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ANALYSIS Biden seems ready to extend US presence in Afghanistan

BY ROBERT BURNS Associated Press WASHINGTON — Without coming right out and saying it, President Joe Biden seems ready to let lapse a May 1 deadline for completing a withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan. Orderly withdrawals take time, and Biden is running out of it. Biden has inched so close to the deadline that his indecision amounts almost to a decision to put off, at least for a number of months, a pullout of the remaining 2,500 troops and continue sup- porting the Afghan military at the risk of a Taliban backlash. Remov- ing all of the troops and their equipment in the next three weeks — along with coalition partners that cannot get out on their own — IAN KINK/U.S. Navy would be difficult logistically, as Sailors remove a line as the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz prepares to move from its pier in Bremerton, Wash., to a dry dock at Puget Sound Naval Biden himself suggested in late Shipyard in March 2018. Maintenance backlogs have adversely affected Navy readiness, according to a GAO report. March. “It’s going to be hard to meet the Curbed capability SEE EXTEND ON PAGE 4 Combat readiness weakened after decades of conflict, watchdog agency says

BY JOHN VANDIVER “The Navy cited limited maintenance ca- enced declines in both areas, the GAO Stars and Stripes pacity at private and public shipyards as the found. Two decades of conflicts have degraded primary challenge for recovering ship and Meanwhile, all other military domains — the military’s ability to fight in the air and at submarine readiness,” the GAO said in an ground, air, space and cyber — got a boost in sea while ground forces have experienced a analysis of military capabilities between resources. But that only translated into in- AP boost in their ability to carry out missions, a 2017 and 2019. creased capability to carry out missions for Soldiers stand guard in the government watchdog agency report said. The GAO broke down “readiness” into ground units, the GAO said. motorcade for President Donald The Navy was especially hard hit, seeing two categories — resources and capability. In the air domain, services reported nu- Trump during a Thanksgiving visit declines in availability of resources and While resources focused on availability of merous challenges, including the effects of to Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, ship maintenance backlogs, the Govern- personnel and equipment, capabilities as- 2018’s Hurricane Michael, which damaged in 2019. It appears U.S. troops ment Accountability Office said in a report sessed whether a service could carry out its will be in the country beyond the released Wednesday. assigned missions. Operations at sea experi- SEE CAPABILITY ON PAGE 6 May 1 deadline for withdrawal. PAGE 2 • STARS AND STRIPES • Friday, April 9, 2021 BUSINESS/WEATHER

EUROPE GAS PRICES EXCHANGE RATES

Country Super E10 Super unleaded Super plus Diesel  Military rates South Korea (Won) 1117.32 Germany $3.132 $3.534 $3.786 $3.419 Azores .. .. $3.686 .. Switzerland (Franc) .9252 Euro costs (April 10) $1.16 Change in price +0.5 cents +0.8 cents +0.5 cents ­1.7 cents Change in price .. .. +0.5 cents .. Thailand (Baht) 31.44 Dollar buys (April 10) 0.8198 Turkey (NewLira) 8.1530 Netherlands .. $3.943 $4.238 $3.916 Belgium .. $2.989 $3.258 $3.011 British pound (April 10) $1.35 Japanese yen (April 10) 107.00 Change in price .. +4.5 cents +4.6 cents +0.9 cents Change in price .. No change No change No change (Military exchange rates are those available South Korean won (April 10) 1090.00 to customers at military banking facilities in the U.K. .. $3.433 $3.685 $3.318 Turkey .. .. $3.571 $4.025* Commercial rates country of issuance for Japan, South Korea, Ger­ Change in price .. +0.8 cents +0.5 cents ­1.7 cents Change in price .. .. +0.5 cents +15.4 cents many, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Bahrain(Dinar) .3770 For nonlocal currency exchange rates (i.e., pur­ Britain (Pound) 1.3757 chasing British pounds in Germany), check with Canada (Dollar) 1.2594 your local military banking facility. Commercial China(Yuan) 6.5493 rates are interbank rates provided for reference PACIFIC GAS PRICES Denmark (Krone) 6.2512 Egypt (Pound) 15.7102 when buying currency. All figures are foreign Country Super E10 Super unleaded Super plus Diesel  Euro .8405 currencies to one dollar, except for the British Japan .. $3.579 .. $3.209 South Korea $2.939 .. $3.589 $3.219  Hong Kong (Dollar) 7.7768 pound, which is represented in dollars­to­ pound, and the euro, which is dollars­to­euro.) Change in price .. +1.0 cents .. ­2.0 cents Change in price +1.0 cents .. No change ­2.0 cents  Hungary (Forint) 301.25 Israel (Shekel) 3.2819 Okinawa $2.919 .. .. $3.209 Guam $2.929  $2.339 $2.589 .. Japan (Yen) 109.81 INTEREST RATES Kuwait(Dinar) .3017 Change in price No change  .. .. ­2.0 cents Change in price No change  +1.0 cents  +1.0 cents .. Norway (Krone) 8.4855 Prime rate 3.25 Philippines (Peso) 48.56 Interest Rates Discount rate 0.75 *DieselEFD **Midgrade Poland (Zloty) 3.82 Federal funds market rate 0.07 Saudi Arabia (Riyal) 3.7504 3­month bill 0.02 For the week of April 9­15 Singapore (Dollar) 1.3399 30­year bond 2.33 WEATHER OUTLOOK FRIDAY IN THE MIDDLE EAST FRIDAY IN EUROPE SATURDAY IN THE PACIFIC

Misawa 54/36

Kabul Seoul 64/43 65/41 Baghdad 71/54 Tokyo Drawsko Osan Kandahar Mildenhall/ 60/40 58/40 88/55 Pomorskie Busan Lakenheath 51/35 60/45 50/39 Iwakuni Kuwait City Bahrain 59/37 Brussels Zagan Sasebo Guam 90/71 74/71 Ramstein 56/38 66/48 57/41 55/34 87/79 Riyadh Lajes, 100/75 Doha Azores Stuttgart 88/72 63/56 46/38 Pápa Aviano/ 62/40 Vicenza 59/41

Naples 57/37 Okinawa Morón 72/66 69/50 Sigonella Rota 62/41 The weather is provided by the Djibouti 68/55 Souda Bay American Forces Network Weather Center, 89/77 55/47 2nd Weather Squadron at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb. TODAY IN STRIPES American Roundup ..... 36 Comics ...... 38-39 Crossword ...... 38-39 Faces ...... 35 Opinion ...... 40 Sports ...... 41-48 Friday, April 9, 2021 • STARS AND STRIPES • PAGE 3 MILITARY McCain transits Taiwan Strait, irks China

BY SETH ROBSON if we need to fight a war, and if we Stars and Stripes need to defend ourselves to the ve- A Navy warship steamed ry last day, then we will defend through the Taiwan Strait on ourselves to the very last day.” Wednesday following reports of Asked about the McCain’s tran- Chinese fighter jets overhead ear- sit during a press briefing lier in the week and one of its air- Wednesday, Pentagon spokesman craft carriers training nearby. John Kirby described it as a free- The guided-missile destroyer dom-of-navigation operation and USS John S. McCain conducted “a not a response to any specific routine Taiwan Strait transit” event or action by another coun- through international waters in try. accordance with international “We conduct freedom-of-navi- law, the Navy said in a statement gation operations around the Wednesday. world to send a message about The trip through the contested how strong we believe in interna- waterway is the fourth by a U.S. tional law and in freedom that all warship this year. The McCain nations have to sail, operate and made the Navy’s first transit of fly in accordance with interna- 2021 on Feb. 4. tional law,” he said. “Freedom of As the destroyer passed the seas doesn’t just exist for fish through the strait again Wednes- and icebergs.” day, Taiwan Foreign Minister Jo- A spokesman for China’s East- JEREMY GRAHAM/U.S. Navy seph Wu told reporters that his ern Theater Command said the Seaman James Bailey of Greenville, S.C., stands watch on the bridge of the guided­missile destroyer USS country would defend itself “to the McCain’s transit sent an “errone- John S. McCain in the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday. very last day” if attacked by Chi- ous signal to the ‘Taiwan Inde- na, which claims the island as its pendence’ force, deliberately dis- strait. Meanwhile, the Theodore Roo- said in a statement. own territory to be won over rupted and undermined the re- The number of Navy transits sevelt Carrier Strike Group con- Malaysia is one of several peacefully or by force. gional situation, and jeopardized through the 110-mile-wide water- ducted a bilateral exercise Tues- Southeast Asian nations that dis- China flew 10 warplanes into the peace and stability across the way separating Taiwan from day and Wednesday with the Roy- pute China’s claims to much of the Taiwan’s air defense identifica- Taiwan Strait,” according to Chi- mainland China has increased al Malaysian Air Force in the South China Sea. tion zone on Monday and sent an na Military Online, a government along with tensions between the South China Sea, the U.S. 7th Fleet The USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier group for exercis- site. United States and China in the said in a statement. departed San Diego on Dec. 23 for es near the island, Wu said, ac- “China is firmly opposed to it,” South and East China Seas. The exercise, which focused on a scheduled deployment to the re- cording to The Associated Press. Senior Col. Zhang Chunhui said In December, the U.S. approved joint-air operations and unit inte- gion, the fleet said in its statement. “We are willing to defend our- Wednesday, according to the web- a $280 million sale of advanced gration, was the first bilateral selves, that’s without any ques- site. He said the McCain was military communications equip- training between the two Pacific [email protected] tion,” he said. “We will fight a war tracked as it moved through the ment to Taiwan. nations in 2021, the U.S. 7th Fleet Twitter: @SethRobson1 Hypersonic missile fails to detach from wing during test BY AARON GREGG step: detaching from the wing of sile, referred questions to the Air could include a hostile nation’s nu- dustry has sprung up around their The Washington Post the plane. Force. An Air Force spokesman clear launch sites or warships. development. Lockheed still ap- WASHINGTON — A Tuesday The test missile “was not able to declined to offer specifics regard- They could also allow precision pears to be leading the hypersonic test mission over the military’s complete its launch sequence” ing what caused the launch fail- killings to be conducted more arms race. It is has received con- Point Mugu Sea Range near Los due to an unspecified issue it en- ure, citing the sensitive nature of quickly and from greater ranges, tract awards totaling several bil- Angeles was supposed to demon- countered on the aircraft, accord- U.S. weapons development. possibly enabling the U.S. to go af- lion dollars, according to state- strate the U.S. Air Force’s unrival- ing to a statement the service pub- Hypersonic weapons were at ter more elusive targets. ments from its executives. ed technological prowess. lished Wednesday. the center of Trump-era arms de- But the technical and engineer- Raytheon Technologies, North- Late Tuesday morning, a 1950s- “While not launching was dis- velopment designed to reassert ing challenges surrounding their rop Grumman and Boeing also era B-52 bomber took off from Ed- appointing, the recent test provid- U.S. military advantages over deployment mean the U.S. is still have substantial footholds in the wards Air Force Base carrying a ed invaluable information to learn competing nations such as Russia yet to develop a hypersonic weap- emerging defense market. newly-developed missile, called from and continue ahead,” Brig. and China. Once fielded, such on that can be fielded in large Given that many of the details the ARRW, which is designed to Gen. Heath Collins, armament di- weapons would expand the reach numbers. The Air Force’s goal for surrounding such weapons sys- evade missile defense systems rectorate program executive offi- of the U.S. military’s precision the program is to deliver a hyper- tems are classified, it is difficult to while flying more than five times cer, wrote in the statement. “This strike capabilities, allowing the sonic weapon capability “in the tell where the U.S. stands in com- the speed of sound. is why we test,” he added. United States to strike targets that early 2020s,” a spokesman said parison to foreign militaries. Rus- But the next-generation weapon A spokesman for Lockheed are heavily defended by antiair- Wednesday. sia and China have reported suc- could not accomplish a critical Martin, which developed the mis- craft defenses. Possible targets In the meantime, a cottage in- cessful missile tests. Morale problems lead Navy to fire skipper of destroyer USS Hopper

BY WYATT OLSON Destroyer misconduct, a Navy spokesper- was commissioned in 1997. tion of a three-year moderniza- Stars and Stripes Squadron 31, son, who did not wish to be During the ceremony in tion at Pearl Harbor and is now FORT SHAFTER, Hawaii — Capt. Don identified, told Stars and which she took command in preparing for sea trials. The Navy relieved the first Rauch, has Stripes by telephone on April 2020, Dawley said she re- This is the second time in woman to command the guid- been placed in Wednesday. garded Grace Hopper as a role three years that a Hopper skip- ed-missile destroyer USS Hop- temporary The Hopper is named after model who “embodied the per has been removed from per on Tuesday “due to a loss of command of Rear Adm. Grace Hopper, who qualities of a naval officer that command. Cmdr. Jeffrey Ta- confidence in her leadership,” the Hopper un- enlisted in the Navy Reserves I strive to be,” according to Na- mulevich was fired in May 2018 Dawley the service said Wednesday. til a permanent during World War II and had a vy news release at that time. following allegations that he Cmdr. Kathryn Dawley had leader is chosen, the Navy said. long, notable career as a com- “Hopper has been my dream fraternized with a junior sailor. commanded the Pearl Harbor- Dawley’s removal stemmed puter scientist. since I commissioned,” Dawley based ship since April 2020. from morale problems among Dawley was the first woman said of commanding the ship. [email protected] The deputy commander of the crew, not from any issues of to command the Hopper, which The ship is nearing comple- Twitter: @WyattWOlson PAGE 4 • STARS AND STRIPES • Friday, April 9, 2021 WAR ON TERRORISM Taliban rebuked for attack near US troops BY PHILLIP WALTER they were trying to achieve or country have steadily de- ance against the Doha agree- the country next month, said WELLMAN what message they were trying creased since the U.S. signed a ment.” Bradley Bowman, the senior di- Stars and Stripes to send.” peace deal with the Taliban in The Taliban have largely re- rector of the Foundation for De- KABUL, Afghanistan — The Massoud Pashtoon, the air- Doha, Qatar, in February 2020. frained from attacking foreign fense of Democracies’ Center Taliban fired rockets at Kanda- field director, told Stars and The official total now stands at troops since the deal was on Military and Political Power har Airfield, causing no damage Stripes on 2,500. signed. But the group last in Washington. or casualties but drawing a Wednesday Under the deal, remaining month warned vaguely of a “re- “It is important that the Pen- swift condemnation from the that the attack troops and all other foreign ser- action” if international forces tagon be preparing urgently Pentagon which said the attack began around vice members could pull out by aren’t out of the country by May now to ensure that our troops was “disruptive” to peace nego- 10 a.m. and end- May 1 if the Taliban meet vague 1. who are there have everything tiations. ed after four counterterrorism pledges. But a The Kandahar attack could be they need to protect them- Pentagon spokesman John rockets landed May withdrawal date would be a sign of things to come, said selves,” said Bowman, a former Kirby declined to say whether in an open field. “hard to meet” because of logis- Andrew Watkins, a senior Af- Army officer who served in Af- the Wednesday attack violated Kandahar tical challenges and ongoing vi- ghanistan analyst for the Inter- ghanistan. Kirby last year’s U.S.-Taliban peace Airfield has olence between the Taliban and national Crisis Group. “Congress should be asking deal. The attack occurred about been a key base for the U.S. mil- Afghan forces, President Joe “The Taliban's willingness to questions about what force pro- three weeks before the peace itary throughout the war, hous- Biden said last month. claim attacks that might be con- tection measures are in place,” agreement requires all U.S. ing an estimated 30,000 service “Clearly, the violence is too sidered in direct violation of the Bowman added. “The Taliban troops to have left the country. members and contractors at its high,” Kirby said Wednesday. U.S.-Taliban deal seems to sug- are going to try to inflict casu- “We condemn the attack, and peak. But the Afghan govern- “This attack certainly indicates gest the group is going on the of- alties on Americans after May 1. we believe this decision to pro- ment recently assumed control that’s going to be disruptive to fensive in terms of (public rela- Of course they are.” voke even more violence re- of operations at the airfield and the opportunity to achieve a tions),” Watkins said. mains disruptive,” Kirby said. only a few hundred U.S. troops peaceful negotiation, but I’m The Biden administration Stars and Stripes reporter J.P. Lawrence contrib- uted to this report. “I can’t deliver a comprehen- remain, the military has said. not prepared today to give an must prepare for possible con- [email protected] sive analysis of what we believe U.S. troop numbers across the assessment of this attack as bal- sequences if troops remain in Twitter: @pwwellman Extend: Experts warn quick exit might open door to terrorist threats

FROM PAGE 1 years of fighting. May 1 deadline,” he said. “Just in “A withdrawal would not only terms of tactical reasons, it’s hard leave America more vulnerable to to get those troops out.” Tellingly, terrorist threats; it would also he added, “And if we leave, we’re have catastrophic effects in Af- going to do so in a safe and orderly ghanistan and the region that way.” would not be in the interest of any James Stavridis, a retired Navy of the key actors, including the Ta- admiral who served as NATO’s liban,” a bipartisan experts group top commander from 2009 to 2013, known as the Afghan Study Group says it would be unwise at this concluded in a February report. point to get out quickly. The group, whose co-chair, re- “Sometimes not making a deci- tired Gen. Joseph Dunford, is a sion becomes a decision, which former commander of U.S. forces seems the case with the May 1 in Afghanistan and former chair- LOLITA BALDOR/AP deadline,” Stavridis said in an man of the Joint Chiefs, recom- email exchange Wednesday. “The mended Biden extend the dead- Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie, center, top U.S. commander for the Middle East, makes an unannounced most prudent course of action visit in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Jan. 31, 2020. line beyond May, preferably with feels like a six-month extension some sort of agreement by the Ta- and an attempt to get the Taliban Postponing the U.S. withdrawal under the potential threat of Tali- den would have heard from mili- liban. truly meeting their promises — carries the risk of the Taliban re- ban resistance is not technically tary commanders such as Gen. If the troops stay, Afghanistan essentially permitting a legitimate suming attacks on U.S. and coali- impossible, although it would ap- Frank McKenzie, head of U.S. will become Biden’s war. His deci- ‘conditions based’ withdrawal in tion forces, possibly escalating the pear to violate Biden’s promise Central Command, who have said sions, now and in coming months, the fall.” war. In a February 2020 agree- not to rush. publicly and repeatedly that the could determine the legacy of a There are crosscurrents of ment with the administration of Biden undertook a review of the Taliban have not fully lived up to pressure on Biden. On the one 2001 U.S. invasion that was de- President Donald Trump, the Ta- February 2020 agreement shortly the commitments they made in hand, he has argued for years, in- signed as a response to al-Qaida’s liban agreed to halt such attacks after taking office, and as recently the February 2020 agreement. cluding during his time as vice Sept. 11 attacks, for which the ex- and hold peace talks with the Af- as Tuesday aides said he was still McKenzie and others have said vi- president, when President Barack tremist group led by Osama bin ghan government, in exchange for contemplating a way ahead in Af- olence levels are too high for a du- Obama ordered a huge buildup of Laden used Afghanistan as a a U.S. commitment to a complete ghanistan. White House press sec- rable political settlement to be U.S. forces, that Afghanistan is haven. withdrawal by May 2021. retary Jen Psaki stressed that made. better handled as a smaller-scale Biden said during the 2020 cam- When he entered the White May 1 was a deadline set by the Congress has been cautious counterterrorism mission. Coun- paign that if elected he might keep House in January, Biden knew of prior administration and that a de- about reducing the U.S. military tering Russia and China has since a counterterrorism force in Af- the looming deadline and had time cision was complicated. presence in Afghanistan. Last emerged as a higher priority. ghanistan but also would “end the to meet it if he had chosen to do so. “But it’s also an important deci- year it expressly forbade the Pen- On the other hand, current and war responsibly” to ensure U.S. It became a steep logistical hurdle sion — one he needs to make in tagon from using funds to reduce former military officers have ar- forces never have to return. The only because he put off a decision close consultation with our allies below 4,000 troops, but the Penta- gued that leaving now, with the peace talks that began last fall be- in favor of consulting at length in- and also with our national security gon went ahead anyway after Taliban in a position of relative tween the Taliban and the Afghan side his administration and with team here in this administration,” Trump ordered a reduction to strength and the Afghan govern- government are seen as the best allies. Flying thousands of troops Psaki said. “And we want to give 2,500 after he lost the election. ment in a fragile state, would risk hope, but they have produced little and their equipment out of Af- him the time to do that.” Trump got around the legal pro- losing what has been gained in 20 so far. ghanistan in the next three weeks In briefings on Afghanistan, Bi- hibition by signing a waiver. Friday, April 9, 2021 • STARS AND STRIPES • PAGE 5 WAR ON TERRORISM US, Baghdad finish talks on troop presence BY LOUISA LOVELUCK of the prime minister, and two, The Washington Post messaging to the Iraqi people BAGHDAD — The United that this is a different relation- States and Iraq concluded talks ship between the United States Wednesday on America’s troop and Iraq, which is not solely secu- presence here, issuing a joint rity focused,” she said. statement that emphasized the The United States has had a growing capacity of the Iraqi mil- military presence in Iraq for itary, six years after it crumbled most of the 18 years since it led a in the face of Islamic State’s ad- 2003 invasion of the country. U.S. vance. troops withdrew in 2011, but re- The statement followed a third turned in 2014 as the dominant round of talks between Washing- partner in a multination coalition ton and Baghdad, known as the assembled to defeat ISIS mili- Strategic Dialogue, and the first tants who had taken over a third to take place under President Joe of the country as government se- Biden. curity forces collapsed. “Based on the increasing ca- The group is now a shadow of pacity of the ISF [Iraq Security its former self, and Iraq’s official Forces], the parties confirmed security forces — including U.S.- AP that the mission of U.S. and Coali- trained units and a constellation A U.S. Army soldier guards a position at Camp Swift, in northern Iraq, in 2016. tion forces has now transitioned of militia groups — fight the Isla- to one focused on training and ad- mist militants in remote terrain, visory tasks, thereby allowing for or locate alleged sleeper cells the redeployment of any remain- amid urban populations. ing combat forces from Iraq, with But Iraqi and Western officials the timing to be established in up- insist that the U.S.-led coalition coming technical talks,” the doc- and a separate contingent of U.S. ument said. Special Forces still add value, In a news conference in Bagh- plugging gaps in intelligence ca- dad on Wednesday evening, pabilities and offering aerial sup- Iraq’s national security adviser port. Qassem al-Araji said that the Pentagon press secretary John talks had led to “important pro- Kirby said Tuesday that the joint gress” in opening the way for statement says that the two sides American combat troops to leave have agreed to have “additional Iraq. But in practice, the state- technical talks on the eventual re- ment’s newly debated descrip- deployment” of U.S. troops. tion of the U.S. troop presence ap- But he said that “we all realize” peared to be more a restatement that when the Iraqi government of current realities than a strate- invited the United States in to re- gic shift. The coalition, led from spond to ISIS, it was not a perma- Baghdad by U.S. Marine Brig. nent mission. Gen. Ryan Rideout, officially In a tweet, Secretary of State transitioned to a formal advisory Antony Blinken said: “I’m opti- capacity in July. mistic about the road ahead after Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa the review of the progress we’ve al-Kadhimi is under pressure made in each area of our broad from Iran-backed militias to ush- and strategic partnership.” er the 2,500 U.S. American Iran-backed militia groups troops, which form the bulk of the have launched dozens of rocket coalition, to the exit but Iraqi se- attacks against U.S.-linked mili- curity officials say that a limited tary and diplomatic missions in presence still is needed to main- an attempt to pressure Washing- tain pressure against what re- ton into withdrawing its forces. mains of ISIS in Iraq. In a statement issued ahead of Successive Iraqi governments Wednesday’s talks, a body repre- have been under pressure to end senting the groups said it would the U.S. presence in Iraq since “never accept the policy of an President Donald Trump’s deci- open timeline,” a reference to its sion last year to order the assassi- repeated calls for a clear timeta- nation of leading Iranian com- ble outlining a departure sched- mander Maj. Gen. Qassem Solei- ule for the coalition. mani and Iraqi militia leader Abu The joint U.S.-Iraqi statement Mahdi al-Muhandis in Baghdad, outlined Washington’s intention sending tensions between Iran to support Iraq in areas ranging and the United States soaring from education, energy and the across the region, and intensify- environment. Coming a week af- ing a proxy war on Iraqi soil that ter the State Department’s an- has mostly claimed the lives of nual human rights report on the Iraqi citizens. country, a 59-page account that Randa Slim, director of the covered pervasive abuses by the Conflict Resolution and Track II Iraqi government, the statement Dialogues Program at the Middle Wednesday made no mention of East Institute, described discussion of human rights. Wednesday’s joint statement as a “Blinken said ‘we are going to product of careful messaging but put human rights at the center of little change. our foreign policy agenda,’ but “It’s a statement that is aimed there was nothing in the commu- at one, strengthening the position nique,” Slim said. PAGE 6 • STARS AND STRIPES • Friday, April 9, 2021 MILITARY First lady details initiative to help military families

BY NIKKI WENTLING cation; and health and well-being. Stars and Stripes According to a Defense Depart- WASHINGTON — First lady Jill ment survey, the unemployment Biden plans to focus on the educa- rate for spouses of active-duty ser- tion, employment, entrepreneur- vice members was 22% in 2019 — ship, health and well-being of mil- before the economic fallout from itary and veteran families as part the coronavirus pandemic. The of her relaunched Joining Forces overall unemployment rate in the ANDREW HARNIK/AP initiative, she announced Wednes- U.S. was 3.5% that year. First lady Jill Biden speaks at a virtual event with military families from around the world as part of the day. Military families frequently White House initiative to support military and veteran families on Wednesday in Washington. Biden unveiled her new priori- move, often with little notice. ties for the campaign during a Spouses often must quit their jobs ing his new infrastructure plan, help ease the burden created by that disproportionately affect mil- speech at the White House. Biden and face long periods of unemploy- which earmarks $25 billion to up- their frequent moves. She’s held itary families, including depres- first started Joining Forces with ment or underemployment after grade and build child-care centers. multiple listening sessions with sion, substance abuse and food in- former First Lady Michelle Obama they move, according to a Cham- Another piece of Biden’s plan is ex- military children and educators security — all of which have been in 2011 as a way to help military ber of Commerce report from 2017. pected to include a universal pre- this year and expressed the need to made worse during the pandemic, families with employment and Spouses who hold professional li- kindergarten program. help train future teachers about she said. education. The program was dis- censes must also overcome the ob- “All of you deserve opportuni- how to support military children in Addressing those issues was a continued during former Presi- stacle of getting licensed in a new ties to do the work you love, wheth- their classrooms. “national security imperative,” she dent Donald Trump’s time in of- state or country. er that means keeping your job “Our schools want to support all said. fice. Biden said her office would work when you move from base to base students, but they don’t always “It is critical to acknowledge that Biden plans to expand its scope with employers to create more or owning your own businesses,” know how to do so,” she said. they too shoulder the weight of the and make it permanent, she said. flexible, transferable and remote Jill Biden said Wednesday. “And “We’re going to work with educa- past 20 years of sustained war- “Our goal is that this work will job opportunities for military we need to make sure that you can tors and our government partners fare,” Biden said. live on long after we leave as a per- spouses. She also promised to in- get quality child care when you to make sure that you — our mil- The White House plans to collab- manent priority for every White crease resources for spouses who need it so that you don’t have to feel itary-connected kids — have what orate with federal agencies, non- House, because you deserve noth- are interested in entrepreneur- like you’re choosing between your you need to succeed.” profits and businesses to create so- ing less,” Biden said. ship. job and taking care of your kids.” Lastly, Joining Forces will focus lutions to these issues. She divided the priorities into Child care would also be part of Regarding education, Biden said on the physical, social and emo- three groups: employment and en- that effort, Biden said. President Joining Forces would help support tional health of military families, [email protected] trepreneurship; military child edu- Joe Biden is in the process of pitch- military-connected children and Biden said. She listed the issues Twitter: @nikkiwentling Navy identifies civilian worker found dead on Okinawa BY MATTHEW M. BURKE nese police said at the time. His was first described only as an and a fishing pole and backpack Coast Guard and emergency re- Stars and Stripes body was discovered Dec. 31 close American in his 30s. Helton pro- atop one of Zanpa’s towering cliffs. sponders who assisted with the ex- CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — to Senaha Beach in Yomitan, Navy vided no further information An extensive search was called tensive search efforts, and our The Navy on Okinawa has identi- spokesman Rob Helton said Wednesday other than Jackson’s off Dec. 17. Police surmised that deepest sympathies are with the fied a civilian employee who died Wednesday in an email to Stars name. Jackson had fallen from the cliff Jackson family as they cope with after vanishing from a popular and Stripes. Senaha is about two The Japan Coast Guard had re- and drowned. Zanpa is marked by this loss,” Helton said in his state- tourist spot in December. miles southeast of Zanpa. sponded to a 6:20 p.m. call that jagged, seaside cliffs, walking ment. Robert Jackson disappeared Jackson, whose disappearance Jackson was missing, police said in trails and a 100-foot-tall light-

Dec. 15 while fishing at Cape Zan- was investigated by the Naval December. They said first respon- house. [email protected] pa on Okinawa’s west coast, Japa- Criminal Investigative Service, ders found his car in the parking lot “We are grateful to the Japan Twitter: @MatthewMBurke1 Multispecialty VA clinic to Capability: Pilot shortages cited be built in Honolulu suburbs FROM PAGE 1 In recent years, the Pentagon the analysis is classified. BY WYATT OLSON former Naval Air Station Barbers bases and put limits on the use has sought to shift focus from The GAO, which was tasked Stars and Stripes Point. It is expected to open in fall of the Air Force’s F-22 fighter counterterrorism to capabilities by Congress to monitor the mil- FORT SHAFTER, Hawaii — 2024, the VA said in a news re- jets. needed to counter military ad- itary’s ability to carry out mis- The Department of Veterans Af- lease. Pilot shortages also hindered vances by Russia and China. But sions through 2022, says the fairs announced plans Wednesday The clinic is expected to reduce operations for the Army’s the Pentagon’s 2018 National Pentagon has now put in place a to build an 88,675 square-foot wait times and alleviate traffic AH-64 Apache attack helicop- Defense Strategy acknowledged plan to “recover readiness.” multispecialty clinic in the sub- jams and parking spaces shortag- ters and the Marine Corps’ read- the challenge it faces in adapt- “To maintain the U.S. mili- urbs west of Honolulu. es veterans face on the Tripler Ar- iness was compromised by lim- ing because a “backlog of de- tary’s advantage across all do- The new VA clinic will provide my Medical Center campus near ited depot repair capacity for ferred readiness, procurement, mains in a new security environ- primary care, mental health, au- downtown Honolulu, where the light attack helicopters, the and modernization require- ment characterized by great- diology, female veterans care, Spark M. Matsunaga Veterans Af- GAO said. ments has grown in the last dec- power competition, DOD is physical therapy and dental, fairs Medical Center is located. Overall, continuous conflict ade and a half and can no longer working to rebuild and restore among other services. The western suburbs are the has “degraded U.S. military be ignored.” readiness while also moderniz- The Advanced Leeward Outpa- fastest growing residential area readiness — the forces’ ability to The public version of the GAO ing its forces,” the GAO said. tient Healthcare Access, or ALO- on the island, with vast swathes of fight and meet the demands of report offered few examples on

HA, project will be built in Kalae- former sugarcane fields convert- their assigned missions,” the how the military’s operations [email protected] loa, which is near the site of the ed to housing in recent years. GAO said. have been hampered. Most of Twitter: @john_vandiver Friday, April 9, 2021 • STARS AND STRIPES • PAGE 7 VIRUS OUTBREAK Military reports 12 new cases in Japan, S. Korea

BY JOSEPH DITZLER ing three prefectures that com- Stars and Stripes prise the larger metro area lifted a TOKYO — The spring coronavi- 2½-month-long emergency on rus surge in Japan’s largest cities March 21. continued Thursday in Osaka pre- Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga fecture, where two record-setting is considering the request. days this week were topped by an- “Although it has not become a other 905 new infections, accord- big swell nationwide, the number ing to public broadcaster NHK. of newly infected people nation- Meanwhile, U.S. military com- wide continues to increase, and MATTHEW M. BURKE/Stars and Stripes mands in Japan reported eight the infection is re-spreading in A table for hand sanitizer and thermometers occupies a central spot inside an Okinawa mall Thursday. new patients with COVID-19 by 6 some areas, so we respond with a p.m. Thursday. U.S. Forces Korea strong sense of caution,” NHK Friedel said those individuals community” offered the vaccine In South Korea, the U.S. military reported four. quoted Suga as saying. “We will isolated themselves and had few so far, 86.3% have accepted it. He reported that four people tested Osaka prefecture, the home of take ‘priority measures’ that focus close contacts at the air base. said 24% of all active-duty person- positive for COVID-19 after arriv- Japan’s second-largest city, has on the region flexibly and inten- He also said the air base will re- nel at Misawa are fully vaccinated; ing on the peninsula between reported its highest one-day case sively to stop the spread of infec- ceive 1,900 doses of the one-shot another 30-33% have the first of March 25 and Monday, according totals on three of the past six days, tion.” Johnson & Johnson vaccine that the two-shot Moderna series. to a news release Thursday. a number that surged past 700 on Tokyo’s central districts were will be administered 8 a.m. to 6 Elsewhere, Kadena Air Base on Two service members arrived Tuesday for the first time, accord- recently opened to visits by per- p.m. April 16 at the base officer’s Okinawa had seven people test at Osan Air Base on the Patriot Ex- ing to prefectural data. Osaka, sonnel at some U.S. commands in club. Anyone 18 and older and eli- positive, according to a base Face- press, a government-chartered air neighboring Hyogo prefecture Japan after the city lifted the gible for military health care may book post Wednesday evening. service, on March 31 and Monday. and Miyagi prefecture in north- emergency last month. Most U.S. line up for a shot, he said. A sepa- Three became ill with COVID-19 One service member and one de- eastern Japan are under quasi- bases put Osaka off-limits as the rate line will form for active-duty symptoms, two were close con- pendent arrived on commercial emergency public health emer- number of infections there has tri- personnel. tacts of a previously infected per- flights at Incheon International gencies. pled. “I want to be around for my fam- son and tested positive in quaran- Airport on March 25 and Saturday. Tokyo reported another 545 One person at Misawa Air Base ily, and I want to ensure that I can tine and the other two came up Three tested positive on their people with the coronavirus contracted the virus after a recent stay healthy and be able to be positive on the test required before first mandatory test before enter- Thursday, NHK reported. It said visit to Osaka, 35th Fighter Wing around for a long time,” Friedel traveling to the United States. ing quarantine, and one tested pos- Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike has commander Col. Jesse Friedel said, encouraging his command to One new patient is an employee itive on a subsequent test in quar- asked the national government to said during a Facebook Live ses- get inoculated. The vaccines, ap- at the Chili’s To Go on base, which antine. All were quarantined at re-impose emergency measures sion Thursday. That makes two proved for emergency use by the was closed for sanitizing. Contact Osan or Camp Humphreys. in targeted areas to shorten busi- people at Misawa who developed Food and Drug Administration, tracing resulted in an unspecified

ness hours and control the virus’s COVID-19 since Tuesday after vis- may only be taken voluntarily. number of people quarantined, the [email protected] spread. Tokyo and the surround- iting the city, he said. Friedel said that of those “in the base said. Twitter: @JosephDitzler

