FACES

Legendary Stonesdrummer Wattsdies at age 80Page 18

Volume 80 Edition 94 ©SS 2021 THURSDAY, AUGUST 26, 2021 50¢/Free to Deployed Areas

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COLLEGE FOOTBALL

FCS teams adjust to short turnaroundbetween seasonsPage 24

PACIFIC

Japan set to beginwork on new section ofMarine Corps airfield Page 4

Study links virus infection to suicidal thoughts in veterans ›› Page 3

WARSAW, Poland — Poland

ended its evacuations from Af-

ghanistan, but other European na-

tions vowed Wednesday to press

on for as long as possible as the

clock ticks down on a dramatic

airlift of people fleeing Taliban

rule ahead of a full American

withdrawal.

President Joe Biden said he is

sticking to his Aug. 31 deadline for

completing the U.S. pullout as the

Taliban insisted he must, ramping

up pressure on the already risky

operation to fly people out of Ka-

bul.

European allies pressed for

more time but lost the argument,

and as a practical matter they may

be forced to end their evacuations

before the last American troops

leave. Several countries haven’t

said yet when they plan to end

their operations, perhaps hoping

to avoid yet another fatal crush at

an airport, one of the last ways out

of the country.

The Taliban wrested back con-

trol of Afghanistan nearly 20 years

after they were ousted in a U.S.-

led invasion following the 9/11 at-SAMUEL RUIZ, U.S. MARINE CORPS/AP

A service member greets children during an evacuation at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Tuesday.

As clock onairlifts ticksdown, a riskyrace to finish

BY MONIKA SCISLOWSKA

Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Military

troops must immediately begin to

get the COVID-19 vaccine, De-

fense Secretary Lloyd Austin said

in a memo Wednesday, ordering

service leaders to “impose ambi-

tious timelines for implementa-

tion.”

More than 800,000 service

members have yet to get their

shots, according to Pentagon data.

And now that the Pfizer vaccine

has received full approval from

the Food and Drug Administra-

tion, the Defense Department is

adding it to the list of required

shots troops must get as part of

their military service.

The memo, which was obtained

by The Associated Press, does not

dictate a specific timeline for com-

pleting the vaccinations. But it

says the military services will

have to report regularly on their

progress. A senior defense official

said that Austin has made it clear

to the services that he expects

them to move quickly, and that

this will be completed in weeks

not months.

“To defend this Nation, we need

a healthy and ready force,” Austin

said in the memo. “After careful

consultation with medical experts

and military leadership, and with

the support of the President, I

Pentagon: US troops must get vaccines ASAPBY LOLITA C. BALDOR

Associated Press

SEE VACCINES ON PAGE 3

AFGHANISTAN

SEE AIRLIFTS ON PAGE 5

A small group of Boeing engi-

neers who perform key safety

tasks are raising concerns about

their ability to work free of pres-

sure from supervisors, and their

comments are prompting federal

regulators to take a broader look

into the company’s safety culture.

The employees are deputized to

approve safety assessments and

handle other jobs for the Federal

Aviation Administration, making

their independence from compa-

ny pressure critical.

According to an FAA letter, one

of the employees said, “I had to

have a sit down with a manager

and explain why I can’t approve

something.” The worker indicated

that the company shopped around

for another employee in the engi-

neering unit.

Another employee reported

consternation by managers when

engineers find fault in designs of

components because that can

cause delays in delivering air-

planes.

The FAA’s initial investigation

ran from May until July. An FAA

official described it in an Aug. 19

letter to Boeing’s leader of safety

and aircraft certification.

“We take these matters with the

utmost seriousness, and are con-

tinuously working to improve the

processes we have in place to en-

sure the independence” of em-

ployees who work on behalf of the

FAA, said Boeing spokeswoman

Jessica Kowal. She said those em-

ployees “must be accorded the

same respect and deference that is

shown” to FAA personnel.

Bahrain99/93

Baghdad112/79

Doha108/86

Kuwait City111/89

Riyadh107/84

Kandahar102/68

Kabul91/62

Djibouti99/85

THURSDAY IN THE MIDDLE EAST

Mildenhall/Lakenheath

64/57

Ramstein63/43

Stuttgart60/52

Lajes,Azores71/68

Rota81/66

Morón95/68 Sigonella

93/66

Naples82/69

Aviano/Vicenza73/55

Pápa70/53

Souda Bay83/75

Brussels64/57

Zagan59/56

DrawskoPomorskie

59/55

THURSDAY IN EUROPE

Misawa75/69

Guam84/81

Tokyo88/76

Okinawa83/80

Sasebo82/78

Iwakuni80/76

Seoul78/72

Osan77/70

Busan81/75

The weather is provided by the American Forces Network Weather Center,

2nd Weather Squadron at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb.

FRIDAY IN THE PACIFIC

WEATHER OUTLOOK

TODAYIN STRIPES

American Roundup ...... 11Classified .................... 13Comics .........................16Crossword ................... 16Faces .......................... 18Opinion ........................ 14Sports ................... 20-24

BUSINESS/WEATHER

Military rates

Euro costs (Aug. 26) $1.15Dollar buys (Aug. 26) 0.8306British pound (Aug. 26) $1.34Japanese yen (Aug. 26) 107.00South Korean won (Aug. 26) 1,137.00

Commercial rates

Bahrain (Dinar) .3770Britain (Pound) 1.3711Canada (Dollar) 1.2626China (Yuan) 6.4781Denmark (Krone) 6.3302Egypt (Pound) 15.7018Euro .8513Hong Kong (Dollar) 7.7848Hungary (Forint) 296.43Israel (Shekel) 3.2293Japan (Yen) 109.99Kuwait (Dinar) .3010

Norway (Krone) 8.8456

Philippines (Peso) 49.77Poland (Zloty) 3.89Saudi Arabia (Riyal) 3.7505Singapore (Dollar) 1.3539

South Korea (Won) 1,168.22Switzerland (Franc) .9139Thailand (Baht) 32.82Turkey (New Lira)  �8.3886

(Military exchange rates are those availableto customers at military banking facilities in thecountry of issuance for Japan, South Korea, Ger­many, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.For nonlocal currency exchange rates (i.e., pur­chasing British pounds in Germany), check withyour local military banking facility. Commercialrates are interbank rates provided for referencewhen buying currency. All  figures are foreigncurrencies to one dollar, except for the Britishpound,  which  is  represented  in  dollars­to­pound, and the euro, which is dollars­to­euro.)

INTEREST RATES

Prime rate 3.25Interest Rates Discount �rate 0.75Federal funds market rate  �0.093­month bill 0.0530­year bond 1.91

EXCHANGE RATESUS checking Boeing’s handling of safety workersAssociated Press

PAGE 2 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Thursday, August 26, 2021

Thursday, August 26, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 3

MILITARY

Veterans who have had CO-

VID-19 were more than twice as

likely to contemplate suicide dur-

ing the pandemic as those who

never had the illness, a study pub-

lished Wednesday found.

Overall, however, veterans

were less likely to have suicidal

thoughts during the pandemic

than they were before it, said the

study, which was published in JA-

MA Psychiatry.

The study was “one of the first

… to find an independent link be-

tween COVID-19 infection and su-

icidal ideation,” said lead author

Brandon Nichter, a Defense De-

partment clinical psychologist.

Suicidal thoughts after CO-

VID-19 infection could be driven

by physical issues, such as inflam-

mation of the brain or changes to

the body’s immune response,

which scientists believe may be

caused by the virus, the study said.

Social factors, including in-

creased feelings of isolation and

loneliness, or financial stress felt

during the pandemic could also be

factors.

Veterans whose primary health

care source was a Veterans Af-

fairs hospital were more likely to

say they had thought about sui-

cide.

Among the nearly 3,100 veter-

ans who took part in the study, the

prevalence of suicidal thoughts

fell from 10.6% prior to the pan-

demic to 7.8% 10 months into it,

bucking predictions that corona-

virus lockdowns and limits on

travel and gatherings could leave

veterans feeling lonelier and in-

crease suicidal behaviors among

them, the study said.

Veterans are considered a high-

risk group for loneliness and tend

to have more mental illness, such

as post traumatic stress disorder,

and previous suicide attempts

than other groups — all of which

increase suicidal thoughts.

The drop was seen mainly

among veterans ages 18 to 64, pos-

sibly because they are better at us-

ing “virtual technologies (e.g.,

FaceTime, Zoom) to solicit sup-

port during the pandemic,” said

one of the study’s authors, Dr.

Robert Pietrzak, director of the

main lab involved with the re-

search at the U.S. Department of

Veterans Affairs’ National Center

for PTSD.

But even among veterans over

65, who “were already at high risk

for loneliness,” suicide ideation

declined during the pandemic, the

study said.

That could be because veterans’

lifetime exposure to trauma, in-

cluding in combat, is greater than

other groups’ and “may have

helped ‘inoculate’ them to be bet-

ter able to endure periods of pro-

longed stress,” Pietrzak said in an

email.

It may also be linked “to a ‘pull-

ing together’ phenomenon that

has previously been observed in

natural disasters and periods of

war,” he said. “Societies (tend to)

pull together during times of na-

tional crisis, which may have

helped to promote social connec-

tedness and mitigate risk of sui-

cide ideation during the pandem-

ic.”

The veterans surveyed may

have under-reported suicidal be-

havior because of the stigma at-

tached to it, the researchers

warned, adding that they want to

follow individuals with COVID-19

infection over time to study the

long-term impact of the illness on

suicidal ideation, depression and

PTSD in veterans.

Vet study ties virus,suicidalthoughts

BY KARIN ZEITVOGEL

Stars and Stripes

SAMUEL KEENAN/National Guard

Army veteran Skip speaks to his family with an iPad last year at Holyoke Soldiers Home in Holyoke, Mass.,where he was in isolation due to COVID­19. Using technology to connect with others during isolation isthought to be one reason why suicidal thoughts among veterans fell during the pandemic, a study says.

zeitvogel.karin@stripes.comTwitter: @StripesZeit �

FORT BRAGG, N.C. — Town

hall meetings to gain community

input on the renaming of Fort

Bragg will be announced in the

coming weeks.

Col. Scott Pence, the installa-

tion’s garrison commander, up-

dated the community on the proc-

ess during a meeting Wednesday

that was broadcast on the installa-

tion’s Facebook page.

Pence said other installations

with airborne units often use the

phrase “back at Bragg,” which he

said is synonymous with readin-

ess, dedication to the mission, a

sense of urgency and commitment

to excellence.

“This Fort Bragg name repre-

sents an emotional connection for

people, so we take that very seri-

ously,” Pence said.

In January, Congress passed

the National Defense Authoriza-

tion Act, which includes a provi-

sion mandating military installa-

tions named after Confederates to

be renamed.

Fort Bragg is one of those instal-

lations and is named after Confed-

erate general Braxton Bragg, who

historians say was a slave owner

who fought with subordinates and

lost battles.

Despite some Fayetteville resi-

dents saying they do not support

the name change and most com-

menters on the Facebook page

saying they don’t want to see it

change, Congress mandated the

name be changed by 2023.

The National Defense Autho-

rization Act states that a renaming

commission will research costs of

changing the names of the instal-

lations, while also seeking the in-

put of stakeholders and communi-

ties near the installations.

The renaming commission in-

cludes four appointments by the

secretary of defense, two appoint-

ed by chairs of the House and Sen-

ate Armed Services Committees,

and two appointed by ranking

members of the House and Senate

Armed Services Committees.

The commission is tasked with

developing procedures for renam-

ing assets named after members

of the Confederacy, along with

gathering input from local com-

munities and submitting a plan to

the House and Armed Services

Committee by October 2022.

Fort Bragg, Pence said, is home

to the 18th Airborne Corps, Joint

Special Operations Command,

U.S. Army Special Operations

Command and would be consid-

ered the fifth largest city in North

Carolina.

Fort Braggplans townhalls forname input

BY RACHAEL RILEY

The Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer

have determined that mandatory

vaccination against coronavirus

disease ... is necessary to protect

the Force and defend the Ameri-

can people.”

Troops will be able to get their

Pfizer shots at their bases and

from their commands around the

world.

The Pentagon has said it has

enough vaccine supply to meet de-

mand.

Individual service members

may also go out and get any of the

other COVID vaccines on their

own.

Fulfilling the vaccine mandate,

however, may be a challenge for

National Guard forces who are

scattered around the country, and

gather just once a month for their

required drills.

According to the Pentagon,

there are more than 1.3 million

troops on active duty and close to

800,000 in the Guard and Reserve.

And, as of Aug. 18, more than 1 mil-

lion active-duty, Guard and Re-

serve service members were fully

vaccinated and nearly 245,000

more had received at least one

shot.

Senior military leaders have

consistently pressed their forces

to get vaccines through a wide

range of public pleas, and via so-

cial media and other campaigns.

But — as is true among the U.S.

population — many service mem-

bers have been reluctant.

Defense officials have said it’s

critical for troops to get the vac-

cine because they live and work

closely together and outbreaks

could hamper the U.S. military’s

ability to defend America.

Military officials have said they

don’t have specific numbers on

how many Guard troops are not

yet vaccinated, and the Pentagon

only provides a troop total that

lumps active-duty, Guard and Re-

serve into one statistic.

Hospitalizations and deaths are

increasing among the military.

Over the past month, the number

of service member deaths jumped

from 25 to 34 — by more than a

third.

“Our vaccination of the Force

will save lives,” said the Austin

memo.

Austin in the memo noted that

the new requirement will allow for

exemptions that are consistent

with the current policies for all the

other vaccines.

Permanent exemptions include

serious medical reactions to the

vaccine, immune deficiencies

such as HIV, and “evidence of ex-

isting immunity” by a serologic

antibody test or “documentation

of previous infection or natural in-

fection presumed.”

There also are administrative

exemptions, including one for re-

ligious reasons.

Religious exemptions are rare.

The Navy and the Marine Corps

said they have had no religious ex-

emption requests for other vac-

cines in recent years and the Air

Force said there were few.

The Army was not able to pro-

vide any data.

Briefing the news media on

Wednesday, Pentagon spokesman

John Kirby said commanders are

expected to carry out the vaccine

order with “skill and a measure of

compassion.”

Service members who object,

he said, will have the opportunity

to meet with medical personnel

and with their own leadership, to

ensure the troops understand the

risks to themselves and their

teammates if they don’t take the

vaccine.

Asked about specific puni-

shments for noncompliance, Kir-

by said commanders have a “wide

range of tools” to use.

“It’s a lawful order and we fully

anticipate that our troops are go-

ing to follow lawful orders,” he

added.

The Pentagon decision only ap-

plies to the Pfizer vaccine. Moder-

na has also applied to the FDA for

full approval of its vaccine. J&J

said it hopes to do so later this

year.

Vaccines: Pentagon says it has enough shots for troopsFROM PAGE 1

PAGE 4 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Thursday, August 26, 2021

TOKYO — A former Marine

scored three times and forced a

turnover in Team USA’s wheel-

chair rugby win Wednesday over

New Zealand in the opening game

of the Paralympics.

The game, on an indoor hard-

wood court at Yoyogi National Sta-

dium in the Japanese capital, be-

gan with a “haka” by the New

Zealanders, which had the same

passion as the challenge laid down

by their nation’s formidable All

Blacks rugby team.

Moments later, the arena rever-

berated with the sound of metal

striking metal as players launched

chairs at opponents like football li-

nemen, creating space for their

teammates to zoom toward the

goal line.

At times the action was so in-

tense that chairs tipped over, leav-

ing combatants from both teams

sprawled on the floor.

One of the U.S. players, Ray-

mond Hennagir, 35, of Deptford,

N.J., lost both legs and part of his

left hand after stepping on an im-

provised explosive device during

his second combat deployment

with 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine

Regiment, near Fallujah, Iraq, in

2007.

The former corporal didn’t let

his injuries slow him down in his

Paralympic debut.

At one stage he ripped the ball

from an opposing player and

passed to a teammate, then zipped

downcourt and caught a return

pass before crossing into the end

zone for one of three goals he

scored in quick succession.

“Honestly, it felt good to go out

there and play really well and get a

turnover for the team and keep the

momentum going,” Hennagir said

after the game, which the U.S. won

63-35.

A wrestler, hockey and basket-

ball player in high school, Henna-

gir began playing wheelchair bas-

ketball during rehabilitation at

Walter Reed National Military

Medical Center in Maryland. He

later switched to wheelchair rug-

by.

The sport made famous by the

2005 documentary film “Murder-

ball” is a four-on-four contest

played out on a basketball court-

sized area. Players attempt to car-

ry, dribble and pass a volleyball

from their own goal line into the

opponent’s end zone.

The U.S.-New Zealand clash

had everything from big hits to

arcing passes and graceful

swerves by ball carriers evading

defenders.

Hennagir rates his speed and

good hands as his best assets on

the field. He compared the cama-

raderie and banter among the

wheelchair rugby players to what

he experienced in the Marines.

“We are pretty much a family,”

he said, before giving a shout out

to Marines supporting the team in

Japan.

“We are out here doing our

thing and hoping to bring that gold

back,” he said.

The team’s next pool match is

against Canada on Thursday fol-

lowed by Great Britain on Friday,

Hennagir said, adding that he

doesn’t take any opponent for

granted.

“Everybody has good players,”

he said, “and they all train hard.”

Marine vet shines in wheelchair rugby winBY SETH ROBSON

Stars and Stripes

robson.seth@stripes.com Twitter: @SethRobson1

AKIFUMI ISHIKAWA/Stars and Stripes

Former Marine Raymond Hennagir scored three times in Team USA’s wheelchair rugby win over NewZealand during their Tokyo Paralympics matchup Wednesday.

Wednesday. “We asked them not

to rush and proceed with dialogue

with the prefecture.”

Abureau spokesman declined to

comment when reached by phone

on Wednesday. The defense bu-

reau is leading construction ef-

forts.

A bureau representative at an

environmental monitoring com-

mittee meeting Aug. 10 said con-

struction would start at the N2 site

as soon as the coral could be suc-

cessfully moved, Okinawa Times

reported.

Plans for the site have been in

the making for decades; however,

construction didn’t begin until

2017. Okinawa leaders, including

Gov. Denny Tamaki, have tried to

use the courts and administrative

CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa —

The Japanese government com-

pleted the relocation of 830 colo-

nies of endangered coral off the

coast of Okinawa this week and

plans to start construction on a new

portion of a contentious Marine

Corps airfield, according to local

media reports.

The coral is in Oura Bay, just off

Camp Schwab, where a runway is

being built to relocate Marine

Corps Air Station Futenma from

crowded Ginowan city.

The Japanese government fin-

ished transplanting coral Tuesday

from a small site in the construc-

tion zone known as N2, the Okina-

wa Times reported the following

day.

It now plans to start work this

week on a seawall to keep water

from the construction site. Once

completed, that section will make

it easier to offload landfill, thus

speeding up the project’s comple-

tion.

An Okinawa prefectural official

on Wednesday said the Okinawa

Defense Bureau, an arm of the Ja-

pan Defense Ministry, is not shar-

ing information about work at the

N2 site.

