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Volume 80 Edition 135 ©SS 2021 CONTINGENCY EDITION FRIDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2021 Free to Deployed Areas

stripes.com

MILITARY

Air Force, Space Forcestrength gets lowmarks in power report Page 3

MILITARY

Pentagon: US troopsin Syria attacked withdrones, indirect firePage 8

VIRUS OUTBREAK

Sports in US largely avaccine success story,but outliers still remainPage 24

Penalties for unvaccinated DOD civilian employees laid out ›› Page 9

For years, the aspiring spy had gone to re-

markable lengths to protect his identity and

evade detection.

With a cash-bought burner phone, he cre-

ated an anonymous email account that could send en-

crypted messages, according to the FBI, then waited

to use it.

To avoid suspicion at his job developing America’s

most advanced submarines, he allegedly sneaked out

sensitive documents for years, a few pages at time.

The Navy veteran’s work for the U.S. government

had taught him to spot the clues that betray insider

threats, and, according to an FBI affidavit, he would

later brag that “we made very sure not to display even

a single one.”

But now, after all that caution, the foreign officials

Jonathan Toebbe believed he was negotiating with

were pushing him to do the one thing he’d been avoid-

Staying below the surfaceSub engineer and would-be spy bragged of stealth – then revealed himself anyway

BY WILLIAM WAN AND IAN SHAPIRA

The Washington Post

SEE STEALTH ON PAGE 4

The FBI says Jonathan Toebbehelped develop nuclear subs —

like the USS John Warner —and attempted to sell theirsecrets to another nation.

JOHN WHALEN/U.S. Navy

INSIDER THREAT

The documents allegedly

smuggled out by aspiring spy

Jonathan Toebbe contained

schematic designs for the Navy’s

highly advanced Virginia-class

sub, which is equipped with a

nuclear reactor that can run for

33 years without refueling.

SOURCE: The Washington Post

YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan —

Eight years after a surgeon Yoko-

ta Air Base in western Tokyo left a

laparotomy towel inside Angie

Perry’s abdomen, the Air Force

has offered to settle her medical

malpractice claim for $50,000.

Perry, a former Army spouse

now living in Vancouver, Wash.,

discovered the

towel and had it

removed five

years after her

cesarean section

at Yokota in

2013, according

to Perry and re-

cords she pro-

vided. She is

seeking $1 million in compensa-

tion.

“There is no doubt in my mind if

that towel wasn’t found, it

would’ve killed me,” she told Stars

and Stripes on Sept. 15. “I’d rather

not take anything than settle.”

Mistakes of this type are not un-

common in Defense Department

hospitals, although they have de-

clined since 2016, when DOD be-

gan tracking them in its annual

Tricare program report.

That year, the Pentagon identi-

fied 18 cases of objects left in pa-

tients by surgeons and 38 cases of

surgeons operating on the wrong

patient, performing the wrong

procedure or operating on the

wrong body part.

In 2020, DOD hospitals report-

ed 17 instances of a foreign object

being left inside a patient after

surgery, according to the annual

DOD report on its Tricare health-

care program. The report identi-

fied another 21 cases of the wrong

patient, the wrong procedure or

the wrong body part.

Ex-Armyspouse cansettle casefor $50K

BY ERICA EARL

Stars and Stripes

SEE SPOUSE ON PAGE 7

Perry

• S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • Friday, October 22, 2021

BUSINESS/WEATHER

NEW YORK — Bitcoin stormed

above $66,000 for the first time on

Wednesday, riding a wave of ex-

citement about how the financial

establishment is increasingly ac-

cepting the digital currency’s rise.

One Bitcoin was valued at

$66,096, as of 4:15 p.m. Eastern

time, after earlier climbing as

high as $66,974.77. The digital

currency has roared back after

sinking below $30,000 during the

summer to top its prior record set

in April. That previous all-time

high was nearly $64,889, accord-

ing to CoinDesk.

The surge has come as more

businesses, professional investors

and even the government of El

Salvador buy into Bitcoin, further

broadening its base beyond its ini-

tial core of fanatics.

The latest converts came into

the world of crypto on Tuesday,

when the first exchange-traded

fund linked to Bitcoin found huge

interest from investors. Shares of

the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy

ETF changed hands 24.1 million

times in a resounding debut. It

was even busier on Wednesday,

with trading volume topping 29.4

million.

Cryptocurrencies are still very

far from winning over everyone,

though. Critics point to how

they’re still not widely used as

forms of payment. They also crit-

icize how much energy is used by

the crypto system, which can ulti-

mately mean higher bills for home

heating and other utilities amid a

global crunch, as well as more cli-

mate-changing emissions.

Bitcoin tops $66K, as crypto goes mainstreamAssociated Press

Bahrain88/85

Baghdad84/62

Doha90/77

Kuwait City89/70

Riyadh88/63

Kandahar

Kabul

Djibouti91/77

FRIDAY IN THE MIDDLE EAST

Mildenhall/Lakenheath

53/41

Ramstein48/39

Stuttgart50/39

Lajes,Azores70/67

Rota68/58

Morón74/52 Sigonella

72/57

Naples68/65

Aviano/Vicenza62/47

Pápa56/48

Souda Bay70/64

Brussels52/41

Zagan48/42

DrawskoPomorskie

45/41

FRIDAY IN EUROPE

Misawa53/44

Guam86/83

Tokyo61/45

Okinawa77/74

Sasebo67/58

Iwakuni64/58

Seoul60/40

Osan60/39

Busan64/54

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

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

SATURDAY IN THE PACIFIC

WEATHER OUTLOOK

TODAYIN STRIPES

American Roundup ...... 13Comics .........................16Crossword ................... 16Faces .......................... 14Opinion ........................ 15Sports .................... 17-24

Military rates

Euro costs (Oct. 22) $1.14Dollar buys (Oct. 22) 0.8372British pound (Oct. 22) $1.35Japanese yen (Oct. 22) 111.00South Korean won (Oct. 22) 1145.00

Commercial rates

Bahrain(Dinar) .3769Britain (Pound) 1.3815Canada (Dollar) 1.2318China(Yuan) 6.3963Denmark (Krone) 6.3891Egypt (Pound) 15.6988Euro .8587Hong Kong (Dollar) 7.7756Hungary (Forint) 312.01Israel (Shekel) 3.2108Japan (Yen) 113.78Kuwait(Dinar) .3014

Norway (Krone) 8.3188

Philippines (Peso) 50.80Poland (Zloty) 3.95Saudi Arabia (Riyal) 3.7506Singapore (Dollar) 1.3462

South Korea (Won) 1177.86Switzerland (Franc) .9175Thailand (Baht) 27.87Turkey (NewLira) 9.4610

(Military exchange rates are those availableto customers at military banking facilities in thecountry of issuance for Japan, South Korea, Ger-many, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.For nonlocal currency exchange rates (i.e., pur-chasing 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 dollars-to-pound, and the euro, which is dollars-to-euro.)

INTEREST RATES

Prime rate 3.25Interest Rates Discount rate 0.75Federal funds market rate 0.093-month bill 0.0530-year bond 2.11

EXCHANGE RATES

Friday, October 22, 2021 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • PAGE 3

The U.S. Air Force and the new-

ly established Space Force were

graded as “weak” in an annual as-

sessment of military power that

found both services to be under-

equipped to carry out the full

spectrum of their respective mis-

sions.

The assessments, contained in

the conservative Heritage Foun-

dation’s 2022 index on military

strength, examined the capability,

capacity and readiness of each

service and whether they would

be up to the task of fighting two

major conflicts simultaneously.

“These three areas of assess-

ment (capability, capacity and

readiness) are central to the over-

arching questions of whether the

U.S. has a sufficient quantity of ap-

propriately modern military pow-

er and whether military units are

able to conduct military oper-

ations on demand and effective-

ly,” the Washington-based think

tank said in a statement Wednes-

day.

The Heritage index rates the

services on a five-category scale

that ranges from “very strong” to

“very weak.” Heritage empha-

sized that the scores do not reflect

the U.S. military’s strength rela-

tive to other militaries.

“Rather, they are assessments

of the institutional, programmatic

and material health or viability of

America’s hard military power,”

Heritage said.

For the Air Force, the score of

“weak” was a downgrade from its

“marginal” rating in Heritage’s

assessment last year.

While the Air Force possesses

86% of the combat aircraft recom-

mended by the index, the mission

readiness and physical location of

the aircraft “would make it diffi-

cult for the Air Force to respond

rapidly to a crisis,” Heritage said.

Also, the need to pull aircraft

from all locations for a single ma-

jor fight would prevent them from

joining a simultaneous major bat-

tle elsewhere.

While Heritage said Air Force

modernization programs are

“generally healthy,” old planes

are being retired faster than they

are getting replaced. A pilot short-

age and reduced flying hours also

factored into the Air Force’s lower

score.

Meanwhile, the Space Force

was assessed by Heritage for the

first time and received poor

marks.

The service “does not have

enough assets to track and man-

age the explosive growth in com-

mercial and competitor-country

systems being placed into orbit,”

Heritage said in its 608-page re-

port.

Also, the force has outdated

equipment and lacks defensive

and offensive counter-space capa-

bilities, the report said.

There was no change in Heri-

tage’s assessment of the Army,

which was again graded as “mod-

erate” in strength. The Navy was

again graded as “marginal, trend-

ing toward weak” because it “des-

perately needs a larger fleet” to

meet its mission requirements.

The Marine Corps, meanwhile,

was bumped up from “moderate”

to “strong” due in part to its “ex-

traordinary efforts to modernize”

and its enhanced combat readin-

ess, Heritage said.

The Corps’ strides came at the

expense of building capacity, “but

better to have a combat-relevant

force, even if small, than a large

force that is ill-suited for war,” the

report said.

Air, Space forcesseen as ‘weak’in power report

BY JOHN VANDIVER

Stars and Stripes

[email protected]: @john_vandiver

at least in part, because of uncer-

tainty about the civilian job mar-

ket. Among those who chose to

leave the active-duty Army in fis-

cal 2021, more than 6,600 transi-

tioned to the National Guard or

Army Reserve, the Army report-

ed.

The National Guard also ex-

ceeded its end-strength goal with

337,525 soldiers, about 1,000 more

than required. The Army Reserve,

however, ended the fiscal year

with 184,358 soldiers, nearly 5,500

short of its own end-strength goal.

The service reaches its end-

strength goals most years. The

goals are set each year by Con-

gress in the annual National De-

fense Authorization Act, the must-

pass law that sets yearly Pentagon

spending and policy priorities.

The Army missed its goal in 2018,

falling short in its recruiting ef-

forts that year for the first time

since 2005.

More soldiers chose to stay in

the Army during fiscal 2021 than

service leaders expected, helping

them hit the service’s annual ac-

tive-duty end-strength goal man-

dated by Congress, the Army said

Wednesday.

The Army ended the fiscal year

on Sept. 30 with 486,490 active-du-

ty soldiers in its ranks, some 590

more troops than its end-strength

goal, Lt. Gen. Gary Brito, the Ar-

my’s personnel chief, said in a

statement. Overall, the Army —

including the National Guard and

Reserve — ended the fiscal year

with more than 1,008,000 soldiers

across all its components, the ser-

vice said.

Brito said a number of factors

went into reaching the active Ar-

my’s end-strength goal, including

creative recruiting and marketing

tactics during the ongoing corona-

virus pandemic and more than

1,800 soldiers unexpectedly

choosing to stay on active duty. He

said changes at initial entrance

training programs have also im-

pacted the Army’s attrition rate

among recruits in basic training

from nearly 11% in 2020 to about

5.5% in fiscal year 2021.

The Army on Wednesday did

not announce its final recruiting

numbers for the year. An Army

spokesperson did not immediately

respond to a request Wednesday

for those details.

“The Army is a learning organi-

zation that evolves constantly to

adapt to the changing environ-

ment, and that includes how we

fight for and retain talented sol-

diers,” Brito said. “The emphasis

from our leaders at all echelons to

meet the needs of our people and

care for our soldiers and our fam-

ilies has made the Army a compet-

itive organization for more people

— talented people — to join our

team.”

Pentagon officials have said for

the last year that more service

members were choosing to stay in

the military during the pandemic,

JASON ELMORE/U.S. Army

Soldiers assigned to 2nd Battalion, 77th Field Artillery Regiment and 52nd Brigade Engineer Battalion,2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, stand in a brigade formation at Fort Carson,Colo.

Army hits annual end-strength goalwith significant retention numbers

BY COREY DICKSTEIN

Stars and Stripes

[email protected]: @CDicksteinDC

Island, Md., is no stranger to 7th

Fleet or the Ronald Reagan. He

commanded the carrier from 2016

to 2018, and also served as an as-

sistant to the 7th Fleet command-

er aboard the Yokosuka-based

USS Blue Ridge.

After his time in Yokosuka,

Donnelly in 2019 assumed com-

mand of U.S. Naval Forces Korea.

A 1989 graduate of Villanova

University and the Naval War

College in 2002, Donnelly also has

extensive flight experience. He’s

YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE,

Japan — The carrier strike group

organized around the USS Ronald

Reagan welcomed a familiar face

as its newest commander on

Thursday.

Rear Adm. Michael “Buzz”

Donnelly took leadership of Car-

rier Strike Group 5 and Task

Force 70, relieving Rear Adm.

Will Pennington during a ceremo-

ny at Benny Decker Theater on

the naval base south of Tokyo.

Task Force 70, which the Navy

describes as its “only permanent-

ly afloat task force,” consists of

thousands of sailors and a wide

variety of components, including

guided-missile cruisers, the air-

craft carrier USS Ronald Reagan

and its air wing of fighter squad-

rons, Helicopter Maritime Strike

Squadron 51 and a squadron of

specialized electronic warfare

aircraft.

Donnelly, originally from Kent

a veteran pilot with more than

3,000 flight hours and 990 carrier

landings in F-14 Tomcats and F/

A-18 Super Hornets.

“My thanks go out to Adm. Pen-

nington and his great leadership

of the task force,” Donnelly said

in a Navy news release Thursday.

“His stewardship has ensured

support to a free and open Indo-

Pacific, and it is a legacy I look

forward to continuing.”

Pennington, who assumed com-

mand of the task force in Novem-

ber, is slated to take over as depu-

ty commander of 10th Fleet, the

U.S. Fleet Cyber Command, at

Fort Meade, Md.

The ceremony comes just five

days after the Ronald Reagan re-

turned to its homeport in Yokosu-

ka after a 150-day deployment

that included support for U.S.

forces withdrawing from Afghan-

istan.

Former Reagan skipper returns to Japan to lead Navy task forceBY ALEX WILSON

Stars and Stripes

[email protected]: @AlexMNWilson

MILITARY


MILITARY

ing: come out into the open.

At first, Toebbe — a nuclear en-

gineer and father of two who lives

in Annapolis, Md. — pushed back

in encrypted email exchanges de-

tailed in the affidavit. “Face to

face meetings are very risky for

me,” he wrote, “as I am sure you

understand.”

A month later, he protested

again: “I am sorry to be so stub-

born and untrusting, but I cannot

agree to go to a location of your

choosing.”

He’d already threatened to ap-

proach “other possible buyers” if

the country wasn’t interested, an

FBI agent testified at a court hear-

ing on Wednesday.

Eventually — after a series of

trust-building exchanges that in-

volved a secret signal at a Wash-

ington, D.C., building and a depos-

it of $10,000 in cryptocurrency —

Toebbe relented.

For almost a decade, Toebbe,

who held a top-secret security

clearance, had been part of the

multibillion-dollar effort to build

submarines that could remain

submerged and undetected for the

longest time possible.

The documents he allegedly

smuggled out contained schemat-

ic designs for one of the Navy’s

most advanced boats — the Vir-

ginia-class submarine — with a

nuclear reactor that could run for

33 years without refueling.

In this world, stealth was every-

thing. And yet, despite all that

technological sophistication, ev-

ery submarine becomes vulnera-

ble the second it surfaces.

On June 26, Toebbe, 42, drove to

West Virginia’s Shenandoah Val-

ley. Accompanying him was his

wife, Diana Toebbe, 45, a private-

school humanities teacher be-

loved by students and known

among friends for her intelligence

and liberal politics. They brought

with them a tiny data storage card

filled with secrets they allegedly

hoped to sell, wrapped in plastic

and hidden inside half a peanut

butter sandwich.

After years of staying sub-

merged, Toebbe and his wife were

surfacing. And unbeknown to

them, the FBI was watching their

every step.

When the U.S. government an-

nounced their arrest on espionage

charges last week, it filed a 23-

page affidavit in support of a crim-

inal complaint. Packed with tech-

nical notes, it also contained de-

tails as riveting as any spy novel.

There are sly exchanges and

red herrings. Traps are set, evad-

ed, then baited again.

But left unanswered in all the

plot twists: What drove a subur-

ban engineer and his schoolteach-

er wife to apparently try to sell se-

crets to a still-unidentified coun-

try?

Jonathan Toebbe’s spy story be-

gan on April 1, 2020, with a brown

envelope with four U.S. postage

stamps, according to the affidavit.

Toebbe allegedly sent the pack-

age anonymously, with a return

address in Pittsburgh, to an uni-

dentified foreign government. In-

side were sensitive U.S. Navy doc-

uments and instructions on how

the country — believed by many

national security experts to be a

U.S. ally — should reply using an

encrypted email service.

For almost nine months, the re-

ceiving country held on to the

package before it apparently

handed it over to the FBI on Dec.

20, 2020.

Six days later, an FBI agent —

posing as a foreign spy handler —

reached out to Toebbe at the anon-

ymous email address he provided.

Toebbe was cautious at first. In

his reply, he avoided any details

that might give away his identity,

simply calling himself “Alice,” a

common placeholder name in

cryptographic circles.

When the supposed foreign offi-

cial asked him to meet face-to-

face with a “trusted friend” —

someone with a “gift . . . to com-

pensate for your efforts” —

Toebbe knew better.

“I am uncomfortable with this

arrangement,” Jonathan wrote on

March 5, 2021, according to the af-

fidavit. “I propose exchanging

gifts electronically, for mutual

safety.”

He asked his new friend for

$100,000 in Monero, a cryptocur-

rency popular with cybercrimi-

nals that conceals the sender, re-

ceiver and even the amount ex-

changed.

“I understand this is a large re-

quest,” he said. “However, please

remember I am risking my life for

your benefit and I have taken the

first step. Please help me trust you

fully.”

In the five months that followed,

Toebbe and his handler engaged

in delicate negotiations. His

emails adopted a vulnerable tone

that laid bare his dilemma: his

need to remain hidden was pitted

against worries of offending his

new friends or losing their inter-

est.

The handler suggested using a

neutral location as a place for dead

drops: “When you visit the loca-

tion alone, you retrieve a gift and

leave behind the sample we re-

quest.”

But Toebbe did not want the for-

eign government picking the loca-

tion.

“I am concerned that using a

dead drop location your friend

prepares makes me very vulnera-

ble,” he wrote. “If other interested

parties are observing from the lo-

cation, I will be unable to detect

them... I am also concerned that a

physical gift would be very diffi-

cult to explain if I am questioned.”

But the handler kept insisting

that the foreign government select

the dead drop’s location. And

Toebbe kept resisting.

“I must consider the possibility

that I am communicating with an

adversary who has intercepted

my first message and is attempt-

ing to expose me,” he said. “Would

not such an adversary wish me to

go to a place of his choosing, know-

ing that an amateur will be unlike-

ly to detect his surveillance?”

So, Toebbe proposed that his

handlers fly a “signal flag” atop a

building their country controlled

in Washington over Memorial

Day weekend — to prove they

were who they claimed.

Yes, that can be arranged, his

handler replied.

On Monday, May 31 — after the

FBI coordinated with the country

to put the signal in place — Toebbe

wrote back elated. He’d seen the

signal and was finally willing to

surface.

“Now I am comfortable telling

you,” he said. “I am located near

Baltimore, Maryland. Please let

me know when you are ready to

proceed with our first exchange.”

On June 26, at 10:41 a.m., Jo-

nathan and Diana appeared at the

appointed location in Jefferson

County, W.Va. Earlier that month,

according to the affidavit, Toebbe

had been sent $10,000 in Monero

cryptocurrency.

FBI agents watching the site de-

scribed Diana standing three feet

from her husband, working as his

apparent lookout as he placed into

the dead drop the peanut butter

sandwich they’d brought contain-

ing a 16-gigabyte SD memory

card.

On the card, the FBI said, were

details on the nuclear reactor used

on one of the Navy’s most ad-

vanced U.S. submarines — a $3

billion ghost in the water, capable

of launching cruise missiles from

behind enemy lines.

Over the next four months, the

FBI agent posing as a spy handler

arranged for three more dead

drops — an SD card hidden inside

a sealed Band-Aid wrapper in

Pennsylvania, another concealed

in a chewing gum wrapper in east-

ern Virginia.

With each successful drop, Jo-

nathan’s emails grew more effu-

sive.

“You can not [imagine] my re-

lief at finding your letter just

where you told me to look!” he

wrote in one.

Asked if he was working alone,

Jonathan responded, in what the

FBI said was an apparent refer-

ence to Diana: “There is only one

other person I know is aware of

our special relationship, and I

trust that person absolutely.”

He dangled the possibility of

more than 11,000 pages of sensi-

tive documents to follow. For a

price of $5 million in cryptocur-

rency, he said, he would deliver it

all. But, he added, he was aware of

the risks.

“I have considered the possible

need to leave on short notice,” he

wrote. “Should that ever become

necessary, I will be forever grate-

ful for your help extracting me

and my family...I pray such a dras-

tic plan will never be needed....”

He’d also discussed with his

wife, at some point, the possibility

of fleeing the country, according

to court testimony Wednesday.

Using the phone app Signal, the

couple sent encrypted messages:

“We have passports and sav-

ings,” Jonathan wrote. “In a real

pinch we can leave quickly.”

“Let’s go sooner rather than lat-

er,” Diana replied.

“I really don’t want to go back to

making $50,000 a year, especially

in a country I don’t know the lan-

guage,” Jonathan responded.

“I don’t see how the two of us

wouldn’t be welcome,” she said.

