legal training lacking for commanders

Volume 80 Edition 61 ©SS 2021 MONDAY, JULY 12, 2021 50¢/Free to Deployed Areas

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MILITARY

Marines: Reporton wastewater inJapan ‘inaccurate’Page 3

MILITARY

Former US ArmyEurope commanderMeigs dies at 76Page 4

FACES

Latest film in sagatakes ‘Purge’ toUS-Mexico border4

No. 1 Djokovic claims 20th major with Wimbledon victory ›› Tennis, Page 19

CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea — The U.S.

military in South Korea reimposed a mandatory

mask policy and restricted travel to Seoul as the na-

tion recorded another record-breaking number of

coronavirus cases Friday.

The U.S. Forces Korea directive, which lasts

through July 23, came as the South Korean govern-

ment announced 1,316 new patients Friday, bringing

the country’s number of known infections to 165,344.

“To protect our communities and our mission, we

are implementing an immediate, aggressive ap-

proach to prevent the virus’ spread any further,”

USFK commander Gen. Paul LaCamera said in a

statement.

Seoul reported 583 cases Wednesday, the highest

number of daily transmissions there since the pan-

AHN YOUNG-JOON/AP

People wait in line for coronavirus testing at a Public Health Center in Seoul, South Korea, on Friday. South Korea will enforce its strongestdistancing restrictions in the capital area starting next week as it wrestles with what may be the worst wave since the start of the pandemic.

US military mandates ‘immediate,aggressive’ restrictions in S. KoreaDirective comes as the South Korean government deals with record-setting number of new cases

BY DAVID CHOI

Stars and Stripes

SEE RESTRICTIONS ON PAGE 6

VIRUS OUTBREAK

1,316Number of new coronavirus patientsannounced by the South Koreangovernment on Friday. Seoul reported583 cases Wednesday, the highestnumber of daily transmissions theresince the pandemic began. There were503 new patients on Friday.

Legal training provided to com-

manders may be inadequate, a

government watchdog agency

found in a report released as Con-

gress determines whether to re-

move commanders from prosecu-

torial decision-making in cases in-

volving suspected sexual assault.

The Government Accountabili-

ty Office, after analyzing legal

training and holding discussions

with commanders and legal sup-

port staff, found that “perspec-

tives varied on the general prepa-

redness of commanders to ad-

dress legal issues.

“In addition, GAO found that

the timing, amount, and mix of le-

gal training provided to com-

manders may not be meeting their

needs,” said the report released

Thursday.

Commanders may be respon-

sible for many legal duties, includ-

ing making criminal justice deci-

sions, conforming with interna-

tional law and complying with the

rules of engagement in combat.

Legal training is generally re-

served for mid-level command-

ers, but “commanders from all

four services indicated that they

would have benefited from dedi-

cated legal training earlier in their

careers,” the report said.

However, commanders of simi-

SEE TRAINING ON PAGE 3

Report findslegal traininglacking forcommanders

BY NANCY MONTGOMERY

Stars and Stripes

“GAO found that thetiming, amount, and mixof legal training providedto commanders may notbe meeting their needs.”

Government Accountability Office

report, released Thursday

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

BUSINESS/WEATHER

BEIJING — China on Sunday

said it will take “necessary mea-

sures” to respond to the U.S. black-

listing of Chinese companies over

their alleged role in abuses of

Uyghur people and other Muslim

ethnic minorities.

The Commerce Ministry said

the U.S. move constituted an “un-

reasonable suppression of Chinese

enterprises and a serious breach of

international economic and trade

rules.”

China will “take necessary mea-

sures to firmly safeguard Chinese

companies’ legitimate rights and

interests,” the ministry’s statement

said.

No details were given, but China

has denied allegations of arbitrary

detention and forced labor in the

far western region of Xinjiang and

increasingly responded to sanc-

tions against companies and offi-

cials with its own bans on visas and

financial links.

The U.S. Commerce Depart-

ment said in a statement Friday

that the electronics and technology

firms and other businesses helped

enable “Beijing’s campaign of re-

pression, mass detention and high-

technology surveillance” against

Muslim minorities in Xinjiang.

The penalties prohibit Ameri-

cans from selling equipment or

other goods to the firms. The Unit-

ed States has stepped up financial

and trade penalties over China’s

treatment of Uyghurs and other

Muslim minorities, along with its

crackdown on democracy in the

semi-autonomous city of Hong

Kong.

China vows reprisal as US blacklists companiesAssociated Press

Bahrain97/92

Baghdad113/80

Doha114/86

Kuwait City114/92

Riyadh113/85

Kandahar108/75

Kabul94/57

Djibouti102/88

MONDAY IN THE MIDDLE EAST

Mildenhall/Lakenheath

66/59

Ramstein73/57

Stuttgart76/55

Lajes,Azores69/66

Rota77/69

Morón97/71 Sigonella

94/69

Naples86/71

Aviano/Vicenza84/63

Pápa82/64

Souda Bay82/74

Brussels71/60

Zagan77/65

DrawskoPomorskie

79/61

MONDAY IN EUROPE

Misawa68/65

Guam84/81

Tokyo79/72

Okinawa93/80

Sasebo81/76

Iwakuni78/74

Seoul88/76

Osan87/75

Busan78/75

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 12) $1.16Dollar buys (July 12) 0.8221British pound (July 12) $1.35Japanese yen (July 12) 107.00South Korean won (July 12) 1,119.00

Commercial rates

Bahrain (Dinar) .3770Britain (Pound) 1.3890Canada (Dollar) 1.2456China (Yuan) 6.4789Denmark (Krone) 6.2623Egypt (Pound) 15.6901Euro .8421Hong Kong (Dollar) 7.7660Hungary (Forint) 299.45Israel (Shekel) 3.2810Japan (Yen) 110.17Kuwait (Dinar) .3010

Norway (Krone) 8.6847

Philippines (Peso) 50.14Poland (Zloty) 3.83Saudi Arabia (Riyal) 3.7508Singapore (Dollar) 1.3513

South Korea (Won) 1,145.48Switzerland (Franc) .9141Thailand (Baht) 32.52Turkey (New Lira) �8.6610

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

INTEREST RATES

Prime rate 3.25Interest Rates Discount �rate 0.75Federal funds market rate �0.093month bill 0.0630year bond 1.98

EXCHANGE RATES

Monday, July 12, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 3

MILITARY

CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa —

The Marine Corps has pushed

back against Japanese public

broadcaster NHK, which report-

ed Wednesday that the U.S. mili-

tary wants to release harmful con-

taminants into a local river on Oki-

nawa.

The report, which cited un-

named officials from Japan’s Min-

istry of Defense, said the U.S. mil-

itary informed the Japanese gov-

ernment of its intention to release

treated sewage containing conta-

minants known as PFOS into a riv-

er near Marine Corps Air Station

Futenma.

The report said the Japanese

plan to turn down the request.

In a statement Thursday, Ma-

rine Corps Installations Pacific

said water would be treated and

then released through the public

wastewater system.

“The story reported by NHK on

July 7 was inaccurate,” the state-

ment said.

“Marine Corps Installations Pa-

cific and United States Forces Ja-

pan have been coordinating with

the Ministry of Defense and the

Ministry of the Environment to re-

lease treated water through the

public wastewater system; this

wastewater is fully compliant with

Japanese drinking water guide-

lines to include target levels for

PFOS and PFOA, which are stric-

ter than U.S. Environmental Pro-

tection Agency and Department of

Defense guidelines.”

PFOS and PFOA are found in

aqueous firefighting foam, air-

craft grease, water-repellant ma-

terials and fluorine chemicals.

They have been known to cause

tumors, increases in body and or-

gan weight and death in animals.

The treatment process is a

“safe, efficient, and proven meth-

od” to reduce levels of the harmful

compounds in contaminated wa-

ter until it’s safe for release and

complies with Japanese standards

for drinking water, according to

the Marines’ statement.

The plan would be “fully coor-

dinated” with Okinawan officials

prior to the release of any waste-

water, the statement added.

Marine Corps Installations Pa-

cific did not responded to a re-

quest for further information

Thursday about where the treated

wastewater would ultimately be

disposed of.

MCAS Futenma is storing the

contaminated water in tanks, the

NHK report said.

A spokesman from the Okinawa

Prefectural Enterprise Bureau,

the agency responsible for the is-

land’s water supply and quality,

told Stars and Stripes by phone

Thursday that the water would be

released into the sea around Oki-

nawa and not into a river. He add-

ed that the water would likely not

be PFOS-free.

Government officials in Japan

customarily speak to the media on

condition of anonymity.

PFOS and PFOA are virtually

identical synthetic, fully fluorinat-

ed organic acids, though their con-

centrations differ depending on

the product.

The compounds have been

found in high concentrations

around MCAS Futenma and Ka-

dena Air Base on Okinawa. U.S.

military officials in Japan say the

source of the PFOS and PFOA pol-

lution on Okinawa is not necessar-

ily U.S. military facilities. They

have also begun phasing out air-

craft firefighting foam with one

featuring a new formulation.

Japan has a combined safety

threshold of 0.05 micrograms per

liter for PFOS and PFOA for its

drinking water. The threshold is

not law, but a quality standard gui-

deline. The United States’ thresh-

old is 0.07 micrograms per liter.

Manufacture and importation

of items containing the acids have

been prohibited in Japan since

2010.

An unknown quantity of waste-

water containing firefighting

foam spilled June 9 at the Army

base Torii Station when an above-

ground reservoir holding contam-

inated water overflowed in heavy

rains, according to a June 12 state-

ment from U.S. Army Garrison

Okinawa. The water spilled into

an adjacent drainage ditch lead-

ing off-base.

The firefighting foam contained

both PFOS and PFOA, NHK re-

ported.

The reservoirs were “never in-

tended” to contain the foam and

were “not designed to contain

overflows of water,” the Army

statement said.

Approximately 60,000 gallons

of the toxic firefighting foam spill-

ed on MCAS Futenma on April 10,

2020. About 22,000 gallons was

contained on base. The remainder

traveled off base through a storm

drain and into a nearby stream

and neighborhood.

Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki,

speaking to reporters Thursday,

said the plan to release the waste-

water locally was unacceptable,

NHK said in an updated report

that day.

“We must demand that it be

treated within the military,” he

said.

The U.S. military was reported-

ly waiting for a response on the

matter from the Japanese govern-

ment when the NHK report was

released. The Okinawa Defense

Bureau told NHK that U.S. au-

thorities are considering their op-

tions.

Marines rebuke reportof toxic water in Japan

BY MATTHEW M. BURKE

AND HANA KUSUMOTO

Stars and Stripes

[email protected] Twitter: @MatthewMBurke1

Stars and Stripes

A sign posted by town officials in May 2019 warns people aboutpolluted spring water in Kadena, Okinawa.

lar grades and responsibilities

may not receive similar levels of

legal training.

For example, the 101st Airborne

Division’s company commander

course spent 90 minutes on legal

issues and U.S. Army Europe

spent 2.5 hours, the GAO found.

But at the National Training Cen-

ter at Fort Irwin, Calif., nine hours

were devoted to legal issues.

“Some commanders and legal

support staff expressed the view

that commanders would benefit

from additional legal training,”

the report said.

Other commanders said they

thought more training would be

detrimental because it might lead

commanders into thinking they

were experts, and not to rely on

staff judge advocates for advice.

The GAO also found that prob-

lems with recordkeeping made it

difficult to know whether com-

manders completed their re-

quired training. The training’s

usefulness was also unclear be-

cause the services primarily re-

lied on voluntary surveys to gauge

effectiveness.

The report comes as the Mili-

tary Justice Improvement and In-

creasing Prevention Act, which

would shift the decision to prose-

cute rape, sexual assault and other

felonies from the chain of com-

mand to military prosecutors, has

garnered support from 66 Senate

co-sponsors, as well as President

Joe Biden and Defense Secretary

Lloyd Austin III.

The bill is being held up in the

Senate Armed Services Commit-

tee, whose chairman, Democrat

Jack Reed of Rhode Island, and

ranking Republican, Jim Inhofe of

Oklahoma, oppose it.

Training: Courses varyfor leaders across basesFROM PAGE 1

[email protected] Twitter:@montgomery nance

ADAM BUTLER/U.S. Navy

Sailors practice moving injured personnel during personnel recoverytraining aboard Independencevariant littoral combat ship USSCharleston on Thursday in the South China Sea. The Charleston is ona rotational deployment, operating in the U.S. 7th Fleet area ofoperations in support of a free and open IndoPacific region.

Personnel recovery drills


MILITARY

STUTTGART, Germany — Re-

tired Gen. Montgomery Meigs, a

combat veteran who commanded

the Army in Europe for four years

and hailed from a storied line of

military officers, died Tuesday in

Texas. He was 76.

Meigs led U.S. Army Europe

from 1998 to 2002, overseeing

about 60,000 soldiers on the Conti-

nent. He also commanded NA-

TO’s peacekeeping force in Bos-

nia, when thousands of U.S. sol-

diers fanned out across the Bal-

kans.

As the USAREUR boss in the af-

termath of the 9/11 terrorist at-

tacks, Meigs was in charge as gar-

risons across Europe went from

having relatively relaxed post-

Cold War security conditions to

becoming the highly secured com-

pounds of today.

An obituary from an Austin,

Texas, funeral home did not men-

tion the cause of Meigs’ death.

Meigs was an Annapolis, Md.,

native and a 1967 graduate of West

Point. His father, a lieutenant col-

onel, was killed during World War

II in France, months before he was

born.

Meigs also was a third great-ne-

phew of the Civil War general

Montgomery Meigs, who was a

quartermaster general for the

Union and was instrumental in the

establishment of Arlington Na-

tional Cemetery. He is also cred-

ited as “engineer of the Capitol” in

Washington.

Decades before assuming com-

mand in Europe, Meigs began his

Army career with cavalry units in

Germany and Vietnam.

He later came back to West

Point as an instructor and earned

his doctorate in history from the

University of Wisconsin-Madison

in 1982, said the Association of the

United States Army, where Meigs

was a life member. He also led the

Germany-based 2nd Brigade, 1st

Armored Division into Operation

Desert Storm in Iraq.

Four years after his Army re-

tirement, Defense Secretary Do-

nald Rumsfeld asked Meigs to

lead the Joint Improvised Explo-

sive Device Defeat Organization,

as roadside bombs became regu-

larly employed against U.S. troops

in Iraq.

Meigs had a common touch

when it came to relating to junior

soldiers, who expressed condo-

lences online for their former

commander.

“He was squadron commander

of 1/1 Cav when I was there in 85-

86,” wrote Raymond Anguiano, a

junior enlisted soldier who at that

time was trying to get a compas-

sionate reassignment because his

son was sick.

Anguiano had been trying for

months to get reassigned when he

had a chance encounter with

Meigs while pulling guard duty

and shared his story. Three weeks

later, he had orders with a hand-

written note from Meigs that read:

“The man must fly!”

Another former soldier, a driver

for Meigs when he was in com-

mand at 7th Army Training Cen-

ter in Grafenwoehr, Germany,

said the general understood his

goal of eventually becoming an

Army officer.

“To that end, he ensured I was

exposed to almost everything he

was involved with. This meant

that I went into the field with him

at Hohenfels to watch unit rota-

tions, gunnery ranges on Graf, and

senior leader meetings in Heidel-

berg,” wrote Christopher “Mac”

McGarry.

Years later, after McGarry’s en-

listment had ended and he had

gone on to graduate college, Meigs

offered to be there for his commis-

sioning.

“True to his word he was there

and pinned on my 2LT rank. In

many ways he treated me as one of

his sons,” McGarry wrote. “I felt

more like a family member than a

lower enlisted member.”

PHOTOS BY MICHAEL ABRAMS/Stars and Stripes

Gen. Montgomery Meigs, the outgoing commander of U.S. Army Europe, speaks at his change ofcommand ceremony at Campbell Barracks in Heidelberg, Germany, in 2002.

Retired general, combat veteranwho led USAREUR after 9/11, dies

BY JOHN VANDIVER

Stars and Stripes

Montgomery Meigs, center, then a major general and the 1st InfantryDivision commander, talks to Supreme Allied Commander EuropeGen. George Joulwan, left, and U.S. Army Europe commander Gen.William Crouch, at Tuzla Air Base in Bosnia, in 1996.

[email protected] Twitter: @john_vandiver

WASHINGTON — President

Joe Biden’s administration doesn’t

currently plan to send military as-

sistance to Haiti despite a request

by the government for U.S. troops

following the assassination of

President Jovenel Moise, a senior

administration official said Satur-

day.

Moise’s assassination has fur-

ther destabilized the already frag-

ile political structure in Haiti,

where gang violence, natural di-

sasters and the coronavirus have

all taken their toll on the hemi-

sphere’s poorest nation.

The request for U.S. troops to

protect Haitian infrastructure and

prepare for planned elections

came during a conversation

Wednesday between interim

Prime Minister Claude Joseph and

U.S. Secretary of State Antony

Blinken.

The White House announced

Friday it was dispatching senior

FBI and Department of Homeland

Security officials to Port-au-

Prince. That team will “assess the

situation and how we may be able

to assist,” White House press sec-

retary Jen Psaki told reporters.

The State Department remains

in regular contact with Haitian of-

ficials to discuss how the U.S. can

assist, according to a department

spokesman. The administration

official and the spokesman both re-

quested anonymity discussing

diplomatic conversations.