The defense bureau “didn’t in-

form us about the construction,” a

spokesman from Okinawa prefec-

ture’s Henoko Base Construction

Countermeasures Division told

Stars and Stripes by phone

challenges to block the work. So

far, they have only delayed the pro-

ject.

The Japanese government re-

quested fresh permits from Tama-

ki in April 2020 after it found a soft-

er than expected seabed at the site,

which requires further stabiliza-

tion. Tamaki has said he will refuse

the request.

The prefectural spokesman said

it would be “a waste” for the bu-

reau to start construction at the N2

site without those permits. The bu-

reau does not need permitting for

the site since the area does not

have a soft bottom, Okinawa Times

said, citing unnamed bureau offi-

cials.

In July, Tamaki was forced by

the country’s Supreme Court to ap-

prove the relocation of 40,000 colo-

nies of endangered coral from the

site. He asked the bureau for dia-

logue “instead of transplanting the

coral quickly,” along with other

conditions, Tamaki said at the

time.

The Japanese government

largely ignored his request and

started Aug. 6, one day after their

Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry

and Fisheries agreed to uphold the

court decision.

Completion of the runway is now

expected to take at least 10 more

years. Costs have ballooned from

$2.2 billion to at least $8.7 billion.

Japan starts work on new section of Marine Corps airfieldBY MATTHEW M. BURKE

AND MARI HIGA

Stars and Stripes

burke.matt@stripes.com Twitter: @MatthewMBurke1higa.mari@stripes.com Twitter: @MariHiga21

PACIFIC

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Military

leaders overseeing U.S. Space Command

backed down from full-throated support of a

process that would move it from Colorado

Springs to Alabama, but said they’ll wait for

a pair of federal investigations to conclude

before they decide to reverse the decision.

Former President Donald Trump caused

controversy Friday when he told a syndicat-

ed radio show that he “single-handedly” de-

cided on Huntsville, Ala., as the command’s

future home, short-circuiting a nonpartisan

process at the Pentagon to make the basing

decision.

In Colorado Springs for the Space Sympo-

sium, which packed the Broadmoor this

week, new Air Force Secretary Frank Ken-

dall said he puts as much faith in that Trump

statement as he has in the panoply of his po-

litical pronouncements.

“President Trump has said many, many

things,” Kendall said in a news conference.

But Kendall — who is familiar with assets

in Colorado Springs and Alabama from his

more than 50 years of defense experience,

including as an Army officer, defense con-

tractor and in senior Pentagon posts — was

clearly not ready to close the door on the

Pikes Peak region as Space Command home.

“I think either one of them is certainly fea-

sible as the headquarters,” he said of Hunts-

ville and Colorado Springs.

Space Command made its own move-free

headlines.

Dickinson announced Tuesday that the

command, which leads all American mili-

tary missions in orbit, reached a startup

milestone of “initial operational capability.”

The announcement means the command,

which celebrates its second birthday since

its 2019 rebirth next week, can effectively

defend American interests in orbit while de-

terring rivals from attacking U.S. space as-

sets.

Dickinson said that Space Command,

headquartered at Peterson Space Force

Base, is “prepared to address threats from

competition to conflict in space, while also

protecting and defending our interests in

this vast and complex domain.”

The latest version of the command, which

was headquartered here in the Cold War

years but shuttered amid budget cuts in

2002, has now reached 900 troops, Dickinson

said.

US Space Command meets first capability milestone in Colorado SpringsThe Gazette (Colorado Springs)

Thursday, August 26, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 5

tacks, which al-Qaida orchestrat-

ed while being sheltered by the

group. Their return to power has

pushed many Afghans to flee,

fearing reprisals or a return to the

brutal rule they imposed when

they last ran the country.

Thousands of people are still

thought to be trying to leave, and

it’s not clear that all of them will be

able to before the end of the

month. But any decision by Biden

to stay longer could reignite fight-

ing between the Taliban and West-

ern troops running the airlift.

“Due to extreme tension on the

ground ... and the scheduled de-

parture of American forces, these

evacuations are a true race

against time,” French govern-

ment spokesman Gabriel Attal

said Wednesday. He said that his

country’s evacuation would likely

end “a few hours, maybe a few

days ahead” of the American de-

parture.

The Taliban said they would al-

low normal commercial air traffic

to resume when they assume con-

trol of the airport after Aug. 31, but

it’s unclear whether airlines

would be willing to fly into an air-

port controlled by the militants.

With the deadline looming,

Marcin Przydacz, a Polish deputy

foreign minister, said Wednesday

that Poland had evacuated its last

group after consulting with U.S.

and British officials.

“After a long analysis of reports

on the security situation, we can-

not risk the lives of our diplomats

and of our soldiers any longer,”

Przydacz said.

A number of troops will remain

briefly to wrap up operations,

Przydacz said. Poland has used

over a dozen planes to bring hun-

dreds of evacuees to Warsaw.

Some later traveled on to other

countries.

The Czech Republic declared

its own evacuation mission com-

plete last week, and Hungary said

it plans to end its operations soon.

The White House said Wednes-

day that around 19,000 people

were evacuated from Kabul over

the last 24 hours. It said the United

States has evacuated or facilitated

the evacuation of around 82,300

people since the Taliban takeover

in mid-August.

Pentagon spokesman John Kir-

by said the military will “continue

to evacuate needed populations all

the way to the end.” But he added

that there will have to be a balance

in the final days and hours, as the

5,400 troops in Kabul and critical

systems also need to be with-

drawn.

Kirby said more than 4,400

American citizens have been

evacuated thus far, an increase of

about 400 from Tuesday.

In Kabul itself, life has been

slow to return to normal, but many

people — especially women — are

staying inside, fearful of the Tali-

ban or the general instability.

Kabul Mayor Dawood Sultan-

zoy said many city workers have

yet to return to work, with the ab-

sence of experienced staff hinder-

ing normal operations. But he said

the city has begun to remove the

blast walls that became ubiqui-

tous in recent years as the Taliban

and other armed groups carried

out bombings and other attacks

against the Western-backed gov-

ernment.

The Taliban say the decades of

war are over and there will be no

revenge attacks on people who op-

posed them. But many Afghans

distrust the group, and there have

been reports of summary execu-

tions and other abuses in areas un-

der Taliban control. Many fear a

return to the Taliban’s hard-line

Islamic rule of the 1990s.

Chaos at the Kabul airport has

transfixed the world after the Tali-

ban captured most of Afghanistan

in a matter of days this month. Af-

ghans poured onto the tarmac last

week, and some clung to a U.S.

military transport plane as it took

off, later plunging to their deaths.

At least seven people died that

day, and another seven died Sun-

day in a panicked stampede.

Thousands have thronged the

airport in the days since, and the

U.S. and its allies have worked to

speed the evacuation, sometimes

flying people out before their pa-

perwork is fully processed and

bringing them to transit points. On

Wednesday, a group of 51 people

landed in Uganda, which became

the first African nation to serve as

a transit point.

European nations, including

American allies Germany and the

United Kingdom, had pressed for

a longer window to continue evac-

uations. Biden has stuck to the Au-

gust date, however, even after an

emergency online summit of the

Group of Seven nations.

That left European nations with

no choice but to abide by the dead-

line.

“That the overall deployment

literally stands and falls with the

stance of the militarily strongest

member of the alliance, the U.S.,

was always clear to us,” German

Chancellor Angela Merkel said in

a speech to parliament.

“We will continue the evacua-

tion operation for as long as pos-

sible,” she added, without specify-

ing when operations would end.

For now, the U.S. military coor-

dinates all air traffic in and out of

the Kabul airport. Taliban spokes-

man Suhail Shaheen tweeted that

“people with legal documents”

will be able to fly out of Kabul air-

port via commercial flights after

the August deadline.

On Wednesday, a stream of mil-

itary planes took off from the air-

field as evacuees lined up on the

tarmac. The desperate remained

outside, some standing knee-deep

in sewage and waving identity

documents at Western soldiers in

hopes of being allowed to go be-

yond the barbed wire fencing and

onto a flight out.

With the final withdrawal date

just under a week away, analyst

Patricia Lewis said the practical

deadline for the evacuations to

stop was “the next couple of days.”

“There’s a huge amount of stuff

that has to be done, including get-

ting all the people out who are do-

ing the job and all the equipment,”

said Lewis, who is the director of

the international security pro-

gram at Chatham House, an inter-

national think tank.

“All of the allies are highly de-

pendent on the U.S. for military

cover, particularly air cover,” Le-

wis said. “They can’t put their own

people at risk, so it really depends

on when the U.S. starts packing

up.”

Airlifts: Thousands of people still trying to leave country

SAMUEL RUIZ, U.S. MARINE CORPS/AP

A Marine with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit walks with a family during ongoing evacuations at HamidKarzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan on Tuesday.

FROM PAGE 1

AFGHANISTAN

U.S. agencies are rushing to

complete security vetting of thou-

sands of Afghanistan citizens who

are in line to be relocated to the

United States, as some lawmakers

raise alarms about the risk that

terrorists and criminals could slip

through.

The massive and chaotic evac-

uation effort from the airport in

Kabul means that thousands of

people are being put on planes be-

fore their background vetting is

complete. It includes many who

had already applied for special

immigrant visas after working

with U.S. soldiers and diplomats,

as well as others who didn’t.

U.S. agencies are doing security

screening while flights are in the

air and when refugees arrive at

temporary locations before being

transferred to the U.S., including

Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Italy,

Spain and Germany.

“Intelligence, law enforcement

and counterterrorism profession-

als are conducting screening and

security vetting for all SIV appli-

cants and other vulnerable Af-

ghans before they are allowed into

the United States,” the State De-

partment said in a statement Mon-

day. “We are surging resources to

evaluate each case and process

these as efficiently as possible to

protect homeland security.”

U.S. officials declined to say on

Monday how many, if any, Af-

ghans have been flagged for secu-

rity concerns in the vetting proc-

ess or denied entry to the U.S. On

the flip side, however, the Biden

administration is facing mounting

pressure from veterans and refu-

gee advocates to get as many Af-

ghans out of Kabul as quickly as

possible, saying they can be vetted

once they get to a safe location.

The State Department is getting

help at the Kabul airport from

members of the military. Outside

Afghanistan, the Department of

Homeland Security has deployed

personnel from Customs and Bor-

der Protection, Immigration and

Customs Enforcement and the

Transportation Security Adminis-

tration to Bahrain, Germany, Ku-

wait and Qatar to conduct process-

ing and vetting of Afghans, said

DHS spokesman Angelo Fernán-

dez Hernández.

The goal is to bring Afghans to

the U.S. “who have worked for and

on behalf of the United States and

other eligible vulnerable Afghans

in coordination with Department

of Defense and Department of

State,” Fernández Hernández

said in a statement.

Customs and border agents, for

example, are working alongside

the FBI and other agencies to con-

duct the vetting, which includes

biometric and biographic screen-

ing, the department said. U.S. Citi-

zenship and Immigration Services

also has dedicated resources, in-

cluding translation services, to ex-

pedite the processing of pending

petitions and applications by Af-

ghan nationals.

US races to vet refugees for security risksBY CHRIS STROHM

Bloomberg News

PAGE 6 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Thursday, August 26, 2021

The head of an animal rescue

clinic in Kabul that has helped

American troops bring home cats

and dogs from Afghanistan after

their deployments is racing to evac-

uate staff and hundreds of animals

by the end of the month.

Charlotte Maxwell-Jones, an

American who founded Kabul

Small Animal Rescue in 2018, was

recently told by the Taliban to leave

Afghanistan. But she doesn’t intend

to go until she’s secured the depar-

ture of about 125 people, including

her employees and their family

members, and as many as 250 ani-

mals, she said.

“We’re not going to leave them,”

Maxwell-Jones said in a phone in-

terview Tuesday.

She acknowledged that she has

little time left to organize the exit.

U.S. forces are scheduled to leave

Afghanistan by Aug. 31 and it’s un-

clear how many civilians will be

able to leave at the very end, when

U.S. and foreign forces fly them-

selves out.

The rescue has received some

$700,000 in donations over the past

week through online sites, grants

and smaller fundraisers. The mon-

ey is intended to pay for a chartered

flight or flights, but logistical chal-

lenges remain that make coordinat-

ing with the U.S. military and the

Taliban necessary.

The biggest hurdle is finding a

third country that will allow a plane

carrying animals to land. All the ani-

mals Kabul Small Animal Rescue is

trying to evacuate have paperwork

to enter the U.S., but all of its Afghan

staffers have applied for P1 visas,

which require applicants to be vet-

ted in a third country.

“We need a landing permit for

our animals,” Maxwell-Jones said

in an impassioned video message

posted on Twitter on Monday. “We

need a landing permit because I

think it’s going to continue to get

more difficult.”

The video was posted the same

day that a group of about a dozen Ta-

liban officials, including one hold-

ing a rocket-propelled grenade

launcher, showed up at Maxwell-

Jones’ Kabul residence and told her

to leave the country, she said.

“I’m not armed. They just came

into my house,” she said.

“They said NGOs would be al-

lowed to stay,” she added, referring

to a previous statement on the status

of nongovernmental organizations

by the group. “I think everybody be-

lieves that’s a lie.”

Maxwell-Jones told the Taliban

she was in the process of leaving

with her staff and needed more

time. Taliban guards have been sta-

tioned at her house since then and

the group has agreed to escort her

and the staff to the airport in the

coming days, she said.

Tens of thousands of Afghans

desperate to leave the country have

surrounded the Kabul airport since

the Taliban’s lightning takeover of

the city Aug. 15. The crowds make

entry difficult and pose another ob-

stacle to the rescue group’s evacua-

tion.

Yet another hurdle is getting per-

mission from the U.S. military to

land a chartered flight at the airport.

Maxwell-Jones said that when

she first called U.S. officials and told

them she wanted to evacuate ani-

mals, they dismissed her.

“Now people in the U.S. are get-

ting their senators and state [repre-

sentatives] to go through it for us, so

we’re getting a bit more traction,”

Maxwell-Jones said.

But as of Wednesday afternoon,

permission still hadn’t been granted

and time was running out.

Despite the chaotic scenes at Ka-

bul’s airport and fears that some

Americans and at-risk Afghans

may be left behind, President Joe

Biden has ruled out any extension of

the deadline, The Associated Press

reported Tuesday. The Taliban also

were adamant that the U.S. with-

draw by the deadline date at a press

conference Tuesday.

Even as they prepare to leave,

staffers at Kabul Small Animal Res-

cue have been collecting dogs and

cats left behind by others forced to

flee.

Maxwell-Jones founded the ani-

mal rescue group in 2018 as a side

project while working with the

Heart of Asia Society, a think tank

working toward sustainable peace

in the country.

Her organization rescues strays,

provides veterinary services and

helps ship animals abroad for adop-

tion.

Maxwell-Jones said in an April

interview that two-thirds of the dogs

she had shipped to the U.S. in the

previous week had been for service

members, who befriended the ani-

mals while deployed in the country.

Kabul Small Animal Rescue isn’t

the only organization trying to evac-

uate animals from Afghanistan

amid the Taliban takeover.

Nowzad, a Kabul shelter founded

by British former Marine Paul Far-

thing, has been campaigning to

have its employees, their families

and 200 dogs and cats brought out in

what has been dubbed “Operation

Ark.”

Some have criticized the oper-

ation for putting “pets before peo-

ple,” but Farthing has said the ani-

mals will travel in a hold where peo-

ple can’t go, meaning that the main

section of Nowzad’s privately fund-

ed plane will be able to carry more

people out of the country.

Maxwell-Jones responded to

similar criticisms about her organi-

zation's aim to help cats and dogs.

“I realize that it’s not everybody

else’s passion, but these are private

donations,” she said. “I think that

their lives matter, and I have put

blood, sweat and tears into this orga-

nization that’s specifically for sav-

ing animals. And I don’t intend to

stop now.”

American won’tleave withoutstaff, animals

BY PHILLIP WALTER

WELLMAN

Stars and Stripes

Kabul Small Animal Rescue

Charlotte Maxwell­Jones, founder of Kabul Small Animal Rescue, plays with rescued dogs in Kabul,Afghanistan, in 2019. Maxwell­Jones is trying to get the organization’s staff and up to 250 animalsevacuated from the country before the end of August.

wellman.phillip@stripes.com Twitter: @pwwellman

“I have put blood, sweat and tears intothis organization that’s specifically forsaving animals. And I don’t intend tostop now.”

Charlotte Maxwell-Jones

founder of Kabul Small Animal Rescue

CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea —

Over 380 Afghans who supported South

Korea in Afghanistan before the Taliban

seized power are expected to arrive at an

airport outside Seoul on Thursday, ac-

cording to the Ministry of Foreign Af-

fairs.

The evacuees include locals who

worked at the South Korean Embassy in

Kabul, hospitals, vocational training cen-

ters and provincial reconstruction teams.

They are being flown out of Hamid Kar-

zai International Airport in Kabul aboard

three South Korean military airplanes,

Second Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs

Choi Jongmoon said during a Wednesday

press conference.

Choi cited the country’s “moral respon-

sibility” to house the Afghans given the

“serious situations” many of them are un-

der. He added that the evacuees will be

entering the country not as refugees, “but

people who have done distinguished ser-

vice to South Korea.”

Some South Korean lawmakers recent-

ly said the country ought to act amid the

ongoing refugee crisis in Afghanistan.

“Afghanistan needs the help of neigh-

boring countries for getting immediate

humanitarian aid; however, unfortunate-

ly, Europe and many surrounding nations

are against accepting refugees from Af-

ghanistan,” Rep. Jang Hye-young of the

progressive Justice Party said in a Face-

book post Friday.

Jang added: “We need to actively seek a

role we can play in a direction, which is

solidarity and cooperation on a global lev-

el, instead of shifting all burdens of the

acceptance of refugees onto countries

surrounding Afghanistan.”

Over 3,900 South Korean troops served

in Afghanistan, according to a Defense

Ministry official who spoke to Stars and

Stripes on the customary condition of

anonymity Wednesday. One South Ko-

rean soldier died after a bomb attack in

2007.

Plans to temporarily relocate evacuees

to U.S. bases in South Korea and Japan

were scrapped due to logistical and geo-

graphical factors, according to a Reuters

report Tuesday.

South Korea airlifting hundreds of Afghans out of KabulBY DAVID CHOI

AND YOO KYONG CHANG

Stars and Stripes

choi.david@stripes.com Twitter: @choibboy chang.kyong@stripes.com

AFGHANISTAN

Thursday, August 26, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 7

WASHINGTON — House Re-

publicans and Democrats urged

President Joe Biden on Tuesday to

extend the deadline to withdraw

U.S. troops from Afghanistan in or-

der to evacuate all Americans and

Afghan allies.

Biden decided Tuesday to stick

with the Aug. 31 deadline to with-

draw U.S. military forces from the

country, citing the increasing rate of

evacuations and the security risks

now that Afghanistan is under Tali-

ban control. Biden relayed his deci-

sion Tuesday morning to the Group

of Seven, an intergovernmental fo-

rum that includes Canada, France,

Germany, Italy, the United King-

dom and Japan.

House Republicans blasted the

decision in a news conference Tues-

day and argued it wasn’t possible to

evacuate all Americans and Afghan

allies in the next week. They warned

people would be left behind.