Region home to Aviano Air Base totals 100K cases since pandemic began

BY KENT HARRIS where Aviano is located. who died from COVID-19 compli- restrictions expected to last figures show. Campania, which Stars and Stripes Like many countries in Europe, cations Jan. 12, Italian authorities through at least the end of April. includes the Navy’s 6th Fleet AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy — Italy has experienced a wave of determined following an autopsy The hardest hit region during headquarters, is third with The Italian region that hosts Avia- infections since March, when it investigation. the pandemic has been Lombar- 391,053. no Air Base, home to the Air averaged about 25,000 new cases Italy, like many countries in Eu- dy, which includes Milan and has Sicily, home to Naval Air Sta- Force’s 31st Fighter Wing, sur- per day at peak levels. rope, has struggled to quickly vac- more than 10 million residents. It tion Sigonella, is fourth in popula- passed 100,000 coronavirus infec- There are 12,962 active cases in cinate its population. Out of about has had 755,811 coronavirus cases tion but ninth in cases with 181,386 tions since the pandemic began Fruili-Venezia Giulia, Italian 60 million people, about 8 million and 31,373 deaths since last year. since last year. Tuscany, where after hundreds of new cases were Health Ministry figures showed had received at least one injection Several other heavily affected the Army’s Camp Darby is locat- reported this week. Wednesday. through Wednesday, according to regions are home to U.S. military ed, is seventh among the regions Italy reported 13,708 new coro- The virus has contributed to the national wire service ANSA. bases. Veneto, home to U.S. Army with 204,347 cases as of Wednes- navirus cases Wednesday, bring- deaths of more than 112,000 peo- The country has had numerous Garrison Italy, has had the sec- day. ing its pandemic total above 3.7 ple in Italy since the pandemic be- coronavirus measures in place, ond-highest number of cases

million. Of those cases, 286 were gan. They include Aviano airman with many businesses shuttered since the pandemic began, with [email protected] reported in Fruili-Venezia Giulia, Tech. Sgt. Michael W. Morris, 36, and residents facing an array of 391,053, Italian Health Ministry Twitter: @kharris4stripes PAGE 8 • STARS AND STRIPES • Friday, April 9, 2021 VIRUS OUTBREAK US jobless at 744K amid more layoffs

BY PAUL WISEMAN a year. Associated Press And this week, the International WASHINGTON — The number Monetary Fund forecast that the of Americans applying for unem- U.S. economy will grow 6.4% this ployment benefits rose last week year. That would fastest annual to 744,000, signaling that many pace since 1984 and the strongest employers are still cutting jobs among the world’s wealthiest even as more people are vaccinat- countries. ed against COVID-19, consumers All of which suggests that em- gain confidence and the govern- ployers will keep hiring steadily ment distributes aid throughout this year as the broader economy the economy. improves. That said, the United The Labor Department said States still has 8.4 million fewer Thursday that applications in- jobs than it had in February 2020, creased by 16,000 from 728,000 a just before the pandemic struck. week earlier. Jobless claims have New confirmed coronavirus declined sharply since the virus cases, which had dropped sharply slammed into the economy in from early January through early March of last year. But they re- March, have plateaued over the main high by historical standards: past month. In addition, the vacci- Before the pandemic erupted, nation rate for elderly Americans, weekly applications typically re- WILFREDO LEE/AP who are among the most vulnera- mained below 220,000 a week. A “Now Hiring” sign is shown outside a business, Wednesday, in Miami. ble, has dramatically slowed even For the week ending March 27, as the supply of vaccines has ex- 3.7 million people were receiving March 20. mand. the economy has been strengthen- panded. traditional state unemployment Economists monitor weekly During the pandemic, though, ing. During March, employers And the data firm Womply re- benefits, the government said. If jobless claims for early signs of the numbers have become a less added 916,000 jobs, the most since ports that the percentage of busi- you include supplemental federal where the job market is headed. reliable barometer. States have August, and the unemployment nesses that remained closed last programs that were established Applications are usually a proxy struggled to clear backlogs of un- rate declined from 6.2% to 6%. In week rose from the beginning of last year to help the unemployed for layoffs: They typically decline employment applications, and February, the pace of job openings March — from 38% to 45% for endure the health crisis, a total of as the economy improves. Or they suspected fraud has clouded the reached its highest level on re- bars; from 35% to 46% for beauty 18.2 million are receiving some rise as employers retrench in re- actual volume of job cuts. cord. Last month, consumer confi- shops; and from 30% to 38% for form of jobless aid the week of sponse to sluggish consumer de- By nearly all measures, though, dence posted its highest reading in restaurants. Landstuhl hospital taking vaccine appointments for high risk people Stars and Stripes Appointments can be made by ify for Tier 1 before confirming ap- Landstuhl Regional Medical selecting “Germany” through the pointments. Walk-in vaccinations Center will begin vaccinating eli- Defense Health Agency’s portal at will not be available. gible beneficiaries in the Kaiser- https://informatics- Appointment holders must slautern Military Community at stage.health.mil/COVAX/. bring their Defense Department high risk of contracting the coro- Those enrolled at other military ID card. Those who haven’t been navirus starting April 16, the hos- treatment facilities should not to Landstuhl or one of its branch pital said. book appointments through Land- clinics previously must go first to The Army hospital is taking ap- stuhl, instructions on the DHA the patient administrative divi- pointments now for those in De- website said. sion and bring their medical in- fense Department Tier 1c, which The Baumholder general pop- surance information. includes those age 65 and above, ulation ages 18 and up can use the Appointment dates will be and those ages 18-64 with high- same site to request appointments scheduled based on vaccine avail- risk conditions as determined by through its community clinic. ability, LRMC said in its Facebook Centers for Disease Control and Health care workers at LRMC post. An appointment for a second Prevention guidelines. High-risk will administer the Moderna vac- vaccination will be made after re- conditions include cancer, dia- cine, the hospital said in a Face- ceiving the first shot at the hospi- VINCENT WILSON/U.S. Army betes, weakened immune sys- book post. tal, LRMC said. Capt. Colin Simsarian, 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command, tems, hypertension, obesity and The hospital will validate that receives a COVID­19 vaccination at Landstuhl Regional Medical other health problems. beneficiaries booking online qual- [email protected] Center in January. Australia halts AstraZeneca vaccine for most under 50 Associated Press “possible link” between the shot adopted as the preferred vaccine The Australian Technical Advi- 50. CANBERRA, Australia — Aus- and the rare blood clots, though for people aged under 50. sory Group on Immunisation also Health care workers under 50 tralia on Thursday become the lat- regulators in the United Kingdom Morrison said the recommen- recommended that people under who were due to receive the Astra- est country to restrict use of the and the European Union empha- dations were made with an abun- 50 who had already received their Zeneca vaccine will now be prior- AstraZeneca vaccine by recom- sized that the benefits of receiving dance of caution due to the rare first AstraZeneca shot should pro- itized for the Pfizer vaccine, which mending that it not be given to the vaccine continue to outweigh but serious side effects, which ceed with getting their second will likely delay the inoculation people under age 50. the risks for most people. have mostly been associated with shot, as the medical advice indi- process. The announcement came after Prime Minister Scott Morrison younger people. cated the rare blood clots only de- The move in Australia came af- Australian drug regulators held a said he’d received a series of rec- “We’ve been taking the neces- velop after the first dose. ter British authorities recom- series of urgent meetings earlier ommendations from an advisory sary precautions based on the best The group said that only when mended AstraZeneca not be given in the day. The recommendation group on Thursday night, and that possible medical advice,” Morri- the benefit clearly outweighs the to adults under 30 where possible. came after the European Medi- chief among them was that the son said. “It has not been our prac- risk should an initial AstraZeneca Several other countries have also cines Agency said it had found a Pfizer vaccine should now be tice to jump at shadows.” shot be given to someone under imposed limits. Friday, April 9, 2021 • STARS AND STRIPES • PAGE 9 NATION Biden picks gun-control adviser to lead ATF Associated Press lice to confiscate weapons from a WASHINGTON — President Joe person deemed to be a danger to Biden, in his first major gun control themselves or others. measures since taking office, The department also will begin to planned to announce executive ac- provide more data on firearms traf- tions Thursday aimed at addressing ficking, starting with a new compre- what the White House calls a “gun hensive report on the issue. The ad- violence public health epidemic.” ministration says that hasn’t been Biden also is nominating David done in more than two decades. Chipman, a former federal agent The ATF is currently run by an and adviser at the gun control group acting director, Regina Lombardo. Giffords, to be director of the Bu- Gun-control advocates have em- reau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms phasized the significance of this po- and Explosives. sition in enforcing gun laws, and Biden has faced increasing pres- Chipman is certain to win praise sure to act after a recent series of from this group. During his time as a mass shootings, but the White senior policy adviser with Giffords, House has repeatedly emphasized he spent considerable effort push- the need for legislative action. While ing for greater regulation and en- the House passed a background- forcement on ghost guns, changes to check bill last month, gun control the background check system and measures face slim prospects in an measures to reduce the trafficking evenly divided Senate, where Re- of illegal firearms. publicans remain near-unified Chipman spent 25 years as an against most proposals. agent at the ATF, where he worked A White House fact sheet said AP on stopping a trafficking ring that those shootings “underscored the The Biden administration has chosen David Chipman, a former federal agent and adviser at the gun controlsent illegal firearms from Virginia relentlessness” of the epidemic. group Giffords, to be director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. to New York, and served on the Biden was to be joined at the late ATF’s SWAT team. Chipman is a morning Rose Garden event by At- them. It’s legal to build a gun in a details of the rule weren’t immedi- which require a federal license to gun owner. torney General Merrick Garland. home or a workshop and there is no ately issued. own and are subject to a more thor- He is an explosives expert and Most of the actions are coming from federal requirement for a back- Asecond proposed rule, expected ough application process and a $200 was among the team involved in in- the Justice Department. ground check. The goal is to “help within 60 days, will tighten regula- tax. vestigating the Oklahoma City Biden is tightening regulations of stop the proliferation of these fire- tions on pistol-stabilizing braces, The department also is publish- bombing and the first World Trade buyers of “ghost guns” — home- arms,” according to the White like the one used by the Boulder, Co- ing model legislation within 60 days Center bombing. He also was in- made firearms that usually are as- House. lo., shooter in a rampage last month that is intended to make it easier for volved in investigating a series of sembled from parts and milled with The Justice Department will is- that left 10 dead. The rule will desig- states to adopt their own “red flag” church bombings in Alabama in the a metal-cutting machine and often sue a proposed rule aimed at reining nate pistols used with stabilizing laws. Such laws allow for individu- 1990s. He retired from the ATF in lack serial numbers used to trace in ghost guns within 30 days, though braces as short-barreled rifles, als to petition a court to allow the po- 2012. Interior secretary steps into Biden: Infrastructure plan Utah public lands tug-of-war can change but must pass Associated Press that has broad authority over tribal Associated Press And it’s a tax increase on small busi- SALT LAKE CITY — For dec- nations, as well as energy develop- President Joe Biden drew a red nesses, on job creators in the United ades, a public lands tug-of-war has ment and other uses for the coun- line on his $2.3 trillion infrastruc- States of America.” played out over a vast expanse of try’s sprawling federal lands. ture plan Wednesday, saying he is Biden last week proposed fund- southern Utah where red rocks re- “She brings something that no open to compromise on how to pay ing his $2.3 trillion infrastructure veal petroglyphs and distinctive other Cabinet secretary has for the package but inaction is unac- plan largely through an increase in twin buttes bulge from a grassy brought, which is that her Indige- ceptable. the corporate tax rate to 28% and an valley. nous communities are coming with SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN/AP The president turned fiery in an expanded global minimum tax set at A string of U.S. officials has her in that room,” said Char Miller, U.S. Interior Secretary Deb afternoon speech, saying that the 21%. But he said Wednesday he was heard from those who advocate for a professor of environmental anal- Haaland soon will submit a review United States is failing to build, in- willing to accept a rate below 28% so broadening national monuments ysis at Pomona College. on national monuments in Utah. vest and research for the future and long as the projects are financed and to protect the area’s many archae- Miller said the outcome of the adding that failure to do so amounts taxes are not increased on people ological and cultural sites, consid- negotiations will shed light on how contains many sites of spiritual im- to giving up on “leading the world.” making less than $400,000. ered sacred to surrounding tribes, the Biden administration plans to portance to New Mexico’s pueblos “Compromise is inevitable,” Bi- Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and those who fiercely oppose respond to other public lands dis- — but acknowledged she has a re- den said. “We’ll be open to good said the tax increases would pro- what they see as federal overreach. putes and will likely impact subse- sponsibility to hear from all sides. ideas in good faith negotiations. But duce roughly $2.5 trillion in reve- On Thursday, Interior Secretary quent conversations with other “She is the interior secretary for here’s what we won’t be open to: We nues over 15 years, enough to cover Deb Haaland will be the latest Cab- states on natural resources. all of us, and that also requires her will not be open to doing nothing. In- the eight years’ worth of infrastruc- inet official to visit Bears Ears Na- Haaland faces competing inter- to engage other groups.” action, simply, is not an option.” ture investments being proposed. tional Monument — and the first ests: Tribes have hailed her confir- Former President Barack Oba- Biden challenged the idea that The roughly $200 billion gap be- Indigenous one. mation as a chance to have their ma proclaimed Bears Ears a na- low tax rates would do more for tween how much the taxes would Haaland, a member of Laguna voices heard and their land and tional monument in 2016. The site growth than investing in infrastruc- raise and how much the administra- Pueblo in New Mexico, is sched- rights protected, while Republican was the first to receive the designa- ture. The president has taken heat tion wants to spend suggests there is uled to meet with tribes and elect- leaders labeled her a “radical” who tion at the specific request of from Republican lawmakers and space to address critics, such as ed officials at Bears Ears before could, along with President Joe Bi- tribes. business groups for proposing that West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, a submitting a review with recom- den, stunt oil and gas development Its boundaries were downsized corporate tax increases should fi- key Democratic vote, who would mendations on whether to reverse and destroy thousands of jobs. by 85% under the Trump adminis- nance an infrastructure package prefer a 25% rate. Manchin also President Donald Trump’s deci- Pat Gonzales-Rogers, executive tration, while Grand Staircase-Es- that goes far beyond the traditional came out Wednesday against the sion to downsize that site and director of the Bears Ears Inter- calante was cut nearly in half. The focus on roads and bridges. budget reconciliation process that Grand Staircase-Escalante, anoth- Tribal Coalition, said he looks for- reductions paved the way for po- “What the president proposed would allow Democrats to push the er Utah national monument. ward to Haaland seeking tribes’ in- tential coal mining, and oil and gas this week is not an infrastructure bill through the Senate with just a 51- The visit underscores her put. drilling on lands that were previ- bill,” Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., vote majority, rather than the 60 unique position as the first Native He noted Haaland is familiar ously off-limits. Activity was limit- said on NBC’s “Meet the Press. “It’s votes that would be required to over- American to lead a department with the landscape — Bears Ears ed because of market forces. a huge tax increase, for one thing. come a GOP filibuster. PAGE 10 • STARS AND STRIPES • Friday, April 9, 2021 NATION Va. becomes first Southern state to legalize marijuana BY SARAH RANKIN Gov. Justin Fairfax broke the tie, Associated Press voting to approve the changes. RICHMOND — Virginia became The final version of the legisla- the first Southern state to legalize tion would allow adults 21 and up to marijuana Wednesday, as lawmak- legally possess up to one ounce of ers voted to approve Gov. Ralph cannabis without the intent to dis- Northam’s proposed changes to a tribute beginning July 1. It would al- COURT TV/ AP bill that will allow adults to possess so allow the home cultivation of up Defense attorney Eric Nelson, left, and defendant, former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin, right, and cultivate small amounts of the to four plants per household begin- listen as Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill presides over the trial of Chauvin at the Hennepin County drug starting in July. ning July 1. Public use of the drug Courthouse in Minneapolis, Minn., on Thursday. Northam sent the bill back to law- will be prohibited. makers substantially changed from “This is not going to generate the version that squeaked out of the some ganjafest at Jiffy Lube pavil- General Assembly in February. ion out in the parking lot, because Doctor testifies that Floyd The amendments lawmakers that is smoking in public. Just like agreed to Wednesday would accel- you can’t drink in public, you can’t erate the timeline of legalization by smoke in public under this,” Demo- was killed by lack of oxygen about three years, well before retail cratic Sen. Scott Surovell said. sales would begin, a move that’s It will be years before legal retail Associated Press man last May. 90% of the time in my calcula- been cheered by racial justice advo- sales follow legalized possession. MINNEAPOLIS — George Tobin took direct aim at the de- tions.” cates. The bill lays out the complex proc- Floyd died of a lack of oxygen fense theory, declaring: “A He said it appeared that Floyd “The time has come for our state ess of creating a new state agency to from being pinned on his stom- healthy person subjected to what was getting enough oxygen for to legalize marijuana. The amend- oversee the marijuana market- ach with his hands cuffed behind Mr. Floyd was subjected to would about the first five minutes to ments ensure that while we’re do- place, with sales beginning and reg- him and his face jammed against have died as a result of what he keep his brain alive because he ing the complicated work of stand- ulations taking effect on Jan. 1, the pavement, a medical expert was subjected to.” was still speaking. ing up a commercial market, we 2024. testified Thursday at former Offi- Chauvin kept his knee on But Tobin said where Chauvin aren’t delaying immediate reforms Many parts of the bill dealing cer Derek Chauvin’s murder Floyd’s neck for 3 minutes, 2 sec- had his knee after the five-minute that will make our Commonwealth with the regulatory framework will trial. onds, after Floyd had “reached mark would not make much of a more equitable for all Virginians,” have to be reapproved by lawmak- Floyd’s breathing while he was the point where there was not one difference, because at that point, House Majority Leader Charniele ers next year. The possession and being held down by Chauvin and ounce of oxygen left in the body,” Floyd had already experienced Herring said in urging her col- cultivation pieces will not. two other officers was too shallow Tobin said. brain damage. leagues to approve the governor’s Republicans, who overwhelm- to take in enough oxygen, which The witness cited several fac- Chauvin attorney Eric Nelson changes. ingly opposed the bill when it initial- in turn damaged his brain and tors that he said had made it diffi- has repeatedly shown the jury Democrats said the bill was a ly went through the General As- caused his heart to stop, said Dr. cult for Floyd to breathe, beyond still images from the video that matter of urgency, a necessary step sembly, railed against the latest Martin Tobin, a lung and critical Chauvin’s knee on his neck: offi- he said showed Chauvin’s knee to end what state figures show is a version, citing several reasons. care specialist at the Edward cers lifting up on his handcuffs, was on Floyd’s shoulder blade. disparate treatment of people of GOP Del. Chris Head called the Hines, Jr. VA Hospital and Loyo- the hard street, his prone posi- But nearly all of those images color under current marijuana bill “a train wreck.” la University’s medical school in tion, his turned head, and a knee were captured more than five laws. “The hard-fought compromise Chicago. on his back. minutes into the ordeal, accord- Northam’s amendments cleared that barely made it out of this cham- Tobin was called to testify as Tobin, analyzing a graphic pre- ing to video time stamps. the House 53-44 with two absten- ber and over to the Senate has just part of an effort by prosecutors to sentation of the three officers pin- Tobin explained to jurors what tions during a one-day session held been discarded. And why is that? establish that it was Chauvin’s ac- ning Floyd for what prosecutors happens as the space in the air- for the purpose of putting the finish- It’s because some activists want tions — not Floyd’s illegal drug say was almost 9½ minutes, said way narrows, saying breathing ing touches on the year’s legislation. marijuana legalized and they want use and underlying health condi- Chauvin’s knee was “virtually on then becomes “enormously more In the Senate, lawmakers dead- it legalized now, consequences be tions, as the defense contends — the neck for the vast majority of difficult,” like “breathing through locked 20-20 and Democratic Lt. damned,” he said. that killed the 46-year-old Black time.” He said it was “more than a drinking straw.” Number of unaccompanied children at border hits new high in March

Associated Press ple from the country without Border Patrol in February and den also have guided their deci- “Necessity obligates us.” WASHINGTON — The U.S. giving them an opportunity to more than five times the number sions, whether real or rumored. Amid the growing numbers, government picked up nearly seek asylum. Children are in- in March 2020. Hermelindo Ak, a Guatema- more than 4,000 people at a CBP 19,000 children traveling alone stead released to “sponsors” in The huge increase in children lan corn grower who barely holding facility have been across the Mexican border in the U.S., usually parents or close traveling alone — some as young makes enough to feed his family, jammed into a space designed March, authorities said Thurs- relatives, while being allowed to as 3 — and families has severely was expelled to Mexico from for 250 at a tent complex in Don- day, the largest monthly number pursue their cases in heavily strained border holding facili- Texas’ Rio Grande Valley with na, Texas. They lay inches apart ever recorded and a major test backlogged immigration courts. ties, which aren’t allowed to hold his 17-year-old son. Ak decided on mats on the floor with foil for President Joe Biden as he re- The Border Patrol encoun- people for more than three days to send his son alone for a second blankets. verses many of his predeces- tered 18,663 unaccompanied but often do. It’s left the govern- attempt after learning unaccom- CBP must transfer unaccom- sor’s hardline immigration tac- children in March, well above ment scrambling to find space panied children can stay in the panied children within 72 hours tics. previous highs of 11,475 in May and hire staff to care for chil- U.S. Ak, 40, said he would return to the U.S. Department of Health A complex mix of factors in 2019 and 10,620 in June 2014. dren longer term until they can to family in Guatemala after and Human Services, whose fa- the United States and Central The agency started publishing be placed with sponsors. selling his house to pay smug- cilities are more suited to long- America drove the increase. It the numbers in 2009. Before For many, a hurricane that hit glers. The plan was for his oldest er-term care while arrange- has coincided with the Biden ad- then, adults made up the vast Central America in November son to live with relatives in the ments are made to release them. ministration’s decision to ex- majority of those crossing the added urgency to endemic pov- U.S. More than 2,000 children were empt unaccompanied children border. erty and violence that have led “I didn’t want to leave him held longer than that at the Don- from pandemic-related powers March’s count was roughly people to flee for decades. alone,” Ak said last week in the na facility one day last week, to immediately expel most peo- double those encountered by the Changes in U.S. policy under Bi- Mexican border city of Reynosa. with 39 there at least 15 days. Friday, April 9, 2021 • STARS AND STRIPES • PAGE 11 WORLD Northern Ireland calls for calm after violence

Associated Press Wednesday night in both direc- other.” year has disturbed the political on the violence. BELFAST, Northern Ireland — tions over a concrete “peace He said a total of 55 police offi- balance in Northern Ireland, Johnson appealed for calm, Young people set a hijacked bus wall” that separates Protestant, cers have been injured over sev- where some people identify as saying “the way to resolve differ- on fire and hurled gasoline British loyalist and Catholic, eral nights of disorder. British and want to stay part of ences is through dialogue, not vi- bombs at police in Belfast in at Irish nationalist neighborhoods. The recent violence, largely in the U.K., while others see them- olence or criminality.” Northern least the fourth night of serious Police Service of Northern Ire- loyalist, Protestant areas, has selves as Irish and seek unity Ireland First Minister Arlene violence in a week in Northern land Assistant Chief Constable flared amid rising tensions over with the neighboring Republic of Foster, of the pro-British Demo- Ireland, where Britain’s exit Jonathan Roberts said several post-Brexit trade rules for North- Ireland, which is an EU member. cratic Unionist Party, and Depu- from the European Union has un- hundred people gathered on both ern Ireland and worsening rela- U.K. Prime Minister Boris ty First Minister Michelle settled an uneasy political bal- sides of a gate in the wall, where tions between the parties in the Johnson condemned the unrest, O’Neill, of Irish nationalist party ance. “crowds ... were committing seri- Protestant-Catholic power-shar- and Northern Ireland’s Belfast- Sinn Fein, both condemned the People also lobbed bricks, fire- ous criminal offenses, both at- ing Belfast government. Britain’s based government was holding disorder and the attacks on po- works and gasoline bombs tacking police and attacking each economic split from the EU last an emergency meeting Thursday lice. Bad rains bring hope in Africa locust surge

Associated Press The deployment of soldiers against the locusts, though farm- BARAKA, Kenya — In a con- among the usual agriculture offi- ers still worry about their crops. voy of pickup trucks fitted with cials is a testament to the serious- Without rainfall, the swarms spray guns, soldiers zoom ness of the threat as East Africa’s will not breed, severely limiting through Baraka’s hills leaving a locust outbreak continues well in- the scale and extent of their trail of dust and bemused villag- to a second year. The young lo- threat, the United Nations’ Food ers in its wake. custs arrive in waves from breed- and Agriculture Organization The vehicles brake when the ing grounds in Somalia, where in- says in a recent update. soldiers see the enemy: billions of security hampers the response. “For this reason, there is cau- invading desert locusts that have It’s the beginning of the plant- tious optimism that the current landed in a twitching swarm ing season in Kenya, but the de- upsurge is winding down in the BRIAN INGANGA/AP where a forested area meets layed rains have brought a small Horn of Africa, especially if poor Stephen Mudoga, 12, the son of a farmer, chases away a swarm of farmland. amount of optimism in the fight rains limit breeding this spring.” locusts, at Elburgon, in Nakuru county, Kenya, on Wednesday. PAGE 12 • STARS AND STRIPES • Friday, April 9, 2021 Friday, April 9, 2021 • STARS AND STRIPES • PAGE 13 Hunter Biden’s WEEKEND ‘Beautiful Things’ Page 27

Monster Hunter ON THE RISE

Latest addition to wildly popular franchise gives Switch an imaginative, original title that’s an early contender for best game of 2021

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Capcom photos

Travel, Food — 19-26 Music — 28-29 Movies — 30-31 Health — 32 Crossword — 34 PAGE 14 • STARS AND STRIPES • Friday, April 9, 2021 WEEKEND: GADGETS & TECHNOLOGY Going all out for virtual church Oklahoma woman dresses to the nines; delights with selfies of stylish Sunday attire

BY CATHY FREE March 29 due to the coronavirus threat, The Washington Post Wimberly said she couldn’t imagine wear- t’s been more than a year now that ing her bathrobe and slippers while tuning churchgoers have been watching in from her living room, even if she was by virtual streaming Sunday services on herself. Itheir cellphones and computers “I thought, ‘Oh, my goodness, I can’t sit during the pandemic. Many have made a here looking slouchy in my robe,’” she said. habit of tuning in while wearing cozy “I didn’t want to sit around alone and feel sweatpants or pajamas. sorry for myself, so I decided, ‘You know Then there’s La Verne Ford Wimberly of what? I’m going to dress up anyway.’” Tulsa, Okla. Wimberly got up early to style her hair The 82-year-old retired educator decks and put on some lipstick, then she slipped herself out head to toe every Sunday, then into a favorite white dress trimmed with — to the delight of fellow parishioners at eyelet, a sheer white ruffled hat, matching Metropolitan Baptist Church — posts a shoes and a beaded turquoise and gold selfie on Facebook after the service. necklace. Since March 29, 2020, she has taken After she posted the photo and a Bible photos of herself from her living room in 53 scripture for her friends, she was inun- different color-coordinated outfits — each dated with positive responses, she said. one carefully selected from the burgeoning “For years, everyone had known to look closets, jewelry boxes and neatly stacked for me in the last row, section two, dressed hat boxes that have satisfied her love of to the nines,” Wimberly said. “People al- making a grand entrance since she was a ways looked forward to seeing what I was young schoolteacher in the 1960s. wearing. So when I posted that photo, ev- “She never skips a beat with the hats, the eryone told me it boosted their spirits.” clothes and all that beautiful jewelry,” said The following Sunday, she decided to do Robin Watkins, 54, the church’s executive it again, this time selecting a bright blue office assistant. ensemble with silver and white jewelry. “If anyone is feeling downtrodden, they And the week after that, Wimberly chose a just look at her [Facebook] page and imme- pink skirt and beaded sweater jacket and a diately feel uplifted,” she said. “Her heart matching hat decorated with pink and is as beautiful as each outfit she has shared yellow lilies. with us.” She soon decided to write down what she She was already known at her church for wore each week on a calendar so that she the head-turning outfits she wore every wouldn’t commit the faux pas of wearing Sunday, so when the pandemic hit last year the same outfit twice. and in-person services were canceled, “It’s safe to say that 50 is a good number Wimberly decided to up her game. for the hats,” she confessed. “But the LA VERNE FORD WIMBERLY/The Washington Post “In the 20 years I’ve been going to clothes? I’d better not go there. Let’s just One of La Verne Ford Wimberly’s impeccably coordinated outfits that have wowed fellow church there, I’ve always had my little say I’m now refusing to look at any cata- parishioners at Metropolitan Baptist Church. routine that I learned from my mother as a logues.” girl,” she said. “I’d pick out a nice outfit Her pastor, Ray Owens, said he’s not at look forward to the day she again graces Of course, she’ll then face a dilemma. and hat and lay it out the night before, so all surprised that Wimberly’s vogue outfits our church sanctuary with her impeccable “What will I wear? That will be deter- that I could be prepared and look presenta- are a hit. style.” mined by the season and the weather,” said ble.” “Dr. Wimberly’s impressive hat collec- Wimberly is hopeful that she’ll be back Wimberly. “Maybe something purple with When she learned last year that Metro- tion is merely an outer expression of her in her pew by late spring or early summer, black and white. You can’t go wrong politan’s service would be streamed on inner wisdom, wit and grace,” he said. “We she said. there.”

tional bike locks, stores up to 10 Having the latest and greatest GADGETS fingerprints and programs in a computer can often be negated similar manner to the sport lock. by not having the correct acces- To use it, the U-Shaped portion sories. Just like all computer Fingerprint padlock slides off; find a good spot to lock cables are not the same, USB-C it upon and slide the base back hubs are popping up daily and up. they are not all the same just provides extra security It’s constructed with a matte because they fit the cables or black finish and a IP-65 weather- accessories needed. BY GREGG ELLMAN fully charged, it should last for 6 resistant rating. It features a The hub features a power Tribune News Service months of use before it needs pick- and drill-resistant cylinder delivery USB-C pass-through We all forget passwords, com- another power boost. and a bolt cutter-resistant, cov- connection, critical to powering binations and even misplace our After charging is complete, the ered hardened steel shackle. A many of today’s newer laptops keys. With new portable locks instructions are simple for pro- rechargeable lithium battery while other devices can also be from BenjiLock, a combination, gramming. Hold a finger on the lasts for about 6 months after a connected to the hub. password, or key is not needed. sensor, wait for flashing lights, USB charge. An HDMI port supports both Instead, all you need is a finger- and then you’re programmed. Note: If you’re not ready to 4K @ 60 Hz and high dynamic print. Now the lock is ready to secure a HAMPTON/TNS give up on the key, the BenjiLock The BenjiLock By Hampton cabinet, school or gym locker, or The BenjiLock By Hampton bike lock also opens with a key range connections, an SD and Fingerprint Sport Lock is a slim, just hang it on a backpack so it’s Fingerprint Sport Lock can store (two identical keys are included). micro-SD memory card slots, a multi-purpose padlock. Up to 10 ready for its next use. For that up to 10 fingerprints. Online: buyhampton.com; $79 pair of USB 3.1 ports and a fingerprints can be stored for matter, keep it stored on a back- USB-C port. sharing access to the lock. pack to keep compartments Another keyless lock solution Moshi’s new Symbus Mini The Symbus Mini is Thunder- Setup is simple, but first it locked up. for cyclists is the new BenjiLock 7-in-1 portable USB-C hub not bolt 3 compatible and does not must be charged with the in- The Fingerprint Sport Lock By Hampton Fingerprint Bike only has all the connections need any drivers; it’s all plug and cluded micro USB cable. Once sells for $29.99, and is available Lock. The 8-inch U-shaped de- needed, but is also built with the play. the internal lithium battery is in black, red and white. vice, which looks like other tradi- latest technology. Online: moshi.com; $99.99 Friday, April 9, 2021 • STARS AND STRIPES • PAGE 15 WEEKEND: VIDEO GAMES

Monster upgrade for Nintendo Switch Monster Hunter Rise a whimsical, customizable addition to series

BY GENE PARK customizable? Jack has an orange coat and stripes, just The Washington Post like my real cat. Even when playing this game by myself, can hardly believe a game this large, that runs this I still cheer when Jack comes in to knock me safely away smoothly, exists on the Nintendo Switch. from a monster’s attack, or when Lincoln leaps onto a The Switch is easily the weakest console on the creature’s back to rip at its jugular. Imarket today. You won’t see ray-tracing effects or Animation has been a key part of the game’s mechan- smooth framerates. The handheld hybrid has been host to ics, as attack windups inform your own next move. Since some remarkable ports of complicated titles, most notably Rise is moving toward more fantasy, the team seemed to in the Doom series. But when it comes to original titles, have more fun creating wild, imaginative attacks. One it’s been less of a technical showcase. midgame monster is a dragon-monkey hybrid. Seems like Capcom photos Monster Hunter Rise is an original, made-for-Switch a simple enough concept, until you remember that being Monster hunting is pretty much the entirety of Monster Capcom title that shatters expectations of what to expect. half monkey means this dragon has a prehensile tail, and Hunter Rise, and it’s more than enough to make it a For all intents and purposes, it’s an even bigger experi- will swing and stand on it as a monkey would. It’s shock- worthwhile Nintendo Switch title. The game includes ence than Monster Hunter World on PC and other con- ing, observing how these creatures move. imaginative and logical touches, such as the shell and soles. This is grand news for any hunters who joined the Online, the game holds up well, at least when the serv- armor for the flagship monster Magnamalo, above, which bandwagon with World, currently Capcom’s best-selling ers were live for the review period. I was shocked at the are inspired by traditional samurai armor. title of all time, bigger than its Resident Evil or Street absence of Nintendo’s famously shoddy Switch online Fighter series. experience in my Rise sessions. We had four players, all There’s nary a negative to mention. Anything “wrong” This is achieved through Capcom lowering texture armed with our own dogs, with special effects exploding with the game comes down to pure preference. The details and environmental asset fidelity for much of the everywhere around us, and the game’s performance nev- game’s grind will never end, and if the promise of stron- hunting grounds, which seem to be larger than any found er took a hit. ger and cooler-looking outfits and weapons doesn’t in- in Monster Hunter World. But the game retains much of When it comes to the gameplay loop, there’s little to trigue you, this game might not be for you. Like others in the luxurious animation work and streamlined action that differentiate it from Monster Hunter World, and that’s the series, it’s light on story and lore. Monster Hunter is elevated the series beyond its niche core audience. Also, actually a remarkable thing. World was a massive up- simply a series of reasons for you to hunt monsters. you get a customizable dog that you can ride, along with grade for the once-niche series, streamlining its action The loot is the motivation, and fortunately, this is prob- the series-standard cat warriors called Palico. while making it look prettier than ever. That Rise manag- ably the most tightly balanced loot grind in gaming today. It helps that the art style leans further into high fantasy es to match this almost one to one is in and of itself a It’s a masterfully balanced system that ensures that any Japanese mythos, utilizing Capcom’s RE Engine that has remarkable feat. It’s also not a knock that Rise takes after hike through the game’s several massive hunting grounds powered the company’s recent successes in Resident Evil World so much. After all, the Monster Hunter series is is fruitful, whether it’s grabbing ore for your weapons, or and Devil May Cry. Gone are the saturated, filmic filters one of those giant mega-franchises (more than 64 million getting extra skins and tails for other items. Each monster and gritty textures of World. Instead, whimsy rules the sold worldwide) that reiterates the formula with small has its own strengths and weaknesses, and their parts can day, even when it comes to the game’s chimerical mon- updates because people already love the core loop. be crafted into armor and weapons you wield against ster designs. There’s less fur, but everything moves as The new “rampage” game mode is such a simple addi- monsters of other strengths and weaknesses. beautifully as it ever did. tion, it’s shocking how far the series has gone without it. This year is looking pretty dry for big title releases. The I never even noticed the graphical downgrade, because It’s so good, too, that it’s hard to imagine future entries Nintendo Switch in particular has had a bit of a dry spell, I was too busy marveling in awe at the fact I was running without it. Simply put, it’s a tower defense game throwing but Rise comes in like a kaiju out of the tide. This is prob- through a beautifully lit bamboo forest on my wolf Lin- squads of large monsters at four players. Around each ably the best Monster Hunter game to date, and an easy, coln (named after my sister’s dog) like I was Princess arena, you can place traps, ballistae and summon special early contender for 2021’s best game. Mononoke on the hunt, while my cat, spellsword warrior non-playable characters to assist you. These fights are Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PC Jack, followed behind. Did I mention the two pets are frantic, short, loud and, of course, highly rewarding. Online: monsterhunter.com/rise PAGE 16 • STARS AND STRIPES • Friday, April 9, 2021 WEEKEND: TELEVISION

