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Volume 79 Edition 243B ©SS 2021 CONTINGENCY EDITION SUNDAY,MARCH 28, 2021 Free to Deployed Areas Myanmar protests death toll tops 100

Associated Press YANGON, Myanmar — As Myanmar’s military celebrated the annual Armed Forces Day ho- liday with a parade Saturday in the country’s capital, soldiers and police elsewhere reportedly killed dozens of people as they sup- pressed protests in the deadliest bloodletting since last month’s coup. The online news site Myanmar Now reported late Saturday that the death toll had reached 114. A count issued by an independent researcher in Yangon who has been compiling near-real time death tolls put the total at 107, spread over more than two dozen cities and towns. Both numbers are higher than all estimates for the previous high on March 14, which ranged in counts from 74 to 90. Figures collected by the re- searcher, who asked not to be named for his security, have gen- LORENZO TUGNOLI/The Washington Post erally tallied with the counts is- Taliban fighters parade their weapons in Marawara district, Afghanistan, in July 2020. sued at the end of each day by the Taliban at crossroads SEE PROTESTS ON PAGE 10 With US withdrawal delay likely, and new peace deal on table, militant group faces decision on path to power BY SUSANNAH GEORGE “If we share power Accepting a place in a power-sharing government, as The Washington Post proposed by the United States, would bring the group DOHA, Qatar — For months, the Taliban has man- with the government one step closer to its ultimate goal of retaking full con- aged to both talk peace and wage war across Afghan- trol of the country and establishing an Islamic govern- istan. in Kabul, what were ment — and yet any path to power that prevents Af- The strategy appeared to appease the hard-liners we fighting for?” ghanistan from again being labeled a pariah state will within the militant group who want an outright mil- require compromise at odds with the core beliefs of itary victory to end the 20-year conflict and moderate Anonymous Taliban commander the militants’ rank and file. members of the movement who would accept a politi- AP on a power-sharing agreement Adeadline looms. The Biden administration has un- cal solution. til May 1 to withdraw troops from the country, under a The body of a man killed in an But the new, aggressive U.S. push for a peace deal proposed by the United States anti-coup protest is brought to a has brought the Taliban to an inevitable crossroads: SEE DECISION ON PAGE 4 hospital in Myanmar on Saturday. PAGE 2 • STARS AND STRIPES • Sunday, March 28, 2021 BUSINESS/WEATHER Amazon employees seek union EXCHANGE RATES Military rates South Korea (Won) 1131.22 Associated Press the Bessemer facility. She said tion pushes at Amazon facilities. Switzerland (Franc) .9391 Euro costs (March 29) $1.15 Thailand (Baht) 31.12 BESSEMER, Ala. — Linda employees face relentless quotas If voted down, it would be anoth- Dollar buys (March 29) 0.8270 Turkey (NewLira) 8.1099 British pound (March 29) $1.34 Burns was excited at first to land and deserve more respect. er loss for organizers hoping to Japanese yen (March 29) 106.00 (Military exchange rates are those available a job at the Amazon warehouse “They are treating us like ro- win a rare labor victory in the South Korean won (March 29) 1104.00 to customers at military banking facilities in the Commercial rates country of issuance for Japan, South Korea, Ger­ outside Birmingham, Ala. The bots rather than humans,” said Deep South. many, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Bahrain(Dinar) .3766 For nonlocal currency exchange rates (i.e., pur­ former nursing assistant had al- Burns, 51, who said she is out of Amazon is fighting the union. Britain (Pound) 1.3785 chasing British pounds in Germany), check with Canada (Dollar) 1.2594 your local military banking facility. Commercial ways enjoyed ordering from the leave after developing tendonitis. The company argues the ware- China(Yuan) 6.5415 rates are interbank rates provided for reference Denmark (Krone) 6.3075 company, Now, she would be This week, Amazon workers house created thousands of jobs Egypt (Pound) 15.7043 when buying currency. All figures are foreign working for them. and union advocates, including with an average pay of $15.30 per Euro .8482 currencies to one dollar, except for the British Hong Kong (Dollar) 7.7688 pound, which is represented in dollars­to­ A cog in a fast-moving assemb- Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, hour — more than twice the mini- Hungary (Forint) 307.64 pound, and the euro, which is dollars­to­euro.) Israel (Shekel) 3.3317 ly line, her job involved picking made a last-minute push as vot- mum wage in Alabama. Workers Japan (Yen) 109.69 INTEREST RATES up customers’ orders and send- ing comes to a close in the high- also get benefits including health Kuwait(Dinar) .3022 Norway (Krone) 8.5878 Prime rate 3.25 ing them down the line to the stakes union battle. If organizers care, vision and dental insurance Philippines (Peso) 48.44 Interest Rates Discount rate 0.75 Poland (Zloty) 3.93 Federal funds market rate 0.07 packers. Now she is a staunch are successful, it could lead to a without paying union dues, the Saudi Arabia (Riyal) 3.7502 3­month bill 0.02 supporter of getting a union at chain reaction of other unioniza- company said. Singapore (Dollar) 1.3458 30­year bond 2.37 WEATHER OUTLOOK SUNDAY IN THE MIDDLE EAST SUNDAY IN EUROPE MONDAY IN THE PACIFIC

Misawa 56/49

Kabul Seoul 61/46 54/41 Baghdad 68/46 Tokyo Drawsko Osan Kandahar Mildenhall/ 53/42 71/55 91/54 Pomorskie Busan Lakenheath 46/35 60/50 54/44 Iwakuni Kuwait City Bahrain 59/53 Brussels Zagan Sasebo 73/56 72/68 Ramstein 48/36 62/54 Guam 54/41 52/32 85/80 Riyadh Lajes, 76/57 Doha Azores Stuttgart 79/68 62/58 53/39 Pápa Aviano/ 52/41 Vicenza 53/47

Naples 63/47 Okinawa Morón 73/69 76/51 Sigonella Rota 64/41 The weather is provided by the Djibouti 69/55 Souda Bay American Forces Network Weather Center, 86/71 58/51 2nd Weather Squadron at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb. TODAY IN STRIPES American Roundup ...... 11 Comics ...... 15 Crossword ...... 15 Food ...... 14 Opinion ...... 17 Music ...... 12-12 Sports ...... 18-24 Sunday, March 28, 2021 • STARS AND STRIPES • PAGE 3 MILITARY House panel explores diversity in SOCOM BY SARAH CAMMARATA norities bring to the fight, it will be Stars and Stripes difficult to reduce skepticism … WASHINGTON — As the U.S. that becoming more diverse, equi- military reckons with how to im- table and inclusive force is not on- prove its approach to diversity ly fair, but essential to our ability and inclusion, a panel of former to win future battles,” said Germa- military leaders and government no, known for writing about sys- officials on Friday shared ways to temic gender bias against women tackle the problem in a small but in Marine Corps recruiting and strategically important force: spe- training policies. cial operations. Retired Lt. Gen. Mike Nagata “Special Operations Forces are also said there is a “significant” a unique, valuable and a scarce as- shortage of research that examin- set for the nation’s security. It is es whether there are key differ- vital given their small numbers to ences between what attracts a think carefully about their devel- more diverse population to volun- opment and employment,” said teer for the “grueling experience Linda Robinson, a senior interna- of SOF assessment and selection tional and defense researcher at compared to what attracts our tra- the Rand Corp. ditional demographic mix.” Her comments came during a Nagata said his path to serving House Armed Services Commit- in special operations for 34 years tee subpanel hearing on the cul- illustrates the issue. ture and climate of U.S. special op- He said when the Special erations. Forces Qualification Course be- “Systemic issues require urgent gan in 1984, “I remember being attention. Primary among them, only one of two Asian Americans the need to expand diversity and ANNA MONEYMAKER, THE NEW YORK TIMES, POOL/AP [to volunteer for it]. Today, I still inclusion,” Robinson said. U.S. Special Operations commander Gen. Richard Clarke speaks to his staff during a hearing to examine do not know why.” Special Operations Command SOCOM and U.S. Cyber Command, on Capitol Hill on Thursday in Washington. Commenting on the command’s released its first plan to address plan on diversity and inclusion, diversity and inclusion earlier this skills, and perspectives, which we Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. SOF career fields to underrepre- Robinson urged “the command month after not acknowledging genuinely need on our team. “As we compete against differ- sented demographics” to boost develop specific metrics and tar- the problem for decades. These long-standing issues re- ent and more capable adversaries, awareness of career opportunities gets for progress, and for promo- A Rand Corp. study published quire change in our organizational a more diverse force empowers us within the force. tions to be tied to performance in more than two decades ago on spe- norms, attitudes and behaviors,” to draw upon broader perspec- Retired Lt. Col. Kate Germano meeting them.” cial operations found minorities Army Gen. Richard Clarke, com- tives, different lived experiences told lawmakers that the Defense Nagata agreed. He said incen- are underrepresented in the force, mander of U.S. Special Operations and new ideas,” Maier said at the Department must first invest in tives are a good way to change the especially Black people. Minority Command, and senior enlisted hearing about challenges facing independent military and special ways that services identify and groups face “structural barriers,” leader Air Force Chief Master Sgt. special operations. But he did not operations research to identify recruit more diverse populations. such as requirements to join that Gregory Smith wrote in a memo to elaborate beyond that during the how diversity contributes to a “If more people in [the Defense are more likely to eliminate them the force. hearing. more lethal and capable force. Department] believe it’s in their as candidates. Last week, Chris Maier, acting However, much of the House The military has relied solely on best interest to recruit more and But the new special operations assistant secretary of defense for hearing on Friday focused on how case studies from the private sec- bring in more diverse officers or plan maps out how leaders can special operations/low-intensity to attract more diverse candidates tor to provide proof about why di- enlisted personnel, it will abso- identify “diversity gaps” and de- conflict, told a different House to the 70,000-member force that is versity is critical to the military, lutely happen. Right now, that’s velop policies that remove bar- Armed Services Committee sub- primarily made up of white male she said. not the case,” he said. riers to serving in the force. panel that he’s “committed to en- soldiers. “Without military specific case

“Our system creates barriers to hancing diversity within the SOF One area in the special oper- studies laying out the operational [email protected] accessing a broad range of talent, community” at the direction of ations report targets “promoting advantages women and other mi- @sarahjcamm Soldier dies during last phase Massachusetts man of training at Ranger School pleads guilty in defense BY COREY DICKSTEIN giment, accord- ning where the service conducts Stars and Stripes ing to the Army. the first phase of training and holds contracting fraud case The Army is investigating the Requenez was a graduation for those who complete Associated Press certain specifications, includ- death Thursday of a 28-year-old graduate of the the course. The more than 60-day BOSTON — A Massachusetts ing that they would be tested soldier who was in the final phase Army’s Ranger course also takes soldiers to Camp man has pleaded guilty to pro- for heat sensitivity, prosecu- of Ranger School, service officials Assessment and Frank D. Merrill in the north Geor- viding false documentation tors said. said Friday. Selection Pro- gia mountains, where they are test- about the effectiveness of glove To avoid the testing require- Spc. James A. Requenez died gram 1, a prereq- ed on mountaineering and other liners purchased by the Navy ment, Urena made counterfeit Requenez during Ranger School training at uisite to join the combat operations in a mountain- for use on nuclear submarines, certificates of testing and com- Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, elite Ranger Regiment, and the ous setting. During the swamp federal prosecutors say. pliance, which he presented to where the third portion of the ardu- service’s Airborne School at Fort phase — considered by many as Adrian Urena, 40, of Law- a Department of Defense con- ous Ranger course known as the Benning. the most demanding portion of the rence, pleaded guilty Wednes- tracting officer, prosecutors swamp phase is held, the Army He was serving as an assistant school — students are tested on wa- day to possessing false papers said. When investigators ques- said. Officials did not provide addi- machine gunner for the 3rd Rang- terborne and airborne operations to defraud the United States tioned Urena about the coun- tional information about Reque- er Battalion’s A Company, accord- before they spend 10 days in the and making false statements, terfeit certificates, Urena nez’s death on Friday, citing the in- ing to the Army. field conducting “fast paced, high- according to a statement from claimed that they were not in- vestigation. The Army bills Ranger School as ly stressful, and challenging” exer- the U.S. attorney’s office in tended to be genuine, author- Requenez, who is from San Anto- among its most difficult training cises that are meant to test their Boston. ities said. nio, enlisted in the Army in April opportunities meant to instill small-unit tactical skills. Urena worked for a company Urena faces up to five years 2018. After initial training, he toughness and leadership skills in that contracted with the Navy in prison and a $250,000 fine at joined the Fort Benning, Ga.-based soldiers. [email protected] to provide white glove liners sentencing scheduled for July 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Re- The course is based at Fort Ben- Twitter: @CDicksteinDC that were supposed to meet 28. PAGE 4 • STARS AND STRIPES • Sunday, March 28, 2021 WAR/MILITARY Decision: Taliban networks have differing visions for future

FROM PAGE 1 respect human rights, including U.S.-Taliban deal signed in Febru- the rights of women. ary 2019, or negotiate a new ar- “The Taliban have a lot to gain rangement. What the Taliban does from this peace deal,” said retired could signal where the balance of Pakistani Brigadier Saad Muham- power lies within the movement mad, who served as Pakistan’s de- and what its vision is for Afghan- fense attache to Kabul. istan’s future. Muhammad said while some of So far, Taliban leadership has the Taliban movement support said little publicly to reveal the ending the war through talks, he specifics of what kind of govern- believes the high levels of violence ment it would accept, beyond one in Afghanistan in recent months ruled by Islamic law. show that the more powerful com- “The intra-Afghan dialogue is manders on the ground don’t “en- progressing. There is no doubt visage a peaceful solution to the there are some difficulties along conflict.” the way, but this is the agreed It took more than a year of nego- framework,”said Mullah Abdul tiations between the United States Ghani Baradar, the Taliban’s se- and the Taliban to reach the Doha nior political leader at a meeting pact. Some fear the Biden admin- in Moscow earlier this month. istration’s push for a peace deal Baradar appeared to push back between the Taliban and Afghan against signals from the Biden ad- government within weeks is unre- ministration that it may delay alistic. withdrawing troops and the pro- An individual familiar with in- posal of a power-sharing govern- ternal Taliban discussions said if ment in a leaked draft peace plan. ALEXANDER ZEMLIANICHENKO, POOL/AP the United States does not with- Both moves would be departures Taliban co­founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, center, arrives with other members of the Taliban dele­ draw all troops by May 1 it will from the U.S.-Taliban agreement gation for an international peace conference in Moscow earlier this month. lead to “more killing and blood- signed last year, a document shed.” prized by the militants. One senior Taliban commander Taliban’s unity was the group’s The militants’ political leader- “But eventually [the United “The Doha deal is the best and said he would oppose any deal that ability to rally support behind the ship also understands that to ef- States] will have to come back to most effective way to resolve is- does not hand the group absolute signing of the U.S.-Taliban deal fectively maintain power on a na- the table again,” he said, speaking sues and move forward,” he said. power over Afghanistan because last February and to enforce a tional level they need the support on the condition of anonymity to “The responsibilities of both sides he believes the current govern- weeklong reduction in violence. of the international community. disclose thinking within the Tali- are clearly written in the peace ment is an extension of the U.S. Not a single U.S. service member Without formal international rec- ban before an official decision has deal known by the entire world.” presence in the country, a view has been killed in Afghanistan ognition, the Taliban will likely be been issued. He predicted any The U.S. proposal also calls for echoed by other Taliban fighters since the Doha agreement. cut off from billions of dollars in new round of negotiations will talks in Turkey next month to sup- interviewed by The Washington It is unclear if the Taliban is se- aid that is needed to keep the take longer to reach a settlement plement talks in Doha, the estab- Post. riously considering the new U.S. country afloat and the group’s than the 18 months of intense talks lishment of an interim govern- “This fight is not to share power. peace proposal. Mohammad campaign to remove some of its that proceeded the Doha agree- ment and the drafting of a new This war is for religious purposes Naeem, the spokesman for the Ta- top leaders from international ment. constitution to be followed by elec- in order to bring an Islamic gov- liban’s political office in Doha, sanctions lists would be shattered. The longer peace talks drag on tions. ernment and implement Islamic said it remains “under review.” There is no way for the Taliban or remain stalled, violence is ex- The Afghan government has law,” said the commander, who “This proposal is forcing the Ta- to integrate into international po- pected to continue on the ground. said it will attend the Turkey con- spoke on the condition of anonym- liban to confront an uncomfort- litical or economic systems “with- While the United Nations record- ference. The Taliban has not yet ity because he was not authorized able reality,” said Andrew Wat- out falling into the trap that they ed an overall drop in civilian casu- commented. At the conference, to speak to the media. kins, senior Afghanistan analyst say the current [so called] ‘puppet alties in 2020, the mission in Af- Afghan President Ashraf Ghani is “If we share power with the gov- for the International Crisis Group. administration’ fell into,” Watkins ghanistan found that the numbers planning to propose early elec- ernment in Kabul, what were we The international legitimacy that said, referencing a term the Tali- began to spike in the last quarter tions to choose transition leaders, fighting for?” he said. “I wouldn’t they say they want is “never going ban use to describe the govern- of the year, as talks stalled. according to two senior Afghan of- accept this.” to come without engaging with the ment in Kabul. Naeem, the spokesman for the ficials who spoke on the condition The unity of the Taliban move- outside world and the internation- “This could be a put up or shut Taliban’s political office in Doha, of anonymity because they were ment as a whole is difficult to al community in a way that could up moment for the Taliban,” he said Taliban fighters reduced vio- not authorized to speak to the gauge, but it is made up of net- potentially be read by their own said. lence following the Doha agree- press. works that include hard-line ele- members and supporters as hav- The U.S. proposal would dis- ment. And as long as the United The role foreign countries ments and more moderate lead- ing been corrupted by foreign in- mantle the current elected gov- States fulfills its commitments to played in the establishment of Af- ers. Taliban fighters on the ground fluence.” ernment in Afghanistan and offer the deal and peace talks continue, ghanistan’s current government have expressed opposition to The Taliban sees its fighters as the Taliban leadership positions in he said, “there is no reason why and the holding of elections — a peace talks with the Afghan gov- the rightful leaders of Afghanis- an interim government where the [the violence] should escalate.” mechanism the Taliban views as a ernment; instead, like the senior tan, arguing their legitimacy is group would hold at least 50% of “After 40 years of war, negotiat- Western-imposed construct — lie Taliban commander, they support drawn from restoring order dur- the power. These offers come de- ing is very difficult,” Naeem said. at the heart of its argument that taking power through military ing the civil war and from two dec- spite little change seen from the “There is no time frame for the Af- the leadership in Kabul is illegiti- means. ades of fighting against the United Taliban to reduce violence, break ghan negotiations, so it needs time mate. The first significant test of the States. with terrorist organizations and to continue.” Report: Military’s cleanup of Puerto Rico islands slow-going Associated Press Army Corps of Engineers will con- community distrust of the military bra, where the military ceased all Superfund site believed to contain SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — The tinue through 2032 at an additional handling cleanup efforts.” activities in 1975. An unknown num- mercury, lead, napalm, depleted reopening of hiking trails and vari- cost of $420 million for a total of $800 So far, crews have removed mu- ber of munitions remains on both is- uranium and other contaminants. ous white-sand beaches on two tiny million, stated the U.S. Government nition including 32,000 bombs, lands located just east of Puerto Ri- The GAO said that substantial Puerto Rican islands long used as Accountability Office. 12,000 grenades and 1,300 rockets co as teams use tools ranging from work remains to be done in one site Navy bombing ranges and now pop- “Substantial work remains,” the from Vieques, where the U.S. gov- machetes to drones to help clean the that covers some 11,500 acres un- ular with tourists will be delayed report stated. “Challenges include ernment relocated residents when area. In addition, the Navy identi- derwater and extends from more than a decade, according to a logistics, the islands’ topography the Navy began using the island as a fied perchlorate in the groundwater Vieques’ shoreline to a depth of 10 to federal report released Friday. and environment, and the safety training range in the 1940s. in at least one site in Vieques, where 15 feet. Meanwhile, cleanup at 14 of Cleanup efforts in Vieques and concerns around handling unex- Meanwhile, crews have cleared it operated a training range on 15 former military sites in Culebra Culebra led respectively by the U.S. ploded munitions. The Navy also more than 5,000 unexploded ord- 14,500 acres until its closure in 2001. will continue through fiscal year Department of Defense and the U.S. faces challenges on Vieques with nances since January 2020 in Cule- The area was later designated as a 2031, the agency said. Sunday, March 28, 2021 • STARS AND STRIPES • PAGE 5 VETERANS Lawmakers reintroduce bill on burn pits

