MILITARY VIRUS OUTBREAK MUSIC Families sue after Biden, Democrats No guarantees children get sick prevail as Senate when it comes in on-base homes OKs $1.9T relief bill to Grammys Page 3 Page 5 Page 12 Unbeaten ’Zags chasing first national championship ›› College basketball, Page 24 stripes.com Volume 79 Edition 228B ©SS 2021 CONTINGENCY EDITION SUNDAY,MARCH 7, 2021 Free to Deployed Areas Congressman: Stop throwing money down F-35 ‘rathole’ BY AARON GREGG The Washington Post WASHINGTON — The Demo- cratic chairman of the House Armed Services Committee called the Lockheed Martin-pro- duced F-35 Joint Strike Fighter a “rathole” in a virtual event with the Brook- ings Institution on Friday, and suggested the Smith U.S. should con- sider whether to “cut its losses” by investing in a range of competing fighter jets. Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., whose Seattle-area district de- pends heavily on Boeing for jobs and investment, said the F-35 “doesn’t work particularly well” and is too expensive to maintain. VIRUS OUTBREAK He also bemoaned the U.S. mili- tary’s long-term dependence on it. “I want to stop throwing money down that particular rathole,” Smith said in a webcast conversa- Preventive measures tion with Brookings’ Michael O’Hanlon. He characterized the F-35 as overly expensive defense platform with disappointing capabilities. effective, study finds He criticized the jet’s sustainment SEE MONEY ON PAGE 4 Mask mandates, limiting dining out lead to fewer cases, deaths “What I’m going to BY MIKE STOBBE “All of this is very consistent,” CDC Director Associated Press Dr. Rochelle Walensky said during a White try to do is figure out NEW YORK — A new national study adds House briefing on Friday. “You have decreas- how we can get a strong evidence that mask mandates can slow es in cases and deaths when you wear masks, the spread of the coronavirus, and that allow- and you have increases in cases and deaths mix of fighter attack ing dining at restaurants can increase cases when you have in-person restaurant dining.” aircraft that’s the and deaths. The study was released just as some states The Centers for Disease Control and Pre- most cost-effective.” vention released the study Friday. SEE EFFECTIVE ON PAGE 5 Rep. Adam Smith Top: A sign requiring masks is seen near diners eating at a restaurant on the River Walk on Wednesday in San Antonio. Above right: Bartender chairman, House Armed Alyssa Dooley talks with customers at Mo's Irish Pub on Tuesday in Houston. PHOTOS BY ERIC GAY, TOP, AND DAVID J. PHILLIP, ABOVE RIGHT/AP Services Committee PAGE 2 • STARS AND STRIPES • Sunday, March 7, 2021 BUSINESS/WEATHER Airline IT provider hacked, some data breached EXCHANGE RATES Military rates So. Korea (Won) 1130.58 Associated Press man for the company’s Geneva- statement. Switzerlnd (Franc) 0.9292 Euro costs (March 8) $1.16 Thailand (Baht) 30.48 BOSTON — The hack of a com- based parent company said. It said Malaysia Airlines, Fin- Dollar buys (March 8) 0.8166 Turkey (NewLira) 7.5320 British pound (March 8) $1.35 pany that manages ticket-process- The spokesman, Sandro Hofer, nair, Japan Airlines, Cathay Pacif- Japanese yen (March 8) 104.00 (Military exchange rates are those available ing and frequent-flier data for ma- would not say how many airlines ic had either issued statements or South Korean won (March 8) 1103.00 to customers at military banking facilities in the Commercial rates country of issuance for Japan, South Korea, Ger­ jor global airlines — including were affected — SITA says it reached out to frequent-flyer many, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Bahrain(Dinar) 0.3771 For nonlocal currency exchange rates (i.e., pur­ Star Alliance and OneWorld serves more than 400 and is indus- members about the hack. Britain (Pound) 0.7238 chasing British pounds in Germany), check with Canada (Dollar) 1.2673 your local military banking facility. Commercial members — has compromised the try-owned. United Airlines said separately China(Yuan) 6.4985 rates are interbank rates provided for reference Denmark (Krone) 6.2405 personal data of an unspecified The company said that Singa- that the only customer data poten- Egypt (Pound) 15.6955 when buying currency. All figures are foreign number of travelers. pore Airlines, New Zealand Air tially accessed were names, fre- Euro 0.8392 currencies to one dollar, except for the British Hong Kong (Dollar) 7.7648 pound, which is represented in dollars­to­ The hackers were able to access and Lufthansa were among those quent-flyer numbers and pro- Hungary (Forint) 308.50 pound, and the euro, which is dollars­to­euro.) Israel (Shekel) 3.3278 some computer systems at Atlan- affected. gram status. It recommended in Japan (Yen) 108.32 INTEREST RATES ta-based SITA Passenger Service “The extent to which (frequent an email that frequent-flyer cus- Kuwait(Dinar) 