Cristin Milioti in “Made for Love” Searching HBO Max for hits? New TV shows are plentiful this spring, but some aren’t worth your couch potato time

BY KATE FELDMAN New York Daily News Caught up on all your winter binge watching yet? Because spring is here, and it’s brought a whole new collection of shows. TRY Elliot Stabler is back, and so is Ja- mie Foxx. John Stamos coaches bas- ‘United States of Al’ Now airing stateside, CBS ketball. Kate Winslet solves mur- Chuck Lorre has taken over an entire night at CBS with ders. There’s Star Wars and Marvel “Young Sheldon,” “B Positive,” “Mom” and now “United States of Al.” “Enlisted” alum Parker Young plays a Ma- for all the fanatics in your life. rine veteran still adjusting to his old life, a task made Here are some shows to watch, more complicated when his translator from Afghanistan some to try and some to skip entire- moves in. ly, based on summaries and trailers. ‘Chad’ Now airing stateside, TBS Former “Saturday Night Live” cast member Nasim Pe- WATCH drad plays a 14-year-old Iranian boy in what could either be hilarious or cringeworthy. Where Pedrad’s sense of ‘Made for Love’ Netflix humor falls on that line (she also created and writes the Now on HBO Max Kyla­Drew, left, and Jamie Foxx star in “Dad Stop show) will determine how many votes Chad gets for “Made for Love,” based on Alissa Nutting’s 2017 novel of Embarrassing Me!” homecoming king. the same name, is one of those rare, special gifts we get ‘Home Economics’ every few years: a TV show that just goes all out with uncle Paul, which was also adapted into a movie starring reckless abandon. Early descriptions include an evil Sil- Harrison Ford and the late River Phoenix. Now airing stateside, ABC icon Valley tech genius (Billy Magnussen) who definitely Topher Grace returns to network comedy for the first isn’t Elon Musk, his runaway wife (Cristin Milioti), an ‘Star Wars: The Bad Batch’ time since “That ’70s Show” as the middle-class, middle implanted brain chip, Ray Romano’s sex doll and a dol- May 4, Disney+ sibling caught between his wealthy brother (Jimmy Ta- phin. Yes, more Star Wars. There’s always more Star Wars. tro) and his financially struggling sister (Caitlin McGee). This one is animated and has Ming-Na Wen reprising her ‘Cruel Summer’ ‘Law & Order: Organized Crime’ “Mandalorian” role of Fennec Shand. The show, about April 20, 9 p.m., Freeform Fridays on AFN-Prime elite clones after the clone wars, debuts on “Star Wars Multiple timelines is the trend of the year, between “This There’s no reason to pretend that a “Law & Order” spi- Day.” Is Us” and “Firefly Lane,” and now this teen thriller. This noff is going to win any Emmys, and it’s almost certainly ‘Underground Railroad’ one’s a little simpler, only flitting between three consec- not equipped to handle conversations about policing that utive years to follow two girls, the nerdy wannabe (Chiara we need to be having, but Christopher Meloni’s Elliot May 14, Amazon Aurelia) and the most popular girl in school (Olivia Holt), Stabler is back, and that’s all that matters. Barry Jenkins’ long-awaited adaptation of the Pulitzer and what happens when the latter goes missing. Prize-winning novel “Underground Railroad” is finally ‘Dad Stop Embarrassing Me!’ ready for streaming in what’s expected to be one of the ‘Housebroken’ April 14, Netflix best shows of the year. It follows the journey of Cora May 31 stateside, Fox Oscar winner Jamie Foxx, returning to television after (Thuso Mbedu), after her escape from a Georgia planta- Fox continues to ramp up its animated library, this time “In Living Color” and “The Jamie Foxx Show,” stars in tion. With a slave hunter hot on her heels, she learns the with some animals in therapy, voiced by Tony Hale, Lisa the father-daughter comedy, inspired by his relationship Underground Railroad is a real labyrinth of tunnel and Kudrow and Will Forte. The star power is a plus, but the with his own daughter, who serves as a producer in case track with a full staff. premise is a minus. the writers need any dirt. ‘Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K.’ AVOID ‘Mare of Easttown’ May 21, Hulu ‘Big Shot’ (Disney+): Coaching a girls’ basketball team is April 18, HBO; April 24, AFN-Spectrum This stop-motion adult supervillain comedy stars Patton not a punishment and appears to be the point of David E. This limited series stars Kate Winslet as a small-town Oswalt as a floating robotic head from New Jersey. "Dex- Kelley’s new show, which stars John Stamos as a dis- Pennsylvania detective investigating a murder and trying ter" alum Aimee Garcia, "Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s" Melissa graced NCAA coach who takes his anger management to keep her life together. As with any good murder mys- Fumero, and "Reno 911’s" Wendi McLendon-Covey round issues to an all-girls high school. tery, there’s a bad mom, this time played by Jean Smart. out that cast. ‘Shadow and Bone’ (Netflix): Fantasy shows are growing more popular as we all look for an escape, but few seem ‘The Mosquito Coast’ ‘Loki’ as fantastical as this. Based on the worldwide best-selling April 30, Apple TV+ June 11, Disney+ Grishaverse novels about an elite army of magical sol- We’d follow Justin Theroux and Melissa George any- “Loki” looks like your traditional superhero show with the diers, learning a whole new world and its creatures is an where, even if it’s to Mexico while Theroux’s Allie Fox, god of mischief himself (Tom Hiddleston) facing off exhausting undertaking unless you’re already a fan. described as a “radical idealist and brilliant inventor,” is against the Time Variance Authority. If that means noth- ‘Jupiter’s Legacy’ (Netflix): We’re at a superhero sat- on the run from the U.S. government. The series is based ing to you, you have 20 movies and half a dozen shows to uration point. It’s tiring to consider another one right now, on the 1981 novel of the same name, written by Theroux’s catch up on. even with a cast of Josh Duhamel and Leslie Bibb. Friday, April 9, 2021 • STARS AND STRIPES • PAGE 17 WEEKEND: TELEVISION

‘Nevers’ is HBO’s next great period fantasy series BY LORRAINE ALI Los Angeles Times Premiering Sunday, “The Nevers” ably continues HBO’s tradition of making fantasy and sci-fi a prestigious television pursuit, this time in the splendor and grit of 1899 London. Split into two parts consisting of six and four episodes apiece due to production delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic (the second installment’s premiere date has yet to be announced), “The Nevers” is a joy to watch and a thrill to follow. Super- natural realism, complex story- telling, fantastical powers and topical realities meet in this smart, suspenseful and colorful production. A litany of nuanced characters keep this otherworld- ly tale grounded. Suspenseful Netflix sleuthing and action-packed Jojo Macari, Thaddea Graham, Darci Shaw and Harrison Osterfield are four of the stars of Netflix’s “The Irregulars,” which features an battles move the story along at a assortment of London ruffians occasionally asked by Sherlock Holmes to help him solve mysteries. rapid clip. And all the lush scen- ery and ambitious wardrobe along the way — from London’s sewers to its high society — are a visual candy shop of period nos- talgia. Nothing without each other The city is abustle, still reeling from an inexplicable event three years earlier that imbued a por- Street kids assist Watson, Holmes with investigations of the supernatural in Netflix’s ‘Irregulars’ tion of the female population, and BY ROBERT LLOYD sured into taking him for a ride through the thing less dark and violent. Things get intense a handful of men, with para- Los Angeles Times city, he falls in love and takes the first opportu- on a regular basis. normal abilities. “The Touched,” he Baker Street Irregulars, a gang of nity to sneak back to her world. With some As is not uncommon in such stories, the as they’re so delicately called, street kids “as sharp as needles” who comic difficulty, he searches for and attaches younger generation must guard against the inspire some curiosity and plenty appeared occasionally in the adven- himself to the crew; though he does not reveal older: evil, incompetent or unfortunate adults, of fear among their fellow citi- Ttures of Sherlock Holmes to help the his royal identity, he does call them “chaps” unbalanced by their own unresolved business zens, and a campaign to rid En- master detective in his work — they “go every- and will disappear back to the palace like and skewed views. This includes the grown-up gland of this “feminine plague” is where and hear everything” — have been Cinderella in reverse. good guys. Watson is in a perpetual state of building steam. rebooted into Netflix’s “The Irregulars,” a In a more sinister manner, they are also stiff-necked choler tinged with snobbery — “I Women’s power, and the fear winning young-adult detective series that puts being stalked by Dr. Watson (Royce Pierre- am better educated, more wealthy and stron- of it, propels “The Nevers.” Divi- a supernatural spin on the SHU (the Sherlock son), who finally makes himself known to Bea ger than you are,” he tells Bea, who is un- sive politicians have declared the Holmes Universe, that is). — “No need to be afraid,” he says unconvinc- moved. And Sherlock (Henry Lloyd-Hughes, Touched a direct threat against Things are getting nasty in Victorian London ingly, “I’m a doctor” — with an offer of work, “The English Game”), when we finally meet the empire. No one appears to — nastier than usual. A darkness is creeping helping on a case: “We are reputable men and him, is a mess on many levels. (Lloyd-Hughes know who or what is behind the in. People are getting “powers.” It’s like a as such don’t have access to the less reputable does bring out the humor in him.) Supporting mysterious phenomenon of 1896, 19th-century “Stranger Things.” parts of London.” Babies are being stolen. He characters Inspector Lestrade (Aidan McAr- when “not one man of stature” Going about their business are our heroes: mentions but does not name his partner. The dle), landlady Mrs. Hudson (Denise Black) was afflicted, as Lord Massen Bea (Thaddea Graham), a natural leader; kids need the money, and we’re off. and Mycroft Holmes (Jonjo O’Neill) all appear (Pip Torrens) says to his govern- Jessie (Darci Shaw), her sensitive half-sister, Created by Tom Bidwell (“My Mad Fat in mostly less pleasant twists on their literary mental cohorts. “That’s the geni- who is thought to be ill but is only (it will soon Diary,” “Watership Down”), the eight-part originals; they have their secrets, their agen- us of it: They came at us through be understood) psychic; Billy (Jojo Macari), series is both episodic and serial as the big das and their secret agendas. “The Irregulars” our women ... The heart of our serious and scarred; and Spike (McKell Da- mystery is teased out through individual, inde- is handsomely mounted and well played all empire brought to a shuddering vid), cheeky and cheerful, the Artful Dodger of pendently solved mysteries. (Many have to do around, but appropriately it’s the younger halt by the caprice and ambitions the crew. Having been through a mill or two with stealing things: various body parts, identi- players — not as young as their characters of those for whom ambition was already — most are veterans of the workhouse ties, those babies.) The titles are represented necessarily — who raise the series into some- never meant.” Watching women — they are hard to rattle, yet not so brave as to as “chapters” for literary gravitas and continu- thing out of the ordinary. seize equal power, and the patri- make their daring dramatically meaningless. ity, though the series isn’t immune to silliness Ultimately, the monster movie means less archy panic over such abrupt They have set up subsistence housekeeping in or senselessness, albeit the silliness is at times than the human drama the tribe is living: its change, is entertaining. a roomy expanse of a London cellar in a noisy intentional and the senselessness goes with the alliances and affections, understandings and “The Nevers” is for anyone lower-class neighborhood ahistorically over- territory. The narrative, in its long and short misunderstandings and reconciliations, its who loved “Penny Dreadful” or looked by the famous Baker Street. arcs, is perfectly fine if overly baroque at times coming of age by coming to terms with what- “Harlots,” “WandaVision” or Into their circle comes Leo (Harrison Oster- and overly predictable at others. ever outside forces, natural or unnatural, that “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” This field), a poor little rich boy who also happens to It’s a young-adult show — for young adults would seek to exploit, subject or destroy it. period drama about the persecu- be Prince Leopold, the historical son of Queen of all ages — which is to say there is salty lan- And it handles that very well. The show is full tion — and power — of the mar- Victoria — you can literally not get much more guage and some sexual material (though only a of feeling — its subject, stated explicitly and ginalized goes wide on genre Victorian. As a hemophiliac, Leo has been smidgen of sex) and modern pop music on the often, is family and friends and the people who appeal, while homing in on pain- confined to the palace his whole life — even soundtrack. have your back: your Scooby Gang, your Bow- fully contemporary themes. And the lawn seems to be off limits, as he gazes “The city is a hard place, sir, it’s not for those ery Boys, your indivisible team. it’s full of riddles designed to down longingly at other boys playing cricket of a … delicate constitution,” Leo’s minder “That’s the thing about us,” one of them keep us hooked. and girls adjusting their garters. Having had a warns him, and as much may be said of the says. “When one of us is missing, we’re crap.” “The Nevers” is available glimpse of Bea at her most formidable, dress- series itself. Sensitive viewers (or parents of “The Irregulars” is now streaming on Net- Sunday on HBO and HBO Max. ing down the royal minder that he has pres- sensitive viewers) may want to click to some- flix. PAGE 18 • STARS AND STRIPES • Friday, April 9, 2021 WEEKEND: TELEVISION

PBS Carol Causieestko is transformed by makeup artists into a version of herself 30 years older on the documentary “Fast­Forward: Look Into Your Future.” Older and wiser

PBS Documentary accompanies millennials, their parents as Abe Barrientos helps his son Leo, who is wearing the AGNES (Age Gain Now Empathy System) suit, on the documentary “Fast­Forward: Look Into Your Future.” The suit is they experience the simulated effects of aging 30 years produced by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s AgeLab.

BY TARA BAHRAMPOUR Michael Hurtig: I first saw the aging suit Even putting the suit on takes time — through a lengthy process of identifying the The Washington Post in a news clip about the MIT AgeLab. The about 10 minutes — and true to the experi- look and style of makeup that might work magine your body 30 years in the suit manages to transport the user via so ences of those in the film, it has a compound best, including the prosthetics to be used future. What will stop working? What many touch points. It is all-consuming for effect. “Ankle weights, sure no big deal! A and the age that we were going for. The goal will hurt? Will you still be able to the person wearing it. And it’s also pretty neck brace, ok, wait, I can’t quite look at you here was to go for realism, not to shock Ithrow a ball or lift a child or salsa crazy-looking and fun to watch. without turning my head and my shoulders participants or create some alternate ver- dance? Will you still look like yourself? Will I have seen my family growing older and …” I was definitely a cliche younger subject sion of themselves. you feel like yourself? my parents, who are in their 70s, facing in the suit — once it was ready, I immedi- But this is such an extreme jump through “Fast-Forward,” an hourlong documen- new challenges and decisions about how ately swung my arms around and tried to time — as cast member Susan Woodruff tary that premiered on PBS on March 24, they want to age. So I really am similar to move as freely as possible — and honestly, I says at the end of the film — it’s hard to seeks to answer those questions by using these millennial-parent combinations that couldn’t wait to get it off. But it truly does jump that fast. There is something fascinat- technology produced by the Massachusetts we see in the film. give a sense of empathy for the experience ing about the statement that most people Institute of Technology’s AgeLab. The As a filmmaker who is a big fan of time of those older than the user. will make about time passing, “I blinked film’s subjects, four middle-aged people travel narratives, I often try to imagine I was in filmmaker mode, so I immediate- and 50 years had gone by” — and what is and their four adult children, hailing from future trajectories and scenarios. What will ly started dreaming up scenarios that we going through our minds in that moment? It different parts of the United States, are life be like in the future? Younger people’s could put people in. Given that I wanted to is that quite uncanny feeling — because introduced to their future selves. attitudes about aging and life at an older take it off so suddenly, a first thought was: what they’re seeing can’t possibly be proc- They strap on the AgeLab’s AGNES (Age age is a perspective that isn’t often ex- What if we kept someone in the suit for a essed by their mind as reality. Part of the Gain Now Empathy System) suit, which plored, and maybe there is something to few hours? Could we do it for a day? None of journey of the film is to explore the idea employs bungee cords, goggles, gloves and gain from this type of shared experience. the participants ended up wearing it for that there is a continuity there between our special footwear to help restrict wearers’ We wanted to create something that longer than a couple of hours. I’m not sure younger and older selves, and that we don’t movement and vision and simulate the would help younger viewers realize that they would have spoken to me again if I’d become some other, distinct person. physical limitations of old age. They allow they, too, would one day get older, and stop had them in it for a full day! Visual aging apps have recently made makeup and prosthetics experts to artifi- thinking about their future identities as I also learned that the suit is very ex- waves with the general public, and it’s a fun cially age their faces 30 years into the fu- something completely different from them- treme. It’s not fully akin to the experience tool to see a mock-up of yourself in the ture. They visit with academic, medical and selves. For obvious reasons, younger people of people as they grow old, because we future. But after filming “Fast-Forward,” I aging professionals to start planning for the aren’t usually the focus of documentaries adjust along the way, so in that sense the can say that there’s nothing quite as power- future. The idea is to give them a sense of on this subject — what do they know about aging suit doesn’t simulate the full experi- ful for people as seeing yourself in the mir- empathy for both older people in general it? I’m in my late 30s, and I really wanted to ence of being an older adult; instead, it does ror, aged 30 years into the future. and for the older versions of themselves yet see whether it was even possible to truly see the job of spurring the user into thinking What do you hope viewers will learn from to be. into our futures with any substance. about it. the film? Director and producer Michael Eric Did you try on the AGNES aging suit? The film’s subjects often get weepy We’re all searching for connection using Hurtig, a filmmaker in New York, chatted What responses and reactions did it spark when they look in the mirror and see their so many different types of technologies, but with The Washington Post about why he in you? faces 30 years older. Why is this such a there is something in AGNES that captures made the film and what he learned. His I have tried the suit. During our research deep emotional moment? the participant’s imagination in a powerful answers have been edited for brevity and for the production, we took a trip to the The visual aging in the film was created way. It helps to challenge participants in the clarity. AgeLab and took it for a spin. That’s when I through our collaborations with talented moment and consider how they might ap- The Washington Post: As a person in came to understand what a transformative makeup artists around the country, as well proach a situation differently than they’d your 30s, what put this idea on your radar? experience of aging it creates. as forensic aging specialists. We went previously thought. Friday, April 9, 2021 • STARS AND STRIPES • PAGE 19 WEEKEND: TRAVEL Masked-up, socially-distant bright side

Disney World guests Cinderella’s Castle happier at parks during gets a makeover pandemic, CEO says BY DEWAYNE BEVIL BY GABRIELLE RUSSON Orlando Sentinel Orlando Sentinel It takes more than a “bibbidi- isney CEO Bob Chapek made bobbidi-boo” to get Cinderella Castle some bold statements. all gussied up for Walt Disney People are happier at Disney World’s 50th anniversary celebra- DWorld parks now — during a tion. The centerpiece of Magic King- time when visitors must wear masks and dom theme park is getting blinged can’t get the full experience — than before out for the occasion, and that re- the pandemic, the company’s leader said. quires cranes, a drained moat, hurri- “Our guest satisfaction scores since cane-proof accessories and sched- we’ve reopened across the world have uling challenges. shown that, indeed, our guests are even Put them together and what have more satisfied than they were prior to the you got? A renovation project for pandemic,” Chapek said during March 17 Elaine Schomburg-LaFleur, a senior interview with Bloomberg. project manager at Disney World. Certainly no one, including Chapek, She coordinates the fabrication and would ever wish for a pandemic that has installation of 113 regal pieces that killed more than half a million Americans, OLGA THOMPSON/TNS will be attached to the castle during including 33,000 Floridians. But Chapek A guest stops to take a selfie at Magic Kingdom Park in July 2020 at Walt Disney World the next few weeks. said the pandemic has given Disney a Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., on the first day of the theme park’s phased reopening. “I have a schedule for everything. chance to make decisions previously con- I do not go a day without a plan,” sidered nearly “impossible,” such as elim- ated. The pressure is gone. If it rains, they on the ground as a permanent way to space Schomburg-LaFleur said. inating the annual pass program at Cali- can switch plans. If they’re tired, they can everyone out. There are already a lot of moving fornia’s Disneyland and retooling the guest sleep in. What could stick around long-term, parts to the castle involving multiple experience at the parks. “The ability to just kind of let the day Kubersky speculates, is the theme park Disney departments. Inside, Cinde- “Our teams here have been hard at take you where it takes you has been re- reservation system that everyone from rella’s Royal Table restaurant serves work, making sure that when we ree- freshing in the couple of trips we’ve made resort guests to annual passholders must lunch and dinner. Disney’s enter- merge, that we’re going to do so in a way down there because you don’t have to have make in advance to get into a specific park tainment team uses the castle’s stage that’s actually going to improve the guest everything pre-planned down to the min- on a particular day. and its walls for productions. Plus, experience even versus a pre-pandemic ute months ahead of your trip,” said For- For Disney, the reservation system was park visitors stroll through the mid- situation,” Chapek said in a recent in- cum, an annual passholder from Mas- rolled out to tightly control its capacity dle of the building and use it as a terview focused on Disneyland’s reopen- sachusetts who works in sales and market- during the pandemic, but Kubersky says backdrop for coveted vacation pho- ing at the end of this month. ing. Disney benefits from getting more precise tographs. Much at Disney World is still not nor- Orlando theme parks writer Seth Kuber- numbers of who is coming every day so it “Our big thing was to try to plan mal. You can’t hug Mickey Mouse or Elsa sky is rooting for the FastPasses to go by can deploy employees more efficiently and this so guests will have wonderful up close. The night sky is dark with no the wayside, too. set park hours accordingly. photos,” Schomburg-LaFleur said. fireworks that might draw a big crowd. Not “Most of all, it creates this FOMO (fear Disney World allows reservations to be “We want to be part of the magic but all the hotels, restaurants and perform- of missing out). This feeling that ‘I’ve got made as far in advance as mid-January not ruin the magic.” ances are back open, and beloved run- this Fastpass at two o’clock and if I miss it, 2023, although the company declined to Right now, pieces known as jabot Disney in-person races and ticketed holi- my day is ruined,’” said Kubersky, author comment on the future of the program. and swag are being mounted onto day parties have been paused, too. of “The Unofficial Guide to Universal Others applaud Disney for its health the walls. A jabot is one of the long, But many regular park-goers say they Orlando 2021.” “You know how often I’ve measures. hanging pieces of faux drapery; agree with Chapek that some things truly seen parents and children having break- Before the pandemic, Orlando nurse Iris swag is a horizontal piece, a bunting are better than before the pandemic at downs yelling at each other over a missed Lalli was already uncomfortable with of sorts. They are visually held to- Orlando’s parks. FastPass?” germs when she touched the ride safety gether with brooches and gold pins After Disney World reopened in July, At first glance, this new FastPass-less harness or the fingerprint scanner at the (the small ones with “50” on them). guests noticed technology improvements Disney World seems intimidating with a turnstiles. She immediately washed her “It’s such a beautiful touch,” that make it quicker to go through security line for Epcot’s Frozen Ever After stretch- hands. Schomburg-LaFleur said during a or order food and how Disney has reima- ing all the way through the China Pavilion. Lalli is impressed with all the mobile recent walk around Cinderella Cas- gined its live entertainment making it “It does feel different with not having hand-washing and hand sanitizer stations tle. more spontaneous and stress-free. FastPass,” said Alicia Stella, a theme park around the parks. She hopes they remain These sets eventually will go com- Many praised the mini parades spread writer who runs the Orlando ParkStop site. even after the coronavirus pandemic is pletely around the castle. They’re throughout the day so they no longer have “Even though the lines are socially distant, over. color-coordinated with the paint job to fight the crowds for a spot on Main and they’re out the door, and they look She likes the other contactless updates the castle received last year. The Street, U.S.A., to catch the full show of long, they move very fast.” that make going to the parks quicker and anniversary design was created by parades. You might see pop-up, unan- Between the parks limited to 35% capac- easier, such as the recent security change Walt Disney Imagineering. nounced appearances from Mickey Mouse ity and the spaced-out ride queues, some where she walks straight through the met- An upcoming part of the process and Winnie the Pooh roaming the parks at visitors say they don’t feel so claustrophob- al detector without a security guard dig- includes placement of 10 fiberglass a distance. ic. For Disney World, that is something ging through her bag. ribbons cascading around turrets Others rejoice over not having to book new. Through her Disney phone app, she and more bejeweled pieces for two FastPasses, which Disney has suspended People “don’t have to worry about some- orders off the menu and schedules her towers upfront. Finally, the large since July. When asked last week, a Disney one breathing down their neck. They don’t food pick-up without waiting in line. medallion that goes above the cas- World spokesperson declined to comment feel jammed in like sardines, and I think The existence of Disney World’s mobile tle’s balcony, according to Disney’s on when or if FastPasses will come back. that leads to a better experience,” Stella dining has been around since 2017, but it concept art, will cap off the look. Before, Steve Forcum’s wife, Amie, said, joking about getting space away from has soared in popularity during the pan- It’s not known how long the castle always set her alarm for 7 a.m. sharp 60 “that one person who forgot to wear de- demic and expanded to more quick-ser- will maintain this look, but the pro- days out before one of their many trips to odorant in Florida in the summer.” vice restaurants. ject is connected with the Disney Disney World. The race to get a FastPass That feeling won’t last forever. Expand- In early 2020, less than 10% of visitors World’s 50th anniversary festivities for a far-off vacation was on. ing capacity is tied to the country’s vaccine used it. Now, more than eight out of every — dubbed “the world’s most magical FastPass? “I hate it,” Steve Forcum said. rollout effort, Chapek has said. 10 visitors ordering food at the parks does celebration” — that begins Oct. 1 “I hate it with the heat of 10,000 suns.” Still, several said they hope Orlando’s it through mobile ordering, according to and is scheduled to last 18 months. Without FastPass, he said he felt liber- theme parks keep the ride queue markers Disney. PAGE 20 • STARS AND STRIPES • Friday, April 9, 2021 WEEKEND: TRAVEL Spanish problem: Donkey in the bell tower Here’s a reminder of the fun Arcos was retaken from the that awaits us in Europe at the Moors in the 13th century, the other end of this crisis. church was built — atop a mosque. ’m in the little hill town of In 1699, an earthquake cracked Arcos de la Frontera, just the church’s foundation. Today, south of Sevilla. Today, my arches reach over the narrow Igoal is to connect with the lane — added to culture of small-town Spain. prop the church Arcos smothers its hilltop, against neigh- tumbling down all sides like the boring buildings. train of a wedding dress. The Thanks to these labyrinthine old center is a pho- braces, the church tographer’s feast. I can feel the survived the big- breeze funnel through the nar- ger earthquake of row streets as drivers pull in car Rick 1755. All over mirrors to squeeze through. Steves town, similar arch- Residents brag that they only es support earth- see the backs of the birds as they quake-damaged structures. fly. To see what they mean, I Today, the town rumbles only climb to the viewpoint at the when the bulls run. Señor Gon- main square, high in the old zález Oca’s little barbershop is town. plastered with posters of bulls Bellying up to the railing, I running Pamplona-style through look down and ponder the fancy the streets of Arcos during Holy DOMINIC ARIZONA BONUCCELLI/Rick Steves’ Europe cliffside hotel’s erosion concerns, Week. Locals still remember an Arcos, Spain, sits at such a high elevation that locals claim they “see the backs of the birds as they fly.” orderly orange groves, flower- American from the nearby Navy filled greenhouses, fine views base at Rota, who was killed by a bringing his donkey up into the convent — which now houses the from the Rioja region. toward Morocco ... and the backs bull in 1994. tower. The donkey grew too big best restaurant in town, Restau- As I sip the wine, María asks of the birds as they fly. Walking on toward St. Peter’s, to get back out. Finally, the bell- rante El Convento. María More- how my visit is going. I tell her Exploring the town, I discover Arcos’ second church, I pass man had no choice but to kill the no Moreno, the proud owner, that the entire town is a mucho that a short walk from Arcos’ Roman columns stuck onto street donkey — and eat it. explains the menu. (Spanish cuerpo experience ... creating church of Santa María to the corners — protection from reck- The small square in front of children take the name of both memories that will be a treasur- church of San Pedro (St. Peter) is less donkey carts. St. Peter’s was, the church — about the only flat parents — who in María’s case ed souvenir. littered with subtle but fun until recently, home to a resident piece of pavement around — must have been distant cousins.) Rick Steves (www.ricksteves.com) writes Europe- glimpses into the town’s past. bellman who lived in the spire. serves as the old-town soccer As church bells clang, she pours an guidebooks, hosts travel shows on public TV and radio, and organizes European tours. You can The church of Santa María He was a basket maker and a field for neighborhood kids. me a glass of vino tinto con mu- email Rick at [email protected] and follow his faces the main square. After colorful character — famous for My town walk culminates at a cho cuerpo (full-bodied red wine) blog on Facebook. High-quality coffee part of the daily grind across Europe Ah, coffee! The beverage we depend on for our early- terei Kaiserslautern in Kaiserslautern; Schwarzmahler in morning boost has come a long way in recent years. Just Stuttgart; Beanery in Weiden; and The Friday Cupping as the craft beer movement elevated the art of brewing to Room and Dylan & Harper Kaffeerösterei in Wiesbaden. new levels and created a whole new class of drinker, so In Italy, where coffee culture is so ingrained, change too has coffee become the purview of artisanal producers has been slower to come. The country’s Slow Food move- and enthusiastic consumers. From Amsterdam to Zurich, ment, based on the principles that all should have access coffee culture has been picking up in a steady drip. to food that is healthy, sustainably grown and gives a fair According to specialty coffee publication and media shake to those who produce it, has many parallels to the company Perfect Daily Grind, our current ideas behind third wave coffee. Slow Food’s Presidia moment in the life and times of coffee brand project is a network of 16 roasters in Italy who consumption can be defined as the “Third work closely with coffee producers in Africa and Central Wave Coffee Movement.” The first wave America. Not only do they sell drinks; they serve consum- occurred in the 1960s with the exponential ers the story, identity and culture of the coffee in their growth of coffee consumption; the second cups. To learn who’s a member in the network online, see wave came when quality got a major boost slowfood.com/coffee-according-to-us. as companies such as Starbucks exploded iStock Just as seasoned wine connoisseurs enjoy a degusta- Karen on the scene and coffee came to be viewed Enjoying a leisurely coffee in a cafe is a treat that will likelytion, so too can the coffee-loving public benefit from guid- Bradbury as one of life’s little luxuries. The third be popular again once coronavirus restrictions are lifted. ed tasting sessions (post-COVID). Espresso Bar, a cafe in wave takes a critical look at every actor in Oslo, Norway, run by award-winning barista Tim Wen- the supply chain, from bean grower to barista to end the coffee grade include Amsterdam; Berlin; Copenh- delboe, offers its customers a tasting platter consisting of consumer. The emphasis has shifted toward concepts agen, Denmark; Florence, Italy; Lisbon, Portugal; Prague; up to eight coffees. The Mókuska Kaffeerösterei in Stutt- such as sustainability, lighter roast profiles, distinctive- Stockholm; and Vienna. Coffee culture-heavy cities that gart, Germany, also offers tastings, along with classes for ness in brews and innovative brew methods. Another might be less prominently on tourists’ itineraries include budding baristas. aspect of the trend is that the coffee’s story from bean to Hamburg, Germany; Budapest, Hungary; Bratislava, Once events become a thing again, a coffee festival cup should be shareable. Slovakia; and Warsaw, Poland. makes fine grounds for a trip. Fests still on the docket in Traditional coffee culture in Europe is as varied as the While it’s next to impossible to nail down the cafés 2021 include The Vienna Coffee Festival (April 30-May 50 nations that share its space. In Italy, quickly downing serving Europe’s best brews, names that consistently pop 2), The London Coffee Festival (Sept. 23-26), The Am- an espresso while standing at a counter is a ritual many up include Lot61 in Amsterdam; The Barn in Berlin; the sterdam Coffee Festival (Nov. 5-7) and The Milan Coffee patrons carry out repeatedly throughout the day. In Swe- Coffee Collective in Copenhagen; Ditta Artigianale in Festival (Nov. 12-14). World of Coffee is an event that den, the fika coffee break means dropping what you’re Florence, Italy; Kaffa Roastery in Helsinki, Finland; EMA travels to a different European city each year; its next doing and savoring the moment. In Germany, an after- Espresso Bar in Prague; Drop Coffee Roasters in Stock- scheduled event is in Warsaw, Poland, on June 16-18, noon “Kaffeeklatsch” pairs coffee with socializing. The holm; and Coffee Pirates in Vienna. 2022. Finnish, the world’s largest coffee consumers per head, In times when travel anywhere afar remains firmly off On April 16, The London Coffee Festival Virtual offers have a specific vocabulary for the time of day and cir- the agenda, it’s good to know there’s quality coffee to be 12 hours of live-stream coffee culture, with interviews, cumstance in which a “kahvi” is consumed. had nearby. Those based in Germany might wish to seek tours, product reviews, food pairing suggestions, master A list of the emerging coffee capitals of Europe reads out quality brews at the following establishments: Green classes and more. Tickets are free. Online: globalcoffeef- like a first-time traveler’s dream itinerary. Cities making & Bean – Coffeelab in Ansbach; Carla Ohio or Kaffeerös- estival.com/London/Home Friday, April 9, 2021 • STARS AND STRIPES • PAGE 21 WEEKEND: FOOD & DINING Oodles of noodles Umami’s flavorful Japanese-style ramen adds to Stuttgart’s tasty takeout options

BY JOHN VANDIVER Stars and Stripes AFTER iraculously, there are still chefs out there opening up HOURS when life in much of Germa- GERMANY Mny is still locked down. That’s the case for Umami, a new Japa- nese ramen eatery that recently opened in Umami downtown Stuttgart, where high coro- navirus case numbers mean that eating Location: 47 Eberhardstrasse, Stuttgart out still forces you to take it away. Umami, Hours: 11:30 a.m.- 8 p.m., Monday-Saturday PHOTOS BY JOHN VANDIVER/Stars and Stripes which replaced a different Japanese res- Prices: 9-14.90 euros (around $10-$18) The tantanmen soup at Umami, a new Japanese­style ramen restaurant in Stuttgart, taurant in the same spot, offers a refresh- Phone: 0711-3968-0769 delivers on flavor. But with indoor dining off limits because of the coronavirus, the ing alternative to the traditional takeout Information: umamiramen.de meals, served in paper, environmentally safe bowls, must be taken away. experience. For me, COVID-19 has meant John Vandiver too many pizza deliveries and burger The tantan noodles were served in pork pickups over the past year. soup, rather than the immediate outdoor broth with spicy ground beef, bok choy The restaurant offers seven different alternative. and other tasty nuggets. The hard-boiled ramen dishes, ranging from vegetarian to Eberhardstrasse was bustling with egg was cooked perfectly, slightly gooey chicken, pork and beef-based recipes. construction, traffic and sidewalks filled rather than dried out. The broth had a There are also various rice bowls avail- with pedestrians on this afternoon. Rather strong flavor of sesame and soy and just able, along with sides like edamame and than plopping down on the dirty curbside, the right amount of spice. fried chicken pieces. I walked five minutes to nearby Schloss- I slurped it up in no time and wished I I went with the tantanmen, a spicier platz, where I spread out on a patch of had more, especially at a cost of 14.90 take on the typical bowl of ramen. grass to enjoy the more pleasant scenery euros, or close to $18. The restriction on eating inside was a of Stuttgart’s main square. The price seemed high to me. But the pity because the interior looked inviting When I opened my bowl — served in a dish was something new and it delivered from the doorway where I made my order. sturdy, environmentally friendly paper on flavor, which made it all worth it.