On Saturday, Oct. 9, those plans

fell apart.

While in West Virginia making

their fourth and final drop, Jo-

nathan and Diana finally came

face to face with the handlers he

had been working with all along:

agents from the FBI, who prompt-

ly arrested them.

On Wednesday, Jonathan and

Diana entered a federal cour-

troom in West Virginia with

shackles around their wrists and

ankles.

In separate bail hearings, Jo-

nathan did not contest remaining

in jail until trial. But Diana’s law-

yer argued for her release.

Her lawyer asked the judge to

consider the couple’s two chil-

dren, maintaining that they need

their mother.

In response, the prosecutor

noted that during the final dead

drop earlier this month, the couple

left their youngest child home

alone in Maryland.

Jonathan didn’t bring his phone

and Diana turned hers to “air-

plane mode” in an apparent at-

tempt to avoid being tracked, the

prosecutor said.

If Diana was so concerned

about the children, the prosecutor

demanded, why did Diana and Jo-

nathan leave an 11-year-old with

no way to contact them?

Authorities found the child

alone when they searched the

Toebbe’s house the day of their ar-

rest. But they also found in the

couple’s bedroom items suggesti-

ng the family was prepared to flee:

$11,300 in cash — $100 bills wrap-

ped by rubber bands. Their chil-

dren’s passports. A ready-to-go

backpack with a computer and la-

tex gloves. And a crypto wallet — a

device used to store and maintain

cryptocurrency transactions.

The Toebbes have been

charged with conspiracy and com-

munication of sensitive govern-

ment records to a foreign nation. If

convicted, they could face life in

prison. Wednesday’s hearing end-

ed with the judge saying he need-

ed more time to decide whether

Diana should be released while

she and Jonathan fight their case.

In the meantime, their lives

have imploded.

On Diana’s Instagram, photos of

her children have been overrun by

strangers posting expletive-laden

condemnations of the entire fam-

ily.

“Say goodbye to the kids forev-

er,” reads one with a laughing

emoji.

“Traitor.”

“Hanging, firing squad, electric

chair...??”

Jonathan’s cousin, Mark

Slaughter, said those who know

the Toebbes are struggling to rec-

oncile the couple charged with es-

pionage with the couple they once

admired.

“People in the family are having

a hard time processing it,” said

Slaughter, who has served as a

Marine sergeant and Army cap-

tain. “There’s nothing here that

makes sense.”

Both sides are now deliberating

which relative could take them in

if Jonathan and Diana are impris-

oned for years or life, another rela-

tive said.

“I worry whether the kids will

ever be able to heal or move on

from this,” said one relative.

“Imagine what it’ll be like for

them to grow up with that Toebbe

name hanging over them. No mat-

ter what their parents may or may

not have done, those children are

innocent.”

Stealth: Husband, wife planned escape after trading dataFROM PAGE 1

WEST VIRGINIA REGIONAL JAIL AND CORRECTIONAL FACILITY AUTHORITY/AP

Federal prosecutors accuse Jonathan Toebbe and his wife, Diana, ofplotting to sell U.S. submarine secrets to a foreign government.


MILITARY

A new blueprint for defending

against Russia in Europe was ap-

proved by Defense Secretary

Lloyd Austin and his allied coun-

terparts Thursday after an open-

ing round of talks at NATO head-

quarters in Brussels.

“We are in the midst of a trans-

formation of NATO,” Secretary-

General Jens Stoltenberg said as

the two days of talks got under-

way. “Over the last years, we have

stepped up and refocused on our

collective defense.”

The defense ministers also

agreed on a new set of “capability

targets” for all allies, while en-

dorsing an “overarching plan for

the defense of the Euro-Atlantic

area,” Stoltenberg said.

The new strategy aims to make

sure allies have an operational

plan that accounts for all member-

nation territory and the range of

threats they face, from nuclear

and cyber to operations on land, at

sea and in the air.

The strategy, referred to as the

Concept for Deterrence and De-

fense in the Euro-Atlantic Area,

and its supporting plans center on

how to deal with threats from Rus-

sia as well as international terror-

ist groups. It also brings together

various national and regional mil-

itary plans under a single frame-

work.

But just as allies put the plan in-

to action, it may already be out of

date by not taking sufficient ac-

count of China, some analysts say.

“The evidence indicates China

isn’t some challenge of tomorrow

or threat that has yet to fully form;

even today, it is a clear and pre-

sent threat to allied security in Eu-

rope and beyond,” John R. Deni, a

U.S. Army War College professor

and European security expert,

wrote in an Atlantic Council essay

in June.

U.S. military officials in Europe

have been vocal about China’s ex-

panding influence on the Conti-

nent, where Beijing has invested

heavily in infrastructure and has

controlling interests in numerous

ports.

“In a worst-case scenario, Chi-

na could weaponize its ownership

or operation of infrastructure in

Europe to frustrate, limit, or pre-

vent U.S. or allied use,” Deni

wrote.

Allies are divided on how best to

deal with an increasingly assert-

ive Beijing, which NATO has

made more of a strategic focal

point in the past couple of years.

Germany and France have re-

frained from characterizing Chi-

na as an adversary, while the U.S.

has urged Europe to take a tough-

er stance.

For most allies in Europe, the

potential military threat posed by

Russia remains paramount, espe-

cially along NATO’s eastern flank.

Stoltenberg said NATO’s new

strategy ensures that the alliance

will have “the right forces in the

right place at the right time.”

NATO defense ministers OK Russia strategy BY JOHN VANDIVER

Stars and Stripes

[email protected]: @john_vandiver

The Army National Guard’s top

general said Wednesday that he

would not lobby to expand the size

of the increasingly busy force, but if

top Army officials proposed adding

new troops he “would accept that

mission immediately.”

“I don’t advocate for growing the

Army Guard because I’m part of the

Army team, and I understand the

budget constraints that we have in-

side the Army right now,” Lt. Gen.

Jon Jensen told an audience at the

Center for Strategic and Interna-

tional Studies, a Washington think

tank. “But, if [Army] Secretary

[Christine Wormuth] and Chief [of

Staff Gen. James McConville] felt

they needed some more capability

in the Reserve component, yes, I’d

accept that.”

The Army National Guard makes

up about two-thirds of the total Na-

tional Guard force, with more than

337,000 soldiers as of Sept. 30, ac-

cording to the Army. The rest of the

National Guard’s about 108,000

troops serve in the Air Force Na-

tional Guard. Jensen said Wednes-

day that he could envision growing

the Army Guard to about 350,000

troops in several years. He said the

added soldiers could help consider-

ing the incredible demand placed

on Guard troops during the last two

years.

Since March 2020, National

Guard troops have set records for

the number of missions that they

have been called to support — in-

cluding coronavirus-related mis-

sions, riot control during the sum-

mer 2020 demonstrations against

racism, border operations along the

southwest U.S., and relief efforts for

natural disasters including hurri-

canes and wildfires. Guard mem-

bers logged a record 8.4 million duty

days in 2020, and they set a record

that June with more than 120,000 on

duty across the world, including

supporting operations in combat

zones, officials said.

Given the unprecedented de-

mand for the National Guard, doz-

ens of lawmakers have called for

boosting the size of the Guard in

their home states and the overall

force size. Among those advocating

for a larger force were lawmakers

from the nation’s three most pop-

ulous states. In advocating earlier

this year to grow the Guard, the law-

makers in a bipartisan letter to De-

fense Secretary Lloyd Austin point-

ed to the increase in hurricanes in

Florida, flooding in Texas and wild-

fires in California, in addition to oth-

er operations in recent years to

which Guard forces have respon-

ded.

Army officials, including Jensen,

have acknowledged the pace of op-

erations for the National Guard

since March 2020 has been hard on

troops and their families and diffi-

cult for some employers who have

hired Guard members for civilian

jobs.

Army Guard leader isn’tpushing for more troops

BY COREY DICKSTEIN

Stars and Stripes

[email protected]: @CDicksteinDC


CAMP HUMPHREYS, South

Korea — North Korea says its test

of a “new type” of submarine-

launched ballistic missile earlier

this week should be considered

“normal activities” for the coun-

try, and that it posed no threat to

the United States.

A spokesperson for North Ko-

rea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs

reiterated that the launch was a de-

fensive measure, a claim the com-

munist regime frequently makes

to justify its nuclear and ballistic

missile tests, according to a state-

ment released Thursday by the

state-run Korean Central News

Agency.

The test “was part of the normal

activities for carrying out the me-

dium and long-term plan for the

development of defense science

and it did not pose any threat or

damage to the security of the

neighboring countries and the re-

gion,” the spokesperson said

through KCNA.

The statement added that “we

did not have the U.S. in mind nor

aimed at it” and that “there is no

need for the U.S. to worry or trou-

ble itself over the test-firing.”

South Korean military officials

assessed that a short-range ballis-

tic missile flew 279 miles at a maxi-

mum altitude of 37 miles at 10:17

a.m. Tuesday. The Japan Coast

Guard, however, said two missiles

were fired from North Korea’s

eastern coast.

The missile appeared to have

been launched from Sinpo, ac-

cording to South Korean military

officials, where a North Korean

shipyard is believed to be working

on a new ballistic missile subma-

rine. The North last conducted an

SLBM test from an underwater

platform in 2019, and claims it

fired a separate SLBM from an

outdated submarine in 2016.

Experts have widely remained

skeptical of North Korea’s claims

of self-defense, particularly with

the development of its SLBM pro-

gram. The missiles are typically

viewed as retaliatory, second-

strike weapons due to the difficul-

ty in detecting submarines prior to

a launch.

Sea-based missiles are “more

survivable and more difficult to

destroy through pre-emptive at-

tack than land-based systems,”

said Ankit Panda, a North Korea

analyst and Stanton senior fellow

at the Carnegie Endowment for In-

ternational Peace.

Pyongyang’s latest missile

launch is the fifth weapons test in

recent weeks. In September and so

far in October it has launched an

anti-aircraft missile, a ballistic

missile from a train, long-range

cruise missiles capable of reac-

hing Japan and a hypersonic short-

range missile.

The U.N. Security Council held a

closed-door meeting Wednesday

to discuss the most recent launch.

The U.S. and several other mem-

ber nations condemned the test,

calling it “the latest in a series of

reckless provocations.”

“These are unlawful activities,”

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda

Thomas-Greenfield said in a state-

ment. “They are in violation of

multiple Security Council resolu-

tions. And they are unacceptable.”

Thomas-Greenfield did not say

whether further sanctions were

being considered, but said “we just

need to be more serious about the

implementation” of existing sanc-

tions.

South Korean Foreign Minister

Chung Eui-yong during a parlia-

mentary briefing Wednesday ap-

peared to rebuff the notion of im-

posing additional sanctions, say-

ing that “sanctions relief” may be

taken into consideration to bring

North Korea to the negotiation ta-

ble.

N. Korea: Test is

‘normal activities’BY DAVID CHOI

Stars and Stripes

[email protected] Twitter: @choibboy

YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan —

A Japanese macaque gained dual

status as a celebrity and a fugitive

over two days at this airlift hub in

western Tokyo.

Spotted Wednesday atop the

roof of the base dental clinic, the

monkey was soon a star of social

media as residents of Yokota’s

eastside housing area posted pho-

tos and videos of their macaque

sightings.

The monkey was seen and pho-

tographed along Yokota streets, in

trees and on buildings.

Several commenters singled

out the monkey as a likely but cir-

cumstantial suspect behind van-

dalized Halloween decorations

outside one family’s home.

By Thursday morning, the mon-

key business had subsided, ac-

cording to information attributed

to the base public affairs office

and posted on the Yokota Commu-

nity Facebook page. A local city

hall notified the 374th Civil Engi-

neer Squadron pest management

unit that the macaque, also known

as a snow monkey, had left base

property around 10 a.m.

The 374th Airlift Wing public

affairs office had provided no fur-

ther information on the sightings

by 6 p.m. Thursday in response to

a request from Stars and Stripes.

An annual, basewide readiness

exercise is underway at Yokota.

However, the base warned its

residents the monkey may return

and anyone who sees it should

contact the pest management unit.

“If the monkey is spotted,

please do not feed or approach the

monkey,” according to the post on

the Yokota Community page. “If

the wild animal feels threatened,

it may attack.”

The Japanese macaque is com-

mon in the forested areas in and

around Tokyo.

In September, Camp Zama, the

headquarters of U.S. Army Japan

in nearby Kanagawa prefecture,

issued an alert after base resi-

dents spotted a group of macaques

at Sagamihara Housing Area.

“This is not the first time that

wild monkeys have been spotted

on or near Camp Zama, but fortu-

nately we have not had any inci-

dents involving property damage

or injury in the past,” U.S. Army

Garrison Japan spokesman Tim-

othy Flack said at the time. “Our

communication with the commu-

nity is key to avoiding incidents.”

The monkeys seldom attack hu-

mans, according to JapanVisitor-

.com, but staring at them eye to

eye can provoke an aggressive re-

sponse, such as baring their teeth.

Further unwanted attention could

result in a bite. They travel in

troops, are active during the day

and sleep in trees at night.

Facebook

Spotted atop the dental clinic at Yokota Air Base, Japan, on Wednesday, a monkey was soon a star ofsocial media as residents posted photos and videos of their macaque sightings.

Roaming monkey prompts warningsand social media following at Yokota

BY ERICA EARL

Stars and Stripes

[email protected] Twitter: @ThisEarlGirl

resents Japan’s Ministry of De-

fense.

The helicopter was capable of

flying back to MCAS Futenma but

a maintenance crew was dis-

patched in a separate helicopter

“out of an abundance of caution,”

Kunze said. A Super Stallion typ-

ically flies with a crew of four or

five.

Both helicopters left Aguni

around 11:10 a.m. Thursday, the

bureau spokesman said.

In response to the incident, the

bureau requested the Marines im-

CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa —

No damage or injuries were re-

ported after a U.S. military heli-

copter made an emergency land-

ing Wednesday at a remote island

airport off the Okinawa coast, Ma-

rine Corps and Japanese officials

said.

A CH-53E Super Stallion from

Marine Corps Air Station Futen-

ma’s 1st Marine Aircraft Wing

made the “precautionary landing”

at Aguni Airport around 6:30 p.m.,

after an “issue requiring immedi-

ate attention was identified,” 1st

Marine Aircraft Wing spokesman

Maj. Ken Kunze wrote in an email

Thursday morning to Stars and

Stripes.

Three-square-mile Aguni Is-

land is 37 miles northwest of Naha

City.

“The CH-53 that landed at Agu-

ni Airport yesterday evening de-

parted Aguni this morning and re-

turned safely to Marine Corps Air

Station Futenma,” Kunze wrote.

“The flight crew demonstrated 1st

Marine Aircraft Wing’s steadfast

commitment to ensuring the safe-

ty of our aircrews, the community

and the airworthiness of all our

aircraft.”

The aircraft was operating as an

aerial refueler at the time, Kunze

said. The landing was “normal

and uneventful.”

An issue with the heavy-lift hel-

icopter’s flight control system

seemed to be the problem, accord-

ing to a spokesman from the Oki-

nawa Defense Bureau, which rep-

prove their safety management,

the spokesman said.

A spokesman for Okinawa pre-

fecture’s military base affairs di-

vision said it was collecting infor-

mation Thursday morning and

had no immediate response to the

incident.

Some government officials in

Japan customarily speak to the

media on the condition of anonym-

ity.

Marine helicopter makes ‘precautionary landing’ on Japanese islandBY MATTHEW M. BURKE

AND MARI HIGA

Stars and Stripes

[email protected] Twitter: @MatthewMBurke1

PACIFIC


MILITARY

Until recently, patients at the

receiving end of a military sur-

geon’s mistake had little recourse

to compensation.

A provision in the 2020 National

Defense Authorization Act, which

sets policy and spending priorities

for the Pentagon, ended the 70-

year ban on suing the DOD for

medical malpractice. In Decem-

ber 2019 then-President Donald

Trump signed the Richard Stays-

kal Military Medical Accountabil-

ity Act into law, allowing active-

duty members to file medical mal-

practice claims against the DOD.

The new law has a two-year

statute of limitations, however,

and does not allow service mem-

bers and their families to sue med-

ical facilities at bases overseas, al-

though they may file claims.

“Overseas patients may bring

administrative claims for mal-

practice against the DoD under

the Military Claims Act,” a Penta-

gon spokesperson, Maj. Charlie

Dietz, told Stars and Stripes via

email Oct. 5. “Congress would

need to change the law for patients

to bring lawsuits.”

‘A little frantic’Perry remembered her surgery

at Yokota as chaotic. The surgeon

assigned to her was fresh out of

training, according to the resume

of the physician, who no longer

works at the base.

“At one point, the surgeon

couldn’t stop the bleeding and

things got a little frantic in the sur-

gery room where the nurses were

pleading with the surgeon to let

them go ask another surgeon to

come and assist,” Perry said. “I

thought for certain I was going to

die right there.”

Nonetheless, Perry went home

with her new, healthy baby. But

she said she suffered a series of

chronic health problems until a

CT scan in 2018 discovered the

metal tag on the towel left in her

abdomen five years prior.

For three years, Perry said she

experienced pain that interfered

with her bonding with her child.

She felt as though her digestive

system had shut down, and be-

cause her bladder no longer func-

tioned properly, she wore diapers.

Despite 27 doctors’ appoint-

ments while living in Japan, Perry

said she never found the cause for

her agony.

“I was getting into fights with

my husband because he was so an-

gry and believed I turned into a

hypochondriac,” she said. “He

didn’t understand why I was ad-

dicted to going to the doctor … I

had never experienced pain like

this before.”

Five years, six gastrointestinal

specialists and several emergency

room visits later, a doctor in Wash-

ington state did a scan of Perry’s

abdomen and found the laparoto-

my towel. It was removed on Oct.

31, 2018, along with a part of her

small intestine, Perry said.

In July, the Yokota legal office

offered to settle Perry’s claim for

$50,000, according to a letter it

sent her.

“We do recognize that a laparo-

tomy pad was discovered to have

been retained in the abdomen,

which may have caused some

pain,” the letter states. “Although

abdominal pain is a symptom of a

retained laparotomy pad, pain is

subjective and by Oct. 22, 2013,

Ms. Perry had no abdominal

pain.”

Perry hired a medical malprac-

tice attorney in Texas in April

2019 to file a claim against Yokota.

She said she does not intend to ac-

cept the settlement offer from Yo-

kota and is now seeking different

representation.

“My bladder still doesn’t work,

there’s a lot of scar tissue, it

caused a huge wedge between my

husband and me,” she told Stars

and Stripes on Tuesday. “The

stress of knowing every single day

that something was wrong with

me, but I couldn’t get a doctor to

listen to me. It took away the first

five years where I should have

been enjoying the new baby, but I

was so weak that my health con-

sumed every waking moment. I

believe, after everything I have

been through, it is what I de-

serve.”

A spokesperson from Yokota

Air Base said the 374th Medical

Group and the base’s legal depart-

ment cannot speak about Perry’s

case.

“We cannot provide the details

on an individual’s specific case in

the interest of protecting personal

privacy or avoiding impact to a po-

tential ongoing investigation,”

Tech. Sgt. Taylor Workman told

Stars and Stripes via email Sept.

21.

‘So much pain’Perry’s wasn’t the only case of

her kind at Yokota.

Lamia Lahlou, a former Arabic

linguist for the Army, had a simi-

lar experience. After her C-sec-

tion from the same surgeon as

Perry at Yokota in September

2013, she started experiencing

chronic abdominal pain and di-

gestive issues. She said her doc-

tors told her it was part of the re-

covery process.

“I was in so much pain that I

thought maybe they put my orga-

ns in wrong,” she told Stars and

Stripes in a phone interview Sept.

20.

Lahlou said she was told by doc-

tors at Yokota that her pain was

only psychological, and she was

referred to the mental health clin-

ic.

“I felt like I was being told I was

crazy,” she said. “But I thought

that maybe they were right. I be-

lieved that doctors knew better.”

In the United States for Thanks-

giving that year, Lahlou called a

doctor because, she said, she felt

that she could no longer stand the

pain.

ACT scan revealed a mass of in-

fection along with cotton balls left

inside Lahlou’s abdomen from the

C-section. Doctors also found a 21-

cm abscess and leftover materi-

als.

She had five surgeries and part

of her bladder removed. She de-

cided to stay in the U.S. rather

than return with her husband to

Japan.

“This story for me is very per-

sonal, because what was meant to

be the arrival of my second baby

resulted in so much pain and suf-

fering and, at the end, my di-

vorce,” she said.

Lahlou started the process of fil-

ing a claim against the Yokota

medical group in 2014 but could

not find an attorney to take her

case, she said. She ultimately

dropped her claim.

Lahlou said she encourages

anyone who experiences a similar

situation to persist in finding an-

swers.

“If I didn’t fly back to the U.S.

and kept being seen at Yokota,

what could have resulted?” Lahlou

said. “I could have easily died, and

what would my parents have got-

ten? An ‘Oops, sorry?’ If you are in

pain, keep seeking answers. We

know our own bodies.”

Spouse: Doctor found towel in woman’s stomach years after C-section

ANGIE PERRY /

Former Army spouse Angie Perry said she experienced years of chronic pain after a laparotomy pad was left inside of her after a cesareansection at Yokota Air Base, Japan, in 2013.

[email protected] Twitter: @ThisEarlGirl

FROM PAGE 1


WASHINGTON — U.S. troops in Syria

were targeted on Wednesday in a “deliber-

ate and coordinated attack” that appears to

have used both unmanned aircraft and in-

direct fire, U.S. military officials said.

The attack occurred on the Tanf base in

the southeastern part of the country, where

a group of about 200 Americans man a posi-

tion on a highway that runs from Damascus

to Baghdad.

The United States was not aware of any

killed or injured Americans on Wednesday

night, and was working with partner forces

to determine whether they suffered any ca-

sualties.

“We continue to maintain all appropriate

force protection measures to ensure the

safety and security of our forces,” the U.S.

statement said. “We maintain the inherent

right to self-defense and will respond at a

time and place of our choosing.”