BY NIKKI WENTLING occurred. Then, they must under- plastics. Veterans diagnosed with nesses,” Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, ganizations, other advocates and Stars and Stripes go a medical exam and start a dis- cancers, respiratory issues and D-N.Y., said in a statement Friday. comedian Jon Stewart, who has WASHINGTON — Lawmakers ability compensation claim, which lung diseases at young ages have “The bottom line is that our veter- recently fought for veterans suf- reintroduced legislation Friday to can take years. blamed exposure to the toxic ans served our country, they are fering the effects of burn pit expo- streamline the process for veter- Under the new bill, veterans fumes. However, the Department sick and they need health care — sure. ans to get benefits because of ill- would need to prove only that they of Veterans Affairs has contended period.” “This legislation includes pre- nesses from burn pits and other deployed to parts of the Middle that there is not sufficient evi- Gillibrand and Sen. Marco Ru- sumption and actually fixes this toxic exposures. East, southwest Asia and Africa dence to support those claims. bio, R-Fla., reintroduced the bill in urgent and immoral issue,” Stew- The legislation would lessen the since 1990 and suffer from a con- “More than three million ser- the Senate, and Reps. Raul Ruiz, art said in a statement Friday. proof required for veterans to re- dition associated with toxic expo- vice members could have been ex- D-Calif., and Brian Fitzpatrick, R- “Anything else just delays and de- ceive benefits. Currently, veter- sure. posed to toxic burn pits, yet the VA Pa., are leading the House ver- nies the treatment and benefits ans must provide proof of their Throughout the 1990s and the continues to deny them care by sion. our warriors need.” medical conditions and evidence post-9/11 wars, the military used placing the burden of proof on vet- The lawmakers are planning a of their locations at specific burn open-air pits to burn garbage, jet erans suffering from rare cancers, rally outside the U.S. Capitol on [email protected] pits or points where the exposure fuel, paint, medical waste and lung diseases and respiratory ill- April 13 with veterans service or- Twitter: @nikkiwentling Veterans, lawmakers critical of efforts to deal with toxic foam BY SARAH CAMMARATA scribed as safe, just like “soap and Stars and Stripes water,” veterans said in interviews WASHINGTON — Neil Hogan this month. and Jason Linta have something in The chemicals, per- and polyfluo- common beyond their five years of roalkyl substances, are more com- service together as military fire- monly known as PFAS and are pre- fighters at Eglin Air Force Base in sent in aqueous film forming foam, the mid-1990s. Both men have been or AFFF. The chemicals have been diagnosed with terminal cancer and dubbed “forever chemicals” be- are fighting for their lives. cause they do not readily break Linta, medically retired after down and last for a long time in the nearly 24 years in the military, was environment and in the body. diagnosed in December 2017 with The first Defense Department adenoid cystic carcinoma. The rare study that found firefighting foam cancer has spread from his tear used on military bases was toxic Joe Zapala gland to other parts of his body. came out in the 1970s. But its use Air Force firefighters get covered in aqueous film forming foam, or AFFF, during training. In April 2020, Hogan medically continued. retired after spending his entire ca- The military has argued that us- not doing enough, citing a lack of “Two studies do not seem like a community, said that he believes reer as a firefighter in and out of the ing AFFF was necessary because of evidence. DoD has been slow to real commitment to getting to the the government is “kicking the can military. Now 50, he’s battling brain its effectiveness to fight fuel fires. spend and execute hundreds of mil- bottom of this. Why aren’t you doing down the road.” and prostate cancer. More than 40 years later, Congress lions of congressionally appropriat- more?” Schultz said, noting that the “Who are they sending [the news- Linta and Hogan are among demanded that the foam be re- ed cleanup funds,” Schultz said. department has the largest budget letters] out to? Because, it’s not get- many service members coping with placed, after a growing body of sci- DOD officials said at Wednes- within the government. ting out to everybody that it needs to health conditions that doctors be- entific research revealed its lasting day’s hearing that they are contin- Cramer said that the DOD is … we have to dig for this informa- lieve are tied to years of exposure to health risks. uing work started under the depart- “limited in terms of medical re- tion to get access to it,” he said. highly toxic, cancer-causing chem- A provision in the 2020 National ment’s PFAS task force. The De- search” and that they rely on other While the Defense Department icals found in firefighting foam. Defense Authorization Act was the fense Department created the task agencies like the Centers for Dis- conducts research and testing, “Some people say, ‘Oh, they’re first sweeping effort from Congress force in July 2019 to deal with the ease Control and Prevention to do troops are still being exposed to con- firefighters. They know the risk.’ to address the issue. The measure chemicals found on military bases the bulk of that work. taminated water and foam, and fire- [But] we didn’t sign up to get can- required the Defense Department and in surrounding water sources. fighting gear has been found to con- cer. We signed up to be firefight- to phase out the dangerous foam by Paul Cramer, principal deputy Kicking the can tain PFAS, Ferrara said. ers,” Linta said in an interview Oct. 1, 2024. assistant secretary of defense for Veterans and advocates say the “That’s what these firefighters Thursday. sustainment, said at the hearing Defense and Veterans Affairs de- are worried about ... We just want to Linta said he knows of six other Not enough action that the department has identified partments are not addressing the is- be told what to do, how to prevent firefighters who served at Eglin A House Appropriations Com- 108 closed bases as places where sue in an adequate way. [contamination]. Our doctors need who have been diagnosed with can- mittee subpanel held a hearing last DOD might have used or released Service members and their fam- to know how to treat this,” he said. cer, and some have died. week with Defense and Veterans PFAS. The task force is conducting ilies must be alerted of possible ex- The former Air Force firefighter “It’s time for [the government] to Affairs Department officials and a PFAS assessment at these instal- posure to remedy the government’s had been set to testify in front of the step up and take care of our fire- experts to discuss the impact of ex- lations, to be completed by 2023. historical failure to provide infor- subcommittee. It’s unclear why fighters and our veterans that have posure to forever chemicals, the DOD is also investigating PFAS mation on the toxins, they say. Ferrara was removed from the pan- defended our nation,” he said. pace of cleanups on contaminated use or potential release at over 650 Veterans Affairs official Patricia el and a congressional staffer did Last week, a House subpanel met military sites and progress to reme- DOD and National Guard installa- Hastings testified Wednesday that not return a request for comment. to address implications of exposure diate the issue. tions, according to the task force’s the department is using social Ferrara wants Congress to con- and cleanup efforts, and the mess- Subcommittee Chairwoman 2020 progress report. media to inform veterans, and put- tinue funding to remediate contam- age was clear: For too long “little to Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., Cramer said the department is in ting articles about PFAS in its news- ination at former military installa- no action” has been taken by the said in her opening statement that the midst of two studies on cancer — letters. tions, and to “endorse legislation of- government. for too long “little to no action” has one that examines testicular cancer “We do have a very robust web- fering blood tests for former mili- been taken by the government. In within Air Force members and one site that has [information about] tary firefighters and work with the Decades of exposure 2016, the DOD began to clean up the that examines problems within the many of the environmental expo- VA to establish AFFF and/or PFAS Service members use foam for a harmful chemicals “after decades communities around military sures of concern for veterans,” presumptives.” range of military activities, includ- of concern over exposure to PFAS,” bases. Hastings said. ing extinguishing aircraft fuel fires. she said. That was called out at Wednes- Kevin Ferrara, a retired military [email protected] For decades, that foam was de- “However, the department is still day’s hearing. firefighter and advocate for the Twitter: @sarahjcamm PAGE 6 • STARS AND STRIPES • Sunday, March 28, 2021 NATION Biden invites Russia, China to climate talk

Associated Press WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is including rivals Vla- dimir Putin of Russia and Xi Jinp- ing of China among the invitees to the first big climate talks of his ad- ministration, an event the U.S. hopes will help shape, speed up and deepen global efforts to cut climate-wrecking fossil fuel pollu- tion, administration officials told The Associated Press. PATRICK SEMANSKY/AP RON HARRIS/AP The president is seeking to re- President Joe Biden salutes as Hundreds of people wait in line for early voting in Marietta, Ga., on Oct. 12, 2020. vive a U.S.-convened forum of the he boards Air Force One at world’s major economies on cli- Andrews Air Force Base, Md., on mate that George W. Bush and Ba- Friday. rack Obama both used and Donald Democrats assail Georgia law, Trump let languish. Leaders of tional climate discussion by a U.S. some of the world’s top climate- leader in more than four years, al- change sufferers, do-gooders and though leaders in Europe and make case for voting overhaul backsliders round out the rest of elsewhere have kept up talks. the 40 invitations being delivered The Biden administration Associated Press Biden and his party are seeking pared to legislate the old-fash- Friday. It will be held virtually hopes the stage provided by next Democrats have seized on new to build and sustain momentum in ioned way, unspooling arguments April 22 and 23. month’s Earth Day climate sum- voting restrictions in Georgia to the realm of public opinion — hop- in lengthy Senate debates, spilling Hosting the summit will fulfill a mit — planned to be all virtual be- focus attention on the fight to ing to nationalize what has so far out of the committee hearing campaign pledge and executive cause of COVID-19 and publicly overhaul federal election laws, been a Republican-led, state-by- rooms and onto the Senate floor, order by Biden, and the adminis- viewable on livestream, including setting up a slow-building stand- state movement to curb access to and forcing opponents to go on the tration is timing the event to coin- breakout conversations — will en- off that carries echoes of the civil the ballot — while they begin a record as standing in the way — cide with its own upcoming an- courage other international lead- rights battles of a half-century slow, plodding legislative process. much as South Carolina Sen. nouncement of what will be a ers to use it as a platform to an- ago. Allies meanwhile plan to fight the Strom Thurmond was positioned much tougher U.S. target for re- nounce their own countries’ In fiery speeches, pointed state- Georgia law, and others, in court. when he filibustered the Civil vamping the U.S. economy to tougher emission targets or other ments and tweets, party leaders “What’s happening in Georgia Rights Act of the last century. sharply cut emissions from coal, commitments, ahead of Novem- on Friday decried the law signed right now, underscores the impor- “They’re literally squeezing the natural gas and oil. ber’s U.N. global climate talks in the day before by the state’s Re- tance and the urgency,” said Sen. arteries of the lifeblood of Amer- The session — and whether it’s Glasgow. publican governor as specifically Rev. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., in ica,” Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., the all talk, or some progress — will The administration hopes more aimed at suppressing Black and an interview Friday. son of civil rights activists, said in test Biden’s pledge to make cli- broadly the session will demon- Latino votes and a threat to de- “This is about what is funda- an interview. “They are choking mate change a priority among strate a commitment to cutting mocracy. President Joe Biden re- mental to our identity as an Amer- what makes us distinct and unique competing political, economic, emissions at home and encourag- leased an extended statement, ican people — one person, one on the planet Earth.” policy and pandemic problems. It ing the same abroad, the official calling the law an attack on “good vote.” Booker would not, however, also will pose a very public — and said. That includes encouraging conscience” that denies the right The emerging brawl over the openly call for the end of the fil- potentially embarrassing or em- governments to get moving on to vote for “countless” Americans. politics and policy of voting access ibuster, a parliamentary tool re- powering — test of whether U.S. specific, politically-bearable ways “This is Jim Crow in the 21st is swelling like nothing seen in re- quiring at least 60 votes to ad- leaders, and Biden in particular, to retool their transportation and Century,” Biden said, referring to cent years, harkening back to vance Senate legislation in some can still drive global decision- power sectors and overall econo- laws of the last century that en- what many Americans may as- cases. making after the Trump adminis- mies now to meet those tougher forced heavy-handed racial seg- sume are well-settled rules ensur- The Georgia law requires a pho- tration withdrew globally and future targets, something the Bi- regation in the South. ing equal access to the ballot. to ID in order to vote absentee by shook up longstanding alliances. den administration is just em- “It must end. We have a moral But as Republican-controlled mail, cuts the time people have to The Biden administration in- barking on. and Constitutional obligation to state legislatures from Georgia to request an absentee ballot and tentionally looked beyond its in- Like Bush’s and Obama’s ma- act,” he said. He told reporters the Iowa to Arizona are taking dra- limits where ballot drop boxes can ternational partners for the sum- jor-economies climate forums, Bi- Georgia law is an “atrocity” and matic action to limit early voting be placed and when they can be mit, reaching out to key leaders den’s invite list includes leaders of the Justice Department is looking and force new voter ID require- accessed. The bill was a watered- for what it said would sometimes the world’s biggest economies and into it. ments, the debate in Washington down version of some of the pro- be tough talks on climate matters, European blocs. That includes Georgia’s Republican gover- threatens to exacerbate the na- posals considered by the GOP-led an administration official said. two countries — Russia and China nor, Brian Kemp, lashed back, ac- tion’s cavernous political divides General Assembly. The official spoke on condition of — that Biden and his diplomats cusing Biden of attempting to “de- in the early days of the Biden pres- H.R. 1 is vast, and its Senate anonymity to discuss U.S. plans are clashing against over election stroy the sanctity and security of idency, just as the Democratic counterpart would confront the for the event. interference, cyberattacks, hu- the ballot box” by supporting what president vows to unite the coun- new Georgia law by expanding Trump mocked the science un- man rights and other issues. It’s the governor sees as federal intru- try. voting by mail and early voting, derlying urgent warnings on glob- not clear how those two countries sion into state responsibilities. It is expected to be a months- both popular during the pandem- al warming and the resulting in particular will respond to the Behind the chorus of outrage, long slog in the narrowly divided ic. It would more broadly open worsening of droughts, floods, U.S. invitations, or whether they Democrats are also wrestling with Congress, specifically the Senate, ballot access by creating automat- hurricanes and other natural di- are willing to cooperate with the the limits on their power in Wash- where Democrats are, for now, ic voter registration nationwide, sasters. He pulled the United U.S. on cutting emissions while ington, as long as Senate filibuster unwilling to muscle their slim ma- allowing former felons to vote and States out of the 2015 U.N. Paris sparring on other topics. China is rules allow Republicans to block jority to change filibuster rules, limiting the way states can re- climate accords as one of his first the world’s top emitter of climate- major legislation, including H.R. despite the party’s urgent calls for move registered voters from the actions. That makes next month’s damaging pollution. The U.S. is 1, a sweeping elections bill now action. rolls. It also addresses campaign summit the first major interna- No. 2. Russia is No. 4. pending in the Senate. Instead, the Democrats are pre- financing and ethics laws. Sunday, March 28, 2021 • STARS AND STRIPES • PAGE 7 NATION Inconsistencies in riot stories hamper lawyers

BY ALANNA DURKIN RICHER fore the riot or protecting themselves Associated Press against possible attacks from antifa activ- BOSTON — There’s little doubt the Oath ists. Keepers were planning for something on The defendants can still be convicted of Jan. 6. The question at the heart of the crim- conspiring to obstruct Congress even if the inal case against its members and associ- plan was formulated only moments before ates in the attack on the U.S. Capitol is: they stormed the Capitol, said Jimmy Gu- What, exactly, did they intend to do? rule, a former federal prosecutor who’s now Authorities suggested for weeks in court a professor at the University of Notre Dame hearings and papers that members of the law school. And prosecutors have some far-right militia group plotted their attack “pretty compelling circumstantial evi- in advance in an effort to block the peaceful dence,” he said. transition of power. But prosecutors have Communications detailed in court docu- since said it is not clear whether the group ments show the group discussing things like was targeting the Capitol before Jan. 6. gear and training in the weeks leading up to “The plan was to unlawfully stop the cer- Jan. 6. One man suggested getting a boat to tification of the Electoral College vote ... and ferry weapons across the Potomac River in- the plan was to be prepared to use violence to their “waiting arms,” authorities say. if necessary,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Kath- In December, Kelly Meggs, who officials ryn Rakoczy said during a hearing this say was the leader of the Oath Keepers’ month. But the Oath Keepers “did not know Florida chapter, wrote in a message that he precisely the way in which force and vio- MANUEL BALCE CENETA / AP had “organized an alliance” with the Proud lence might be needed to support this plan,” Rioters, including Dominic Pezzola, center with beard, are confronted by U.S. Capitol Boys. she said. Police officers outside the Senate Chamber inside the Capitol in Washington Jan. 6. Days before Jan. 6, Meggs instructed Authorities are still combing through a someone to tell their friend “this isn’t a ral- sea of evidence in what they say is likely the (without evidence) that there was a weeks ing. ly,” authorities say. most complex investigation ever prosecut- long plan to invade the Capitol,” an attorney “Part of the reason that there wasn’t nec- Many came dressed for battle on Jan. 6 in ed by the Justice Department. More than for one of the Oath Keepers, Jessica Wat- essarily as concrete a plan that one might tactical vests and helmets. The leader of the 300 people are facing federal charges and kins, wrote in a recent court filing. “There expect is that they were waiting and watch- Oath Keepers, who has not been charged, more are expected. was no such plan.” ing to see what leadership did,” she said. communicated with some of the defendants The most serious charges have been In one case, prosecutors declared in court Just a month earlier, Rakoczy told the over a Signal chat called “DC OP: Jan 6 21,” brought against 10 people described as documents in January there was “strong same judge there’s no other way to read the which prosecutors say shows the group was members and associates of the Oath Keep- evidence” the pro-Trump mob aimed to group’s messages about stationing a “quick “activating a plan to use force on Jan. 6.” ers and several members of another far- “capture and assassinate elected officials.” reaction force” outside the city other than Authorities wrote in court papers that the right extremist group, the Proud Boys. The Justice Department quickly clarified it that they needed weapons available “in the group not only conspired to “forcibly storm But as the sprawling investigation has un- had no such evidence, blaming it on a mis- event the activities at the Capitol went bad- the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 — they folded, prosecutors have sometimes strug- communication between prosecutors. ly.” planned their attack in advance.” The evi- gled to maintain a consistent narrative and After she was pressed by a judge in a re- “And those activities at the Capitol were a dence is “irrefutable,” prosecutors wrote in had to walk back statements made in court cent hearing, Rakoczy conceded authorities planned and very well-coordinated attack another document, that Watkins “recruited hearings or in papers. It has created an “do not have at this point someone explicitly on the United States Capitol,” she said. others to join, trained for, planned, and par- opening for defense attorneys to try to sow saying, ‘our plan is to force entry into the Defense attorneys argue any discussions ticipated in a coordinated effort to, as she doubt in the case. Capitol in order to stop the certification,’” their clients had before Jan. 6 were in refer- put it, ‘forc(e) entry into the Capitol Build- “The government presented a theory but cautioned that the investigation is ongo- ence to providing security at the rally be- ing.’” NASA rules out risk Pelosi taps DC National Guard of Apophis asteroid head to lead security for House Associated Press cers and smashed through win- Walker said he hoped that his WASHINGTON — Maj. Gen. dows and doors to get in. testimony would “prevent such hitting Earth in 2068 William Walker, commanding Walker testified in a Senate tragic events from ever occurring general of the District of Colum- hearing that the then-chief of the again” and that he was “sickened Associated Press realm of possibility anymore, bia National Guard, was tapped Capitol Police requested military by the violence and destruction I CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — and our calculations don’t Friday to become the House’s first support in a “voice cracking with witnessed that fateful day.” He Whew, now here’s some good show any impact risk for at African American sergeant-at- emotion” in a 1:49 p.m. call that said he saw the physical and men- cosmic news: NASA has given least the next 100 years,” Da- arms as Congress sorts through day as rioters began pushing to- tal harm suffered by the police Earth the all clear for the next vide Farnocchia of NASA’s the grave security failings re- ward the Capitol. Walker said he who were on the front lines. century from a particularly Center for Near-Earth Object vealed by the Jan. 6 attack on the immediately relayed the request Pelosi praised Walker’s 39 menacing asteroid. Studies, said in a statement Capitol. to the Army but did not learn until years of military experience, The space agency an- Friday. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on after 5 p.m. that the Defense De- which she said “will be an impor- nounced last week that new Scientists were able to re- Friday announced the appoint- partment had approved it. Guard tant asset to the House, particular- telescope observations have fine Apophis’ orbit around the ment of Walker, who was closely troops who had been waiting on ly in light of the January 6 insur- ruled out any chance of Apo- sun thanks to radar observa- involved with the security that day buses were then rushed to the rection.” phis smacking Earth in 2068. tions earlier this month, when as he dispatched troops to back up Capitol, arriving in 18 minutes, “It is essential that we work to That’s the same 1,100-foot the asteroid passed within overwhelmed Capitol Police. Walker said. strengthen our institution and space rock that was supposed 10.6 million miles. Apophis He will replace Paul Irving, While other officials have point- keep our Capitol community, and to come frighteningly close in will come within 20,000 miles who resigned immediately after ed blame at one another and spo- all who visit, safe,” she said. 2029 and again in 2036. NASA on April 13, 2029, enabling as- the insurrection. Walker’s testi- ken of meetings and conversations House Republican Leader Ke- ruled out any chance of a tronomers to get a good look. mony has been a crucial part of in- about the optics of a military pres- vin McCarthy also praised Walk- strike during those two close “When I started working vestigations into how hundreds of ence, Walker has given the most er, saying he “possesses the expe- approaches a while ago. But a with asteroids after college, former President Donald Trump’s detailed account of the delay. Pen- rience, skill set, and vision” for the potential 2068 collision still Apophis was the poster child supporters could have invaded the tagon officials have said they job. loomed. for hazardous asteroids,” Far- Capitol and sent members of the wanted to take time to understand “Every member, staffer, em- First detected in 2004, Apo- nocchia said. “There’s a cer- House and Senate fleeing for their precisely how National Guard ployee, and visitor to the Capitol phis is now officially off NA- tain sense of satisfaction to lives. National Guard troops were troops would be used at the Capi- should feel safe with Maj. Gen. SA’s asteroid “risk list.” see it removed from the risk delayed in getting to the building tol and what assignments they Walker at the helm of Sergeant-at- “A 2068 impact is not in the list.” as the rioters beat up police offi- would be given. Arms operations,” McCarthy said. PAGE 8 • STARS AND STRIPES • Sunday, March 28, 2021 NATION Big Tech’s vast influence draws state pushback