A seat at a table certainly would have been container rather than Styrofoam — the [email protected]  Umami is a new Japanese­style ramen an ideal place to slurp a spicy bowl of soupy mix was still steaming hot. Twitter: @john_vandiver  restaurant in downtown Stuttgart. Foods you should make room for in the freezer

BY BECKY KRYSTAL ■ Hot peppers: Anyone who has ever grown peppers at The Washington Post home knows that once the plant really starts going, it can If you’re at all concerned about food waste, you know to be hard to keep up. Years ago, when faced with a bounty pay attention to how long you store ingredients. Thankful- grown by my mother-in-law, I started popping them into ly, there’s an easy way to extend the shelf life of many the freezer. This has also been helpful when I visit my local common items: the freezer. Asian or Indian markets that sell chile peppers in large Plenty of ingredients that are susceptible to spoilage or packages only. I don’t bother washing or stemming before diminishing returns come in amounts that are hard to use freezing them. A quick run under the sink when I pull them quickly. So let the freezer help you, well, keep them frozen out is enough to clean them and just start thawing them in time. enough to allow for chopping. As with ginger, I generally Below are some of my top picks for what you should like working with small peppers while still slightly frozen. consider moving into cold storage. Pick the ingredients They will easily last 6 months to a year, if not longer. that most appeal to your style of cooking, and evaluate ■ Nuts: If you’ve ever grabbed nuts out of the pantry what you are, or aren’t, likely to use in a reasonable period. and they didn’t taste right, it’s probably because they’ve Maybe you just pack up half the bag of flour or nuts. Maybe SCOTT SUCHMAN/The Washington Post gone rancid. Ditto nut flours. Nuts are packed with fatty you only really have the room for or interest in yeast. An array of foods can be stored in the freezer, extending oils, which are prone to going off, especially in warmer Whatever works. Let this advice help guide you to your the time you have to use them. temperatures. According to this handy guide from the ideal freezer. University of California Agriculture and Natural Re- ■ Yeast: It’s been years since I bought individual pack- just the peppers or include some of the sauce, as I tend to sources folks, rancid nuts are not unsafe, but they aren’t ets of yeast. Larger jars and packages are more econom- do. Silicone ice cube trays are also useful for this type of particularly pleasant to eat. The guide recommends that if ical, and my favorite instant yeast, SAF Red, is most often prep. Most dishes in which you’ll use either will require you know you won’t be using nuts within a few months, sold in 1-pound bags. I transfer that to an airtight container little to no thawing time on the counter. I’ve kept the little cold storage is best. Refrigeration extends the storage life for long-term storage, while my jar of active dry yeast goes blobs around for what I could call indefinitely. to a year; the freezer, on average, to two. Frozen, shelled straight into the freezer. (Transfer to another container if ■ Ginger: Shopping for ginger almost always means pistachios will last the longest (at least three), followed by you’re concerned about glass breakage.) King Arthur getting more than you need — and it’s one of the ingre- walnuts and pecans (at least two), then almonds and chest- Baking says yeast can be frozen for at least a year, though dients you may find yourself scrambling for at the last nuts (at least a year). Shelled nuts are susceptible to pick- I’ve pushed it much longer, probably as long as two. minute. Enter the freezer. Like with tomato paste, I divide ing up flavors and moisture, so store in something clean There’s no need to thaw before using. the larger roots into a standard ingredient amount, in this and airtight. ■ Tomato and adobo pastes: Although I generally pre- case approximately 1-inch chunks. You can peel before ■ Whole-grain flours: While refined flour is made from fer tubes of tomato paste, cans are priced cheaper per freezing, but usually I just toss them in as is. Just a few the endosperm of the grain, whole grains include the germ ounce and are more readily available in some stores. For minutes on the counter will be enough time to make it and bran. As the Whole Grains Council explains, the germ easy portioning, I like to scoop out 1-tablespoon mounds, easier to scrape the peel off with a spoon, while keeping the contains oils that, as with nuts, can spoil with exposure to freeze on a lined baking sheet (a small quarter sheet is ginger cold enough to work with. I find that frozen ginger is heat, humidity and moisture. You can leave whole-grain ideal for space reasons), then pack into a reusable bag or much, much easier to grate and mince. I’ve never needed flours and meals on a cool, dry pantry shelf for 1 to 3 container. I’ve also taken a similar approach to canned more than a few months to kill off a stash, but I wouldn’t months. Any longer than that and you’ll want to try to get chipotles en adobe (dried and smoked jalapeños packed in hesitate to keep ginger in the freezer for at least a year, if them into the freezer, which increases the storage time to 2 a spicy, tangy tomato sauce). You can mince and freeze not longer. to 6 months. PAGE 22 • STARS AND STRIPES • Friday, April 9, 2021 WEEKEND: QUICK TRIPS

People sit on a stone wall along the Neckar River in Tuebingen. Few were wearing face masks or staying a healthy distance away from the next person, even though both measures are required in parts of the city.

PHOTOS BY KARIN ZEITVOGEL/Stars and Stripes Diners sit at tables set at least two meters apart in the Marktplatz March 30 in Tuebingen, Germany. An experiment in normality

Visitors leave the courtyard of Hohentuebingen Castle. A Coronavirus day pass program draws crowds to Tuebingen castle has stood on the site above Tuebingen’s old town since at least the 11th century. BY KARIN ZEITVOGEL On the QT Stars and Stripes t was the laughter that I noticed first. Directions: Tuebingen is about 35 minutes from Stuttgart, two It rose above the conversations and clinking of hours from the Kaiserslautern area, 2½ hours from Wiesbaden and dishes being set down on outdoor tables in Tue- 3½ from bases in Bavaria. It’s a short walk from the train station to the old town. bingen’s Marktplatz and made me realize that I’d not I Food: Plenty of restaurants are open for outdoor dining. The Mau- heard laughter like this — unreserved and outside — for ganeschtle near the castle offers coronavirus quick tests. They the better part of a year. prefer that you make a reservation and cancel if you can’t make it. But a two-week-old experiment in Tuebingen, in Germa- Online: mauganeschtle.de ny’s Baden-Wuerttemberg state, was changing that. Information: There are three coronavirus test sites for out-of-town- In exchange for a negative coronavirus test, which the ers: At Kelternplatz, near the Altstadt-Koenig parking lot; at Eu- city was doing for free, I was given a day pass that allowed ropaplatz, next to the train station; and by the Neckar Bridge at the me to eat at restaurants — but only outdoors — browse tourist office. clothing and other stores without an appointment, get a For more information about Tuebingen and the day pass program, haircut or tattoo, and do a number of things I used to do go to facebook.com/tuebingen.de or tuebingen.de/en. without a lot of advance planning before corona. Karin Zeitvogel I stood in line for about 30 minutes at one of three places on the outskirts of Tuebingen’s old town, where out-of- They paid for their kale as I followed the music from a towners can be tested, before reaching the testing and street performer’s guitar to the steps of the Stiftskirche, registration tent. which dates from 1470. Many of Tuebingen’s centuries-old After someone put a Q-tip up both my nostrils, I got in buildings are still standing because the city, which has no another line, waited about 10 minutes, and picked up my heavy industry, was of no interest to Allied bombers and negative result and treasured day pass — a piece of paper survived World War II intact. that felt like a ticket to better times. My pass was a slip of In five hours, I walked the entire old town, including part paper, but other people had hospital-like bracelets. The of a monastery that was once the biggest revenue earner in process took half an hour, but people have waited in line the city, and hiked up to the castle and along the river, for two hours for a pass. where dozens of young people sat atop a 20-foot-high wall, A quick walk past the Krumme Bruecke, or crooked their feet dangling above the water below. bridge, built across the Ammer Canal in 1308 out of Few had masks on or were social-distancing. crooked planks of oak brought me to the Marktplatz, where People not respecting the coronavirus rules have been a People walk past long lines that have formed outside two I arrived just as the glockenspiel started to play at the top problem since the day pass program was launched in mid- ice cream shops March 30 in Tuebingen, Germany. of the hour. March, particularly when temperatures rose. On Sunday, By the Rathaus, which has overlooked the square since March 28, among the thousands of out-of-towners who becomes too full,” officials told Stars and Stripes. 1435, I met two Americans who, like me, had stopped at a descended on the city were “relatively young people ... who But even without a day pass, Tuebingen offers plenty of vegetable stand to buy kale, which can be hard to find in showed no willingness to respect face mask and distancing sights to see. Supermarkets and takeout places, including Germany. rules,” city officials said in a weekly report about the pro- ice cream parlors, don’t require day passes, and some Samantha Mueller and her friend Carla Weidner had ject. restaurants will test those who don’t have a day pass for come from Stuttgart, about 20 miles away, to “take ad- The number of infections in the city rose by 105 in the free. vantage of the day pass,” Weidner said. week ending April 1, three times more than the previous And sitting in the Marktplatz or by the Stiftskirche, lis- They’d had lunch at a restaurant, gone shopping, and week, according to data posted on Tuebingen district’s tening to people enjoying themselves as a song by The wandered through the old town and up to Hohentuebingen website. Out of 36,000 tests conducted under the day pass Police wafts from a street performer’s guitar to your ears, Castle, where they took in the view of the Neckar valley. program, 39, or about one in 1,000, were positive for the will take you back to a time when joy and laughter filled the “Honestly, we needed to get out,” Mueller said. coronavirus, data from the city show. town square.

“We needed to eat somewhere that wasn’t our kitchen The number of passes for out-of-towners has been limit- [email protected] table,” Weidner added. ed since Easter and could be lowered further “if the city Twitter: @StripesZeit Friday, April 9, 2021 • STARS AND STRIPES • PAGE 23 WEEKEND: TRAVEL Hook, line and sinker Turneffe Atoll in Belize is a paradise for fly-fishers, scuba divers and snorkelers

BY CHRIS SANTELLA Special to The Washington Post or some, the notion of an isolated, utterly private Caribbean atoll may conjure up fantasies of tropical indolence — chaise longues on a white- Fsand beach, umbrella drinks and perhaps a paperback. There are chaise longues and umbrella drinks available at Turneffe Flats. But most days the chairs are empty, as visitors come to explore the wonders of the most biolog- ically diverse coral atoll in the Western Hemisphere by fly-fishing, scuba diving and snorkeling. Turneffe Flats sits on Turneffe Atoll, a 300-square-mile series of hundreds of palm-fringed islands, endless man- CRAIG HAYES/Turneffe Flats groves, clear lagoons and unbroken reefs — the very An angler at work at the front of a flats skiff. Plentiful bonefish are an attraction for many. picture of pristine Caribbean beauty. It’s roughly 30 miles east of Belize City and is part of the Mesoamerican Reef System, the second-longest barrier reef in the world, stretching 600 miles from Mexico to Honduras. Accord- ing to Oceanic Society, the habitat here is home to more than 500 fish species and 65 stony corals, as well as mana- tees, saltwater crocodiles and many other animals that may be encountered during a day’s adventures. Craig Hayes, an emergency room doctor from South Dakota, helped establish Turneffe Flats in the early 1980s with his wife, Karen. “I’d started visiting an island named Caye Caulker in the late ’70s and had heard about this spot called Turneffe Atoll from local fishermen,” he recalled. “You had to cross some blue water to get there; the weather had to be right. We tried several times to go and eventually made it. We stayed in a lobster fishing shack.” JEFF CURRIER/Turneffe Flats TURNEFFE FLATS/The Washington Post One of the fishermen he knew had a brother named An angler prepares to release a permit, one of the most There is excellent snorkeling around Turneffe Atoll, which Juni Marin, who had leased a piece of property on the sought­after game fishes in the Turneffe Atoll. is part of the Mesoamerican Reef System. atoll from the government. Around the same time, Sports Illustrated had run a story about bonefishing around More-seasoned anglers, Rose said, visit Turneffe to Divers at Turneffe have access to 65 dive sites. Groups Turneffe. So, Hayes, said, “We asked Juni if there were focus on another game fish called permit. “We have many are small, and outings are highly individualized. A weekly any bonefish around the property.” guests who catch their first permit at Turneffe,” he said. night dive is also available, a great chance to encounter “‘Oh yeah,’ he said. And he took us over to a spot called “Achieving a grand slam — catching a bonefish, permit octopuses and eels. Grassy Caye, and we saw huge schools of bonefish. After and tarpon on the same day — is also possible in season. For those who prefer to experience the atoll’s natural that, we made a deal and formed a company. It was 1981.” Four years later, two bare-bones cabins were ready to This is a momentous occasion for saltwater fly anglers.” wonders from the surface, Turneffe Flats offers the Ad- welcome Turneffe Flat’s first angling guests. Most fishing is done from a flats skiff. The guide will venture Atoll program, which combines snorkeling, kayak Hayes’s background as a physician and lodge owner pole the skiff along on the shallow flats from a platform at and land tours to gain a better understanding of the re- has been propitious. Last spring and summer, he worked the back of the boat, while the angler stands ready to cast gion’s ecosystems. With resident naturalist Abel Coe, closely with the Belizean prime minister’s office to draft from the front. When the guide spots fish, he will call out guests might spend the morning snorkeling a reef to learn coronavirus protocols for tourists, and the country’s pan- their location according to the face of a clock (12 o’clock about the marine life there and an afternoon paddling the demic travel response has been widely emulated. To indicating directly off the bow) and distance. Many an- mangroves looking for manatee (25 to 30 live there) and enter Belize, visitors must present one of the following: a glers, caught up in the excitement of facing down their birds. “I also like to take guests on a night walk near the negative PCR test within 96 hours of travel, a negative first bonefish or permit, will muff their first few casts. lodge, looking for creepy-crawlies,” Coe said. “We usually rapid antigen test within 48 hours of travel, or a vaccina- But the guides at Turneffe are calm and patient, and the can find saltwater-crocodile nesting sites, boa constric- tion card documenting that vaccination has been complet- fish plentiful enough that future opportunities will mate- tors, scorpions and tarantulas. Some guests are a little ed at least two weeks before arrival. All visitors must stay rialize. scared at first, but I make it safe and fun.” at a “Gold Standard”-certified resort; Turneffe Flats was Belize is celebrated for its scuba diving, and Turneffe is That the environs around Turneffe remain pristine is the first property to receive the designation. convenient to some of the region’s most coveted dive not a matter of coincidence. Hayes, along with other con- “The Belize International Airport reopened on October sites. Over the course of a week, diving guests can antici- servationists from Belize and abroad, formed the Turn- 1,” Hayes said. “We reopened shortly thereafter. Booking pate 18 dives, including (weather permitting) a trip to the effe Atoll Trust in 2002 to promote the atoll’s conservation was slow initially, but the last few weeks in March we’ve Blue Hole, a giant marine sinkhole with huge stalactites efforts while advancing scientific understanding and been at full occupancy.” that reaches a depth of more than 400 feet and is re- educating the public about the ecological and economic It was Turneffe’s excellent flats fishing that first put it nowned for its clear waters and cave formations. “Divers value of sustainably managing tropical marine habitats. on the map. “We send many anglers to Turneffe Flats, have heard of the Blue Hole, but I think there are even In 2012, thanks to the trust’s advocacy, the Turneffe and plenty that may be new to saltwater fly-fishing,” said better sites that we visit,” said Rubin Navidad, a dive Atoll Marine Reserve was established — providing a Dylan Rose, saltwater destination manager at Fly Water instructor at Turneffe Flats. One is the Elbow, at the management structure for the atoll’s fisheries and its Travel, a fishing travel agency based in Ashland, Ore. southern end of the atoll. “If the currents are right, we development. “Whether you prefer to wade or fish from a skiff, the might see huge schools of horse-eye jacks, snappers, In a time where many of the world’s great wild places bonefish are plentiful. It also helps that all the guides kingfish, tuna,” Navidad continued. “There’s so much are experiencing decline, the environs of Turneffe Atoll speak English, which is not always the case at other Ca- forage about, the predators are in hunting mode. It’s a seem to be improving — a sign, perhaps, that humans can ribbean locations.” very action-packed dive.” make a positive difference while still having fun. PAGE 24 • STARS AND STRIPES • Friday, April 9, 2021 WEEKEND: TRAVEL & FOOD

MIPIG CAFE Location: 4-11-3 Meguro, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, 03-6712-2011; Google + code JPJ3+GC Meguro City, Tokyo Directions: About a 20-minute walk from Meguro Station in central Tokyo. Hours: Open daily, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Last reservation at 7:30 p.m. Prices: About $7 for first 30 minutes, $4.50 for each subsequent 30 minutes Dress: Casual. Pants and long-sleeved shirts are recommended. Information: Phone: 03-6712-2011; Online: mipig.cafe Erica Earl

PHOTOS BY ERICA EARL/Stars and Stripes Guests get cozy with drinks and blankets as pigs and piglets roam Mipig Café in Tokyo. The cafe’s goal is to dispel the belief that pigs are dirty and to show guests that they are friendly and can make good pets. It’s swine o’clock Cuddle with micropigs and piglets at Tokyo’s Mipig Café he pigs are in your lap and not on your plate at threads or embellishments on clothing and will try to Mipig Café in Tokyo, one of Japan’s several nibble. The café offers blankets to keep your clothing A piglet curls up in a customer’s lap at Mipig Café. animal cafés. protected and to keep the piglets cozy. T Mipig Café is home to a variety of piglets and Mipig Café is more of an entertainment destination micropigs, a term for small breeds of domestic pigs, that than a culinary experience, but it does sell cute swine- guests can pet, cuddle and watch play while enjoying themed sweets. My friend and I ordered donuts with pig coffee and dessert. faces drawn in icing. Entry to the café includes one cof- The pigs range fee, tea or juice. AFTER between 2 months Visits to Mipig Café cost 800 yen, or about $7, for the and 2 years old, and, first 30 minutes and an additional 500 yen for each addi- HOURS despite the term tional half hour. JAPAN micropig, can get as If you plan to go to the café with a large party or are big as around 90 hoping to get a lot of good pictures with the pigs, I recom- pounds when fully mend staying one hour to have ample time to enjoy a grown. Most of the pigs are babies, but a few adult pigs dessert and share the attention of the curious and slightly roam the cafe. hyper piglets with other guests in the room. The pig do- Once guests arrive at MiPig Café, they are seated in nuts and mini cakes cost 750 yen each. one of three rooms and allowed to settle in before staff You can also purchase food to hand-feed the piglets. brings in the pigs. To ensure that guests get to interact This option is available from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. to with various breeds and ages of pigs and piglets, the ani- 5:30 p.m. and costs 300 yen. mals are rotated from room to room. Mipig Café does not allow children under age 5. Reser- At the Meguro location, I thought it was adorable how vations are required and can be made on the café’s web- staff brought each pig to me individually, introduced site. In addition to Meguro, Mipig Café also has a shop in them by name and gave me a backstory on each one. Harajuku and one in Osaka. Mipig Café started as an idea to show visitors that pigs Customers can adopt pigs from Mipig Café for about are not dirty, as often stereotyped, and can make cute and 300,000 yen — about $2,750 — so it may be best to avoid friendly pets, according to the café’s website. The pigs are the temptation to bring them home and just enjoy their clean and impressively potty trained, but they are noisy company at the café. with their grunts and squeals. [email protected] Guests at Mipig Café, in Tokyo or Osaka, can enjoy coffee The pigs are also curious about jewelry, beads, loose Twitter: @ThisEarlGirl and sweets while playing with pigs and piglets. Friday, April 9, 2021 • STARS AND STRIPES • PAGE 25 WEEKEND: FOOD Simple and irresistible Slurp up a bowl of udon noodles in a simple peppery soy broth

BY JOE YONAN books “Neighborhood” and The Washington Post “Family.” In “To Asia, With etty McKinnon had Love,” she wanted to more no way of knowing squarely address her experience that the title of her as someone born in Australia to Hlatest book, “To Asia, Chinese-immigrant parents. With Love,” would end up carry- “The way I cook is, in many ing so much more meaning by its ways, third-culture cooking, a publication date than when she cross-pollination of ideas and first conceived it. “Even two techniques that are grounded in months ago, I wouldn’t have my Chinese heritage, yet greatly SCOTT SUCHMAN/The Washington Post imagined,” she said. “The com- influenced by growing up in the Udon noodles with a soft­boiled egg in a hot soy and black pepper broth are light and satisfying. ma in the title is very important Western World,” she writes in to me, because it’s a love letter to the book. “It is not distinctly “reinventing concepts from all good backup, but don’t use the Then, when you make this, or this culture.” Chinese, nor Australian, but over the world and perfecting dried flat ones for this — they when you eat your next bowl of That culture and its members rather a third interpretation of them.” might be called “udon,” but noodles from your favorite Asian are particularly deserving of love the two cultures.” This is also one of those dishes they’re another thing entirely. restaurant, take a minute be- these days, amid a rash of high- As she told me: “My upbring- that has so few ingredients, you While you’re at the market, tween bites to appreciate all the profile attacks, including the ing is like that of many immi- need to make sure each one is of look for naturally brewed or artisans that helped make it pos- brutal stomping of an elderly grant children, teetering between the highest quality. That means fermented soy sauce, too, be- sible. Asian American woman in Man- so many cultures — and so many seeking out the type of Japanese cause with a quarter-cup in this “Realize that we’re all more hattan and the fatal shootings at people are like that. We’re all udon noodles that are round and dish you want the complex uma- similar than we think we are, Atlanta-area spas. embracing so much.” fat. Short of finding a place that mi it can bring rather than the outside of looks, outside of skin “The book is now a bigger It’s so simple on the face of it: makes them fresh, as her Tokyo sometimes one-dimensional color, outside of the food we eat,” message,” McKinnon said. “You udon noodles in a soy broth. But noodle shop did, that means saltiness of more-industrial McKinnon said. “Behind every see this quote on Instagram all there’s also butter that melts into seeking out frozen udon noodles brands. And pick up a bottle of dish of noodles you’re eating is a the time: ‘Love us like you love the broth, and a soft-boiled egg, in an Asian supermarket. The mirin, Japanese sweet-rice cook- person and a history and a hu- our food.’” and a generous amount of black shelf-stable cooked ones are a ing wine. manity.” A cook and food writer who pepper for contrast. All that ran a salad delivery business in makes it feel both familiar and Sydney before moving to the fresh, and East meets West. United States, McKinnon is the “This is something the Japanese author of the best-selling cook- do so well,” McKinnon said, Udon noodles in peppery soy broth Ingredients: 4 large eggs (optional) Sea salt 26 ounces (750 grams) thick, round Japanese udon noodles, prefer- ably fresh or frozen 2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth ¼ cup low-sodium soy sauce or tamari 2 teaspoons mirin 6 tablespoons unsalted butter (may substitute vegan butter such as Miyoko’s), cubed 4 scallions, thinly sliced Freshly ground black pepper 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil Directions: If you’re including the eggs, bring a small saucepan of water to a boil; in a medium bowl prepare an ice bath and set aside. Add the eggs to the boiling water and set a timer for 6 minutes. As soon as the buzzer goes off, drain the eggs and transfer to the ice bath. Let cool completely, about 5 minutes. (This will make very soft-boiled eggs — if you prefer firmer yolks, cook for 1 more minute.) Peel the eggs. In a large saucepan of salted boiling water, cook the noodles ac- cording to the packet instructions until al dente, 1 to 3 minutes. Drain, then divide the noodles among four bowls. While the noodles cook, in a small saucepan, combine the broth, soy sauce or tamari, and mirin and set over low heat until hot, about 5 minutes. Pour the hot broth over each bowl of noodles and top each with an egg. Divide the butter cubes among the bowls and let them melt into the noodles. Garnish with scallions and season with a generous amount of black pepper. (Use as much as you like, but this dish is meant to be very peppery.) Finish with a drizzle of sesame oil, sprin- kle with a little sea salt, if desired, and serve hot. Serves 4. PAGE 26 • STARS AND STRIPES • Friday, April 9, 2021 WEEKEND: FOOD Olive oil, clarified Deciding which kind of this cooking staple to buy, use is tricky but worth learning

BY KATIE WORKMAN Associated Press f you’ve been in the olive oil section of the grocery store lately, you’ve likely been confronted with a lot of Ichoices. Possibly even a wall of olive oils, with different symbols on the bottles and a whole lot of brands to choose from. For most of us, the world of olive oil is a bit of a mystery, and you may find your- self with the same kind of uncertainty you feel in a wine store when contemplating the plethora of bottles lined up. My friend Ted called me up a while / back and asked, “Should I buy the extra iStock virgin olive oil, or should I go with some- thing more experienced?” Yes, the jokes about extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) are easy, but the fact remains: There is a lot of The flavor of extra virgin olive oils can virgin olive oils. If you use a lot of olive oil (and dear confusion about which olive oils to buy range widely. Grapes, regions, weather ... Virgin olive oil is usually a blend of reader, that would be me), proper storage and how to use them. all affect the taste and quality, just like extra virgin and pure olive oils. is less of an issue because you will use it So let’s get into it. What kind of olive oils wine. Good-quality extra virgin olive oils Very good extra virgin olive oil is best up before its quality really declines. The should you keep on hand, and which usually have pleasant notes of bitterness, used in cold preparations, rather than best way to store olive oil is sealed, in a should you use when? and different oils will have more specific cooked, to get the most out of its singular cool, dark place (if you store your olive oil First, let’s dive into the meaning of extra flavor nuances: You may hear yourself flavor. Think about salad dressings, and by the stove, don’t!). virgin, virgin and pure olive oil. using words like peppery, grassy, vegetal, drizzling over any finished dish, from Some manufacturers bottle their olive The term extra virgin, which also might sweet or almondy. The intensity of flavor soups to fish to crostini. If there is a har- oil in dark or even opaque bottles to pre- be labeled cold-pressed, refers to oil made varies from delicate to assertive, though vest date on the bottle, check that it is vent light from accelerating oxidation of from the first pressing or milling of fresh, good extra virgin olive oil should always from the previous fall’s harvest. the oil. Light, heat and air are the enemies young, green olives. taste fresh and clean. The color may range Some cooks hesitate about using good of stored olive oil. Stored properly, good According to Vincent Ricchiuti, a from a rich glowing green to golden yel- olive oil because of its lower smoke point, extra virgin olive oil will last for months, fourth-generation farmer in Fresno, Calif., low. the temperature at which it begins to and a more commercially produced one who founded Enzo Olive Oil, “One of the Pure olive oil is made from the paste or burn. should last for at least a year. If it smells most important things for quality and pomace that remains after the first press- Francesca van Soest, technical sales and or tastes rancid, toss it. freshness is how fast you get the olives ing. Usually there are chemicals involved marketing manager for Australian-based Quality olive oils come from all over. from the tree to the mill.” His organic in this process, and this oil is best used for Cobram Estate, studied olive oil in college Italy is one of the most famous producers, olives go from the tree to bottle within 24 cooking and frying, as its flavor tends to and says, “There has been this unsub- but so are Greece, Spain and, in recent hours. be blander and less nuanced than extra stantiated rumor that you cannot cook decades, California. Good olive oil is also with EVOO because of its smoke point for produced in countries as diverse as Aus- far too long. If you go to Europe, everyone tralia, Tunisia, Turkey, Morocco and Croa- has been cooking with extra virgin olive tia. In Italy alone, Sardinia, Sicily, Umbria, oil for millennia, so why do we believe that Tuscany, Apulia and Liguria are among we can’t here?” the regions revered for their distinctive Rolando Beramendi, founder of the oils. California-based Italian food importer Most olive oil-producing regions have Manicaretti, adds, “you just need to be third-party verification and accreditation, very good friends with your flames” when and van Soest urges buyers to look for you cook with olive oil and make sure the those seals on the bottle. She says there is temperature doesn’t get too high. a “regretfully large level of adulteration You may have noticed a large discre- and mislabeling” around the world. pancy in olive oil prices. Where to splurge The world of flavored olive oils is also and where to economize? robust. Enzo makes two lines of flavored Shop for olive oil at stores with high olive oils. Infused ones are made on a turnover, so it hasn’t been sitting on the larger scale from a combination of extra shelf for months. Besides local grocery virgin olive oil mixed with organic essen- stores, there are of course online and spe- tial oils such as garlic, basil and Meyer cialty shops that sell a wide variety of Lemon. Then there is the pricier “crush” artisanal, small-batch extra virgin olive series, where raw ingredients, such as oils that can be pricey but worth the locally grown clementines and Fresno splurge. chilies, are crushed with the olives. “As far as the money you are spending, Of course, like wine, like cheese, like think about that: We are quick to buy a 35 chocolate, to start to learn about olive oil is CAROLYN LESSARD/AP dollar bottle of wine, and drink it in the to scratch the surface of a deep and an- A variety of olive oils are displayed at a grocery store in Waterbury, Vt., on March 26. same meal. But a 35 dollar bottle of olive cient food tradition. But just by experi- For most of us, the world of olive oil is a bit of a mystery, and you may find yourself withoil (stored properly) can last for months, menting a bit, and maybe spending a few an uncertainty similar to the one you feel in a wine store when you are contemplating theso you’re getting more than a good bang extra dollars, you’ll see the delicious re- plethora of bottles lined up for the choosing. for your buck,” Beramendi says. sults right away. Friday, April 9, 2021 • STARS AND STRIPES • PAGE 27 WEEKEND: BOOKS Hunter Biden tells his story Memoir ‘Beautiful Things’ reveals intimate details of addiction, older brother’s death BY MARIANNE look out at the ‘beautiful things’ SZEGEDY-MASZAK spread before us.” Special to The Washington Post But given the trajectory of n September 2020, during alcoholism, crack addiction and the tumultuous first presi- relationship shredding contained dential debate between in the next 250 pages, it’s impos- Ithen-President Donald sible not to see the title burdened Trump and former vice president by the weight of unintended iro- Joe Biden, Trump seized on the ny. PATRICK SEMANSKY/AP opportunity to attack a target with The story of the Biden family Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, left, walks with his wife Melissa Cohen and son Beau before a very large bull’s-eye: Biden’s tragedies are so well known, so boarding Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., on March 26. son, Hunter. Not only is Biden woven into the fabric of American known to be deeply protective of political mythology, that one drubbing the son endured for his drink, the first crack pipe, the the Sonoran Desert toad, in case his family, but Hunter — with his could almost imagine them ap- role with Burisma. Hunter calls first lie, rinse, repeat, over and you’re interested) and ketamine history of substance abuse and pearing in a future citizenship that faux scandal cooked up by over and over again. The gratify- infusions in Massachusetts, and a service on the board of Burisma, test: Which president lost his Trump and his cronies “the dec- ing moments of getting high in- host of other facilities too numer- the Ukrainian energy company beautiful young wife and infant ade’s biggest political fable … terspersed with violence, phys- ous to count. that played a significant role in daughter in a terrible car acci- most remarkable for its epic ical illness, demolished families Repeatedly Biden relapsed and Trump’s first impeachment sev- dent shortly after he won a long- banality.” and the complete surrender of a repeatedly he would reassure his eral months earlier — became shot Senate race? What happened The first eight pages of the book life to whatever is contained in family that he was in treatment, shorthand for something fishy to the two sons who were also in dispense with cinematic effi- the pipe, or syringe or bottle. not to get clean but for the sole about the that car and miraculously sur- ciency the facts of Hunter’s life: Then there are the attempts at purpose of getting them off his Democratic vived? Which one of those sons the attacks by Trump and his recovery: frequent, frustrating, back. What finally worked was nominee’s died when he was only 46? Republican surrogates; the death briefly successful but then falling in love with Melissa Co- otherwise Hunter was the Goofus to his of his mother and baby sister; his doomed, until one of them works, hen, a multilingual South African admirable older brother’s Gallant. Beau fatherhood and degrees from and a book contract follows. The “aspiring documentary film mak- life. embodied the decency, rectitude Georgetown University and Yale modifiers inevitably attached to er” whom he married a week “Hunter and an impressive public service Law School; his professional life these works are “brave,” “un- after they met and who was deter- got thrown record comparable to his father’s. as a lobbyist and his service on flinching” and “honest” with an mined to clean him up. And final- out of the Hunter? An apparent hive of occasional “devastating” thrown ly, he succeeded. But this is hard- military. He dysfunction. in for good measure. ly a replicable treatment mod- was thrown We bring this operatic backsto- “My dad has But as the late New York Times ality. out, dishon- ry to the reading of “Beautiful writer David Carr noted in his How to answer David Carr’s orably dis- Things,” with Hunter playing the often said that brilliant version of the genre, question? Clearly, this addiction charged for cocaine use,” Trump thankless role of a supporting cast “The Night of the Gun,” “Beyond memoir mattered a lot to Biden, said, misrepresenting what had, member, eclipsed by the great- Beau was his the grime that is bound to accrue to tell his story and to present in fact, happened. Hunter had ness of the family’s other men. from a trip through the gutters of himself to the world as the writer enlisted in the Navy Reserves, but Addiction was a problem in the soul and I am one’s past, what is the value in he always knew he was. And yet, after a urine test revealed drugs Biden family, and Joe and Beau one more addiction memoir to me to make these stories rise to a in his system, he was discharged avoided alcohol because of it. Not his heart.” or anyone else?” different level, they require not — not dishonorably. so for Hunter. There is a special Hunter Biden Biden’s story is indeed singu- just the candid chronicling of Biden turned these low blows purgatory reserved for the ear- lar. Not many addicts spend time how-bad-it-got, but also compell- into an opportunity. nest-but-less-talented younger ‘Beautiful Things’ as children with U.S. senators as ing writing that delivers a mea- “My son, my son, my son — like brothers of a superstar — forever babysitters, or scamper freely sure of insight and empathy for a lot of people, like a lot of people admiring, forever inferior and various boards of directors; the through the halls of Congress, or others — such as worried family you know at home — had a drug forever judged inadequate, until, death of his brother; the special enjoy as fiercely loving a spraw- members and hotel maids who problem,” Biden said. “He’s over- sometimes, they go off a cliff and love among the three Biden men; ling family as the Biden boys did. are left to clean up his messes. taken it, he’s fixed it, he’s worked become dismal object lessons. his children; his addiction and his His was a childhood in the public Near the end of his memoir, on it. And I’m proud of him. I’m “Beautiful Things” is organized recovered life with a new wife eye, but also the classic American Biden describes the moment of proud of my son.” around two parallel narratives: and son. boyhood of bike rides in the looking into the eyes of the wom- Now the son who inspired that pervasive grief over Beau’s ab- “I’ve bought crack cocaine on neighborhood, fishing trips with an who would become his new impassioned expression of pater- sence and the unvarnished con- the streets of Washington, DC, his deceased mother’s brother, wife, and seeing a “reflective nal pride has written “Beautiful fessional of an addict. Page after and cooked up my own inside a Uncle Mike, and leaps into swim- gaze,” by which he means one Things,” a memoir at once har- page features assertions of the hotel bungalow in Los Angeles. ming holes. There’s also the un- that not only truly sees him, but in rowing, relentless and a deter- brothers’ closeness juxtaposed I’ve been so desperate for a drink dertow of being bullied in school, which he fills up the entire field of mined exercise in trying to seize with gallons of vodka, bowls of that I couldn’t make the one-block a sense of “not being understood vision. From her deep blue eyes his own narrative from the crack, dissolute characters para- walk between a liquor store and or fitting in” and his utter de- to what was contained in them, he clutches of the Republicans and ding in and out of trashed hotel my apartment without uncapping pendence on his older brother for was struck by the similarities to the press. The title refers to what rooms — both five-star and no- the bottle to take a swig … My maintaining any sense of equilib- the brother he lost. And somehow he described as his adored older star — and repeated failed treat- two-decades-long marriage has rium. that provided a reason to recover brother’s “mantra” after he had ment efforts. And then there is dissolved, guns have been put in Those who might turn to this for good. been diagnosed with the deadliest the almost Shakespearean spec- my face, and at one point I drop- book for effective rehabilitation “My dad has often said that form of brain cancer, glioblasto- ter of Joe Biden, the agonized ped clean off the grid, living in strategies will be disappointed. Beau was his soul and I am his ma. father grieving the loss of one son $59-a night Super 8 motels off Biden spun in and out of recovery heart,” Biden writes. There’s a lot “‘Beautiful things’ became a and terrified at his inability to I-95 while scaring my family even options: Alcoholics Anonymous of pain in that observation. A soul catchall for relationships and prevent the slow suicidal decline more than myself,” he writes. and the Crossroads Centre in is eternal, soaring, the purest and places and moments,” Hunter of the other. Hunter addresses The addiction memoir is com- Antigua, a lurid treatment in most invulnerable part of our writes. “We would rock on the the political strain he caused his plicated to pull off. The narrative Mexico of 5-MeO-DMT therapy being. The heart? A fragile organ, porch of our parents’ house and father, notably by the public arc is grimly predictable: the first (made from gland secretions of and one that can be broken. PAGE 28 • STARS AND STRIPES • Friday, April 9, 2021 WEEKEND: MUSIC

