BRITISH OPEN

Morikawa wins his 2nd major at age 24Page 22

FACES

This year’s modelof Costello classicwill be in SpanishPage 14

Volume 80 Edition 66 ©SS 2021 MONDAY, JULY 19, 2021 50¢/Free to Deployed Areas

stripes.com

MILITARY

Pentagon to enduse of ‘stepchild’on dependent IDsPage 5

Study: Shaving waivers especially hinder Black airmen’s careers ›› Page 4

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan — The murals thatonce celebrated U.S. military units have been paintedover and the settings that memorialized the fallen arenow empty spaces.

Most of Bagram Airfield, the largest U.S. base in Af-ghanistan for much of the past 20 years, is a ghost town.

But in the days before coalition troops left on July 2,some of the last to leave scrambled to safeguard warmementos or make sure that what stayed behind wouldn’tbe left to whatever comes next in a country still at war.

J.P. LAWRENCE/Stars and Stripes

Murals on blast walls at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, were blank July 7 after being painted over prior to U.S. troops transferring the base toAfghan security forces. Efforts were made to remove visual evidence of U.S. presence and to “ensure consistency in appearance.”

Without a trace

Last Americans left at Bagram Airfieldrushed to secure mementos, ‘sanitize’facilities during final days for US troops

BY J.P. LAWRENCE

Stars and Stripes

Kimberley Culverhouse-Steadman

Airmen pose with the jersey of Pat Tillman — a former NFL playerwho joined the Army Rangers and was killed in Afghanistan — after a memorial run April 23 at Bagram Airfield. The USO center, oncenamed for Tillman, was the heart of the Bagram military community.

AFGHANISTAN

SEE TRACE ON PAGE 6

BERLIN— German Chancellor

Angela Merkel surveyed what she

called a “surreal, ghostly” scene in

a devastated village on Sunday,

pledging quick financial aid and a

redoubled political focus on curb-

ing climate change as the death

toll from floods in Western Europe

climbed above 180.

Merkel toured Schuld, a village

on a tight curve of the Ahr River in

western Germany where many

buildings were damaged or de-

stroyed by rapidly rising floodwa-

ters Wednesday night.

Although the mayor of Schuld

said no one was killed or injured

there, that wasn’t the case in many

other areas. The death toll in the

Ahrweiler area, where Schuld is

located, stood at 112. Authorities

said some people are still missing

and they fear the toll may still rise.

In neighboring North Rhine-

Westphalia state, Germany’s most

populous, 46 people were killed,

including four firefighters. Belgi-

um confirmed 27 deaths.

Merkel said she came away

from Schuld, still partly strewn

with rubble and mud in bright

sunshine, with “a real picture of, I

must say, the surreal, ghostly sit-

uation.”

“It is shocking — I would almost

say that the German language

barely has words for the devasta-

Merkel tours‘surreal’ scene,pledges aid,climate action

BY GEIR MOULSON

Associated Press

EUROPE FLOODING

RELATEDSurvivors ponder their futures afterimmense lossesPage 7

SEE ‘SURREAL’ ON PAGE 7

PAGE 2 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Monday, July 19, 2021

BUSINESS/WEATHER

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. —

U.S. Interior Secretary Deb

Haaland visited her home state

Saturday to celebrate what

marks the largest wilderness

land donation in the agency’s

history and another addition to

the nation’s landholdings as the

Biden administration aims to

conserve nearly one-third of

America’s lands and waters by

2030.

The 15-square-mile donation

from the Trust for Public Land

increases the size of the Sabino-

so Wilderness Area in north-

eastern New Mexico by nearly

50%. The property includes

rugged canyons, mesas covered

by pinon and juniper wood-

lands, pockets of ponderosa

pine trees and savannah-like

grasslands.

Haaland, who joined other of-

ficials at a remote site in San

Miguel County, acknowledged

that the area makes up part of

the ancestral homelands of the

Jicarilla Apache and northern

pueblos of New Mexico. She

said that, for generations, fam-

ilies have relied on the land for

sustenance and that it means a

lot to many people who visit the

area in search of peace and

quiet.

“We’re here today because

we recognize the importance of

preserving this special place,”

she said in prepared remarks,

adding: “We know that nature

is essential to the health, well-

being and prosperity of every

family and every community.”

NM wilderness area grows with large donationAssociated Press

Bahrain95/92

Baghdad115/82

Doha100/89

Kuwait City107/90

Riyadh102/84

Kandahar105/75

Kabul94/62

Djibouti99/84

MONDAY IN THE MIDDLE EAST

Mildenhall/Lakenheath

75/59

Ramstein75/60

Stuttgart76/59

Lajes,Azores71/68

Rota76/66

Morón94/68 Sigonella

86/73

Naples81/70

Aviano/Vicenza87/64

Pápa82/67

Souda Bay79/73

Brussels75/58

Zagan66/61

DrawskoPomorskie

66/58

MONDAY IN EUROPE

Misawa77/68

Guam84/81

Tokyo86/71

Okinawa84/81

Sasebo86/76

Iwakuni78/74

Seoul85/76

Osan86/75

Busan81/77

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

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

TUESDAY IN THE PACIFIC

WEATHER OUTLOOK

TODAYIN STRIPES

American Roundup ...... 11Classified .................... 13Comics .........................16Crossword ................... 16Faces .......................... 14Opinion ........................ 15Sports .................... 18-24

Military rates

Euro costs (July 19) $1.15Dollar buys (July 19) 0.8255British pound (July 19) $1.35Japanese yen (July 19) 107.00South Korean won (July 19) 1,114.00

Commercial rates

Bahrain (Dinar) 0.3770Britain (Pound) 1.3768Canada (Dollar) 1.2606China (Yuan) 6.4792Denmark (Krone) 6.2985Egypt (Pound) 15.7050Euro 0.8468Hong Kong (Dollar) 7.7678Hungary (Forint) 304.41Israel (Shekel) 3.2893Japan (Yen) 110.08Kuwait (Dinar) 0.3008

Norway (Krone) 8.8517

Philippines (Peso) 50.35Poland (Zloty) 3.88Saudi Arabia (Riyal) 3.7508Singapore (Dollar) 1.3566

South Korea (Won) 1,142.20Switzerland (Franc) 0.9197Thailand (Baht) 32.80Turkey (New Lira)  �8.5092

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

INTEREST RATES

Prime rate 3.25Interest Rates Discount �rate 0.75Federal funds market rate  �0.093­month bill 0.0530­year bond 1.93

EXCHANGE RATES

Monday, July 19, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 3

PACIFIC

The Army is showing off its abil-

ity to quickly move defensive and

offensive missiles around the Pa-

cific amid threats to U.S. bases in

Japan.

The latest demonstration in-

volves the deployment of Patriot

missile defense launchers to Aus-

tralia for the biennial Talisman

Sabre exercise.

The exercise, involving 17,000

U.S., Australian, New Zealand, Ja-

panese, South Korean and British

troops, kicked off Wednesday and

included a Patriot battery down-

ing a pair of drone aircraft Friday

at Shoalwater Bay Training Area,

Queensland.

The Patriot’s debut Down Un-

der follows a series of similar ma-

neuvers this year.

The Army sent a Patriot battery

to Japan’s southern island of Ama-

mi and a High Mobility Artillery

Rocket System to the northern is-

land of Hokkaido during the an-

nual Orient Shield exercise, which

ran from June 24 to July 9.

Sixty-five soldiers from the 38th

Air Defense Artillery Brigade, out

of Sagami General Depot in Kana-

gawa prefecture near Tokyo, and

Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, are in

Australia for Talisman Sabre, said

Maj. Joel Sullivan, executive offi-

cer for 1st Battalion, 1st Air De-

fense Artillery Regiment, by

phone Thursday from Shoalwater

Bay.

The troops are operating a pair

of Patriot launchers, a radar, pow-

er plant, control station and bri-

gade and battalion command

posts that arrived in Australia by

commercial shipping from the

United States, he said.

The Patriot launchers shot

down a pair of Phoenix unmanned

aerial vehicles, Sullivan said.

On Friday officials posted pho-

tographs and video of the Patriot

engaging the drones.

A training objective is to dem-

onstrate the Army’s ability to

move around the region, said bri-

gade commander Col. Matt Dal-

ton, of Portland, Conn., who over-

sees air and missile defense units

in Japan, including Okinawa, and

on Guam.

“Next month we are moving an-

other [Patriot battery] from Oki-

nawa to Hawaii for another exer-

cise,” he said during a conference

call with Sullivan.

“We are trying to demonstrate

our ability to quickly move our

units around the Indo-Pacific to be

able to counter any threat that is

out there … our ability to move to

different locations quickly, set up

and establish defense of a partic-

ular asset.”

The threat of Chinese and North

Korean missiles is an ever-pre-

sent concern for U.S. command-

ers in the Far East. As recently as

2017, the North Koreans fired a

ballistic missile over northern Ja-

pan and tested an intercontinental

ballistic missile that experts be-

lieved to be capable of striking the

U.S. mainland.

The same year, Google Earth

images revealed that China,

which has a vast arsenal of mis-

siles, was firing them at targets

configured to look like U.S. bases

in Japan.

This week communist party of-

ficials in northwestern China post-

ed a video, shared on Twitter, that

threatened nuclear war against

Japan if the country attempts to

defend Taiwan from an invasion.

Japan and U.S. missile defense

is aimed at North Korea and not

capable of defeating or deterring

China’s overmatch in nuclear

strike capabilities, according to

Riki Ellison, founder of the Mis-

sile Defense Advocacy Alliance,

which lobbies for missile defense,

deployment and development.

“Japan has to rely on assured

deterrence from the U.S. which is

U.S. assured nuclear strike on

China if China attacks Japan,” he

said. “That is what Japan has re-

lied on since the end of World War

II.”

Meanwhile, Brisbane’s Cou-

rier-Mail newspaper reported

Tuesday that the Tianwangxing —

a Chinese naval intelligence ves-

sel — had been spotted inside Aus-

tralia’s exclusive economic zone

in the Coral Sea.

Australian Defence Minister

Peter Dutton, speaking at the

opening ceremony for Talisman

Sabre at Royal Australian Air

Force Base Amberley on Wednes-

day said it was “obvious” that the

ship was spying on the exercise.

The Army will next move its Pa-

triot battery north to practice de-

fending the task force at an undis-

closed location, Dalton said.

US: Pacific Patriot drillssend message to rivals

BY SETH ROBSON

Stars and Stripes

robson.seth@stripes.comTwitter: @SethRobson1

Australian Defence Force

A U.S. Army MIM­104 Patriot surface­to­air missile is fired fromAustralia for the first time ever, Friday.

Guam is supporting two simul-

taneous U.S. military exercises by

hosting Air Force bombers and

Army soldiers, vehicles and weap-

ons over the coming weeks.

A group of B-52 bombers ar-

rived Wednesday on Guam from

Minot Air Force Base, N.D., to

support Pacific Air Force’s Bom-

ber Task Force, according to an

Air Force news release.

The bombers will also take part

in the Talisman Saber exercise,

which runs through the end of the

month, with the Australian De-

fense Force.

The Air Force did not disclose

the number of B-52s sent to Guam.

Four B-52 Stratofortress bombers

deployed there in April from

Barksdale Air Force Base, La.

Meanwhile, I Corps, based at

Joint Base Lewis-McChord in

Washington state, is leading the

Army’s Pacific Forager 21 exer-

cise from Guam.

The exercise, which runs

through Aug. 6, is designed “to test

and refine the Theater Army and

the Corps’ ability to deploy land-

power forces to the Pacific, exe-

cute command and control, and

effectively conduct multi-domain

operations throughout Oceania,”

according to an Army news re-

lease.

About 4,000 U.S. personnel are

directly participating in Forager,

the Army said.

Training scenarios include an

82nd Airborne operation; a bilat-

eral airborne operation with the

Japan Ground Self-Defense Force

and 1st Special Forces Group; a

live-fire exercise with Apache at-

tack helicopters; and multi-do-

main operations involving the

transport over land, air and sea of

Strykers, the Avengers surface-

to-air missile system and High

Mobility Artillery Rocket Sys-

tems, the Army said.

“Forager 21 allows us to dynam-

ically employ forces to the Pacific

to practice our response to a full

range of security concerns in sup-

port of our regional alliances and

international agreements across

all domains, land, air, sea, space

and cyber,” Maj. Gen. Xavier

Brunson, commander of I Corps,

said in the news release.

The tiny U.S. territory of Guam,

which lies 4,000 miles west of Ha-

waii and 2,500 miles east of the

Philippines, is of growing strate-

gic importance to the American

military as it grapples with Chi-

na’s expansion in the region.

The island’s Andersen Air

Force Base routinely hosts de-

ploying bombers, which are used

to project U.S. air power through-

out the Indo-Pacific with an eye

toward China, Russia and North

Korea.

Naval Base Guam is the home-

port for four Navy submarines,

and the Coast Guard operates a

trio of the service’s new 154-foot

Sentinel-class fast-response cut-

ters from the island.

B-52 bombers, Army I Corps on Guam for dual exercisesBY WYATT OLSON

Stars and Stripes

RICHARD EBENSBERGER/U.S. Air Force

An Air Force B­52H Stratofortress from Minot Air Force Base, N.D., arrives at Andersen Air Force Base,Guam, on Thursday. 

olson.wyatt@stripes.comTwitter: @WyattWOlson

PAGE 4 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Monday, July 19, 2021

MILITARY

Airmen who receive waivers

from the Air Force to grow beards

due to a skin condition that wors-

ens with shaving experience sig-

nificant delays in promotion com-

pared to their beardless counter-

parts, a new study found.

The delay in promotions affects

Black airmen disproportionately

because the condition, commonly

called razor bumps, is prevalent

among them, according to the

study published in the journal

Military Medicine on July 1.

The findings dovetail with an

Air Force review of racial dispar-

ities in the service released in De-

cember, which found inequality

in “certain promotion rates”

based on race but did not deter-

mine the cause.

The review was initiated in the

wake of protests and outcry over

the death of George Floyd in May

2020 at the hands of a Minneapo-

lis police officer.

The survey for the study on

shaving waivers and promotion

was done in November and De-

cember 2020 by eight research-

ers affiliated with the Depart-

ment of Dermatology, Uniformed

Services University in Bethesda,

Md., and other Air Force installa-

tions in Germany, Italy and the

United States.

“We hope that the findings of

this study shed light on this issue

by showing that the promotion

system is not necessarily inher-

ently racially biased, but instead

biased against the presence of fa-

cial hair which will likely always

affect the promotions of Blacks/

African-Americans dispropor-

tionately because of the relatively

higher need for shaving waivers

in this population,” the new study

concluded.

Don Christensen, a retired col-

onel and former Chief Prosecutor

of the Air Force, told Stars and

Stripes during a phone interview

Thursday that he was not sur-

prised by the study’s findings.

“I’ve definitely seen Black ser-

vice members who felt like they

were treated differently because

they needed to get a waiver,” said

Christensen, who is now presi-

dent of Protect our Defenders, an

advocacy group whose May 2020

report revealed that the Air Force

had long suppressed evidence of

racial disparities in the service’s

justice system.

“This is one of those cases

when — looking at the data — it’s

kind of hard to say that there isn’t

a racial aspect to it,” he said.

“Maybe that’s not the intent, but

the reality is that, disproportion-

ately, Black servicemembers

need the waiver, and the waiver

impacts promotion and opportu-

nities. It’s affecting the Black

community in a disproportionate

rate.”

The Air Force, like other ser-

vices, bans beards except for cer-

tain religious and medical excep-

tions. The service regards a

clean-shaven face as professional

looking and better able to accom-

modate the tight fit of a gas or ox-

ygen mask, should one ever be

needed.

Air Force health care provid-

ers issue “shaving profiles” for

airmen suffering from razor

bumps or other skin conditions

that allow more flexibility in

shaving.

Several previous studies had

found that airmen with shaving

waivers perceived delays in pro-

motion, but the new study ana-

lyzed data comparing a group re-

ceiving waivers with another that

did not.

The skin condition, formally

known as pseudofolliculitis bar-

bae, occurs when facial hair

tightly curls and grows back into

the skin. The skin becomes in-

flamed, with hardened bumps

arising around ingrown follicles.

Shaving traumatizes the

bumps, causing them to grow and

scar.

Men of any ethnicity can expe-

rience the condition, but it is pre-

dominately found among Blacks.

Researchers of the new study

based their findings on survey re-

sults from 9,339 airmen, among

which 8,200 had never had a

shaving waiver and 1,139 who had

been on a waiver for at least one

year of their career.

The majority of the waiver

group, 64.2%, were Black — even

though they represented just un-

der 13% of the 9,339 survey re-

spondents.

The non-waiver group was pre-

dominantly white at just over

76%.

The makeup of the two groups

also differed significantly by

rank, with the waiver group com-

posed of only 5.5% officers, while

the no-waiver group was roughly

28% officers.

“Shaving waivers were associ-

ated with a significantly longer

time to promotion compared to

the no-waiver group,” the study

said. “Cumulative time on a shav-

ing waiver was associated with a

progressively longer time to pro-

motion.”

Promotions for those in the

waiver group were delayed even-

ly across race and ethnicity, the

study said.

Airmen with shaving waivers

are “disenfranchised” in various

ways, the study said.

The Air Force’s Special Duty

Catalog Guide, for example, “spe-

cifically states that members on a

shaving waiver will not be al-

lowed into the Honor Guard,” the

study said.

The guide requires airmen to

maintain the “highest levels of

professionalism and personal ap-

pearance” for duties such as

recruiting, military training in-

structor and the Thunderbirds

flight demonstration team, the

study said.

“This has, anecdotally, been

used to exclude members with

shaving waivers from these

fields, all of which are high pro-

file and can lead to faster promo-

tion,” the study said.

Researchers also found a “sig-

nificantly larger rate of disciplin-

ary actions reported in the waiver

group” and recommended fur-

ther research to better under-

stand that association.

Study: Shaving waivers hinder promotionsBY WYATT OLSON

Stars and Stripes

olson.wyatt@stripes.comTwitter: @WyattWOlson

CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — A

new commander returned to Oki-

nawa and took charge of America’s

largest combat air wing Friday dur-

ing a ceremony in sweltering heat

at Kadena Air Base.

Brig. Gen. David Eaglin took

command of the 18th Wing from

Brig. Gen. Joel Carey at a hangar

ceremony flanked by over 200 air-

men and two aircraft, including the

iconic F-15C Eagle.

