withdrawal tough task for biden - epub.stripes.com
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Volume 80 Edition 85B ©SS 2021 CONTINGENCY EDITION SUNDAY, AUGUST 15, 2021 Free to Deployed Areas
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KABUL, Afghanistan — Mazar-e-Sharif, the
fourth-largest city in Afghanistan, fell to the
Taliban on Saturday after a multipronged as-
sault launched by insurgents, according to a
lawmaker.
Balkh lawmaker Abas Ebrahimzada said the
province’s national army corps surrendered
first, which prompted the pro-government mi-
litias and other forces to lose morale and give
up in the face of the onslaught.
According to the lawmaker, all of the provin-
cial installations, including the governor’s of-
fice, are in Taliban hands.
The insurgents have captured much of
northern, western and southern Afghanistan in
a breakneck offensive less than three weeks
before the U.S. is set to withdraw its last troops,
raising fears of a full militant takeover or an-
other Afghan civil war.
The Taliban have made major advances in
recent days, including capturing Herat and
Kandahar, the country’s second- and third-
Insurgents sit on the back of a vehicle in the city of Herat, west of Kabul, Afghanistan, on Saturday after taking the province fromthe Afghan government. The Taliban seized two more provinces on Saturday as they approached the outskirts of Afghanistan’s capital.
HAMED SARFARAZI/AP
Insurgents approach Kabul’s outskirts, take major northern Afghan cityBY AHMAD SEIR, RAHIM FAIEZ
AND JOSEPH KRAUSS
Associated Press
SEE APPROACH ON PAGE 5
Taliban rolling in
AFGHANISTAN
Last month, President Joe Bi-
den vowed that his decision to pull
American forces out of Afghanis-
tan would never
end in a repeat of
the infamous
helicopter evac-
uation from the
U.S. Embassy in
Saigon at the ig-
nominious close
of the Vietnam
War. “There’s
going to be no circumstance when
you’re going to see people being
lifted off the roof,” he said.
But the drama in Afghanistan is
now closer to that scenario than
Biden might have envisioned, as
the president found himself order-
ing thousands of troops back into
Kabul to help evacuate American
diplomats from the bunkered U.S.
Embassy.
SEE TOUGH ON PAGE 6
Dignifiedwithdrawaltough taskfor Biden
BY ANNE GEARAN
AND KAREN DEYOUNG
The Washington Post
GULABUDDIN AMIRI/AP
Taliban flags fly at a square in thecity of Ghazni, southwest ofKabul, Afghanistan, on Saturday.
Biden
ANALYSIS
PAGE 2 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Sunday, August 15, 2021
BUSINESS/WEATHER
Another wobbly day of trading on
Wall Street gave way Friday to
small gains and new highs for the
S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial
Average.
The two indexes wavered for
much of the day before eking out
their fourth straight gains. The
benchmark S&P 500 rose 0.2% and
notched its second-straight weekly
increase. The Dow and the Nasdaq
edged up less than 0.1%.
Stocks in the S&P 500 were nearly
evenly split between winners and
losers. Gains in technology, health
care and household goods compa-
nies outweighed losses by banks,
energy stocks and other sectors.
Small-company stocks fell more
than the broader market.
An economic report showing a
big drop in consumer confidence
last month due to the spreading del-
ta variant of the coronavirus didn’t
keep the market from managing
more records.
“The reality is the market is hold-
ing up pretty well,” said Rob Ha-
worth, senior portfolio manager at
U.S. Bank Wealth Management. He
noted that the consumer sentiment
report is “something the market is
looking through as temporary.”
The S&P 500 rose 7.17 points to
4,468. The Dow added 15.53 points
to 35,515.38, and the Nasdaq picked
up 6.64 points to 14,822.90.
The University of Michigan con-
sumer sentiment index fell to 70.2
from its previous level of 81.2 in Ju-
ly. That was the largest drop in sen-
timent since April 2020, when the
pandemic took its initial grip on the
country.
US stocks eke out small gains after wobbly dayAssociated Press
Bahrain99/94
Baghdad105/79
Doha109/84
Kuwait City110/91
Riyadh109/82
Kandahar99/61
Kabul86/60
Djibouti102/82
SUNDAY IN THE MIDDLE EAST
Mildenhall/Lakenheath
73/59
Ramstein79/61
Stuttgart80/66
Lajes,Azores74/71
Rota88/72
Morón114/74 Sigonella
95/70
Naples90/72
Aviano/Vicenza93/70
Pápa94/69
Souda Bay81/78
Brussels75/56
Zagan78/60
DrawskoPomorskie
70/60
SUNDAY IN EUROPE
Misawa68/65
Guam86/83
Tokyo69/66
Okinawa84/81
Sasebo82/74
Iwakuni80/75
Seoul84/66
Osan92/71
Busan80/74
The weather is provided by the American Forces Network Weather Center,
2nd Weather Squadron at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb.
MONDAY IN THE PACIFIC
WEATHER OUTLOOK
TODAYIN STRIPES
American Roundup ...... 11Books .......................... 14Comics .........................15Crossword ................... 15Music ..................... 12-13Opinion ........................ 17Sports .................... 19-24
Military rates
Euro costs (Aug. 16) $1.15Dollar buys (Aug. 16) 0.8284 British pound (Aug. 16) $1.35Japanese yen (Aug. 16) 108.00South Korean won (Aug. 16) 1139.00
Commercial rates
Bahrain(Dinar) 0.3770Britain (Pound) 1.3839Canada (Dollar) 1.2525China(Yuan) 6.4801Denmark (Krone) 6.3209 Egypt (Pound) 15.6999 Euro 0.8500Hong Kong (Dollar) 7.7828 Hungary (Forint) 299.90 Israel (Shekel) 3.2176 Japan (Yen) 110.11 Kuwait(Dinar) 0.3007
Norway (Krone) 8.8146
Philippines (Peso) 50.56 Poland (Zloty) 3.89 Saudi Arabia (Riyal) 3.7505Singapore (Dollar) 1.3571
South Korea (Won) 1164.82 Switzerland (Franc) 0.9192Thailand (Baht) 33.33 Turkey (NewLira) 8.5484
(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 0.0630year bond 2.01
EXCHANGE RATES
Sunday, August 15, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 3
A proposed stretch of interstate
highway that would connect a doz-
en military bases between Texas
and Georgia made its way into the
$1 trillion infrastructure bill
passed by the Senate last week
with the expectation it will im-
prove access to bases located in
some of the more isolated stretch-
es of the South.
The highway is a “major step in
advancing Interstate 14 as a future
corridor for handling freight
movement, military facility con-
nectivity, coastal evacuation and
sparking economic develop-
ment,” said John Thompson,
chairman of the Gulf Coast Strate-
gic Highway Coalition, a group of
community leaders who advocate
for the highway.
If the House passes the sweep-
ing legislation and sends it to Pres-
ident Joe Biden to sign into law, it
will expand Interstate Highway 14
from its 25 miles near Fort Hood,
Texas, into Louisiana, Mississippi,
Alabama and onto Augusta, Ga.
The proposed 1,300-mile route
runs between Interstate High-
ways 10 and 20 and would primar-
ily upgrade existing roads.
It would better connect tens of
thousands of troops and families
at bases including Goodfellow Air
Force Base, Texas, Fort Polk, La.,
Camp Shelby and Keesler Air
Force Base, Miss., Maxwell Air
Force Base, Ala., and Fort Ben-
ning, Robins Air Force Base and
Fort Gordon in Georgia, advo-
cates contend.
By linking to other interstate
highways, it could also ease travel
as far west as Fort Bliss, Texas,
and as far east as Fort Stewart,
Ga., and the Port of Savannah, ac-
cording to a map of the proposed
route.
Thompson, a former county
judge for Polk County, Texas,
which the highway is planned to
stretch across, used the phrase
“forts to ports” to describe the
proposed route.
“It’s about moving troops and
material, and it creates an ease in
the ability to keep our country
safe,” he said.
Of the Army’s 11 armored bri-
gade combat teams, six reside in
Texas, said Keith Sledd, a coali-
tion board member.
“Sure, you can go to the Texas
ports, but what if something hap-
pens like [Hurricane Harvey] in
Houston several years ago?” he
said.
In 2017, the massive storm
closed the Port of Houston for an
entire week. The nearby Port of
Beaumont, which Sledd said is al-
so used by the military, remained
closed to large ships for several
weeks after Harvey and suffered
eroded shorelines and infrastruc-
ture damage that took years to ful-
ly repair.
“To get them to another port,
that’s what this highway offers.
It’s the ability to move to ports
over in Louisiana or Mississippi or
Alabama, or vice versa,” said
Sledd, a retired Army colonel and
executive director of the Heart of
Texas Defense Alliance. Based
outside of Fort Hood in Killeen,
the nonprofit is funded by local
governments to advocate on is-
sues that benefit the military in
central Texas and the surround-
ing communities.
Fort Stewart is home to three
Army brigades but also experi-
ences hurricanes. The new high-
way would allow those brigades to
get to other ports to the west to de-
ploy, if needed, he said.
“[Hurricanes] often interdict
I-10 and it may lead to flooding or
sometimes physical damage to the
road structure itself or bridges.
What this gives you is an ability if
there is a contingency going on at
the same time you’ve got one of
those extreme weather events go-
ing on, you now can bypass it fur-
ther inland,” Sledd said.
Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and
Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., pro-
posed the amendment to the bill
with support from the other eight
senators in the five affected states.
The House has not released a
schedule of when lawmakers
might debate the infrastructure
bill.
Cruz said passage of the amend-
ment clears the way to “begin the
necessary work to upgrade this
road system and connect strategic
military installations across our
states.”
“This planned route would con-
nect military installations across
Georgia and drive economic op-
portunities to our rural communi-
ties,” Warnock said.
Outside of the military, local
communities could also see an ec-
onomic bump, Sledd and Thomp-
son said.
Where I-10 and I-20 run through
some of the largest cities in these
five states, proposed I-14 would
bring life to some smaller towns,
including many where military
families live, shop and seek em-
ployment.
“All the large corporations, dis-
tribution centers or manufactur-
ing companies, they want to locate
where their logistics is simplified
and it’s usually adjacent to an in-
terstate system,” Sledd said.
In the existing stretch of I-14
running near Fort Hood, where
about 89,000 trucks make deliver-
ies each year, he said they’ve al-
ready seen positive improve-
ments to traffic and new business
development. Federalizing the
highway also allowed for the road
to expand from two lanes to three
in each direction.
Proposed highwayexpansion wouldconnect 12 bases
BY ROSE L. THAYER
Stars and Stripes
Gulf Coast Strategic Highway Coalition
A proposed 1,300 mile route expanding Interstate Highway 14 would connect a dozen military bases between Texas and Georgia. It is part of the $1 trillion infrastructure bill passed by the Senate last week.
WASHINGTON — A member
of the House Armed Services
Committee is urging the Defense
Department to give honorable dis-
charges to troops who choose not
to get the coronavirus vaccine and
face disciplinary action .
Rep. Mark Green, R-Tenn., in-
troduced a resolution to that effect
on Friday.
The resolution comes after De-
fense Secretary Lloyd Austin an-
nounced he will require all troops
get the shots. Austin said Monday
that regardless of whether the
shots obtain full federal approval
—expected to happen in the fall —
he plans to seek President Joe Bi-
den’s permission by mid-Septem-
ber to require all troops to receive
the coronavirus vaccine.
“Having gone into battle my-
self, I strongly believe punishing
those who refuse this vaccine,
which has only been available for
less than a year, is antithetical to
the values of our
military,” said
Green, a 24-year
Army veteran
who deployed to
Iraq and Afghan-
istan.
Troops can ap-
ply for an ex-
emption to the
coronavirus vaccine mandate for
certain health conditions or reli-
gious reasons, chief Pentagon
spokesman John Kirby said last
week.
A commander has the authority
to decide what punishment troops
will get if they decline to get the
shot. Kirby said Austin expects
commanders “to treat the admin-
istration of that vaccine with …
professionalism, skill and com-
passion.”
“Commanders have a range of
tools short of using the [courts]
available to them to try to help in-
dividuals make the right deci-
sions” without issuing puni-
shments, Kirby said.
Rebecca Galfano, a spokeswo-
man for Green, said the lawmaker
had been vaccinated.
The resolution has nine Repub-
lican co-sponsors including Reps.
Chip Roy and Dan Crenshaw of
Texas, Andy Harris of Maryland,
Kat Cammack of Florida, Greg
Murphy of North Carolina, Mike
Garcia of California, Thomas
Massie of Kentucky, Tim Bur-
chett of Tennessee and Tom Tiffa-
ny of Wisconsin.
Ahead of the Defense Depart-
ment announcement of the pend-
ing vaccine mandate, Green,
along with other lawmakers,
wrote a letter to Austin arguing
mandatory vaccination for mili-
tary personnel prior to full ap-
proval from the Food and Drug
Administration is illegal.
He wrote the Defense Depart-
ment does not have the authority
to mandate the vaccine for troops
as long as the shots are authorized
under emergency use.
“To be clear, we believe [the
coronavirus] vaccines are not only
a testament to American ingenui-
ty but are also safe and effective …
Despite that, it is clear that the
mandate that you are considering
is an unprecedented violation of
federal law,” Green wrote in the
letter, signed by 15 other GOP law-
makers.
In June, Massie introduced a
bill that would prohibit the re-
quirement that all members of the
armed forces must receive a vac-
cination against the coronavirus.
Similar to Green’s resolution, it
would also ensure that service
members do not face retaliation or
punishment for refusing to re-
ceive a vaccination.
Massie wrote on Twitter in July
that he had been “contacted by
members of our voluntary mili-
tary who say they will quit if the
[coronavirus] vaccine is mandat-
ed.”
However, a large number of
service members have already re-
ceived a vaccine. About 1,044,924
service members are fully vacci-
nated, and another 237,082 have
had at least one vaccine dose, ac-
cording to Pentagon data issued
Aug. 4.
“As a physician, I’ve weighed
the pros and cons and have taken
the vaccine. But that is a decision
for each American to make — with
their doctor — not under coercion
from the government,” Green
wrote.
Resolution urges honorable discharges for troops who refuse vaccineBY SARAH CAMMARATA
Stars and Stripes
Green
MILITARY
PAGE 4 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Sunday, August 15, 2021
WAR ON TERRORISM
KABUL, Afghanistan — It was
early evening and Zahra, her moth-
er and three sisters were on their
way to dinner at another sister’s
home when they saw people run-
ning and heard gunshots on the
street.
“The Taliban are here!” people
screamed.
In just a few minutes, everything
changed for the 26-year-old resi-
dent of Herat, Afghanistan’s third-
largest city.
Zahra grew up in a mostly Tali-
ban-free Afghanistan, where wom-
en dared to
dream of careers
and girls got an
education. For
the past five
years, she has
been working
with local non-
profit organiza-
tions to raise
awareness for women and press for
gender equality.
Her dreams and ambitions came
crashing down Thursday evening
as the Taliban swept into the city,
planting their white flags embla-
zoned with an Islamic proclamation
of faith in a central square as people
on motorcycles and in cars rushed
to their homes.
Like most other residents, Zahra,
her parents and five siblings are
now hunkering indoors, too scared
to go out and worried about the fu-
ture. The Associated Press chose
not to identify her by her full name
to avoid making her a target.
“I am in big shock,” said Zahra, a
round-faced, soft-spoken young
woman. “How can it be possible for
me as a woman who has worked so
hard and tried to learn and advance,
to now have to hide myself and stay
at home?”
Amid a lightning offensive over
the past several days, the Taliban
now control more than two-thirds of
the country, just two weeks before
the U.S. plans to withdraw its last
troops. And they are slowly closing
in on the capital, Kabul.
The U.N. refugee agency says
nearly 250,000 Afghans have fled
their homes since the end of May
amid fears the Taliban would reim-
pose their strict and ruthless inter-
pretation of Islam, all but eliminat-
ing women’s rights. Eighty percent
of those displaced are women and
children.
The fundamentalist group ruled
the country for five years until the
2001 U.S.-led invasion. During that
time, it forbade girls an education
and women the right to work, and
refused even to let them travel out-
side their homes without a male rel-
ative to accompany them. The Tali-
ban also carried out public execu-
tions, chopped off the hands of
thieves and stoned women accused
of adultery.
There have been no confirmed
reports of such extreme measures
in areas the Taliban fighters recent-
ly seized. But militants were report-
ed to have taken over some houses
and set fire to at least one school.
At a park in Kabul, transformed
since last week into a shelter for the
displaced, families told the AP on
Friday that girls riding home in a
motorized rickshaw in the northern
Takhar province were stopped and
lashed for wearing “revealing san-
dals.”
A schoolteacher from the prov-
ince said no one was allowed to go
out to the market without a male es-
cort. Some 3,000 families mainly
from northern provinces recently
taken over by the Taliban now live
in tents inside the park, some on the
sidewalks.
Zahra stopped going to the office
about a month ago as the militants
approached Herat, and she worked
remotely from home. But on Thurs-
day, Taliban fighters broke through
the city’s defensive lines, and she
has been unable to work since.
Her eyes welled up with tears as
she considered the possibility that
she will not be able to return to
work; that her 12-year-old sister will
be unable to continue going to
school (“She loves learning”); that
her older brother will not be able
play football; or that she won’t be
able to freely play the guitar again.
The instrument hung on a wall be-
hind her as she spoke.
She listed some of the achieve-
ments made by women in the past
20 years since the Taliban’s ouster
— incremental but meaningful
gains in what is still a deeply conser-
vative, male-dominated society:
Girls are now in school, and women
are in Parliament, government and
business.
Marianne O’Grady, Kabul-based
deputy country director for CARE
International, said the strides made
by women over the past two dec-
ades have been dramatic, particu-
larly in urban areas, adding she
cannot see things going back to the
way they were, even with a Taliban
takeover.
“You can’t uneducate millions of
people,” she said. If women “are
back behind walls and not able to go
out as much, at least they can now
educate their cousins and their
neighbors and their own children in
ways that couldn’t happen 25 years
ago.”
Still, a sense of dread appears to
be omnipresent, particularly
among women, as Taliban forces
take more territory each day.
“I feel we are like a bird who
makes a nest for a living and spends
all the time building it, but then sud-
denly and helplessly watches oth-
ers destroy it,” said Zarmina Kakar,
a 26-year-old women’s rights activ-
ist in Kabul.
Kakar was a year old when the
Taliban entered Kabul the first time
in 1996, and she recalled a time
when her mother took her out to buy
her ice cream, back when the Tali-
ban ruled. Her mother was
whipped by a Taliban fighter for re-
vealing her face for a couple of min-
utes.
“Today again, I feel that if Tali-
ban come to power, we will return
back to the same dark days,” she
said.
Afghan women fear a return to ‘dark days’BY ZEINA KARAM
AND AHMAD SEIR
Associated Press
RAHMAT GUL/AP
Internally displaced school teacher wearing a burqa from Takhar province, who identified by her firstname, Nilofar, left, speaks during an interview inside her tent in a public park Friday in Kabul, Afghanistan.
Kakar
WASHINGTON — The rapid
collapse of security in Afghanistan
has turned a slow-building U.S. ef-
fort to rescue men and women who
have assisted the United States into
a full-blown humanitarian crisis,
with tens of thousands of people
still seeking refuge and potentially
little time to relocate them.
The scramble to rescue Ameri-
ca’s Afghan allies comes after U.S.
lawmakers in both parties have
pressed the Biden administration
for months to move faster on the is-
sue, and as U.S. intelligence offi-
cials assess that the capital city of
Kabul could fall to the Taliban
within one to three months. More
than a dozen major cities fell to the
Taliban in the last week as the U.S.
military’s 20-year mission in Af-
ghanistan barrels toward the Aug.
31 departure set by President Joe
Biden.
The U.S. government has trans-
ported about 1,200 Afghans to the
United States in recent days, State
Department spokesman Ned Price
said. But the Biden administration
has committed to temporarily relo-
cating another 4,000 applicants and
their families to other countries
while their immigration paper-
work is finalized and assessed, and
there are many thousand more who
are earlier in the process and face a
stark outlook.
“I’m really upset and heartbro-
ken,” said Ismail Khan, an Afghan
who served as an interpreter for
U.S. troops and now advocates for
other interpreters through the non-
profit No One Left Behind. “I don’t
understand. What are they waiting
for? Are they waiting for everyone
to be dead, and then they’ll bring
them out?”
Responding to the crisis, the Bi-
den administration announced on
Thursday that it was deploying
3,000 combat troops to Kabul to
harden security at the airport as
embassy personnel depart and the
administration jump-starts its ef-
fort to evacuate Afghans aboard ci-
vilian and military aircraft.
But the withdrawal at the embas-
sy in Kabul threatens to further im-
pair the Biden administration’s
ability to evacuate vulnerable Af-
ghans, some of whom are still wait-
ing on paperwork to be completed
so they may flee.
Deputy Secretary of State Wen-
dy Sherman held closed-door
briefings with lawmakers on
Thursday and informed them that
acore embassy team would remain
in Kabul but their status could
change depending on the rapidly
shifting security environment, ac-
cording to three people familiar
with the discussion. Like some oth-
ers, they spoke on the condition of
anonymity because of the issue’s
sensitivity.
The core team consists of the po-
litical section to coordinate with the
Afghan government, the diplomat-
ic security team and the consular
affairs team, which processes the
special immigrant visas.
“There is a rush to get them proc-
essed so as not to leave them,”
Sherman told lawmakers, accord-
ing to people familiar with her
briefing.
A second category of Afghans al-
so need assistance, a bipartisan
group of about 40 members of Con-
gress said in a letter to Biden on
Friday. They advocated evacuat-
ing not only SIV applicants, but
journalists, civil servants, activists
and others who may qualify as ref-
ugees under another category
known as “P2.”
“With the collapse of Kabul an
imminent possibility, we should
view this as a Dunkirk moment,”
the congressmen wrote, referring
to the daring rescue of Allied troops
from the French city before they
were annihilated by Nazi forces.