“There’s no possible way that we

can get every American still in Af-

ghanistan out in the next seven

days,” said Rep. Kevin McCarthy,

R-Calif. “I want to be very clear with

him: Don’t pick the date, solve the

problem. Make sure every Ameri-

can is out, then that will be the day

we depart.”

McCarthy, the House minority

leader, attended a classified brief-

ing about Afghanistan on Tuesday.

He said the information relayed in

the briefing made him less confi-

dent about America’s effort to evac-

uate U.S. citizens and allies.

Some Democrats agreed. Rep.

Adam Schiff, D-Calif., chairman of

the House Intelligence Committee,

said after a classified briefing Mon-

day that it was “very unlikely” the

United States could evacuate all

Americans and allies by Aug. 31.

Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif.,

chairman of the House Committee

on Veterans’ Affairs, issued a state-

ment Tuesday encouraging Biden

to extend the deadline to allow more

time to help America’s wartime

partners to leave Afghanistan.

Some Afghanistan War veterans

are trying to assist their Afghan

friends obtain special immigrant vi-

sas in order to get out of the country,

Takano said.

“Despite great risks to them-

selves, our Afghan allies stepped up

to help us,” he said. “For those veter-

ans who want to help the allies who

supported them, we must ensure

they have time to do so.”

The White House said Tuesday,

however, that evacuation rates

were surpassing their daily goals. In

the past 24 hours, about 21,600 peo-

ple were evacuated from the coun-

try. The Department of Defense

said the pace of military flights out

of Kabul is one departure every 45

minutes.

In total, 76,000 people have been

evacuated since the end of July, the

White House said.

Some of Biden’s advisers also

want to withdraw by Aug. 31 out of

concern for the safety of American

troops who might be in danger if the

U.S. stays in the country past the

deadline that was agreed upon with

the Taliban. White House officials

said they speak with Taliban repre-

sentatives on a daily basis, and they

have said the deadline is firm.

ANDREW HARNIK/AP

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R­Calif., speaks at a news conference on the steps of the Capitolin Washington, D.C., on July 29.

House lawmakers call on White House to

extend deadline to withdraw US forcesBY NIKKI WENTLING

Stars and Stripes

wentling.nikki@stripes.comTwitter: @nikkiwentling

WASHINGTON — Two mem-

bers of Congress flew unan-

nounced into Kabul airport in the

middle of the chaotic evacuation,

stunning State Department and

U.S. military personnel who had to

divert resources to provide securi-

ty and information to the lawmak-

ers, U.S. officials said.

Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., and

Rep. Peter Meijer, R-Mich., flew in

and out on charter aircraft and

were on the ground at the Kabul

airport for several hours Tuesday.

That led officials to complain that

they could be taking seats that

would have otherwise gone to other

Americans or Afghans fleeing the

country, but the congressmen said

in a joint statement that they made

sure to leave on a flight with empty

seats.

“As Members of Congress, we

have a duty to provide oversight on

the executive branch,” the two said

in their statement. “We conducted

this visit in secret, speaking about it

only after our departure to mini-

mize the risk and disruption to the

people on the ground, and because

we were there to gather informa-

tion, not to grandstand.”

The two lawmakers are both mil-

itary veterans, with backgrounds in

the region. Moulton, a Marine who

has been outspoken critic of the

Iraq War, served multiple tours in

Iraq. Meijer was deployed as part

of the Army Reserves and later

worked in Afghanistan at a nongov-

ernmental organization providing

aid. Moulton serves on the House

Armed Services Committee and

Meijer is on the House Foreign Af-

fairs Committee.

Three officials familiar with the

flight said that State Department,

Defense Department and White

House officials were furious about

the incident because it was done

without coordination with diplo-

mats or military commanders di-

recting the evacuation.

The U.S. military found out about

the visit as the legislators’ aircraft

was inbound to Kabul, according to

the officials. The officials spoke on

condition of anonymity to discuss

ongoing military operations.

One senior U.S. official said the

administration saw the lawmakers’

visit as manifestly unhelpful and

several other officials said the visit

was viewed as a distraction for

troops and commanders at the air-

port who are waging a race against

time to evacuate thousands of

Americans, at-risk Afghans and

others as quickly as possible.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is-

sued a statement Tuesday evening

taking note of the desire of some

legislators to visit Afghanistan and

saying she was writing to “reiterate

that the Departments of Defense

and State have requested that

Members not travel to Afghanistan

and the region during this time of

danger. Ensuring the safe and

timely evacuation of individuals at

risk requires the full focus and at-

tention of the U.S. military and dip-

lomatic teams on the ground in Af-

ghanistan.”

US lawmakers’ tripto Kabul promptsfury from officials

BY LOLITA C. BALDOR

Associated Press

AFGHANISTAN

PAGE 8 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Thursday, August 26, 2021

AFGHANISTAN

In a mountain valley north of Ka-

bul, the last remnants of Afghanis-

tan’s shattered security forces have

vowed to resist the Taliban in a re-

mote region that has defied con-

querors before. But any attempt to

reenact that history could end in

tragedy — or farce.

Nestled in the towering Hindu

Kush, the Panjshir Valley has a sin-

gle narrow entrance and is the last

region not under Taliban control fol-

lowing their stunning blitz across

Afghanistan. Local fighters held off

the Soviets in the 1980s and the Tali-

ban a decade later under the leader-

ship of Ahmad Shah Massoud, a

guerrilla fighter who attained near-

mythic status before he was killed in

asuicide bombing.

His 32-year-old foreign-educated

son, Ahmad Massoud, and several

top officials from the ousted West-

ern-backed government have gath-

ered in the valley. They include Vice

President Amrullah Saleh, who

claims to be the caretaker leader af-

ter President Ashraf Ghani fled the

country.

They have vowed to resist the Ta-

liban and are calling for Western aid

to help roll them back.

“I write from the Panjshir Valley

today, ready to follow in my father’s

footsteps, with mujahideen fighters

who are prepared to once again take

on the Taliban,” Massoud wrote in

an op-ed for The Washington Post.

“We have stores of ammunition and

arms that we have patiently collect-

ed since my father’s time, because

we knew this day might come.”

But experts say a successful re-

sistance is highly unlikely — and

could potentially aggravate Afghan-

istan’s already considerable prob-

lems.

While the Panjshir Valley re-

mains as impregnable as ever, it’s

unclear how long its residents can

hold out if the Taliban besiege the

area or attack it using the U.S.-sup-

plied armaments they have seized.

Western countries, stunned by the

collapse of a costly, two-decade at-

tempt at remaking Afghanistan, are

unlikely to invest in another proxy

war.

Ahmad Shah Massoud, nick-

named the “Lion of Panjshir,” was

one of the main leaders of the Af-

ghan mujahedeen, self-styled holy

warriors who defeated the Soviets in

1989. His Northern Alliance includ-

ed fellow Tajiks as well as fighters

from other ethnic groups, in keep-

ing with his vision of an independ-

ent, multiethnic Afghanistan under

amoderate form of Islamic rule.

But as the country slid into war in

the early 1990s, he found himself

battling rival warlords and eventu-

ally the Taliban, who seized power

in 1996. During their five-year rule,

his forces were confined to Panjshir

and other remote areas in north-

eastern Afghanistan.

Two days before the Sept. 11, 2001,

attacks, al-Qaida militants dis-

guised as Arab journalists who had

come to interview Massoud killed

the commander in a suicide bomb-

ing.

His forces remained intact, how-

ever, and partnered with the United

States when it invaded Afghanistan

weeks later, scattering al-Qaida,

which orchestrated the 9/11 attacks,

and driving the Taliban from power.

Along with other former warlords,

they went on to form the core of the

government and security forces

that the U.S. and its allies would

spend the next two decades arming

and training, at a cost of billions of

dollars.

Those forces, which from the be-

ginning were rife with corruption,

collapsed in a matter of days earlier

this month, as the Taliban captured

most of the country less than three

weeks before the U.S. was set to

withdraw its last troops.

The younger Massoud, who was

just 12 when his father was killed,

trained at the British military acad-

emy at Sandhurst and also earned a

master’s degree in international

politics from the City University of

London.

He has little, if any, combat expe-

rience. Sandy Gall, a veteran for-

eign correspondent who wrote “Af-

ghan Napoleon: The Life of Ahmad

Shah Massoud,” described his son

as “a very personable young man

with political ambitions.”

Massoud says he has been joined

by highly-trained Afghan special

forces and other soldiers “disgusted

by the surrender of their command-

ers,” but neither proved to be any

match for the Taliban elsewhere in

the country.

Torek Farhadi, an Afghan analyst

and former government adviser,

said the group poses little threat to

the Taliban, and he cast doubt on Sa-

leh’s claims that he could lead a re-

sistance, calling him a “social media

person.”

“If he was a real threat, he should

have stayed the day Ghani fled and

defended the palace. He was the

vice president and soldiers were un-

der his order,” said Farhadi.

Even the specter of such a stand-

off, he said, risks plunging the coun-

try into another period of violence

and turmoil, with dire consequenc-

es for ordinary Afghans.

The ousted leaders holed up in

Panjshir may end up joining the ne-

gotiations that the Taliban are hold-

ing with other former Afghan offi-

cials. The Taliban have said they

want an “inclusive, Islamic govern-

ment” but will hold off on forming

one until the U.S. completes its with-

drawal.

“We must use our weight with the

international community to get

guarantees from the Taliban for an

all-encompassing government that

includes women and non-Taliban,”

said Farhadi.

Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob, a

senior Taliban official, said their

forces have surrounded Panjshir.

“We are doing our best to solve

the issue through negotiations, but if

they don’t accept the talks, we are

ready to fight,” he said.

In an interview with the Al-Arabi-

ya news network over the weekend,

Massoud said he would not surren-

der territory but could support a

broad-based government.

Aresident of Panjshir reached by

phone said Massoud had warned

people that the Taliban might attack

and said families could leave if they

wished. Those who stayed would

prefer a negotiated solution but are

loyal to Massoud and prepared to

fight if necessary, the man said on

condition of anonymity because of

security concerns.

“Panjshir people are used to this,”

he said.

Remote valley vows to resist TalibanAssociated Press

ANJA NIEDRINGHAUS/AP

A large poster of late guerrilla fighter Ahmad Shah Massoud is displayed next to a road leading intoAfghanistan’s Panjshir Valley in 2011.

Ezanullah, one of thousands of

young Taliban fighters from the

countryside who rode into Afghan-

istan’s capital over the weekend,

had never seen anything like it.

The paved streets of Kabul were

lined with towering apartment

blocks, glass office buildings and

shopping malls. The plush furni-

ture inside the Interior Ministry

was like “something I thought of in

a dream,” said the 22-year-old

fighter from the country’s moun-

tainous east.

He said he plans to ask his com-

mander if he can stay. “I don’t want

to leave,” he said.

The encounter highlights how

much Kabul and other Afghan ci-

ties have changed in the 20 years

since the Taliban, who mainly hail

from rugged rural areas, last ruled

the country. An entire generation of

Afghans has come of age under a

modernizing, Western-backed gov-

ernment flush with development

aid.

Many fear those gains will be re-

versed now that the Taliban are

back in power and the last U.S.

troops are on their way out.

Thousands have flocked to the

airport trying to flee, most of them

men unaccompanied by families.

Younger Afghans have no memory

of Taliban rule, but fear its return

will mean the loss of freedoms. The

militants imposed a harsh interpre-

tation of Islamic law from 1996 until

2001, when a U.S.-led invasion

drove them from power.

The Taliban, who largely hail

from Afghanistan’s conservative

countryside, have signaled moder-

ation in recent days — offering am-

nesty to those who fought them, in-

viting women to return to work and

pledging to restore normal life after

decades of war. But many Afghans,

particularly women, remain deeply

skeptical of the group’s intentions.

Ezanullah was surprised when

two women said hello to him on the

street.

“They said we were afraid of you

and thought you were horrible,” he

said. “But I told them you are like

my sisters, and we will let you go to

school and continue your education

and give you security.”

“Just look after your hijab,” he

added, referring to the Islamic

headscarf.

Whether or not the Taliban have

truly changed, the country they

now rule is light-years ahead of the

one they captured in 1996 after four

years of civil war following the So-

viet withdrawal and the 1992 col-

lapse of a pro-communist govern-

ment.

Then the city was in ruins, rav-

aged by warlords who would later

ally with the United States. Most Af-

ghans traveled Kabul’s rutted

roads by bicycle or in beat-up yel-

low taxis. There was only one com-

puter in the entire country, and it

belonged to Mullah Mohammed

Omar, the Taliban’s reclusive lead-

er, who did not know how to turn it

on.

Under Taliban rule, television

and music were forbidden. Women

were barred from attending school

or working outside the home, and

had to wear the all-encompassing

burqa whenever they appeared in

public.

Today, the country is home to

four mobile companies and several

satellite TV stations with female an-

chors, one of whom interviewed a

Taliban official Monday. The Tali-

ban fighters carry smartphones

and could be seen taking selfies as

they marveled at the capital they

had rolled into virtually unopposed

after 20 years of war.

Some things have gotten worse

since the Taliban were last in pow-

er.

The city has been in the grip of a

crime wave for years, one many

fear will get even worse after pris-

ons and government armories were

emptied during the Taliban’s ad-

vance. One of the few successes of

their harsh Islamic rule was the vir-

tual elimination of crime — sus-

pected thieves had their hands

chopped off; other criminals were

executed in public.

The Taliban have pledged to re-

store law and order, but that could

take time. The city’s population has

quintupled to 5 million over the last

two decades.

Taliban encounter Afghan cities remade in their absenceBY KATHY GANNON

Associated Press

Thursday, August 26, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 9

VIRUS OUTBREAK

TOKYO — Facing a nationwide

surge in new coronavirus cases

linked to the delta variant, the Japa-

nese government on Wednesday

added another eight prefectures to

the 13 already under a state of

emergency.

Eight prefectures were upgrad-

ed from quasi-emergency status to

a full emergency. They include

Hokkaido and Miyagi in the north,

Aichi and Gifu in central Japan,

and Hiroshima and Okayama in

the west.

“In order to protect the people’s

lives, the priority is to maintain the

health care system,” Prime Minis-

ter Yoshihide Suga said as he an-

nounced the emergency. “In order

to overcome this crisis led by the

delta strain, I seek further cooper-

ation from everyone.”

The government last week ex-

tended the state of emergency until

Sept. 12 and expanded the areas

covered to 13 prefectures from six

including Tokyo. With four new

prefectures added to a separate

“quasi-emergency” status, 33 of

Japan’s 47 prefectures are now un-

der some type of emergency mea-

sures.

Meanwhile, U.S. military bases

in Japan reported 55 new coronavi-

rus cases on Tuesday and Wednes-

day.

Twenty-seven of those cases are

people associated with the Marine

Corps on Okinawa, according to a

Facebook post Wednesday by Ma-

rine Corps Installations Pacific.

The Marines provided no further

information but have said its new

cases are not limited to service

members.

U.S. Army Japan discovered 11

new cases between Aug. 18 and

Wednesday, according to a news

release. One came up positive in an

airport test by Japanese officials.

Five had fallen ill with COVID-19

symptoms. Two were already in re-

stricted movement following their

recent arrival in Japan and three

were isolated as close contacts of

another infected individual.

In northeastern Japan, Misawa

Air Base identified 13 people with

COVID-19 between Aug. 17 and

Monday, according to a base news

release Tuesday. They include ful-

ly vaccinated and unvaccinated

people, though the base provided

no further details.

Misawa’s commander, Col.

Jesse Friedel, ordered a limit on

gatherings of 20 people or 50% of a

room’s capacity, whichever is less,

on or off the base. Masks are re-

quired for everyone in gatherings

of more than 20, with physical fit-

ness activity exempted. Takeout

dining only is permitted in nearby

Aomori city and Hachinohe.

Three people at Naval Air Facil-

ity Atsugi tested positive for CO-

VID-19 on Tuesday after falling ill,

according to a base news release. A

fourth turned up positive in an air-

port test after arriving in Japan.

The base has seven people under

observation.

In Tokyo, another 4,228 people

tested positive Wednesday, 1,158

fewer than a week prior and the

third consecutive day of new case

numbers trending downward, ac-

cording to NHK and metro govern-

ment data.

However, the number of serious-

ly ill people in the city rose to 277,

the highest yet during the pandem-

ic.

Tokyo and neighboring Kanaga-

wa prefecture — home to head-

quarters for U.S. Forces Japan,

U.S. Army Japan, 5th Air Force and

7th Fleet — are already under the

emergency declaration until Sept.

12. So are Okinawa, home to the III

Marine Expeditionary Force; Osa-

ka, the second-largest metro area

in Japan; and Kyoto.

Okinawa prefecture on Wednes-

day reported its highest one-day

new case total, 809, surpassing the

previous record set one week ago,

768, according to the prefectural

Department of Public Health and

Medical Care. The prefecture

claims the highest weekly infection

rate in Japan, 312.99 per 100,000

population, according to the de-

partment.

Ahead of the declaration expect-

ed Friday, Marine Corps Air Sta-

tion Iwakuni on Wednesday im-

posed a 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. off-base cur-

few in nearby Hiroshima prefec-

ture for anyone affiliated with the

installation. The curfew comes

with other new restrictions, ac-

cording to a post on the air station’s

Facebook page.

Once an emergency is declared

in Hiroshima, air station personnel

who live, work or attend school

there will be restricted to only es-

sential services outside their

homes.

Delta surge leads Japan towiden state of emergency

BY JOSEPH DITZLER

Stars and Stripes

AKIFUMI ISHIKAWA/Stars and Stripes

People stand for the U.S. national anthem Wednesday ahead of aParalympics wheelchair rugby match between the United States andNew Zealand at Yoyogi National Stadium in Tokyo. 

Stars and Stripes reporters Mari Higa and Jo-nathan Snyder contributed to this report.ditzler.joseph@stripes.comTwitter: @JosephDitzler

ATLANTA — A few weeks into

the new school year, growing

numbers of U.S. districts have

halted in-person learning or

switched to hybrid models be-

cause of rapidly mounting corona-

virus infections.

More than 80 school districts or

charter networks have closed or

delayed in-person classes for at

least one entire school in more

than a dozen states. Others have

sent home whole grade levels or

asked half their students to stay

home on hybrid schedules.

The setbacks in mostly small,

rural districts that were among

the first to return dampen hopes

for a sustained, widespread return

to classrooms after two years of

schooling disrupted by the pan-

demic.

In Georgia, where in-person

classes are on hold in more than 20

districts that started the school

year without mask requirements,

some superintendents say the vi-

rus appeared to be spreading in

schools before they sent students

home.

“We just couldn’t manage it

with that much staff out, having to

cover classes and the spread so

rapid,” said Eddie Morris, super-

intendent of the 1,050-student

Johnson County district in Geor-

gia. With 40% of students in quar-

antine or isolation, the district

shifted last week to online instruc-

tion until Sept. 13.

More than 1 of every 100 school-

aged children has tested positive

for COVID-19 in the past two

weeks in Georgia, according to

state health data published Fri-

day. Children age 5 to 17 are cur-

rently more likely to test positive

for COVID-19 than adults.