Eaglin arrived from Osan Air

Base, South Korea, following a two-

year stint as deputy commander of

7th Air Force.

A native of West Memphis, Ark.,

Eaglin is an Air Force Academy

graduate. He previously served on

Okinawa from October 2009 to July

2013 as an instructor pilot and flight

examiner, according to his Air

Force biography.

“To the men and women of the

18th Wing, I personally watched

you from a short flight up north in

Korea for the last couple of years

and I’ve always been amazed at

your sense of pride and profession-

alism in everything that you do,

along with your willingness to adapt

to an ever-changing security envi-

ronment in the western Pacific and

northeast Asia,” he said.

“The mission here in the 18th

Wing and Okinawa is no simple task

and I know there’s no doubt many

challenges that lie ahead of us but

there’s no reason we can’t work

through those as a team.”

Turning to officers of the Japan

Air Self-Defense Force and other

Japanese dignitaries, Eaglin said

he looked forward to moving the re-

lationship between the U.S. and Ja-

pan forward.

The 18th Wing consists of 8,000

airmen and 81 combat-ready air-

craft that perform a variety of mis-

sions, including air superiority, ae-

rial refueling, airborne warning

and control and combat search and

rescue in support of U.S. interests,

the defense of Japan and peace and

stability throughout the Indo-Pacif-

ic, according to the wing website.

Eaglin will oversee over $6 bil-

lion in assets, including aircraft,

equipment and infrastructure.

Carey, a career F-15C pilot who

took command in July 2019, heads

to NATO Allied Air Command at

Ramstein Air Base. An 18th Wing

spokeswoman was unsure Friday

what his exact job would be once he

arrives in Germany.

During Carey’s two years, the

18th Wing performed a number of

“historic” intercepts of probing

bombers from potential adversar-

ies, which also put the wing on its

first alert posture in decades, said

Maj. Gen. Leonard Kosinski, 5th

Air Force deputy commander, dur-

ing the ceremony.

Carey was part of the command

team that set the U.S. military pol-

icy and response to the coronavirus

pandemic and synchronized it

across 12 installations for over

50,000 U.S. Forces Japan person-

nel, Kosinski said. He was also, as

wing commander, the typhoon and

cyclone condition of readiness au-

thority for the entire island of Oki-

nawa.

At Friday’s ceremony, Carey

thanked his subordinates and coun-

terparts and leveled praise on the

airmen and women who had been

under his command.

“Airmen of the 18th Wing, it’s

been an honor to serve with you and

I’ll miss you greatly,” he said.

Addressing Eaglin by his call

sign, Carey said: “Putty, you’re an

exceptionally talented leader and

officer and you’re absolutely ready

for this. I’m excited about the days

ahead. We’ll be cheering from

afar.”

Eaglin returns to lead18th Wing in Okinawa;Carey heads to NATO

BY MATTHEW M. BURKE

Stars and Stripes

NAOTO ANAZAWA/U.S. Air Force

Brig. Gen. David Eaglin, right, accepts command of the 18th Wing from 5th Air Force deputy commanderMaj. Gen. Leonard Kosinski at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, on Friday. 

burke.matt@stripes.com

Monday, July 19, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 5

MILITARY

STUTTGART, Germany — The

F-35 Lightning II will remain cen-

tral to the Air Force’s fighter fleet

for years to come, the service’s top

officer said Friday, despite the

mechanical troubles and cost

overruns that have made the air-

craft the most expensive in histo-

ry.

“The F-35 is going to be the cor-

nerstone of our fighter fleet and it

will be for the foreseeable future,”

Gen. Charles Q. Brown told re-

porters after visiting with troops

at Spangdahlem Air Base in Ger-

many.

Though technical problems

have resulted in the F-35 falling

short on operational expectations,

Brown said he expects those is-

sues to be resolved.

“I’m very confident it will reach

our expectations,” Brown said,

adding that the Air Force is work-

ing with the defense industry to

get development and sustainment

costs for the aircraft under con-

trol.

Last week, the Government Ac-

countability Office issued a report

that said failure to control F-35

aircraft cost overruns should

force the Pentagon to scale back

its fleet of advanced warplanes if

new savings aren’t found.

The F-35 fighter has faced ris-

ing costs for years and efforts to

curtail expenses have fallen short,

the report said. About 400 F-35s

are in service across the military.

The Pentagon plans to procure

nearly 2,500 F-35s with an esti-

mated life cycle cost exceeding

$1.7 trillion.

The Air Force faces the greatest

challenge in cutting costs, accord-

ing to the GAO. It is purchasing

about 70% of the F-35s and must

slash what it spends on each plane

by 47%, or the readiness of its

squadrons could be “negatively

impacted,” it said.

Brown: F-35 remains key to Air Force fleetBY JOHN VANDIVER

Stars and Stripes

BRIAN FERGUSON/Stars and Stripes

An F­35 Lightning II flies from Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, in 2019. Though technical problems haveresulted in the plane falling short on operational expectations, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q.Brown Jr. said Thursday that he expects those issues to be resolved.

vandiver.john@stripes.com Twitter: @john_vandiver

The new military dependent ID

cards issued to military spouses’

children from previous partners

will be changed to remove the des-

ignation of “stepchild,” the Penta-

gon said Friday after advocates

complained that the label was in-

sensitive.

The issue gained attention last

week after a Twitter user named

@justjsides posted a photo of a

new plastic “next generation” ID

card displaying “stepchild” in

bold to describe the dependent’s

relationship to their military spon-

sor.

“The Defense Manpower Data

Center has reviewed the concerns

raised and DMDC will modify the

ID Card System, so that the term

‘Step Child’ is replaced with the

word ‘Child,’” said Maj. Charlie

Dietz, a Defense Department

spokesman.

Dietz could not immediately say

when the change would happen.

For adopted children, the cards al-

ready state “child” in that field, he

said Friday in an emailed re-

sponse to a Stars and Stripes que-

ry.

Child and stepchild appeared in

a less conspicuous location on the

paper-based ID cards that are be-

ing phased out, abbreviated as CH

and SC. Dietz said three other cat-

egories were also used: foster

child (FC), ward (WARD) and

pre-adoptive child (PACH). Those

are also now spelled out on the re-

placement cards.

“The relationship field’s pri-

mary purpose is for benefits eligi-

bility,” Dietz said. “For example:

Foster children are not eligible for

Tricare. Step children are not eli-

gible for benefits if the parents di-

vorce.”

The terms are used in the De-

fense Enrollment Eligibility Re-

porting System, or DEERS, but

parents of many blended military

families don’t use them and

deemed their appearance on ID

cards as unnecessary and unin-

tentionally hurtful.

Shannon Taylor, a spouse of a

retired sailor, provided Stars and

Stripes with an email she sent to a

Navy regional family readiness of-

fice in early July to complain

about the new ID card after her

children got theirs.

“It was rather devastating to see

in bold letters on the front of the

card the designation of STEP-

CHILD,” she wrote. “It was ac-

tually the first thing my [14-year-

old son] stated when he looked at

the card. His dad has been his dad

since he was 3 years old and we

firmly believe that our family is a

unit, there is no step anything.

We’re all in.”

It was even more disappointing,

she said, given the challenges chil-

dren of military families face with

developing roots and long-term

connections because they move

frequently.

“Blended families experience

challenges within the familial unit

related to stepchildren feeling

equal in love and acceptance as bi-

ological children,” she wrote.

A Navy civilian responded to

tell Taylor he had raised the issue

with higher echelons, including

the office of the chief of naval op-

erations, and “they immediately

addressed the issue” by contact-

ing the office responsible for ID

card policy.

“We all regret that your son had

this experience, and I hope he un-

derstands that he is very much a

part of the Navy family,” wrote

Matt Straughan of the Command-

er, Navy Region Southeast family

readiness office.

The news of the change was

greeted with a celebratory “woo-

hoo” by Kristen Bates, an Army

wife based at Fort Bliss who origi-

nally shared the image of the ID

card online to a spouses’ page be-

fore it was posted to Twitter and

shared by dozens of accounts, in-

cluding several with wide audi-

ences.

She had complained about the

issue in an email to DMDC on July

13 and received a prompt reply

telling her the use of the term was

an oversight and wasn’t meant to

cause distress. It said officials

were looking into whether they

could fix it.

Bates saw DOD’s decision Fri-

day to rectify the issue as another

example of the kind of positive

change that spouses and military

family advocates can make when

they speak up, she said in a phone

call Friday.

But the self-described Air Force

brat said she is also familiar with

how long changes can take to im-

plement and is awaiting word on

when the changes will be made.

Military to remove‘stepchild’ designationfrom new ID cards

BY CHAD GARLAND

Stars and Stripes

TWITTER

The military will fix its new dependent identification cards to removethe relationship designation “stepchild,” the Pentagon said Thursdayafter military families and advocates complained. 

garland.chad@stripes.comTwitter: @chadgarland

Destroyer returns homeafter first deployment

Hugs, kisses, cheers and seven

new babies greeted the officers

and crew of the USS Thomas

Hudner on Saturday as they re-

turned home to Naval Station

Mayport from the ship’s maiden

deployment.

The Thomas Hudner was the

first of a trio of Arleigh Burke-

class guided-missile destroyers

scheduled to arrive over three

days at the Navy base.

Shavon Echols drove from Ath-

ens, Ga., to welcome home her

daughter, Shatoya Echols, a culi-

nary specialist returning from her

third deployment since joining the

Navy in 2008.

Echols and her sister Yvette

Mathis held up a homemade

brightly colored banner reading

“Welcome Home We Missed You,

Shatoya!!!” that was decorated

with a hand-drawn house. The

sign was made by Mathis’ young

daughter who stayed up till 2 a.m.

to finish it, Echols said.

“The welcome homes never get

old,” Shavon Echols said.

It’s hard though, she said, not to

worry about her daughter and

shipmates.

“Especially this last time. It just

felt like we were almost at war a

lot,” she said. “It seemed like we

weren’t at peace with other coun-

tries and that just made me nerv-

ous.”

Sunday the USS Donald Cook is

scheduled to arrive. Mayport is

the warship’s new homeport.

Then the USS Winston S. Church-

ill is slated to arrive Monday.

From wire reports

PAGE 6 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Monday, July 19, 2021

Many of the cavernous, empty

structures the U.S. vacated were

left open, but one, in particular,

remained locked during a recent

visit: a squat wooden lodge near

the base’s airport terminal, once

known as the USO Pat Tillman

center.

It’s where Rebecca Medeiros,

former USO country director in

Afghanistan, spent the last year

cataloging mementos.

“It’s important those things

came back to the U.S., instead of

being left behind in Bagram,

where we don’t know the future

of that location,” Medeiros said.

“We don’t know if those items

would be taken care of, or their

meaning would be understood.”

The USO center, named after

the former NFL player and Army

Ranger who died in Afghanistan,

hosted some 2 million troops,

contractors and civilians waiting

for flights over 16 years, allowing

them to watch movies, play video

games and connect to Wi-Fi.

The USO kept employees at

Bagram as long as possible, in

part to ensure that the mementos

soldiers left there could be

brought home, said Alan Reyes,

the organization’s chief operating

officer.

“We do our best to preserve ar-

tifacts of historical or symbolic

significance to us,” Reyes said.

The centerpiece was a framed

Tillman jersey, “which means a

lot to people,” Medeiros said.

Elsewhere around the spraw-

ling base, troops saved a memo-

rial to five soldiers and contrac-

tors killed at a 2016 suicide bomb-

ing. It’s in transit to Fort Hood,

Texas, where it will be rededicat-

ed, said Michael Garrett, spokes-

man for the 1st Cavalry Division

Sustainment Brigade.

A plaque for troops from the

Czech Republic has been taken to

Prague, where it will become

part of the Military History In-

stitute’s collection, said spokes-

woman Lt. Col. Vlastimila Cypri-

sová.

A steel beam from the World

Trade Center, donated to Bagram

as a memorial, became a concern

after no one could initially re-

member where it went. They

eventually learned it had been re-

located in 2015 to Fort Drum,

N.Y.

Much of the work done by sev-

eral people during the final

stretch was “sanitizing” Bagram.

“We pulled off stickers, signs

went down,” said Kimberly Cul-

verhouse-Steadman, who came to

Bagram in February to close the

USO and bring back its memen-

tos. “They just didn’t want any-

thing reminiscent of American

presence.”

This effort was to “ensure con-

sistency in appearance,” said Col.

Jennifer Spahn, spokeswoman

for U.S. Forces — Afghanistan, in

a statement Friday.

Some objected to painting over

the murals at Bagram, including

James Von Holland, a contractor

at Bagram who has photographed

hundreds of murals during his

time at U.S. bases in the Middle

East.

“I didn’t like it at all,” Von Hol-

land said. “It’s like going into the

Louvre and destroying the Mona

Lisa.”

Von Holland and some contrac-

tors at the base said they were

frustrated due to the pace of the

drawdown and what seemed like

endless, sometimes contradictory

orders. Several contractors and

civilians said they went on vaca-

tion and were surprised to find

they weren’t allowed to return.

All U.S. troops, contractors and

civilians were supposed to leave

Afghanistan by May 1, the dead-

line that the Trump administra-

tion agreed to with the Taliban

last year. But the Biden adminis-

tration moved that deadline back

to Sept. 11.

As May 1 neared, those on Ba-

gram were “on edge,” fearing the

Taliban would retaliate against

U.S. troops staying past the origi-

nal deadline, Culverhouse-Stead-

man said.

She recalled the days when Ba-

gram was bustling with thou-

sands of troops, contractors and

civilians.

Upon arriving in late February

this year, she was struck by the

emptiness. The base’s large main

post exchange had been reduced

to one row of goods, she said.

At one point during the draw-

down, a building housing U.S.

Special Forces burned down,

leaving 25 troops without shelter.

The USO sent bedding, pillows

and blankets, she said.

Cafeterias at Bagram began

closing in mid-June, leaving

many of the last Americans on

Bagram stuck with Meals Ready-

To-Eat.

Cookies, beef jerky and 700

pounds of instant ramen noodles

were sent to the remaining troops

who secured the base, the med-

ical staff, Air Force investigators,

and the personnel who handled

the shipping yard and customs.

Culverhouse-Steadman flew

out May 25 with two black suit-

cases — one with her personal ef-

fects, and the other with the Till-

man jersey and other keepsakes.

Right before boarding the

packed government-chartered

flight, she was told she’d have to

choose between the bags in order

to board.

She chose to leave her personal

effects behind. Fortunately, a

friend from the post office agreed

to mail her that suitcase.

Trace: US presence removed from Bagram baseFROM PAGE 1

Zubair Babakarkhail contributed to this report. lawrence.jp@stripes.comTwitter: @jplawrence3

PHOTOS BY J.P. LAWRENCE/Stars and Stripes

A box lies in the street at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, on July 7 after U.S. troops transferred control ofthe base to Afghan security forces. 

JAMES VON HOLLAND

Above left: A memorialto honor five soldiersand contractors killed ata 2016 suicidebombing at BagramAirfield, Afghanistan,shown in an undatedphoto, is currently intransit to Fort Hood,Texas, Army officialssaid. Above: Troops, civiliansand contractors pulledoff stickers and anyother images related tomilitary units orAmerica prior to thetransfer of the base toAfghan security forcesJuly 2. Left: Afghan soldierssorted through trashleft at Bagram Airfield,Afghanistan, on July 7.

WAR ON TERRORISM

Monday, July 19, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 7

tion that has been wreaked,” she

said at a news conference in a

nearby town.

Merkel said authorities will

work to “set the world right again

in this beautiful region, step by

step,” and her Cabinet will ap-

prove an immediate and medium-

term financial aid program on

Wednesday.

Finance Minister Olaf Scholz

told the Bild am Sonntag newspa-

per that more than $354 million

will be needed. And he said offi-

cials must set up a longer-term re-

building program which, from ex-

perience with previous flooding,

will be in the billions.

“Thankfully, Germany is a

country that can manage this fi-

nancially,” said Merkel, who is

stepping down as chancellor fol-

lowing an election in September.

“Germany is a strong country and

we will stand up to this force of na-

ture in the short term — but also in

the medium and long term,

through policy that pays more re-

gard to nature and the climate

than we did in recent years. That

will be necessary, too.”

Climate scientists say the link

between extreme weather and

global warming is unmistakable

and the urgency to do something

about climate change undeniable.

Scientists can’t yet say for sure

whether climate change caused

the flooding, but they insist that it

certainly exacerbates the extreme

weather disasters on display

around the world.

“We must get faster in the battle

against climate change,” Merkel

said, pointing to policies already

set in motion by Germany and the

European Union to cut green-

house gas emissions. “And never-

theless, the second lesson is that

we must pay great attention to ad-

aptation” to climate change.

Investing in fighting climate

change is expensive, she said, but

failing to do so is even more costly.

“One flood isn’t the example of

climate change, but if we look at

the loss events of recent years,

decades, then they are simply

more frequent than they were pre-

viously — so we must make a great

effort,” Merkel said.

Although the rain has stopped in

the worst-affected areas of Ger-

many, Belgium and the Nether-

lands, storms and downpours

have persisted elsewhere in west-

ern and central Europe. There

was flooding Saturday night in the

German-Czech border area, in

Germany’s southeastern corner,

and over the border in Austria.

About 130 people were evacuat-

ed in Germany’s Berchtesgaden

area after the Ache River swelled.

At least one person was killed and

the rail line to Berchtesgaden was

closed.

The Berchtesgaden area is also

the home of the sliding track in

Koenigssee, the site of major in-

ternational bobsled, skeleton and

luge events for more than 50

years. Large segments of that

track were destroyed, as parts of

the concrete chute were turned in-

to rubble by the rushing water.

CHRISTOF STACHE/AP

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, front second right, gestures as she and the Governor of the Germanstate of Rhineland­Palatinate, Malu Dreyer, front right, talk to a resident in Schuld, western Germany, onSunday during their visit in the flood­ravaged areas to survey the damage and meet survivors.

‘Surreal’: Merkel confident in Germany’sability to rebuild after devastating floodsFROM PAGE 1

EUROPE

PEPINSTER, Belgium — Paul

and Madeline Brasseur were at

home with their two sons in the

Belgian town of Pepinster when

the water “came all of a sudden”

late in the evening.

It “was like a tsunami,” the way

it entered the house and kept ris-

ing instead of retreating, said

Paul Brasseur, 42.