“The safety of U.S. diplomats
and military personnel must be our
first priority,” they continued. “But
we must also evacuate Afghans eli-
gible for Special Immigrant Visas,
and all public and private re-
sources must now be mobilized to
save not just those eligible for SIVs
but as many other vulnerable Af-
ghans as possible.”
Taliban assault imperils US effort to rescue Afghan alliesThe Washington Post
Sunday, August 15, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 5
WAR ON TERRORISM
largest cities. They now control
about 20 of Afghanistan’s 34 prov-
inces, leaving the Western-backed
government with a smattering of
provinces in the center and east,
as well as Kabul.
On Saturday, the Taliban cap-
tured all of Logar province, just
south of the capital, Kabul, and de-
tained local officials, said Hoda
Ahmadi, a lawmaker from the
province. She said the Taliban
have reached the Char Asyab dis-
trict, just 7 miles south of Kabul.
Insurgents also captured the
capital of Paktika, bordering Pa-
kistan, according to Khalid Asad,
a lawmaker from the province. He
said fighting broke out in Sharana
early Saturday but ended after lo-
cal elders intervened to negotiate
a pullout. He said the governor
and other officials surrendered
and were on their way to Kabul.
The Taliban also took control of
Maimana, the capital of northern
Faryab province, said Fawzia
Raoufi, a lawmaker from the prov-
ince. Maimana had been under
siege for a month, and Taliban
fighters entered the city days ago.
Security forces finally surren-
dered Saturday, she said.
Sayed Hussan Gerdezi, a law-
maker from the neighboring Pak-
tia province, said the Taliban
seized most of its local capital,
Gardez, but that battles with gov-
ernment forces were still under-
way. The Taliban said they con-
trolled the city.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani
delivered a televised speech Sat-
urday, his first public appearance
since the recent Taliban gains. He
vowed not to give up the “achieve-
ments” of the 20 years since the
U.S. toppled the Taliban after the
9/11 attacks.
The U.S. has continued holding
peace talks between the govern-
ment and the Taliban in Qatar this
week, and the international com-
munity has warned that a Taliban
government brought about by
force would be shunned. But the
insurgents appear to have little in-
terest in making concessions as
they rack up victories on the bat-
tlefield.
“We have started consultations,
inside the government with elders
and political leaders, representa-
tives of different levels of the com-
munity as well as our internation-
al allies,” Ghani said. “Soon the re-
sults will be shared with you,” he
added, without elaborating fur-
ther.
The president had flown to Ma-
zar-e-Sharif on Wednesday to ral-
ly the city’s defenses, meeting
with several militia commanders,
including Abdul Rashid Dostum
and Ata Mohammad Noor, who
command thousands of fighters.
They remain allied with the
government, but during previous
rounds of fighting in Afghanistan,
warlords have been known to
switch sides for their own surviv-
al. Ismail Khan, a powerful former
warlord who had tried to defend
Herat, was captured by the Tali-
ban when the insurgents seized
the western city after two weeks of
heavy fighting.
Tens of thousands of Afghans
have fled their homes, with many
fearing a return to the Taliban’s
oppressive rule. The group had
previously governed Afghanistan
under a harsh version of Islamic
law in which women were forbid-
den to work or attend school, and
could not leave their homes with-
out a male relative accompanying
them.
Salima Mazari, one of the few
female district governors in the
country, said she has never even
considered surrendering.
“There will be no place for
women,” said Mazari, who gov-
erns a district of 36,000 people
near Mazar-e-Sharif. “In the prov-
inces controlled by the Taliban, no
women exist there anymore, not
even in the cities. They are all im-
prisoned in their homes.”
The withdrawal of foreign
troops and the swift collapse of Af-
ghanistan’s own forces — despite
hundreds of billions of dollars in
U.S. aid over the years — has
raised fears the Taliban could re-
turn to power or that the country
could be shattered by factional
fighting, as it was after the Soviet
withdrawal in 1989. It’s also
prompted many American and Af-
ghan veterans of the conflict to
question whether two decades of
blood and treasure was worth it.
Afghans have been streaming
into Kabul’s international airport
in recent days, desperate to fly
out, even as more American
troops have arrived to help par-
tially evacuate the U.S. Embassy.
The first Marines from a contin-
gent of 3,000 arrived Friday. The
rest are expected by Sunday, and
their deployment has raised ques-
tions about whether the adminis-
tration will meet its Aug. 31 with-
drawal deadline.
The U.S. Air Force has carried
out several airstrikes to aid its Af-
ghan allies on the ground but they
appear to have done little to stem
the Taliban’s advance. A B-52
bomber and other warplanes tra-
versed the country’s airspace Sat-
urday, flight-tracking data
showed.
RAHMAT GUL/AP
Internally displaced Afghans from northern provinces, who fled their home due to fighting between theTaliban and Afghan security personnel, take refuge in a public park in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Friday.
Approach: Taliban nearing KabulFROM PAGE 1
WASHINGTON — A fresh con-
tingent of Marines arrived in Ka-
bul on Saturday as part of a 3,000-
troop force intended to secure an
airlift of U.S. Embassy personnel
and Afghan allies as Taliban in-
surgents approach the outskirts of
the capital.
The last-minute decision to re-
insert thousands of U.S. troops in-
to Afghanistan reflects the dire
state of security and calls into
question whether President Joe
Biden will meet his Aug. 31 dead-
line for fully withdrawing combat
forces.
After an advance group of Ma-
rines arrived on Friday, more
flowed into the Kabul internation-
al airport on Saturday, said Navy
Capt. William Urban, a spokes-
man for U.S. Central Command.
Citing operational security, Ur-
ban declined to provide specific
numbers. The Pentagon said on
Friday that the bulk of the 3,000 —
comprising two battalions of Ma-
rines and one of Army soldiers —
are due by the end of the week-
end.
Officials have stressed that the
newly arriving troops’ mission is
limited to assisting the airlift of
embassy personnel and Afghan
allies, and they expect to com-
plete it by month’s end. But they
might have to stay longer if the
embassy is threatened by a Tali-
ban takeover of Kabul by then.
On Saturday, the Taliban seized
two more provinces and ap-
proached the outskirts of Kabul
while also launching a multi-
pronged assault on a major north-
ern city defended by former war-
lords, Afghan officials said.
“Clearly from their actions, it
appears as if they are trying to get
Kabul isolated,” Pentagon
spokesman John Kirby said, re-
ferring to the Taliban’s speedy
and efficient takedown of major
provincial capitals this past week.
Biden had given the Pentagon
until Aug. 31 to complete the with-
drawal of the 2,500 to 3,000 troops
that were in Afghanistan when he
announced in April that he was
ending U.S. involvement in the
war. That number has dropped to
just under 1,000, and all but about
650 are scheduled to be gone by
the end of the month; the 650 are
to remain to help protect the U.S.
diplomatic presence, including
with aircraft and defensive weap-
ons at the Kabul airport.
But Thursday’s decision to dis-
patch 3,000 fresh troops to the air-
port adds a new twist to the U.S.
withdrawal. There is no discus-
sion of rejoining the war, but the
number of troops needed for se-
curity will depend on decisions
about keeping the embassy open
and the extent of a Taliban threat
to the capital in coming days.
Having the Aug. 31 deadline
pass with thousands of U.S. troops
in the country would be awkward
for Biden given his insistence on
ending the 20-year U.S. war by
that date. Republicans have al-
ready criticized the withdrawal as
a mistake and ill-planned, though
there’s little political appetite by
either party to send fresh troops
to fight the Taliban.
Kirby declined on Friday to dis-
cuss any assessment of whether
the Taliban are likely soon to con-
verge on Kabul, but the urgent
movement of extra U.S. troops in-
to Afghanistan to assist the em-
bassy drawdown is clear evidence
of Washington’s worry that after
the rapid fall of major cities this
week with relatively little Afghan
government resistance, Kabul is
endangered.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani
delivered a televised speech Sat-
urday, his first public appearance
since the recent Taliban gains,
and pledged not to give up the
“achievements” of the 20 years
since the U.S. toppled the Taliban
after the 9/11 attacks.
The Biden administration has
asserted that Afghan security
forces have tangible advantages
over the insurgents, including a
viable air force and superior num-
bers. The statement serves to
highlight the fact that what the Af-
ghan forces lack is motivation to
fight in a circumstance where the
Taliban seem to have decisive
momentum.
Stephen Biddle, a professor of
international and public affairs at
Columbia University, said in an
interview the announcement that
3,000 U.S. troops were heading to
Kabul to help pull out American
diplomats and embassy staff like-
ly made Afghan morale even
worse.
“The message that sent to Af-
ghans is: ‘The city of Kabul is go-
ing to fall so fast that we can’t or-
ganize an orderly withdrawal
from the embassy,’” Biddle said.
This suggests to Afghans that the
Americans see little future for the
government and that “this place
could be toast within hours.”
More Marines in Kabul to aidembassy airlift
Associated Press
PAGE 6 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Sunday, August 15, 2021
WAR ON TERRORISM
The country edged toward col-
lapse as senior Afghan officials
and hundreds of government
troops surrendered to the Taliban.
The militants overran three key
cities and partly encircled the cap-
ital Kabul, where the U.S.-backed
government appeared tenuous.
The moment highlighted the
enormous gamble Biden has tak-
en in withdrawing troops from a
conflict he says has lasted too long
and cost too many lives. The Tali-
ban’s strikingly rapid onslaught is
bolstering the appearance that the
United States has lost or given up
in Afghanistan, a prospect from
which Americans have historical-
ly recoiled.
It is also a grim reckoning for
Biden, who announced in April
that all U.S. forces were coming
home after an inconclusive and, as
he saw it, increasingly irrelevant
conflict. It was a pivotal moment
in his presidency, as he rebuffed
Pentagon recommendations that
the United States maintain a small
force in the country.
And he has not backed away,
even as conditions on the ground
have worsened. “I do not regret
my decision,” he said Tuesday, de-
spite a new intelligence assess-
ment that Kabul could fall to the
Taliban in as little as a month.
American diplomats began de-
stroying classified documents and
equipment Friday in preparation
for a potential takeover of the U.S.
Embassy, per orders in an inter-
nal memo obtained by The Wash-
ington Post.
U.S. officials said the latest de-
velopments would not derail the
withdrawal strategy, in which all
American forces leave the coun-
try by the end of the month. But
the need for reinforcements un-
derscored that the plan has
brought unforeseen consequenc-
es.
If the United States were simply
handing off responsibility to the
Afghan security forces, as Biden
has said, there would be no need
for thousands of armed U.S. troops
to guarantee the safe departure of
Americans and vulnerable Af-
ghans, said Ryan Crocker, a for-
mer U.S. ambassador to Afghanis-
tan.
“You can’t rewind this film,”
Crocker said, suggesting that
Americans will see a botched ef-
fort and question Biden’s abilities.
“Of course the Republicans will
have a field day with it,” Crocker
said. “But for a whole lot of other
Americans, you have to look at
what’s happening and think, ‘This
is the commander in chief, this is
the guy who’s responsible for the
security of the nation, and what an
incredible mess he’s made of it in
his first time out of the blocks.’”
Republicans are already pounc-
ing as Afghanistan’s collapse has
accelerated in recent days. Over
the past week, the Taliban has
moved on to the major cities of
Kandahar and Herat; the Taliban
has swept up more territory; and
Americans have been urged to
leave Afghanistan.
“This debacle was not only fore-
seeable, it was foreseen,” Senate
Minority Leader Mitch McCon-
nell, R-Ky., said Friday. “The
president and his team actively
decided against a far more re-
sponsible approach to preserving
our national security interests and
protecting our Afghan partners,”
McConnell said in a statement.
He urged immediate U.S. mili-
tary action to prevent the Taliban
from overrunning Kabul, some-
thing Biden has shown no willing-
ness to do.
But the politics of Afghanistan
— and U.S. foreign engagements
in general — are not straightfor-
ward. Some centrist Democrats
have joined hawkish Republicans
in questioning the pullout. And
some conservative libertarians
agree with liberal peace activists
that the United States should not
spend blood and treasure over-
seas that could be used at home.
Former Republican congress-
man Justin Amash of Michigan,
for example, suggested the Tali-
ban’s onslaught only proves the
wisdom of withdrawing.
“The Taliban’s rapid gains in
Afghanistan underscore the futil-
ity of permanent occupation,”
Amash tweeted Thursday. “The
United States wasn’t able to mea-
ningfully shape circumstances
through 20 years of war. We’d
have seen the same results had we
pulled out 15 years ago or 15 years
from now. End the wars.”
Biden has stuck with his gut in-
stincts all along, convinced that
the United States should have left
years ago and suspicious of Penta-
gon leaders’ arguments for stay-
ing. Announcing the withdrawal
in April, Biden noted that he is the
fourth U.S. president to preside
over the war, which has cost bil-
lions of dollars and killed more
than 2,000 American troops.
“I will not pass this responsibil-
ity on to a fifth,” he said at the time.
Biden initially supported the
2001 U.S. invasion of Afghanistan,
but by 2005, he had changed his
mind. As vice president, he op-
posed the expansion of the war un-
der President Barack Obama.
Biden’s confidence that he can
quit a war that snared his prede-
cessors also is based on a view that
leaving will have few costs for the
United States. Biden argues that
terrorism is not the threat it was —
especially from Afghanistan —
and that the United States is better
served by focusing on China,
which he sees as the true national
security threat.
Most Americans support the
military withdrawal, which was
initially announced last year by
President Donald Trump. In a
rare instance, Biden stuck to
Trump’s plan, though he extended
the deadline for withdrawal by
about four months.
A survey conducted by the Chi-
cago Council on Global Affairs in
July found 70% support among
Americans for the decision to
withdraw. A May Quinnipiac poll
found a smaller 62% approving.
Even if the Taliban takes over,
Biden’s supporters say, it would
make little sense for the United
States to linger for decades, shor-
ing up an unstable government
and losing even more lives. But
the swift Taliban gains could
threaten that consensus, said Lisa
Curtis, who was a top foreign pol-
icy adviser to Trump.
“It depends on what happens in
the coming weeks and months,”
said Curtis, who is now with the
Center for a New American Secu-
rity. “If there is a humanitarian
catastrophe, or women are getting
shot in the streets by the Taliban,
and this is played over U.S. net-
works, I think it will be a major
stain on the Biden administra-
tion.”
Trump contended Thursday
that if he were still in charge, the
withdrawal would be going far
more smoothly.
“I personally had discussions
with top Taliban leaders whereby
they understood what they are do-
ing now would not have been ac-
ceptable,” Trump wrote in a fun-
draising appeal. “It would have
been a much different and much
more successful withdrawal, and
the Taliban understood that better
than anyone.”
The political risk to Biden will
grow if he is wrong and significant
terrorist attacks are launched
from Afghan soil. U.S. intelligence
officials acknowledge that the
troop withdrawal — along with the
end of CIA access to bases and the
shrinking of the embassy staff —
has significantly reduced the
United States’ ability to watch,
and strike, al-Qaeda and the Is-
lamic State.
“When the time comes for the
U.S. military to withdraw, the U.S.
government’s ability to collect and
act on threats will diminish. That’s
simply a fact,” CIA Director Wil-
liam J. Burns told the Senate Intel-
ligence Committee in the spring.
Burns told NPR in July that the
CIA would “retain significant ca-
pabilities both in and around Af-
ghanistan” to monitor terrorist ac-
tivity. But he spoke before Af-
ghanistan’s neighbors made it
clear they would reject the posi-
tioning of U.S. counterterrorism
resources on their territory.
For now, U.S. intelligence capa-
bilities are largely dependent on
aircraft carriers in the Arabian
Sea and facilities as far away as
the Persian Gulf to keep an eye on
Afghanistan.
William Wechsler, a senior
counterterrorism official in the
Obama administration, said the
effectiveness of such “over-the-
horizon” operations depends on
their distance from the target.
“You can do it,” Wechsler said.
“It’s just that your effectiveness
goes down and the risk goes up.”
But the task becomes close to
impossible, he said, when the
United States has little or no intel-
ligence presence on the ground,
even to deal with local operatives,
at a viable U.S. Embassy.
Although ISIS is not viewed as a
major threat emanating from Af-
ghanistan, al-Qaeda is gaining
strength there and has significant
ties to the Taliban, experts said,
making it a potential force to be
reckoned with.
Sens. Jeanne Shaheen of New
Hampshire and Robert Menendez
of New Jersey are among the
Democrats who question Biden’s
withdrawal plans, while Sen.
Chris Murphy, D-Conn., backed
the president Monday on the Sen-
ate floor.
Like Amash, Murphy argued
that the Taliban’s gains prove the
need for the withdrawal, not its fu-
tility.
“The Taliban’s surge is actually
a reason to stick to the withdrawal
plan,” he said. “The complete, ut-
ter failure of the Afghan National
Army, absent our hand-holding, to
defend their country is a blistering
indictment of a failed 20-year
strategy predicated on the belief
that billions of U.S. taxpayer dol-
lars could create an effective,
democratic central government in
a nation that has never had one.”
Biden said much the same
Tuesday, telling reporters that Af-
ghan forces need to muster the
will to fight for their own country.
“Afghan leaders have to come
together.... They’ve got to fight for
themselves, fight for their nation,”
Biden said. “I think they’re begin-
ning to realize they’ve got to come
together politically at the top, but
we’re going to continue to keep
our commitment. But I do not re-
gret my decision.”
Paul Rieckhoff, founder of Iraq
and Afghanistan Veterans of
America, said that message ig-
nores the role played by the Unit-
ed States in setting up the current
faceoff. “That is geopolitical vic-
tim shaming,” Rieckhoff said.
As conditions deteriorate, he
warned, American leaders will
not be able to avoid their own cul-
pability. “When the Taliban gets
in there and fires up their cell-
phones and starts sending be-
heading videos, they will not be
able to spin this,” Rieckhoff said.
Crocker had his own pithy sum-
mation of the risk, saying, “This
may make Saigon look good.”
Tough: Presidentbacks his decisionFROM PAGE 1
SIDIQULLAH KHAN/AP
Afghan military and officials leave Kandahar city during fighting between the Taliban and Afghan securitypersonnel in Kandahar, southwest of Kabul, Afghanistan, on Thursday.
“We’d have seenthe same resultshad we pulledout 15 years agoor 15 years fromnow.”
Justin Amash
Former Repbulican congressman
Sunday, August 15, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 7
VIRUS OUTBREAK
Hold on to that vaccination
card. A rapidly growing number
of places across the U.S. are re-
quiring people to show proof they
have been inoculated against CO-
VID-19 to teach school, work at a
hospital, see a concert or eat inside
a restaurant.
Following New York City’s lead,
New Orleans and San Francisco
will impose such rules at many
businesses starting next week,
while Los Angeles is looking into
the idea.
The new measures are an at-
tempt to stem the rising tide of CO-
VID-19 cases that has pushed hos-
pitals to the breaking point, in-
cluding in the Dallas area, where
top officials warned they are run-
ning out of beds in their pediatric
intensive care units.
Dallas County Judge Clay Jen-
kins said the situation is so dire
that if a parent is seeking care for a
sick or injured child, “your child
will wait for another child to die.
Your child will just not get on a
ventilator. Your child will be care-
flighted to Temple or Oklahoma
City or wherever we can find them
a bed, but they won’t be getting
one here unless one clears.”
Earlier this week, Jenkins or-
dered that masks be worn inside
schools, county buildings and
businesses after a judge blocked
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s ban on
such rules. The county is not re-
quiring people to show proof of
vaccination.
On Friday, the Chicago school
system, the nation’s third-largest
district, with more than 360,000
students, announced it will re-
quire all its teachers and other
employees to be fully vaccinated
by mid-October unless they qual-
ify for a medical or religious ex-
emption.
Philadelphia has decreed that
health care workers and college
students and staff members must
get their shots by mid-October.
New Orleans Mayor LaToya
Cantrell called proof of vaccina-
tion the best way to protect busi-
nesses. She said she is not impos-
ing capacity limits or contemplat-
ing a shutdown similar to the one
that devastated businesses in
2020.
“Unlike this time last year, we
have a tool that we did not have,”
she said, referring to vaccines.
Over the past two weeks, Loui-
siana has set daily records for the
number of people hospitalized
with COVID-19, reaching 2,907
patients on Friday. Ninety-one
percent of those hospitalized are
unvaccinated, according to state
data.
Critics say that requiring people
to be vaccinated to enter a busi-
ness violates their rights and their
privacy.
At least 18 states led by Repub-
lican governors or legislatures
prohibit the creation of so-called
vaccine passports or ban public
entities from demanding proof of
vaccination. Several of those — in-
cluding Alabama, Florida, Iowa,
Montana, North Dakota and Texas
— also bar most businesses from
denying service to those who
aren’t vaccinated.
In Salt Lake City, restaurant
owner Mark Alston decided to re-
quire vaccination when he reo-
pened in May. He thought his de-
cision would draw “a little bit of
publicity,” but the backlash came
quickly in the form of hundreds of
nasty phone calls, Facebook com-
ments and emails.
“People were literally wishing
death upon our family, our staff,
everyone we knew,” Alston said.
“They were cheering for our inev-
itable failure.”
Although his staff has had to
turn away about 20% of patrons,
Alston said he has no regrets: “I
would personally feel like an in-
credible hypocrite to be running a
restaurant that I knew was unsafe,
that was contributing to the
spread.”
More US citiesrequire proofof vaccination
Associated Press
NAM Y. HUH/AP
A pedestrian wears a face mask as she walks past an information sign of COVID19 testing in Chicago, Ill.,on Friday.
LONDON — When global health officials
created COVAX, a U.N.-backed effort to
share coronavirus vaccines, it was sup-
posed to guarantee the world’s most vulner-
able people could get doses without being at
the mercy of unreliable donations.
It hasn’t worked out that way. In late
June, COVAX sent more than 530,000 doses
to Britain — more than double the amount
sent that month to Africa, where fewer than
2% of the population is immunized.