0.3031 Norway (Krone) 8.5609 Prime rate 3.25 System for up to a month before flyer alliances’) individual air- tomers should change their ac- Philippines (Peso) 48.62 Interest Rates Discount rate 0.75 Poland (Zloty) 3.86 Federal funds market rate 0.09 the incident’s seriousness was lines were affected varies from count passwords “out of an abun- Saudi Arab (Riyal) 3.7518 3­month bill 0.04 confirmed on Feb. 24, a spokes- airline to airline,” SITA said in a dance of caution.” Singapore (Dollar) 1.3421 30­year bond 2.31 WEATHER OUTLOOK SUNDAY IN THE MIDDLE EAST SUNDAY IN EUROPE MONDAY IN THE PACIFIC Misawa Kabul 41/28 60/40 Baghdad 67/45 Seoul 59/36 Kandahar Drawsko 74/40 Mildenhall/ Pomorskie Osan Tokyo Lakenheath 38/25 44/33 57/33 54/42 Kuwait City Bahrain Busan 80/54 56/43 74/64 Brussels Zagan Iwakuni Ramstein 41/33 63/37 43/30 48/23 Riyadh Lajes, Sasebo Guam 80/56 Doha 64/48 Azores Stuttgart Pápa 85/76 78/59 64/55 36/29 Aviano/ 49/25 Vicenza 52/33 Naples 60/46 Morón 62/46 Sigonella Okinawa Djibouti Rota 61/49 72/64 87/73 63/52 Souda Bay 60/46 The weather is provided by the American Forces Network Weather Center, 2nd Weather Squadron at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb. TODAY IN STRIPES American Roundup ...... 14 Books .......................... 14 Comics .........................15 Crossword ................... 15 Music ..................... 12-13 Opinion ........................ 18 Sports .................... 19-24 Sunday, March 7, 2021 • STARS AND STRIPES • PAGE 3 MILITARY Families sue Monterey base housing over mold BY ROSE L. THAYER Stars and Stripes AUSTIN, Texas — Two military families are suing several private housing companies because the homes that they rented at the Na- val Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif., contained mold that sickened their children and ruined their personal belongings. Navy Cmdr. Louis D’Antonio and his wife Amber Holland-D’Antonio and Marine Corps Maj. Ryan Keller and his wife Samantha Kell- er moved into homes in the Parks at Monterey Bay about one year apart. Both families dis- covered their houses contained mold and be- lieve the private companies that manage the base housing did not follow proper safety pre- cautions while remediating the homes, which exacerbated the conditions, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday in the Superior Court Samantha Keller of California. The infant daughter of Marine Corps The defendants listed on the lawsuit are Maj. Ryan Keller often suffered a rash Monterey Bay Military Housing, Clark Pinna- after playing on the floor of the home cle Monterrey Bay, Clark Realty Capital, Pin- that the family occupied on base while nacle Monterey and Michaels Management he was assigned to the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif. Services, which are the combination of pri- vate companies that manage base family “Mold growth continued to reappear, and housing for the Naval Postgraduate School representatives of the landlord companies Amber Holland-D’antonio and the Army’s Presidio of Monterey. would attempt to remove mold laden Shee- Mold was found on the floor of a bathroom in a home the D’Antonio family occupied The complaints of the two families match trock and trim without proper containment while stationed at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif. those listed in nearly a dozen lawsuits filed in and without taking care to prevent the track- courts across the country. Some military fam- ing of moldy materials throughout the house,” emanating from their then-7-year-old daugh- Station Lemoore, also in California, and live in ilies have turned to the legal system to settle the lawsuit states. ter’s bedroom closet, according to the lawsuit. ahome that they purchased during a previous claims that many private companies contract- After one year, the family was moved into The smell was so penetrating that a teacher at assignment there. ed by the military to maintain and manage another house to allow for mold remediation school called Holland-D’Antonio concerned “We’ve gotten better, but we aren’t there base housing have been negligent and force work, only to end up in a temporary home with about the smell coming from the child’s yet,” Holland-D’Antonio said. families to live in dangerous conditions. mold and insect problems, according to the clothes. Three contractors attempted to solve the Jim Moriarty, the attorney behind the Mon- lawsuit. They eventually decided Ryan Keller “As the closet smell persisted, the family mold problems within their first year in the terey suit and others, said the continued filing would finish his education program in Monte- noticed that mold had begun to grow through home, and testing revealed multiple types of of lawsuits shows problems persist despite rey alone while his family moved in June 2019 the floors and on the tub in the bathroom.