The family went upstairs and

kept seeking safety during the

night as the water climbed stead-

ily below them. They ended up on

the roof, watching.

“We started to see buildings

collapsing, people on the roof-

tops, buildings collapsing, falling

into the water,” Brasseur said.

Eventually, making their way

from rooftop to rooftop, they end-

ed up perched on one with 15 oth-

er people, waiting hours for help

to come. A boat arrived to rescue

the children, but it began taking

on water while a makeshift jetty

started to collapse. Brasseur held

his sons back.

“We held out, for those nine

hours,” said Brasseur, who has

lived in Pepinster since he was 10.

“Then it was citizens, the father of

my sons’ best friend who came ...

up over the rooftops and saved us,

too.”

More than 180 people in Belgi-

um and Germany didn’t survive

the massive flooding that crashed

through parts of Western Europe

on Wednesday and Thursday.

Thousands of those who did, like

the Brasseurs, found their homes

destroyed or badly battered.

As the floodwaters subsided,

attention turned to the gargan-

tuan task of repairing the damage

wrought by the storm-induced

deluges — and to the immense

losses faced by those in affected

areas.

In Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, in

western Germany, Andreas

Wachtveitel spent Saturday

clearing debris out of his apart-

ment building. The 39-year-old’s

home and office were submerged

and badly damaged, so he doesn’t

know what he’ll do next.

“This was the worst thing that’s

ever happened to me,” said

Wachtveitel, who was covered in

mud. “Thank God everybody in

our house is still alive, but it was

close.”

The sounds of the water rush-

ing into his building’s lower floors

and of nearby screaming haunt

him, he said.

“We heard screams from the

other side,” Wachtveitel said.

“There’s a clinic and the patients

were trapped.”

Franco Romanelli, who owns

the Pizzeria Roma in the same

town, stood in front of the restau-

rant that was his livelihood as

workers cleared ruined furni-

ture.

“It took such a long time to

build the restaurant to get it

where it is,” he said. “And now af-

ter the pandemic, this is cata-

strophic.

“We are not talking about a few

thousand euros” to repair the

damage, he said. “I made a rough

calculation; we are talking about

a few hundred thousand euros to

rebuild the place.”

Romanelli, originally from the

Abruzzo region of Italy, came to

Ahrweiler in 1979 when he was 15

years old. He said the extent of

the damage in his adopted home

is devastating.

“If I look at Ahrweiler now, I

could cry,” he said. “It’s my

home.”

In Belgium, Brasseur celebrat-

ed his 42nd birthday on Saturday.

The occasion may have turned

out nothing like the day he ex-

pected, but the important thing

was that his family was safe and

together, he said.

“My gift today,” Brasseur said,

his voice breaking, “is that my

family and all the friends who we

were with are still alive.”

Flood survivorsponder futureafter disaster

Associated Press

PAGE 8 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Monday, July 19, 2021

VIRUS OUTBREAK

SEOUL, South Korea — South

Korea on Sunday sent military air-

craft to replace the entire 301-

member crew of a navy destroyer

on an anti-piracy mission off East

Africa after nearly 70 of them test-

ed positive for the coronavirus, of-

ficials said.

Two multi-role aerial tankers

are bringing the new crew and will

then take home 301 sailors aboard

the 4,400-ton-class destroyer

Munmu the Great, Joint Chiefs of

Staff and Health Ministry officials

said.

They said 68 sailors have so far

tested positive and the results of

tests for 200 crew are still pend-

ing.

Fifteen sailors have been hospi-

talized in an African country that

authorities did not name, while the

rest are on the destroyer. None of

the crew has been vaccinated for

COVID-19 as they left South Ko-

rea in early February, before the

start of the vaccination campaign,

a Joint Chiefs of Staff official said

requesting anonymity citing de-

partment rules.

The cause of infections hasn’t

been officially announced. But

military authorities suspect the vi-

rus might have spread when the

destroyer docked at a harbor in

the region to load goods in late

June.

The replacement crew of 150

navy personnel will arrive aboard

the aerial tankers and move to the

destroyer, which is anchored at

sea, to sail it back to South Korea

on a journey that takes about a

month, the Joint Chiefs of Staff of-

ficial said.

Health Ministry official Sohn

Youngrae told reporters that the

301 crew of the destroyer will be

sent to hospitals or quarantine fa-

cilities upon their return to South

Korea early this week. He said the

crew were all relatively in good

condition.

BULLIT MARQUEZ/AP

South Korean navy destroyer, the Munmu The Great, prepares to dock in 2019 Manila, Philippines. SouthKorea said Sunday it’ll send military transport aircraft to bring back hundreds of sailors aboard thedestroyer on an anti­piracy mission after nearly 70 of them tested positive for coronavirus.

S. Korea sendsnew crew aftership’s outbreak

Associated Press

LONDON — British Prime Minister Bo-

ris Johnson will spend 10 days self-isolating

after contact with a confirmed coronavirus

case, his office said Sunday — reversing an

earlier announcement that he would not

have to quarantine.

Johnson’s 10 Downing St. office said Sun-

day that the prime minister and Treasury

chief Rishi Sunak were both alerted over-

night by England’s test-and-trace phone

app. He had a meeting on Friday with

Health Secretary Sajid Javid, who tested

positive for COVID-19 on Saturday. Javid,

who has been fully vaccinated, says he is ex-

periencing mild symptoms.

People who are notified through the app

are supposed to self-isolate, though it is not

a legal requirement. Contacts of positive

cases usually are advised to self-isolate for

10 days.

But Johnson’s office initially said the

prime minister and Sunak would instead

take a daily coronavirus test as part of an

alternative system being piloted in some

workplaces, including government offices.

That plan was reversed less than three

hours later after an outcry over apparent

special treatment for politicians. Downing

St. said Johnson would self-isolate at Che-

quers, the prime minister’s country resi-

dence, and “will not be taking part in the

testing pilot.” It said Sunak also would self-

isolate.

British prime minister to isolateafter contact with confirmed case

Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Three of the Demo-

cratic state lawmakers who fled Texas to

stymie a Republican-backed effort to im-

pose broad new voting restrictions have

tested positive for COVID-19 and are

quarantined, the Texas House’s Demo-

cratic Caucus director said Saturday.

One lawmaker tested positive Friday

and the other two did so on Saturday, ac-

cording to caucus director Phillip Martin.

All three were fully vaccinated against

the disease, according to Martin, who de-

clined to release their names or condi-

tions to “respect the privacy of Members

and their personal health.”

More than 50 Texas lawmakers arrived

in Washington on Monday after leaving

their home state on a private charter

flight. They received criticism from Re-

publicans and others after a photo showed

them maskless on the plane, though feder-

al pandemic guidelines don’t require

masks to be worn on private aircraft.

Rep. Chris Turner, the caucus chair-

man, said in a statement that the caucus

was conferring with health experts in

Texas for additional guidance.

“This is a sober reminder that COVID is

still with us, and though vaccinations of-

fer tremendous protection, we still must

take necessary precautions,” Turner said.

COVID-19 infections in people who

have been fully vaccinated against the

disease — also referred to as “break-

through” infections — are rare, according

to the Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention.

3 Texas Democrats who fledelections bill vote get COVID

Associated Press

TEXARKANA, Ark. — Free lottery tick-

ets for those who get vaccinated had few

takers. Free hunting and fishing licenses

didn’t change many minds either. And this

being red-state Arkansas, mandatory vacci-

nations are off the table.

So Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson has

hit the road, meeting face-to-face with resi-

dents to try to overcome vaccine hesitancy

— in many cases, hostility — in Arkansas,

which has the highest rate of new COVID-19

cases in the U.S. but is near the very bottom

in dispensing shots.

He is meeting with residents like Harvey

Woods, who was among five dozen people

who gathered at a convention center ball-

room in Texarkana on Thursday night.

Most of the audience wasn’t masked, and

neither was Hutchinson, who has been vac-

cinated.

Woods, 67, introduced himself to Hutch-

inson as “anti-vax” and said that he thinks

there are too many questions about the ef-

fects of the vaccine and that he doesn’t be-

lieve the information from the federal gov-

ernment about them is reliable.

Hutchinson embarked on the statewide

tour as he took over as chairman of the Na-

tional Governors Association. In that role,

he has called combating vaccine resistance

a priority.

Hutchinson has few tools left at his dis-

posal after signing into law measures curb-

ing his own authority to respond to the pan-

demic. They include bans on public schools

and other government agencies mandating

masks or requiring vaccinations.

ANDREW DEMILLO/AP

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson shows a chart on vaccination rates at a town hall meetingJuly 12 in Batesville, Ark. Hutchinson has been holding town hall meetings around thestate aimed at encouraging more people to get vaccinated.

GOP governor’s vaccinationtour reveals depths of distrust

Associated Press

Monday, July 19, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 9

NATION

The West is facing a new and se-

rious fire threat as temperatures

heat up again and moisture from

the Southwest monsoon surges

northward, triggering thunder-

storms that unleash lightning but

little rain. The dry lightning pre-

sents a heightened risk of new

wildfire ignitions between Sunday

and Tuesday across a broad swath

of the West, stretching from the

California coast into northern

Montana.

The fire threat is emerging at

the same time a heat wave builds

over the northern Rockies and

southern Canada, where scores of

blazes are already active. The tin-

derbox conditions from the hot

and dry weather, combined with

possible dry lightning strikes

could result in a dangerous prolif-

eration in fire activity.

This is a “multiday, multi-re-

gion classic monsoon-burst igni-

tion event,” said Brent Wachter, a

fire meteorologist in Redding,

Calif., with the Predictive Servic-

es arm of the National Interagen-

cy Fire Center (NIFC).

Already, 70 large blazes are

burning across a dozen states, ac-

cording to NIFC. On Thursday, it

raised the national Preparedness

Level to 5, the highest, based on

the amount of wildfire activity and

need for firefighting resources.

Recent precipitation related to

the Southwest monsoon has eased

fire conditions in Arizona, New

Mexico and in southern Utah and

Nevada, but the fire risk remains

high in California, the Pacific

Northwest and the Northern

Rockies.

While monsoonal thunder-

storms are common in summer in

the West, especially in the moun-

tains, the level of flammability

across the landscape right now is

far above normal and breaking re-

cords in many areas. Relentless

heat, on top of severe drought, has

made fires much more likely to ig-

nite and spread rapidly.

Lightning on Sunday through

Tuesday will overlap with areas

that have seen repeated, record-

breaking heat waves in June and

July.

The Northern Rockies is in the

bull’s eye of this weekend’s heat

wave, with excessive heat warn-

ings and heat advisories in effect

for eastern two-thirds of Montana

and southern half of Idaho where

temperatures may be as many as

20 to 25 degrees above average. It

could now see a significant light-

ning event over extremely dry

vegetation. The threat may be

highest on Monday, when the Na-

tional Weather Service says the

fire danger is “critical” and fire

weather watches are in effect.

Coleen Haskell, a Predictive

Services fire meteorologist in Mis-

soula, Mont., said the pattern will

feature “high-based” thunder-

storms, with cloud bases 8,000 to

10,000 feet above ground level.

This setup usually means that any

rain produced will evaporate be-

fore it reaches the ground, result-

ing in strong outflow winds.

“During active southwest mon-

soon years, we typically get high-

based thunderstorms with a mix

of wet and dry storms,” she wrote

in an email. “Some of those igni-

tions can hold over several days

after the lightning strikes and then

fires become more active during

the next increase in wind.”

Meanwhile, red flag warnings

and fire weather watches, for high

fire danger, are in effect for much

of central and northern California

through Monday.

Dry lightning,new fire fearedamid heat wave

BY DIANA LEONARD

The Washington Post

NOAH BERGER/AP

A scorched car rests on a roadside as the Tamarack Fire burns in the Markleeville community of AlpineCounty, Calif., on Saturday. 

PORTLAND, Ore. — Two people died

and multiple people were injured, some

critically, in four different early morning

shootings Saturday in Portland, Ore., a city

that has seen gun violence and associated

homicide rates soar in the past six months.

Mayor Ted Wheeler called the rash of

shootings a “pandemic” and said he would

push hard for more officers and resources

for the Portland Police Bureau, which has

lost 125 sworn officers in the past year and

faces news rounds of retiring officers in

coming months.

The city was roiled by protests against

police brutality and racial injustice for

months following the death of George

Floyd, a Black man in Minneapolis who

died after a white officer held a knee to his

neck. In the wake of sustained protests and

calls to defund the police last summer, Por-

tland’s City Commission cut some funding

and disbanded the gun violence reduction

unit.

Since then, Chief Chuck Lovell has as-

sembled new teams aimed at curbing gun

violence and solving a rash of shootings

through both investigation and proactive

intervention before shootings happen.

Some residents, however, question if

that’s enough as the city marked its 50th

and 51st homicides Saturday. There have

been about 570 shooting incidents in Por-

tland so far this year — more than twice the

number recorded in the same time period

last year. Police have said that about half of

those shootings were gang-related.

Lovell said it was too early to call Satur-

day’s shooting gang-related.

“We’ve had many years of growth as a

city and a shrinking police force (and) you

can only go so long in that trend before you

hit a tipping point,” he said.

“If you go back to yesterday, we’ve had 11

shooting incidents resulting in 13 people in-

jured or killed — and that’s in a span of 38

hours. Not only is this shocking, all these

calls really tax resources.”

The first calls about the latest gun vio-

lence came in just after 2:10 a.m. Officers

responded to a pod of food trucks in a pop-

ular pedestrian area in downtown Portland

to find chaos. Seven people were injured,

including an 18-year-old woman who later

died at a hospital. The other six people are

expected to survive.

Lovell said there may be other victims

who left on their own. He called on anyone

who witnessed the incident or had cell

phone video or photos of the area before,

during and after the shooting to contact po-

lice. No arrests have been made.

“We all want to know what happened and

who did this and why, and I pledge that

more information will come out as soon as

possible. Investigators think there might

be more victims and witnesses who left the

scene, which is understandable given how

terrifying and hectic that scene was,” he

said.

A short time later, police in another part

of the city responded to reports of shots

fired and believe someone was injured, but

a police canine could not turn up any vic-

tims, he said.

About four hours later, there were two

more shootings. One man was killed and a

woman was critically injured and hospital-

ized, he said.

Oregon city sees 2 killed, 7hurt in separate shootings

BY GILLIAN FLACCUS

Associated Press

MARK GRAVES, THE OREGONIAN/AP

Police investigate an overnight shootingSaturday, in Portland, Ore.

A chemical leak at a Houston-area water

park left dozens suffering from minor skin

irritation and respiratory issues Saturday,

authorities said.

Twenty-nine people were taken to local

hospitals following the incident at Six Flags

Hurricane Harbor Splashtown in Spring,

the Harris County Fire Marshal’s Office

tweeted.

Thirty-nine others declined to be taken to

a hospital after undergoing decontamina-

tion procedures.

KPRC-TV reported that some of those

who became sick were children, including a

3-year-old who was hospitalized in stable

condition.

The chemicals involved included hypo-

chlorite solution and 35% sulfuric acid, offi-

cials said.

“The safety of our guests and team mem-

bers is always our highest priority and the

park was immediately cleared as we try to

determine a cause,” Hurricane Harbor

Splashtown spokesperson Rosie Shepard

said in a statement, according to news out-

lets.

“Out of an abundance of caution, the park

has been closed for the day.”

Authorities are investigating the cause of

the incident, which they said was contained

to one attraction at the park.

Dozens treated afterchemical leak atTexas water park

Associated Press

PAGE 10 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Monday, July 19, 2021

NATION

ATLANTA — President Joe Bi-

den and Vice President Kamala

Harris on Saturday both marked

the one-year anniversary of U.S.

Rep. John Lewis’ death by urging

Congress to honor the legacy of

the civil rights icon by enacting

laws to protect voting rights.

Biden said he often reflects on

the last conversation he and his

wife, Jill, had with Lewis, days be-

fore the Georgia congressman

died.

“Instead of answering our con-

cerns for him, he asked us to re-

main focused on the unfinished

work — his life’s work — of heal-

ing and uniting this nation,” Biden

said in a statement.

The president said the unfin-

ished work includes “building an

economy that respects the dignity

of working people with good jobs

and good wages” and “ensuring

equal justice under law is real in

practice and not just a promise

etched in stone.”

“Perhaps most of all, it means

continuing the cause that John

was willing to give his life for: pro-

tecting the sacred right to vote,”

Biden said. “Not since the Civil

Rights Movement of the 1950s and

1960s have we seen such unrelent-

ing attacks on voting rights and

the integrity of our elections.”

Biden said the attacks include

the Jan. 6 insurrection and lies

about the 2020 election.

Lewis was a high-profile civil

rights activist before he won a Ge-

orgia congressional seat as a Dem-

ocrat in 1986. Harris said in her

own statement Saturday that he

was “an American hero.”

“Congressman Lewis fought

tirelessly for our country’s highest

ideals: freedom and justice for all,

and for the right of every Ameri-

can to make their voice heard at

the ballot box,” Harris said.

Lewis was 80 when he died

months after announcing he had

advanced pancreatic cancer. He

was the youngest and last survivor

of the Big Six civil rights activists,

a group led by the Rev. Martin

Luther King Jr. that had the great-

est impact on the movement.

In San Diego, senior U.S. law-

makers and members of Lewis’

family gathered Saturday for the

christening of a Navy ship named

after Lewis.

“This ship will be a beacon to

the world, reminding all who see it

of the persistence and courage of

John Lewis,” Speaker Nancy Pelo-

si, D-Ca., said at the christening of

the USNS John Lewis.

Lewis’ nephew, Marcus Tyner,

said the family was grateful for the

honor, but said “what would

please my uncle most” is if Con-

gress passed the voting rights bill

named after him.

In her statement Saturday, Har-

ris recalled crossing Alabama’s

Edmund Pettus Bridge with Le-

wis during a commemoration in

2020.

“The right to vote remains un-

der attack in states across our na-

tion,” Harris said. “And the best

way to honor Congressman Lewis’

legacy is to carry on the fight — by

passing the John Lewis Voting

Rights Advancement Act as well

as the For the People Act, and by

helping eligible voters no matter

where they live get registered and

vote, and have their vote counted.”

Democrats on Capitol Hill are

pushing for a sweeping federal

voting and elections bill that Sen-

ate Republicans have united to

block, saying they think it intrudes

on states’ ability to conduct elec-

tions. Most Republicans have also

dismissed a separate bill, the John

Lewis Voting Rights Advance-

ment Act, which would restore

sections of the Voting Rights Act

that were weakened by the Su-

preme Court.