Haitian police say Moise was

killed by a hit team led by retired

Colombian soldiers, and that they

have detained 19 men in connec-

tion with the attack. It remains un-

clear who ordered the assassina-

tion.

Moise’s assassination further

destabilizes the poorest nation in

the Americas, which has been

gripped by gang violence, kidnap-

pings, protests and the pandemic.

It hasn’t had a functioning legisla-

ture since 2020 and the head of the

Supreme Court — who might have

replaced Moise — recently died

due to COVID-19.

Amid the request for assistance,

Interim Prime Minister Joseph’s

leadership position remains in

doubt. Haiti’s senate, currently

comprised of only a third of its usu-

al members, nominated its head

Joseph Lambert to be interim

president, Reuters reported.

Joseph said Friday that he had

spoken to Colombian President

Ivan Duque, who had “promised

full collaboration” in resolving the

crime. Colombian Defense Minis-

ter Diego Molano also acknowl-

edged that the international police

agency Interpol had made a formal

request for information about the

suspects.

At first, the raid seemed to be

meticulously planned and carried

out, as the heavily-armed killers

pretended to be U.S. Drug En-

forcement Administration agents

to gain access to Moise’s residence

in the hills outside of Port-au-

Prince. A judge who visited the

scene told local media that Moise

had been shot at least 12 times.

Moise’s wife was also wounded,

and was medically evacuated to

South Florida.

But it appears their escape plan

fell through. Less than 24 hours af-

ter the crime, Haiti’s police had

killed a handful of suspects and

rounded up others. At least two

presumed mercenaries were

caught by angry mobs, tied with

rope and marched through the

streets. Eleven others were found

hiding on the grounds of the Taiwa-

nese Embassy, near Moise’s home.

US has no setplans to sendtroops to Haiti

Bloomberg News

MATIAS DELACROIX/AP

View of a densely populated neighborhood in PortauPrince, Haiti, onSaturday, three days after President Jovenel Moise was assassinatedin his home.


MILITARY

Air Force veteran and civilian employ-

ee Randy Wilson pulled a driver from a

burning truck before it blew up, an act of

courage the service has recognized with

a valor medal, the military said last

week.

Wilson and his wife were traveling on

the Ohio Turnpike outside Sandusky one

August morning three years ago, when a

semitruck ahead of them crashed into

another one parked on the right shoul-

der, sending a debris field into the road-

way and toppling one of the trucks.

“It seemed like we were in a 3D movie

with tires and gas tanks rolling down the

highway toward our vehicle,” Wilson

said in a statement. “I came to a stop on

the far left shoulder. My wife immedi-

ately got out her rosary and started pray-

ing for all involved. I got out and started

running to the semi that had flipped over

several times and was on fire.”

Wilson, the chief of plans and pro-

grams for the security forces squadron

at New York's Niagara Falls Air Reserve

Station, was the first and only one on the

scene for 10 to 15 minutes, the 914th Air

Refueling Wing said in a statement last

week.

As he ran up, he saw that the driver of

the other semi and a third truck seemed

to be OK, Wilson said. When he reached

the overturned rig, which was on its side,

that driver was going in and out of con-

sciousness and asking for help.

“At first, I tried to pull him out by lift-

ing him under his armpits, but he was

stuck by his seat belt and belt loop,” said

Wilson, who had over 36 years of securi-

ty forces experience. “I asked God to

give me one more minute.”

It all seemed to be happening in slow-

motion to him as he kept praying for one

more minute, he said, likening the feel-

ing of stretching time to the beach-

storming scene early in the film “Saving

Private Ryan.”

“After the incident, I asked my wife if I

was moving slowly and she said quite the

opposite, moving extremely fast,” the re-

tired master sergeant said in the state-

ment.

He eventually got the driver out and to

a safe distance “within minutes of the

truck exploding,” he said.

“The thought of being killed never

crossed my mind,” he said.

A bystander who was a nurse arrived

at some point, and when paramedics be-

gan treating the driver, Wilson and his

wife continued home to Getzville, N.Y.

Earlier this year, wing commander

Col. Carl Magnusson presented Wilson

with the Air Force Civilian Award for

Valor for his actions rescuing the

trapped driver. The medal recognizes

acts of heroism “with voluntary risk of

personal safety in the face of danger, ei-

ther on or off the job,” a regulation

states.

Wilson exemplifies the words of Win-

ston Churchill, who called reservists

“twice the citizen,” Magnusson said at

an April ceremony.

“Randy lives his dual lifetime commit-

ments to his community and to the de-

fense of our great nation every single

day,” he said.

Vet honored for rescuing driver after wreckBY CHAD GARLAND

Stars and Stripes

[email protected]: @chadgarland

PETER BORYS/U.S. Air Force

Col. Carl Magnusson, 914th Air Refueling Wing commander presents Mr. RandyWilson, 914th Security Forces Chief of Plans and Programs, the Air Force CivilianAward for Valor on April 27, 2021 at the Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station, N.Y.

YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE,

Japan — Sailors aboard the air-

craft carrier USS Ronald Reagan

recently took a moment from

their routines to celebrate a spe-

cial anniversary with a sweet

treat.

In honor of the 100th birthday of

former first lady Nancy Reagan,

wife of the Reagan’s namesake,

sailors prepared chocolate chip

cookies on July 6 with a recipe

provided by the Reagan Founda-

tion’s Roland Mesnier, former

White House executive pastry

chef.

“As our ship’s sponsor, it is im-

portant that we keep the legacy of

Nancy Reagan alive,” Lt. Cmdr.

Dawn Stankus, spokeswoman for

the carrier, told Stars and Stripes

in an email on Tuesday. “She was

a true force in so many aspects of

her life — as an actress, wife,

mother, first lady and more.”

The recipe was Reagan’s favor-

ite cookie during her time as first

lady, according to Stankus. Re-

agan survived her husband and

died March 6, 2016, at age 94.

To honor her memory, the

ship’s culinary specialists used

the recipe to prepare hundreds of

cookies that were served on the

carrier’s mess decks.

The Reagan’s sailors enjoyed

the cookies in the Arabian Sea,

where the ship has been assisting

with the withdrawal of U.S. troops

from Afghanistan.

“Our talented culinary special-

ists recreated a treasured dessert

in her memory, and this is some-

thing that all of us can enjoy to-

gether,” Capt. Fred Goldhammer,

the Ronald Reagan’s commander,

said in a statement emailed to

Stars and Stripes on Wednesday.

One of the Reagan’s culinary

specialists, Petty Officer 2nd

Class Carllouis Obieta, said in the

statement that the cookies were

baked at a high heat to give them a

crispier texture. Aboard the Re-

agan five months, Obieta said it

“was an honor” to prepare them in

memory of Nancy Reagan.

“As a culinary specialist it is im-

portant that we help maintain the

morale of the ship, and, with that,

it’s also important to keep the tra-

dition and culture of USS Ronald

Reagan alive through efforts like

baking Nancy Reagan’s favorite

cookies on her birthday,” said an-

other culinary specialist, Petty

Officer 3rd Class Justin Padilla.

USS Reagan celebrates formerfirst lady with favorite cookies

BY ALEX WILSON

Stars and Stripes

JILLIAN GRADY/U.S. Navy

Petty Officer 2nd Class Carllouis Obieta, left, and Petty Officer 3rdClass Justin Padilla prepare cookies aboard the USS Ronald Reagan inthe Arabian Sea, on July 5, in honor of Nancy Reagan’s 100th birthday.

[email protected] Twitter: @AlexMNWilson

NAPLES, Italy — A U.S. Na-vy 6th Fleet sailor is underhouse arrest following a carcrash that left an Italian citizendead.

Navy officials last week

would not release the name orrank of the sailor, or detailsabout the May 23 crash, sayingthey could not comment on anongoing investigation.

The sailor was arrested byItalian authorities, who have

primary jurisdiction becausethe incident happened off base,said Lt. Cmdr. Matthew Comer,6th Fleet spokesman.

The Naval Criminal Investi-gative Service is cooperatingwith local law enforcement,

Comer said. Formal chargeshave not been filed, he said.

Fanpage.it and several otherItalian news outlets reported atwo-vehicle fatal crash involv-ing a U.S. sailor on the samedate at the Lago Patria-Giuglia-

no junction on Via Domitiana inNaples.

Those reports identified thevictim as a 56-year-old manfrom the commune of Qualiano.

US sailor under house arrest after fatal car crash in NaplesStars and Stripes

[email protected]


VIRUS OUTBREAK

the memo are more restrictive.

The rules include wearing masks

and continuing to maintain a social

distance of 6 feet when indoors and

outdoors for those who haven’t

been fully vaccinated, with few ex-

ceptions.

Those who are fully vaccinated

must still wear a mask when on

public transport or inside public fa-

cilities such as the base exchange,

the commissary and hospital pa-

tient care areas. They must also

wear a mask indoors if they are un-

able to maintain social distance.

London’s decision to lift restric-

tions comes as infection rates

across the country and in many

parts of Europe have declined

sharply.

U.S. Air Force officials in En-

gland will consider whether base

coronavirus rules should be adjust-

ed if the United Kingdom lifts its

restrictions as planned on July 19.

British Prime Minister Boris

Johnson said in a televised address

July 5 that the time has come for

people to take “personal responsib-

ility” for their health, rather than

obey a “government legal diktat.”

The government is set to end the

legal requirement to wear masks,

although “guidance will suggest

where you might choose to do so,”

Johnson said. Social distancing re-

quirements, limits on gatherings

and QR code check-ins at restau-

rants would also end, he said.

The measures would only apply

in England because other parts of

the U.K. have their own rules.

The U.S. Air Force, which oper-

ates on several joint bases along-

side the Royal Air Force, says that

it generally follows host nation

rules. But U.S. forces in Europe al-

so follow Centers for Disease Con-

trol and Prevention guidelines.

“RAF Mildenhall will continue

following the guidelines set by our

host nation,” base spokeswoman

1st Lt. Paige S. Mehringer said in a

statement. “Additionally, in antici-

pation of U.K. guidance changes,

our leadership team continues to

review Defense Department and

CDC guidance in coordination with

our partner wings to ensure our

policies are aligned and adjusted as

needed.”

A command memo applying to

all RAF Mildenhall and RAF La-

kenheath airmen states that U.S.

personnel are required to follow

U.K. guidance, unless the rules in

USAF in England to review rules as UK set to end mask, distance mandatesBY KYLE ALVAREZ

Stars and Stripes

[email protected]: @Kal2931

BROOKE MOEDER/U.S. Air Force

An airman shops at the commissary at RAF Mildenhall, England.

demic began. There were 503 new

patients on Friday.

Travel to Areas I and II, which

includes the Seoul metropolitan

area, is limited to mission-essen-

tial and official duties for USFK

personnel until the directive ex-

pires. The command also reim-

posed a requirement that every-

one wear masks while indoors on

military installations, regardless

of whether they are fully vaccinat-

ed.

Those who have been vaccinat-

ed will be allowed to remove their

masks while “actively” exercising

in on-post gyms, as long as they

observe social distancing mea-

sures, according to the USFK

statement.

Bars and clubs across the penin-

sula remain off-limits to anyone

associated with USFK. Military

police stepped up their patrols

near a popular beach in Busan re-

cently to ensure service members

complied with local and USFK

regulations against drinking and

large groups.

USFK announced Wednesday

and Friday that 25 people, six of

them new arrivals to the peninsu-

la, had tested positive for CO-

VID-19 between June 10 and July

3.

The surge of new cases prompt-

ed Seoul officials to extend their

mitigation efforts by deploying in-

spectors to businesses considered

to be a high risk for transmissibil-

ity and shortening public trans-

portation schedules in the eve-

nings.

More than 100 police officers

and 200 public employees will be

cracking down on safety violations

and nighttime drinking at the Han

River bordering Seoul for the next

17 days, the Seoul government an-

nounced Friday.

Seoul had also mandated an in-

door and outdoor mask policy, re-

gardless of a person’s vaccination

status. Violators are subject to a

fine of about $87 for individuals

and up to $261 for a building's

manager.

Health officials reported this

week that over 10% of South Ko-

reans were fully inoculated and

30% of the population had re-

ceived the first dose of a vaccine.

Surge stops Olympic torch relayThose taking part in the final

segment of the Olympic torch re-

lay, which was supposed to kick

off Friday in Tokyo, aren’t allowed

to run on public roads due to an in-

creasing number of COVID-19

cases, according to the Tokyo Met-

ropolitan Government website.

Instead, the flame is being

moved around the city in a series

of nonpublic ceremonies before it

arrives to a relatively empty stadi-

um on July 23 in central Tokyo.

Olympic organizers announced

late Thursday that most events

will take place without spectators

after Prime Minister Yoshihide

Suga declared a fourth state of

emergency for Tokyo and some

surrounding prefectures that will

last throughout the games.

Japan had reported 2,153 new

coronavirus infections as of 5:30

p.m. Friday, 822 of which were

from Tokyo, according to public

broadcaster NHK.

The country had administered

57.4 million vaccination doses as

of Thursday, according to the

Prime Minister’s Office. It said

16.8 percent of Japan’s population

is fully vaccinated, and 28 percent

have received one dose.

The U.S. military in Japan had

reported two new patients as of 6

p.m. Friday. One is from Marine

Corps Air Station Iwakuni near

Hiroshima and the other is at Na-

val Air Facility Atsugi, 27 miles

southwest of Tokyo.

Stars and Stripes reporter Hana Kusumotocontributed to this [email protected] Twitter: @choibboy

PIXABAY / Pixabay

Travel to Areas I and II, which includes the Seoul metropolitan area, is offlimits to most U.S. Forces Korea personnel due to a new surge ofcoronavirus infections.

Restrictions: USFK reimposes travel limits, mask rulesFROM PAGE 1


VIRUS OUTBREAK

JOHANNESBURG — Some in

wheelchairs, others on canes, hun-

dreds of South Africans waited re-

cently on the ramps of an open-air

Johannesburg parking garage to

get their COVID-19 vaccine shots.

Despite the masks, social distanc-

ing and blustery weather of the

Southern Hemisphere winter, a

celebratory atmosphere took hold.

“What a relief!” said Vincent

Damon, a 63-year-old electrical

technician, after getting his sec-

ond dose. “In the last four days,

I’ve lost four friends. All of them

under 60. This pandemic has got-

ten worse. It’s frightening.”

New infections in South Africa

rose to record levels in recent

days, part of a rapid rise across the

continent, and experts say the

surge here hasn’t yet peaked. To

fight the new wave, South Africa

reimposed several restrictions, in-

cluding shutting restaurants and

bars and limiting alcohol sales —

and its vaccination drive is finding

its feet after several stumbles.

But even as the campaign gath-

ers pace, experts say it’s too late to

reduce the deadly impact of the

current spike. Instead, South Afri-

ca is now rushing to vaccinate

enough of its 60 million people to

blunt the impact of the next inevi-

table surge.

“Our vaccination campaign is

gathering momentum, but obvi-

ously it’s too late to do much in

terms of reducing the impact of

this current resurgence we’re ex-

periencing, which by all accounts

is going to completely dwarf what

we experienced either in the first

or second waves in South Africa,”

said Shabir Madhi, dean of health

sciences and professor of vacci-

nology at the University of Witwa-

tersrand.

South Africa accounts for more

than 35% of the 5.8 million cases

recorded by Africa’s 54 countries,

although it is home to just over 4%

of the continent’s population. The

seven-day rolling average of daily

deaths in the country more than

doubled over the past two weeks to

more than 360 fatalities per day on

July 9.

Its troubles reflect a broader

trend. Neighboring Zimbabwe

went back into lockdown on July 6,

and Congo, Rwanda, Senegal and

Zambia are among the 16 African

countries battling the new surge of

infections sweeping across the

continent.

“Africa has just marked the con-

tinent’s most dire pandemic week

ever. But the worst is yet to come

as the fast-moving third wave con-

tinues to gain speed and new

ground,” said Dr. Matshidiso

Moeti, the World Health Organi-

zation’s regional director for Afri-

ca.

“The end to this precipitous rise

is still weeks away. Cases are dou-

bling now every 18 days, com-

pared with every 21 days only a

week ago,” she added Thursday.

Although South African Presi-

dent Cyril Ramaphosa was quick

to respond to COVID-19 and put

the country into one of the world’s

strictest lockdowns in March last

year, his officials were slow to

place firm orders for vaccines, say

critics.

South Africa ramps up vaccine driveAssociated Press

ALET PRETORIUS/AP

A patient receives a Johnson & Johnson vaccine against COVID19 lastweek in Hammanskraal, South Africa.

cooperate with the military-in-

stalled government.

Military hospitals continued op-

erating but were shunned by

many, while doctors and nurses

BANGKOK — Soe Win stood in

line at a plant to buy oxygen for his

grandmother, who is struggling

with COVID-19 symptoms.

“I have been waiting since 5 in

the morning until 12 noon but I’m

still in line. Oxygen is scarcer than

money,” said the resident of

Myanmar’s biggest city, Yangon.

Consumed by a bitter and vio-

lent political struggle since the

military seized power in Febru-

ary, Myanmar has been slow to

wake up to a devastating surge in

cases since mid-May. It has left

many of the sick like Soe Win’s

grandmother to suffer at home if

they cannot find a bed at an army

hospital, or prefer not to trust their

care to the widely disliked govern-

ment.