Highlights and hardships Singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile opens up about overcoming insecurities, her latest Grammy win and her new memoir

BY MICHAEL RIETMULDER The Seattle Times In some ways, the past three years have felt like 30, and during that stretch, it seems Brandi Carlile’s had half a life- time’s worth of productivity. On the strength of 2018’s superb “By the Way, I Forgive You,” Carlile and the guitar-wielding Hanseroth twins who flank her became the talk of the Grammys, earning a wave of new fans and taking the trio to even bigger stages like Madison Square Garden. They produced and co-wrote a career-rejuvenating Tanya Tucker album, not to men- tion another Secret Sisters record, both of which also caught the Recording Acad- emy’s eye. They made head- lines with a tribute concert to Joni Mitchell’s iconic “Blue” album and Carlile formed an all-star country band aimed at shaking up the dude-dominated country music world. Somewhere in there, she also wrote a book. The singer-songwriter’s memoir, “Broken Horses,” follows Carlile’s journey Brandi Carlile’s memoir, from a “zero-stoplight town “Broken Horses,” offers an called Ravensdale” to White unvarnished look at her life House invites, offering an in and out of the music unvarnished look at the business. highlights and hardships along the way. The acclaimed singer-songwriter, who hauls her own hay and once had her drink swiped by Chaka Khan while jam- ming with Elton John at Mitchell’s place (you’ll have to read the book for that one), ties the music she’s made and the songs that made her into her life story. It’s told with the candor of a campfire conversation, a family photo album by her side, and with the wit, humility and earnestness Carlile exudes onstage and in interviews. We recently caught up with the artist, activist and, now, SEE HIGHLIGHTS ON PAGE 29

Jai Lennard Friday, April 9, 2021 • STARS AND STRIPES • PAGE 29 WEEKEND: MUSIC REVIEWS

The Hold Steady Julien Baker Justin Bieber Open Door Policy Little Oblivions (Matador) Justice (RBMG) (Positive Jams/Thirty Tigers) Julien Baker commands atten- Good riddance. With his new Eighteen years into their career, tion on stage with just the sound of “Justice,” Justin Bieber has finally The Hold Steady aren’t seeking to her voice and guitar. She’s expert knocked “Dangerous: The Double win new converts. But “Open Door at holding audiences rapt with Album” off of the top of the Bill- Policy” does work some slight unadorned, emotionally fraught board charts, where that country changes into their rousing bar- songs that turn noisy concert halls release had held the No. 1 position band anthems of bad decisions and flawed redemption. into hushed, hallowed spaces. for 11 weeks despite a racist video that emerged of singer They bring in a horn section to drive several tracks, In some ways, “Little Oblivions,” the 25-year-old Mem- Morgan Wallen and got him suspended by his label. including the highlights “Family Farm” and “Unpleasant phis songwriter’s third album, which is self-produced, But now here comes Bieber with an album that begins Breakfast,” and they back off their standard gigantic riffs feels like a departure from that approach. with a sound bite quote from the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther in favor of more medium-tempo story songs with more The arrangements are fleshed out, with a grand, full- King Jr. — “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice ev- nuanced arrangements. Not that “Open Door Policy” is band sound she created playing most instruments herself. erywhere” — and continues later with a lengthy appropri- mellow: It’s still loud, dense with words, triple guitars, Her engineer, Calvin Lauber, also chipped in, and Phoebe ation from King’s 1967 “But If Not” sermon. and Franz Nicolay’s florid piano. Bridgers and Lucy Dacus, Baker’s bandmates in indie So this must be Bieber’s protest album, right? No. It’s a So many words! Nearly 4,000 of them on the 44-minute supergroup boygenius, contribute backup vocals. pop record of love songs to his wife, Hailey Baldwin — album, and the voluble Craig Finn still has elaborate But while the bigger sound offers Baker a barrier she the subject of “Die for You,” which follows the clip of the stories to declaim in his talk-singing voice. could hide behind, she has no interest in shielding herself. King speech. Recorded pre-pandemic, it’s a more cohesive album The first song, “Hardline,” makes plain there’s extraor- Beyond these abominations of performative branding, than the 2019 return-to-form collection “Thrashing Thru dinary confessional music ahead in which the singer will the album is solid and an improvement over Bieber’s the Passion,” full of characters in unfulfilling jobs and not be going easy on herself for choices she’s made. lackluster 2020 “Changes,” with competent pop songs like dysfunctional relationships making poor pharmacological “Little Oblivions” explores themes of addiction, its “Peaches,” which spotlights Daniel Caesar and Giveon choices. consequences and recovery. But Baker doesn’t do easy and now tops the Billboard Hot 100. Finn is a master of the telling detail, often alliterative: a moralizing here. “Lonely,” the last track, offers something more. A col- ringtone that plays Van Halen’s “Eruption,” a penthouse Both life and the music — which draws on Baker’s laboration with Benny Blanco and Billie Eilish’s brother, “with the windowpane walls,” “the grackles at the snack experience in punk bands — get messy. “Bloodshot” and Finneas O’Connell, it’s a heartfelt performance that bar waging war for popcorn and potato chips.” He treats “Relative Fiction” achieve a rare beauty. The songs are brings home the child star’s lot of being world famous yet his messy characters with empathy while the band cele- all the more harrowing because they confront demons utterly isolated. “Everybody saw me sick, and it felt like brates them with rock-and-roll. once thought safely locked away. no one gave a s—,” the 27-year-old Bieber sings. — Steve Klinge — Dan DeLuca — Dan DeLuca The Philadelphia Inquirer The Philadelphia Inquirer The Philadelphia Inquirer Highlights: Pandemic year helped singer find time to write book FROM PAGE 28 finishing high school and feeling like a ninth voice when I write, like I have an identi- crazy experiences, what is it like to be able author to discuss her latest Grammy win, grader hiding in the bathroom again. What fiable way of communicating that, maybe to come back from that and have that her forthcoming album and, of course, “Bro- was it like to grapple with those things it’s because I didn’t finish school, maybe it’s quieter life in Maple Valley in the house you ken Horses.” while also experiencing all these highs in because of writers that I’ve been drawn to bought when you were 21? This conversation has been edited for your career? for [different] reasons, it’s conversational. Well, it used to feel really whiplash-y, you length and clarity. I grapple with these things when I’m And I think I discovered that at the root of know. But as I’ve gotten older and started Seattle Times: Congrats on the Grammy experiencing the highs specifically, be- all of it is my need to be with people, and be approaching my mid-30s to now, I’ve found [for best country song]. What did it mean cause the highs make me feel like I’m understood by and to understand people. It ways — mostly my wife’s help — I found for you to have The Highwomen, this hiding something about myself. They draws people closer to me and it draws me ways to integrate both of those people, both project that made a big statement, make me feel like people don’t know or closer to other people, and that’s kind of at of those personalities in me and make them recognized on that level? that they think I’m something I’m not. I the heart and soul of the whole endeavor. one. So, I kind of am the scalawag at Joni’s Carlile: Oh man, it was cool. It was like feel like to a certain extent I’ll always be It sounded like you [initially] intended it and the girl that plays Madison Square when you sing something into a cave and coming out of the closet as something to be more explicitly the behind­the­scenes Garden in the trails, too. the echo comes back, it was like, “Oh, they other than whatever a public person is of some of the music and songs. It still You made the comment, “I don’t know heard us.” They knew what we were saying. presented as. It’s always an issue in our does that, but when did you realize this was who I am as an artist after this album and “Crowded Table,” it felt really nice for The industry in the way that we platform peo- going to be a much more personal book? after Joni.” Can you explain what you mean Highwomen to get recognized for that song, ple. We gloss over the things about them First page. I knew in my mind that I by that and what your mentality is like which is really just about love and reconcil- that make them feel inadequate or in- wanted it to be this events-based book — heading into the next record? iation and the importance of waking up secure, and they change into beautiful that I was writing about either what led me Joni shook me, actually. She shook me every day and doing the work, but coming clothes that they give back at the end of to write a song or how a song influenced an because she’s unlocked and there’s very few back at the end and coming back to love the day. event. But when I put pen to paper, like all people that are unlocked. She’s in touch every time. So when I’m experiencing highs, if of my writing, what I intended to do just with the source of where music comes from, When I heard about “Broken Horses,” things are happening for me at the Gram- didn’t get done. Something else got done. It the muse, you know, and I’m not unlocked. my first reaction was, “When the hell did mys or I’m selling tickets or an album was a lot more authentic. But Joni shook me because I realized that she have time to write a book?!” So, when does really well, I think, “Yeah, but people After you finished or even as you were more and more as an artist, I was wanting to the hell did you have time to write a book? don’t know the whole story.” And I want going through, was there anyone you were become the kind of songwriter that would [Laughs.] Well, it was something I always ’em to know the whole story. Because if thinking to yourself, “Oh man, I wonder write a song that would impress Joni Mitch- thought would take a really, really long they know and they still accept me, then I what so­and­so is gonna think when this is ell one day. It seems trite, to have that as a time, but the stories just kinda exploded out belong here. Otherwise, I don’t feel like I finally out there?” goal. But it’s so [expletive] impossible that of me. The editing process was quite time- do. Oh God man, absolutely. Just the whole it’s a little bit like climbing a musical Mount consuming, but I had this whole pandemic Were there any parts of this book that time. I’m not gonna lie, that is the really Everest. I didn’t need another “Joke,” I year to do that. were particularly difficult for you to put out daunting and unsettling part of doing this. didn’t need to write a country album any- Why did it feel like the right time to do there in such detail? I’ve had so many phone conversations and more, I didn’t need to write for Tanya Tuck- the book? Yeah, I think there’s a part on every so many cathartic and uncomfortable things er. I wanted to write for me, but I wanted to I think that like a song, it just comes to page like that. And then there’s a part, have been said as I have stumbled clumsily write in a way that was at least nodding to you when it comes to you. I had read a cou- every time I turn a page, that I had to take through this process. It has not been easy, the unlocked. ple of books and I started thinking about a pause after I had written it and said, “Do but it’s felt right and it’s actually healed Coming off that period, how do you feel how I wished I had a certain kind of book I really want ...” and then I made the deci- relationships. That kind of catharsis, that’s a that affected the songs once you finished growing up. And I was writing fewer and sion every time to just keep going, and once-in-a-lifetime thing, and right now it’s the album? fewer songs and more stories, and little keep turning the page and leaving it. kind of a once-a-week thing. It really affected it, man. The book specif- dissertations and little literary pieces that I As you were reexamining aspects of your You talk about two sides of your ically affected them. It affected the twins, felt like I was being called and led towards a life, was there anything you discovered personality — the entertainer who enjoys too. I think the three of us were writing this writing project. about yourself? the spotlight, but also back home making record based on having read the book. Then When you announced the book, you Yeah. I mean, I discovered how vivid trails around your property with a machete we wrote the record because of what the posted a video talking about how you were my memory is and that there’s real cohe- and ripping around on four­wheelers. book reminded us of, and that sets it apart. overcoming insecurities around not sion around that. I discovered that I have a Especially the last few years [amid] these That makes it a different kind of album. PAGE 30 • STARS AND STRIPES • Friday, April 9, 2021 WEEKEND: MOVIES SHORT FILMS 15 Oscar nominees take a closer look at some of life’s scenarios

BY MICHAEL ORDOÑA Live action Los Angeles Times he 15 short-film Oscar “Feeling Through”: A broke nominees — live action, teen looks for shelter on a cold documentaries and night. His random encounter Tanimation — show that with a middle-aged, deaf-blind the format is alive and well, man changes his course, possibly showcasing a wide range of top- in more ways than one. Writer- ics, tones and approaches — and director Doug Roland gets strong highlighting a trend in docu- work from both performers: mentaries toward more daring Robert Tarango actually is deaf cinematic style and extreme and blind; Steven Prescod is subjectivity. For information on convincing as a desperate kid viewing them, go to shorts.tv/ who turns out to be a genuinely theoscarshorts. good person. Here’s a quick look at each. “The Letter Room”: Oscar Isaac plays a corrections officer Animation who takes over the job of scan- “Burrow”: A Pixar SparkShort ning prisoner mail and gets in- SHORTSTV/TNS photos about a rabbit embarrassed by volved in the lives revealed “The Present,” an Oscar nominee for live­action short, shines a light on complications between Israelis and her humble ambitions for her therein. It’s a well-acted, low-key Palestinians. The short film is directed by Farah Nabulsi and stars Maryam Kanj. home when she sees other sub- drama that could be ready for terranean animals’ elaborate expansion. “A Concerto Is a Conversa- ones. It conveys a nice message “The Present”: A goodhearted tion”: Parallels the debut of ris- about cooperation. Palestinian man takes his young ing-star composer Kris Bowers’ “Genius Loci”: The film’s daughter to pick up a gift for his concerto “For a Younger Self” at synopsis describes finding a wife; to do so, they must pass Disney Hall with a conversation “moving oneness” amid “urban through an Israeli checkpoint. between him and his grandfa- chaos,” but the film feels like The stresses and humiliations ther, Horace Bowers. Using something else. It seems to delve complicating what should be a techniques similar to Errol Mor- into the growing disorder of an simple errand pile up, pushing ris’, allowing people talking with afflicted mind. Protagonist Reine him toward a potentially tragic each other to directly address the suffers from delusions and has outcome. camera, the film lets us into a difficulty sorting her sensory “Two Distant Strangers”: private-feeling chat shining a input, complicating a journey Takes a familiar fantasy trope light into Horace’s remarkable into the wilderness of a city and applies it to a deadly serious life and how he has influenced night. subject: police mistreatment of his successful grandson. It’s “If Anything Happens I Love Black Americans. To its credit, unusually intimate, the principal You”: The emotional knockout of its denouement makes that gam- takeaway being the deep love the slate, it’s an examination of ble pay off. It evolves into some- between its two subjects. grief and how it can be toxic, and thing thoughtful, eventually be- “Do Not Split”: A harrowing it riffs off events ripped from coming a startlingly dark com- view from inside the pro-democ- headlines without settling on one mentary. racy protests still roiling Hong This Oscar nominee for documentary short subject, “Do Not Split,” actual incident. The fact that “White Eye”: An examination Kong, with footage from within shows footage from the pro­democracy protests in Hong Kong. viewers will immediately sense of unintended consequences in the crowds as they face down authenticity despite that general- modern-day Tel Aviv. When a fully outfitted riot police while ization is even sadder than young man seems to have solved the protesters have little more what’s depicted in the film. the mystery of his stolen bicycle, than masks and umbrellas. There Black, ghost-like figures repre- his single-minded quest to re- are firebombs thrown, tear gas sent what can’t be addressed but claim it takes a turn that forces launched and innocents caught can’t go away, either. This film is him to see with greater perspec- in the crossfire. Most of all, there hard to forget. tive. Shot in one continuous take, are students and average citizens “Opera”: An “animation in- Tomer Shushan’s film puts its facing down an existential threat stallation project,” a nine-minute audience in a tense situation with to their democracy. In response, day-night cycle depicting count- steely focus until its deeper the Chinese government has less tiny humanoid figures exe- meaning becomes clear. reportedly ordered local media cuting socioeconomic roles in to not carry the Oscars live. something like a human Rube Documentary “Hunger Ward”: Goes beyond Goldberg machine. The film is “Colette”: As a young teen, news reports of war and famine meant to be projected on an Colette Marin-Catherine joined in Yemen to look unflinchingly at infinite loop. It’s impossible to in her family’s new “business”: the resulting suffering, and even catch everything happening in the French Resistance. The film death, of young children. It’s one viewing; suffice to say, “Op- follows the now-90-year-old as rough. The film suffers from a era’s” eye leans toward the jaun- she and a young history student slightly diffused focus but is the diced, even cynical. make a first pilgrimage to the kind of old-school documentary “Yes-People”: A charmer us- Nazi concentration camp where reporting designed to make view- This Oscar nominee for animated short, “If Anything Happens I Love ing almost no dialogue other than Marin-Catherine’s brother died. ers connect viscerally to the You,” is an examination of grief that will be hard for viewers to forget. an Icelandic “Yes,” spoken by “Colette” vividly depicts the human fallout of war, rather than different characters for different instant bond between the two just shake their heads at the Angeles, including helping fuel girl through stories told by her reasons. Its humor is warm, and sojourners and the almost un- news. the LA riots a year later. Direc- loved ones and subjective cine- the animators wonderfully con- bearable weight of visiting a “A Love Song for Latasha”: tor Sophia Nahli Allison spends matic techniques such as ab- vey much through facial expres- place where acts of unspeakable The 1991 killing of 15-year-old little time on the crime, instead stract animation, video effects sions. evil occurred. Latasha Harlins left scars on Los crafting a poetic portrait of the and stand-ins. Friday, April 9, 2021 • STARS AND STRIPES • PAGE 31 WEEKEND: MOVIE REVIEWS Hormonal chaos Flick about teen ‘Voyagers’ sent to another planet to start life anew has fast-moving plot, good design but lacks emotional intelligence

BY LINDSEY BAHR agers” dumps vague information Associated Press about earth’s deteriorating condi- he most surprising tion and a plan to send a group of thing about “Voyagers,” people to another planet to start a sci-fi thriller about a life anew. Since the journey is 86 Tgroup of young adults years long, it’ll be the grand- who have been tasked with trav- children of the initial explorers. eling to and repopulating a new So they genetically engineer a planet, is that it isn’t based on a group of racially diverse, suspi- young adult book series. Writer ciously attractive geniuses for and director Neil Burger, who this first generation and shoot was also behind the “Divergent” them off into space as young kids films, apparently decided to cut with only Colin Farrell’s Richard out the intellectual property- there to raise and monitor and middleman and make his own counsel them. What could pos- YA statement. That said, it does sibly go wrong with this terribly borrow heavily from quite a few hasty plan? other sources, with shades of Well, it certainly doesn’t help LIONSGATE/AP “Lord of the Flies,” “The Giver,” that a few years into the journey, Fionn Whitehead, left, and Lily­Rose Depp are two of the teens taking a lifelong space flight in “Voyagers.” “Ender’s Game,” “Euphoria” and Whitehead’s Zac and Sheridan’s any number of space madness Christopher discover that they’re “The Lord of the Flies” parallels get personalities are painted with series with time to get to know films. all being drugged to suppress really start to take over. There’s such broad strokes that there’s and like at least some of the char- With a cast including Lily-Rose their hormones and keep every- even a Piggy-like character and a nothing to hold onto. Only Zac acters so that there are some Depp, Tye Sheridan, Fionn one semi-robotically focused on moment where a riled-up faction gets a real transformation, but stakes. We should be upset by Whitehead, Chante Adams, Ar- the mission instead of shacking of the crew starts chanting there’s also no nuance to him. Zac’s villainous devolution and chie Madekwe and Quintessa up with their crewmates. When “Kill!” Oh, the crew also starts to He’s a bad guy and a potential torn by who might be the better Swindell, nice-looking production they decide to stop taking the wonder whether there’s an alien rapist with no discernible charis- leader. We should know more design and a fast-moving plot, it’s blue drink that the drug has been aboard. ma, and it’s totally unclear why than three of the character’s a very watchable film. It also hidden in, Zac turns immediately “Voyagers” has lofty ambitions any portion of the crew would names and care when people unfortunately suffers from the into a feral sex predator with an and big, cliched questions about choose to follow him instead of start dying. same problems as some of its obsessive focus on Depp’s Sela. purpose, but one of the main the level-headed Christopher. “Voyagers” is simply a semi- intellectual property brethren — Soon enough, everyone stops problems is that it doesn’t do a Also, while the crew is quite effective thriller with about as it is dreadfully serious, fails to taking “the blue” and after Ri- great job of establishing its own racially diverse, 95% of the film much emotional intelligence as make the audience care very chard is hurt in an accident and characters. Part of that is likely is still laser focused on four white its lab-produced, hormone-con- much about anyone involved and there’s no supervision anymore, due to “the blue,” which makes leads. trolled, sequestered youngsters. feels like it’s the first book in a the ship devolves into a chaotic everyone docile and emotion- It’s the kind of premise that “Voyagers” is rated PG-13 for violence, some series when all is said and done. jumble of raging hormones, pow- free, but even after they stop you can imagine would have strong sexuality, bloody images, a sexual assault Set in the near future, “Voy- er struggles and paranoia, and taking it, the few characters who been better served by a limited and language. Running time: 108 minutes. ‘Moffie’ explores sexual, racial discrimination in ’80s South Africa

BY JAKE COYLE at the orders of Sergeant Brand (Hilton Pelser), is gruel- Associated Press ing. While suffering under the hot sun, they’re not just The main character of Oliver Hermanus’ shattering turned into warriors but brainwashed into believing com- “Moffie,” set in 1981 South Africa, is a handsome, white munists, “Black savages” and “moffies” are all to be 18-year-old. In the country’s system of apartheid, he is a “cured” by killing them. Some of the scenes of bodies in member of the ruling class, but he’s no insider. the desert suggest Claire Denis’ “Beau Travail.” Life in Shy, timid and closeted, Nicholas van der Swart (Kai the barracks nods to Stanley Kubrick’s “Full Metal Jack- Luke Brummer) is conscripted into the army as part of et.” regulated military service for white males over 16. For Nicholas, it means keeping himself hidden except There, the film’s title — an Afrikaans’ anti-gay slur — for a stolen glance or a moment of understanding from isn’t directed at him, but it’s hurled all around — an another in the same predicament. So silent and interior is ever-present threat of ostracism and abuse. In brutal the performance by the striking Brummer that Nicholas basic training, it’s as if bullets are already flying peril- stays, to a certain extent, hidden from us, too. A single ously close to Nicholas. flashback to his life beforehand gives a hint at how he But “Moffie,” now playing in theaters and available on has been conditioned to feel only guilt about his sexual- demand, is more than a coming-of-age story about a ity. As time goes on, Nicholas realizes he’s not alone, and young gay man in an unprogressive society. In following our sense of the many lives — both Black and white — Nicholas into basic training, the film wades into the dark left broken, beaten or dead by a heinous othering only heart of apartheid and a cauldron of destructive mascu- expands. linity. There, young men are indoctrinated, through the It’s an unusual perspective for an apartheid film, barks of drill sergeants, to an ideology of fear, oppression something the director — who is gay and mixed race — and nationalism endemic to 1980s South Africa but also IFC FILMS/AP has acknowledged initially recoiling from. But that point to most places and eras. Nicholas has been conscripted Kai Luke Brummer must join the army in “Moffie.” of view only makes Hermanus’ mission all the more into an army of intolerance, one that sees him as an ene- laudable. His film, adapted from a novel by André Carl my. his father hands him a girlie magazine for “ammuni- van de Merwe, is like an inside job. By burrowing within From the start, the imagery by Hermanus and cine- tion.” On the train, a soon-to-be-friend (Stassen, played the brutal propaganda of apartheid, Hermanus, in his matographer Jamie D. Ramsay is grittily intimate, tactile by Ryan de Villiersoffers) offers him a drink. When intensely expressive, achingly sorrowful fourth film, has and vivid. The score by Braam du Toit sets an ominous Nicholas declines, Stassen replies, “Are you sure? Do captured a mean machinery at work — one that still tone. The camera trails overhead the train that will take you know where we’re going?” abides, long after the end of apartheid. Nicholas to the barracks as it snakes slowly over the They’re in training for the border war with Angola grasslands. We only briefly glimpse his life beforehand; and the perceived threat of communism. The training, “Moffie” is unrated, but contains intensely violent scenes. Running time: 106 minutes. PAGE 32 • STARS AND STRIPES • Friday, April 9, 2021 WEEKEND: HEALTH & FITNESS

Power of touch

JULIE CARR SMYTH/AP Tara Albarron, 32, works with client Ron Bryant, 55, of Beaver Creek, Ohio, during an assisted stretching session at StretchLab in Centerville, Ohio, on March 8. Boutique stretching has thrived during the pandemic for Americans deprived of physical, social interaction

BY JULIE CARR SMYTH Kory Floyd, a professor of com- and certifications required of point, from a location standpoint,” Sessions in Centerville range Associated Press munication and psychology at the skilled nursing facilities or hospi- Chu said. That includes taking from $49 for a 25-minute stretch to andemic-weary Amer- University of Arizona, said activ- tals. some activities and training online. $95 for a 50-minute stretch. Four-, icans starved for human ities that provide social interaction He said the concept sounds like Another business, Stretch Socie- eight- and 12-month packages are interaction and physical and some relief for “skin hunger” a hybrid between recreational ty, with two locations in Georgia, also available, as are family plans Ptouch are taking ad- can help people manage stress fitness and insurance-covered has added one-on-one stretching to and group stretches. vantage of a growing wellness better. wellness services. its Stick Stretch classes and other No accreditation is yet available option once reserved for Holly- A lack of casual touch — holding “The essential question we have offerings, according to its website. for stretch technicians. Stretch wood actors, rock stars and elite hands, hugging, putting one’s arm to ask ourselves related to any of Beth McGroarty, vice president companies typically require a athletes: boutique stretching. around somebody, shaking hands these organizations that spring up for research at the non-profit Glob- certification and experience in “It’s like a workout, but you feel — can have a significant negative is are they causing folks harm,” he al Wellness Institute, said growing another bodywork field, plus addi- way more flexible,” a masked impact, Floyd said. said. “And as long as they’re not, or interest in stretch coincides with a tional training in their particular Kelly O’Neal, 51, said as her leg Touch, he said, “is beneficial purporting themselves to be licens- new focus in the fitness world on method. was being pulled across her body Janna Proctor, who owns the during a recent session at a newly franchise in Centerville, said the opened StretchLab studio in Cen- “It’s really nice to be touched. It is. We’re being studio’s recent opening attracted terville, Ohio. “I get plenty done practitioners hurt by the economic after I get done here because you deprived of social interaction; we’re being deprived of impacts of virus restrictions. just feel like you’ve warmed up “We had 40, 50 qualified candi- really well.” She said her legs and hugs and people who are familiar, and ... it’s just so dates apply,” she said. “Because feet ache after her shift at a gro- PTAs (physical therapy assist- cery store in southwest Ohio — comfortable being there.” ants), personal trainers, massage often plus overtime because of therapists, all the backgrounds we COVID-19 demands. Laura Collins, 39 were looking for — that prior Others cite some intangibles StretchLab client knowledge — they were all out of offered by assisted stretching work.” during the coronavirus pandemic. even when we don’t have a solid, ed medical professionals, then I recovery rather than just activity. Nationally, 1.4 million fitness “It’s really nice to be touched. It strong emotional connection to the don’t see much of a distinction “Stretch was definitely a trend industry employees lost jobs as a is,” said Laura Collins, 39, who other person” — which can be the between what they’re doing and going into COVID and probably result of the coronavirus pandemic visits a StretchLab near her home case with assisted stretching. “We offering a gym membership or a got ramped up because of it,” she as of Dec. 31, according to statistics in White Plains, N.Y. , twice a may not even know the other per- Pilates class or anything like that.” said, noting that ClassPass found from the International Health, week. “We’re being deprived of son, and yet we can still benefit in Desperation for physical touch that stretch classes were among its Racquet & Sportsclub Association. social interaction; we’re being part from just the attention and the and socialization during COVID-19 most popular online during CO- Amid revenue losses of more than deprived of hugs and people who sense of connection that we have, lockdowns came just as the VID. “I mean it’s ancient, a lot of $20.4 billion industrywide, more are familiar, and ... it’s just so com- but also from the touch itself.” stretching industry was already this stuff. It’s just getting an up- than 17% of health clubs, gyms and fortable being there.” Loren Anthes, who follows the transitioning from an elite service date.” studios have permanently closed. Even before the pandemic, health care industry as a research- centered in places like New York, Every company is a little differ- Chu said Stretch*d is training assisted stretching studios — with er at the Cleveland-based Center Miami and Los Angeles to a retail ent, but the technique generally hundreds of people around the names such as Stretch Zone, for Community Solutions, said model, said Vanessa Chu, who involves a trained practitioner country through courses that Stretch Pro, LYMBR and stretch studios appear to be using a co-founded Stretch*d in New York elongating a client’s muscles to moved online during the pandem- Stretch*d — often featured just franchise model to offer lower City three years ago. somewhere past where they could ic. eight or 10 widely spaced tables in prices for services resembling “Our goal has always been to get them on their own, and the “It’s going to be coming to a lot a shared area they say is conducive physical therapy and massage but make it highly accessible to people client offering resistance for a of different markets now,” she to good air circulation. delivered without the overhead — accessible from a price stand- period of time. said. Friday, April 9, 2021 • STARS AND STRIPES • PAGE 33 WEEKEND: FAMILY Updating the schoolhouse Remixed ‘Schoolhouse Rock’ could pave way to better knowledge of history BY PAUL RINGEL Rock” were stereotyped and passive. In “Mother Neces- Special to The Washington Post sity,” the narrator sings over the melody of “Dixie” that choolhouse Rock,” the animated Sat- Eli Whitney’s cotton gin “did the work of a hundred Signs of spring: urday morning children’s television men,” while the cartoon shows two smiling men of am- series that ran on ABC mostly from 1973 biguous race using the new technology under the super- “S through 1979 (though there were also vision of an aristocratic man in a white suit and panama Flora, fauna, fur new episodes in 1995-1996 and 2009), has reached mil- hat who is clearly suggestive lions of viewers over the past half-century. COMMENTARY of an enslaver. The episode What does the month of April represent to you? For those Middle-aged Americans who were immersed in Sat- on immigration includes of us north of the equator, we’re watching new bees buzzing urday morning cartoons as children of the pre-cable, racist images of Asians simi- among the spring daffodils. pre-Internet era can still quote “Schoolhouse Rock” lar to the ones in the discontinued Dr. Seuss books. It April is the also the month that I begin shaving my legs lyrics about conjunctions (“Conjunction junction, what’s also features Lady Liberty holding a recipe for “The above the ankle. It’s the time of year that seasonal allergies your function?”), the nervous system (“there’s a tele- Great American Melting Pot,” with its ingredients in- render my eyes baggy and swollen, and the month that I gain graph line, you got yours and I got mine; it’s called the cluding an array of immigrants from Poles to Arme- five pounds from sneaking Easter candy and gorging on nervous system”) and the Preamble to the U.S. Constitu- nians to Cubans. Yet the diverse continent of cultures leftover scalloped potatoes. tion (“we the people, in order to form a more perfect from Morocco to Mozambique is amalgamated as “Afri- But the April event that has the most significant impact on union”). Multiple generations now know these songs cans.” our household each year is when our dog Moby sheds his through DVDs, YouTube, Disney+ and a popular stage These interpretations were a product of “Schoolhouse winter coat. musical that remains a staple of children’s theater pro- Rock’s” limited budget and cautious ideological man- I didn’t believe our base neighbors who warned us. grams. Not many instructional projects have matched date. ABC launched the program in response to crit- “You’re getting a lab?” they said in disbelief. “You know the lasting popularity achieved by this series of three- icism from grassroots organizations like Action for labs shed, right?” minute videos. Children’s Television about the excessive commercial- But six years ago, when I first set eyes on our then-8-week- And many of the videos have held up well, continuing ism of Saturday morning television, and then handed the old yellow Labrador retriever puppy we named Moby, peo- to provide a strong foundation on subjects ranging from project to its advertising firm with no funding for sup- ple could’ve warned me that he would grow up to have poi- arithmetic to grammar to civics. Yet when the show port from educators or historians. Any hint of ideolog- sonous tentacles, razor-sharp claws and skunk-like scent turned to historical interpretation, its episodes were ical controversy made the network executives skittish; sacs. I simply didn’t care. Moby was the cutest bundle of problematic even in its own time. Its history-centered an episode titled “Three Ring Government” was shelved velvety fuzz, loose flub and puppy breath I’d ever seen. He season, “America Rock,” ran from September 1975 due to fear that its comparison of the U.S. government to looked just like one of those impossibly adorable L.L. Bean through July 1976, as the United States was celebrating a circus would offend the FCC. catalog puppies, and nothing was going to stop us from tak- its bicentennial. Not surprisingly, the show adopted a With state boards of education currently seeking to ing him home. celebratory rather than a critical perspective on the ban schools from teaching about racism and sexism as Throughout that first year of puppy-rearing, Moby shed nation’s past, focused almost exclusively on white peo- systemic problems, young viewers need programming hairs here and there, but we were too busy dealing with potty ple’s stories and predominantly on men. that further revises the instructional patterns that training, shoe chewing and needle teeth wound care to no- As the program nears its 50th anniversary, “School- “Schoolhouse Rock” established. Representing and tice. But when Moby turned 1 and was officially an adult, his house Rock” could accelerate an ongoing process of teaching history in all of its messiness requires pro- follicles decided to celebrate by taking a vacation. Accord- remixing rather than banishing outdated children’s gramming that provides an understanding of structural ingly, his stiff yellow hairs were granted their freedom to products. Hasbro has added gender-neutral Potato inequality in this country, and balances the celebration explore every nook and cranny of our household. Heads, Mattel has diversified Barbie, and Marvel has of national ideals of freedom and equality with an explo- It all happened quite suddenly. One day, to praise Moby introduced a Pakistani-American Muslim superhero. ration of the persistent, but often unsuccessful, quest by for returning the pair of underwear he’d stolen from our New “Schoolhouse”episodes might further this modern- a diverse array of people to achieve those ideals. daughter’s room, I reached down to stroke his back. He gave ization process by reframing historical thinking, as well The approaching 50th anniversary of “Schoolhouse me several licks to the face before I noticed. I had a catcher’s as representation for the United States’ 250th birthday. Rock” offers a ripe opportunity to bring these sorts of mitt of dog fur covering my hand. “America Rock” suffered from two major shortcom- lessons to television. The program’s three-minute for- Ever since then, April has become the month that dog fur ings. First, the episodes alternately ignored and dis- mat seems particularly suited to online viral culture, permeates every aspect of our lives. torted the country’s racist past. “No More Kings,” the and to young viewers’ growing preferences for watching First thing in the morning, my scratchy throat is the sure episode on American independence, presented the videos online. sign that I’ve inhaled several hairs in the middle of the night, revolutionaries as direct descendants of “the Pilgrims.” As young people grow up in an era of heightened triggering sudden coughing fits. Moby sleeps in a crate in the This choice allowed writers to avoid the topic of slavery. disinformation, amid a battle over the nation’s history, corner of our bedroom, but when I lift the quilt to make our “Elbow Room,” the episode on western settlement, bringing them the best version of that history — one that bed, puffs of his fur take flight and become airborne, cre- downplays violence and focuses exclusively on white teaches them to think critically — will be crucial to ating a cyclone of dog hairs that glows visibly in the morning people, with the exception of four seconds on Sacaga- raising the next generation of U.S. citizens. A remixed light, before gently drifting back down to resettle on our wea. “Schoolhouse Rock” that helped to achieve this goal bedspread, ready to be inhaled another night. The people of color who did appear in “America could enhance the program’s already formidable legacy. When I dress for the day, I’m hard-pressed to find an arti- cle of clothing that is free of Moby’s fur, even if it’s been freshly laundered. I often find a hair floating in my morning coffee and have to fish it out with a finger. If I miss, it ends up on my tongue. Strangely, I can feel it, but somehow can’t seem to find it. Eventually, I swallow and hope that dog fur doesn’t have too many carbs. The rest of the day, I find mats of fur in the lint trap, tum- bleweeds of fur drifting down the hallway, tufts of fur on the upholstery, balls of fur on the bathroom rug, blankets of fur in the vacuum filter, tangles of fur on the fan blades, and a generous sprinkling of fur on carpets, furniture and fixtures. Also, thanks to my unfortunate mistake of allowing Moby to ride along in my car, anyone who enters my vehicle gets out looking like Chewbacca. I didn’t think it was canine-ly possible for a dog to shed so much fur, much less for it to end up on top of our refriger- ator, baked into the meatloaf or woven into my toothbrush bristles. In a strange and incredibly annoying sort of way, dog shedding is quite miraculous. In fact, it will be a miracle if I survive April without hack- ABC/TNS ing up a hairball myself.