The United States did not blame anyone

for the attack in its statement. For several

years, it has attempted a balancing act with

Iranian-backed militias along the Iraq-Sy-

ria border who want to drive the United

States out of both countries and launch peri-

odic attacks on U.S. positions.

In May, a drone strike targeted a CIA

hangar in Irbil, Iraq. No one was injured,

but the drone’s ability to evade tracking as it

closed in concerned U.S. officials, they later

said.

In June, the United States launched air-

strikes on both sides of the Iraq-Syria bor-

der in response to that incident and other

drone attacks.

A Pentagon spokesman, John Kirby, said

at the time that the strikes were defensive in

nature, and targeted locations used by the

Kataib Hezbollah and Kataib Sayyid al-

Shuhada groups, which are both linked to

Iran.

In July, al Asad Air Base in western Iraq

was attacked by rockets, U.S. military offi-

cials said. No injuries were reported.

The United States initially deployed a siz-

able contingent of troops to Tanf in 2016 to

train Syrian fighters to counter the Islamic

State.

The Syrian and Russian governments op-

pose the U.S. presence, but the U.S. military

continues to partner there with a group

called Maghawir al-Thawra.

DOD: US troops in Syria drone attackBY DAN LAMOTHE

The Washington Post

WASHINGTON — The Army

has begun hiring more agents and

support staff for its criminal in-

vestigations, as the new civilian

director works to correct wide-

spread failures that surfaced last

year after a string of murders and

other crimes at Fort Hood, Texas.

Gregory Ford, who took over as

head of the Army Criminal Inves-

tigation Command, or CID, about

a month ago, told reporters

Wednesday that he visited Fort

Hood last week. He said the hiring

process for more than 90 positions

has begun, and the Army is al-

ready getting a good response

from individuals interested in

joining CID.

A review late last year found

CID was understaffed and badly

organized, with too few experi-

enced investigators. The findings

came amid heightened scrutiny

after the death of Vanessa Guillén,

a soldier whose remains were

found about two months after she

was killed.

More than two dozen Fort Hood

soldiers died in 2020, including

homicides and suicides.

Guillén’s death and the other

cases prompted an independent

review, which found that CID in-

vestigators lacked the acumen to

identify key leads and “connect

the dots” in investigations.

It said they were victims of a

system that failed to train them

and often had them doing admin-

istrative tasks.

The Army earlier this year de-

cided to put a civilian in charge of

CID, which to date had been led by

a general officer. The decision

was in line with the review recom-

mendations in an effort to revamp

the command.

Ford said he is moving ahead

with Army plans to increase the

number of civilian agents so they

would make up about 60% of the

investigators, while military

agents make up the remainder.

In addition, he said, “I’ve been

taking a very hard look at our pol-

icy and the administrative burden

we place on our workforce and

have directed a further review to

eliminate the duplication of effort

and some of the unnecessary pol-

icy requirements that may exist.”

Fort Hood, Fort Bragg in North

Carolina and Fort Carson in Col-

orado are part of a pilot project

that will see some of the early

changes and staffing improve-

ments. Ford said the Army has al-

ready given agents the opportuni-

ty to move to the three bases.

He said a key goal is to ensure

timely and aggressive investiga-

tions that are approached “with a

sense of urgency” in the critical

early hours after crimes are re-

ported.

The level of interest in the job

openings, he said, has “surpassed

everybody’s expectations.” The

posts are a strong draw for indi-

viduals who may have been in the

military and left to go into law en-

forcement and are looking for a

way to return to service, said Ford.

He did not give details on the

cost of the changes, but said the

Army has been providing what is

necessary to begin the transfor-

mation. Officials have said fund-

ing will be provided over the next

five years.

The decision to replace a mili-

tary leader of CID with a civilian

mirrors a similar shift by the Navy

in 1992, in the aftermath of the

Tailhook scandal, when Navy and

Marine officers sexually assault-

ed dozens of women at a hotel in

Las Vegas.

As a result of sweeping condem-

nation of the Navy’s investigation

into the matter, leaders trans-

formed the military-led Naval In-

vestigative Service into the Naval

Criminal Investigative Service

and appointed a civilian director.

Army hiring morecriminal investigatorsto improve case work

BY LOLITA C. BALDOR

Associated Press

NARASHINO COUNTRY

CLUB, Japan — Forty volunteers

from the U.S. military community

are mingling with the world’s top

professional golfers at only the

second PGA Tour event to be held

in Japan.

The first Zozo Championship,

which is held just outside Tokyo in

Chiba prefecture, was won by Ti-

ger Woods in 2019. Last year’s

event was moved to California due

to the coronavirus pandemic, but

78 of the world’s top golfers are

back in Japan for this year’s tour-

nament.

Working at the event, which be-

gan Thursday and runs through

Sunday, are U.S. military golfers

stationed at Yokota Air Base in

western Tokyo and Yokosuka Na-

val Base, Naval Air Facility Atsugi

and the U.S. Army’s Camp Zama

in nearby Kanagawa prefecture.

The volunteer scorekeepers,

shot-spotters and cart drivers also

provide English-language assist-

ance to tournament officials and

staff from U.S. broadcaster NBC.

Patrick Bowman, the profes-

sional at the Air Force’s Tama

Hills Golf Course in Tokyo, as-

sembled the volunteer cadre.

He and Jon Stillabower, oper-

ations manager at the Marine

Corps’ Taiyo Golf Course on Oki-

nawa, also volunteered during the

Tokyo Olympic golf tournaments

this summer at Kasumigaseki

Country Club in Saitama prefec-

ture.

At a get-together Wednesday

night near the tournament venue

in Chiba, Bowman told a group of

volunteers that included this Stars

and Stripes reporter to look for-

ward to a happy week and “all the

stories we have afterwards.”

Woods’ 2019 win in the event

made golf history.

It was his 82nd PGA Tour victo-

ry, tying the all-time record set by

Sam Snead.

One of the Zozo volunteers, Na-

vy Petty Officer 2nd Class Brett

Medford, 24, of Los Angeles,

watched Woods’ final round in

2019 while deployed on the air-

craft carrier USS Ronald Reagan

in the South China Sea.

Medford, a 9 handicapper at

NAF Atsugi Golf Club, and who

has hit golf balls off the Ronald Re-

agan’s deck with other sailors dur-

ing deployments, said he’s excited

to see Rickie Fowler, winner of the

2015 Players Championship.

“I like the swagger he brings to

the game,” Medford said.

This year’s Zozo field includes

Hideki Matsuyama, who became

the first Japanese player to win a

major golf tournament when he

won April’s Masters Tournament

in Augusta, Ga.

It also features two-time major

winner Collin Morikawa, who

placed first at July’s The Open

Championship in Sandwich, En-

gland, and compatriot Xander

Schauffele, who took gold for

Team USA at the Olympics.

SETH ROBSON/Stars and Stripes

The Open champion Collin Morikawa tees off at the Zozo Championship at Narashino Country Club in Chibaprefecture, Japan, on Thursday.

US military golf fans help outat PGA’s Zozo event in Japan

BY SETH ROBSON

Stars and Stripes

[email protected]: @SethRobson1

MILITARY


WASHINGTON — Defense De-

partment officials have laid out how

they will remove employees who

refuse to comply with the federal

government’s coronavirus vaccine

requirement, according to a Penta-

gon memo released Monday.

Defense Department civilian

employees who are not fully vacci-

nated against the coronavirus after

Nov. 22 without a pending or ap-

proved exemption request will be

fired. New employees must be fully

vaccinated by their start date for

work or Nov. 22, “whichever is lat-

er,” according to the memo.

The Pentagon does not consider a

person fully vaccinated until two

weeks after the last shot in the se-

ries, meaning the final day to meet

the deadline to receive the last in-

jection is Nov. 8. Two available vac-

cines — by Moderna and Pfizer —

require two shots. The Johnson &

Johnson vaccine is administered in

a single dose.

The order also applies to defense

contractors and civilian employees

who work remotely.

However, before a refusing em-

ployee is terminated, defense offi-

cials listed two “progressive en-

forcement actions” that employers

should take to convince personnel

to get vaccinated.

An employee should first receive

a “five-day period of counseling

and education,” according to the

memo. If the person still declines

the vaccine, they can be suspended

without pay for 14 days or less be-

fore they are “removed from feder-

al service for failing to follow a di-

rect order.”

Those who have approved reli-

gious or medical exemptions will be

required to regularly test for the

coronavirus, according to the me-

mo. Teleworking employees are

exempt from that requirement but

must submit proof of a negative cor-

onavirus test 72 hours before enter-

ing a Defense Department facility.

However, the Pentagon has yet to

release guidance on processing ex-

emption requests. That informa-

tion is forthcoming, but in the

meantime “DOD components

should take no actions on any ex-

emption requests received from

DOD employees,” according to the

memo.

“Exemptions will be granted in

limited circumstances and only

where legally required,” according

to the memo.

DOD announcesplan for civilianvaccine refusers

BY CAITLIN DOORNBOS

Stars and Stripes

[email protected] Twitter: @CaitlinDoornbos

TRISTAN B. LOTZ/U.S. Navy

Hospitalman Ethan Orshanski administers a coronavirus vaccine to Cynthia Miller at Navy MedicineReadiness and Training Unit Groton at Naval Submarine Base New London, Conn., in April.

ommendations for who should get

boosters and when.

The latest moves would expand

by tens of millions the number of

Americans eligible for boosters

and formally allow “mixing and

matching” of shots — making it

simpler to get another dose, espe-

cially for people who had a side ef-

fect from one brand but still want

the proven protection of vaccina-

tion.

Specifically, the FDA autho-

rized a third Moderna shot for se-

niors and others at high risk from

COVID-19 because of their health

problems, jobs or living conditions

— six months after their last shot.

One big change: Moderna’s boost-

WASHINGTON — U.S. regula-

tors on Wednesday signed off on

extending COVID-19 boosters to

Americans who got the Moderna

or Johnson & Johnson vaccine and

said anyone eligible for an extra

dose can get a brand different from

the one they received initially.

The Food and Drug Administra-

tion’s decisions mark a big step to-

ward expanding the U.S. booster

campaign, which began with extra

doses of the Pfizer vaccine last

month. But before more people roll

up their sleeves, the Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention

will consult an expert panel Thurs-

day before finalizing official rec-

er will be half the dose that’s used

for the first two shots, based on

company data showing that was

plenty to rev up immunity again.

For J&J’s single-shot vaccine,

the FDA said all U.S. recipients, no

matter their age, could get a sec-

ond dose at least two months fol-

lowing their initial vaccination.

The FDA rulings differ because

the vaccines are made differently,

with different dosing schedules —

and the J&J vaccine has consis-

tently shown a lower level of effec-

tiveness than either of the two-shot

Moderna and Pfizer vaccines.

As for mixing and matching, the

FDA said it’s OK to use any brand

for the booster regardless of which

vaccination people got first. The in-

terchangeability of the shots is ex-

pected to speed the booster cam-

paign, particularly in nursing

homes and other institutional set-

tings where residents have re-

ceived different shots over time.

FDA officials said they wanted

to make the booster guidance as

flexible as possible, given that

many people don’t remember

which brand of vaccine they re-

ceived.

“Being able to interchange these

vaccines is a good thing — it’s like

what we do with flu vaccines,”

FDA’s Dr. Peter Marks told report-

ers Wednesday evening. “Most

people don’t know what brand of

flu vaccine they received.”

Still, he added that many people

will decide to get a booster from the

same company as their initial vac-

cination.

The agency’s mix-and-match

decision was based on preliminary

results from a government study of

different booster combinations

that showed an extra dose of any

type revs up levels of virus-fight-

ing antibodies. That study also

showed recipients of the single-

dose J&J vaccination had a far big-

ger response if they got a full-

strength Moderna booster or a

Pfizer booster rather than a second

J&J shot. The study didn’t test the

half-dose Moderna booster.

FDA OKs mixing vaccines; backs Moderna, J&J boostersAssociated Press

VIRUS OUTBREAK

date for health or religious rea-

sons. It was unknown Wednesday

how many exemptions had been

filed, but McDonough said the

number of requests for religious

exemptions was larger than those

who sought exemptions for the flu

vaccine last year.

McDonough said he might deny

some of those requests if faced

with a situation of “undue hard-

ship.” That might occur if there

aren’t enough vaccinated health

care workers to treat veterans, he

said.

VA officials are trying to deter-

WASHINGTON — The Depart-

ment of Veterans Affairs has start-

ed disciplining employees who re-

fuse to comply with the agency’s

vaccine mandate, VA Secretary

Denis McDonough said Wednes-

day.

The VA was the first federal

agency to mandate that its employ-

ees be vaccinated against the coro-

navirus. There are 420,000 em-

ployees at the agency, and most

workers had until Oct. 8 to provide

proof of vaccination to their local

VA Occupational Health Office.

So far, about 70% of employees

have shared their vaccination sta-

tus with the VA. The department

didn’t provide data Wednesday

about how many employees had

been vaccinated. McDonough said

he would provide updates on those

numbers as they became availa-

ble.

The disciplinary process has be-

gun for those employees who are

refusing vaccines or who haven’t

shared their vaccination status, he

said. Undergoing counseling is the

first step in the process, followed

by several other

measures before

employees are

terminated if

they continue to

refuse vaccines.

“If they choose

not to do it, and

after our disci-

plinary process

continue not to do it, they’ll be

fired,” McDonough said. “It starts

with counseling and ends with sep-

aration.”

Employees were allowed to re-

quest exemptions from the man-

mine the locations and job duties of

employees who might refuse vac-

cines. The agency could use its au-

thority to move other VA employ-

ees to regions where hospitals and

clinics could become short-

staffed, McDonough said.

“We’re looking really hard at it,”

he said. “We’re trying to get a sense

as best we can where people might

be and what the nature of employ-

ment might be so we’re in a posi-

tion to do that.”

VA begins disciplinary process for employees refusing virus vaccinesBY NIKKI WENTLING

Stars and Stripes

[email protected] Twitter: @nikkiwentling

McDonough


NATION

WASHINGTON — For the third

time this year, Senate Democrats

on Wednesday tried to pass

sweeping elections legislation that

they tout as a powerful counter-

weight to new voting restrictions

sweeping conservative-controlled

states.

Once again, Republicans

blocked them.

But amid the ongoing stale-

mate, there are signs that Demo-

crats are making headway in their

effort to create consensus around

changing Senate procedural

rules, a key step that could allow

them to muscle transformative

legislation through the narrowly

divided chamber.

Sen. Angus King, a Maine inde-

pendent who caucuses with Dem-

ocrats, recently eased his long-

standing opposition to changing

the filibuster rules, which create a

60-vote threshold for most legisla-

tion to pass.

“I’ve concluded that democracy

itself is more important than any

Senate rule,” said King, who ac-

knowledged that weakening the

filibuster would likely prove to be

a “double-edged sword” under a

Republican majority.

Democrats still face long odds

of passing their bill, now known as

the Freedom to Vote Act, which

Senate Minority Leader Mitch

McConnell, R-Ky., excoriated

Wednesday as a federal “election

takeover scheme.”

But the softening of King’s

stance on the filibuster amounts to

progress, if incremental, for Sen-

ate Democrats as they look to con-

vince others in their caucus to

support a rule change.

After the vote, Senate Majority

Leader Chuck Schumer invoked

the Reconstruction era following

the Civil War, hailing the North-

ern senators serving at that time

for “going it alone” when con-

fronted by “minority obstruc-

tion.”

“Members of this body now face

a choice,” said Schumer, D-N.Y.

“They can follow in the footsteps

of our patriotic predecessors in

this chamber. Or they can sit by as

the fabric of our democracy un-

ravels before our very eyes.”

The Democrats’ voting bill was

first introduced in March in the

wake of the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.

It quickly passed the House at a

time when Republican-controlled

legislatures — many inspired by

Donald Trump’s false claims of a

stolen 2020 election — were ad-

vancing restrictions in the name

of election security that will make

it harder to vote and could make

the administration of the elections

more subject to partisan interfe-

rence.

But initial optimism that the

measure would swiftly pass the

Senate dissipated after several

members of the Democratic cau-

cus, including King, Kyrsten Sine-

ma of Arizona and Joe Manchin of

West Virginia, among others,

made clear their reluctance to

change the filibuster rules.

Senate Republicans again block Democrats’ election billAssociated Press

LOS ANGELES — A Los An-

geles neighborhood just outside

the nation’s busiest port complex

has become a perpetual traffic

jam, with trucks hauling cargo

containers backed up day and

night as workers try to break

through an unprecedented back-

log of ships waiting to unload.

About 40% of all shipping con-

tainers entering the United States

come through the Los Angeles and

Long Beach ports. The logjam of

ships has interrupted the global

supply chain and last week

prompted the Biden administra-

tion to allow the port complex to

operate 24 hours a day to try to get

goods unloaded and out to con-

sumers.

Since then, residents of the Wil-

mington neighborhood just north

of the ports have complained that

trucks are backed up in the streets

at all hours. Meanwhile, cargo

companies running out of space to

store containers off-loaded from

ships are stacking them outside

overloaded warehouses and in

parking lots.

This week, a container slid off a

truck making a turn on a narrow

street, pancaking a parked car.

Nobody was hurt, but local offi-

cials said that with so many trucks

crammed into a small area, it was

an accident waiting to happen.

“This is becoming an issue of

safety,” said Jacob Haik, deputy

chief of staff for LA City Council-

man Joe Buscaino, who repre-

sents the working-class area. Haik

said the city would start issuing ci-

tations to firms that stack contain-

ers unsafely or whose trucks clog

streets.

As of Tuesday, there were 63

ships berthed at the two ports and

96 waiting to dock and unload, ac-

cording to the Marine Exchange

of Southern California that over-

sees port vessel traffic. On Mon-

day, the number of ships waiting

to enter the ports hit a record 100.

Wilmington resident Sonia Cer-

vantes said her driveway was

blocked by a truck as she tried to

leave for work at 6:30 a.m. Her

whole block is fed up with the traf-

fic, she said.

“It’s a bunch of neighbors that

are very upset because it’s a non-

stop situation,” Cervantes told

CBS LA.

Maria Arrieran, who owns the

UCTI Trucking Company along

with her husband, Frank, said she

sympathizes with the community,

but the truck traffic is a result of

limited container storage.

“It’s an ongoing problem. We’re

just trying to get these truckers in

and out,” she said Wednesday.

“I’m literally out on the streets di-

recting traffic.”

California Gov. Gavin Newsom

on Wednesday issued an execu-

tive order that aims to ease the

backlog. He directed California

government agencies to look for

state-owned properties that could

temporarily store goods coming

into the ports. Newsom, a Demo-

crat, asked the state’s Department

of General Services to review po-

tential sites by Dec. 15.

He also ordered the Governor’s

Office of Business and Economic

Development to examine other

properties not owed by the state,

such as private or locally owned

parcels, that could also be used for

storage, though he didn’t give a

timeline for that review.

RINGO H.W. CHIU/AP

Cargo containers sit stacked at the Port of Los Angeles on Wednesday in San Pedro, Calif.

Cargo backlog creates trafficheadaches on sea and land

BY CHRISTOPHER WEBER

Associated Press

SCRANTON, Pa. — In an

abrupt change, the White House is

floating new plans to pay for parts

of President Joe Biden’s $2 trillion

social services and climate

change package, shelving a pro-

posed big increase in corporate

tax rates though also adding a new

billionaires’ tax on the investment

gains of the very richest Ameri-

cans.

The reversal Wednesday came

as Biden returned to his home-

town of Scranton, Pa., to highlight

the middle class values he says are

at the heart of the package that

Democrats are racing to finish. Bi-

den faces resistance from key

holdouts, including Sen. Kyrsten

Sinema, D-Ariz., who has not been

on board with her party’s plan to

undo Trump-era tax breaks to

help pay for it.

“This has been declared dead

on arrival from the moment I in-

troduced it, but I think we’re going

to surprise them, because I think

people are beginning to figure out

what’s at stake,” Biden said in a

speech at Scranton’s Electric City

Trolley Museum, his first visit

home since becoming president.

Negotiations between the White

House and Democratic leaders on

Capitol Hill are underway on

what’s now a scaled-back package

but would still be an unpreceden-

ted federal effort to expand social

services for millions and confront

the rising threat of climate

change. It’s coupled with a sepa-

rate $1 trillion bill to update roads

and bridges.

The newly proposed tax provi-

sions, though, are likely to sour

progressives and even some mod-

erate Democrats who have long

campaigned on undoing the 2017

GOP tax cuts that many believe

unduly reward the wealthy, cost-

ing the federal government untold

sums in lost revenue at a time of

gaping income inequality.

Administration officials spoke

with congressional leaders on the

tax alternatives, according to a

person familiar with the private

talks and granted anonymity to

discuss them. The changes may be

needed to win over Sinema, who

had objected to plans to raise the

rates on corporations and wealthy

individuals earning more than

$400,000 a year, said the person

and several others.

As it stands, the corporate tax

rate is 21%, and Democrats want

to lift it to 26.5% for companies

earning more than $5 million a

year. The top individual income

tax rate would rise from 37% to

39.6% for those earning more than

$400,000, or $450,000 for married

couples.

Under the changes being float-

ed, that 21% corporate rate would

stay the same.

The revisions, however,

wouldn’t be all positive for big

companies and the wealthy. The

White House is reviving the idea

of a minimum corporate tax rate,

similar to the 15% rate Biden had

proposed earlier this year. That’s

even for companies that say they

had no taxable income — a fre-

quent target of Biden who com-

plains that they pay “zero” in tax-

es.

And there could be a new billio-

naires’ tax, modeled on legislation

from Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., the

chairman of the Finance Commit-

tee, who has proposed taxing stock

gains of those with more than $1

billion in assets — fewer than

1,000 Americans.

White Housemulls new way topay for $2T plan

Associated Press


NATION

WASHINGTON — The number

of Americans applying for unem-

ployment benefits fell last week to

a new low point since the pandem-

ic erupted, evidence that layoffs

are declining as companies hold

onto workers.

Unemployment claims dropped

6,000 to 290,000 last week, the

third straight drop, the Labor De-

partment said Thursday. That’s

the fewest people to apply for ben-

efits since March 14, 2020, when

the pandemic intensified. Appli-

cations for jobless aid, which gen-

erally track the pace of layoffs,

have fallen steadily from about

900,000 in January.