Associated Press app store fees and taxes on digital New York state Sen. Michael ad sales. Republican lawmakers Gianaris was ecstatic when Ama- also are pushing back against zon named Long Island City in what they claim without evidence 2018 as a front-runner for its new is an attempt to stifle conservative headquarters, a project that would voices on social media. bring 25,000 jobs and $2.5 billion Gianaris, a Democrat, is push- in construction spending to his ing a landmark antitrust bill in the district in Queens. New York Legislature. It would But his support faded quickly set a new legal antitrust standard BEBETO MATTHEWS/AP when he learned that state and —“abuse of dominance” — and al- New York State Sen. Michael Gianaris, center, as he calls on supporters to remove the Amazon app from city leaders had promised one of low class-action lawsuits under their phones and boycott the company, as he address a coalition rally and press conference, in New York., the world’s richest companies tax state laws. on Nov. 14, 2018. breaks worth $3 billion in secre- “Our antitrust laws have atro- tive negotiations. A public back- phied and they’re not equipped to the popular Fortnite video game, it” by requiring changes that Facebook says it supports some lash led Amazon to cancel the in- handle the 21st century and anti- Spotify and Match.com. They would undermine privacy and se- online privacy laws and provides vestment altogether, but to Giana- competitive practices,” he said. want to force Apple and Google to curity. as much input as possible while ris the episode still illuminated the “Traditional antitrust enforce- let them keep the proceeds from Moves by three states — Cali- bills are being written. The Inter- massive power of tech companies ment doesn’t work because Big subscriptions and in-app sales fornia, Nevada and Virginia — to net Association, the tech indus- that dominate their industries, Tech has become too big and too without taking a cut. enact their own comprehensive try’s major trade group represent- overwhelm traditional businesses powerful.” In an attempt to fend off poten- data privacy laws have embold- ing Amazon, Facebook, Google and use that leverage to expand Tech companies aren’t content tial government reforms, Apple ened others to follow suit. and dozens of other tech compa- their reach even further. to play defense. Their lobbyists last year cut in half its standard In Oklahoma, a bipartisan bill nies, declined to comment. Consumer activists, small busi- are pushing state lawmakers to 30% commission on app purchas- would require companies to ob- In California, a bill dubbed the ness owners and state lawmakers oppose restrictions they deem on- es for most developers. Google re- tain prior consent before collect- anti-eavesdropping law seeks to across the U.S. are increasingly erous. In other cases, the compa- cently followed suit with cuts set ing and selling the data of state limit how smart speakers can po- calling for measures to rein in nies are working to write their to take effect in July. residents. In Florida, legislation tentially intrude into private lives. companies such as Amazon, Ap- own, more favorable bills. On State Rep. Regina Cobb, a Re- would give consumers ownership Its sponsor, Republican Assem- ple, Facebook and Google that many issues, they also would pre- publican sponsoring app-store of the digital information compa- blyman Jordan Cunningham, un- wield influence over so much of fer federal legislation over a legislation in Arizona, said app nies collect through their spend- plugged a smart device in his bed- everyday life. patchwork of state laws. makers and their customers are ing, social interactions, news hab- room six months ago after it lit up Normally that task would fall to Of particular concern to two of being held hostage. its and travel. unprompted. the federal government. But while the biggest companies is legisla- “That’s a Chicago-style mafia The Florida bill would require “The only thing stopping all of the Justice Department and the tion being considered in several kind of thing: ‘You pay us 30 per- companies to divulge what data these recordings from being in the Federal Trade Commission have statehouses that would limit the cent or you don’t get to play. We’ll they are gathering, force them to hands of government is one search filed major antitrust actions ability of Apple and Google to col- take you off of our platform; your delete it upon consumer request, warrant,” he said. “These things against Google and Facebook — lect large shares of the consumer company’s done,’” Cobb said. and prohibit them from sharing or get hacked all the time, so you both with widespread state sup- transactions in their app stores. Similar legislation is being con- selling it when told not to. They know, your data can end up in port — Congress remains stalled Critics say the two leading U.S. sidered in Georgia, Massachu- could be sued if they don’t comply. Russia.” when it comes to making new laws smartphone companies use their setts, Minnesota and Wisconsin. One of its sponsors, Republican His bill would extend existing related to Big Tech. position as app gatekeepers to fat- App store legislation in North Da- state Rep. Fiona McFarland, said limitations on smart televisions So scores of so-called “te- ten their profits with fees and un- kota died in February following it’s a response to the omnipresent and would require companies chlash” bills are being debated in dermine rivals that compete intense lobbying by both sides. collection, sharing and selling of such as Amazon, which markets dozens of statehouses, where law- against their own music, video and Apple Chief Privacy Engineer personal information. Echo smart speakers, to obtain makers of both major parties are other services. Erik Neuenschwander spoke out “It’s everything from these apps permission before they can re- proposing new regulations related Leading the pushback are com- against the bill, saying it “threat- on our phones, to payment ex- cord, transcribe or sell informa- to antitrust, consumer privacy, panies such as Epic, which owns ens to destroy iPhone as you know changes, to calendars,” she said. tion from any conversation. Tennessee’s governor signs transgender athlete bill Associated Press gave final approval to the bill after House tage in sports. rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court and 11th NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee Gov. lawmakers voted 71-16 for the bill after little Lee has said transgender athletes would U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Others point Bill Lee signed a law Friday banning trans- debate on Monday. “destroy women’s sports” and remarked to an executive order signed by Democratic gender athletes from participating in girls’ According to Tennessee’s bill, student that transgender athletes would put “a glass President Joe Biden that prohibited dis- sports, making it the third state this year to athletes would be required to prove that ceiling back over women that hasn’t been crimination based on gender identity in approve a measure many critics warn their sex matches that listed on the stu- there in some time.” school sports and elsewhere. would prompt costly lawsuits and hurt dent’s “original” birth certificate in order to None of the supporters of the Tennessee Legislation previously enacted in Idaho transgender youth. participate in public school sports in middle measure could cite a single instance of has never been implemented after it was The Republican governor said on his and high schools. If a birth certificate is un- transgender girls or boys having caused blocked by a federal judge while a lawsuit Twitter account that he signed the bill “to available, then the parents must provide an- problems. A review by The Associated proceeds in court. preserve women’s athletics and ensure fair other form of evidence “indicating the stu- Press found only a few instances in which it Democrats in the Tennessee General As- competition.” Mississippi and Arkansas dent’s sex at the time of birth.” has been an issue among the hundreds of sembly have said the law is about discrimi- have approved similar laws, and Republi- Backers of the bill argue that transgender thousands of American teenagers who play nation, not fairness in sports. cans in at least 20 state legislatures have girls, because they were identified as male high school sports. The American Civil Liberties Union of been pushing for transgender athlete bans at birth, naturally are stronger, faster and Opponents counter that such proposals Tennessee decried the bill as “shameful” this year. bigger than those identified as female at violate Title IX of federal education law after House passage, arguing that transgen- Tennessee’s Republican-led Legislature birth and therefore have an unfair advan- prohibiting sex discrimination, as well as der girls do not threaten women’s sports. Sunday, March 28, 2021 • STARS AND STRIPES • PAGE 9 VIRUS OUTBREAK ROUNDUP Shots and musical serenade, at NYC vaccination center Associated Press April on behalf of his company, NEW YORK — On a recent Target Roofing & Sheet Metal, weekday, the sounds of Vivaldi, Inc., according to a criminal com- Mozart and Bach greeted hun- plaint. Prosecutors said he dreds of just-inoculated New claimed the funds would only be Yorkers as they entered a medical used for business-related purpos- observation area at one of the es, such as retaining workers and city’s biggest COVID-19 vaccina- paying bills. tion sites, the Jacob K. Javits Con- But shortly after receiving the vention Center. money $2.1 million, Crowther Hearing the music, many stop- made a series of personal pur- ped to record videos of the five chases, including nearly $690,000 musicians in a piano and string en- on a 2020 40-foot catamaran, KATHY WILLENS / AP semble gathered onstage, per- which he registered in his name, Pianist and CUNY music professor Barbara Podgurski plays with a string quartet for people who had forming live. the complaint said. He also paid received a COVID­19 vaccination and were waiting during the observation period, at the Jacob K. Javits For people on the road to immu- $100,000 to a former business Convention Center on Thursday in New York. nity from the coronavirus, experi- partner. encing live music in the same Crowther concealed the scheme istering up to 7,500 shots per day, asked if he wanted her to remove ation had 82% of members ap- space that served as a field hospi- by providing false explanations according to the state Office of it, according to the report. prove the deal this week. tal at the height of the pandemic for the expenditures to his bank, Emergency Services. Since the Kansas The parents of about 58% of SPS was a fitting accompaniment on a prosecutors said. He added multi- sites are federally managed, those students indicated in a district- day of hope. ple family members to his compa- shots are separate from Califor- MISSION — Democratic Gov. wide survey this week that they For some of the musicians, it ny’s payroll who did not actually nia’s overall weekly allocation, Laura Kelly announced Friday plan to return their children to was something more. perform work and created 39 fake which is now about 1.8 million that anyone in Kansas age 16 or ol- school for hybrid instruction, a Pianist Barbara Podgurski said employees, officials said. shots per week. der will be allowed to get a coro- district spokesperson said. The navirus vaccine starting Monday her recent performances at the Texas Gov. Gavin Newsom announced district received responses from vaccination site were her first in Thursday the state will allow ev- because the state expects to get families of 14,272 of its 24,648 cur- public since the pandemic bat- AUSTIN — A Texas judge is al- eryone 16 and older to be eligible enough of the medicine to speed rently enrolled students. tered the city last spring. lowing the City of Austin to contin- for the vaccine starting on April up its inoculation process for the Under the agreement, elemen- “There were three months ue to require face coverings in lo- 15. Right now people 65 and over, second time in two weeks. tary school students and second- where I didn’t play the piano be- cal businesses weeks after Repub- younger people with certain Kelly’s announcement means ary students with disabilities cause I felt hopeless,” she said. lican Gov. Greg Abbott ended a health conditions and farmwork- the state will enter the fifth and fi- would return to buildings on April “The reaction … I haven’t heard in statewide mask mandate and oth- ers, teachers and several other oc- nal phase of its vaccine distribu- 5 — Gov. Jay Inslee’s deadline for a year. You realize how much peo- er COVID-19 safety measures. cupations are eligible. The state is tion. The move to make vaccines districts to offer in-person instruc- ple need music in their lives, to The ruling Friday by state Dis- soon expecting a much greater available to another 400,000 peo- tion for young students. feel beauty and magic. It gives trict Judge Lora Livingston was at supply of doses. ple comes after weeks of criticism Nevada them hope.” least a temporary victory for local from Republicans in the GOP- Indiana CARSON CITY — Nevada The music is part of a series of leaders in the liberal state capital controlled Legislature that the ef- CLARKSVILLE — A southern health officials reported 445 new daily, two-hour midday concerts who have repeatedly clashed with fort is not moving quickly enough Indiana nurse has been charged coronavirus cases on Friday, re- from a collaboration between the Abbott over his handling of the and not organized enough for peo- with practicing medicine without flecting a minor uptick from the nonprofit group Sing for Hope and pandemic. ple to easily learn where and when a license for allegedly removing a average number the state has re- violinist Victoria Paterson, who Face coverings have only ever they can get shots. nursing home resident’s oxygen ported over the past two weeks. started her own nonprofit, Music been loosely enforced in Texas, Kansas on Monday began al- mask hours before he died from There were also 11 new deaths re- and Medicine. which earlier this month became lowing vaccinations for people COVID-19 last year. ported. Paterson said many of her fel- the biggest state to drop CO- with chronic medical conditions Connie Sneed, 52, was charged Still, officials are monitoring low musicians have been out of VID-19 restrictions. that leave them more at risk of se- Thursday with the felony, which rious complications or death from whether relaxed prevention mea- work since the city’s music and California in Indiana carries a potential pen- a COVID-19 infection. Kelly said it sure that accompanied the decline performance scene shut down last LOS ANGELES — The Federal alty of one to six years in prison was possible because the state ex- could be leading to another surge spring. Emergency Management Agency and a fine of up to $10,000. pected 100,000 doses next week of in cases. The musicians who perform at plans to stop operating two mass Authorities began investigating the single-shot vaccine made by Photographs from a casino in the Javits Center are paid to play. vaccination sites in California the man’s April 2020 death at a Johnson & Johnson. But the state Las Vegas showed swarms of peo- There’s a tip jar, too, but contribu- next month, just days before the nursing home in Clarksville, Indi- health department announced ple crowding its pool, prompting tions go to Sing for Hope so the state makes everyone 16 and older ana, after learning that Sneed Wednesday that manufacturing Gaming Control Board Chairman music can continue. eligible for a shot. wrote in a social media post that issues meant Kansas will receive J. Brin Gibson to notify resorts “We can’t be buskers with fam- The two sites in Oakland and she had asked the man if he want- only 16,500 of those doses on time. that their pools remain subject to a ily obligations at this stage in our Los Angeles opened in February ed her to remove his oxygen mask 50% capacity cap. careers,” Paterson said. for an eight-week pilot program so he could “fly with the angels.” Washington The statewide directives are that concludes on April 15. The In that Facebook post, Sneed SEATTLE — The union repre- “clear that variants of the CO- Florida sites will switch from the Pfizer to called her alleged actions, “the senting 7,000 Seattle Public VID-19 virus do exist, and medical MIAMI — A Florida business the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, hardest thing I’ve ever done in 28 Schools employees has ratified an experts have determined that sev- owner has been convicted of ille- which requires just one shot, dur- years,” according to an inspection agreement to bring elementary eral of these variants are signifi- gally receiving more than $2 mil- ing the final two weeks of oper- report from the Indiana Depart- students back into the classroom cantly more contagious than the lion in coronavirus relief funds. ation so that people do not have to ment of Health. for in-person instruction on April original virus,” he said. A federal jury in Fort Myers sign up for a second dose else- The man, who was a resident at 5. Nevada has fully vaccinated found Casey David Crowther, 35, where. Wedgewood Healthcare Center, The Seattle Times reports the more than 437,000 residents, or guilty Friday of bank fraud, mak- State and county officials said had been struggling after days of agreement makes official a return roughly 14% of the population. The ing a false statement to a lending they would have liked the pro- aggressive oxygen treatment for to school buildings for the district state plans to open up vaccine ap- institution and two counts of mon- gram to continue, though it pro- COVID-19, according to investiga- during the COVID-19 pandemic. pointments to people 16 and older ey laundering, according to court vided a small fraction of Califor- tors. Sneed wrote in her Facebook Seattle is Washington’s largest on April 5, but officials have re- records. A sentencing date hasn’t nia’s overall shots. Each site was post that she saw him repeatedly public school district with more peatedly said availability depends been set. set up to vaccinate 6,000 people try to take off his oxygen mask than 50,000 students. on supplies provided by the feder- Crowther applied for a loan last per day but they have been admin- when she approached him and The Seattle Education Associ- al government. PAGE 10 • STARS AND STRIPES • Sunday, March 28, 2021 WORLD Protests: Clashes erupt during Armed Forces Day

FROM PAGE 1 grow more forceful with their sup- day night showed an announce- Assistance Association of Political pression of opposition to the Feb. 1 ment urging young people to learn Prisoners, which documents coup that ousted the elected gov- a lesson from those killed during deaths and arrests and is widely ernment of Aung San Suu Kyi. The demonstrations about the danger seen as a definitive source. The coup reversed years of progress of being shot in the head or back. Associated Press is unable to inde- toward democracy after five dec- The warning was widely taken pendently confirm the death tolls. ades of military rule. as a threat because a great num- The killings quickly drew inter- Up through Friday, the Associ- ber of the fatalities among protes- national condemnation, with mul- ation of Political Prisoners had ters have come from being shot in AP tiple diplomatic missions to verified 328 people killed in the the head, suggesting they have An injured anti­coup protester is brought for medical treatment to a Myanmar releasing statements post-coup crackdown. been targeted for death. The an- hospital in Latha township, Yangon, Myanmar, on Saturday. that mentioned the killing of civil- Junta chief Senior Gen. Min nouncement suggested that some ians Saturday, including children. Aung Hlaing did not directly refer young people were taking part in not issue regular casualty counts, mocracy party won in a landslide. “This 76th Myanmar armed to the protest movement when he protesting as if it was a game, and and when it has released figures, The junta detained Suu Kyi on forces day will stay engraved as a gave his nationally televised urged their parents and friends to the totals have been a fraction of the day it took power, and contin- day of terror and dishonour,” the Armed Forces Day speech before talk them out of participating. what independent parties such as ues to hold her on minor criminal European Union’s delegation to thousands of soldiers. He referred In recent days the junta has por- the U.N. have reported. It has said charges while investigating alle- Myanmar said on Twitter. “The only to “terrorism which can be trayed the demonstrators as the its use of force has been justified to gations of corruption against her killing of unarmed civilians, in- harmful to state tranquility and ones perpetrating violence for stop what it has called rioting. that her supporters dismiss as po- cluding children, are indefensible social security,” and called it un- their sporadic use of Molotov In his speech Saturday, Min litically motivated. acts.” acceptable. cocktails. On Saturday, some pro- Aung Hlaing used the occasion to Phil Robertson, deputy Asia di- U.S. Ambassador Thomas Vaj- This year’s event was seen as a testers in Yangon were seen car- try to justify the overthrow of Suu rector for New York-based Hu- da in a statement said “security flashpoint for violence, with dem- rying bows and arrows. In con- Kyi’s government, accusing it of man Rights Watch, said Satur- forces are murdering unarmed ci- onstrators threatening to double trast, security forces have used failing to investigate irregularities day’s events showed that the mil- vilians.” down on their public opposition to live ammunition for weeks against in last November’s general elec- itary, known in Myanmar as the “These are not the actions of a the coup with more and bigger what have still been overwhelm- tion, and repeating that his gov- Tatmadaw, should be prosecuted professional military or police demonstrations. The protesters ingly unarmed and peaceful ernment would hold “a free and in international courts of law. force,” he wrote. “Myanmar’s refer to the holiday by its original crowds. fair election” and hand over pow- “This is a day of suffering and people have spoken clearly: they name, Resistance Day, which The U.S. Embassy said shots er afterward. mourning for the Burmese people, do not want to live under military marks the beginning of a revolt were fired Saturday at its cultural The military has claimed there who have paid for the Tatmadaw’s rule.” against Japanese occupation in center in Yangon, though no one were irregularities in the voting arrogance and greed with their The death toll in Myanmar has World War II. was injured. rolls for the last election, which lives, time and time again,” he been steadily rising as authorities State television MRTV on Fri- The military government does Suu Kyi’s National League for De- said. Putin hails N. Korea snaps back military’s at Biden over criticism Associated Press military presence in the region. exercises SEOUL, South Korea — North Biden was restrained as he ad- Korea on Saturday snapped back monished North Korea for the at President Joe Biden’s criticism launches, which were a violation in Arctic of its ballistic missile tests, calling of U.N. sanctions against them. his comments a provocation and “We’re consulting with our al- Associated Press encroachment on the North’s right lies and partners,” Biden said at MOSCOW — Russian President to self-defense and vowing to con- the first news conference of his Vladimir Putin on Friday hailed tinuously expand its “most thor- presidency on Thursday. “And the military’s performance during oughgoing and overwhelming there will be responses if they recent Arctic drills, part of Mos- military power.” choose to escalate. We will re- cow’s efforts to expand its pres- RUSSIAN DEFENSE MINISTRY PRESS SERVICE/AP The statement issued by senior spond accordingly. But I’m also ence in the polar region. A Russian nuclear submarine breaks through the Arctic ice during official Ri Pyong Chol came after prepared for some form of diplo- Navy chief Adm. Nikolai Yev- military drills at an unspecified location. the North tested-fired two short- macy, but it has to be conditioned menov reported to Putin that the range missiles off its eastern coast, upon the end result of denuclear- exercise has featured three nucle- been trying to assert jurisdiction clear submarines that smashed Thursday, in the first ballistic ization.” ar submarines simultaneously over parts of the Arctic, as shrink- through the Arctic ice next to one launches since Biden took office. In comments carried by Pyon- breaking through Arctic Ice, and ing polar ice opens new opportuni- another. Experts say the flight data re- gyang’s official Korean Central warplanes flying over the North ties for tapping resources and Putin noted that the exercise leased by South Korea’s military News Agency, Ri said the North Pole. opening new shipping lanes. was unprecedented for the mili- and North Korea’s own descrip- expresses “deep apprehension” This week’s drills were con- As part of its efforts to project its tary and praised its skills. He add- tion of the tests indicated that the over Biden’s remarks that were ducted around Alexandra Land, power over the Arctic, the Russian ed that the maneuvers also have North tested a new solid-fuel “openly revealing his deep-seated an island that is part of the Franz military has rebuilt and expanded proven the reliability of Russian weapon that is designed to evade hostility toward the DPRK.” Josef Land archipelago where the numerous facilities across the po- weapons in polar conditions. missile defense systems and is po- DPRK refers to North Korea’s of- military has recently built a base. lar region in recent years, re- “I order to continue Arctic ex- tentially nuclear-capable. ficial name, the Democratic Peo- Russia has prioritized beefing vamping runways and deploying peditions and research in the Far The launches showed how the ple’s Republic of Korea. up its military presence in the additional surveillance and air de- North to help ensure Russia’s se- North continues to expand its mil- Ri said it was “gangster-like log- Arctic region, which is believed to fense assets. curity,” Putin told the navy chief. itary capabilities while nuclear ic” for the United States to criti- hold up to one-quarter of the As part of this week’s maneu- The Russian military has ex- negotiations with the United cize the North’s tactical weapons Earth’s undiscovered oil and gas. vers, a pair of MiG-31 fighters flew panded the number and the scope States remain stalled. They also tests when the Americans are Putin in the past has cited esti- over the North Pole, Yevmenov of its war games amid bitter ten- underscored the growing threat freely testing intercontinental bal- mates that put the value of Arctic said. A Defense Ministry video sions in ties with the West, which such short-range weapons pose to listic missiles and could send their mineral riches at $30 trillion. featured them being refueled by a have sunk to post-Cold War lows U.S. allies South Korea and Japan, strategic military assets to the re- Russia, the United States, Cana- tanker plane. after Russia’s 2014 annexation of which host a combined 80,000 U.S. gion surrounding the Korean Pen- da, Denmark and Norway all have The video also showed three nu- Ukraine’s Crimea. troops as the core of America’s insula at any time. Sunday, March 28, 2021 • STARS AND STRIPES • PAGE 11 AMERICAN ROUNDUP