Biden, Harris urge voting rights protections to honor John LewisAssociated Press

Military Sealift Command Pacific

The USNS John Lewis was christened Saturday during a ceremony atthe General Dynamics NASSCO shipyard in San Diego, Calif.

LAFAYETTE — Spectators

cheered Saturday as a stone statue

of a Confederate general was

hoisted by a crane and removed

from a pedestal where it stood for

99 years in front of a city hall in

south Louisiana.

The Advertiser posted video of

the work that happened a day after

United Daughters of the Confeder-

acy signed a settlement agreeing

to move the statue of Gen. Alfred

Mouton or let the city do so. A trial

had been scheduled for July 26.

“The Confederacy has surren-

dered,” attorney Jerome Moroux

told The Advocate. Moroux repre-

sented the city and 16 city resi-

dents who wanted the statue gone.

The murder of George Floyd by

Minneapolis police in 2020

prompted new calls across the

country to remove Confederate

statues, many of which had been

erected decades after the Civil

War, during the Jim Crow era,

when states imposed new segrega-

tion laws, and during the “Lost

Cause” movement, when histori-

ans and others inaccurately de-

picted the South’s rebellion as a

fight to defend states’ rights, not

slavery.

Mouton, whose full name was

Jean-Jacques-Alfred-Alexandre

Mouton, was a slave owner and son

of a former Louisiana governor.

He died leading a cavalry charge

in the Civil War Battle of Mans-

field.

“It’s been 99 years right now,

and that’s way too long for that to

have remained in place,” Fred

Prejean, president of Move the

Mindset, a group created to

pushed for the statue’s removal,

The Advertiser reported.

SCOTT CLAUSE, THE DAILY ADVERTISER/AP

Fred Prejean with attorney Jerome Moroux announce Friday the agreement to move the statue of Confed­erate Gen. Alfred Mouton from the front of city hall in Lafayette, La. The statue was moved Saturday. 

Confederate statue removed fromLa. city hall after nearly a century

Associated Press

WASHINGTON — President

Joe Biden said Saturday that the

Justice Department intends to ap-

peal a federal judge’s ruling

deeming illegal an Obama-era

program that has protected hun-

dreds of thousands of young immi-

grants from deportation, and he

renewed his calls for Congress to

create a permanent solution.

He said in a statement that Fri-

day’s decision was “deeply disap-

pointing,” and although the judg-

e’s order did not affect those al-

ready covered by the Deferred

Action for Childhood Arrivals pro-

gram, it “relegates hundreds of

thousands of young immigrants to

an uncertain future.”

The program has allowed thou-

sands of young people who were

brought illegally into the United

States as children, or overstayed

visas, to live, work and remain in

the country.

Many of the recipients, com-

monly known as “Dreamers,”

have now been in the U.S. for a

decade or longer.

But Texas and eight other states

sued to halt DACA, arguing that

President Barack Obama lacked

the power to create the program

because it circumvented Con-

gress. U.S. District Judge Andrew

Hanen in Houston agreed, and

while his ruling left the program

intact for existing recipients, it

barred the government from ap-

proving any new applications.

In his statement, Biden urged

Congress to move forward with

legislation to permanently protect

those covered by the program.

“Only Congress can ensure a

permanent solution by granting a

path to citizenship for Dreamers

that will provide the certainty and

stability that these young people

need and deserve,” the president

said.

“I have repeatedly called on

Congress to pass the American

Dream and Promise Act, and I

now renew that call with the great-

est urgency,” he continued. “It is

my fervent hope that through rec-

onciliation or other means, Con-

gress will finally provide security

to all Dreamers, who have lived

too long in fear.”

The House approved legislation

in March creating a pathway to-

ward citizenship for those impact-

ed, but the measure has stalled in

the Senate. Immigration advo-

cates hope to include a provision

in sweeping budget legislation

Democrats want to pass this year,

but it’s unclear whether that lan-

guage will survive.

Biden: Justice toappeal judge’sruling on DACA

Associated Press

Monday, July 19, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 11

AMERICAN ROUNDUPWoman accused ofposing as service member

NC GREENVILLE — A

Pennsylvania woman

was arrested in North Carolina af-

ter investigators said she posed as

a member of the military and

scammed a person out of more

than $7,000, a sheriff’s office said.

The Pitt County Sheriff’s Office

said in a news release that it re-

ceived a report that a resident met

a woman on an online dating site

who said she needed money to

ship her belongings home from

overseas. The unidentified victim

provided the woman with $7,500,

the sheriff’s office said.

Investigators determined the

woman was using a fake name and

identified her as a 63-year-old

from Greensburg, Pa. The woman

was charged with accessing a

computer to defraud or obtain

property, obtaining property by

false pretense and attempt to ob-

tain property by false pretense.

Struck by broken pole, 4first responders injured

GA VALDOSTA — A Ge-

orgia police officer and

three firefighters were injured af-

ter being struck by a broken pow-

er pole while responding to dam-

age from a thunderstorm, officials

said.

The first responders were in-

jured as they dealt with a downed

power line following the storm in

Valdosta, near the Georgia-Flor-

ida state line. Police were direct-

ing traffic around wires sagging in

the road when one of them caught

on a passing semi truck, Valdosta

Police Chief Leslie Manahan told

a news conference.

“A semi picked up one of the

wires and pulled it, and when they

pulled it, the power pole broke,

which caused the power pole to

break in half and shoot across the

road,” Manahan said.

The broken pole struck a Val-

dosta police officer and three fire-

fighters. One firefighter had to

have a leg amputated below the

knee, Valdosta Fire Chief Brian

Boutwell said.

Feds: Suspects used ‘callcenters’ to sell heroin

CA ORANGE — Two

Southern California

call centers that facilitated illegal

drug deliveries distributed at least

$2 million worth of heroin before a

federal grand jury indicted 19 peo-

ple in connection with the scheme,

authorities said.

The 13-count federal indictment

charges the defendants with of-

fenses tied to narcotics and money

laundering. They are expected to

be arraigned in federal court in

Santa Ana.

The suspects operated a heroin

ring between March 2017 and this

April in Orange County, author-

ities alleged, by obtaining the

drugs from suppliers in the U.S.

and Mexico. Drug mules brought

the heroin, sometimes concealed

in their bodies, to Southern Cali-

fornia.

Grounded riverboat freeafter more than a week

KY CADIZ — A riverboat

stuck in Lake Barkley

in Kentucky for more than a week

was freed, the U.S. Coast Guard

said.

The American Jazz, with 120

passengers and 54 crew members,

became stuck on a sandbar last

week while on a seven-night

cruise between Memphis and

Nashville, Tenn., according to its

operator, American Cruise Lines.

The passengers were moved off

the ship and taken to a Nashville

hotel. The boat was not damaged.

Report: Woman strips tohide evidence of shooting

LA GRETNA — A New Or-

leans woman accused of

shooting a man then stripping off

her bloodied clothes to hide the

evidence pleaded not guilty to

charges including second-degree

murder.

The Times-Picayune-The New

Orleans Advocate reported An-

thony Fefie, 27, of Harvey was

shot to death in Jefferson Parish.

The suspect is 19-year-old Tyria

Robinson.

Jefferson Parish authorities

said she was in the passenger seat

of the car Fefie was driving when

he was shot. The car swerved and

hit a brick fence before crashing

into a tree.

Investigators said Robinson

flagged down a motorist later and

claimed she had been kidnapped

and her clothes were ripped away

by men chasing her. Detectives

said witnesses contradicted her

story.

Fishermen save newbornhorse from drowning

NC COROLLA — Some

fishermen came to the

rescue of a newborn horse which

was in danger of drowning in a ca-

nal on North Carolina’s Outer

Banks.

The Corolla Wild Horse Fund

said on its Facebook page that the

foal, named Beatrice, was born

July 10.

Owen Carson of Asheville also

posted to Facebook that he and his

two fishing buddies saw the foal

struggling as its parents stood at

the edge of the canal. He said the

group circled back and he got out

of the boat and waded over to the

foal, guided her around a seawall

abutment and to the nearest boat

slip.

Carson said he carried the foal

to shallow water and coaxed her

back to her parents.

Car crash pushes potdispensary off foundation

MI HOLLAND TOWN-

SHIP — A marijuana

shop in western Michigan was

pushed off its foundation after a

Lexus sedan slammed into it.

A 26-year-old motorist failed to

negotiate an intersection in Hol-

land Township, left the roadway

and struck the building, according

to the Ottawa County sheriff’s of-

fice.

No one was inside the building

at the time of the crash and the

motorist was not injured.

Mayor charged afterhouse raid found guns

NY ROCHESTER— Roch-

ester Mayor Lovely

Warren faces criminal charges in-

cluding weapon possession and

child endangerment in connection

with a search of the home she

shares with her husband, the first

charges against her in connection

to the raid.

A grand jury indicted Warren

and her husband, Timothy Grani-

son, on a felony count of criminal

possession of a firearm, as well as

two misdemeanor counts of en-

dangering the welfare of a child,

Monroe County District Attorney

Sandra Doorley said in a state-

ment.

They were also charged with a

misdemeanor violation of the

Rochester city code for having un-

secured weapons.

Tropical fish rare to coastfound on beach

OR SEASIDE — A fish

rarely found on the

Oregon Coast washed up on Sun-

set Beach north of Seaside, The

Seaside Aquarium said.

A 3.5-foot, 100-pound opah was

reported to the aquarium, KGW

reported.

Aquarium officials said on so-

cial media that after seeing photos

of the fish, staff responded and re-

covered it.

The fish created quite the stir at

the Aquarium where folks were

encouraged to come take a look at

the “beautiful and odd looking

fish,” aquarium officials said on

social media.

The fish will be dissected by a

school group, officials said.

BEN GARVER, THE (PITTSFIELD, MASS.) BERKSHIRE EAGLE/AP

Artist Mike Carty paints a mural, called West Side Love, at a private residence in Pittsfield, Mass.

Spreading the message

THE CENSUS

18 The number of horses seized, along with dogs and cats, from afarm in Maine. Animal welfare officials began rounding up the

animals in the Springvale section of Sanford. “They haven’t been handled a lotin the past, so they are being difficult and they’re kind of scared. So we’re tryingto take it slow, ease them on to the trailers and get them out into a safe loca-tion,” Liam Hughes, of the Maine Animal Welfare Program, told WMTW-TV.Officials did not name the owners of the animals but said they were cooperat-ing.

From The Associated Press

PAGE 12 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Monday, July 19, 2021

WORLD

HAVANA — Cuban officials

rallied tens of thousands of sup-

porters in the streets Saturday

—nearly a week after they were

stunned by the most widespread

protests in decades.

President Miguel Díaz-Ca-

nel— accompanied by 90-year-

old former President Raul Cas-

tro — appeared on the seafront

Malecon boulevard that had

seen some of the largest protests

against shortages and the politi-

cal system the previous week-

end.

He made an impassioned

speech blaming unrest on the

U.S. and its economic embargo,

“the blockade, aggression and

terror,” as a crowd waved Cu-

ban flags and those of the July 26

Movement that Fidel Castro led

during Cuba’s revolution.

“The enemy has returned to

throw all it has at destroying the

sacred unity and tranquility of

the citizens,” he said.

He ended without the tradi-

tional cry of “Homeland or

Death!” — a slogan mocked last

week by protesters shouting,

“Homeland and life!”

Havana has been returning to

normal in recent days, even if

mobile internet data service —

which authorities cut on Sunday

— remained limited.

“There is political and social

erosion ... There is a lot of dis-

gust, we must talk more, do

more things and things that

were done wrong should be rec-

tified,” said Abel Alba, a 50-

year-old civil engineer, speak-

ing Friday. “The president has

tried to smooth things over a bit”

but he waited “too long” to listen

to the demands of the people in

the streets.

The protests began Sunday

when thousands of Cubans

marched along the Malecon and

elsewhere to protest food and

medicine shortages, power out-

ages and some even calling for

political change. Smaller pro-

tests continued Monday and

Tuesday.

Díaz-Canel initially respon-

ded by pointing to U.S. economic

sanctions, the impact of the cor-

onavirus pandemic and a social

media campaign by Cuban

American groups. But he later

acknowledged some responsib-

ility by Cuba’s leaders.

With this in mind, Cuban Cab-

inet ministers announced a mix

of measures including permits

for travelers to import food and

medicine without limits and al-

lowing people to use their ration

books to obtain subsidized goods

outside their hometowns.

“The Cuban government has

just shown that it could have al-

lowed the entry of food and med-

icine without quantity limits or

tariffs all along but chose not to

do so for more than a year of the

pandemic,” wrote José Jasan

Nieves, director of the inde-

pendent digital newspaper, El

Toque. “People twisted their

arms.”

Cuba governmentrallies backersfollowing protests

ISMAEL FRANCISCO/AP

People on Saturday attended an event in Havana, Cuba, withthousands showing support for the Cuban revolution six days afterthe uprising of anti­government protesters across the island.

Associated Press

NAIROBI, Kenya — A fuel tanker ex-

ploded in western Kenya while people

were siphoning fuel from it, killing 13 peo-

ple, police said Sunday.

Residents started siphoning fuel from

the tanker after it was involved in a crash

late Saturday with a trailer near the Ma-

langa Village in Siaya county, Gem sub-

county police commander Charles Chacha

said.

“The trailer which was ferrying 20 tons

of milk hit the fuel tanker which was head-

ing to Busia,” he said.

“The tanker hit the vehicle on the right

rear side. As a result of the impact, it over-

turned on the extreme left side of the road,”

he said.

He said that members of the public,

rushed to the crash scene to siphon fuel.

”Moments later, the fuel tanker burst in-

to flames," he said.

Despite warnings from authorities of the

dangers of siphoning after the deaths of

hundreds in previous incidents, many Ke-

nyans continue to do it because they are

pressed by poverty.

In 2009, at least 120 people were killed

after a huge crowd descended on an over-

turned gasoline tanker, which then blew

up. But poverty-stricken families say they

have little choice: spiraling food and fuel

prices mean many can't feed their children.

Kenya fuel tankerexplosion kills 13

Associated Press

Monday, July 19, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 13

WORLD

BANFORA, Burkina Faso —

Florent Coulibaly, a soldier in Bur-

kina Faso’s army, says he hasn’t

been sleeping well for the past few

months, as he is often roused at 3

a.m. to fight jihadi rebels.

Until recently, life was peaceful

in western Burkina Faso’s Comoe

province, but an increase in at-

tacks by extremist groups in the

country’s west has put the military

on edge.

“It tires us. It gives us a lot of

work. It scares us, too,” said Couli-

baly, 27. “We don’t know where

(the jihadis) are going to come

from. They see us, but we don’t see

them. They know us, but we don’t

know them.”

Over the past six months, his

battalion has doubled its patrols

from once a week to twice, but Cou-

libaly says the men are ill-

equipped, overworked and worry

the area could be overrun by jiha-

dis.

Burkina Faso is experiencing an

increase in extremist violence by

groups linked to al-Qaida and the

Islamic State group. Last month, at

least 11 police officers were killed

when their patrol was ambushed

in the north. The country also ex-

perienced its deadliest violence in

years when at least 132 civilians

were killed in an attack in its Sahel

region.

The jihadi rebels are also ex-

panding their reach within Burki-

na Faso. Extremist violence cen-

tered in the country’s north and

east has spread into the west and

southwest areas near Mali and Ivo-

ry Coast, bringing residents and

security forces in those areas to

brace for more conflict.

The move into western Burkina

Faso makes strategic sense for the

groups who can use it as a base to

extend their operations in West

Africa. The thick vegetation gives

them cover and the area can give

them territorial control over the

smuggling route between Gulf of

Guinea countries and Mali.

Attacks in three regions of Bur-

kina Faso’s south and southwest

quadrupled from four to 17 be-

tween 2018 and 2019, according to

the Armed Conflict Location and

Event Data Project. There were

nine attacks last year — a reduc-

tion that analysts attribute to in-

creased military operations as

well as the expansion of violence

across the border in neighboring

Ivory Coast.

In June, a soldier was killed in

northeastern Ivory Coast on the

border with Burkina Faso, and in

March there was an attack by 60

gunmen on two security outposts

in Ivory Coast, killing three people.

“This attack confirmed the in-

tention of armed groups to target

the north of coastal countries. This

is likely a new phase in the groups’

strategy to expand into these ar-

eas,” said Florent Geel, deputy di-

rector-general for Promediation,

an international organization fo-

cused on mediation.

During a trip in April to the

towns of Banfora and Gaoua in the

west and southwest, as well as one

village near the border with Ivory

Coast, local defense groups and se-

curity forces told The Associated

Press they didn’t have the man-

power to stem the violence and felt

like it was just a matter of time un-

til the area was inundated by jiha-

dis. Civilians also say they’ve start-

ed living in fear.

Last year, for the first time, jiha-

dis posted notes on classroom

doors warning students and teach-

ers to stay away, said a 35-year-old

primary teacher in a village in Co-

moe province who didn’t want to

be named for fear of his safety.

While his village hasn’t been at-

tacked, it has become militarized

with checkpoints stoking paranoia

among residents.

“The situation is deteriorating ..

In the past, you could leave (the vil-

lage) at midnight with your motor-

bike ... But today, you are not going

to take the risk ... When you’re

sleeping you’re on the lookout,

when you hear a strange noise you

startle, but before it wasn’t like

that,” he said.

Jihadis expand control to new Burkina Faso frontsBY SAM MEDNICK

Associated Press

SAM MEDNICK/AP

Children play on a water pump in an internally displaced camp inGaoa, Burkina Faso, in April.

PAGE 14 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Monday, July 19, 2021

FACES

Jeff Bergman, shown July 12 in Los Angeles, saysmeeting voic­eover maestro Mel Blanc as a college

student changed the trajectory of his life.

KEVIN WINTER, GETTY IMAGES/TNS

Jeff Bergman must have been feeling loony

when he showed up unannounced at Mel

Blanc’s hotel door.

It was late March 1981, and Bergman was a

University of Pittsburgh junior with dreams of becom-

ing a professional voice-over artist. So when he found

out Blanc, the original voice of Bugs Bunny and many

other “Looney Tunes” characters, was performing on

campus, he jumped at the opportunity to attend.