Unemployment claims are in-

creasingly returning to normal,

but many other aspects of the job

market haven’t yet done so. Hiring

has slowed in the past two months,

even as companies and other em-

ployers have posted a near-record

number of open jobs. Officials

such as Federal Reserve Chair Je-

rome Powell had hoped more peo-

ple would find work in September

as schools reopened, easing child

care constraints, and enhanced

unemployment aid ended nation-

wide.

Yet so far, that hasn’t happened.

Instead, some observers are start-

ing to consider whether some of

those who had jobs before the pan-

demic, and lost them, may have

permanently stopped looking for

work.

On Tuesday, Christopher Wall-

er, a member of the Federal Re-

serve’s Board of Governors, said

that 2 million of the 22 million jobs

lost to the pandemic may not re-

turn anytime soon because retire-

ments have accelerated so quickly

since COVID-19 hit.

The Labor Department’s report

Thursday also showed that the

number of people receiving job-

less aid continues to fall steadily.

In the week of Oct. 2, the latest da-

ta available, 3.3 million people re-

ceived unemployment benefits,

down from 3.6 million in the previ-

ous week.

A year ago, nearly 24 million

people were getting unemploy-

ment aid.

About 7 million people lost job-

less benefits in September after

two emergency programs, set up

in March 2020, expired. One of the

programs provided aid to gig

workers and the self-employed,

who traditionally are not eligible

to receive unemployment insur-

ance, and the second covered

workers who have been unem-

ployed for longer than six months.

And an extra $300 a week in feder-

al unemployment benefits ex-

pired nationwide Sept. 6.

US unemployment claims fall to 290,000Associated Press

NEW YORK — Nine months af-

ter being expelled from social

media for his role in inciting the

Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, former

President Donald Trump said

Wednesday he’s launching a new

media company with its own social

media platform.

Trump says his goal in launch-

ing the Trump Media & Technolo-

gy Group and its “Truth Social”

app is to create a rival to the Big

Tech companies that have shut

him out and denied him the mega-

phone that was paramount to his

national rise.

“We live in a world where the

Taliban has a huge presence on

Twitter, yet your favorite Ameri-

can President has been silenced,”

he said in a statement. “This is un-

acceptable.”

Conservative voices actually do

well on traditional social media.

On Wednesday, half of Facebook’s

10 top performing link posts were

from conservative media, com-

mentators or politicians, accord-

ing to a daily list compiled by a New

York Times technology columnist

and an internet studies professor

using Facebook’s own data.

Trump has spoken about

launching his own social media

site ever since he was barred from

Twitter and Facebook. An earlier

effort to launch a blog on his exist-

ing website was abandoned after

the page drew dismal views.

TMTG has not set its sights low.

In addition to the Truth Social app,

which is expected to soft-launch

next month with a nationwide rol-

lout early next year, the company

says it is planning a video-on-de-

mand service dubbed TMTG+

that will feature entertainment

programming, news and podcasts.

One slide in a TMTG presenta-

tion on its website includes a

graphic of TMTG’s potential com-

petitors, which range from Face-

book and Twitter to Netflix and

Disney+ to CNN. The same slide

suggests that over the long term

TMTG will also become a power in

cloud computing and payments

and suggests it will go head-to-

head with Amazon, Microsoft,

Google and Stripe.

TMTG also takes some jabs at

Trump’s previous favorite social

network. Slides accompanying the

Truth Social preorders listing in

Apple’s app store depict a social

network that strongly resembles

Twitter, right down to short mess-

ages and user handles preceded by

“@” signs.

Truth Social’s terms of service,

meanwhile, bar users from annoy-

ing any of the site’s employees and

from statements that “disparage,

tarnish, or otherwise harm, in our

opinion, us and/or the Site.” It was

not immediately clear who the

“us” in that statement refers to.

Trump announceslaunch of his veryown social media site

Associated Press

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Po-

tential human remains were found

Wednesday in a Florida wilder-

ness area along with items be-

lieved to belong to Brian Laundrie,

whose girlfriend, Gabby Petito,

was found slain after he returned

home alone from their cross-coun-

try road trip, according to the FBI.

Michael McPherson, chief of

the Tampa FBI office, said at a

news conference that it will take

time to identify the remains,

which forensic teams were exam-

ining. McPherson said they were

found near a backpack and a note-

book linked to Laundrie.

“We are working diligently to

get those answers for you,”

McPherson said, adding that the

items and remains were found in a

swampy area that had previously

been underwater. “It’s likely the

team will be on site for several

days.”

Laundrie’s parents, Chris and

Roberta Laundrie, took part in the

search Wednesday with the FBI

and police from North Port, Fla.,

more than a month after Laundrie

was reported missing after head-

ing to the vast Carlton Reserve

park.

“After a brief search off a trail

that Brian frequented some arti-

cles belonging to Brian were

found,” Laundrie family attorney

Steven Bertolino said in a text to

The Associated Press.

The Sarasota County Medical

Examiner’s Office confirmed it

had been summoned to the re-

serve but would not comment fur-

ther.

Laundrie, 23, is a person of in-

terest in the killing of Petito, who

was reported missing Sept. 11 by

her parents while the couple was

on a cross-country trip out West.

FBI: Items linked to suspect in killing, potential human remains foundAssociated Press

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Cal-

if. — The Coast Guard received

multiple reports of a possible fuel

spill off the Southern California

coast earlier than previously dis-

closed and asked local author-

ities to investigate about 15 hours

before its own personnel con-

firmed a large oil slick, which

came from a leaking undersea

pipeline, records show.

The initial reports of a possible

spill north of the Huntington

Beach pier came into the Coast

Guard about 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 1,

according to an Orange County

Sheriff’s Department’s memo

provided Wednesday to The As-

sociated Press. The documents

said there were multiple similar

calls over a marine radio emer-

gency channel from boats leav-

ing the Huntington Beach air

show.

The department, which runs

the county’s harbor patrol, sent a

fireboat to search for the spill,

but the crew lost visibility as

darkness fell, according to the

memo obtained through the Cali-

fornia Public Records Act. The

spill wasn’t confirmed until

about 9 a.m. Saturday.

The Coast Guard did not imme-

diately comment on the docu-

ments, which raise more ques-

tions about the agency’s response

to a spill that forced the closure of

some of the region’s signature

beaches and harmed animal and

plant life.

EUGENE GARCIA/AP

Officials release birds after they were treated for oiling Wednesday in Huntington Beach, Calif.

Coast Guard had received earliernotice about California oil spill

Associated Press


WORLD

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran on Thursday

kicked off an annual air force drill across

the country, a week after holding another

massive exercise in air defense, state TV re-

ported.

The report said attack and surveillance

drones, bombers and jet fighters will partic-

ipate in the drill, using heavy weapons in-

cluding laser-guided missiles.

Footage broadcast showed jet fighters

and bombers in flight and at takeoff, includ-

ing U.S.-made F4s and F5s, as well as the

Iranian-made Saegheh. Iran bought the

American fighters before Washington

banned such sales following the 1979 Islam-

ic Revolution. It also has Russian fighters in

service.

The broadcast also showed drones and

aerial refueling operations. It said 10 Ira-

nian military air bases will participate in

the maneuver. Iran reportedly has 12 air

bases.

It came a week after Iran held a two-day

annual air defense drill in the country’s

sprawling central desert, with both the ar-

my and the paramilitary Revolutionary

Guard taking part.

Iran regularly holds such drills and says

they assess the troops’ combat readiness

and demonstrate the nation’s military capa-

bilities.

Iran holds nationwide air force drill as its latest armed exerciseAssociated Press

PARIS — A powerful autumn

storm, named Aurore, blasted

parts of western Europe on Thurs-

day, knocking out power to a quar-

ter of a million French homes and

damaging buildings in at least four

countries.

Train services were disrupted

by uprooted trees littering tracks

in France, Germany and the Neth-

erlands and roofs were ripped off

many buildings, including at part

of the stadium used by the profes-

sional soccer club in the Belgian

port city of Antwerp.

A tornado early Thursday

caused damage in Schwentinen-

tal, a town near the German Baltic

Sea port city of Kiel. Fire service

official Kai Laessig told German

news agency dpa that it destroyed

greenhouses and brought down

trees, which hit cars, but no one

was injured. Several houses were

damaged.

Local media reported that four

people were injured in the Dutch

town of Barendrecht, on the south-

ern edge of Rotterdam, as strong

gusts ripped tiles off roofs and up-

rooted trees in a residential neigh-

borhood in the early hours of the

morning.

The storm also hit parts of south-

ern England with heavy rainfall

and strong winds.

The storm that started by hitting

the French region of Brittany’s At-

lantic Coast Wednesday afternoon

blew eastward through the night,

felling trees and collapsing roofs in

some areas, according to images

posted online. France’s national

weather service maintained storm

warnings Thursday in the coun-

try’s northeastern corner that bor-

ders Germany, Belgium and Lux-

embourg.

Wind speeds reached 109 mphin

the Normandy town of Fecamp,

according to the weather service.

Blown-down trees toppled pow-

er lines, and the Enedis utility said

250,000 homes were without elec-

tricity as of Thursday morning.

Train travel was disrupted in

Normandy and Champagne-Ar-

dennes region, as well as on some

commuter routes in the Paris re-

gion, according to the SNCF na-

tional rail authority.

The Dutch rail network was also

disrupted Thursday morning by

trees that had blown onto railroad

tracks.

Germany’s national railway op-

erator, Deutsche Bahn, suspended

all long-distance trains in North

Rhine-Westphalia state — the

country’s most populous, which

borders the Netherlands and Bel-

gium. The company said there

were cancellations and delays in

other parts of Germany as well.

Firefighters in the Belgian town

of Westerhoek, close to the Dutch

border, tweeted that they had been

called out dozens of times over-

night to deal with storm damage.

The storm hit northern Belgium

hard around Antwerp, snapping

countless trees, spilling scaffold-

ing onto the streets and blowing

some trucks off roads. It also tore

off part of the roof of Antwerp FC’s

stadium.

Germany’s national weather

service warned of gusts ranging up

to 65 mph in the north and north-

east of the country on Thursday,

and up to about 75 mph in moun-

tainous areas. But there were no

immediate reports of significant

damage.

Winds cause damage, disruptions in western EuropeAssociated Press


AMERICAN ROUNDUP

7 people rescued aftervehicle goes over cliff

WA ARLINGTON —

Search and rescue

and fire crews rescued seven peo-

ple after the vehicle they were in

went over a cliff on the road to the

Boulder River Trailhead, south-

east of Arlington, Snohomish

County.

Crews retrieved all seven peo-

ple from the vehicle, according to

the Snohomish County Sheriff’s

Office.

One person was critically in-

jured and airlifted to a hospital.

The others were also taken to hos-

pitals for treatment of injuries,

The Seattle Times reported.

Police, ranchers helpcatch roaming bull

AZ TUCSON — Tucson po-

lice responded to re-

ports of a bull roaming a neighbor-

hood near an elementary school

this week.

The animal somehow got loose

in the city's Rita Ranch communi-

ty, and police found it casually

grazing on some scrub grass

among the gravel along a home’s

front lawn.

Tucson police spokesman

Frank Magos said officers blocked

off the street with their SUVS until

ranchers arrived two hours later

to help corral the bull.

The bull was not harmed, and

there was no damage to any prop-

erty, Magos said.

University to buy solarpower from new facility

KY LOUISVILLE — The

University of Kentucky

will purchase 44% of the output of

a new 125-megawatt solar power

facility, through an agreement

with its electricity provider, Ken-

tucky Utilities Company, the uni-

versity said.

The McCracken County facility

is expected to be online in 2025.

The solar facility is expected to

provide roughly one-third of the

electricity consumed by the cam-

pus.

Four other organizations, in-

cluding the University of Louis-

ville, also plan to buy power from

the project.

Looted Van Gogh artworkto be auctioned

NY NEW YORK — A wa-

tercolor by Vincent van

Gogh that was seized by the Nazis

during World War II will be sold

next month at auction in New

York, where it is expected to fetch

$20 million or more, the auction

house Christie's announced.

Christie's is auctioning the 1888

work, “Wheatstacks,” after facili-

tating negotiations between the

Texas oilman's heirs who own it

now and the heirs of two Jewish

art collectors who owned it at dif-

ferent times before it was looted

by the Nazis.

It will be auctioned Nov. 11

along with other artworks from

the collection of Edwin L. Cox, a

Texas oilman who died last year at

age 99.

It was purchased in 1913 by in-

dustrialist Max Meirowsky, who

fled Germany for Amsterdam in

1938 fearing Nazi persecution. He

entrusted “Wheatstacks” to a Pa-

ris-based art dealer, who sold it to

Alexandrine de Rothschild, a

member of the renowned Jewish

banking family.

Rothschild fled to Switzerland

at the onset of World War II and

her art collection, including the

van Gogh watercolor, was confis-

cated by the Nazis during the Oc-

cupation.

Park warns againsttossing rocks down cliffs

WV GLEN JEAN — A na-

tional park in West

Virginia is telling visitors they

need to stop throwing rocks down

cliffs, saying it could kill climbers

and hikers below.

A Facebook post by the New

River Gorge National Park and

Preserve said a rock climber re-

cently reported to park rangers

that multiple people were throw-

ing big rocks from the cliffs at Dia-

mond Point on the Endless Wall

trail to climbing areas more than

100 feet below.

The park said signs instructing

people not to throw rocks due to

the climbers are posted at the Dia-

mond Point overlook and the rock

climbing access spur trails.

Grizzly bear confirmedin national forest

ID COEUR D'ALENE —

Wildlife managers in

northern Idaho are warning peo-

ple to be on the watch for grizzly

bears after one was recently re-

ported in the Coeur d'Alene Na-

tional Forest.

Idaho Fish and Game regional

wildlife biologist Barb McCall

Moore said in a statement that the

bear was confirmed northeast of

Magee, the Coeur d'Alene Press

reported.

Black bears are common

throughout northern Idaho but

grizzlies are rarer and most often

observed in the Cabinet and Sel-

kirk mountain ranges.

Grizzly bears are federally pro-

tected in North Idaho.

Police see bank robbersswitch getaway cars

NC CHARLOTTE —

Three men accused of

robbing a bank in North Carolina

had one flaw in their plans to elude

police, authorities said.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police

said in a news release shortly after

the men robbed a Bank of Amer-

ica branch, an officer saw them in

a car turning into a nearby neigh-

borhood and watched them trying

to switch getaway cars, according

to a news release.

According to police, officers

tried to stop the car but the driver

kept going and crashed on a dead

end street.

The suspects were captured

without incident after police said

they considered trying to escape

by running across Interstate 77.

Multiple charges, including

robbery with a dangerous weap-

on, were filed against Kendell

Charles Alexander, 57, and Derri-

us Fleming, 30, both of Baltimore,

and Steven McCory, 36.

Rewards offered for infoin alleged smuggling ring

FL MIAMI — The U.S. gov-

ernment is offering two

$1 million rewards for information

leading to the arrest of a 40-year-

old Pakistani man described as a

“prolific human smuggler,” and

for information leading to the fi-

nancial disruption of his smug-

gling network.

Abid Ali Khan is accused of

leading an operation that has prof-

ited from the trafficking of

migrants from the Middle East

and southwest Asia into the U.S.

without legal permission since

2015, U.S. Immigration and Cus-

toms Enforcement said in a news

release.

Investigators said Khan con-

spired with others in the network

to coordinate the international

travel, including false paperwork

for the migrants.

Khan was indicted in April on

federal charges including con-

spiracy, encouraging immigrants

to enter the U.S. illegally, and

bringing an immigrant into the

country without legal permission,

the news release said.

MATT HAMILTON, CHATTANOOGA (TENN.) TIMES FREE PRESS/AP

Gilbert Meier, 9, right, fires spray string at a classmate during the Lookout Mountain Elementary School's carnival on Lookout Mountain, inTenn. The school held their fall carnival at the Town Common park as a fundraiser for the school.

Stringing them along

THE CENSUS

26K The number of daffodil bulbs people have planted in Belfast,Maine, so far this year. Elisabeth Wolfe, who launched the

effort to eventually plant a million bulbs, said this is the fourth year people haveworked to plant the bulbs through the Belfast Daffodil Project. “When we finishthis year, we will have planted nearly 157,000 bulbs over the four years,”Wolfe told the Bangor Daily News.

From The Associated Press


FACES

Charise Castro Smith, the first Latino

woman to co-direct a Walt Disney

Animation Studios movie, admits

that she has felt terrified at times.

But when the chance to work on “Encanto”

came around, she had no doubts.

“I said, ‘I have to do this. I have to,’” Castro

Smith said in an interview with The Associated

Press. She joined the project as a writer and

had never been in a directing role.

Castro Smith, who has a 3-year-old daugh-

ter, said “it means the world to me for little

brown kids everywhere to get to see them-

selves and to see themselves represented in a

positive way and feel seen.”

“Encanto,” which she co-directs with Jared

Bush and Byron Howard, is set in Colombia —

the land of magical realism — and follows Mi-

rabel Madrigal, a teenage girl dealing with the

frustration of being the only member of her

family without magical powers. It opens in

theaters Nov. 24.

Castro Smith and Bush also share writing

credits with Lin-Manuel Miranda, who creat-

ed original songs for the film. The cast, led by

Argentine American actor Stephanie Beatriz

(“Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” “In The Heights”), in-

cludes Diane Guerrero, John Leguizamo, Wil-

mer Valderrama and Colombian Angie Cepe-

da.

“Encanto’‘ is undoubtedly a big step for Cas-

tro Smith, who started as a playwright and on-

ly had a few TV credits as an actor (small parts

in “The Good Wife,” “Body of Proof” and “Un-

forgettable”), writer (“Devious Maids,” “The

Exorcist”) and producer (“The Exorcist,”

“Sweetbitter”).

Her perspective as a woman raised in a Cu-

ban American family proved useful to the job.

“Charise was a godsend from the moment

she joined ‘Encanto’ and created a foundation

of heart, vulnerability and authenticity that

the entire film is built upon,” Bush said in an

email to the AP. “From day one, she wanted to

create a unique, flawed and utterly human

character in Mirabel that spoke to the experi-

ences of so many Latinas, while at the same

time being relatable to audiences around the

world.”

Initially brought on as a writer to collaborate

with Bush, Castro Smith was asked to be a co-

director after seven or eight months, she said.

“So it sort of happened organically and it’s

been amazing.”

She especially credits her bond with her Cu-

ban grandmother as a source of inspiration for

Abuela Alma, who is voiced in the film by Col-

ombian actor María Cecilia Botero.

“I just remember watching that (talk) show

‘Cristina’ with her a lot,” Castro Smith recalled

of her own abuela. “She encouraged me a lot.

She was an amazing woman. Actually, the play

I wrote most recently (‘El Huracán’, or ‘The

Hurricane’) is about her.”

Although Alma “is temperamentally really

really different than my grandmother was ...

that bond and that closeness I think was some-

thing that really informed me as I was writ-

ing,” she said.

Howard could see this, too.

“From the very beginning, Charise knew

who Encanto’s Abuela Alma needed to be, in-

side and out,” he wrote in an email to the AP.

“Charise’s writing showing Alma’s bravery

and struggle became the emotional heart of

the film, and I know that much of this intimate

connection with the character comes directly

from the strong women in her own family.”

“This unique talent of blending real-life

emotion with heightened, supernatural story-

telling comes naturally for Charise,” Howard

added. “She always writes with a sense of emo-

tional truth.”

Besides the opportunity of bringing to the

screen characters that children of color can re-

late to, Castro Smith said she was also drawn to

“Encanto’‘ by the idea of a protagonist that at

the beginning may not be able to accept herself

but learns to see and embrace her own value.

“I think is a powerful message that I wanted

to offer to everyone,” she said. “But particular-

ly the fact that this is a Latinx character, it was

just so personally important to me to put that

on the screen. It’s meant the world to me to

work on this because of that.”

In terms of representation, she feels hopeful

that “Encanto” and other upcoming projects

will pave the way for more productions led by

and focused on minorities.

“It’s so important just because what we see,

we kind of validate; what we see, we can em-

pathize with; what we see, we can sort of put

ourselves into the shoes of,” Castro Smith said.

“I think what I do as a storyteller and what we

all do as storytellers is kind of fundamental to

the fabric of society.”

A foundation of authenticityCharise Castro Smith brings Latin experience to Disney’s ‘Encanto’

BY SIGAL RATNER-ARIAS

Associated Press

WILLY SANJUAN/AP

Charise Castro Smith poses for a portrait on Sept. 9 in Los Angeles to promote her Disneyanimated film “Encanto.” The film, set in Colombia, follows a teenage girl dealing with thefrustration of being the only member of her family without magical powers.

rov. After a stint on the station,

they returned to Earth on Sunday

with another veteran Russian cos-

monaut, Oleg Novitskiy.

Peresild and Shipenko filmed

segments of a movie titled “Chal-

lenge,” in which a surgeon played

by Peresild rushes to the space

station to save a crew member

who needs an urgent operation in

orbit. Novitskiy, who flew the film

crew home, stars as the ailing cos-

monaut in the movie.

A Russian actor and a film di-

rector who spent 12 days in orbit

making the world’s first movie in

space said Tuesday they were so

thrilled with their experience on

the International Space Station

that they felt sorry to leave.

Actor Yulia Peresild and direc-

tor Klim Shipenko flew to the In-

ternational Space Station in a Rus-

sian Soyuz spacecraft together

with cosmonaut Anton Shkaple-

Speaking to reporters via video

link Tuesday, Peresild lamented

that a busy filming schedule left

little chance to enjoy the views.

“We realized only a day before

the departure that we didn’t spend

enough time looking out the win-

dows,” she said. “I had a mixed

feeling. On the one hand, it felt like

an eternity but on the other hand it

felt like we just arrived and imme-

diately need to return.”

Peresild and Shipenko said they

were feeling fine but still were

having some trouble adapting to

the pull of gravity.

“We have to learn again how to

walk,” Peresild said, adding that

she still instinctively tries to at-

tach various items with Velcro to

prevent them from floating away.