Around the country, some

schools are starting the year later

than planned. One district in

Western Oregon pushed back the

start of classes by a week after

several employees were exposed

to a positive teacher during train-

ing.

Before the latest virus resur-

gence, hopes were high that

schools nationwide could ap-

proach normalcy, moving beyond

the stops and starts of remote

learning that interfered with some

parents’ jobs and impaired many

students’ academic performance.

Most epidemiologists say they

still believe that in-person school

can be conducted safely, and that

it’s important considering the aca-

demic, social and emotional dam-

age to students since the pandem-

ic slammed into American schools

in March 2020.

In some cases, experts say, the

reversals reflect a careless ap-

proach among districts that acted

as if the pandemic were basically

over.

“People should realize it’s not

over. It’s a real problem, a real

public health issue,” said Dr. Tina

Tan, a Northwestern University

medical professor who chairs the

American Academy of Pediatrics

Section on Infectious Diseases.

“You have to do everything to pre-

vent the spread of COVID in the

school.”

Tan and others say that means

not just masks in schools but a

push for vaccination, social dis-

tancing, ventilation and other pre-

cautions, providing multiple lay-

ers of protection.

The onslaught in Georgia is

driving changes in mask policies.

Weeks before school started, only

a handful of large districts cover-

ing fewer than a quarter of stu-

dents across the state were requir-

ing face coverings. Now, mask

mandates cover more than half of

students.

Outbreaks force some schools to close, switch to hybrid

ANDREW RUSH, PITTSBURGH POST­GAZETTE /AP

Students arrive masked Tuesday to Memorial Elementary School in Bethel Park, a suburb of Pittsburgh. Ina heated school board meeting Monday, the school district voted to require all students, staff and visitorsto wear masks inside the district’s schools.

Associated Press

PAGE 10 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Thursday, August 26, 2021

NATION

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. — A California fire

that gutted hundreds of homes advanced toward Lake

Tahoe on Wednesday as thousands of firefighters

tried to box in the flames, and tourists who hoped to

boat or swim found themselves looking at thick yellow

haze instead of alpine scenery.

The Caldor Fire was less than 20 miles east of the

lake that straddles the California-Nevada state line.

The fire was eating its way through rugged timber-

lands and was “knocking on the door” of the Lake Ta-

hoe basin, California’s state fire chief Thom Porter

warned this week.

On Tuesday, ash rained down and tourists ducked

into cafes, outdoor gear shops and casinos on Lake Ta-

hoe Boulevard for a respite from the unhealthy air.

Inside the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, cocktail wait-

resses in fishnet stockings and leopard-print corsets

served customers playing slots and blackjack.

Sitting at a slot machine near a window looking out

at cars driving through the haze, Ramona Trejo said

she and her husband would stay for their 50th wed-

ding anniversary, as planned.

Trejo, who uses supplemental oxygen due to respi-

ratory problems, said her husband wanted to keep

gambling.

“I would want to go now,” she said.

South of Tahoe, Rick Nelson and his wife, Diane,

had planned to host a weekend wedding at Fallen Leaf

Lake, where his daughter and her fiancé had met. The

smoke, however, caused most of the community to

leave. The sun was an eerie blood orange and the

floats and boats in the lake were obscured by haze.

In the end, the Nelsons spent two days arranging to

have the wedding moved from the glacial lake several

hours southwest to the San Francisco Bay Area.

“Everybody’s trying to make accommodations for

the smoke. And I think it’s becoming a reality for us,

unfortunately,” Diane Nelson said. “I just think that

the smoke and the fires have gotten bigger, hotter and

faster-moving.”

Climate change has made the West warmer and

drier in the past 30 years and will continue to make

the weather more extreme and wildfires more de-

structive, according to scientists.

The Caldor fire had scorched more than 190 square

miles and destroyed at least 455 homes since Aug. 14

in the Sierra Nevada southwest of the lake. It was 11%

contained and threatened more than 17,000 structur-

es.

On its western side, the blaze continued to threaten

more than a dozen small communities and wineries.

On the eastern side, crews were bulldozing fire lines,

opening up narrow logging roads and clearing ridge-

tops in hopes of stopping its advance, fire officials

said.

More than 2,500 firefighters were on the line and

more resources were streaming in, fire officials said.

RICH PEDRONCELLI/AP

A golfer wears a face mask as he practices his putting at the smoke­shrouded Lake Tahoe Golf Course inSouth Lake Tahoe, Calif., on Tuesday.

Crews struggle to stop wildfirebearing down on Lake Tahoe

Associated Press

WASHINGTON — The Su-

preme Court said the Biden admin-

istration likely violated federal law

in trying to end a Trump-era pro-

gram that forces people to wait in

Mexico while seeking asylum in

the United States.

With three liberal justices in dis-

sent, the high court Tuesday re-

fused to block a lower court ruling

ordering the administration to re-

instate the program informally

known as Remain in Mexico.

It’s not clear how many people

will be affected and how quickly.

Under the lower court ruling, the

administration must make a “good

faith effort” to restart the program.

There is also nothing preventing

the administration from trying

again to end the program, formally

called Migrant Protection Proto-

cols.

Afederal judge in Texas had pre-

viously ordered that the program

be reinstated last week. Both he

and the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of

Appeals refused the administra-

tion’s request to put the ruling on

hold.

Justice Samuel Alito ordered a

brief delay to allow the full court

time to consider the administra-

tion’s appeal to keep the ruling on

hold while the case continues to

make its way through the courts.

The 5th Circuit ordered expedit-

ed consideration of the administra-

tion’s appeal.

The court offered little explana-

tion for its action, although it cited

its opinion from last year rejecting

the Trump administration’s effort

to end another immigration pro-

gram, Deferred Action for Child-

hood Arrivals. In that case, the

court held that the decision to end

DACA was “arbitrary and capri-

cious,” in violation of federal law.

The administration has “failed to

show a likelihood of success on the

claim that the memorandum re-

scinding the Migrant Protection

Protocols was not arbitrary and ca-

pricious,” the court wrote Tuesday

in an unsigned order.

The three dissenting justices,

Stephen Breyer, Elena Kagan and

Sonia Sotomayor, did not write an

opinion expressing their views of

the case.

In a statement, the Department

of Homeland Security said it re-

grets that the high court declined to

issue a stay. The department said it

would continue to challenge the

district court’s order.

The American Civil Liberties

Union called on the administration

to present a fuller rationale for end-

ing Remain in Mexico that could

withstand court scrutiny.

“The government must take all

steps available to fully end this ille-

gal program, including by re-ter-

minating it with a fuller explana-

tion. What it must not do is use this

decision as cover for abandoning

its commitment to restore a fair

asylum system,” said Omar Jad-

wat, director of the ACLU’s immi-

grant rights project.

During Donald Trump’s presi-

dency, the policy required tens of

thousands of migrants seeking asy-

lum in the U.S. to turn back to Mex-

ico. It was meant to discourage asy-

lum seekers, but critics said it de-

nied people the legal right to seek

protection in the U.S. and forced

them to wait in dangerous Mexican

border cities.

The judge, U.S. District Judge

Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk in

Amarillo, Texas, ordered that the

program be reinstated in response

to a lawsuit filed by the states of

Texas and Missouri, whose gover-

nors have been seeking to reinstate

some of the hard-line anti-immi-

gration policies of the Trump ad-

ministration.

High court orders‘Remain in Mexico’policy reinstated

BY MARK SHERMAN

Associated Press

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. —

Prosecutors preparing for the first

prison sentence in an alleged plot

to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen

Whitmer are loudly signaling to

five other defendants that a key in-

sider has shared extraordinary de-

tails about the operation.

Ty Garbin cooperated within

weeks of being arrested, willingly

putting a “target on his back to be-

gin his own redemption,” the gov-

ernment said in a court filing.

Prosecutors

wanted U.S. Dis-

trict Judge Rob-

ert Jonker to take

it into considera-

tion Wednesday

when he sen-

tences Garbin

for conspiracy.

The government is recommend-

ing a nine-year prison term, a long

stretch but one that would be even

longer if he had not assisted inves-

tigators after being charged.

The FBI last October said it

broke up a scheme to kidnap the

Democratic governor by anti-gov-

ernment extremists who were up-

set over Whitmer’s coronavirus

restrictions. Six men were

charged in federal court, while

others were charged in state court

with aiding them.

Garbin, a 25-year-old airplane

mechanic, is the only federal de-

fendant to plead guilty; others are

awaiting trial.

“He filled in gaps in the govern-

ment’s knowledge by recounting

conversations and actions that did

not include any government in-

formant or ability to record,” As-

sistant U.S. Attorney Nils Kessler

said.

“Second, he confirmed that the

plot was real; not just ‘big talk be-

tween crackpots,’ as suggested by

co-defendants. Third, he dispelled

any suggestion that the conspir-

ators were entrapped by govern-

ment informants,” the prosecutor

said.

In his plea agreement, Garbin

said the six men trained at his

property near Luther, Mich., con-

structing a “shoot house” to resem-

ble Whitmer’s vacation home and

“assaulting it with firearms.”

A Tennessee-based group

called Parents for Peace, which

helps people move away from ex-

tremist movements, is asking the

judge for a “minimal” prison sen-

tence. They noted that Garbin’s

rocky childhood and other factors

contributed to his decisions.

1st sentencing in Mich. governor’s kidnapping plot to be handed downAssociated Press

Garbin

Thursday, August 26, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 11

AMERICAN ROUNDUP

Monsoon floods damageborder wall gates

AZ DOUGLAS — Several

metal flood gates in the

newly built section of the U.S.-

Mexico border wall in eastern-

most Arizona were ripped off their

hinges last week by flooding from

unusually heavy monsoon rains,

authorities say.

A spokesman for the Border Pa-

trol’s Tucson sector confirmed

Monday the gates were open last

week when water from the histor-

ic rainfall rushed through the

Douglas area near the San Ber-

nardino Wildlife Refuge in Co-

chise County. He said a Border

Patrol team is currently assessing

flood damage along the wall.

An official with Customs and

Border Protection said authorities

planned to repair the damage.

Tallest man in the US dies at age 38

MN ROCHESTER —

Igor Vovkovinskiy,

the tallest man in the United

States, has died in Minnesota. He

was 38.

His family said the Ukrainian-

born Vovkovinskiy died of heart

disease at the Mayo Clinic in

Rochester. His mother, Svetlana

Vovkovinska, an ICU nurse at

Mayo, initially posted about his

death on Facebook.

Vovkovinskiy came to the Mayo

Clinic in 1989 as a child seeking

treatment. A tumor pressing

against his pituitary gland caused

it to secrete abnormal levels of

growth hormone. He grew to be-

come the tallest man in the U.S. at

7 feet, 8.33 inches and ended up

staying in Rochester.

Jack Daniel’s age-statedwhiskey first in a century

TN LYNCHBURG — The

producers of Jack Da-

niel’s are offering the brand’s first

age-stated whiskey in more than a

century with the upcoming re-

lease of a 10-year-old Tennessee

whiskey.

Limited supplies will be availa-

ble starting next month. The prod-

uct will become an annual release

from the Jack Daniel Distillery in

Lynchburg.

The distillery used an aging

process to mature Jack Daniel’s

Old No. 7 Tennessee Whiskey in

oak barrels relocated throughout

the barrelhouse over the past dec-

ade.

Old No. 7 Jack Daniel’s ages, on

average, four to five years.

Jack Daniel’s is the flagship

brand of Louisville, Ky.-based

Brown-Forman Corp.

Passenger’s cellphonecatches fire after landing

WA SEATAC — A passen-

ger’s cellphone

caught fire after an Alaska Air-

lines flight landed at the Sea-Tac

International Airport, forcing the

crew to deploy evacuation slides

to get everyone on board to safety.

A spokesperson for Alaska Air-

lines said a passenger’s cellphone

on flight 751 from New Orleans to

Seattle caught on fire, KOMO-TV

reported. The aircraft crew used a

battery containment bag to extin-

guish the fire, the spokesperson

said.

Hazy conditions in the aircraft

cabin forced the crew to deploy

evacuation slides to get the guests

off the plane.

There were 128 passengers and

six crew members on board the

flight, according to the spokesper-

son.

Man who tried to swallowmemory cards sentenced

NC RALEIGH — A federal

judge handed down a

12-year prison sentence to a man

convicted on child pornography

charges after authorities say he

tried to swallow memory cards

containing pornographic images.

David Sierra Orozco, 31, a Mex-

ican national, was sentenced this

week, The News & Observer of

Raleigh reported. Orozco was con-

victed in March of possessing

child pornography. Orozco is a

resident of Georgia and an unlaw-

ful immigrant who will be deport-

ed at the end of his sentence, the

newspaper said.

Court records say sheriff’s dep-

uties in Harnett County stopped

Orozco in July 2017 after they say

he was driving erratically. While

being searched, officers found a

folded $100 bill.

When they unfolded it, memory

cards fell to the floor.

Testimony at a preliminary

hearing indicated Orozco grabbed

the memory cards and tried to eat

them.

He swallowed one and chewed

another that deputies were able to

retrieve, an agent said.

Three other cards were un-

scathed, and they contained mul-

tiple images and videos of child

pornography.

Police: Fire that burnedsculpture was arson

NM SANTA FE — Au-

thorities in Santa Fe

were searching for a suspect who

set fire to a sculpture over the

weekend.

Fire officials said someone de-

liberately committed arson

against a 21-foot tall sculpture out-

side of the Form & Concept gallery

downtown.

Police Chief Andrew Padilla

told the Santa Fe New Mexican in-

vestigators are reviewing surveil-

lance footage in hopes of identify-

ing a suspect.

Man arrested aftercrashing into 2 houses

SD SIOUX FALLS — A

Pierre man was arrest-

ed after he allegedly drove a truck

into two houses in Sioux Falls,

sending a homeowner to the hos-

pital.

The Argus Leader reported the

24-year-old man failed to navigate

a curb. He hit one house, then

crashed into a second. His truck

ended up in a bedroom. The 41-

year-old homeowner was sleeping

in the room and suffered a concus-

sion when he was hit by debris.

Jesse Peterson, the owner of the

first home that was struck, said

the impact sounded like an explo-

sion. He said he found the driver

unconscious. Nobody in his house

was hurt.

A police spokesman says the

driver could face charges of driv-

ing under the influence and vehic-

ular battery.

Man steals iCloud fileslooking for nude images

CA LOS ANGELES — A

Southern California

man broke into thousands of Ap-

ple iCloud accounts and collected

more than 620,000 private photos

and videos in an effort to steal im-

ages of nude young women, feder-

al authorities said.

Hao Kuo Chi, 40, of La Puente,

agreed to plead guilty to four felo-

nies, including conspiracy to gain

unauthorized access to a comput-

er, the Los Angeles Times report-

ed.

Chi admitted that he imperson-

ated Apple customer support staff

in emails that tricked unsuspect-

ing victims into providing him

with their Apple IDs and pass-

words, according to court records

cited by the Times.

He gained unauthorized access

to photos and videos of at least 306

victims across the U.S., most of

them young women, he acknowl-

edged in his plea agreement with

federal prosecutors in Tampa,

Fla.

He faces up to five years in pris-

on for each of the four crimes.

DON CAMPBELL, THE (ST. JOSEPH’S, MICH.) HERALD­PALLADIUM/AP

Paddleboarders, kayakers and pleasure boats share the waters of Lake Michigan, off the shores of Silver Beach in St. Joseph, Mich., on Monday.

Lovely day on the lake

THE CENSUS

10K The amount in dollars a diner at a north Florida restaurant leftas a tip. The man, his wife and son had finished dinner at the

Wahoo Seafood Grill when he gathered the staff of 10 together to thank themfor their hard work before leaving them the tip to share. Shawn Shepherd, whoowns the restaurant, got a call from employees alerting him. His first thoughtwas to be suspicious. But the restaurant's point-of-sale system approved thetransaction.

From The Associated Press

PAGE 12 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Thursday, August 26, 2021

NATION

WASHINGTON — Striking a

deal with moderates, House Dem-

ocratic leaders have muscled

President Joe Biden’s multitril-

lion-dollar budget blueprint over a

key hurdle, ending a risky stand-

off and putting the party’s domes-

tic infrastructure agenda back on

track.

The 220-212 vote Tuesday was a

first move toward drafting Biden’s

$3.5 trillion rebuilding plan this

fall, and the narrow outcome, in

the face of unanimous Republican

opposition, signaled the power a

few voices have to alter the debate

and the challenges ahead still

threatening to upend the presi-

dent’s agenda.

From the White House, Biden

praised the outcome as “a step

closer to truly investing in the

American people.” He said at a

news conference that he had

called to congratulate House lead-

ers for the work.

Tensions had flared during a

turbulent 24 hours that brought

the House to a standstill as a band

of moderate lawmakers threat-

ened to withhold their votes for the

$3.5 trillion plan. They were de-

manding the House first approve

a nearly $1 trillion bipartisan

package of other public works

projects that’s already passed the

Senate.

Backed by the White House,

Speaker Nancy Pelosi huddled

privately with lawmakers and

leaders to engineer an offramp. In

brokering the compromise, Pelosi

committed to voting on the bipar-

tisan package no later than Sept.

27, an attempt to assure lawmak-

ers it won’t be left on the sidelines.

It’s also in keeping with with Pelo-

si’s insistence that the two bills

move together as a more complete

collection of Biden’s priorities. Pe-

losi has set a goal of passing both

by Oct. 1.

Pelosi told her colleagues be-

fore the vote that the legislation

would lead to a federal investment

on par with the New Deal and the

Great Society.

She brushed aside the delays.

“That’s just part of the legislative

process,” she said, according to an

aide granted anonymity to discuss

a closed-door caucus meeting.

“Not only are we building the

physical infrastructure of Ameri-

ca, we are building the human in-

frastructure of America,” Pelosi

said on the House floor.

Easing off the stalemate will

shelve, for now, the stark divisions

between moderate and progres-

sive lawmakers who make up the

Democrats’ so-slim House major-

ity. But as the drama spilled out

during what was supposed to be a

quick session as lawmakers re-

turned to work for a few days in

August, it showcased the party dif-

ferences that threaten to upend

Biden’s ambitious rebuilding

agenda.

With Republicans fully opposed

to the president’s big plans and ar-

guing that Congress should be fo-

cused instead on the crisis in Af-

ghanistan, the Democratic lead-

ers have just a few votes to spare.

That gives any band of lawmakers

leverage that can be used to make

or break a deal, as they are in posi-

tion to do in the weeks to come as

moderates and progressives draft

and vote on the broader $3.5 tril-

lion package.

“I think it’s important to those of

us who are moderate Democrats

to make sure that our voices are

heard,” said Rep. Jim Costa, D-

Calif., one of the negotiators.

Challenging their party’s most

powerful leaders, nine moderate

Democrats signed onto a letter

late last week raising their objec-

tions to pushing ahead with Bi-

den’s broader infrastructure pro-

posal without first considering the

smaller public works plan of road,

public transit and broadband

spending that has already passed

the Senate.

Progressives signaled early on

they wanted the Biden budget pri-

orities first before they agree to

the smaller Senate package, wor-

ried it would be an insufficient

down payment on his goals.