While poor countries joined COVAX to
receive donated doses, higher-income
countries were enticed to join as an insur-
ance policy in case their private vaccine
deals fell through. Most rich countries have
declined to buy COVAX doses after acquir-
ing enough shots through private deals. But
some, including the U.K. and Canada,
tapped into the initiative’s meager supply
even after reserving most of the world’s
coronavirus vaccines.
The result is that poorer countries have
landed in exactly the predicament COVAX
was intended to avoid: depending on the
whims and politics of rich countries for do-
nations.
“If we had tried to withhold vaccines
from parts of the world, could we have
made it any worse than it is today?” asked
Dr. Bruce Aylward, a senior advisor at the
World Health Organization, during a public
session on vaccine equity.
The U.S. never got any doses through CO-
VAX, although Saudi Arabia, Australia and
New Zealand did. Canada got so much crit-
icism for taking COVAX shipments that it
said it would not request more. In the mean-
time, Venezuela has yet to receive any of its
COVAX doses. Haiti has received less than
half of its share, Syria about a 10th.
British officials confirmed the U.K. re-
ceived about 539,000 COVAX vaccines in
late June and that it has options to buy an-
other 27 million. Both Britain and Canada
noted that COVAX was also open to higher-
income countries.
However, Brook Baker, a Northeastern
University specialist in access to medi-
cines, said it was unconscionable that rich
countries would dip into COVAX supplies at
a time when its biggest supplier, the Serum
Institute of India, stopped exporting vac-
cines to deal with a surge of cases on the
subcontinent. That left nearly 60 countries
with few options. So far, the initiative has
delivered less than 10% of the doses it prom-
ised.
COVAX is run by the World Health Orga-
nization, the vaccines alliance Gavi and the
Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Inno-
vations. The program is now trying to re-
gain credibility by getting rich countries to
distribute donated vaccines through its sys-
tem, Baker said, adding that many dona-
tions are aimed at currying political favors.
COVAX is well aware of the problem.
During its last board meeting in June, offi-
cials conceded they had failed to achieve
equitable distribution. But they decided
against blocking rich countries from getting
more vaccines, reasoning that without
them, “it would be difficult to secure deals
with some manufacturers.”
During a subsequent call with partners,
Gavi CEO Dr. Seth Berkley said COVAX in-
tended to honor the agreements it had made
with rich countries but would ask them to
“adjust” their allocated doses to request
fewer vaccines, according to a meeting par-
ticipant who spoke about the confidential
call on condition of anonymity. Among the
reasons Berkley cited was the potential risk
to its balance sheet.
In response to an AP request for com-
ment, Gavi said the initiative aims to deliver
2 billion doses by early 2022 and that “the
vast majority of the COVAX supply” would
go to developing countries.
COVAX blasted for not doing what it was created to doAssociated Press
RAHMAT GUL/AP
A woman receives the Johnson & Johnson COVID19 vaccine, July 11, at a vaccinationcenter with COVID19 vaccines donated by the United States and delivered through theU.N.backed COVAX program, in Kabul, Afghanistan.
PAGE 8 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Sunday, August 15, 2021
NATION
WASHINGTON — With the
Obama health care law undergo-
ing a revival under President Joe
Biden, Sunday was the deadline
for consumers to take advantage
of a special sign-up period for pri-
vate coverage made more affor-
dable by his COVID-19 relief law.
A strong close would bolster Bi-
den’s case that Congress needs to
make permanent the temporary
boost in health insurance subsi-
dies provided by the COVID-19
legislation. His campaign prom-
ise to build on existing programs
to move the U.S. toward coverage
for all might also gain credence.
The government says more
than 2.5 million people have
signed up since Biden ordered the
HealthCare.gov marketplace to
reopen Feb. 15 to account for
health insurance needs in the
pandemic. Then, starting in April,
the cost of coverage came down
due to sweeter subsidies in the
COVID-19 law, which attracted
more enrollment. Officials at the
Centers for Medicare and Medi-
caid Services, or CMS, hoped that
this deadline weekend in mid-Au-
gust would surprise skeptics.
“We’ve seen even in the last
couple of weeks increased inter-
est in enrollment,” Administrator
Chiquita Brooks-LaSure said in
an interview. “When you make
coverage more affordable, people
buy it. What we need to do is to
make coverage more affordable.”
Biden’s special enrollment pe-
riod was to end at midnight local
time Sunday around the country.
The regular annual sign-up sea-
son won’t start again until Nov. 1.
Interest has been high in a cou-
ple of states feeling the scourge of
the delta variant. Nearly 490,000
people have signed up in Florida,
and more than 360,000 have done
so in Texas.
At a nonprofit service center in
Austin, Texas, more than 500 peo-
ple have enrolled so far with the
help of staff and volunteers. Foun-
dation Communities health pro-
gram director Aaron DeLaO said
the schedule is booked and
they’re working to clear the wait-
ing list.
“Especially with the delta vari-
ant, people are thinking about
their health a little more,” he said.
The application process can be
complicated, requiring details
about citizenship or legal immi-
grant status, income, and house-
hold members. That’s before a
consumer even picks a health in-
surance plan. People can apply
online, via the HealthCare.gov
call center, or through programs
like the one in Austin.
About 9 in 10 customers at
Foundation Communities have
selected standard “silver” plans,
which cost somewhat more but of-
fer better financial protection
when illness strikes.
“That to me says that people are
really interested in having com-
prehensive coverage,” DeLaO
said.
The Obama-era Affordable
Care Act offers subsidized private
insurance to people who don’t
have job-based coverage, availa-
ble in every state. The ACA also
expanded Medicaid for low-in-
come adults, an option most states
have taken. The two components
cover about 27 million people, ac-
cording to the nonpartisan Kaiser
Family Foundation.
“Obamacare’s” place among
government health programs
seems secure now, after more
than a decade of fruitless efforts
by Republicans to repeal it or get
the Supreme Court to overturn it.
Earlier this year by a vote of 7-2
the conservative-leaning court
dismissed the latest challenge.
Special enrollmentperiod for cheaper‘Obamacare’ ends
BY RICARDO
ALONSO-ZALDIVAR
Associated Press
ALBANY, N.Y. — The New
York state Assembly will suspend
its investigation of Gov. Andrew
Cuomo once he steps down after
its leader concluded the Legisla-
ture didn’t have the clear author-
ity to impeach a departed official,
the chamber’s top Democrat said
Friday.
Cuomo announced Tuesday he
planned to resign over sexual ha-
rassment allegations as it became
clear he was almost certain to be
impeached by the Legislature. He
said his resignation was effective
in 14 days, at which point he’ll be
replaced by Lt. Gov. Kathy Ho-
chul.
Some lawmakers have urged
the Assembly to press on with an
impeachment proceeding, per-
haps to bar Cuomo from holding
state office in the future if he at-
tempted a political comeback.
But Assembly Speaker Carl
Heastie said Friday that lawyers
had advised the body’s judiciary
committee that the state constitu-
tion doesn’t authorize the Legisla-
ture to impeach an elected official
no longer in office.
Heastie had provided reporters
a less definitive legal memoran-
dum saying Assembly lawyers
and outside counsel had conclud-
ed lawmakers “probably” lack the
constitutional authority to do so,
though the matter hasn’t been set-
tled definitely.
“Let me be clear — the commit-
tee’s work over the last several
months, although not complete,
did uncover credible evidence in
relation to allegations that have
been made in reference to the gov-
ernor,” said Heastie, a New York
City Democrat.
He said that included evidence
related to the sexual harassment
claims, possible misuse of state re-
sources in conjunction with the
publication of the governor’s book
on the pandemic and “improper
and misleading disclosure of nurs-
ing home data.”
“This evidence — we believe —
could likely have resulted in arti-
cles of impeachment had he not
resigned,” Heastie said.
When asked whether lawmak-
ers could still release a report with
findings to the public as originally
planned, Heastie said: “I guess it
could.”
“The concern behind that is, if
you’re in the middle of an investi-
gation and other law enforcement
areas are looking at this, I don’t
know if we can; I don’t want to
have us step on their toes while
there are criminal investigations
going on,” he said Friday on the
news program “Capital Tonight.”
Heastie didn’t explain how re-
leasing a committee report could
interfere with independent law
enforcement investigations. He
has previously said that he’s asked
the committee to turn over evi-
dence it had gathered “to the rele-
vant investigatory authorities.”
Heastie denied that he had reac-
hed any deal with Cuomo to let
him resign without facing an im-
peachment trial or investigation.
“There was no deal,” Heastie
said. “I’ve said that 150 times and
I’ll make that the 151st time.”
Cuomo’s office and his lawyer,
Rita Glavin, didn’t immediately
respond to a request for comment.
The first woman to publicly ac-
cuse Cuomo of misconduct, Lind-
sey Boylan, called the Assembly
leadership’s decision to call off its
separate investigation “an unjust
cop out.”
“The public deserves to know
the extent of the Governor’s mis-
deeds and possible crimes. His
victims deserve justice and to
know he will not be able harm oth-
ers,” she tweeted.
HANS PENNINK/AP
A billboard on Interstate I787 against supporting New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is seen Friday in Albany,N.Y. Lawyers concluded the state Legislature lacks the clear authority to impeach Cuomo after he resigns.
NY Legislature won’t attempt toimpeach Cuomo after he resigns
BY MARINA VILLENEUVE
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The upcoming 20th
anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks as well as
approaching religious holidays could in-
spire extremist attacks, the Department of
Homeland Security said in a terrorism alert
issued Friday.
DHS did not cite any specific threats in
the National Terrorism Advisory System
Bulletin. But it noted that the U.S. is in a
“heightened threat environment,” fueled
by factors that include violent extremists
motivated by racial and ethnic hatred and
resentment of restrictions imposed during
the pandemic.
DHS issues the warnings to alert the pub-
lic as well as state and local authorities.
They reflect intelligence gathered from
other law enforcement agencies.
The bulletin is an extension of a similar
one issued in May that expired on the day
the new one was issued. DHS says domestic
extremists remain a national threat priority
for U.S. law enforcement and will for at
least the remainder of the year.
The agency noted that al-Qaida in the
Arabian Peninsula recently released the
first English-language edition of its Inspire
magazine in four years, apparently to mark
the upcoming anniversary of the Sept. 11,
2001, terrorist attacks.
The anniversary and the approaching ho-
lidays “could serve as a catalyst for acts of
targeted violence,” it said.
DHS also noted that domestic extremists
motivated by religious and ethnic hatred
have in the past attacked houses of worship
and other gatherings, but it said there aren’t
any “credible or imminent threats identi-
fied to these locations.”
As in previous bulletins, DHS expressed
concern about both domestic extremists,
motivated by “personal grievances and ex-
tremist ideological beliefs,” and foreign in-
fluences.
The agency said Russian, Chinese and
Iranian government-linked media outlets
have helped spread conspiracy theories
about the origins of COVID-19 and the ef-
fectiveness of vaccines and have in some
cases amplified calls for violence against
people of Asian descent.
Bulletin warns 9/11 anniversary could inspire extremist attacksAssociated Press
Sunday, August 15, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 9
NATION
WESTWOOD, Calif. — A month-old wild-
fire burning through forestlands in North-
ern California lurched toward a small lum-
ber town as blazes across U.S. Western
states strained resources and threatened
thousands of homes with destruction.
Crews were cutting back brush and using
bulldozers to build lines to keep the Dixie
Fire from reaching Westwood east of Lake
Almanor, not far from where the lightning-
caused blaze destroyed much of the town of
Greenville earlier this month..
The entire town of about 1,700 people was
placed under evacuation orders Aug. 5 as
the blaze inched closer.
To the northwest, the Monument Fire —
one of at least three large blazes sparked by
lightning last month — continued to grow af-
ter destroying a dozen homes and threat-
ened about 2,500 homes in a sparsely pop-
ulated region. U.S. Forest Service officials
said Friday that flying embers ignited spot
fires as far as a mile ahead of the main blaze
in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest.
They were among more than 100 large
wildfires burning in a dozen Western states
seared by drought and hot, bone-dry weath-
er that has turned forests, brushlands,
meadows and pastures into tinder.
The U.S. Forest Service said Friday it’s op-
erating in crisis mode, fully deploying fire-
fighters and maxing out its support system.
The roughly 21,000 federal firefighters
working on the ground is more than double
the number of firefighters sent to contain
forest fires at this time a year ago, and the
agency is facing “critical resources limita-
tions,” said Anthony Scardina, a deputy for-
ester for the agency’s Pacific Southwest re-
gion.
More than 6,000 firefighters alone were
battling the Dixie Fire, which has destroyed
more than 1,000 homes, businesses and oth-
er structures and was the largest wildfire
burning in the U.S. Its flames have ravaged
more than 800 square miles — an area larger
than the city of London.
There also was a danger of new fires
erupting because of unstable weather condi-
tions, including a chance of thunderstorms
that could bring lightning to northern Cali-
fornia, Oregon and Nevada, according to the
National Interagency Fire Center.
“Mother nature just kind of keeps throw-
ing us obstacles our way,” said Edwin Zuni-
ga, a spokesman with the California Depart-
ment of Forestry and Fire Protection, which
was working with the Forest Service to tamp
out the Dixie Fire.
In southeastern Montana, firefighters and
residents were scrambling to save hundreds
of homes as flames advanced across the
Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation.
The blaze was more than 50% contained.
But its southern edge was still burning near
the tribal headquarters town of Lame Deer,
where a mandatory evacuation remained in
place, and a second fire was threatening
from the opposite direction.
The fires already had burned or threat-
ened grasslands that many locals with cattle
and horses depend upon for their liveli-
hoods, Montana officials said.
Smoke from the blazes grew so thick Fri-
day that the health clinic in Lame Deer was
shut down after its air filters could not keep
up with the pollution, Northern Cheyenne
Tribe spokesperson Angel Becker said.
Smoke also drove air pollution levels to
unhealthy or very unhealthy levels in parts
of Idaho, Oregon, Washington and Northern
California, according to the Environmental
Protection Agency.
EUGENE GARCIA/AP
A tractor is left behind as a home burns outside of Taylorsville in Plumas County, Calif.,from the impacts of the Dixie Fire on Friday.
Western fires strain Forest Service resourcesBY EUGENE GARCIA
AND DAISY NGUYEN
Associated Press
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — It’s
only a few days into the new
school year, but New Mexico’s
largest district is reeling from a
shooting that left one student
dead and landed another in custo-
dy.
The gunfire at Washington
Middle School during the lunch
hour Friday marked the second
shooting in Albuquerque in less
than 24 hours. With the city on
pace to shatter its homicide re-
cord this year, top state officials
said they were heartbroken by
what they described as a scourge.
“These tragedies should never
occur. That they do tells us there
is more work to be done,” Gov.
Michelle Lujan Grisham said.
Albuquerque Police Deputy
Commander Kyle Hartsock de-
scribed the shooting as an isolated
incident between two students
who were believed to be about 13
years old. He said a school re-
source officer ran toward the two
boys after gunfire erupted and
prevented any other violence
while tending to the boy who was
shot.
Investigators were trying to de-
termine how the student obtained
the gun and what may have
prompted the shooting, Hartsock
said. Other students were being
interviewed as detectives tried to
piece together what happened, he
said.
Dozens of fretful parents gath-
ered outside the school Friday af-
ternoon as they waited for their
children to be released.
Friday marked the third day of
classes for Albuquerque’s public
school district. While students
won’t return until Tuesday, Su-
perintendent Scott Elder said the
staff will be making preparations
to ensure students have access to
counseling and any other support
services they need.
“Of course it’s extremely diffi-
cult,” he said of something like
this happening so early in the
school year. “There’s a lot of pres-
sure in the community. People
are nervous. It was a terrible in-
cident that happened between
two people. It should have never
happened … This shouldn’t hap-
pen in the community. It certainly
shouldn’t happen at a school.”
Police said more officers will be
present when students return,
hoping to provide a sense of secu-
rity and in case students have any
more information about the shoot-
ing they want to share.
Gunfire also rang out Thursday
night at a sports bar and restau-
rant near a busy Albuquerque
shopping district. Police said one
person was killed and three were
injured after someone pulled out
a gun during a fight.
No arrests have been made in
that case. Investigators were re-
viewing surveillance video and
interviewing witnesses.
ROBERT BROWMAN, THE ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL/AP
Family members wait to pick up students after a fatal shooting atWashington Middle School in Albuquerque, N.M., Friday.
New Mexico school year off todeadly start amid gun violenceBY SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN
Associated Press
Earth sizzled in July and became
the hottest month in 142 years of re-
cordkeeping, U.S. weather officials
announced.
As extreme heat waves struck
parts of the United States and Eu-
rope, the globe averaged 62.07 de-
grees Fahrenheit last month, beat-
ing out the previous record set in
July 2016 and tied again in 2019 and
2020, the National Oceanic and At-
mospheric Administration said
Friday. The margin was just .02 de-
grees.
The last seven Julys, from 2015 to
2021, have been the hottest seven
Julys on record, said NOAA clima-
tologist Ahira Sanchez-Lugo. Last
month was 1.67 degrees warmer
than the 20th century average for
the month.
“In this case first place is the
worst place to be,” NOAA Adminis-
trator Rick Spinrad said in a press
release. “This new record adds to
the disturbing and disruptive path
that climate change has set for the
globe.”
“This is climate change,” said
Pennsylvania State University cli-
mate scientist Michael Mann. “It is
an exclamation mark on a summer
of unprecedented heat, drought,
wildfires and flooding.”
Last week, a prestigious United
Nations science panel warned of
worsening climate change caused
by the burning of coal, oil and nat-
ural gas and other human activity.
Warming on land in western
North America and in parts of Eu-
rope and Asia really drove the re-
cord-setting heat, Sanchez-Lugo
said. While the worldwide temper-
ature was barely higher than the
record, what shattered it was land
temperature over the Northern
Hemisphere, she said.
Northern Hemisphere temper-
atures were a third of a degree
higher than the previous record set
in July 2012, which for temperature
records is “a wide margin,” San-
chez-Lugo said.
July is the hottest month of the
year for the globe, so this is also the
hottest month on record.
One factor helping the world
bake this summer is a natural
weather cycle called the Arctic Os-
cillation, sort of a cousin to El Nino,
which in its positive phase is associ-
ated with more warming, the
NOAA climatologist said.
Even with a scorching July and a
nasty June, this year so far is only
the sixth warmest on record. That’s
mostly because 2021 started cooler
than recent years due to a La Nina
cooling of the central Pacific that
often reduces the global temper-
ature average, Sanchez-Lugo said.
“One month by itself does not say
much, but that this was a La Nina
year and we still had the warmest
temperatures on record ... fits with
the pattern of what we have been
seeing for most of the last decade
now,” said University of Illinois
meteorology professor Donald
Wuebbles.
NOAA: July was hottestmonth on record for globe
Associated Press
PAGE 10 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Sunday, August 15, 2021
WORLD
ISTANBUL — The death toll
from severe floods and mudslides
along Turkey’s Black Sea coast
has climbed to at least 51, the
country’s emergency and disaster
agency said Saturday, as author-
ities disputed reports that hun-
dreds of people were missing.
Torrential rains that pounded
the Black Sea provinces of Bartin,
Kastamonu and Sinop on Wednes-
day caused flooding that demol-
ished homes, severed at least five
bridges, swept away cars and ren-
dered numerous roads unpassa-
ble. Turkish disaster agency
AFAD said 43 people were killed
in Kastamonu, seven in Sinop and
one in Bartin.
Nine people remained hospital-
ized, according to the agency.
Some residents in Kastamonu
said on social media that there are
hundreds more missing, a state-
ment also made by an opposition
lawmaker. But the provincial gov-
ernor’s office said that reports
about 250 unidentified bodies
were untrue. It did not specifically
address how many people could
be missing in the flooding.
Rescue teams and sniffer dogs
kept up the painstaking task of try-
ing to locate residents. AFAD said
5,820 personnel, 20 rescue dogs,
20 helicopters and two search
planes were at the disaster spots.
About 2,250 people were evac-
uated across the region amid the
floods, scores of them lifted from
rooftops by helicopters. Many are
being temporarily housed in stu-
dent dormitories.
Climate scientists unequivocal-
ly say that climate change is lead-
ing to more extreme weather
events as the world warms be-
cause of the burning of coal, oil
and natural gas.
Experts in Turkey, however,
said interference with rivers and
improper construction also con-
tributed to the massive flood dam-
age.
Geologists say that construction
narrowed the river bed and the
surrounding alluvial flood plain of
the Ezine stream in Kastamonu’s
Bozkurt district, where the dam-
age was most severe, from 1,300
feet wide to 50 feet. Residential
buildings were also built along the
waterfront.
During severe rains, the con-
stricted stream can only overflow.
Videos posted by residents
showed water rushing down-
stream in Bozkurt as buildings
and roads flooded.
One geologist, Ramazan Demi-
rtas, explained the river bed nar-
rowing on Twitter and said hu-
mans were to blame for this
week’s disaster.
In Sinop, floodwaters almost
completely wiped out the village
of Babacay, leaving toppled
homes, damaged bridges and rub-
ble in their wake. A five-story
apartment building constructed
on a riverbed was destroyed.
Turkish broadcaster CNN Turk
showed only an entrance door and
wall remaining.
Turkish flood deaths rise as rescuers go onAssociated Press
ISMAIL COSKUN, IHA/AP
A man sitting next to a statue of Turkey’s founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk among destruction in Bozkurttown of Kastamonu province, Turkey, on Saturday.
LONDON — Britain’s police watchdog says it has
launched an investigation into why a 22-year-old man
who fatally shot five people in southwestern England
on Thursday was given back his confiscated gun and
gun license last month.
Police have said Jake Davison killed his mother
and four other people, including a 3-year-old girl, be-
fore taking his own life in the port city of Plymouth. It
was Britain’s first mass shooting in over a decade.
Firearm crimes are rare in Britain, which has strict
gun control laws and regulations.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct said
late Friday it would investigate the Devon and Corn-
wall police department’s decision-making in relation
to Davison’s possession of a shotgun and the license.