Shipenko, who will continue the

shooting on Earth after filming the

movie’s space episodes, said the

film’s release date would be an-

nounced next year.

Russians return from filming movie in spaceAssociated Press

Mel Gibson is headed back to

his television roots for his next gig.

The Oscar winner has been

tapped to star in “The Continen-

tal,” described as the prequel to

Keanu Reeves’ blockbuster “John

Wick” film series.

Exploring the origin behind the

titular hotel for international as-

sassins from the “John Wick” uni-

verse, “The Continental” will be

presented as a three-night special-

event TV series produced for

Starz by Lionsgate Television, ac-

cording to Deadline.

Set 40 years before the events of

the film series, the project will

center on the young version of

Winston Scott, who is pulled back

into a world of his past and takes

on a harrowing attempt to seize

control of the property.

The Peekskill, N.Y., native

made his acting debut on the Aus-

tralian television drama series

“The Sullivans” from 1976-1983.

Superman drops

‘American way’ mottoSuperman is leaping forward

with a new motto.

The hero will no longer refer to

the “American way” in the DC

comic books, and will instead use

the phrase “Truth, Justice and a

Better Tomorrow.”

“Superman’s new motto of

‘Truth, Justice and a Better To-

morrow’ will better reflect the

global storylines that we are tell-

ing across DC and honor the char-

acter’s incredible legacy of over

80 years of building a better

world,” Jim Lee, publisher and

chief creative officer of DC Com-

ics, said in a statement Saturday.

“Superman has long been a

symbol of hope who inspires peo-

ple from around the world, and it

is that optimism and hope that

powers him forward with this new

mission statement.”

Celine Dion to postpone

Las Vegas residencyCeline Dion is postponing her

Las Vegas return to focus on her

health. The superstar singer will

not begin her latest concert resi-

dency on Nov. 5 as originally

planned due to recurring severe

muscle spasms, promoters said

Tuesday.

“I’m heartbroken by this,”

Dion, 53, said in a statement. “My

team and I have been working on

our new show for the past eight

months, and to not be able to open

this November saddens me be-

yond words.”

The announcement saw Dion,

53, cancel each of her concerts

scheduled at the Resorts World

Theatre between Nov. 5 and Nov.

20, as well as her shows slated for

Jan. 19 to Feb. 5.

‘John Wick’prequel to starMel Gibson

From wire reports


Max D. Lederer Jr., Publisher

Lt. Col. Marci Hoffman, Europe commander

John Rodriguez, Europe chief of staff

Lt. Col. Michael Kerschbaum, Pacific commander

Michael Ryan, Pacific chief of staff

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stripes.com

OPINION

How lean can we make the U.S. Ar-

my before it’s unable to do its job?

Army Secretary Christine

Wormuth recently declared her

service must “ruthlessly prioritize” its “trans-

formation” efforts.” To that end, she said, the

Army is “going to have to look hard at every-

thing we do and everything about how we do

it.”

That sounds reasonable … except when you

consider that, since 2018, the Army has al-

ready been painfully slicing billions from its

budget to preserve readiness, maintain a min-

imum size and fund critical modernization

programs.

If, as Wormuth suggests, further cuts are in

the offing, it could once more leave us with a

“hollow Army,” one unable to effectively re-

spond when the nation calls.

Three years ago, under pressure to

scrounge money, the Army began conducting

what they called “night court” reviews. Those

reviews went “program by program, activity

by activity” to make hard trade-offs to find

money. In 2018, the Army reallocated roughly

$25 billion to higher priority programs. The

Army has continued this practice each year

since.

Just last year, the Army released a list of 41

program terminations and 39 program reduc-

tions made to preserve the semblance of a

modernization program. The Army’s 2022

proposed budget reflected yet more cuts, in-

cluding reductions to precious unit training

funds, cuts to the prized Joint Lightweight

Tactical Vehicle program, and cuts to key hel-

icopter modernization programs.

This spring, Army Chief Gen. James

McConville candidly admitted the three years

of “grueling night court drills” have taken a

tremendous toll. “The first year we took the

low-lying fruit, and we got to the middle of the

tree [in year two],” he said. “[Now] we’re at

the top of the tree. There’s no more fruit in that

tree.”

Just to keep up with inflation and preserve a

semblance of readiness, the Army’s 2022 bud-

get needed to be $180 billion. Nevertheless, in

its first year, the Biden administration chose

to request only $173 billion — a $7 billion cut in

purchasing power. Wormuth’s remarks por-

tend even more cuts may be on the way.

In light of the China threat, some suggest

that the Navy and Air Force’s shares of the

Pentagon budget need to be increased at the

expense of the Army. Problem is, we’ve “been

there, done that.” Since 2008 when the Army

was bearing the costs of fights in Iraq and Af-

ghanistan, its budget has steadily declined. In

the 2022 budget request, the Army’s portion is

24.1%, compared to a Navy share of 29.5%.

Still others suggest the Army should shrink

in size, cutting people to save money. That

suggestion ignores the fact that the Army is al-

ready nearly as small as it has been in modern

history and that every Army leader in recent

times has cautioned against further reduc-

tions. The bipartisan commission charged to

review the 2018 National Defense Strategy

(which counted among its members the cur-

rent deputy secretary of defense and defense

comptroller) unanimously found “the United

States needs a larger force than it has today if it

is to meet the objectives of the strategy.”

Certainly, the Army must continue to look

inward and ensure that every dollar it spends

delivers meaningful combat capability. Fiscal

stewardship is essential to maintaining public

trust and to building the best Army possible.

The reality is that there is never going to be

enough money, even in a wealthy nation like

the United States, to fund every military re-

quirement, and tough decisions will always

need to be made.

But America can afford a strong national

defense. Even Congress — famous for strife

and parochialism — seems to understand the

critical need to fund the military. This year,

the House of Representatives soundly re-

buffed efforts to slash the defense budget. The

Senate Armed Services Committee did the

same. Indeed, Congress may wind up adding

roughly $25 billion to President Joe Biden’s

anemic defense budget request, something

that would greatly help deter potential con-

flict with adversaries such as Russia and Chi-

na.

Before the Army commences another

round of “ruthless prioritization,” it would do

well to take a look around the “neighborhood.”

China, Russia, Iran and North Korea all em-

barked on breakneck modernizations of their

military forces. The Army has not been keep-

ing pace. Once cut too far, it takes a long time to

regrow an effective Army. As a nation, we will

regret it if we allow our Army to wither.

How much further can the Army be cut?BY THOMAS SPOEHR

The Heritage Foundation

Thomas Spoehr, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant general, is directorof The Heritage Foundation’s Center for National Defense.

When the Supreme Court rules in

the coming months on the Mis-

sissippi and Texas laws sub-

stantially restricting abortions,

it will do more than decide the future of its

1973 ruling legalizing a woman’s right to end

her pregnancy.

It will almost certainly plunge the long-sim-

mering issue into the midst of the 2022 mid-

term congressional and gubernatorial elec-

tions at a time both Democrats and Republi-

cans believe it could help them. One is likely to

be wrong. Or, perhaps, each will be right in

some places and wrong in others.

Ever since the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision,

abortion rights has been a potent factor in

many national and state elections, and it’s an

issue in next month’s Virginia governor’s

race. But polls on which party benefits are as

complicated as those on the attitude of Amer-

icans toward the practice itself.

For example, 2020 television network elec-

tion exit polls showed a majority of voters fa-

vored keeping abortion generally legal. They

also showed the proportion regarding the is-

sue as an important factor in their vote was

roughly the same among supporters and op-

ponents of abortion rights, about three in five.

Still, Donald Trump’s 2016 promise to name

Supreme Court justices opposed to abortion

rights — and the fact that by 2020 he had done

so — likely helped to maintain his strong sup-

port from religious conservatives, including

those wary of his three marriages and other

aspects of his private life.

Current attitudes are similarly complicat-

ed. A recent Quinnipiac University Poll

showed Texans agreed by a 2-to-1 margin

with the court’s 1973 ruling legalizing abor-

tions, about the same degree of overall sup-

port as has been shown in most national polls.

But the same poll showed opinion evenly

split on the provision in the state’s new law

that makes abortions illegal when a fetal

heartbeat is detectable. That provision would

ban abortions after the first six weeks of preg-

nancy, rather than the 26 weeks currently al-

lowable under the Supreme Court decision.

At the same time, the survey showed strong

opposition among Texans to the new law’s

provisions allowing private citizens to sue

anyone they suspect may have facilitated an

illegal abortion and to the provision in the

abortion ban including any pregnancies re-

sulting from rape or incest.

It didn’t take long after the 1973 decision for

the issue to enter the political debate. Interest-

ingly, the first major figure to use it was a ris-

ing Republican senator named Bob Dole, fac-

ing a close 1974 reelection race in Kansas. In a

debate, Dole raised the fact that his Demo-

cratic opponent, a gynecologist and congress-

man named William Roy, had performed

abortions. It was seen as a major factor in

Dole’s narrow victory.

Though he mostly downplayed the issue in

later years, Dole took credit for it when seek-

ing the GOP’s 1996 presidential nomination,

telling the South Carolina Christian Coalition

that “when abortion first became a national is-

sue was at my reelection in 1974.”

Still, national Republicans were slow to em-

brace it. In 1976, then-President Gerald Ford

said the decision should be left to the states.

But in their 1980 takeover of the GOP in which

religious conservatives played a key role, Ro-

nald Reagan’s forces added planks to the Re-

publican platform that urged reversing Roe v.

Wade and appointing federal judges “at all

levels of the judiciary” who opposed abortion

rights. Ever since, it has been a prominent po-

litical issue in both national and state elec-

tions. And recent legislation makes it likely to

become an even greater factor in 2022.

The Supreme Court has agreed to consider

aMississippi law, which would ban most abor-

tions after 15 weeks. It also stepped into the

controversy surrounding the even more re-

strictive Texas law, allowing it to take effect

pending a ruling on its constitutionality,

though even some conservative legal experts

consider it unconstitutional unless the court is

ready to reverse the 1973 ruling.

In this circumstance, there are two great

uncertainties: how far the court will go in re-

stricting its 1973 ruling, assuming that is why

it took these cases. And which side will benefit

politically.

Democrats believe the issue will spur a

larger-than-usual turnout of suburban wom-

en that will help their candidates in next year’s

elections. Similarly, many Republicans be-

lieve it helped to elect Trump in 2016 — and

nearly reelected him in 2020 — by generating

an outpouring of religious conservatives.

Interestingly, weekly polls by The Econo-

mist and YouGov show that the proportion of

Democrats who consider abortion an ex-

tremely important issue has risen during

2021, while the proportion of Republicans has

dropped. That trend, along with the underly-

ing national support for maintaining most le-

gal abortions, suggests Democrats stand to

benefit the most if the court significantly re-

stricts its 1973 ruling.

Abortion will be a key issue for both parties in 2022BY CARL P. LEUBSDORF

The Dallas Morning News

Carl P. Leubsdorf is a former Washington bureau chief of TheDallas Morning News.


ACROSS

1 Stretchy fabric

6 TV spots

9 Clean air org.

12 Greeted a bully

13 Salty expanse

14 Book spine abbr.

15 Shrimp variety

16 Fabric

18 Analyzed, as

a sentence

20 Perched on

21 Chi follower

23 Hearing thing

24 Big hit

25 Web addresses

27 Dark

29 Baking tin

31 Language

of Egypt

35 Sunday entree

37 Small plateau

38 Evil one

41 Proof letters

43 Sailor

44 Hibernia

45 Dresser

47 Package stamp

49 Mexican art-

ist Kahlo

52 Slithery fish

53 Actor Stephen

54 Had a bug

55 Hwys.

56 Piercing tool

57 Cardio-boxing

routine

DOWN

1 JFK’s veep

2 Thee

3 Gather

4 Ms. McEntire

5 Worship

6 Rearward

7 Monopoly card

8 Kenny G’s

instrument

9 Madonna role

10 Casual shirts

11 Hebrew letter

17 Large gong

19 Place for

sweaters?

21 Young seal

22 Lanka lead-in

24 Polite address

26 Mattress part

28 In a while

30 MSN rival

32 Enchant

33 Equi-

34 Urban carrier

36 Snitch

38 Postpone

39 Goofed

40 Test tubes

42 Make lean

45 Botched

46 Met melody

48 Playwright Levin

50 Cotillion celeb

51 Commotion

Answer to Previous Puzzle

Eugene Sheffer CrosswordFra

zz

Dilbert

Pearls B

efo

re S

win

eN

on S

equitur

Candorv

ille

Beetle B

ailey

Biz

arr

oCarp

e D

iem


TENNIS

Kremlin Cup

ThursdayAt Olympic Stadium

MoscowPurse: $697,125

Surface: Hardcourt indoorMen’s SinglesRound of 16

Pedro Martinez, Spain, def. Filip Kraji-novic (4), Serbia, 6-3, 6-4.

Women’s SinglesRound of 16

Anett Kontaveit (9), Estonia, def. AndreaPetkovic, Germany, 6-1, 6-4.

Maria Sakkari (3), Greece, def. Anna Ka-linskaya, Russia, 6-2, 1-0, ret.

SOCCER

MLS

Eastern Conference

W L T Pts GF GA

New England 21 4 6 69 62 38

Nashville 11 3 16 49 47 27

Philadelphia 12 8 10 46 42 32

Orlando City 12 8 10 46 43 42

Atlanta 11 9 10 43 40 34

CF Montréal 11 10 9 42 43 40

D.C. United 12 13 5 41 51 44

New York City FC 11 11 8 41 45 34

New York 11 11 7 40 35 30

Columbus 10 12 8 38 37 40

Inter Miami CF 10 15 5 35 28 47

Chicago 8 16 7 31 35 51

Toronto FC 6 17 7 25 34 59

Cincinnati 4 18 8 20 32 59

Western Conference

W L T Pts GF GA

Seattle 17 6 7 58 50 26

Sporting Kansas City 15 7 7 52 52 33

Colorado 14 6 10 52 43 32

Portland 14 12 4 46 48 49

LA Galaxy 13 11 6 45 44 46

Minnesota United 12 10 8 44 35 37

Vancouver 11 9 10 43 40 41

Real Salt Lake 12 11 6 42 48 45

Los Angeles FC 11 12 7 40 46 44

San Jose 9 12 9 36 40 47

Houston 6 13 12 30 35 49

FC Dallas 6 14 10 28 41 50

Austin FC 7 19 4 25 29 49

Note: Three points for victory, one pointfor tie.

Wednesday’s games

Chicago 4, Cincinnati 3 CF Montréal 1, Orlando City 1, tie New York City FC 1, Atlanta 1, tie New England 3, D.C. United 2 Miami 3, Toronto FC 0 Los Angeles FC 3, FC Dallas 2 Minnesota 3, Philadelphia 2 Columbus 1, Nashville 1, tie LA Galaxy 3, Houston 0 Seattle 1, Colorado 1, tie Vancouver 3, Portland 2 San Jose 4, Austin FC 0

Saturday’s games

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

Sunday’s games

Houston at Austin FC New England at Orlando City

NWSL

W L T Pts GF GA

x-Portland 13 6 4 43 33 17

x-OL Reign 12 8 3 39 34 24

x-Washington 10 7 6 36 28 26

Chicago 10 8 5 35 27 28

Gotham FC 8 5 8 32 26 18

Houston 9 9 5 32 31 30

North Carolina 9 9 5 32 28 23

Orlando 7 9 7 28 27 31

Louisville 5 12 5 20 19 38

Kansas City 3 13 6 15 14 32

Note: Three points for victory, one pointfor tie.

Friday’s game

Gotham FC at Kansas CityThursday, Oct, 28

Gotham FC at LouisvilleFriday, Oct. 29

Chicago at OrlandoOL Reign at Kansas City

Saturday, Oct. 30

North Carolina at PortlandSunday, Oct. 31

Louisville at Gotham FCHouston at Washington

NFL

AMERICAN CONFERENCE

East

W L T Pct PF PA

Buffalo 4 2 0 .667 203 98

New England 2 4 0 .333 125 127

N.Y. Jets 1 4 0 .200 67 121

Miami 1 5 0 .167 99 177

South

W L T Pct PF PA

Tennessee 4 2 0 .667 166 161

Indianapolis 2 4 0 .333 139 131

Houston 1 5 0 .167 92 172

Jacksonville 1 5 0 .167 116 172

North

W L T Pct PF PA

Baltimore 5 1 0 .833 170 123

Cincinnati 4 2 0 .667 148 111

Cleveland 3 3 0 .500 156 151

Pittsburgh 3 3 0 .500 117 132

West

W L T Pct PF PA

L.A. Chargers 4 2 0 .667 148 150

Las Vegas 4 2 0 .667 147 144

Denver 3 3 0 .500 126 110

Kansas City 3 3 0 .500 185 176

NATIONAL CONFERENCE

East

W L T Pct PF PA

Dallas 5 1 0 .833 205 146

Philadelphia 2 4 0 .333 137 152

Washington 2 4 0 .333 136 186

N.Y. Giants 1 5 0 .167 114 177

South

W L T Pct PF PA

Tampa Bay 5 1 0 .833 195 144

New Orleans 3 2 0 .600 127 91

Carolina 3 3 0 .500 143 121

Atlanta 2 3 0 .400 105 148

North

W L T Pct PF PA

Green Bay 5 1 0 .833 144 136

Chicago 3 3 0 .500 98 124

Minnesota 3 3 0 .500 147 137

Detroit 0 6 0 .000 109 172

West

W L T Pct PF PA

Arizona 6 0 0 1.000 194 109

L.A. Rams 5 1 0 .833 179 127

San Francisco 2 3 0 .400 117 119

Seattle 2 4 0 .333 140 149

Thursday’s game

Denver at Cleveland

Sunday’s games

Atlanta at Miami Carolina at N.Y. Giants Cincinnati at Baltimore Kansas City at Tennessee N.Y. Jets at New England Washington at Green Bay Detroit at L.A. Rams Philadelphia at Las Vegas Chicago at Tampa Bay Houston at Arizona Indianapolis at San Francisco Open: Buffalo, Jacksonville, L.A. Char-

gers, Pittsburgh, Dallas, Minnesota

Monday’s game

New Orleans at Seattle

Thursday, Oct. 28

Green Bay at Arizona

Sunday, Oct. 31

Carolina at Atlanta Cincinnati at N.Y. Jets L.A. Rams at Houston Miami at Buffalo Philadelphia at Detroit Pittsburgh at Cleveland San Francisco at Chicago Tennessee at Indianapolis Jacksonville at Seattle New England at L.A. Chargers Tampa Bay at New Orleans Washington at Denver Dallas at Minnesota Open: Baltimore, Las Vegas

Monday, Nov. 1

N.Y. Giants at Kansas City

NFL Injury ReportSUNDAY

ATLANTA FALCONS at MIAMI DOLPHINS— ATLANTA: DNP: OLB Dante Fowler Jr.(knee), S Jaylinn Hawkins (illness). LIMIT-ED: CB Avery Williams (hamstring). MIA-MI: LIMITED: QB Jacoby Brissett (hamstr-ing), RB Malcolm Brown (ribs), CB XavienHoward (shoulder/groin), G/T AustinJackson (shoulder), DT John Jenkins(knees), S Brandon Jones (ankle), CB By-ron Jones (achilles/groin), C Greg Mancz(groin), LB Jaelan Phillips (ankle), QB TuaTagovailoa (ribs), WR Preston Williams(Groin). FULL: LB Elandon Roberts (throat),TE Adam Shaheen (knee).

CAROLINA PANTHERS at NEW YORK GI-ANTS — CAROLINA: DNP: WR Alex Erickson(concussion), WR Terrance Marshall Jr.(concussion), FB Giovanni Ricci (concus-sion), LB Shaq Thompson (foot). LIMITED:LB Frankie Luvu (bicep). FULL: CB C.J. Hen-derson (shoulder). NEW YORK GIANTS:DNP: RB Saquon Barkley (ankle), WR Ken-ny Golladay (knee), LB Azeez Ojulari (NIR),WR John Ross (hamstring), TE KadenSmith (knee), WR Kadarius Toney (ankle).LIMITED: OL Ben Bredeson (hand), DL Dan-ny Shelton (pectoral), WR Darius Slayton(hamstring).

CHICAGO BEARS at TAMPA BAY BUCCA-NEERS — CHICAGO: DNP: TE Jimmy Gra-ham (not injury related - resting player),WR Jakeem Grant (ankle), DT Akiem Hicks(groin), LB Caleb Johnson (knee), LB KhalilMack (foot), WR Allen Robinson (ankle).LIMITED: S Tashaun Gipson (hip), TE J.P.Holtz (quadricep), WR Darnell Mooney(groin). FULL: CB Xavier Crawford (back),RB Khalil Herbert (shoulder). TAMPA BAY:DNP: WR Antonio Brown (ankle), LB La-vonte David (ankle), TE Rob Gronkowski(ribs), TE O.J. Howard (ankle), LB JasonPierre-Paul (shoulder, hand), CB RichardSherman (hamstring). FULL: RB GiovaniBernard (knee, chest), QB Tom Brady(right thumb), K Ryan Succop (back), S An-toine Winfield (concussion).

CINCINNATI BENGALS at BALTIMORERAVENS — CINCINNATI: DNP: CB Jalen Da-vis (ankle), C Trey Hopkins (knee), DT JoshTupou (knee). LIMITED: S Ricardo Allen(ankle), G Jackson Carman (NIR-restingplayer), HB Chris Evans (hamstring), LSClark Harris (knee), DE Trey Hendrickson(shoulder). FULL: QB Joe Burrow (throat),WR Mike Thomas (ankle). BALTIMORE:DNP: C Bradley Bozeman (back), OLB Jus-tin Houston (NIR-resting player), RB Lata-vius Murray (ankle), CB Jimmy Smith (NIR-resting player), T Alejandro Villanueva(knee), WR Sammy Watkins (thigh), CB Ta-von Young (knee). LIMITED: LB PatrickQueen (thigh).