But the moderates want the op-

posite, insisting Congress quickly

send the smaller, bipartisan in-

frastructure measure they helped

shape with the senators to Biden

so he can sign it before the politi-

cal winds shift.

House OKs $3.5Tbudget blueprint

Associated Press

AMANDA ANDRADE­RHOADES / AP

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D­Calif., walks toward the House Chamber on Capitol Hill. The Houseapproved President Joe Biden’s budget blueprint Tuesday after striking a deal with moderates.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Capitol Police didn’t ade-

quately respond to frantic calls for help from officers

when they pressed panic buttons on their radios

seeking immediate backup as scores of pro-Trump

rioters beat officers with bats, poles and other weap-

ons, an inspector general’s report found.

The report obtained by The Associated Press of-

fered new details about the shortcomings by law en-

forcement during the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capi-

tol.

The report found that most of the emergency acti-

vations from individual officers’ radios were never

simulcast on police radio, a standard protocol de-

signed to spread the word to other officers about

emergencies and crises. The on-duty watch com-

mander appears not to have been made aware of at

least some of the system activations, the report said.

Police officials in Washington are increasingly

concerned about a rally planned for Sept. 18 on feder-

al land next to the Capitol that organizers have said is

meant to demand “justice” for the hundreds of people

already charged in connection with January’s insur-

rection.

“Without the ability to connect with help or request

reinforcements during emergencies, officers are at

risk of facing dangerous or even deadly situations,”

the report said.

The July report focuses on deficiencies inside the

Capitol Police Command and Coordination Bureau,

which among other responsibilities prepares for spe-

cial events and manages the response to emergencies

at the Capitol complex. The inspector general de-

tailed what it said were outdated and vague policies

and procedures as well as problems in preparedness.

coordination and emergency planning.

A law enforcement official said because so many

officers were pressing their panic buttons, fellow of-

ficers couldn’t respond to all of the calls at once and

needed to prioritize their emergency responses. The

official spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity to

discuss the report because it has not been publicly

released.

Even so, the inspector general report says, the

emergency system was not handled properly.

Report: Policeemergency systemmishandled Jan. 6

Associated Press

JOHN MINCHILLO / AP

Insurrectionists loyal to President Donald Trumptry to break through a police barrier at the U.S.Capitol on Jan. 6. An inspector general’s reportsays U.S. Capitol Police did not properly respond toofficers’ use of an emergency notification system.

WASHINGTON — House

Democrats have passed legisla-

tion that would strengthen a land-

mark civil rights-era voting law

weakened by the Supreme Court

over the past decade, a step party

leaders tout as progress in their

quest to fight back against voting

restrictions advanced in Repub-

lican-led states.

The bill, which is part of a

broader Democratic effort to en-

act a sweeping overhaul of elec-

tions, was approved on a 219-212

vote, with no Republican support.

Its Tuesday passage was praised

by President Joe Biden, who said

it would protect a “sacred right”

and called on the Senate to “send

this important bill to my desk.”

But the measure faces dim pro-

spects in that chamber, where

Democrats do not have enough

votes to overcome opposition

from Senate Republicans, who

have rejected the bill as “unnec-

essary” and a Democratic “power

grab.”

That bottleneck puts Demo-

crats right back where they start-

ed with a slim chance of enacting

any voting legislation before the

2022 midterm elections, when

some in the party fear new GOP

laws will make it harder for many

Americans to vote.

The John Lewis Voting Rights

Advancement Act, named for the

late Georgia congressman who

made the issue a defining one of

his career, would restore voting

rights protections that have been

dismantled by the Supreme

Court. Under the proposal, the

Justice Department would again

police new changes to voting laws

in states that have racked up a

series of “violations," drawing

them into a mandatory review

process known as “preclea-

rance.”

The practice was first put in

place under the Voting Rights Act

of 1965. But it was struck down by

a conservative majority on the

Supreme Court in 2013, which

ruled the formula for determin-

ing which states needed their

laws reviewed was outdated and

unfairly punitive. The court did,

however, say that Congress could

come up with a new formula,

which is what the bill does.

House passes bill bolsteringcivil rights-era voting law

Associated Press

Thursday, August 26, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 13

HANOI — Vice President Kamala Har-

ris called on Vietnam to join the United

States in challenging China’s “bullying”

in the South China Sea, continuing her

sharp rhetoric against Beijing as she met

with Vietnamese leaders Wednesday.

“We need to find ways to pressure and

raise the pressure, frankly, on Beijing to

abide by the United Nations Convention

on the Law of the Sea, and to challenge its

bullying and excessive maritime claims,”

she said in remarks at the opening of a

meeting with Vietnamese President

Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

Harris also expressed support for send-

ing an additional U.S. Coast Guard cutter

to Vietnam to help defend its security in-

terests in the disputed waterway, and

pledged that the U.S. would “maintain a

strong presence in the South China Sea”

to challenge China.

During remarks in Singapore on Tues-

day, Harris said Beijing’s actions to press

its territorial claims in the South China

Sea amount to “coercion” and “intimida-

tion.”

The vice president’s rebuke of China

comes in the middle of her weeklong tour

of Southeast Asia, a trip that brought her

to Singapore and Vietnam in a bid to

strengthen U.S. ties to the Indo-Pacific re-

gion to counter China’s growing military

and economic influence there.

In addition to her commitment to de-

fend the South China Sea against Beijing

advances, Harris unveiled an array of

new partnerships and support for Viet-

nam in areas including climate change,

trade and the coronavirus pandemic.

She announced that the U.S. will send 1

million additional doses of the Pfizer vac-

cine to Vietnam, bringing the total U.S.

vaccine donation to Vietnam to 6 million

doses.

The U.S. will also provide $23 million to

help Vietnam expand distribution and ac-

cess to vaccines, combat the pandemic

and prepare for future disease threats.

The Defense Department is delivering 77

freezers to store vaccines throughout the

country.

Harris urges Vietnam to join US in opposing China ‘bullying’Associated Press

WORLD

MANILA — Tough-talking Phi-

lippine President Rodrigo Duterte

has confirmed rumblings that he

will run next year for vice presi-

dent, in what critics say is an at-

tempt at an end-run around con-

stitutional term limits.

Duterte, who is notorious for his

vulgar rhetoric and crackdown on

illegal drugs, which has killed

thousands of mostly petty sus-

pects, said in comments broadcast

Wednesday that he will run for

vice president to

“continue the

crusade.”

“I will run for

vice president,”

he said. “I’m

worried about

the drugs, insur-

gency. Well,

number one is insurgency, then

criminality, drugs.”

The Philippines has been strug-

gling through the COVID-19 pan-

demic, with rising infections and

death rates and a slow vaccination

rollout, but Duterte’s popularity

ratings have remained high.

Polls suggest that running Du-

terte in tandem with his daughter,

Sara Duterte, currently the mayor

of Davao City, as the presidential

candidate would be a strong pair-

ing, said Manila-based political

analyst Richard Heydarian.

The idea of the two running to-

gether has been discussed since

2019, he said, though Duterte ad-

visers have reportedly said that he

has suggested he might not run for

vice president if his daughter de-

cides to announce a bid for presi-

dent.

“The campaign for Sara Du-

terte has more or less kicked off, it

seems, almost irrespective of

what Duterte’s position will be,”

Heydarian said. “A Duterte/Du-

terte tandem is increasingly look-

ing like the formidable team to

beat in the next year’s elections.”

Further muddying the waters,

however, Sara Duterte posted on

Facebook later Wednesday that

her father had told her he would

run for vice president with his for-

mer aide, Sen. Christopher

“Bong” Go running for president.

She did not address her own as-

pirations, but said her father and

Go should announce publicly that

they would run together if they

have made that decision.

“I respectfully advise them to

stop talking about me and make

me the reason for them running or

not running,” she wrote.

Duterte confirms he’ll run for Philippines’ VP next yearAssociated Press

Duterte 

PAGE 14 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Thursday, August 26, 2021

Max D. Lederer Jr., Publisher

Lt. Col. Marci Hoffman, Europe commander

John Rodriguez, Europe chief of staff

Lt. Col. Michael Kerschbaum, Pacific commander

Michael Ryan, Pacific chief of staff

EDITORIAL

Terry Leonard, Editorleonard.terry@stripes.com

Robert H. Reid, Senior Managing Editorreid.robert@stripes.com

Sean Moores, Managing Editor for Presentationmoores.sean@stripes.com

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stripes.com

OPINION

WASHINGTON

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby, a

retired rear admiral, recently said

that during the long U.S. undertak-

ing in Afghanistan “the goals did

migrate over time.” Did the goals themselves

have agency — minds of their own? Why do so

many people, particularly in government, en-

gage in such gaseous talk? Because it envelops

in abstract, obfuscating vocabularies things

that are awkward to defend. And because we

are decades into the “leakage of reality” from

American life.

President Joe Biden says the Taliban is “go-

ing through sort of an existential crisis about

do they want to be recognized by the interna-

tional community as being a legitimate gov-

ernment.” Which is worse, if he means this, or

if he doesn’t? U.S. Ambassador to the United

Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield says “we

expect the Taliban to respect women’s rights”

and “to be respectful of humanitarian law.” No

sentient person expects anything of the sort.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken pro-

claims three musts: “Afghans and interna-

tional citizens” who wish to leave Afghanistan

“must” be allowed to. Roads, airports and bor-

der crossings “must remain open.” “Calm

must be maintained.” “Must,” lest nice people

frown? State Department spokesman Ned

Price is pleased that the U.N. Security Council

has asked the Taliban to create a government

that is “united, inclusive, and representative,

including with the full and meaningful partici-

pation of women.” If this were even remotely

possible, why were 20 years and $2 trillion de-

voted to resisting the Taliban?

Nonsense from high officials is nothing

new. Cyrus Vance, President Jimmy Carter’s

secretary of state, once said that the Soviet dic-

tator Leonid Brezhnev “shares our dreams

and aspirations.” But why does it seem that,

now more than ever, government officials

who have nothing sensible to say insist on

proving this?

The economist Arthur Pigou wrote that “en-

vironments … as well as people, have chil-

dren.” Today’s social environment is the child

of decades of no-longer-new communications

technologies. In an era of instant, inexpensive

and high-velocity dissemination of anyone’s

words, there is a Gresham’s law of rhetoric:

Bad drives out good. Hence the plague of

pompous garrulousness — of officials insult-

ing the public’s intelligence with bromides no

one believes.

Former Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, D-

N.Y., said that historian Edward Gibbon de-

tected a “leakage of reality” in the late Roman

empire. Moynihan often used this phrase to

denote Americans’ “seeming weakness at

grasping the probable consequences of what

we do or fail to do.” Often, however, it is worse

than a weakness: It is a calculated effort to

make blurry some realities concerning which

speaking clearly would be awkward. For ex-

ample, according to The Dispatch, Oregon has

just adopted “equitable graduation stan-

dards.” This anodyne verbiage means that

“students of color” can graduate from high

school without demonstrating high-school-

level proficiency in reading or writing, or

math. The Oregon Department of Education

urges teachers to read a handbook for “dis-

mantling racism in mathematics instruction.”

Today’s stunning leakage is of prestige

from government. Biden has exhorted con-

gressional progressives, who needed no en-

couragement, to force the most comprehen-

sive peacetime expansion of government in

U.S. history. The grandiosity has two dimen-

sions. One is government’s siphoning away of

a hitherto unimaginable portion of society’s

current and future fiscal resources. The other

is a radical revision of the nation’s civic vocab-

ulary by postulating, as in Oregon, that dispar-

ities in social outcomes are prima facie evi-

dence of the nation’s endemic viciousness.

Suddenly the Afghanistan tragedy has be-

come a powerful accelerant of the U.S. gov-

ernment’s prestige leakage, punctuating sev-

en months of government aggrandizement.

Has there ever been such a swift contraction

of a new president’s standing? Herbert Hoov-

er, whose many pre-presidential accomplish-

ments gave him momentum for the public’s

respect, was in his eighth month as president

when the stock market collapse presaged

what became, unnecessarily, a decade-long

Depression. It took, however, several years

before the gravity of the contraction became

apparent and the public’s confidence in Hoov-

er withered.

Perhaps few 2022 voters will cast ballots

with today’s scenes from Kabul’s airport on

their minds. But because of those mortifying

scenes, a significant number of voters might

have a more jaundiced view of government’s

extravagant 2021 pretentions regarding its

ability to rearrange the nation’s economy and

transform its moral premises. And perhaps

many will remember the government’s often

self-serving and disgraceful rhetoric about

Afghanistan.

Clement Attlee, Britain’s prime minister

from 1945 to 1951, once told Harold Laski,

chairman of Attlee’s Labour Party, that “a pe-

riod of silence on your part would be wel-

come.” Biden should say that to some of his

subordinates, and some of them would serve

him by saying it to him.

Gaseous obfuscation on Afghanistan isn’t helpingBY GEORGE F. WILL

Washington Post Writers Group

President Joe Biden is sticking to

the Aug. 31 deadline for removing

all U.S. troops from Afghanistan,

which means that time is rapidly

running out for those desperate to escape

Taliban rule. As news of Biden’s decision

broke on Tuesday, hundreds of young wom-

en with a special U.S. affiliation were in hid-

ing across Kabul, waiting for news regard-

ing when, or if, their chance at evacuation

will come.

They are students at the American Uni-

versity of Afghanistan — though by now

they have destroyed documents that identi-

fy them as such for fear of discovery by the

Taliban. Among all those people that U.S.

officials label “vulnerable Afghans,” these

AUAF women are some of the most endan-

gered, according to sources familiar with

their current situation. The Taliban have

been violently mistreating women at check-

points and, sometimes, circulating after

dark in captured U.S. night-vision goggles,

marking houses of suspected opponents

with spray paint. Also, the Taliban on Tues-

day repeated their demand that the United

States stop encouraging Afghans to exit.

Thus, the sources declined to provide more

detail on who, and where, the students are.

What is clear, though, is that any U.S. res-

cue operation that leaves behind these stu-

dents — and, indeed, their male colleagues

— will cap what is already an American de-

feat in Afghanistan with an especially poi-

gnant disgrace.

Then-first lady Laura Bush presided over

the opening of AUAF in 2006. Developed

with $100 million in U.S. aid, it grew into Af-

ghanistan’s only independent, private, not

for profit, nonsectarian, coeducational in-

stitution of higher education. It epitomized

the U.S. effort to equip future Afghan lead-

ers, men and women, with skills beneficial

to their country’s development.

Those who studied and taught law, engi-

neering, computer science and other sub-

jects there, as well as the support staff, put

their faith in the United States — both its os-

tensible power and its professed principles.

The Taliban targeted the AUAF accord-

ingly. On Aug. 24, 2016 — five years ago

Tuesday — terrorists wielding guns and ex-

plosives carried out a 10-hour raid on the

campus. The attackers killed 15 people, in-

cluding seven students. Earlier that same

month, two of the school’s English instruc-

tors, one each from the United States and

Australia, had been taken hostage; their re-

lease, in exchange for senior Taliban lead-

ers, did not come until 2019.

The AUAF rebuilt from the 2016 disaster

and reopened on March 27, 2017. About a

week ago, Taliban fighters occupied it, un-

opposed. The entire campus — blast-proof

walls, classrooms, laboratories, manicured

green quad — fell into their hands.

Understandably, and fortunately, given

the history, the university community had

already fled. As Victoria Fontan, the institu-

tion’s French-born vice president of aca-

demic affairs, told FranceInfo, a Paris-

based radio network, officials scrapped the

school’s website and “burned the universi-

ty’s servers [and] all the documents we

were able to take before leaving, such as the

lists of professors, students.” Fontan, who is

now in France, told of her own harrowing

escape. Her country’s embassy refused her

request to grant her students asylum.

That was on Aug. 15. Since then, of the

1,200-person AUAF community — local

staff, faculty and students, 45% of the last

group being women — perhaps 50 have

been able to get out, according to Leslie

Schweitzer, president of Friends of the

American University of Afghanistan, a U.S.

nonprofit. What the remaining AUAF com-

munity and other potential evacuees in Ka-

bul most need now, according to Kelley De-

Conciliis, a U.S.-based exfiltration security

expert, is for “the U.S. military to clear a

gate entrance [to the Kabul airport] without

Taliban stationed there, to allow safe pas-

sage.” How that could happen now that the

Taliban has announced a blockade on Af-

ghans moving to the airport is unclear.

The United States is treating itself to po-

litical arguments over what went wrong in

Afghanistan. AUAF’s story reminds us that

there were bright spots, and that, in any

case, real people — flesh-and-blood human

beings — staked their lives on this country’s

promises. We dare not betray them now.

The US must not leave Kabul without these studentsBY CHARLES LANE

The Washington Post

Charles Lane is a Washington Post editorial writer specializingin economic and fiscal policy, and a weekly columnist.

Thursday, August 26, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 15

PAGE 16 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Thursday, August 26, 2021

ACROSS

1 Rip

5 Gun the engine

8 Whirled

12 French 101 verb

13 Brit. record label

14 Wine (Pref.)

15 Greek vowels

16 Anonymous Jane

17 — of honor

18 California

beach city

20 Kicks off

22 Moment

23 Crunchy

sandwich

24 Bygone days

27 Weakened

32 College URL

ender

33 Modern, to Mann

34 Shoe width

35 Stop signal

38 Prison room

39 100%

40 Your

42 Chronicles

45 Coarse

49 Appear

50 Pitch

52 Region

53 “Qué —?”

54 Rushmore face

55 Linguist

Chomsky

56 Fr. holy women

57 “Awesome!”

58 Probability

DOWN

1 Abound

2 Jazzy James

3 Asia’s — Sea

4 Defy

5 Marking down

6 Comic Philips

7 Competes

8 Mogadishu

resident

9 Partridge’s place

10 Squad

11 Agrees silently

19 Exist

21 TV sched-

ule abbr.

24 Part of MPH

25 Citric beverage

26 Khartoum

residents

28 “Not impressed”

29 Busied one-

self casually

30 Sushi fish

31 Tierra — Fuego

36 Andean animals

37 Under the

weather

38 He loved Roxane

41 “That’s a laugh!”

42 Nile vipers

43 Tidy

44 Luminary

46 Walked (on)

47 Top dog

48 Thanksgiving

veggies

51 Lawyers’ gp.

Answer to Previous Puzzle

Eugene Sheffer CrosswordFra

zz

Dilbert

Pearls B

efo

re S

win

eN

on S

equitur

Candorv

ille

Beetle B

ailey

Biz

arr

oCarp

e D

iem

Thursday, August 26, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 17

PAGE 18 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Thursday, August 26, 2021

FACES

The Doobie Brothers are celebrat-

ing their 50th anniversary in their

51st year, heading out tenuously

on a delayed tour and hoping they

can keep taking it to the streets and letting

audiences listen to the music as cancella-

tions abound around them.

2020 ought to have been a banner year for

the band, with an anniversary tour that unit-

ed its two eras — the original Tom John-

ston-led version of the early 1970s, and the

more R&B Michael McDonald-led version

of the late 1970s — and an invite to the Rock

& Roll Hall of Fame that many fans felt was

decades overdue.