The watchdog said it was not yet known whether the
shotgun returned to Davison was the same one he
used in Thursday’s shootings.
Police took away the gun and the certificate in De-
cember 2020 following an allegation of assault three
months earlier, the watchdog office said. They were
returned to Davison last month.
“We will examine what police actions were taken
and when, the rationale behind police decision-mak-
ing and whether relevant law, policy and procedures
were followed concerning Mr. Davison’s possession
of a shotgun,” the office’s regional director, David
Ford, said in a statement.
“The investigation will also consider whether the
force had any information concerning Mr. Davison’s
mental health and if so, if this information was appro-
priately considered,” Ford said.
Hundreds attended a candlelit vigil in Plymouth
Friday, close to where the killings took place.
Police said Davison shot and killed his 51-year-old
mother, Maxine Davison, also known as Maxine
Chapman, at a house before going into the street and
killing 3-year-old Sophie Martyn and her father, Lee
Martyn, 43.
According to the police timeline, Davison next
killed Stephen Washington, 59, in a nearby park, be-
fore fatally shooting Kate Shepherd, 66, on a nearby
street.
Two other people were wounded.
Shaun Sawyer, chief constable for Devon and
Cornwall police, told reporters that investigators
think the crimes started as “domestically related”
and “spilled into the street.” He said the investigators
were keeping open minds but do not think extremist
ideology prompted the attack.
“Let’s see what’s on his hard drive, let’s see what’s
on his computer, let’s see what’s on social media,”
Sawyer said.
UK suspect gotseized gun backbefore shootings
Associated Press
BEN BIRCHALL, PA/AP
Police stand Saturday, in the Keyham area ofPlymouth, England, where a young man who killedfive people and then took his own life on Thursday.
HAVANA — Tropical Storm
Grace formed Saturday morning
in the Atlantic Ocean, while Fred
remained a tropical depression
headed into the eastern Gulf of
Mexico.
Both systems were expected to
bring heavy rain and flooding.
Fred, which has already been clas-
sified as a tropical storm before,
could regain such strength later in
the day or on Sunday, according to
the U.S. National Hurricane Cen-
ter.
Grace was centered about 420
miles east of the Leeward Islands
and could reach the Lesser Anti-
lles by Saturday night. It was mov-
ing west at 22 mph with maximum
sustained winds of 40 mph.
Atropical storm warning was is-
sued for the U.S. Virgin Islands
and Puerto Rico. A tropical storm
watch was in effect for the British
Virgin Islands. Forecasters said
Grace could reach the Dominican
Republic by Monday.
Grace was forecast to bring 3 to 6
inches of rain to the Leeward Is-
lands, Virgin Islands and Puerto
Rico into Monday.
Meanwhile, Fred remained a
tropical depression with top winds
around 35 mph. Forecasters said
the system appeared “disorga-
nized,” and projecting that it would
pass west of the lower Florida Keys
on Saturday afternoon and then
move into the eastern Gulf of Mex-
ico.
A tropical storm warning was in
effect for the Florida Keys west of
the Seven Mile Bridge to the Dry
Tortugas. Fred was centered Sat-
urday morning 90 miles south of
Key West, and it was moving west-
northwest at 13 mph.
Once a tropical storm, Fred
weakened to a depression by its
spin over Haiti and the Dominican
Republic, where it knocked out
power to some 400,000 customers
and caused flooding that forced of-
ficials to shut down part of the
country’s aqueduct system, inter-
rupting water service for hun-
dreds of thousands of people. Local
officials reported hundreds of peo-
ple were evacuated and some
buildings were damaged.
Fred was expected to bring 3 to 5
inches of rain to the Keys and
southern Florida through Monday.
No evacuations are planned for
tourists or residents in Monroe
County, Keys officials said Friday.
The county’s emergency manage-
ment officials are advising people
in campgrounds, recreational ve-
hicles, travel trailers, live-aboard
vessels and mobile homes to seek
shelter in a safe structure during
the weather event.
Tropical Storm Graceforms; Fred nears Fla.
Associated Press
Sunday, August 15, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 11
AMERICAN ROUNDUP
Man charged after humanhead found in freezer
PA — A Pennsylvania man
was arrested after po-
lice pulled a frozen human head
out of his freezer, according to the
Lancaster Bureau of Police.
Donald Meshey Jr., 32, alleged-
ly told a witness who had shown up
at his house that he had a cadaver
in one of the beds at his Lancaster
home and a human head in the
freezer, police said in a statement.
After being taken into custody,
Meshey allegedly told detectives
he found a “cadaver doll” in his fa-
ther’s bedroom, “which looked
and sounded like his father,” ac-
cording to the Lancaster Bureau
of Police. Meshey admitted to
stabbing the “cadaver doll” for
two or three minutes with a knife,
then dismembering the body.
Police are still working to iden-
tify the remains.
Meshey has been charged with
criminal homicide, abuse of a
corpse and tampering with evi-
dence.
Toddler fatally shootsmom during video call
FL ALTAMONTE
SPRINGS — A toddler
found an unsecured, loaded hand-
gun inside an apartment and fatal-
ly shot a woman while she was on a
work-related video call, police in
central Florida said.
According to news outlets, the
woman was the mother of the tod-
dler who shot her in the head.
Someone on the video call
dialed 911 after seeing the toddler
in the background and hearing a
noise, Altamonte Springs police
said in a news release. The wom-
an, identified as Shamaya Lynn,
21, fell backward and never re-
turned to the video call, the person
reported.
An adult in the apartment left
the firearm unsecured, police
said. Investigators were working
with the Seminole County State
Attorney’s Office to determine
whether charges will be filed.
Anne Frank Center toopen at university
SC COLUMBIA — An
Anne Frank Center is
opening at the University of South
Carolina, which will be the first
museum in North America and
the fourth in the world where vis-
itors can walk through the famed
story of the teenage Holocaust vic-
tim.
The 1,060-square-foot center on
the Columbia campus features a
rendering of the attic where the
girl’s Jewish family hid from the
Nazis for more than two years dur-
ing World War II. That exhibit in-
cludes a reproduction of the desk
where Frank wrote what was
eventually published as “The Di-
ary of a Young Girl.”
All the artifacts for the museum
were provided by the original
Anne Frank House in Amsterdam,
which preserved the secret annex
where the Franks hid. Other part-
ner sites are located in Berlin,
London and Buenos Aires.
Investigation ongoingafter boaters strike kids
LA NEW ROADS— A Loui-
siana sheriff is investi-
gating after three children riding
on tubes on a waterway were
struck and injured by a pontoon
boat.
The occupants on the boat all
fled the scene after the crash,
Pointe Coupee Parish Sheriff
Rene Thibodeaux told WBRZ-TV.
Two of the children required
hospital treatment, including one
who was flown to the hospital.
The investigation has been
turned over to the Louisiana De-
partment of Wildlife and Fisheries
because it happened on False Riv-
er, Thibodeaux said.
Teen arrested in fatalshooting over shoe raffle
CA LOS ANGELES— Po-
lice arrested a teenager
on suspicion of shooting to death a
shoe store employee who tried to
break up a dispute over a raffle for
a pair of sneakers.
The teen, 16, was taken into cus-
tody at in the Los Angeles suburb
of South Gate and booked on sus-
picion of murder, according to a
police statement.
The shooting in the Fairfax area
of Los Angeles was captured on
cellphone video. Investigators
worked through the night to track
down the killer, the LAPD said.
Caretaker arrested afterkilling, burying woman
NC NEWLAND — A wom-
an whose body was
found buried in concrete in the
basement of her western North
Carolina home had fired her care-
taker in June, but neighbors said
the former caretaker was still liv-
ing in the woman’s home until late
July, according to court docu-
ments.
Search warrants state Elizabeth
Carserino, 53, of Goose Creek,
S.C., was hired by family to be
Lynn Keene’s live-in caretaker
earlier this year after she fell and
suffered a traumatic brain injury,
WSOC-TV reported.
Relatives reported Keene, 70,
missing in July from her home in
Linville Falls, which is located
about 110 miles northwest of Char-
lotte, N.C. They said they had last
spoken to Keene on June 14.
Court documents state Keene
was strangled with a belt and
struck in the head. Investigators
have not said when Keene died.
Avery County Sheriff Kevin
Frye announced Carserino was
taken into custody and charged
with murder, identity theft, larce-
ny of motor vehicle and financial
card theft.
Police investigating aftercontractor finds noose
MO ST. LOUIS — Police
in St. Louis are inves-
tigating after a Black contractor
found a noose at the renovation
site of a Benton Park home owned
by an Asian American woman.
The noose was found in a tree by
the contractor, a Black woman
who lives in Benton Park and has
been visible working on the house
for weeks. The incident was
brought to light by the homeown-
er, Julia Ho, and City Alderman
Dan Guenther, who has been
knocking on neighborhood doors
to see if anyone knows who might
have hung the noose.
Police are investigating and
seeking any surveillance video
that could help in determining
who left the noose, the St. Louis
Post-Dispatch reported.
Police arrest 2 in allegedplot to defraud lottery
IA MASON CITY — Two Io-
wa men accused of using
bad checks to buy more than $800
in lottery tickets saw a total profit
of $134 after winning on some of
the tickets, Cerro Gordo County
authorities said.
Richard Lee Pierce II, 29, of
Ventura, faces charges of attempt-
ing to defraud the Iowa lottery and
forgery, while Joey Henry Allen,
31, of Clear Lake, faces similar
charges plus a felony theft count,
the Globe Gazette reported.
Court documents say Allen
went to a Ventura convenience
store on six different occasions,
buying a total of $824 worth of lot-
tery tickets and paying with a
check that bounced. Police said
Pierce later took the winning tick-
ets back to the store, cashing out
for $958 in winnings.
JACQUELINE DORMER, (POTTSVILLE, PA.) REPUBLICANHERALD/AP
The Mechanicals act out a scene in Schuylkill Free Shakespeare’s presentation of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” in the garden at theYuengling Mansion at the Schuylkill County Council for the Arts in Pottsville, Pa..
Summer night of Shakespeare
THE CENSUS
2 The number of shark attacks in a one-week span on beaches approxi-mately 18 miles apart, near Savannah, Ga. A lifeguard on South Car-
olina’s Hilton Head Island suffered deep cuts to the chest area but is expectedto survive after being bitten on Aug. 3, WTOC-TV reported. At nearby TybeeIsland, Ga., a surfing instructor was bitten July 27 while leading one of hissurfing classes. South Carolina recorded just one unprovoked shark bite lastyear, and Georgia had none, according to the Florida Museum of Natural Histo-ry’s International Shark Attack File.
From The Associated Press
PAGE 12 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Sunday, August 15, 2021
MUSIC
Jackson Browne knows people think he’s past his prime. Or “wayout over my due date,” as he puts it on his new album.
“I’m talking about shelf life,” he says. “But I think a lot ofstuff is still good after the date that’s printed on the package.”
At 72, the musician is grappling with what his life will amountto — that’s really what the lyric is about, he says: “An admissionthat you’re supposed to have settled stuff by this time.”
It’s not that he had a vision for what life in his 70s would be like; he’s neverlooked that far into the future. But he has always been a self-reflective sort,unafraid to question whether he’s squeezing all of the juice out of the fruit.Even one of his first hits, “Doctor, My Eyes” — released in the midst of theVietnam War — told the story of a man puzzling over how to digest the hard-ships of the world.
Browne’s eyes are still wide open on “Downhill From Everywhere,” theRock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee’s first collection of new music in sixyears. On the album, the singer-songwriter takes typically forthright standson ocean pollution, immigration rights and gay marriage. Though he growssomber when he discusses current events, Browne also seems to have soft-ened with age — exuding less of an obstinate attitude than an equable one.
In the late ’60s and ’70s, Browne establish-
ed himself as one of Laurel Canyon’s preem-
inent songwriters with now-standards like
“These Days” (written when he was 16),
“Take It Easy,” co-written with the Eagles’
Glenn Frey and “Running on Empty.” Back-
to-back smash albums “The Pretender” and
“Running on Empty” made him a full-fledged
rock star, but gradually he would pivot his
music and career away from pop philosophy
and toward the political. He organized “No
Nukes” benefit concerts against nuclear
weapons and nuclear energy alongside Gra-
ham Nash and Bonnie Raitt in 1979 and con-
demned U.S. policy in Central America on his
1986 album “Lives in the Balance.”
Browne still champions numerous causes;
he was performing at a fundraiser for the
charity God’s Love We Deliver in March 2020
when he became one of the first stars to con-
tract COVID-19. He likes experimental thea-
ter — he’s wearing a shirt from Tim Robbins’
Culver City, Calif.-based the Actors’ Gang
nonprofit — and seeing live music with some
of the young artists he’s befriended, like
Dawes, Jenny Lewis, Inara George and
Phoebe Bridgers. (Earlier this year, Bridgers
enlisted Browne to duet with her on a new
version of her song “Kyoto,” and she in turn
then appeared in a music video for his song
“My Cleveland Heart.”)
Browne, who lives in Los Angeles’ Mid-
City with his longtime partner, Dianna Co-
hen, has two adult children from previous
marriages.
As he prepared for a three-month tour with
James Taylor, The LA Times spoke with
Browne at his Santa Monica recording studio,
Groove Masters, where Bob Dylan, Frank
Ocean and David Crosby have made music.
(Editor’s note: This interview has been edited
for length.)
LA Times: What made you decide to
record an album after six years?
Browne: The way you pose the question
presupposes that there’s getting ready. I’ve
had a studio for 30 years. I’m always doing
something. It’s more like there’s a residue
you gather or a condensation that gathers.
You once said that your standards plague
you. Do you still feel that way?
I think I was talking about the fact that it’s
not a good idea to try to write a song as good
as some other song you’ve already written.
Because when you wrote that song that you
thought so highly of, you weren’t holding it up
to some other standard; you were just trying
to write something new. Look, I’ve got a high
opinion of some of my songs, but to write
RICARDO DEARATANHA/Los Angeles Times
Singersongwriter Jackson Browne is pictured in the control room of his studio, Groove Masters, on July 6 in Santa Monica, Calif. Brownetouches on a wide variety of current events on “Downhill From Everywhere,” his first album of new music in six years.
Jackson Browne,these days
Influential singer-songwriter, 72, talks about cancel culture,his ‘shelf life’ and how he feels about a personal memoir
BY AMY KAUFMAN
Los Angeles Times
Q&A
SEE BROWNE ON PAGE 13
Jackson Browne
Downhill From Everywhere
(Inside Recordings)
Jackson Browne was one
of the most artistically and
commercially successful
singer-songwriters of the
’70s, with classic records
such as “The Pretender”
and “Running on Empty.”
As he became more in-
volved in activist move-
ments, many of his sub-
sequent works, such as
1986’s “Lives in the Bal-
ance,” foregrounded social
justice themes, with mixed
results.
One of the remarkable
things about “Downhill
From Everywhere,”
Browne’s 15th studio al-
bum, is how much it sounds
like a solid, sturdy Jackson
Browne album. Browne is
72, and his voice has
weathered, but it’s familiar
and comforting, especially
on ballads such as “A Little
Soon to Say.” He’s working
with some longtime collab-
orators, including drum-
mer Russ Kunkel (who
appeared on his 1972 de-
but) and guitarist Waddy
Wachtel. David Lindley, his
regular foil, is absent, but
pedal steel guitarist Greg
Leisz effectively reprises
Lindley’s role.
The album is full of char-
acter-driven stories, from
the young immigrant in the
empathetic bilingual ballad
“The Dreamer” to the
aging lover getting an arti-
ficial heart in the (some-
what stiff) rocker “My
Cleveland Heart,” to the
bicycle-riding Haitian
priest in the lovely, loping
“Love is Love,” to America
itself on the title track.
Personal reflections
bookend the album, begin-
ning with “Still Looking for
Something” and ending
with “A Song for Barcelo-
na,” an 8 ½-minute tribute
to the “city that gave me
back my fire and restored
my appetite.” That feeling
of rejuvenation permeates
“Downhill From Every-
where.”
— Steve Klinge
Philadelphia Inquirer
REVIEW
Sunday, August 15, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 13
MUSIC
Bleachers
Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night
(RCA Records)
How’s this for a flex from Jack Antonoff? Get
no less than Bruce Springsteen to show up on
your new solo album. For background vocals.
The Boss helps the multi-instrumentalist and
super-producer on Bleachers’ song “China-
town” and the results are electric, a sound from two New Jersey lads
reminiscent of The National mashed with “Born to Run.” Springsteen
appears on only that one song, but he’s spiritually all over this album.
Antonoff, the guitarist in the band fun. who also records as Bleach-
ers, channels The Boss’ driving, sax-and-jam sound in “How Dare
You Want More,” “Big Life” and “Don’t Go Dark,” but his idiosyn-
cratic musical tastes are also on vivid display on the terrific 10-track
“Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night.”
No song prepares you for whatever comes next in this collection
from an artist who has sharpened the recent sounds of Taylor Swift,
St. Vincent, Lana Del Rey, Sia, Lorde and The Chicks.
The opener — the cello-and-violin beauty “91” — has an unexpect-
ed lyrical assist from novelist Zadie Smith and the set ends with two
downbeat examinations of belief, “Strange Behavior” and “What’d I
Do with All This Faith?” He ends sing-whispering the phrase: “Ain’t
no faith can take your place.” Take a listen: You’ll be a believer.
— Mark Kennedy
Associated Press
Los Lobos
Native Sons (New West)
Considering the covers album “Native Sons”
pays tribute to the music of a single city — Los
Lobos’ native Los Angeles — the set’s breadth
is breathtaking.
Familiar songs by Jackson Browne, Buffalo
Springfield and the Beach Boys are inter-
spersed with R&B and garage-rock obscurities, along with nods to Los
Lobos’ Latin influences. It’s melting-pot pop and true Americana.
The adventurous song selections make the album a celebration of
diversity, and a showcase for Los Lobos’ marvelous versatility. Guitar
solos by David Hidalgo and Cesar Rosas soar, and both shine on lead
vocals, while the group’s harmonies shimmer, especially on the Beach
Boys’ “Sail On, Sailor.”
On War’s “The World Is a Ghetto,” Los Lobos becomes a jam band.
Other highlights include “Dichoso,” a smoky Willie Bobo ballad;
“Love Special Delivery,” freewheeling ’60s rock with a whole lotta
drumming; and “Los Chucos Suaves,” a dance number that mixes
Spanish lyrics with a line about the “boogie woogie jitterbug.”
The lone original is the title cut, a love song to Los Lobos’ hometown
that serves as the album’s centerpiece. It’s true roots music.
— Steven Wine
Associated Press
something new you have to for-
get everything you’ve ever done.
You sing on this album about
being concerned for the future
your children will inherit. What
scares you?
I am in a state of grief for the
world that my kids are inheriting
— my grandson. Elephants and
tigers are in danger. The ocean’s
got dead spots in it. The reefs are
dying. The natural world’s ability
to bounce back from what we’ve
done is an existential threat. ...
We’ve got these electric cars, so
why don’t more people have
electric cars? Why don’t we
phase out fossil fuels? They won’t
until they’ve sold us every last
thing they have. I don’t get to talk
about this stuff very much in
conversation. So for me, the chal-
lenge is to write a song that peo-
ple don’t mind hearing and that
helps galvanize some sort of
feelings or helps them find some
resolve.
When you started more
politically themed music in the
1980s, were you worried about
losing your audience?
I know it was considered prob-
lematic by some people in the
music industry to talk about
politics. But they were never my
people. You hear people like, ‘Oh,
he’s losing an enormous part of
his audience by talking about
this.’ They’re talking about sales
and s— like that. That never
mattered to me anyway. Please.
It didn’t matter to you at all?
When you sing about stuff that
nobody knows anything about,
the recognition for what you’re
doing is gonna drop off. At the
same time, a bunch of other
things were happening that are
probably more responsible for
the popularity declining, like
punk music. You’re just not 25,
now you’re 33, and there’s a
completely different aesthetic
going on and an attitude about
everything that’s come before,
rightfully or wrongfully dismis-
sing you.
You’ve developed
relationships with a lot of
younger artists. How did those
friendships start?
That’s the music that really
moves me. I feel really lucky to
know all these people, and I
guess I know them because I go
to their shows. I met Phoebe at a
party, but I hadn’t heard her
play. It was a birthday party for
[Australian singer-songwriter]
Tal Wilkenfeld at an escape
room. I was sure we were gonna
escape, but we didn’t make it.
Funnily enough, the room was
about a pandemic. But it was
hard to figure out. But later,
when I heard her music, I went,
“That’s Phoebe. That’s that girl I
met. Holy s—.”
What did you like about it?
If I want to use the word “grat-
itude” in a sentence, it would be
about artists like Taylor [Gold-
smith, from Dawes] and Phoebe,
who are bringing an emotional
literacy and prowess with words
to rock lyrics again. It hasn’t
been absent; Lucinda Williams
and Randy Newman have been
there all along. But when you see
somebody young applying them-
selves to those kinds of skills, it’s
encouraging because it makes
you think that is on the rise and
that a more youthful segment of
the population will be exposed to
that.
Did any musicians serve as
mentors to you when you were
young?
David Crosby agreed to sing on
my first record. He absolutely
showed me how to record — how
to multi-track vocals. He praised
me to others and to myself, and
that was really important. I feel a
great debt of gratitude to David.
But you no longer speak to
him?
That’s true. He said nobody
he’s ever made music with will
talk to him anymore. I would
point out that his son makes
music with him, and that’s really
what’s at the heart of his produc-
tivity right now, is his great rela-
tionship with his son. I don’t
really want to go into the details
of why we’re not talking.
There was a good
documentary made about him
recently. Do you ever think
about being a part of a film like
that or writing a memoir?
I’ve thought about it because
it’s been proposed. I may eventu-
ally not be good for much else, so
I’ll leave myself enough time to
sound off about stuff. I kind of
feel like I don’t know anything.