A scene from the song “Conjunction Junction” in an episode of “Schoolhouse Rock!” is shown above. Read more at themeatandpotatoesoflife.com, and in Lisa’s book, The Meat and Potatoes of The three­minute videos were a staple of Saturday morning cartoon interludes in the 1970s. Life: My True Lit Com. Email: [email protected] PAGE 34 • STARS AND STRIPES • Friday, April 9, 2021 WEEKEND: CROSSWORD AND COMICS NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD

OVER THE MOON 1234 56789 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 BY OLIVIA MITRA FRAMKE / EDITED BY WILL SHORTZ 029181 Olivia Mitra Framke, of Jersey City, N.J., is an academic adviser at the New School’s College of Performing Arts in Manhattan. She started solving crosswords during college — but not at college. Her dad would hoard New York Times Magazines, and the 322212 two of them would solve together when she returned home. This is Olivia’s ninth crossword for The Times, and her fourth Sunday. — W.S. 625242 ACROSS 60 Hit movie released as 113 Classic carnival ride 29 Poker variety 1 Pest-control product ‘‘Vaselina’’ in Mexico 116 Cherished family 30 ‘‘This Will Be’’ singer 4333231303928272 62 Husk-wrapped dish member Natalie 5 Luggage label 9383736353 65 Colorful tropical fish 117 Neptune 32 Sommelier’s métier 10 Color effect in graphic design 66 Song standard on 118 Golding of ‘‘Crazy 33 ‘‘Monsters, ____’’ 64544434241404 ‘‘Barbra Streisand’s Rich Asians’’ 34 Be on the level? 18 Video-game princess Greatest Hits’’ 119 Sporty car 1505948474 of the Kingdom of 36 ‘‘Notorious’’ Supreme Hyrule 71 Saturn 120 Deliver a speech Court initials 9585756555453525 72 With 11-Down, hit 121 World of Warcraft 37 Knocked ’em dead 19 Writer Zora ____ 564636261606 2001 film with an ‘‘!’’ spellcaster 39 Not spoiled Hurston in its title 41 Suffix with serpent 0796867666 20 Take part in a D.&D. 73 Stirred up DOWN campaign, e.g. 42 One of five in 74 Cold shower? 1 Leans (on) ‘‘pronunciation’’: 372717 21 Brand of fruity hard 75 Muralist ____ 2 Claim Abbr. candy 08978777675747 Clemente Orozco 3 Pastoral poem 43 Choice of sizes, briefly 23 Personae non gratae 76 2021 Super Bowl 4 ____ es Salaam 44 Celebratory, quaintly 5848382818 champs 24 Uranus 5 Navel type 45 Deception 80 Boy, in Barcelona 0998887868 25 ‘‘Arrivederci!’’ 6 Sticker on the back of a 46 Cowboy or Patriot, for 81 Animated character laptop, say short 79695949392919 26 Jerks who wears a red 7 Home to the Sugar 47 Zeros shirt and no pants 5014013012011010019989 27 ‘‘____ to differ!’’ Bowl and Heavenly 48 Distinct melodic 82 Time before ski resorts segment 901801701601 28 One taking the long computers, view? 8 Draft pick? 49 Not waver from facetiously 511411311211111011 9 Neighbor of Belg. 53 Fruit also called a 31 Tarot-deck character 85 Fleet runner: Abbr. 10 Word after focus or custard apple or 811711611 35 Some surgical tools 86 One feature of a Facebook prairie banana perfect nanny, in 38 ‘‘Unit’’ of fun 11 See 72-Across 55 Baby’s cry 121021911 a ‘‘Mary Poppins’’ 39 All-star duo? song 12 Mountain map figs. 56 Cue at an audition 57 Land jutting into il 40 Comfort in not 91 Mars 13 Ones getting the message Mediterraneo 68 Nintendo dinosaur 81 Money earned from 95 ‘‘No question!’’ 103 Bonnie’s partner in knowing, say 92 Hesitate in speaking 14 Rio beach of song 58 Quaker who eats fruit and an event, say 96 Magazine whose 60th crime 47 Request 93 More inquisitive throws eggs 15 Hollow center? 59 Community of 82 Gush anniversary issue 104 Quadratic formula 98 Jaded sort 69 Bring to court had the cover line subj. 50 Jupiter 16 Turner who led an followers 83 Archaeologist’s find 99 Solo flier? ‘‘Denzel, Halle & 107 Oodles 51 Ships passing in the 1831 slave rebellion 61 Thesaurus listing: 70 2003 best seller 84 Brian once of glam Jamie’’ night? 105 Prefix meaning 17 Grateful sentiments, Abbr. whose title is one rock 109 Measurement in ‘‘both’’ letter different from 97 What’s hard about a plane geometry 52 Sch. on the Rio in online shorthand 63 Melber of MSNBC 86 U.S. health org. a fantasy creature melon? 110 Camera type, briefly Grande 106 Welled (up) 18 ‘‘The Greek’’ of film 64 Candy featured 75 Pleasures 87 ‘‘Hands off, that’s 99 Origami shape called 108 Like people who are 21 Corner space in in a classic 111 As well 54 Hollers mine!’’ ‘‘orizuru’’ much looked up to Monopoly ‘‘MythBusters’’ 77 Grammy winner 112 DuVernay who DiFranco 88 Austrian article 55 Like some parties and 109 Insurance-fraud ploy 22 Juggling or magic, in episode 100 Tree surgeon, at directed ‘‘Selma’’ 89 Sent off flowers 110 Determiner of a talent show 65 Confucian’s spiritual 78 Rendezvoused times 113 Queue before P 56 ‘‘Back to the Future’’ cannabis legality, 26 Nobel laureate path 79 ____ gow (Chinese 90 Lose a layer 101 Interior chambers 114 Canal locale antagonist e.g. Morrison 67 In ____ (peeved) domino game) 94 Bit of luau wear 102 Gem weight 115 Piece de resistance?

GUNSTON STREET RESULTS FOR ABOVE PUZZLE

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“Gunston Street” is drawn by Basil Zaviski. Email him at [email protected], and online at gunstonstreet.com. I N I M E G N O T S R E S A L

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Y A L P E L O R E L A E N A D L E Z T N E I D A R G G A T D I D I A R Friday, April 9, 2021 • STARS AND STRIPES • PAGE 35 FACES

iHeartRadio Music gives The Weeknd 8 nominations From wire reports The Weeknd, Megan Thee Stal- lion and Roddy Ricch are among the top nominees for next month’s iHeartRadio Music Awards. The Weeknd’s eight nomina- tions include male artist of the year, competing with Ricch, Har- ry Styles, Justin Bieber and Post Malone, and song of the year for “Blinding Lights.” Ricch and Megan Thee Stallion earned seven nods each, including hip-hop artist of the year. Also competing in the category are Da- DAVID J. PHILLIP/AP Baby, Lil Baby and Pop Smoke. The Weeknd, shown Feb. 7 Megan Thee Stallion is a con- during the NFL Super Bowl tender for female artist of the halftime show, tops the list of year, alongside Ariana Grande, nominees for next month’s Billie Eilish, Dua Lipa and Taylor iHeartRadio Music Awards. Swift, according to Wednesday’s announcement for the May 27 Country songwriter awards airing on Fox. Bill Owens dies The ceremony will be broadcast ELISE AMENDOLA/AP live from the Dolby Theatre in Los Country songwriter Bill Owens, Sam Suchmann, left, and Mattie Zufelt pose with ghoulish figures in July 2016 at Sam’s home in Angeles, an exception to a pan- who was a mentor and early song- Providence, R.I. “Sam & Mattie Make a Zombie Movie,” released Tuesday on Apple TV, chronicles the demic-forced run of largely vir- writing partner to his niece Dolly tenacious, years­long effort of the two young men who caused a sensation four years ago when they tual awards shows in the past year. Parton and helped start her career created their own gory zombie movie and watched their dream come alive on the silver screen. The 2020 iHeartRadio awards in country music, died Wednes- telecast was canceled, with win- day. He was 85. ners announced on radio. Owens helped Parton at the age Other song of the year nominees of 10 get her first radio perform- are Malone’s “Circles”; Dua Li- ance on the “Cas Walker Farm Inside creative minds pa’s “Don’t Start Now”; “Rock- and Home Hour” radio show in star” from DaBaby and featuring Knoxville, Tenn. He encouraged Ricch; and Harry Styles’ “Water- her to practice her guitar and of- melon Sugar.” ten drove her to local shows where Film follows 2 zombie moviemakers with Down syndrome The ceremony, honoring 2020’s she could perform. most-played artists and songs on They wrote songs together, in- BY MARK PRATT the Morton E. Ruderman Award in Inclusion, given iHeartMedia radio stations na- cluding Parton’s very first single Associated Press by the Boston-based Ruderman Family Founda- tionwide and the iHeartRadio app, “Puppy Love,” which came out in wo best friends with Down syndrome who tion for demonstrating outstanding accomplish- will include live performances 1959 when Parton was just 13. caused a sensation four years ago when ment in the field of disability inclusion. and stories of how the winners Owens eventually started taking they created their own gory zombie mo- The documentary doesn’t even mention Down gained success. The stations and her to Nashville to pitch songs to Tvie are back, this time in a documentary syndrome, said Sam’s brother, Jesse Suchmann, app also will carry the show. record labels and publishing com- championed by a Hollywood luminary. who along with friend Robert Carnevale codirect- panies. “Sam & Mattie Make a Zombie Movie,” released ed the original movie, enlisting friends in the in- Zookeeper Jack Hanna Owens wrote songs recorded by Tuesday on Apple TV, follows Sam Suchmann and dustry to help out with their time, expertise and Loretta Lynn, Porter Wagoner, Mattie Zufelt on their tenacious 10-year quest to equipment. diagnosed with dementia Ricky Skaggs and Kris Kristoffer- storyboard, script, produce, cast and star in 2016’s The hope is that the film inspires others to put Celebrity zookeeper and animal son. He was also a touring musi- “Spring Break Zombie Massacre,” a comedy slash- neurodivergent minds in charge of the creative TV show host Jack Hanna has cian and backed up Parton in her er movie complete with severed heads and spurt- process, like Sam and Mattie were, instead of sim- been diagnosed with dementia early years in Nashville. Owens al- ing arteries. ply writing them into a script in the name of inclu- and will retire from public life, his so worked at Parton’s Dollywood The original movie earned national attention and sion, Jesse Suchmann said. family said. theme park as a performer. an appearance on Conan O’Brien’s show for the two Suchmann, of Providence, and Zufelt, of Bristol, In a news release Wednesday, Alan Jackson to release Rhode Island natives. have been best friends since they met participating his family added that it’s believed Suchmann and Zufelt, both 25, loved the atten- in the Special Olympics during elementary school. he now has Alzheimer’s disease first album in six years tion then — and they’re loving it again now. They found they had a mutual love of horror mo- that has quickly progressed in the Alan Jackson’s first studio al- “I’ve always been the shy guy,” Suchmann said. vies. last few months. bum in six years is “a little harder “Now I’m experiencing what the cool kids are ex- “We’ve always been into horror movie and zom- Hanna, 74, was director of the country” than his past work, he periencing.” bie movies,” Zufelt said. “‘Saw’ and ‘Purge’ were Columbus Zoo from 1978 to 1992 says. But talk to anyone who knows them, and it’s not always my favorites.” and still serves as its director “Where Have You Gone,” due overcoming a disability that makes their story re- They thought they could put something together emeritus. Hanna is also well- May 14, is a 21-song collection that markable — it’s the sheer determination they as good as what they saw coming out of Hollywood. known for his live animal demon- circles themes of sorrow, love, the showed in getting the movie made. The result was “Spring Break Zombie Massacre,” a strations on talk shows hosted by South, cheating, drinking, chil- “They’re a whirlwind of energy and happiness,” 45-minute film in which they play brothers who Johnny Carson, David Letterman dren aging and parents dying. Peter Farrelly, a fellow Rhode Islander and exec- save the world from a zombie apocalypse spawned and James Corden, increasing the The Newnan, Ga., native who utive producer of the documentary, said in a tele- by the devil himself. profile of the Columbus Zoo and has long lived in Nashville, said phone interview from Los Angeles. “These guys Farrelly, who has become a mentor and friend to leading to massive attendance in- that when he writes, “I visualize are really sharp and they knew what they wanted. the pair, said he’s watched it maybe 10 times — and creases over the years. back home and growing up.” Our job was to help them, but not get in their way.” it never fails to make him smile. Hanna, who always wore khakis Jackson wrote 15 of the songs on Farrelly, producer of the Oscar-winning film “This is about what anybody has to do in life to on every television appearance “Where Have You Gone,” which “Green Book,” and his brother, Bobby, have for get a movie made, or do anything in life that is hard and in photos, hosted the popular he worked on with longtime pro- years cast actors with disabilities in their movies to do,” he said. “People shouldn’t see their movie syndicated TV show “Jack Han- ducer Keith Stegall. Among the and pushed for other Hollywood powerbrokers to because two kids with Down syndrome made it. na’s Animal Adventures” from tracks are two written for his do the same. Their 2005 movie “The Ringer,” about They should see it because it’s a damn good mo- 1993 to 2008. He also hosted “Jack daughters’ weddings — “You’ll someone pretending to have a disability and com- vie.” Hanna’s Into the Wild,” which Always Be My Baby” and “I Do” peting in the Special Olympics, had about 150 ex- Zufelt and Suchmann aren’t done, either: started in 2007, and “Jack Han- — and a tribute to his mother, who tras with Down syndrome. They’re planning a sequel. na’s Wild Countdown” until last died in 2017, with “Where Her The Farrellys were named the 2020 recipients of Suchmann promises it will be “epic.” year. Heart Has Always Been.” PAGE 36 • STARS AND STRIPES • Friday, April 9, 2021 AMERICAN ROUNDUP

10-year-old drives family THE CENSUS minivan to get Cheerios The amount of money one of the few copies of the comic STILLWATER — A $2M book that introduced Superman to the world fetched when it MN 10-year-old Stillwa- was sold in 2018. The same issue of Action Comics #1 went for $3.25 million ter boy who led police on a chase in in a private sale, online auction and consignment company ComicConnect- his parents’ minivan says he was .com announced Tuesday. It narrowly bested the previous record for the comic, set in the auction of another copy in 2014 for slightly over $3.2 million. The headed to the store to buy Cheer- comic, published in 1938, “really is the beginning of the superhero genre,” said ios. ComicConnect.com COO Vincent Zurzolo, who brokered the sale. Zurzolo said The St. Paul Pioneer Press re- it’s estimated only about 100 copies exist today, and in varying conditions. He ported Tuesday that a police offi- said this copy is among the best-kept ones. cer spotted the boy driving the van around 9:30 p.m. Sunday and knew immediately he was either Hise Hall on the UW-Madison but police managed to safely end 10 or 11 years old. campus on Sunday, the Wisconsin the situation by turning up the The boy fled when the officer State Journal reported. It hit the heat, authorities said. turned on his emergency lights, sidewalk in front of the building’s Shortly before 6 a.m., a man in leading police on a chase that re- main entrance. Part of the slab his 30s passed a note to a Trans- ached speeds of 50 mph. At one shattered. The rest of it landed portation Safety Administration point he drove through an inter- mostly intact on a dumpster. No employee at Terminal 1 that said: section and a residential yard in one was hurt. “Help me,” KTVU-TV reported. reverse, narrowly missing a tree. UW-Madison officials are in- The man, who was “highly agi- Police eventually blocked his vestigating why the slab fell. They tated,” then pulled a large knife path, ending the chase. No one was said no construction work is going and held it to his throat, Alameda hurt. on that would have caused the in- County Sheriff’s Department spo- The boy told police he was head- cident. The dumpster was in front keswoman Tya Modeste said. ed to Target or a downtown Still- of the building for use during a The terminal was evacuated. water co-op to buy Cheerios for restroom renovation. Deputies negotiated with the man, breakfast. His parents told police Gov. Tony Evers’ capital budget who was threatening to harm him- they were sleeping and had no included more than $1 billion for self, authorities said. idea he had taken their van. system renovations but Republi- They distracted the man by cans on the state building commis- turning off the air conditioning, Video shows dog sion voted down every project in causing him to become uncom- attacking horse carriage the spending plan last month. The fortably hot and remove some of Legislature’s GOP-controlled fi- his clothing, Modeste said. WAXHAW — The nance committee will craft its own At that point, deputies used a NC driver of a horse- plan as it revises the 2021-23 state Taser on the man and a sergeant drawn carriage in North Carolina budget. wrestled away the knife. The man is being credited with helping suffered only a slight injury to his steer the horse and passengers to Skier survives tumble neck, the spokeswoman said. safety after a dog repeatedly at- He was taken away in an ambu- tacked the animal as it was pulling down Mount Washington lance just before 10 a.m. The Sher- the cart. CONCORD — A skier iff’s Office said he would receive Bridger Medlin, the owner of NH survived a tumble of psychiatric help. His name wasn’t immediately the carriage ride company, said in 1,000 feet down a slope of the released. a Facebook post Sunday that the Northeast’s highest mountain, driver tried to fend off the dog as it though it took rescuers several bit the horse on its face and legs hours to evacuate him to safety. Zoo’s 2 newborn giraffes Saturday in a Waxhaw park. Arild Hestvik, 61, of Newark, have same dad In a video of the encounter that Del., had climbed the steep slope was posted online, children on- MIAMI — A male gi- DAVID ZALUBOWSKI/AP of a chute called the Main Gully on board could be heard screaming raffe has been doing his New Hampshire’s Mount Wash- FL as the dog lunged at the horse. The part to promote Zoo Miami’s ington on Saturday in preparation video showed the horse eventually Cool way to cross breeding program, with two of his to ski down, the Concord Monitor kicking the dog away, before the long-legged babies born in the last A lone scooter rider crosses the intersection of Wazee Street and reported. dog collapses and someone holds few days. 20th Avenue on Tuesday afternoon in downtown Denver. “Hestvik reported that his boot it on the ground. After a weekend of mother-and- released from his binding before Medlin’s post said the driver child bonding, a male calf born to cohol delivery bill sponsored by cording to Phoenix TV station he even made his first turn, caus- “risked her life to protect the rid- 14-year-old Mia made his debut on Sen. Jabo Waggoner, R-Vestavia KPHO, forest officials say camp- ing him to fall the full length of ers and the horse, Miss Charlotte,” Monday, three days after the 181- Hills. The bill now goes to Gov. ers and partiers restricted access Main Gully,” said Frank Carus, adding that the driver was able to Kay Ivey. by taping off sections of the main pound giraffe’s birth, the zoo an- “get the carriage riders off the Lead Snow Ranger with the nounced in a news release. He was The beverages would only be road to designate the party area Mount Washington Avalanche carriage safely while fighting off and vehicles were parked all along the 54th giraffe born at the Miami delivered to people age 21 and ol- Center. the attacking dog.” der by companies licensed to de- the main roads. zoo. Rescuers first got a call for help The post said that the driver was liver. There would also be limits Authorities said violations in- It didn’t take long for the 55th around 4 p.m. on Saturday and re- hospitalized, but her injuries we- on how much could be delivered in cluded DUI, double riding, speed- baby giraffe to make an entrance. quested aid from an emergency ren’t detailed. a 24-hour period. For example, ing, reckless vehicle operation, On Monday, 6-year-old Zuri gave helicopter, the newspaper report- The dog belonged to a park vis- beer deliveries would be limited to staging camps in illegal areas, birth to a female calf weighing 119 ed. Trees prevented the helicopter itor, according to the post. five cases, and wine deliveries blocking roadways, illegal use of pounds, zoo officials said. Zuri and from landing near Hestvik’s loca- Medlin said Miss Charlotte was would be limited to 12 bottles. fireworks and target shooting. the calf are expected to rejoin the expected to heal, though her face tion. herd as early as Wednesday. may be permanently scarred. More than 5,000 people go Concrete slab falls off Hestvik had injuries but was The two calves, still unnamed, to illegal party in forest headquarters building stable, rescuers said, and so they are the first offspring of 4-year-old Lawmakers approve carried him out, reaching a park- father Malcolm, the zoo said. alcohol delivery bill PHOENIX — More MADISON — Universi- ing lot at 9 p.m. An ambulance The risk to giraffe populations AZ than 5,000 people gath- WI ty of Wisconsin System took him to a hospital. in the wild has recently been ele- MONTGOMERY — ered last weekend in the Tonto Na- officials lobbying legislators for vated from a “species of least con- AL Alabama could soon al- tional Forest northeast of Phoenix more than $1 billion for construc- Turning off AC ends cern” to “vulnerable” by the Inter- low people to get beer, wine and li- for an illegal party that was bro- tion and renovations got a talking airport standoff national Union for the Conserva- quor delivered to their homes, un- ken up by U.S. Forest Service per- point Sunday after a concrete slab tion of Nature due to significant der a bill approved Tuesday by sonnel, according to authorities. somehow fell off the system’s OAKLAND — Oakland reductions in their populations state lawmakers. The Tonto National Forest re- headquarters building and CA International Airport over the last several years, the The Alabama Senate on Tues- quires a permit application to be plunged three stories to the side- was closed for nearly four hours zoo’s statement said. day voted 28-0 to accept House of submitted and approved for all walk below. Tuesday after a knife-wielding Representatives changes to an al- gatherings of over 75 people. Ac- The slab fell off 19-story Van man threatened to harm himself From wire reports Friday, April 9, 2021 • STARS AND STRIPES • PAGE 37 PAGE 38 • STARS AND STRIPES • Friday, April 9, 2021 Eugene Sheffer Crossword Frazz Dilbert

ACROSS 55 Golfer Ernie 22 Immigrant’s 1 Elroy’s dog 56 Favorite course (Abbr.) 6 Airline to Sweden 57 Upright 24 EMT’s skill 9 Roman 1150 26 Ploy

Pearls Before Swine Pearls Before 12 “Real Time” DOWN 28 Flower holders host Bill 1 Soul, to Camus 30 Take to court 13 Play segment 2 Erie Canal mule 32 HBO crime 14 Bond rating 3 1979 Bette series 15 Supreme Court Midler film 33 “There’s no Justice Kagan 4 Actress Russo — team!” 16 1991 John 5 Pre-diploma 34 Iowa college Grisham legal hurdles 36 Car radio thriller 6 Nymph pursuers button 18 Track events 7 German 38 Strictly — nous Non Sequitur 20 Notion exclamations 39 Taj — 21 “The Matrix” hero 8 Fr. holy woman 40 Pizza places 23 — Lancelot 9 Hotel workers 42 Barrel strip 24 Broadway rosters 10 Insertion symbol 45 Party cheese 25 Admin. aide 11 Tibetan monks 46 Done with 17 Debacle 48 iPhone download 27 Answers an 19 Buenos — 50 Computer key invitation 21 Snooze 51 Drench 29 Make happy Answer to Previous Puzzle 31 Polar Candorville 35 Points 37 Dayton’s state 38 Ham it up on stage 41 Scale members 43 Away from WSW 44 “Avatar” race 45 Give 47 “Drive” band

Carpe Diem 49 “A Room with —” 52 Scooted 53 Picnic dessert 54 Biblical passage Beetle Bailey Bizarro Friday, April 9, 2021 • STARS AND STRIPES • PAGE 39 Eugene Sheffer Crossword Frazz Dilbert

ACROSS 52 Piano 18 Bankroll 1 Soaks up the sun technicians 21 Magazine 6 Microwave 53 Glowing signs since 1945 sounds 54 Masts 23 Dutch painter Jan

Pearls Before Swine Pearls Before 11 Laundry collector 12 Channel changer DOWN 25 Put two and 14 Johnnie 1 Sheep sounds two together? Cochran, notably 2 Teeming, as 27 Just out 15 Runs off to wed with wasps 29 “Dumb and 16 Attorneys’ org. 3 Cloud setting Dumber” star Jeff 17 Chess soldiers 4 Retain 31 Troop groups 19 Hosp. areas 5 Purse part 32 Caved 20 Naked 6 Fraser of “The 33 Retaliate 22 Cushion Mummy” 34 Zero 7 Morays 36 Account book Non Sequitur 23 “Auld Lang —” 24 Ballroom dance 8 Punk rock 37 “Bottoms up!” 26 Related to offshoot 38 Stereo hookups the “Divine 9 Spinach- 41 Defeats Comedy” writer eating sailor 44 Port of Algeria 28 Quirky 10 Breastbones 45 Enlist again 30 Born abroad? 11 Spills the beans 48 Popular card game 31 Resident of 13 Ruhr Valley 50 Genetic letters Kampala city 35 Actress Answer to Previous Puzzle

Candorville Raquel 39 Shade of blue 40 Pen tip 42 Classic soda brand 43 “— been had!” 44 Ed-monton player 46 Dict. info 47 Length of Carpe Diem service 49 Composer Prokofiev 51 Cue Beetle Bailey Bizarro PAGE 40 • STARS AND STRIPES • Friday, April 9, 2021 OPINION

Max D. Lederer Jr., Publisher Lt. Col. Marci Hoffman, Europe commander Lt. Col. Richard McClintic, Pacific commander Developing world’s gig workers need a safety net BY CHRISTOPHER SABATINI ployment benefits or cash transfers that ex- these workers. In countries as diverse as the Special to The Washington Post cluded many informal sector workers. Netherlands, China, Costa Rica, Kenya and EDITORIAL he coronavirus pandemic has hit The development community has been dis- Rwanda, governments, often in collaboration Terry Leonard, Editor the developing world’s informal cussing the vulnerability of informal workers with private banks, have created individual- [email protected] economy hard. Existing on the mar- for more than 30 years. The economic reforms ized, social insurance accounts for workers gins, with no access to social safety and austerity measures that became the stan- not covered by state programs. In most of the Robert H. Reid, Senior Managing Editor T nets such as unemployment insurance and dard medicine for struggling emerging mar- cases, individuals pay into state-sanctioned [email protected] pensions, many of the 2 billion informal work- ket economies in the late 1980s and 1990s in- accounts — in some instances publicly subsi- Tina Croley, Managing Editor for Content ers around the world were already barely creased the pools of informal employment, as dized — that workers can draw down in the [email protected] keeping their heads above water before the former state companies shed employees, event of income loss from unemployment, re- Sean Moores, Managing Editor for Presentation lockdowns. One analysis estimated that 1.6 bil- union membership thinned and rigid labor tirement or health problems. [email protected] lion informal sector workers worldwide laws left untouched by the reforms offered lit- Some may argue that a state taking on more would suffer a 62% decline in income in the tle incentive for hiring. social obligations is financially irresponsible Joe Gromelski, Managing Editor for Digital first few months of the crisis alone, with work- Unfortunately, though, much of the devel- after the aggressive stimulus packages have [email protected] ers in lower-income countries projected to see opment community preferred to view infor- left governments strapped. That is where the their earnings shrink by 88%. mal workers as evidence of an aspiring entre- current IMF-World Bank virtual meeting BUREAU STAFF But the pandemic may finally bring a preneurial class forced underground by oner- comes in. much-needed evaluation by governments ous regulations and taxes. This view fit neatly Debt relief or even delays in paying off state Europe/Mideast and international financial institutions of their into the predominant neoliberal reforms of debt can help recover some of the fiscal space Erik Slavin, Europe & Mideast Bureau Chief [email protected] failures to effectively understand and address the time and fed into programs such as the governments need to begin these efforts. In- +49(0)631.3615.9350; DSN (314)583.9350 labor inequalities that have created a semi- World Bank’s annual Doing Business report ternational financial institutions should ex- Pacific permanent marginalized, vulnerable under- —but in the end missed the mark. plore debt forgiveness or extending service Aaron Kidd, Pacific Bureau Chief class of global workers. This week’s meeting Rather than oppressed future moguls, most payments in exchange for modern social safe- [email protected] of the International Monetary Fund and the informal sector workers are self-account ty net programs targeting informal sector +81.42.552.2511 ext. 88380; DSN (315)227.7380 World Bank and ministers of economy and fi- workers or off-the-books employees in struc- workers. Having an economically stable, in- Washington nance from all over world presents a perfect, tured businesses. Even among the working clusive and more productive working class in Joseph Cacchioli, Washington Bureau Chief near-post-crisis moment to consider their class, there was little solidarity. Until recently, debtor nations would also be a good bet for [email protected] obligations to the plight of informal sector labor unions largely ignored the messy, di- current and future private lenders. (+1)(202)886-0033 Brian Bowers, Assistant Managing Editor, News workers. verse population of informal workers, prefer- Such programs should only be a first step to [email protected] According to the International Labor Orga- ring instead to continue to defend the rights of incorporating this working class in the devel- nization, in 2020 more than 2 billion people — a shrinking base of organized labor in tradi- oping world. But they will be a start in address- CIRCULATION or 62% of the global workforce — were em- tional sectors. ing their insecurity and marginalization in ployed in the informal sector, the bulk of them The goal now should be to focus attention on ways past programs failed. It will also require Mideast in the developing world. Eighty-five percent the short- and long-term solutions that ad- the Bretton Woods system that created the Robert Reismann, Mideast Circulation Manager [email protected] of the workforce in Africa, 59% of workers in dress informal workers’ vulnerability. The IMF and the World Bank nearly 77 years ago [email protected] the Asia Pacific and 53% of laborers Latin first of these should be creating and expand- to undergo a much-needed update to address DSN (314)583-9111 America work in the informal sector. ing social programs that can create a viable these not-so-new global social and economic Europe These workers not only bore the brunt of the safety net for off-book workers, while working vulnerabilities that the pandemic has tragical- Karen Lewis, Community Engagement Manager COVID lockdown measures, but they also to bring them into formal labor contracts with ly highlighted. [email protected] were largely left behind by the stimulus pack- protections. [email protected] +49(0)631.3615.9090; DSN (314)583.9090 ages that governments implemented. Many There is a growing number of examples of Christopher Sabatini is a Latin America senior research fellow packages relied on tax relief, extended unem- flexible social insurance schemes that target at Chatham House in London. Pacific Mari Mori, [email protected] +81-3 6385.3171; DSN (315)227.7333 CONTACT US Social media reform must be fair, protect free speech Washington BY DAREN BAKST At the heart of the Section 230 debate is a dis- get reforms that would be to the opposite of tel: (+1)202.886.0003 AND DUSTIN CARMACK agreement regarding the importance of al- what many conservatives would want. 633 3rd St. NW, Suite 116, Washington, DC 20001-3050 The Heritage Foundation lowing Americans to speak their minds. Some To be clear, Section 230 reform shouldn’t be Reader letters ould you say social media plat- want to reduce the chilling of speech by social an excuse for the government to trample on [email protected] forms offer “a forum for a true media companies. And some want to use Sec- the First Amendment, such as by trying to dic- diversity of political dis- tion 230 reform as a way to chill speech still tate the type of legal speech that private com- Additional contacts course?” further. They want to ensure that speech com- panies must allow or prohibit on their plat- stripes.com/contactus W Congress used this language over 20 years municated online is consistent with their forms. But Section 230 is a federal govern- OMBUDSMAN ago to describe the internet when it passed worldviews. ment intervention that provides the benefit of Section 230, a federal law that provides liabil- For many on the right, Section 230 needs to liability protection for online service provid- Ernie Gates ity protection for online service providers be reformed because social media companies ers, provided they are willing to abide by the The Stars and Stripes ombudsman protects the free flow when they transmit or take down user-gener- have so clearly broadened the types of content parameters set forth in that provision. of news and information, reporting any attempts by the ated content. While the internet generally that they moderate, demonstrating bias and To account for the spread of misinformation military or other authorities to undermine the newspaper’s independence. The ombudsman also responds to concerns does offer such a forum, on social media plat- censorship of content associated with conser- on their platforms, the CEOs at the hearing ex- and questions from readers, and monitors coverage for forms, it is disappearing. vatives. Many on the left, however, believe Big plained how difficult it is to moderate the high fairness, accuracy, timeliness and balance. The ombudsman welcomes comments from readers, and can be contacted by Big Tech, including social media platforms, Tech companies are not moderating enough volume of content uploaded on their sites each email at [email protected], or by phone at are now under the microscope, and legislators content, particularly what they view as harm- day. To help moderate content, the companies 202.886.0003. have very different ideas on what, if anything, ful or extremist speech. have built artificial intelligence algorithms to needs to be done. The recent hearing before They also desire to have social media com- seek and remove content they deem to be ille- Stars and Stripes (USPS 0417900) is published week- days (except Dec. 25 and Jan. 1) for 50 cents Monday the House Energy and Commerce Committee panies go even further in taking down “misin- gal or in violation of their terms of service or through Thursday and for $1 on Friday by Pacific Stars and Stripes, Unit 45002, APO AP 96301-5002. Periodicals —billed as an investigation of digital misinfor- formation,” as if one side has a monopoly on community guidelines. The CEOs blame the postage paid at San Francisco, CA, Postmaster: Send mation among Facebook, Twitter and Google everything that is true, even in subjective de- algorithms when the companies go overboard address changes to Pacific Stars and Stripes, Unit 45002, APO AP 96301-5002. This newspaper is authorized by the — showed just how divided members of Con- bates. There would be no fact-checking the on limiting speech. But company employees Department of Defense for members of the military services gress, both parties and the public are on the fu- self-anointed fact checkers. And this so-called design and code the algorithms based on di- overseas. However, the contents of Stars and Stripes are unofficial, and are not to be considered as the official views ture of social media. fact-checking is arguably a pretext to remove rection from their company superiors. of, or endorsed by, the U.S. government. As a DOD newspa- Committee members barraged Facebook’s or discredit views inconsistent with their own. There’s a wide range of opinions across the per, Stars and Stripes may be distributed through official channels and use appropriated funds for distribution to Mark Zuckerberg, Twitter’s Jack Dorsey and In fact, if these companies were so concerned ideological spectrum on whether and how to remote locations where overseas DOD personnel are located. Google’s Sundar Pichai with questions. Some with the facts, they would allow the content to reform Section 230, or to eliminate it . Legisla- The appearance of advertising in this publication does not constitute endorsement by the Department of Defense or threatened to repeal Section 230. Others be subject to public scrutiny. tors should reform it, and in so doing, protect Stars and Stripes of the products or services advertised. called for government regulators, such as the Conservatives and others concerned with the forum for political discourse envisioned Products or services advertised shall be made available for purchase, use or patronage without regard to race, color, Federal Trade Commission, to review their bias and censorship should recognize these when the law was passed 25 years ago. religion, sex, national origin, age, marital status, physical content moderation practices and algorithms. differences if they hope to achieve their desir- handicap, political affiliation or any other nonmerit factor of the purchaser, user or patron. Many on both the left and the right agree ed Section 230 reforms. Details matter, and Daren Bakst is a senior research fellow in Regulatory Policy © Stars and Stripes 2021 that Section 230 needs to be reformed. But this Section 230 reform is needed, but the pathway Studies, and Dustin Carmack is a research fellow, at The is generally where the agreement ends. in the current environment could help the left Heritage Foundation. stripes.com Friday, April 9, 2021 • STARS AND STRIPES • PAGE 41 SCOREBOARD/TENNIS