“We had everything going and it got

dumped on by the pandemic, which kind of

sucked,” Johnston told The Associated

Press in an interview at the group’s re-

hearsal space as they prepared for the tour.

“We did the virtual induction into the Rock

& Roll Hall of Fame; that was pretty much

it. Then it was a year of every day’s Thurs-

day and nothing ever changes. It was pretty

much a lost year.”

They’re trying to make up for it with the

tour that finally launched Sunday in Des

Moines, Iowa, and runs through late Octo-

ber, with previously scrapped dates re-

booked for summer 2022.

The tour, which comes as a new album

drops in October, includes two founders,

Johnston and the group’s most constant

member, Patrick Simmons, who began

playing for mostly bikers in dive bars and

rugged roadhouses near their hometown of

San Jose, Calif., in 1970.

They were forced to sit out the 50th anni-

versary of those first shows, but plenty of

landmarks remain. Their self-titled debut

album was released 50 years ago this year.

Their breakthrough, “Toulouse Street,”

with the hits “Listen to the Music” and “Je-

sus Is Just Alright,” will have its 50th in

2022.

The tour comes as many other big-venue

acts, including Garth Brooks, BTS, Nine

Inch Nails and Stevie Nicks, have either

canceled dates or entire tours as the delta

variant of the coronavirus threatens the re-

sumption of public entertainment around

the country.

“It’s a crapshoot, really, whether we’ll

make it to the end of this or not, but I hope

we do,” McDonald said. “The main thing I

think is if we start to see that anything that

we’re doing has a potential of being a super-

spreader. I don’t think any of us are worried

so much about getting sick ourselves. We’re

all vaccinated. But if we test positive, that

means all the people in our workplace are

being exposed.”

McDonald, 69, is the group’s most famous

name and face, but he’s happy to humbly as-

sume a supporting role. Johnston’s guitar-

based era of the Doobie Brothers, with

songs like “Black Water” and “Long Train

Runnin’,” define the band for him. His more

keyboard-centric version, with hits includ-

ing “What a Fool Believes” and “Takin’ It to

the Streets,” is the variant.

“Those are the guys whose music people

will always think of as the Doobie Broth-

ers,” McDonald said. “I think most people

kind of consider me a phase of Brothers.”

Embracing his supplemental role, McDo-

nald will play mandolin and accordion at

these concerts along with his usual key-

boards. The hits he wrote will certainly be

in the set list, but he’s more than happy to

sing backup on songs penned by Johnston

and Simmons.

“I’ve always found it easier to sing other

people’s music than my own,” McDonald

said. “For some reason, the songs I’ve writ-

ten aren’t really that singer-friendly.”

The band includes guitarist-since-1979

John McFee, making for a lineup not seen in

25 years. Despite dozens of shifting mem-

bers through the decades, they remain,

Johnston says, a “tight-knit little family.”

“I have to say, everybody is really putting

in all effort,” he said. “I’m proud to be part

of it.”

The vibe in the rehearsal studio and on

the road is neither fraught with rivalry nor

overly professional.

“It’s really more like just old friends,”

McDonald said. “It’s been that way for quite

a while.”

And they’ll deal with it if they have to can-

cel. Rolling with it has been their specialty

from the start.

“Nothing is planned. It just happens,”

Johnston said. “It’s always been that way.

And it’ll always be that way. I like that.”

CHRIS PIZZELLO, INVISION/AP

Members of the Doobie Brothers — from left, Tom Johnston, John McFee, Michael McDonald and Pat Simmons — pose for a portraitat Show Biz Studios in Los Angeles on Aug. 17. The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers, back on tour, have an album coming out this fall. 

Taking it minute by minuteReturning to the road, Doobie Brothers try to keep long train running

BY ANDREW DALTON

Associated Press

“It’s a crapshoot,really, whether we’llmake it to the end ofthis or not, but I hopewe do.”

Michael McDonald

Doobie Brothers singer/multi-instrumentalist

Charlie Watts, the self-effacing and un-

shakeable Rolling Stones drummer who

helped anchor one of rock’s greatest

rhythm sections and used his “day job” to

support his enduring love of jazz, has died,

according to his publicist. He was 80.

Bernard Doherty said Tuesday that

Watts “passed away peacefully in a London

hospital earlier today surrounded by his

family.”

“Charlie was a cherished husband, father

and grandfather and also as a member of

The Rolling Stones, one of the greatest

drummers of his generation,” Doherty said.

Watts had announced he would not tour

with the Stones in 2021 because of an unde-

fined health issue.

The quiet, elegantly dressed Watts was

often ranked with Keith Moon, Ginger Bak-

er and a handful of others as a premier rock

drummer, respected worldwide for his

muscular, swinging style as the Stones rose

from their scruffy beginnings to interna-

tional superstardom. He joined the band

early in 1963 and remained for almost 60

years, ranked just behind Mick Jagger and

Keith Richards as the group’s longest last-

ing and most essential member.

Watts stayed on, and largely held himself

apart, through the drug abuse, creative

clashes and ego wars that helped kill found-

ing member Brian Jones, drove bassist Bill

Wyman and Jones’ replacement Mick Tay-

lor to quit and otherwise made being in the

Stones the most exhausting of jobs.

A classic Stones song like “Brown Sugar”

and “Start Me Up” often began with a hard

guitar riff from Richards, with Watts fol-

lowing closely behind, and Wyman, as the

bassist liked to say, “fattening the sound.”

Watts’ speed, power and time keeping were

never better showcased than during the

concert documentary “Shine a Light,”

when director Martin Scorsese filmed

“Jumpin’ Jack Flash” from where he

drummed toward the back of the stage.

Watts didn’t care for flashy solos or atten-

tion of any kind, but with Wyman and Ri-

chards forged some of rock’s deepest

grooves on “Honky Tonk Women,” “Brown

Sugar” and other songs. The drummer

adapted well to everything from the disco of

“Miss You” to the jazzy “Can’t You Hear Me

Knocking” and the dreamy ballad “Moon-

light Mile.”

The Stones began, Watts said, “as white

blokes from England playing Black Amer-

ican music,” but quickly evolved their own

distinctive sound. Watts was a jazz drum-

mer in his early years and never lost his af-

finity for the music he first loved, returning

to it during the long breaks between Stones

tours.

Stones drummer

Watts dies at 80Associated Press

AP

Charlie Watts, who died Tuesday, was oneof rock’s most respected drummers.

Thursday, August 26, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 19

PAGE 20 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Thursday, August 26, 2021

SCOREBOARD

PRO FOOTBALL

NFL Preseason

Sunday’s games

Cleveland 17, N.Y. Giants 13San Francisco 15, L.A. Chargers 10

Monday’s games

New Orleans 23, Jacksonville 21

Friday’s games

Indianapolis at DetroitPhiladelphia at N.Y. JetsPittsburgh at CarolinaMinnesota at Kansas City

Saturday’s games

Green Bay at BuffaloBaltimore at WashingtonChicago at TennesseeArizona at New OrleansTampa Bay at HoustonL.A. Rams at DenverL.A. Chargers at Seattle

Sunday, Aug. 29

Jacksonville at DallasLas Vegas at San FranciscoMiami at CincinnatiNew England at N.Y. GiantsCleveland at Atlanta

PRO BASKETBALL

WNBA

EASTERN CONFERENCE

W L Pct GB

x-Connecticut 18 6 .750 —

Chicago 12 12 .500 6

New York 11 14 .440 7½

Washington 9 14 .391 8½

Atlanta 6 18 .250 12

Indiana 5 18 .217 12½

WESTERN CONFERENCE

W L Pct GB

Las Vegas 17 7 .708 —

x-Seattle 18 8 .692 —

Minnesota 15 9 .625 2

Phoenix 13 10 .565 3½

Dallas 10 14 .417 7

Los Angeles 10 14 .417 7

Monday’s games

No games scheduled.

Tuesday’s games

Connecticut 76, Las Vegas 62Chicago 86, Atlanta 79Washington 78, Los Angeles 68Minnesota 76, Seattle 70

Wednesday’s games

Phoenix at New York

Thursday’s games

Dallas at WashingtonLas Vegas at AtlantaLos Angeles at Connecticut

Friday’s games

Phoenix at New YorkChicago at Seattle

Tuesday’s TransactionsBASEBALL

Major League BaseballMLB — Suspended Arizona LHP Caleb

Smith 10 games and fined an undisclosedamount for possessing a foreign sub-stance on his glove in an August 18thgame against Philadelphia.

American LeagueBALTIMORE ORIOLES — Recalled INF Kel-

vin Gutierrez from Norfolk (Triple-A East).Optioned RHP Konner Wade to Norfolk(Triple-A East).

BOSTON RED SOX — Recalled RHP Tan-ner Houck from Worcester (Triple-A East).Optioned OF Jarren Duran to Worcester.

CHICAGO WHITE SOX — Reinstated INF/OF Leury Garcia from the 10-day IL. Op-tioned RHP Ryan Burr to Charlotte (Tri-ple-A East).

CLEVELAND INDIANS — Sent 1B BobbyBradley and CF Harold Ramirez to LakeCounty (High-A Central) on rehab assign-ments.

DETROIT TIGERS — Sent C Eric Haase toToledo (Triple-A East) on a rehab assign-ment. Reinstated OF Akil Baddoo from the10-day IL. Designated RHP Drew Hutchin-son for assignment.

HOUSTON ASTROS — Sent RHP Jose Ur-quidy to Sugar Land (Triple-A West) on arehab assignment. Recalled RHP BryanAbreau from Sugar Land. Reinstated RFKyle Tucker from the 10-day IL. Placed RHPPedro Baez on the 10-day IL, retroactive toAug. 22. Placed LF Chas McCormick on the10-day IL.

MINNESOTA TWINS — Sent RHP RandyDobnak to St. Paul (Triple-A East) on a re-hab assignment.

NEW YORK YANKEES — Transferred RHPCorey Kluber’s rehab assignment to Som-erset (Double-A Northeast).

SEATTLE MARINERS — Sent RHP RobertDugger outright to Tacoma (Triple-AWest).

TAMPA BAY RAYS — Reinstated DH Nel-son Cruz from the 10-day IL. Placed 1B Ji-Man Choi on the 10-day IL, retroactive toAugust 23. Sent RHP David Hess outright toDurham (Triple-A East).

TEXAS RANGERS — Recalled CF LeodyTaveras from Round Rock (Triple-A West).Selected the contracts of 1B Curtis Terryand 3B Ryan Dorow from Round Rock andagreed to terms on a major league con-tracts. Placed C Jonah Heim on the 10-dayIL.

TORONTO BLUE JAYS — Sent RHP JulianMerryweather to Florida Complex League(FCL) on a rehab assignment. Sent C Dan-ny Jansen to Buffalo (Triple-A East) on arehab assignment.

National LeagueATLANTA BRAVES — Reinstated C Travis

d’Amaud from the paternity list. OptionedC William Contreras to Gwinnett (Triple-AEast).

CINCINNATI REDS — Reinstated RHP Te-jay Antone from the 10-day IL. DesignatedLHP Sean Doolittle and RHP Michael Felizfor assignment. Agreed to terms with freeagent LHP Tommy Milone on a minorleague contract.

LOS ANGELES DODGERS — ReinstatedLHP Julio Urias from the 10-day IL. Desig-nated RHP Neftali Feliz for assignment.

MIAMI MARLINS — Agreed to terms withRHP Cody Carroll on a minor league con-tract. Sent RHP Zach Pop to Jupiter (Low-ASoutheast) on a rehab assignment.

MILWAUKEE BREWERS — Placed INFEduardo Escobar on the 10-day IL, retroac-tive to August 23. Recalled INF/OF PabloReyes from Nashville (Triple-A East).

NEW YORK METS — Sent RHP Jordan Ya-mamoto to St. Lucie (Low-A Southeast) ona rehab assignment. Reinstated INF Fran-cisco Lindor from the 10-day IL. OptionedINF Travis Blankenhorn to Syracuse (Tri-ple-A East).

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES — Named BryanMinniti and Scott Proefrock consultantsfor the 2022 season. Designated OF JorgeBonifacio for assignment. Reinstated SSFreddy Galvis from the 10-day IL. Rein-stated RHP Sam Coonrod from the 60-dayIL. Optioned RHP Enyel De Los Santos toLehigh Valley (Triple-A East). Sent LHP

Jose Alvarado and RHP Seranthony Dom-inguez to Lehigh Valley on rehab assign-ments. Agreed to terms with free agentRHP Taylor Guerrieri on a minor leaguecontract. Sent LF Matt Joyce to Clearwater(Low-A Southeast) on a rehab assign-ment.

ST. LOUIS CARDINALS — Optioned LFAustin Dean to Memphis (Triple-A East).Reinstated CF Dylan Carlson from the 10-day IL. Agreed to terms with C Yadier Moli-na on a one-year contract for 2022.

SAN DIEGO PADRES — Recalled RHP Da-niel Camarena from El Paso (Triple-AWest). Optioned RHP Miguel Diaz to El Pa-so.

SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS — Placed RHPKevin Gausman on the 10-day IL. Rein-stated INF Evan Longoria from the 10-dayIL.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS — Sent RHPSteven Fuentes to Wilmington (High-AEast) on a rehab assignment. Recalled LHPSam clay and RHP Patrick Murphy fromRochester (Triple-A East). Optioned RHPGabe Klobosits to Rochester. DesignatedRHP Jefry Rodriguez for assignment. An-nounced RHP Javy Guerra cleared outrightwaivers and declared free agency in lieuof accepting assignment to Rochester.

BASKETBALLNational Basketball Association

BOSTON CELTICS — Re-signed C RobertWilliams III to a rookie scale extension.

CHARLOTTE HORNETS — Re-signed GTerry Rozier to a veteran extension.

INDIANA PACERS — Signed G DeJon Jar-reau to a two-way contract. Waived C Ami-da Brimah.

FOOTBALLNational Football League

ARIZONA CARDINALS — Placed DL JackCrawford on IR. Released OL BrandenBowen and DL David Parry. Waived LB Ja-mell Garcia-Williams with an injury desig-nation.

ATLANTA FALCONS — Signed QB JoshRosen. Released OL Willie Wright, WR Aus-tin Trammell, RB Javian Hawkins, DT OliveSagapolu and OLB Shareef Miller. PlacedQB A.J. McCarron on IR. Waived WR J’MonMoore from IR with a settlement.

BALTIMORE RAVENS — Waived QB KenjiBahar.

BUFFALO BILLS — Released LB TyrellAdams, OL Tyler Gauthier, TE Bug Howard,WR Lance Lenoir and S Tariq Thompson.Claimed DT Joey Ivie and WR Rico Gaffordoff waivers. Placed DT Cole Beasley, WRGabriel Davis, DT Star Lotulelei on the CO-VID-19 list. Placed WR Duke Williams on IR.

CAROLINA PANTHERS — Released DEKendall Donnerson and DT Caraun Reid.Waived WR Krishawn Hogan, G MarquelHarrell and DT Walter Palmore.

CINCINNATI BENGALS — Placed DB Don-nie Lewis on IR.

CHICAGO BEARS — Waived OLs BadaraTraore Dareuan Parker and RB C.J. Mara-ble. Placed DL Mike Pennel and S JordanLucas on IR.

CLEVELAND BROWNS — Waived CB Rob-ert Jackson. Released K Cody Parkey fromIR with a settlement. Placed OT Alex Tay-lor on IR.

DALLAS COWBOYS — Waived K LirimHajrullahu.

DENVER BRONCOS — Released LB JoshWatson. Waived WR Branden Mack.Placed RB Adrian Killins on IR.

DETROIT LIONS — Released WR DariusJennings. Waived NT P.J. Johnson, RB Ja-von Leake, LB Robert McCray and QB Jor-dan Ta’amu.

GREEN BAY PACKERS — Placed S WillRedmond on IR. Traded CB Ka’dar Hollmanto Houston in exchange for a 2022 sev-enth-round draft pick. Released DL JoshAvery and LB Kamal Martin.

HOUSTON TEXANS — Waived DT Au-zoyah Alufohai and C Drake Jackson.

INDIANAPOLIS COLTS — Waived TE NoahTogiai with an injury designation. WaivedK Eddy Pineiro. Waived TE Noah Togiaiwith an injury designation. Placed LB SkaiMoore on IR.

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS — Placed RBTravis Etienne on IR. Waived OL DerwinGray, CB Jameson Houston and DT KennyRandall.

LAS VEGAS RAIDERS — Placed LB DarronLee on IR. Waived WR Marcell Ateman andDT Darius Stills.

LOS ANGELES CHARGERS — Activated SNasir Adderley from the COVID-19 list. Re-leased LS Ryan Langan, WR Austin Proehl,TE Matt Seybert and OT Kyle Spalding. Re-leased LB Damon Lloyd and DL ChrisOkoye with an injury designation.

LOS ANGELES RAMS — Activated P CoreyBojorquez from the COVID-19 list. WaivedTE Kyle Markway. Placed RB Raymond onIR.

MIAMI DOLPHINS — Released OL Jer-maine Eluemunor and WR Isaiah Ford.Placed WR Lynn Bowden Jr on IR. WaivedWR Robert Foster with an injury designa-tion.

MINNESOTA VIKINGS — Placed DT Jor-dan Scott on IR.

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS — Claimed TEKahale Warring off of waivers from Hous-ton. Placed OL Marcus Martin on IR.Waived WR Devin Ross, OL R.J. Prince, LSBrian Khoury, LB Cassh Maluia and S MalikGant.

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS — Placed CBBrian Poole, DT Jalen Dalton and OT EthanGreenridge on IR. Released P Nolan Coo-ney. Waived LB Marcus Willoughby withan injury designation.

NEW YORK GIANTS — Waived DB MontreHartage and Cole Hikutini with an injurydesignation. Placed TE Rysen John and CBQuincy Wilson on IR. Released LS CarsonTinker.

NEW YORK JETS — Placed DL Vinny Curryon the reserve/non-football injury list.Waived WRs Manasseh Bailey and JoshMalone, LB Edmond Robinson and OL Tris-ten Hoge. Placed DB Corey Ballentine onIR.

PHILADELPHIA EAGLES — Waived DE JoeOstman with an injury designation.Waived WR Hakeem Butler and C HarryCrider. Waived OT Casey Tucker from IRwith a settlement.

PITTSBURGH STEELERS — Waived DB An-toine Brooks with an injury designation.Released OL Aviante Collins, WR TylerSimmons RB Pete Guerriero and LB CalvinBundage.

SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS — Released S To-ny Jefferson from IR with a settlement.Placed LB Mychal Kendricks on IR. Re-leased DL Shilique Calhoun and CB B.W.Webb. Waived WR River Cracraft and OLCorbin Kaufusi.

SEATTLE SEAHAWKS — Released CBPierre Desir. Acquired CB John Reid fromHouston for a conditional 2023 seventh-round pick. Re-signed TE Luke Willson.Waived DE Alex Tchangam. Activated RBTravis Homer from the physically unableto perform (PUP) list.

TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS — Placed KRyan Succop on the COVID-19 list. WaivedOL Chidi Okeke with an injury designation.