I’m sure people would love to
hear your stories — and about
dating the likes of Nico, Joni
Mitchell and Daryl Hannah. Carly
Simon wrote a really good
memoir about her marriage to
James Taylor.
Who’s interested in that,
though? Who’s interested in Car-
ly talking about James?
Uh, me? A lot of people!
I’m not very interested in that
stuff. Have you read Linda’s
[Ronstadt] book? Now that’s a
good book. It’s about music. Yes!
People don’t want to know about
Jerry Brown and Mick Jagger
and all of the people Linda had
relationships with. Besides, you
have to be a really good writer.
And I can’t even write a post-
card.
What are your thoughts on
cancel culture?
I’m not very aware of cancel
culture, because I’m basically
helpless about social media and
the kind of quick, fast-breaking
news about s—. That washes over
me. I’m concerned that “can-
celed” has become a reflexive
thing. My version of cancel cul-
ture is just turn it off or change
the channel.
To use an example involving
people you know, Phoebe
Bridgers and Mandy Moore —
they were part of an
investigation alleging that Ryan
Adams was emotionally and
verbally abusive. As a result,
some say he should be
canceled.
I think powerful men have
been taking advantage of their
status with women and that
should stop. ... I think it made a
big impression on everybody that
[Bridgers and Moore] came forth
and talked about it. That’s their
right and their responsibility to
tell the truth and why we like
their work.
I worry about [cancel culture],
though, because there are exam-
ples of actors, supposedly, who I
think are tremendously gifted
and I don’t know what all they
did. ... In some cases, it sounds
really bad. In some cases, it
sounds like, really? They patted
somebody on the butt and so we
should not see this person’s mo-
vies now? I don’t know. I’m not
just trying to wriggle out of your
question. I’m just trying to say
that I’m actually not a good per-
son to [talk about this] because
I’m so uninterested in that stuff. I
wouldn’t watch the O.J. trial.
What are you hoping your fans
will take away from your new
album?
You mean, you want me to boil
it down? It’s not for me to say.
There are no CliffsNotes for
these songs. I’m not that self-
conscious. I’m not worried about
what people are gonna think
about me. This is not an ad for
myself. This is a collection of
songs with me really trying to
express myself.
So you don’t think about how
you’ve evolved musically?
Honestly? The things that I
think about are trying to sing in
tune and making the song sound
good.
Why keep making new music?
[Laughs] I just thought that
this morning. There’s so many
other things going on. What could
possibly be a more glacial f—ing
process than writing a song about
climate change, for instance?
What it gives me is a song to sing
that can be sung on an occasion,
and sometimes that occasion is
where people have gathered
together to do something about
something. I like the way I just
said that, because it’s very all-
inclusive. It may sound like I’m
being vague, but I mean it gives
me a song I can sing that reaf-
firms what I think.
Browne: Musician praises Bridgers,Dawes’ Goldsmith for ‘emotional literacy’FROM PAGE 12
Prince
Welcome 2 America (Legacy Recordings)
Anyone who feared that Prince’s vault was
filled with nothing but Billy Joel covers, as the
satirical website The Onion joked shortly after
his death, need not worry.
“Welcome 2 America” is the first complete,
previously unreleased record to come out since
Prince died in 2016. And it’s a stunner.
Incredibly, the album manages to be as relevant, or maybe even
more relevant, today than when it was recorded, and promptly
shelved, in 2010. Most of the songs have been unheard until now.
Confronting themes of racial justice, equality, big tech and just
what it means to be human, “Welcome 2 America” feels like the
soundtrack for the years since Prince’s untimely death. It’s almost as
if Prince knew “Welcome 2 America” would mean more in 2021 than
it might have when first recorded.
From the first song and title track, which starts off with Prince
bemoaning the power of the iPhone and Google, the tone of “Welcome
2 America” is made clear.
“Land of the free / home of the slave,” Prince determines, and we’re
off. Oh, and it rocks, too, in the genre-defying way that defined Princ-
e’s career.
“Welcome 2 America” is also tinged with melancholy. As alive,
relevant and fresh as Prince sounds, there’s no escaping the fact that
he’s gone, and the only reason we’re hearing this is because of that.
— Scott Bauer
Associated Press
PAGE 14 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Sunday, August 15, 2021
BOOKS
Joyce Carol Oates dedi-
cated her new novel,
“Breathe,” to her second
husband, Charles Gross,
who died in 2019. The overlaps
between the novel and reality are
impossible to miss. Like Oates,
the lead character of “Breathe,”
Michaela, is a successful writer
and teacher. And she’s mourning
the death of her husband, Ge-
rard, who, like Gross, was a neu-
roscientist. Michaela’s anguish is
intense from the start, as she
observes Gerard on his deathbed:
“Pleading in desperation,” she
writes. “In childish hope, un-
reason. Begging your husband
Breathe! Don’t stop breathing!”
“Unreason” is the key word
there. “Breathe” is stormy, even
by Oates’ dark domestic-gothic
standards, dramatizing Michae-
la’s grief as it curdles into disori-
entation and then utter derange-
ment. As a narrator, Michaela
out-magical-thinks Joan Didion’s
magical thinking. She unreliably
narrates like few have unreliably
narrated before. It’s both
wrenching and at times over the
top.
Widowhood is a subject Oates
knows well. In 2011, she publish-
ed “A Widow’s Story,” which
collected journal entries she
wrote about the death of her first
husband, Raymond Smith, in
2008. The book was thick with
everyday detail — the slog of
phone
calls,
errands,
and ar-
rang-
ements
that at-
tended the
loss. (Crit-
ics noted
that Oates
covered
just about
everything except the fact that
she married Gross a little more
than a year after Smith’s death.)
The early going of “Breathe” is
rich with many similarly fine-
grained passages about Michae-
la’s morbid disorientation in the
face of her widowhood. She’s lost
not just a spouse, but much of her
identity. “If there is no one to
admire us, do we exist?” Michae-
la muses. And the corollary: “If
there is no one to love us, do we
merit existence?”
Michaela’s internal torments
are offset by the novel’s placid
setting: a town outside Albuquer-
que where Gerard had taken a
residency to finish a book and
where Michaela teaches memoir
writing. It’s a place of “dark-
bruised El Greco skies,” troubled
only by the artwork of Pueblo
gods in their rental home that
leave Michaela oddly disturbed.
The couple planned a few pleas-
ant months away from Cam-
bridge, Mass., before Gerard
learned he had late-stage cancer.
Gerard’s book has the pointed
title of “The Human Brain and
Its Discontents,” and after the
diagnosis, the discontent acceler-
ates, as both quickly unravel
mentally.
Michaela tries to manage Ge-
rard’s decline by soldiering on
with her classes, but she has
trouble staying on track. When
she’s informed that Gerard has
died, she vividly imagines receiv-
ing word of his resurrection.
Instead of focusing on fulfilling
Gerard’s wish to be cremated,
she dwells on the silliness of the
funeral home’s name (“Chapel of
Chimes”) and the absurdity of
the word cremains. The world is
undone. “How ridiculous life is,
Michaela thinks.”
Over her notoriously prolific
six-decade career, Oates has
honed a few strategies to convey
this kind of woman-on-the-verge
predicament. No writer this side
of Emily Dickinson uses the
exclamation point more to con-
vey manic alienation: “Chapel of
Chimes! — Michaela’s numbed
brain hears Chapel of Crimes.”
Parentheses are deployed to
capture the way Michaela’s un-
settled mind keeps drifting into
morbidity: “The widow’s life is
the life of a penitent bearing her
(grotesque, bleeding) heart on
the outside of her body.”
But in time, even simple decla-
rative sentences start to warp.
Michaela’s expressions of loss, at
first dark but rational, become
obsessive and crazed: “The first
duty of the widow is to join her
husband.” The narration shifts
deeper into the second person, as
if Michaela were trying to recruit
the reader into her funhouse-
mirror-vision of the world. All
sorts of anxieties about race,
spirituality and the mind begin to
well up. Michaela fears she’s the
imminent victim of one of those
Pueblo gods, a “god of eyeless
sockets, Skull God, beast-god,
scavenger-god poised to devour
the body’s organs.” Widowhood
isn’t just a cause for mourning
but a kind of sump pump for the
psyche, voiding everything.
As a portrait of the wobbly
unreality of existence that comes
with a loved one’s death,
“Breathe” can be effective and
harrowing. Oates finds an effec-
tive way to resolve the story
while preserving Michaela’s
boiled-brain irrationality. She
isn’t afraid to delve into over-
statement to make the point that
losing someone we love carves
out a piece of us. But that also
means Oates makes Michaela
cartoonish in the novel’s latter
stages. No rationality can reach
her. Gerard’s neuroscience offers
no comfort. Nor does spirituality
— she sees those Pueblo gods as
vile monsters. Nor does teaching,
which only introduces her to
people she can’t trust. She’s
friendless and has no family.
She’s so inconsolable that she
becomes less a character than a
leaden symbol of inconsolability.
Michaela’s fevered brain va-
porizes the affection that defined
her marriage: “To be a good
widow, as to be a good wife, one
must learn how to lie convincing-
ly,” Oates writes, just as Michae-
la is starting to slip badly into
irrationality. In its best moments,
“Breathe” shows how that makes
a kind of sense; so many relation-
ships are made of the stories we
tell each other. But it’s also a
novel that falls in love with its
portrait of paranoia — and that’s
not a healthy relationship for
anybody.
‘Breathe’ captures widowhood’s wobbly realityBY MARK ATHITAKIS
Special to The Washington Post
Heard about the bestselling book about
the adventures of an 11-year-old named
Potter? No, not that one — the one about
the military kid. All the magic in this new
book, “The Islanders,”
by Mary Alice Monroe
and Angela May, ema-
nates from the bonds
of family and friend-
ship, and all the spells
are cast by the natural
beauty and wildlife of
a Carolina barrier
island.
Jake Potter is the
son of dual-service
parents — an Air Force C-17 pilot and an
Army officer — stationed in New Jersey.
When Jake’s soldier father is seriously
injured in Afghanistan and is hospitalized
stateside, Jake’s mom goes with him. With
both his parents away, Jake has to spend
the summer with his eccentric grand-
mother, known to everyone as Honey.
Honey lives on DeWees Island, S.C.
Soon Jake discovers that like Honey, her
isolated island home has a few quirks —
some more challenging than charming.
Jake meets a couple of local kids, Lovie
and Macon, and begins to find the brighter
side of island life. Honey gives Jake the
nature journal his father kept when he
was an 11-year-old, offering Jake a peek
into his father’s childhood and a way to
see the island through his dad’s eyes. Jake,
Lovie and Macon help Honey with sea
turtle rescues and of course manage to get
into a little trouble. Along the way, they
learn more about themselves and each
other.
The authors wisely avoid having the
story turn too much on Jake’s military
connection, creating a well-rounded nar-
rative that rings true for all young readers.
Though deeply affected by military life,
Jake’s character has other dimensions,
and his connection to his parents is not
based on their careers. The story also
emphasizes the bond of friendship Jake
shares with Lovie and Macon. Each friend
faces challenges unique to his or her life,
and Jake’s trials are not portrayed as
greater or less than that of his friends,
only different.
Against a backdrop of nature and con-
servation, “The Islanders” addresses
themes of friendship, caring for family,
facing fear, taking responsibility and
more. The story also touches on topics
related to military life: moving, missing
friends, family separation, injury and
recovery. All wrapped up in a gentle,
encouraging story that middle schoolers
can understand and process.
Summer magic found in thebonds of friendship, family
BY TERRI BARNES
Special to Stars and Stripes
Terri Barnes is a book editor and the author of “Spouse Calls:Messages from a Military Life,” based on her long-runningcolumn in Stars and Stripes. Her three military kids are nowadults, but she still reads children’s books for fun. Contact heronline at terribarnesauthor.com.
Among the many remarkable things
about Stephen King is that he has yet to
run out of ideas. Put another way, he finds
great new ways to explore themes that
have interested him his entire career.
“Billy Summers”
tells the story of the
title character — his
past and his present. A
sniper in the Iraq war,
now an assassin for
hire, Billy displays a
“dumb self” to his
clients while inside
he’s very curious and
introspective. So when
he takes one last job
that requires him to
have a long-term cover story, he chooses
writer. In what other profession could he
keep such weird hours and be responsible
to no one but his creative muse, right?
The passages where Billy writes his life
story are some of the best in the book.
King is adept at shifting voices, from the
“dumb self” narrative voice Billy uses in
his story, to the killer whose brain never
stops wondering who’s trying to manip-
ulate him.
“Billy saves what he’s written, gets up,
and staggers a little because his feet feel
like they’re in another dimension,” writes
King. “He feels like a man emerging from
a vivid dream.” It’s not hard to imagine
King himself somewhere in Maine doing
the same decades ago after bringing a
chapter of “The Stand” to life.
Redemption is the novel’s central
theme. Billy has always told himself he
only kills bad men who deserve it, but
when he starts having doubts about his
final job, he distracts himself by writing
his life story.
It’s when he finds an audience for his
story that the book really starts to find its
groove. Before that, it’s heavy on inner
monologue as Billy thinks through all the
possible consequences of his actions and
the motivations of the people around him.
The plot is straightforward and not
really very compelling until about the
midway point, when Alice Maxwell enters
the story. A victim of gang rape, she’s
dropped out of a slowly rolling car around
midnight outside the apartment where
Billy is lying low. She gives him a new
purpose as an avenging hit man while
serving as an eager audience for Billy’s
life story.
The action kicks into a higher gear as
Billy and Alice head west to tie up loose
ends. There’s even a cameo from a certain
hotel landscaped with animal topiary. It’s
just one of those “King-winks” for fans.
And those fans will happily ride along with
Billy and Alice.
For readers who are new to the King
canon, though, there are literally dozens of
other books with which you’re better off
beginning your Stephen King journey.
King’s latest revolves aroundredemption of assassin for hire
BY ROB MERRILL
Associated Press
Sunday, August 15, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 15
CROSSWORD AND COMICS
NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD
OFF BRANDBY MATTHEW STOCK / EDITED BY WILL SHORTZ
51 Hole
52 Diagnosis characterized by repetitive behavior, in brief
53 Focus of a marathon runner’s training
54 Grand opening?
55 Sides (with)
58 ____ school
59 Dessert with some assembly required
61 Grammy recipient Lisa
63 What pro bono lawyers waive
65 General mills?
69 The British 20-pence and 50-pence coins, geometrically
71 Member of a South Asian diaspora
72 Photo finish
75 Every last drop
76 Bank, often
78 Exams offered four times a year, for short
81 Grown-up pup
82 ‘‘I promise I won’t laugh,’’ often
83 Certain guiding principle
84 Texas instruments?
87 Meadow grass with brushlike spikes
90 Fermented Baltic drink
91 ‘‘Ugh, gross’’
92 Stag’s date?
93 Doc treating sinus infections
94 X, in linear functions
95 Dolphins’ div.
97 Like many a company softball game
99 ‘‘That stinks!’’
100 Subj. devoting extra time to idioms
102 ____ milk
103 Band aid?
107 Truce
109 Litter-box emanation
113 Efflux
114 Old navy?
117 Like many a grillmaster
118 Supermodel Kate
119 Headache helper
120 Took a little look
121 [Hey, over here!]
122 Rough patch
DOWN
1 Standing on
2 Texter’s ‘‘Hilarious!’’
3 Soy something
4 Ones working block by block?
5 Hoodwink
6 Drift apart
7 Certain Ivy Leaguers
8 Pac-12 school, informally
9 Qualification shorthand
10 ‘‘Ple-e-e-ease?’’
11 Help when writing a letter
12 Its national drink is the pisco sour
13 State of disorder
14 Some vacation rentals
15 Lube up again
16 Old pal
17 Actress ____ Creed-Miles
19 South American capital
20 Figures
22 Statements of will?
27 ‘‘The power of global trade’’ sloganeer
29 ____ Millions
31 Into crystals and auras, say
34 Its calendar began in A.D. 622
35 Inflated feeling of infallibility
36 Letters on a stamp
38 ____ B or ____ C of the Spice Girls
39 Actor Alan of ‘‘Crimes and Misdemeanors’’
40 Binghamton Rumble Ponies or Birmingham Barons
41 ‘‘My b!’’
43 Sign
44 Feudal lord
45 Plots of western films?
46 Brain-freeze cause, maybe
47 Does a summer job?
49 Warrant
50 Magic can be seen here
51 Relating to land, old-style
56 They can help you see or taste
57 Like the odds of finding a needle in a haystack
60 Airline based near Tel Aviv
62 Deserving of a timeout, say
64 Big spread
66 ‘‘No need to
elaborate’’
67 Like the Hmong
language
68 ____ Ng, author
of ‘‘Little Fires
Everywhere’’
69 12/24, e.g.
70 ____ Perlman, role for
Timothée Chalamet
in ‘‘Call Me by Your
Name’’
73 Means of divination
74 ‘‘What ____?’’
77 Indicate availability, in a way
79 ‘‘Weekend, here I come!’’
80 Side dish at a barbecue
85 Upsilon preceder
86 Producer of the world’s most widely read consumer catalog
88 Genre for One Direction
89 ‘‘. . . finished!’’
90 Ties
94 Android alternative
95 Exclamation after a sigh
96 Teeny-tiny
97 Sporty wheels
98 Eccentric
99 Explorer Richard who made the first flight over the South Pole
101 Attempt to control the narrative, in a way
103 Lava, e.g.
104 Took to court
105 Omar of ‘‘Love & Basketball’’
106 Rolls around while
exercising?
108 Quick talk
110 What nyctophobia is
the fear of
111 Slobbery cartoon
character
112 ‘‘____ over’’ (words
after letting off
steam)
115 Often-contracted
word
116 Tech sch. in Troy,
N.Y.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
029181
322212
72625242
332313039282
04938373635343
74645444342414
2515059484
857565554535
463626160695
86766656
473727170796
18089787776757
6858483828
291909988878
69594939
201101001998979
211111011901801701601501401301
611511411311
911811711
221121021
Matthew Stock, who turns 25 this month, works for a math-education nonprofit in East St. Louis, Ill. The idea for this puzzle came about in January, when he was on a long road trip and passed a Honda Odyssey. He reinterpreted the name as ‘‘Honda odyssey’’ (small ‘‘o’’), which aptly described what he was on. That bit of wordplay didn’t make it into this puzzle, but similar ones with other brand names did. This is Matthew’s sixth Times crossword, and his second Sunday. — W.S.
ACROSS
1 A is one
8 Ozone-harming compounds, for short
12 Actor Guy
18 ‘‘How awesome!’’
19 Play with, as a cat might a toy mouse
20 Naysayers
21 Five guys?
23 It might have desks and drawers
24 Shade of purple
25 Those: Sp.
26 Green giant?
28 Ambulance driver, for short
30 Finished first
32 ‘‘____-ching!’’
33 Just
34 Like basalt and obsidian
37 Something sent on a Listserv
40 Police broadcast, for short
41 ‘‘Special Agent ____’’ (animated Disney show about a bear)
42 Main character in Larry McMurtry’s ‘‘Lonesome Dove’’
43 Apt name for a Christmas caroler?
44 ____ Clarendon, first openly transgender W.N.B.A. player
48 Jolly rancher?
GUNSTON STREET
“Gunston Street” is drawn by Basil Zaviski. Email him at [email protected], and online at gunstonstreet.com.
RESULTS FOR ABOVE PUZZLE
ARTICLECFCSPEARCE
TOOCOOLPAWATDENIERS
OFFENSIVELINEARTROOM
PLUMESOSWINDTURBINE
EMTWONCHAONLY
IGNEOUSEMAILAPB
OSOGUSEWELLLAYSHIA
OLDMACDONALDPITOCD
PACEHARDGAGREESMED
SMORELOEBLEGALFEES
MILITARYACADEMIES
HEPTAGONSDESIMATTE
ALLLENDERLSATSSEAL
LIETAOSTEELGUITARS
FOXTAILKVASSICKDOE
ENTINPUTAFCEAST
COEDBOOESLOAT
SOUNDSYSTEMPACTODOR
OUTPOURSPANISHARMADA
APRONEDUPTONASPIRIN
PEEPEDPSSTTHICKET
PAGE 16 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Sunday, August 15, 2021
GADGETS & TECHNOLOGY
I never thought I’d be review-
ing a desk chair that offers med-
ical advice. But the Nexvoo
Health Ergonomic Adjustable
Desk Chair has a USB port for
charging a built-in health mon-
itor that takes readings of heart
rate, blood oxygen level, HRV
and fatigue index.
What makes the chair stand
out is the right armrest, which
has built-in health controls. Be-
fore using the controls, the in-
cluded proprietary magnetic
USB-A cable has to be connected
for charging and you’ll need the
free Nexvoo App (available on
iOS and Android platforms).
After downloading the app, a
Bluetooth connection must be
made between the chair and the
app.
The app records the health
data and displays it in real time.
The app stores the history of
tests and has resources of in-
formation of health categories of
the collected data.
Once the charging and app are
ready, while sitting in the chair
place your right index finger on
the top side measurement unit
for three seconds to activate it
and then 15 seconds to run the
test.
You can watch the data being
collected, and like I did, you’ll
run it a few times for compari-
son. Hopefully, nothing alarming
will be revealed, but if so, the
next step should be contacting
your doctor.
As for the chair, it’s first-class
in comfort. Putting it together
was simple with the included
instructions.
The ergonomic features are
adjustable, along with both 3D
armrests. Levers on the bottom
allow for moving the seat for-
ward and back. A left-side lever
allows for the back to be ad-
justed to recline back or forward,
up to 140 degrees, and then lock-
ing it in the position of choice.
And one on the right is for ad-
justing the height of the seat.
Like any piece of furniture, it
takes some getting used to, but
once the adjustments are set to
the right position, the chair is
very comfortable.
The back and headrest are
made with soft mesh to promote
cool air circulation. The foam
seat is 2.3 inches thick with a
waterfall seat edge. Once
charged, the rechargeable bat-
tery should last for 30 days if
used once per day.