Under Aung San Suu Kyi, the ci-

vilian leader ousted by the mili-

tary, Myanmar had weathered its

second coronavirus surge begin-

ning in August last year by severe-

ly restricting travel, sealing off

Yangon, and curbing election

campaigning in virus hot spots

where lockdowns were imposed.

Suu Kyi appeared frequently on

television with stern but empath-

etic entreaties to the public on how

to deal with the situation. Vaccine

supplies were secured from India

and China. Her ouster came less

than a week after the first jabs

were given to health workers.

Suu Kyi’s removal by the mili-

tary sparked widespread protests,

and medical workers spearhead-

ed a popular civil disobedience

movement that called on profes-

sionals and civil servants not to

who boycotted the state system

ran makeshift clinics, for which

they faced arrest. The pace of vac-

cinations slowed to a crawl, threat-

ening an explosion in infections.

AP

People queue up with their oxygen tanks outside an oxygen refillstation Sunday in Pazundaung township in Yangon, Myanmar.

Myanmar caught off guard ascases surge, oxygen dwindles

Associated Press


NATION

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — For

putting their health on the line

during the coronavirus pandemic,

prison guards in Missouri got an

extra $250 per paycheck. Teach-

ers in Georgia received $1,000 bo-

nuses. And in Vermont, nurses,

janitors, retail workers and many

others got as much as $2,000.

Over the past year, about one-

third of U.S. states have used fed-

eral COVID-19 relief aid to re-

ward workers considered essen-

tial who dutifully reported to jobs

during the pandemic. But who

qualified for those bonuses — and

how much they received — varied

widely, according to an Associat-

ed Press review. While some were

paid thousands of dollars, others

with similar jobs elsewhere re-

ceived nothing.

As society reopens, momentum

to provide pandemic hazard pay

appears to be fading — even

though the federal government

has broadened the ability of state

and local governments to provide

retroactive pay under a $350 bil-

lion aid package enacted by Presi-

dent Joe Biden in March.

So far, only a few states have

committed to paying workers ex-

tra with money from the Ameri-

can Rescue Plan.

Florida is giving $1,000 bonuses

to teachers and first responders.

Minnesota plans to distribute

$250 million in bonuses to essen-

tial workers, though a special pan-

el won’t determine who qualifies

until later this year.

This past week, Hawaii Gov.

David Ige vetoed a budget provi-

sion to pay teachers $2,200 bonus-

es. The Democratic governor said

lawmakers didn’t have the au-

thority to tell the state Depart-

ment of Education how to use the

federal money.

Some states remain reluctant to

enact bonus programs.

An Oregon proposal to use fed-

eral pandemic aid to provide bo-

nuses of up to $2,000 for essential

workers failed to make it into the

budget that took effect July 1, de-

spite a union lobbying campaign

that included thousands of emails

and hundreds of phone calls to

lawmakers. The proposal would

have covered workers in numer-

ous fields, including education,

health care, public safety and

transportation.

“I don’t think anyone was op-

posed to it,” said Melissa Unger,

executive director of Service Em-

ployees International Union Lo-

cal 503. But “no one prioritized

it.”

Although states have until the

end of 2024 to decide how to spend

the latest federal aid, some advo-

cates worry the realistic window

for providing worker bonuses

may be closing as more parts of

society re-open.

“Unfortunately, the longer you

delay doing it, the less it’s going to

be on the top of minds of voters

and those policymakers,” said

Molly Kinder, a fellow at the non-

profit Brookings Institution who

tracks pandemic hazard pay pol-

icies.

Premium pay is one of just sev-

eral options provided to states un-

der Biden’s aid package. States

can also use the money to backfill

budget holes, help businesses and

households affected by the eco-

nomic downturn, fund certain in-

frastructure projects and pay for

public health programs such as

COVID-19 testing and vaccina-

tions.

SHAFKAT ANOWAR/AP

Crosby Smith, care provider at Ludeman Developmental Center, a state home for the developmentallydisabled, and his fiancee were among staff and residents at the center who contracted the virus last year.He said the hazard money helped pay down credit cards and avoid further debt.

Bonus pay for essential workershas varied widely across states

BY DAVID A. LIEB

Associated Press

TRUTH OR CONSEQUENC-

ES, N.M. — Swashbuckling entre-

preneur Richard Branson hurtled

into space aboard his own winged

rocket ship Sunday in his boldest

adventure yet, beating out fellow

billionaire Jeff Bezos.

The nearly 71-year-old Branson

and five crewmates from his Vir-

gin Galactic space-tourism com-

pany reached an altitude of about

53 miles over the New Mexico des-

ert — enough to experience three

to four minutes of weightlessness

and see the curvature of the Earth

— and then safely glided to a run-

way landing.

“The whole thing, it was just

magical,” a jubilant Branson said

after the trip home aboard the

sleek, white space plane, named

Unity.

The brief, up-and-down flight —

the rocket ship’s portion took only

about 15 minutes, or about as long

as Alan Shepard’s first U.S. space-

flight in 1961 — was intended as a

confidence-boosting plug for Vir-

gin Galactic, which plans to start

taking paying customers on joy-

rides next year.

Branson became the first per-

son to blast off in his own space-

ship, beating Bezos by nine days.

He also became only the second

septuagenarian to go into space.

(Astronaut John Glenn flew on the

shuttle at age 77 in 1998.)

With about 500 people watch-

ing, including Branson’s family, a

twin-fuselage aircraft with Unity

attached underneath took off in

the first stage of the flight. Unity

then detached from the mother

ship at an altitude of about 8½

miles and fired its engine, reac-

hing more than Mach 3, or three

times the speed of sound, as it

pierced the edge of space.

Spectators cheered, jumped in-

to the air and embraced as the

rocket plane touched down. He

pumped his fists as he stepped out

onto the runway and ran toward

his family, bear-hugging his wife

and children and scooping up his

three grandchildren in his arms.

“That was an amazing accom-

plishment,” former Canadian as-

tronaut Chris Hadfield, a one-time

commander of the International

Space Station, said from the side-

lines. “I’m just so delighted at

what this open door is going to lead

to now. It’s a great moment.”

Billionaire Bransonreaches spaceaboard own ship

Associated Press

ANDRES LEIGHTON / AP

Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson carries crew member SirishaBandla on his shoulders while celebrating their flight to space atSpaceport America near Truth or Consequences, N.M., on Sunday.

LAKELAND, Fla. — A U.S. Army Air

Corps veteran who helped capture the

Japanese island of Iwo Jima during

World War II turned 100 on Sunday.

Andy Bosko, who lives in a Lakeland

nursing home, spent weeks on the des-

olate volcanic island, the 1945 battle

made famous by The Associated Press

photo of American soldiers raising the

flag atop a hill. He was so sure he was

going to die, he wrote his wife asking her

to take care of herself and their daughter.

“I went over on a troop ship and had to

go down ropes — a rope ladder — to get

into the landing ship,” Bosko told The

Ledger recently, saying they slogged

through several feet of water in full battle

gear to reach the beach. “As soon as I

landed, the shells were going over. I

didn’t think I’d ever come back.”

He slept in foxholes, using his duffel

bag as protection from the Japanese sol-

diers.

“They used to sneak in and cut the

guys’ throats and you wouldn’t know it,”

he recalled. “I didn’t think I’d ever come

back. I did pray to God.”

But Bosko survived and returned home

to Warren, Pa., where he worked as a ma-

chinist in a forge. He and his wife, Soph-

ia, added four sons to their daughter. The

couple moved to Florida in the 1980s af-

ter he retired. She died in 2017.

“She was a wonderful, wonderful wife

— very good for me and the children,”

Bosko said. When asked if he had a girlf-

riend now, Bosko said no. “My girlfriend

is up in heaven. I miss her and say a

prayer for her every day.”

Iwo Jima veteran turns 100 years old; thought he wouldn’t survive warAssociated Press


NATION

SURFSIDE, Fla. — The man-

gled concrete and twisted rebar

from the collapsed high-rise near

Miami triggered flashbacks for

retired Oklahoma City Fire Chief

Greg Marrs, who spent weeks

with his crew digging through the

rubble of the Alfred P. Murrah

federal building in 1995.

From afar, Marrs empathized

with the Florida teams searching

the debris that was once the 12-

story Champlain Tower South

condominium complex. The

scenes in Surfside brought back

memories of the urgent search for

survivors after the Oklahoma City

bombing, followed by the heart-

break of pulling out nothing but

bodies, he said.

It was the same for other res-

cuers who responded to past trag-

edies. They say the crews in Surf-

side will carry on with the same

commitment and care, even

though authorities this past week

officially gave up on finding any

survivors.

Joseph Pfeifer, former counter-

terrorism and emergency prepa-

redness chief for the New York

Fire Department, was one of the

first commanders on the scene af-

ter the World Trade Center towers

came down in 2001. He said the

Florida crews will preserve any

human remains and separate any

building pieces that provide clues

to the cause of the collapse.

“They are literally going to peel

off every layer. They will clean the

site right to the very last piece,”

said Pfeifer, who teaches crisis

leadership at Harvard and Colum-

bia universities and has a 9/11

memoir, “Ordinary Heroes,” set

for publication Sept. 7.

When Marrs first saw photos of

the Florida collapse, he said, the

images were reminiscent of the

destruction at the federal building

after a truck filled with explosives

was detonated outside. The blast

killed 168 people.

In the aftermath, the shells of

both buildings were still standing,

or teetering, above mounds of bro-

ken concrete and twisted metal,

with the interiors exposed.

The confirmed death toll from

the tragedy in South Florida is 90,

the mayor said Sunday, with an-

other 31 people listed as missing.

Authorities concluded that there

was “no chance of life” in the re-

maining rubble, but the pressure

has not waned for the crews to find

victims so families can lay their

loved ones to rest.

Recalling his own experience,

Marrs was sure the Florida crews

would be just as respectful in

searching for the dead as they had

been in looking for the living.

“They’re certainly not going in

there with bulldozers and moving

that stuff out, you know, not caring

about whether they run across a

body or not — that’s not something

that’s even considered,” Marrs

said.

The shift from a rescue mission

to a recovery effort does not ease

the urgency, Marrs said.

“They’re just doing it in a way

that is more cautious” and safer

because there is no longer a race

against time, he said. Crews are

likely being encouraged to take

fewer risks.

Pfeifer agreed: “It’s a difficult

task. First responders know this is

something very important to the

families. They want to do the job

even though it’s a difficult job.”

Sometimes, no identifiable re-

mains are found. About 40% of the

more than 2,600 people killed at

the World Trade Center on 9/11

still have not been physically iden-

tified, Pfeifer said.

Crews in Florida, using their

hands with help from heavy ma-

chinery, have removed 13 million

pounds of concrete and debris

from the site.

Heavier equipment has rolled

in, making it easier to remove lay-

ers of debris, Miami-Dade Fire

Chief Alan Cominsky said.

“We are expecting the progress

to move at a faster pace with our

recovery efforts,” Cominsky said.

He has said that recovering all the

victims could take weeks.

Retired Miami-Dade County

Fire Chief Dave Downey was part

of a crew from South Florida that

was dispatched to help in Oklaho-

ma City — perhaps crossing paths

with Marrs. He also rushed to the

World Trade Center after terror-

ists attacked.

“Every disaster is different. Ev-

ery disaster has its unique wrin-

kle,” Downey said.

For the past two weeks, Downey

has been in Surfside to help coor-

dinate the rescue mission and now

the recovery operation.

“What happens now is that you

change your mindset,” Downey

said, describing the transition

from seeking survivors to “know-

ing that we’re going to bring clo-

sure to these families, but not in a

positive way that we had all

hoped.”

“That doesn’t mean we’re not

going to work as hard as we can,”

he said.

Collapse search revives thoughts of past tragediesBY BOBBY CAINA CALVAN

Associated Press

AL DIAZ, MIAMI HERALD/AP

Search and rescue team members climb the debris field of the 12story oceanfront condo Champlain Towers South along Collins Avenue inSurfside, Fla., on Wednesday.

PEDRO PORTAL, MIAMI HERALD/AP

Rescuers walk away from the rubble of the Champlain Towers Southcollapse during a shift change in Surfside, Fla. on Thursday.

SHAWN BALDWIN/AP

A shell of what was once the facade of one of the twin towers of NewYork’s World Trade Center rises above the remaining rubble after bothtowers were destroyed in the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.


NATION

SAN FRANCISCO — Firefight-

ers struggled to contain an explod-

ing Northern California wildfire

under blazing temperatures as an-

other heat wave blanketed the

West, prompting an excessive

heat warning for inland and desert

areas.

Death Valley in southeastern

California’s Mojave Desert reac-

hed 128 degrees Fahrenheit on

Saturday, according to the Nation-

al Weather Service’s reading at

Furnace Creek. The shockingly

high temperature was actually

lower than the previous day, when

the location reached 130 F.

If confirmed as accurate, the

130-degree reading would be the

hottest high recorded there since

July 1913, when Furnace Creek

desert hit 134 F, considered the

highest measured temperature on

Earth.

About 300 miles northwest of

the sizzling desert, the largest

wildfire of the year in California

was raging along the border with

Nevada. The Beckwourth Com-

plex Fire — a combination of two

lightning-caused fires burning 45

miles north of Lake Tahoe —

showed no sign of slowing its rush

northeast from the Sierra Nevada

forest region after doubling in size

between Friday and Saturday.

Late Saturday, flames jumped

Interstate 395 and was threaten-

ing properties in Nevada’s Wash-

oe County. “Take immediate steps

to protect large animals and live-

stock,” the Truckee Meadows Fire

Protection District tweeted.

The blaze, which was only 8%

contained, increased dramatically

to 86 square miles as firefighters

sweltered in 100-degree temper-

atures.

It was one of several threaten-

ing homes across Western states

that were expected to see triple-

digit heat through the weekend as

a high-pressure zone blankets the

region.

Pushed by strong winds, a wild-

fire in southern Oregon doubled in

size to 120 square miles Saturday

as it raced through heavy timber

in the Fremont-Winema National

Forest near the Klamath County

town of Sprague River.

The National Weather Service

warned the dangerous conditions

could cause heat-related illnesses,

while California’s power grid op-

erator issued a statewide Flex

Alert from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. Satur-

day to avoid disruptions and roll-

ing blackouts.

The California Independent

System Operator warned of poten-

tial power shortage, not only be-

cause of mounting heat, but be-

cause a wildfire in southern Ore-

gon was threatening transmission

lines that carry imported power to

California.

Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an

emergency proclamation on Fri-

day suspending rules to allow for

more power capacity, and the ISO

requested emergency assistance

from other states. On Saturday,

Newsom issued another procla-

mation allowing the emergency

use of auxiliary ship engines to re-

lieve pressure on the electric grid.

Palm Springs in Southern Cali-

fornia hit a record high temper-

ature of 120 F Saturday. It was the

fourth time temperatures have re-

ached 120 degrees so far this year,

the Desert Sun reported.

In California’s agricultural Cen-

tral Valley, 100-degree temper-

atures blanketed the region, with

Fresno reaching 111 degrees F,

just one degree short of the all-

time high for the date,

Las Vegas late Saturday after-

noon tied the all-time record high

of 117 F, the National Weather Ser-

vice said. The city has recorded

that record-high temperature four

other times, most recently in June

2017.

NV Energy, Nevada’s largest

power provider, also urged cus-

tomers to conserve electricity Sat-

urday and Sunday evenings be-

cause of the heat wave and wild-

fires affecting transmission lines

throughout the region.

In Southern California, a brush

fire sparked by a burning big rig in

eastern San Diego County forced

evacuations of two Native Ameri-

can reservations Saturday.

In north-central Arizona, Yava-

pai County on Saturday lifted an

evacuation warning for Black Ca-

nyon City, an unincorporated town

43 miles north of Phoenix, after a

fire in nearby mountains no longer

posed a threat. In Mohave County,

Arizona, two firefighters died Sat-

urday after an aircraft they were

in to respond to a small wildfire

crashed, local media reported.

A wildfire in southeast Wash-

ington grew to almost 60 square

miles as it blackened grass and

timber while it moved into the

Umatilla National Forest.

In Idaho, Gov. Brad Little de-

clared a wildfire emergency Fri-

day and mobilized the state’s Na-

tional Guard to help fight fires

sparked after lightning storms

swept across the drought-stricken

region.

Heat wave blankets West as fires rageBY DAISY NGUYEN

Associated Press

PHOTOS BY NOAH BERGER/AP

A firefighter sprays water while trying to stop the Sugar Fire, part of the Beckwourth Complex Fire, from spreading to neighboring homes inDoyle, Calif., on Saturday.

Flames consume a home as the Sugar Fire, part of the BeckwourthComplex Fire, tears through Doyle, Calif., on Saturday.

DAMIAN DOVARGANES/AP

Athletes John Richardson, left, and his wife, Sam, use a pair ofUVBlocking Sun protection umbrellas while speedwalking in ElysianPark in Los Angeles on Wednesday


AMERICAN ROUNDUP

Rancher pinned by ATVsurvives on beer, water

WY GILLETTE — A

Wyoming rancher

pinned by an all-terrain vehicle

survived on beer and bottled wa-

ter for two days.

Frank Reynolds, 53, was trying

to round up a cow and calf on a

neighbor’s pasture outside Gil-

lette when the vehicle tipped over

on him, Reynolds told the Gillette

News-Record.