‘Not haunted’ house hits the real estate market BOSTON — A Massa- MA chusetts woman no- ticed something strange about the “For Sale” sign outside a home in her neighborhood. On top of the sign with the name of the broker and their contact in- formation was a sign with the words “Not Haunted” in big red letters. “This just went up around the corner and I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS,” Margot Bloom- stein wrote in a tweet that includ- ed an image of the sign, The Bos- ton Globe reported . The house is west of Boston but Bloomstein didn’t want to say ex- actly where to respect the home- owner’s privacy, she said. But she reached out to the real estate agency to learn more about the sign. The consensus is that the sign is a prank — maybe played by a ghost with a sense of humor. Woman seeks to return heirlooms found in chest ALPENA — Did you MI know Ellen Prince? A Los Angeles woman has a wed- ding dress, photos and letters that belonged to Prince, a native of Al- pena, Mich. They were inside a ALEXANDRA WIMLEY, PITTSBURGH POST­GAZETTE/AP chest discovered decades ago in California. K.C. Thompson is looking for Making reading less ruff family members who would ap- Courtney Mottes, of Monaca, Pa., a volunteer at the Beaver County (Pa.) Humane Society, holds up an iPad as a child reads to Kylo, an preciate the possessions, The Al- adoptable 3­year­old pit bull, over a video call during the shelter's Rescue Readers Humane Education Program in Aliquippa, Pa. pena News reported. “I feel like I am the custodian of THE CENSUS seat. When questioned, the girls her life,” Thompson told the news- Surfer rescues man and said the Tesla was driving itself in paper of Prince, who also used dog from choppy lake The amount of money that New York City postal worker Shak- autopilot mode when it backed in- Forte as a last name. “I’m so curi- $8K era Small spent on a breast lift using a credit card she stole to the patrol car. Investigators lat- ous to know more about her, and I DULUTH — A Min- from her mail route. Prosecutors said that Small, 31, had a postal route in er determined that one of the hope the people in Alpena will MN neapolis man who Queens in August and September of 2019 when a man on her route received a teens was operating the vehicle help me return Ellen home ... All was surfing the choppy waters of credit card statement with an unauthorized charge to Long Island Plastic Sur- before putting it in autopilot, caus- of these family heirlooms belong Lake Superior helped save a man gery. Small was arraigned on charges including grand larceny, identity theft ing the crash. with her family.” who was struggling in the water and criminal possession of stolen property. No damage was done to the pa- The chest was one of three ac- while trying to rescue a dog. trol car, officials said. The Tesla quired by Thompson’s cousin in Darby Voeks, 26, was about to said. The man was shot in the back was driving was stopped. had about $300 in damage. Police 1986 when workers in North Hol- jump off the pier at Park Point in and the woman drove off, police Spencer was charged with one did not specify which teenager lywood were hauling them out of a Duluth to catch one last wave said. count of second-offense OWI and was the driver but said she was cit- home where the owner had died. when a woman in a wheelchair Officers chased the woman into three counts of child endanger- ed for driving without a license. rolled up and said she needed help New Jersey where she was cap- ment. Her prior OWI conviction 3 sent to hospital after because her aide, 29, had gone into tured on the Atlantic City Ex- occurred on Sept. 20, 2016. Dog wounded on freeway chair falls off ski lift line the water to rescue her dog. pressway after the vehicle had in car-to-car shooting Voeks, who was in a wetsuit, drop- crashed. Her name was not re- Teens blame autopilot for TANNERSVILLE — ped his surfboard and jumped in, leased. crash with patrol car CALABASAS — A dog PA Three people were in- the Star Tribune Reported. The man who was shot was tak- CA was seriously wounded jured when a chair fell off a ski lift The rescued man was treated at en to Presbyterian Hospital, PALM COAST — A pair but two people escaped injury line at an eastern Pennsylvania re- the scene for possible hypother- where he was in critical condition. FL of South Carolina teen- when someone in a car fired a gun sort and crashed to the ground, au- mia. agers claimed that their car was into another vehicle on a Southern thorities said. Duluth Police Lt. Robin Roeser School bus driver resigns on autopilot before it crashed into California freeway, authorities Sgt. Shawn Goucher of Pocono said Voeks will be awarded the de- after driving drunk charge a Florida deputy’s patrol car, offi- said. Township police said that during partment’s rare Police Partner- cials said. The shooting occurred on north- the accident at Camelback Resort ship Award. FOREST CITY — A The crash occurred in Palm bound U.S. 101 near Calabasas, the in Monroe Countythree people fell IA school bus driver in Coast, according to a Flagler California Highway Patrol said. about 15 feet near the top of the Carjacking ends after northern Iowa has resigned fol- County Sheriff’s Office news re- Officers were seen inspecting mountain and were taken away by interstate pursuit lowing her arrest on a charge of lease. the car riddled with bullet holes at a St. Luke’s University Health second-offense drunken driving A deputy pulled over a white a gas station just off the freeway Network ambulance. WINSLOW TOWNSHIP while she was transporting young 2018 Tesla after watching it pull northwest of Los Angeles, ABC 7 “Camelback Resort is working NJ — Police in New Jersey school children. out of a gas station parking lot and TV reported. with the appropriate state author- arrested a woman who they said Rebecca Anne Spencer, 44, re- travel on the wrong side of the No arrests were made. The dog ities to investigate yesterday’s in- had shot a man and stole his car in signed from the Forest City Com- road, official said. The car initially was taken to an animal hospital for cident involving the Sullivan Lift,” Philadelphia. munity School District, the Mason came to a stop and then backed in- treatment, the news station re- the resort said in a statement. The woman first tried to steal a City Globe Gazette reported. Her to the deputy’s patrol vehicle. ported. “The health and safety of our car at gunpoint before fleeing the resignation came days after she The deputy reported finding guests and associates is and re- scene and confronting a man, 28, was arrested around 8:30 a.m. two girls, ages 14 and 15, inside the From The Associated Press mains our number one priority.” in a car on Pentridge Street, police March 12 after the school van she car, but neither was in the driver PAGE 12 • STARS AND STRIPES • Sunday, March 28, 2021 MUSIC

BY MARK KENNEDY song “Drank Up” came on, and Associated Press he immediately spent hours reshly minted Grammy- searching her SoundCloud pro- winning songwriter file. Starrah has long helped “From the first second I heard Fothers be stars. Now it’s her, chills went through my her turn to shine. whole body and I couldn’t believe The hitmaker for the likes of what I was hearing,” he says. “It Drake, Rihanna, Maroon 5, Ca- is really astonishing to see how mila Cabello, Nicki Minaj, Hal- far she’s come, but it’s no sur- sey and Katy Perry released her prise because she had that drive debut full-length album last inside her from the beginning.” week, a natural extension for the Her appetite for music is self-taught studio prodigy. broad. As a kid, she was raised “I just really love hearing new on a sonic diet of Britney Spears, sounds and experimenting with Eve, Ruff Ryders and Lil’ Bow music,” she says. “I just feel like Wow. These days, she feeds her a little mad scientist in the lab “eclectic palate” everything. when I put stuff together and just “I don’t limit myself to what I see what it does.” listen to, honestly,” she says. The 13-track “Longest In- “One day I could be listening to terlude” showcases her com- NBA YoungBoy or Kodak Black. mand of R&B, hip-hop and pop And the next day I’m listening to skills, all delivered in an achingly Marvin Gaye and Sam Cooke or personal collection she likens to Coltrane or Skrillex.” opening her diary. CHRIS PIZZELLO, INVISION/AP Trust and mutual respect are “I personally feel like the only Grammy­winning songwriter Starrah poses for a portrait in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Sept. 16. The key whenever Starrah decides to thing that’s missing from a lot of hitmaker for the likes of Drake, Rihanna, Maroon 5, Camila Cabello, Nicki Minaj, Halsey and Katy help someone on their song, and music right now is just the raw Perry released her debut full­length album, “Longest Interlude,” last week. she hopes for just “good vibes.” emotion and honesty, like vul- She’s working on Normani’s next nerability,” she says. “Everybody album and the upcoming animat- wants to be cool. Nobody wants ed musical “Century Goddess.” to be vulnerable.” “When I’m writing for an art- Starrah has tapped some musi- ist, I feel like it’s important for cal royalty for producing help, including James Blake, Skrillex, me to sit down and have a con- Boi1da and Nile Rogers. She Leaving the lab versation with them and see recorded some of the songs at where they’re at in life and just Abbey Road Studios, where the what kind of music do they want Beatles recorded. She says it’s all A mad scientist in the studio, Starrah is rising to make,” she says. “I’m highly a bit surreal. empathetic so I can pretty much “The only time I heard about put myself in that person’s shoes the Beatles was a music class, so and write, if necessary for them, it’s crazy to think that I recorded More of her songs include The She also landed a spot in Forbes’ music and wake up to it the next from their perspective.” my music in the studio that they Weeknd’s “Starboy” album cut 30 Under 30 in 2019. morning. “When I was a kid, I Despite her impact, she usu- worked, with Rogers — a leg- “True Colors,” Rihanna’s “Need- Not bad for a Black, LGBTQ just used to just play around with ally shuns the limelight, even end,” she says. “It’s hard to wrap ed Me” and Beyoncé’s “Already” woman in a male-dominated field music all day,” she says. preferring to distort photo por- my mind around it sometime, but from “Black Is King.” She also who was working in public stor- Starrah experimented with traits or partially cover her face. it’s really cool. It’s like a dream.” worked on tracks for Madonna’s age when she first got noticed. online programs like FruityLoops She says she values her privacy She’s co-written songs that latest album, “Madame X.” “To see her go from public stor- and Audacity, watching YouTube and didn’t get into the music have more than 14 billion Starrah won a Grammy on age to the Forbes list is some- tutorials and learning how to loop business for fame. streams, among them Cabello’s March 15 for working on Megan thing nobody can take away,” instrumentals. “Anything I could “If you think of anything other “Havana,” Maroon 5’s “Girls Thee Stallion’s “Savage Remix” says her manager, Nick Jarjour. do to try to learn how to make than the music, it’s a distraction Like You,” Drake’s “Fake Love,” featuring Beyoncé. She previous- She grew up as Brittany Haz- beats or learn how to make mu- to me. If you’re focused on a Halsey’s “Now or Never,” Ma- ly scored a 2018 ASCAP Pop zard in a small town in Delaware, sic,” she recalls. personality attached to the mu- roon 5 and SZA’s “What Lovers Music Songwriter of the Year the youngest of eight siblings. Jarjour remembers first hear- sic, it just takes away from the Do” and Perry’s “Swish Swish” award — becoming the first Music was always a big part of ing Starrah while listening to a music,” she says. “I just feel like featuring Nicki Minaj. woman in nearly two decades. her life. She used to fall asleep to college radio R&B show. Her that should be the focal point.” Sunday, March 28, 2021 • STARS AND STRIPES • PAGE 13 MUSIC REVIEWS

Paul Stanley’s Soul Station Now and Then (uDiscover) The love guns have all been unloaded and securely holstered, and Detroit is soul city, not rock city this time out as Paul Stan- ley, ringleader of the four-ring circus known as Kiss, pays homage to classic soul on a new solo album. The starry-eyed singer and guitarist covers Lana Del Rey’s some of the greatest soul songs ever written, and writes five new tracks very much in that spirit. It may surprise, if not shock, many Kiss fans. But then, they embraced Peter Criss’ orchestral ballad “Beth,” and didn’t dreamy escapism mind (much) when Gene Simmons covered the Disney classic “When You Wish Upon a Star.” Pop music’s most glamorous headline-maker There’s no arena rock to be found here. Crooning and falsetto abounds on The Spin- sings about getting away from the glare of fame ners’ “Could It Be I’m Falling In Love;” The Temptations’ “Just My Imagination;” and BY MIKAEL WOOD Smokey Robinson’s “The Tracks of My Los Angeles Times Tears.” Stanley even retains the electric sitar You can’t fire Lana Del Rey; she on “You Are Everything” by The Stylistics. quits. And not since Barack Obama crooned a Months after a cascading series of few bars of it has there been a more unex- attempted cancellations — here she pected cover of Al Green’s “Let’s Stay To- was centering her white privilege; here gether.” she was wearing a mesh face mask in Some of Stanley’s originals are quite good the middle of a pandemic; here she was as well, and would have had a decent chance insisting she’s obviously not racist of being AM radio hits in the ’70s, including because she’s had rappers for boy- “Save Me” and “Whenever You’re Ready.” friends — pop music’s most glamorous Lana Del Rey Current Kiss drummer Eric Singer is part headline-maker is back with a riveting Chemtrails Over the Country Club of the 11-member band of top-notch musi- new album about exiting the limelight (Interscope and Polydor) cians and singers Stanley has assembled. to find a simpler place where the haters — Wayne Parry Associated Press can’t get her down. actly an image in alignment with the MARK VON HOLDEN, INVISION/AP Again and again on “Chemtrails Over themes of glamour and danger that run the Country Club,” which dropped through her music. psych-folk zone that she and Antonoff Valerie June March 19, Del Rey sings of casting off This is the tricky thing about analyz- devised for its predecessor. The Moon and Stars: her renown as though it were a heavy ing Del Rey’s records. Since she If the sound is familiar — think of the Prescriptions for Dreamers coat. She dreams of leaving Los An- emerged a decade ago with “Video very sweet spot triangulated by Sandy (Fantasy) geles, the adopted home that figured so Games” — an instant-classic med- Denny, k.d. lang and the Velvet Under- At the heart of Vale- prominently on 2019’s “Norman F------itation on modern celebrity that tou- ground’s self-titled third album — the rie June’s fifth album, Rockwell!,” for “a little piece of heav- ched off countless debates about her scenarios can still flatten you, as in the there’s a 25-second en” in Arkansas or Nebraska. She de- artistic authenticity — the singer has gorgeous “Wanderlust,” about some- track called “African scribes doing the laundry and washing seemed alternately like the most and body defending her impulse to hit the Proverb” that’s read by Carla Thomas, the her hair with the kind of breathy sen- least media-savvy musician in pop. road, and “Wild at Heart,” in which Del Memphis soul singer that June has called suality she used to employ while sing- Often in the past year, as she set Rey draws a line connecting gener- “the fairy godmother of the record.” ing about getting high by the beach. flame to her accumulated goodwill, you ations of relentlessly examined women The saying goes: “Only a fool tests the In the LP’s piano-ballad opener, could wonder if she knew what she was from Princess Diana to Kim Kardash- depth of the water with both feet.” It’s a sly “White Dress,” the 35-year-old even doing — maybe her baffling moves ian: reference to Thomas’ 1963 hit “What a Fool looks back fondly to her pre-stardom were part of some larger creative pro- I left Calabasas, escaped all the I’ve Been,” and also a lead in to “Call Me a days as a struggling waitress: “I wasn’t ject about the diseased American soul ashes, ran into the dark Fool,” the luxurious, old-school soul song that famous, just listening to Kings of Le- in the age of Donald Trump. And it made me wild at heart features Thomas and is “The Moon and on,” she sings — an oddly poignant What’s inarguable is that she’s be- The cameras have flashes, they Stars’” first single. indication of how eager she is to get out come one of the finest songwriters of cause the car csrashes, but I’m not a The proverb advises caution. But “Call Me her generation, with a lyrical and melo- from under the microscope. star a Fool” endorses an opposite point of view. dic flair that encourages emotional If you love me, you love me ‘cause Del Rey’s unfolding PR crisis, which It’s a love song about letting go, taking chanc- investment in her music beyond what- I’m wild at heart began in May with an Instagram post es, dreaming big. Call June a fool if you like. ever it reflects of her life. On “Chem- In “Dance Til We Die,” which begins about how she’s treated differently than It’s not her style to dip a toe. She’s diving in. trails,” her singing reaches a new peak as a bleary last-call lament before other female pop stars — most of those What’s so impressive about “The Moon and as well; she’s never inspired as much erupting into a funky ’70s-rock strut, she named, including Beyoncé and Stars” is it expands that vision in collab- empathy as she does moving between Del Rey further populates the lineage oration with producer Jack Splash, who’s Nicki Minaj, were women of color — her airy head voice and her sultry chest she introduces in “Wild at Heart” with closely followed the rapturous recep- worked with mainstream acts like John Leg- voice in these vividly detailed songs shoutouts to Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez, end and Alicia Keys, without losing sight of tion of “NFR!,” which earned best- about escape and loss and memory. Stevie Nicks and Courtney Love. of-2019 reviews and a Grammy nomi- what makes June’s spiritually entrancing Working again with Jack Antonoff, She closes with a stunning rendition American roots music unique. nation for album of the year and paved who produced “NFR!,” Del Rey invites of Mitchell’s “For Free” that she shares the way for the publication of a real- On the contrary, June sounds more herself comparisons to Taylor Swift’s double- with two of present-day ladies of Laurel than ever, whether being pushed forward by deal book of poetry by the singer. down approach on 2020’s “folkore” and Canyon: Zella Day and Weyes Blood. a martial drumbeat and swelling strings on The whiplash, then, was no doubt “Evermore” (which Antonoff also had a “Me, I play for fortunes and those “Stay” or experimenting with Fela Kuti po- severe. Yet, in fact it’s unclear how hand in): Where each of the singer’s velvet curtain calls,” Del Rey sings, lyrhythms or simply accompanying herself attentively Del Rey tracks her percep- previous records took up a distinct comparing herself a bit shamefully to a on banjo. The meditative “Moon and Stars” tion, or at least how seriously she takes sonic character — from the trip-hop of street musician plying his trade for was recorded pre-pandemic, but it soothes as it all. In interviews she talks about 2012’s “Born to Die” to the garage rock nothing. if designed for stressful times. Rooted in the living a happily basic life offstage; she of 2014’s “Ultraviolence” to the slow- Forgiveness she can ask for; her need real world, it gazes overhead, into the mystic. says she likes to go to Starbucks and to mo torch songs of 2015’s “Honeymoon” for attention may prove harder to — Dan DeLuca brunch with her girlfriends — not ex- — this one stays right in the gentle shake. The Philadelphia Inquirer PAGE 14 • STARS AND STRIPES • Sunday, March 28, 2021 FOOD

HAVEN DALEY/AP A customer drinks an alcohol­free cocktail Feb. 12 at San Francisco’s zero­proof bar Ocean Beach Cafe. Buzz without the booze A new wave of low- and non-alcohol bars

is opening around the world, catering to JOSEPH B. FREDERICK/AP Alcohol­free spirits for sale at Spirited Away, New York’s first “booze­free bottle shop,” are shown March the sober, curious or medically challenged 4. According to IWSR Drinks Market Analysis, global consumption of zero­proof beer, wine and spirits is growing two to three times faster than overall alcohol consumption. BY DEE-ANN DURBIN outside of his bar. Associated Press “It’s just easier,” said Sondra 9-liter cases of low- and no-alco- day with a cocktail. He started into a coffee shop to weather the here’s something mis- Prineaux, a regular customer at hol beverages. But Rand notes experimenting with nonalcoholic pandemic. Owner Sam Thonis sing from a new wave Sans Bar. “I don’t have to worry that global consumption of low- beverages, and by August he had has added outdoor seating and of bars opening around about leaving my car here and and no-alcohol beer, wine and decided to open his store. Many hopes to reopen the bar soon. Tthe world: Alcohol. getting an Uber home. I’ll wake spirits is growing two to three of his customers are sober, he Billy Wynne, the co-owner of Aimed at the growing number up without a headache.” times faster than overall alcohol said, but others are pregnant or Awake in Denver, is also selling of people exploring sobriety, the Abstinence challenges like Dry consumption. have health issues. Some are coffee and bottles of nonalcoholic bars pour adult drinks like craft January — which began in 2013 An explosion of new products training for marathons; others spirits out of a carryout window cocktails without the booze. At — and a growing interest in is also fueling sales. There are just want to cut back on alcohol. for now. But he plans to open the 0% Non-Alcohol Experience, a health and wellness are behind drinks from smaller makers like “There are a lot of people, this doors to a nonalcoholic bar next futuristic bar in Tokyo, patrons the trend, said Brandy Rand, Chicago’s Ritual Zero Proof — past year more than ever, think- month. can sip a mix of non-alcoholic chief operating officer for the which opened in 2019 and makes ing more critically about what Wynne says the price of drinks white wine, sake and cranberries Americas at IWSR Drinks Mar- no-alcohol whiskey, gin and te- they’re drinking and how it’s will be comparable to a regular from a sugar-rimmed glass. On a ket Analysis. quila — and big companies like making them feel,” he said. bar. Alcohol is cheap, he said, recent evening at Sans Bar in Last year, alcohol consumption Anheuser-Busch, which intro- Joshua James, a veteran bar- and the process for extracting it Austin, Texas, customers gath- in 10 key markets — including duced alcohol-free Budweiser tender, had a similar realization from some beverages makes ered at outdoor tables, enjoying the U.S., Germany, Japan and Zero last year. during the pandemic. After a them more expensive. live music, bottles of alcohol-free Brazil — fell 5%, IWSR said. “I have the wonderful problem stint at Friendship House, a sub- Alcohol delivery site Drizly IPA and drinks like the water- Consumption of low- and no- of too many great options,” said stance abuse treatment center, charges $33 for a 700 ml bottle of melon mockarita, which is made alcohol drinks rose 1% in that Douglas Watters, who opened he recently opened Ocean Beach Seedlip Spice 94, a nonalcoholic with a tequila alternative. same time period. Spirited Away, a New York shop Cafe, an alcohol-free bar in San spirit. That’s slightly more than a Sober bars aren’t a new phe- Alcohol still far outsells low- that sells nonalcoholic beer, wine Francisco. 750 ml bottle of Aviation Gin, nomenon. They first appeared in and no-alcohol drinks. Drinkers and spirits, in November. “I wanted to destigmatize the which sells for $30. But Wynne the 19th century as part of the in those key markets consumed Watters said the pandemic words addiction, recovery and thinks customers are willing to temperance movement. But 9.7 billion 9-liter cases of alcohol lockdown caused him to rethink sober,” he said. “There’s a thou- pay for the craft that goes into a while previous iterations were in 2020, compared to 292 million his usual pattern of ending each sand reasons to not want to drink cocktail or a flavorful wine geared toward non-drinkers or as much.” whether it has alcohol or not. people in recovery, the newer The coronavirus, James said, He said his customers tend to venues welcome the sober as “This type of thing, it’s not a fad. “warp-speeded” the change in be in their 30s or 40s, and the well as the curious. many people’s drinking habits. majority are women. Some tell “A lot of people just want to People don’t wake up to the negative But it has also hurt the nascent him they’ve been waiting their drink less,” said Chris Marshall, nonalcoholic bar scene. whole lives for a bar like his to Sans Bar’s founder. impact alcohol is having on their life Some bars, like The Virgin open. Marshall, who has been sober Mary Bar in Dublin and Zeroliq “This type of thing, it’s not a for 14 years, opened the bar after and then change their mind.” in Berlin, have temporarily fad,” he said. “People don’t wake serving as an addiction counsel- Billy Wynne closed their doors due to regu- up to the negative impact alcohol or. But he estimates 75% of his lations. Getaway, a nonalcoholic is having on their life and then customers also drink alcohol Co-owner of Awake in Denver bar in New York, transitioned change their mind.” Sunday, March 28, 2021 • STARS AND STRIPES • PAGE 15 CROSSWORD AND COMICS

NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD

THEY ALL LAUGHED 123 45678 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 BY JACOB STULBERG / EDITED BY WILL SHORTZ 12029181 Jacob Stulberg, of Otis, Mass., is a second-year law student at New York University, currently taking classes remotely. He’s been making crosswords for The Times since 2013. Jacob is a longtime fan of the publication mentioned in 101-Across. When 52423222 he was 11, he wrote a letter to the editors, which they published, correcting their use of the term ‘‘gluteus maximus.’’ — W.S. 827262 ACROSS 45 Prop in a Shakespeare 84 Telephone feature 9 Language not 1 Some rappers tragedy jokingly predicted by traditionally written 53433323130392 101-Across in 1961 with spaces between 4 Music genre for 47 Abbr. at the end of a 89 Porters, e.g. words 0493837363 Carmen Miranda planner 10 Ambient musician 48 Classic board game 92 Stampede member in 44342414 9 Pioneer in 35mm. Brian derived from pachisi ‘‘The Lion King’’ cameras 93 Manual readers 11 Like Bach’s first two 15059484746454 50 Place to order a ‘‘Brandenburg’’ 14 Bit of bait 94 ‘‘____ fun!’’ cassoulet Concertos 55453525 18 His face overlooks 52 Writing aid jokingly 95 Early smartphone 12 Like dice, shapewise Havana’s Plaza de la model 160695857565 predicted by 13 Finding it funny Revolución 101-Across in 1967 96 Italian lager 14 Off the mark 6656463626 98 Square thing 19 Fire ____ 55 Therefore 15 Substance that helps a 100 Like some rights and 1707968676 20 See 67-Across 56 ____ block spaceship’s fuel burn engineers 57 Midnight trip to the 16 Direct 473727 21 Refurbish 101 Satirical cartoonist, fridge, say 17 It’s greener the higher born 3/13/1921, 22 Architectural it is, for short 9787776757 58 ‘‘Yellow Flicker Beat’’ known for dreaming innovation jokingly singer, 2014 21 Glow, in a way predicted by up ridiculous 38281808 59 Type of headsail 23 Narrow inlet 101-Across in 1982 inventions . . . or are 62 Super-duper they? 24 Part 1909988878685848 26 Actress Perez 63 Shake off 107 Ransacks 25 ____ of Man 59493929 27 Performer’s showcase 65 Hammer out, say 108 Peter the Great and 31 Exposed to high heat, others in a way 00199897969 28 Gave out 66 ‘‘____ Lisa’’ 109 Eponym of an M.L.B. 32 Cosmetics brand with 601501401301201101 29 God of love 67 With 20-Across, yearly hitting award ‘‘Face Anything’’ ads 68 Some sports car 30 Goofy images, 110 Jellied British 34 Ex-QB football analyst 011901801701 perhaps? options delicacy Tony 32 Kitchen brand whose 69 Painter Paul 111 Goes down 35 Word repeated before 411311211111 name becomes an 70 ‘‘Them’s the breaks!’’ 112 Fender product, for ‘‘again’’ animal after adding 72 Butler played by Gable short 37 Move stealthily a T 73 Winter sport jokingly 113 Windows forerunner 38 Big part of the S&P 51 How anatomy charts 64 Oodles 77 Egg holders 91 Alone are drawn 33 Old N.Y.C. subway predicted by 114 Droll 500 65 Hazard on an Arctic 80 Droop 97 Gobbles up inits. 101-Across in 1965 39 ‘‘It’s co-o-old!’’ 53 Mormon church, for voyage 81 Most sinewy 99 Suet alternative short 66 1960s style 36 Wish-list items 75 Treadmill settings DOWN 40 Toss in a chip, maybe 82 Its coat of arms 100 Survivalist’s stockpile 42 Hid 54 Blow 68 Blues ensemble? features a marlin and 101 It might come in a 38 Grooming tool 77 They’re not known for 1 Phil of ‘‘Dr. Phil’’ 55 ‘‘Mountain of God,’’ in 69 Slices easily (through) flamingo, with ‘‘the’’ yard glass jokingly predicted by neatness 2 Intensity of color 45 Org. concerned with performance rights Exodus 71 Brush brand 83 Baseball’s ‘‘Big Papi’’ 102 High toss 101-Across in 1979 78 Word connecting two 3 When the president 46 Mace, for one 58 Longtime name in 72 Command+Y, on a 85 Since 103 Crew’s control? 41 ‘‘Gotcha’’ place names may make a pitch cinemas Mac 86 Principles 79 Word connecting two 4 Ump’s call 48 Oodles 104 ____ diavolo (in a 43 ____ Sea, whose eastern 59 Hire calling? 73 Swizzle 87 Russian assembly peppery tomato last names 5 Comedian Wong 49 ‘‘____ From Muskogee’’ basin has become a (Merle Haggard hit) 60 Like slapstick 74 Cartoon speech 88 Gutter nuisance in sauce) desert 80 Taters 6 Gym array 50 Cartoonist Dave comedies bubble, often cold climates 105 Year-round Phoenix 81 Ragamuffin 44 Either spy to the other 7 Sweet bread famous for ‘‘The 61 Feature of a Care 75 Whirled around 90 Apt surname for a hrs. in ‘‘Spy vs. Spy’’ 82 Nominee’s place 8 Not as scarce Lighter Side of . . . ’’ Bear’s belly 76 Sting, e.g. ho-dog vendor? 106 Sticky stuff

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. R O Z A R E D A L B E E R H T S T N A W

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P U X I F M U N N A M R A L A E H C M R O W A C I E L A B M A S S C M PAGE 16 • STARS AND STRIPES • Sunday, March 28, 2021 GADGETS & TECHNOLOGY The future is not quite ‘Rosey’ Robot butlers face many complex challenges before they take over your household chores

BY DALVIN BROWN where things can and do go wrong. What if The Washington Post it falls on someone, or a software update or at least a decade, robotics and causes it to go haywire? It’s funny on “The AI firms have flexed their ability Jetsons,” but it would not be so comical if to create machines that can com- your grandmother were on the receiving Fplete various practical household end. tasks. Last month, Boston Dynamics That’s a significant challenge. showed its Spot robot dog picking up cloth- The biggest problem is safety, according ing. Miso Robotic’s Flippy has been flip- to Marc Raibert, chairman and former ping burgers for years. Other start-ups CEO of Boston Dynamics, a robotics pio- have demonstrated laundry-folding ma- neer responsible for agile, animallike ro- chines. The list goes on. More recently, bots. news broke that Amazon may be closer to “The more complicated the robot, the introducing a home robot capable of carry- more safety concerns. If you have a robot in ing things and following its owner’s com- close proximity to a person, and anything mands. that goes wrong, that’s a risk to that per- But how probable is it that you’ll ever be son,” Raibert said. MISTY ROBOTICS/The Washington Post able to own a true robotic butler? Things have gone wrong on the job. In Misty Robotics created a droid to take users’ temperatures. The reality of having a robot Robots are getting more complex. As AI 2015, a 22-year-old man was killed while butler doing your household chores has many complex challenges to overcome. continues to advance, it allows machines to helping to set up a stationary robot at a figure out more complex problems and Volkswagen plant in Germany. The robot Robots also have a dexterity problem. That type of data requires collaborative reliably chat with humans. Still, robotics pushed him against a metal plate and Most can pinch, grasp or use suction to input from consumers, and it’s something and AI firms say you’ll have to wait quite crushed him. In another case that year, a hold an object. Meanwhile, humans can iRobot is working on by letting Roomba some time before you’re able to own any- robot’s arm malfunctioned, and it hit and manipulate things that come in various users mark where things are in their thing remotely similar to Rosey the Robot crushed a woman’s head in a Michigan shapes and textures. Robotic limbs with homes. from “The Jetsons.” auto plant. humanlike flexibility do exist, but they cost “The reason why iRobot doesn’t sell a In fact, companies are having a hard It’s not that the safety issues at home tens of thousands of dollars to produce. robot with an arm is because we don’t know time commercializing anything more com- cannot be solved. It’s that they have not “The age of grasping is still a long way where anything is,” said Colin Angle, chair- plex than a robot vacuum — which has been solved yet, robotics companies say. away,” said Tim Enwall, CEO of Misty man and founder of iRobot. “We’re trying been cleaning houses for 20 years. And making elaborate machines more Robotics, a hardware company that builds to get a better idea of what you actually “We’ve been talking about home robots household-friendly will raise the price. personal robots for homes and offices. “It is want to do. That’s useful for your cleaning coming for a long time, and all we have so Today’s mobile robots for factories can a very hard problem to solve at a mass robot, but it’s imperative for whatever next far is the vacuum cleaner,” said Jeff Burn- cost twice as much as an average new car. consumption price point.” robot you’re interested in buying.” stein, president of the Association for Ad- Take the robotic dog Spot. It runs for about Another challenge is that robots do not So when will something more advanced vancing Automation. “You see demos, but $75,000 without the arm attachment that know much about the world they’re oper- than a smart vacuum cleaner actually taking it from a demo to something that makes it useful for transporting things. ating in. You can teach them what an object make an impact? Most say it’ll be decades actually works, then something you can Without the arm, it’s basically a mobile looks like, but robotic butlers would also from now. afford, that’s the issue right now.” surveillance machine. A humanoid robotic need to understand where in your home it’s Robots probably will continue to crop up Chore robots are doing well in factories butler capable of autonomously completing located. in new places as firms lay the groundwork where there’s plenty of space, no small kids a variety of tasks today could easily cost 10 Take, for example, a simple task such as for something more advanced to come around and employees wearing protective times as much. putting a drink into the fridge. A machine along. gear. They’re really good at completing a And robotics experts say people on the would need to understand your command “I do think we’ll find uses for home ro- single repetitive task, such as screwing on a market for such a thing would not be will- and be capable of autonomously navigating bots in the next eight to 10 years,” Raibert wheel. ing to pay more than a few thousand dol- your home’s layout without spilling any- said. “Someone will pioneer a lower-cost But imagine introducing machinery with lars. It might be cheaper to pay a human to thing. It also needs to understand which mechanism that does a useful set of things. legs and lifting capabilities into your home do the job. And humans might do it better. room in your house is the kitchen. I do believe it; it’s just not tomorrow.”

On the other end of the wire- a special to save an extra 20 GADGETS less speaker spectrum is the percent when you buy two compact and solid Enacfire Soundtank speakers. Soundtank portable wireless Controls for power, selections, Bluetooth speaker. and pairing are on the side. The Rolling speaker that’s Inside the portable (6.3- Soundtank is built with an IPX7 by-2.91-by-2.91 inches) hexago- water resistance rating, so it can the life of the party nal-shaped speaker are two high- take a pool-side splash. performance 20-watt vibrating The battery life is rated to last BY GREGG ELLMAN There’s a microphone input to drivers, which produce true 24 hours, and recharges with a Tribune News Service sing along (there’s no one on the 360-degree surround sound. With USB-C connection. The iLive Bluetooth (5.0) Tail- planet who wanted me to test this the six sides, top and bottom, the Online: enacfire.com; $89.99, gate party speaker is an all-ev- part), color-changing LED light Soundtank can lay in any posi- or $49.99 on Amazon erything speaker. effects, a 3.5 mm auxiliary input, tion. It has wheels and a retractable and an FM scan with presets, to Boosting the bass is easy with ergonomic handle to easily trans- name just a few. the Bass+ feature; press a button port from tailgate gatherings to a The sound comes from the ILIVE ELECTRONICS/TNS on the speaker for 50 percent backyard dance party. Whatever bass-rich 8-inch full-range The iLive Bluetooth (5.0) Tailgate more bass. It without a doubt the atmosphere, it can adapt with speaker, which produced good has wheels and a retractable gives the bass a little oomph. endless features to be the life of sound in all the environments I handle for easy mobility. Bass heads will love it; my play- the party. rolled the speaker to. There’s lists sounded great. When you look at the list of the also a built-in microSD slot and six hours at 50 percent volume Bluetooth 5.0 is inside, allow- features packed into the 9.84- USB port to supports audio file and charges in four hours. A USB ing dual stereo mode to pair with by-9.25-by-16.93-inch speaker, playback. charging cable is included. a second Soundtank for stereo ENACFIRE/TNS it’s easy to see why it adapts The built-in rechargeable Online: iliveelectronics.com; sound, and doubling the amount Enacfire Soundtank portable easily to any environment. lithium-ion battery life will go for $69.99 of bass. The Enacfire website has wireless Bluetooth speaker Sunday, March 28, 2021 • STARS AND STRIPES • PAGE 17 OPINION

Max D. Lederer Jr., Publisher Lt. Col. Marci Hoffman, Europe commander Lt. Col. Richard McClintic, Pacific commander ‘Surge’ and ‘wave’ border on unfair coverage BY JULIO RICARDO VARELA A humanitarian crisis that has gone on for he shared with me an internal memo on Special to The Washington Post years with no end in sight — and made worse Wednesday with guidance about immigra- EDITORIAL flood. A wave. A surge. in part by years of failed U.S. policy in Central tion coverage. “Because migration is such a Terry Leonard, Editor What’s happening at the U.S.- America — is now being described by one of hot-button issue, we also should try to avoid [email protected] Mexico border is none of those the most respected journalism organizations imagery conjuring war or natural disaster, things, but you wouldn’t know it in the world as a furtive invasion, when any- which could portray migrants as a negative, Robert H. Reid, Senior Managing Editor A from watching or reading some of the cover- one with a basic knowledge of the current sit- harmful influence,” the memo says. “Avoid [email protected] age in U.S. media. In recent weeks, the phras- uation knows that the vast majority of indi- emotive words like onslaught, tidal wave, Tina Croley, Managing Editor for Content es “surge of migrants,” “migrant surge,” “the viduals fleeing violence and persecution sur- flood, inundation, surge, invasion, army, [email protected] surge,” “surge at border” and other varia- render themselves to U.S. Border Patrol march, sneak and stealth.” Sean Moores, Managing Editor for Presentation tions have all appeared in articles in The Wall agents when they reach the border. This latest memo echoes what happened in [email protected] Street Journal, NPR, CBS News, ABC News, The Associated Press is a far-reaching 2013, when the AP Stylebook, one of journal- NBC News, The Associated Press, The New news agency. The work of its reporters is syn- ism’s most widely referenced guides for edi- Joe Gromelski, Managing Editor for Digital York Times, CNN, Reuters, the Los Angeles dicated to newspapers and websites around torial standards, no longer approved the term [email protected] Times and The Washington Post. the world. I edit a site, Latino Rebels, that fo- “illegal immigrant” or “the use of ‘illegal’ to The descriptions are not just factually in- cuses on news for the U.S. Latino community describe a person” and began to use “illegal” BUREAU STAFF accurate and divorced from important con- — and I actually pay a monthly fee for the to “describe only an action, such as living in text but also closely linked to images of war privilege of publishing AP stories. The dehu- or immigrating to a country illegally.” Europe/Mideast and natural disasters. Individuals fleeing vio- manizing language led me to make some edi- That decision raised the bar for the AP’s Erik Slavin, Europe & Mideast Bureau Chief [email protected] lence and poverty have been reduced to an torial decisions: words such as “surge” and immigration coverage — it eliminated the +49(0)631.3615.9350; DSN (314)583.9350 amorphous threat. Such dehumanization is its variations to describe individuals will nev- use of a dehumanizing term. “No human be- Pacific dangerous and serves only to sensationalize er be published in any article we publish, ing is illegal,” as advocates often like to re- Aaron Kidd, Pacific Bureau Chief the moment — an issue that has been ad- even if it is written by the AP. mind us. That change also laid the foundation [email protected] dressed by organizations such as the Nation- In response to Fram’s article and as a pay- for the AP’s willingness to revisit its most re- +81.42.552.2511 ext. 88380; DSN (315)227.7380 al Association of Hispanic Journalists. ing AP subscriber, I alerted the AP about our cent stories. Washington One of the most egregious examples ap- decision. On Tuesday, John Daniszewski, “We just feel that for such an emotional is- Joseph Cacchioli, Washington Bureau Chief peared in a story by The Associated Press on vice president and editor at large for stan- sue, we would try and find descriptions that [email protected] March 19 about the passing of two immigra- dards at the AP, acknowledged during an in- are accurate but are not appealing to emo- (+1)(202)886-0033 Brian Bowers, Assistant Managing Editor, News tion bills by the House. In the middle of the terview that the organization had indeed tions or fear,” Daniszewski told me on Tues- [email protected] article, reporter Alan Fram wrote: “Both bills made some mistakes during its recent cover- day, adding that it is also important to cover largely hit a wall of opposition from Repub- age from the border, citing “an element of hu- this story from a wide array of perspectives, CIRCULATION licans insistent that any immigration legisla- man error” and adding that words such as including ones that include migrant voices tion bolster security at the Mexican border, “surge” or “breaching” are terms AP jour- and the organizations that advocate for them Mideast which waves of migrants have tried breach- nalists should not be using in this context. on the ground. Robert Reismann, Mideast Circulation Manager [email protected] ing in recent weeks. The GOP has accused Better alternatives to those words include The AP deserves recognition for moving in [email protected] congressional Democrats of ignoring that “entering,” “crossing the border” and “in- the right direction. I urge all reporters, TV DSN (314)583-9111 problem and [President Joe] Biden of fueling crease.” producers and editors in newsrooms all over Europe it by erasing former President Donald “We don’t want to use military analogies, the United States to pay close attention to the Karen Lewis, Community Engagement Manager Trump’s restrictive policies, even though weather analogies or flood analogies,” Danis- words they use in their coverage. The people [email protected] that surge began while Trump was still in of- zewski said. “We would rather use neutral, at the center of this current humanitarian cri- [email protected] +49(0)631.3615.9090; DSN (314)583.9090 fice.” Later in the story, Fram included the unemotional language around this issue.” sis deserve better. word “sneak” to report on what Republicans Daniszewski told me that AP editors had Pacific think migrants do at the border. been discussing word choices internally and Julio Ricardo Varela is the editorial director of Futuro Media. Mari Mori, [email protected] +81-3 6385.3171; DSN (315)227.7333 CONTACT US To understand rising gas prices, look under the hood Washington tel: (+1)202.886.0003 BY NICOLAS LORIS consuming countries, particularly China, has with a crew that is at least 75% American. By 633 3rd St. NW, Suite 116, Washington, DC 20001-3050 The Heritage Foundation also increased. Consequently, the price of a preventing foreign competition, the Jones Act Reader letters he national average for a price of a barrel of crude is hovering around $60, nearly drives up costs for no material economic or [email protected] gallon of gasoline is quickly ap- double what it was a year ago. national security benefit. Another hidden cost Additional contacts proaching $3. Some states are al- Refining is the second-largest cost, making is the Renewable Fuel Standard, passed in stripes.com/contactus Tready there. Facebook memes and up a quarter of the retail price for gasoline. 2005 and expanded in 2007. The policy man- Twitter trolls have been quick to blame the The recent severe cold snap in the Gulf Coast dates that billions of gallons of ethanol (pri- OMBUDSMAN change in administrations, noting that prices not only reduced domestic crude production marily corn-based) be blended into gasoline Ernie Gates have jumped about 45 cents per gallon since by 10%, it also knocked 20% of the entire coun- each year. A 2019 Government Accountability President Joe Biden took office. But is that re- try’s refining capacity offline. In addition, Office report found, outside the Midwest, the The Stars and Stripes ombudsman protects the free flow ally the case? spring is the season for refineries to retool mandate pushed fuel prices higher for limit- of news and information, reporting any attempts by the military or other authorities to undermine the newspaper’s The reality is gas prices have been increas- their operations to switch from winter blends ed, if any, environmental or climate benefit. independence. The ombudsman also responds to concerns ing for nearly a year. As statisticians like to of gasoline to summer blends. The summer The poor legacy of market-distorting poli- and questions from readers, and monitors coverage for fairness, accuracy, timeliness and balance. The ombudsman say, correlation is not causation. And as econ- blend reduces smog-forming components cies should serve as a warning for Biden. welcomes comments from readers, and can be contacted by omists like to say, a better place to look is sup- when fuel evaporates more quickly in warm- While it is inaccurate to blame the current ad- email at [email protected], or by phone at 202.886.0003. ply and demand. er weather. It’s also more expensive to make, ministration for the recent rise in gas prices, Several factors influence the price at the adding 5 to 15 cents to the price depending on actions made today will have long-lasting im- Stars and Stripes (USPS 0417900) is published week- pump, the largest being the price of crude oil the region as states have different standards. pacts. We may not see the price impacts of days (except Dec. 25 and Jan. 1) for 50 cents Monday through Thursday and for $1 on Friday by Pacific Stars and at 43% of the cost. Although the U.S. is the Federal and state taxes, on average, add an- canceling the Keystone XL pipeline or ban- Stripes, Unit 45002, APO AP 96301-5002. Periodicals world’s largest oil producer, oil is a globally other 30 cents per gallon and make up 22% of ning new oil and gas lease sales on federal postage paid at San Francisco, CA, Postmaster: Send address changes to Pacific Stars and Stripes, Unit 45002, traded commodity. Therefore, events that af- the retail price. In theory, the gas tax is an effi- lands reflected in the price today. But deci- APO AP 96301-5002. This newspaper is authorized by the fect the supply and demand of oil in the U.S. cient user fee to maintain the National High- sions that restrict supply now will have a price Department of Defense for members of the military services overseas. However, the contents of Stars and Stripes are and around the world make their way into the way System. In practice, however, special in- impact later. unofficial, and are not to be considered as the official views price displayed at the station. terests siphon off gas tax dollars for projects The economic impact may not seem like all of, or endorsed by, the U.S. government. As a DOD newspa- per, Stars and Stripes may be distributed through official In an effort to boost prices when they began like public transit, where the merits of the pro- that much. A few pennies here and a few channels and use appropriated funds for distribution to falling sharply a year ago, the Organization of ject should be evaluated and paid for at the there. Collectively, though, the price impacts remote locations where overseas DOD personnel are located. The appearance of advertising in this publication does the Petroleum Exporting Countries and Rus- state or local level. start to add up. Multiply it by the 337 million not constitute endorsement by the Department of Defense or sia agreed to continue curtailing production. Americans pay higher “hidden costs” today gallons of gas Americans consume each day, Stars and Stripes of the products or services advertised. Products or services advertised shall be made available for Now, however, demand is picking back up. In from bad public policy decisions made dec- and it really starts to add up. As Americans purchase, use or patronage without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, marital status, physical the U.S., the deployment of the COVID-19 vac- ades or even more than a century ago. For in- continue to grasp the economic fallout of the handicap, political affiliation or any other nonmerit factor of cine and states easing lockdown restrictions stance, the Jones Act, passed in 1920, man- pandemic, every penny should count. the purchaser, user or patron. have Americans traveling at the highest rate dates that any goods shipped by water be- © Stars and Stripes 2021 since the pandemic hit. tween two points in America must be trans- Nicolas Loris is the deputy director of The Heritage stripes.com Economic activity in other major energy- ported on a U.S.-built, U.S.-flagged vessel Foundation’s Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies. PAGE 18 • STARS AND STRIPES • Sunday, March 28, 2021 SCOREBOARD