Online: nexvoo.healthcare;
$499, in choices of blue and
black
GADGETS
A desk chairthat monitorsyour health
BY GREGG ELLMAN
Tribune News Service
When the men’s basketball tour-
nament at the Olympics opened
last week, the most captivating
player in the building wasn’t
Kevin Durant, Damian Lillard or any of the
other NBA superstars on Team USA.
Instead, all eyes in the Saitama Super
Arena were peeled for Japan’s answer to
Stephen Curry: CUE5, Toyota’s basketball-
shooting, artificial intelligence-powered
robot. Within minutes after CUE5 calmly
swished a free throw, a three-pointer and a
half-court shot in quick succession, its shoot-
ing exploits had gone viral online, with one
clip racking up more than 4.9 million views.
“Computers are absurdly more accurate
than humans,” Tesla CEO Elon Musk wrote
approvingly on Twitter.
CUE5 is a sight to behold: Its 7-foot, 220-
pound physique is comparable to Giannis
Antetokounmpo and Anthony Davis. The
robot bears a slight resemblance to C3P0
from Star Wars, although its all-black exte-
rior and faceless design project an intimi-
dating air. For the Olympics, CUE5 is
dressed in a black jersey with a Japanese
flag, “Tokyo 2020” and the number “95”
across its chest, black shorts, and oversized
gray shoes with red shoelaces.
These aesthetic details and the complex AI
computing power inside CUE5’s body are the
brainchild of Toyota project leader Tomohiro
Nomi. The 43-year-old Nomi has worked at
Toyota for two decades, focusing his efforts
on basketball robots for the past four years.
The CUE team has made remarkable and
gradual progress given that it originally
launched as a volunteer program. CUE1 shot
only free throws and featured a plain base.
CUE2 stood on two legs and added a three-
point shot. CUE3 entered the Guinness Book
of World Records in May 2019 — under the
category “Most consecutive basketball free
throws by a humanoid robot (assisted)” — by
making 2,020 consecutive free throws in 6
hours and 35 minutes.
CUE4 participated in a three-point contest
at Japan’s B League All-Star Game in front
of thousands of fans. Along the way, Toyota
partnered with Levanga Hokkaido, a Japa-
nese professional basketball team, to take its
development to the next level.
CUE5, the latest model, delighted media
members, basketball officials and television
viewers during the Olympics. According to
Nomi, CUE5 can shoot “almost 100 percent”
on 15-foot free throws, 98% on three-pointers
from the 22-foot, 1.75-inch international line
and better than 60% on half-court shots,
which travel nearly 46 feet.
By comparison, Chris Paul led the NBA
last season by shooting 93% on free throws,
Bogdan Bogdanovic posted a league-best
44% on three-pointers and Curry managed to
make 39% of his attempts from beyond 30
feet.
In other words, CUE5 comfortably out-
shoots the NBA’s best at all three distances,
although it doesn’t need to worry about pes-
ky defenders or shot clocks. Curry, who once
made 105 consecutive unguarded three-
pointers at practice, would surely be CUE5’s
toughest human competition.
“Stephen Curry is my favorite player,”
Nomi said during an interview in Saitama
last week. “I want to see [a shooting contest
between CUE5 and Curry]. That’s my
dream.”
CUE5 boasts seven sensors: One in its
chest to measure the distance to the hoop,
two in its feet for moving, and four in its
hands for picking up the ball and dribbling.
CUE5’s hands are huge — “like Shaquille
O’Neal,” Nomi said — because its palms
handle the dribbling while its long fingers
are responsible for cradling the ball during
its shooting motion. All told, approximately
25 parts in the robot’s arms and legs are
activated on each shot.
Nomi, who was accompanied by a team of
13 technicians at the Olympics, has gone to
great lengths to imbue his robots with hu-
manlike qualities. CUE5 shoots with a typical
motion, picking up the ball off a rack with
two hands, bending at the knees, using its left
hand as a guide hand, executing the shot
with its right hand from above its right
shoulder and following through with a flick
of the wrist. The robot is even programmed
to wave to the crowd as it enters and leaves
the court.
While CUE5’s Olympic demonstrations
have taken place from the middle of the
court, its distance sensor allows it to shoot
from any angle. According to Nomi, CUE5
has a 1.2 degree margin of error to make a
free throw. That drops to 0.8 degree for
three-pointers and less than 0.5 degree on
half-court shots.
Misses can be chalked up to noise in its
distance sensor reading or slight variations
in the ball’s size, weight or center of gravity.
Previous CUE robots swayed during and
after their shots in a way that negatively
impacted shooting efficiency.
The robot can make real-time adjustments
if it shoots too short or too long, but it will
never attempt a bank shot as a matter of
principle.
“A swish looks much better than using the
backboard,” Nomi said.
While Nomi has spent so much time on the
CUE project that he considers the robots to
be his “friends,” he is quick to acknowledge
their limitations and said it could be another
10 or 20 years before they can play the sport.
After mastering the art of shooting, though,
Nomi has his heart set on another major
innovation.
“I don’t know his limits yet,” Nomi said. “I
want the robot to try to dunk. We would have
to change everything. Jumping for a dunk,
moving in the air — that’s a challenge.”
A flick and a swishAn inside look at CUE5,the hoops-shooting robot
BY BEN GOLLIVER
The Washington Post
BEN GOLLIVER/The Washington Post
Toyota’s CUE5 basketballshooting robot stands 7 feet tall and weighs 220 pounds.
Sunday, August 15, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 17
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stripes.com
OPINION
Filling out the 2020 Census launched
me into a bit of an identity crisis.
Under the “race or origin” ques-
tion, I saw myself, a person of Egyp-
tian descent, defined as “white” for the first
time. The Census Bureau just released de-
tailed reports on its race and ethnicity data.
While this census showed a drop in the white
population, those numbers might have been
lower still if the census had been conducted
more fairly.
I’ve never considered myself white or been
viewed as white by anyone else, to my knowl-
edge, so it felt misleading and dishonest to
check that box. When it comes to surveys
such as these, it’s rare to find an option for
“Middle Eastern or North African,” or ME-
NA, though it kind of delights me whenever I
do. At least on most forms I have the option to
choose “other.”
The United States conducted the first cen-
sus of its population in 1790. Since the start,
the government has used the data to allocate
congressional seats and funds for federal pro-
grams. Historical census forms reflect the
country’s troubling and ever-evolving rela-
tionship with race and how to define, and
count, people of color.
The question of a person’s “color” first ap-
peared on the 1850 Census, with three options
given: white, black or mulatto. Other minority
groups were added through the decades. Be-
tween the 2010 and 2020 Censuses, the Office
of Management and Budget under President
Barack Obama convened a working group to
improve the quality of federal data on race
and ethnicity. One of the group’s key recom-
mendations resulting from their research
was to add MENA to the standards for collect-
ing data.
Not only was this advice discarded in the
creation of the 2020 Census in the Trump ad-
ministration, but Middle Easterners also
were explicitly absorbed into the white cate-
gory. “White” had never been defined in any
previous census, but this time the form read,
“White - Print [origin(s)], for example, Ger-
man, Irish, English, Italian, Lebanese, Egyp-
tian, etc.”
Undoubtedly, there are many Arabs in the
United States who would prefer to identify as
white. Passing has always been an effective
way to access power and privilege, an adapta-
tion that lighter-skinned minorities have long
practiced. It is important to understand what
role the Naturalization Act of 1790 has likely
played in this.
Among the first pieces of legislation passed
by the first Congress, the law restricted ac-
cess to U.S. citizenship to immigrants who
qualified as free whites of good character.
This led to an extensive series of racial pre-
requisite legal cases between 1878 and 1952,
when immigration and nativist attitudes were
both at a peak, with immigrants from East
Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, North Afri-
ca and other non-European origins seeking to
be legally defined as white, and therefore eli-
gible for U.S. citizenship.
It wasn’t until 1952 that racial restrictions
related to immigration and naturalization
were abolished. My parents immigrated to
the United States in 1980. I was born in Cana-
da, where they had earned citizenship as
graduate students. When my parents were
naturalized as Americans, I was a minor and
therefore afforded citizenship through their
efforts. My brother was born in Denver a year
after we moved to the States. He used to tease
me that he could run for president, but I
couldn’t.
Igrew up in the suburbs of Denver, went to
Stanford University and work at an art mu-
seum in Austin, Texas — which is to say that
my dominant experience in this world has
been as a person of color navigating majority-
white spaces, usually keenly aware of my sta-
tus as an outsider. As a child, I was frequently
teased for being darker than my peers and for
the last name on my birth certificate: Abdel-
Azim. I became so ashamed of the “Abdel,”
which clearly marked me as Arab, that I drop-
ped it in college.
I’m trying to raise my kids to be proud of
their Middle Eastern heritage. But our contri-
butions to diversity aren’t systematically
tracked. We’re not typically who a company
or university is looking for when seeking to di-
versify its staff, student body or faculty. When
you’re part of an invisible minority, it can
make you feel invisible, like your diversity
doesn’t add value to the cultural table. Not to
mention that invisible minorities cannot rely
on civil rights and anti-discrimination protec-
tions afforded to recognized minority groups.
Aggregating people of Middle Eastern ori-
gin into the white category also falsely inflates
the statistical edge of the alleged majority
group. It’s like gerrymandering demographic
data, redrawing the boundaries of race and
ethnicity to the advantage of those in power.
People who identify as white still constitute a
majority of the U.S. population, according to
the Census Bureau. But, then again, I’m iden-
tified as white on the latest census, and I’m not
white. There may very well be a robust ME-
NA population in Austin, but you wouldn’t
know it by looking at the numbers.
We’re here. Hiding in plain sight.
I am Middle Eastern. The census lists me as white.BY DALIA AZIM
Special to The Washington Post
Dalia Azim is a writer in Austin, Texas.
WASHINGTON
When President Theodore Roo-
sevelt asked Attorney General
Philander Knox to concoct a
retroactive justification of the
U.S. seizure of land for the Panama Canal,
Knox reportedly replied, “Oh, Mr. President,
do not let so great an achievement suffer from
any taint of legality.” Today’s Democrats, hav-
ing channeled Knox when extending the evic-
tion moratorium, can avoid further diminish-
ing their stature by allowing the Equal Rights
Amendment to languish for another 50 years.
In March 1972, Congress sent the ERA
(”Equality of rights under the law shall not be
denied or abridged by the United States or by
any state on account of sex”) for ratification by
38 states within seven years. This was an act of
gallantry by a chivalrous and nearly unani-
mous Congress whose 535 members included
15 women. (Unassisted by the ERA’s sup-
posed barrier-breaking and consciousness-
raising potency, there are today 143 women in
Congress.) Congress was too cavalier, in sev-
eral senses, to explain what this would add to
the 14th Amendment’s guarantee to “any per-
son” of “equal protection of the laws.”
Hawaii, matching Congress’ frivolity, rati-
fied the ERA 32 minutes after it flew through
the Senate. Most of the 20 states that ratified it
in the first three months held no hearings. In
January 1977, Indiana became the 35th state
to ratify. Twenty-six of the 35 explicitly re-
ferred to the seven-year deadline in their rat-
ification resolutions.
When the seven years expired, with the
ERA still three states shy of ratification, those
who were supposedly passionate about equal
treatment of women sought and received spe-
cial treatment: Although the Constitution re-
quires a two-thirds majority for amendments,
a simple congressional majority was used to
extend the original deadline for 39 months.
Compounding the lawlessness, Congress said
the extra time for consideration of the ERA
was available only for states that had not rati-
fied it. This was to block state legislatures from
joining the four that, having had second — or
perhaps first — thoughts, had rescinded their
ratifications. Nevertheless, the ERA died, re-
dundantly, after 123 months. In the 65 months
since Indiana’s became the 35th ratification,
no other state had ratified and five of the 35 re-
scinded their ratifications.
Today, ERA advocates say (a) the clock can
never expire on ratification (the House voted
in March to remove the deadline) and (b) no
ratification can be rescinded. The only federal
court that has ruled on the 39-month extension
of the original seven-year deadline ruled it un-
constitutional and said all rescissions are val-
id. In 2020, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, cit-
ing controversies about the three states that
ratified the ERA decades after even the sec-
ond deadline, said, “I’d like it to start over.”
She added: “If you count a latecomer on the
plus side, how can you disregard states that
said, ‘We’ve changed our minds’?”
Nevada (2017), Illinois (2018) and Virginia
(2020) became the 36th, 37th and 38th, respec-
tively, to ratify. In doing so, they ignored this
constitutional ethic: A limited period of delib-
eration about an amendment guarantees (in
the Supreme Court’s words) a “sufficiently
contemporaneous” consensus of three-quar-
ters of the states. Beginning with the 18th
Amendment (Prohibition) that was proposed
in 1917, Congress has attached a seven-year
ratification deadline to all nine amendments it
has sent to the states. Disregard the most “re-
cent” amendment, the 27th (concerning con-
gressional pay), which was passed by Con-
gress without a ratification deadline in 1789,
when there were 13 states, and was ratified by
a 38th in 1992, when the public was inflamed
about congressional pay raises. Aside from
the 27th, the first 10 amendments (the Bill of
Rights) were ratified in 27 months, the 26th
(lowering the voting age to 18) took less than
four, and the average time for the 16 amend-
ments since the first 10 has been less than 18.
ERA advocates argue that Congress has,
and courts enforce, such a cramped notion of
congressional power that the ERA is neces-
sary to protect women. Actually, what the ad-
vocates want, aside from applause, is to disem-
power Congress. They hope to clutter the Con-
stitution with vague language that courts will
use to impose unspecified social policies (con-
cerning “equal pay,” abortion and other mat-
ters) that Congress will not pass.
A Venn diagram probably would show an
almost complete overlap of today’s victory-at-
any-price ERA advocates and the most vocif-
erous progressive critics of the previous presi-
dent’s disdain for constitutional norms.
ERA backers bend the rules as they seek ‘equality’BY GEORGE F. WILL
Washington Post Writers Group
PAGE 18 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Sunday, August 15, 2021
Sunday, August 15, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 19
SCOREBOARD/GOLF
PRO SOCCER
MLS
EASTERN CONFERENCE
W L T Pts GF GA
New England 12 3 4 40 35 22
Orlando City 8 4 6 30 28 23
NYCFC 8 5 4 28 32 18
Philadelphia 7 5 7 28 25 19
Nashville 6 2 10 28 26 17
D.C. United 8 7 3 27 27 21
Columbus 6 6 6 24 21 23
CF Montréal 6 7 5 23 24 24
New York 5 8 4 19 21 22
Atlanta 3 6 9 18 21 25
Chicago 4 9 5 17 20 29
Inter Miami CF 4 8 4 16 15 26
Cincinnati 3 7 7 16 18 30
Toronto FC 3 9 6 15 23 38
WESTERN CONFERENCE
W L T Pts GF GA
Sporting KC 10 4 4 34 33 20
Seattle 9 3 6 33 26 14
LA Galaxy 10 6 2 32 29 28
Colorado 8 4 4 28 22 16
Minnesota 7 5 5 26 21 21
Portland 7 8 2 23 23 29
LAFC 6 7 5 23 24 25
San Jose 5 7 7 22 21 27
Real Salt Lake 5 6 6 21 26 20
FC Dallas 5 7 6 21 23 25
Houston 3 6 9 18 19 25
Vancouver 3 7 8 17 19 28
Austin FC 4 9 4 16 13 20
Note: Three points for victory, one pointfor tie.
Friday’s game
Vancouver 0, San Jose 0, tie Saturday’s games
LA Galaxy at Minnesota Miami at New York City FC New England at Toronto FC New York at CF Montréal Colorado at Houston Sporting Kansas City at FC Dallas Austin FC at Real Salt Lake
Sunday’s games
Los Angeles FC at Atlanta Columbus at Chicago D.C. United at Nashville Seattle at Portland
NWSL
W L T Pts GF GA
Portland 9 3 1 28 20 7
North Carolina 6 4 3 21 17 9
Gotham FC 5 2 5 20 13 8
Orlando 5 4 5 20 17 16
Chicago 6 6 2 20 15 20
Washington 5 5 4 19 17 17
Reign FC 6 6 1 19 17 14
Houston 5 6 3 18 17 20
Louisville 4 6 2 14 10 18
Kansas City 0 9 4 4 6 20
Note: Three points for victory, one pointfor tie.
Friday’s game
Washington 2, Houston 2, tie Saturday’s games
Portland at OrlandoReign FC at Kansas City
Sunday’s games
Louisville at Gotham FCChicago at North Carolina
PRO BASKETBALL
WNBA
EASTERN CONFERENCE
W L Pct GB
Connecticut 14 6 .700 —
Chicago 10 10 .500 4
New York 10 11 .476 4½
Washington 8 10 .444 5
Atlanta 6 13 .316 7½
Indiana 4 16 .200 10
WESTERN CONFERENCE
W L Pct GB
Seattle 16 5 .762 —
Las Vegas 15 6 .714 1
Minnesota 12 7 .632 3
Phoenix 9 10 .474 6
Dallas 9 12 .429 7
Los Angeles 6 13 .316 9
Friday’s games
No games scheduledSaturday’s games
No games scheduledSunday’s games
Connecticut at DallasSeattle at ChicagoAtlanta at PhoenixWashington at Las VegasNew York at MinnesotaIndiana at Los Angeles
Monday’s games
No games scheduled
PRO FOOTBALL
NFL preseason
Thursday’s games
New England 22, Washington 13Pittsburgh 24, Philadelphia 16
Friday’s games
Buffalo 16, Detroit 15Tennessee 23, Atlanta 3Arizona 19, Dallas 16
Saturday’s games
Miami at ChicagoDenver at MinnesotaCleveland at JacksonvilleNew Orleans at BaltimoreCincinnati at Tampa BayN.Y. Jets at N.Y. GiantsHouston at Green BayKansas City at San FranciscoSeattle at Las VegasL.A. Chargers at L.A. Rams
Sunday’s games
Carolina at Indianapolis
Thursday, Aug. 19
New England at Philadelphia
Friday, Aug. 20
Cincinnati at WashingtonKansas City at Arizona
Saturday, Aug. 21
Buffalo at ChicagoN.Y. Jets at Green BayAtlanta at MiamiBaltimore at CarolinaDetroit at PittsburghTennessee at Tampa BayHouston at DallasIndianapolis at MinnesotaDenver at SeattleLas Vegas at L.A. Rams
Sunday, Aug. 22
N.Y. Giants at ClevelandSan Francisco at L.A. Chargers
Monday, Aug. 23
Jacksonville at New Orleans
TENNIS
Rogers CupFriday
At Aviva CentreToronto
Purse: $2,850,975Surface: Hardcourt outdoor
Men’s SinglesQuarterfinals
Stefanos Tsitsipas (3), Greece, def.Casper Ruud (6), Norway, 6-1, 6-4.
Reilly Opelka, United States, def. Rober-to Bautista Agut (10), Spain, 6-3, 7-6 (1).
Daniil Medvedev (1), Russia, def. HubertHurkacz (7), Poland, 2-6, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5).
John Isner, United States, def. Gael Mon-fils (11), France, 7-6 (5), 6-4.
Men’s DoublesQuarterfinals
Horia Tecau, Romania, and Kevin Kra-wietz (4), Germany, def. Dusan Lajovic,Serbia, and Aslan Karatsev, Russia, 6-3,3-6, 10-3.
Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic (1), Croa-tia, def. Matwe Middelkoop, Netherlands,and Luke Saville, Australia, 6-3, 6-7 (6),10-7.
Rajeev Ram, United States, and Joe Sa-lisbury (3), Britain, def. Rohan Bopanna, In-dia, and Ivan Dodig (8), Croatia, 4-6, 6-3,10-4.
Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen, Belgium,def. Robert Farah and Juan Sebastian Ca-bal (2), Colombia, 6-7 (5), 6-2, 10-8.
National Bank OpenFriday
At IGA Stadium & Aviva CentreMontreal
Purse: $1,835,490Surface: Hardcourt outdoor
Women’s SinglesQuarterfinals
Aryna Sabalenka (1), Belarus, def. Victo-ria Azarenka (8), Belarus, 6-2, 6-4.
Karolina Pliskova (4), Czech Republic,def. Sara Sorribes Tormo, Spain, 6-4, 6-0.
Camila Giorgi, Italy, def. Coco Gauff (15),United States, 6-4, 7-6 (2).
Jessica Pegula, United States, def. OnsJabeur (13), Tunisia, 1-6, 7-6 (4), 6-0.
Women’s DoublesQuarterfinals
Andreja Klepac, Slovenia, and Darija Ju-rak (6), Croatia, def. Alexa Guarachi Mathi-son, Chile, and Desirae Krawczyk (4), Unit-ed States, 6-4, 6-2.
Veronika Kudermetova, Russia, and Ele-na Rybakina, Kazakhstan, def. Ulrikke Eik-eri, Norway, and Catherine Harrison, Unit-ed States, 6-0, 6-2.
Gabriela Dabrowski, Canada, and LuisaStefani (5), Brazil, def. Elise Mertens, Belgi-um, and Aryna Sabalenka (1), Belarus, 6-2,6-2.
DEALS
Friday’s transactionsBASEBALL
Major League BaseballAmerican League
BOSTON RED SOX — Sent RHP Eduard Ba-zardo to Florida Complex League (FCL) ona rehab assignment. Reinstated OF KyleSchwarber from the 10-day IL. ReinstatedOF Alex Verdugo from the paternity leavelist. Designated INF/OF Marwin Gonzalezfor assignment. Optioned RHP TannerHousck to Worcester (Triple-A East).
CHICAGO WHITE SOX — Optioned SSDanny Mendick to Charlotte (Triple-AEast).
CLEVELAND INDIANS — Placed CF HaroldRamirez on the 10-day IL, retroactive toAugust 12. Optioned LHP Francisco Perezto Columbus (Triple-A East). Recalled 1BYu Chang and LHP Logan Allen from Co-lumbus.