TENNESSEE TITANS — Waived DB KevinPeterson. Placed LB Nick Dzubnar and RBJeremy McNichols on reserve/COVID-19list. Placed OT Paul Adams, K TuckerMcCann and G Ross Reynolds on IR.

WASHINGTON FOOTBALL TEAM — Re-leased CB Jordan Brown, T Rick Leonard,LB Justin Phillips, DT Justus Reed and C JonToth.

HOCKEYNational Hockey League

NASHVILLE PREDATORS — Extended itsaffiliation agreement with Florida (ECHL).

NEW YORK RANGERS — Named GordMurphy, Mike Kelly and Jim Midgley as-sistant coaches. Named Steve Smith as-sistant coach for Hartford (AHL).

SOCCERMajor League Soccer

MINNESOTA UNITED FC — Loaned F AzielJackson to North Carolina FC (USL LeagueOne).

NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION — Trans-ferred F Tajon Buchanan to Club Bragge ofthe Belgian First Division A for an undis-closed amount at the end of the 2021 sea-son.

COLLEGEBELMONT — Named Scott Corley vice

president, director of athletics.TENNESSEE TECH — Named Andrew

Steele assistant men’s basketball coach.

DEALS

PRO SOCCER

MLS

Eastern Conference

W L T Pts GF GA

New England 15 3 4 49 44 26

Orlando City 9 4 7 34 30 24

Philadelphia 8 5 8 32 27 20

Nashville 7 2 11 32 32 20

NYCFC 9 6 4 31 34 19

CF Montréal 7 7 7 28 27 26

D.C. United 8 10 3 27 32 31

Atlanta 6 6 9 27 25 26

Columbus 6 9 6 24 22 27

New York 6 9 4 22 23 24

Inter Miami CF 6 9 4 22 21 31

Chicago 5 11 5 20 23 33

Cincinnati 3 8 8 17 19 34

Toronto FC 3 12 6 15 25 44

Western Conference

W L T Pts GF GA

Seattle 12 3 6 42 35 17

Sporting KC 11 4 6 39 36 21

Colorado 11 4 4 37 29 19

LA Galaxy 11 8 2 35 32 32

Minnesota 7 6 7 28 22 23

Real Salt Lake 7 7 6 27 30 23

San Jose 6 7 8 26 24 29

Portland 7 10 3 24 27 39

LAFC 6 9 5 23 25 28

Vancouver 5 7 8 23 23 30

FC Dallas 5 9 7 22 25 30

Austin FC 5 11 4 19 17 24

Houston 3 8 10 19 23 32

Note: Three points for victory, one pointfor tie.

Friday’s games

Cincinnati at Columbus Toronto FC at CF Montréal Miami at Orlando City

Saturday’s games

Nashville at Atlanta Chicago at New York LA Galaxy at Los Angeles FC New England at New York City FC Philadelphia at D.C. United Colorado at Sporting Kansas City Minnesota at Houston

Sunday’s games

FC Dallas at Austin FC Real Salt Lake at Vancouver Portland at Seattle

NWSL

W L T Pts GF GA

Portland 9 3 2 29 21 8

North Carolina 8 4 3 27 22 9

Washington 6 5 4 22 19 18

Reign FC 7 7 1 22 20 17

Gotham FC 5 3 6 21 16 12

Orlando 5 5 6 21 19 19

Chicago 6 7 3 21 16 22

Houston 5 6 3 18 17 20

Louisville 4 6 4 16 12 20

Kansas City 1 10 4 7 7 24

Note: Three points for victory, one pointfor tie.

Wednesday’s games

Louisville at Kansas CityGotham FC at Portland

Saturday’s games

Kansas City at Chicago

Sunday’s games

North Carolina at Washington Orlando at Gotham FCLouisville at HoustonPortland at Reign FC

Wednesday, Sept. 1

Reign FC at Houston

Winston-Salem Open

TuesdayAt Wake Forest University

Winston-Salem, N.C.Purse: $717,955

Surface: Hardcourt outdoorMen’s SinglesRound of 32

Benoit Paire (12), France, def. Gilles Si-mon, France, 6-3, 6-3.

Pierre-Hugues Herbert, France, def. Fe-derico Coria, Argentina, 6-4, 6-2.

Pablo Carreno Busta (1), Spain, def.Kwon Soon Woo, South Korea, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.

Jan-Lennard Struff (9), Germany, def.Gianluca Mager, Italy, 6-2, 6-2.

Emil Ruusuvuori, Finland, def. AlexanderBublik (5), Kazakhstan, 6-2, 7-6 (5).

Marton Fucsovics (4), Hungary, def. Yo-suke Watanuki, Japan, 7-5, 6-1.

Ilya Ivashka, Belarus, def. Marin Cilic (6),Croatia, 4-6, 7-5, 6-4.

Mikael Ymer, Sweden, def. Albert Ra-mos-Vinolas (11), Spain, 6-3, 6-1.

Daniel Evans (3), Britain, def. LucasPouille, France, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1.

Marcos Giron, United States, def. Feder-ico Delbonis (10), Argentina, 6-3, 6-4.

Max Purcell, Australia, def. JordanThompson, Australia, 7-5, 6-4.

Frances Tiafoe (13), United States, def.Andy Murray, Britain, 7-6 (4), 6-3.

Thiago Monteiro, Brazil, def. EduardoNava, United States, 7-5, 6-1.

Carlos Alcaraz (15), Spain, def. AlexeiPopyrin, Australia, 6-7 (9), 6-1, 7-6 (1).

Men’s DoublesRound of 16

Matwe Middelkoop, Netherlands, andMarcelo Arevalo-Gonzalez, El Salvador,def. Andrey Golubev, Kazakhstan, and An-dreas Mies, Germany, 6-2, 5-7, 11-9.

Ivan Dodig, Croatia, and Austin Krajicek,United States, def. Nicholas Monroe andJackson Withrow, United States, 7-6 (4),6-4.

Chicago Women’s OpenTuesday

At XS Tennis VillageChicago

Purse: $235,238Surface: Hardcourt outdoor

Women’s SinglesRound of 16

Varvara Gracheva, Russia, def. Ana Bog-dan, Romania, 7-5, 3-1, ret.

Marta Kostyuk (8), Ukraine, def. Kaia Ka-nepi, Estonia, 6-2, 6-3.

Kristina Mladenovic (7), France, def.Francoise Abanda, Canada, 6-3, 6-2.

Women’s DoublesRound of 16

Nicole Melichar, United States, andDemi Schuurs (1), Netherlands, def. Kait-

lyn Christian, United States, and Nao Hibi-no, Japan, 6-2, 7-6 (5).

Alicja Rosolska, Poland, and Eri Hozumi,Japan, def. Eden Silva, Britain, and QuinnGleason, United States, 6-3, 6-2.

Tereza Martincova and Marketa Von-drousova, Czech Republic, def. Marta Kos-tyuk, Ukraine, and Clara Tauson, Denmark,7-6 (3), 6-3.

Cleveland Championships

TuesdayAt Flats West Bank

ClevelandPurse: $235,238

Surface: Hardcourt outdoorWomen’s Singles

Round of 16Magda Linette (6), Poland, def. Linda

Fruhvirtova, Czech Republic, 7-6 (2), 6-4. Aliaksandra Sasnovich, Belarus, def. Na-

dia Podoroska (5), Argentina, 6-7 (7), 6-4,6-4.

Daria Kasatkina (1), Russia, def. CatyMcNally, United States, 2-6, 6-4, 6-2.

Irina-Camelia Begu, Romania, def. Polo-na Hercog, Slovenia, 7-6 (5), 7-5.

Women’s DoublesRound of 16

Ulrikke Eikeri, Norway, and CatherineHarrison, United States, def. Tara Moore,Britain, and Emina Bektas, United States,6-3, 5-7, 10-7.

TENNIS

YOUTH BASEBALL

Little League World SeriesAt Williamsport, Pa.

HANK AARON

WEST A, Honolulu, Hawaii; MIDWEST A,Hastings, Neb.; GREAT LAKES A, Taylor,Mich.; NORTHWEST A, Sammamish,Wash.; NEW ENGLAND B, Manchester,Conn.; MID-ATLANTIC B, Toms River, N.J.;SOUTHEAST B, Palm City, Fla.; SOUTH-WEST B, Abilene, Texas

TOM SEAVER

SOUTHEAST A, Nolensville, Tenn.; NEWENGLAND A, Hooksett, N.H.; MID-ATLAN-TIC A, Oaks, Pa.; SOUTHWEST A, Lafayette,La.; GREAT LAKES B, Hamilton, Ohio; WESTB, Torrance, Calif.; NORTHWEST B, LakeOswego, Ore.; MIDWEST B, Sioux Falls, S.D.

Double Elimination

Thursday, Aug. 19

Game 1: Hawaii 9, Connecticut 1Game 2: Ohio 1, Tennessee 0Game 3: Nebraska 5, New Jersey 2Game 4: California 10, New Hampshire 2

Friday, Aug. 20

Game 5: Oregon 8, Pennsylvania 2Game 6: Michigan 8, Florida 0Game 7: South Dakota 2, Louisiana 0Game 8: Texas 6, Washington 0

Saturday, Aug. 21

Game 9: New Hampshire 4, Tennessee 1Game 10: New Jersey 11, Connecticut 4Game 11: Washington 1, Florida 0Game 12: Louisiana 5, Pennsylvania 3

Sunday’s games

Game 13: California 9, Ohio 0Game 14: Hawaii 11, Nebraska 3

Monday’s games

Game 15: Michigan 6, Texas 5Game 16: South Dakota 3, Oregon 0Game 19: Ohio 8, Louisiana 2Game 20: Nebraska 3, Washington 2

Tuesday’s games

Game 17: Texas 2, New Jersey 1Game 18: New Hampshire 14, Oregon 6

Wednesday’s games

Game 21: New Hampshire vs. OhioGame 22: Nebraska vs. TexasGame 23: California vs. South DakotaGame 24: Michigan vs. Hawaii

Thursday’s games

Game 25: Game 24 loser vs. Game 22 win-ner

Game 26: Game 23 loser vs. Game 21 win-ner

Saturday’s games

Tom Seaver Championship

Game 27: Game 23 winner vs. Game 26winner, Noon

Hank Aaron Championship

Game 28: Game 24 winner vs. Game 25winner

Sunday, Aug. 29

Third Place

Game 29: Game 27 loser vs. Game 28 los-er

Championship

Game 30: Game 27 winner vs. Game 28winner

Thursday, August 26, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 21

MLB

Scoreboard

ATLANTA — Wandy Peralta re­

tired  Freddie  Freeman  with  the

bases loaded for the final out, and

the New York Yankees held off the

Atlanta Braves 5­4 Tuesday night to

extend their longest winning streak

in 36 years to 11 games.

DJ LeMahieu’s two­run homer in

the fifth inning gave New York the

lead.  Giancarlo  Stanton  and

Roughned Odor also went deep for

the Yankees.

New York closer Aroldis Chap­

man, trying to preserve the lead,

gave up two hits and two walks in

the ninth. Chapman’s bases­loaded

walk to Jorge Soler cut the margin

to one, and manager Aaron Boone

pulled Chapman for Peralta.

The  Yankees  remained  four

games  behind  first­place  Tampa

Bay in the AL East.

The 11­game  winning  streak  is

New York’s longest since Aug. 31 to

Sept. 10, 1985.

Charlie  Morton  (12­5)  allowed

four runs and six hits in five innings.

He had nine strikeouts.

Clay Holmes (2­0), the third of six

Yankees relievers, earned the win.

Dodgers 5, Padres 2:AJ Pollock

hit  a  two­run  single  and  robbed

Manny  Machado  of  a  two­run

homer to lead visiting Los Angeles

past sinking San Diego in a series

opener  between  NL  West  rivals

headed in opposite directions.

Will  Smith  homered  for  the

Dodgers and Julio Urías (14­3) al­

lowed one hit over five scoreless in­

nings in his return from the injured

list to match Chicago Cubs right­

hander  Kyle  Hendricks  for  most

wins in the majors.

Los Angeles has won 10 of 11. The

Padres have lost 10 of 12.

Urías, who missed his previous

turn with a bruised left calf, held

San Diego hitless until Eric Hosm­

er doubled with one out in the fifth.

Giants 8, Mets 0: Brandon Belt

hit two of visiting San Francisco’s

four home runs to push his career­

best total to 19 and rookie Sammy

Long pitched into the sixth inning in

a win over slumping New York.

LaMonte  Wade  Jr.  and  Mike

Yastrzemski also connected in the

first  four  innings  as  the  Giants

jumped to a 7­0 advantage against

rookie Tylor Megill (1­3).

San  Francisco  catcher  Buster

Posey was removed with left knee

discomfort in the fifth.

Belt ended a 2­for­30 skid with

two homers and a single in his first

three plate appearances and added

an RBI infield single in the eighth

for his season­high fourth hit. Long

(2­1) tossed three­hit ball over 51⁄�3

innings, striking out four and walk­

ing one.

Red Sox 11, Twins 9: Hunter

Renfroe homered twice, the second

during a five­run fifth inning that

gave host Boston a six­run advan­

tage as it defeated last­place Min­

nesota.

Alex Verdugo had three hits, and

Renfroe drove in five runs with his

14th career multi­homer game. Ki­

ké  Hernández  added  a  two­run

homer.

Jorge  Polanco  hit  a  two­run

homer for the Twins and Josh Do­

naldson added a  solo  shot  in  the

ninth.

Brewers 7, Reds 3: Omar Nar­

váez hit a tiebreaking double in a

four­run  seventh  inning,  Kolten

Wong added a two­run homer in the

eighth and host Milwaukee rallied

past Cincinnati.

Brewers shortstop Willy Adames

exited early with a leg injury, but

first­place Milwaukee hit a trio of

sacrifice flies to win the opener of a

three­game series between the top

two teams in the NL Central.

Hunter Strickland (3­1) pitched a

scoreless inning in relief of starter

Corbin Burnes to help the Brewers

win for the 11th time in 14 games.

Josh Hader earned his 27th save in

28 chances.

Astros 4, Royals 0: Luis Garcia

pitched into the seventh inning and

two relievers completed a four­hit­

ter as host Houston blanked Kansas

City.

Garcia  (10­6)  struck  out  seven

and scattered four hits across 62⁄�3

sharp innings. Ryne Stanek got the

next four outs before Kendall Gra­

veman worked a perfect ninth.

Carlos Correa had two hits and

two RBIs to help the Astros snap a

two­game skid.

Rays 3, Phillies 1: Nelson Cruz

returned from the COVID­19 list,

played first base for the first time in

his career and hit a tiebreaking two­

run double in the eighth inning as

visiting Tampa Bay beat Philadel­

phia.

The 41­year­old Cruz, the Rays’

designated  hitter  who  had  never

played first, handled all his chances

cleanly in his first action anywhere

on defense  since he played right

field for Seattle in 2018. He singled

in the first and sixth innings before

his big hit in the eighth, a line drive

off Archie Bradley (7­2) that scored

Brett Phillips and Randy Arozare­

na.

JT Chargois (2­0) struck out the

only batter he faced to end the sev­

enth,  and  Andrew  Kittredge

worked the last two innings for his

third save.

Rangers 7, Indians 3: Nathaniel

Lowe was 5­for­5 with a three­run

homer in the first inning, and visit­

ing Texas beat Cleveland after add­

ing another player to the COVID­19

list.

Lowe homered in the first, sin­

gled in the third, seventh and ninth,

and doubled in the fifth. DJ Peters

also hit a three­run homer in the

ninth and drove in four runs.

Nationals 5, Marlins 1:Tres Bar­

rera  had  three  hits,  including  a

homer,  and  visiting  Washington

sent  Miami  to  its  eighth  straight

loss.

Yadiel Hernádez singled and tri­

pled, while Ryan Zimmerman also

went deep for the Nationals.

Angels 14, Orioles 8: Baltimore

staggered  to  its 19th  consecutive

loss, allowing 19 hits and falling be­

hind visiting Los Angeles by 11 runs

early.

The Orioles’ streak is the major

leagues’ longest skid since Kansas

City dropped 19 straight in 2005.

White Sox 5, Blue Jays 2: Dylan

Cease pitched seven effective  in­

nings, José Abreu hit a three­run

homer and Chicago won at Toronto

to stop a three­game slide.

Cease (10­6) retired his first 11

batters, fanning six, before Vladi­

mir Guerrero Jr. lined a single to

right in the fourth. Cease allowed

one run and four hits. Liam Hen­

driks  earned  his  29th  save  in  35

chances.

Tigers 4, Cardinals 3: Miguel

Cabrera and Robbie Grossman hit

back­to­back home runs to lead De­

troit to an interleague victory at St.

Louis.

Two days after hitting his 500th

homer, Cabrera connected on No.

501. At 423 feet, it was his second

longest home run this season.

Pirates 4, Diamondbacks 2: JT

Brubaker pitched five scoreless in­

nings  for  his  first  win  in  nearly

three months, and host Pittsburgh

beat Arizona.

Brubaker (5­13) allowed four hits

with six strikeouts, stranding five

runners in scoring position. Since

last  winning  May  29,  Brubaker

went  0­9  with  a  7.08  ERA  in 12

starts. Chris Stratton picked up his

second save.

Mariners  5,  Athletics 1:  Luis

Torrens hit a tiebreaking two­run

single,  Chris  Flexen  pitched  into

the  seventh  inning  and  Seattle

swept a  two­game series at Oak­

land.

The A’s managed three straight

singles in the first against Flexen

(11­5), who struck out five over 62⁄�3

innings.  He  allowed  six  hits  and

walked one.

Yankees push win streak to 11New York hits three HRs,

holds off Atlanta 5-4

Associated Press

JOHN BAZEMORE/AP

New York Yankees second baseman Rougned Odor, right, celebrates with Aaron Judge after hitting a solohome run in the seventh inning of the Yankees’ 5­4 win over the Atlanta Braves Tuesday in Atlanta.

ROUNDUP

American League

East Division

W L Pct GB

Tampa Bay 78 48 .619 _

New York 74 52 .587 4

Boston 72 55 .567 6½

Toronto 65 59 .524 12

Baltimore 38 86 .306 39

Central Division

W L Pct GB

Chicago 73 54 .575 _

Cleveland 61 62 .496 10

Detroit 61 66 .480 12

Kansas City 56 69 .448 16

Minnesota 54 71 .432 18

West Division

W L Pct GB

Houston 74 52 .587 _

Oakland 70 57 .551 4½

Seattle 69 58 .543 5½

Los Angeles 63 64 .496 11½

Texas 44 81 .352 29½

National LeagueEast Division

W L Pct GB

Atlanta 68 58 .540 _

Philadelphia 63 62 .504 4½

New York 61 64 .488 6½

Washington 54 70 .435 13

Miami 51 75 .405 17

Central Division

W L Pct GB

Milwaukee 77 49 .611 _

Cincinnati 69 58 .543 8½

St. Louis 63 61 .508 13

Chicago 55 72 .433 22½

Pittsburgh 46 80 .365 31

West Division

W L Pct GB

San Francisco 81 44 .648 _

Los Angeles 79 47 .627 2½

San Diego 68 59 .535 14

Colorado 57 68 .456 24

Arizona 42 85 .331 40

Tuesday’s games

Seattle 5, Oakland 1Tampa Bay 3, Philadelphia 1Chicago White Sox 5, Toronto 2Texas 7, Cleveland 3L.A. Angels 14, Baltimore 8N.Y. Yankees 5, Atlanta 4Detroit 4, St. Louis 3Boston 11, Minnesota 9Houston 4, Kansas City 0Pittsburgh 4, Arizona 2San Francisco 8, N.Y. Mets 0Washington 5, Miami 1Milwaukee 7, Cincinnati 4L.A. Dodgers 5, San Diego 2Colorado at Chicago Cubs, ppd.