“It was scary as hell is what it

was,” Reynolds said from a hospi-

tal room in Casper.

Family members thought Rey-

nolds had gone camping or was

with buddies, said Quentin Rey-

nolds, the Campbell County un-

dersheriff and Frank’s brother.

He was able to ration a couple

bottles of water and Keystone

Light beers from a cooler, Sheriff

Scott Matheny said.

Gator attack suspected indeath of woman in pond

FL VALRICO — An alliga-

tor apparently attacked

a woman whose body was found in

a retention pond near Tampa,

sheriff’s officials said.

The family of the 29-year-old

woman told WFLA-TV that she

was known to swim in the pond.

Sheriff’s officials said the wom-

an suffered injuries “consistent

with an alligator attack,” but the

medical examiner’s office would

determine the official cause of

death.

Deputies called the Florida Fish

and Wildlife Conservation Com-

mission and trappers to the scene

to try to catch the gator, the re-

lease said.

Colby may be officialstate cheese under bill

WI MADISON — In

cheese-obsessed Wis-

consin, which proudly touts itself

as America’s Dairyland, the dairy

cow is the official domestic ani-

mal, milk is the official state bev-

erage and cheese is the official

dairy product.

But believe it or not, in a state

that produces more cheese than

any other at 3.4 billion pounds

each year, there is no official state

cheese.

A bipartisan bill being heard by

a state Assembly committee

would change that.

The measure makes colby,

which was created in Wisconsin

more than 100 years ago, the offi-

cial cheese.

Colby also holds a special place

in Wisconsin cheese history. It

was created in the central Wiscon-

sin city of, you guessed it, Colby, in

1885.

Authorities seize over $1 billion in marijuana

CA LOS ANGELES — Au-

thorities said Wednes-

day that they seized $1 billion

worth of illegal marijuana in the

largest eradication effort in Los

Angeles County history.

Sheriff Alex Villanueva said a

recent 10-day operation seized

373,000 marijuana plants and

33,480 pounds of harvested pot

with an estimated street value of

nearly $1.2 billion.

The Mojave Desert area is

where authorities last month

launched a massive raid on what

they said were illegal marijuana

farms believed to be connected to

drug cartels.

That operation led to 23 arrests

and the seizure of millions of dol-

lars’ worth of pot in what was de-

scribed as the largest such oper-

ation in the sheriff’s department

history.

Girl, 6, snatched off bike;found 30 minutes later

KY LOUISVILLE — A 6-

year-old Kentucky girl

who was snatched from her bicy-

cle by a stranger was found quick-

ly, returned to her family and a

suspect was charged with kidnap-

ping thanks to the quick actions of

neighbors and police, authorities

said.

Those who witnessed the girl

being taken from her Louisville

neighborhood swiftly called 911

with a detailed description of the

vehicle and a partial license plate

number, police spokesperson

Beth Ruoff told news outlets.

Police found a car matching the

description within 30 minutes and

arrested Robby Wildt, 40, who

was charged with kidnapping a

minor. He has pleaded not guilty.

Neighbor Prentiss Weather-

ford, who witnessed the child be-

ing taken, told WHAS-TV he saw a

car come around a corner and

park in the middle of the street. He

said a man got out and grabbed the

girl “by the collar, threw the bike,

put her in the passenger seat, and

then took off.”

Rescuers ask residents toleave young seals alone

ME BATH — A marine

mammal rescue

group in Maine is asking beach-

goers to leave young seals alone

after documenting numerous re-

cent interactions between people

and the animals.

Marine Mammals of Maine is a

nonprofit group that responds to

distressed sea mammals, such as

seals and dolphins, as well as sea

turtles. The group said one seal

was subjected to repeated harass-

ment over several days in June.

Marine Mammals of Maine said

harbor seal pups are still small at

this time of the year, but they are

also fully independent. Many

beachgoers think the animals are

in trouble when they are in fact be-

having normally.

Man arrested for rifle athotel released, proposes

IL CHICAGO — An Iowa

man who was in custody

in Chicago after police found a ri-

fle with a laser sight in a hotel

room that overlooks a Lake Michi-

gan beach during the July Fourth

weekend made bond and then pro-

posed to his girlfriend upon his re-

lease.

Authorities said a member of

the cleaning staff at the W Hotel

told police they observed the rifle,

a handgun and ammunition in the

room held by Keegan Casteel, 32.

The weapons were found on a 12th

floor window sill. The window had

a view of Ohio Street Beach and

Navy Pier, a major tourist attrac-

tion.

Casteel of Ankeny, Iowa, was

arrested at the hotel and faces two

counts of aggravated unlawful use

of a weapon.

Casteel was released and pro-

posed to his girlfriend outside the

18th District headquarters, ac-

cording to WLS-TV. She appeared

to accept.

Invasive moths that causerash hatch early this year

ME WINTHROP— A spe-

cies of invasive moth

that can cause an itchy rash in hu-

mans hatched early this year in

Maine.

Forestry officials in Maine said

they expect this to be the worst

year in history for browntail moth

encounters in the state. Popula-

tions of the moth have been in an

outbreak phase for six years, and

recent dry conditions have helped.

Tom Schmeelk, an entomologist

with the Maine Department of

Agriculture, Conservation and

Forestry, told the Kennebec Jour-

nal that the moth hatch was more

than two weeks earlier than nor-

mal this year.

The caterpillars of the moths

have toxic hairs that can cause a

painful rash.

FRANCIS GARDLER, LINCOLN (NEB.) JOURNAL STAR/AP

Jalayeh Alford, 9, rides down the cool waters of the slide at Star City Shores Aquatic Center in Lincoln, Neb. Temperatures reached a high of97 degrees, as families converged on the pool.

Round and round she goes

THE CENSUS

6K The number of false eyelashes seized by officials after theywere determined to have been illegally imported from China

to New Orleans. The four boxes of long lashes seized at Louis Armstrong NewOrleans International Airport were destined for a local beauty supply store, U.S.Customs and Border Protection spokesperson Matthew Dyman said in a state-ment. There’s no way to tell whether the eyelashes had been exposed to dis-ease during manufacturing or whether they were stored properly and kept awayfrom insect-infested areas, Dyman told The Times-Picayune / The New OrleansAdvocate.

From The Associated Press


WORLD

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet

Yellen said Sunday that deterring

the use of tax havens will let coun-

tries compete on economic funda-

mentals — instead of by offering

ever-lower tax rates that deprive

governments of money for infras-

tructure and education.

Yellen spoke after finance min-

isters from the Group of 20 major

economies endorsed a global mini-

mum corporate tax of at least 15%,

a measure aimed at putting a floor

under tax rates and discouraging

companies from using low-rate

countries as tax havens.

“This deal will end the race to

the bottom,” she said at a news

conference after the end of the

meeting in Venice.

“Instead of asking the question:

‘Who can offer the lowest tax

rate?,’ it will allow all of our coun-

tries to compete on the basis of eco-

nomic fundamentals — on the skill

of our workforces, our capacity to

innovate, and the strength of our

legal and economic institutions.”

“And this deal will give our na-

tions the ability to raise the neces-

sary funding for important public

goods like infrastructure, R&D,

and education.”

The global minimum proposal

faces political and technical hur-

dles before it would take effect.

Details are to be ironed out in com-

ing weeks at the Organization for

Economic Cooperation and Devel-

opment in Paris, followed by a fi-

nal endorsement by presidents

and prime ministers of the Group

of 20 at an Oct. 30-31 meeting in

Rome.

Countries would then need to

legislate the rate into their own

laws. The idea is for headquarters

countries to tax their companies’

foreign earnings at home if those

earnings go untaxed in low-rate

countries. That would remove the

reason for using complex account-

ing schemes to move profits to sub-

sidiaries in low-tax nations where

the companies may do little or no

actual business.

US backs call for global minimum corporate taxAssociated Press

LUCA BRUNO/AP

Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen speaks Sunday during a pressconference at a G20 Economy and Finance ministers and Centralbank governors’ meeting in Venice, Italy.

the two countries to a new stage,”

KCNA said.

North Korea has been expect-

ed to seek greater support from

China, its major ally and aid ben-

efactor, as it grapples with eco-

nomic hardship exacerbated by

the coronavirus pandemic and

crippling U.S.-led sanctions over

SEOUL, South Korea — The

North Korean and Chinese lead-

ers expressed their desire Sun-

day to further strengthen their

ties as they exchanged messages

marking the 60th anniversary of

their countries’ defense treaty.

In a message to Chinese Presi-

dent Xi Jinping, North Korean

leader Kim Jong Un said it is “the

fixed stand” of his government to

“ceaselessly develop the friendly

and cooperative relations” be-

tween the countries, the official

Korean Central News Agency

said.

Xi said in his message that “he

is willing to provide greater hap-

piness to the two countries ... by

strengthening the strategic com-

munication with (Kim) to proper-

ly control the direction of the ad-

vance of the China-(North Ko-

rea) relations and by steadily

leading the relations of friend-

ship and cooperation between

its nuclear weapons program.

China, for its part, sees prevent-

ing a North Korean collapse as

crucial to its security interests

and would need to boost ties with

North Korea and other tradition-

al allies amid fierce rivalry with

the United States, some experts

say.

Leaders of North Korea, China vow to strengthen tiesAssociated Press


WORLD

SREBRENICA, Bosnia-Herze-

govina — Nineteen newly identi-

fied victims were honored and

buried Sunday in Bosnia as thou-

sands gathered to commemorate

the 1995 Srebrenica massacre,

Europe’s only acknowledged gen-

ocide since World War II.

The slaughter of more than

8,000 Muslim Bosniaks, most of

them men and boys, by Bosnian

Serb forces was commemorated

in speeches, prayers and song, fol-

lowed by the reburial of victims

whose remains were found in

mass graves and recently identi-

fied through DNA analysis.

The Srebrenica killings were

the bloody crescendo of the 1992-

95 war in Bosnia, which came af-

ter the break-up of Yugoslavia un-

leashed nationalistic passions and

territorial ambitions that set Bos-

nian Serbs against the country’s

two other main ethnic factions —

Croats and Bosniaks.

The massacre has been de-

clared a genocide by international

and national courts, but Serb lead-

ers in Bosnia and neighboring Ser-

bia continue to downplay or even

deny it despite the irrefutable evi-

dence of what happened.

Twenty six years after they

were brutally murdered, 16 men,

two teenage boys and a woman

were laid to rest at a memorial

cemetery at the entrance to Sre-

brenica, joining more than 6,600

other massacre victims already

reburied there.

Thousands commemorate

Srebrenica massacre in BosniaAssociated Press

DARKO BANDIC / AP

Mourners prepare for the funeral of newly identified victims inPotocari near Srebrenica, Bosnia, on Sunday. Bosnia marked the26th anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre, Europe's onlyacknowledged genocide since World War II.

ROME — Pope Francis on Sunday made

his first public appearance since major in-

testinal surgery last week, greeting well-

wishers as he stood for 10 minutes on a hos-

pital balcony, offering hearty thanks for all

the prayers for his recovery and calling

health care for all a “precious” good.

Francis, 84, has been steadily on the

mend, according to the Vatican, following

his July 4 scheduled surgery to remove a

portion of his colon which had narrowed

due to inflammation. But it hasn’t said just

when he might be discharged. On the

morning after his surgery, a Holy See spo-

kesperson said his hospital stay was ex-

pected to last seven days, “barring compli-

cations.”

At first the pontiff’s voice sounded on the

weak side as he began his remarks after

stepping onto a balcony outside his special

suite at Gemelli Polyclinic at noon.

That is the hour when traditionally he

would have appeared from a window at the

Vatican overlooking St. Peter’s Square.

Exactly a week earlier, in his noon re-

marks he had given no hint that in a few

hours he would have entered the hospital

for surgery that same night.

“I am happy to be able to keep the Sun-

day appointment,” this time at the hospital,

the pope said.

“I thank everyone. I very much felt your

closeness and the support of your prayers,”

Francis said. “Thank you from my heart!”

exclaimed the pontiff.

Pope Francis makes first appearance since intestinal surgeryAssociated Press


FACES

In “The Forever Purge,” the

bloodbath lasts more than 12

hours and takes place on the bor-

der between Mexico and the Unit-

ed States. Mexican director Ever-

ardo Gout uses the strengths of

fellow countrymen actors Ana de

la Reguera and Tenoch Huerta in

the film, now in theaters.

The first film in the horror saga

created by James DeMonaco was

2013’s “The Purge.’‘ In this install-

ment, de la Reguera plays Adela,

who along with husband Juan

(Huerta), tries to adapt as an im-

migrant recently arrived in the

United States.

But when the time comes to

fight the purge — an annual event

where murders, rapes and all

kinds of crimes are allowed— it

extends beyond the established 12

hours. Adela takes up arms and

fights alongside the men.

“Where are strong women in

movies?” said Gout in Spanish in a

recent video call interview about

his choice of the Mexican actress

for this character. “Where are the

women like my mother who raised

me with my brothers? 40 years old,

complex, complete, beautiful. I

was very excited to be able to do

that.”

The filmmaker, who makes his

debut as a Hollywood director

with this film, said he always had

Huerta in mind. The Mexican ac-

tor starred in his debut feature,

“Days of Grace” (“Días de gra-

cia”) in 2011, and has been vocal in

his stance against the violation of

immigrant rights and racism.

In “The Forever Purge,” Huer-

ta plays a horse trainer with al-

most magical abilities to control

animals but is nevertheless reject-

ed by the prejudices of Dylan

Tucker (Josh Lucas), the white

son of the owner of the ranch

where he works.

“I knew he was the best actor for

this role, so I stuck with my deci-

sion with the study saying ‘I love

Tenoch and I’m not going to see

anyone else until you show me that

there is a better actor out there,’”

Gout said. “That tape never came,

because there was no one better.”

Unlike Adela, who strives to

learn English, Juan does not want

to forget his origins.

“I think the authenticity that Te-

noch gives it is very important and

on the contrary, what I said to

James (DeMonaco) was ‘let’s use

his accent; let’s use his imperfec-

tion of English,’” said the director.

When the purge spirals out of

control, Mexicans and Americans

alike seek refuge in Mexico.

“It has a lot of ironies and a lot of

messages that I think are impor-

tant,” Gout said. “The movie nev-

er falls from its shell of being a

horror movie and a thriller ... (but)

with that shell the waves can be

political, it can be racial, it can be

anything because it is organic for

the characters.”

Though “The Purge” saga is fic-

tional, with the rising levels of di-

visiveness, intolerance and vio-

lence in the wake of the coronavi-

rus pandemic, could fiction be-

come reality?

“Obviously we shot it before all

the disaster that happened in

America in the last year, but I

think that’s the genius of James

DeMonaco, who has the clairvoy-

ance to see five minutes into the

future,” Gout said. “It is a current

film. If some aliens came to Earth,

I think it would be one of the 10

films that represent who we are.”

And when it seems that the com-

plicated relationship between

Mexico and the United States has

been introduced, the film reminds

that long before the border issues,

Native American people were in

the region. In a prominent role, an

indigenous ally (played by Grego-

ry Zaragoza) who guides them

through the desert points out that

they have been fighting oppres-

sion and extermination for 500

years.

Film saga bordering on insightful

JAKE GILES NETTER, UNIVERSAL PICTURES/AP

Director Everardo Gout, shown on the set of his film “The Forever Purge,” uses the latest chapter of thehorror/thriller series to raise some questions about border issues and immigration.

Director Gout givesMexicans, womengreater dimensionin ‘Forever Purge’

BY BERENICE BAUTISTA

Associated Press

For “Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Mi-

randa, the inspirations for art and philan-

thropy are inextricably linked.

On July 7, Miranda announced a series of

donations to organizations that serve immi-

grants, whose experiences are central to the

new film version of his hit Broadway musi-

cal “In the Heights.”

“For me,” Miranda said, “philanthropy

and artistic inspiration kind of come from

the same place.”

He is forever drawn to what he calls “the

things that don’t leave you alone.” Immigra-

tion, he said, is both a passion and a founda-

tional element of his work. “In the Heights,”

he noted, centers on immigrants from the

Caribbean and Latin America living in New

York City. And “Hamilton,” he said, “is sort

of the proto-immigrant story.”

“I think I am in awe of people who can

make an impossible leap to leave every-

thing they know behind and start a new life

here,” he said. “And I think it’s one of the

great things about our country.”

In honor of the Fourth of July, the Miran-

da Family Fund awarded a total of $225,000

in grants to immigrant rights groups and

policy reform advocates. The recipients are

Arizona’s Pima County Justice for All, Cali-

fornia’s Coalition for Human Rights Los

Angeles, Colorado Immigration Rights

Coalition, Michigan’s Arab Community

Center for Economic and Social Services,

Texas’ Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy

Center, Utah Refugee Connection, Asian

Americans Advancing Justice in Washing-

ton, and both Alianza for Progress and Or-

lando Center for Justice in Florida.

Luis Miranda Jr., Lin-Manuel’s father,

said all the recipients were recommended

by friends of the family in the field of im-

migration.

It was important to the Mirandas to make

the grants unrestricted, so the money would

go to “whatever the organization believes is

important,” Luis said. “They know what

they need,” Lin-Manuel added.

Though the Miranda Family Fund has

been active for years in donations to the arts

community, last week’s donations mark an

expansion in its giving for immigration,

which previously included working with

the Hispanic Federation to establish the Im-

migrants: We Get the Job Done Coalition.