NEW YORK YANKEES — Returned OF Es-tevan Florial to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre(Triple-A East). Returned INF Chris Gittensfrom rehab assignment and reinstatedhim from the 10-day IL then optioned himto Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Transferred OFClint Frazier’s rehab assignment fromTampa (Low-A Southeast) to Somerset(Double-A Northeast). Transferred RHPLuis Severino’s rehab assignment fromSomerset to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
TEXAS RANGERS — Reinstated RHP DaneDunning from the 10-day IL. Selected thecontract of C Yohel Pozo from Round Rock(Triple-A West) and agreed to terms on amajor league contract. Optioned LHP WesBenjamin and 1B Curtis Terry to RoundRock. Designated RHP Jimmy Herget forassignment.
National LeagueARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS — Optioned
RHP Sean Poppen to Reno (Triple-A West).Activated RHP J.B. Wendelken.
ATLANTA BRAVES — Optioned LHP KyleMuller to Gwinnett (Triple-A East). Re-called RHP Jacob Webb from Gwinnett.Sent C Kevan Smith outright to GwinnettStripers.
CINCINNATI REDS — Sent RHP R.J. Alanizto Louisville (Triple-A East) on a rehab as-signment.
COLORADO ROCKIES — Sent RHP Chi ChiGonzalez to Arizona Complez League(ACL) on a rehab assignment.
MIAMI MARLINS — Agreed to terms withRF Dustin Fowler on a minor league con-tract. Placed INF Joe Panik on the 10-day IL.Reinstated INF Jazz Chisholm from the 10-day IL.
MILWAUKEE BREWERS — Signed RHPRobbie Baker to a minor league contract.Sent RHP Sal Romano outright to Nashville(Triple-A East).
NEW YORK METS — Placed INF JavierBaez on the 10-day IL, retroactive to Au-gust 12. Recalled INF Travis Blakenhornfrom Syracuse (Triple-A East). OptionedRHP Trevor Williams to Syracuse. SignedOF Josh Reddick to a minor league con-tract.
ST. LOUIS CARDINALS — Placed LHPWade LeBlanc on the 10-day IL. ReinstatedRHP Jack Flaherty from the 60-day IL.
SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS — Agreed toterms with SS Brandon Crawford on a two-year contract. Reinstated RHP AnthonyDeSclafani from the 10-day IL. OptionedRHP Camilo Doval to Sacramento (Triple-AWest). Placed RHP Aaron Sanchez on un-conditional release waivers.
WASHINGTON NATIONALS — OptionedRHP Tanner Rainey to Rochester (Triple-AEast).
BASKETBALLNational Basketball Association
BOSTON CELTICS — Signed C Enes Kan-ter and G Dennis Schroder.
HOUSTON ROCKETS — Signed F MattHurt to a two-way contract.
LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS — Re-signed GNicolas Baturn.
NEW ORLEANS PELICANS — Re-signed GDidi Louzada.
FOOTBALLNational Football League
CHICAGO BEARS — Activated DT EddieGoldman from the COVID-19 list. WaivedWR Thomas Ives.
GREEN BAY PACKERS — Placed OLB Ran-dy Ramsey on unclaimed waivers and re-verted to IR.
HOUSTON TEXANS — Placed OTs LaremyTunsil and Tytus Howard on the COVID-19list.
LAS VEGAS RAIDERS — Activated DBIsaiah Johnson from the physically unableto perform (PUP) list.
NEW ORLEANS SAINTS — Waived LBQuentin Poling with an injury designation.Released CB Keith Washington from IRwith a settlement. Signed OT LawrenceWoods.
NEW YORK GIANTS — Waived RB MikeWeber with an injury designation settle-ment. Signed OT Ted Larsen. Waived DBJordyn Peters.
PHILADELPHIA EAGLES — Waived DBNate Meadors with an injury designationsettlement.
HOCKEYNational Hockey League
BUFFALO SABRES — Signed D Casey Fitz-gerald to a two-year contract.
COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS — Signed LWZac Rinaldo to a one-year, two-way con-tract.
FLORIDA PANTHERS — Signed LW JoeThorton to a one-year contract.
SOCCERMajor League Soccer
MINNESOTA UNITED FC — Acquired$75,000 in 2022 general allocation money(GAM) from D.C. United for first refusal forD Jose Aja. Waived F Ramon Abila.
COLLEGEMEMPHIS — Named Kassie Kadera as
associate head volleyball coach andMitchell Baumgartner as assistant volley-ball coach.
AP SPORTLIGHT
Aug. 15
1948 — Babe Didrikson Zaharias winsthe U.S. Women’s Open golf title over BettyHicks.
1950 — Ezzard Charles knocks out Fred-die Beshore in the 14th round to retain hisworld heavyweight title.
1965 — Dave Marr edges Jack Nicklausand Billy Casper to take the PGA Cham-pionship.
2014 — Mo’Ne Davis, one of two girls atthe Little League World Series, throws atwo-hitter to help Philadelphia beat Nash-ville 4-0 in the opener for both teams. Da-vis, the first girl to appear for a U.S. team inSouth Williamsport since 2004, has eightstrikeouts and no walks.
GOLF
Wyndham ChampionshipPGA Tour
FridayAt Sedgefield Country Club
Greensboro, N.C.Yardage: 7,131; Par: 70
Purse: $6.4 MillionSecond Round
Russell Henley 62-64—126 -14 Rory Sabbatini 66-64—130 -10 Webb Simpson 65-65—130 -10 Scott Piercy 64-66—130 -10 Justin Rose 66-65—131 -9Tyler Duncan 69-62—131 -9Brian Stuard 65-66—131 -9Kevin Streelman 66-66—132 -8Alex Smalley 68-64—132 -8Tyler McCumber 65-67—132 -8Kevin Na 68-64—132 -8 Chris Kirk 64-69—133 -7 Kevin Kisner 65-68—133 -7Hudson Swafford 64-69—133 -7Bronson Burgoon 65-68—133 -7Sam Ryder 68-65—133 -7 Mackenzie Hughes 70-63—133 -7Matt Kuchar 66-67—133 -7Sung Kang 64-69—133 -7 Sebastián Muñoz 66-67—133 -7Jhonattan Vegas 65-68—133 -7John Augenstein 68-65—133 -7Denny McCarthy 65-69—134 -6Tommy Fleetwood 66-68—134 -6Sungjae Im 66-68—134 -6 Si Woo Kim 66-68—134 -6 Erik van Rooyen 65-69—134 -6
Scottish OpenLPGA Tour
FridayAt Dumbarnie Links
Fife, ScotlandPurse: $1.5 million
Yardage: 6,573; Par: 71Second Round
Ariya Jutanugarn 69-66—135 -9Charley Hull 69-69—138 -6Emily Kristine Pedersen 69-69—138 -6Atthaya Thitikul 68-70—138 -6Jeongeun Lee6 71-68—139 -5Lydia Hall 69-70—139 -5Sarah Schmelzel 68-71—139 -5Ryann O’Toole 68-71—139 -5Kelsey MacDonald 68-71—139 -5Yuka Saso 67-72—139 -5Marina Alex 69-71—140 -4Yealimi Noh 68-72—140 -4Ssu-Chia Cheng 72-69—141 -3Whitney Hillier 72-69—141 -3Ashleigh Buhai 71-70—141 -3Anna Nordqvist 70-71—141 -3Celine Boutier 70-71—141 -3Nanna Koerstz Madsen 68-73—141 -3Jasmine Suwannapura 67-74—141 -3Ally Ewing 73-69—142 -2Karolin Lampert 71-71—142 -2A Lim Kim 71-71—142 -2Jing Yan 71-71—142 -2Lydia Ko 70-72—142 -2Cheyenne Knight 70-72—142 -2Prima Thammaraks 70-72—142 -2Becky Morgan 68-74—142 -2Esther Henseleit 75-68—143 -1Jenny Shin 73-70—143 -1Azahara Munoz 73-70—143 -1Carlota Ciganda 72-71—143 -1Leona Maguire 71-72—143 -1Bronte Law 69-74—143 -1Celine Herbin 69-74—143 -1
Shaw Charity ClassicChampions Tour
FridayAt Canyon Meadows Golf & Country Club
Calgary, AlbertaPurse: $2.35 million
Yardage: 7,086; Par: 70First Round
Billy Mayfair 32-30—62 -8Mike Weir 31-32—63 -7Doug Barron 30-34—64 -6Steve Flesch 34-30—64 -6Stephen Ames 33-31—64 -6Ken Duke 33-32—65 -5Brandt Jobe 34-31—65 -5Robert Gamez 35-31—66 -4Kirk Triplett 34-32—66 -4Billy Andrade 33-33—66 -4Scott Dunlap 32-34—66 -4Jeff Maggert 32-34—66 -4Dean Wilson 34-33—67 -3John Riegger 33-34—67 -3Paul Stankowski 34-33—67 -3Paul Goydos 35-32—67 -3Tim Herron 35-32—67 -3Matt Gogel 36-31—67 -3Steve Pate 34-33—67 -3Alex Cejka 34-33—67 -3Jonathan Kaye 34-34—68 -2Lee Janzen 36-32—68 -2Kent Jones 34-34—68 -2Tom Pernice Jr. 35-33—68 -2Tim Petrovic 35-33—68 -2David McKenzie 34-34—68 -2Bernhard Langer 35-33—68 -2Cliff Kresge 35-33—68 -2Gibby Gilbert III 35-33—68 -2David Morland IV 37-31—68 -2Dennis Hendershott 35-33—68 -2
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Russell
Henley shot a 6-under 64 on Fri-
day to open a four-stroke lead half-
way through the Wyndham Cham-
pionship.
Henley was at 14-under 126, ty-
ing Stewart Cink at the RBC Heri-
tage in April for the lowest 36-hole
score this season in a tournament
Cink went on to win.
Olympic silver medalist Rory
Sabbatini was tied for second with
past champion Webb Simpson and
playoff bubble man Scott Piercy.
Sabbatini shot a 64, Simpson 65
and Piercy at 66.
Former FedEx Cup champion
Justin Rose, outside the playoffs at
the start of the week, continued his
surge toward the postseason with
a 65 that left him at 9 under in a
group with Tyler Duncan and
Brian Stuard.
Duncan had the lowest score of
the round at 62. Stuard shot 66.
When Henley teed off, the first-
round leader had already been
passed by Sabbatini, Piercy and
Simpson. Henley, who opened on
the back nine, got going with four
straight birdies on Nos. 14-17 to re-
gain the lead.
Henley added three more bird-
ies on his final nine. It was a couple
of months ago that Henley shared
the halfway lead at the U.S. Open.
He was among three leaders after
54 holes until falling off with final-
round 76.
Henley hopes he can keep the
same drive and mentality on the
weekend. After all, this is not the
U.S. Open and pars here will prob-
ably lead you out of contention.
“You have to do everything
right,” Henley said. “So it’s kind of
the same way except for I’m just
mainly trying to keep committing
to every shot off the tee and put
myself in the fairway” where he
can stay aggressive.
It was a good day for Sabbatini,
Piercy and Rose, all who began
the week outside the 125-man
postseason cutoff, but have played
themselves into next week’s
Northern Trust with 36 holes to go.
Sabbatini has moved from 141st
in the FedEx standings to a pro-
jected 95th. He tied his career low
36-hole score of 130, last accom-
plished in 2003 at the Shriner’s
Children’s Open.
Piercy started this week as first
man out at No. 126. His 64-66 start
has him projected at 80th for the
playoffs.
Rose was also outside at No. 138
when he teed off Thursday. He’s at
117th after shooting 66-65.
Henleyleads by4 shots
Associated Press
PAGE 20 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Sunday, August 15, 2021
NBA/SPORTS BRIEFS
INDIANAPOLIS — Helio Cas-
troneves celebrated his record-ty-
ing fourth Indianapolis 500 victo-
ry in May.
The rewards are still rolling in.
When the popular 46-year-old
Brazilian returned to Indianapolis
Motor Speedway on Thursday,
track officials presented him with
a bronze brick and on Friday, he
was named as the headliner in a
nine-member Motorsports Hall of
Fame of America induction class
for 2022.
“The motivation has always
been there,” Castroneves said.
“It’s not about the title. I never lost
faith. I wouldn’t be going inside
the helmet if I didn’t think I had a
chance to succeed. For me that
keeps me right there on the edge
and the competition in the Indy-
Car Series, it’s so competitive that
if you sneeze, you lose a tenth.”
Castroneves, the open-wheel
selection, will be joined by long-
time NASCAR owner Jack Roush,
Pete Brock from sports cars, Dick
LaHaie from drag racing, NAS-
CAR co-founder Raymond Parks
and NASCAR builder Banjo Mat-
thews, Denise McCluggage in the
media category while motorcycle
innovators Trey Vance and Byron
Hines will go in as a single entry.
Roush was the mastermind of
more than 300 Cup Series wins.
Brock deigned the 1965 world
champion Cobra Daytona coupes.
LaHaie is the only person to win
NHRA Top Fuel titles as a driver
and a crew chief.
The final inductee will be
named later this month.
Beltre going into Rangers
Hall of Fame with Morgan ARLINGTON, Texas — Much
of what Adrian Beltre now hears
about his Hall of Fame-caliber ca-
reer comes from his son, a base-
ball fanatic who grew up in the
Texas Rangers clubhouse during
his father’s last eight big league
seasons.
“When AJ (Adrian Jr.) sees
stuff like that, I can see in his face
that he’s proud, which just makes
me emotional,” Beltre said. “And I
always try to be humble with him
and kind of teach how to be, you
know, hungry for what you want,
but stay humble.”
The four-time All-Star and five-
time Gold Glove-winning third
baseman, who retired in 2018 after
21 big league seasons, was induct-
ed into the Texas Rangers Base-
ball Hall of Fame on Saturday
night. He went to his only World
Series in 2011, his first season in
Texas, and joined MLB’s 3,000-hit
club in a Rangers home game in
2017 at their old stadium across
the street.
Beltre and Chuck Morgan, in
his 38th season as the public ad-
dress announcer for the Rangers
spanning three different stadi-
ums, are the 23rd and 24th induc-
tees in the team’s Hall of Fame
since the first class in 2003.
The Rangers retired Beltre’s
No. 29 jersey two years ago, in
their last season at Globe Life
Park before moving last season in-
to the new Globe Life Field with a
retractable roof. His first time on
the ballot for the National Base-
ball Hall of Fame will be for the
Class of 2024.
Bills owners committed
to sharing stadium costsBUFFALO, N.Y. — Buffalo Bills
owners Terry and Kim Pegula are
committed to paying a portion of
the projected $1.4 billion in their
proposal to build a stadium.
“When it comes to the future
new home of the Bills, (the Pegu-
las) have always known that, like
virtually all NFL stadiums, this
will ultimately be some form of a
public/private partnership,” Peg-
ula Sports and Entertainment se-
nior vice president Ron Raccuia
said in a statement to The Associ-
ated Press on Saturday.
Raccuia’s comments are the
team’s first public statement since
discussions with state and county
officials on the team’s future home
opened two months ago. The state-
ment is timed at ending specula-
tion the Bills want taxpayers to
pay the entire cost.
How the costs will be split is un-
clear, and to be determined in ne-
gotiations, which are expected to
resume once Lt. Gov. Kathy Ho-
chul takes over as New York gov-
ernor following Andrew Cuomo’s
resignation last week.
The Bills want to replace the
newly renamed Highmark Stadi-
um, which opened in 1973. The
proposal calls for the stadium to
be built in a Bills-controlled park-
ing lot across the street from their
current home.
BRIEFLY
Castroneves headlinesMotorsports HoF class
Associated Press
MICHAEL CONROY/AP
Helio Castroneves poses afterwinning this year’s Indianapolis500. It was the fourth timeCastroneves won the race.
CHICAGO — Joining Olympian Zach LaVine and
Nikola Vucevic in what could be a high-scoring trio
appealed to DeMar DeRozan. He is thrilled to get to
play alongside fellow newcomer Lonzo Ball, too.
He sees a team poised to make a jump, and that ex-
plains why the Chicago Bulls were an attractive des-
tination.
“Every guy, when I look at their roster, has a chip
on their shoulders,” DeRozan said. “Vuc, since col-
lege, I know the type of player he is, how bad he wants
to win. Zach wanting to be on that main stage and
wanting to compete for something much more than
just stats during the season. Myself, I always carried
achip on my shoulder. And Lonzo. ... There’s so much
there that can bring so much potential.”
The Bulls finished 11th in the Eastern Conference
and missed the playoffs for the fourth straight year.
While it was their first season with Arturas Karniso-
vas leading the front office and Billy Donovan coach-
ing the club, they clearly have their sights set on the
postseason.
The Bulls are banking on DeRozan and Ball to help
them get there after making big moves to acquire the
two in separate sign-and-trade deals. They intro-
duced their new arrivals on Friday.
DeRozan, a four-time All-Star with eight straight
seasons averaging more than 20 points, agreed to a
three-year, $85 million contract. In return, the Bulls
sent San Antonio veteran forwards Thaddeus Young
and Al-Farouq Aminu, a protected first-round draft
pick and two second-round draft picks.
The Bulls gave Ball, a restricted free agent, $85
million over four years. The Pelicans got Garrett
Temple, Tomas Satoransky, a 2024 second-round
draft pick from Chicago and landed guard Devonte
Graham from Charlotte in a separate sign-and-trade
move.
“I think everything happens for a reason and ev-
erything plans out how it’s supposed to plan out,” Ball
said. “I think at this point in my life, it was time for me
to be a Chicago Bull. I’m happy to be in Chicago. Ob-
viously, I’ve got good bonds with guys over there in
New Orleans. It could have worked out, but like I
said, everything happens for a reason.”
Ball, a four-year veteran who turns 24 in October,
is coming off his best season. In his second year with
the Pelicans, he averaged career highs in points (14.6
per game) and field-goal percentage (41.4) while av-
eraging 5.7 assists. He hit a career-high 172 three-
pointers last season while making a career-best
37.8% of his shots from deep.
Ball, drafted by the Lakers with the No. 2 pick out of
UCLA in 2017, changed his shooting mechanics after
being traded to the Pelicans in the deal that sent An-
thony Davis to Los Angeles.
“Since he’s been in the league, it seems like he
hasn’t really been let free to be the player that I be-
lieve he is,” DeRozan said. “Coming to this organiza-
tion once I’d seen him sign and seeing him having
that opportunity for the first time in his career, was
something that I definitely want to be a part of. The
dynamic that he brings to the court on both ends is
tremendous.”
FRANK FRANKLIN II/AP
DeMar DeRozan, left, believes the Chicago Bulls, his new team, is ready to make the jump to contenderafter four straight years of missing the playoffs.
With DeRozan, Ball, Bullsexpect to be contenders
BY ANDREW SELIGMAN
Associated Press
TONY GUTIERREZ/AP
Like DeRozan, Lonzo Ball joined Chicago in asignandtrade agreement.
Sunday, August 15, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 21
MLB
American LeagueEast Division
W L Pct GB
Tampa Bay 71 45 .612 _
Boston 67 51 .568 5
New York 63 52 .548 7½
Toronto 62 53 .539 8½
Baltimore 38 76 .333 32
Central Division
W L Pct GB
Chicago 68 48 .586 _
Cleveland 56 58 .491 11
Detroit 57 61 .483 12
Minnesota 50 66 .431 18
Kansas City 49 65 .430 18
West Division
W L Pct GB
Houston 69 46 .600 _
Oakland 67 49 .578 2½
Seattle 62 55 .530 8
Los Angeles 58 59 .496 12
Texas 41 75 .353 28½
National LeagueEast Division
W L Pct GB
Atlanta 60 56 .517 _
Philadelphia 60 56 .517 _
New York 59 56 .513 ½
Washington 50 66 .431 10
Miami 49 67 .422 11
Central Division
W L Pct GB
Milwaukee 70 46 .603 _
Cincinnati 63 54 .538 7½
St. Louis 59 56 .513 10½
Chicago 52 66 .441 19
Pittsburgh 41 74 .357 28½
West Division
W L Pct GB
San Francisco 75 41 .647 _
Los Angeles 70 46 .603 5
San Diego 66 52 .559 10
Colorado 51 65 .440 24
Arizona 37 80 .316 38½
Friday’s gamesCleveland 7, Detroit 4Boston 8, Baltimore 1 Texas 8, Oakland 6 St. Louis 6, Kansas City 0 Tampa Bay 10, Minnesota 4 Houston 4, L.A. Angels 1 Seattle 3, Toronto 2 Cincinnati 6, Philadelphia 1 Atlanta 4, Washington 2 Miami 14, Chicago Cubs 10 L.A. Dodgers 6, N.Y. Mets 5 (10) Arizona 3, San Diego 2 San Francisco 5, Colorado 4 Milwaukee at Pittsburgh, ppd.
Saturday’s gamesBaltimore at BostonCleveland at Detroit Oakland at Texas N.Y. Yankees at Chicago White Sox St. Louis at Kansas City Tampa Bay at Minnesota Houston at L.A. Angels Toronto at Seattle Milwaukee at Pittsburgh (2)Cincinnati at Philadelphia Atlanta at Washington Chicago Cubs at Miami L.A. Dodgers at N.Y. Mets San Diego at Arizona Colorado at San Francisco
Sunday’s gamesBaltimore (Akin 0-6) at Boston (Rodrí-
guez 8-6) Cleveland (McKenzie 1-5) at Detroit
(Mize 6-6) N.Y. Yankees (Cortes Jr. 0-1) at Chicago
White Sox (Giolito 9-8) St. Louis (Happ 6-6) at Kansas City (Bub-
ic 3-5) Tampa Bay (Patiño 2-3) at Minnesota
(TBD)Oakland (Manaea 8-7) at Texas (Allard
2-10) Houston (McCullers Jr. 9-3) at L.A. An-
gels (Detmers 0-2) Toronto (Matz 9-7) at Seattle (Gilbert 5-3)Atlanta (Smyly 8-3) at Washington (Es-
pino 3-3) Cincinnati (Gray 4-6) at Philadelphia
(Nola 7-6) Milwaukee (Peralta 9-3) at Pittsburgh
(Brault 0-1) Chicago Cubs (Mills 5-4) at Miami
(Thompson 2-5) Colorado (Gray 7-8) at San Francisco
(Wood 9-3) San Diego (TBD) at Arizona (Gallen 1-6) L.A. Dodgers (Scherzer 9-4) at N.Y. Mets
(Carrasco 0-0) Monday’s games
L.A. Angels at N.Y. YankeesBaltimore at Tampa Bay Cleveland at Minnesota Houston at Kansas City Oakland at Chicago White Sox Atlanta at Miami Chicago Cubs at Cincinnati San Diego at Colorado N.Y. Mets at San Francisco Pittsburgh at L.A. Dodgers
Scoreboard
MIAMI — Bryan De La Cruz hit a grand
slam and Alex Jackson added a three-run
homer as the Marlins tied a team record by
scoring 11 times in the second inning of a 14-10
victory over the slumping Chicago Cubs.