He somehow found out where Blanc was staying and

“something compelled me” to knock on his door at 10

p.m. A voice that sounded vaguely like Barney Rubble

from “The Flintstones” (whom Blanc also voiced)

came from behind the door and Blanc came out in his

bathrobe. After Bergman explained he was a fan who

had just seen his lecture, Blanc asked, “Are you Jewish

or Italian?” Bergman said he was Jewish, and that was

enough for Blanc to invite him in for a chat.

“That really was a watershed moment for me,”

Bergman said. “That changed the whole trajectory of

my life, that one 45-minute meeting with him.”

Blanc died on July 10, 1989, which happened to be

Bergman’s 29th birthday. Three weeks later, Bergman

auditioned for CBS’ “Tiny Toon Adventures” and, af-

ter securing that gig, took over the role of Bugs Bunny

from Blanc. He’s been Bugs’ primary vocal actor ever

since and voices that wascally wabbit, Yosemite Sam,

Sylvester the cat, Fred Flintstone and Yogi Bear in

“Space Jam: A New Legacy,” out now in theaters and

streaming on HBO Max.

“When it became apparent two years ago that it was

going to happen, I was so excited,” Bergman said of the

sequel to 1996’s “Space Jam.” “I was like the horse that

wanted to race. ... When I found out I would be Bugs, I

was speechless. If you hang in there long enough and

be persistent, good things will happen for you.”

The 61-year-old Philadelphia native cut his voice-

acting chops at Pitt, where he earned a degree in

speech and rhetorical communication. After nixing

the idea of going into stage acting, Bergman got in-

volved with Pitt’s radio station and landed internships

at KQV and WDVE. While at WDVE, someone over-

heard him recording voices and said, “You should be

performing!” Soon Bergman was writing and record-

ing commercial spots for WDVE.

As a kid, Bergman was always “excited by anything

I saw that was animated.” He remembers watching

Saturday morning cartoons and being blown away

when Bugs Bunny popped up in a Kool-Aid ad.

After years of rumors followed by a lengthy

casting process, Bergman got word in March

2020 that he would be playing Bugs in the

“Space Jam” sequel. He met with director

Malcolm D. Lee, but then the COVID-19 pan-

demic shut down in-person production and

required everyone to “put our technical big-

boy pants on,” as Bergman put it. He esti-

mated that 95% of his vocals were recorded

remotely.

Bergman recently got to see a

screening of “Space Jam: A New

Legacy,” his first time in a movie

theater since February 2020.

He said his “head almost ex-

ploded” watching the transi-

tions from 2D animation to 3D

basketball action that included at

least one representative from just

about every intellectual property

owned by Warner Bros. Any trepida-

tion he felt about fans of the original

embracing this new “Space Jam” im-

mediately evaporated.

He was most impressed by star Le-

Bron James, who he said “really gets

into it” as an actor.

“This is a story about a father and a

son,” he said. “There is a real element

of empowerment and knowing you have

to stand in your own power and own this and be pas-

sionate about what you want to do.”

Down the rabbit holeCollege encounter leads Bergman to Bugs Bunny, ‘Space Jam’ sequel

BY JOSHUA AXELROD

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Elvis Costello is re-releasing his

classic “This Year’s Model” al-

bum — but this year’s version

erases his vocals and replaces him

with Spanish-language singers.

A video of Juanes performing

“Pump It Up” was released July

15, preceding the full version of

“Spanish Model” due to come out

on Sept. 10.

Producer Sebastian Krys kept,

and remixed, the original instru-

mental tracks recorded by Costel-

lo and his backing band, the At-

tractions. Besides Juanes, other

vocalists include Fito Paez, Luis

Fonsi, Sebastian Yatra and Jesse

& Joy.

Originally released in 1978,

“This Year’s Model” was Costel-

lo’s second album and first with

the Attractions. With its furious

sound and blistering pace, Costel-

lo described it as an album about

control and “desire and how that

relates to love, fashion and the

male gaze towards women.”

“I don’t think there’s anything

that somebody in another lan-

guage would not have encoun-

tered,” he said.

He said in a news release that he

was inspired by television pro-

ducer David Simon’s request that

he record his song “This Year’s

Girl” as a duet with singer Natalie

Bergman for his show “The

Deuce.” He said he had a dream

where he heard “This Year’s Mod-

el” sung in Spanish.

Juanes had just worked with

Krys on his latest album, “Ori-

gen.” He told The Associated

Press that he could hear Costello’s

breathing in the mix used for his

vocals.

“The video is very particular,

too,” Juanes said, “because it’s an

animation over the original. I

mean, it’s the original video, but

with my face. It’s a bit crazy, but

it’s really cool. The same body of

Elvis dancing to the song, but with

my face.”

“Spanish Model” includes ver-

sions of “Mentira” (Lip Service)

sung by Pablo Lopez, “La Chica de

Hoy” (This Year’s Girl) by Cami

and “Tu Eres Para Mi” (You Be-

long to Me) by Fonsi.

Costello has teased the concept

of bilingual releases recently, with

Iggy Pop singing a French version

of Costello’s song “No Flag.”

“Part of the fun of this project is

its unexpected nature,” Costello

said. “Although, I think people in

my audience that have been pay-

ing attention are pretty much used

to surprises by now.”

Pump it up! Costello prepsSpanish ‘This Year’s Model’

BY DAVID BAUDER

Associated Press

Juanes Costello

Biz Markie, a hip-hop staple

known for his beatboxing prow-

ess, turntable mastery and the

1989 classic “Just a Friend,” has

died. He was 57.

Markie’s rep-

resentative, Jen-

ni Izumi, said the

rapper-DJ died

peacefully Fri-

day with his wife

by his side. The

cause of death

has not been re-

leased.

“We are grateful for the many

calls and prayers of support that

we have received during this diffi-

cult time,” Izumi said in a state-

ment. “Biz created a legacy of art-

istry that will forever be celebrat-

ed by his industry peers and his

beloved fans whose lives he was

able to touch through music, span-

ning over 35 years. He leaves be-

hind a wife, many family mem-

bers and close friends who will

miss his vibrant personality, con-

stant jokes and frequent banter.”

Markie, who birth name was

Marcel Theo Hall, became known

within the rap genre realm as the

self-proclaimed “Clown Prince of

Hip-Hop” for his lighthearted lyr-

ics and humorous nature.

The New York native’s music

career began in 1985 as a beatbox-

er of the Juice Crew, a rap collec-

tive he helped Big Daddy Kane

join. Three years later, he re-

leased his debut album “Goin’

Off.”

Markie broke into mainstream

music with his platinum-selling

song “Just a Friend,” the lead sin-

gle on his sophomore album “The

Biz Never Sleeps.” The friend-

zone anthem cracked Rolling

Stone’s top 100 pop songs and

made VH1’s list of 100 greatest

hip-hop songs of all time.

Biz Markie, known for rapclassic ‘Just a Friend,’ dies

Associated Press

Markie 

Monday, July 19, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 15

Max D. Lederer Jr., Publisher

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stripes.com

OPINION

It’s a simple, utopian idea. If we give

everyone a monthly check, we can

eliminate poverty and do away with

the inefficiencies of our cumbersome

and flawed welfare state. Minneapolis is the

latest city to give a “universal basic in-

come” a try. It’s offering $500 a month for 18

months to 150 of its low-income residents

with no work or spending restrictions.

But others worry it’s not so simple. A uni-

versal basic income would be expensive,

and what if it discourages people to work,

which could inadvertently increase in-

equality and lead to social instability? A new

paper suggests the skeptics may be right:

UBI may cause more harm than good for a

very high cost.

Testing UBI is not easy. What makes UBI

universal and basic is that everyone gets the

money, and the flow of cash is predictable

and long-lasting. UBI advocates point to a

few experiments that show giving people

checks doesn’t cause them to work less.

But the Minneapolis experiment and oth-

er studies aren’t truly UBI because they’re

short term; the payments only last a year or

two. And that impermanence fundamental-

ly changes how people will respond. Most

financial and work decisions are based on

the outlook for lifetime income, not a few

dozen months of extra cash.

How the payments are structured is also

important. Another widely cited study looks

at income paid each year from the Alaska

Permanent Fund. The economists estimate

the payments haven’t caused Alaskans to

decrease work, and may even encourage

beneficiaries to do more part-time work.

But the permanent fund isn’t true UBI ei-

ther because payments are based on the

state’s oil revenues and thus vary signifi-

cantly year to year. So the permanent-fund

payments actually increase Alaskans’ in-

come risk, which is the opposite of what

UBI is supposed to do.

A new study from the National Bureau of

Economic Research takes a different ap-

proach to evaluating UBI. The economists

reviewed lottery winners over a five-year

period. Lottery winners are a good test for

UBI because lottery winnings are large

enough that the income they generate can

be life-changing. The economists estimate

the average winnings are equivalent to an

extra $7,800 a year, similar to UBI propos-

als. Lottery winners are also chosen at ran-

dom, which makes for a good experiment.

Contrary to unlocking creativity, motiva-

tion and entrepreneurship, the economists

estimate lottery winners are unlikely to

start a successful business. They also esti-

mate that winners worked less and were

more likely to change jobs to one paying a

lower wage. The economists also observed

many winners moved soon after the lottery,

usually to a more rural area. But few moved

to a higher-quality neighborhood, in terms

of college attainment of neighbors, average

income and other metrics that are a proxy

for opportunities available to them or their

children. There was one positive effect: Lot-

tery winners are more likely to marry and

less prone to divorce.

You may think living in the country and

working less isn’t so bad. Working a lower-

paid job can sometimes offer other benefits,

like flexibility and time with your children.

But there are costs. Working less at a less-

demanding job often means you forgo

learning new skills and wage increases.

This may not be a big deal for people in mid-

dle age. But it can leave young people who

are still establishing their careers and ac-

quiring skills much worse off. Most wage in-

creases occur in your 20s and 30s, and if you

miss out on those years, odds are you won’t

catch up.

Our current welfare system is imperfect.

But the fact that it makes payments contin-

gent on earnings, age or even having a child

is a better alternative. First of all, it’s much

cheaper because you don’t have to give

money to the many people who don’t need it.

Second, guaranteed money is worth much

more than income that only pays off some of

the time.

One issue with the recent lottery study is

that it only tracks winners for several years.

Many lottery winners think the windfall

will set them up for life, but they end up fil-

ing for bankruptcy and are then prone to de-

pression and bad health. But this demon-

strates the challenges of implementing

UBI. Once it’s offered, it’s very difficult to

take it away, and doing so can leave people

worse off than they started.

Universal income not worth the costBY ALLISON SCHRAGER

Bloomberg Opinion

Allison Schrager is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist and a seniorfellow at the Manhattan Institute. �

Icame to the United States about a dec-

ade ago from Cuba, where I was a

pro-democracy student activist. With

a few of my friends, I organized small

gatherings and collected signatures to sub-

mit to the government. But my efforts at-

tracted the notice of the secret police, and I

eventually moved to Florida as a political

refugee.

So it has filled me with hope to see the re-

cent demonstrations in Cuba, which would

have been unthinkable while I was an orga-

nizer there. That hundreds of people are

publicly demanding reforms shows how the

regime has weakened and the people sense

a historic opportunity for change.

Much has been made about recent food

shortages on the island and the lack of ac-

cess to coronavirus vaccines. Certainly,

that is fueling some of the current anger.

But focusing on those factors ignores the

longer arc of change in Cuba. Disillusion-

ment has grown about the communist ideol-

ogy, not only among Cubans of my gener-

ation, but also older Cubans who believed in

the revolution 60 years ago.

The older generation sacrificed freedoms

to achieve a communist utopia, but their ef-

forts ended in misery. For instance, Cubans

were promised a world-class health care

system, but the result six decades later is

dirty hospitals, a lack of medicine and a lack

of doctors as Cuban doctors are sent abroad

for the state’s profit and propaganda.

The most significant recent change is

communications technology. Cellphone us-

age, the internet and social media have en-

abled Cubans to network and communicate.

During the last uprising in 1994, known as

the Maleconazo, the regime easily isolated

and cracked down on the demonstrations

by cutting off the few phone landlines. That

prevented most Cubans from learning

about the demonstrations until after they

were over. This time, footage from sponta-

neous demonstrations in two towns far

away from each other were shared on social

media, allowing the rest of the country to

learn about them immediately.

In contrast with previous demonstra-

tions, these demonstrations have spread be-

yond their small enclaves and have been

made up of tens of thousands of Cubans, de-

spite harsh repression tactics including ar-

bitrary arrests and disappearances.

The technology has helped give rise to a

robust civil society. Cubans have seen com-

munities crop up around religion, LGBT is-

sues, politics, entrepreneurship and even

video games. These associations, harmless

in a normal society where people freely

pursue common interests, are considered a

threat to the communists’ power in Cuba.

A growing social media movement of in-

fluencers is also challenging the Communi-

st Party’s monopoly on public discourse.

While the Cuba Communist Party’s flagship

show, “Mesa Redonda,” has since 2009 had

more than 4 million views and 32,000 sub-

scribers on YouTube, the “Cubanos por el

Mundos” channel, which provides inde-

pendent news and entertainment, has

racked up more than 38 million views and

142,000 subscribers since 2013.

Even if this uprising is crushed, I feel

sure these events are the beginning of the

end of communist rule in Cuba, because

people realize they can demand their free-

doms. Even if the regime is able to retain

power, it will be forced to make economic

reforms and possibly allow more political

freedoms. Despite the strong repression,

my contacts in Cuba are telling me people

are still going to the demonstrations. They

are afraid, but they believe this is the end of

the dictatorship. They just want to have the

support of the free world.

The United States can take a leadership

role in supporting the demonstrations by

applying further sanctions and other mea-

sures if the regime resorts to violence to re-

press the demonstrations. More immedi-

ately, the Biden administration should

make clear to the Cuban regime that pro-

voking an exodus, like the 1980 Mariel boat-

lift or the 1994 rafter crisis, will be consid-

ered a hostile action and dealt with by put-

ting all options on the table, including mil-

itary intervention.

Many Cuban Americans like me did not

vote for President Joe Biden, but we hope

he rejects domestic radicals, including the

democratic socialists, and fights against our

foreign communist enemies. Biden has

claimed he has “taken on the Castros and

Putins of the world. I let them know: It stops

here. It stops with me.” He also recently

called communism a “failed system.” This

is the time to act. The Biden administra-

tion’s message to the Cuban regime should

echo the Cuban people’s “Se acabo!” It is

over.

Cuban protests a sign regime is weakeningBY YURI PEREZ

Special To The Washington Post

Yuri Perez is manager of Latin American programs at theVictims of Communism Memorial Foundation.

PAGE 16 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Monday, July 19, 2021

ACROSS

1 Chicago mayor

Lightfoot

5 Ozone, for one

8 Fluffy scarves

12 Inactive

14 Oft-tattooed

limbs

15 Fan of boxers

and labs

16 Tragic king

17 Tram load

18 Chief monks

20 Stable worker

23 Hawaiian city

24 Disarray

25 Soldiers’ IDs

28 Erie Canal mule

29 Future juniors

30 Rowing tool

32 Easy gait

34 Theater section

35 Check

36 Copenhagen

residents

37 Swivels

40 Have lunch

41 Rights org.

42 Place of disfavor

47 Pants part

48 Examined

49 Turner and

Danson

50 Longing

51 “— Misbehavin’ ”

DOWN

1 “Acid”

2 Oklahoma tribe

3 Joplin tune

4 Domed homes

5 Donated

6 Chemical suffix

7 Linear

8 Spanish explorer

9 Crunchy cookie

10 Latin 101 word

11 Former polit.

divisions

13 Par

19 Diner orders

20 Baseball execs

21 Peruse

22 Capital on a fjord

23 Biker’s invitation

25 “Que Sera,

Sera” singer

26 Hoodlum

27 Wise one

29 Undo a dele

31 Scale members

33 Does a tiling job

34 Janet Jackson’s

sister

36 Wonka’s creator

37 Bygone days

38 Frozen drink

brand

39 — the Impaler

40 Actor Richard

43 Undivided

44 Submachine gun

45 Capitol VIP

46 N.J. summer hrs.

Answer to Previous Puzzle

Eugene Sheffer CrosswordFra

zz

Dilbert

Pearls B

efo

re S

win

eN

on S

equitur

Candorv

ille

Carp

e D

iem

Beetle B

ailey

Biz

arr

o

Monday, July 19, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 17

PAGE 18 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Monday, July 19, 2021

SCOREBOARD/NHL

PRO SOCCER

MLS

EASTERN CONFERENCE

W L T Pts GF GA

New England 8 3 3 27 23 18

Philadelphia 6 3 5 23 18 13

Orlando City 6 3 4 22 21 13

CF Montréal 6 3 4 22 19 15

Nashville 5 1 7 22 21 14

Columbus 5 3 5 20 15 12

NYC FC 5 5 2 17 20 15

New York 5 5 2 17 17 15

D.C. United 5 7 1 16 18 16

Atlanta 2 4 7 13 13 16

Cincinnati 3 6 3 12 16 25

Chicago 3 8 2 11 14 23

Toronto FC 2 8 3 9 17 30

Inter Miami CF 2 7 2 8 9 17

WESTERN CONFERENCE

W L T Pts GF GA

Seattle 8 0 5 29 23 8

Sporting KC 8 3 2 26 24 15

LA Galaxy 8 5 0 24 21 20

Colorado 6 3 3 21 19 13

LAFC 6 4 3 21 17 13

Portland 5 6 1 16 15 19

Real Salt Lake 4 4 4 16 19 14

Minn. United 4 5 3 15 12 16

Houston 3 4 6 15 16 19

Austin FC 3 6 4 13 10 14

San Jose 3 7 3 12 15 23

Vancouver 3 7 3 12 14 23

FC Dallas 2 6 5 11 14 21

Note: Three points for victory, one pointfor tie.