COLLEGE BASKETBALL TENNIS DEALS

Men’s NIT Miami Open Rus, Netherlands, 6­2, 6­3. Friday’s transactions rell Daniels. Semifinals Nina Stojanovic, Serbia, def. Yulia Pu­ BUFFALO BILLS — Signed WR Brandon Saturday, March 27 Friday tintseva (26), Kazakhstan, 5­7, 7­5, 6­2. BASEBALL Powell to a one­year contract. Signed DB Colorado St. vs. Memphis At Tennis Center at Crandon Park Amanda Anisimova (28), United States, Major League Baseball Levi Wallace. Mississippi St. vs. Louisiana Tech Miami def. Sloane Stephens, United States, 6­3, American League CHICAGO BEARS — Signed RB Damien Championship Purse: $3,343,785 6­3. BALTIMORE ORIOLES — Agreed to terms Williams and DB Artie Burns to one­year Sunday, March 28 Surface: Hardcourt outdoor Liudmila Samsonova, Russia, def. Kiki with LHP Wade LeBlanc on a one­year con­ contracts. Bertens (10), Netherlands, 6­2, 6­1. CINCINNATI BENGALS— Signed WR Mike Semifinal winners Men’s Singles tract. Placed INF Chris Davis on the 60­day Round of 64 Anna Kalinskaya, Russia, def. Petra Mar­ IL. Optioned LHP Keegan Akin, UTL Jahmai Thomas. — Placed DE Tre­ Taylor Fritz (22), United States, def. Mar­ tic (20), Croatia, 5­7, 6­2, 7­6 (4). Jones and INF Richie Martin to Norfolk (Tri­ CLEVELAND BROWNS NCAA Men’s Division II Bianca Andreescu (8), Canada, def. Te­ ple­A East). Reassigned LHP Fernando von Young on waivers. cos Giron, United States, 6­2, 6­2. DETROIT LIONS — Signed WR Kalif Ray­ Alexei Popyrin, Australia, def. Reilly reza Martincova, Czech Republic, 7­6 (5), Abad and UTL Chris Shaw to alternate Tournament 6­2. training site. mond. Opelka (30), United States, 6­4, 6­2. GREEN BAY PACKERS — Re­signed RB Championship Dusan Lajovic (16), Serbia, def. Ernesto Ons Jabeur (27), Tunisia, def. Paula Ba­ BOSTON RED SOX — Optioned INF Jo­ dosa, Spain, 7­6 (6), 5­7, 7­5. nathan Arauz to an alternate training site. Aaron Jones and CB Kevin King. At Evansville, Ind. Escobedo, United States, 6­2, 6­3. JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS — Signed OT Saturday, March 27 James Duckworth, Australia, def. David Anett Kontaveit (22), Estonia, def. Sora­ Reassigned C Chris Herrmann, INF/OF na Cirstea, Romania, 6­3, 4­6, 6­3. Danny Santana, OFs Cesar Puello and Mi­ Derwin Gray. West Texas A&M vs. NW Missouri St. Goffin (8), Belgium, 6­3, 6­1. KANSAS CITY CHIEFS — Signed WR De­ Jan­Lennard Struff (31), Germany, def. Sofia Kenin (4), United States, def. An­ chael Gettys and RHPs Kevin McCarthy drea Petkovic, Germany, 6­7 (6), 6­1, 6­3. and Marcus Walden to minor leagues. marcus Robinson. Ricardas Berankis, Lithuania, 6­3, 6­4. LAS VEGAS RAIDERS — Signed WR Willie Women’s NIT Cameron Norrie, Britain, def. Grigor Di­ Sara Sorribes Tormo, Spain, def. Jennifer CLEVELAND INDIANS — Agreed to terms Brady (13), United States, 3­6, 6­4, 6­1. with INFs Jake Bauers and Yu Chang, OF Snead. Semifinals mitrov (9), Bulgaria, 7­5, 7­5. LOS ANGELES CHARGERS — Signed LB Mikael Ymer, Sweden, def. Nikoloz Bas­ Men’s Doubles Ben Gamel, LHP Oliver Perez. Optioned INF At Collierville, Tenn. Round of 32 Bobby Bradley, OF Bradley Zimmer and Kyler Fackrell. Friday, March 26 ilashvili (27), Georgia, 6­3, 4­6, 6­4. LOS ANGELES RAMS — Signed WR De­ Jannik Sinner (21), Italy, def. Hugo Gas­ Michael Mmoh and Sebastian Korda, LHP Kyle Nelson to Columbus (Triple­A Rice 85, Delaware 75 East). Released LHPs Anthony Gose and Sean Jackson and LB Travin Howard. ton, France, 6­2, 6­2. United States, def. Fabio Fognini, Italy, and NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS — Signed RB Mississippi 60, N. Iowa 50 Daniil Medvedev, Russia, def. Yen­hsun Maximo Gonzalez, Argentina, 6­3, 2­6, 10­7. Blake Parker. Championship DETROIT TIGERS — Optioned OF Daz James White. Lu, Taiwan, 6­2, 6­2. Aisam­ul­Haq Qureshi, Pakistan, and NEW ORLEANS SAINTS — Signed QB Ja­ Sunday, March 28 Felix Auger­Aliassime (11), Canada, def. Miomir Kecmanovic, Serbia, def. Jean­Ju­ Cameron to Toledo (Triple­A Midwest). Rice vs. Missisippi HOUSTON ASTROS — Agreed to terms meis Winston. Pierre­Hugues Herbert, France, 6­4, 6­4. lien Rojer, Netherlands, and Marcelo Melo, NEW YORK JETS— Signed RB Tevin Cole­ Karen Khachanov (14), Russia, def. Yan­ Brazil, 6­7 (5), 6­3, 10­4. with RHP Lance McCullers Jr. on a five­ year contract for 2022­26. Reassigned man. NCAA Women’s Division II nick Hanfmann, Germany, 6­3, 6­2. Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic (2), Croa­ PHILADELPHIA EAGLES— Traded the No. Roberto Bautista Agut (7), Spain, def. tia, def. Sam Querrey and Steve Johnson, RHPs Ralph Garza Jr., Carson LaRue, RHP Hector Velázquez, INFs Alex De Goti, CJ Hi­ 6 overall pick along with No. 156 overall to Tournament Lloyd Harris, South Africa, walkover. United States, 7­6 (2), 6­4. the Miami for No. 12, No. 123 and a 2022 Ivan Dodig, Croatia, and Filip Polasek (4), nojosa, and Jeremy Pena to minor league Championship Emil Ruusuvuori, Finland, def. Alexander first­round pick. Zverev (3), Germany, 1­6, 6­3, 6­1. Slovakia, def. Fabrice Martin and Jeremy camp. Friday, March 26 SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS — Acquired the Alexander Bublik (32), Kazakhstan, def. Chardy, France, 7­6 (4), 6­3. LOS ANGELES ANGELS — Released OF No. 3 overall draft pick in 2021 from Miami Lubbock Christian 69, Drury 59 Laslo Djere, Serbia, 6­3, 6­4. Women’s Doubles Jon Jay and RHP Jesse Chavez from minor in exchange for 2021 first­round, along Frances Tiafoe, United States, def. Da­ Round of 32 league contracts. with the 2022 and 2023 first­round picks COLLEGE FOOTBALL niel Evans (19), Britain, 6­7 (5), 6­3, 6­3. Lyudmyla Kichenok, Ukraine, and Jelena MINNESOTA TWINS — Released C An­ and a 2022 compensatory third­round John Isner (18), United States, def. Mack­ Ostapenko, Latvia, def. Kirsten Flipkens, drew Romine from a minor league con­ draft pick. Re­signed CB K’Waun Williams Sunday’s games enzie McDonald, United States, 2­6, 6­3, Belgium, and CoCo Vandeweghe, United tract. to a one­year contract. Signed DB K’Waun 7­5. States, 3­6, 6­2, 10­6. NEW YORK YANKEES — Optioned RHP Williams. Women’s Singles Deivi Garcia to Wilkes­Barre/Scranton EAST Bethanie Mattek­Sands, United States, SEATTLE SEAHAWKS — Signed DE Ben­ Round of 64 and Iga Swiatek, Poland, def. Monica Nicu­ (Triple­A East). son Mayowa, OG Jordan Simmons and OT Duquesne (3­0) at Bryant (2­1) Garbine Muguruza (12), Spain, def. Xi­ lescu, Romania, and Anna Blinkova, Rus­ SAN DIEGO PADRES— Optioned RHP An­ Cedric Ogbuehi. Sacred Heart (2­1) at Wagner (0­2). nyu Wang, China, 6­4, 6­1. sia, 6­0, 6­1. derson Espinoza to San Antonio (Triple­A WASHINGTON FOOTBALL TEAM — West). Signed CB Darryl Roberts and Adam Hum­ SOUTH Elise Mertens (16), Belgium, def. Katie Angelique Kerber, Germany, and Simo­ na Halep, Romania, def. Elise Mertens, Bel­ SEATTLE MARINERS  — Optioned RHP phries. Boulter, Britain, 6­4, 6­1. Ljay Newsome, LHP Aaron Fletcher and OF E. Illinois (1­3) at Murray St. (4­0) Jessica Pegula (29), United States, def. gium, and Aryna Sabalenka (1), Belarus, HOCKEY Austin Peay (2­5) at Jacksonville St. (7­1) 7­5, 7­5. Braden Bishop to alternate training site. National Hockey League Storm Sanders, Australia, 6­3, 6­4. Reassigned RHPs Brady Lail, Paul Sewald, UT Martin (2­2) at Tennessee St. (1­3) Karolina Pliskova (6), Czech Republic, Caty McNally and Coco Gauff, United BOSTON BRUINS — Assigned G Callum Prairie View (2­0) at Jackson St. (3­1), States, def. Raluca­Ioana Olaru, Romania, OFs Jarred Kelenic and Julio Rodriguez to Gooth to Providence (AHL). def. Zheng Saisai, China, 6­2, 6­1. minor league camp. ppd. Elena Rybakina (21), Kazakhstan, def. and Nadiia Kichenok, Ukraine, 6­3, 6­1. CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS — Assigned F TAMPA BAY RAYS— Placed RHP Nick An­ Brad Morrison from Rockford (AHL) to In­ Kaia Kanepi, Estonia, 6­4, 6­0. Timea Babos, Hungary, and Veronika derson on the 60­day injured list. Selected MIDWEST Naomi Osaka (2), Japan, def. Ajla Toml­ Kudermetova (4), Russia, def. Zheng Sai­ dy (ECHL). the contract of RHP Andrew Kittredge LOS ANGELES KINGS — Assigned C Mike Tennessee Tech (1­3) at SE Missouri janovic, Australia, 7­6 (3), 6­4. sai, China, and Ellen Perez, Australia, 3­6, from Durham (Triple­A East). (1­4) Maria Sakkari (23), Greece, def. Arantxa 6­4, 10­7. Amadio and G Troy Grosenick to Ontario National League (AHL). Recalled G Matthew Villalta from GOLF ATLANTA BRAVES — Optioned RHP Ontario (AHL). Bryse Wilson to the alternate training site. MINNESOTA WILD— Loaned RW Will Bit­ CINCINNATI REDS — Released INF Dee ten to Iowa (AHL). Tom Lewis 70-74—144 E Gordon­Strange from a minor league con­ NEW JERSEY DEVILS— Recalled D Colton Corales Puntacana Resort Kia Classic tract. Padraig Harrington 69-75—144 E White from Binghamton (AHL). Championship LPGA Tour CLEVELAND INDIANS — Optioned OF Bra­ PHILADELPHIA FLYERS— Fined F Samuel Friday dley Zimmer and P Kyle Nelson to Colum­ Morin $3,017.24 for unsportsmanlike con­ PGA Tour Dell Match Play bus (Triple­A East). duct against New York Rangers F Brendan Friday At Aviara Golf Club Carlsbad, Calif. MIAMI MARLINS — Released LHP Gio Lemieux during a March 25 game. Re­ At Corales Golf Course Friday Gonzalez from a minor league contract. At Austin Country Club Purse: $1.8 million called G Felix Sandstrom from Lehign Val­ Punta Cana, Dominican Republic MILWAUKEE BREWERS— Released RHPs ley (AHL). Assigned G Alex Lyon to Lehigh Purse: $3 million Austin, Texas Yardage:; 6,558; Par:; 72 Brad Boxberger and Jordan Zimmerman Purse: $10.5 million Second Round Valley (AHL). Yardage:; 7,670; Par:; 72 to alternate training sites. PITTSBURGH PENGUINS — Assigned LW Second Round Yardage:; 7,108; Par:; 71 Inbee Park 66-69—135 -9 PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES — Released Justin Almeida and G Max Lagace to Rafael Campos 68-69—137 -7 Justin Thomas (2), United States, def. Sophia Popov 68-68—136 -8 RHPs Ivan Nova and Hector Rondon and C Wilkes­Barre/Scranton (AHL). Louis Oosthuizen (22), South Africa, 3 and Jeff Mathis from minor league contracts. Fabrizio Zanotti 69-68—137 -7 Mel Reid 68-70—138 -6 TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING— Recalled F Ge­ 2. Hyo Joo Kim 67-72—139 -5 SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS — Reassigned mel Smith and G Christopher Gibson from Justin Suh 68-69—137 -7 Shane Lowry (38), Ireland, def. Sebas­ RHPs Yunior Marte and Jimmie Sherfy to Wei-Ling Hsu 71-69—140 -4 Syracuse (AHL) to the taxi squad. Reas­ Tyler Duncan 69-69—138 -6 tian Munoz, Colombia, 3 and 2. minor league training camp. signed F Taylor Raddysh and G Spencer Joel Dahmen 67-71—138 -6 Tony Finau (12), United States, def. Ja­ Minjee Lee 72-69—141 -3 BASKETBALL Martin to Syracuse. Graeme McDowell 70-69—139 -5 son Kokrak (29), United States, 2 up. Gerina Piller 71-70—141 -3 National Basketball Association SOCCER Will Zalatoris (40), United States, def. Michael Gligic 73-66—139 -5 Nicole Broch Larsen 70-71—141 -3 CLEVELAND CAVALIERS — Waived C Major League Soccer Dylan Frittelli (64), South Africa, 2 up. Kristen Gillman 70-71—141 -3 Andre Drummond. VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC — Loaned Andrew Yun 67-72—139 -5 Tommy Fleetwood (21), England, def. Jing Yan 73-69—142 -2 MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES — Waived C Gorjui CB Jasser Khmiri to USL Championship Roberto Castro 70-69—139 -5 Bryson DeChambeau (5), United States, 1 Dieng. Club San Antonio FC through end of the Thomas Pieters 69-70—139 -5 up. Marina Alex 73-69—142 -2 SACRAMENTO KINGS — Waived Fs Mi­ 2021 season. Mi Jung Hur 71-71—142 -2 Stephan Jaeger 66-73—139 -5 Antoine Rozner (58), France, def. Si Woo fondu Kabengele and Jabari Parker. COLLEGE Kim (45), South Korea, 3 and 1. Jin Young Ko 71-71—142 -2 FOOTBALL Sam Ryder 68-72—140 -4 OKLAHOMA CITY UNIVERSITY — Named Viktor Hovland (13), Norway, def. Abra­ Elizabeth Szokol 71-71—142 -2 National Football League Mark Berokoff head men’s basketball Thomas Detry 70-70—140 -4 ham Ancer (27), Mexico, 1 up. Azahara Munoz 70-72—142 -2 ARIZONA CARDINALS — Signed TE Dar­ coach. Mark Anderson 68-72—140 -4 Kevin Streelman (53), United States, def. Ashleigh Buhai 70-72—142 -2 Tim Wilkinson 71-69—140 -4 Bernd Wiesberger (43), Austria, 1 up. PRO BASEBALL Lizette Salas 75-68—143 -1 Chesson Hadley 70-70—140 -4 Billy Horschel (32), United States, def. Collin Morikawa (4), United States, 3 and 2. Alena Sharp 75-68—143 -1 Sepp Straka 72-68—140 -4 Max Homa (35), United States, def. J.T. Brooke M. Henderson 73-70—143 -1 water, Fla. Danny Willett 70-70—140 -4 Spring training Poston (63), United States, 3 and 2. Stacy Lewis 73-70—143 -1 St. Louis vs. Washington at West Palm Peter Uihlein 70-70—140 -4 Webb Simpson (9), United States, Beach, Fla. Brittany Lincicome 71-72—143 -1 Friday’s games Aaron Baddeley 70-70—140 -4 halved with Paul Casey (17), England. N.Y. Mets vs. Miami at Jupiter, Fla. Mackenzie Hughes (48), Canada, halved Bronte Law 71-72—143 -1 Detroit vs. Toronto at Dunedin, Fla. Ben Martin 71-70—141 -3 Detroit 5, Pittsburgh 2 with Talor Gooch (59), United States. Mina Harigae 69-74—143 -1 Tampa Bay 7, Boston 3 Chicago Cubs vs. Texas at Surprise, Ariz. Alex Cejka 70-71—141 -3 Lee Westwood (18), England, def. Tyrrell Stephanie Meadow 68-75—143 -1 Cleveland 5, Colorado 4 Cincinnati vs. Milwaukee at Phoenix Troy Merritt 72-69—141 -3 Hatton (8), England, 4 and 3. Cristie Kerr 76-68—144 E San Francisco 5, Chicago Cubs 5 San Diego vs. Cleveland at Goodyear, Matt Wallace (51), England, def. Sergio Ariz. Charles Howell III 70-71—141 -3 Nelly Korda 75-69—144 E Chicago White Sox 7, Milwaukee 5 Roger Sloan 71-70—141 -3 Garcia (39), Spain, 3 and 2. Cincinnati 7, Arizona 3 Oakland vs. San Francisco at Scottsdale, Victor Perez (31), France, def. Sungjae Xiyu Lin 75-69—144 E Ariz. Charley Hoffman 69-72—141 -3 Atlanta 7, Minnesota 6 Im (16), South Korea, 2 and 1. Amy Olson 75-69—144 E Miami 9, Houston 0 Arizona vs. Chicago White Sox at Glen­ Martin Trainer 71-70—141 -3 Marc Leishman (36), halved with Russell Alana Uriell 74-70—144 E Washington 7, N.Y. Mets 3 dale, Ariz. Adam Schenk 68-73—141 -3 Henley (50), United States. Brittany Lang 73-71—144 E Baltimore 4, N.Y. Yankees 1 Kansas City vs. Colorado at Scottsdale, Kevin Na (28), United States, def. Dustin Ariz. Hudson Swafford 70-71—141 -3 Cheyenne Knight 72-72—144 E Toronto 6, Philadelphia 5 Tyler McCumber 72-69—141 -3 Johnson (1), United States, 1 up. Texas 8, Kansas City 1 L.A. Dodgers vs. L.A. Angels at Anaheim, Bob MacIntyre (41), Scotland, halved Lexi Thompson 72-72—144 E Calif. Richard S. Johnson 72-69—141 -3 Oakland 11, L.A. Dodgers 0 with Adam Long (61), United States. Jennifer Chang 72-72—144 E San Diego 6, Seattle 3 Bronson Burgoon 70-72—142 -2 Rory McIlroy (11), halved with Cameron Liz Nagel 72-72—144 E Monday’s games Patrick Rodgers 71-71—142 -2 Smith (25), Australia. Anna Nordqvist 71-73—144 E Saturday’s games N.Y. Mets vs. St. Louis at Jupiter, Fla. Brice Garnett 70-72—142 -2 Ian Poulter (60), England, def. Lanto Grif­ Tampa Bay vs. Minnesota at Fort Myers, Houston vs. Washington at West Palm fin (46), United States, 2 and 1. Danielle Kang 70-74—144 E Greyson Sigg 72-70—142 -2 Tiffany Chan 76-69—145 +1 Fla. Beach, Fla. Xander Schauffele (6), United States, Toronto vs. N.Y. Yankees at Tampa, Fla. Tampa Bay vs. Baltimore at Sarasota, Sebastian Cappelen 69-73—142 -2 halved with Scottie Scheffler (30), United Carlota Ciganda 76-69—145 +1 Alex Smalley 73-69—142 -2 Boston vs. Pittsburgh at Bradenton, Fla. Fla. States. Lydia Ko 74-71—145 +1 Philadelphia vs. Detroit at Lakeland, Fla. Detroit vs. N.Y. Yankees at Tampa, Fla. Eric Cole 72-70—142 -2 Jason Day (44), Australia, def. Andy Sulli­ Brittany Altomare 74-71—145 +1 Houston vs. N.Y. Mets at Port St. Lucie, Minnesota vs. Pittsburgh at Bradenton, Pat Perez 72-70—142 -2 van (57), England, 2 and 1. Cydney Clanton 73-72—145 +1 Fla. Fla. Joseph Bramlett 69-73—142 -2 Daniel Berger (14), United States, def. Cleveland vs. L.A. Dodgers at Glendale, Toronto vs. Philadelphia at Clearwater, Harris English (19), United States, 4 and 2. Hannah Green 73-72—145 +1 Bo Van Pelt 71-72—143 -1 Ariz. Fla. Erik van Rooyen (62), South Africa, def. Ayako Uehara 72-73—145 +1 Boston vs. Atlanta at North Port, Fla. Grayson Murray 71-72—143 -1 San Diego vs. L.A. Angels at Tempe, Ariz. Brendon Todd (47), United States, 2 and 1. Jenny Coleman 72-73—145 +1 Milwaukee vs. Kansas City at Surprise, Cleveland vs. Kansas City at Surprise, D.J. Trahan 70-73—143 -1 Jon Rahm (3), Spain, halved with Ryan Eun-Hee Ji 71-74—145 +1 Ariz. Ariz. Emiliano Grillo 70-73—143 -1 Palmer (24), United States. Jenny Shin 71-74—145 +1 Texas vs. Oakland at Mesa, Ariz. Arizona vs. Chicago Cubs at Mesa, Ariz. Jhonattan Vegas 73-70—143 -1 Hideki Matsuyama (23), Japan, def. Pa­ Chicago White Sox vs. Colorado at Seattle vs. Cincinnati at Goodyear, Ariz. trick Cantlay (10), United States, 4 and 2. Christina Kim 70-75—145 +1 Brian Stuard 71-72—143 -1 Jasmine Suwannapura 70-75—145 +1 Scottsdale, Ariz. San Francisco vs. Oakland at Mesa, Ariz. Brian Harman (54), United States, def. Colorado vs. San Diego at Peoria, Ariz. Nate Lashley 68-75—143 -1 Baltimore vs. Atlanta at North Port, Fla. Carlos Ortiz (42), Mexico, Amy Yang 69-76—145 +1 Miami vs. St. Louis at Jupiter, Fla. Kansas City vs. Northwest Arkansas at Fabián Gómez 69-74—143 -1 Joaquin Niemann (26), Chile, def. Patrick Charley Hull 76-70—146 +2 Chicago Cubs vs. Cincinnati at Springdale, Ark. Will Gordon 72-71—143 -1 Reed (7), United States, 5 and 4. Haley Moore 75-71—146 +2 Goodyear, Ariz. Milwaukee vs. Texas at Arlington, Texas Bubba Watson (55), United States, def. Wes Roach 70-73—143 -1 Gaby Lopez 75-71—146 +2 San Francisco vs. Seattle at Peoria, Ariz. L.A. Angels vs. L.A. Dodgers at Los An­ Christiaan Bezuidenout (33), South Africa, geles, Calif. Scott Brown 74-70—144 E 5 and 3. Aditi Ashok 74-72—146 +2 Sunday’s games David Hearn 72-72—144 E Matt Fitzpatrick (15), England, def. Mat­ Mi Hyang Lee 72-74—146 +2 Seamus Power 72-72—144 E thew Wolff (20), United States, 3 and 2. Pittsburgh vs. Baltimore at Sarasota, MLB calendar Madelene Sagstrom 72-74—146 +2 Fla. Chase Seiffert 73-71—144 E Jordan Spieth (49), United States, def. Leona Maguire 72-74—146 +2 Corey Conners (37), Canada, 3 and 2. Minnesota vs. Boston at Fort Myers, Fla. March 30 — Last day to place a player on Taylor Pendrith 71-73—144 E Matt Kuchar (52), United States, def. .Ke­ Yealimi Noh 72-74—146 +2 Atlanta vs. Tampa Bay at Port Charlotte, waivers for 45 days termination pay. Ben Taylor 71-73—144 E vin Kisner (34), United States, 2 and 1. Annie Park 72-74—146 +2 Fla. April 1 — Opening day, active rosters re­ N.Y. Yankees vs. Philadelphia at Clear­ duced to 26 players. Sunday, March 28, 2021 • STARS AND STRIPES • PAGE 19 SPORTS BRIEFS/NHL