DETROIT LIONS at LOS ANGELES RAMS —DETROIT: DNP: RB Jason Cabinda (hip), TET.J. Hockenson (knee), DE Nicholas Wil-liams (knee). LIMITED: DE Michael Brock-ers (shoulder), LB Trey Flowers (knee), LBCharles Harris (hip, oblique), S Will Harris(rib), RB D’Andre Swift (groin). LOS AN-GELES RAMS: DNP: RB Sony Michel (shoul-der), OL Andrew Whitworth (NIR-restingplayer, OLB Terrell Lewis (NIR-restingplayer.

HOUSTON TEXANS at ARIZONA CARDI-NALS — HOUSTON: DNP: OL Justin Britt

(knee), DB Terrence Brooks (chest), WRBrandin Cooks (NIR), DL Jaleel Johnson(back), QB Deshaun Watson (NIR). LIMIT-ED: WR Chris Conley (neck). FULL: WR Dan-ny Amendola (thigh). ARIZONA: DNP: TKelvin Beachum (ribs), TE Darrell Daniels(hamstring), LB Kylie Fitts (concussion),LB Jordan Hicks (toe, ankle), WR DeAndreHopkins (not injury related - resting play-er), LB Devon Kennard (shoulder), DTRashard Lawrence (calf), G Justin Pugh(back). LIMITED: LB Zaven Collins (shoul-der), RB Chase Edmonds (shoulder), LBTanner Vallejo (hand). FULL: DT Leki Fotu(elbow), LB Dennis Gardeck (hand, elbow).

INDIANAPOLIS COLTS at SAN FRANCIS-CO 49ERS — INDIANAPOLIS: DNP: WR T.Y.Hilton (quadricep), LB Darius Leonard (an-kle, knee), DE Tyquan Lewis (elbow), DEKwity Paye (hamstring), T Braden Smith(foot, thumb), DE Kemoko Turay (groin),RB Jordan Wilkins (non-football illness),CB Rock Ya-Sin (ankle). LIMITED: S JulianBlackmon (Achilles), S Andrew Sendejo(concussion). SAN FRANCISCO: DNP DT Ja-von Kinlaw (knee), QB Trey Lance (knee), TTrent Williams (ankle/elbow). LIMITED:QB Jimmy Garoppolo (calf), LB MarcellHarris (thumb). FULL: CB K’Waun Williams(calf).

KANSAS CITY CHIEFS at TENNESSEE TI-TANS — KANSAS CITY: DNP: FB MichaelBurton (pectoral), TE Jody Fortson(achilles), WR Tyrek Hill (quadricep), LBAnthony Hitchens (tricep), OL Joe Thuney(hand). LIMITED: DT Chris Jones (hand), TETravis Kelce (neck), S Tyrann Mathieu(thumb/toe), DT Jarran Reed (back), CBChavarius Ward (quadricep), OL TreySmith (ankle). FULL: TE Blake Bell (back), TOrlando Brown (groin), CB Chris Lammons(shin), DT Khalen Saunders (ankle), CBL’Jarius Sneed (wrist). TENNESSEE: DNP:WR A.J. Brown (illness), K Randy Bullock(shoulder), DB Chris Jackson (ankle), WRJulio Jones (hamstring), T Taylor Lewan(concussion), RB Jeremy McNichols (an-kle), WR Chester Rogers (groin). LIMITED:FB Khari Blasingame (shoulder), LB MonryRice (groin), G Rodger Saffold III (shoul-der).

NEW YORK JETS at NEW ENGLAND PATRI-OTS — NEW YORK JETS: DNP: TE Tyler Kroft(back), LB C.J. Mosley (hamstring). LIMIT-ED: S Marcus Maye (ankle). FULL: S AdrianColbert (concussion), DT Nathan She-phard (knee), WR Jeff Smith (Concussion).NEW ENGLAND: DNP: DL Davon Godchaux(finger), LB Dant’a Hightower (elbow/an-kle), CB Jonathan Jones (shoulder), CBShaun Wade (concussion), DL DeatrichWise Jr. (knee). LIMITED: DL Christian Bar-more (shoulder), LB Ja’Whaun Bentley(ribs), RB Brandon Bolden (thigh), S KyleDugger (knee), K Nick Folk (left knee), LBBrandon King (thigh), G Shaq Mason (ab-domen), DB Jalen Mills (hamstring), DBAdrian Phillips (back), LB Josh Uche(shoulder), LB Kyle Van Noy (groin).

PHILADELPHIA EAGLES at LAS VEGASRAIDERS — PHILADELPHIA: DNP: S Antho-ny Harris (hands). LIMITED: DE Derek Bar-nett (foot), T Lane Johnson (not injury re-lated - resting player), C Jason Kelce (foot,not injury related - resting player), LS RickLovato (hamstring). LAS VEGAS: DNP: TENick Bowers (neck), DB Quinton Jefferson(NIR-personal), S Dallin Leavitt (qaudri-cep), TE Darren Waller (NIR-resting play-er). LIMITED: WR Bryan Edwards (hamstr-ing), DT Johnathan Hankins (hip), LB NickKwiatkoski (toe), T Kolton Miller (pecto-ral),WR Henry Ruggs III (knee). FULL: QBDerek Carr (finger), DE Maxx Crosby (hip),CB Brandon Facyson (hip), DE Carl Nassib(ribs), DE Yannick Ngakoue (knee), LB Den-zel Perryman (thumb), G John Simpson(elbow), DT Solomon Thomas (Wrist).

WASHINGTON FOOTBALL TEAM atGREEN BAY PACKERS — WASHINGTON:DNP: T Samuel Cosmi (ankle), RB AntonioGibson (shin), T Charles Leno (not injuryrelated - resting player), WR Terry McLau-rin (hamstring), WR Curtis Samuel (groin),G Brandon Scherff (knee), TE Ricky Seals-Jones (quadricep), WR Cam Sims (hamstr-ing). LIMITED: DT Jonathan Allen (knee),WR Dyami Brown (knee), CB William Jack-son (knee). GREEN BAY: DNP: T Dennis Kel-ly (back), C Josh Myers (knee), S DarnellSavage (concussion), LB Preston Smith(oblique). LIMITED: CB Kevin King (shoul-der). FULL: WR Equanimeous St. Brown(shoulder).

PRO FOOTBALL

Wednesday’s TransactionsBASEBALL

Major League BaseballAmerican League

TORONTO BLUE JAYS — Reinstated RHPJoakim Soria from the COVID-19 RelatedInjured list. Designated RHP Jacob Barnesfor assignment.

National leagueARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS — Named

Steve Mullins senior vice president of cor-porate partnerships, media and events.

ATLANTA BRAVES — Reassigned RHPHuascar Ynoa to the minor leagues. Acti-vated LHP Dylan Lee.

CHICAGO CUBS — Sent Cs Erick Castilloand Tyler Payne outright to Iowa (Triple-AEast).

MILWAUKEE BREWERS — Released hit-ting coach Andy Haines.

BASKETBALLNational Basketball Association

NEW ORLEANS PELICANS — Re-signed CJonas Valanciunas to a veteran extension.

FOOTBALLNational Football League

ARIZONA CARDINALS — Signed TE DavidWells to the practice squad.

BALTIMORE RAVENS — Designated TENick Boyle return from injured reserve.Signed C Adam Redmond to the practicesquad. Placed OT Brandon Knight on thedid not report list.

CINCINNATI BENGALS — Designated OTHakeen Adeniji return from injured re-serve to practice.

DALLAS COWBOYS — Signed RB NickRalston to the practice squad.

DENVER BRONCOS — Re-signed WR Da-vid Moore to the practice squad. SignedWR Tyrie Cleveland to the active roster.

DETROIT LIONS — Signed WR GeronimoAllison to the active roster. Designated DLDa’Shawn hand return from injured re-serve to practice.

HOUSTON TEXANS — Activated DL RossBlacklock from the reserve/COVID-19 list.Signed LB Connor Strachan to the practicesquad. Signed OL Jimmy Morrissey.

INDIANAPOLIS COLTS — Designated GQuentin Nelson and WR Dezmon Patmonreturn from injured reserve to practice.Signed CB Darqueze Dennard, S Josh Jonesand DT Chris Williams to the practicesquad. Signed DT Antwaun Woods.

LAS VEGAS RAIDERS — Signed OL D.J.Fluker and CB Desmond Trufant. Placed SRoderic Teamer on injured reserve.

LOS ANGELES RAMS — Signed DB GrantHaley and TE Jared Pinkney to the practicesquad.

NEW YORK GIANTS — Designated OLBElerson Smith and DB Aaron Robinson re-turn from injured reserve to practice.Signed DL Woodrow Hamilton to the prac-tice squad.

PHILADELPHIA EAGLES — Signed TE Ri-chard Rodgers to the practice squad. Re-leased OT Casey Tucker from the practicesquad. Designated TE Tyree Jackson and SK’Von Wallace return from injured reserveto practice.

SEATTLE SEAHAWKS — Claimed QB Ja-cob Eason off waivers from Baltimore.

TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS — Signed GJohn Molchon to the practice squad. Re-leased WR Travis Jonsen from the practicesquad.

TENNESSEE TITANS — Signed DB GregMabin and OL Bobby Hart. Designated OLDaniel Munyer and DL Larrell Murchisonreturn from injured reserve to practice.

WASHINGTON FOOTBALL TEAM — Re-signed WR Kelvin Harmon to the practicesquad. Released K Dustin Hopkins. SignedK Chris Blewitt.

HOCKEYNational Hockey League

CALGARY FLAMES — Waived C GlennGawdin.

COLORADO AVALANCHE — Returned LWGabriel Landeskog from suspension.

COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS — Recalled DGabriel Carlsson from Cleveland (AHL).

OTTAWA SENATORS — Assigned G FilipGustavsson to Belleville (AHL).

SEATTLE KRAKEN — Assigned G AntoineBibeau to Charlotte (AHL) from Allen(ECHL).

WINNIPEG JETS — Loaned C Cole Perfettito Manitoba (AHL).

DEALS

SCOREBOARD

Schedule

Friday’s games

EAST

Columbia (4-1) at Dartmouth (5-0) Middle Tennessee (2-4) at Uconn (1-7)

SOUTH

Memphis (4-3) at UCF (3-3)

FAR WEST

Colorado St. (3-3) at Utah St. (4-2) Washington (2-4) at Arizona (0-6)

Saturday’s games

EAST

Wake Forest (6-0) at Army (4-2) Cincinnati (6-0) at Navy (1-5) Illinois (2-5) at Penn St. (5-1) Bryant (4-3) at Wagner (0-6) Morehead St. (4-2) at Marist (3-2) Duquesne (4-1) at Sacred Heart (4-3) LIU Brooklyn (0-5) at CCSU (1-5) Penn (2-3) at Yale (2-3) Harvard (5-0) at Princeton (5-0) Maine (2-4) at Albany (NY) (0-6) Georgetown (1-4) at Bucknell (1-5) Brown (1-4) at Cornell (1-4) Norfolk St. (4-2) at Howard (2-4) Lehigh (0-6) at Fordham (4-3) NC Central (2-4) at Morgan St. (0-6)

SC State (2-4) at Delaware St. (3-3) James Madison (5-1) at Delaware (3-3) Richmond (2-4) at Stony Brook (2-5) Rhode Island (5-1) at Villanova (5-1) Clemson (4-2) at Pittsburgh (5-1) Colgate (2-5) vs. Holy Cross (4-2)

SOUTH

Umass (1-5) at Florida St. (2-4) Syracuse (3-4) at Virginia Tech (3-3) New Hampshire (3-3) at Elon (3-3) Incarnate Word (5-1) at McNeese St. (2-4)San Diego (3-4) at Presbyterian (2-4) Chattanooga (3-3) at Samford (3-3) Robert Morris (2-3) at Gardner-Webb (2-4)NC A&T (3-3) at Hampton (2-4) BCC (0-7) at Jackson St. (5-1) ETSU (6-1) at Furman (4-2) W. Carolina (0-6) at The Citadel (2-4) Texas State (2-4) at Georgia St. (2-4) Charleston Southern (2-3) at North Ala-

bama (1-6) SE Missouri (2-5) at UT Martin (5-1) Austin Peay (2-4) at Murray St. (3-3) LSU (4-3) at Mississippi (5-1) Towson (3-3) at William & Mary (4-2) Rice (2-4) at UAB (5-2) SE Louisiana (5-1) at Northwestern St. (1-5)Kennesaw St. (5-1) at Campbell (3-3) Florida A&M (4-2) at MVSU (2-4) Mississippi St. (3-3) at Vanderbilt (2-5) Boston College (4-2) at Louisville (3-3) Wofford (1-5) at Mercer (4-2)

UTSA (7-0) at Louisiana Tech (2-4) Prairie View (5-1) at Southern U. (3-3) Temple (3-3) at South Florida (1-5) W. Kentucky (2-4) at FIU (1-5) Tennessee (4-3) at Alabama (6-1) South Alabama (4-2) at La.-Monroe (3-3) Georgia Tech (3-3) at Virginia (5-2) NC State (5-1) at Miami (2-4)

MIDWEST

E. Michigan (4-3) at Bowling Green (2-5) N. Illinois (5-2) at Cent. Michigan (4-3) Northwestern (3-3) at Michigan (6-0) Oklahoma (7-0) at Kansas (1-5) Youngstown St. (2-3) at Indiana St. (3-4) Stetson (2-4) at Drake (2-5) Kent St. (3-4) at Ohio (1-6) Dayton (3-3) at Valparaiso (1-5) Davidson (4-1) at Butler (2-5) Illinois St. (2-4) at South Dakota (5-2) Wisconsin (3-3) at Purdue (4-2) Tennessee St. (3-3) at E. Illinois (1-6) W. Illinois (1-6) at North Dakota (2-4) N. Iowa (3-3) at S. Dakota St. (5-1) Oklahoma St. (6-0) at Iowa St. (4-2) Missouri St. (4-2) at N. Dakota St. (6-0) Miami (Ohio) (3-4) at Ball St. (4-3) Buffalo (3-4) at Akron (2-5) W. Michigan (5-2) at Toledo (3-4) Maryland (4-2) at Minnesota (4-2) Southern Cal (3-3) at Notre Dame (5-1) Ohio St. (5-1) at Indiana (2-4)

SOUTHWEST

Ark.-Pine Bluff (1-5) vs. Arkansas (4-3) atLittle Rock, Ark.

Kansas St. (3-3) at Texas Tech (5-2) Jacksonville St. (3-3) at Sam Houston St. (5-0)Liberty (5-2) at North Texas (1-5) East Carolina (3-3) at Houston (5-1) Midwestern St. (0-0) at Tarleton St. (3-3) Nicholls (2-4) at Houston Baptist (0-6) Cent. Arkansas (2-4) at Lamar (2-4) West Virginia (2-4) at TCU (3-3) South Carolina (4-3) at Texas A&M (5-2) Alcorn St. (4-2) at Texas Southern (2-4)

FAR WEST

Idaho St. (1-5) at Montana St. (6-1) BYU (5-2) at Washington St. (4-3) Oregon (5-1) at UCLA (5-2) New Mexico (2-5) at Wyoming (4-2) Colorado (2-4) at California (1-5) Weber St. (2-4) at E. Washington (7-0) Nevada (5-1) at Fresno St. (5-2) San Diego St. (6-0) at Air Force (6-1) Utah (4-2) at Oregon St. (4-2) Montana (4-2) at Idaho (2-4) N. Colorado (2-5) at S. Utah (1-6) UC Davis (6-1) at Cal Poly (1-5) N. Arizona (3-3) at Sacramento St. (4-2) Stephen F. Austin (3-3) at Dixie St. (0-6)

Sunday’s game

FAR WEST

New Mexico St. (1-6) at Hawaii (3-4).

COLLEGE FOOTBALL


COLLEGE FOOTBALL

BOONE, N.C.— Chase Brice is

determined to make the most of

what is left of his roller-coaster col-

lege career. He took a big step for-

ward Wednesday night.

Brice threw for 347 yards and

two touchdowns, Chandler Staton

kicked a 24-yard field goal as time

expired and Appalachian State up-

set 14th-ranked Coastal Carolina

30-27 in front of a capacity crowd

of 31,061 at Kidd Brewer Stadium.

After spending three years at

Clemson mostly backing up Tre-

vor Lawrence and then going 2-9

last season as a starter at Duke,

Brice transferred to Appalachian

State looking for a new start and a

chance to win big football games.

“Right now I’m getting an op-

portunity to kind of flip the script

on certain things about me that get

talked about and written about,”

Brice said. “So that’s kind of my

goal.”

Malik Williams had a monster

game catching some well-placed

bombs from Brice, finishing with

10 catches for 206 yards and a

touchdown. Camerun Peoples ran

for two touchdowns and Corey Sut-

ton had 113 yards receiving and a

score for the Mountaineers (5-2,

2-1 Sun Belt). They have never lost

at home to the Chanticleers.

Appalachian State moved into

the driver’s seat in the conferenc-

e’s East division and the loss could

prevent Coastal Carolina (6-1, 2-1)

from reaching the championship

game.

“We’re in control of our own des-

tiny right now,” said Mountain-

ners coach Shawn Clark, whose

team bounced back from a 41-13

loss last week at Louisiana-La-

fayette. “I’m so proud of this team

and everyone involved in our orga-

nization.”

The Chanticleers came in ave-

raging 48.8 points, but the Coastal

Carolina was outgained 575 to 376

and the offense struggled to pro-

tect QB Grayson McCall in the sec-

ond half.

“Look how it’s flipped,” Chanti-

cleers coach Jamey Chadwell said.

“One loss and now we’re acting

like everything in the world is end-

ing. That’s sort of where we put

ourselves. Now that we have lost

and now we don’t think we’re in-

vincible, hopefully those little

things that get us, we’ll get them

corrected and move forward.”

Coastal had outscored its oppo-

nents by more than 33 points com-

ing in with only one close game — a

28-25 victory at Buffalo on Sept. 18

“This is no disrespect to Coastal

Carolina, but they have not played

four quarters all season long,”

Clark said. “And we have. We have

been battled tested. I do believe we

have played a tough schedule, a ve-

ry tough schedule.”

McCall threw for 291 yards and

one touchdown for the Chanti-

cleers, who had a 11-game Sun Belt

winning streak snapped.

When asked what he liked best

about Brice’s performance, Clark

laughed and said, “D, all of the

above.

“I thought he had great poise in

the pocket,” Clark said. “He had

great touch on the football and he

made good decisions when he

pulled the ball (and ran). We’re

glad he is on our football team.

He’s a true Mountaineer.”

Appalachian State’s defense

forced three Coastal Carolina

punts on their final three posses-

sions, the last of which set up Brice

and the offense with great field po-

sition at the Mountaineers 38.

From there, Brice went to Wil-

liams on consecutive throws of 19

and 16 yards to reach field goal

range.

Appalachian State was careful

not to score a touchdown in the

closing seconds to prevent the

Chanticleers from getting the ball

again with Peoples even going

down on a knee at the end of one

run instead of crossing the goal

line. The Mountaineers ran the

clock down to 3 seconds before Sta-

ton took the field for the winner.

“We felt that if we got them in a

game where they had to drop back

and pass, it’s in our favor a lot,”

said Appalachian State defensive

end Caleb Spurlin. “You got guys

on the edge that just go make

things happen. So I think getting

them in that position where you

knew they were going to have drop

back and pass the ball gave us an

edge up.”

MATT KELLEY/AP

Appalachian State running back Camerun Peoples breaks a tackle andruns for a touchdown during the second half of the team’s upset ofNo. 14ranked Coastal Carolina on Wednesday in Boone, N.C.

BY STEVE REED

Associated Press

Appalachian State upsets Coastal Carolina

Former Washington State foot-

ball coach Nick Rolovich’s termi-

nation for refusing to get a CO-

VID-19 vaccination was unlawful

and an attack on his Catholic faith,

his attorney said Wednesday.

Attorney Brian Fahling also said

in a statement that Rolovich in-

tends to take legal action and that

the litigation will detail what the

attorney called athletic director

Pat Chun’s “animus towards

Coach Rolovich’s sincerely held

religious beliefs” and his dishon-

esty at the expense of the former

coach.

Rolovich and four of his assist-

ants were fired Monday for not

complying with the governor’s

mandate that all state employees

be vaccinated against the corona-

virus. The attorney said Rolovich

was escorted by campus police to

his car and not allowed to speak to

the team or visit his office after his

dismissal.

Rolovich had requested a reli-

gious exemption but it was denied

Monday, the state’s vaccination

deadline.

“The institution also indicated

that even if the exemption had

been granted, no accommodation

would have been made,” Fahling

said in the statement.

University officials declined to

comment on the attorney’s state-

ment.

The statement didn’t specify Ro-

lovich’s religious grounds for

seeking an exemption and the

coach himself had declined to dis-

cuss details in recent weeks.

Pope Francis and the U.S. Con-

ference of Catholic Bishops have

stated that all COVID-19 vaccines

are morally acceptable and that

Catholics have a duty, responsibil-

ity or obligation to be vaccinated.

However, some Catholics still op-

pose vaccination.

Statewide, about 1,800 workers

have been fired, resigned or re-

tired because of the governor’s

mandate, state officials said. Ro-

lovich was the highest-paid state

employee in Washington at $3.2

million per year. He was fired for

cause and will not be paid the bal-

ance of his contract.

Rolovich was hired from Hawaii

two years ago, after Mike Leach

left for Mississippi State. He fin-

ished with a 5-6 record in Pullman.

He was replaced for the remain-

der of the season by Jake Dickert,

the Cougars’ defensive coordina-

tor who was elevated to acting

head coach.

Washington State (4-3) hosts

BYU (5-2) on Saturday.

Lawyer:Rolovichdismissal‘unlawful’BY NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS

Associated Press

The American Athletic Conference is adding

UAB, Texas-San Antonio, Rice, North Texas,

Charlotte and Florida Atlantic to the league, re-

placing three schools that are leaving for the

Big 12 Conference and growing to 14 teams.

The AAC announced the additions Thurs-

day, a move that it hopes will stabilize the con-

ference in the short term and allow it to with-

stand future poaching of its members by

wealthier leagues.

The conference said when exactly the new

members join is still to be determined.