Lin-Manuel said it’s vital to showcase

both the successes and the struggles of be-

ing an immigrant. “The trick is not to look at

it through rose-colored glasses, but through

really clear eyeglasses,” he said. “It’s al-

ways something that we can be working on,

always something we can do better.”

Lin-Manuel Miranda sees art and philanthropy with same lensBY GLENN GAMBOA

Associated Press

MONICA SIMOES

LinManuel Miranda, left, laughs with hisfather, Luis Miranda Jr. The awardwinning“Hamilton” creator and his family'snonprofit made a series of donations July6 to organizations helping immigrants.

Queen Elizabeth II has visited

the set of “Coronation Street” to

mark the long-running television

soap’s 60th birthday.

The monarch was all smiles as

she met July 8 with veteran cast

and crew of the show, walked

along the storied cobbled street

and visited the studio where the

interior of the Rovers Return pub

is filmed.

It was the second time the

queen, 95, has visited “Coronation

Street” — the first time was in the

early 1980s, at the show’s original

studios in Manchester.

She told the cast it was “really

marvelous you’ve been able to

carry on” during the pandemic,

and took time to chat to backstage

staff including writers, camera

operators, set designers and

sound engineers.

The show, which focuses on the

lives of residents of the fictional

northern English town of Weath-

erfield, is the world’s longest-run-

ning drama series.

Actor Bill Roache, who has

played Ken Barlow for decades

since the soap’s early days, said

the royal visit was a “wonderful

bit of icing on the cake.”

“She just smiles. She listens, she

always has, and she loves to be

made to laugh,” Roache said.

SCOTT HEPPELL/AP

Queen Elizabeth II visits the setof the longrunning televisionseries “Coronation Street” onJuly 8 in Manchester, England.

Queen visits‘CoronationStreet’ TV set

Associated Press


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stripes.com

OPINION

WASHINGTON

Even if you belong in the basket of

deplorables — Americans unin-

terested in baseball — you should

be intrigued by the sport’s cur-

rent problems. At the all-star break, Major

League Baseball’s 2021 season is demon-

strating, redundantly, that the quality of the

game as entertainment is declining. Para-

doxically, the problems arise from reason-

able behavior based on abundant accurate

information.

Improved technology generates data

about pitches’ spin rates, the launch angles

of batters’ swings, particular batters’ tend-

encies on particular pitches and much

more. Improved kinesiology increases

pitching velocity. The results include a

slower pace of play, diminished action, few-

er balls in play and more of them handled by

radically repositioned infielders.

Five seasons ago, there were 3,294 more

hits than strikeouts. Three seasons ago,

strikeouts edged past hits. Writer Jayson

Stark notes that until 2018 there had never

been a month with more strikeouts than

hits. This April there were almost 1,100

more strikeouts than hits, and writer Tyler

Kepner says this season is on a pace for ap-

proximately 5,000 more strikeouts than

hits. Twenty-four percent of plate appear-

ances end in strikeouts (they are increasing

for the 16th consecutive season, partly be-

cause today’s average fastball’s velocity is

93.8 mph, 2.7 mph more than 14 years ago.

As of mid-June, the .238 collective major

league batting average was 15 points below

2019. In 2015, teams shifted infielders on

9.6% of all pitches. This season, teams are

shifting on 32% (usually an infielder in shal-

low right field), which will erase perhaps

600 hits.

With pitchers dawdling to recover be-

tween high-exertion, high-velocity pitches

and with 36% of at-bats ending with home

runs, strikeouts or walks, around four min-

utes pass, on average, between balls put in

play. Players spend much more time with

leather on their hands than with wood in

their hands, but have fewer and fewer op-

portunities to display their athleticism as

fielders. Home runs predominate because

scoring by hitting a ball far over defensive

shifts is more likely than hitting three sin-

gles, through shifts, off someone throwing

98 mph fastballs and 90 mph secondary

pitches. This means fewer baserunners. In

2021, there probably will be 1,000 fewer sto-

len bases than 10 years ago.

Writer Tom Verducci notes that in the

last 26 minutes of 2020’s most-watched

game, the final World Series game, just two

balls were put in play. In this game, the ball

was put in play every 6.5 minutes, and half

the outs were strikeouts.

More pitches and less contact. Longer

games (13 minutes 17 seconds longer than a

decade ago) and less action. No wonder fans

who have been neurologically rewired by

their digital devices’ speeds are seeking

other entertainments. Major league attend-

ance has fallen 14% from its 2007 peak.

Last season, MLB made an action-creat-

ing change — a runner is placed on second

base to begin each extra half-inning. And

MLB is experimenting with other changes

in various minor leagues.

Because pitching velocity is suffocating

offense, MLB could move the pitcher’s

mound back a foot (from today’s 60 feet six

inches) to give batters more reaction time.

The changed physiology of pitchers has, in

effect, moved the mound closer to home

plate: In the 1950s, the Yankees’ 5-foot 10-

inch Whitey Ford had a Hall of Fame ca-

reer. Today, 6-foot 4-inch pitchers, with

long arms and long strides, release the ball

significantly closer to the plate than Ford

did.

Requiring four infielders to be on the in-

field dirt — or, even bolder, requiring two

infielders to be on the dirt on each side of

second base — as the pitch is thrown, would

reduce reliance on home runs, which are

four seconds of action, followed by a lei-

surely 360-foot trot. A 20-second pitch clock

might reduce velocity by reducing pitchers’

between-pitches recovery time. And by

quickening baseball’s tempo, the clock

might prevent batters from wandering

away from the batter’s box and ruminating

between pitches. Stolen bases might in-

crease if pitchers had to step off the rubber

before throwing to first base. After a walk

and then a steal, one single would produce a

score.

Baseball fans, a temperamentally conser-

vative tribe, viscerally oppose de jure

changes to their game. They must, however,

acknowledge the damage done to it by this

century’s cumulatively momentous de fac-

to changes in the way it is played. What Ed-

mund Burke said of states is pertinent: “A

state without the means of some change is

without the means of its conservation.”

Save baseball by changing the rulesBY GEORGE F. WILL

Washington Post Writers Group

Workers sang that song in the

1880s, protesting for an eight-

hour workday at a time when

the average was more like 12.

They achieved that goal. But more than 100

years later, we’re still singing the same song.

Today, it’s the four-day workweek that’s

gone from fringe idea to pragmatic policy

consideration. Japan is recommending it in

its economic policy guidelines. Iceland insti-

tuted a trial program that went swimmingly.

And Spain is working on its own plan.

The push for a shorter workweek was al-

ready gaining traction before the pandemic.

But COVID-19’s upending of office life has

made it seem more plausible than ever — per-

haps even necessary. Companies have real-

ized that their hastily adopted flexible work

policies can help attract and retain employ-

ees, and workers have proved they can adjust

to radical shifts in their working lives.

Yet we keep thinking about work in a dis-

appointingly narrow way.

Even as companies, activists and individu-

al workers champion the idea of a shorter

workweek, they’re framing it in old terms. We

can get all our work done in four days, we

promise. In fact, we’ll be more productive.

(Look at Microsoft Japan, which famously in-

creased productivity by 40%!) No more un-

necessary meetings. No more interruptions

from our nonwork lives. After a three-day

weekend we’ll be rested and recharged — the

better to hit the ground running on Monday

morning!

It’s not that we want “an hour for thought”

— it’s that working fewer hours will make us

better workers. But this isn’t radical change.

It’s the same old profit über alles dogma pack-

aged in a more tightly compressed box.

When we focus on how a shorter workweek

will make us better employees, we’re making

the wrong argument to our bosses and our-

selves. The four-day workweek shouldn’t just

be about becoming more productive — the

real benefit is that it would allow us to be full-

er people.

So why not discuss the four-day workweek

in those terms?

In an admittedly unscientific survey, I

asked Twitter followers whether they would

prefer a regular four-day workweek or a

month’s vacation — and why. Over 500 peo-

ple responded. And nearly 85% wanted the

shorter week.

Some clearly wanted the convenience of an

extra weekend day, the ability to run those

pesky errands that are constantly pushed out

of reach by the ever-expanding workday.

(Truly, whose idea was it to have the DMV

close at 4 p.m.?)

But most said the four-day week would

give them more time to do the things that

make them … themselves. Some wanted to

pursue a skilled pastime that would enrich

their lives, such as playing an instrument or

making art. Others thought they would spend

the extra day with their friends and families

— describing it not as drudgery or “child

care,” the exhausting task that has pulled

mothers especially from the workforce, but

quality time. There was mention of various

hobbies and associations, of going to mu-

seums, taking walks, spending time at

church.

These sorts of activities are unlikely to be

recognized as creating economic value. But

they’re obviously rich in human value: the

mastery of a craft, a connection created with

others, an embeddedness in a particular com-

munity or place. These are the things that

make us whole. Yet without enough free time,

one can’t develop the relationships and com-

mitments we need to truly thrive.

The United States has for decades been

locked into an economic mindset in which

growth, or at least its potential, is seen as the

main barometer of success, and individuals

are judged mainly on what we produce. In the

elite classes in particular, work has become

central to our lives, a source of meaning and

status. We’re proud of our ability to work hard

and efficiently, even though our gains in pro-

ductivity haven’t accrued to us personally.

But the push for a four-day workweek sug-

gests we do have other things we value — as

we should. The trick will be learning to advo-

cate for them on their own terms, with the

same clarity and fervor with which we cele-

brate material and economic gains.

“We mean to make things over,” those 19th-

century workers sang. In the 21st century,

making over our conversations — the ways

we measure worth and the value we place on

our own well-being — will be a big part of get-

ting the job done.

A 4-day workweek will make us better humansBY CHRISTINE EMBA

The Washington Post

Christine Emba is an opinion columnist and editor for TheWashington Post.


ACROSS

1 Hairy no more

5 Haw’s partner

8 Some HDTVs

12 Opera house

solo

13 “— Blue?”

14 Witty Bombeck

15 Smile broadly

16 1981 Kathleen

Turner film

18 Motorcycle

maker

20 Think up

21 Without

23 Used a chair

24 Carry a gun

28 Tears

31 Solidify

32 City in Provence

34 Victory sign

35 Basra resident

37 Microwave

for too long

39 Fortify

41 “Simpsons”

bus driver

42 Shadows

45 Sharpshooter

Annie

49 Tie

51 Teeny bit

52 Other (Sp.)

53 Oklahoma city

54 Nobel Prize subj.

55 Tree house

56 Texter’s chuckle

57 Hockey venue

DOWN

1 Infant

2 Length times

width

3 Actor Neeson

4 Table linen fabric

5 Fiery pepper

6 Punk rock

offshoot

7 Calf-length

8 Try again, as

in court

9 Kind of writing

10 Latin 101 word

11 Fill fully

17 NFL stats

19 “Funny!”

22 Spirited attack

24 Links org.

25 — Lingus

26 Eateries with

steamers

27 Shun liquor

29 Green shade

30 Fixed

33 Madrid miss

(Abbr.)

36 Legendary

French actress

38 More corny

40 Slangy denial

42 Japanese noodle

43 Apportion

44 Navy commando

46 Places

47 Thames town

48 Tug

50 Commotion

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


SCOREBOARD/AWARDS

SOCCER

MLS

Eastern Conference

W L T Pts GF GA

New England 7 3 3 24 22 18

Orlando City 6 3 3 21 20 12

Philadelphia 5 3 5 20 16 12

CF Montréal 5 3 4 19 14 11

Nashville 4 1 7 19 16 13

NYCFC 5 4 2 17 19 13

New York 5 5 2 17 17 15

Columbus 4 3 5 17 13 11

D.C. United 5 6 1 16 17 14

Atlanta 2 3 7 13 13 15

Cincinnati 3 5 3 12 12 20

Chicago 3 7 2 11 13 18

Inter Miami CF 2 7 2 8 9 17

Toronto FC 2 8 2 8 16 29

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 4 0 24 20 18

Colorado 6 3 2 20 18 12

LAFC 5 4 3 18 15 12

Real Salt Lake 4 3 4 16 18 12

Minnesota 4 5 3 15 12 16

Houston 3 4 6 15 16 19

Portland 4 6 1 13 14 19

Austin FC 3 6 4 13 10 14

San Jose 3 7 2 11 14 22

FC Dallas 2 5 5 11 14 20

Vancouver 2 7 3 9 12 22

Note: Three points for victory, one pointfor tie.

Friday’s game

Columbus 2, Cincinnati 2, tie

Saturday, July 17

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

Sunday, July 18

Seattle at Minnesota

Tuesday, July 20

Houston at Vancouver

Wednesday, July 21

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, July 22

Philadelphia at Orlando City Seattle at Austin FC

NWSL

W L T Pts GF GA

North Carolina 5 3 1 16 14 6

Orlando 4 2 4 16 13 11

Portland 5 3 0 15 14 6

Washington 4 2 3 15 10 8

Houston 4 3 1 13 10 8

Gotham FC 3 1 3 12 7 3

Louisville 3 4 2 11 7 13

Chicago 3 4 2 11 6 13

Reign FC 2 5 1 7 5 10

Kansas City 0 6 3 3 5 13

Note: Three points for victory, one pointfor tie.

Friday’s game

Louisville 1, Orlando 1, tie

Saturday’s game

Washington 2, North Carolina 0

Sunday’s games

Gotham FC at Portland Houston at Chicago Kansas City at Reign FC

Saturday, July 17

Houston at North Carolina

Sunday, July 18

Gotham FC at Washington Reign FC at Chicago Orlando at Portland

PRO BASKETBALL

WNBA

EASTERN CONFERENCE

W L Pct GB

Connecticut 13 6 .684 —

Chicago 10 10 .500 3½

New York 10 10 .500 3½

Washington 8 10 .444 4½

Atlanta 6 12 .333 6½

Indiana 3 16 .158 10

WESTERN CONFERENCE

W L Pct GB

Seattle 15 5 .750 —

Las Vegas 14 6 .700 1

Minnesota 11 7 .611 3

Phoenix 9 9 .500 5

Dallas 9 11 .450 6

Los Angeles 6 12 .333 8

Friday’s games

Indiana 82, New York 69Connecticut 84, Atlanta 72Phoenix 85, Seattle 77Minnesota 77, Las Vegas 67

Saturday’s games

Washington 89, Chicago 85, OT

Sunday’s games

Las Vegas at DallasConnecticut at New YorkIndiana at AtlantaPhoenix at SeattleMinnesota at Los Angeles

Monday’s games

No games scheduled.

Tuesday’s games

No games scheduled.

TENNIS

Hamburg European Open

SaturdayAt Am Rothenbaum Rot-Weiss Tennis

ClubHamburg, Germany

Purse: $235,238Surface: Red clayWomen’s Singles

SemifinalsElena-Gabriela Ruse, Romania, def.

Dayana Yastremska (1), Ukraine, 2-6, 6-1,6-4.

Andrea Petkovic, Germany, def. Jule Nie-meier, Germany, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 7-5.

Women’s Doubles

Semifinals

Astra Sharma, Australia, and RosalieVan Der Hoek, Netherlands, def. MandyMinella, Luxembourg, and Mona Barthel,Germany, 6-3, 6-4.

Nordea Open

SaturdayAt Bastad Tennis Stadium

Bastad, SwedenPurse: $125,000

Surface: Red clayWomen’s Singles

ChampionshipNuria Parrizas-Diaz, Spain, def. Olga Go-

vortsova (7), Belarus, 6-2, 6-2.

Women’s Doubles

Championship

Mirjam Bjorklund, Sweden, and LeonieKung, Switzerland, def. Tereza Mihaliko-va, Slovakia, and Kamilla Rakhimova (3),Russia, 5-7, 6-3, 10-5.

DEALS

Saturday’s transactions

BASEBALLMajor League Baseball

American LeagueBOSTON RED SOX — Placed RHP Matt An-

driese on the 10-day IL. Selected the con-tract of RHP Austin Brice from Worcester(Triple-A East).

DETROIT TIGERS — Optioned RHP MattManning to Toledo (Triple-A East). Rein-stated RHP Derek Holland from the 10-dayIL.

NEW YORK YANKEES — Placed OF MiguelAndujar on the 10-day IL, retroactive to Ju-ly 7. Placed RHP Jonathan Loaisiga on the10-day IL Recalled RHP Albert Abreu fromScranton/Wilkes-Barre (Triple-A East).

National LeagueARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS — Reinstated

OF Kole Calhoun from the 60-day IL. Desig-nated OF Nick Heath for assignment. Op-tioned RHP Taylor Widener to Reno (Tri-ple-A West). Placed 3B Asdrubal Cabreraon the 10-day IL. Recalled 2B AndrewYoung from Reno.

COLORADO ROCKIES — Reinstated 1BMatt Adams from the 10-day IL. OptionedRHP Jose Mujica to Albuquerque (Triple-AWest).

LOS ANGELES DODGERS — Traded RHPHugo Beltran to Baltimore Orioles forcash. Recalled OF Zach Reks from Oklaho-ma City (Triple-A West). Placed RHP EdwinUceta on the 10-day IL.

MIAMI MARLINS — Selected the contractof RHP Preston Guilmet from Jacksonville(Triple-A East). Designated LHP ShawnMorimando for assignment.