COLLEGE FOOTBALL COLLEGE HOCKEY AUTO RACING Saturday’s schedule NCAA Division I Tournament Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief FROZEN FOUR 500 lineup EAST At Pittsburgh NASCAR Cup Series Lehigh (0-2) at Lafayette (1-1) National Semifinals After Friday qualifying; race Saturday Fordham (1-1) at Holy Cross (2-0), ppd. Thursday, April 8 At Martinsville Speedway Kennesaw St. (4-0) at Monmouth (NJ) Minn. Duluth vs. UMass Martinsville, Va. (2-0) St. Cloud St. vs. Minnesota St. National Championship Lap length: 0.53 miles Fordham (1-1) at Bucknell (2-0) (Car number in parentheses) Holy Cross (2-0) at Colgate (0-2) Saturday, April 10 Delaware (3-0) at Delaware St. (2-1) Semifinal winners 1. (22) Joey Logano, Ford, .000 mph. 2. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, .000. SOUTH 3. (24) William Byron, Chevrolet, .000. DEALS 4. (12) Ryan Blaney, Ford, .000. Valparaiso (3-1) at Morehead St. (2-3) 5. (9) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, .000. Robert Morris (0-2) at Charleston South- 6. (47) Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Chevrolet, ern (0-2) Wednesday’s transactions .000. Davidson (4-1) at Presbyterian (2-3) BASEBALL 7. (19) Martin Truex Jr, Toyota, .000. Richmond (3-0) at William & Mary (1-2) 8. (6) Ryan Newman, Ford, .000. Furman (3-3) at The Citadel (1-9) Major League Baseball American League 9. (4) Kevin Harvick, Ford, .000. MVSU (0-2) at Alabama St. (1-2) 10. (2) Brad Keselowski, Ford, .000. Alabama A&M (1-0) at Jackson St. (3-2) BOSTON RED SOX — Optioned RHP Tan- 11. (99) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, .000. SE Louisiana (3-2) at Nicholls (4-2) ner Houck to alternate training site. 12. (18) Kyle Busch, Toyota, .000. Elon (1-5) at James Madison (4-0), ppd. CHICAGO WHITE SOX — Placed SS Tim 13. (8) Tyler Reddick, Chevrolet, .000. ETSU (4-1) at Mercer (4-5) Anderson on the 10-day injured list. Re- 14. (34) Michael McDowell, Ford, .000. called INF Danny Mendick from alternate 15. (17) Chris Buescher, Ford, .000. MIDWEST training site. 16. (43) Erik Jones, Chevrolet, .000. MICHEL EULER/AP Drake (1-2) at Butler (0-4) MINNESOTA TWINS — Placed OF Brent 17. (37) Ryan Preece, Chevrolet, .000. Youngstown St. (1-5) at Missouri St. (4-4) Rooker on the 10-day injured list. Placed 18. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, .000. Croatia’s Mate Pavic, right, and Brazil’s Bruno Soares play a shot in N. Dakota St. (5-1) at N. Iowa (3-3) RHP Edwar Colina on the 60-day injured 19. (5) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, .000. list. Selected the contract of LHP Brandon 20. (48) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, .000. the men’s doubles final of the French Open on Oct. 10 in Paris. This SOUTHWEST Waddell from the taxi squad. 21. (1) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, .000. year’s French Open will be delayed by a week because of surging McNeese St. (3-3) at Sam Houston St. SEATTLE MARINERS — Recalled OF Bra- 22. (21) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, .000. (4-0) den Bishop and RHP Ljay Newsome from 23. (20) Christopher Bell, Toyota, .000. coronavirus cases in France. Northwestern St. (0-5) at Incarnate alternate training site. Placed OF Jake Fra- 24. (14) Chase Briscoe, Ford, .000. Word (3-1) ley and LHP James Paxton on the 10-day 25. (23) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, .000. Southern U. (3-1) at Prairie View (2-0), injured list. 26. (41) Cole Custer, Ford, .000. ppd. TEXAS RANGERS — Sent LHP Brett Mar- 27. (42) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, .000. tin on a rehab assignment to alternate 28. (53) JJ Yeley, Chevrolet, .000. FAR WEST training site. 29. (00) Quin Houff, Chevrolet, .000. Central Washington University at Mon- TORONTO BLUE JAYS — Agreed to terms 30. (77) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, .000. tana with executive vice president, baseball 31. (10) Aric Almirola, Ford, .000. Idaho St. (2-3) at Weber St. (4-0) operations and general manager Ross At- 32. (51) Cody Ware, Chevrolet, .000. Pandemic delays kins on a five-year contract extension. 33. (52) Josh Bilicki, Ford, .000. Stetson (0-3) at San Diego (3-1) National League Idaho (2-2) at E. Washington (4-1) 34. (7) Corey Lajoie, Chevrolet, .000. N. Arizona (1-2) at S. Utah (1-4) ATLANTA BRAVES — Recalled RHP Jacob 35. (38) Anthony Alfredo, Ford, .000. Webb from alternate training site. 36. (78) BJ McLeod, Ford, .000. WASHINGTON NATIONALS — Recalled 37. (15) James Davison, Chevrolet, .000. Sunday’s schedule LHP Ben Braymer from alternate training site. Cook Out 250 lineup BASKETBALL French Open start EAST National Basketball Association NASCAR Xfinity Series Sacred Heart (2-1) at Duquesne (4-0) After Thursday qualifying; race Friday DETROIT PISTONS — Released F Tyler At Martinsville Speedway SOUTH Cook. Martinsville, Va. Officials push tournament back a week OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER — Released Jacksonville St. (8-2) at Murray St. (5-1) F Justin Jackson. Lap length: 0.53 miles (Car number in parentheses) SE Missouri (3-4) at Tennessee St. (2-4) FOOTBALL Associated Press Tennessee Tech (2-4) at UT Martin (2-4) National Football League 1. (20) Harrison Burton, Toyota, .000 challenges ahead of the FFT in BUFFALO BILLS — Signed G Forrest Lamp mph. PARIS — For the second year staging Roland Garros, and to MIDWEST to a one-year contract. 2. (7) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, .000. Austin Peay (4-5) at E. Illinois (1-5) CINCINNATI BENGALS — Released RB 3. (16) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, .000. in a row, the traditional French avoid further impact on the rest Giovani Bernard. Waived OT Javarius Lea- 4. (18) Daniel Hemric, Toyota, .000. TENNIS mon. 5. (11) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, .000. Open schedule is being disrupt- of the calendar, the grass court — Signed TE Jeremy 6. (22) Austin Cindric, Ford, .000. DALLAS COWBOYS 7. (98) Riley Herbst, Ford, .000. ed by the coronavirus pandemic. season will be reduced by one Copa Colsanitas Sprinkle and P Bryan Anger. 8. (9) Noah Gragson, Chevrolet, .000. LOS ANGELES RAMS — Re-signed DB An- The clay-court Grand Slam week in 2021,” the Grand Slam Wednesday 9. (2) Myatt Snider, Chevrolet, .000. thony Levine. 10. (1) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, .000. tennis tournament said Thurs- board said in a statement. At Centro de Alto Rendimiento HOUSTON TEXANS — Signed TE Antony 11. (51) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, Bogota, Columbia Auclair. Re-signed DB A.J. Moore. With- .000. day it will push back the start of Wimbledon was canceled last Purse: $235,238 drew their restricted offer from DT P.J. 12. (39) Ryan Sieg, Ford, .000. Surface: Red clay Hall. 13. (10) Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, .000. this season’s event by one week year because of the pandemic, Women’s Singles NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS — Reinstated 14. (4) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, .000. because of surging virus cases in the first time since World War II Round of 16 C Dustin Woodard from the retired list. 15. (92) Josh Williams, Chevrolet, .000. Viktoriya Tomova, Bulgaria, def. Wang PITTSBURGH STEELERS — Signed LB La- 16. (54) Ty Gibbs, Toyota, .000. France. that the oldest Grand Slam tennis Yafan (8), China, 6-3, 6-3. mir Jones to a one-year contract. 17. (44) Tommy Joe Martins, Chevrolet, Lara Arruabarrena, Spain, def. Jasmine SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS — Signed QB .000. “This postponement will give tournament wasn’t played. Paolini (6), Italy, 2-6, 6-4, 6-2. Nate Sudfield to a one-year contract. 18. (0) Jeffrey Earnhardt, Chevrolet, .000. us a little more time to improve The move to delay this year's Sara Errani, Italy, def. Aliona Bolsova Za- TENNESSEE TITANS — Named Jim 19. (68) Brandon Brown, Chevrolet, .000. doinov, Spain, 6-4, 6-4. Schwartz senior defensive assistant 20. (66) Timmy Hill, Ford, .000. the health situation and should French Open came as hospitals Nuria Parrizas-Diaz, Spain, def. Arantxa coach. 21. (78) Jesse Little, Toyota, .000. HOCKEY 22. (36) Alex Labbe, Chevrolet, .000. allow us to optimize our chances in the country approach satura- Rus (3), Netherlands, 7-6 (4), 2-6, 6-1. National Hockey League Stefanie Voegele, Switzerland, def. 23. (15) Colby Howard, Chevrolet, .000. of welcoming spectators at Ro- tion from virus cases. To slow Zheng Saisai (1), China, 6-4, 6-1. ARIZONA COYOTES — Signed D Ty Em- 24. (19) Brandon Jones, Toyota, .000. Women’s Doubles berson to a three-year entry level con- 25. (26) Brandon Gdovic, Toyota, .000. land Garros,” said Gilles Moret- down the pace of infections, new Quarterfinals tract. 26. (74) Bayley Currey, Chevrolet, .000. COLUMBIA BLUE JACKETS — Designated 27. (02) Brett Moffitt, Chevrolet, .000. ton, the president of the French nationwide restrictions have Elixane Lechemia, France, and Ingrid RW Liam Foudy and C Alexandre Texier for 28. (07) Joe Graf Jr, Chevrolet, .000. Neel, United States, def. Paula Kania-Cho- assignment to taxi squad. 29. (8) Josh Berry, Chevrolet, .000. tennis federation. “Whether for been enforced, including a three- dun, Poland, and Julia Wachaczyk, Germa- DALLAS STARS — Designated C Justin 30. (48) Jade Buford, Chevrolet, .000. the fans, the players or the atmo- week school closure, a month- ny, 6-1, 2-6, 13-11. Dowling for assignment to taxi squad. 31. (47) Kyle Weatherman, Chevrolet, Volvo Car Open LOS ANGELES KINGS — Waived RW Mar- .000. sphere, crowd presence is essen- long domestic travel ban and the tin Frk. 32. (23) Blaine Perkins, Chevrolet, .000. Wednesday MONTREAL CANADIENS — Recalled G 33. (17) JJ Yeley, Chevrolet, .000. tial to the tournament, the first closing of non-essential shops. At Family Circle Tennis Center Cayden Primeau, C Jake Evans and RW 34. (61) David Starr, Toyota, .000. international sporting event of The French tennis federation Charleston, S.C. Paul Byron from minor league taxi squad. 35. (6) Ryan Vargas, Chevrolet, .000. Purse: $565,530 NEW JERSEY DEVILS — Waived F Nick 36. (5) Matt Mills, Chevrolet, .000. the spring.” said the decision was taken in or- Surface: Green clay Merkley. Acquired Fs A.J. Greer and Mason 37. (90) George Gorham Jr., Chevrolet, Women’s Singles Jobstin exchange for Fs Kyle Palmieri and .000. The French Open was sched- der to maximize chances the Round of 32 Travis Zajac and for the Islanders’ first- 38. (99) Stefan Parsons, Toyota, .000. uled to start on May 23, but first- event will be played “in front of Kurumi Nara, Japan, def. Whitney round pick in the 2021 NHL draft, a condi- 39. (52) Gray Gaulding, Chevrolet, .000. Osuigwe, United States, 6-1, 6-4. tional fourth-round choice in the 2022 NHL 40. (13) Matt Jaskol, Ford, .000. round matches will now get un- as many spectators as possible” Paula Badosa, Spain, def. Belinda Bencic draft. derway on May 30. in a safe environment. (5), Switzerland, 6-2, 6-7 (2), 6-1. NEW YORK ISLANDERS — Acquired Fs AP SPORTLIGHT Caty McNally, United States, def. Anas- Kyle Palmieri and Travis Zajac from New Last year’s tournament was Ugo Valensi, the executive di- tasija Sevastova, Latvia, 7-6 (3), 2-6, 6-4. Jersey in exchange for Fs A.J. Greer and April 9 Ons Jabeur (12), Tunisia, def. Hailey Bap- Mason Jobst. pushed back to September be- rector of the Grand Slam board, OTTAWA SENATORS — Recalled LW Laex 1946 — The Montreal Canadiens beat the tiste, United States, 6-3, 6-3. Boston Bruins 6-3 to win the Stanley Cup in cause of the pandemic, with said the organization supports Danka Kovinic, Montenegro, def. Leylah Formenton from minor league taxi squad. TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS — Recalled LW five games. Annie Fernandez, Canada, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. 1947 — Leo Durocher, manager of the crowds limited to 1,000 per day. the delay. But French tennis Veronika Kudermetova (15), Russia, def. Alex Galchenyuk, G Michael Hutchinson and RW Alexander Barabanov from minor Brooklyn Dodgers, is suspended for one The delay will have a knock-on player Alize Cornet slammed Emma Navarro, United States, 6-4, 6-4. year by Commissioner A.B. “Happy” Chan- Lauren Davis, United States, def. Sofia league taxi squad. WASHINGTON CAPITALS — Waived LW dler for “conduct detrimental to baseball.” effect on the grass-court season, Sports Minister Roxana Maraci- Kenin (2), United States, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. Durocher is linked to gambling interests. Coco Gauff (14), United States, def. Liud- Richard Panik. but not Wimbledon. neanu for the decision. — Designated LW Kris- 1950 — Jimmy Demaret wins his third mila Samsonova, Russia, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4. WINNIPEG JETS Masters, by two strokes over Jim Ferrier. tian Vesalainen for assignment to taxi Tennis authorities lengthened “Our sport minister is a disas- 1978 — Gary Player shoots a final-round Alize Cornet, France, def. Elise Mertens squad. (7), Belgium, 7-5, 6-3. SOCCER 64 to win his third Masters, edging Hubert the gap between the French ter,” Cornet said, speaking to Ajla Tomljanovic, Australia, def. Marie Major League Soccer Green, Rod Funseth and defending cham- Bouzkova, Czech Republic, 4-6, 7-5, 7-5. pion Tom Watson by a shot. Open final and the start of Wim- Tennis Channel. “It’s a pretty FC CINCINNATI — Signed D Avionne Fla- Ashleigh Barty (1), Australia, def. Misaki 1978 — Denver’s David Thompson, bat- bledon to three weeks in 2015, selfish decision, to be honest. Be- nagan to a one-year contract with three tling San Antonio’s George Gervin for the Doi, Japan, 6-2, 6-1. additional option years. Sloane Stephens, United States, def. Ma- NBA season scoring title, scores 73 points giving players extra time to get cause the calendar is going to FC DALLAS — Signed W Szabolcs Schon against the Detroit Pistons. It’s the third- dison Keys (8), United States, 6-4, 6-4. to a three-year contract with options for used to the fastest surface in the suffer from this postponement. I Shelby Rogers, United States, def. highest output ever in an NBA game. Ger- 2024 and 2025 seasons. vin, not to be outdone, later scores 63 Amanda Anisimova (13), United States, MINNESOTA UNITED — Signed F Ramon game. But because of the delay understand it’s not an easy time 1-6, 7-5, 6-4. against the New Orleans Jazz. It’s just Wanchope with targeted allocation mon- enough to give Gervin the scoring crown, announced Thursday, the season for the tournament but we have Women’s Doubles ey with an option to buy. Round of 16 27.22 points per game to Thompson’s NEW YORK CITY FC — Signed MF Alfredo 27.15, the tightest one-two finish ever. will be reduced to two weeks to think about the players and the Asia Muhammad, United States, and Ga- Morales to a three-year contract with an 1989 — Britain’s Nick Faldo makes a 25- briela Dabrowski, Canada, def. Andreja option for 2024. foot birdie putt on the second hole of a plus Wimbledon. calendar.” Klepac, Slovenia, and Darija Jurak, Croa- ORANGE COUNTY SC — Acquired LW sudden-death playoff to win the Masters. “All four Grand Slam tourna- This year's Australian Open tia, 6-4, 3-6, 10-5. Jack Imperato from Villarreal CF. Runner-up Scott Hoch missed a 2-foot putt Caroline Dolehide and Emma Navarro, COLLEGE for par on the first hole of the playoff that ments are united in their view on was delayed by three weeks be- United States, def. Zhang Shuai and Xu Yi- Albany (NY) — Named Dannton Jackson would have given him the title. fan (3), China, 6-1, 6-4. men’s basketball assistant coach, Dan 1993 — The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the importance of a meaningful cause of the virus, and quaran- Caty McNally and Coco Gauff, United Madhavapallil director of basketball oper- the New York Rangers 10-4 for their 16th build-up to every Grand Slam ... tine restrictions affected the States, def. Bethanie Mattek-Sands and ations and K.J. Bapiste, Jr. director of straight win to break the NHL record of 15 Sofia Kenin, United States, 6-3, 6-3. recruiting and video. held by the New York Islanders. However, given the considerable preparations of several players. PAGE 42 • STARS AND STRIPES • Friday, April 9, 2021 HIGH SCHOOL/COLLEGE DODEA Japan spring sports get go-ahead Last holdout of Pacific theater will compete in shorter season

BY DAVE ORNAUER DODEA Okinawa and DODEA Stars and Stripes Korea began their spring seasons After losing the entire 2020 the week of March 14-20. spring season to the coronavirus The various schools in DODEA pandemic, five of the six DODEA Japan and their host commands Japan high schools have received submitted proposals including approval to play a 3 ½-week sea- mitigation strategies to allow for son of baseball, softball, soccer competition to be done safely. and track and field. Only track and field will com- Yokota, Zama and Nile C. Kin- pete in a season-ending Far East nick will play against each other meet, and that will be done virtual- since their travel is confined to the ly. local area, DODEA officials said. The news was met positively by Same holds true for Matthew C. coaches, who said it was hard to Perry, which will host E.J. King keep teams focused while practic- the next two Saturdays in all ing. sports, then travel to King on April “It hasn’t been easy to keep the 24. boys motivated since there were “Finally!” Zama track and field no games or tournaments” until coach Veronica Jones said of the Saturday, Trojans boys soccer school getting the news from base coach Evoly Angarita said. leadership early Thursday. “All of a sudden, for the kids, JACK HIGBEE/For Stars and Stripe “Surreal!” Trojans girls soccer there’s a spring in their step,” Per- Juniors Hana Vogeley, left, and Keiya Carlson are among six players returning from Yokota’s 2019 girls coach Manny Duarte said, adding ry boys soccer coach Mark Lange soccer team for the DODEA Japan season that starts Saturday. that he’s happy for the seniors “in said. “It gives us some purpose to particular. I told them to keep the what we’re doing.” Perry hosts track and soccer on Edgren, 430 miles north of Tokyo DODEA is not allowing at this faith and had a feeling things The Kanto Plain season opens base, while baseball will be played at Misawa Air Base. time, DODEA Pacific spokeswo- would work out better this year.” Saturday with Yokota hosting off base at Agato Park and softball Current guidelines prevent To- man Miranda Ferguson said. Japan had been the only DO- track and girls soccer, Zama boys at Monzen Park. kyo teams from traveling north

DEA district in the Pacific theater soccer and Kinnick baseball and The one DODEA Japan school on and Edgren going south, since that [email protected] to not offer games until this week. softball. Down south, Matthew C. the outside looking in is Robert D. would involve overnight stays that Twitter @daveornauer Women traveling long distances to play flag football BY ERIC OLSON Women’s flag football is in its first year of Associated Press competition in the National Association of FREMONT, Neb. — From a distance, it Intercollegiate Athletics. The NAIA en- looks like college kids in sweat clothes toss- tered a partnership with the NFL and ing a football around on a campus green Reigning Champs Experiences, which op- space. erates flag football programs across the Draw closer, and it’s apparent this is no country. sandlot game. It’s classified as an emerging sport, A coach is explaining routes he wants re- meaning there’s no NAIA-sponsored cham- ceivers to run on a play he calls “Bingo.” pionship. Championship status is achieved Then he tells his quarterbacks to make once there are 40 programs, a threshold quicker decisions. Next he demonstrates flag football could reach in two or three how a receiver in motion sets up as a block- years. er next to the center and the running back The sport is played seven on seven on a takes a handoff and heads for a hole that field 80 yards long and 40 yards wide. There should open on the left side. are four 12-minute quarters. It’s 20 yards The women Jaison Jones is coaching lis- instead of 10 for a first down. All players are ten intently and ask lots of questions. More eligible receivers. Players are “tackled” than half showed up at Midland University when a defender pulls one of the three flags from faraway places to continue playing the attached to the ball carrier’s belt. growing sport of flag football at the 1,600- Midland and 12 other small schools re- student school in a town of 26,000 nestled in ceived $15,000 in seed money from the NFL. the farmland of eastern Nebraska. That’s about half of what it costs per year to Allison Maulfair and Spencer Mauk were operate a program, according to the NAIA, teammates at their high school in Braden- but doesn’t include cost of scholarships. ton, Fla., a state where a nation-high 7,700 Midland offers 33 sports and more than girls at 278 schools play varsity flag foot- ORLIN WAGNER/AP 70% of its students are athletes. The War- ball. Ottawa receiver Jazlyn Camacho, right, makes a catches while covered by Midland’s riors have 14 flag football players, and all Jones recruited them at summer show- E’leseana Patterson during an NAIA flag football game March 26 in Ottawa, Kan. pay more in tuition than they receive in case, and after Maulfair and Mauk made scholarship aid. Athletic director Dave Gil- the 1,500-mile drive to Fremont for a visit, where I’m at. It just matters playing the UNLV. lespie said he expects a strong return on in- they decided it was where they wanted to game with great people, really.” On a lark, she went to a showcase in Ve- vestment. be. E’leseana Patterson figured she was done gas and ended up impressing Jones. She “You’re talking about kids who love play- “I’m just really passionate about this with flag football after she quarterbacked took a virtual campus tour and knew she ing the sport and probably didn’t think they sport,” Maulfair said. “I fell in love with it her Las Vegas high school team to a state wanted to be part of what was happening at would have the opportunity to combine it my freshman year of high school and championship in 2019. Her plan was to stay Midland, as did four other players she com- with getting a college degree,” Gillespie haven’t stopped loving it. It doesn’t matter home, help her mom and take classes at peted against in high school. said. “I think that’s a strong pull.” Friday, April 9, 2021 • STARS AND STRIPES • PAGE 43 NFL/NBA SC gunman Scoreboard was 5-year Eastern Conference Atlantic Division WLPct GB NFL player Brooklyn 36 16 .692 — Philadelphia 35 16 .686 ½ Boston 26 26 .500 10 BY MICHELLE LIU New York 25 27 .481 11 AND MEG KINNARD Toronto 20 31 .392 15½ Associated Press Southeast Division COLUMBIA, S.C. — The gun- WLPct GB man who killed five people, includ- ing a prominent doctor in South Charlotte 26 24 .520 — Atlanta 27 25 .519 — Carolina, was former NFL player Miami 26 25 .510 ½ Phillip Adams, who killed himself Washington 18 32 .360 8 early Thursday, according to a Orlando 17 34 .333 9½ source who was briefed on the in- Central Division vestigation. WLPct GB The source, who spoke on the Milwaukee 32 18 .640 — condition of anonymity because he Indiana 23 27 .460 9 wasn’t authorized to speak publi- Chicago 21 28 .429 10½ cly, said Adams’ parents live near Cleveland 18 32 .360 14 ASHLEY LANDIS/AP the doctor’s home in Rock Hill, and Detroit 15 36 .294 17½ The Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo, left, dunks against Los Angeles center Andre Drummond that he had been treated by the Western Conference during Drummond’s Lakers debut on March 31. Drummond was hurt in that game and hasn’t played since. doctor. The source said Adams killed himself after midnight. Southwest Division Dr. Robert Lesslie, 70, and his WLPct GB AROUND THE NBA wife, Barbara Lesslie, 69, were Dallas 28 22 .560 — pronounced dead at the scene Memphis 26 23 .531 1½ along with grandchildren Adah San Antonio 24 25 .490 3½ New Orleans 22 29 .431 6½ Teams in transition after moves Lesslie, 9, and Noah Lesslie, 5, the Houston 14 37 .275 14½ York County coroner’s office said. A man who had been working at Northwest Division Some players have had easier time adjusting to new homes than others the home, James Lewis, 38, from WLPct GB Gaston, was found shot to death Utah 38 13 .745 — BY SCHUYLER DIXON and didn’t see a nail on his big toe. time lead. outside, and a sixth person was Denver 33 18 .647 5 Associated Press Drummond hasn’t played since, “It seems like a great fit,” Gordon Portland 30 20 .600 7½ Andre Drummond didn’t even and still wasn’t comfortable before said. “For as long as Jokic has been hospitalized with “serious gunshot Oklahoma City 20 31 .392 18 wounds,” York County Sheriff’s Minnesota 13 39 .250 25½ make it to halftime of his debut with Sunday’s 104-86 loss to the Clip- in the league, he’s been diming. Office’s spokesperson Trent Faris the Lakers before a toenail came off pers. Just making cuts, playing the Pacific Division said. and put the four-time rebounding The acclimation process will game, he’s finding me. Hopefully WLPct GB Adams, 33, played in 78 NFL leader back on the sideline as Los take even longer now for a player I’m making it easy for him. Hope- games in five seasons for six Phoenix 36 14 .720 — Angeles lost to Milwaukee. who spent weeks in limbo awaiting fully I can return the favor.” L.A. Clippers 34 18 .654 3 LaMarcus Aldridge’s first game a buyout. Victor Oladipo was the biggest teams. A safety and special teams L.A. Lakers 32 19 .627 4½ player from South Carolina State, Golden State 24 27 .471 12½ in a month, with Brooklyn, was “It was going to take some time acquisition for Miami in a trade he joined the 49ers in 2010 as a sev- Sacramento 22 29 .431 14½ quite a bit smoother — 11 points, for ’Dre to get acclimated anyway,” with Houston, while Nemanja Bjel- nine rebounds and six assists for Markieff Morris said. “We won’t ica also was picked up at the trad- enth-round draft pick. Tuesday’s games Rarely a starter, Adams also was Chicago 113, Indiana 97 the former San Antonio player in a see the best of him probably until ing deadline from Sacramento. Atlanta 123, New Orleans 107 breezy win over Charlotte. another 10, 15 games anyway as a Trevor Ariza came a week earlier with New England, Seattle, Oak- Philadelphia 106, Boston 96 land and the New York Jets, finish- L.A. Lakers 110, Toronto 101 Both veterans joined their new player. No matter how much you in a lower-grade deal with Oklaho- Memphis 124, Miami 112 ing his career with the Atlanta Fal- Denver 134, Detroit 119 teams after taking buyouts, adding work out, you don’t actually play in ma City. L.A. Clippers 133, Portland 116 to a list of other teams incorporat- an NBA game, you won’t be the Oladipo didn’t play the first two cons in 2015. Golden State 122, Milwaukee 121 ing newcomers after deals before same.” games after joining the Heat, and is As a rookie late in the 2010 sea- Wednesday’s games the trading deadline late last The Nets are working Aldridge just 5 of 21 from the field in the pair son, Adams suffered a severe an- Washington 131, Orlando 116 Indiana 141, Minnesota 137 month. Some transitions have been and Blake Griffin, another buyout he has played. Miami, however, is kle injury that required surgery Boston 101, New York 99 that included several screws being Brooklyn 139, New Orleans 111 rockier than others. addition from Detroit, into their ro- 4-0 with the two-time All-Star on Charlotte 113, Oklahoma City 102 inserted into the leg. While with Memphis 131, Atlanta 113 Chicago lost its first four games tation while dealing with the on- the roster. Houston 102, Dallas 93 after acquiring two-time All-Star again, off-again presence of point “All these things, there will be a the Raiders, he had 2 concussions Denver 106, San Antonio 96 in a 3 game period in 2012. Phoenix 117, Utah 113, OT Nicola Vucevic from Orlando. Den- guard James Harden, who forced a little bit of a process,” coach Eric Whether Adams suffered long- Thursday’s games ver is 4-0 since getting Aaron Gor- trade from Houston in January. Spoelstra said. “And let’s not forget lasting injuries from his concus- Chicago at Toronto don from the Magic, who pivoted Kevin Durant has played just he changed cities.” L.A. Lakers at Miami sions as a player wasn’t immedi- Cleveland at Oklahoma City suddenly to a rebuild in an injury- once the past two months because Evan Fournier, the third piece of Milwaukee at Dallas plagued season. of a hamstring issue, leaving Kyrie Orlando’s fire sale, started slowly ately clear. Adams would not have Detroit at Sacramento been eligible for testing as part of a Phoenix at L.A. Clippers “I wouldn’t judge that on the way Irving as the lone Brooklyn star with Boston in a pair of losses be- Portland at Utah broad settlement between the he played,” Bulls guard Tomas Sat- with a consistent presence since fore scoring 23 points in a victory league and its former players over Friday’s games oransky said Sunday, referring to January. The next time all five cur- over hapless Houston. The Celtics Indiana at Orlando such injuries, because he hadn’t Memphis at New York Vucevic after Chicago ended a six- rent and former All-Stars play to- are in the race for one the final East Minnesota at Boston game losing streak with a 115-107 gether will be the first. playoff spots after losing to Miami retired by 2014. Chicago at Atlanta Adams’ father told a Charlotte Philadelphia at New Orleans win over Aldridge and the Nets. “We all want to be healthy for in the conference finals in the play- Charlotte at Milwaukee television station that he blamed San Antonio at Denver “It takes time to kind of adjust on when we make that big run after off bubble last year. Houston at L.A. Clippers May 16,” said Irving, noting the end Rajon Rondo finally made his de- football for problems that may Washington at Golden State players that came through and we didn’t have practice really before of the regular season for the likely but for the Clippers on Sunday, 11 have led his son to commit Saturday’s games Wednesday’s violence. Toronto at Cleveland the first game. We’re trying to learn favorite to win the Eastern Confer- days after coming over in a trade L.A. Lakers at Brooklyn from film sessions, in the shoota- ence. “So just use this time to kind that sent three-time Sixth Man of “I can say he’s a good kid,” Alon- Philadelphia at Oklahoma City zo Adams told WCNC-TV. “I think Sacramento at Utah round, how to play with each oth- of throw bodies out there that we’ve the Year Lou Williams to Atlanta. Detroit at Portland the football messed him up.” Houston at Golden State er.” newly acquired. And just see how Rondo missed four games with Adams often isolated himself, Washington at Phoenix Drummond hadn’t played since we fit.” right abductor soreness before even as a player, his agent, Scott Sunday’s games Feb. 12 with Cleveland when the Gordon had his highest scoring scoring two points with four turn- Atlanta at Charlotte Lakers, already missing stars Le- game for the Nuggets with 24 overs and four fouls in 13 minutes. Casterline, told the AP. Boston at Denver “He was part of my family. I Milwaukee at Orlando Bron James and Anthony Davis, points in a 119-109 victory over his Williams was out the first three At- New Orleans at Cleveland loved him. He’s a great kid, a great Indiana at Memphis faced the Bucks last Wednesday. former team Sunday. Six of his 10 lanta games after the trade, but is Chicago at Minnesota The 27-year-old felt discomfort baskets came on assists from Niko- coming off a pair of double-digit guy. This is so unlike him. He had Toronto at New York to not be in his right mind, obvious- San Antonio at Dallas in his right foot in the first half, then la Jokic, who had 16 assists as Den- scoring performances in two victo- Miami at Portland ly,” Casterline said. Detroit at L.A. Clippers finally took his shoe and sock off ver erased Orlando’s 18-point half- ries for the Hawks. PAGE 44 • STARS AND STRIPES • Friday, April 9, 2021 NHL