“This is a strategic expansion that accom-

plishes a number of goals as we take the con-

ference into its second decade. We are adding

excellent institutions that are established in

major cities and have invested in competing at

the highest level,” AAC Commissioner Mike

Aresco said in a statement.

The American, formerly the Big East, has

been a feeder conference from Power Five

leagues for nearly two decades. Most recently,

the Big 12 announced the additions of AAC

powers Cincinnati, Houston and Central Flor-

ida to replace Southeastern Conference-bound

Oklahoma and Texas.

The Sooners and Longhorns have said they

will join the SEC in 2025, but a quicker depar-

ture is possible.

The Big 12 has said it is targeting 2023 for the

arrival of its new members, which also in-

cludes BYU.

The AAC’s move strips Conference USA of

six schools, leaving that league both searching

for new members and trying to fend off other

poachers. The Sun Belt has said it is interested

in expanding beyond its current 10 football

members and some of C-USA’s remaining

eight schools would be geographic fits.

The American was born in 2013 from the

downfall of Big East football, rebuilding

around mostly C-USA schools. The AAC

emerged as the strongest of the so-called

Group of Five conferences when it comes to

football during the College Football Playoff

era. Five times in seven season, the American

has earned the New Year’s Six bowl spot that

goes to the highest ranked G5 conference

champion.

But four of those championships were won

by the schools now heading to the Big 12.

The AAC targeted schools located in big

media markets and fertile recruiting territory,

hoping that with better exposure and more rev-

enue, they could develop into the next UCF.

The six new schools will join AAC holdovers

East Carolina, Memphis, Navy (football only),

South Florida, SMU, Temple, Tulane, Tulsa

and Wichita State (which does not compete in

football). The additions will give the American

four members in Texas. The league office re-

cently relocated to the Dallas area after being

headquartered in Providence, R.I.

The AAC is at the front end of a 10-year deal

with ESPN that will pay the conference’s

schools between $7 million and $8 million per

year over the length of the contract. It is un-

clear whether the value of the deal will be im-

pacted by the change in membership, but the

contract makes the conference the wealthiest

in college football outside the Power Five.

DAVID J. PHILLIP/AP

The American Athletic Conference is going toadd six schools hoping it can remain as thestrongest among the Group of Five.

AAC rebuilding, growingwith six C-USA schools

BY RALPH D. RUSSO

Associated Press


COLLEGE FOOTBALL

There is no defensive rev-

olution in college foot-

ball this season.

Just at Georgia.

The dominant defense of the

top-ranked Bulldogs has been one

of the biggest storylines in the first

half of a season that has been high-

lighted by upsets and unpredict-

ability. Simply, 2021 has been all

sorts of fun after the pandemic-al-

tered season in 2020.

Through seven weeks, 47

ranked teams have lost and more

than half of them have lost to un-

ranked teams. Those 25 victories

by unranked teams puts this sea-

son on pace to become the fourth

since the poll expanded to 25

teams in 1989 to have at least 50

victories by unranked teams over

ranked teams, according to re-

search by The Athletic.

Every team that made the pre-

vious College Football Playoff

(Alabama, Ohio State, Notre

Dame and Clemson) had lost by

the end of Week 6, the earliest

that’s happened in the CFP era.

Clemson lost twice in September

and fell out of the rankings for the

first time in seven years.

The Bulldogs meanwhile, are

rolling along behind that defense.

Georgia is allowing 3.55 yards

per play, which would be the few-

est for a full season since Alabama

in 2011 (3.32). Bulldogs coach Kir-

by Smart was the defensive coor-

dinator for the Crimson Tide back

then. Georgia is allowing 6.6

points per game, which would be

the lowest since Oklahoma in 1986

(6.6).

This doesn’t appear to be trend

outside of Athens.

Nationally, FBS teams are ave-

raging 28.9 points per game, right

in line with the last decade. Of-

fenses are averaging 5.81 yards

per play. That’s up a bit from last

season (5.78) but a tick below 2019

(5.83, which was just shy of a re-

cord set in 2016).

The secret to the Bulldogs’ suc-

cess?

“I love the way they compete

game in and game out,” Smart

said of his defense on ESPN’s

“College GameDay” last Satur-

day. “They love to play the game.

They love each other.”

Defensive tackle Jordan Davis,

a 6-foot-6, 340-pound wrecking

ball, and linebacker Nakobe Dean

are the most notable stars. Both

were voted to the AP midseason

All-America team.

Time to hand out some more

midseason awards and take a peak

at what might lie ahead.

Most surprising team (tie)Both Big Ten Michigan teams

won only two games during an ab-

breviated 2020 season. At Michi-

gan, coach Jim Harbaugh put

himself on the hot seat by taking a

pay cut. At Michigan State, sec-

ond-year coach Mel Tucker

looked to have a lengthy rebuild

ahead.

The No. 6 Wolverines and No. 9

Spartans enter the second half of

the season a combined 13-0.

Thing are about to get real in the

Big Ten East. Michigan, Michigan

State, No. 6 Ohio State and No. 7

Penn State will start a round-robin

on Oct. 30. Disappointing endings

could be ahead for all, but the win-

ner of Michigan-Michigan State

looks well positioned to finish no

worse than 9-3.

Honorable mentions: Baylor,

Kentucky, Pitt, UTSA, Wake For-

est.

Most disappointing teamListen, it’s not Mack Brown’s

fault North Carolina was a presea-

son top-10 team.

“My expectation is to win every

game, so three times we’ve met it

and three times we haven’t,”

Brown said after the Tar Heels’

loss to Florida State earlier this

month. “The national media ex-

pectation, the expectation for us to

be a top 10 team, were wrong. So I

guess we should all be critical of

the media for picking us that

high.”

Brown has a point. Hyping a

team that went 8-4 last season and

had to replace two NFL running

backs was a stretch. But North

Carolina (4-3) has already lost

three games to mediocre Atlantic

Coast Conference teams, which

makes the Tar Heels a mediocre

ACC team. Even the most cautious

UNC fans did not see that coming.

Dishonorable mentions: Clem-

son, Florida, Texas, Wisconsin,

Washington.

Coach of the first half Luke Fickell, Cincinnati: Ex-

pectations were sky high and one

slip up is all that it would have tak-

en for the Bearcats’ hopes of a

dream season to vanish.

Fickell has done a nice job of

getting his team to embrace the

big goals while focusing on the

small ones. The defense has not

missed a step after losing coordi-

nator Marcus Freeman to Notre

Dame. Getting quarterback coach

Gino Guidugli more involved in

the play calling seems to have giv-

en the offense a boost.

Fickell’s stock continues to rise.

Honorable mentions: Mike

Gundy, Oklahoma State; Kirby

Smart, Georgia; Mel Tucker, Mi-

chigan State.

Halfway HeismanThe race appears to be wide

open and, as usual, big games

down the stretch of the season are

likely to swing the voting one way

or the other.

That creates an advantage for

teams in the mix for the playoff

and their quarterbacks. That po-

tentially sets up well for Ohio

State’s C.J. Stroud and Alabama’s

Bryce Young.

At the midway point, here’s an

unconventional Heisman five:

Jordan Davis, DT, Georgia.

Best player on the best unit of the

best team.

Drake London, WR, USC.A rea-

son to watch the Trojans.

Kenny Pickett, QB, Pittsburgh.

In the season of the super senior,

he has been the best.

Tyler Linderbaum, C, Iowa.

The best offensive lineman in the

country.

Bijan Robinson, RB, Texas.The

best running back in the country.

Biggest upsetTexas A&M 41, Alabama 38:

The Aggies are good and were

playing at home, but they scored

almost as many points against the

Crimson Tide as they had in their

three previous games against

Power Five competition com-

bined.

They also snapped Alabama’s

100-game winning streak against

unranked opponents and a 106-

game winning streak by No. 1

teams against unranked teams

that dated to 2008.

Plus, A&M coach Jimbo Fisher

became the first former Nick Sa-

ban assistant to beat the master in

25 tries.

Honorable mentions: Purdue

over No. 2 Iowa; Stanford over No.

3 Oregon; Louisiana-Monroe over

33-point favorite Liberty; North

Carolina State over Clemson.

Crystal ballPredicting this season hasn’t

gone too well. Wisconsin in the

CFP? DJ Uiagalelei for Heisman?

On the other hand, Georgia win-

ning the national title looks pretty

good. Let’s give this one more try:

Orange Bowl semifinal —Geor-

gia vs. Cincinnati.

Cotton Bowl semifinal — Ohio

State vs. Oklahoma.

Rose Bowl — Penn State vs.

Oregon.

Sugar Bowl — Alabama vs. Io-

wa State.

Peach Bowl —- Clemson vs.

Kentucky.

Fiesta Bowl —- Texas A&M vs.

Michigan.

National championship — Ge-

orgia vs. Ohio State.

Champion — Georgia.

Dawgs’ defense proves exception to the rule

BUTCH DILL/AP

Kentucky quarterback Will Levis is sacked by Georgia defensive lineman Jalen Carter (88) and linebacker Quay Walker during the first half of agame Oct. 16 in Athens, Ga. Georgia is allowing only 3.55 yards per play, tops among FBS schools.

No. 1 Georgia hasbeen a rock amidhigh scores, upsets

BY RALPH D. RUSSO

Associated Press

MIDSEASON ANALYSIS


NHL/VIRUS OUTBREAK

held out, with varying degrees of

outspoken skepticism. On Mon-

day, the NHL suspended San Jos-

e’s Evander Kane 21 games for

submitting a fake vaccination

card and Washington State Uni-

versity fired football coach Nick

Rolovich for failing to comply with

a state government vaccine man-

date, providing two more remind-

ers of the impact the coronavirus

is still having on professional and

college sports.

They’re in the shrinking minor-

ity.

Major League Baseball, in the

middle of its postseason, reports

87.4% of players and key staff are

fully vaccinated. The NFL

through six weeks of its season is

at 94%, with 133 active players

who have not had at least one dose.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver

said Monday his league is at 96%

with the chance for that number to

tick up. Bettman noted last week

the NHL had only four unvacci-

nated players out of more than 700

— well over 99% fully vaccinated.

“If given grades, those are A-

pluses,” said former women’s bas-

ketball player Iciss Tillis, who is

now a labor and employment at-

torney at the law firm Hall Estill.

“It’s been really interesting to

watch the transition over the past

year and a half go from extreme

skepticism to, I guess, people be-

ing able to see friends and family

go ahead and get the vaccine first

and sort of see how they react to it.

I think that’s playing a huge role in

this shift that we’re seeing to-

wards people pretty much just

giving in and just going ahead and

taking the vaccine.”

None of those leagues has a full

mandate, but all imposed rules

treating differently players who

are fully vaccinated. In addition,

some cities and states put further

requirements on players and

coaches, especially those at state

universities such as Rolovich.

Daily coronavirus testing, mask

wearing and restrictions on move-

ment made more players choose

to be vaccinated — as did the

threat of losing pay.

The NBA’s Brooklyn Nets begin

the season without Irving, who

cannot play or practice at home

because of a New York City vac-

cine mandate. The team told him

he couldn’t play — even in road

games — until his status changes.

Irving and other unvaccinated

players around pro sports don’t

get paid for the games they miss.

“For athletes in particular, their

livelihood is based on their ability

to compete,” said Dr. Wendy King

of the University of Pittsburgh,

who took part in a research project

on vaccine hesitancy earlier this

year. “Even if they thought, ‘Oh,

I’m pretty healthy and I wouldn’t

get that bad of a case,’ it would still

heavily impact their ability to go to

work, to play in a game. It could af-

fect their entire team — not just

them — so they might feel like

they’re letting other people down

if they don’t do everything they

can to prevent the disease.”

Dr. Panagis Galiatsatos of

Johns Hopkins University said job

security and the threat of losing

pay likely led to such a high vac-

cine uptake among athletes. “I

think that’s a powerful thing,” he

said.

It convinced some to get jabbed.

Golden State Warriors forward

Andrew Wiggins — who faced a

potential absence similar to Irv-

ing’s because of a local mandate —

decided to get a COVID-19 vac-

cine to be eligible to play. The

NHL’s agreement to go to the

Olympics requires all participants

to be fully vaccinated, which could

lead New Jersey Devils goalten-

der Mackenzie Blackwood to

change his mind, as well.

Leagues have still endured CO-

VID-19 cases involving fully vac-

cinated players, coaches and staff.

Deep in baseball’s playoffs, the At-

lanta Braves opened the NL

Championship Series without

Jorge Soler, who tested positive,

and the NHL’s Pittsburgh Pen-

guins started the season without

winger Jake Guentzel.

Isolated absences are expected,

Bettman said, because of the high-

ly contagious delta variant.

“We’ve got to maintain our vigi-

lance and be serious,” Bettman

said. “I’m really proud of our play-

ers. All of our officials are vacci-

nated. All of our personnel who

come near our players are vacci-

nated, and that’s what we’ve got to

do. But we can’t let up. It’s a fact of

life and it’s not just us. It’s what the

world is still living with.”

One of hockey’s biggest stars,

Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon,

missed the first two games of the

season after testing positive with a

breakthrough case. Coach Jared

Bednar hopes a combination of

the entire team being vaccinated

and many having already con-

tracted COVID-19 allows the Ava-

lanche and the league in general to

stay on track this season.

MacKinnon was back on the ice

Tuesday, thankful for his vaccina-

tion status and ready to play again.

“Nobody got sick, no teammates

got sick, so that’s lucky,” he said.

“Didn’t feel anything, so the vac-

cine must work.”

Jab: Few unvaccinated players leftFROM PAGE 24

TONY AVELAR/AP

The San Jose Sharks’ Evander Kane was suspended 21 games forsubmitting a fake vaccination card. The NHL boasts a vaccination rateof more than 99%, with four unvaccinated players out of over 700.

“Nobody got sick, no teammates gotsick, so that’s lucky. Didn’t feelanything, so the vaccine must work.”

Nathan MacKinnon

Colorado Avalanche center, who missed the first two games of the season

after testing positive with a breakthrough case of COVID-19

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Atlantic Division

GP W L OT Pts GF GA

Florida 3 3 0 0 6 14 6

Buffalo 3 3 0 0 6 12 4

Detroit 3 2 0 1 5 13 9

Toronto 4 2 1 1 5 8 7

Ottawa 3 2 1 0 4 7 7

Tampa Bay 4 2 2 0 4 12 17

Boston 2 1 1 0 2 6 7

Montreal 4 0 4 0 0 3 15

Metropolitan Division

GP W L OT Pts GF GA

Pittsburgh 4 2 0 2 6 16 11

Philadelphia 3 2 0 1 5 16 9

Washington 3 2 0 1 5 12 6

N.Y. Rangers 4 2 1 1 5 8 10

Carolina 2 2 0 0 4 9 5

New Jersey 2 2 0 0 4 8 5

Columbus 3 2 1 0 4 11 7

N.Y. Islanders 3 1 2 0 2 8 12

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Central Division

GP W L OT Pts GF GA

St. Louis 3 3 0 0 6 15 8

Minnesota 3 3 0 0 6 11 8

Dallas 4 2 2 0 4 8 9

Nashville 3 1 2 0 2 7 8

Colorado 3 1 2 0 2 10 13

Winnipeg 3 0 2 1 1 9 14

Arizona 3 0 2 1 1 7 17

Chicago 4 0 3 1 1 8 17

Pacific Division

GP W L OT Pts GF GA

Edmonton 3 3 0 0 6 14 9

San Jose 2 2 0 0 4 9 3

Anaheim 4 2 2 0 4 13 11

Vancouver 4 1 2 1 3 10 15

Seattle 5 1 3 1 3 11 19

Los Angeles 3 1 2 0 2 9 7

Vegas 3 1 2 0 2 7 12

Calgary 2 0 1 1 1 4 8

Tuesday’s games

Buffalo 5, Vancouver 2 San Jose 5, Montreal 0 Dallas 2, Pittsburgh 1, SO Florida 4, Tampa Bay 1 Washington 6, Colorado 3 New Jersey 4, Seattle 2 Detroit 4, Columbus 1 Nashville 2, Los Angeles 1 N.Y. Islanders 4, Chicago 1 Minnesota 6, Winnipeg 5, OT Edmonton 6, Anaheim 5

Wednesday’s games

Philadelphia 6, Boston 3 St. Louis 3, Vegas 1

Thursday’s games

Carolina at Montreal Colorado at Florida N.Y. Islanders at Columbus San Jose at Ottawa Washington at New Jersey Calgary at Detroit Anaheim at Winnipeg N.Y. Rangers at Nashville Vancouver at Chicago Edmonton at Arizona

Friday’s games

San Jose at Toronto Boston at Buffalo Los Angeles at Dallas Edmonton at Vegas

Saturday’s games

Calgary at Washington N.Y. Rangers at Ottawa Anaheim at Minnesota Buffalo at New Jersey Carolina at Columbus Colorado at Tampa Bay Detroit at Montreal Florida at Philadelphia Nashville at Winnipeg Toronto at Pittsburgh Los Angeles at St. Louis N.Y. Islanders at Arizona Vancouver at Seattle

NHL scoreboard

PHILADELPHIA — Cam At-

kinson scored two goals, including

the go-ahead score that sent him

tumbling into the boards, in the

Philadelphia Flyers’ 6-3 victory

over the Boston Bruins on

Wednesday night.

The Flyers have won two

straight since dropping the season

opener and a revamped roster has

paid early dividends. Atkinson,

acquired in a deal with Columbus,

had the crowd going wild on his

hustle-and-tumble goal only 58

seconds into the third for a 4-3

lead. Joel Farabee picked off a

pass from Mike Reilly and fed to

his right to a streaking Atkinson.

Atkinson got tripped up and slid

back first into the boards.

Travis Konecny beat Jeremy

Swayman from the slot to make it

5-3 and had the crowd chanting

“Let’s Go Flyers!” Sean Couturier

knocked in an empty-netter, mak-

ing it the second straight game

that Philadelphia scored six goals.

Farabee, Scott Laughton also

scored for the Flyers

Karson Kuhlman, Taylor Hall

and Brad Marchand scored for

Boston.

Blues 3, Golden Knights 1:Vla-

dimir Tarasenko broke a tie mid-

way through the third period in St.

Louis’ victory over host Vegas.

Jordan Binnington made 42

saves, and Brandon Saad and Ivan

Barbashev added goals for the

Blues. St. Louis won all three

games on its season-opening trip.

On the tiebreaking goal, Alex

Pietrangelo turned the puck over

in the neutral zone with a blind

pass, giving the Blues a 3-on-0

rush. Taking a pass from Brayden

Schenn, Jordan Kyrou fed Tara-

senko for a one-timer past Robin

Lehner with 10:11 to play.

MATT SLOCUM/AP

The Flyers’ Cam Atkinson reactsafter scoring during the thirdperiod Wednesday against theBoston Bruins in Philadelphia.

Atkinsonlifts Flyerspast Bruins

Associated Press

ROUNDUP

DAVID BECKER/AP

Blues winger VladimirTarasenko, left, vies with GoldenKnights defenseman SheaTheodore for the puck.


NBA

Eastern Conference

Atlantic Division

W L Pct GB

New York 1 01.000 —

Philadelphia 1 01.000 —

Boston 0 1 .000 1

Toronto 0 1 .000 1

Brooklyn 0 1 .000 1

Southeast Division

W L Pct GB

Washington 1 01.000 —

Charlotte 1 01.000 —

Atlanta 0 0 .000 ½

Miami 0 0 .000 ½

Orlando 0 1 .000 1

Central Division

W L Pct GB

Chicago 1 01.000 —

Milwaukee 1 01.000 —

Indiana 0 1 .000 1

Detroit 0 1 .000 1

Cleveland 0 1 .000 1

Western Conference

Southwest Division

W L Pct GB

San Antonio 1 01.000 —

Memphis 1 01.000 —

Dallas 0 0 .000 ½

Houston 0 1 .000 1

New Orleans 0 1 .000 1

Northwest Division

W L Pct GB

Utah 1 01.000 —

Minnesota 1 01.000 —

Denver 1 01.000 —

Portland 0 1 .000 1

Oklahoma City 0 1 .000 1

Pacific Division

W L Pct GB

Golden State 1 01.000 —

Sacramento 1 01.000 —

L.A. Clippers 0 0 .000 ½

L.A. Lakers 0 1 .000 1

Phoenix 0 1 .000 1

Tuesday’s games

Milwaukee 127, Brooklyn 104Golden State 121, L.A. Lakers 114

Wednesday’s games

Chicago 94, Detroit 88Charlotte 123, Indiana 122Washington 98, Toronto 83Philadelphia 117, New Orleans 97Memphis 132, Cleveland 121Minnesota 124, Houston 106New York 138, Boston 134, 2OTSan Antonio 123, Orlando 97Utah 107, Oklahoma City 86Denver 110, Phoenix 98Sacramento 124, Portland 121

Thursday’s games

Dallas at AtlantaMilwaukee at MiamiL.A. Clippers at Golden State

Friday’s games

Charlotte at ClevelandIndiana at WashingtonNew York at OrlandoBrooklyn at PhiladelphiaToronto at BostonNew Orleans at ChicagoOklahoma City at HoustonSan Antonio at DenverPhoenix at L.A. LakersUtah at Sacramento

Scoreboard

Scoring leaders

G FG FT PTS AVG

James, LAL 1 13 3 34 34.0

Davis, LAL 1 15 2 33 33.0

Antetokounmpo, MIL 1 12 7 32 32.0

Durant, BKN 1 13 3 32 32.0

Curry, GS 1 5 9 21 21.0

Mills, BKN 1 7 0 21 21.0

Connaughton, MIL 1 8 0 20 20.0

Harden, BKN 1 6 4 20 20.0

Middleton, MIL 1 8 3 20 20.0

Poole, GS 1 8 0 20 20.0

Bjelica, GS 1 6 2 15 15.0

Lee, GS 1 4 6 15 15.0

Nwora, MIL 1 6 0 15 15.0

Claxton, BKN 1 6 0 12 12.0

Holiday, MIL 1 5 0 12 12.0

Iguodala, GS 1 4 2 12 12.0

Wiggins, GS 1 5 0 12 12.0

Allen, MIL 1 3 1 10 10.0

Anthony, LAL 1 3 1 9 9.0

Harris, BKN 1 3 0 9 9.0

NEW YORK — The New York

Knicks never could contain Jaylen

Brown and on the last play of regu-

lation completely lost track of

Marcus Smart.