NEW YORK METS — Recalled RHP GeoffHartlieb from Syracuse (Triple-A East) andhe will serve as the 27th man. PromotedINF Brett Baty to Binghamton (Double-ANortheast).

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES — Selected thecontract of RHP JD Hammer from LehighValley (Triple-A East). Placed CF OdubelHerrera on the 10-day IL, retroactive to Ju-ly 9.

PITTSBURGH PIRATES — Recalled RHPMax Kranick from Indianapolis (Triple-AEast), appointed him as the 27th man fortoday’s doubleheader and he will startsecond game.

SAN DIEGO PADRES — Optioned RHP Re-iss Knehr to El Paso (Triple-A West).

SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS — Recalled CJoey Bart from Sacramento (Triple-AWest). Optioned RHP Logan Webb to Sac-ramento. Sent RHP Aaron Sanchez to SanJose (Low-A West) and LF Mike Tauchmanto Sacramento (Triple-A West) on rehabassignments.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS — Selectedthe contract of C Jakson Reetz from Roch-ester (Triple-A East). Placed C Yan Gomeson the 10-day IL. Designated LHP Kyle Lob-stein for assignment.

AUTO RACING

Credit Karma Money 250

NASCAR-Xfinity SeriesSaturday

At Atlanta Motor SpeedwayHampton, Ga.

Lap length: 1.54 miles(Start position in parentheses)

1. (1) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 164 laps, 0points.

2. (11) Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, 164, 35.3. (9) Noah Gragson, Chevrolet, 164, 48.4. (7) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 164, 38.5. (30) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 164, 35.6. (20) Brett Moffitt, Chevrolet, 164, 40.7. (8) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 164, 37.8. (19) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 164,

29.9. (22) Sam Mayer, Chevrolet, 164, 28.10. (4) Austin Cindric, Ford, 164, 27.11. (6) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 164, 0.12. (16) Ryan Sieg, Ford, 164, 25.13. (3) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 164,

42.14. (32) Ryan Vargas, Chevrolet, 164, 23.15. (17) Alex Labbe, Chevrolet, 164, 26.16. (14) Tommy Joe Martins, Chevrolet,

164, 21.17. (27) Jade Buford, Chevrolet, 164, 20.18. (18) Josh Williams, Chevrolet, 164, 19.19. (10) Riley Herbst, Ford, 164, 18.20. (36) Colby Howard, Chevrolet, 164, 17.21. (15) Myatt Snider, Chevrolet, 164, 16.22. (37) Jeffrey Earnhardt, Chevrolet,

164, 15.23. (28) Josh Berry, Chevrolet, 164, 14.24. (5) Harrison Burton, Toyota, 164, 26.25. (33) Joe Graf Jr, Chevrolet, 164, 12.26. (24) Matt Mills, Chevrolet, 164, 11.27. (29) Ronnie Bassett Jr, Chevrolet, 164,

10.28. (31) Jesse Little, Toyota, 164, 9.29. (23) Mason Massey, Ford, 164, 8.30. (2) Daniel Hemric, Toyota, 164, 20.31. (12) Brandon Brown, Chevrolet, acci-

dent, 163, 6.32. (38) Kyle Weatherman, Chevrolet, ac-

cident, 162, 5.33. (25) Santino Ferrucci, Toyota, 162, 4.34. (39) Bayley Currey, Chevrolet, 162, 0.35. (40) Gray Gaulding, Chevrolet, 160, 2.36. (26) Carson Ware, Chevrolet, acci-

dent, 139, 1.37. (34) Cj McLaughlin, Toyota, 139, 0.38. (21) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 128, 1.39. (13) Brandon Jones, Toyota, acci-

dent, 118, 3.40. (35) David Starr, Toyota, accident, 50,

1.Race Statistics

Average Speed of Race Winner: 109.034mph.

Time of Race: 2 hours, 18 minutes, 59seconds.

Margin of Victory: 0.550 seconds.Caution Flags: 10 for 43 laps.Lead Changes: 16 among 9 drivers.Lap Leaders: K.Busch 0-43; H.Burton 44-

46; N.Gragson 47-48; K.Busch 49-65; A.All-mendinger 66; K.Busch 67-97; N.Gragson98-100; J.Allgaier 101-104; D.Hemric 105-120; T.Dillon 121-124; D.Hemric 125-148;K.Weatherman 149-151; D.Hemric 152-156;A.Allmendinger 157; K.Busch 158-161;J.Burton 162; K.Busch 163-164

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led,Laps Led): K.Busch, 5 times for 97 laps;D.Hemric, 3 times for 45 laps; N.Gragson, 2times for 5 laps; T.Dillon, 1 time for 4 laps;J.Allgaier, 1 time for 4 laps; H.Burton, 1time for 3 laps; K.Weatherman, 1 time for 3laps; A.Allmendinger, 2 times for 2 laps;J.Burton, 1 time for 1 lap.

Wins: A.Cindric, 4; A.Allmendinger, 2;J.Allgaier, 2; T.Gibbs, 2; J.Burton, 1; M.Snid-er, 1; J.Berry, 1.

Top 16 in Points: 1. A.Cindric, 748; 2. A.All-mendinger, 674; 3. D.Hemric, 636; 4. J.All-gaier, 607; 5. H.Burton, 572; 6. J.Burton, 559;7. J.Haley, 537; 8. N.Gragson, 519; 9.B.Jones, 488; 10. M.Annett, 450; 11. J.Cle-ments, 445; 12. M.Snider, 396; 13. R.Herbst,391; 14. B.Brown, 389; 15. J.Berry, 362; 16.R.Sieg, 351.

July 12 1901 — Cy Young of the Boston Red Sox

wins his 300th game with a 5-3 victory overthe Philadelphia A’s.

1930 — Bobby Jones wins the U.S. Open.Jones, who also won the British Open, theAmerican Amateur and the British Ama-teur, becomes the only golfer to take allfour events in the same year.

1954 — The Major League Baseball Play-

ers Association is founded. 1970 — Jack Nicklaus wins his second

British Open, beating Doug Sanders by onestroke in an 18-hole playoff at the OldCourse in St Andrews, Scotland. It’s thefirst playoff at The Open since 196.

2012 — Every country competing at theLondon Games includes female athletesfor the first time in Olympic history afterSaudi Arabia agreed to send two womento compete in judo and track and field.

AP SPORTLIGHT

GOLF

John Deere Classic

PGA TourSaturday

At TPC Deere RunSilvis, Ill.

Yardage: 7,268; Par: 71Purse: $6.2 Million

Third RoundSebastián Muñoz 636767—197 16 Brandon Hagy 676467—198 15 Scott Brown 696763—199 14 Adam Long 706564—199 14 Cameron Champ 666865—199 14 Kevin Na 676666—199 14 Ryan Moore 656668—199 14 Maverick McNealy 716465—200 13 Jhonattan Vegas 676667—200 13 Chez Reavie 646769—200 13 Luke List 666371—200 13 Jason Dufner 686568—201 12 Lucas Glover 686370—201 12 Adam Schenk 676470—201 12 Brian Stuard 696766—202 11 Camilo Villegas 647167—202 11 Rafa Cabrera Bello 706666—202 11 Russell Henley 676669—202 11 Sean O'Hair 696865—202 11 Patrick Rodgers 676570—202 11 Chase Seiffert 686371—202 11 Seamus Power 686768—203 10 Zach Johnson 686867—203 10 Scott Harrington 686768—203 10 Vaughn Taylor 696668—203 10 Nick Taylor 676571—203 10 Doug Ghim 666770—203 10 Chesson Hadley 636872—203 10 Sungjae Im 686769—204 9 Steve Stricker 706668—204 9 David Hearn 706569—204 9 Will Gordon 686868—204 9 Harold Varner III 676770—204 9 Rhein Gibson 696768—204 9 Daniel Berger 696867—204 9 Hank Lebioda 646971—204 9 Henrik Norlander 676969—205 8 Martin Laird 686869—205 8 Patton Kizzire 696769—205 8 Alex Smalley 676771—205 8 Jim Herman 686671—205 8 Bo Hoag 706768—205 8 Charles Howell III 716767—205 8 Cameron Percy 706867—205 8 Wes Roach 686870—206 7 Michael Gellerman 667169—206 7 Mito Pereira 706868—206 7

Marathon Classic

LPGA TourSaturday

At Highland Meadows Golf ClubSylvania, Ohio

Purse: $2 millionYardage: 6,578; Par: 71

Third RoundNasa Hataoka 616964—194 19 Elizabeth Szokol 676667—200 13 Mina Harigae 666668—200 13 Esther Henseleit 706467—201 12 Yuka Saso 716764—202 11 Amy Yang 677065—202 11 Austin Ernst 696766—202 11 Caroline Masson 686866—202 11 Stacy Lewis 687065—203 10 Brittany Lincicome 676967—203 10 Danielle Kang 706568—203 10 Jasmine Suwannapura 686768—203 10 Jennifer Kupcho 696569—203 10 Gerina Piller 696569—203 10 Leona Maguire 696867—204 9 Su Oh 696768—204 9 SsuChia Cheng 667068—204 9 Megan Khang 686769—204 9 Matilda Castren 666969—204 9 Ariya Jutanugarn 666969—204 9 Lauren Stephenson 656970—204 9 Jennifer Song 677266—205 8 Andrea Lee 716767—205 8 Inbee Park 716767—205 8 Perrine Delacour 696967—205 8 Brittany Altomare 696868—205 8 Chella Choi 686671—205 8 Celine Boutier 717164—206 7 P. Thnaplbnyras 736865—206 7 Esther Lee 766466—206 7 Alana Uriell 706670—206 7 Alison Lee 676673—206 � 7

U.S. Senior Open

Championship TourSaturday

At Omaha Country ClubOmaha, Neb

Purse: $4 millionYardage: 6,798; Par: 70

Third RoundJim Furyk 726466—202 8Stephen Ames 657368—206 4Retief Goosen 726966—207 3Steve Flesch 737164—208 2Wes Short, Jr. 667568—209 1Mike Weir 707168—209 1Kevin Sutherland 726869—209 1Fred Couples 697169—209 1Fran Quinn 687369—210 EGene Sauers 717069—210 EPeter Fowler 717069—210 EJeff Maggert 717069—210 ERod Pampling 697269—210 E

Naomi Osaka returned to the spot-

light for the first time since withdraw-

ing from the French Open in May and

skipping Wimbledon, posing on the

red carpet at The ESPYS on Saturday

night.

The world’s highest-paid female

athlete faced a slew of photographers

in New York, with one being heard

urging her, “Nice smile” as cameras

clicked furiously. Osaka offered a

faint closed-mouth smile in response.

Tom Brady won best men’s athlete

and his Tampa Bay Buccaneers were

named best team. The quarterback,

who turns 44 next month, won his sev-

enth Super Bowl title this year in his

first season with the Bucs.

Osaka, who has won four Grand

Slam titles, pulled out of the French

Open before the second round, saying

she has “huge waves of anxiety” be-

fore speaking to the media and that

she has “suffered long bouts of de-

pression.” She also sat out Wimble-

don. She’ll return for the Tokyo Olym-

pics, representing her native Japan.

She high-fived boyfriend-rapper

Cordae from YBN Collective before

taking the stage.

“I just really want to not say a long

speech because I’m a bit nervous,”

Osaka said. “This year has been a re-

ally, it hasn’t even finished, but it’s

been really tough for a lot of us. For

me, I just want to say I really love you

guys.”

Charlotte Hornets rookie LaMelo

Ball won as best breakthrough ath-

lete. The best game award was Gon-

zaga’s 93-90 win over UCLA in the

semifinals of the men’s NCAA Tour-

nament. DeVonta Smith, who won the

Heisman Trophy at Alabama and

now plays for the Philadelphia Ea-

gles, won as best men’s college ath-

lete.

UConn freshman basketball sensa-

tion Paige Bueckers won as women’s

college athlete. She urged greater

media coverage for Black female ath-

letes.

CHRISTOPHE ENA/AP

Japan’s Naomi Osaka was at TheESPYS, her first publicappearance since withdrawingfrom the French Open in May.

Osaka backin spotlightat ESPYS

BY BETH HARRIS

Associated Press


WIMBLEDON/SPORTS BRIEFS

WIMBLEDON, England — No-

vak Djokovic tied Roger Federer

and Rafael Nadal by claiming his

20th Grand Slam title Sunday,

coming back to beat Matteo Ber-

rettini 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 in the

Wimbledon final.

The No. 1-ranked Djokovic

earned a third consecutive cham-

pionship at the All England Club

and sixth overall.

He adds that to nine titles at the

Australian Open, three at the U.S.

Open and two at the French Open

to equal his two rivals for the most

majors won by a man in tennis his-

tory.

“I have to pay a great tribute to

Rafa and Roger. They are legends.

Legends of our sport. They are the

two most important players that I

ever faced in my career,” said

Djokovic, a 34-year-old from Ser-

bia. “They are, I think, the reason

that I am where I am today.

They’ve helped me realize what I

need to do in order to improve, to

get stronger mentally, physically,

tactically.”

Federer tweeted his congratu-

lations shortly after the match

ended, writing, “Wonderful per-

formance, well done!”

Djokovic is now the only man

since Rod Laver in 1969 to win the

first three major tournaments in a

season. He can aim for a calendar-

year Grand Slam — something

last accomplished by a man when

Laver did it 52 years ago — at the

U.S. Open, which starts Aug. 30.

“I’m hoping. I’m going to defi-

nitely give it a shot,” Djokovic told

the Centre Court crowd during the

trophy presentation. “I’m in a

great form and obviously playing

well and playing my best tennis at

Grand Slams is the highest prior-

ity that I have right now at this

stage of my career. So let’s keep it

going.”

This was his 30th major final —

among men, only Federer has

played more, 31 — and the first for

Berrettini, a 25-year-old from Ita-

ly who was seeded No. 7.

“Hopefully,” Berrettini said,

“it’s not going be my last one.”

It was a big sporting day in Lon-

don for Italians: Their national

soccer team faced England at

Wembley Stadium in the Europe-

an Championship final at night.

With Marija Cicak officiating,

the first female chair umpire for a

men’s final at a tournament that

began in 1877, play began as the

sun made a rare appearance dur-

ing the fortnight, the sky visible in

between the clouds.

The opening game featured

signs of edginess from both, but

especially Djokovic, whose pair of

double-faults contributed to the

half-dozen combined unforced er-

rors, compared with zero winners

for either. He faced a break point

but steadied himself and held

there and, as was the case with ev-

ery set, it was Djokovic who took

the lead by getting through on

Berrettini’s speedy serve.

Berrettini came in with a tour-

nament-high 101 aces and that’s

where his game is built: free

points off the serve and quick-

strike forehands that earned him

the nickname “Hammer.”

Those powerful strokes sent

line judges contorting to get their

head out of harm’s way. Djokovic

occasionally took cover himself,

crouching and raising his racket

as if it were a shield to block back

serves aimed at his body.

Not many opponents manage to

return serves at 137 mph and end

up winning the point, but Djokovic

did that at least twice. And the big

groundstrokes that the 6-foot-5,

barrel-chested Berrettini can

drive past most other players kept

coming back off Djokovic’s racket.

That’s what Djokovic does: He

just forces foes to work so hard to

win every point, let alone a game, a

set, a match.

He has collected eight of the

past 12 major trophies — all since

turning 30, the most by a man past

that age.

KIRSTY WIGGLESWORTH/AP

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic plays a return to Italy’s Matteo Berrettini during his 67 (4), 64, 64, 64 win inthe Wimbledon men’s singles final Sunday in London.

Slammin’: Djokovic matchesmark set by Federer, NadalSerb drops first set, wins next four over Italy’s Berrettini for 20th Grand Slam title

BY HOWARD FENDRICH

Associated Press 20Novak Djokovic won his sixth Wimble-don singles title on Sunday. He’s alsowon the French Open twice, the Aus-tralian Open nine times and the U.S.Open three times.

Source: Associated Press, Tennis-x.com

HAMPTON, Ga. — Kyle

Busch’s Xfinity Series sweep

wasn’t as sweet as he hoped.

Busch completed a 5-for-5

sweep of what he says will be his

final season in the Xfinity Series

with a late recovery at Atlanta Mo-

tor Speedway on Saturday.

Busch knocked teammate Da-

niel Hemric from the lead with a

late push. That cast a pall on what

otherwise would have been an ide-

al way for Busch to say goodbye to

NASCAR’s second-tier series.

“It’s not quite the win we were

hoping for,” Busch said. “A little

bit of a somber win I guess, not just

for it being the last one but for the

way it kind of happened.”

Busch finished 0.550 seconds

ahead of Jeb Burton for his 102nd

Xfinity victory and 222nd overall

in NASCAR’s three national se-

ries.

Busch said he plans for this to be

his final Xfinity race, though he

left room to change his mind.

Colorado’s Kuss

wins Tour stageANDORRA LA VELLA, Andor-

ra — American rider Sepp Kuss

won the grueling 15th stage of the

Tour de France on Sunday as race

leader Tadej Pogacar remained

on course for his second overall

victory.

Kuss is the first American to

win a stage at cycling’s biggest

race since Tyler Farrar 10 years

ago. The 26-year-old Colorado na-

tive made a late move in the puni-

shing 118-mile ride from Ceret at

the foothills of the Pyrenees to the

tiny mountain-bound nation of

Andorra.

