even after the ones here were adjusted from 325 to 331 feet

Giants

From Page B1

Saturday. Oddsmakers set the over-under for Sunday at 20.5 runs.

Sunday’s game began two hours earlier, and the sun shone bright all throughout the morning and early afternoon. And while an umbrella of clouds kept it from getting more than one degree warmer than it had Saturday night, it was still considered a fait accompli as the game started that fly balls to the seats would again be the story.

Giants leadoff batter LaMonte Wade Jr. hitting the fifth pitch of the game over the wall in right field did nothing to discourage that thinking.

Haniger was playing his second international series, after traveling to Tokyo with the Seattle Mariners in 2019.

“Both of my experiences playing internationally have been really fun,” Haniger said. “In front of these crowds here and when I was in Japan, the energy is a little different. I would say it’s a little better than sometimes in the states. It’s definitely fun to play down here.”

That said, “I think it would be a challenge,” Haniger added.

“I don’t know the answer. It’s a different game playing at this altitude, for sure.”

There are other potential complications, too. More than 600 miles south of the border, the closest MLB city is Houston, where the Giants head next, a 2½-hour flight away. While the Giants stayed in the upscale Polanco neighborhood, with more Top 50 World restaurants in a square-mile radius than all of San Francisco, and the city is as safe as any other major metropolis, some players might be dissuaded by misconceptions about a foreign city.

A half-mile higher than Colorado’s Coors Field, catcher Blake Sabol was sucking supplemental oxygen to keep him fresh for all nine innings behind the plate Sat-

And then there’s the beef, some of it containing traces of steroids, leading teams to ship in their own meat for this series and dissuade their players from eating out. Is that a sustainable way for players to live over a 162-game season?

“Every time we walk by some of those taco stands,” Davis said, “I’m like, man…risk it?”

While Manfred said in 2016 that Mexico City would be one of his two “personal frontrunner(s)” for expansion (along with Montreal), in comments to the San Francisco Chronicle this weekend, the commissioner said that the hope was to turn the country “into kind of a Japan, with a thriving domestic product, great players coming into the big leagues, everybody’s boats rising.”

Furthermore, Manfred said he “can’t say enough good things” about the set-up for the games this weekend and that MLB has “clubs standing in line” to take part in the next series here.

“Mr. Harp has done a phenomenal job,” Manfred said, referring to Alfredo Harp Helú, the owner of the Red Devils who also has a partial stake in the Padres. “It’s a really nice ballpark, the enthusiasm in the ballpark is amazing … It’s an easy trip, great atmosphere (and) facilities.”

Austin Nola finally got the Padres going, following Matt Carpenter’s single with a line drive over the wall in straightaway center field for his first home run of the season. That halved the Giants’ lead.

Fernando Tatis Jr. bounced a one-out double over the wall in right-center, and he scored on Juan Soto’s two-out single to get the Padres to within one.

The Padres’ Matt Carpenter celebrates after his double scored two runs against the Giants during the eighth inning of the second Mexico City Series game at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu, Sunday.

And when the Giants went up 2-0 in the second on J.D. Davis’ homer to right, it could be assumed the Padres’ scoreless first inning (just their second scoreless inning of the weekend) was an anomaly.

Then came a scoreless second, third and fourth while the Giants got another solo homer, from, Mitch Haniger, and a fourth run on a double and two singles off Yu Darvish in the fourth.

After Yastrzemski’s RBI single in the fourth inning, Darvish retired eight straight batters before allowing a two-out single in the eighth. He finished the sixth with his ninth strikeout.

Luis Garcia followed with two scoreless innings, and Josh Hader worked the ninth for his 10th save.

Meg McLaughlin/The San Diego Union-Tribune/TNS