BRIEFLY NHL scoreboard

Former Miami coach East Division Schnellenberger dies GP WLOT Pts GF GA MIAMI — Howard Schnellen- Washington 33 22 7 4 48 114 95 berger was a pipe smoker with a N.Y. Islanders 34 22 8 4 48 102 76 push-broom mustache and gruff Pittsburgh 34 21 11 2 44 109 90 baritone, and he paired his grandi- Boston 29 16 8 5 37 80 70 N.Y. Rangers 32 15 13 4 34 102 85 loquent manner with grandiose vi- Philadelphia 32 15 13 4 34 100 119 sions for football at Miami, Louis- New Jersey 32 12 16 4 28 78 101 ville and Florida Atlantic that Buffalo 32 6 22 4 16 66 115 caused snickers. Central Division At all three schools, Schnellen- GP WLOT Pts GF GA berger disproved doubters. He re- Tampa Bay 33 24 7 2 50 120 78 vived the sport at Miami and Carolina 32 22 7 3 47 108 81 Louisville and started the pro- Florida 33 20 9 4 44 107 94 gram at Florida Atlantic during a Chicago 34 16 13 5 37 101 108 Columbus 34 13 13 8 34 89 110 coaching career that spanned a Nashville 34 16 17 1 33 86 104 half century. Dallas 30 11 11 8 30 85 80 Schnellenberger died Saturday Detroit 34 10 20 4 24 72 113 at 87. FAU announced his death West Division and said he recently had been in a GP WLOT Pts GF GA care center in South Florida. Vegas 31 22 8 1 45 101 72 Schnellenberger had a career Colorado 32 21 8 3 45 111 72 record below .500, but when it Minnesota 32 21 10 1 43 94 78 came to building, he was a winner. St. Louis 34 16 13 5 37 98 110 Arizona 34 15 14 5 35 88 103 NICK WASS/AP His legacy includes on-campus Los Angeles 32 13 13 6 32 91 90 stadiums at Louisville and Florida San Jose 32 13 15 4 30 91 111 Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin carries the puck past New Jersey Devils center Michael McLeod during Atlantic. Anaheim 35 10 19 6 26 78 116 the second period of Friday’s game in Washington. Ovechkin scored two of the Capitals’ four goals. He led the Miami Hurricanes to North Division the first of their five national GP WLOT Pts GF GA NHL ROUNDUP championships in 1983, and Toronto 33 21 10 2 44 110 85 coached Louisville to a Fiesta Winnipeg 34 21 11 2 44 112 94 Bowl win over Alabama to cap the Edmonton 34 21 13 0 42 116 97 1990 season. He then founded the Montreal 31 14 8 9 37 100 87 Vancouver 37 16 18 3 35 100 120 program at Florida Atlantic and Calgary 35 15 17 3 33 91 105 Ovechkin scores twice retired as coach after 11 seasons Ottawa 36 12 20 4 28 94 135 highlighted by back-to-back bowl Thursday’s games victories. Pittsburgh 4, Buffalo 0 Washington 4, New Jersey 3 N.Y. Rangers 8, Philadelphia 3 49ers trade up to acquire N.Y. Islanders 4, Boston 3, OT Toronto 3, Ottawa 2, OT No. 3 pick from Dolphins Chicago 3, Florida 0 as Capitals beat Devils Minnesota 2, St. Louis 0 SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The Carolina 4, Columbus 3, OT Nashville 7, Detroit 1 Associated Press San Francisco 49ers have made a Dallas 4, Tampa Bay 3 WASHINGTON — Alex Ovechkin scored twice, big move to grab their quarter- Colorado 5, Vegas 1 Friday’s games Ilya Samsonov made 24 saves and the Washington back of the future by trading up Washington 4, New Jersey 0 Capitals rode their best players to a 4-0 victory Fri- with Miami to acquire the No. 3 Anaheim 4, St. Louis 1 Arizona 5, San Jose 2 day night and two-game sweep of the New Jersey pick in next month’s NFL Draft. Winnipeg 3, Calgary 2 Edmonton at Montreal, ppd Devils. The Niners announced Friday Ovechkin has scored 10 times in his past 10 games they are trading their No. 12 pick Saturday’s games Buffalo at Boston and has a team-best 17 goals this season. He’s eight along with first-round picks in N.Y. Rangers at Philadelphia Columbus at Detroit shy of Marcel Dionne for fifth on the NHL’s career 2022 and 2023 and their compen- Vegas at Colorado goal list after scoring his 722nd and 723rd and is tied satory third-rounder in 2022 to get Edmonton at Toronto N.Y. Islanders at Pittsburgh for sixth in the league after putting up just seven in the third overall pick. Tampa Bay at Carolina Florida at Dallas his first 19 games. ESPN first reported the deal. Nashville at Chicago Nicklas Backstrom and Conor Sheary also scored. The Dolphins then immediately San Jose at Arizona Winnipeg at Calgary With Ovechkin rolling, the Capitals have won nine traded the 12th pick, the 123rd Sunday’s games of their past 10 games and are back atop the East Divi- pick and their own 2022 first- N.Y. Rangers at Washington sion. They’re tied at 48 points with former coach Bar- rounder to Philadelphia for the Columbus at Detroit Anaheim at St. Louis ry Trotz’s New York Islanders but hold the tiebreak- No. 6 and No. 156 picks in the draft, New Jersey at Boston Florida at Dallas er having played one fewer game. the Eagles announced. Ottawa at Montreal, ppd Nashville at Chicago Coyotes 5, Sharks 2: Christian Dvorak scored Chen wins 3rd straight Monday’s games twice to help host Arizona beat San Jose. Edmonton at Toronto Nick Schmaltz, Dryden Hunt and Phil Kessel also worlds, beating Hanyu N.Y. Islanders at Pittsburgh Philadelphia at Buffalo scored for Arizona, and Adin Hill stopped 20 shots. STOCKHOLM — Nathan Chen Anaheim at Colorado The win moved the Coyotes within two points of St. Los Angeles at Vegas already has established himself as Winnipeg at Calgary Louis for fourth place in the West Division. one of America’s greatest figure Minnesota at San Jose Tomas Hertl and Patrick Marleau scored for San skaters. His performance Satur- Scoring leaders Jose. Marleau’s goal was the 564th of his career, tying day lifted him into the company of Through Friday him with Mats Sundin and Joe Nieuwendyk for 23rd history’s best worldwide. GP GAPTS in NHL history. Martin Jones stopped 23 shots, In becoming the first American Ducks 4, Blue 1:John Gibson made 33 saves in his TODD KOROL, THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP Connor McDavid, EDM 34 21 39 60 since Scott Hamilton to win a third Leon Draisaitl, EDM 34 18 32 50 first game back after missing five with a lower-body The Flames’ Juuso Valimaki, right, is checked by consecutive World Figure Skating Patrick Kane, CHI 34 13 33 46 injury and visiting Anaheim beat St. Louis. the Winnipeg Jets’ Trevor Lewis during the first Championships men’s title, the 21- Mitchell Marner, TOR 33 12 29 41 Sam Steel and Max Jones scored and Derek Grant period of Friday’s game in Calgary, Alberta. year-old Chen also outskated two- Mark Stone, LV 30 12 27 39 and Richard Rakell added empty-netters to help the Mark Scheifele, WPG 33 13 26 39 time Olympic champion Yuzuru Mikko Rantanen, COL 32 19 20 39 Ducks win for the second time in nine games. ped 25 shots to win in his league-leading 27th start of Hanyu of Japan. Anze Kopitar, LA 32 8 29 37 Ryan O’Reilly scored for St. Louis. The Blues have the season. Hanyu struggled mightily Sat- Sidney Crosby, PIT 33 13 24 37 loss three straight and six in a row at home. Milan Lucic and Matthew Tkachuk scored in a urday and finished third behind Aleksander Barkov, FLA 31 13 24 37 Jets 3, Flames 2:Paul Stastny had a goal and an fourth straight loss for the Flames. Jacob Markstrom Auston Matthews, TOR 30 21 16 37 17-year-old countryman Yuma Jonathan Huberdeau, FLA 33 11 25 36 assist as visiting Winnipeg held on to beat Calgary in finished with 26 saves. Kagiyama. Nathan MacKinnon, COL 28 10 25 35 the first of three straight games between the teams. The Flames have totaled four goals in their last Brad Marchand, BOS 29 12 22 34 Blake Wheeler and Kyle Connor also had a goal four games. Calgary is 4-5-0 since Darryl Sutter took Nicklas Backstrom, WSH 32 12 22 34 Associated Press and an assist for Winnipeg. Connor Hellebuyck stop- over as head coach March 8. PAGE 20 • STARS AND STRIPES • Sunday, March 28, 2021 AUTO RACING/GOLF Garcia comes up aces at Match Play BY DOUG FERGUSON brother Austin, stepped in a few Associated Press feet from the cup to help read the AUSTIN, Texas — Needing to putt. Out of nowhere, a ball shot up win the final hole to advance, Bob the left side of the bank around the MacIntrye drilled a driver to 3 feet green and rolled in front of the of the cup on the 371-yard 18th caddie’s feet. hole. Moments later, Sergio Gar- Dustin had to mark MacIntyre’s cia ended one of the record eight ball so he could putt. MacIntyre sudden-death playoffs with a hole- was oblivious to what happened in-one. except he knew he hit the shot of Already the most fickle event in his life. golf, the Dell Technologies Match “Probably one of the best and Play on Friday was an endless one of the luckiest golf shots I’ve frenzy. hit in my life,” MacIntyre said. Kevin Na lectured Dustin John- “You’ve just got to keep fighting son about not waiting for a putt to until the end, and it just shows be conceded — 6 inches — and anything can happen in this then birdied the last two holes to game.” oust the No. 1 player in the world. His only chance was a low bul- Patrick Cantlay, practically flaw- let, and it caught the downward less with 14 birdies and an eagle slope for extra run toward the left DAVID CRIGGER/AP over two days, managed only two side of the green, which MacIn- Kyle Larson spins out along the dirt track during NASCAR Truck Series practice Friday in Bristol, Tenn. birdies and lost a playoff with a tyre couldn’t see. He heard it was three-putt. on the green. When it finally ended, Jon “I didn’t have a clue how close,” Rahm at No. 3 was the only player MacIntyre said. I’m thinking it’s from the top 20 seeds who made it going to be just on the green below NASCAR goes for first ride to the knockout stage of the week- the slope. Going to have hopefully end at Austin Country Club. two putts maybe to win the hole. “You just never know what can But when I seen where they put happen out there,” Billy Horschel the ball back down I was like, ‘No through the dirt at Bristol said after beating Max Homa on way!’ the third playoff hole. “And that’s what you play the Just about everything did. game for, these moments.” BY JENNA FRYER overall, followed by Alex Bowman Garcia beat Lee Westwood in Given how three days of group Associated Press and then Denny Hamlin, who last the longest of the eight playoffs play have gone, no telling what to It only took one session in the raced on dirt as an 8-year-old in a with a 9-iron from 161 yards to a expect on the win-or-go-home dirt for Kevin Harvick to change go-kart. front pin on the par-3 fourth hole weekend. It will include a trio of his mind about NASCAR’s latest Blaney felt the track conditions that landed just beyond the pin Texas Longhorns, including Jor- experiment. changed dramatically from the and trickled back into the cup. dan Spieth for the first time since Harvick was one of the loudest start of the day through the final “Well, 28 years on tour and I 2016. He won three straight holes detractors headed into the first practice session — and not for the thought I had seen everything. I around the turn and, unlike Thurs- Cup Series race on a dirt track good. hadn’t!” Westwood posted on day when he let Matthew Wolff off since 1970. He had been dreading “It’s rough, slick. Really rough, Twitter. the hook, Spieth managed to close Sunday’s race at Bristol Motor actually,” Blaney said. “The track Equally stunning was the drive out Corey Conners. Speedway from the moment NAS- is kind of coming up and there are of MacIntyre, the 24-year-old Scottie Scheffler halved his CAR put this harbinger on the crazy big divots. It’s rough.” from Scotland with plenty of match when Xander Schauffele schedule. Blaney also said dust made for spunk and loads of fight. He was 1 made an 8-foot birdie putt on the And it was only two weeks ago poor visibility until the sun set. down against Adam Long, who last hole, and then Scheffler re- that Harvick groaned about 250- The cars were indeed much was poised to advance with John- turned the favor with a 12-foot laps around the Tennessee bullr- slower — at least 5 seconds slower son in the group ahead about to birdie on the second extra hole. ing — he called it “the longest dirt a lap from times turned on Bris- lose to Na. The other Longhorn is Dylan Frit- race in the history of mankind” — DAVID CRIGGER/AP tol’s concrete — and Hamlin ex- Johnson backed away from his telli of South Africa, who became and predicted it would be a strug- NASCAR driver Ryan Blaney pected some changes to be made 6-foot par putt — Na only had 4 the first No. 64 seed in Match Play gle for drivers so accustomed to walks around a section of the to either the track surface or the feet for birdie — and his caddie, history to make it to the weekend. concrete to even make it to the new dirt trac in Bristol, Tenn. race format before Sunday. checkered flag. The starting lineup will be set After 51 laps of practice Friday the first time since the pandemic by heat races on Saturday and pit — in a truck, no less — Harvick began and scheduled a pair of Fri- stops during the race will be con- had done an about-face. day practice sessions for both the trolled with only tire changes per- “This has been a weekend that I Truck Series and the Cup Series. mitted. Rain is expected at Bristol had big X’s through, and honestly, When practice was complete, both Saturday and Sunday, which that’s as much fun as I’ve had in a truck series regular Ben Rhodes would impact a track surface that race car in a long time,” Harvick called Harvick a contender. has drivers concerned about tire said. “Just getting over my anxiety The favorites for Sunday, wear. and being able to do something though, are expected to be the Rain on Thursday had already way outside my comfort zone was drivers who both started their ca- made for changing track condi- rewarding.” reers racing on dirt and still do tions. Harvick was one of seven Cup throughout the NASCAR season. “It was like a really thin layer of regulars entered in Saturday But race favorite Kyle Larson had flaky dirt on top of the black, hard- night’s Truck Series race so they a huge temperature spike during packed, rubbered down dirt when could get some experience on dirt. Friday’s final practice and an en- I walked on it this morning. Then It was his first Truck Series race gine change will send him to the that went off pretty quickly,” said since 2015 but Harvick wanted as back of the field at the start of Sun- Blaney. “I just wish it was a little much track time as possible on the day’s race. bit smoother because there are so DAVID J. PHILLIP/AP red clay surface. And of the 10 fastest drivers on many ruts and things like that, but Sergio Garcia celebrates as he take his ball out of the cup after NASCAR returned to a tradi- the day, very few were dirt regu- maybe they’ll be able to put their making a hole in one on the fourth hole to win his playoff against Lee tional three-day race weekend for lars. Ryan Blaney was fastest heads together and work on it.” Westwood on Friday in Austin, Texas. Sunday, March 28, 2021 • STARS AND STRIPES • PAGE 21 NBA

Scoreboard

Eastern Conference

Atlantic Division WLPct GB Philadelphia 32 13 .711 — Brooklyn 31 15 .674 1½ New York 23 22 .511 9 Boston 22 23 .489 10 Toronto 18 27 .400 14 Southeast Division WLPct GB Charlotte 23 21 .523 — Atlanta 23 22 .511 ½ Miami 22 24 .478 2 Washington 15 28 .349 7½ Orlando 15 30 .333 8½ Central Division WLPct GB Milwaukee 29 15 .659 — Indiana 21 23 .477 8 Chicago 19 24 .442 9½ Cleveland 17 28 .378 12½ Detroit 12 32 .273 17 Western Conference