Saturday’s games

New England 1, Atlanta 0Miami at New York ppd.CF Montréal 5, Cincinnati 4Philadelphia 2, D.C. United 1Columbus 2, New York City FC 1Orlando City 1, Toronto FC 1, tieNashville 5, Chicago 1San Jose 1, Colorado 1, tieVancouver 2, LA Galaxy 1Portland 1, FC Dallas 0Los Angeles FC 2, Real Salt Lake 1

Sunday’s game

Seattle at Minnesota

Tuesday’s game

Houston at Vancouver

Wednesday’s games

Nashville at Columbus New York at Toronto FC CF Montréal at New York City FC New England at Miami Atlanta at Cincinnati D.C. United at Chicago San Jose at Sporting Kansas City FC Dallas at Colorado LA Galaxy at Real Salt Lake Los Angeles FC at Portland

Thursday’s games

Philadelphia at Orlando City Seattle at Austin FC

Saturday, July 24

Columbus at Atlanta Portland at Minnesota Toronto FC at Chicago Cincinnati at Nashville LA Galaxy at FC Dallas Colorado at Real Salt Lake Houston at San Jose Vancouver at Los Angeles FC

Sunday, July 25

CF Montréal at New England Orlando City at New York City FC Philadelphia at Miami New York at D.C. United Sporting Kansas City at Seattle

NWSL

W L T Pts GF GA

Portland 5 3 1 16 14 6

North Carolina 5 4 1 16 15 8

Houston 5 4 1 16 13 11

Orlando 4 2 4 16 13 11

Washington 4 2 3 15 10 8

Chicago 4 4 2 14 8 14

Gotham FC 3 1 4 13 7 3

Louisville 3 4 2 11 7 13

Reign FC 3 5 1 10 7 10

Kansas City 0 7 3 3 5 15

Note: Three points for victory, one pointfor tie.

Saturday’s games

Houston 2, North Carolina 1

Sunday’s games

Gotham FC at Washington Reign FC at Chicago Orlando at Portland

Friday, July 23

North Carolina at Kansas City

Saturday, July 24

Portland at HoustonReign FC at Orlando

Sunday, July 25

Washington at LouisvilleChicago at Gotham FC

Saturday's transactionsBaseball

Major League BaseballAmerican League

BALTIMORE ORIOLES — Agreed to termswith OF Colton Cowser on a minor leaguecontract. Reinstated RHP Jorge Lopezfrom the bereavement list.

BOSTON RED SOX — Acquired RHP VictorSantos from the Philadelphia Phillies,completing the January 18 trade for INFC.J. Chatham and assigned him to Por-tland (Double-A Northeast).

CHICAGO WHITE SOX — Agreed to termswith RHP Lance Lynn on a two-year con-tract for 2022-23.

DETROIT TIGERS — Recalled LHP MiguelDel Pozo from Toledo (Triple-A East) toserve as the 27th man for today's double-header. Recalled RHP Alex Lange and CFVictor Reyes from Toledo. Placed RHP JoseUrena and SS Niko Goodrum (retractive toJuly 15) on the 10-day IL.

KANSAS CITY ROYALS — Agreed toterms with LHP Frank Mozzicato on a mi-nor league contract. Designated RHP An-thony Swarzak for assignment. Rein-stated RHP Wade Davis from the 10-day IL.

MINNESOTA TWINS — Placed RHP DerekLaw on the 10-day IL, retroactive to July 14.Placed LHP Danny Coulombe on the pater-nity list. Transferred LHP Devin Smeltzerand RHP Randy Dobnak to the 60-day IL.Recalled RHP Beau Burrows from St. Paul(Triple-A East). Selected the contract ofRHP Juan Minaya from St. Paul and agreedto terms on a major league contract.

NEW YORK YANKEES — Agreed to termsSS Andrew Velazquez on a minor leaguecontract.

OAKLAND ATHLETICS — Reinstated OFMark Canha from the 10-day IL. OptionedOF Skye Bolt to Las Vegas (Triple-A West).

SEATTLE MARINERS — Returned RHPWill Vest (Rule 5 Draft) to Detroit afterclearing waivers.

TAMPA BAY RAYS — Sent RHP ChrisArcher to Durham (Triple-A East) on a re-hab assignment.

TEXAS RANGERS — Reinstated 1B/C SamHuff from the 60-day IL and optioned himto Frisco (Double-A Central) on a rehab as-signment. Designated RHP Tyler Phillipsfor assignment.

National LeagueARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS — Reinstated

RHP Zac Gallen from the 10-day IL.ATLANTA BRAVES — Designated C Jo-

nathan Lucroy for assignment.CHICAGO CUBS — Sent RHP Rowan Wick

to South Bend (High-A Central) on a rehabassignment. Sent 2B David Bote to Iowa(Triple-A East) on a rehab assignment.

LOS ANGELES DODGERS — Sent SS CoreySeager and RHP Edwin Uceta to ACL Dodg-ers (AL) on a rehab assignment.

MIAMI MARLINS — Placed RHP Pablo Lo-pez on the 10-day IL, retroactive to July 14.Reinstated RHP John Curtiss from the 10-day IL. Optioned RHP Jordan Holloway toJacksonville (Triple-A East). Agreed toterms with RHP Cody Mincey on a minorleague contract.

MILWAUKEE BREWERS — Sent RHP Dy-lan File to Wisconsin (High-A Central) on arehab assignment. Recalled LHP AngelPerdomo from Nashville (Triple-A East).Placed RHP Devin Williams on the 10-dayIL.

NEW YORK METS — Placed SS FranciscoLindor on the 10-day IL. Recalled 2B TravisBlankenhorn from Syracuse (Triple-AEast).

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES — ReinstatedRHP Connor Brogdon from the 10-day IL.Optioned RHP Mauricio Llovera to LehighValley (Triple-A East). Agreed to termswith RHP Andrew Painter on a minorleague contract.

PITTSBURGH PIRATES — Reinstated RFGregory Polanco from the 10-day IL. Op-tioned 3B Rodolfo Castro to Indianapolis(Triple-A East). Sent LHP Steven to Indi-anapolis on a rehab assignment.

SAN DIEGO PADRES — Reinstated LHPsBlake Snell and Drew Pomeranz from the10-day IL. Optioned RHP James Norwoodto El Paso (Triple-A West).

SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS — Sent RHP Aa-ron Sanchez to Sacramento (Triple-AWest) on a rehab assignment.

HOCKEYNational Hockey League

ARIZONA COYOTES — Acquired G JosefKorenar and a 2022 second-round draftpick from San Jose in exchange for G AdinHill and a 2022 seventh round draft pick.Acquired F Andrew Ladd, a 2021 second-round draft pick, a conditional 2022 sec-ond-round draft pick and a conditional2023 third-round draft pick from the NewYork Islanders.

DALLAS STARS — Signed D Miro Heiska-nen to an eight-year contract extension,which will run through the 2028-29 season.

PHILADELPHIA FLYERS — Acquired DRyan Ellis from Nashville in exchange for DPhilippe Myers and F Nolan Patrick.

TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING — Signed D Fre-drik Claesson to a one-year, two-way con-tract. Acquired a 2022 seventh-round draftpick from the New York Rangers in ex-change for F Barclay Goodrow.

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS — Signed G Jo-seph Woll to a one-year, two-way exten-sion contract. Acquired F Jared McCannfrom Pittsburgh in exchange for F Filip Hal-lander and a 2023 seventh-round draftpick.

VANCOUVER CANUCKS — Acquired F Ja-son Dickinson from Dallas in exchange fora 2021 third-round draft pick.

VEGAS KNIGHTS — Acquired F Nolan Pa-trick from Nashville in exchange for F CodyGlass. Acquired F Brett Howden from theNew York Rangers in exchange for D NickDeSimone and a 2022 fourth-round draftpick.

DEALS

Hall of Fame Open

SaturdayAt International Tennis Hall of Fame

Newport, R.I.Purse: $466,870Surface: Grass

(seedings in parentheses):Men’s Singles

Semifinals

Kevin Anderson (8), South Africa, def.Alexander Bublik (1), Kazakhstan, 4-6, 7-6(3), 7-5.

Jenson Brooksby, United States, def. Jor-dan Thompson (7), Australia, 6-3, 7-6 (3).

Men’s DoublesSemifinals

Vasek Pospisil, Canada, and Austin Kraj-icek, United States, def. Joao Sousa, Portu-gal, and Jordan Thompson, Australia,walkover.

Jack Sock and William Blumberg, UnitedStates, def. Jonathan Erlich, Israel, andSantiago Gonzalez (2), Mexico, 7-6 (0), 6-3.

Hungarian Grand PrixSaturday

At Europe Tennis CenterBudapest, Hungary

Purse: $235,238Surface: Red clay

(seedings in parentheses):Women's Singles

Semifinals

Yulia Putintseva (1), Kazakhstan, def.Dalma Galfi, Hungary, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2.

Women's DoublesSemifinalsMihaela Buzarnescu, Romania, and Fan-

ny Stollar, Hungary, def. Sara Errani, Italy,and Irina Bara, Romania, walkover.

Women's DoublesChampionship

Mihaela Buzarnescu, Romania, and Fan-ny Stollar, Hungary, def. Tamara Kor-patsch, Germany, and Aliona Bolsova Za-doinov, Spain, 6-4, 6-4.

Swedish OpenSaturday

At Bastad Tennis StadiumBastad, SwedenPurse: $419,470

Surface: Red clayMen's Singles

Semifinals

Federico Coria, Argentina, def. YannickHanfmann, Germany, 6-2, 6-1.

Casper Ruud (1), Norway, def. RobertoCarballes Baena, Spain, 6-1, 6-4.

Men's DoublesSemifinals

Andre Begemann, Germany, and AlbanoOlivetti, France, def. Marco Cecchinato,Italy, and Roberto Carballes Baena, Spain,walkover.

David Pel and Sander Arends, Nether-lands, def. Pablo Cuevas, Uruguay, andFabrice Martin (3), France, 2-6, 7-5, 10-7.

TENNIS

Tour de FranceSaturday

20th StageA 30.8-km (19.1-mile) ride from Libourne

to Saint-Emilion1. Wout Van Aert, Belgium, Jumbo-Vis-

ma, 35m 53s.2. Kasper Asgreen, Denmark, Deceu-

ninck-QuickStep, 21s behind.3. Jonas Vingegaard, Denmark, Jumbo-

Visma, 32s behind.4. Stefan Küng, Switzerland, Groupama-

FDJ, 38s behind.5. Stefan Bissegger, Switzerland, EF Edu-

cation-Nippo, 44s behind.6. Mattia Cattaneo, Italy, Deceuninck-

QuickStep, 49s behind.7. Mikkel Bjerg, Denmark, UAE Team

Emirates, 52s behind.8. Tadej Pogacar, Slovenia, UAE Team

Emirates, 57s behind.9. Magnus Cort, Denmark, EF Education-

Nippo, 1m 00s behind.10. Dylan van Baarle, Netherlands, Ineos

Grenadiers, 1m 21s behind.Also

11. Brandon McNulty, United States, UAETeam Emirates, 1m 35s behind.

24. Neilson Powless, United States, EFEducation-Nippo, 2m 16s behind.

Overall Standings1. Tadej Pogacar, Slovenia, UAE Team

Emirates, 80h 16m 59s.2. Jonas Vingegaard, Denmark, Jumbo-

Visma, 5m 20s behind.3. Richard Carapaz, Ecuador, Ineos Gre-

nadiers, 7m 03s behind.4. Ben O'Connor, Australia, AG2R Citroën

Team, 10m 02s behind.5. Wilco Kelderman, Netherlands, Bora-

Hansgrohe, 10m 13s behind.6. Enric Mas Nicolau, Spain, Movistar

Team, 11m 43s behind.7. Alexey Lutsenko, Kazakhstan, Asta-

na-Premier Tech, 12m 23s behind.8. Guillaume Martin, France, Cofidis, 15m

33s behind.9. Pello Bilbao Lopez De Armentia, Spain,

Bahrain Victorious, 16m 04s behind.10. Rigoberto Uran, Colombia, EF Educa-

tion-Nippo, 18m 34s behind.Also

33. Sepp Kuss, United States, Jumbo-Vis-ma, 1h 50m 04s behind.

44. Neilson Powless, United States, EFEducation-Nippo, 2h 13m 33s behind.

71. Brandon McNulty, United States, UAETeam Emirates, 2h 50m 53s behind.

131. Sean Bennett, United States, Qhube-ka-NextHash, 4h 07m 42s behind.

CYCLING

SEATTLE — The memory and

feeling is still fresh a few years

later for Kelly McCrimmon, and

he’s sure it will be for Ron Fran-

cis, too.

It’s very surreal, McCrimmon

recalled, to have the entire NHL

hit pause and wait for your deci-

sions that will influence the rest

of the league’s landscape. It hap-

pened four years ago for

McCrimmon and the Vegas

Golden Knights ahead of their

expansion draft.

And it’s about to happen for

Francis and the Seattle Kraken.

“When you finally get the list,

the hockey world stands still

waiting for you. That’s a really

different feeling,” said McCrim-

mon, the current Vegas general

manager and assistant GM to

George McPhee four years ago.

“It’ll never happen again in their

careers. It never happened again

in our careers. But when you get

that list, everyone is waiting for

you. There’s no one making a

trade, there’s no one having dis-

cussions. The hockey world is

going through Seattle for that pe-

riod of time after those lists are

submitted. That’s a unique once-

in-a-lifetime feeling.”

The NHL pause arrived Satur-

day after a busy day of league-

wide deals that helped teams so-

lidify rosters and make decisions

on what players would exposed

to Seattle ahead of next Wednes-

day’s expansion draft.

Teams submitted their pro-

tected player lists to the league

Saturday, and those who are pro-

tected — or more importantly

left unprotected — will be re-

leased early Sunday. From

there, it will be a three-day

whirlwind of decisions, phone

calls and likely some deals on the

side that will eventually make up

the Kraken roster that gets an-

nounced.

“This has been a long jour-

ney,” Francis said Saturday.

“Our people have worked ex-

tremely hard in some tough sit-

uations, with COVID and having

to watch certain things on video

versus live. Finally getting to

watch some stuff live. The intro-

duction of a taxi squad changed

things dramatically ... and ulti-

mately it challenges us a little bit

more of what we’re doing. But

our guys have worked extremely

hard to get to this point and I

think everybody’s just excited

that tomorrow morning we’re

going to get these lists, and in

three days we’re gonna an-

nounce it.”

Francis, who was hired two

years ago Sunday as the first GM

of the Kraken, said his staff has

gone through hundreds of mock

drafts over the past 18 months

building toward the decisions

that will be made this week. Seat-

tle has certain minimums it must

meet in the expansion draft, in-

cluding selecting at least 20 play-

ers who are under contract for

next season and have salaries to-

taling at least $48 million.

Ultimately, those 80 or so

hours between the release of the

protected lists Sunday morning

and the announcement of Seat-

tle’s roster on Wednesday night

will show how well other general

managers learned from what Ve-

gas accomplished four years ago

and how well Francis and his

staff were able to counter.

“Teams knew we were coming

and they’ve had four years to

prepare,” Francis said.

TED S. WARREN/AP

Visitors view the ice and seating areas of Climate Pledge Arena duringa media tour of the facility Monday in Seattle.

Kraken anxiouslyawait player listsbefore expansion

BY TIM BOOTH

Associated Press

Monday, July 19, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 19

American League

East Division

W L Pct GB

Boston 56 37 .602 _

Tampa Bay 54 38 .587 1½

Toronto 46 42 .523 7½

New York 47 44 .516 8

Baltimore 29 62 .319 26

Central Division

W L Pct GB

Chicago 55 36 .604 _

Cleveland 46 43 .517 8

Detroit 42 51 .452 14

Minnesota 39 52 .429 16

Kansas City 37 54 .407 18

West Division

W L Pct GB

Houston 56 37 .602 _

Oakland 53 41 .564 3½

Seattle 49 44 .527 7

Los Angeles 46 45 .505 9

Texas 35 56 .385 20

National League

East Division

W L Pct GB

New York 47 42 .528 _

Philadelphia 45 45 .500 2½

Atlanta 45 46 .495 3

Washington 42 48 .467 5½

Miami 40 51 .440 8

Central Division

W L Pct GB

Milwaukee 55 39 .585 _

Cincinnati 48 44 .522 6

Chicago 46 46 .500 8

St. Louis 45 47 .489 9

Pittsburgh 36 56 .391 18

West Division

W L Pct GB

San Francisco 58 33 .637 _

Los Angeles 58 35 .624 1

San Diego 54 40 .574 5½

Colorado 40 53 .430 19

Arizona 26 68 .277 33½

Saturday’s games

Detroit 1, Minnesota 0, 1st game; Detroit5, Minnesota 4, 8 innings, 2nd game

Cleveland 3, Oakland 2Atlanta 9, Tampa Bay 0N.Y. Yankees 3, Boston 1, 6 inningsChicago White Sox 10, Houston 1Baltimore 8, Kansas City 4L.A. Angels 9, Seattle 4Texas at Toronto, ppd.Chicago Cubs 4, Arizona 2St. Louis 3, San Francisco 1Pittsburgh 9, N.Y. Mets 7L.A. Dodgers 9, Colorado 2Milwaukee 7, Cincinnati 4, 11 inningsMiami at Philadelphia, susSan Diego at Washington, sus.

Sunday’s games

Texas at Toronto, 2Minnesota at DetroitTampa Bay at AtlantaBaltimore at Kansas CityHouston at Chicago White SoxCleveland at OaklandSeattle at L.A. AngelsBoston at N.Y. YankeesMiami at Philadelphia, 2N.Y. Mets at PittsburghSan Diego at Washington, 2Milwaukee at CincinnatiSan Francisco at St. LouisL.A. Dodgers at ColoradoChicago Cubs at Arizona

Monday’s games

Minnesota (TBD, TBD) at Chicago WhiteSox (Lynn 9-3, TBD), 2

Boston (Pivetta 7-4) at Toronto (Strip-ling 3-5)

Baltimore (Watkins 1-0) at Tampa Bay(TBD),

Texas (Gibson 6-1) at Detroit (TBD)Cleveland (Mejía 1-4) at Houston (Garcia

6-5)L.A. Angels (Ohtani 4-1) at Oakland

(TBD)Miami (Rogers 7-6) at Washington (TBD)N.Y. Mets (TBD) at Cincinnati (Gutierrez

4-3)San Diego (Darvish 7-3) at Atlanta (TBD)Chicago Cubs (TBD) at St. Louis (TBD)Pittsburgh (De Jong 1-3) at Arizona

(Smith 2-6)San Francisco (TBD) at L.A. Dodgers

(TBD)Tuesday's games

L.A. Angels at OaklandPhiladelphia at N.Y. YankeesBoston at TorontoBaltimore at Tampa BayTexas at DetroitCleveland at HoustonKansas City at MilwaukeeMinnesota at Chicago White SoxSeattle at ColoradoMiami at WashingtonN.Y. Mets at CincinnatiSan Diego at AtlantaChicago Cubs at St. LouisPittsburgh at ArizonaSan Francisco at L.A. Dodgers

Scoreboard

MLB

WASHINGTON  —  The  game

between the San Diego Padres and

Washington was suspended in the

sixth inning Saturday night after a

shooting  outside  Nationals  Park

that caused echoes of gunfire in­

side  the  stadium  and  prompted

fans to scramble for safety in the

dugout.