Matsuyama, 2 more drop

from British Open ST. ANDREWS, Scotland (AP)

— Three more players withdrew

from the British Open next week

at Royal St. George's, a growing

list that includes Masters cham-

pion Hideki Matsuyama, who was

concerned about practice time

and travel.

Two-time Masters champion

Bubba Watson and former British

Open champion David Duval also

withdrew Sunday. That brings to

13 the number of players who had

been planning to play but with-

drew. Matsuyama tested positive

for the coronavirus during the

Rocket Mortgage Classic last

week in Detroit.

Kyle Busch pulls off5-for-5 Xfinity sweep

JOHN AMIS/AP

Kyle Busch celebrates afterwinning the NASCAR XfinitySeries race Saturday inHampton, Ga.

Associated Press

BRIEFLY


UFC 264/MLB

told McGregor broke his shin near the ankle. McGre-

gor will have surgery on Sunday morning.

Poirier said he thought McGregor's leg broke when

he checked one of McGregor’s kicks earlier in the

fight. McGregor disagreed, saying there was “not one

check.”

“You never want to get a win that way, but what

happened was the result of checking a kick,” Poirier

said. “I’m more than sure of it. He got what he had

coming to him. Karma is a mirror.”

McGregor dropped to 1-3 in the cage since 2016,

when he abdicated his UFC title reins and accepted a

wildly lucrative boxing match with Floyd Mayweath-

er. McGregor has been unable to recapture his fear-

some MMA form over the past half-decade — and de-

spite his protestations, there was little in the first

round at UFC 264 to suggest McGregor was back in

elite form.

Poirier was largely in control of the opening round,

parrying McGregor's kicks and landing several

strikes before getting control over McGregor on the

ground. After McGregor got up from a long stretch of

punches and elbows, Poirier knocked him down one

last time — and McGregor’s ankle bent gruesomely

as he fell.

“It (stinks), because I was going to beat the guy if

his leg held up,” Poirier said. “I need to digest it all,

because right now, it kind of feels weird. It’s not a

good feeling.”

White confirmed Poirier will get the next shot at

new lightweight champ Charles Oliveira. White also

said he expects a fourth fight between McGregor and

Poirier at some point after McGregor’s leg heals.

“The fight didn’t get finished,” White said. “You

can’t have a fight finish that way. We’ll see how this

whole thing plays out. Who knows how long Conor is

out? Poirier will do his thing until Conor is ready.”

Poirier also said he intends to fight McGregor a

fourth time — and it will be personal. McGregor re-

turned to his verbose, mean-spirited promotional

persona for this fight promotion, repeatedly insulting

Poirier’s wife and vowing to kill Poirier.

“We are going to fight again, whether it’s in the oc-

tagon or on the sidewalk,” Poirier said. “You don’t

say the stuff he said.”

McGregor has lost decisively to Khabib Nurmago-

medov and twice to Poirier since 2016 while beating

only an over-the-hill Donald Cerrone.

McGregor’s star power has shown no significant

decline despite the dwindling evidence of his once-

transcendent skills. The celebrity-studded Vegas

crowd was vocally behind McGregor, who strutted

into the octagon with his usual flair.

Gilbert Burns won a unanimous decision over Ste-

phen “Wonderboy” Thompson in the co-main event,

with the Brazilian bouncing back from his knockout

loss to welterweight champ Kamaru Usman in Feb-

ruary.

Earlier on the pay-per-view card, Australian

heavyweight Tai Tuivasa celebrated his violent first-

round knockout of former NFL player Greg Hardy by

climbing onto the octagon fence and doing a shoey —

drinking booze from a shoe in proper Aussie celebra-

tory style. Hardy, who lost his NFL career in 2015 af-

ter being convicted of domestic violence, has lost two

straight fights after a 7-2 start to his MMA career.

Welterweights Michel Pereira and Niko Price put

on the best show on the early undercard, and Pereira

highlighted his narrow decision victory with a re-

markable standing backflip and a scramble into full

mount on a prone Price.

Showdown: McGregor breaks legFROM PAGE 24

Dustin Poirier raises his arms as he is declared thewinner after Conor McGregor was injured duringtheir UFC 264 lightweight bout.

PHOTOS BY JOHN LOCHER/AP

Conor McGregor holds his left ankle after being injured while fighting Dustin Poirier in a lightweight bout atUFC 264 on Saturday in Las Vegas. McGregor dropped to 13 in the cage since 2016 with the TKO loss.

LOS ANGELES — Justin Turn-

er and Mookie Betts hit grand

slams, Albert Pujols and AJ Pol-

lock each homered twice and the

Los Angeles Dodgers matched a

franchise record by connecting

eight times in all, routing the Ari-

zona Diamondbacks 22-1 on Sat-

urday night.

Cody Bellinger and Zach

McKinstry also homered as the

Dodgers matched a Los Angeles

mark for runs, last scoring 22 in

2001 at Colorado. This was their

highest-scoring game ever at

Dodger Stadium, which opened in

1962.

“That is a sign of a really good

club that regardless of the score,

we just keep trying to win pitches

and not give at-bats away,” Los

Angeles manager Dave Roberts

said. “When you do that, some

good things can happen.”

The Dodgers won for just the

second time in their last six

games. They scored in just four

different innings, but broke loose

in a big way — five runs in the

first, four more in the second, sev-

en runs in the seventh and six in

the eighth.

Los Angeles led 9-0 after two in-

nings and breezed behind the

pitching of Walker Buehler, who

was chosen as an All-Star Game

replacement Saturday.

Buehler (9-1) went six scoreless

innings, allowing three hits and

striking out seven.

“I know it was nice to have

Walker come out and throw the

ball well,” Roberts said. “Obvi-

ously we took a lot of good at-bats

and hit a lot of balls out of the ball-

park just up and down the lineup.

AJ had a huge night, Justin, ev-

eryone.”

It was yet another low point in a

season full of them for the Dia-

mondbacks. The mood was so

bleak during a 17-game losing

streak, another 13-game skid and

a record 24-game road drought

this season that this debacle was

not considered rock bottom.

“Nah … that ought to tell you

the type of season we’ve had,”

manager Torey Lovullo said.

“You lose 20-plus (consecutive)

games on the road, you’re fighting

a16-, 17-game losing streak, what-

ever that number was.

“I think for me, we’re on the

rise. We’re in a different spot. I

think we are well beyond our

worst days here,” he said.

Turner, added earlier in the day

to the All-Star team, hit his first

career grand slam in the second

inning off starter Caleb Smith

(2-6). Smith never recorded an

out in the second before depart-

ing, giving up nine runs on six hits

with three walks while recording

just three outs.

Betts hit his fifth slam in the

seventh. The Dodgers top the ma-

jors with nine grand slams this

year.

Pujols connected in the seventh

and eighth, giving him 675 career

home runs. His last homer came

off Arizona outfielder Josh Red-

dick, who got the last two outs.

Dodgers tie franchisemark with 8 homers,blast Diamondbacks

BY DOUG PADILLA

Associated Press

MARK J. TERRILL/AP

The Dodgers’ Albert Pujols (55) homers off Arizona Diamondbacksreliever Alex Young in the seventh inning on Saturday in Los Angeles.Pujols homered again in the eighth to raise his career total to 675.

22-1Final margin of victory for the Dodgersin Saturday’s game against the ArizonaDiamondbacks. It matched Los An-geles’ mark for runs scored, and wasits highest-scoring game ever at Dodg-er Stadium, which opened in 1962.The 22 runs also marked the mostallowed in a game by Arizona.

SOURCE: Associated Press


MLB

American League

East Division

W L Pct GB

Boston 55 35 .611 _

Tampa Bay 53 36 .596 1½

New York 46 42 .523 8

Toronto 44 42 .512 9

Baltimore 28 60 .318 26

Central Division

W L Pct GB

Chicago 53 35 .602 _

Cleveland 45 42 .517 7½

Detroit 40 50 .444 14

Minnesota 38 50 .432 15

Kansas City 36 53 .404 17½

West Division

W L Pct GB

Houston 54 36 .600 _

Oakland 51 40 .560 3½

Seattle 48 42 .533 6


Texas 35 54 .393 18½

National LeagueEast Division

W L Pct GB

New York 47 39 .547 _

Atlanta 44 44 .500 4

Philadelphia 43 44 .494 4½

Washington 42 46 .477 6

Miami 38 50 .432 10

Central Division

W L Pct GB

Milwaukee 53 38 .582 _

Cincinnati 47 42 .528 5

Chicago 44 46 .489 8½

St. Louis 44 46 .489 8½

Pittsburgh 33 56 .371 19

West Division

W L Pct GB

San Francisco 56 32 .636 _


San Diego 53 39 .576 5

Colorado 39 51 .433 18

Arizona 26 65 .286 31½

Saturday’s games

Tampa Bay 5, Toronto 2Minnesota 9, Detroit 4Chicago White Sox 8, Baltimore 3Philadelphia 11, Boston 2Oakland 8, Texas 4, 11 inningsCleveland 14, Kansas City 6N.Y. Yankees 1, Houston 0Seattle 2, L.A. Angels 0Pittsburgh 6, N.Y. Mets 2, 7 innings, 1st

gameSan Francisco 10, Washington 4Atlanta 5, Miami 4N.Y. Mets 4, Pittsburgh 2, 7 innings, 2nd

gameCincinnati 4, Milwaukee 3St. Louis 6, Chicago Cubs 0Colorado 3, San Diego 0L.A. Dodgers 22, Arizona 1

Sunday’s games

Chicago White Sox at BaltimoreKansas City at ClevelandPhiladelphia at BostonToronto at Tampa BayDetroit at MinnesotaN.Y. Yankees at HoustonOakland at TexasL.A. Angels at SeattleAtlanta at MiamiPittsburgh at N.Y. MetsCincinnati at MilwaukeeSt. Louis at Chicago CubsWashington at San FranciscoArizona at L.A. DodgersColorado at San Diego

Monday’s games

No games — AllStar break

Tuesday’s game

AllStar Game, AL �vs. NL, at Denver

Hitting leaders

American League

BATTING—Guerrero Jr., Toronto, .337;Brantley, Houston, .324; Bogaerts, Boston,.322; Gurriel, Houston, .314; Mullins, Baltimore, .313; T.Anderson, Chicago, .310;Cruz, Minnesota, .304; D.Fletcher, Los Angeles, .302; Martinez, Boston, .301; Alvarez, Houston, .299.

HOME RUNS—Ohtani, Los Angeles, 33;Guerrero Jr., Toronto, 28; Gallo, Texas, 24.

National League

BATTING—N.Castellanos, Cincinnati,.330; A.Frazier, Pittsburgh, .327; T.Turner,Washington, .322; J.Turner, Los Angeles,.308; Reynolds, Pittsburgh, .304; Winker,Cincinnati, .303; Tatis Jr., San Diego, .290;Tapia, Colorado, .287; Acuña Jr., Atlanta,.283; B.Harper, Philadelphia, .283.

HOME RUNS—Tatis Jr., San Diego, 28;Schwarber, Washington, 25; Acuña Jr., Atlanta, 24.

Scoreboard

DENVER — Atlanta’s Ronald Acuña Jr.,elected to start Tuesday’s All-Star Game as theNL’s top vote-getter among outfielders, torethe ACL in his right knee Saturday during At-lanta’s 5-4 win over the Miami Marlins and willmiss the rest of the season.

Acuña landed awkwardly on his right leg af-ter jumping on the warning track in right fieldto try to catch a drive from Jazz Chisholm Jr. inthe fifth inning at Miami. The 23-year-oldslammed into the outfield wall and crumbledon the warning track, immediately grabbinghis right knee while Chisholm sprinted out aninside-the-park homer.

Acuña tried to walk off but dropped back tothe ground in shallow right field. A trainertended to him while a cart was retrieved, andconcerned teammates gathered quietlyaround him.

Tears welled in the 23-year-old’s eyes as hewaited. When the cart pulled around to thenearby warning track, he had to be helped overand did not put any weight on his right leg.

“He’s in a lot of pain, I can tell you that. It’s atough break for the team and for him,” manag-er Brian Snitker said after the game.

Acuña needs surgery and was replaced onthe All-Star roster by third baseman MannyMachado.

Philadelphia’s J.T. Realmuto will take overfor injured San Francisco catcher Buster Po-sey as the NL starter in Tuesday’s All-Star

Game at Coors Field. St. Louis catcher Yadier Molina earned his

10th All-Star selection, among 10 replacementsannounced Saturday by Major League Base-ball, then said hours later he would also skipthe All-Star Game. He was replaced by Mil-waukee catcher Omar Narváez.

Molina was elected on the players’ ballot and

filled the spot vacated when Posey was put onthe injured list Friday, five days after his leftthumb was bruised by a foul tip. Narváez willmake his first All-Star appearance.

Major League Baseball also said Dodgersoutfielder Mookie Betts was injured and won’tparticipate, though Betts played nine inningsFriday and remained in the lineup Saturday.

Braves star Acuña tears ACL, out for year

LYNNE SLADKY/AP

Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr., center, is carried to a medical cart after trying tomake a catch during the fifth inning of Saturday’s game in Miami.

Associated Press

23-year-old All-Star will require surgery;

Padres’ Machado moved onto NL roster

BOSTON — Jean Segura andAlec Bohm homered, and the Phi-ladelphia Phillies snapped Bos-ton’s nine-game home winningstreak with an 11-2 victory over theRed Sox on Saturday.

Segura opened the game with adrive over the Green Monster, andBohm made it 3-0 with a two-runshot against Martín Pérez (7-5) inthe second. The Phillies thenbroke it open with eight runs in theeighth, earning their fourth win insix games.

Segura finished with three hitsand three RBIs. Rhys Hoskins andBryce Harper each hit a two-rundouble, and Bailey Falter (1-0)pitched two hitless innings for hisfirst major league victory.

Xander Bogaerts hit a solohomer for the Red Sox, who lostfor just fourth time in 15 games. Itwas the team’s longest win streakat Fenway Park since 2011.

Giants 10, Nationals 4: Bran-don Crawford had three hits, in-cluding his 18th home run, andSan Francisco routed visitingWashington.

Athletics 8, Rangers 4 (11): JedLowrie hit a tiebreaking RBI sin-gle in the 11th inning after an earli-er home run and Oakland won atTexas.

Pirates 62, Mets 24: PeteAlonso homered, Jeff McNeil

drove in two runs and New Yorkbeat visiting Pittsburgh for a dou-bleheader split.

The Pirates won the opener be-hind five innings and a tiebreak-ing homer by Tyler Anderson offMarcus Stroman.

Yankees 1, Astros 0: GerritCole demanded on the mound thatmanager Aaron Boone let him get

the final out, then struck out Yor-dan Alvarez with a 99 mph fastballon his career-high 129th pitch tocap New York’s win at Houston.

Rays 5, Blue Jays 2: BrandonLowe homered twice and MikeZunino also connected, helpinghost Tampa Bay beat Toronto forits sixth straight win.

Twins 9, Tigers 4: At Minnea-

polis, Jorge Polanco hit a go-aheadthree-run homer in the seventh in-ning and host Minnesota ralliedfrom a four-run deficit to beat De-troit.

White Sox 8, Orioles 3: BrianGoodwin had four hits, including asolo homer, and drove in threeruns as Chicagos beat host Balti-more for its fourth straight win.

Indians 14, Royals 6: CésarHernández and Óscar Mercadoeach hit a three-run homer, andhost Cleveland beat strugglingKansas City.

Reds 4, Brewers 3: EugenioSuárez hit a leadoff home run inthe ninth inning against All-Starcloser Josh Hader and visitingCincinnati beat Milwaukee in agame that included three ejec-tions.

Cardinals 6, Cubs 0: PaulGoldschmidt, Paul DeJong andTommy Edman homered in thefifth inning, and St. Louis won atChicago.

Mariners 2, Angels 0: ChrisFlexen pitched three-hit ball forseven innings in another homewin, Luis Torrens added an RBItriple and host Seattle beat LosAngeles.

Rockies 3, Padres 0: GermanMarquez pitched seven dominantinnings, limiting San Diego tothree hits and leading visiting Col-orado to the win.

Phillies snap Boston’s 9-game streak at home

MICHAEL DWYER/AP

The Philadelphia Phillies’ Andrew McCutchen, left, and Bryce Harpercelebrate after scoring on a double by Rhys Hoskins during the eighthinning of Saturday’s game against the Red Sox in Boston.

Associated Press

ROUNDUP


OLYMPICS

Before Caroline Marks ever won her first

surfing contest and long before ever earn-

ing a spot at the Tokyo Games as her sport

makes its Olympic debut, there was simply

this: Trying to impress her big brothers.

That’s what lured her to the waves.

Growing up, the backyard at the Marks

house in Melbourne Beach, Fla., was like a

carnival of fun — trampoline, self-built mo-

tocross track, basketball court and room for

skateboarding. But right across the street

was an even bigger attraction — the ocean,

where the crashing surf always beckoned

her brothers.

There she was, more of a horseback rider

then, trying to join in on the wave-riding

fun. She quickly rose from tag-along to

“Grom ” — that young kid who surfs better

than you — to World Surf League standout

to her current role of contender when surf-

ing hands out its first Olympic medal.

“My brothers play a huge influence in

how good I am today,” said the 19-year-old

Marks, who has two older brothers, two

younger brothers and a younger sister. “I

kind of owe them everything. I just really

wanted to impress them and have them

think I was really cool.”