The 11 runs tied a Marlins mark set in the
fifth inning at Milwaukee on June 4, 2019.
The Marlins’ second-inning outburst erased
a three-run deficit. De La Cruz’s drive against
Adbert Alzolay (4-13) put Miami ahead 5-4.
Jesús Aguilar also homered for Miami.
Starter Jesús Luzardo (4-5) benefited from
the offensive support and allowed five runs
and six hits in five innings. He struck out six,
walked four and hit a batter.
Chicago got two-run homers from Frank
Schwindel and Ian Happ. Robinson Chirinos
homered, doubled twice and singled. The
Cubs have lost nine straight.
Braves 4, Nationals 2: Austin Riley home-
red in the seventh inning of a weather-delayed
game, and Atlanta beat host Washington to
move into a first-place tie in the NL East with
Philadelphia.
Dodgers 6, Mets 5 (10): Will Smith hit a
two-run homer to start the 10th inning and
visiting Los Angeles bounced back after blow-
ing a four-run lead to beat New York.
Reds 6, Phillies 1: Joey Votto hit a three-
run homer and Tyler Mahle tossed seven
shutout innings to lead Cincinnati over host
Philadelphia.
Red Sox 8, Orioles 1: Kyle Schwarber
scored twice in his debut with his new team
and his new teammates delivered three home
runs to lift Boston over visiting Baltimore.
Rangers 8, Athletics 6: Yohel Pozo hit a
go-ahead, three-run home run in the sixth in-
ning of his major league debut, fellow rookie
DJ Peters had a two-run shot and host Texas
beat Oakland.
Rays 10, Twins 4: Nelson Cruz homered in
his return to Minnesota and Tampa Bay
moved a season-high 26 games over .500 with
the win.
Cruz made his first appearance in Minneso-
ta since being traded by the Twins to Tampa
Bay on July 22. He struck out on three pitches
in his first at-bat before sending a line drive
into the left-field seats for his 24th home run
of the season and fifth for the Rays. Cruz fin-
ished 2-for-4 with a walk and two runs scored.
Cardinals 6, Royals 0: Jack Flaherty
pitched six innings of two-hit ball in his return
from an oblique injury, and St. Louis blanked
host Kansas City.
Astros 4, Angels 1: At Anaheim, Calif.,
Kyle Tucker hit his first career grand slam,
Zack Greinke pitched two-hit ball over seven
scoreless innings and Houston beat Los An-
geles.
Diamondbacks 3, Padres 2: Daulton Var-
sho hit a game-ending homer in the ninth in-
ning, sending Arizona past visiting San Diego.
Giants 5, Rockies 4: Wilmer Flores hit a
three-run homer in the first, Thairo Estrada
added an RBI single, and host San Francisco
extended its winning streak to six games with
a win over Colorado.
Mariners 3, Blue Jays 2: Jarred Kelenic
drew a bases-loaded walk in the ninth inning,
and Seattle stretched its winning streak to
three games with a win over visiting Toronto.
Marlins score 11 in second inning, beat CubsAssociated Press
LYNNE SLADKY/AP
The Marlins’ Alex Jackson hits a threerun home run during the second inning of Friday’s gameagainst the Chicago Cubs in Miami. The Marlins won 1410.
ROUNDUP
DETROIT — Cleveland rookie
Ernie Clement hit the first two
homers of his career while Miguel
Cabrera stayed one drive short of
No. 500 as the Indians beat the De-
troit Tigers 7-4 on Friday night.
“It was obviously a great feeling
to hit my first one, but I was in
complete shock when the second
one went out,” said Clement, who
only had three homers in 268 mi-
nor league games.
“My game is about trying to hit
the ball hard and get on base for
the guys behind me. I’m not a
home-run hitter,” he said.
Cabrera went 0-for-4, leaving
him at 499 career home runs and
disappointing a crowd of 22,107.
Fans were crammed into Comeri-
ca Park’s outfield seats at where
the milestone drive might land.
“It was electric every time Mig-
gy came up to the plate,” Indians
starter Zach Plesac said. “The
ground was shaking — that was a
playoff atmosphere. I just didn’t
want to be the one who gave it up.”
Cabrera struck out in the first
inning, flied out twice and ground-
ed out.
“Miggy is fine,” Tigers manager
A.J. Hinch said. “As great as he is,
he can’t just will a home run when-
ever he wants one. He’s swinging
well and it will come.”
Cabrera homered Wednesday
night at Baltimore and sat out
Thursday against the Orioles. The
Tigers then returned to Detroit to
open a six-game homestand.
“We know the fans are here for
Miggy, but we’re all feeding off
this energy,” Tigers catcher Eric
Haase said. “We’ve been a win-
ning team for a couple months
now, and it is fun seeing the crowd
respond to that.”
Yu Chang homered and tripled
for the Indians, who improved to
11-5 against Detroit this season.
Plesac (7-4) allowed two runs on
five hits in seven innings. He
struck out nine without a walk af-
ter giving up five runs in four in-
nings against the Tigers Sunday.
“I knew I had good stuff in that
game, but I didn’t do a good job of
executing my pitches,” he said.
“That’s been something I’ve been
dealing with, but today was a lot
better.”
Tyler Alexander (2-2) gave up
four runs in five innings.
“The top of Cleveland’s order is
really tough against lefties and he
did a really good job against
them,” Hinch said. “But the bot-
tom of the order had three homers
and a triple. That’s just how it goes
some days.”
JOSE JUAREZ/AP
Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera reacts after striking out against Indianspitcher Zach Plesac during the first inning Friday in Detroit.
Tribe top Tigers; Cabrera stuck at 499Associated Press
0-for-4Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera’s outputat the plate on Friday in a 7-4 loss tothe Cleveland Indians in Detroit. Ca-brera struck out in the first inning, fliedout twice and grounded out.
SOURCE: Associated Press
PAGE 22 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Sunday, August 15, 2021
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
A deal BYU has made available
to its football players could test
how much allowing athletes to be
compensated by outside compa-
nies for name, image and likeness
can be used as a competitive ad-
vantage.
Earlier this week, BYU an-
nounced Built Brands — a Utah-
based company that makes pro-
tein snacks — will give all 123
members of the Cougars’ football
team the opportunity to be paid to
promote its products.
Scholarship players can earn
$1,000. For walk-ons, players who
are not on athletic scholarship, the
payment can be equivalent to the
cost of a year’s tuition at BYU,
which ranges from about $3,000 to
$6,000 per semester.
“This is creative and different,”
said Blake Lawrence, the CEO of
Opendorse, a firm that works with
schools on NIL-related matters
from brand building to compli-
ance. “The first-move advantage
here for both BYU and Built is ve-
ry evident.”
BYU’s arrangement with Built
drew national attention for the
joyous celebration it sparked
among the players and because it
seems to provide the Cougars a
way to circumvent the NCAA’s
scholarship-limit rules. Teams
that play in the highest division of
college football can only have 85
scholarship players on the roster.
BYU athletic director Tom Hol-
moe told the AP on Friday that he
and football coach Kalani Sitake
were searching for a way to pro-
vide an NIL opportunity to the en-
tire team, not trying to find a work-
around to the scholarship limit.
“The whole mindset wasn’t to
try to get a recruiting advantage or
anything,” Sitake said. “It was just
to do what we thought was right
and to help the walk-ons on this
team.”
But Holmoe didn’t refute the
idea that this could benefit BYU.
“Are we saying that people in
collegiate football these days are
not looking for competitive advan-
tages? That’s like the essence of
athletics is competitive advan-
tage,” said Holmoe, who played
seven seasons in the NFL with the
San Francisco 49ers in the 1980s.
“Competitive advantage exists in
life. It’s called creativity. You
come up with good ideas that give
you a competitive advantage.”
To satisfy their contracts with
Built, BYU football players must
wear a decal with the company’s
logo on their practice helmets and
make at least one appearance at a
company event.
Walk-ons are required to make
two appearances and promote the
company on social media.
Holmoe said BYU did not nego-
tiate the deal with Built Brands
CEO Nick Greer, who is a friend of
Sitake’s, but it was vetted by the
school’s general counsel and pres-
ident.
The NCAA has taken a hands-
off and permissive approach to
NIL, allowing schools in states
that do not have NIL laws to set
their own policies. Utah has no
law, but the NCAA still does not al-
low NIL payments to be used as
recruiting inducements or pay-
for-play.
“There are still, I’ll say, rules,”
Holmoe said.
Built Brands is not funding
scholarships, but paying athletes
directly.
“(The players) don’t have to pay
for their tuition,” Holmoe said.
“They can do whatever they want
with that money.”
For most walk-ons, though, the
money can be a game-changer.
“It takes stress off for sure,”
said Nick Billoups, a walk-on
quarterback.
The NCAA lifted its longtime
ban on athletes being compensat-
ed for the use of their names, im-
ages and likenesses on July 1,
opening the door for all kinds of
endorsement opportunities for
athletes.
GEORGE FREY/AP
On Thursday, BYU announced Built Brands — a Utahbased company that makes proteinheavy snacks —will give the opportunity for all 123 members of its football team to be paid to promote its products.
BYU deal raises questionsof competitive advantageMarketing partnership will give all players opportunity for paid promotions
BY RALPH D. RUSSO
Associated Press
“Competitive advantage
exists in life. It’s called
creativity. You come up with
good ideas that give you a
competitive advantage.”
Tom Holmoe
BYU athletic director
The dichotomy in Mississippi is
striking.
The state has one of the lowest
COVID-19 vaccination rates in the
country. Its hospitals are on the
verge of being overwhelmed by
those stricken with the potentially
deadly disease.
Yet, in the face of all that discou-
raging news, the flagship univer-
sity’s football team is fully vacci-
nated — all 240 coaches, players
and staff.
It will be intriguing to see just
how much influence coach Lane
Kiffin and his Ole Miss players
have on those who have been re-
luctant to embrace, even in the
face of overwhelming scientific
evidence, their best defense
against the coronavirus pandem-
ic.
That goes for the entire South-
eastern Conference, the country’s
mightiest football league and one
that, in normal times, wields enor-
mous influence in its neck of the
woods.
“Going out and talking about it
... is one thing,” Kiffin said during
an appearance this week on
MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” talk
show. “But when a team, an entire
organization — not just the play-
ers — decides to do this at 100%, I
would like to think that’s pretty
eye-opening for a lot of people that
were sitting right on the edge or
not really motivated to do it.
“I bet our numbers go up,” he
went on to prognosticate. “That’s
pretty cool.”
Those numbers have nowhere
to go but up.
According to data compiled by
the Mayo Clinic, just 42.7% of Mis-
sissippi residents have received at
least one dose of a COVID-19 vac-
cine. Only one other state (Idaho
at 42.1%) has a lower vaccination
rate.
All across the SEC’s 11-state
footprint the anti-vax movement
is strong.
Florida, Kentucky, Texas and
Missouri are the only SEC states
with vaccination rates above 50%.
The remaining seven have yet to
reach even that modest threshold,
even though vaccines are free and
pretty much available now on ev-
ery street corner.
The numbers are especially
troubling when one considers the
example being set by the power-
house football programs in those
states.
The Georgia Bulldogs say more
than 90% of their players are fully
vaccinated, while Alabama coach
Nick Saban reported recently that
his team was closing in on that
number. Saban also has made
PSAs urging Alabamians to get
vaccinated.
“We feel really comfortable
where we are,” Georgia coach
Kirby Smart said at the start of
preseason practice. “My goal as
always is to be 100%. I think it’s the
safest thing for our players.”
These coaches have selfish rea-
sons for goading their teams to get
vaccinated, of course.
With the pandemic raging again
and the start of the season just
weeks away, vaccines are the best
defense against schools having to
forfeit games — and possibly ruin
any championship hopes — be-
cause they don’t have enough
healthy players to take the field.
The SEC has already an-
nounced that forfeits — not post-
ponements or cancellations, like
last season — are on the table if
COVID-19 disrupts the season.
The PAC-12 joined that stance
this week.
It shouldn’t be controversial.
ROGELIO V. SOLIS/AP
Mississippi coach Lane Kiffin, left, and wide receiver John RhysPlumlee look at the camera during practice on Aug. 9.
Kiffin, Ole Miss settingshining example with100% vaccination rate
BY PAUL NEWBERRY
Associated Press
COMMENTARY
Sunday, August 15, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 23
NFL
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. —
Blake Cashman’s right forearm
tells his story in black ink.
Tattooed images and words
are sources of inspiration, with
the most recent addition provid-
ing a constant reminder:
“Always Bet On Yourself.”
The New York Jets linebacker
got that one this past offseason
and it’s especially fitting as he
pushes through his third NFL
training camp following two in-
jury-marred seasons.
“I keep telling myself my bad
luck ran out,” Cashman told The
Associated Press after a recent
practice, “and only good things
will come moving forward.”
To some, the 25-year-old
Cashman is a forgotten man, al-
ready phased out in their minds
and replaced by newer, younger
players. He’s competing for a
role and a roster spot, but em-
braces the doubters.
It’s what he has been doing all
his life.
“I felt like ever since I gradu-
ated high school,” Cashman
said, “I was left out until I
wasn’t.”
And that’s a big reason the for-
mer Minnesota star is even here.
He wasn’t the best, fastest or
most talented. But he’s resilient,
tough and determined. Cash-
man’s blue-collar approach on
the field made him a fan favorite
with the Golden Gophers. Same
thing when he was drafted in the
fifth round by the Jets in 2019.
Plenty of negativity has come
along the way, much of it beyond
his control. That includes the
people who laugh and say he’s
brittle and injury-prone.
“You can’t let that get to you,”
he said. “I’m somebody that’s,
I’m relentless. I block out the
negativity. And to get by, even if
you have to put on a fake smile,
that’s what you’ve got to do.”
Cashman would ideally like
his play to do all the talking —
and silence the naysayers. But
he has had trouble staying on the
field to do so.
“It has been upsetting,” Cash-
man acknowledged. “I would be
lying if I said it hadn’t gotten me
down at times and had me frus-
trated. But those things are just
another roadblock, another chal-
lenge where you’ve just got to
overcome. And I’ve never been
someone to quit on myself.”
Even if seemingly everyone
else has.
He had shoulder issues in col-
lege at Minnesota and then an-
other landed him on injured re-
serve as a rookie with the Jets.
Cashman appeared poised to be
a major contributor last season
as a fill-in for C.J. Mosley, who
opted out because of the corona-
virus pandemic, but injured his
groin during punt coverage
when he his ankle was stepped
on.
He came back from that, but
ended up back on IR a few weeks
later with a hamstring injury —
relegated to being a spectator as
New York trudged through a 2-
14 season.
“I had those thoughts like, ‘Am
I made for this?’ ” Cashman said.
“I felt like every single opportu-
nity I was getting, I was getting
knocked back. And I kept asking,
‘Why me? Why me?’
“But every time I’d go to that, I
guess, dark place, I’d have to re-
mind myself, I just said, ‘That
ain’t me. Like, you have to re-
main positive. This is not how
this is going to end. I refuse to let
an injury like this, a soft tissue,
be the end of my playing.’ ”
ADAM HUNGER/AP
New York Jets linebacker Blake Cashman, right, on New England Patriots tight end Benjamin Watsonduring his rookie season in 2019. Cashman has battled injuries his first seasons in the league.
Betting on himselfOft-injured Cashman confident big playsloom as he begins third season with Jets
BY DENNIS WASZAK JR.
Associated Press “I keep telling myself my bad luckran out and only good things willcome moving forward.”
Blake Cashman
Jets linebacker on injuries that limited his playing time his first two seasons
Mayfield is more measured withhis actions and words: businessBaker. More of a leader, a rolemodel, franchise quarterback.
“Experience,” he said, “defi-nitely teaches you.”
Mayfield crashed after a re-cord-setting rookie year, only tobounce back in 2020 under first-year coach Kevin Stefanski. Onthe eve of his fourth trainingcamp, he was relaxed and reflec-tive as he prepared for a seasonBrowns fans have awaited for ageneration.
Mayfield helped Cleveland end
the playoff drought. Next chal-
lenge: the Super Bowl, which the
Browns never have reached.
He’s physically fit, having drop-
ped “bad weight,” and in a good
place mentally. He’s found inner
peace, and the 25-year-old feels a
strong connection with this foot-
ball-crazed city and its fans. Cle-
veland is where he wants to play
his entire career.
“We’ve talked about it, Emily
and I,” Mayfield said, referring to
his wife, who co-stars with him in
those TV ads for Progressive In-
surance. “It wouldn’t be the same
if we lived in a city where they
didn’t live, breathe and die foot-
ball. That’s the atmosphere we
want — and it’s here.”
There’s an unmistakable bond
between this Ohio city and this Ok-
lahoma quarterback. Both under-
dogs, they’ve been through good
years and bad ones. Knocked
down and counted out, they’ve
fought back.
“When I say that my work ethic
and mentality fits right in here,”
he said, “I genuinely mean that.”
Even before being drafted first
in 2018, Mayfield sensed Cleve-
land was where he belonged.
“If anybody’s going to turn that
franchise around it would be me,”
he boasted at the combine that
year.
He was right.
The Browns went 1-31 in two
seasons before he arrived and
spent two decades discarding
quarterbacks and coaches at diz-
zying speed. In Mayfield, they
have seemingly found the leader
missing since Bernie Kosar led
Cleveland to three AFC title
games from 1986-89.
After breaking Peyton Man-
ning’s rookie record for TD passes
and going 7-8-1, Mayfield took
things for granted. He didn’t
spend nearly enough time work-
ing on his craft, got heavy and
threw nearly as many intercep-
tions (21) as TDs (22) in 2019.
Picked to contend for the AFC
North title, the Browns disinte-
grated. They went 6-10, fired
coach Freddie Kitchens and May-
field’s critics circled with sharp-
ened knives.
“For the first time in my life, I
was kind of listening to the outside
noise and I let that affect me too
much,” he said. “I was so worried
about what type of picture I need-
ed to portray as a franchise QB be-
cause everybody was telling me I
had to be a certain way, instead of
just doing how I’ve always done it
— which is how I’m here.”
While it would have been easy to
blame Cleveland’s ceaseless dys-
function, Mayfield held himself
accountable.
“The whole 2019 season was just
kind of a miserable year,” he said,
glancing at a ”Believe In Your-
self” tattoo on his left forearm. “I
expect a lot of things out of myself
and I just didn’t play well. That
was a humbling experience.”
Then came 2020’s strangeness.
But in the midst of masks and
mandates, Mayfield found stabil-
ity and kinship with Stefanski, his
third coach in three years. Shortly
after being hired, Stefanski visited
Mayfield in Texas, not imagining
he wouldn’t see him again in per-
son for five months.
Although most of their interac-
tions came over Zoom, coach and
QB bonded.
“He’s a sports junkie and not the
biggest guy ever,” Mayfield said,
smiling when asked about their
connection. “We agree on the
work-ethic mentality. You can’t
just show up. He loves the grind
and so do I. When you put two peo-
ple together with the same inner
values and drive, that’s pretty spe-
cial.”
Expectations for the 2021
Browns are enormous, even ex-
cessive. Mayfield says he isn’t
fazed by them.
“It would bring the great tradi-
tion back,” he said. “It’s a football
town because of what it’s been in
the past, and what it deserves to
be. It would mean a ton to me, but I
wouldn’t be satisfied at just stop-
ping at one.”
Grown: ‘Experiencedefinitely teaches you’FROM PAGE 24
TONY DEJAK/AP
In head coach Kevin Stefanski,above, Cleveland quarterbackBaker Mayfield has found akindred spirit.
PAGE 24 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Sunday, August 15, 2021
SPORTSStuck at 499 homers
Tigers’ Cabrera goes 0-for-4in loss to Indians ›› MLB, Page 21
DeRozan says additions should make Bulls contenders ›› NBA, Page 20
Quarterback Baker Mayfieldhelped lead the Cleveland Browns
to an 115 record and their firstplayoff berth since 2002.
DAVID DERMER/AP
CLEVELAND
Baker Mayfield has grown up. There wasno other option.
“I had to hit rock bottom for a littlebit,” he said.
He’s rising, and judging by last season, so arethe Browns.
As he picked at lunch during a break last monthwhile shooting commercials at FirstEnergy Stadi-um, Mayfield exuded some of that chip-on-his-shoulder confidence that transported him fromcollege walk-on to NFL starting quarterback.
That will always be on display, defining him,driving him. The brashness, though, has beenmuted.
While discussing the stuttering start to his procareer, his future in Cleveland and expectationsfor this season during a sit-down interview withThe Associated Press, there was something no-ticeably different about Mayfield.
He’s changed. It’s not a 180-degree turn by any means, but
NFL
TONY DEJAK/AP
Mayfield and the Browns beat rival Pittsburgh 4837 in awildcard playoff game last season, leading to even greaterexpectations for this season, Mayfield’s fourth.
Grown upMore mature Mayfieldwelcomes lofty goals
BY TOM WITHERS
Associated Press
SEE GROWN ON PAGE 23