The  shooting,  an  exchange  of

gunfire  between  people  in  two

cars, left three people injured, ac­

cording  to  Ashan  Benedict,  the

Metropolitan Police Department’s

executive  assistant  police  chief.

One of  the people who was shot

was a woman who was attending

the  game  and  who  was  struck

while she was outside the stadium,

he said. Her injuries weren’t con­

sidered life­threatening.

Two people who were in one of

the cars later walked into a local

hospital with gunshot wounds and

were being questioned by investi­

gators, Benedict said, and the ex­

tent of their injuries wasn’t imme­

diately  clear.  Investigators  were

still trying to locate the second ve­

hicle involved in the shooting.

The  gunshots  caused  panic

among  fans  inside  the  stadium,

some of whom ducked for cover,

hiding underneath tables and be­

hind seats as announcers warned

people to stay inside the park.

The Padres had just taken the

field  for  the bottom of  the  sixth

when  several  loud  pops  were

heard from the left field side of the

ballpark.

Fans sitting in left field quickly

began leaving through the center

field gate. A short time later, fans

along  the  first  base  side  began

briskly leaving their seats.

Some fans crowded into the Pa­

dres’ dugout on the third base side

for  cover,  while  sirens  could  be

heard from outside the park.

The  Padres  led  8­4  when  the

game  was  halted.  It  will  be  re­

sumed  Sunday  afternoon,  fol­

lowed by the regularly scheduled

game.

Yankees 3, Red Sox 1 (6): Ger­

rit Cole  (10­4)  struck out 11 and

host New York beat Boston  in a

game called after six innings be­

cause of heavy rain.

Gary  Sánchez  and  Gleyber

Torres hit back­to­back homers in

the sixth off Hirokazu Sawamura

(4­1) as the Yankees beat the rival

Red Sox for the first time in eight

meetings this year.

Cubs 4, Diamondbacks 2:Will­

son Contreras capped a three­run

ninth  inning  with  a  two­run

homer,  sending  visiting  Chicago

past Arizona.

Chicago was down 2­1 before it

rallied with two out in the ninth.

Rafael Ortega doubled and scored

on  Robinson  Chirinos’  pinch­hit

single off Joakim Soria (1­4). Con­

treras then hit a drive to left for his

14th homer.

Dodgers  9,  Rockies  2: Max

Muncy  had  two  home  runs  and

four  hits,  Mookie  Betts  had  a

homer among his four extra­base

hits before leaving with a hip prob­

lem and visiting Los Angeles won

its fourth straight.

Walker Buehler  (10­1) pitched

seven strong innings to reach dou­

ble digits in wins. He set down the

last 13 batters he faced after yield­

ing a double with two outs to Ryan

McMahon  in  the  bottom  of  the

third.

Angels 9, Mariners 4: David

Fletcher  extended  the  second­

longest  hitting  streak  in  Angels

history to 26 games with three dou­

bles  and  five  RBIs,  and  Taylor

Ward homered and drove in three

runs in host Los Angeles’ victory

over Seattle.

Alex Cobb (7­3) yielded five hits

over  6 2⁄�3 innings.  Jack  Mayfield

and Taylor Ward (three hits) also

homered for the Angels.

Tigers 1­5, Twins 0­4: Miguel

Cabrera’s bloop single scored Jo­

nathan Schoop from first base, and

host Detroit beat Minnesota for a

doubleheader sweep.

The second game was tied at 3

after seven innings, and the Twins

went in front when pinch­runner

Nick Gordon scored on a wild pitch

by Joe Jiménez (3­1) in the eighth.

But the Tigers rallied in the bot­

tom half. Schoop hit a tying RBI

single off Taylor Rogers (2­4). Af­

ter Robbie Grossman struck out,

Cabrera dropped a hit into shallow

center as Schoop raced around the

bases.

Detroit  kicked  off  the  double­

header with a victory. Grossman

hit a leadoff homer, and four pitch­

ers combined on a two­hitter.

White Sox 10, Astros 1: Lucas

Giolito pitched a three­hitter, José

Abreu  launched  a  three­run

homer  and  host  Chicago  beat

Houston in a matchup of AL divi­

sion leaders.

Tim Anderson (three hits), Zack

Collins and rookies Gavin Sheets

and Jake Burger also went deep as

the White Sox broke out against

the Astros. Giolito (8­6) struck out

eight  and  walked  none  while

throwing 107 pitches in his fifth ca­

reer complete game.

Pirates 9, Mets 7: Jacob Stall­

ings’ grand slam in the bottom of

the ninth inning off closer Edwin

Díaz rallied host Pittsburgh over

stunned New York.

Trailing 6­0, the Pirates scored

all their runs in the final two in­

nings — five in the eighth and four

in the ninth. Stallings got his sixth

career game­ending RBI.

Indians 3, Athletics 2: Franmil

Reyes hit his 15th home run into a

luxury  suite  in  center  field,  and

visiting  Cleveland  beat  Oakland

for its fourth win in five games

Cal Quantrill (2­2) threw five ef­

fective innings to win his second

consecutive  start,  finishing  with

five  strikeouts  and  allowing  one

run. James Karinchak pitched the

ninth for his 10th save.

Braves 9, Rays 0:Joc Pederson

hit  a  two­run  homer  in  his  first

start with host Atlanta, Max Fried

had a two­run double among three

hits  while  throwing  seven  dom­

inant innings and the Braves shut

out Tampa Bay.

Fried (7­5) did not allow a base­

runner to reach second. The left­

hander gave up four hits with one

walk and had seven strikeouts.

Brewers 7, Reds 4 (11): Chris­

tian Yelich doubled home the go­

ahead run in the 11th inning and

visiting Milwaukee beat Cincinna­

ti to widen its lead in the NL Cen­

tral.

The Reds loaded the bases in the

bottom  of  the  11th,  but  with  an

empty bench, manager David Bell

sent  pitcher  Wade  Miley  up  to

pinch hit for reliever Ryan Hen­

drix. He grounded out to second to

end the game.

Cardinals 3, Giants 1: Kwang

Hyun Kim tossed six shutout in­

nings,  Tyler  O’Neill  and  Paul

Goldschmidt homered and host St.

Louis  snapped  San  Francisco’s

five­game winning streak.

Kim (5­5) has not allowed a run

over his last 21 innings, covering

three  starts.  The  South  Korean­

born left­hander was pitching in

front of his wife and two children

for  the  first  time  in  the  United

States.

Orioles  8,  Royals  4: Ryan

Mountcastle  and  Ramón  Urias

each had  two RBIs, and visiting

Baltimore ended a five­game los­

ing streak by beating Kansas City. 

The Orioles got six consecutive

hits in a five­run third inning as

they chased starter Brady Singer

and opened a 7­0 lead.

Marlins 2, Phillies 2 (Suspend­

ed): The  game  between  visiting

Miami and Philadelphia was sus­

pended due to rain with no outs in

the  top  of  the  10th  inning.  The

game will resume on Sunday, fol­

lowed by the regularly scheduled

series finale.

The Phillies appeared headed to

their ninth win in 13 games before

the Marlins tied it with a pair of

runs in the ninth off Ranger Suá­

rez, who blew his first save in his

fourth chance since being elevat­

ed to the closer role.

ROUNDUP

Shooting outside park halts Nats game

JOHN MCDONNELL, THE WASHINGTON POST/AP

Fans jump into a camera well after hearing gunfire from outside the stadium during a game between theSan Diego Padres and the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C., on Saturday.

Associated Press

PAGE 20 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Monday, July 19, 2021

OLYMPICS

April Ross was 24 years old when she

first started playing beach volleyball, the

sport that would eventually send her to four

Olympics.

At that age, Sarah Sponcil is already

headed to the Summer Games.

Sponcil and her 25-year-old partner, Kel-

ly Claes, are the first generation to come up

through an NCAA beach volleyball pro-

gram that didn’t exist until 2012 — long af-

ter Ross graduated from Southern Califor-

nia. They are the youngest U.S. beach team

ever to qualify for the Olympics.

“This kind of shows what having college

beach volleyball can do,” Claes said in a re-

cent interview as she prepared for the To-

kyo Olympics. “There’s just so many more

opportunities for women to play. I think it’s

incredible, and I think the sport is only go-

ing to get better and better in the States.”

And just in time.

One of two traditional powers in beach

volleyball, joining with Brazil to win 20 of

the first 30 medals after the sport joined the

Olympic program in 1996, the United States

has been losing ground of late. Europeans

claimed four of the six men’s podium spots

in London and Rio de Janeiro; Germans

Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst won

gold in 2016.

Where the U.S. has been competitive, it is

skewing old: Ross, now 39, and Kerri Walsh

Jennings, now 42, were the only U.S. team

to medal in Rio — the Americans’ worst

haul since 2000. Tokyo will be the fourth

Summer Games for both Jake Gibb, who at

45 is the oldest Olympic volleyball player

(beach or indoor) ever, and Phil Dalhauss-

er, who is 41.

Walsh Jennings, who won three gold

medals with Misty May-Treanor, will miss

the Olympics for the first time since 1996

after being edged out by Claes and Sponcil

in the second-to-last week of qualifying.

(Ross is teamed with 31-year-old Alix Kli-

neman.)

“For a long time, the U.S. was Kerri and

Misty. All the other countries caught up and

passed us,” Claes said. “This is the U.S.’s

big push to get back on top, and I think it’s

our time to lead the charge in this new era.”

Invented in the Roaring ’20s at a Parisian

nudist colony and popularized on coastlines

from California to Copacabana, beach vol-

leyball first joined the Olympic program in

Atlanta. Early stars like Karch Kiraly and

Walsh Jennings tended to be transplants

from the indoor game.

That changed in 2012, when the NCAA

added beach volleyball as an “emerging

sport for women,” encouraging schools to

field varsity teams; three years later, it was

granted full championship status. There

are now 64 Division I teams recognized by

the NCAA, many of them in traditional

spots like California and Florida but others

spread along the Gulf Coast and some in

landlocked volleyball hotbeds like Nebras-

ka.

With college as an option — and, as im-

portantly, receiving a scholarship to play —

athletes are no longer just migrating to the

beach after their indoor careers are over.

And it shows.

“You can just see their style of play is a lot

different than some of us who have been

around for a lot longer,” Ross said.

“They’ve really pushed the sport to a higher

level and it’s just going to keep becoming

tougher and tougher to play.”

Claes, who grew up playing beach volley-

ball, won back-to-back NCAA titles at USC.

Sponcil began indoors at Loyola Mary-

mount before transferring to the beach

team at UCLA, where she also earned two

titles.

Tina Graudina, who was a member of the

Trojans’ 2021 championship team, will

compete in Tokyo for Latvia.

“We all saw it coming,” said Dain Blan-

ton, who won the beach gold medal in Syd-

ney and now coaches the USC team. “When

this movement took place, 2012, to get colle-

giate beach volleyball started on the wom-

en’s side, you just knew it was going to be

this grassroots movement to produce all

this talent.”

Blanton, who grew up less than two miles

from the Pacific Ocean in Laguna Beach,

Calif., knew the beach was in his future. But

indoor was his only opportunity for a col-

lege scholarship; he was an All-American

at Pepperdine, where he led the Waves to

the 1992 NCAA title. (There is still no NCAA

beach volleyball program for men.)

Although the sports overlap on equip-

ment and some rules, the six-person indoor

version relies more on power and leaping

than the two-person beach game. Starting

earlier on the sand, Blanton said, has given

players like Claes and Sponcil a head start

on the techniques and strategy specific to

their discipline.

They also have earlier access to coaching

and training they need.

“A lot of beach players, you roll the balls

out and do your thing. Whereas now, in col-

lege, you have this basis of training — you

learn how to practice, travel,” he said. “It

translates, and you can learn the game

quickly.”

For Claes and Sponcil, that meant hitting

the Olympic qualifying tour with experi-

ence from already playing in big tourna-

ments in their teens and 20s. Sponcil said

she watched a recent NCAA beach cham-

pionship and “it was amazing to see how the

sport has grown.”

“There’s so many great athletes coming

out of college these days,” she said.

And she is among them.

“It’s crazy, because we just have so many

years in front of us,” she said. “To be so

young, we’re going to have so much experi-

ence under our belts. And it’s going to help

us down the road.”

For new generation, pathwas through NCAA beach

MPU DINANI, ASSOCIATION OF VOLLEYBALL PROFESSIONALS/AP

Kelly Claes, left, and Sarah Sponcil during a match at the AVP Champions Cup in LongBeach, Calif., last summer. They're part of the first generation of college beachvolleyball players to reach the Olympics.

BY JIMMY GOLEN

Associated Press

TOKYO — Two South African

soccer players have become the

first athletes inside the Olympic

Village to test positive for CO-

VID-19, with the Tokyo Games

opening on Friday.

An official with the South Afri-

can soccer team also tested posi-

tive, as did a fourth member of

South Africa’s contingent, the

head coach of the rugby sevens

team. The rugby team was in a

pre-Games training camp in an-

other Japanese city.

Organizers confirmed the posi-

tive tests for the two athletes in the

Olympic Village in Tokyo on Sun-

day, but didn’t identify them other

than to say they were non-Japa-

nese.

The South African Olympic

committee later confirmed the

three COVID-19 cases in its soccer

delegation at the village — two

players and a video analyst. All

three were now in isolation at the

Tokyo 2020 isolation facility, the

South African Olympic committee

said. The players were defender

Thabiso Monyane and midfielder

Kamohelo Mahlatsi.

The rest of the South Africa soc-

cer squad had tested negative for

the virus twice and was “following

closely all the recommendations

of the local health authorities,” the

South African Olympic committee

said.

South Africa is due to play Ja-

pan in its first game of the men’s

soccer competition on Thursday

at Tokyo Stadium.

South African rugby sevens

coach Neil Powell tested positive

on Saturday and is in an isolation

facility in the southern city of Ka-

goshima, where the team is pre-

paring for the Olympics. Powell

will have to stay in isolation for 14

days and will miss the rugby sev-

ens competition, South Africa’s

national rugby body said.

Powell had been vaccinated

against COVID-19 with the one-

shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine in

South Africa on May 24, team

spokesman JJ Harmse told The

Associated Press.

South African Olympic and soc-

cer officials didn’t immediately

confirm whether the two soccer

players and official who tested

positive had been vaccinated.

South Africa’s Olympic commit-

tee said in May, however, that it

would offer all its Olympic ath-

letes going to Tokyo the J&J vac-

cine.

Tokyo Olympic organizers also

said Sunday that another athlete

had tested positive, but this person

was not residing in the Olympic

Village. This athlete was also iden-

tified as “non-Japanese.”

Also on Sunday, the first Inter-

national Olympic Committee

member was reported as positive.

He recorded a positive test on Sat-

urday upon entering a Tokyo air-

port.

The International Olympic

Committee confirmed the test and

identified him as Ryu Seung-min

of South Korea. He won an Olym-

pic gold medal in table tennis in

the 2004 Olympics.

He was reportedly being held in

isolation. Reports said he was

asymptomatic.

IOC President Thomas Bach

said last week there was “zero”

risk of athletes in the village pass-

ing on the virus to Japanese or oth-

er residents of the village.

1st positive virus tests for athletes in Olympic VillageAssociated Press

Monday, July 19, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 21

OLYMPICS

On the one hand, skateboarder Nyjah

Huston is the quintessential counterculture

sports star with a story even the best mar-

keting team could not make up: He spent

different parts of his childhood cut off from

society, living off the land, perfecting his

trade in a family-owned indoor skateboard

park.

On the other, Huston is as typical a main-

stream pitchman as can be: Already teem-

ing with an air of rebellious authenticity, he

is debuting a potentially disruptive skate-

board brand that figures only to increase

visibility for an ever-growing business built

around his own personality.

Either way, Huston is ready for the

Olympics, and the Olympics think they’re

ready for him.

As skateboarding makes its Olympic de-

but, part of that industry’s quest to get

younger and edgier, this 26-year-old gold

medal favorite might very well be the most

interesting athlete that the average fan,

steeped in the history of legacy sports such

as track, gymnastics and swimming, has

never heard of heading into the Tokyo

Games.

And where some in a sport that has lin-

gered comfortably for decades in the shad-

ows of the mainstream might be reluctant

to move into the gargantuan maw of the

Olympics, Huston is more than glad to latch

onto this monster. After all, he chose this

summer to launch his own brand, Disorder

Skateboards — the sort of move he briefly

toyed with back when he was 14 and one he

could’ve made with a snap of his fingers at

any time between then and now.

“It was always something that I feel like I

needed to be patient on and I would know

when it was the right time,” Huston said. “I

want to actually have ownership of compa-

nies and a company of my own and this is

the perfect way to do it with skateboards,

and it was also the perfect timing of getting

them out right before the Olympics.”

Huston’s first foray into becoming a front

man for his own brand came as a teenager,

after moving back to California following a

short time living in Puerto Rico. The move

to the island was part of his parents’ plan to

unplug from mainstream society. They

lived on a farm and grew their own food. It

was a far cry from Northern California,

where the family had leased a 15,000-

square-foot skatepark where Nyjah and his

three brothers and sister would practice.

Huston was a skateboarding prodigy,

buoyed by early appearances, and wins, at

the X Games and other big events. His fa-

ther, Adeyemi, managed his career and did

everything, from filming Nyjah’s skating

and editing the footage to driving the family

motorhome from event to event. Asked how

they subsisted during the years in Puerto

Rico, Huston’s mother, Kelle, said “skate-

boarding and weed — quite a combo,” in a

2014 interview with Jenkem Magazine.

“We purposely separated ourselves from

society and lived as a mini-cult.”

All of it was fine, or so it seemed, for Ny-

jah. But in his gut, he knew skateboarders

did not get rich and famous by basing them-

selves out of Puerto Rico. And he never

loved his first venture into creating his own

skateboard brand.