FYI: They never thought she was a nui-

sance.

“Caroline was always cool to us,” big

brother Luke wrote in an email. “She was

‘one of the boys’ from the beginning. We

loved surfing with her.”

She remembers riding waves as young as

3 (with pictures to prove it). But in reality,

she had visions of making waves in another

sport — rodeo. Her specialty was barrel

racing, where the horse and rider run a pat-

tern around barrels in the fastest time. Still,

the ocean always enticed her even as she

was on her horse.

As the family legend goes — chronicled

by big brother Luke in a recently released

Red Bull movie titled “That’s Caroline” —

one summer there were storms blowing in

big waves and Marks constantly followed

her siblings to the beach.

Over that summer, she rapidly improved,

to the point where the family went from,

“Wow, she’s pretty good,” to “Wow, she’s

really good,” to “Wow, she’s incredible.”

The rise was no surprise to Luke, who

narrated the film about his sister.

“She has that gift to where she could start

a new sport tomorrow and succeed,” Luke

wrote.

Her path was downright gnarly:

At 11, she was winning the under-12 Surf-

ing America Prime — the top U.S. amateur

title.

At 13, she turned pro (traveling with one

of her parents).

At 15, she became the youngest surfer to

qualify for the World Surf League Cham-

pionship Tour, competing against surfers

she had posters of on her wall.

“I was starstruck by all of them and being

so close up,” said Marks, a Red Bull-spon-

sored athlete who recently partnered with

the American Optometric Association

(AOA) to promote eye care through its “ Eye

Deserve More” campaign. “That’s the cool

thing about what I do — I get to surf with all

my heroes and compete against them and

try to beat them and it’s super fun.”

She earned rookie of the year on the

Championship Tour in 2018, and won her

first Championship Tour event the follow-

ing season.

That helped her rip — surfing term, to de-

scribe immense ability — toward some-

thing she could hardly even fathom — a

chance to represent Team USA. Her family

was there in Maui that December 2019

when she provisionally qualified for Tokyo.

“Everyone that I love the most, my fam-

ily, friends were all there supporting me,”

she said. “It was just so much emotion after

such a long year. The best feeling ever for

sure. It gives me the chills just talking about

it. So super cool.”

Then there’s this thought: Potentially

winning the first Olympic medal in her

sport. The competition will be held at Tsuri-

gasaki Beach — about 40 minutes outside

Tokyo — with the competition window from

July 25 to Aug. 1.

“To have a chance to make history like

that and represent my country? Yeah, all

that’s so insanely exciting,” said Marks,

whose family moved to San Clemente, Cal-

if., in part to help boost her surfing career.

“It’s crazy that those words are even com-

ing out of my mouth.”

The ocean has long been her sanctuary,

her getaway. So much so that whenever

she’s in a rut, her mom tells her to jump in

the water.

“She’s always like, ‘You need a spray of

saltwater,’ ” Marks said. “(The ocean) in-

stantly makes me feel better and it just

makes me happy. It’s what I wake up in the

morning thinking about and what I think

about when I go to bed. It’s my happy place

for sure.”

High-water Marks

KEITH BIRMINGHAM,THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER/AP

Caroline Marks laughs before taking part in an Olympic exhibition a the USA SurfingJunior championships in San Clemente, Calif., on June 22. Marks will compete whensurfing makes its debut at the Tokyo Games.

Teen rides memorable wave to Tokyo for surfing debutBY PAT GRAHAM

Associated Press

At a glance

Higlights from Rio:None. Surfing’s Olympic debut hasbeen a century in the making. The International SurfingAssociation has been lobbying the International OlympicCommittee for inclusion since 1995.

Tokyo expectations: Reigning world champion CarissaMoore of the U.S. looks to be the woman to beat, as wellas the Australian Stephanie Gilmore, whose record-tyingseven world titles makes her the most decorated femalesurfer in competition today. The Brazilians are expected todominate the men’s side, with Gabriel Medina and ItaloFerreira known as the masters of aerial maneuvers.

Athletes to watch: Kanoa Igarashi, a Californian withdual Japanese citizenship who is representing Japan, hasthe local advantage of growing up surfing at Olympic siteTsurigasaki Beach. Johanne Defay of France may sur-prise as a dark horse in the women’s game, having re-cently pulled off an upset against Moore at the high-in-tensity Surf Ranch competition. Australian Sally Fitzgib-bons and the young American hotshot Caroline Marks al-so have something to prove.

Gold medal moment(s): Scheduled for July 28 or fol-lowing the last day of competition, which depends onwave conditions. The events are expected to run over fourdays between July 25 to August 1.

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. — Surfing has a lot

riding on its Olympic debut: a taste of the

mainstream spotlight, athletic legitimacy

for the uniquely four-dimensional sport,

and, perhaps, some newfound respect so it

can finally shake the stereotype as merely

the pleasure pursuit of beach town himbos.

Acceptance been a century in the mak-

ing. The International Surfing Association

has been lobbying the International Olym-

pic Committee since 1995, though the effort

to include the sport dates back to the 1912

Summer Games in Stockholm.

That was when Duke Kahanamoku, the

five-time medalist in swimming and Ha-

waiian icon revered as the godfather of

modern surfing, first pushed for it to be-

come an Olympic sport.

Back then, the act of stylishly riding an

ocean wave on a board in competition was

virtually unknown outside of his native Ha-

waii.

Dreams of mainstreamSurfing is a $10 billion industry, yet pro-

fessional surfing, led by the World Surf

League, largely remains a niche sport that’s

little understood. Surfing requires a well-

rounded athleticism, including immense

strength, agility, and grace to pull off ma-

neuvers based on what the big, wild ocean

delivers in the moment — think of the va-

garies of the ocean as the fourth dimension

in this sport many see as a spiritual pursuit.

There’s hope now that the visually stunning

sport will finally get its due with a main-

stream audience at the Games, though

some viewers may struggle to follow given

the complexity and metrics of competition.

Mother Nature’s mercySurfing is a sport that depends on many

uncontrollable factors, including when, ex-

actly, competitions will happen once the

event period begins on July 25. Organizers

generally monitor the waves with oceanog-

raphy and atmospheric science data to de-

cide if surf conditions — wave height, wind

direction, tidal movement — are ideal for

competition the day of.

And even when the surfers get out into

the lineup, the waves at Tsurigasaki may be

disappointing for those expecting powerful

surf conditions like those seen in the mo-

vies. This particular beach break is known

for smaller waves and is not considered an

extraordinary surfing competition site.

There is hope, however: The Olympics are

being held in peak typhoon season.

The alternate goatKelly Slater, at 49 years old, is likely the

oldest and most famous Olympic alternate.

The 11-time world champion is surfing’s

most decorated athlete and has the broadest

mainstream appeal (lest we forget he

starred as Jimmy Slade on the cult favorite

television show “Baywatch”). There’s spec-

ulation that Slater may have a shot to shine

in Japan, as the U.S. male qualifiers, John

John Florence and Kolohe Andino, both

have had significant injuries requiring sur-

gery in recent months.

USA Surfing CEO Greg Cruse said it will

be up to the qualifiers to decide, but that he

hopes Slater will come to Japan as a stand-

by, though the celebrity surfer has not yet

committed to doing so. Aside from the in-

juries, there’s also concern that any given

athlete may become exposed to COVID-19,

which would trigger a government-man-

dated quarantine that could keep them out

of the surf.

LEO CORREA / AP

Reigning world champion Carissa Moore of the U.S. looks to be the woman to beat assurfing makes its Olympic debut in Tokyo.

SURFING

A lot riding on sport’s debutBY SALLY HO

Associated Press


NBA FINALS/BASKETBALL

LAS VEGAS — This is not how

USA Basketball expected to open

its Olympic summer.

Nigeria probably didn’t expect

it, either.

If there was any expectation of

invincibility for the Americans

heading into the Tokyo Olympics,

it’s already gone — after Nigeria

beat the U.S. 90-87 on Saturday

night, an international shocker

pulled off by a roster primarily fil-

led by little-known NBA players

that found a way to beat a group of

All-NBA, All-Star and max-con-

tract performers.

“We just wanted to compete,”

said Nigeria’s Gabe Nnamdi, who

goes by Gabe Vincent when play-

ing for the Miami Heat. “We know

what USA Basketball means

around the world and what

they’ve stood for for so long.”

The U.S. had lost 11 games be-

fore Saturday in major interna-

tional play — Olympics and World

Cups, mostly — since NBA play-

ers began filling the American

rosters with the first Dream Team

in 1992. None of those losses came

against a team from Africa.

“I thought that the Nigerian

team played very physically, did a

great job in that regard and

knocked down a lot of threes,” U.S.

coach Gregg Popovich said. “Give

them credit.”

Nnamdi led Nigeria with 21

points. Caleb Agada scored 17

points, Ike Nwamu added 13 and

Nigeria outscored the U.S. 60-30

from three-point range.

Kevin Durant, who had never

before played in a loss for USA

Basketball in 39 senior interna-

tional games, had 17 points. Jay-

son Tatum added 15, Damian Lil-

lard had 14 and Bam Adebayo 11.

“Just goes to show that we have

to play better,” Tatum said.

A lot better.

The Americans had gone 39-0 in

their last three Olympic seasons

— including pre-Olympic exhibi-

tions — on their way to gold med-

als and had been 54-2 in major ex-

hibitions since NBA players began

playing for USA Basketball in

1992. Plus, they’d beaten Nigeria

by a combined 127 points in their

last two meetings, one at the 2012

London Games, the other a warm-

up for the 2016 Rio Games.

Nigeria lost to the U.S. at the

2012 Olympics by 83 points. Lost

to the Americans again four years

later in an exhibition, that time by

44 points.

Not this time.

“Nigeria’s come a long way with

their basketball,” USA Basketball

managing director Jerry Colange-

lo said.

Ike Iroegbu — a former Wash-

ington State player who spent

some time in the G League — hit a

three-pointer with about 1:15 left

to put Nigeria up 88-80. Durant

scored the next seven points for

the U.S.; a three-pointer, two free

throws following a turnover, then

two more from the line with 16.5

seconds remaining.

Nnamdi made two foul shots

with 13.2 seconds left to restore

Nigeria’s three-point edge. The

Americans ran 9.7 seconds off the

clock on the ensuing possession

without getting a shot off, and

Zach LaVine missed a pair of free

throws — the second intentionally

— with 3.5 seconds left.

Precious Achiuwa got the re-

bound for Nigeria, and that was it.

Shocker: Nigeriastuns Team USA inpre-Olympic event

BY TIM REYNOLDS

Associated Press

DAVID BECKER / AP

United States guard Damian Lillard is swarmed by Nigerian playersduring a 9087 exhibition loss Saturday in Las Vegas. Since 1992,Team USA had been 542 in major exhibitions.

There are cameras and micro-

phones everywhere at the NBA Fi-

nals, and they happened to catch an

interaction late in Game 2 that was

going viral before the game was

even over.

It was Phoenix coach Monty Wil-

liams, talking only to Suns center

Deandre Ayton during a time out

and trying desperately to cheer him

up on what was a slow night statisti-

cally against the Milwaukee Bucks.

Ayton’s head was down. His body

language was awful. Williams

wasn’t having it. He started talking,

then grabbed Ayton’s wrist to fur-

ther commandeer his attention.

Mind you, his voice was raised

high enough only so Ayton could

hear him over the din of the crowd.

No yelling, no screaming, no swear-

ing, no histrionics.

“You set a high level for your-

self,” Williams said. “That’s why

you’re down. That’s great. Now go

reach that level, OK? And you can

reach it with force. Doesn’t have to

be stats all the time. Go dominate

the game with force, because you

set a high level for yourself. Go

dominate the game with force. Let’s

go.”

Ayton scored shortly after that

time out ended. A few seconds after

that, he got a steal. A couple minutes

later, with Milwaukee within six

and still having hope, Ayton found

Chris Paul for a three-pointer. The

Bucks were never within two pos-

sessions of tying the game again.

That moment was indicative of

the entire season.

Williams has pushed the right

button, every time.

“You are giving me a lot of cred-

it,” Williams said. “I try to be au-

thentic. Sometimes in a huddle I

don’t say anything. The guys will

run the huddle. But I try to be an en-

courager in huddles, especially

when I see a guy down or the team is

not at the level where they should be

mentally. I don’t want to make up

stuff.

“I know what it’s like to be in

those huddles and you want to know

the truth, but you also need some-

times a pep talk, sometimes encour-

agement. I just try to be authentic

and speak from the heart.”

Williams didn’t get here by acci-

dent. He played for Pat Riley, Don

Nelson and Larry Brown — all

members of the Basketball Hall of

Fame. He played for Doc Rivers

and Mike D’Antoni, too. He played

for Gregg Popovich, then worked

for Popovich as a coaching intern,

then worked with him as San Anto-

nio’s vice president of basketball op-

erations.

Popovich said he knew right

away that Williams was unique.

“He’s obviously a fine basketball

coach,” Popovich said this week in

Las Vegas, where he and his U.S.

Olympic team are getting ready for

the Tokyo Games. “But his ability to

relate to players, to be genuine, to be

honest, no tricks, no smoke screens,

just a straight-up, caring, loving

man, it shows. It comes out, and

players react to it.”

Popovich is looking to lead the

Americans to a gold medal, which

would be their fourth Olympic title

in a row. Williams was an assistant

coach on the most recent U.S. team,

the one that won gold in Rio de Ja-

neiro five years ago — doing so just

six months after Williams’ wife In-

grid was killed in a car crash.

He delivered his wife’s eulogy,

quoting scripture, speaking of his

faith in God, even reminding fellow

mourners that the family of the oth-

er driver, who died in the crash, also

needed prayers. It was a show of re-

markable class, courage and

strength.

“He’s a special man,” Popovich

said.

A special coach, too.

The Suns were the worst team in

basketball over the last five seasons.

The worst. They are two wins away

from becoming the best team in the

world, with a dynamic young duo —

Ayton and U.S. Olympian Devin

Booker — and a coach on the floor in

Chris Paul, whose 16-season wait

for an NBA title might be a few days

from finally ending.

They do the work and Williams

wants them to get all the credit. And

yes, they deserve plenty, but it was

Williams who came up with the

framework for how this team could

win — and let his players figure out

how best to thrive.

“I tell our guys to go hoop,” Wil-

liams shrugs.

ROSS D. FRANKLIN/AP

Phoenix Suns center Deandre Ayton, left, gets encouragement from coach Monty Williams during the firsthalf of Game 2 of the NBA Finals against the Milwaukee Bucks, Thursday, in Phoenix.

Suns’ Monty Williams keepspushing all the right buttons

BY TIM REYNOLDS

Associated Press

NBA Finals

(Best-of-seven)x-if necessary

Phoenix 2, Milwaukee 0Phoenix 118, Milwaukee 105Phoenix 118, Milwaukee 108Sunday: at MilwaukeeWednesday: at Milwaukee, AFN-Sports,

3 a.m. Thursday CET; 10 a.m. Thursday JKTx-Saturday, July 17: at Phoenix, AFN-

Sports, 3 a.m. Sunday CET; 10 a.m. SundayJKT

x-Tuesday, July 20: at Milwaukeex-Thursday, July 22: at Phoenix

NBA scoreboard

ANALYSIS


SPORTSMajor milestone

Djokovic matches rivals Federer, Nadalwith 20th Grand Slam ›› Wimbledon, Page 19

Braves’ Acuña out for year with torn ACL ›› MLB, Page 21

LAS VEGAS — Conor McGregor sat and

seethed with his back on the cage, a tempo-

rary cast around his left shin and foot. The

biggest star in mixed martial arts was con-

vinced he had just been robbed of revenge

on Dustin Poirier by a broken leg.

“I was boxing the bleedin’ head off him,

kicking the bleedin’ leg off him,” McGregor

shouted. “This is not over! If we have to take

this outside for him, we’ll take it outside.”

McGregor’s animosity toward Poirier

hasn’t cooled, but this fight trilogy ended —

for now, at least — with another victory for

his more mild-mannered enemy.

Poirier beat McGregor for the second

time in six months when McGregor was un-

able to continue after the first round at UFC

264 on Saturday night.

McGregor (22-6) fell to the canvas and

never got up after a punch by Poirier (28-6),

who will get the UFC’s next lightweight title

shot. McGregor’s leg and ankle buckled

when he stepped back from the blow, and

Poirier finished the round raining blows

down on the former two-division UFC

champion.

“Just the thing had separated, and I blee-

din’ landed on the wonky leg like Anderson

Silva that one time, something similar to

that,” McGregor said, referring to longtime

middleweight champ Silva’s infamously

gruesome broken leg against Chris Weid-

man. “It’s a mad business.”

UFC President Dana White said he was

Dustin Poirier, top, rains blows down uponConor McGregor, who fell to the mat whenhis leg and ankle buckled after he steppedback from being punched by Poirier duringtheir lightweight bout on Saturday at UFC264 in Las Vegas. Poirier won by TKO.

JOHN LOCHER/AP

McGregorfelled bybroken legPoirier wins showdown with formertwo-division UFC champion by TKO

BY GREG BEACHAM

Associated Press

SEE SHOWDOWN ON PAGE 20

UFC 264

“The fight didn’t get finished.You can’t have a fight finishthat way. We’ll see how thiswhole thing plays out.”

Dana White

UFC president

legal training lacking for commanders

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