Islanders Scoreboard AROUND THE LEAGUE East Division acquire GP WLOT Pts GF GA Washington 39 25 10 4 54 132 118 N.Y. Islanders 39 25 10 4 54 118 90 Pittsburgh 39 24 13 2 50 130 110 Clock ticking for Blues Zajac, Boston 36 20 10 6 46 102 91 N.Y. Rangers 38 18 15 5 41 125 103 Philadelphia 38 18 15 5 41 114 138 New Jersey 37 13 18 6 32 91 118 St. Louis sitting Palmieri Buffalo 38 9 23 6 24 87 131 Associated Press Central Division outside playoffs EAST MEADOW, N.Y. — The GP WLOT Pts GF GA New York Islanders and New Jer- Florida 40 26 10 4 56 132 108 sey Devils are seemingly becom- with time short Carolina 38 26 9 3 55 125 94 ing trading partners at the NHL Tampa Bay 39 26 11 2 54 132 97 deadline. Nashville 40 21 18 1 43 102 115 BY STEPHEN WHYNO For the second straight year, the Chicago 40 18 17 5 41 113 124 Associated Press Columbus 41 15 18 8 38 102 131 New York City metropolitan-area Dallas 37 13 14 10 36 100 99 Craig Berube stood back and rivals worked Detroit 41 13 22 6 32 90 128 watched his St. Louis Blues practice out a deal for the West Division battle drills so he could see how young and devel- GP WLOT Pts GF GA players handled the situation amid oping Devils to a seven-game losing streak. Colorado 39 26 9 4 56 140 95 send an experi- Vegas 38 25 11 2 52 120 88 Anyone looking in from the out- enced player to Minnesota 38 24 12 2 50 116 97 side can spy a team in deep trouble. the Islanders for Arizona 40 19 16 5 43 110 122 Berube’s Blues have lost 12 of JOE PUETZ / AP their playoff St. Louis 39 17 16 6 40 107 125 their past 14 games and are running Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington, who came out of nowhere to win San Jose 38 17 17 4 38 106 127 push for a Stan- out of time to salvage their season the Cup in 2019 and was an All­Star last season, ranks 39th in the Zajac Los Angeles 38 15 17 6 36 104 110 ley Cup. Anaheim 40 12 21 7 31 92 131 and make the playoffs. Less than league with a 2.77 goals­against average and 43rd with a .904 save Last year, it North Division two years since going on an improb- percentage. The Blues have lost 12 of their past 14 games. was veteran de- able run to win the Stanley Cup, St. GP WLOT Pts GF GA fenseman Andy Louis has a brutal schedule down “That’s what those guys get paid Flyers are outside the playoff pic- Greene. The Toronto 40 27 10 3 57 133 100 the stretch and faces an uphill climb to do is score goals and to do the ture in the East, the Western Con- Edmonton 40 24 14 2 50 131 114 Devils shipped Winnipeg 39 23 13 3 49 125 107 to even qualify for the NHL postsea- right things on a nightly basis,” he ference-champion Dallas Stars in right wing Kyle Montreal 36 17 10 9 43 116 99 son. said. “We’re not getting that, so it’s the Central and the Calgary Flames Palmieri and Vancouver 37 16 18 3 35 100 120 “We’re in a hole right now and tough to win. It’s the same thing in the North. two-way center Calgary 40 16 21 3 35 103 124 we’ve got to scratch and claw our when I talk about the goaltending. Philadelphia lost to Boston on Ottawa 40 13 23 4 30 106 150 Palmieri Travis Zajac to way out of it,” Berube said Tuesday. You need saves, and we’re not get- Tuesday night to fall five points Tuesday’s games the Island on Buffalo 5, New Jersey 3 “I know this group cares, and things ting enough of them.” back of the Bruins for the final spot Wednesday for New York’s first- N.Y. Islanders 1, Washington 0 aren’t going well right now. But to That falls on goaltender Jordan in the East and plays them again Columbus 4, Tampa Bay 2 round pick this year, a conditional Carolina 5, Florida 2 get out of it, you’ve got to keep be- Binnington, who came out of no- Saturday. Dallas gets four games N.Y. Rangers 8, Pittsburgh 4 fourth-round choice next year and Boston 4, Philadelphia 2 lieving and keep working and keep where to win the Cup in 2019 and against last-place Detroit in mid- forwards A.J. Greer and Mason Nashville 3, Detroit 2, SO competing and stick together. was an All-Star last season. Bin- April. Calgary is treating every Anaheim 5, San Jose 1 Jobst. Chicago 4, Dallas 2 That’s the only way you get out of it.” nington ranks 39th in the league game as if it’s already the playoffs. The move before Monday’s Vancouver at Winnipeg, ppd. The Blues were outscored 25-8 with a 2.77 goals-against average “We’ve got to find a way to find a Wednesday’s games trade deadline is not surprising. Edmonton 4, Ottawa 2 during the seven-game skid, evi- and 43rd with a .904 save percent- better game and put some wins to- Islanders general manager Lou Toronto 3, Montreal 2 dence that they can’t get a goal or a age. gether,” forward Mikael Backlund St. Louis 3, Vegas 1 Lamoriello led the Devils to three Minnesota 8, Colorado 3 stop when they need it. Asked what he needed to do bet- said. The Flames have lost four in a Cups and Devils GM Tom Fitzger- Los Angeles 4, Arizona 3 Injuries have hamstrung the ter, Binnington said: “Just make a row and eight of nine. ald was at Providence when La- Thursday’s games Blues, from playing without top de- couple more saves. Same approach: Boston at Washington moriello was the athletic director. Edmonton at Ottawa fenseman Colton Parayko since Prepare the best way you can and Game of the week Florida at Carolina “I feel my relationship with Lou New Jersey at Buffalo mid-February to losing grinding focus and give the team a chance to The defending champion Tampa is extremely strong, there’s a trust Philadelphia at N.Y. Islanders forward Oskar Sundqvist and depth win.” Bay Lightning visit the Nashville Pittsburgh at N.Y. Rangers factor between the both of us and Tampa Bay at Columbus defenseman Carl Gunnarsson to Predators on Saturday night to open Winnipeg at Montreal that’s important to Lou and it’s ve- Nashville at Detroit season-ending knee injuries. But Playoff races a two-game series. Dallas at Chicago ry important to me,” Fitzgerald Vancouver at Calgary Berube still expects the leadership The Blues aren’t the only team said. “Last year we were dealing Friday’s games group and core players to lead the trying to make up ground with a AP hockey writers Larry Lage and John Wawrow with same thing ... there are play- N.Y. Rangers at N.Y. Islanders way out of this slump. month to go. The Philadelphia contributed to this report. Pittsburgh at New Jersey ers that Lou values on our team, Washington at Buffalo for obvious reasons. For me, play- Minnesota at St. Louis Arizona at Vegas ers want to play for Lou, especially Colorado at Anaheim Los Angeles at San Jose Canucks suffer outbreak of variant his ex-players and I think that’s Saturday’s games Associated Press important through all this and Boston at Philadelphia col list Wednes- Asked whether the NHL is con- Travis was no different. He knows Florida at Dallas VANCOUVER, British Colum- day. cerned that a player or staff mem- Chicago at Columbus what the environment’s going to Detroit at Carolina bia — The Vancouver Canucks The Canucks ber broke the league’s protocol Ottawa at Toronto be, he knows what the expecta- Winnipeg at Montreal said 25 players and coaches have say the team has and sparked the outbreak, deputy tions will be.” Minnesota at St. Louis tested positive in a COVID-19 out- confirmed that a commissioner Bill Daly declined Tampa Bay at Nashville New Jersey will pay half of Za- Edmonton at Calgary break involving a variant of the vi- variant is in- to comment. Vancouver at Calgary, ppd. jac and Palmieri’s salaries. Los Angeles at San Jose rus. volved in the out- “We are aware of the facts and The Islanders are tied with The team said Wednesday that break, and full are comfortable that the situation Scoring leaders Daly Washington atop the East Divi- 21 players, including three from genome se- was handled reasonably and re- sion, with third-place Pittsburgh Through Wednesday the taxi squad, and four members quencing is being conducted by sponsibly,” he said in an email to four points back. New York is 9- GP GAPTS of the coaching staff have tested the B.C. Centre for Disease Con- The Canadian Press. 4-0 since losing captain Anders Connor McDavid, EDM 39 22 42 64 positive, and one other player is trol to determine which specific The Canucks’ outbreak began Lee to a torn ACL in a game Leon Draisaitl, EDM 39 19 38 57 considered a close contact. variant. March 30 when forward Adam against New Jersey on March 11. Patrick Kane, CHI 40 14 37 51 “This is a stark reminder of how They said an ongoing investiga- Gaudette tested positive. The Mitchell Marner, TOR 39 13 34 47 New Jersey now has nine picks Auston Matthews, TOR 36 27 19 46 quickly the virus can spread and tion by Vancouver Coastal Health NHL postponed Vancouver’s in the 2021 NHL Draft. The club Nathan MacKinnon, COL 34 14 31 45 its serious impact, even among and contract tracing found that game against the Calgary Flames has its own picks in rounds one, Mark Scheifele, WPG 39 15 30 45 healthy, young athletes,” the team the outbreak was sparked by a sin- the following night when defense- three, four and six; the Islanders’ Brad Marchand, BOS 34 18 27 45 said in a statement. gle unidentified individual pick- man Travis Hamonic and a mem- Sidney Crosby, PIT 38 15 29 44 first and second rounders; Buffa- Mikko Rantanen, COL 38 21 23 44 All players and staff are in quar- ing up the infection in a “commu- ber of the coaching staff were add- lo’s fifth-round pick and Arizona’s Jonathan Huberdeau, FLA 40 14 28 42 antine, and 19 of the 22 players on nity setting, which has since been ed to the NHL’s COVID protocol third and seventh-round selec- Aleksander Barkov, FLA 34 16 26 42 Vancouver’s active roster were identified by public health as a list. A total of six Canucks games tions. Mark Stone, LV 36 12 29 41 listed on the NHL’s COVID proto- public exposure location." have now been postponed. Friday, April 9, 2021 • STARS AND STRIPES • PAGE 45 MLB

Scoreboard ROUNDUP

American League

East Division WLPct GB Braves take two from Nationals Baltimore 4 2 .667 _ Boston 3 3 .500 1 Associated Press New York 3 3 .500 1 Toronto 3 3 .500 1 WASHINGTON — Atlanta Tampa Bay 2 4 .333 2 pinch­hitter Pablo Sandoval drove Central Division a two­run homer to the deepest WLPct GB part of the ballpark off a Washing­ Minnesota 4 2 .667 _ ton reliever who took over after Kansas City 3 2 .600 ½ Stephen Strasburg’s six scoreless Detroit 3 3 .500 1 innings Wednesday, lifting the Chicago 3 4 .429 1½ Braves to a 2­0 victory over the Cleveland 2 3 .400 1½ Nationals and a doubleheader West Division sweep. WLPct GB Sandoval drove a 96 mph fast­ Houston 5 1 .833 _ ball from Tanner Rainey (0­1) Los Angeles 4 2 .667 1 more than 400 feet following Seattle 3 3 .500 2 Texas 3 3 .500 2 Dansby Swanson’s two­out single Oakland 1 6 .143 4½ in the seventh and final inning. National League Luke Jackson (1­0) earned the win in Game 2, and Sean New­ East Division comb got three strikeouts for the WLPct GB save. Philadelphia 5 1 .833 _ Ronald Acuña Jr. doubled and New York 1 2 .333 2½ Washington 1 2 .333 2½ had a pair of singles as Atlanta Atlanta 2 4 .333 3 won the opener 7­6. Miami 1 5 .167 4 Washington is missing nine Central Division players because of a coronavirus WLPct GB outbreak that led to the postpone­ Cincinnati 5 1 .833 _ ment of the team’s first four St. Louis 4 2 .667 1 games. Four players tested posi­ ALEX BRANDON/AP Chicago 3 3 .500 2 tive for COVID­19, and another The Atlanta Braves’ Pablo Sandoval, right, celebrates his two­run home run with third base coach Ron Milwaukee 3 3 .500 2 five who would have been on the Washington during the seventh inning of the second game of a doubleheader against the Nationals in Pittsburgh 1 5 .167 4 26­man roster are under quaran­ Washington. The Braves won the second game 2­0 to complete a sweep of the doubleheader. West Division tine. WLPct GB Reds 11, Pirates 4: Tyler Na­ Nick Wittgren worked the ninth Ian Kennedy, the third Rangers three­game sweep of three­time Los Angeles 5 2 .714 _ quin hit another leadoff homer, for his first save since Sept. 4, 2019. reliever, struck out three around a defending NL East champion At­ San Diego 4 3 .571 1 this time off Chad Kuhl (0­1), Kyle Salvador Pérez homered for the hit in the ninth for his second save, lanta. San Francisco 3 3 .500 1½ Arizona 2 4 .333 2½ Farmer added a two­run double in Royals. both in less than 24 hours. Connor Brogdon (3­0) got five Colorado 2 4 .333 2½ the first, and host Cincinnati won Rockies 8, Diamondbacks 0: Brewers 4, Cubs 2 (10):Loren­ outs to earn his third win in six Wednesday’s games its fifth straight Antonio Senzatela pitched eight zo Cain hit his second homer of the games. Minnesota 3, Detroit 2 Luis Castillo (1­1) allowed four electric innings on a cool evening, game for visiting Milwaukee, a Mets starter David Peterson Boston 9, Tampa Bay 2 Cleveland 4, Kansas City 2 hits in seven innings, struck out Chris Owings had three extra­ three­run shot in the 10th off Chi­ (0­1) surrendered six runs and Texas 2, Toronto 1 five and walked one. base hits before leaving with right cago’s Brandon Workman (0­1). seven hits in four innings. Seattle 8, Chicago White Sox 4 Baltimore 4, N.Y. Yankees 3, 11 innings Erik Gonzalez hit his first ca­ leg soreness, and host Colorado Cain also hit a solo homer in the Cardinals 7, Marlins 0: Yadier Atlanta 7, Washington 6, 7 innings, 1st game reer grand slam in the Pirates beat Arizona to snap a four­game eighth. Molina hit a two­run homer and Atlanta 2, Washington 0, 7 innings, 2nd ninth off Amir Garrett. skid. Brewers starter Brandon Dylan Carlson added a grand slam game Cincinnati 11, Pittsburgh 4 Red Sox 9, Rays 2: Christian Senzatela (1­1) scattered four Woodruff had a no­hit bid going as visiting St. Louis finished a Milwaukee 4, Chicago Cubs 2, 10 innings St. Louis 7, Miami 0 Vázquez homered, Xander Bo­ hits by mixing in a sizzling slider until Ian Happ led off the seventh three­game sweep that dropped Oakland 4, L.A. Dodgers 3, 10 innings San Francisco 3, San Diego 2, 10 innings gaerts had three hits and J.D. Mar­ with a fastball that was moving all with a clean single. the Marlins to 1­5 for the first time Philadelphia 8, N.Y. Mets 2 tinez went for extra bases for the over. He walked two and struck Athletics 4, Dodgers 3 (10): since 2015. Colorado 8, Arizona 0 seventh game in a row as host Bos­ out three. Senzatela was lifted for Mitch Moreland hit an RBI single Jack Flaherty (1­0) allowed one Thursday’s games Boston at Baltimore ton completed a three­game a pinch­hitter in the bottom of the off Jimmy Nelson (0­1) with one hit in six innings, a leadoff single Kansas City at Chicago White Sox sweep. eighth after throwing 96 pitches. out in the 10th, and host Oakland by Corey Dickerson. Genesis Ca­ Seattle at Minnesota L.A. Angels at Toronto Nathan Eovaldi (1­1) allowed Owings had two doubles, a triple got its first win after coming with­ brera and Jordan Hicks finished Oakland at Houston Miami at N.Y. Mets one run, three hits and three walks and drove in two runs as he in­ in one loss of what would have the three­hitter. Chicago Cubs at Pittsburgh over seven innings with seven creased his average to .500. He ap­ been its first 0­7 start. Mariners 8, White Sox 4:Kyle Arizona at Colorado Milwaukee at St. Louis strikeouts. The Red Sox, swept by peared to hurt his leg on an awk­ The Athletics tied it in the ninth Seager slapped an opposite­field, Friday’s games lowly Baltimore in their opening ward catch in right field in the off Kenley Jansen when Matt bases clearing double for the big N.Y. Yankees (Kluber 0-0) at Tampa Bay series over the weekend, beat the fifth. He was replaced by Sam Chapman scored on Elvis Andrus’ blow in his team’s seven­run sixth (Hill 0-0) L.A. Angels (Heaney 0-1) at Toronto defending AL champion Rays in Hilliard to start the sixth. sacrifice fly. Chapman also hit a inning, and host Seattle avoided a (Zeuch 0-0) Detroit (Teheran 1-0) at Cleveland (Ple- three straight by a combined 26­9. Twins 3, Tigers 2:Jorge Polan­ solo homer earlier in the game. sweep. sac 0-1) Ryan Yarbrough (0­1), who co hit a two­run double in the sixth Giants 3, Padres 2 (10): Alex Taylor Trammell, J.P. Craw­ Oakland (Manaea 0-1) at Houston 2 (McCullers Jr. 1-0) pitched 5 ⁄3 shutout innings in his for visiting Minnesota. Dickerson scored on Donovan So­ ford and Jose Marmolejos all had Washington (Ross 0-0) at L.A. Dodgers (Buehler 0-0) first outing this season, added Minnesota’s Kenta Maeda (1­0) lano’s sacrifice fly in the 10th off RBI singles in the inning, and Colorado (Gomber 0-1) at San Francisco three more scoreless before Bo­ pitched six mostly strong innings, Tim Hill (0­1), leading visiting San Mitch Haniger added a sacrifice (Cueto 0-0) Philadelphia (Wheeler 1-0) at Atlanta gaerts singled in a run and scored allowing two runs and seven hits, Francisco past San Diego. fly. Chicago Reliever Matt Foster (Morton 0-1) San Diego (Musgrove 1-0) at Texas on Vázquez’s line drive over the and Alex Colomé pitched two in­ San Diego’s Jurickson Profar (0­1) recorded just two outs, and (Arihara 0-0) Cincinnati (Mahle 1-0) at Arizona (Smith Green Monster in the fourth. nings for his second save. reached third in the 10th on Kim allowed five hits and five earned 0-1) Indians 4, Royals 2:José Ramí­ Detroit’s Akil Baddoo hit an RBI Ha­seong’s grounder before Wan­ runs before getting lifted. Saturday’s games rez’s second two­run homer of the triple and threw a runner out from dy Peralta struck out Jorge Mateo Orioles 4, Yankees 3 (11):Vis­ N.Y. Yankees at Tampa Bay Kansas City at Chicago White Sox game snapped a tie in the eighth left field — another impressive and got rookie Tucupita Marcano iting Baltimore right fielder An­ Seattle at Minnesota against Greg Holland (0­1) for host day in this stellar start to his big to fly out to end it for his first ca­ thony Santander threw out New Oakland at Houston Detroit at Cleveland Cleveland. league career. Matthew Boyd (1­1) reer save. York’s Gio Urshela trying to score Boston at Baltimore L.A. Angels at Toronto Shane Bieber struck out 12 for allowed three runs in seven in­ Phillies 8, Mets 2: Alec Bohm on a fly ball in the 11th for the final Miami at N.Y. Mets the second straight game, allow­ nings. and J.T. Realmuto each hit a out. Milwaukee at St. Louis 1 Colorado at San Francisco ing two runs and three hits in 6 ⁄3 Rangers 2, Blue Jays 1: Kyle three­run homer, Rhys Hoskins Pinch­hitter Chance Sisco had a Chicago Cubs at Pittsburgh San Diego at Texas innings. Emmanuel Clase (1­0) Gibson (1­0) struck out eight and had a solo shot and host Philadel­ go­ahead single in the top of the in­ Philadelphia at Atlanta pitched the eighth — all nine of his allowed six hits over six scoreless phia took two of three from a divi­ ning off Chad Green (0­1). Balti­ Cincinnati at Arizona Washington at L.A. Dodgers fastballs were over 100 mph — and innings for host Texas. sion rival after opening with a more was outhit 13­4. PAGE 46 • STARS AND STRIPES • Friday, April 9, 2021 COLLEGE BASKETBALL/OLYMPICS Gold: United States’ Olympic model in danger of collapse

FROM PAGE 48 allow players to cut sponsorship what it does to develop Olympic deals and make money off their athletes,” said Florida AD Scott names, likeness and images Stricklin. (NIL). A more far-reaching bill Stricklin is chairing a task force proposes revenue sharing be- that includes about two dozen tween the sports programs and leaders of major programs and athletes. conferences who are looking for Once any of these proposals go ways to keep the pipeline running. into play, it’s likely that the billions The mission takes on an even of dollars generated by the two greater sense of urgency with the biggest sports on most campuses, United States poised to host its football and men’s basketball, will first Summer Olympics in a gen- be further divvied up. That will eration in 2028. A key question leave less to be used to underwrite looming over those home games is the dozens of Olympic sports that whether America’s colleges will aren’t self-sustaining. be able to produce world-class In a related question in the AP athletes at the same clip they have survey, 73% of the ADs answered over the past several decades. “Yes” to the question: “If your The AP sent its survey to all 357 school were to offer compensation GREGORY PAYAN/AP ADs in Division I, and received 99 beyond scholarships to students, Prolific Prep's Jalen Green is one of a number of elite high school prospects who have shifted gears and responses to multiple-choice are there any sports that would are taking a new route to reach the ranks of the NBA by playing in the developmental G League. questions about their views of how lose funding or be cut by your upcoming changes will affect the school?” college-sports landscape. The Most of those sports feed the ADs were also given a chance to Olympic team. add comments, and they were A few of the most striking exam- Elite players find paths granted anonymity in exchange ples of the impact dwindling funds for candor. have already had on colleges: The Olympics question re- ■ Last year, Stanford an- ceived a jarringly high number of nounced it was cutting nine Olym- “Yes” answers to a proposal that pic sports from one of the nation’s might not be a true reflection of most prolific athletic depart- to pros outside NCAA what’s possible — the USOPC de- ments; when Stanford’s women’s pends on the largesse of the colleg- basketball team wrapped up the BY PAT GRAHAM coach Brian Shaw, a three-time most recent draft. Or even working es to develop talent more than the national championship Sunday Associated Press world champion as a player with out/training, like Portland guard other way around — but rather, on night, it marked the 45th straight There was a “college basketball the Los Angeles Lakers. “So now it Anfernee Simons at IMG Acade- how concerned the universities year the school has brought home team” this season with a collection gives them some competition. my as part of a gap year before the are about their ability to keep op- some sort of title. of players who figure to go high in You’re not bound by all these rules Trail Blazers drafted him in 2018. erating business as usual. ■ The Clemson men’s track the upcoming NBA draft. and regulations that are advanta- A new entity in the game could “I think it’s important to get the team is being disbanded. It wasn’t Gonzaga or Baylor. geous for the NCAA to make all the drastically change the dynamics conversation going because ■ The sport of men’s gymnas- In fact, this team was nowhere money. — Overtime Elite, the league that NCAA is a vital piece in the Olym- tics will lose two more programs near the Indianapolis bubble dur- “These kids get an opportunity was launched through the sports pic process,” said gymnast Shane — Iowa is joining Minnesota in ing the NCAA Tournament, but to kind of cash in on their market media company Overtime. The Wiskus, an Olympic hopeful who shutting down — in continuing a rather, near Orlando, Florida, for value, what they’re bringing to the league has big plans to break into moved to the Olympic Training steady decline for that sport that the NBA G League playoffs last table while developing.” the competitive basketball market Center (OTC) in Colorado Springs began well before COVID-19 hit. month. Look on the NBA mock draft by recruiting 16-to-18-year-old after his college program, Minne- “In America, the entire ecosys- The Ignite, a development sites and no program — with the standouts. The selling points in- sota, announced it would be shut- tem is tethered back to football squad affiliated with the G League possible exception of Gonzaga — clude world-class coaching, ad- ting down its program. and basketball,” said Sarah Wil- featuring elite NBA draft-eligible has as many names mentioned as vanced sports science and per- “NCAA gymnastics has done a helmi, the USOPC’s director of players, had a roster full of teenag- Shaw’s Ignite squad. Green and formance technologies, state-of- lot for me and I do fear that if collegiate partnerships. “The ers who all could’ve been stand- Kuminga are projected as top-five the-art facilities and personalized changes aren’t made, that could go thing we need to do is lean in and outs at the tournament — had they picks, while Nix and Todd figure to academic programs. away and maybe even affect the look at youth, college and elite chosen the college route. Jalen go a little later. There's also this: Lucrative pay- Olympic process,” Wiskus said. sports across the board, up and Green, Jonathan Kuminga, Daish- Todd was all prepared to go to checks, with a minimum salary of While Wiskus and other athletes down. We need to look at other op- en Nix and Isaiah Todd were all Michigan before a change of heart. at least $100,000 per year, along who are good enough have an op- portunities we haven’t thought of coveted five-star recruits. This is how much the Wolverines with signing bonuses and even tion to train at OTC and other cen- yet.” Instead, they chose a different meant to him: He was pained when shares in the company. The league ters funded by their individual It boils down to a stark reality sort of basketball education — an they were eliminated from the also offers health and disability in- sports’ national governing bodies, that few people are willing to ar- option that may slowly change the NCAA Tournament in the Elite surance, in addition to college tui- a cut in college programs could ticulate: While many agree that nature of the college game itself. Eight. He even sent coach Juwan tion — should players want to go to strain that system. Before most football and basketball players are Rather than being a one-and-done Howard a consolatory text. school. Not to play, of course, be- athletes even reach that elite level, exploited for the free labor they on some college team, more 18- and But the Ignite was just too entic- cause their college eligibility they’re invested in years of expen- produce to bankroll a billion-dol- 19-year-olds may choose the G ing — a chance to jumpstart his pro would be forfeited. sive training and see limited op- lar industry, much of that revenue League’s development team or education. Starting around September, the portunities for a payoff. A college is sunk back into sports that bring head overseas (see: LaMelo Ball). “Growing up, I always thought I league plans on having 30 elite scholarship has long been one of gold medals back to America. Coming soon: A new pro league had to go to college to go to the players all living and playing in a the key gateways for the fencers, What the Olympic movement called Overtime Elite, which mar- NBA,” Todd said. “Times are city yet to be named. gymnasts, rowers and others with has to figure out is what to do kets itself to high schoolers and changing. There are different op- “We want to make sure that we an Olympic dream looming but a about this relationship. Some pro- guarantees an academic educa- tions and there are different path- are an option for this elite of the lack of resources to take that final pose linking events such as NCAA tion along with a guaranteed six- ways to take your dreams into ac- elite to pursue their dreams,” said step. championships and U.S. national figure salary. tion. Kids are starting to realize Aaron Ryan, the commissioner But most of the 85 programs cut championships or Olympic trials Now that could be a real game- that.” and president of OTE who previ- by Division I universities since the to create more visibility and better changer on the college landscape. The landscape for rising players ously spent 22 years with the NBA. coronavirus pandemic hit last illustrate the clear connection be- “The NCAA has had a strangle- also includes heading overseas “Everybody’s coming to the same year have involved Olympic tween the two levels. hold basically on the system in the like Ball, who played in Lithuania conclusion — providing options for sports. Next on the horizon are Others see this as a time to com- way it works, from as far back as and Australia before being picked these young people is the right path proposals being debated by the pletely blow up the college model you can imagine,” said Ignite No. 3 overall by Charlotte in the forward." NCAA and in Congress that would and try to start over. Friday, April 9, 2021 • STARS AND STRIPES • PAGE 47 MASTERS Fast & firm Course is ‘where we want it’ compared to condition in fall BY JIM LITKE Associated Press AUGUSTA, Ga. — The shortest championship reign in Masters history ended when Dustin John- son stepped onto the first tee on Thursday. The tournament has always been a how-low-can-you-go affair, but the pandemic-related shift to last November handed greater control of the course to Mother Nature, and man, was she ever kind to the players. They’ve already found a very different Augusta National lying in wait this week, in large part be- cause warmer spring temper- atures helped tournament offi- cials restore the fairways and greens to their usual fast and firm conditions. But whether those same green jackets cranked the DAVID J. PHILLIP/AP dial up too far to avenge record Rory McIlroy, left, and Dustin Johnson walk along the sixth hole during a practice round for the Masters on Monday in Augusta, Ga. low scoring by the champion — and just about everyone else — is a question that won’t be answered DID YOU KNOW? until Sunday, if ever. Dustin Johnson won the 2020 “We don’t have any prescribed Masters with a 72-hole scoring score,” club Chairman Fred Ri- record of 20 under, the lowest score dley said Wednesday. “The fact to par in the history of the Masters that Dustin was 20 under was a at Augusta National. Finishing with combination of his extraordinary a 4-under 68 in Round 4, Johnson play that at the same time, admitt- also tied the mark for lowest score edly, the golf course was soft. ... I to par in major championship think the time of year combined history. He was a missed birdie putt on No. 18 away from breaking it. with the wet conditions produced an extraordinarily soft golf SOURCE: Associated Press course. “But that,” he added a moment notched one win, at the Saudi In- later, “really had nothing to do ternational, in six starts this year with the way the golf course is and described his game on arrival playing right now.” “in good shape.” No kidding. “Maybe not quite as good of Fred Couples, the 1992 cham- shape as it was in November,” pion, will be in the field again, but Johnson quickly added, “but I feel at age 61 conceded he doesn’t ex- like it’s coming together. I’m pect to be in the hunt. Instead, starting to hit a lot of the same he’ll get his kicks watching the shots and getting a lot more com- younger generation wrestle with a fortable over the golf ball.” course playing faster at this point Whether there’s any carryover than all but a handful of times from November’s tournament has over the course of his previous 35 been debated during the practice appearances. rounds. But most of the talk has MATT SLOCUM/AP “As a guy watching, I want to centered on how several greens Viktor Hovland hits out of the pine straw on the first fairway during the first round Thursday in Augusta, Ga. see these guys play it as hard as it — most notably the par-5 15th — possibly can. are already tossing off approach Justin Thomas; a still-struggling the winning number to wind up week. I think we have the golf “They’re not concrete yet,” shots like so many scorned suit- McIlroy; emerging Collin Morika- much closer to par than Johnson’s course where we want it.” Couples chuckled, referring to the ors. wa; and big-game Brooks Koepka. paint-by-the-numbers master(s) Where that might be is anyone’s greens, “but they’re brown and “You can’t hold it there, short of Among those contenders still piece. Even more concerning to guess. The green jackets in they’re going to get there fast — a 7-iron. Rory (McIlroy) and I hit looking for their first career-de- tournament officials, however, charge are notoriously circum- which, look out.” 4-irons in there the other day,” fining win are Jon Rahm, who may have been the records busted spect about everything Masters- Not surprising, the early be- said Jimmy Walker, with a wave welcomed his first child last by the field: a record-low 71.75 av- related, including apparently tting line closely tracks the world of his arm, “and phew — gone.” weekend; Patrick Cantlay; Viktor erage score (par is 72), with more which of the several sandwiches ranking, with Johnson topping Johnson’s toughest competition Hovland; and Xander Schauffele. than half of the 302 rounds com- sold on the grounds — pimento both. His 268 here — Johnson’s is expected to come from a hand- The chances of anyone else run- pleted recorded in red. cheese, pulled pork and egg salad second major championship win ful of challengers with at least one ning that gauntlet begin at 40-1 “In the past, we might have among others at reasonably low — was two shots better than the major championship already on and climb into triple digits in a started out a little soft and then prices — is the best. record shared by Tiger Woods the résumé: a resurgent Spieth; hurry. got firmer as the week went on “Well, I like them all,” Ridley and Jordan Spieth, and five better muscled-up Bryson DeCham- Speaking of predictions, more and vice versa,” Ridley said. said, dodging yet one more inqui- than the field. He’s already beau; recent Players champion than a few golfers are expecting “Last year we were pretty soft all ry. “But I try to stay away.” PAGE 48 • STARS AND STRIPES • Friday, April 9, 2021 In good shape SPORTS Augusta in much better condition than seen in fall ›› Masters, Page 47

OLYMPICS

Gold standard Changes to college sports landscape could imperil Team USA’s international dominance

BY EDDIE PELLS “NCAA gymnastics has done a lot for U.S. Olympic pipeline. Associated Press me and I do fear that if changes aren’t At stake is a stretch of Olympic dominance INDIANAPOLIS that has seen the U.S. win a world-leading 678 t’s a point of pride that stretches across made, that could go away and maybe medals in both Summer and Winter Olympics dozens of universities, many of them ri- even affect the Olympic process.” since 2000. A huge portion of that success is underwritten by a college industry that, ac- vals, and all the college sports leagues, Shane Wiskus many of which compete for the same cording to one estimate, spends $5 billion a dollars and the same talent. As one ban- Gymnast, U.S. Olympic hopeful year on Olympic sports programs. At the Rio Iner on the Pac-12 conference’s website puts it: Games in 2016, nearly 80% of America’s 558 “Olympians made here.” In one question from a survey sent by The athletes competed in a college program. The coronavirus pandemic, along with the Associated Press to Division I college athletic “The fact that we’re one of the few countries substantial changes in the college sports busi- directors across the country, nearly 65% of that competes at the level we do on the Olym- ness model that will come into play as soon as those who responded said “Yes” when asked if pic stage without having government fund the this year, have led many leaders in both the the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee program is because of college athletics and college and Olympic worlds to wonder if that should pay part of the bill to the universities will still be true a decade from now. that run sports programs that, in turn, feed the SEE GOLD ON PAGE 46

Number of medals won by the United States in both Summer and Winter Olympics since 2000, most of any nation. A huge portion of that success is underwritten by a college industry that, according to one estimate, spends $5 billion a year on 678 Olympic sports programs. At the Rio Games in 2016, nearly 80% of America’s 558 athletes competed in a college program.

Above: Shane Wiskus competes during the Winter Cup gymnastics competition on Feb. 26 in Indianapolis. Wiskus is an Olympic hopeful who moved to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs after his college, Minnesota, announced it would be shutting down its program. DARRON CUMMINGS/AP

DODEA Japan gives OK to spring sports ›› High School, Page 42