“I started thinking about things more at

13 and 14. I just wanted some normal spon-

sors and I wanted to live in Cali,” he said in

an in-depth 2018 interview on The Nine

Club with Chris Roberts podcast.

Huston’s mom split from his dad — “As

our children got older, I started to feel that

the strict restrictions of our lifestyle were

holding them back from progressing in

life,” Kelle said — and moved the kids back

to California.

Nyjah reconnected with his Element ska-

teboard brand and started winning awards

for videos and finding other new sponsors.

He has been estranged from his dad ever

since the move back to California. It’s not a

story he runs from. It is, in fact, part of the

biography that he himself submitted to

NBC for a Q&A on its Olympic website.

“He taught me how to be a skateboarder

in the right way,” Huston said in a recent

interview with The Associated Press. “He

knew there was more to life than just skate-

boarding. He pushed me. It wasn’t always

easy when I was a kid to skate big-ass rails

that scared ... me. He helped make me a

strong person. There are no hard feelings

there.”

Predictably, Huston’s move back to Cali-

fornia did wonders not only for his sponsor-

ships but for the competitive part of his ca-

reer, as well. He has won 12 X Games titles

and four world championships. He is worth,

depending on the source, somewhere be-

tween $10 million and $15 million. He is not

Tony Hawk, the most famous person in the

sport and maybe the only one, to this point,

to truly break into the mainstream.

But Hawk never won an Olympic gold

medal, and now those are at stake for a

sport that has never shied from competition

but has always prided itself on having

grown up on the streets and defined itself

through its clothes, its gear and its edgy life-

style.

“The big guys have to be here” at the

competitions, said one of pro skateboard-

ing’s pioneers, Mike Vallely, at a recent

Dew Tour stop in Iowa. “There’s no middle

class in skateboarding. These people are

getting paid real money by real companies

to exist in this space. There are a few ‘life-

style’ guys still out there, but that’s a

shrinking part of the culture as far as being

a professional and getting paid.”

Huston doesn’t hide from that. And no-

body in the current crop of pro skateboar-

ders has tapped into the connection be-

tween lifestyle and competition better than

this athlete-marketing genius who now

lives in Laguna Beach. Last month, he sold

out his first run of about 1,000 skateboards

in a matter of hours. He has deals with Nike,

Monster Energy and other brands. All that

will still be there no matter what happens in

the men’s street contest on July 25, where

Huston is a favorite to win skateboarding’s

first-ever Olympic gold medal but hardly

the only contender.

And though his life will go on — quite suc-

cessfully, in fact — whether he comes home

with a gold or not, make no mistake: Win-

ning has gone a long way toward building

both the brand and the person.

“I love competing,” Huston said. “I take it

really seriously. You’re not going to see me

out there having too much fun. You’re going

to see me battling with these guys in the fi-

nal. That gives me lots of joy.”

Huston brings unique brand to Tokyo

CHARLIE NEIBERGALL/AP

Nyjah Huston competes during an Olympic qualifying skateboard event at Lauridsen Skatepark on May 23 in Des Moines, Iowa.

BY EDDIE PELLS

Associated Press

CHARLIE NEIBERGALL/AP

Where some skateboarders might bereluctant to move into the realm of theOlympics, Huston is more than glad tolatch on onto this monster. Tokyo mightbe the place where people outside thesport finally get a glimpse of one of themost interesting athletes around.

PAGE 22 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Monday, July 19, 2021

BRITISH OPEN/SPORTS BRIEFS

SANDWICH, England— Col-

lin Morikawa won the British

Open on his links debut and be-

came the first player to capture

two different majors at the first

attempt.

The 24-year-old American

closed with a bogey-free, 4-un-

der 66 Sunday for a two-shot vic-

tory over Jordan Spieth to follow

up his victory at last year’s PGA

Championship on debut, just 11

months ago.

This time he did it in front of a

crowd, with 32,000 spectators at

Royal St. George’s on a day of

immaculate weather to witness a

Californian making a historic

start to his career in the majors.

Morikawa is the first player

since Bobby Jones in 1926 to win

two majors in eight or fewer

starts, and his total of 15-under

265 was a 72-hole record score at

the Sandwich links.

He made three straight birdies

from the seventh hole to over-

take Louis Oosthuizen, who was

seeking a wire-to-wire win and a

second claret jug, and then made

key par saves at Nos. 10 and 15,

pumping his first after both. A

birdie putt up and over a ridge on

the 14th green gave him a two-

stroke advantage he never lost.

By making par at the last fol-

lowing a tension-free walk to ap-

plause — and then a standing

ovation — down the 18th fairway,

Morikawa didn’t drop a shot in

his final 31 holes on a course that

has confounded many of the

world’s greatest players because

of its quirky bounces and undu-

lating fairways.

All the more remarkable was

this was his first links test.

Oosthuizen, the 2010 Open

champion and runner up at the

last two majors, had another

near miss in a career full of

them. He never recovered from

losing his lead — for the first

time since the 12th hole on Fri-

day — after making bogey by hit-

ting from one bunker to another

at the par-5 seventh hole, and

shot 71.

He tied for third place with

Jon Rahm (66).

Morikawa winssecond majoron first try

PETER MORRISON/AP

Collin Morikawa celebrates on the 18th green after winning the British Open at Royal St George’s golfcourse Sandwich, England, on Sunday. It is Morikawa’s second major championship.

American is bogey-free on final 31 holesto overcome Oosthuizen, hold off Spieth

BY STEVE DOUGLAS

Associated Press

PARIS — Tadej Pogacar won the Tour de

France for a second straight year after a

mostly ceremonial final stage to the

Champs-Elysees on Sunday in cycling’s big-

gest race.

The Slovenian rider with UAE Team

Emirates successfully defended his huge

lead of 5 minutes, 20 seconds over second-

place Jonas Vingegaard.

The 22-year-old Pogacar won his first title

last September when he became the Tour’s

youngest champion in 116 years. He is now

the youngest double winner of the race.

Wout van Aert won the 21st stage in a mass

sprint. That prevented Mark Cavendish

from beating Belgian great Eddy Merckx’s

record of 34 stage wins which the British

sprinter equaled earlier in the race.

The mostly flat 108-kilometer (67-mile)

leg began in Chatou just outside Paris and

concluded with eight laps up and down the

famed avenue.

Richard Carapaz finished third overall,

7:03 off the pace.

Pogacar and his teammates rode at the

front of the pack together as they reached

the Champs-Elysees, and the Slovenia

champion raised his fist in the air in celebra-

tion.

Pogacar’s gesture acted as a signal for

those fighting for a prestigious stage win as

the first accelerations took place. But the at-

tackers’ efforts did not pay off and the stage

ended in a mass sprint.

Cavendish, who consoled himself with the

best sprinter’s green jersey, banged his han-

dlebar in frustration after van Aert edged

Jasper Philipsen to the line. Cavendish was

third.

Stars sign Heiskanen for 8 yearsFRISCO, Texas — Miro Heiskanen signed

a $67.6 million, eight-year contract with the

Dallas Stars on Saturday, a monster deal that

puts him among the highest-paid defense-

men in the NHL.

The Stars also traded forward Jason Dick-

inson to Vancouver for a 2021 third-round

pick before rosters had to be set for the Seat-

tle expansion draft. The move was designed

to keep the club from losing the 26-year-old

to the Kraken for nothing.

Mets place deGrom on ILPITTSBURGH — The New York Mets

will place right-handed pitcher Jacob de-

Grom on the 10-day injured list with right

forearm tightness, manager Luis Rojas an-

nounced on Sunday.

The Mets ace first experienced the tight-

ness before the All-Star Game and deter-

mined on Friday that he would be unable to

make his scheduled start on Sunday. Taijuan

Walker will replace him against Pittsburgh.

DeGrom underwent an MRI on Friday

that confirmed the issue is in his forearm

and that there is no structural damage to his

elbow. Rojas said the injury is not related to

the forearm flexor injury that deGrom had

earlier this season.

In other MLB news:

■ Henry Davis didn’t mess around nego-

tiating with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Davis

practically sprinted to the bargaining table

to get something done, signing with Pitts-

burgh on Sunday just a week after baseball

Commissioner Rob Manfred called his

name.

Davis agreed to a signing bonus of $6.5

million, nearly $2 million below the slot val-

ue of $8.4 million. The deal frees Pittsburgh

up to spend money on some of its other 20

picks as the team stockpiles talent as part of

a top-to-bottom reset under general manag-

er Ben Cherington.

■ Lance Lynn is enjoying his first season

on the South Side of Chicago, and the White

Sox feel the same way. So they solidified

their relationship on Saturday, announcing a

$38 million, two-year contract for the All-

Star right-hander covering 2022-23.

Lynn is 9-3 with an AL-best 1.99 ERA in 16

starts. He was acquired in a December trade

with the Rangers for right-hander Dane

Dunning and lefty Avery Weems.

BRIEFLY

Pogacar wins second straight Tour de FranceAssociated Press

Monday, July 19, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 23

now coming off some roster re-

vamping following the virus-relat-

ed withdrawal of Bradley Beal

and an injury-related withdrawal

by Kevin Love. Keldon Johnson

and JaVale McGee take their

place.

It looks like the U.S. absolutely

will need Holiday, Middleton and

Booker if it’s going to get the job

done in Tokyo. And there’s a very

real chance that the Americans

will have no more than one prac-

tice with their entire Olympic

team together before they open

their quest for a fourth consecu-

tive gold medal next Sunday in To-

kyo against France.

It was never going to be easy for

the U.S.; having almost no time as

a team together before things get

real in Tokyo will only make it that

much tougher.

“I have watched the games,”

Popovich said a few days ago

when asked if he’s watching the

NBA Finals while on USA Basket-

ball duty in Las Vegas. “I have to

admit that I watch three guys

more than I watched the teams. I

just can’t help myself. I keep

watching them, I keep hoping that

they stay healthy. And then, we all

think about what would be the best

way to include them and blend

them into the group. There’s no

formula for that.”

He didn’t say which three guys.

He didn’t have to. It’s obvious.

USA Basketball knew it was

rolling the dice by choosing play-

ers that had a shot of going to the

NBA Finals, but had no choice giv-

en the timeframe. They ended up

with three and it could have been

more; the Americans took a run at

getting Phoenix’s Chris Paul to

commit to Tokyo, but he ultimate-

ly decided not to play on the team.

The plane carrying the Olympic

team — some of it, anyway — to

Tokyo leaves Las Vegas on Mon-

day morning. Middleton, Holiday

and Booker won’t be on that flight;

they’ll be at their real jobs.

Popovich can’t be thrilled about

that part, of course. But he must

have been downright giddy with

how his Olympic trio did Saturday

night, particularly at crunch time.

Middleton — who has picked

the perfect time to play the series

of his life — made a stepback three

to put Milwaukee up eight with

2:23 remaining. Booker answered

on the next possession to get the

Suns within six, then a three-

pointer with 1:24 left to cut the

lead to 120-117. And when Phoenix

was within one, it was Holiday

who stripped Booker and then

found Giannis Antetokounmpo for

an alley-oop dunk with 13.5 sec-

onds remaining.

Popovich has deep ties with Bu-

denholzer and Phoenix coach

Monty Williams. He’ll be thrilled

for whichever coach wins this se-

ries and heartbroken for the one

that loses. But it’s a safe bet that he

might be pulling for the Bucks on

Tuesday night to end this series —

and therefore get the Olympians

to the Olympics as quickly as pos-

sible.

“I think it’s going to be a little bit

by the seat of the pants because

there’s no formula to go by,” Pop-

ovich said. “It depends how the

team is doing and the condition of

the players here, what we think we

need. Our first game is France so

we’ll look in terms of what fits

might work best, but it’s not going

to be like they’re going to come

and sit for a week and get ready.

They’re going to have to come in

and play.”

Even a successful coach like

Popovich isn’t sure how this will

work. But if Holiday, Middleton

and Booker bring this form to To-

kyo, the struggling Americans

could be just fine.

Punch: US will have little time as team before Games beginFROM PAGE 24

NBA FINALS

PHOENIX — Jrue Holiday

seized his chance to give the Mil-

waukee Bucks the lead in the NBA

Finals.

Took it right out of Devin Book-

er’s hands, actually.

Holiday’s steal and alley-oop

pass to Giannis Antetokounmpo

for a dunk sealed a wild Game 5

and gave the Bucks a 123-119 vic-

tory over the Phoenix Suns on Sat-

urday night.

“It’s who he is,” teammate Pat

Connaughton said. “He’s a win-

ner.”

For the first time in 50 years, the

Bucks have a chance to be win-

ners, too.

Antetokounmpo had 32 points,

nine rebounds and six assists.

Khris Middleton added 29 points,

and Holiday had 27 points and 13

assists.

The Bucks fought their way out

of an early 16-point hole by flirting

with the best-shooting night in

NBA Finals history, but then won

it by making a huge defensive play

for the second consecutive game.

They can win their first title

since 1971 on Tuesday night in

Milwaukee.

“Obviously we know what the

deal is. It’s one game away from

being the NBA champ,” said Ante-

tokounmpo, whose postgame

press conference was delayed be-

cause he was dehydrated.

Booker had 40 points, his sec-

ond straight 40-plus-point game.

But with the Suns rallying and

down one with 16 seconds left, he

drove into the middle and Holiday

wrestled the ball out of his hands.

“I was just trying to score the

ball, he was behind me,” Booker

said. “I turned and he was right

there.”

Antetokounmpo sprinted down

the court to his right and Holiday

— rather than pulling the ball out

to run the clock down — fired a

perfect lob pass that the Greek

Freak slammed down while Chris

Paul fouled him to make it 122-119.

“Giannis took off and he was

calling for the ball,” Holiday said.

“At that point, I just threw it as

high as I could and only where

Giannis could go get it,”

Antetokounmpo missed the free

throw, but the Bucks grabbed the

rebound and Middleton made one

free throw for the final point of the

night.

Before the defensive stand, Mil-

waukee’s offense was the story.

The Bucks made 32 of 45 shots in

the middle two quarters, outscor-

ing the Suns 79-53 during that

stretch.

Milwaukee became the first

road team to win in the series and

with one more victory will com-

plete its second 2-0 comeback in

this postseason — along with the

fifth in NBA Finals history.

Game 5 winners of a tied series

have won the series 21 of 29 times

in the NBA Finals.

“We’ve got to win one game to

put them back on the plane. That’s

it,” Suns coach Monty Williams

said. “And you have to have that

determination that you’re willing

to do whatever it takes to put them

back on the plane.”

Paul had 21 points and 11 assists,

and Deandre Ayton finished with

20 points and 10 rebounds. But the

Suns missed a chance to move

within a victory of their first

championship and will need a vic-

tory at Fiserv Forum to bring the

series back to the desert for Game

7 on Thursday night.

“We knew this wasn’t going to

be easy. We didn’t expect it to be.

It’s hard,” Paul said. “Coach said it

all year long, everything we want

is on the other side of hard and it

don’t get no harder than this.”

Milwaukee was at 62.1% shoot-

ing after three quarters, threaten-

ing to challenge Orlando’s 62.5%

mark against the Lakers in Game

3of the 2009 Finals. Holiday’s bas-

ket had the Bucks in good shape at

108-94 with about 9 minutes re-

maining, but the Suns put together

a push in the final minutes.

Down 10 with just under 3½

minutes left, the Suns got a three

from Booker and a basket by Paul

to cut it to 120-119 with 56 seconds

to play. Holiday missed a jumper,

but that didn’t matter once the de-

fensive ace of the Bucks backcourt

took it back from Booker.

Bucks edge Suns in Game 5, take 3-2 leadBY BRIAN MAHONEY

Associated Press

ROSS D. FRANKLIN/AP

Milwaukee forward Giannis Antetokounmpo dunks over Phoenix Suns guard Chris Paul during the secondhalf of Game 5 on Saturday in Phoenix. Antetokounmpo scored 32 points as the Bucks won 123­119.

(Best­of­seven)x­if necessary

Milwaukee �3, Phoenix 2Phoenix 118, Milwaukee 105Phoenix 118, Milwaukee 108Milwaukee 120, Phoenix 100Milwaukee 109, Phoenix 103Saturday: Milwaukee 123, Phoenix 119Tuesday: at Milwaukee, AFN-Sports, 3

a.m. Wednesday CET; 10 a.m. WednesdayJKT

x­Thursday: at Phoenix, AFN-Sports, 3a.m. Friday CET; 10 a.m. Friday JKT

Scoreboard

The happiest basketball coach in the world right

now should be Milwaukee’s Mike Budenhol-

zer, since he’s one win away from the NBA title.

The second-happiest should be USA Basket-

ball’s Gregg Popovich.

Consider what Jrue Holiday, Khris Middleton and Devin

Booker did in Game 5 of the NBA Finals on Saturday night:

They combined for 96 points, all scoring between 27 and 40.

They were in top form, which was great news for USA Bas-

ketball.

Game 6 of the Finals is Tuesday in Milwaukee, when the

Bucks can win their first title in 50 years. Game 7, if neces-

sary, is Thursday in Phoenix. When the series is over Holi-

day, Middleton and Booker will trade their green, white and

orange uniforms for red, white and blue at the Tokyo Olym-

pics. They all say they’re going to honor the commitment to

play, even though the Finals will have just ended and then a

flight halfway around the world awaits.

The Americans have not exactly been a high-oc-

tane steamrolling machine in their Tokyo tune-ups,

with a 1-2 record in three exhibitions in Las Vegas and

MATT YORK/AP

Bucks forward Khris Middleton scored 29 pointsSaturday night as Milwaukee took a 3­2 lead over thePhoenix Suns in the NBA Finals on Saturday night. 

MARK J. REBILAS, POOL/AP

Suns guard Devin Booker scored 40 points Saturdaynight after scoring 42 in Phoenix's Game 4 loss. Bookeris averaging 30 points a game in the Finals.

More punch for PopBY TIM REYNOLDS

Associated Press

ANALYSIS 

U.S. coach Gregg Popovich surely could use the servicesof Middleton, Booker and Holiday as soon as thier seriesends, which could be Tuesday. Team USA lost two ofthree exhibition games in Las Vegas and had to replaceBradley Beal and Kevin Love on the roster.

DAVID BECKER / AP

ROSS D. FRANKLIN/AP

Jrue Holiday had 27 points and 13 assists in Milwaukee's123­119 victory Saturday night. His last assist was analley­oop to Giannis Antetokounmpo that sealed the win. 

PAGE 24 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Monday, July 19, 2021

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