Wednesday’s games

Detroit at St. LouisKansas City at HoustonL.A. Angels at BaltimoreTampa Bay at PhiladelphiaChicago White Sox at TorontoMinnesota at BostonTexas at ClevelandColorado at Chicago Cubs, 2Arizona at PittsburghSan Francisco at N.Y. MetsWashington at MiamiCincinnati at MilwaukeeL.A. Dodgers at San Diego

Thursday’s games

L.A. Angels (Quintana 0-3) at Baltimore(Akin 0-8)

Chicago White Sox (TBD) at Toronto(Ryu 12-6)

Minnesota (Gant 4-7) at Boston (Sale 2-0)Texas (Lyles 6-10) at Cleveland (TBD)N.Y. Yankees (Taillon 8-4) at Oakland

(Kaprielian 7-4)Kansas City (Keller 8-12) at Seattle (Ki-

kuchi 7-7)Cincinnati (Gray 5-6) at Milwaukee (An-

derson 4-7)Arizona (Gallen 1-7) at Philadelphia

(Moore 2-3)St. Louis (Mikolas 0-1) at Pittsburgh (Peters 0-1)San Francisco (Wood 10-4) at N.Y. Mets

(Carrasco 0-2)Washington (Corbin 7-12) at Miami (Her-

nandez 0-1)L.A. Dodgers (Scherzer 11-4) at San Die-

go (TBD)Friday’s games

Tampa Bay at BaltimoreBoston at ClevelandToronto at DetroitHouston at TexasChicago Cubs at Chicago White SoxMilwaukee at MinnesotaSan Diego at L.A. AngelsN.Y. Yankees at OaklandKansas City at SeattleArizona at PhiladelphiaSt. Louis at PittsburghCincinnati at MiamiWashington at N.Y. MetsSan Francisco at AtlantaColorado at L.A. Dodgers

PAGE 22 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Thursday, August 26, 2021

NFL/SPORTS BRIEFS

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The Los Angeles Rams

are getting some much-needed help in the backfield.

The Rams announced Wednesday that they ac-

quired running back Sony Michel from the Patriots

for undisclosed 2022 draft picks.

Michel, who was drafted in the first round in 2018,

brings some relief to a Rams offense that was running

low on healthy running back options with the regular

season fast approaching.

Darrell Henderson left practice Monday with a

sprained thumb. The Rams won’t have two of last

season’s top three running backs this fall after Cam

Akers’ season-ending Achilles tendon injury and

Malcolm Brown’s departure for Miami. They also

won’t have emerging talent Raymond Calais, who

was waived with an injury designation Monday after

breaking his foot in their preseason game against Las

Vegas.

That left only undrafted second-year pro Xavier

Jones, rookie seventh-round pick Jake Funk and roo-

kie Otis Anderson as the remaining options to sup-

port quarterback Matt Stafford.

Michel entered the preseason at a pivotal point of

his injury-plagued career.

The Patriots declined to pick up his fifth-year op-

tion in May, clearing the way from him to become a

free agent at the conclusion of the season.

During his rookie campaign, he fought through the

lingering effects of the left knee injury he suffered as

a senior at Georgia. He appeared in eight games and

rushed for 931 yards and six touchdowns, averaging

4.7 yards per carry.

He appeared in 14 games in 2019 but saw his pro-

duction tail off. He ran for 912 yards and seven TDs

while his yards per carry average fell to 3.7.

That average rose to 5.7 last season before a qua-

driceps injury sidelined him for six games. The 26-

year-old also spent a week on the COVID-19 list.

His contract status left him entering training camp

fighting for a roster spot this season in New England.

Damien Harris was productive in 2020, his second

season, and got most of the snaps. The Patriots draft-

ed former Oklahoma running back Rhamondre Ste-

venson in the fourth round in April, and he joined a

depth chart that also includes veteran James White,

Brandon Bolden and J.J. Taylor.

CHRIS SZAGOLA/AP

Sony Michel runs with the ball during the Patriots’preseason game against the Eagles last Thursday.The Los Angeles Rams traded for Michel, who wasa first­round pick by New England in 2018.

Rams bolsterbackfield byadding Michel

BY KYLE HIGHTOWER

Associated Press

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Travis

Etienne was supposed to be a game-

changer for the Jacksonville Jag-

uars this season.

He might not have had the same

impact as rookie quarterback Tre-

vor Lawrence, but Clemson’s other

offensive star and the Atlantic Coast

Conference’s all-time leading rush-

er looked like he would be a promi-

nent figure — maybe even the go-to

guy — in coach Urban Meyer’s of-

fense.

Matchup nightmare? Versatile

weapon? Big-play threat? Etienne

was expected to provide all those

and more after Jacksonville chose

him with the 25th overall pick in

April’s NFL draft.

Now, though, Meyer and the Jag-

uars will have to wait a year to see

what Etienne can do in the NFL.

The team placed the running back

on injured reserve Tuesday, one

day after he suffered a Lisfranc in-

jury to his left foot.

Tests revealed the extent of the

injury Tuesday. He is expected to

have surgery as soon as possible. He

may have been able to return late in

the year, but the Jaguars opted to

take a cautious approach and give

him plenty of time to recover before

the 2022 season.

Since Etienne landed on IR be-

fore 53-man rosters get set next

Tuesday, he can not return this sea-

son.

Losing Etienne is a significant

setback for the Jaguars, who

planned to use him to create mis-

matches as a receiver in the slot and

as a change-of-pace back.

Etienne tallied 4,952 yards in four

seasons at Clemson. He also set

ACC records for rushing touch-

downs (70), total touchdowns (78)

and points scored (468), and the

Jaguars were counting on him to

have similar success as a rookie.

He was essentially uncoverable

out of the backfield in training camp

and one of Lawrence’s favorite tar-

gets near the goal line.

Etienne also had been part of a

three-back rushing attack for Jack-

sonville, sharing carries with start-

er James Robinson and Carlos

Hyde. But Etienne has more speed

and elusiveness and would have

played a major role.

Replacing Etienne won’t be easy,

if even possible. Jacksonville has no

one on its roster with his skillset.

He’s the latest in a long list of first-

round picks by the Jaguars to have

varying issues in Year 1. Receiver

Justin Blackmon was arrested in

2012. Defensive end Dante Fowler

blew out a knee in rookie camp in

2015. Running back Leonard Four-

nette struggled to pick up the of-

fense in 2017. And cornerback CJ

Henderson missed half of the 2020

season with injuries.

Jags RB Etienne out for seasonBY MARK LONG

Associated Press

DERICK HINGLE /AP

Jaguars running back TravisEtienne suffered a Lisfranc injuryon Monday, and the rookie willmiss the entire regular season. 

Serena Williams added herself

to the list of big-name withdrawals

from the U.S. Open on Wednes-

day, pulling out of the year’s last

Grand Slam tournament because

of a torn hamstring.

Williams hasn’t competed since

injuring her right leg in the first

set of her first-round match at

Wimbledon in late June.

The American, who turns 40

next month, announced her deci-

sion to sit out the U.S. Open via a

social media post. She joins Roger

Federer and Rafael Nadal in sit-

ting out the competition in Flush-

ing Meadows, where play begins

next Monday, raising questions

about what the future of tennis

might look like without them. The

draw for the tournament is Thurs-

day.

This will be the first major tour-

nament since 1997 without Wil-

liams, Federer or Nadal in the sin-

gles brackets. Williams made her

Grand Slam debut at the 1998 Aus-

tralian Open; Federer made his

the following year; Nadal in 2003.

Williams has won 23 Grand

Slam singles titles, a record in the

professional era. Only one player

in tennis history owns more, Mar-

garet Court with 24.

Federer, Nadal and Novak Djo-

kovic share the men’s record of 20.

“After careful consideration

and following the advice of my

doctors and medical team, I have

decided to withdraw from the US

Open to allow my body to heal

completely from a torn hamstr-

ing,” Williams wrote in Wednes-

day’s post.

Her note ended with: “I’ll see

you soon.”

NFL limits locker roomsto vaccinated personnel

The NFL has mandated that on-

ly fully vaccinated personnel, with

amaximum of 50 people, will have

access to locker rooms while play-

ers are present on game days.

In a memo sent to the 32 teams

and obtained by The Associated

Press, the policy becomes effec-

tive immediately. The personnel

covered by the policy includes

coaches, athletic trainers, equip-

ment staffers, one general manag-

er, one team security representa-

tive, three club communications

media workers and one clubhouse

support staffer.

Players are not required to be

vaccinated against COVID-19, but

the NFL has reported that more

than 90% of them are.

Astros’ Bregman back

after 2 months on ILHOUSTON — Houston Astros

third baseman Alex Bregman was

activated from the disabled list

Wednesday after missing more

than two months with a strained

left quadriceps.

Bregman was playing third and

batting sixth in the lineup on

Wednesday as the Astros wrapped

up a series against the Kansas City

Royals after splitting the first two

games.

The 27-year-old hasn’t played

since he was injured running to

first base on June 16. Bregman

went on two separate rehabilita-

tion assignments at Triple-A Sug-

ar Land to prepare for his return.

Bregman, the runner-up for AL

MVP in 2019, is batting .275 with

seven homers and 34 RBIs in 59

games this season.

KIRSTY WIGGLESWORTH/AP

Serena Williams dropped out of the U.S. Open on Wednesday. Shejoins Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in sitting out the tournament.

Serena pulls outof U.S. Open, citeshamstring injury

Associated Press

BRIEFLY

Thursday, August 26, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 23

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Tennessee hasn’t finished a sea-

son ranked higher than 22nd since

2007, yet there still figures to be a

heavy Volunteer flavor to the

playoff picture this year.

Or to put it more accurately, an

ex-Volunteer flavor.

While the transfer portal was

particularly active during the

most recent offseason, no team

lost more star power than Tennes-

see, which fired coach Jeremy

Pruitt in January when school of-

ficials said an internal investiga-

tion found serious NCAA viola-

tions.

Three teams ranked in the top

10 of The Associated Press Top 25

landed notable former Volun-

teers.

No. 1 Alabama landed ex-Ten-

nessee linebacker Henry To’o

To’o. Running back Ty Chandler

transferred from Tennessee to No.

10 North Carolina.

But the Voluteers’ presence is

most notable at No. 2 Oklahoma.

The Sooners have three former

Vols in running back Eric Gray,

defensive back Key Lawrence and

offensive tackle Wanya Morris.

“Definitely for me as a running

back, the history of the ‘RBU,’ so

many great running backs came

through here, the history of the of-

fense at Oklahoma, just the OU

program in general, I was defi-

nitely attracted to it from day

one,” Gray said. “Once I got to the

transfer portal, I kind of knew Ok-

lahoma was the school I wanted to

go to.”

There are a number of transfers

who should make an impact this

season and it’s no surprise this list

features a couple of former Ten-

nessee players:

Notre Dame QB Jack Coan

(Wisconsin): Coan already has

been named the starting quarter-

back for No. 9 Notre Dame’s Sept.

5 season opener at Florida State.

Coan made 18 starts for Wisconsin

from 2018-19, but he injured his

right foot before the 2020 season

and never played for the Badgers

again with Graham Mertz taking

over the job. Coan completed

69.6% of his passes for 2,727 yards

with 18 touchdowns and five inter-

ceptions in 2019 while helping

Wisconsin reach the Big Ten

championship game and Rose

Bowl. Coan will get a chance to

face his former team Sept. 25,

when the Fighting Irish face No. 12

Wisconsin at Chicago’s Soldier

Field.

Oklahoma RB Eric Gray (Ten-

nessee): Gray rushed for 772

yards and also caught 30 passes

for 254 yards in nine games last

season. He rushed for 539 yards as

a freshman in 2019. He closed the

2019 season by rushing for 246

yards against Vanderbilt and

gaining 120 all-purpose yards and

scoring the winning touchdown

against Indiana in the Gator Bowl.

He was named the most valuable

player of the Gator Bowl. Gray

should form a quality running

back tandem with Oklahoma’s

Kennedy Brooks, who rushed for

more than 1,000 yards in back-to-

back years in 2018 and 2019 before

opting out of the 2020 season.

Kentucky QB Will Levis (Penn

State): Levis will be the starting

quarterback for Kentucky’s Sept.

4 season opener with Louisiana-

Monroe. Levis appeared in 15

games for Penn State and went 61-

for-102 for 644 yards with three

touchdowns and two intercep-

tions. Kentucky might not be the

only SEC East team handing its

starting quarterback job to some-

one who arrived by transfer this

offseason. Tennessee’s quarter-

back competition includes Michi-

gan transfer Joe Milton and Vir-

ginia Tech transfer Hendon Hook-

er, as well as Harrison Bailey.

Florida State QB McKenzie

Milton (UCF): Milton is a two-

time American Athletic Confer-

ence offensive player of the year

who finished eighth in the Heis-

man Trophy balloting in 2017 and

sixth in 2018, but he suffered liga-

ment, nerve and artery damage to

his knee in November 2018 and

hasn’t played in a game since. Mil-

ton, who won his last 24 starts at

UCF, now is attempting a come-

back with Florida State and com-

peting with Jordan Travis for the

right to open the season as the

Seminoles’ starting quarterback.

Georgia DB Tykee Smith (West

Virginia): Smith was a third-team

Associated Press All-America se-

lection for West Virginia last sea-

son. He had 61 tackles — eight for

loss — and two interceptions in 10

games. Smith also had 53 tackles

and two interceptions as a fresh-

man in 2019. Smith will be part of a

Georgia secondary that also in-

cludes Clemson transfer Derion

Kendrick.

Alabama LB Henry To’o To’o

(Tennessee): To’o To’o was a two-

year starter at Tennessee who re-

corded a team-high 76 tackles last

season. He also had 10 tackles for

loss. He had 72 tackles as a fresh-

man in 2019. Alabama coach Nick

Saban says To’o To’o has benefit-

ed from his familiarity with the

system after playing at Tennessee

for Pruitt, a former Alabama de-

fensive coordinator.

Finding VolunteersEx-Tennessee players among notable transfers boosting teams eyeing playoffs

VASHA HUNT/AP

Linebacker Henry To’o To’o runs through drills during practice inTuscaloosa, Ala. To’o To’o was two­year starter at Tennessee beforetransferring to the No. 1­ranked Tide.

BY STEVE MEGARGEE

Associated Press

SUE OGROCKI/AP

Running back Eric Gray is one ofthree players who transferred toOklahoma from Tennessee, giv­ing the No. 2 Sooners even morefirepower. 

“We’re down to 19 periods,”

Keeler said. “I give them a half-

time after like the 11th or 12th peri-

od every day where they literally

just go over and hydrate.”

Keeler sent his team home after

the championship win and didn’t

have them return until June 28,

when the community finally hon-

ored them with a parade.

When the Bearkats resumed

practice Aug. 4, just 80 days had

passed since they beat South Da-

kota State 23-21 for the title on a

pass with 16 seconds to play. With

the season opener set for Sept. 2,

that is 108 days between games for

the Bearkats. Between the 2018

and 2019 seasons, the last time

things were normal, Sam Houston

had 286 days between games.

By the time this regular season

ends, assuming it goes on as

scheduled, Sam Houston will have

played 20 games in 2021 — with

the potential for postseason games

a very real possibility.

Sam Houston is one of many

programs that have banned, or se-

verely limited, tackling in prac-

tice, but not every highly regarded

program follows suit.

“Football is a collision sport,”

James Madison coach Curt Cig-

netti said, “... and you still have to

develop the toughness, the mind-

set of your team in camp. So, we’ve

had a physical camp. Everybody

wanted a physical camp.”

The Dukes, who played eight

games in the spring, make conces-

sions elsewhere, beating the heat

by practicing in the morning, and

gradually dialing things back in

practice as the season wears on,

Cignetti said.

Down the road at VMI, the Key-

dets are coming off their first win-

ning season in 40 years. Coach

Scott Wachenheim wants to keep

the momentum going, but not at

the risk of wearing his players out.

“We’re well under the NCAA

minimums for the amount of times

that we’re going to have contact on

the field and the amount of time

we’re on the field,” he said. “We

just feel we’ve got to keep our

team healthy.”

His players, though, have been

eager to get back to work, hoping

to build off what they accom-

plished in going 6-2 last season be-

fore losing in the playoffs at James

Madison. The playoff berth was

the first in school history.

“Everything’s fresh in your

mind. You’re just still in kind of

game shape because a lot of the

guys were here in the summer,”

said linebacker Stone Snyder, the

Southern Conference defensive

player of the year.

Jakob Herres, the Keydets’ All-

American wide receiver, agreed.

He played on a team that went 1-10

when he was a freshman and 5-7

as a sophomore.

“I think once we all got that little

taste of what winning was like, we

didn’t want to let it go back to what

it was,” Herres said this week.

“The spring spring season was

definitely tough on the body, you

know, starting in the cold and ev-

erything like that, practicing out-

side,” he said, “... but I really only

took about a week’s break and

kind of just got right back to it.”

The FCS season begins Satur-

day. Sam Houston is the presea-

son No. 1, followed by James Ma-

dison, South Dakota State, North

Dakota State and Delaware in the

top five.

FROM PAGE 24

DANIEL LIN/AP

James Madison coach Curt Cignetti, whose team played eight gamesin the spring, said the Dukes had a physical camp, but he plans to dialback the intensity of practices as this season wears on.

Rest: FCS ‘offseason’lasted a short 80 days

K.C. Keeler didn’t ask his Sam Houston players to stick

around long after they won the school’s first national

championship last May, capping a long and draining sea-

son — physically and emotionally — because of the pan-

demic.

He’s also not asking them to stick around as long at practice this year.

Throughout the Championship Subdivision, coaches are making con-

cessions this fall to acknowledge that the quick turnaround from last

spring is hard.

Practices that typically had 24 sessions in the Huntsville, Texas heat?

Sam Houston State wide receiver Jequez Ezzard (12) has a passbroken up by South Dakota State cornerback Don Gardner during theFCS championship on May 16 in Frisco, Texas. Sam Houston willbegin its defense of its first FCS title three months after winning it.

MICHAEL AINSWORTH/AP

Rest for the wearyWith short turnaround between seasons, FCS programs adjust practice regimens

BY HANK KURZ JR.

Associated Press

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

SEE REST ON PAGE 23

PAGE 24 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Thursday, August 26, 2021

SPORTS

Rams add RB Michel to hurting backfield ›› NFL, Page 22

Volunteer forceEx-Tennessee players expected to

make impact ›› College football, Page 23