More mistakes than they’d like,

but not enough to ruin their season

opener.

“At the end of the day, we found

a way to win a game,” Julius Ran-

dle said.

Randle scored 35 points, Evan

Fournier made the go-ahead

three-pointer in the second over-

time and added 32 against his for-

mer team, and the Knicks outlast-

ed Brown and the Boston Celtics

138-134 on Wednesday night.

Brown scored a career-high 46

points after overcoming CO-

VID-19, playing 46 minutes after

spending most of the last 10 days

in quarantine.

“My breathing felt irregular but

fine for the most part,” Brown

said. “Toward the end, I could feel

my heart beating through my

chest.

“It would have been better if we

got a win,” he added.

The Celtics almost did.

Jayson Tatum had the biggest

basket of his awful opener with a

three-point play that gave Boston

a 134-133 lead with 1:05 remain-

ing. Fournier then hit his fourth

three-pointer of the overtimes

with 56 seconds to go and Derrick

Rose finished it off with a basket

with 22 seconds to play as New

York finally put away a game it

seemed to have won much earlier.

“It was crazy,” Fournier said.

The Celtics put together a push

late in regulation of their first

game under coach Ime Udoka and

Smart tied it with a three-pointer

at the buzzer.

RJ Barrett scored all of his 19

points after halftime and Obi Top-

pin added a career-best 14 for the

Knicks. Kemba Walker had 10

points and eight rebounds against

his previous team.

Tatum had 20 points and 11 re-

bounds, but was 7-for-30 from the

field, including 2-for-15 from

three-point range.

Knicks withstand Brown’s 46New York wins in two

overtimes over Boston

BY BRIAN MAHONEY

Associated Press

FRANK FRANKLIN II/AP

Boston’s Marcus Smart, right, defends New York’s Julius Randle during the Knicks’ 138134 doubleovertime win Wednesday in New York. Randle led the Knicks with 35 points.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — LaMelo

Ball scored 31 points, hitting seven

three-pointers, and the Charlotte

Hornets used a 24-0 third-period

run to battle back and beat the In-

diana Pacers 123-122 on Wednes-

day.

The Pacers led 122-121 on Tor-

rey Craig’s foul shots with 12.7 left.

P.J. Washington made two free

throws with 4.6 seconds left before

Domantas Sabonis missed from 11

feet to seal the Hornets’ victory.

Ball scored 12 points in the

third-period run and finished with

nine rebounds and seven assists.

Gordon Hayward scored 27 points

for Charlotte, which got 14 each

from newcomers Kelly Oubre Jr.

and Ish Smith.

Sabonis scored 33 points, Mal-

colm Brogdon had 28, and Chris

Duarte chipped in with 27 for In-

diana. The Pacers had a 21-point

lead early in the second half.

76ers 117, Pelicans 97: Joel

Embiid had 22 points and 12 re-

bounds, Furkan Korkmaz hit four

three-pointers in the fourth quar-

ter to also score 22 points, and Phi-

ladelphia pulled away to win at

New Orleans.

A subplot of the season opener

for both teams involved who

wasn’t playing. The Pelicans were

without star power forward Zion

Williamson, who is recovering

from surgery to repair his broken

foot. The Sixers were missing dis-

gruntled forward Ben Simmons,

who was suspended one game for

conduct detrimental to the team.

Brandon Ingram had 25 points

for New Orleans, Nickeil Alexan-

der-Walker, a season-opening

starter at guard in his third sea-

son, scored 23 points.

Nuggets 110, Suns 98: Reign-

ing NBA MVP Nikola Jokic had 27

points and 13 rebounds, leading

Denver to a win at Phoenix.

The 26-year-old Jokic earned

his first MVP award last season af-

ter averaging 26.4 points, 10.8 re-

bounds and 8.3 assists per game.

The Serbian was up to his old

tricks Wednesday, scoring on a

crafty variety of hook shots, three-

pointers and flat-footed jumpers.

He was 13 of 22 from the field.

Bulls 94, Pistons 88: Zach La-

Vine scored 15 of his 34 points in

the third quarter, leading the Chi-

cago to a win at Detroit.

The Pistons’ Jerami Grant was

off on an 11-foot baseline jumper

with 50 seconds left, missing a

chance to tie it. The Bulls sealed

the victory by making free throws.

Grizzlies 122, Cavaliers 121:

Ja Morant had 37 points and six

assists, De’Anthony Melton added

20 points and host Memphis

pulled away in the fourth quarter

to beat Cleveland.

Morant and Melton combined

for 14 points down the stretch as

the Cavaliers pulled within a point

on a couple of occasions but could

never overtake the Grizzlies. Des-

mond Bane added 22 points for

Memphis.

Wizards 98, Raptors 83:

Bradley Beal scored 23 points,

Montrezl Harrell had 22 in his

Wizards debut and Washington

spoiled Toronto’s homecoming.

Kyle Kuzma had 11 points and

15 rebounds for the Wizards.

Timberwolves 124, Rockets

106:Anthony Edwards energized

the first full-size home crowd of

his nascent career with 29 points

in 31 minutes in Minnesota’s victo-

ry over Houston.

Kings 124, Trail Blazers 121:

Harrison Barnes scored 36 points,

De’Aaron Fox added 27 and visit-

ing Sacramento spoiled Portland’s

opener under new coach Chaun-

cey Billups.

Jazz 107, Thunder 86: Rudy

Gobert had 16 points and 21 re-

bounds to lead host Utah past Ok-

lahoma City.

Spurs 123, Magic 97: Devin

Vassell scored 19 points, Lonnie

Walker added 17 and San Antonio

continued its success on opening

night by dominating Orlando.

Ball game: LaMelo has 31, Hornets edge Pacers

JACOB KUPFERMAN/AP

Charlotte guard LaMelo Ball had31 points, including seventhreepointers, in a 123122 winWednesday over Indiana.

Associated Press

ROUNDUP


NFL

CINCINNATI — On fourth-and-

short just inside the Lions’ 40 yard

line, Cincinnati quarterback Joe

Burrow rolled right and dumped a

short pass to Joe Mixon out of the

backfield.

As Mixon raced down the side-

line, he picked up a wingman in

rookie receiver Ja’Marr Chase.

Detroit safety Will Harris closed in

for the stop, but Chase slammed

into him at the 15-yard line and

then, for good measure, put the

stumbling defender on the ground

with another shove. Mixon

stepped over Harris on his way to

the end zone.

The block — Chase called it his

best one ever — was another high-

light moment for the rookie from

LSU who couldn’t seem to hold on

to a pass in the preseason, but has

since played his way into the con-

versation for Offensive Rookie of

the Year.

“That’s a more exciting play for

me than Ja’Marr catching a go-

route vs. Pittsburgh for a touch-

down,” Bengals coach Zac Taylor

said of the block that helped put the

team up 17-0 in the third quarter of

Sunday’s 34-11 rout of Detroit.

“(The touchdown) was a great

moment, but helping a teammate

achieve a great play is, as a coach,

what you love to see,” Taylor said.

“People congratulating him as

much as they were congratulating

Mixon after the play, that’s great to

see as a coach.”

Chase and Burrow have rekin-

dled the chemistry that carried

them to a national championship

as LSU teammates in 2019.

The fifth overall pick in the 2021

draft — he sat out in 2020 — Chase

has again become Burrow’s favor-

ite playmaker, leading Cincinnati

with 553 receiving yards and five

touchdowns. He’s in the top 10 in

the league in yards per catch (20.5)

and yards per game (92.2).

His five catches of least 40 yards

are the most in the NFL.

The 21-year-old had four catch-

es on Sunday for a team-leading 97

yards. A 34-yard grab on third

down near the end of the first half

set up Evan McPherson’s field

goal, and a 53-yarder at the end of

the third quarter led to a score that

put the Bengals up 27-0.

“Ja’Marr just keeps being that

spark for us,” Burrow said. “When

we have a guy like that, and when

you have the connection we have,

(they) can’t fall asleep on defense

when you have that guy.”

It wasn’t lost on anybody on the

Cincinnati sideline that the Lions

huge offensive lineman, Penei Se-

well — a player many thought

would be taken by the Bengals in-

stead of Chase as the first draft

pick — struggled last week to con-

tain Cincinnati defensive end Trey

Hendrickson.

After the game, it was Chase’s

block that was being replayed on

the TV highlight shows and social

media.

“I keep telling everybody, that

was his touchdown, it wasn’t

mine,” said Mixon, who invoked

the name of Hall of Famer Jerry

Rice in describing Chase’s versa-

tility.

“There’s a lot made of these re-

ceivers because of their talent and

big-play production,” Taylor said.

“Their catches, their dances and

all that stuff. But they’re selfless.

They care about their team-

mates.”

All part of the job.

“Details,” Chase said. “That’s

what NFL games come down to —

small details. If I can do it all, that

just opens it up for everyone.”

The Bengals (4-2) travel to Balti-

more for a key game against the

AFC North-leading Ravens (5-1)

on Sunday.

Block shows versatilityof Bengals WR Chase

BY MITCH STACE

Associated Press

PAUL SANCYA/AP

Bengals wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase, center, leads the way for Joe MIxon, right, with a block on Lionssafety Will Harris. Mixon scored on the play on Sunday in Detroit.

Cincinnati Bengals (4-2)at Baltimore Ravens (5-1)

AFN-Sports7 p.m. Sunday CET2 a.m. Monday JKT

DUANE BURLESON/AP

Bengals receiver Ja’Marr Chaseruns after a catch against Detroitlast week. Chase leads Cincinnatiwith 553 receiving yards.

LAKE FOREST, Ill. — What

Justin Fields learns by battling

teams with Hall of Fame-caliber

quarterbacks takes on less signif-

icance than what he learns guiding

the Chicago Bears offense against

NFL defenses.

Sometimes, though, they can be

one and the same.

For the second straight week,

Fields squares off against an oppo-

nent with a quarterback destined

for the Pro Football Hall of Fame

in Tom Brady, after the Bears roo-

kie passer learned a valuable les-

son facing Green Bay’s defense

last week when Aaron Rodgers

and the Packers pulled out a 24-14

win at Soldier Field.

The lesson learned was NFL

success stems from repeating

good plays and not just producing

one on occasion.

“That’s one big difference I’m

starting to find out is you’ve got to

put drives together rather than

just have a good play here, have a

good play there,” Fields said. “I

mean, because if you have a bad

play in college, it’s easy to get that

yardage you just lost the next play.

Where in the NFL, it’s not as easy.

“So just putting good plays to-

gether back to back and just creat-

ing more drives that create more

momentum and just get us more in

a rhythm.”

Fields put together a series of

strong plays twice last week and

Chicago coach Matt Nagy saw it as

a sign of real progress.

One was on the first Bears pos-

session when Fields completed

two passes and then Marquise

Goodwin drew a defensive pass in-

terference penalty at the Green

Bay 1-yard line.

“When you can play quarter-

back and play on time and in

rhythm you see good things hap-

pen and that was awesome, those

three plays right there,” Nagy said.

The other series was a fourth-

quarter TD drive when Fields im-

provised a few times.

“There is an ability of him right

now,” Nagy said. “I think what

we’re doing is we’re finding some

throws that we see he does well

within the offense. So what we

want to do is be able to do more of

those.

“On top of that, his decision-

making in general has been pretty

good, and that’s growing. Once he

keeps getting that better and bet-

ter, the athletic stuff of making

plays and making throws is gonna

come.”

The Bears have won two of the

four starts by the former Ohio

State standout and another game

when he played more than a half in

place of the injured Andy Dalton.

The defeats and sacks he has

taken have also taught him some-

thing.

“You just have to not necessarily

accept the fact, but we’re not in the

Big Ten where Ohio State is most

likely more talented than the other

teams you play,” Fields said. “It’s

the NFL now. It’s a longer season

so you just have to bounce back —

you get knocked down you just

have to keep coming back.

“As long as we do that we will be

good and we will continue to

grow.”

Tampa Bay’s defense is No. 1

against the run and forces passing

attacks into pressure-packed sit-

uations.

Fields saw Rodgers handle a dif-

ficult situation against a strong

Chicago defense last week, and

learned from it. What he learned is

exactly what he sees from Brady

on film, and what he has noticed in

his own play.

“I think you can just take away

how (veterans) operate their

drives and how they operate a

game,” Fields said. “I think that’s

one thing I took away from last

week is just, like I said before, the

drives that you have to put togeth-

er to consistently score.

“You have to put together a lot of

plays on a good drive to score. It

just can’t be two, three good plays

on a drive.”

NAM Y. HUH/AP

Bears quarterback Justin Fields passes against the Packers on Oct.17 in Chicago. Fields has played against some of the league’s best.

Fields learning fromfacing league’s best

BY GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Associated PressChicago Bears (3-3) at

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-1)AFN-Sports

10:25 p.m. Sunday CET5:25 a.m. Monday JKT


MLB PLAYOFFS

PlayoffsLEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

(Best-of-seven)x-if necessary

American LeagueHouston 3, Boston 2

Houston 5, Boston 4Boston 9, Houston 5Boston 12, Houston 3Houston 9, Boston 2 Wednesday: Houston 9, Boston 1Friday: Boston (Eovaldi 11-9) at Houston

(TBD)AFN-Sports, 2 a.m. Saturday CET; 9a.m. Saturday JKT

x-Saturday: at Houston

National LeagueAtlanta 3, Los Angeles 1

Atlanta 3, Los Angeles 2Atlanta 5, Los Angeles 4Los Angeles 6, Atlanta 5Wednesday: Atlanta 9, Los Angeles 2Thursday: at Los Angelesx-Saturday: at Atlantax-Sunday: at Atlanta

ScoreboardBOSTON — Framber Valdez

lost his perfect game in the fifth in-

ning and then bounced the next

pitch off the batter’s leg.

Astros manager Dusty Baker

headed for the mound.

“It was surprising more than

anything,” Valdez said, noting that

a visit from the manager usually

means his night is over. “The first

thing I did was look back to the

bullpen to see if anyone was out

there. I saw nobody was there.

“He just came out and told me ...

‘You know what you’re doing out

here, so just breathe,’ ” Valdez

said. “He gave me the confidence

to get out of the inning.”

And much more than that.

Perfect through four, the Hous-

ton left-hander took a two-hit shut-

out into the seventh and became

the first pitcher this postseason to

complete eight innings, leading

the Astros over Boston 9-1 on

Wednesday for a 3-2 lead in the AL

Championship Series.

Yordan Alvarez had three hits

and three RBIs for Houston,

which could clinch a second trip to

the World Series in three years

with a victory at home on Friday

night.

The Red Sox need a win to force

a deciding seventh game on Satur-

day.

“We came back to Boston exact-

ly where we wanted to be: We

were 1-1,” Red Sox starter Chris

Sale said. “Not in a good spot going

back to Houston. There’s no deny-

ing that, but this team has won two

games in the playoffs back-to-

back before, and we think we can

do it again.”

One day after the Astros scored

seven runs to break a ninth-inning

tie, they hung another crooked

number on the Fenway Park

scoreboard, chasing Sale while

scoring five runs in the sixth. Al-

varez, who homered in the second

and singled in the fourth, had a

two-run double to break things

open.

That was plenty for Valdez, who

extended the staff’s shutout streak

to 14 straight innings before Ra-

fael Devers homered with one out

in the seventh — one of just three

Boston hits.

Valdez departed after retiring

the Red Sox in order in the eighth

— completing three full turns

through the Boston lineup, a dra-

matic break from the prevailing

baseball wisdom.

“It makes me feel great” to show

that starters can still have that

kind of impact on a game, Baker

said.

“Today, it was in the hands of

Framber,” he said. “This was in

this hands of Framber, and, really,

in the hands of Alvarez.”

In all, Valdez gave up one run on

three hits, one walk and a hit bat-

ter, striking out five. He was also

the first opposing pitcher to last

eight innings in a postseason start

at Fenway since Cleveland’s

Charles Nagy went eight in the

1998 Division Series.

Ryne Stanek pitched a perfect

ninth while the rest of Houston’s

relievers rested. Astros starters

had not lasted three innings all se-

ries, pitching to a 18.90 ERA in the

first four games and giving up 10

homers — including a record

three grand slams.

Valdez retired the first 12 bat-

ters on Wednesday — eight on

grounders, four on strikeouts.

Devers singled to lead off the fifth,

then Valdez bounced the next

pitch off J.D. Martinez’s leg.

Houston escaped when Hunter

Renfroe grounded into a double

play and Alex Verdugo bounced

out to first.

Astros’ Valdez throws 8,tops Red Sox for 3-2 lead

BY JIMMY GOLEN

Associated Press

CHARLES KRUPA/AP

Astros starter Framber Valdez celebrates after Houston’s win over the Red Sox in Game 5 of ALCS onWednesday in Boston. Valdez is the first pitcher this postseason to complete eight innings.

LOS ANGELES — Behind the

red-hot bat of Eddie Rosario, the At-

lanta Braves are one win away from

their first World Series appearance

since 1999.

All they need to do is put away the

defending champion Los Angeles

Dodgers.

Easier said than done.

After all, the Braves were in ex-

actly the same position last year and

failed to finish the job.

Rosario homered twice in his sec-

ond four-hit game of the series and

six Atlanta pitchers combined on a

four-hitter, giving the Braves a 9-2

victory Wednesday for a command-

ing 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven

playoff.

Game 5 is Thursday in Los An-

geles. Last year, the Dodgers also

trailed 0-2 and 1-3 against Atlanta in

the NLCS before roaring back to win

three straight games at a neutral site

in Arlington, Texas.

“As we saw last year, winning a

game is hard, especially a veteran

team like this that we’re playing,”

Braves manager Brian Snitker said.

“But I feel good about our club just

from what we experienced last year

and where these guys are.”

Adam Duvall and Freddie Free-

man also homered for Atlanta,

which bounced right back from

blowing a late lead in an agonizing

loss Tuesday to end their 10-game

skid at Dodger Stadium.

“I feel like everyone has really

hunkered down and dug their heels

in and everyone is really focused,”

Rosario said through a translator.

“That’s something that I’m really

proud to be a part of.”

Rosario became the first player to

have two four-hit games in a League

Championship Series. He drove in

four runs and scored three while

continuing his torrid postseason hit-

ting, finishing a double short of the

cycle. He homered in the second in-

ning, tripled in the third, singled in

the fifth and clocked a three-run

homer in the ninth.

“As soon as I hit that first home

run I just thought to myself, ‘Wow, I

feel amazing right now,’ ” Rosario

said, “so I kind of just carried that

confidence into my other at-bats go-

ing forward.”

Rosario hit for the cycle last

month against San Francisco,

achieving the feat on just five total

pitches.

“I’ve been using that bat that I hit

for the cycle with and it has not dis-

appointed. I had that double re-

maining and I’m like, ‘Man, this bat

has not let me down yet,’ ” he said.

“As soon as I hit that second one out,

I go, `Oh well, there goes the dou-

ble.’ ”

Los Angeles will need to jump-

start its offense to have a shot at an-

other NLCS comeback. Its first five

hitters — Mookie Betts, Corey Seag-

er, NL batting champion Trea Turn-

er, Will Smith and Gavin Lux —

were a combined 0-for-17 in Game

4.

The team, which had won 18 of 19

at home going back to the regular

season, has won six consecutive

postseason elimination games dat-

ing to last year.

“I feel good about it,” manager

Dave Roberts said. “We have a very

resilient team, a very tough team,

and it’s not going to get much tough-

er than facing Max Fried in an elim-

ination game, but we’ve done it be-

fore.”

Rosario was acquired from Cle-

veland on July 30 as the Braves re-

made their depleted outfield before

the trade deadline.

What a find he’s been.

The left fielder has hit safely in ev-

ery game this postseason, piling up

14 hits in 30 at-bats (.467) — includ-

ing a walk-off single in Game 2

against the Dodgers.

Rosario is 10-for-17 (.588) with

two homers and six RBIs in the

NLCS.

“He’s been looking so good at the

plate, hitting balls hard,” Freeman

said.

Atlanta’s four homers tied a post-

season franchise record.

CURTIS COMPTON/AP

Atlanta’s Eddie Rosario reacts to his threerun homer in the ninth offDodgers pitcher Tony Gonsolin Wednesday in Game 4 of the NLCS.

Braves blast four

HRs for 3-1 leadBY BETH HARRIS

Associated Press


SPORTS

Braves take 3-1 series lead; Astros up 3-2 on BoSox ›› MLB playoffs, Page 23

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman let out a

faint cough and assured those seated at least 6

feet away that it was allergies, not COVID-19.

He had tested negative for the coronavirus

three times in the previous week.

It allowed the fully vaccinated 69-year-old the opportuni-

ty to underscore the message that the virus is still part of the

NHL and other professional sports leagues 19 months into

the pandemic.

“It’s no joke,” Bettman said. “We’re still dealing with CO-

VID, although not in the same ways.”

U.S. sports have successfully forced more athletes and

staff to get vaccinated than many other industries, in part

because the threat of losing pay is so severe. Yet, the out-

liers have and will continue to get more attention and gener-

ate outrage from fans who want to see stars play.

Basketball’s Kyrie Irving and Bradley Beal, football’s

Kirk Cousins, Cole Beasley and Chase Young, baseball’s

Chris Sale and hockey’s Tyler Bertuzzi have all

Leading with the jabUS sports more successful vaccinating athletes andstaff than many other industries, but outliers remain

BY STEPHEN WHYNO

Associated Press

SEE JAB ON PAGE 20

Top: Timontre Graham, 21, a defensive lineman at Jackson State University receives his COVID19vaccination on July 27. Right: Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving is among the final 4% of unvaccinatedNBA players. Irving cannot play or practice at home because of a New York City vaccine mandate, and isaway from the team until his status changes. Unvaccinated players don’t get paid for the time they miss.

AP photos

VIRUS OUTBREAK

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rock-solid ‘D’ ›› College football, Page 19

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