Southwest Division WLPct GB Dallas 23 20 .535 — San Antonio 22 20 .524 ½ Memphis 21 21 .500 1½ New Orleans 19 25 .432 4½ Houston 12 32 .273 11½ Northwest Division WLPct GB Utah 33 11 .750 — Denver 27 18 .600 6½ CARLOS OSORIO/AP Portland 27 18 .600 6½ Oklahoma City 19 25 .432 14 Brooklyn Nets forward Blake Griffin, center, is defended by Pistons forward Sekou Doumbouya, right, on Friday in Detroit. Griffin finished with Minnesota 11 34 .244 22½ 17 points in his first game back in Detroit since reaching a buyout agreement with the Pistons earlier this month. The Nets won 113­111. Pacific Division WLPct GB ROUNDUP Phoenix 30 14 .682 — L.A. Clippers 30 16 .652 1 L.A. Lakers 29 17 .630 2 Golden State 22 24 .478 9 Sacramento 20 25 .444 10½ Harden, Griffin help Nets beat Pistons Friday’s games Phoenix 104, Toronto 100 Brooklyn 113, Detroit 111 Associated Press ver outlasted New Orleans. Boston 122, Milwaukee 114 Denver 113, New Orleans 108 DETROIT — James Harden scored 44 Michael Porter Jr. scored 25 points, and Ja- Portland 112, Orlando 105 points and Blake Griffin added 17 in his return mal Murray had 23 points and 11 assists for the Minnesota 107, Houston 101 Charlotte 110, Miami 105 to Detroit, lifting the Brooklyn Nets to a 113-111 Nuggets. Indiana 109, Dallas 94 Utah 117, Memphis 114 victory over the Pistons on Friday night. Trail Blazers 112, Magic 105: Newly ac- Atlanta 124, Golden State 108 Harden was back after missing a game be- quired guard Norman Powell scored 22 points L.A. Lakers 100, Cleveland 86 Saturday’s games cause of neck soreness. He added 14 rebounds and hit five three-pointers in his Portland de- Detroit at Washington and eight assists. Brooklyn was still without but and the Trail Blazers overcame the ab- Houston at Minnesota New York at Milwaukee Kevin Durant (left hamstring strain) and Ky- sence of star guard Damian Lillard to beat host Chicago at San Antonio rie Irving (personal reasons). Orlando. Boston at Oklahoma City Dallas at New Orleans Griffin spent three-plus years with the Pis- C.J. McCollum scored seven of his 22 points Memphis at Utah Cleveland at Sacramento tons, but he reached a buyout agreement with in the fourth quarter. Portland won for a sec- Philadelphia at L.A. Clippers Detroit earlier this month and went to the con- ond night in a row and improved to 14-6 this Sunday’s games tending Nets. The Pistons played a tribute vid- season in back-to-back sets of games. Lillard Phoenix at Charlotte Portland at Toronto eo for him during a first-half timeout, and he sat out with a left knee contusion. Atlanta at Denver Orlando at L.A. Lakers stood to acknowledge the small number of fans Hawks 124, Warriors 108: John Collins Monday’s games in attendance. scored a career-high 38 points and had 12 re- Indiana at Washington Jerami Grant scored 19 points for Detroit. bounds in visiting Atlanta’s victory over Gold- Miami at New York Minnesota at Brooklyn Celtics 122, Bucks 114: Jayson Tatum en State. New Orleans at Boston scored 34 points, Marcus Smart had 23 and Andrew Wiggins scored 29 points for the Dallas at Oklahoma City Memphis at Houston Boston beat host Milwaukee to snap the Bucks’ Warriors in their fourth straight defeat, which Toronto at Detroit Sacramento at San Antonio eight-game winning streak and spilt the two- also included a 141-119 loss at Sacramento on Cleveland at Utah game series. Thursday night. Chicago at Golden State Milwaukee at L.A. Clippers For the second straight game, the Celtics ISAAC HALE/AP Timberwolves 107, Rockets 101:Karl-An- Leaders held Giannis Antetokounmpo in check, holding Grizzlies forward Justise Winslow, front, and thony Towns had 29 points and 16 rebounds, him to 16 points, well below his 28.6 average. Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert compete for and Juancho Hernangomez added 19 points in Through March 26 Milwaukee won the opener 121-119 on the ball on Friday in Salt Lake City. host Minnesota’s victory over Houston. Scoring Wednesday night. Hornets 110, Heat 105:Malik Monk scored GFG FT PTS AVG Jazz 117, Grizzlies 114: Donovan Mitchell and Grayson Allen 17. The Grizzlies dropped to 32 points, Terry Rozier had 26 points and a ca- Beal, WAS 40 443 294 1267 31.7 scored 35 points, Rudy Gobert had 25 and Utah 21-21, falling for the first time in four games. reer-high 11 assists and Charlotte handed vis- Lillard, POR 43 397 313 1288 30.0 beat Memphis for its 18th straight home victo- Suns 104, Raptors 100: At Tampa, Fla., iting Miami its sixth straight loss. Rebounds ry. Chris Paul and Deandre Ayton each scored 19 Pacers 109, Mavericks 94: Domantas Sa- GOFF DEF TOT AVG Gobert added nine rebounds, and Mitchell points and Phoenix held off Toronto despite not bonis had 22 points and 15 rebounds, Malcolm Capela, ATL 39 196 360 556 14.3 had six assists and five rebounds to help the making a field goal in the last 3:50. Brogdon also scored 22 points and Indiana beat Gobert, UTA 44 150 434 584 13.3 Jazz improve to 33-11. Bojan Bogdanovic add- Paul and Devin Booker converted four free host Dallas. Assists ed 17 points and Jordan Clarkson had 14. throws in the final 42 seconds. Booker had 16 Lakers 100, Cavaliers 86:Montrezl Harrell GAST AVG Ja Morant had 30 points and 11 assists for points to help the Suns improve to 30-14. had 24 points and 10 rebounds and the Lakers Harden, BKN 39 435 11.2 Memphis. Jonas Valanciunas added 14 points Nuggets 113, Pelicans 108: Nikola Jokic rallied in the second half to beat visiting Cleve- Westbrook, WAS 36 369 10.3 and 18 rebounds, Dillon Brooks had 22 points had 37 points and nine assists and visiting Den- land and snap a four-game losing streak. PAGE 22 • STARS AND STRIPES • Sunday, March 28, 2021 NCAA TOURNAMENT Smart era over for Longhorns Coach decides to take Marquette job

BY STEVEN MEGARGEE Associated Press MILWAUKEE — After a frus- 109-86 trating six-year stint at Texas in Shaka Smart’s record in six years as which he never quite lived up to the coach at Texas. The Longhorns lofty expectations, Shaka Smart is made the NCAA Tournament three returning to his home state and times in those six years, but had no starting over at Marquette. NCAA Tournament victories. Marquette officially announced SOURCE: Associated Press Friday that it had hired Smart to re- place Steve Wojciechowski, who Texas went 19-8 this season and was fired a week ago. The move won the Big 12 Tournament before came six days after Smart’s Texas its early NCAA exit. team was upset 53-52 by Abilene “I am extremely excited to get to MARK HUMPHREY/AP Christian in the first round of the Milwaukee to begin building rela- Texas head coach Shaka Smart, left, talks with an official during the first half of an NCAA Tournament NCAA Tournament. tionships and getting to work on the game against Abilene Christian. Smart is leaving Texas to take the head coaching job at Marquette. “Throughout the search, one in- court!” Smart said in a statement. dividual continued to rise to the This marks a bit of a homecom- Smart had two seasons left on a recruiting some elite talent to cam- Texas won the 2019 National In- top, and that was Shaka,” Mar- ing for Smart, who went to high Texas contract paying him more pus. He finished below .500 in the vitation Tournament. quette athletic director Bill Scholl school at Oregon, Wis., just outside than $3 million per year. Big 12 three times and had just Smart’s Texas teams didn’t lack said in a statement. “I am beyond Madison. His arrival should pro- Texas hired him to replace Rick three NCAA Tournament appear- for talent. First-round draft picks excited for our current and future vide a burst of energy for a Mar- Barnes, who was fired after mak- ances. Texas also likely would who played for Smart at Texas in- student-athletes who will have the quette program that went 128-95 ing the NCAA Tournament 16 have earned an NCAA bid in 2020 if cluded Jarrett Allen, Mo Bamba great fortune of being mentored by overall and 59-68 in Big East com- times in 17 seasons. Smart faced the pandemic hadn’t shut down the and Jaxson Hayes. All left after one Shaka. He is a great teacher of the petition during Wojciechowski’s the immediate expectation he’d season. season. game, while also being a great mol- seven seasons. not just match that sort of consis- This season was arguably This season, Texas had two play- der of young men.” Marquette went 13-14 this sea- tency, but ignite the program with Smart’s best at Texas. ers, Greg Brown and Kai Jones, Smart, who turns 44 on April 8, son for its first losing season since the sort of success he’d had in lead- The Longhorns were ranked as who project as likely first-round will be formally introduced at a Wojciechowski’s debut year of ing VCU to the Final Four. high as No. 4 in the Associated picks. Jones already has declared Monday news conference. 2014-15. The Longhorns haven’t been to Press Top 25 and were ninth head- he will turn pro. Brown has been Smart went 109-86 with no “Shaka will be the first person of the Final Four since 2003 and ing into the NCAA Tournament. expected to leave after his fresh- NCAA Tournament victories at color to lead our program, and is a haven’t made it out of the second But their first-round loss as a No. 3 man season since arriving on cam- Texas after a remarkably success- true role model for our student- round of the tournament since seed to No. 14 seed Abilene Chris- pus. ful six-year run at VCU, where he athletes,” Marquette President 2008. tian embarrassed Longhorns fans went 163-56 and led the Rams to a Michael R. Lovell said in a state- Instead, Smart’s years in the Big and re-ignited calls for him to go AP sports writer Jim Vertuno contributed to this Final Four appearance in 2011. ment. 12 proved to be a struggle despite that had seemed to cool down. report. Scoreboard Forget: Pac-12 assured of at least one Elite Eight team East Regional players, coaches and teams, but FROM PAGE 24 At Indianapolis we’re trying to build the program Regional Semifinals Sunday, March 28 way more competitive physically and sustain the success,” Enfield Michigan vs. Florida St. than the rest of the country knows said. Alabama vs. UCLA Regional Championship because most people are sleeping Both teams are winning with Monday, March 29 Semifinal winners when we play.” rosters featuring area players. South Regional The conference is assured of at USC’s Evan Mobley — who was At Indianapolis least one team in the Elite Eight raised in Riverside County — is Regional Semifinals with USC (24-7) facing Oregon the first player in conference his- Saturday, March 27 Baylor vs. Villanova (21-6) in a West Region matchup tory to be named Player of the Arkansas vs. Oral Roberts Sunday night. UCLA (20-9) also Year along with capturing top de- Regional Championship Monday, March 29 plays Sunday when it meets Ala- fensive and freshman honors. The Semifinal winners bama (26-6) for a spot in the East only other player to do that from a Midwest Regional Region final. Power Five conference was Ken- At Indianapolis Regional Semifinals The Bruins and Trojans are tucky’s Anthony Davis in 2012. Saturday, March 27 crosstown rivals but both have Mobley is expected to be the Loyola Chicago vs. Oregon St. Houston vs. Syracuse built tournament runs on similar second straight USC player to be a Regional Championship traits — strong coaching, great de- MARK J. TERRILL/AP lottery pick in the NBA Draft. Monday, March 29 Semifinal winners fense and local players leading the Southern California head coach Andy Enfield, right, is trying to build UCLA sophomore Johnny Ju- West Regional way. the progam and sustain the success his team has enjoyed . zang, a Tarzana, Calif., native who At Indianapolis Cronin is one of only five coach- began his career at Kentucky, is Regional Semifinals Sunday, March 28 es to direct teams to the last nine tian, the Bruins are holding oppo- USC demolished Kansas 85-51 the first Bruins player since Reg- Gonzaga vs. Creighton tournaments. The Bruins ap- nents to 38.8% shooting from the on Monday, which marks the big- gie Miller to score 20 points or Southern Cal vs. Oregon Regional Championship peared to be in for a short stay floor. gest win by a team over the Jay- more in his first two NCAA Tour- Monday, March 29 when they trailed Michigan State USC’s Andy Enfield was the hawks in NCAA Tournament his- nament games. Semifinal winners Final Four by 14 in the first half of their First Pac-12 Coach of the Year after the tory. The Trojans held Drake and With the Lakers and Dodgers At Indianapolis Four game, but they rallied for an Trojans were ranked for the final Kansas to 29% shooting in both bringing championships back to National Semifinals 86-80 overtime victory. month of the regular season. This games. Los Angeles within the past six Saturday, April 3 TBD Over the last five halves and is the fifth time in eight seasons he “USC basketball is on the rise. months, USC and UCLA are hop- National Championship Monday, April 5 overtime, which also includes has directed the Trojans to more Over the last 80 years, it’s been ing their runs can eventually end Semifinal winners wins over BYU and Abilene Chris- than 20 wins. like a roller coaster. A lot of great with the same result. Sunday, March 28, 2021 • STARS AND STRIPES • PAGE 23 NCAA WOMEN’S TOURNAMENT NCAA president says poor communication reason for inequity BY DOUG FEINBERG tournament,” Emmert said. Associated Press He said now the focus is on mak- SAN ANTONIO — Mark Em- ing sure it doesn’t happen again. mert acknowledged the glaring “We know that we’ve had dec- failures to give the coaches and ades of undervaluing women’s players in the women’s tournament sports throughout the entire sports the same attention the NCAA gave spectrum,” Emmert said. “We the men was a result of a lack of need to think through how we ad- communication dress that. We need to think between the two through how we want to more ag- basketball staffs gressively support and promote along with focus- women’s sports.” ing on trying to The NCAA has also received crit- tip off both events icism for using the term March safely during a Madness only to promote and pandemic. brand the men’s tournament. Em- The NCAA mert said the popular nickname Emmert president said could be used for the women’s tour- the oversights resulted in overlook- nament if organizers and those who STEPHEN SPILLMAN/AP ing differences that led to inequities support the game want it. Georgia Tech guard Lotta­Maj Lahtinen, left, forward Lorela Cubaj, back, guard Kierra Fletcher, right, and that have cast a dark, looming cloud “The mark March Madness isn’t coach Nell Fortner celebrate the team’s 73­56 win over West Virginia in the second round of the NCAA over the women’s tournament. exclusively the men’s basketball Women’s Tournament. Cubaj, from Italy, has put up double­doubles in both tournament games. “Clearly we should have had bet- mark and it wasn’t intended in that ter communication between my context,” he said. “There has been teams,” Emmert said in a 30-min- an ongoing discussion about how to ute interview with The Associated build the women’s basketball brand Press on Friday. “Clearly we and how much similarity versus should have really had a better fo- how much distinction is appropri- Foreign players making cus on a number of those details ate between the two games.” that are hardly details, but are real- While the budget to run the men’s ly, really important. NCAA Tournament in 2018-19 was “The emphasis that needed to be nearly double that of the women, on health and wellness and the com- according to a report in the New sacrifices to play in US plete and utter focus on how to pull York Times, Emmert said those this off in a pandemic led us to get numbers were much closer for this BY PAT EATON-ROBB “A lot of the embassies over- our eye off the ball on a handful of year’s tournaments, with both Associated Press Scoreboard seas weren’t operating at full things and that’s really unfortunate. events being held in one geographic Michigan’s Hailey Brown says strength or even open, so it was Had we done that better we area. she came very close to opting out Alamo Region very difficult for some of these wouldn’t have had these things “It has changed for this tourna- of this women’s basketball sea- At San Antonio kids,” he said. “And then, all the Regional Semifinals emerge.” ment,” he said. “We spent on the son. Sunday, March 28 restrictions that were placed on The NCAA announced on Thurs- women’s side, about another $16 The 6-foot-1 senior forward Stanford vs. Missouri St. what kind of classes you had to Louisville vs. Oregon day that it was hiring a law firm to million on COVID related expenses from Hamilton, Ontario, was Regional Championship have and each university operat- Monday, March 29 review potential gender equity is- and less than that on the men’s struggling with a fear of CO- Semifinal winners ing differently as to how they sues in all men’s and women’s side.” VID-19 and the travel restrictions were going to conduct their class- championship events. Emmert apologized to women’s she faced as a Canadian with the Hemisfair Region es.” At San Antonio “We can’t just say we’re in favor basketball players. border being closed. Regional Semifinals Once here, homesickness and of everything being equivalent and “We failed to deliver the things “She’s battled with that, with Sunday, March 28 language barriers became issues South Carolina vs. Georgia Tech fair, we’ve got to make sure that’s they earned and deserved,” he said. her family being away,” Michigan Maryland vs. Texas for some international players as Regional Championship actually the case across the board,” “Beg them to understand that’s not coach Kim Barnes Arico said. Monday, March 29 well as the inability to travel home Emmert said. a reflection of how they are valued “They haven’t been able to be Semifinal winners on breaks or have family travel to The NCAA has been accused the and how much we care about their here at all this season. So she’s by River Walk Region them, players and coaches said. past two weeks of not providing success as athletes and young wom- herself and she decided to live by At San Antonio “You go home, there’s a good Regional Semifinals equal amenities to the teams in the en. herself to be away from the CO- Saturday, March 27 chance you’re not coming back,” men’s and women’s Division I bas- “It’s been deeply frustrating and VID as much as possible.” UConn vs. Iowa Auriemma said. Baylor vs. Michigan ketball tournaments. Among other disappointing. My staff in San Anto- Brown had several heart-to- Regional Championship Georgia Tech, has four interna- things, female players, coaches and nio has been working so unbelieva- heart talks with Barnes Arico be- Monday, March 29 tional players, led by Italian for- Semifinal winners staff in San Antonio have criticized bly hard. This should be a moment fore finally deciding that playing ward Lorela Cubaj, who has put the NCAA for not initially providing we’re celebrating the return of col- this season would be worth the Mercado Region up double-doubles in both of the At San Antonio a full weight-training area to the lege sports. Celebrating our ability sacrifices. Regional Semifinals Yellow Jackets’ tournament women’s teams, noting the men’s to pull off championships in the Brown was a key factor in the Saturday, March 27 games. She had 14 points and 10 NC State vs. Indiana teams in Indianapolis did not have midst of a pandemic and do it well. Wolverines’ second-round win Texas A&M vs. Arizona rebounds in the overtime win Regional Championship the same problem. Instead we’re having this conversa- over Tennessee, scoring 1 4 points Monday, March 29 against Stephen F. Austin, then “We dropped the ball in San An- tion. It’s disappointing and frustrat- in the 70-55 victory, sending Mi- Semifinal winners put up 21 points and 12 rebounds tonio in the women’s basketball ing for everybody.” chigan (16-5) to its first-ever against West Virginia. Sweet 16 and a date with Baylor She will joined in Sunday’s on Saturday. Makurat from Poland. The Husk- game against top-seeded South “We dropped the ball in San She is among a group of inter- ies played Iowa on Saturday. Carolina by starters Nerea Her- national players who have over- Coach Geno Auriemma said the mosa from Spain and Finnish Antonio in the women’s basketball come the obstacles that come with toughest part was getting them to guard Lotta-Maj Lahtinen, as well being a foreign player during a the United States in time to play as Spanish forward Aixa Wone tournament.” pandemic and will take the court this season. He said that was Aranaz. Mark Emmert this weekend. touch-and-go, especially for his Georgia Tech coach Nell Fortn- UConn has three of them in freshmen, Edwards and Muhl, er said she’s found that her inter- NCAA president, on the inequities between facilities Canadian forward Aaliyah Ed- who were told they needed to be national players tend to be more at the men’s and women’s tournaments wards and guards Nika Muhl, enrolled in in-person classes to mature for their age and can han- who is from Croatia and Anna qualify for a visa. dle being away from home. PAGE 24 • STARS AND STRIPES • Sunday, March 28, 2021 ‘Poor communication’ SPORTS Emmert admits NCAA dropped ball with women’s tournament ›› Page 23

NCAA TOURNAMENT

MARK HUMPHREY/AP UCLA's Johnny Juzang, right, is defended by Abilene Christian's Coryon Mason, left, and Reggie Miller during their second­round game in the NCAA Tournament. Don’t forget LA UCLA, USC: From late night to prime time BY JOE REEDY tournament, it’s just very satisfying Associated Press and inspirational,” said former LOS ANGELES UCLA great Bill Walton, who an- CLA and Southern California games are nounces games for ESPN and the usually late-night viewing for most col- Pac-12 Network. lege basketball fans during the regular Most of the country might be Useason but both programs have prime shocked about the Pac-12’s success, time spots for the second weekend of March Mad- but UCLA coach Mick Cronin isn’t Cronin ness. one of them. The Los Angeles schools are among four Pac-12 “I coached in the Big East in the heyday, 11 teams in teams in the men’s Sweet 16, the first time since 2007 the NCAA Tournament (in 2011), so I know good and third time overall that the Bruins and Trojans teams,” said Cronin, who is in his second season in have both made it to the regional semifinals in the Westwood after 13 years at Cincinnati. “Teams in the MARK J. TERRILL/AP same tournament. Pac-12 play hard. We have excellent coaching. It’s Southern California forward Evan Mobley is the first player in Pac­12 “To see UCLA, USC and all the other conference history history to be named Player of the Year along with capturing teams having this excellent success throughout this SEE FORGET ON PAGE 22 top defensive and freshman honors

Garcia hits hole-in-one during Match Play in Austin ›› Page 20